AndyM108

And that's a shame. Garfield was pleased with the film, calling it his best since Body and Soul, made three years before. Hemingway himself, who hated almost everything Hollywood did to his work, ranked this adaption as his favourite, according to co-star Patricia Neal. I've had this on my must-watch list ever since it was first announced. Can't wait. But when, oh when, are we going to get Body and Soul ?

I can't imagine BS in Loy's role as Nora Charles. It just wouldn't work, it would sink like a stone. Well, in a way that's like asking the Beatles to cover Chuck Berry. It could only be done if you're not wedded to one particular concept of "Nora Charles", but if you could put the Loy version out of your mind, I have no doubt that the Stanwyck on display in the "Lady Eve Sidwich" part of The Lady Eve would have been fully up to the task. I'm not sure how funny Stanwyck was in person, but then in real life Myrna Loy was never much of a wife.

Not being a big Stanwyck fan, I can't go Ga-Ga over "Babs", which is NOT to say I didn't think she wasn't any GOOD(too much contrary evidence), but if your gonna try to put other actresses in Stanwyck roles to compare, let's do the opposite and try to imagine Stanwyck doing, say, Myrna Loy's role in "Best Years", or Harlow's role in *Dinner At Eight *. Wouldn't work! I agree that Harlow was sui generis . Nobody could have replaced her in any of her great roles, Dinner at Eight , Bombshell , Libeled Lady , Red-Headed Woman and Red Dust in particular. Though both Harlow and Babs were from Brooklyn, that accent of Jean's formed an absolutely essential part of her comic persona , and when you added the famous Harlow "look", it was an inimitable combination. Stanwyck may have been more physically attractive when you strip away the makeup and get down to the essentials, but she didn't have Harlow's almost cartoonish aura of glamor, which also forms a huge part of the appeal of her films. But OTOH there's absolutely no reason to think that Stanwyck couldn't have played Loy's role in Best Years . Her dramatic skills were every bit as stellar as Loy's, and her unmatched ability to play "everywoman" roles would have made her a perfect match for a part like that. Loy was terrific as always in Best Years, but that was a role that any one of a number of Golden Age actresses could have taken on with little or no loss to the story. Claudette Colbert in Since You Went Away played much the same basic character, and I've never heard any complaints about her performance.

what troubles me is that, in so many of the earliest posts in the other "boring" thread, people seemed to equate thoughtful Swedish (Bergman and his style) movies with boring. That attitude offers a more negative statement about the viewer than the film. Many people can look at a great painting and find it boring, but in many cases it has more to do with their inability to appreciate/undertand it than any fault with the film/painting itself. Perhaps so, though the logical extension of that line of thought would be that "objectively" there's no such thing as a boring film, a dubious proposition at best. But it's funny how some supposedly "boring" directors can often get completely different reactions from the same person, and sometimes their reaction even varies from one film to the other. I can watch nearly endless showings of Eric Rohmer's Comedies & Proverbs series, and even more his Tales of the Four Seasons , and find something fresh in every new viewing. He's the least "boring" director I know of this side of Kurosawa. And I can watch Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage over and over. Not "boring" in the least. So it's not that "conversation" films per se are the problem, in spite of my loathing of My Dinner With Andre . And yet those Bergman allegories leave me fighting off sleep every time I've tried to watch them. I guess it all comes down to the particular film.

The problem with drunks in the Golden Age is that 90% of them are played for comic effect, and they're all so tiresomely predictable. I'd go with Charles Buttersworth as the least worst of the lot, and Frank McHugh the most pathetically unfunny, but the problem is more with the screenwriters than with the actors. What would have been interesting would have been to let some actor known for his acidic wit---George Sanders or Clifton Webb come to mind---be given a few belts and then play a dramatic scene or two unscripted. It might have made for some juicy outtakes of All About Eve or Laura .

Peter Falk as Abe (kid twist) Reles in `Murder Inc.`` I'd forgotten about Reles, as it's been years since I've seen that movie, but God, yes. Falk was perfectly cast for as bone chilling a character as you could imagine.

Andy, I agree that Hepburn did not do the lower/working classes, but I still prefer her to Stanwyck . No problem with preferences, since that's purely subjective, but I thought this was about versatility. One of the few times Kate ever tried "slumming" was in Spitfire , with a result that was so comically inept that it was beyond embarrassment. Don't get me wrong, she's in my top ten list of favorite actresses, but her limited ability to transcend her own privileged background in her film roles is something I can't easily ignore. Every memorable character she portrayed was either from old wealth or was a professional of some sort, whereas Stanwyck was comfortable playing women from every strata of society. When Stanwyck played poorer women, she still seemed to be Martha Ivers/Julia Treadway. And of course Leona Stevenson in Sorry Wrong Number was merely Martha or Leona in bed with a telephone. And, earlier on, in those great scenes with BS's pimping father in Baby Face, BS is Martha and Julia in a dump . Even granting these rather curious interpretations of those roles, what about her magnificent portrayals in So Big or Stella Dallas ? How do Martha Ivers or Leona Stevenson fit into them?

If they can't go back to before the first changes, at least go back to the 3 month schedule on tabs. I think that was the "change for the sake of change". I gave it a year and it still sucks, so give it up ... With the former monthly schedules, you could copy and paste the entire month as a Word document, delete the movies you didn't want to see, and within an hour you could create your personal month's schedule for easy reference. With the new format, thanks to the stupid and unnecessary live links on every actor's and director's name, links that play havoc with the font size and format when you copy the page onto Word, that same exercise now takes nearly half a day. It's the worst single thing that TCM has ever done, and it's an act of sheer sadism to continue it. And if by some remote chance this was all about encouraging people to subscribe to Now Playing , then at least give us subscribers to that fine magazine a code number that we can use to access the old version. This new version is simply torture for anyone who wants to be able to plan ahead. These new monthly schedules are the New Coke of TCM, even if the adminstrators apparently don't want to admit it.

Hepburn couldn't play working class women, or for that matter any women who weren't larger than (real) life. Russell couldn't do glamor and Crawford couldn't do comedy, and Davis couldn't do either. Lombard was mostly typecast to screwball. About the only type of role Stanwyck never tried was costume dramas, and AFAIC that's more to her credit than anything, as those movies as a group hold up about as well as a Prohibitionist platform. She was definitely wise to avoid them and stick to the real world in all of its many splendors.

Robinson, Laughton, and Beery could all have moonlighted as Hallowe'en house haunters and commanded a sizeable fee. Not that there haven't been scores of other leading men who were less than studly in manner or appearance, but in terms of men who consistently got top billing those three stand out above the crowd.

Robert Ryan in House of Bamboo is hard to top for a combination of cunning and viciousness. Pacino's the best of the modern lot. For sheer unadulterated thuggishness, unsullied by any sign of intelligence, Bogart in almost any of his early gangster roles like Bullets or Ballots or The Roaring Twenties can't be beat. If Lon Chaney hadn't shown a bit of humanity in the closing scene of The Penalty , he might've won my vote, as even with the ending his Blizzard character was every bit as memorable as Cody Jarrett. There's really a lot of greats to choose among. And if you count his innumerable comic gangster roles, Edward G. Robinson was certainly Hollywood's most versatile hood. But sometimes the most obvious choice is also the best one, and for King of Gangsters, there's really been only one James Cagney. From The Public Enemy to White Heat , he defined the gangster role for generations.

*Plainest woman who became a star?* My choice would be either Marjorie Main or Marie Dressler . Since Main was more of a character actress, Dressler would have to win that one. Every other actual star mentioned in this thread would rank in the upper 10% of attractiveness among women, at least when they were in their 20's. Sometimes the standards for female beauty are just a tad too high. But if you take it up to date, the biggest "plain looking" (not ugly at all) star of them all has got to be Meryll Streep. Terrific actress, but with all the sex appeal of a wet dishrag. She seemed middle age and dowdy right from the beginning.

Saying that Barbara Stanwyck was the most versatile actress from Hollywood's Golden Age is like saying that Babe Ruth was the leading home run hitter of the Prohibition era, that Secretariat was 1973's Horse of the Year, or that Robert Osborne is our favorite movie host. It's not just that it's true, it's that the second place actress is in Barry Goldwater or George McGovern territory.

The soonest that THE GODFATHER films will be available is January 1, 2020. AMC has the exclusive until then. Thanks for the information, clore, but---- *OUCH* *!* I now *really* wish I hadn't waited so long to invest in a DVD recorder. And God, do I hate AMC and everything it represents.

While I was channel surfing during a timeout in the Carolina game last night, I noticed that AMC was showing The Godfather in what looked to be in the context of a long series. Would this mean that TCM isn't likely to be getting it for the foreseeable future? Seems like the last time that TCM had the trilogy was at least 3 or 4 years ago, and it may have been even longer than that.

Victor Mature is one of those actors who can help make a great movie great by understanding his role and not trying to overplay it. Three examples of this would be I Wake Up Screaming , the aforementioned Kiss of Death , and Cry of the City . In each of these films, Mature plays the ostensible protagonist, but the memorable roles are those of Laird Cregar, Richard Widmark and Richard Conte. And yet without Mature's coolheaded, low key "everyman" presence to provide ballast to these overheated characters, all three of these terrific noirs would have spun off their axles.

Stanwyck fans will love the 29th, where it's all Babs for the first 14 hours. Four of these movies haven't been shown on TCM for several years at least, and the first four of the day are among her best roles ever: P.S. Sorry about the format, but I can't see how to make the type size uniform. h1. 6:00 AM h2. [so Big (1932)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/5796/So-Big/] A farmer's widow takes on the land and her late husband's tempestuous son. *Dir*: [William A. Wellman|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/204015%7C156757/William-A-Wellman/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [George Brent|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/21881%7C58299/George-Brent/] , [Dickie Moore|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/134650%7C38823/Dickie-Moore/] . BW-81 mins, TV-G, h1. 7:30 AM h2. [baby Face (1933)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/29/Baby-Face/] A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire. *Dir*: [Alfred E. Green|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/75776%7C10652/Alfred-E-Green/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [George Brent|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/21881%7C58299/George-Brent/] , [Donald Cook|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/38402%7C40046/Donald-Cook/] . BW-76 mins, TV-PG, CC, h1. 9:00 AM h2. [Ever In My Heart (1933)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1441/Ever-In-My-Heart/] During World War I, a woman suspects her husband of being a German spy. *Dir*: [Archie Mayo|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/125666%7C14992/Archie-Mayo/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Otto Kruger|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/105869%7C119853/Otto-Kruger/] , [Ralph Bellamy|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/13190%7C126927/Ralph-Bellamy/] . BW-68 mins, TV-PG, CC, h1. 10:15 AM h2. [Ladies They Talk About (1933)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2800/Ladies-They-Talk-About/] A lady bank robber becomes the cell block boss after she's sent to prison. *Dir*: [Howard Bretherton|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/21959%7C71190/Howard-Bretherton/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Preston S. Foster|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/64436%7C126059/Preston-S-Foster/] , [Lyle Talbot|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/188546%7C102763/Lyle-Talbot/] . BW-69 mins, TV-G, h1. 11:30 AM h2. [Annie Oakley (1935)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1313/Annie-Oakley/] The famed female sharpshooter learns that you can't get a man with a gun when she falls for a rival marksman. *Dir*: [George Stevens|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/184419%7C59479/George-Stevens/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Preston Foster|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/64436%7C126059/Preston-Foster/] , [Melvyn Douglas|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/52475%7C110898/Melvyn-Douglas/] . BW-91 mins, TV-G, CC, h1. 1:15 PM h2. [secret Bride, The (1935)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89403/Secret-Bride-The/] A district attorney secretly marries the daughter of a man he's trying to convict. *Dir*: [William Dieterle|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/50357%7C155462/William-Dieterle/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Warren William|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/206446%7C154129/Warren-William/] , [Glenda Farrell|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/59970%7C62291/Glenda-Farrell/] . BW-64 mins, TV-PG, h1. 2:30 PM h2. [Woman In Red, The (1935)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1307/Woman-In-Red-The/] A professional horsewoman fights prejudice when she marries into society. *Dir*: [Robert Florey|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/63223%7C131730/Robert-Florey/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Gene Raymond|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/158614%7C57733/Gene-Raymond/] , [Genevieve Tobin|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/192424%7C57884/Genevieve-Tobin/] . BW-68 mins, TV-PG, h1. 3:45 PM h2. A man helps his brother skip town, then steals his girlfriend. *Dir*: [W. S. Van Dyke|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/349773%7C152809/W-S-Van-Dyke/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Robert Taylor|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/1472132%7C132730/Robert-Taylor/] , [Jean Hersholt|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/85600%7C80357/Jean-Hersholt/] . BW-88 mins, TV-PG, h1. 5:15 PM h2. [bride Walks Out, The (1936)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2876/Bride-Walks-Out-The/] A model weds a struggling engineer then has her own struggles with domesticity. *Dir*: [Leigh Jason|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/94436%7C96881/Leigh-Jason/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Gene Raymond|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/158614%7C57733/Gene-Raymond/] , [Robert Young|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/1570727%7C132892/Robert-Young/] . BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC, h1. 6:45 PM h2. [breakfast for Two (1937)|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1865/Breakfast-for-Two/] A Texas heiress competes with a gold digger for the love of a playboy. *Dir*: [Alfred Santell|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/169824%7C10579/Alfred-Santell/] *Cast*: [barbara Stanwyck|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/183111%7C17875/Barbara-Stanwyck/] , [Herbert Marshall|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/123072%7C70055/Herbert-Marshall/] , [Glenda Farrell|http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/59970%7C62291/Glenda-Farrell/] . BW-68 mins, TV-G,

how is Lancaster's performance in Elmer Gantry better than his work in The Sweet Smell of Success, The Leopard, or Atlantic City? I'd say it's better than any of those because his preacher role is so expansive and entertaining. He's just the perfect con man. I could watch that TCM promo clip a hundred times and never get tired of it. Overall I'd rate it just below The Killers , but he didn't win an Oscar for that. But although I'm not a fan of Atlantic City in general (not a Sarandon fan in particular), Lancaster may have had his best line ever in it, when he looked out at the ocean and said *"The Atlantic Ocean was really something back then."* That line cracks me up every time I think of it.

THIEVES' HIGHWAY is a gritty truck-driver drama from the same writer as THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT. The sexual chemistry between Cortese's Ric©a and Richard Conte's character is palpably hot. Who knew a film about apple harvesting could be so taut. AFAIC Thieves' Highway is the best Hollywood noir never shown on TCM, and even the Fox Movie Channel hasn't shown it in nearly two years. It's not only the Conte-Cortese chemistry that makes it so great ( and she's just as good here as in The House on Telegraph Hill ), it's the masterful performance of Lee J. Cobb as the thuggish fruit mobster. Conte never made the top rank of leading men, but at his best he's always pitch-perfect for his usual everyman or everyhood or everytraitor roles. I only wish that most of his best movies weren't tied up with Fox.

TCM isn't too copy-and-paste friendly sometimes. I'll try again for the ones they cut out the titles: *[broderick Crawford|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broderick_Crawford|Broderick Crawford]* - All The King's Men *[Elizabeth Taylor|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Taylor|Elizabeth Taylor]* - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? *[Louise Fletcher|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Fletcher|Louise Fletcher]* - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest *[sissy Spacek|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissy_Spacek|Sissy Spacek]* - Coal Miner's Daughter

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Holden|William Holden*A few close calls.... *[Victor McLaglen|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_McLaglen|Victor McLaglen]* *[The Informer|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Informer_%281935_film%29|The Informer (1935 film)]* *[Fredric March|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredric_March|Fredric March]* *[The Best Years of Our Lives|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_Years_of_Our_Lives|The Best Years of Our Lives]* *[broderick Crawford|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broderick_Crawford|Broderick Crawford]* *[All the King's Men|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_King%27s_Men_%281949_film%29|All the King's Men (1949 film)]* *[William Holden|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Holden|William Holden]* *[stalag 17|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_17|Stalag 17]* *[Marlon Brando|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlon_Brando|Marlon Brando]* *[On the Waterfront|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Waterfront|On the Waterfront]* *[Ernest Borgnine|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Borgnine|Ernest Borgnine]* *[Marty|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_%28film%29|Marty (film)]* *[burt Lancaster|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Lancaster|Burt Lancaster]* *[Elmer Gantry|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Gantry_%28film%29|Elmer Gantry (film)]* *[Maximilian Schell|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Schell|Maximilian Schell]* *[Judgment at Nuremberg|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_at_Nuremberg|Judgment at Nuremberg]* *[Rex Harrison|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Harrison|Rex Harrison]* *[My Fair Lady|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Lady_%28film%29|My Fair Lady (film)]* *[Robert De Niro|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_De_Niro|Robert De Niro]* *[Raging Bull|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raging_Bull|Raging Bull]* *[Michael Douglas|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Douglas|Michael Douglas]* *[Wall Street|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_%281987_film%29|Wall Street (1987 film)]* *[Forest Whitaker|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Whitaker|Forest Whitaker]* *[The Last King of Scotland|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_King_of_Scotland_%28film%29|The Last King of Scotland (film)]* *[Daniel Day-Lewis|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Day-Lewis|Daniel Day-Lewis]* *[There Will Be Blood|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Be_Blood|There Will Be Blood]* *[Janet Gaynor|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Gaynor|Janet Gaynor]* *[sunrise|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise_%28film%29|Sunrise (film)]* *[Vivien Leigh|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Leigh|Vivien Leigh]* *[Gone with the Wind|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind_%28film%29|Gone with the Wind (film)]* *[Ginger Rogers|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Rogers|Ginger Rogers]* *[Kitty Foyle|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Foyle_%28film%29|Kitty Foyle (film)]* *[Joan Crawford|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Crawford|Joan Crawford]* *[Mildred Pierce|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Pierce_%28film%29|Mildred Pierce (film)]* *[Judy Holliday|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Holliday|Judy Holliday]* *[born Yesterday|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Yesterday_%281950_film%29|Born Yesterday (1950 film)]* *[Joanne Woodward|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanne_Woodward|Joanne Woodward]* *[The Three Faces of Eve|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Faces_of_Eve|The Three Faces of Eve]* *[susan Hayward|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Hayward|Susan Hayward]* *[i Want to Live!|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_to_Live%21|I Want to Live!]* *[sophia Loren|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Loren|Sophia Loren]* *[Two Women|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Women|Two Women]* *[Julie Christie|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Christie|Julie Christie]* *[Darling|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darling_%281965_film%29|Darling (1965 film)]* *[Elizabeth Taylor|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Taylor|Elizabeth Taylor]* ** *[Liza Minnelli|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liza_Minnelli|Liza Minnelli]* *[Cabaret|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabaret_%28film%29|Cabaret (film)]* *[Louise Fletcher|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Fletcher|Louise Fletcher]* ** *[Faye Dunaway|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faye_Dunaway|Faye Dunaway]* *[Network|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_%28film%29|Network (film)]* *[Diane Keaton|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Keaton|Diane Keaton]* *[Annie Hall|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Hall|Annie Hall]* *[sally Field|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Field|Sally Field]* *[Norma Rae|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_Rae|Norma Rae]* *[sissy Spacek|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissy_Spacek|Sissy Spacek]* ** *[Emma Thompson|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Thompson|Emma Thompson]* *[Howards End|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howards_End_%28film%29|Howards End (film)]* *[Julia Roberts|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Roberts|Julia Roberts]* *[Erin Brockovich|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich_%28film%29|Erin Brockovich (film)]* *[Hilary Swank|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Swank|Hilary Swank]* *[Million Dollar Baby|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Baby|Million Dollar Baby]* *[Meryl Streep|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meryl_Streep|Meryl Streep]* *[The Iron Lady|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Lady_%28film%29|The Iron Lady (film)]*

Garfield always plays to pretty much the same character type, with "good" and "bad" variants, which somewhat limits him in terms of roles. But if the role fits the type, he can be very good. I'd take these four for my boxed set: Force of Evil (IMO this is his best film) Body and Soul** The Postman Always Rings Twice He Ran All The Way **Definitely overdue for a TCM screening

I generally enjoy Ms. Young most in pre-codes. She's less likely to be too cloying. Oh yeah - and she was ethereally gorgeous in the early 30s. Next to Stanwyck and Crawford and Harlow, Loretta Young's my favorite of all the prolific pre-code actresses, but once Pope Breen laid down the law, all the sparkle and force was taken out of her performances. Others were able to adapt to the changing reality, and became legends. Loretta Young kept her drop-dead looks, but unfortunately that was about it. Once you get past 1934, there are no more than a tiny handful of her movies even worth watching.

There's an interesting followup to The Phenix City Story . The protagonist / hero (John Patterson) later famously "out-segged" George Wallace in Alabama's 1958 Democratic gubernatorial primary, and was the governor during the freedom rides when buses were burned, people were beaten into a bloody pulp, and (white) mobs ran wild, and he did nothing to prevent it. To put it mildly, the heroism that he displayed in fighting crime in Phenix City didn't carry over into his administration as governor. He's now 90 years old and somewhat repentant in hindsight, but he's still totally clueless about the moral issues that were involved during the period.

I do think there are a lot of other threads where posters express frustration with the TCM repeats. But we have to remember all the great premieres they bring to us throughout the year. Screening THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE on TCM last September has been the high point for me (and I'm sure it has been for others, too) . That was one of the highlights for sure, but the SUTS day devoted to Jean Gabin may wind up getting TCM a place in my will. Like many others here, I often complain about the repetitions, especially in the cotton candy and overly "wholesome" genres that I'm not too fond of, but it should almost go without saying that these comments are strictly "within the family", and if any fan of HBO or Encore tried to diss my favorite network, I'd give them the full Jersey treatment in the blink of an eye.