TomJH

If the actual shutdown is such a low priority for them, one might ask why shut the TCM boards down at all?

If the boards live I'll never have a nasty thought about the moderators again. (Well, almost never).

The optimist says: "Yes, friends, it's a Christmas miracle! Our reminiscences and best wishes on these boards these past days and weeks have so moved the TCM executive big shots to tears that they have given the message boards a reprieve. We will continue to live and breath and talk movies here till the end of time!" The pessimist says: "Its just a prolonged torture, like the man they tried to hang whose rope broke. They're just looking for another rope."

"We're alive, alive! We're still ALIVE!!!!!"

I'll miss your reviews, King Rat. By the way I never "got" Hedy Lamarr. Yes, she was beautiful but she also came across, to me, at least, as personality vacant in her films. Now Ava Gardner on the other hand, there is sensual dark haired beauty whose popularity I can fully understand. No wonder Burt Lancaster made a fool of himself over her in The Killers.

I give DGF full marks for honesty. He once said he enlisted in the Coast Guard to avoid military service in Nam. He didn't try to BS about it. This statement isn't intended as a knock on the value of the Coast Guard, by the way.

The irony is that DGF used to go to the gym all the time to work out and made frequent references to his low body fat. One never knows what is behind the corner.

Thank you, guys, for mentioning these posters. DownGoesFrazier, Arturo and Stephen all fully deserve to be remembered, as well as celebrated, for their contributions to these boards. I sent Arturo a pm last January, concerned about his absence from the board. Unlike previous pm's I had sent to him there was no response. Looking at that pm today, I see that he never opened it to read it. I have a very bad feeling about him, I'm afraid.

In these final fleeting moments of existence for the message boards, I'd like to say a fond farewell to a few of the posters of the past who, for whatever reason, have not been here for a while. There was Clore and Mr. Roberts, both bright and insightful in descriptions of their love for films of the studio system days. There was sweet Lori, who had such a love for John Garfield. There was the Movie Professor, long gone from these boards now, and the great, sometimes show biz insider knowledge, that he shared with us. There was also Fred C. Dobbs, stubborn ol' Fred, whose love for films of the studio era could never be doubted. I guess I'm having a senior brain freeze moment (yet ANOTHER one!) because other names aren't coming to me right now. My apologies to those many others left out, but never for a moment did I doubt their devotion to film. Perhaps some here would like to add a few poster names. And that's another reason I resent the disappearance of the thousands, perhaps even millions, of postings made on these boards over almost 20 years, where the writing of those long gone posters still lived on for those who cared to look for them. I'm not going to list the names of current posters here for fear of offending any I fail to mention. But you know who you are. For all who are reading this, it's been great knowing you. Thank you for your insights and helping to bring me a greater awareness of the multiple facets to film. I'm normally not a joiner, the reason I'm uncertain if I will participate in another movie board. The enthusiasm that I saw on this message board in 2011 made me break my not joining rule. But, who knows. I may well break that rule again one day. One never quite knows what lies over the hill.

And let's not forget The Mad Genius, similar in theme to Svengali, which reunited Barrymore with Luis Alberni. In this film a controlling, club footed Barrymore exploits the drug addiction of Alberni's character with, eventually, deadly results. A memorable followup to the more famous Svengali, with Mike Curtiz at the directorial helm (making me wish he had directed the previous film, as well). Alberni would also appear in two of Barrymore's last films, The Great Man Votes and World Premiere. The latter film, a screwball comedy about Axis agents trying to sabotage producer Barrymore's film in Hollywood, is challenging (though not impossible) to find today (all bets are off on the print quality).

I've been teetering on the death row of these boards for a few years now. By that I mean I received a number of warnings in the past to the extent I was informed by a moderator that if I received one more I could be gone for good. The warnings were primarily over a flame war I had with one particular poster in Off Topics. He disappeared from the boards only to return at least three times under other names only to finally disappear once again. Well, I outlasted him so I guess his inflammatory outbursts were greater than mine, at least as far as the moderators were concerned. To those who never received a warning I say good for you. You demonstrated a restraint I couldn't muster, at times. Either that you're just more naturally civil. The truth is I like to think I am, too, most of the time but, unfortunately, I allowed one particular poster to get under my skin. At one point, being the lout that he was, he poked fun at the advanced age of another well known poster on the boards. I found that ageism (as well as the racism he demonstrated, at times) intolerable and told him so. Thus there were warnings for both of us. Despite the occasional turmoil (and post deletions) my profile says I won 105 days, a fact I only just stumbled across a few weeks ago, much to my surprise. Lawrence is to be congratulated all the more for his 246 day wins.

Congratulations on the great news, Toto, and, with it, that new lease on life. It's been a pleasure to interact with you on the message boards. Possibly we'll meet again on a message board somewhere. If not, to paraphrase Rick in Casablanca, "We'll always have the movies."

I didn't watch The Unfaithful but I have seen it several times in the past. It's not a bad crime drama, with soapy overtones, though, of course, can't compete with the brilliance of William Wyler's The Letter. Max Steiner composed the musical score for both films, quite hauntingly so for The Letter. But I found his score for The Unfaithful quite effective, too. I particularly like that repeated downbeat that plays simultaneously under the main theme during the opening titles. It's an indication of turmoil beneath a calm surface, a reflection of this story about a seemingly happily couple whose marriage will be rocked by duplicity and possibly murder. Ann Sheridan excelled in roles calling for snappy one liners (Torrid Zone, They Drive By Night). She was a beautiful woman but there was an unpretentious, grounded, common sense quality about her that made her even more appealing. Surprisingly she had delivered perhaps the performance of her career in a drama, as loyal Randy Monaghan in Kings Row. It was Sheridan's favourite role. After that Warners put her back into a series of superficial roles in less than memorable films, largely wasting the talents of the actress. She then went on a lengthy suspension from the studio, rather than be cast in Hollywood Canteen. The Unfaithful and Nora Prentiss, both released shortly after the war, were attempts to give her more dramatic, meatier roles. While I think Sheridan delivers respectable performances in both films, due to script limitations neither production really represents the actress at her best. Soon she would be gone from the studio (her last film for them, a western, Silver River, showed she had very nice chemistry with Errol Flynn) and Sheridan's post Warners career would prove to be generally unsatisfactory as she began to gradually age on screen with a series of minor films with generally inferior screenplays. There would be only one box office hit for her (I Was A Male War Bride). While some film noir buffs today may appreciate Woman on the Run, as well as her performance in it, the film made little impact at the time of its release and she would later, at a time when her career was badly in need of a hit, convincingly appear as a farm woman in a touching bucolic tale about redemption, Come Next Spring. It, unfortunately, appeared on the bottom half of double bills and disappeared at the box office. Her film career over by 1957, the actress did some summer stock and a bit of television work (with a ratings hit in an otherwise dire comedy series Pistols 'N Petticoats, with Ann now looking rail thin). Slowed down by the cancer that would take her life, Sheridan never complained on the set, though she had to remain seated due to weakness in the final episodes she was able to complete. Always the professional. I've always had an affection for Ann Sheridan. She once said she got two bad films from Warners for every one good one. It might have been more like three to one but, at her best, he was always a pleasure to watch. She and Cagney were a great screen team in the three films they made together. I just watched her recently again in Thank Your Lucky Stars. She did her own throaty singing in this light hearted but energetic musical comedy and I never thought she looked more glamorous. This is Sheridan as I like to remember her.

Flynn, Mitchum . . . sounds good! Wait minute. Just what kind of party is this?