TopBilled

I am waiting for someone to talk about Hawks' men. Man, I love John Wayne and Monty Clift in RED RIVER. I wish they had done more films together, and I certainly wish Monty had worked more with Hawks.

I continue to dislike the '33 version of STATE FAIR. I find the 1945 version to be quite nearly perfect. Vivian Blaine's musical performances really take the project to a whole new level. It's probably my favorite musical of the 1940s.

*FRANCES FARMER* BORDER FLIGHT (1936) with John Howard & Robert Cummings TOO MANY PARENTS (1936) with Lester Matthews RHYTHM ON THE RANGE (1936) with Bing Crosby, Bob Burns & Martha Raye EBB TIDE (1937) with Oscar Homolka, Ray Milland, Lloyd Nolan & Barry Fitzgerald EXCLUSIVE (1937) with Fred MacMurray & Charlie Ruggles RIDE A CROOKED MILE (1938) with Akim Tamiroff & Leif Erickson SOUTH OF PAGO PAGO (1940) with Victor McLaglen, Jon Hall & Olympe Bradna BADLANDS OF DAKOTA (1941) with Robert Stack, Ann Rutherford, Richard Dix & Broderick Crawford WORLD PREMIERE (1941) with John Barrymore, Eugene Pallette & Ricardo Cortez AMONG THE LIVING (1941) with Albert Dekker, Susan Hayward & Harry Carey SON OF FURY (1942) with Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney & George Sanders THE PARTY CRASHERS (1958) with Connie Stevens & Bobby Driscoll

*GIRL NUMBER 217 (1945)* From Agee on October 13, 1945: This is a Russian story of a German family and its wartime slave. It insists, infuriatingly, that these are average Germans, implying and finally even stating, that all Germans are equally **** and guilty. They are not average anything, but they are intelligent, powerful caricatures of the worst that can be expected of the petty bourgeoisie anywhere, even in Russia. However, the film is passionately acted and in general well conceived and well done. It is a little like Flaubert rewritten with hammer and sickle.

What about Howard Hawks' men? He definitely likes men and understands them.

I understand where you are coming from, and I am glad you provided such a good example of your experience with rare Fox films. However, I do not think everyone is going to share your point of view about it. Why? Well, not every Fox precode is a classic and worth all the fuss. And second, some people would prefer to see precodes from another studio, like Paramount. I appreciate the chance of being able to see STATE FAIR (1933) as I had long been curious about it. But I felt it was inferior to the 1945 version, and this is one of those instances where I feel a remake was well beyond justified. This said, I do not think the 1962 version, which I find okay, needed to be made. I do not see where there was any new technology or technical improvement made like we see in '45 with the story getting the chance to be told in rich Technicolor and with such great music.

I am not complaining about TCM or about Fox. I am addressing the circumstance(s) that the film fell into the condition it did, either because of a series of unfortunate incidents or because of someone's careless handling of it years ago. My philosophy is that we should all be able to offer feedback (within reason) and that tolerance needs to be exercised by those that disagree or have a different point of view.

>I hope TCM can obtain more Fox films for us to enjoy. I think most people hope for that. However, I do not think that is the point. The point is that people want a slightly better presentation of the Fox film collection from the 30s. I do not think it is a criticism of TCM in this case, but in the way the film has been preserved or restored.

According to wiki, this film holds the record for time between sequels (thirty years) while featuring the original stars:

Biggest gaps between an original film and its sequel...?

>So for those people complaining about the quality of this film-hey be happy we still have it available to watch. Sorry, that doesn't work for me. It's like saying to people be glad that you can get a hand with four fingers instead of no hand at all. Some people will continue to insist on a hand with five fingers. Imagine that! Edited by: TopBilled on Feb 9, 2012 8:46 PM

*RED RIVER (1948)* From Agee on October 11, 1948: When people discuss the real artists in picture-making, they seldom get around to mentioning Howard Hawks. Yet Hawks is one of the most individual and independent directors in the business. Even when he has a vapid chore to do, he gives it character. And when a picture really interests him, he gives it enough character to blast you out of your seat. RED RIVER, which Hawks produced and directed, clearly interested him a lot. It is a rattling good outdoor adventure movie. It is a yarn about the first cattle drive over the Chisholm trail, from deep Texas into Abiline, Kansas, soon after the Civil War. It is also the story of the fierce character duel which develops along the way between the tyrannical boss cattleman (John Wayne) and his foster son (Montgomery Clift). Mr. Clift takes time out for a little romance with a dancing girl (Joanne Dru), but essentially this is a movie about men, and for men. Hawks obviously likes and understands men, grand enterprise, hardship, courage and magnificent landscape. The greatest satisfaction of this picture is continuous and unobtrusive. It is the constancy with which all outdoors, and all human endurance of it and effort to conquer it, keeps bulging the screen full of honest and beautiful vitality, like a steady wind against a well-trimmed sail.

*TROY DONAHUE* VOICE IN THE MIRROR (1958) with Richard Egan, Julie London & Walter Matthau A DISTANT TRUMPET (1964) with Suzanne Pleshette & Diane McBain MY BLOOD RUNS COLD (1965) with Joey Heatherton & Barry Sullivan COME SPY WITH ME (1967) with Andrea Dromm & Albert Dekker THOSE FANTASTIC FLYING FOOLS (1967) with Burl Ives

I agree that the picture quality is not very good. I love the 1945 version so I am biased. But I was expecting this one to be a bit better.

Hackman is stellar in 1970's I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, with Melvyn Douglas.

*BRIDE BY MISTAKE (1944)* From Agee on November 4, 1944: BRIDE BY MISTAKE is more nearly a comedy of manners. It is about an heiress who wants to be sure she is loved for herself alone. Lines and characters are often almost human. I thought that Laraine Day, whom I have not seen play comedy before, was attractive both in person and performance. I would like to see what Ernst Lubitsch could do for her.

*BETTY HUTTON* THE FLEET'S IN (1942) with Dorothy Lamour, William Holden & Eddie Bracken LET'S FACE IT (1943) with Bob Hope HAPPY GO LUCKY (1943) with Mary Martin, Dick Powell, Eddie Bracken & Rudy Vallee HERE COME THE WAVES (1944) with Bing Crosby & Sonny Tufts AND THE ANGELS SING (1944) with Dorothy Lamour, Fred MacMurray & Diana Lynn DUFFY'S TAVERN (1945) with Bing Crosby & Paulette Goddard CROSS MY HEART (1946) with Sonny Tufts DREAM GIRL (1948) with MacDonald Carey & Patric Knowles LET'S DANCE (1950) with Fred Astaire, Roland Young & Ruth Warrick SOMEBODY LOVES ME (1952) with Ralph Meeker SPRING REUNION (1957) with Dana Andrews & Jean Hagen

Sigrid Gurie seems hit or miss in her film roles. I wonder if I would like VOICES better if the print was all cleaned up. But as you said, the story seems a bit weak and some of the parts are either miscast or executed poorly.

>I agree with you here; This is why I wish TCM would change it's name to TSEM; Turner Studio Era Movies. I like your idea very much. It makes sense. But I think we are stuck with the term 'classic.'

I agree about Warren Oates...he should at least get a SUTS tribute. He's deserving of that much.

Probably of the ones I mentioned Redford would be most likely due to his iconic status. Others could include: Faye Dunaway, Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Warren Beatty, Charles Bronson & John Travolta since their careers were all hot in the 1970s.

*JIM BANNON AS RED RYDER* ROLL THUNDER ROLL! (1949) with Little Brown Jug, Emmet Lynn & Marin Sais THE FIGHTING REDHEAD (1949) with Little Brown Jug, Emmet Lynn & Marin Sais RIDE, RYDER, RIDE! (1949) with Little Brown Jug, Emmet Lynn & Marin Sais THE COWBOY AND THE PRIZEFIGHTER (1949) with Little Brown Jug, Emmet Lynn & Marin Sais

*BREAK THE NEWS (1945)* From Agee on March 17, 1945: BREAK THE NEWS was made in England by Rene Clair with Jack Buchanan and Maurice Chevalier. It isn't at all on the level with those Clair films of which the mere recall can bring me tears of admiration or of a detached sort of pride. But it is full of ease and fun and extravagant but unstrained irony. It is worth watching, because it clearly indicates that, though England is not a good place for Clair to work, it is not, like this country, a hell on earth.

I think TCM's programmers should push the boundaries a bit and select a SOTM who was at the height of popularity in the 1970s. My choices for this: Men: Burt Reynolds, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford or James Caan Women: Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen or Liza Minnelli

I do remember seeing TITANIC (97) twice in theatres because it was held over for so long. I ordinarily do not go see the same film more than once. I also saw DANCES WITH WOLVES three times, because again, it was in theatres a long time. So I guess we can say I liked both those titles, but I do not have the same fervor for them now as I did when I first viewed them. On the other hand, there is something like MR. AND MRS. BRIDGE that seems more potent with each subsequent viewing.