JarrodMcDonald

The ending of the film is just so powerful. George Kennedy deserved his Oscar. Newman was also at the top of his game. I posted about it on Facebook, and one of my friends from high school said she had to watch the film in a criminal justice class. I thought that was interesting. She said it's among her favorite movies.

The reunion special was made recently. It was called CELEBRATE OLIVER! and first aired on the BBC in 2005. It was an hour long and there are details about it on the internet movie database. You can find her entire filmography there. She did make six appearances on Y&R. And she did an episode of MURDER SHE WROTE with Hurd Hatfield called 'Night of the Tarantula.' As for the hair, my guess is that they wanted bright and shiny hair that would look good in Technicolor. And yes, it is a musical. Still, I don't think Charles Dickens would've found the appearances of the characters to be very realistic.

I noticed this morning that one of the two most searched titles on the TCM database was TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. It only aired on AMC last night. That tells me AMC has a fairly strong viewership.

Thursday evening TCM is showing the movie that brought Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together on screen, and in real life. It's Howard Hawks' four-star TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT. The film is a thriller romance war adventure. It is nominally based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The story: a skipper-for-hire's relationship with a beautiful drifter is complicated by his growing involvement with the French resistance. This was Bacall's first film, and she was only 19 at the time. She was discovered by Hawks' wife who had seen her picture on the cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. Bacall and Bogart would marry, have two children, and make three other pictures together. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT was remade twice. It appeared in a slightly revised version as THE BREAKING POINT in 1950 with John Garfield. This time, the action shifted to southern California and Garfield was a former PT Boat captain. The third film version, titled THE GUN RUNNERS (1958), was directed by Don Siegel and stars Audie Murphy in the Bogart/Garfield role.

Yes...good selection.

Yes, he was. Thanks for that additional piece of info regarding his filmography.

I just watched BLACKBOARD JUNGLE for the first time about two or three weeks ago...and I agree, it is very powerful. It holds up rather well, given it was made so many years ago. Some aspects of REBEL do seem dated, but Dean's performance is riveting and Sal Mineo makes for an interesting sidekick in this type of genre.

Oh cool...thanks. I love her frequent appearances on her pal Lucille Ball's sitcoms of the 60s & 70s. She was such a versatile and wonderfully funny character actress. A true one of a kind.

Ahh, yes...I will have to go over there and check it out. I recorded THELMA JORDAN when it played on TCM two years ago...I had spent years trying to find it. It should be showed more. It doesn't deserve to be so obscure, especially with its pedigree.

I think his last major role was in ROAD TO PERDITION which I didn't see. I remember BLAZE with Lolita Davidovich.

I like so many of his film roles...HUD was great, as Brick in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, as Walter Bridge in MR. & MRS. BRIDGE. I haven't seen VERDICT but hear it's another one of his best.

I bought a copy of the 94 version of LITTLE WOMEN, but I have not seen it. I need watch it to see Mary Wickes as Aunt March, since she is one of my favorite character actresses. June Allyson is definitely an acquired taste of mine. I love her.

I have yet to see this movie in its entirety. The last time I attempted to watch it, I was interrupted mid-way and never finished it. So I'm looking forward to it tonight.

What we?ve got here is "failure to communicate." On Wednesday evening TCM will broadcast the American drama COOL HAND LUKE. Made in 1967, the film stars Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin and Jo Van Fleet. It is directed by Stuart Rosenberg, using a script by Donn Pearce, based on his novel. The story concerns a Florida prisoner (Newman) who refuses to go along with the system. His free-spirited attitude and refusal to conform to chain-gang life drives the movie's plot. The movie is known for an anti-establishment message that seems to reflect the mood of the late 1960s. COOL HAND LUKE became a critical and financial success. George Kennedy won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2005, the United States Library of Congress deemed the movie to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

LITTLE WOMEN I like Kate Hepburn's work as Jo in 1933's LITTLE WOMEN, and I think George Cukor's direction is great. But I really like the 1949 version better. I think the MGM production values are better, it's in Technicolor and that helps brings Alcott's book to life. The male leads are better...Peter Lawford is excellent as Laurie and Rosanno Brazzi is the perfect, romantic Professor Bhaer. Mary Astor is a great Marmee. We have C. Aubrey Smith and Elizabeth Patterson, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, June Allyson and Margaret O'Brien. And Lucille Watson is the perfect Aunt March. So much loving care was put into the 1949 version and not one character is miscast. This is my favorite remake. THE RACKET I think this film noir fares very well in its early 50s remake with Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Lizbeth Scott. The material seems a bit dated (a story originally produced in the late 20s by Howard Hughes), but the performances are great and Lizbeth Scott generates a lot of heat.

Thanks, the title had temporarily slipped my memory. I think Stanwyck worked with pretty much everyone.

Thanks so much! I figured some of the B's, especially stuff produced by very independent, on-the-fringe type production companies would not be included.

Was it a single screen version?

Yeah, it certainly could take awhile. LOL I wish there was a way to find out how many studio releases there were by given year. Does anyone know?

I missed THE GREAT ESCAPE the last time it was on...it is scheduled to re-air on TCM March 16.

March 18, primetime on TCM: MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1947) GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1957) HOUR OF THE GUN (1967) MASTERSON OF KANSAS (1954)

You're right, it's a stretch...but an acceptable stretch. LOL Sometimes these biopics become very fictionalized, especialy if they use composites. TCM has a night scheduled where they will play several films about Wyatt Earp. Among them, GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL and HOUR OF THE GUN. I don't know if those can be considered true biopics. Though they are technically about real historical figures, many liberties are taken and both these versions differ significantly. We haven't mentioned Oliver Stone's film JFK, starring Kevin Costner. There are all the key figures from that tragic day in American history. But it is made according to Stone's view of the Kennedy assassination, and it is filled with conspiracy theories and revisionist history, that it may not be altogether accurate.

I think SPIRAL STAIRCASE is my favorite Siodmak film. You're right about the supporting cast. Ethel Barrymore is superb. But I really like THELMA JORDAN because it returns Babs (Stanwyck) to familiar ground as the femme fatale of seminal works like DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS. As for spooky old mansion stories, I'd pick THE UNINVITED with Ray Milland, Gail Russell and Cornelia Skinner. Ms. Skinner is truly evil in that picture.

Cagney played a crippled character. But I wish he had been able to dance in the film, like in a fantasy sequence or something. It is truly a great picture and he and Doris Day really work nicely together! It's the perfect combination of gruffness and sweetness.

Oooh, COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER is a great flick...!