ElCid
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Posts posted by ElCid
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We like the Topper movies and my favorite is Topper Returns, particularly for Carole Landis. She has become one of my favorite actors thanks to the movies TCM has shown.
When I was enroute to Saudi Arabia for the Gulf War, our Air Force plane landed in some place in New England for refueling. The local people (thank you!) had donated books for deploying service members to take. I picked up one that was obviously from somebody's personal library of one the Topper books. Really helped fill the time over there. What was most interesting was the "very close" relationship between Topper and Marion in the books that was not really portrayed in the movies.
As for Carole Landis, I don't really like musicals, but Moon Over Miami is a movie that I have on DVD because of Carole Landis.
It Happened in Flatbush is not bad, but Having a Wonderful Crime is much better.
Thanks TB for reminding us this is coming up.
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26 minutes ago, calvinnme said:
I like all of the Thin Man films, and I'll binge watch them anytime TCM has a marathon, but I didn't like the fact that a kid was shoehorned into the act. And it probably happened just because it was the production code era and every couple ABSOLUTELY MUST have at least one kid or it's just unnatural! I think I'll always like precode Nick and Nora best in the original Thin Man with both of them partying just a little too much. Or am I completely over-thinking and overreacting to this situation?
I don't think there was a requirement to have a kid, just that the producers and/or writers thought it would be nice. My favorite is The Thin Man Goes Home. Probably because it takes place in a different location and is somewhat "lighter" than the others. However, they are all good. The first one is my wife's favorite.
If still available, the DVD set that TCM (or somebody) put out many years ago is the best way to have it all. You get the movies with cartoons, shorts, etc. AND the TCM documentaries on William Powell and Myrna Loy. The doc. on Powell and Loy also has an episode from The Thin Man TV series with Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk.
One interesting short is Love On Tap featuring the Merriel Abbott dancers, who traveled the country and apparently was a fairly extensive operation. Also appeared in several movies. I never knew such things existed.
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I'm surprised that nobody is discussing Double Indemnity yet. Maybe that is because it is all that Eddie Muller says it is. Basically the movie that really started Noir and the best of them all. Although I have heard pretty much similar commentary re: Out of the Past.
Eddie's commentary was spot on and very informative. The movie was much better because of it. While I have DI on DVD, I may keep the recording I made today just to keep Eddie's commentary.
If memory serves, I actually saw Body Heat (1981) before I saw DI. While BH is very good, it is not as good as DI.
Next week's presentation is His Kind of Woman (1951) with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Don't miss it because it is very good. Be interesting to see what Eddie says about it.
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Have no idea why, but for some reason I have come to enjoy the Gene Autry movies in the last several years. Of course, they are no longer on Spectrum Cable. Would probably be interested in some DVD's, but a lot were not that good and it is hard to tell from descriptions and titles which ones were the good ones. There are are a lot of sets available, but then again probably some not very good ones in each and maybe no good ones.
As for Autry's singing, when I recorded the movies, sometimes I would fast forward through the singing depending on the song. I would say his shows were about 60/40 good vs. not so good songs.
Not sure why, but I just don't find Hoppy that entertaining. When it pretty much replaced Gene on StarzWestern I was somewhat looking forward to it. Watched a few movies and a few TV shows, but no longer.
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In 1941 they filmed Western Union with Randloph Scott and Robert Young in Kane Co. Utah area. Parry Lodge in Kanab was a headquarters of sorts for Hollywood filming in the area. It is ideally located in area that favors westerns, as well as movies looking for that type territory.
Apparently the Parry brothers went to Hollywood to sell their location as a site for filming in order to get people to come to their lodge. The lodge is the center piece of the movie, The Girl in Black Stockings. Many actors stayed at the lodge while filming in the area.
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55 minutes ago, GordonCole said:
And I had a plastic bank that my dad got me, with a replica of Hopalong's head, and the hat could be removed to get out my pennies. But I'd still rather go with Leonard Slye than either Gene or William. I'd rather not get into a few other reasons about Hoppy for my decision if you follow my drift.
Found an interesting article on the internet. Apparently William Lawrence Boyd (Hopalong) and William "Stage" Boyd. Cannot verify the validity of the post though. See the comments.
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StarzWestern channel has been showing Hopalong Cassidy movies and TV shows on Saturdays for some time now. They used to show Gene Autry movies, but no longer.
My wife asked me about Hoppy's first name and I looked it up. Movies were based on short stories by Clarence Munford beginning in 1904. He was rude, dangerous and rough talking and his sidekick was worse. Then along came Hollywood in the 30's and William Boyd. Apparently he became Hoppy because he either had a wooden leg or was shot in the leg.
Personally, I like the Autry movies a whole lot more than the Cassidy movies. When I was a young whipper-snapper, I had a Hopalong Cassidy mug.
As for Perry Mason, the connection is that the TV version is whole lot cleaner than the original Erle Stanley Gardner character.
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North by Northwest number one and Rear Window number two. To Catch a Thief is a pleasant movie that I watch every couple or three years. Marnie is one I'll watch every three years or so if the timing is right. The first three we have on DVD.
The rest not so much, if at all.
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23 hours ago, scsu1975 said:
Hey, how come nobody mentioned that North By Northwest is on? Is this a premiere?
No, but it is a "Classic" that will endure for the ages.
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3 hours ago, Princess of Tap said:
I've seen stone age ancient art in caves in France.
I've also seen Roman Empire structures in France.
I can go on but people Revere and study and learn about life today by reviewing art, architecture and government structure from ancient times.
These things still exist today. But it doesn't really matter how you read Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn or how you absorb Mr Smith Goes to Washington..
To denigrate great human endeavor is to say that it will be irrelevant to human beings in the future is to denigrate the value of all human life and Human Art.
Technology only exist for what human beings can do to structure and give it content.
I only have to remind you that our government derives not just from the French enlightenment philosophers like Montesquieu, but also from the history that we've studied in Greek and Roman times.
Their ideas are secular, Universal and I wouldn't say antique because we're still using them
Even our government buildings are copied from their architecture for I think a reason.
You misinterpreted my point. I was addressing the technology of "films," not the content. I doubt there will be "films" a thousand years from now. Just as movies replaced books and books replaced minstrels and plays, etc., some new technology will come along to replace movies as we know them. Heck you can't even hardly find a car that has a CD player anymore. In 1988 that was cutting edge technology in cars.
Oh and as usual, you have gone overboard on the "history lesson." This is a discussion of top 3% of films, not art, architecture, European culture and history, etc.
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3 hours ago, TopBilled said:
Interesting idea. I like the term antique movies. A different way to look at it. Your idea makes it sound like films will be a more direct form of mind control and propaganda than they are now.
Not necessarily mind control and propaganda, just an advancement in technology. After all look what has changed in last 1,000 years.
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35 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
We can stretch this idea out and apply to life a thousand years from now. Do we really believe anyone will care about GONE WITH THE WIND a thousand years from now? Maybe as a piece of entertainment history, if it's still preserved. But by then, there will have been a thousand years of "newer" classic films it has to compete with...yes?
You assume there will be "films" a thousand years from now. Think back to 18 AD and how much things have changed since then. I can foresee in a thousand years (if mankind still exists) that each person has an entertainment chip implanted at birth. Then they make up their own entertainment and "play it" in their brains. Of course they would need a reference of some kind and that may be where "antique" movies come in. But even then, it would probably be something implanted at birth.
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8 hours ago, Bogie56 said:
Thursday, December 27
8 p.m. Murder, My Sweet (1944). Dick Powell makes a pretty good Marlowe. Talk about a career reinvention.
While not as good (in my opinion) as Mitchum's later Farewell My Lovely, it was definitely a much better movie for Powell than the sappy stuff he did earlier. Cry Danger (1951) is another good one with Powell.
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It's all relative as to what "top notch" means. Perhaps top notch could be the top 10%, but that is also relative to each individual. Could mean top 15 or 20% as well. In most colleges, theoretically the top 20% is a B and that puts you on the dean's list.
For example, several years ago a leading train oriented publication hired someone to rank the 50 or 100 greatest train movies. I believe he was a Hollywood type, not a railroader or modeler. Some of his choices were ludicrous, such as Narrow Margin with Gene Hackman was specifically excluded, whereas one movie that has someone walking across a train yard during the opening credits is rated very highly. No other trains in movie at all.
Oh and as for The Wizard of Oz, never liked it and never watch it. Saw it once in youth and once as a young adult. Wasn't any better the second time.
I'm sure I have favorites that I consider top notch which would be rated mediocre to OK by many on this board.
It is also a moving target. While most of the spaghetti westerns of the 70's, to include Clint Eastwoods would rank high at that point in my life, they don't anymore. Whereas some others rate higher now. And no I am not going to look for specifics.
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2 hours ago, Sepiatone said:
I thought we had settled long ago that it was the image on film of a train rushing into a tunnel that provided most of the "romance" of trains and movies.
Sepiatone
Not for me and I never understood that reference until I heard it on TCM just a few years ago. The "romance," at least for me, goes far beyond romance between two people and I think that is what this thread is about. It's about the journey on a train.
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Perhaps a discussion of the pros and cons of government ownership and distribution of films should be in a separate thread?
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Tonight and tomorrow's (Dec. 22/23) Noir Alley is Beware My Lovely (1952). I seem to recall having seen it years ago, but will have to re-watch it. Ironically it is set in 1918.
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1 hour ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
As for Period of Adjustment; yea, this was a play that did well and when it was made into a movie the movie looks too 'staged' and so does the acting (overplayed like you said). But still I find myself watching it because Jane, 'staged' or not, is worth looking at!
My favorite Jane Fonda movie from that period is Sunday in New York. Light, but very entertaining and the directing and acting was well done.
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Dec. 22: Christmas movies: Remember the Night, Christmas in Connecticut and Period of Adjustment. RTN and CIC are both very good and feature Barbara Stanwyck. She handles differing roles very well, as usual. POA is OK and is an early Jane Fonda movie. I've seen it a couple of times and some how it just doesn't come together for me. The actors seem to overplay their roles.
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20 hours ago, Hibi said:
I know. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Once I retire, I'll have to get a computer. And ATT is phasing out landlines, so I'll need to get a cellphone too soon....
Actually, I am retired and have a computer (PC type). I do not watch movies on it, there is no WiFi connected, I can't send a signal anywhere else, etc. Have dumb TV's, but would not do all the various systems even if had a smart one. Have a land line for phones. Have a dumb cell, but only on if away from home. Even then for very short periods of time.
I watch Youtube for demos on how to do basic home repairs and so forth. Short, short, short.
May be out of step, but that is it. My wife does even less.
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44 minutes ago, cigarjoe said:
It apparently "tunes" noir for some folk. It doesn't quite do so for me. Now Christmas Holiday is another animal altogether.
I would have to watch Christmas Holiday to decide. Tend to identify Gene Kelly as a light, comedic, musical actor. Is it coming on anytime soon - or did I miss it.
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2 hours ago, kingrat said:
Got to see the last twenty minutes of Lady on a Train. Talk about noir style, there were some incredibly beautiful images.
I watched this and had seen it before. Not a bad little comedy/mystery. Is it really a Noir? Regardless, Deanna Durbin did not impress me. Neither her acting nor her singing.
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34 minutes ago, yanceycravat said:
Well the big named film related death before the year ended came through as promised...
RIP Penny Marshall
Still don't know why TCM does not do this beginning on Jan 2nd.
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Not sure what the answer is to including more people, but one thought is to have a longer program and actually schedule when it will be shown. Sort of like they do with shorts. Right now you never know when TCM Remembers is gong to be shown so I just watch on TCM.com.
HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM
in General Discussions
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I have watched this and will have to watch it again. Somehow it just doesn't seem to be a Carole Landis role.