JamesJazGuitar
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Posts posted by JamesJazGuitar
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15 minutes ago, SansFin said:
Cecil Parker truly is a treasure! He was quite right that the drink he invented - Bourbon and Bisodol - did not catch on. 😀
I have been known to use in real life one of his lines: "I'm too old for this sort of evening. I always was."
Cecil Parker is a treasure but I was referring to the "caretakers" (that is what Wiki is calling them), Carl and Doris Banks. Carl being used as "David" to try to get Grant jealous was one of the funnies moments. Carl was played by David Kossoff. Funny but use of the term "helper" was my third attempt at trying to find the right term. I first had husband of the maid, but rejected that since Doris was more than just a maid. So next I picked "servant", but since I just re-watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner I decide that wouldn't be the right term to use (silly me, right!).
As for Parker; He does get in some very good lines as a man stuck in the middle between Philip (Grant), and his wife (also well play by Phyllis Calvert) and their close friend Anna.
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5 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:
I didn't find anything offensive about John saying he thought of himself as a man instead of a colored man, and I doubt he intended it as a slam against his heritage.
I think Dargo hit the nail on the hand that John wanted to place himself with a color-blind perspective, something that his father lacked. He was not turning his back on who he was or where he came from, rather that he saw himself and wanted others to see him as a man like anyone else, regardless of the color of his skin.
Note that Sidney Poitier covers similar territory in Paris Blues but in this film he has more of the view of the black father in Guess Who Is Coming to Dinner.
In Paris Blues Diahann Carroll is an American traveling in Paris and Poitier is an American jazz musician that went to Paris to escape racisms and being stereotyped. There is a good scene where Carroll tells Poitier that he is allowing "them" (it is implied racist Americans \ whites), to define him. That Poitier can be a free man in America and that every day there are more and more enlightened Americans, but unless he can define himself on his terms he would never feel "free" and himself in America.
PS: Just a few days ago I saw Carroll on the Dick Cavett show. She discussed her show (first one to star a black actor), and the over all topic. She was just wonderful using humor to express some of the bitterness she felt. That bitterness came from how both whites and blacks perceived her on the show. E.g. that some felt she wasn't black enough.
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34 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:
LOL! I did it again, typed in the wrong words in the wrong places.
As Joe E. Brown once said, "Nobody's perfect!".
Seeing Dargo's avatar and that hammer in the mouth, I felt "hit the nail on the hand" was perfect!
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3 hours ago, Hibi said:
My complaint is the cost. All that money for a refresh could've gone to lease films that have never been shown on TCM (and there are many). They waste all this money on "looks" and not content.
Why are you holding back; You really wanted them to use that money on leasing Joan Bennett 20th Century Fox films.
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59 minutes ago, Katie_G said:
Watching Key Largo for the 3rd time. Great film, but one scene always bothers me. When Lauren Bacall gets angry at Rocco and starts beating his chest I find myself laughing, it's so pathetic. She's like a child, or maybe was afraid of hurting Robinson? Perhaps that's the best she could do, but I can't believe John Huston was really okay with this pivotal scene.
Yea, that Bacall scene always rubbed me the wrong way; as you say, it is rather pathetic. So yea, why didn't Huston re-film that scene? He was on Jack Warner's dime and this would be the last film he directed for Warner Bros. under his initial deal with the studio that started with The Maltese Falcon.
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5 hours ago, Katie_G said:
A first rate film noir. Love this scene. I'm sure you're aware that is a very young Tony Curtis, De Carlo is dancing with.
Lancaster, De Carlo, Dan Duryea, with many noir character actors like bartender Percy Helton.
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On 8/31/2021 at 11:25 PM, EricJ said:
Critics were less offended at Neil in shoe polish as they were at the stereotype that Black People would immediately riot at the very appearance of a non-black performer pretending to be one, and yet that's EXACTLY what the TCM powers-that-be are implying should they even dare to show Holiday Inn uncut. It's not "sensitivity", it's fear, and naive, condescending, goofy fear at that.
Not sure I'm following this; it appears you're implying TCM either doesn't show Holiday Inn, at all, or that if they do they show it with the Abraham scene removed (cut-out), due to fear etc... Here is what Wiki has:
Beginning in the 1980s, some broadcasts of the film have entirely omitted the "Abraham" musical number, staged at the Inn for Lincoln's Birthday, because of its depiction of a blackface minstrel show incorporating images and behaviors that are racist in nature.[23] However, because Turner Classic Movies airs films uncut and unedited, the network has left the "Abraham" number intact during their screenings of Holiday Inn.
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4 minutes ago, Elove40 said:
My Favorite Abbott & Costello movie was them meeting Frankenstein!!! When it comes to physical comedy, there right up there with the best of them.
That is one great film. Universal was able to take advantage of their fine horror films and associated actors and blend them into the physical comedy and overall humor of Abbott & Costello. Note that Karloff isn't in this film, but he is the headliner in the next one. Universal was wise not to use him for the Monster, and instead give him a leading role in the next A & C horror related film.
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17 hours ago, SansFin said:
Indiscreet (1958)
A truly sophisticated, wonderfully talented, and very successful woman falls in love with the ultimate forbidden fruit - a married man who can not get a divorce.
This movie is the most soul-warming and heart-comforting movie ever made. It shows true romance in gentle touches, soft smiles and the joy of just being together. The lingering shots of doors closing discreetly are utterly sensual.
I am sorry to say that it might be a spoiler but the deepest and most meaningful scene in any movie is when she is in her bathrobe with her face covered with cold cream and is acting totally silly and turns to see the most handsome and desirable man who ever existed is standing in the archway watching her. We instantly feel her mortification and desire to become two inches tall and sneak away unseen.
This is the ultimate love story within the mystical and mythic world of those who are aristocratic by right of talent. It is the good humor and gentle wit of those who know their lives are blessed. (Anna: "I wish you didn't have any money. [Pause] I wonder if I would have said that if you had not just bought a yacht.")
I love Ingrid Bergman in all things but she is here beyond perfection especially after the 1:04:40 mark when there crops up the tiniest little fly in the ointment.
This is a romance but it is not a women-only movie! It is one of my little fuzzy's favorites of all time. I believe that this may in part be because all men wish to be Cary Grant and this is at his most suave and smooth. I believe he identifies deeply also with Cary Grant's little subterfuge. The beauty and charm of Ingrid Bergman is not lost on him.
10/10
This is now available for viewing for free with commercials on: PlutoTV and free to subscribers to: Amazon Prime Video.
I can see that the film Indiscreet really moved you since this is one of the best write-up I have seen. I.e. you're channeling the vibe of the film in style!
I really love the film. The ending is somewhat of a drag in that we know any "fuss" isn't really going anywhere. We all know love will overcome all.
(but the husband of Bergman's helper is very funny).
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31 minutes ago, Mike Kobe said:
Recently during a screening of A and C Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I was surprised to hear Ben Mankiewicz say that 1939 Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were Universal pictures. I believe the were Fox. Same night he said that Jekyll and Hyde were Universal pics. If he was referring to the March or Tracey versions, I think both were Paramount. Universal were the undisputed king of horror but not the only ones.
The film and their studios you mention are all the correct ones expect the Spencer Tracy Jekyll and Hyde 1941 film was MGM (Tracy and Turner being under contract with MGM).
If Ben did say that these films were Universal he was really mistaken. Hopefully he wasn't that sloppy.
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13 minutes ago, BingFan said:
Far from the first time that a bio-pic was cast for good looks rather than resemblance to the subject. In YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN, not only did the trumpet performance not resemble Bix Beiderbecke’s playing, as has already been noted, but the real Bix looked nothing like Kirk Douglas. And someone once pointed out to Cole Porter that Fred Astaire actually looked like him and would have been appropriate to portray Porter in NIGHT AND DAY. If I remember correctly, Porter replied something like, “Yes, but would you turn down Cary Grant?”
On the other hand, Kirk Douglas bore a very close resemblance to Vincent Van Gogh, whom he portrayed in LUST FOR LIFE. There’s a contemporaneous promotional film in which Douglas talks with an elderly French woman who remembered the real Van Gogh, and she tells Douglas how much he looked like the artist.
You're right about the casting of Douglas in YMWAH. But don't tell Bacall about that: she still wonders why they cast her as a Lesbian.
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4 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
Interesting comments. I just read what's on the wiki page for A LIFE OF HER OWN. My guess is these factors contributed to the hefty price tag:
- Lana Turner's salary
- George Cukor's salary
- multiple script rewrites
- borrowing Ray Milland from Paramount
- having to pay for Wendell Corey who was also borrowed from Paramount, but let go in the middle of production
Good point about Ray Milland; Maybe I did sell him short by implying that it wouldn't be too expense to obtain the lead male star.
I like the film (especially the start when Ann Dvorak is on screen), but I really can't see Wendell Corey in the role. Milland was a better fit.
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On 12/26/2017 at 8:55 PM, TopBilled said:
Lana Turner is also absent. She had been suspended for refusing to make MADAME BOVARY. Her next MGM picture wouldn't occur until the following year.
Just read this comment and had to look it up. While Madame Bovary did lose money it still might have helped Turner's career.
I looked up the film Turner did make after her suspension was lifted: A Life of Her Own. Bovary had a budget of just over 2 million, while A Life of Her Own had one of just over 1.8 million. I just wonder why it would cost that much to make a film like A Life of Her Own; The screenplay was original so it couldn't have cost that much and since the film is all set in the current time period. I don't see where MGM would have had to pay to cast an high priced independent actor.
I can see why a period film like Bovary might run over 2 million. There is also paying for the rights to use the novel to the estate of Flaubert.
Note that Turner didn't wish to make A Life of Her Own, but according to Wiki:
Lana Turner initially refused to star in the film, but MGM executives Louis B. Mayer and Dore Schary demanded she honor her contract with the studio.
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9 minutes ago, Judith laucka said:
In reply to Tom, Tyrone didn’t care for the fact that Kim often showed up late and unprepared for her role. As a result, the workers had to stay late to accommodate her. He considered that rude and unprofessional. He was a very disciplined professional who prided himself on arriving on time and ready. As a result, she upset him that way. He was unaware that she was bipolar and had difficulty sleeping however.
At least Power never had to do a film with Monroe.
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On 8/31/2021 at 7:56 PM, Dargo said:
Question though: Do you think the Internet might have contributed to why it seems EVERY freakin' American seems to be offended about SOMETHING now days, and in some cases even about something as seemingly INSIGNIFICANT as being told that there are older cultural practices such as blackface which now days some might find offensive?
To address your question I don't think the Internet has increase the number that are offended by something. Instead it just increases the number we know are offended. I.e. when they were yelling at their T.V. or kicking their dog, the general public didn't know about that. This is why I objected to the OP using the term "we", as if he represented the views of a significant portion of TCM viewers.
As for your "insignificant" comment: My gut tells me this is a counter reaction to those that are offended by TCM showing certain films. I.e. the OP believes the reaction of the PC activist to ban films (which TCM has faced pressure to do), is over-the-top so they do a counter over-the-top counter-reaction. But I did find it ironic the OP threated to boycott TCM, just like the PC activist they despise.
I feel TCM's choice was the best middle ground between these two opposing POV. Notice that TCM has been running their own spots to explain why they went with this middle ground approach. Of course there are those that believe TCM can't have it both ways. Oh well.
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34 minutes ago, Hibi said:
Yes, they shared Markey (though not at the same time!). And shared looks (for awhile) when Joan became a brunette. Markey must've had something, though he was nothing to look at.
I have never heard of Markey until today but wow, this author was a player. And they say a picture is worth a thousand words! This from Wiki:
Although he was not overly handsome, he was a very skilled conversationalist and he quickly became a popular fixture in Hollywood society. Among his good friends in Hollywood were producer John Hay Whitney, composer Irving Berlin, and actors Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ward Bond and John Wayne. He would often go fishing with Bond and Wayne off Catalina Island. A 1946 article in the Washington Times Herald said, "Other Men Say: What's Gene Markey Got That We Haven't Got?" The article ran a photo of Rudolph Valentino with the caption, "NOT SO HOT – By Comparison. Though all American womanhood swooned over him in his day, Rudolph Valentino was no Markey." Soon after he arrived in Hollywood in 1929, it was also reported that, "Markey became the most sought after unattached man in the cinema firmament, so sprinkled with far handsomer, richer male stars.
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5 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
Funny. There's a character on Emmerdale who always says "we" in place of "I."
Example: We are calling our mum about this.
She has a Scottish accent, so it's even more memorable when she delivers her dialogue. At first I thought maybe this was how people from Scotland talk, but I think it's just the writers having fun with the character and making her idiosyncratic and different from the rest of the Emmerdale villagers.
Of course my reply was a wisecrack but one that has relevance IMO; "we" is often used to try to convey the feelings or opinions of one-person reflect the feelings\opinions of a wider group thus adding creed to the statements.
Sometimes the use of "we" can be representiave, but often they are not. I.e. the "I" doesn't have data about how others really feel\think, they just assume they feel\think like themselves.
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5 hours ago, Sepiatone said:
Judging by those photos, a better pick to play Duchin( if some or slight resemblance is ever a consideration in biopics, which rarely is ever the case) then either a hair dyed KIRK DOUGLAS or a well groomed JACK PALANCE might have fit the bill. And the other photo (Oelrichs) seems more PATRICIA NEAL to me. But Patricia would really have to have been "uglied up" for the part.
I always liked the movie too. And learned that son PETER DUCHIN became a big draw at Hollywood parties over the years.
Sepiatone
Jack Palance would have matched the actual looks of Duchin better than Power but then the producers would have had to cast someone other than Kim Novak to avoid the "no way a gal that looks like this would be with some guy that looks like that!".
PS: The point being that casting is done to fill the seats and not to be representative of the actual characters. E.g. look at the posters for the film. Clearly they were designed to highlight this beautiful couple.
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23 minutes ago, 37kitties said:
As a member of the TCM audience, it is completely appropriate to use the term "we" and/or "us" when discussing what a TCM host says to that audience.
If Ed in Orange was the only person in the world who watches TCM, you might have a point. As it stands, you're just being snarky toward him because he said something you don't like..
We don't agree with you.
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10 hours ago, Ed in Orange said:
Mr. Karger, it is not necessary to "warn" us about "characters in Black faces," as during your intro to "Yankee Doodle Dandy." We're, generally, a mature-adult, well-adapted viewing audience who grew up watching classic films. Personally, I have never found it "uncomfortable" or offensive to watch characters in Black faces, nor has any member of our local classic film club. Watching classic movies is, purely, entertainment. So, please, Mr. Karger, [we] hope you DO NOT make it a regular practice of lecturing us regarding social, racial or moral issues, again. Next, you'll be "warning" us about LGBT, ethnic cartoon characters, Charlie Chan, Benito Juarez (characters portrait by non-ethnic actors), etc. We are not adolescents, Mr. Karger, and you are not old enough to lecture us. We are fully capable of, consciously, acknowledging [for ourselves] "where we've been and how far we've come." Don't spoil it for us! Mr. Karger, you are wrong. It is NOT uncomfortable to watch "characters in Black faces", but it is uncomfortable to hear you lecture us on morality. Should TCM hosts not refrain from lecturing us about racial depictions and such, I will not hesitate to stop watching the channel, permanently. That's why Robert Osborne was such a great host--- He never made his audience feel uncomfortable. No more warnings, please!
Ed, 25-Year TCM Fan.
You use the term "we" but you are only one person. You were not elected to represent some "we" group, right?
While I don't need these so called warning they don't make me feel "uncomfortable". Thus I just ignore them.
Oh, and to practice cancel culture by boycotting TCM is ironic. I believe it is foolish as well (since I go to TCM for the films and not the host talk), but to each his own.
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5 minutes ago, LiamCasey said:
The Frogmen (1951) - FXM On Demand
w/ Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, Gary Merrill, Jeffrey Hunter, Warren Stevens, Robert Wagner (but I must have blinked during his screen appearance), Harvey Lembeck and Robert Rockwell. Plus, down in uncredited land, Parley Baer, James Gregory, Robert Patten and Jack Warden. And directed by Lloyd Bacon.
You've seen this movie before even if you haven't seen this particular movie before. An experienced military unit gets a new commanding officer after the death of their former leader. And, of course, he is nothing like his much-loved predecessor. And, of course, the team resents him for that. Until, of course, circumstances eventually demonstrate that he is worthy to be one of them.
Obviously originality wasn't a prerequisite for a movie to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Story back in 1951.
However, having this unit be one of the U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolitions Team in action during World War 2 with that action presented in a semidocumentary style does boost this one up a couple of pegs. And, besides, one rarely goes wrong with Richard Widmark.
How did they not cast this guy in The Frogmen?
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9 minutes ago, Dave Beechuk said:
I know it's not a great movie, but I'd really like to see "The Eddy Duchin Story" on TCM. I remember seeing it many years ago and really enjoyed Carmen Cavallaro's piano playing. I know that TCM has the movie in its "vault" since it aired several years ago, but wondered if it was ever going to be shown again. I can't find future schedules on the TCM website, and hopefully it's in your plans.
I'm a fan of The Eddy Duchin Story. As a musician I really love the scene where the children play along with the Duchin band.
Since this is a Columbia film I doubt TCM has it in their "vault": the original Ted Turner Library of films which are mostly associated with the studios Warner Bros., MGM and RKO.
I.e. it is more likely TCM leased the film as part of a limit lease package of Columbia films. I believe the last showing was part of Kim Novak theme programming.
Either way hopefully TCM shows the film soon. The cast is first rate and one of the few films with Victoria Shaw.
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My favor Dillman films would be Compulsion, Francis of Assisi, and Circle of Deception, which also featured Suzy Parker.
I remember Parker in Kiss Them for Me, The Best of Everything, and The Interns.
Of course I enjoyed the many fine Dillman T.V. performances. He was great playing the slick and charming cad.
Dear Dinah: Did you really get bit by a rattlesnake and that is why your parents moved from L.A. to Santa Barbara?
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1 hour ago, BingFan said:
Cat People would be an appropriate Noir Alley feature for Halloween weekend, but the Noir Alley schedule still shows Strange Fascination. Of course, it’s possible that the separate Noir Alley schedule just hasn’t been updated yet.
I’m guessing that TCM simply couldn’t license Strange Fascination, which has happened with other films (e.g., Christmas Holiday, which had to be taken off the Noir Alley schedule a couple of years ago, unfortunately).
If Cat People ends up being shown, I’ll very much enjoy hearing Eddie’s comments about it. I love this movie, and Eddie’s perspective can only enhance the viewing. (I wish every noir-ish movie would have Eddie’s commentary on he DVD. His comments on the Deadline USA DVD greatly added to a movie that I’ve probably seen at least 10 times over the years.)
If Eddie is going to show a Hugo Haas \ Cleo Moore film I recommend One Girl's Confession (1953) over Strange Fascination. The film has a better storyline and out of the 7 films they made it is the one I like the best. Here is Hugo with Cleo in the background.
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Noir Alley
in General Discussions
Posted
Yes, that is Cleo (I guess you didn't see I had posted: Here is Hugo with Cleo in the background. ).
One Girl's Confession is a film you have seen since we discussed it not too long ago. Like I said one of the better ones.
I also like Cleo Moore in Over-Exposed (1956) which was not a Hugo Haas production. This one has her as a good working-girl photographer that gets involved unknowingly with gangster and also features a young Richard Crenna as her friend\part time assistant. I saw this on MOVIES-TV (just like I did the 4 other Haas\Moore films).
Oh, and the title relates to the photographs regardless of what the poster implies (ha ha).