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*SEAN GARRISON* VIOLENT ROAD (1958) with Brian Keith & Dick Foran UP PERISCOPE (1959) with James Garner & Edmond O'Brien BRIDGE TO THE SUN (1961) with Carroll Baker & James Shigeta MOMENT TO MOMENT (1966) with Jean Seberg & Honor Blackman

I wanted to comment on the Dick Foran birthday tribute that aired on TCM today. I really enjoyed watching some of these B-films he made at Warners in the late 30s. The westerns were charming, and TCM did air some of them in the summer of 2011 during its month-long spotlight of singing cowboys. But the other films that were shown today were just as much fun. I especially liked SHE LOVED A FIREMAN, which is basically a reworking of the studio's earlier drama HERE COMES THE NAVY (Foran plays the James Cagney role). And I thought Foran's work in OVER THE WALL was exceptional for this type of story. Thumbs up.

*Jayne Mansfield at Fox* THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT, especially when she's a passenger on THE WAYWARD BUS.

There were some other posters I could have selected, but they weren't much better...!

*George 'Gabby' Hayes* In TRAIL STREET: Larkin, you're gonna get thirty days for that killing. Then we're gonna hang you.

*THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947)* From Agee on August 30, 1947: It is quite an entertaining movie, but I am getting a little wan about Danny Kaye's tonsil-juggling numbers. There are good bits of henpecking and office life, and at moments during the daydreams, Kaye is wonderful. He is so good at his best that is hard to forgive, or even believe, all that he mishandles.

*FRANCES DEE* PLAYBOY OF PARIS (1930) with Maurice Chevalier ALONG CAME YOUTH (1930) with Charles Buddy Rogers & Stuart Erwin JUNE MOON (1931) with Jack Oakie AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (1931) with Phillips Holmes & Sylvia Sidney CAUGHT (1931) with Richard Arlen RICH MAN'S FOLLY (1931) with George Bancroft WORKING GIRLS (1931) with Charles Buddy Rogers & Stuart Erwin NICE WOMEN (1931) with Sidney Fox & Russell Gleason THE NIGHT OF JUNE 13 (1932) with Clive Brook & Charlie Ruggles LOVE IS A RACKET (1932) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Ann Dvorak LITTLE WOMEN (1933) with Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett & Jean Parker KING OF THE JUNGLE (1933) with Buster Crabbe THE SILVER CORD (1933) with Irene Dunne & Joel McCrea BLOOD MONEY (1933) with George Bancroft & Judith Anderson COMING OUT PARTY (1934) with Gene Raymond & Alison Skipworth KEEP 'EM ROLLING (1934) with Walter Huston THE GAY DECEPTION (1935) with Francis Lederer BECKY SHARP (1935) with Miriam Hopkins & Cedric Hardwicke HALF ANGEL (1936) with Brian Donlevy SOULS AT SEA (1937) with Gary Cooper & George Raft IF I WERE KING (1938) with Ronald Colman & Basil Rathbone COAST GUARD (1939) with Randolph Scott & Ralph Bellamy A MAN BETRAYED (1941) with John Wayne SO ENDS OUR NIGHT (1941) with Fredric March & Margaret Sullavan MEET THE STEWARTS (1942) with William Holden HAPPY LAND (1943) with Don Ameche & Ann Rutherford PATRICK THE GREAT (1945) with Donald O'Connor REUNION IN RENO (1951) with Mark Stevens & Gigi Perreau BECAUSE OF YOU (1952) with Loretta Young & Jeff Chandler GYPSY COLT (1954) with Ward Bond & Donna Corcoran

*'Renegades'* Evelyn Keyes is the daughter of a prominent townsman who marries an outlaw's son in RENEGADES; while Gene Evans portrays Butch Cassidy, a man who leads a group of WYOMING RENEGADES.

*TOMMY KIRK* THE SHAGGY DOG (1959) with Fred MacMurray & Jean Hagen THE SNOW QUEEN (1960) with Sandra Dee & Patty McCormack THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR (1961) with Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson & Keenan Wynn SON OF FLUBBER (1963) with Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson & Keenan Wynn SAVAGE SAM (1963) with Brian Keith & Kevin Corcoran THE MISADVENTURES OF MERLIN JONES (1964) with Annette Funicello & Leon Ames THE MONKEY'S UNCLE (1965) with Annette Funicello & Leon Ames

*IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN (1947)* From Agee on April 12, 1947: This film features Frank Sinatra, whom I like; Jimmy Durante; and a great many affectionate japes about Brooklyn. Aside from Sinatra and Durante, the show amounts to practically nothing. But there is a general kindliness about it which I enjoyed.

*Mary Gordon* To Pat O'Brien in THE IRISH IN US: Pat, did you ever see your father, drunk or sober, go out of that door without kissing me goodbye?

I guess you could say that! I am probably reacting more to the way the dialogue was written and how it was spoken. Margaret Lindsay and Conrad Nagel do not return as the parents in the follow-up films, so it will be interesting to see how Ann Doran and John Litel take over. I will be paying close attention to see if the writing changes as the series evolves.

Well, I do plan on watching the entire series. I don't think the filmmakers are moralizing as much as they are psychoanalyzing child behavior. Family sitcoms in the 1950s did this, of course, but usually the child's behavior was a focal point for laughter or sadness. In this case, Danny's behavior is set up to function like a blueprint of how-not-to-parent and how-best-to-understand-a-child. It seems heavy-handed and in this first entry, it nearly offsets what entertainment value there is in the story.

I love these photos...especially the last one with them spanking the dad! Cute stuff.

Since TCM is showing virtually the entire Columbia series of RUSTY films, I thought I would weigh in with my thoughts about the first installment that aired earlier today. I am not sure if I can give ADVENTURES OF RUSTY a passing grade, as much as I may want to...I found a lot of the dialogue and the set-up with the boy (Ted Donaldson) and his parents entirely too preachy. I often felt that the intention of the filmmakers was not to entertain but rather take a basic scenario about a boy and his dog and turn it into a series of situations in which to teach the audience about child psychology...and, even, animal psychology! At the beginning of the story, we learn that the dog was trained by Nazi police, so of course, before the final fade-out, he has to become de-Nazified; and we have to understand how this misunderstood canine, having survived a major world war, is now a refugee in America. Seriously. Then, there are the domestic scenes with the boy having to accept his new stepmother (Margaret Lindsay) and how he has to go through repeated angst of hating her and not accepting the father's new marriage. Again, it did not seem very entertaining; but rather, it was a textbook lesson on how to train a child to adjust. Did audiences in the mid-1940s need this? What I did like about this initial entry in the Rusty series, and I liked it very much indeed, was one really clever bit where Danny thinks that he has to learn German in order to communicate with Rusty. He goes to his father (Conrad Nagel) under the guise that he has a new friend that does not speak English and he asks for various translations. Of course, both parents think Danny has made friends with a fellow human being from Germany; and only a few moments later do they realize that the German is actually a German Shepherd and now housed downstairs in the basement.

Agree. I don't see Hackman as a character actor. As for Burgess Meredith, he began as a leading actor in film, and after the blacklist era, he returned to do mostly character roles.

Coop died more than 18 years before Duke did. Duke was around for another generation to make more movies and more firmly establish his iconic brand in the culture at large and to see it endure. Most of us like and appreciate the talents of both these heroic leading men of American cinema.

The Encore Western channel will be airing all the 'lost episodes' of Bonanza starting next month (July 2012). These offerings are primarily from seasons 7 through 14 (just one with Pernell Roberts from the end of the sixth season, though he does not appear in it). This is a great opportunity to see some of our favorite classic movie stars in guest roles.

Great thread topic. When I post my daily double on Facebook, the ones that my dad clicks 'like' on are usually westerns. He especially enjoys Tim Holt westerns, and anything about the James brothers.

*Guy Kibbee* To Alice Brady in JOY OF LIVING: I've been drinking over 40 years, and I haven't acquired the habit yet.

*MOLLY AND ME (1945)* From Agee on April 21, 1945: This is the sort of story you might run across in its fifth edition at a provincial public library. It is about a housekeeper in turn of the century London who sweetens up an old rich griper. It is tame, old-fashioned and charming. But it is a worthless picture, very prettily done, with an intense performance by Doris Lloyd, a likable one by Monty Woolley, and a perfectly beautiful one by Gracie Fields. I think Miss Fields is about as nice a woman over forty as I have ever seen. I have certainly never seen anyone in movies to approach her in that age bracket. I recommend her highly to anyone who has ceased to believe it is possible to grow decently into middle age.

*Tina Louise & Robert Ryan* They play father-in-law and daughter-in-law in GOD'S LITTLE ACRE, then they're a married couple dealing with a DAY OF THE OUTLAW.

*GINGER ROGERS* QUEEN HIGH (1930) with Charlie Ruggles & Frank Morgan FOLLOW THE LEADER (1930) with Ed Wynn & Ethel Merman THE SAP FROM SYRACUSE (1930) with Jack Oakie YOUNG MAN OF MANHATTAN (1930) with Claudette Colbert & Norman Foster HONOR AMONG LOVERS (1931) with Claudette Colbert & Fredric March HAT CHECK GIRL (1932) with Sally Eilers & Ben Lyon THE THIRTEENTH GUEST (1932) with Lyle Talbot BROADWAY BAD (1933) with Joan Blondell & Ricardo Cortez SITTING PRETTY (1933) with Jack Oakie & Jack Haley DON'T BET ON LOVE (1933) with Lew Ayres A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT (1934) with Lyle Talbot CHANGE OF HEART (1934) with Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell & James Dunn LADY IN THE DARK (1944) with Ray Milland, Warner Baxter & Jon Hall MAGNIFICENT DOLL (1946) with David Niven & Burgess Meredith HEARTBEAT (1946) with Jean-Pierre Aumont, Adolphe Menjou & Basil Rathbone THE GROOM WORE SPURS (1951) with Jack Carson & Joan Davis WE'RE NOT MARRIED (1952) with Fred Allen MONKEY BUSINESS (1952) with Cary Grant, Charles Coburn & Marilyn Monroe DREAMBOAT (1952) with Clifton Webb, Anne Francis & Jeffrey Hunter TWIST OF FATE (1954) with Jacques Bergerac FOREVER FEMALE (1954) with William Holden & Paul Douglas TEENAGE REBEL (1956) with Michael Rennie OH MEN! OH WOMEN! (1957) with Dan Dailey & David Niven

*Bette Davis Historical Role* She plays Empress Carlotta in JUAREZ and Queen Elizabeth I in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX.

*THE VIRTUOUS VIVI (1946)* From Agee on May 11, 1946: This French film has been banned by the New York censors. It is in spots cruel and questionable. But it is very funny, touching and skillful. I urge everyone to protest the ban, whether it does any good or not.