AndyM108

Totally agree about Body and Soul. I've never thought all that much of Garfield---too much playing to an easy type* IMO---but that one and Force of Evil are a bit above the rest. The Postman Always Rings Twice would be a third exception, if not for that impossibly idiotic (and probably Breen-mandated) final scene. *Either the virtuous proletarian or the ruthless proletarian hood, in neither of which he's exactly subtle.

Don't forget Hard Contract, a 1969 film that only shows up on the Fox Movie Channel. It's a memorable late career performance, where he plays a retired hit man who's been marked for a hit himself by his former employer. I can't find any stills of him in this role, but he doesn't look too unlike an older and even more grizzled version of this:

Let me guess: Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple, Esther Williams and Bing Crosby.

Obviously you're not a fan of noir, because otherwise this comment makes no sense whatever. Did you even watch the first six films of his that they showed last week----The Killing, The Asphalt Jungle, Crime Wave, Suddenly, Crime of Passion, and Five Steps to Danger?

"Randy Ayny". Hmmmm. While I guess that might describe Ayn Rand's proclivity to seduce her underaged groupies, when you consider how her political leanings are pretty much indistinguishable from those of Daddy Warbucks, I think "Little Orphan Aynie" may be the most appropriate moniker. "That's Alan Greenspan in the middle. Isn't he cute?"

Surely that doesn't account for the endless hours that this book would put any sentient human being into a deep, deep sleep, at least without a big jar of amphetamines sitting by one's reading table.

I may be one of the few people around here who likes Joan Crawford in all her various incarnations and genres, all the way from The Unknown to Strait-Jacket and all points in between. It's probably because I don't remember her ever descending into those godawful biopics or costume dramas that actresses like Davis and Hepburn often found so compelling. I like the fact that she stuck with movies set in her own time. It may have been a very smart decision.

I guess that just goes to show the subjectivity of the topic. I'm not particularly fond of Angel on My Shoulder, and movies set in the 19th century leave me cold, but the only reason I wouldn't have mentioned Sudden Fear or Act Of Violence is because they seem so well known by now that they fall out of eligibility. I know that Sudden Fear is one of the 10 Most Wanted Movies around here, and for very good reason since it's one of Crawford's finest, but it's available on DVD, every Crawford fan I know raves about it, and it has a big time reputation among critics. And Act of Violence is one of the more critically acclaimed movies of the late 40's. "Underrated" is not a word I'd use to describe it, not to mention the fact that it shows up on TCM on a steady basis.

Interesting, though since I've recorded both of those films at least twice each (disk failure paranoia), I haven't paid much attention to FMC for the past few years, as their noir and pre-code premieres are nonexistent. What I really wish they'd bring back is Thieves' Highway, one of the best noirs ever. That used to play a lot on the FMC before I got my DVD recorder, but as soon as I recorded it once it's since disappeared from view completely. And this was a good five years ago.

Just out of curiosity, which of the others have you seen? Of those you have, which movies by the same actor / actress would you recommend above them?

I've seen Night and the City several times on the Fox Movie Channel, along with the Widmark / Monroe / Bancroft Don't Bother To Knock, though not since they reduced their classic, non-commercial programming to just 12 hours a day. They may have just dropped it from their programming altogether.

I don't disagree with any of that. And to combine it with what Top Billed wrote, a lot of what goes into our ideas of what critics find "underrated" simply has to do with a film's relative invisibility, If a film gets buried in the non-prime time hours of TCM, it would take a certain amount of research to determine exactly what its contemporary critics were writing about it. To be honest, for many of the movies on my list, the only critical opinion I'm aware of is Leonard Maltin's, and by this time I've learned by experience to have little regard for any of those reviews of his.

I can only speak for myself, but my own particular laundry list was made up of titles that may or may not be "underrated" by critics who know them, but are generally not considered central to the actor's resume. I infer this from the fact that these are mostly movies that seldom show up either in mainstream discussions of the actor's career, or even during TCM's prime time viewing hours. To the extent that they're known by the public at large, it's mostly due to exposure in repertory film festivals, but you have to live in a few select cities or college towns to have repeated access to those. As for the "whys" of their relative neglect, there could be several different reasons. Some might survive only in very poor print quality versions (Beggars of Life). Some might have only surfaced fairly recently and don't have decades of familiarity (A Lady of Chance). Some are buried due to policies by Fox (House of Bamboo; I Can Get It For You Wholesale). Some came early in an actor's career, with no other bankable "big name" stars, and lack the "big picture" feel that attracts mainstream audiences (The Search). Some may seem dated due to their subject matter (Symphony of Six Million). Some may feature an actor or actress in later career movies that don't reinforce his or her iconic screen persona (The Swimmer; The Money Trap). Some may be neglected simply because there can be only so many black & white film "winners" that survive the modern viewing public's near-obsession with anything but widescreen color films (Time Limit; Roughly Speaking). This "winner take all" mentality also dovetails with something even more mundane: The overwhelming amount of entertainment choices afforded to the modern consumer, along with the limited amount of hours in the day in which to enjoy them. So when the average (non-obsessed) movie lover allocates a few hours a week to watch a "classic" movie, he or she is more than likely to opt for the tried and familiar: Casablanca; Adam's Rib; The Wizard of Oz; the AFI's top 100; etc. It's the same reason that fast food and comfort food restaurants do such a booming business. And it applies to actors as well as to individual movies: Why is the enormously talented (and ruggedly handsome) Robert Ryan virtually unknown to those outside the TCM and hardcore movie buff category, while Robert Mitchum is still a familiar name? You might ask the same questions about Ida Lupino and Joan Crawford. That's not a knock on Mitchum or Crawford, only an acknowledgement that that our brains often have only the capacity to retain so much information about subjects that aren't central to our current lives. Especially when the information concerns people or events "before my time". I can only cite my own example here. When I was working full time, my exposure to "classic" movies took two forms: The AFI and TCM prime time selections. The AFI began pricing itself out of consideration sometime in the 90's, and anyway, most of their films were for one viewing only. And we all know that with TCM, their 8:00 PM selection is nearly always the most whitebread and least eclectic of their viewing day. Result: Until I stopped working full time and began to really become a classic movie fanatic, there wasn't a single film on my "laundry list" that I'd ever seen before. And let me tell you this: When it comes to appreciating movies in all their glorious history, there's a lot to be said for not having to work all day.

But no mother-son relationship in the movies was ever quite as heartwarming as this one: Ma, did you remember to send my check to the March of Dimes drive?

Oops, of course you're right. It's definitely The Big Clock I was thinking of. Although The Clock is a sweet little film, it's much better known outside TCM circles. When I was an AFI regular in the 70's, I can't remember ever seeing the Laughton movie, but The Clock was a staple of their repertory programming.

Don't get me started. But limiting it to some of my all-time favorites that have generally slipped under the radar, at least outside the off-hours of TCM.... Wallace Beery: Beggars of Life Humphrey Bogart: Dead Reckoning (also Lizabeth Scott's) James Cagney: These Wilder Years Lon Chaney: The Penalty Montgomery Clift: The Search Claudette Colbert: Three Came Home Ricardo Cortez: Symphony of Six Million Joseph Cotten: A Blueprint For Murder Joan Crawford: Strait-Jacket Bette Davis: Fog Over Frisco Kirk Douglas: Town Without Pity Glenda Farrell: Girl Missing Glenn Ford: Framed Clark Gable: The Hucksters Judy Garland: I Could Go On Singing Gloria Grahame: The Glass Wall Sterling Hayden: Hard Contract Susan Hayward: I Can Get It For You Wholesale Rita Hayworth: The Money Trap Miriam Hopkins: The Story of Temple Drake Walter Huston: Night Court Burt Lancaster: The Swimmer Charles Laughton: The Clock Janet Leigh: The Naked Spur Myrna Loy: Penthouse Ida Lupino: Road House Fred MacMurray: Pushover Ray Milland: Hostile Witness Paul Muni: Hi, Nellie! Kim Novak: The Middle of the Night Al Pacino: The Panic in Needle Park Vincent Price: The Baron of Arizona George Raft: Red Light Edward G. Robinson: All My Sons Rosalind Russell: Roughly Speaking Robert Ryan: House of Bamboo George Sanders: The Whole Truth Lizabeth Scott: Dead Reckoning (also Humphrey Bogart's) Zachary Scott: Whiplash Norma Shearer: A Lady of Chance Ann Sheridan: Nora Prentiss Anne Shirley: Boy Slaves Barbara Stanwyck: So Big Robert Taylor: The Power and the Prize Spencer Tracy: They Gave Him a Gun Lana Turner: Homecoming Orson Welles: Trent's Last Case Richard Widmark: Time Limit Loretta Young: Zoo in Budapest Robert Young: They Won't Believe Me The beauty of these films for me is that I'd never even heard of about 80% of them before being hooked on TCM. I think about this every time I feel like complaining about their schedule.

Just in case you ever mix them up again...... Have I done anything to hurt you? I wouldn't want to hurt you. But I might, you know. Don't bone me!

I'm 99% sure The Killing hasn't been shown since late in 2009, which is when I began recording seriously, both day and night and anytime else. OTOH a year or two ago a fellow Forum member sent me a copy that he'd recorded sometime before that, so Wednesday night's showing was clearly not a premiere.

Of course Kubrick knew the impact of [..]. There wasn't a single sentient being in America in 1956 who didn't know that. The only difference was between those who reveled in its use and those who were disgusted by it. Hearing [..] in The Killing was still a bit jarring, but only because so few movies of that period ever used it. In everyday life, especially among the white criminal element that Nikki represented, the word was as ordinary as breathing. It wasn't absolutely necessary to put the scene across, but it did make it even more realistic. One caveat, though: There were also plenty of blacks back then who saw [..] as a fighting word, and there's no guarantee that Nikki's use of it in real life wouldn't have triggered a fight that would have derailed the horse killing before it happened. But obviously for the plot to continue, the parking lot attendant had to back off.

Jason Alexander as Billy Hoyle in White Men Can't Jump.

Mel Gibson in blackface, playing the title role in Malcolm X.

My favorite line in that entire movie is when Don Costello leaves the money in Alan Ladd's pocket after knocking him senseless, and when his partner asks him why, Costello replies "There's ethics in this profession, just like any other." "I may be a thug, but I'm a thug with class and character."

misswonderlytoo, on 06 May 2015 - 9:47 PM, said: Why, oh why, did Sterling aka Johnny Clay - ( note the apt last name) - buy that crummy old used suitcase? If only he'd taken just a little time to buy a really good one - or better yet, two medium size dufflebags (one for himself, one for Fay) - all would have gone ok, they could have boarded the plane with their money-filled backpacks/ duffles and soared off to Boston. I guess it was because Hayden didn't want to be seen with a suitcase until the last minute, and when he went to the luggage shop all the good suitcases were too small. And of course having that ratty suitcase set up the sublime ending. In the early 70's my GF and I had an experience that was eerily similar to that suitcase disaster. We had just arrived late at night back in Washington with a 15 year old canvas zippered suitcase that was filled with about $5000 worth of small bills we'd accumulated showing 16mm prints of old TV shows (The Lone Ranger, Amos 'n' Andy, etc.) on college campuses in North Carolina. It was cold and windy and our car broke down about 3 blocks from our house, and we had both of our arms full. Yadda yadda yadda I dropped the suitcase and the bills started flying out. It was funny in retrospect, but it wouldn't have been funny if the block hadn't been deserted at the time, and the money hadn't been bundled with thick rubber bands, especially given that Washington's upper 14th Street in 1972 wasn't the upper 14th Street of 2015. We were used to carrying big wads of cash around in those days, but we usually didn't flash it for the entertainment of spectators. The most upsetting scene in the film is the one where Nikki curses the young black parking lot attendent. Maybe this is why he (Nikki) gets killed, if he'd been calmer and respectful, he might not have drawn attention to himself (ok, firing off a rifle is pretty attention-getting.) When he calls the nice young guy the "n" word, it's jarring, even for back then. It certainly was, but then it sure certified Tim Carey as one of those unforgettable characters who spice up any good heist movie. When I was thinking of the three actors whose names to write on my DVD, he was right there after Hayden and Windsor.

I would have sworn that Nine to Five has turned up on one of those Jane Fonda mini-tributes, but if it did I must not have recorded it.

One of my all time favorite Hayden roles is in Hard Contract from 1969, where he plays a retired hit man who in turn is being stalked by James Coburn, on instructions from the CIA's Burgess Meredith. It also features Lee Remick, Karen Black, and the most drop dead gorgeous 55 year old I've ever seen, the fabulous Lilli Palmer. It's too bad that this is Fox movie, and that so far I've only been able to watch it on the FMC.