TopBilled

That's such a great example. And I thought they did a fine job presenting a black Cinderella. It is definitely a classic.

Then, maybe it's Monroe. We shall see.

>I figured it worth of inclusion as it is an attempt to rip off a theme associated with whites and fashion it for a black audience. That is how I would define the trend, too. These are remakes geared for a niche market, in this case the African American population.

Another one:

*WERA ENGELS* THE GREAT JASPER (1933) with Richard Dix & Edna May Oliver TOGETHER WE LIVE (1935) with Willard Mack & Ben Lyon THE GREAT IMPERSONATION (1935) with Edmund Lowe & Valerie Hobson

*THE WOMAN IN WHITE (1948)* From Agee on June 19, 1948: The Wilkie Collins novel, given the studious stolid treatment ordinarily reserved for the ritual assassination of a Great Classic. This is not intended as a recommendation.

Fred, Denzel also took a previously white role in the remake of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE:

>I always thought that What Happening was kind of a black version of Happy Days. Good comment. I would agree. Slightly different characters but the premise was similar.

Interesting post, Valentine. TCM aired WATERMELON MAN not long ago.

Thanks...I was thinking about some of the remakes Eddie Murphy did. He took Rex Harrison's role for an updated DR. DOLITTLE and Jerry Lewis' role in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR.

Sounds interesting, Fred. I will have to look for it. Here's one I haven't seen yet, but I think it does look interesting:

It's Black history month, Whitney's in the news, and I don't remember seeing a thread on here that addresses white characters that turn black in American motion pictures.

Yes, I was surprised she didn't see your earlier thread before she started this one.

*THE GANG'S ALL HERE (1943)* From Agee on December 18, 1943: THE GANG'S ALL HERE highlights Alice Faye singing 'No Love, No Nothing.' It is as torturing a piece of torching as the war has evolved. But it is mainly made up of Busby Berkeley's production numbers which amuse me a good deal. There is one routine with giant papier-mache bananas, cutting to thighs, then feet, then rows of toes. It deserves to survive in every case book of blatant film surreptition for the next century. But then, for anthropological reasons, so does 'No Love, No Nothing.'

*JAMES COCO* TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME, JUNIE MOON (1970) with Liza Minnelli & Ken Howard SUCH GOOD FRIENDS (1971) with Dyan Cannon, Jennifer O'Neill & Ken Howard MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972) with Peter O'Toole & Sophia Loren THE WILD PARTY (1975) with Raquel Welch

There's nothing wrong with doing a bit of homework. To comment on just two or three out of 46 films and then assign a value to a director seems, quite frankly, irresponsible in my opinion.

This thread is leading into a greater issue which I have been wanting to address for a long time. I think events schedulers are looking at classic film fans who have disposable incomes and trying to find ways to re-sell classic film across a platform of lifestyle areas. DVDs, books, a cruise, and now a trip to a site where not one millimeter of celluloid was filmed for the making of CITIZEN KANE. They should really be making a pilgrimmage to RKO's old stomping grounds and building a shrine to commemorate Orson's Great Achievement of The Ages.

I can see a lot of people attacking and downgrading the points being earnestly made because someone is not looking at the whole picture. If one really cared about Hawks' portrayals of women, then it is the responsibility of the poster to look at all possible examples. Otherwise the thread needs to be retitled Hawks' women in RED RIVER and RIO BRAVO. And again, that is a very narrow survey and subject to vast criticism.

I think it's irrelevant that the Hearst family is interested in a screening of CITIZEN KANE. The important point is that Hearst himself never watched the film. Several of his closest friends have attested to this. I would bet that if he was 200 years old and still alive, he still would not watch it. This is just some publicity event cooked up by someone with nothing better to do.

I thought I saw it mentioned somewhere else on these boards. My question is has anyone born after 1980 heard about CITIZEN KANE? They've certainly all heard about THE WIZARD OF OZ. I think a lot of people would prefer going to the Emerald City as opposed to San Simeon. What's next? A special film junket to Korea in observance of the anniversary of THE BRIDGES OF TOKO-RI...?

This is intended to be a thread where we can relate literature directly to classic films. It doesn't always mean books. Instead, it means: 1. Nonfiction about classic Hollywood filmmaking-- including (auto)biographies, interviews. and movie reviews (I am very partial to Pauline Kael and James Agee). 2. Fiction-- this falls into two subcategories-- stories that serve as the inspiration for adapted screenplays; and stories that are based on original screenplays (you know, where the published material comes out after the movie). 3. Other-- including magazine articles and poems that relate directly to classic movies. Also, excerpts from actual scripts can be examined.

I will agree with you a bit on this, Andy. And I am sure others are thinking the same thing. One thing that seemed odd to me is Drew would pick CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and not E.T., if she was to select a Spielberg title. This tells me that since CLOSE ENCOUNTERS has been in heavy rotation the past few months, that TCM has leased it for the year, and that someone else (higher up) suggested including that one in this year's Essentials program. I do not think Robert and Drew pick all the films. They just host them (and probably pick a high percentage of them, but not all of them). Drew would definitely have chosen E.T. for obvious reasons.

With RAIDERS and CRYSTAL SKULL, we did have a few titles in between. There is definitely a gap between LAST CRUSADE and CRYSTAL SKULL (19 years).

Thanks. RIO BRAVO is the one I was thinking about. Monty would've been a good choice. I think Monty would've worked in the Rock Hudson role for MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT, though comedy was not his strong area. He and Liz would've been perfect for it.

August SUTS honorees: it probably is Joe E. Brown, since SOME LIKE IT HOT would air in the evening, and we would see all his earlier films throughout the day. LOLITA might mean James Mason, though Shelley WInters would be good. Freddie Bartholomew seems just as possible as Lionel Barrymore. And I think Tyrone Power is right, because we have had Gene Tierney. The other candidate would be Clifton Webb, but with virtually all his film resume at Fox, I think that would be a bit unlikely. At least Power did the occasional freelance assignment and they do not need to rely completely on Fox if honoring him. We would get the films he did at the very end for Columbia and it would certainly be a treat if Universal's MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER showed up.