JamesJazGuitar

The Yellow Cab Man (1950)

The Doctor and the Girl (1949)

Harold Peary was in Gildersleeve on Broadway with Billie Burke Who was in The Young Philadelphians with Paul Newman Next: Gloria DeHaven

Tennessee Johnson (1942)

East Side, West Side (1949).

Wild Flower (1943).

Bettger was a fine villain. The way he would smile when what he was saying was very threatening was very effective. Just saw him this week on The Rifleman. Very menacing but in a controled way. Bettger would team up with Stanwyck again 3 years later in All I Desire.

Yea that "18 years later" was made me notice this. I didn't know the website had such a feature but the comment clearly was put there by a user.

Those are good suggestions. They should be,,,, it took 18 years to make them!

Great choice since it is a Milland and de Havilland film I haven't seen (and I seen all of Olivia's films except this one). Made while Olivia was suing Warner Bros over her contract and winning in the milestone case that changed how contracts would be written and enforced for all actors, sport figures, and entertainers.

And yet another Richard Denning Sci-fi film: this from Wiki about Denning: an American actor who starred in science fiction films of the 1950s, including Unknown Island (1948), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Target Earth (1954), Day the World Ended (1955), Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), and The Black Scorpion (1957). While Mara Corday was in Tarantula and The Black Scorpion, she was in a lot more B westerns then B Sci-fi films. Wike about Corday: is an American showgirl, model, actress, Playboy Playmate, and 1950s cult figure.

As you know, CNN and TCM are owned by the same parent company; The CNN website has been running: what the real Doris Day is like, it might surprise you, type bylines for a week or so now. I.e. different photos of Day with a take on that byline. I was going to post about this when I first saw it but didn't know where it would "fit" at this forum. I.e. I found it odd and asked myself; of all the actors why Day for something like this? (in fact why "this" at all since it sounds like gossip type rage stuff). Why did CNN appear to single out Day? I don't think Day as SOTM and what I'm seeing on CCN is just a coincidence.

He was never gone. Like a lot of others in real life, he just dropped out of politics. 🙂

The Mississippi Gambler (1953). Next: Boating on a Lake.

As we discussed before, we have the same ranking (sometimes I swap #3 and#4). Of course I like Song of the Thin Man due to the jazz score and the focus on jazz musicians. The other reasons are two future-to-be noir dames in Grahame and Marie Windsor (sadly both with minor roles), as well another actor who had good roles in MGM noirs, (Postman, Lady in the Lake, Scene of the Crime) Leon Ames. I'm also a fan of Patricia Morison, best know for the Holmes' film, Dressed to Kill. There is a young Keenan Wynn as Clinker who bring his brand of comedy,

Some say horror, some say noir, some say just a drama. I say, it doesn't really matter. This is a first rate film especially the first 3\4.

Tonight on MOVIES-TV Thursday noir, is The Big Combo; gritty hardnosed 1955 noir with a fine cast (even Cornel Wilde does good here), especially the supporting players. E.g. Helen Walker in her last film, the gay henchman Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman, John Hoyt and Ted de Corsia. Very noir visuals as done by John Alton and music by David Raksin (known for Laura).

Back to 1946's The Killers: MW makes some very solid points by raising the question of "why is this film viewed as one of the top noirs?"; Looked at historically as a film released in 1946, The Killers "packages" in very niffy ways, some of the common motifs and noir themes used only sparingly in earlier 40s noir films. Some of these being: Starting a film at the ending, with the death of the noir protagonist. Having the story of Swede unfolding in a series of disconnected flashbacks. The use of time, disjointed and at times overlapping. The alienating disjunction felt by Swede and his subsequent surrender to the trap of what would become a classic femme fatale. The film also introduces some concepts like that of the investigator using the situation of Swede to move beyond the boring routine of his job, entering into the noir world, and producing results in which nobody really triumphs. In addition the film features a gang, and a capper, and while this was very common in early crime and gangster films it wasn't in 40s films we label today as noir. Now looking back today at all the noir films I have seen, The Killers doesn't rank higher at utilizing many of the above "traits" as other films made after it; E.g. the gang and capper angles are better in The Asphalt Jungle. Thus as a stand-alone film compared to others, many may be overrating the film. But seen as a quintessential 40s noir film, The Killer stands out.

I'm one that doesn't view Ava as over-the-top beautiful but instead just a very pretty women that has a very sexually forward screen persona; that as you note is based on acting (verses physical attributes). As you also note there are more beautiful actresses, but many of them have more reserved screen personas. I will say that in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Ava never looked more beautiful and she played a more reserved character. But a lot of that has to do with the fine cinematography of Jack Cardiff.

Yea, I will ask her about that. My financial advisor was also her financial advisor and that is how we meet. About 12 or so years ago we went out to dinner. We start talking about things and she just assumes I would be clueless about the music, movies, and T.V. of the 30s - 50s. E.g. comments like "well I'm sure you don't know this actor, but when we were on the set filming Honey West,,," and I would then tell her thinks I knew. She was shocked that this much younger man knew anything about that (i.e. she didn't know that my passion was that era of music, movies, T.V. of her era). She gave me a copy of one of her Honey West books signed by Anne Francis. She had a room in her home dedicated to the books and T.V. show. Anne and her would see each other from time to time, but sadly my advisor friend and I were never able to set up a "date" with Anne. I really wanted to discuss the filming of Bad Day At Black Rock with her, Robert Ryan, Tracy, etc.... and how it was being the only women on that set.

I'm a friend of Gloria Fickling, who wrote the series of Honey West books with her husband Skip. Fun lady with lots of good stories to tell (just don't ask her about Aaron Spelling, who she says canceled the T.V. show after a year because he didn't wish to pay them, and then stole their concept and came up with Charlie Angel's). I didn't know about Decoy. I guess I could ask Gloria if her husband and her got the idea for Honey West from that series: No,,,, I haven't the guts! Here is Gloria and Skip on You Bet Your Life.

Hey, Colonel Saito, do you know who Ann Savage is calling from that phone over there?