AndyM108

I think Widmark was an excellent and underrated performer. I particularly thought he excelled in his late 40's early 50's period. The noir's he made are just terrific: Kiss of Death, Road House, Street With No Name etc. Afew years ago I saw a little curio on FMC called Slattery's Hurricane a 1949, a possible noir that is rarely discussed among us lovers of that dark genre. It also had Linda Darnell and, in one of her last films, Veronica Lake. Has Mr Widmark ever been SOTM? Widmark definitely deserves a SOTM treatment, given how he's been in 75 films and gives a great performance in the 15 or so I've seen so far. Aside from the noirs, his best film is Time Limit , which showed on TCM about two weeks ago for the first time since 2010. It's about an army inquest into a soldier who admits that he gave information to the North Koreans while he was a POW during the Korean war. Widmark is the Colonel in charge of the investigation, and Richard "He Walked By Night" Basehart brings his A-game to the role of the soldier. The plot twist at the end is the farthest thing from a gimmick, and is infinitely better presented and far less Hollywoodish than the sanctimonious speech by Jose Ferrer at the end of The Caine Mutiny . The other thing I always liked about Widmark is that like his fellow "psycho" Robert Ryan, in real life he was an exemplary human being, married to the same woman for 55 years until her death, and consistently outspoken for good causes. No grandstanding, just a first rate actor who lived a first rate life.

When, in the late 1940s, RKO was considering producing a biopic of Thorpe's life, studio chief Dore Schary met with the great American Indian Olympian to discuss how it might be done. Schary asked Thorpe whom he might like to see play him. Gregory Peck, replied Thorpe. Schary politely countered that Peck simply didn't have the physique of an athlete, and would be hard to make up as a convincing Indian, but suggested that he had the perfect candidate, a charismatic, up-and-coming actor named Anthony Quinn. Thorpe, who was, by then, far from his athletic prime, and beaten down by years of enduring the racism that had stripped him of his Olympic medals for having played a few baseball games for pay, was outraged: "Quinn! A Mexican! You might as well get a damn n****r to play the part!" Schary, who'd admired Thorpe for decades, was aghast but held his tongue. Their meeting ended and RKO dropped the biopic project. It was, of course, picked up by Warner Bros. and released in 1950, with Burt Lancaster playing Thorpe. One can only assume that Thorpe felt Lancaster was sufficiently non-Hispanic to portray him in a movie. Just out of curiosity, what's the source for that story?

I agree that A Majority of One is pretty painful, for the very reasons you state. Cross-racial casting is fine if race isn't essential to the plot, but otherwise it's just gratuitously stupid. And much as I love Roz in almost every other movie I've seen her in, she was almost as miscast as Guinness. Beyond that film, Charlton Heston in Touch of Evil was as bad as it gets, and after seeing the Claire Bloom version, watching Jane Fonda in A Doll's House was absolute torture. But with those two it was more a case of bad acting than miscasting per se .

Andy, I don't think I get the Fox movie channel where I live, although even if I did, I doubt I'd watch it if it has commercials. Once you get used to commercial-free movies, you can never go back. The FMC is actually now two distinct channels, one that still shows commericial-free "vintage" movies from 3 AM to 3 PM, and the other that shows more recent, commericial-interrupted movies from 3 PM to 3 AM. The problem with the first one is that most of its "vintage" films aren't that old, and of the few that are, they show the same titles over and over, sometimes 20 or more times a year. When I first got FMC on FIOS in 2010, they had 15 or 20 movies a month worth watching, but in the past year and a half about the only worthwhile vintage films they've premiered are Clara Bow's Call Her Savage (one of the best pre-codes ever) and Loretta Young's Born To Be Bad , which I've also never seen anywhere else. Unfortunately for the sort of movies that people here all like, TCM is the only game left in town, so you'd better watch Night In The City now before it disappears once again.

*LOVE* Rosalind Russell, and besides everyone's favorite His Girl Friday , the two of hers I like the best are The Women , where Joan Crawford mercilessly describes her as "Mrs. Prowler", and a wartime romance with Jack Carson, Roughly Speaking . I've watched that obscure film three or four times by now, and every time I see it I'm reminded of just how terrific some of those not-quite-superstar actors and actresses could be. Louis Calhern called them "pros", and it's hard to think of two who better fit the description than Roz and Jack.

The Fox Movie Channel has played Night in the City a million times, but I can hardly ever remember seeing it on TCM. It's certainly one of the all-time great noirs, and shouldn't be missed. And if TCM is starting to get some more Fox movies (I noticed Boomerang early this morning), here's the noir that they should really be pursuing: Thieves' Highway , with Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese and Lee J. Cobb. Even Fox only plays this classic once in a blue moon, and for the life of me I can't see why.

I totally dig ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! It's one of my faves! Great wartime comedy with an array of character actors up and down the lineup! Totally agree. The plot was fun, even though it was about as generic as it gets, and that cast was unbelievable: *Humphrey Bogart - the scourge of Natzis and Fifth Colyoomists* *Conrad Veidt - arch-villain from scores of movies, he looked and sounded more like a Nazi than Hitler himself* *Kaaren Verne - perfect villainess who was really a good girl all along* *Jackie Gleason - sneak preview of greatness to come* *Phil Silvers - another early peek at a legend* *Barton MacLane - another patriotic mobster* *Peter Lorre - perfectly cast as a cur* *Frank McHugh - doomed to remain a bachelor* *William Demarest - himself as always* *Jane Darwell - the perfect momma* *Ed Brophy - to look is to laugh* *and everyone's favorite meathead, Ben Welden.* For a movie as lightweight as this one was, I can't remember any casting that was so memorable. That much-maligned studio system could really produce some gems.

You can tell just how popular Casablanca is by the fact that on the first page of this thread alone there have already been *FOUR* first time commentators. Welcome to *thx4tcm* , *rollot24* , *cinemaphile4ever* , and *AnnRita* , and don't make yourself strangers here. We need fresh blood!

Who's to blame for Raft's career is neither here nor there, but the bottom line is that of the many Raft movies I've seen, there were but four where he was at all memorable: Scarface , They Drive By Night , The House Across The Bay , and Red Light , probably his best showcase role. (If you want to add his role in Some Like It Hot to that list, that makes five.) Contrast that to Cagney's or Bogey's repertory, and it's no contest. OTOH I'd love to see Raft be given a day in SUTS, since for some reason his early movies are seldom seen on TCM. In many ways he's a classic B-movie actor who would've made a better cult figure if he'd remained in B-movies and secondary roles in the bigger ones. His screen persona simply never projected the depth of character to star beyond that..

I generally have a high resistance to Gothics, but this one was absolutely perfect from beginning to end. Lupino's acting was on the Stanwyck level, and the rest of the cast was a perfect complement. And BTW when is Ida Lupino going to be given the SOTM treatment? Talk about forgotten actors, not to mention pioneering female directors. Maybe if she'd stuck around like Angela Lansbury or Doris Day she'd get her proper dues from TCM.

Ginger Rogers---hotcha-cha-cha!!!--singing "We're In The Money" is worth the price of admission, by far!!! Especially when she segued into the original Pig Latin!

Tough question, but I'd like to see if three of my least favorite movies might be given a bit more bite with some creative recasting and the removal of the production code. So in that spirit I'd like to see..... 1. Louise Brooks (a woman who really might give Clark Gable all that he could handle) replace Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night 2. Jean Harlow (an infinitely superior comedienne) replace Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot 3. Jean Gabin and Jeanne Moreau replace Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn as the two leads in La Renne Africaine ( formerly known as The African Queen ), hopefully making that hackneyed plot a bit less predictable and Hollywoodish.

Depends on what you're looking for, I guess, but Bardot would certainly be on the top of just about any list. Jane Fonda, not at all. Much too cold a slice of pizza for my taste. Of today's stars, Angelina Jolie wins the ribbon, and from the Golden Age and slightly later, it'd be Louise Brooks (who else?) and the young Loretta Young at the top, followed by Rita Hayworth and the young Jeanne Moreau. Crawford and Dietrich were just trying too hard, and though she's a *very* good actress, Dietrich in particular seems about as sexy as one of those cat o nine tails women in a B&D museum. I wouldn't be surprised if she used the men's room when nature called.

Death Wish. His vigilante movies. Everyone likes seeing criminals get theirs. Yeah, that first Death Wish movie was probably what did it. I liked that one but I avoided the sequels, which I didn't think were exactly going to match Godfather 2 in terms of quality. But the one Bronson movie I truly loved was Hard Times , where he starred as a bare-knuckled street boxer who fights in matches arranged by New Orleans gamblers during the Depression. It's one of the grittier films I've seen, and Bronson was perfectly---and I mean perfectly---cast for the role.

Casablancalover: I too loved Quiz Show as I was old enough to remember when the scandal hit and many people found their reputations ruined for greed. This was on top of the "payola" bribes in the record industry, another black eye for show business. Quiz Show is one of the best "history" movies I know of. My 10th grade history teacher in Washington won her class's everlasting admiration when she predicted the outcome of those inquiries on the first day they began, and Charles Van Doren in particular. It was one of the first important lessons I ever learned about things not being what they often seem to be.

hlywdkjk, at this point I'd be so grateful for a screening of Easy Living that I wouldn't complain even if they showed it at 4:00 am. God bless the inventor of the DVD recorder. But for your sake I hope that they show it at 10:00 pm so that both of us can watch it "live". AFAIC it's right below The Lady Eve and The Great McGinty among the Sturges films. That combination of Edward Arnold and Jean Arthur simply can't be beat.

*El Norte *is one of the best films about immigrants I've seen. It's from 1983. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085482/ Totally agree, and just as good is The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), with Tommy Lee Jones both directing and starring. And then for the more traditional type of movie, there's the classic duo of The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972), both starring Max Von Sydow and Liv Ulmann. All four of these would be a great addition to any future immigration series.

Lots of these I haven't seen, and I like the theme. Two I wish they'd show again: Symphony of Six Million (1932, with Ricardo Cortez and Irene Dunne). For once Cortez gets to play something besides a cad, and he does a terrific job of it, as does Dunne. This is just a beautiful story set in New York's lower East side near the beginning of the 20th century. Romance in Manhattan (1934) with Ginger Rogers protecting an illegal immigrant from capture and forced return.

Saturday evening, June 30th looks like it is a tribute to Preston Sturges. Yes, and we're *FINALLY* getting The Great McGinty ! Now all we need is his first great feature, Easy Living , where Edward Arnold (J. B. Ball, The Bull of Wall Street) throws a mink coat onto Jean Arthur's head as she's riding down 5th Avenue on a double decker bus. I can't remember the last time TCM showed that all-time classic, if ever. BTW if there's anyone out there who's never savored The Great McGinty , this YouTube excerpt should whet your appetite. Pay the lug!

Well. AndyM (AndyM! AndyM!), as I was born in 1951, All those you mentioned didn't float into my perimeter of awareness until the '60's anyway, and by that time I was bitten by the Lewis bug. What's funny also is when you see all the old films of Lewis doing his schtick on stage with Dean, you also see the band cracking up and hear the Copa audience laughing it up. So it might seem NObody was "sophisticated" back then! Then there's the films of people mobbing their hotel as if they were the Beatles. It's not the people who have changed, it's the entertainer. An aging Lewis had trouble pulling off what he did when younger. Like the rest of us. But nobody can sit at their PC and post that Lewis's comedy is "schlock" or complain that it's infantile or "****". NOT when the likes of Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell are attracting huge crowds and big bucks doing pretty much the same thing, and not even half as well. I used "schlock" because IMO that's what Jerry Lewis's movies are. YMMV, etc. But I didn't use those other words, which have entirely different connotations. I'm also not trying to promote Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, or Adam Sandler for SOTM treatment, either. God forbid. I'm also not sure what's particularly "sophisticated" about the comics I named as my childhood favorites: Donald Duck, Don Knotts, Sid Caesar / Imogene Coca, and Sgt. Bilko. I could have added Bugs Bunny, Chester A. Riley, The Little Rascals (who were always playing in reruns) and Amos 'N' Andy (the TV version). It's not a question of anything but personal taste and personal opinion, and from the first time I ever saw him in action, Jerry Lewis has been like chalk on a blackboard or Chinese water torture. I appreciate the fact that you and others like him, but if I were trying to promote a new face for SOTM I could think of about 500 far better choices. Give him a nice little tribute on his birthday, but if we want comedy for SOTM, which is a fine idea, then let's start with Laurel and Hardy. ( /rant )

Brent was fortunate enough to get a lot of good roles in some first rate movies, but he never seemed to contribute much to any of them. And to be honest, it took me a long time before I could distinguish him from Herbert Marshall and a bunch of other similarly bland types. Maybe it's just that there weren't supposed to be any real leading men in those movies, since he so often seemed to be playing second fiddle to A-level stars like Davis or Stanwyck. But anyway Happy Birthday, George! As far as I know, you never kicked a dog or a kitten.

I believe this is the best explanation for the black and white era of photographs and movies: http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/b8b36f38250d102d94d7001438c0f03b That sublime link reminds me how much I miss Calvin and Hobbes , and it also reminds me that the best character in that strip was usually Calvin's dad.

Swithin, this is why I come to these TCM forums. It took me one listening of your London version of Mack the Knife and one listening of The Socrates (Solomon) song (which is my favorite cut on the 1954 album**) to convince me to buy the album. My only problem with it is that some of the words in Mack The Knife are hard to make out with the background music, but I'm sure I'll be able to find the lyrics somewhere and after a few more listenings I'll pick them all up. It may never quite replace the album I've probably heard a hundred times over the past 57 years, but if this had been the first one I'd ever heard, I'd probably feel the same way about it. This is the first time I'd ever heard any later version of "Mack the Knife" that didn't totally violate the dark spirit of the song, and that alone makes me thank you for the tout. **My favorite line from Lotte Lenya's 1954 version: *"While he was tough and used his sense / He remained the pride of swindle and fence...."* People often talk about the movie stars they'd most like to meet, but I think I might have wanted to meet Lotte Lenya more than any of them.

Lewis seems to be the "dirty little secret" many people try to hide. Likely many who used to love going to Lewis movies as kids try to pretend that at one time they never did, denying their devotion like Peter denying Jesus. Sure, when I was a kid, Lewis movies were eagerly anticipated. We couldn't WAIT for the next one. I couldn't stand him when I was young, and I can't stand him today. In the 50's my idea of humor was Donald Duck, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Sgt. Bilko, and Don "Are you nervous?----Noop!" Knotts on The Steve Allen Show . Lewis always just seemed like he was trying way, way too hard. I only wish that Laurel and Hardy had still been around. I don't doubt that Lewis is an intelligent guy, and he obviously did a lot of good work in his telethons. But please, April's schedule gives us enough schlock to last until about 2014.

LOL, Andy. Btw, I was thinking about the 1954 3 Penny Opera recenty, I love that recording! I used to listen to it as a child. The only problem with it was that when I saw a more authentic translation of the show, I was really disappointed, as I loved the Blitzstein 1954 version so much, which is really more of an adaptation. I had exactly the same reaction to the 1931 Die Dreigroschenoper movie when I first saw it at the AFI in Washington some 35 or 40 years ago. I'd worn out 2 or 3 vinyl LPs of the Blitzstein version and I couldn't sing along with the German words! About the only redeeming feature was the presence of the young Lotte Lenya, who'd long been one of my favorites of the stage and screen. But fast forward to 2011, when I watched Die Dreigroschenoper with fresh eyes on TCM, and I absolutely loved it. In the interim I'd watched more than enough foreign movies to make me far more receptive to the entire genre. Rudolf Forster was a credible Macheath, Lotte Lenya was still the one and only Lotte Lenya, and I was able to see the show as more than just a collection of great songs. I'm glad I had my DVD recorder going that night while I slept, since I woke up not only to Die Dreigroschenoper , but also to Pandora's Box . Talk about a 1-2 punch. OTOH I still can't stand to hear anyone but Scott Merrill sing Mack the Knife . That dreadful pop version by Bobby Darin was like the cast of Your Hit Parade trying to sing rock 'n' roll. Just torture to the ears.