JarrodMcDonald

The casting is perfect in THE GREEN YEARS. Putting the best old character actor (Coburn) with the best male child star at that time (Dean Stockwell, after Mickey Rooney grew up) is inspired. Plus you get teen idol Tom Drake thrown in for good measure!

These are some of the ones I enjoy: http://www.mercurytheatre.info/ They are by Orson Welles and his Mercury players group. Sometimes they are doing a radio version of a stage play or film that has already been produced. Other times they are doing an adaptation of a novel, like THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, which Welles then did as a film. There are quite a few selections...and Welles was lucky to get some big name guest stars like Helen Hayes, Walter Huston and so on.

I noticed that, too. It definitely is an error.

He directed them in PAT AND MIKE, again written by Ruth Gordon (with her husband Garson Kanin). Plus, he directed Judy in BORN YESTERDAY (written by Garson Kanin). Then, he directed Spencer in THE ACTRESS (based on the life of Ruth Gordon).

I envy anyone discovering these films for the first time. WHITE HEAT is so good that I sit down and watch it every time it's on...it is, in a sense, like re-discovering it with each viewing.

I almost didn't record it. It's been on before and I never caught up with it. It's so worth it. I liked everyone in it. Someone on the TCM database page for the film complained that Alexander Knox was not attractive enough. Well, not everyone could be sexy like Cary Grant or cute like John Garfield. I think Knox plays the part well, and he's not that plain looking. The only thing I noticed different about him was his accent, since he's Canadian in real life.

Don't forget Cukor directing. It had to be a hit with this kind of pedigree.

That doesn't seem to be the case now, with actors receiving nominations and awards for independent movies and art films that have comparatively small audiences. Obviously, an award should be based on merit and given because of technical skill and talent....not for box office or politics, and not to make up for a previously lost award.

I would say that the Harrison Ford-Tommy Lee Jones movie THE FUGITIVE is more a modern-day version of LES MISERABLES.

How sad to hear that...thanks for posting the link for the article.

Plus we have David Wayne, Clarence Kolb, Polly Moran, Tom Ewell, and Hope Emerson. Such great character actors adding support to the Tracy-Hepburn pairing.

I was reading the schedule and I noticed that on March 23, we get to see AK's very first film, SANSHIRO SUGATA, and then a few hours later, TCM shows the sequel, SANSHIRO SUGATA PART 2. These films were very popular and led to five remakes by other Asian directors. I am looking forward to seeing them!

I did record the one starring Irene Dunne...but I didn't realize TCM had the rights to the other. I like the idea of all three of them being issued on the same format.

I'm surprised the one with Irene Dunne is not on DVD yet. Probably the laser-disc and VHS versions can be found on Amazon, ebay or ioffer. When I was researching the production history of these films, I learned that the '36 version was a big hit with audiences, and it was even reissued, but then it was pulled out of circulation in the late 40s. First, MGM bought the rights from Universal and planned to make it in Technicolor (which took them several years to do) and they wanted the public to forget about the two earlier films. Also, actor Paul Robeson was investigated by the FBI and admitted to being a member of the Communist Party. So even if it had been reissued, public sentiment would've been against it due to Robeson's presence in it (how sad). The '36 version did not find a new audience again until the 1970s, after Robeson's death.

Nope, I haven't seen the '29 version. I heard that it was part-silent/part-talkie like THE JAZZ SINGER. It used some of the original Broadway stage performers, including Helen Morgan who did the second film. I would like to see it and I hope TCM re-airs it sometime soon.

Oh...very good one. Martha Hyer's role.

Wonderful reminiscences...thank you for sharing.

Would that be a mothers-from-hell special? LOL I have a feeling most Mothers Day celebrations would go the Irene Dunne route, as in I REMEMBER MAMA.

Filed Under: *MUSICAL REMAKES* Today's picks: *SHOW BOAT (1936)* & *SHOW BOAT (1951)* Show Boat is the first true American musical play and has been adapted several times by Hollywood. It is from the Edna Ferber novel, with music written by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. In 1936, it was made by Universal with Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Paul Robeson and Hattie McDaniel. It is thought to be one of the most classic movie musicals of all time. It closely follows the stage version and retains much of the comedy. Show Boat was remade in 1951 by MGM in Technicolor, starring Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, and Howard Keel. It was adapted by John Lee Mahin and directed by George Sidney. The lavish MGM version has become very popular and is one of the studio?s most successful musicals. (Source for both: TCManiacs)

It is a shocker that JC was not at least nominated for an Oscar for this role. Broderick Crawford won for ALL THE KING'S MEN.

I get chills when I think about this film. I like PUBLIC ENEMY and ROARING TWENTIES...but this one, WHITE HEAT, is the ultimate Cagney gangster film. And not since Jane Darwell in THE GRAPES OF WRATH do we see a character actress make such a mark in a maternal role.

The Judy Holliday role is important here, too. She's the one whose showdown with a husband is physical, brutal...violent. I think she represents outwardly the struggle against the caveman and the caveman mentality that Amanda (Hepburn) is dealing with internally.

On March 13, TCM?s primetime lineup includes James Cagney?s thermal performance in WHITE HEAT. The film is a 1949 gangster classic and marks Cagney?s return to the genre after ten years. He is joined by femme fatale Virginia Mayo and partner-in-crime Edmond O?Brien. Playing Cagney?s Ma is Margaret Wycherly who gives a truly scene-stealing performance. Cagney?s character of Cody Jarrett is based on New York murderer Francis Crowley. Crowley was an arch-typical Irish gangster-- a career criminal. He was executed by electric chair at Sing Sing at the age of 19. Supposedly, his last words were: "Send my love to my mother." Another inspiration is probably Arthur Barker, a gangster of the 1930s, and a son of Ma Barker. WHITE HEAT was directed by Raoul Walsh and is based on an original story by Virginia Kellogg. The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing. It is part of Time magazine's all-time top 100 list.

The title implies ownership of the wife. She, of course, is trying to be her own person. I don't think he really takes her seriously in the beginning phases of the case. Having seen OVER 21 (also written by Ruth Gordon), I am inclined to say that the female gets the upper hand in this story. And, by default, that means Hepburn has the potential to earn more of our respect and admiration for this kind of role. Tracy, for his part, is great as always. It's interesting that he would again play an attorney in INHERIT THE WIND; and he would preside over a trial in JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG.