AndyM108
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Posts posted by AndyM108
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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.
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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,
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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%.
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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.
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Actually these are five different films. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
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(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.
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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!!"
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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.
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TopBilled, on 02 Jul 2014 - 9:00 PM, said:
I would agree. I think this is the reason I like GIVE ME YOUR HEART so much. The scene with Frieda Inescort where she looks at the baby picture of the child she gave up is truly spectacular. The emotion floods into her eyes, and you cannot help but feel what she is feeling. She does this in so many of her dramatic roles. That is what makes watching a Kay Francis film so satisfying-- because you know it's going to be a very conscious, thought out and sincere performance.
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.
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where her chief attributes are her beauty and her ability to evoke sincerity. She's not even remotely on the same page as the truly great actresses of her era such as Stanwyck, Davis, Crawford, Harlow, Loy, Arthur, Colbert, etc.
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.
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Jeez, I've never really noticed that Kay Francis had a lisp, and I've certainly never caught myself thinking about George Brent's rear end.
OTOH I did notice that Phyllis Dietrichson's hair was suspiciously light colored, so it's not as if all subtle touches in movies escape my eagle eyes and ears. I'm not even 100% certain that that was really Audrey belting out all those tunes in My Fair Lady, but that's probably just excessive cynicism on my part.
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I saw the re-release of Disney's "The Aristocats" in 1987 when I was 3.
I suppose that "The Aristocats" was a bit more suitable for a 3 year old than "The Aristocrats", though I don't think that Uncle Walt had much to do with that one.
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Well Andy, at least you didn't make the same mistake I once did on a first date back in the day.
In efforts to show "how sophisticated" I was, I took a girl I had had a major crush on all through high school and when I finally screwed up enough courage to ask her out in our senior year, to so see that most "uplifting" saga of marathon dancing, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?".
Which ironically is nearly the only Jane Fonda movie I can bear to watch, other than Walk on the Wild Side and maybe Klute.
But that said, I doubt I would've chosen They Shoot Horses, Don't They? for my first date. By the time that movie came around, my then-GF and I were well past the stage of needing movies to act as an aphrodisiac. We both just thought it was a terrific movie, beginning with one of the best soundtrack themes ever.
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I just realized this thread could just be a way to find out how old we are!
It wasn't my first movie, but I took my first date in 9th grade to see the first run screening of Auntie Mame.
The second date wasn't quite as sophisticated, though: I took her to see The Blob.
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I have liked all of the films of hers that I have seen. But my favorite is Trouble in Paradise.
I'd venture to opine that Trouble in Paradise is one of the most unanimously appreciated films in the entire TCM repertory. The screwball fans love it, the pre-code fans love it, the fans of the three leading actors love it----and please note that it couldn't have been made under the Breen code. It's also one of those movies that just gets better and better no matter how many times you watch it.
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Favorite Kay Francis movies? While she's so drop-dead gorgeous I find myself compelled to watch every one I can, the only ones that come to mind as being much above average are Trouble in Paradise, Jewel Robbery, One Way Passage, and The House on 56th Street. And only in the last of those is she really the main character in terms of charisma, though in Trouble in Paradise she's terrific in her (slightly) secondary role.
Not that there aren't many others that I enjoy, but they're almost all formula movies, usually soapers, where her chief attributes are her beauty and her ability to evoke sincerity. She's not even remotely on the same page as the truly great actresses of her era such as Stanwyck, Davis, Crawford, Harlow, Loy, Arthur, Colbert, etc.
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Other than Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny cartoons, the first feature movie I remember seeing was The Mob, a Broderick Crawford programmer from 1951, when I was six or seven. But since I went to see it because of being sold on it by the preview, that means I must have been to another movie the week before, probably a Saturday afternoon Western whose name I can't remember.
The movie I really remember most from that year, however, was the only movie my parents refused to let me go to: The Day The Earth Stood Still, a vaguely propagandistic movie that was partly shot on location here in Washington. I tried for weeks to get them to change their minds, but they ran out the clock on the run, and I never got to see it until the AFI showed it a good 20 years later. Of course as it turned out it wasn't that great a movie, but it was the principle of the thing.
As to why my parents let me see a gangster movie while barring me from The Day The Earth Stood Still, the answer is simple: I wasn't so stupid as to tell them what I was going to see when I went to the Crawford movie, and they probably just assumed it was another Western. This was in the days when parents didn't think their children were going to die if they let them walk unaccompanied a mile or two to the movie theater.
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In truth I love reading film critics mainly to see if their judgment coincides with my own extremely personal taste, and secondarily for their writing ability. David Thomson is my favorite, since he both writes well and agrees with most of my biases. The late Pauline Kael was highly entertaining, but I'd no more trust her judgement about a movie than I'd trust Joe the Plumber to choose a president. Too many raves about films like Last Butter Stick in Paris were enough to make me wonder where the hell she was coming from.
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I have to admit I love Sybil Jason so much that the overall quality of her other movies is secondary. When they had her 80th birthday tribute in 2009 (which was the last time they showed any of her films back-to-back) I got Little Big Shot, the two with Kay Francis (I Found Stella Parrish and Comet Over Broadway), and the one with Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien (The Great O'Malley). The one I didn't record (like an idiot) was The Captain's Kid, which with any other child star would've been a complete turkey, but with Jason playing off Guy Kibbee it was hilarious. It was briefly on YouTube, and the scene where Sybil hands Kibbee a giant knife and tells him to use it on the judge is one of my favorite comic moments in cinematic history. I just wish that TCM would give Jason another mini-slot one of these days, because IMO she's every bit as good as Shirley.
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Ah, you mention the sacred word..."Criterion", Andy!
Sacred is right. The last time I was in Barnes & Noble, I ventured down to their DVD section, where Criterion has a section all of its own, appropriately placed right next to the section for foreign films.
And after about ten minutes of careful counting and remembering, I realized that over the past five years I'd recorded over 70 of those Criterions when they'd been playing on TCM.
I felt so guilty I bought La Haine and the 5-disk set of Nikkatsu Noir (what a find!), and it didn't even bother me when I later saw La Haine was scheduled on TCM this coming July 27th. I do my share of kvetching about the number of stale old chestnuts that TCM plays too many times, but after going through that Criterion section the conviction has largely gone out of my complaining.
And guess what? I just now discovered that B&N is having another Criterion half price sale that extends through July 28th. Berlin Alexanderplatz is now "only" $62.49, and hmmmmmm.... my wife's out of town, and the roof is all paid for.
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I don't know whether it'd ever be possible, but I'd sure second your wish. I almost bought the boxed set during one of Criterion's half price sales, but we'd just replaced our roof and I was talked out of it. Given my love for Pabst and Lang and the other great Weimar directors, it'd be fascinating to see a "modern" director's take on that era.
And what the hell, I'd just love to see the Weimar studios be given a month's worth of Friday nights all by themselves. People who aren't acquainted with some of their best work (which gets shown in dribs and drabs on TCM, but seldom in bunches) simply don't know what they're missing.
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" - on the Essentials tonight.
in General Discussions
Posted
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.