JamesJazGuitar
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Posts posted by JamesJazGuitar
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On 9/1/2021 at 8:01 PM, mr6666 said:
This post confirms what I posted when Ball was announced as SOTM: She is more well known as a celebrity than other film actors of her generation, who have a more solid film legacy.
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1 minute ago, cigarjoe said:
The Strip is the least noir-ish of the three though. I'd rate Quicksand and Drive a Crooked Road about equal
I agree with that; Like I said I like The Strip mostly because of the jazz angle. It is an MGM film and that is a double-edge sword in terms of being noir-ish: MGM "noir" films have higher production values but are not very gritty and often lack noir visuals (as is the case with The Strip).
The Strip features L.A.'s Sunset strip but does not use it to its full advantage.
The film is set against the backdrop of Hollywood's Sunset Strip, with Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines and Jack Teagarden appearing as themselves in the film. Pete Rugolo, who is credited with Leo Arnaud with the film's orchestrations, was a well-known jazz arranger.
Much of the picture was shot on location in and around the Sunset Strip. Interiors were shot at popular nightclubs Mocambo and Ciro's and at restaurants Little Hungary and Stripps.
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On 8/31/2017 at 2:59 PM, Hoganman1 said:
I just saw a photo on line of 87 year old Sean Connery. He attended one of Roger Federa's matches at the US Open. He looked great. I've always been a fan from his Bond days until he retired after The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I try to catch The Untouchables whenever it's shown since he won his Oscar for that performance. I still think one of his most under rated performances was Hitchcock's
Marnie.
I didn't know you have been at this forum at least since August of 2017.
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13 hours ago, Hoganman1 said:
I'm looking forward to next week's Noir Alley. I've never seen Mickey Rooney in a noir film. BTW; I saw a clip of Ben Mankowitz explaining the "refresh". He said not to worry. They are still going to show classic movies. So, I'm fine with the new graphics and the new sets.
The Strip is my favorite Rooney noir. Rooney gets to play drums and the film features jazz music. Quicksand is a good one with Peter Lorre.
Drive a Crooked Road has it moments.
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19 hours ago, Dargo said:
OKAY then. And NOW where the hell were we in this "Noir" thread, anyway? Oh yeah...
No, Joe wasn't being "noble" there, James. What he was being was secretive to Betty about the circumstances of his life at the time.
However, and once again, when the chips were down and after the sparks had kindled between Joe and Betty, he did the honorable thing by being brutally honest with her about those circumstances, and all the while knowing that it meant he would lose her.
(...ya know, he COULD have just strung her along a lot longer, don't ya?!)
We have a common understanding. Joe did turn-it-around in that he really started to think about others and the impact his actions had on others, but sadly for him, it was too late to save him from doom.
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17 minutes ago, ElCid said:
I think I have seen this one and will probably watch it again. Not a fan or Rooney, but think he does OK in this one and similar.
It is worth seeing. I like Kevin McCarthy and Jack Kelly as the bad guys.
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Next week on Noir Alley is Drive a Crooked Road. Odd that the poster say "a new" Rooney; He had made two other noir\crime films before this one: Quicksand and The Strip.
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42 minutes ago, Dargo said:
Can't believe you can't recognize that Joe is actually being noble, yes James, noble, when he has Betty come out to 10086 Sunset Blvd to see how he lives.
Everything about it, the way the script is written and the way Holden plays it, points to this.
(...and why the death of Joe especially hits hard, as by the thought that basically Joe was a decent guy at heart who didn't deserve his fate)
I agree Joe was being noble when he has Betty come to the home, but I'm not so sure he was being noble when he gave her the brush-off in the drug-store.
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9 hours ago, speedracer5 said:
My interpretation of that scene where Joe gives Betty the brush off was that he felt guilty that she’d fallen in love with him. Betty is engaged to Joe’s good friend Artie, a man whom Joe respects and feels is a great guy. He doesn’t want to be the “other man” and steal his friend’s girl. So he pretends to be happy being Norma’s boy toy so Betty will forget about him on her own accord.
Do you mean that by the time Joe runs into Betty and Artie in the drug-store, Betty has fallen in love with Joe? I guess that is the case; Betty does treat Artie kind of poorly when he makes some jokes about Joe and his fancy cloths and being a keep man.
As for why Joe gave Betty the brush off: That is a very sympathetic view of Joe. I can see it, but I don't fully buy it.
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Here is Doug Raney with his Gretsch hollow body:
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I just posted about this film on another thread: TCM showed this when Bergman was featured in SUTS.
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About 8 years ago TCM and Ball State University teamed up. TCM showing films and Ball State had online classes about noir, and they hosted a noir forum at this website where the professor of the class would participated (but it was mostly the students). One of the main topics was: What are the essential elements of film noir?
Of course there are multiple POV on the subject, with the extremes being there are essential elements and these are them (i.e. a film without these isn't "noir"), to there are no essential elements and each of us defines what is "noir" for us.
I fall somewhere in the middle: there are common elements but none are essential. The more of these elements a film has the more "noir" it is for me.
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8 hours ago, skimpole said:
I also saw two milestones in Ingrid Bergman's movie career. Intermezzo attracted enough attention to make her a star, and having seen it I for once accept their taste. She does give a good (supporting) performance. The movie itself is somewhat lesser, since there's no reason to sympathize with the violin virtuoso who is married and old enough to be Bergman's father.
I don't feel that way about the violin virtuoso but maybe that is because I'm too much of a fan of Leslie Howard. He doesn't come off as just a guy that wants to bed beautiful, women. Also there is the musical connection: make art\music with someone and the creative process creates a strong emotional bond. The violinist wasn't seeking a relationship and he wasn't cavalier about the impact it would have on all those in his life. None of this, in any way, justifies what he did, but for me it does place it in a context where I can have some degree of sympathize for him.
For me the film handled the overall topic in a mature manner. As for the ending: We all knew the film would end with this cannot-work relationship ending and the man going back to his family. But I do get the feeling the screenwriter took the easy way out with that ending.
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17 hours ago, ootsy said:
Black and white movies are going away. You read it here first.
Well they said that back in the 50s and they were right.
But all kidding aside, I don't think TCM is going to reduce the percentage of B&W films they show by anything more than 5%, if that.
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1 minute ago, cinemaman said:
Here is my wish list of Joan Bennett United Artist Films. I Met My Love Again 1938 Joan is with Henry Fonda, Louise Platt and Alan Marshall Trade Winds 1938 Joan is with Fredric March, Ralph Bellamy and Ann Sothern The Man in the Iron Mask 1939 Joan is with Louis Hayward, Warren William and Joseph Schildkraut The House Across the Bay 1940 Joan is with George Raft , Walter Pidgeon and Lloyd Nolan The Macomber Affair 1947 Joan is with Gregory Peck, Robert Preston and Reginald Denny My next post is my Joan Bennett Columbia Films wish list. Thanks
Nice list of films: Have you seen a good print of The House Across the Bay? One of the retro over-the-air stations (Get-TV, ME-TV or MOVIES-TV), was showing this film but the print was really poor, as well as the sound.
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21 minutes ago, Frank Writer said:
I am sharing here an article I wrote in 2013 for Film Score Monthly about how my discovery of Alfred Newman's film scores when I was a teenager coming of age in the 1950s left an indelible impression on me. His original scores and musical supervision of film adaptations of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals profoundly inspired my life-long love of music in all its forms. And as to my favorite Alfred Newman score, it's The Diary of Anne Frank. Utterly moving. To this day, I can't shake it from my head. Enjoy the article and I look forward to your comments. Frank Pagani
First, I would like to say welcome to this forum. I just watched Gunga Din on TCM and yea, the Newman score really enhances the film.
Very interesting article. Note that I got into American Studio Era films when I was learning to play jazz guitar. At first I would try to learn a new jazz standard and would find the film the song was introduce and\or featured in. As I got more into such films, I would hear songs I wasn't aware of, get the sheet music and learn that song.
I have a lot of respect for the composer-for-hire that worked during the studio-era. The creative process of composing music to fit-what-is-on-screen is something I still don't fully understand; I.e. how did they do that, AND do it so well. Of course I'm interested in movies with jazz scores. Was Newman ever involved in one of those?
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1 hour ago, slaytonf said:
I think the word is punk.
I can't see a reason why any autocensor wouldn't allow punk. While I think it is silly when I talk about Boston B l a c k i e that the second word is censored, I do understand the so called logic of why.
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4 hours ago, Vautrin said:
I imagine there were some interesting people to be met while filling prescriptions. If I recall correctly, the actual
pharmacist was toward the back of the store in his own little niche, just past the soda fountain. I never went
there for medicine. I went there to buy the new copy of Rolling Stone and to see if anyone was near the candy
counter. The owners must have had a lot of faith in human honesty.
Tension (1949), has a lot of scenes that shows how such a drug store in L.A. functioned in the 40s.
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1 hour ago, jvirt53 said:
That sounds about right. Its a sure thing, my Dad never got Cagney to sit for a sketch session. LOL Seriously, my guess is my Dad used photos and his imagination to complete the drawing, along with the several other sketches he did. Its still, as you said, very cool.
Davis and DeHavilland are two of my top five favorite actresses. Good stuff. Sadly, Carole Lombard was a life unfinished.
Here is my top five favorite actresses: Davis, Stanwyck, DeHavilland, Jean Arthur, and Lombard.
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1 hour ago, Thompson said:
I’m so ticked off James at these complete FOOLS here in New Orleans with the aftermath of this hurricane I’m in a bad mood.
Hope you are safe and that things get back to some degree of normalcy for you and you're family.
(and yes, I see those changes you made and thus shows how one can mess with someone's post by using the "quote" feature, and that this is a bug TCM should fix).
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45 minutes ago, TCM Bob said:
Coming into this thread a little after the fact (1 year), but only after spotting the broach in Now Voyager and remembering it from Casa Blanca. And then again saw it in Mildred Pierce.
Here are images from all three films, Casa Blanca, Now Voyager, and Mildred Pierce.
Yea, property of the Warner Bros studio costume department.
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15 hours ago, sewhite2000 said:
I'm a little stunned this word can be used without autocensor kicking in.
What word oddamn? (i.e. words can get in by using spaces). I have to do this anytime I wish to mention Chester Morris and Boston B l a c k i e
Anyhow, looks like I missed something.
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16 minutes ago, jvirt53 said:
Not sure. Could have been an original drawn from a composite of photos that accentuated Cagney's mop of hair. He did several other drawings too. My Dad did some photography work during the Depression and always liked to doodle.
I like your avatar, it shows what a true renaissance man James Cagney really was.
Oh, I see what you mean by "original drawing"; the artwork is original in that it was made by your dad, but he likely used photos to get the image. I have three large "original" charcoal drawings of Bette Davis, Olivia DeHavilland and Carole Lombard. A woman I worked with did such drawings, mostly of people's kids (from photos). I provided her one photo of each of these actresses and she made the drawing. Below is the photo I provide of Lombard. This is hanging over my fireplace.
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23 minutes ago, jvirt53 said:
Thanks. I've been watching TCM since its inception, just never made enough time to visit the website and contribute.
My Dad made that pencil drawing of Cagney about 90 years ago. He was another tough NYC/Bklyn street kid.
I wondered if the drawing was original since I had never seen it before; very cool. My avatar photo was selected because my hobbies are jazz guitar playing and studio-era films. So when I found this photo of Cagney, it was the perfect fit for me.
Lucille Ball as SOTM October 2021
in Star of the Month
Posted
True, which is why I used the term celebrity instead of film star or actor. Such TCM "events" as SOTM are PR\marketing events and the viewing public's knowledge, appreciation and general "love" of the celebrity impacts how marketable they are. Another factor is what celebrities are still alive that can assist in the promotion.
E.g. Carol Burnett is still fairly well known and she is a big fan of Ball. Burnett's show is on retro T.V. (E.g. ME-TV, right before Perry Mason so I sometimes watch it). Burnett does funny ads promoting ME-TV shows where she pretends (as she is today) to talk to T.V. characters - E.g. Sheriff Taylor, Hogan of Hogan's Heroes, etc... (via clips from their ME-TV show of course).
I could see a great ad for TCM were Carol "talks to" Lucy saying something like "hey, do you know you're being featured as Star of the Month", and Lucy responds (via a clip from one of her T.V. shows).