AndyM108

Yeah, Bendix is fine in those I suppose, but for MY money ya STILL can't beat Frank Faylen and Douglas Fowley when it comes to drivin' cabs! I'd go with Harold Lloyd in Speedy, while driving him from downtown to Yankee Stadium. After the ride was over, the Babe turns to Lloyd and says "If I ever want to commit suicide I'll call you". And then there's the classic scene in The Great McGinty, where Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamaroff are brawling in the back seat with no holds barred while Frank Moran just keeps up this totally nonsensical monologue in the front seat, totally oblivious to the mayhem that's going on behind him. Of course since he's technically a chauffeur rather than a cab driver, this may not qualify as an entry.

(...and so after readin' your thoughts about Messrs Newman and Cruise lack of prowess with a cue stick, I can JUST imagine what you might think of Tony Perkins' on-field performance as Jimmy Piersall in ANOTHER sports related film!!!) LOL In truth the only non-comedy baseball movies I've been able to stomach are Eight Men Out and 42, and for the same reason. I also played baseball up through college, and watching the likes of Anthony Perkins, Gary Cooper, Ronald Reagan, and Robert DeNiro try to impersonate ballplayers is simply cringeworthy. It's as if they'd never picked up a baseball in their lives before they got on the movie set, and watching them in all their gaucherie is a bit like it would have been if Spencer Tracy's first move on Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year had been to skip the preliminaries and immediately start feeling her up. And yeah, I know that this sounds waaaayyy too picky, but sometimes when a movie gets the "little" things wrong it kind of creeps into the rest of the film.

The only Newman movies I really love are The Young Philadelphians, The Sting, and my favorite, Absence of Malice, but he always gave us his best shot and he's certainly among the top actors of his generation. The only performance of his I find overrated is his Fast Eddie character in The Hustler, but that's largely because in that movie he handled a cue stick like someone who'd never picked up a cue before in his life, not because of his portrayal of Fast Eddie's character. (And OTOH compared to Tom Cruise's pathetic cue artistry in The Color of Money, Newman looked like Efren Reyes by comparison, so I guess it's all relative.)

I hated it and do like to watch people fight even your own friends there is nothing worse than being out with a couple who should have parted ways misery loves company So does this mean you're not a fan of The War of The Roses?

Oh, and Rosalind Russell. I'd add her in ANYWHERE. Well, if I weren't happily married and Rosalind Russell wasn't dead, I'd run away with her to some long lost balcony in an abandoned Manhattan movie palace. If ever I think of the perfect woman in a single movie, I think of Rosalind Russell in Roughly Speaking, where she's the absolute embodiment of human solidarity.

I don't know if SUTS ever includes a day of a particular director's films, if so, I would perhaps sub out some people and sub in some directors, like: Alfred Hitchcock Michael Curtiz Howard Hawkes John Huston William Wyler Billy Wilder Orson Welles Frank Capra Fritz Lang George Cukor Preston Sturges Joseph L. Mankiewicz Vincente Minnelli I thought about that myself, though since I usually don't classify movies by directors, it'd be a harder list to make. That said, I'd definitely like to see days devoted to these thirteen directors, at minimum: Vittorio De Sica Howard Hawkes Alfred Hitchcock Akiro Kurosawa Fritz Lang Oscar Micheaux Yasujirō Ozu G. W. Pabst Eric Rohmer Roberto Rossellini Martin Scorsese Francois Truffaut Billy Wilder And probably some more, if only I knew which films some of these others directed. When I think of Hollywood movies, I think of the lead actors first, not the directors.

In no particular order, these are the first 31 stars whose names would pop into my head if this were the first SUTS month ever. IOW starting from scratch, in alphabetical order: 1. Edward Arnold 2. Lon Chaney 3. Ricardo Cortez 4. Joan Crawford 5. Bette Davis 6. Judy Davis 7. Alain Delon 8. Robert DeNiro 9. Richard Dix 10. Kirk Douglas (but no Bible epics) 11. Glenn Ford 12. Jean Gabin 13. Jean Harlow 14. Susan Hayward 15. Burt Lancaster 16. Laurel & Hardy 17. Ida Lupino 18. Toshiro Mifune 19. Robert Mitchum 20. Jeanne Moreau 21. Al Pacino 22. William Powell & Myrna Loy together 23. Edward G. Robinson 24. Rosalind Russell 25. Robert Ryan 26. George Sanders 27. Lizabeth Scott 28. Barbara Stanwyck 29. Lana Turner 30. Richard Widmark 31. Warren William Biggest feature: Lots and lots and lots of premieres, and the appearance of several stars who seldom get a lot of TCM play during the rest of the year. As always, the great majority of the stars peaked in their careers between the 1930's and 1950's, keeping with the main focus of the network. The main change from the usual SUTS lineup would be the inclusion of five foreign stars (Judy Davis, Delon, Gabin, Mifune, Moreau) instead of the usual one, but since these five are universally acknowledged to be among the greatest actors of all time, there shouldn't be too much room for complaint. Of course in order to pay for all the necessary rights and licensing, we'd have to tax the upper 1% an extra .01% off the top, but for such a good cause I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

Speaking of premieres, both the Now Playing guide and the TCM Imports Schedule page for July shows Love and the Frenchwoman as the second Import movie of the month, and Now Playing lists it as a premiere that's to be shown overnight on the 13th. And yet on the online daily schedule page for next Sunday, it shows Throne of Blood in the 2:00 AM Import slot. Throne of Blood is a terrific Kurosawa adaptation of MacBeth, but it's one that's been shown several times before. Does anyone have any idea what's going on with this? I'm assuming it's just a schedule change, but Love and the Frenchwoman is still listed on the online Imports schedule.

Yeah! Just who does tcm think their customer base is? The Cannes judging committee? Well, if you go by the the actual number of films TCM shows in the respective genres, the actual customer base appears to consist of World War II veterans, aging cowboys, and singing tap dancers. In many weeks you can count the number of foreign movies on one hand.

TheCid said: 24 hours dedicated to one star (or actor) is really too much. TCM needs to offer variety every day. There are some actors that I just do not care for and SUTS blocks a whole day of TCM for me-maybe even several days. Really? You simply cannot DO SOMETHING ELSE for a day (or two) if there's nothing interesting to you on TV? Doesn't TCM show "variety" all the rest of the time? Not only that, but except for a relatively small number of one note actors who seldom get SUTS days to begin with, there's usually a fair amount of "variety" within each 24 hour tribute. All TheCid is complaining about is that on some of those days the featured actor/actress is someone he either doesn't like or doesn't get, very likely the latter. And you're not the only viewer....there are millions of other people who fully enjoy the programming-let them have their fun. Exactly. In any given SUTS year, there are at most 3 or 4 days I really get fired up about*, another dozen or so that are filled with movies I like but have seen plenty of times already, and the rest of days feature actors who star mainly in genres I don't like (Westerns, musicals, costume dramas, "family" movies, etc.). But guess what? On those days, there are a zillion other things to do. Seriously, the sense of entitlement on the part of some people here is simply amazing. *This year it's Jeanne Moreau, Lee Tracy and Edmond O' Brien. There are many other great choices, but almost no films within those days that are "new" to me.

WINGS is a really good movie. Don't believe the negative Leonard Maltin review included on the movie's TCM entry. You can safely apply that sentiment to just about any movie that Leonard Maltin reviews. Any correlation between the number of stars he awards and the actual quality of the film in question is purely coincidental. WINGS, which is indeed a terrific movie, is but one of many hundreds of examples of that.

In my opinion, Elizabeth Taylor's absolute best performance. As was Richard Burton's. She won a Best Actress Oscar. He should have won the Best Actor Oscar. Of all of their film collaborations together, this is their very best. Totally agree on all counts. This was as raw and intense a film you're likely to see where the actual body count was zero. It's about as "Essential" a film as you can get.

BTW, wish Now Playing would state when film is in a foreign language. For some reason, programmers have become fascinated with French and Japanese films lately-and some German. Never know until you watch it that it is in French with subtitles. Would probably record more of them if knew they were in English. Jeanne Moreau is on for 24 hours, August 8th. The Yellow Rolls-Royce and The Great Catherine are in English, the others are in French. If you're ever in doubt, check the IMDB and it'll tell you. As for subtitles or dubbing, you'll be wise to assume that almost every foreign language film TCM shows will be subtitled, including all the ones coming up in August for Jeanne Moreau.

I agree it would be nice if there were some sort of a notation about subtitles vs dubbing, but given that about 95% of the foreign films shown on TCM are (thank God) subtitled, I'd think that most people would assume subtitling, especially if the director and the cast are foreign. As for Jeanne Moreau's movies on August 8th: I'm pretty sure that since the two below were American or British made, they would therefore be in English, but all of the others are in French, with subtitles, so brace yourself. They were all art house favorites in the U.S. at the time of their release, and in those theaters subtitled versions are almost always the rule. 2:00 PM Yellow Rolls-Royce, The (1964) A classic car changes the lives of three sets of owners. Dir: Anthony Asquith Cast: Rex Harrison , Jeanne Moreau , Edmund Purdom . C-123 mins, CC, Letterbox Format 6:00 PM Great Catherine (1968) The legendary Russian ruler falls hard for a military man in love with someone else. Dir: Gordon Flemyng Cast: Peter O'Toole , Zero Mostel , Jeanne Moreau . C-98 mins,

They may not officially subscribe to the Nielsens, but the Nielsens are still recording data on their viewership. Earlier this year I was selected as a Nielsen household. I called the number provided and told them more than half the hours I watch TV include watching TCM. I said, if it doesn't count, should I not write it down-- and I was told to write it down. So somewhere, they have all kinds of data about folks like me who are watching TCM, or watching the rival stations that broadcast classic movies. But what if you hadn't volunteered that info about your TCM viewing? If only half the TCM viewers who get chosen for the survey mention it, that likely means that TCM's viewship will be undercounted by the same percentage. Which is why I suspect TCM doesn't rely on data like that, since it's imperfect at best.

Criterion often has movies that you can't find anywhere else, especially in the category of foreign films. OTOH a very high percentage of their selections of U.S. titles have played multiple times on TCM, so unless the bonus features mean a lot to you, you're better off just recording those movies and saving your money for the titles that TCM doesn't get. The best deal I've gotten from Criterion was the five disk set of Nikkatsu Noir: I Am Waiting; Rusty Knife; Take Aim at the Police Van; Cruel Gun Story; and A Colt Is My Passport. At $34.98 during the B&N half price sale, at less than $7.00 each it's an absolute steal. If any of these five films have shown up on TCM, I sure haven't noticed it.

I will however say, I think their two biggest problems are the unnecessary guest programmers who more often than not pick stuff that has been shown to death; and their weekend programming- which is often filled with the same titles; and some mediocre ones at that. I'd agree about the guest programmers, although I kind of write them off as part of TCM's ongoing effort to have a wide variety of people in the "industry" feel as if they've got some skin in TCM's game. For the most part they don't seem to have much imagination in their selections, but that may be only a reflection of the fact that many of us TCM junkies have hit our saturation point with just about every "essential" movie, and what might have seemed like a great choice many years ago just seems once too often by this time. If one was only able to watch TCM on Saturday and Sunday, I would understand being frustrated, but there has been an improvement in their weekly airings. OTOH the Saturday and Sunday overnight movies are consistently among the more unusual and interesting titles on any given month's schedule. I'm talking specifically about the Underground, Silent, and Foreign films that don't show up all that often during normal East Coast waking hours, but give those of us with recorders plenty of incentive to stay alert in our programming.

I'd cite The Long Haul as one prime example out of many hundreds in support of the point that you can't fully appreciate TCM unless you go over the upcoming schedules with a fine tooth comb, and zero in on the titles you're not familiar with. At least when it comes to previously unknown noirs, silents, and foreign films, for me the "success" rate in following that strategy is close to 90%.

The Long Haul is probably Mature's best role, but he's also very good in I Wake Up Screaming, Kiss of Death and Cry of the City. Like many actors, he was for the most part about as good as his material allowed him to be, and in these four noirs in particular he was perfectly suited for the parts.

Actually these are five different films. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

(Reposted from General Discussions Forum) I'm not quite sure how to describe this trivia exercise, except to say that the secret is to "answer" the question without really answering it. The point is to keep it going as long as possible without naming the film. Does that even make sense? Maybe not, but I'll give an example: Begin with: "This is Mrs. Norman Maine" Okay, we all know that this is from A Star Is Born, but instead of just giving the title, which anyone could do, you might reply with "Pocatello, Idaho" or "Jack Carson KO's James Mason" or "The night is bitter, the stars have lost their glitter" or any other line or memorable moment you can think of that immediately makes you think of the same movie. And then you pass it on to the next person, and see how long we can extend it and still come up with a familiar reference point. It's more of a community exercise than a competition. Of course "familiar" is subjective, but try not to make it too obscure. The idea is to keep it going. Yes, I know I should get a life, but what the hell, here are five starters, all of which should be easily recognizable for anyone who's seen these "Essentials" from 1933 through 1946: 1. "Must've been tough on your mother, not having any children!" 2. "That's arson!" 3. "Do come again, Mrs. PROWLER" 4. "Do your duty, McPherson!" 5. "Bright boy" Just remember NOT to name the movie.

Good suggestion, Dargo, I wasn't aware of that sub-forum. I'll re-post it there. btw, my offering would be, "Don't ask a dying man to lie his soul into Hell." To which I might reply, "KITTY IS INNOCENT! KITTY IS INNOCENT!!"

I'm not quite sure how to describe this trivia exercise, except to say that the secret is to "answer" the question without really answering it. The point is to keep it going as long as possible without naming the film. Does that even make sense? Maybe not, but I'll give an example: Begin with: "This is Mrs. Norman Maine" Okay, we all know that this is from A Star Is Born, but instead of just giving the title, which anyone could do, you might reply with "Pocatello, Idaho" or "Jack Carson KO's James Mason" or "The night is bitter, the stars have lost their glitter" or any other line or memorable moment you can think of that immediately makes you think of the same movie. And then you pass it on to the next person, and see how long we can extend it and still come up with a familiar reference point. It's more of a community exercise than a competition. Of course "familiar" is subjective, but try not to make it too obscure. The idea is to keep it going. Yes, I know I should get a life, but what the hell, here are five starters, all of which should be easily recognizable for anyone who's seen these "Essentials" from 1933 through 1946: 1. "Must've been tough on your mother, not having any children!" 2. "That's arson!" 3. "Do come again, Mrs. PROWLER" 4. "Do your duty, McPherson!" 5. "Bright boy" Just remember NOT to name the movie.

TopBilled, on 02 Jul 2014 - 9:00 PM, said: Cannot believe you mentioned Give Me Your Heart, TB. I love this movie even with all of its uber melodrama. Love that scene with Kay and Frieda Inescort (kills me every time) and I also love Roland Young in this film. Melodrama, yes but memorable film, yes, yes! Lydecker Well, with two recommendations as strong as that, I've just dug out the DVD of that movie that I recorded in 2012 but hadn't yet gotten around to watching. It was on the same SUTS day that I'd recorded Doctor Monica and Mary Stevens, MD, and I must have gotten caught up in those.

Very true, however the thing about Kay, at least for me, is that when she's on screen my eye goes to her and no one else. Just like the great actresses you've mentioned. Isn't that what they describe as star quality? No question that Francis had star quality in spades. I only wish she'd been given better material. Her true "A" level movies are few and far between. IMO it's one of the main reasons (other than longevity) that she's remembered today only by a relative handful of early sound era film buffs. There's another film COMET OVER BROADWAY, granted a soap opera type film, but her "sincerity" and emotion in this performance is so good. Another one is KING OF THE UNDERWORLD, the Bogie film. She's terrific in that one. Strong,determined and smart. I mentioned her sincerity earlier, and Comet Over Broadway is a prime example of that*, although I prefer an earlier movie (I Found Stella Parrish) she also starred in with Sybil Jason (again as her daughter) as a better variant of what essentially is the same story. *That closing scene where Sybil finally calls her "Mommy" is a real tearjerker, and Francis once again shows us how to distinguish "real" sincerity from the going-through-the-motions "sincerity" that's a staple of so many movies both then and now.