TomJH

Frank Morgan's many roles in the Wizard of Oz But did he play the Wizard we see in the Great Hall, as well? See Rarely Seen Edit From Film Below For Answer . . . (Well, four out of five ain't bad).

I recall holding off on the James Bond craze as a kid, finally succumbing for the first time to seeing You Only Live Twice on the big screen. I loved it, and found myself going to see the four previous Connery Bond films when they played as double bills in a second run Toronto theatre. Unfortunately it was at the Rio Theatre, which had a reputation as being a place where street people and a few drunks liked to go to stay out of the cold or sleep it off. There were odours peculiar to the Rio that I never smelled in any other theatre and, believe me, it wasn't the smell of freshly made popcorn. Once when my shoes landed in something sticky on the floor there they kept squeaking and partially sticking to the floor with each subsequent step that I took. Well, I enjoyed the four Bond films I saw there, with Goldfinger making a particularly big impression upon me. But it didn't make as much of an impression as that certain something that kept biting me under my clothes and causing me to scratch a lot. Upon my arrival home I did what I always did after going to the Rio - took a steaming hot shower. I found that the biting and itching always stopped then. "Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to itch."

I realize it's politically incorrect to express affection for an actor who was constantly cast in racially stereotypical roles but I really like Willie Best, even though scripts sometimes required him to act bug eyed scared in some films. But even in those parts Willie had great comic timing and delivery and there was always a sweetness about him as a person that appealed to me. Probably the best role he ever had was as Bob Hope's manservant who accompanies him to a haunted castle in THE GHOST BREAKERS. And it's Willie who gets a few of the best lines in the film. At one point in the film, upon first arriving on a spooky island with Hope, Best gets frightened when they spot a spectral figure slowly walking across a bridge in the fog. Hope, also rattled by the sight, tries to remain calm by saying they're just trying to scare them to which Willie, with perfect timing, replies, "Well they're wasting their time cause we're scared already!" Wonderful as I find Willie Best to be as a performer in some films, it makes me cringe when I hear that his original screen name in the movies was Sleep N' Eat. Willie was only 45 when he died of cancer in 1962. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The star of this movie is Wayne Morris who's career took a downturn after being put on hold serving in WW2. He is a joy to watch, kind of a cross between Alan Hale (who's in this film as the butler) and Aldo Ray.... a big slab of lovable beef and it's great to see him in this leading role, no matter how silly. He died at 45 while on a Battleship and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery, a true American hero. Thanks for making reference to the heroic war record of Wayne Morris as a pilot, Tiki Soo. From Wiki; A December 15, 1944, Associated Press news story reported that Morris was "credited with 57 aerial sorties, shooting down seven Japanese Zeros, sinking an escort vessel and a flak gunboat and helping sink a submarine and damage a heavy cruiser and a mine layer."[4] He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. Morris was considered by the Navy as physically 'too big' to fly fighters. After being turned down several times as a fighter pilot, he went to his uncle-in-law, Cdr. David McCampbell, imploring him for the chance to fly fighters. Cdr. McCampbell said "Give me a letter." He flew with the VF-15 (Fighter Squadron 15), the famed "McCampbell Heroes." While Morris remained employed as an actor after WW2, as you said, his career suffered and, if he got any lead roles, it was usually in cheap Bs, often westerns. It's ironic, considering Morris' impressive war record, that he is probably best remembered today for playing a cowardly army officer in Stanley Kubrick's PATHS OF GLORY. Wayne Morris was not some sabre rattling paper tiger like some others but the true incarnation of a wartime patriot who put his life on the line.

Diplomatic Courier (1952) Entertaining Cold War espionage tale from 20th Century Fox, with Tyrone Power as a somewhat innocent American diplomatic courier who is set to retrieve a mysterious package from another agent. When a friend is murdered Power is sent out to track down the package and the woman last seen with him before his death. There's a certain comforting familiarity about films like this even if the story line is a little involved. Much of the film is spent on a speeding train with enemy agents aboard, shades of so many other spy melodramas, including The Lady Vanishes and From Russia With Love. There are some acts of violence here but much of the time Power is just trying to figure out what's going on and who can he trust. There is a mystery woman who may be a double agent (Hildegarde Neff), as well as an American tourist attracted to Power who he keeps bumping into (Patricia Neal). Stephen McNally plays an American intelligence officer who decides to use Power as a rabbit to attract Soviet spies. If Power gets knocked off, well, war is hell, even if it is a cold one. Karl Malden scores well as an excitable military sergeant who tags along and tries to help the frequently baffled Power (with whom the audience identifies) get out of jams. Small roles in the film are played by Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin in their pre-stardom days. Director Henry Hathaway keeps the film moving at a pleasant clip, and there are plenty of on location shots taken in Trieste, the city of spies, which agreeably adds to the atmosphere of this production. I noticed that you never actually see any of the film's actors in those Trieste settings, though. There are plenty of long shots of doubles so presumably Power and company did all their emoting on studio backlots. The entire cast give professional accounts of themselves, with Neal particularly engaging in a droll performance as the tourist. 2.5 out of 4

New Years Eve, 1957 at Romanoff's Restaurant in LA. Fascinating photo, not just to see so many Hollywood legends gathered together, but to see that they are all having such a good time in each other's company.

High Sierra set

This is the only photo I have ever seen with both Flynn and Cagney in it. Between them is Raoul Walsh. Cagney appears to be in his outfit from Captains of the Clouds visiting, I assume, the set of They Died With Their Boots On in 1941, probably to see old pal Walsh.

Here's a discussion about Pitfall in an old thread. Perhaps it will help you in your decision making. I didn't go through the entire thread so I couldn't tell you if you give an opinion in it or not.

A tribute to everyone's favourite scene in KISS ME DEADLY "Oh, yowweeeEEEEE! That hurts! That REALLY hurts! That hurts so much I can feel it right down to my toes! The pain! THE PAIN!!! I CAN HARDLY STAND IT!!!" "Hey, Mike, do it again, will ya?"

Bend of the River (1952) James Stewart plays a border raider with a past leading a wagon train of settlers along the Oregon Trail. He's a man trying to flee his past in this Technicolor western, the second of five that he made with director Anthony Mann and one of the big box office hits of its year. As with his other Mann westerns, though possibly to a less developed degree here, Stewart's generally amiable demeanour covers some dark secrets, the actor's lanky frame convincing in the saddle, though there remains an interesting vulnerability about him. Arthur Kennedy scores well, bringing some charm to his role as another border raider though one unrepentant about his past. Though engagingly affable at times, Kennedy is also quick with his gun and, in a split second, can turn rattlesnake nasty. He and Stewart have an uneasy friendship, each saving the other's life at times, but you know it's a matter of time before there will be the inevitable showdown. The film benefits from strong on location photography shot in Oregon, with mountainous backdrops, lush evergreens and surging rivers. There is also an impressive supporting cast including Julia Adams as a pioneer (two years before the actress donned that one piece swimsuit that would pop Gill Man's already pop eyes out still further), Jay C. Flippen as her father, Lori Nelson her sister and a young Rock Hudson as a gambler who tags along for the ride. Hudson is handsome, of course, and adequate in his role, though his character remains ill defined. Stewart has one great moment in this film when, after being beaten and betrayed, he swears vengeance in a low angle shot on the man who betrayed him. "You'll be seeing me," he says, "You'll be seeing me. Every time you bed down for the night, you'll look back to the darkness and wonder if I'm there. And some night I will be. You'll be seeing me." Shades of the Duke four years before in Red River. Stewart brings a smoldering anger and determination to this scene that leaves no doubt he was the wrong man to cross and leave alive. SPOILER ALERT: The final confrontation between Stewart and Kennedy, while well photographed and edited, is rather odd as it becomes apparent that Kennedy is not actually in the scene. All the work is clearly done by a stunt double. Kennedy had earlier been established as an effective villain in this film but, with the actor's absence when his character receives his final comeuppance, it is curiously unsatisfying. Bend of the River even if, arguably, the least of the Stewart-Mann westerns, is still well worth viewing thanks to a superior cast and those beautiful vistas. 3 out of 4

Has anyone seen The Highwaymen, with Kevin Costner as Frank Hamer, the Texas Ranger who finally tracked down Bonnie and Clyde? A good film, with the two gangsters only appearing fleetingly in it. The drama has Hamer as its central character. I don't know how historically accurate it is compared to either The Bonnie Parker Story (which is largely fictional) or Bonnie and Clyde but it has the feel and atmosphere of its mid west Depression era setting (unlike the Dorothy Provine film). All three films end with the ambush in the car. Hamer was controversial as a man not leery of using deadly force. Frank Hamer Douglas Kennedy as "Tom Steel" (Frank Hamer substitute) in The Bonnie Parker Story Denver Pyle as Frank Hamer in Bonnie and Clyde Kevin Costner as Frank Hamer in The Highwaymen End of the road for Bonnie and Clyde in 1934 Louisiana. The sudden explosive gunfire was so great that people in the area thought that dynamite had been used by some logging company to bring down a large tree.

I admired the film but couldn't quite understand the title. I wonder if you have to read the Faulkner novel to find out what it means. Thanks for looking into it, sewhite.

Actually, I think the tommy gun might have done a pretty good job at slaying you, too, Tiki Soo.

Could someone please tell me the meaning of the title Intruder in the Dust?

I suspect Cooper would have disagreed with you, at least regarding Colman. The English actor with the mellifluous voice was Coop's favourite actor.

1958 also saw the deaths of Robert Donat and Ronald Colman,

The Bonnie Parker Story (1958) One of a number of late '50s productions about '30s gangsters, the exploitational aspects of this "B" are firmly established in the film's opening titles when the audience gets a peak-a-boo look through the window of a seedy room as the title character slowly removes her clothes. While there is a no name supporting cast, Dorothy Provine is sensationally sexy as the hard bitten cigar chomping tommy gun blasting title character. The film bares little resemblance to history (no surprise). Historians debate as to whether the real Bonnie Parker ever killed anybody. That is not the case in this production, with Provine's Bonnie soon tommy gun blasting a traffic cop into another world after he makes the mistake of stopping the car she and her partner are in. And she doesn't blink an eye as she does it. Clyde Barrow, the two bit psychopathic thug who was a real killer, gets virtually no mention in this film's screenplay. Bonnie is tougher, smarter and more ruthless than any of the male two bit thugs who pick up with her here, which will undoubtedly please many feminist viewers today. The screenplay also throws out suggestions that if Parker had met a nice guy early in her life, instead of punks, it might have turned out differently for her. William Witney, remembered by fans of Republic serials as the director behind many of the best of that genre, keeps things moving quickly. In many ways this film is more of a '50s time capsule than anything else inasmuch as the fashions worn are '50s, rather than '30s, and there is rock and roll music on the soundtrack. Jack Hogan and Richard Bakalyan plays Bonnie's two small time hood partners in crime. More recognizable faces in the supporting cast are those of Joseph Turkel as the brother of one of Bonnie's partners, and Douglas Kennedy as a cop hunting the gang across various states as they are on the run. This film will have increased interest historically, of course, because of the success of Warren Beatty's award winning production of Bonnie and Clyde a decade later. But this unpretentious little production holds up quite nicely on its own, with its central protagonists far more ruthless than anything to be seen from either Beatty or Faye Dunaway years later. But let there be no doubt that The Bonnie Parker Story is primarily Provine's show and her sexy, hard portrayal, with only a slight fleeting hint of vulnerability, makes it worthwhile. At one point the fatalistic Bonnie sums up her life path with one memorable line of dialogue: "We got ourselves a one way ticket. There's nothing you can do once you get on it but drive right to the end of the line." 2.5 out of 4

I'll tell you a film made long before Star Wars whose special effects hold up well today: the earthquake sequence in SAN FRANCISCO (1936), probably the first Gable film I ever recall seeing on TV when I was a kid. It remains one of my favourite films of the "King."

It does work both ways. I have great difficulty telling a lot of the current crop of actors and actresses apart from one another.

To that list I would add John Wayne (you see his films at Walmart all the time) and, thanks to Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland. Maybe Jimmy Stewart due to It's a Wonderful Life and Bogart (Casablanca). Add the Three Stooges. I don't know if many people today are that familiar with Mae West. I agree Chaplin is still a world wide known image as the Little Tramp, as are Mickey Mouse and, I suspect, Bugs Bunny. I had a conversation with an intelligent, articulate couple in their '20s a few years ago and asked them which of the following stars they had heard of: Garbo, Davis, Bogart, Cagney and Flynn. They had only heard of Bogart and Davis. Even more surprisingly just a few months ago I was talking to a guy that I would estimate is in his mid 50s. I made reference to Errol Flynn to which his response was, "I've heard of him." Heard of him! A man in his 50s! I mentioned Robin Hood as a reminder to him and there was only a blank expression on his face. Are we going to be the last generation of film fans that cherish film stars of the studio system days? I sometimes think so though TCM's existence will help to introduce them to the handful of younger people who may be interested. But how long will TCM exist if that handful gets smaller and smaller?

Thanks slaytonf. I happened to have reviewed both films within the past year and agree with you that Intruder in the Dust deserves to be better known. I can't think of an earlier film in Hollywood (I'm ready to be corrected there) in which a black actor was allowed the opportunity to play a man who dared to be proud, stubborn, and obstinate in a white southern community. He asked nothing from anybody except to be himself, whether others like it or not. The wonderful Juano Hernandez (who, soon afterward, would have two more impressive turns on screen with Young Man With A Horn and The Breaking Point) delivered an award worthy performance, in my opinion.

I was talking about reaction to Gable by film audiences TODAY, Sepia. It doesn't matter if he was popular before GWTW (and, yes, he was extremely popular, why else would he have been cast in such an important role in the biggest film of the decade?). But I doubt that many people today make much reference to the former "King" of Hollywood outside of his performance as Rhett Butler. That wouldn't apply to old movie buffs like us, of course, but it does to the general movie going populace today.

The one time Gable worked with Capra in It Happened One Night, aside from being one of his most likeable characterizations, he played a more down to earth, regular guy, "man of the people" type than in his films at home studio MGM where he was hyped as some kind of Olympian sexual God, a rakish leer on his lips, pure cat nip to the ladies. Gable's best films were 95% behind him after GWTW. With a handful of exceptions I find most of his films at MGM to not be particularly impressive. Isn't it interesting that the two films for which the actor remains best remembered today, GWTW and It Happened One Night, were both made on loan outs to other studios? And without GWTW just how well remembered would Gable be today? I suspect not very. I find that a number of other major male stars of the same era, Bogart, Cooper, Flynn, Jimmy Stewart, among others, have an overall more impressive collection of films that hold up better than Gable's MGM collection. Then, again, I've never been a particular big fan of that studio so I guess that has a lot to do with it.