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*IT'S IN THE BAG (1945)* From Agee on April 21, 1945: Fred Allen's picture is the story of a flea impresario named Floogle who inherits a fortune and in the process of getting hold of it runs into Jack Benny. It is often very amusing, sometimes not, knocking off enough sparks of satire in the process to destroy and fulfill a much worse civilization than this one if the molecular energy was organized into its ultimate bomblike meaning.

Interesting post. This reminds me of the time I first saw the movie GHOST, when it first was in theatres back in 1990. I was living in Chicago at the time and spent an afternoon at a movie theatre downtown in the financial district where there were many upscale stores and wealthy movie-goers. There is a scene, after Patrick Swayze's character has been killed and Whoopi Goldberg goes to visit Demi Moore, who plays the grieving lover. Supposedly, Swayze is talking through Goldberg in a pivotal scene, and he wants to kiss Demi once more using Goldberg's body. I remember the build-up in that scene, and there comes a point where Goldberg leans in as if she's going to kiss Demi Moore. Of course, the filmmakers cheated and just as the lips are about to lock, it cuts from Goldberg to Swayze who has completely possessed her body, and we see him kiss Demi. There was a woman in one of the seats behind me. And when, for a split second it looks like Goldberg and Demi Moore are going to smooch, this lady shouts out, for everyone in the theatre to hear, 'Oh God, they're not really going to kiss, are they?!' You could've cut the tension with a knife. We were all on the edge of our seats waiting to see how the scene was going to play out. It was obvious that movie watchers back then were not comfortable with a love story that had any hint of lesbianism in it.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I read somewhere that Alice Faye attended Betty Grable's funeral. At first, I thought they would've been rivals but it seems they were very good friends. Also, I was reading about Robert Fuller who appeared in several hit television series at Universal. He said that in the late 50s and early 60s there was a group of male actors (himself included) who met up at the end of each shooting day to drink themselves silly. Their dressing rooms were in close proximity and that hallway was called 'Whiskey Row.'

STORM WARNING is scheduled for April 4th.

I was watching a Kay Francis film this morning, and it started me to thinking. I wonder what her relationship at the studio was like with Bette Davis...? We never hear about any of this. They were the two top female stars on the Warners lot, with very different styles I might add, and they never appeared on film together (to my knowledge). I am sure they had dressing rooms near each other and studio gossip and rumors kept them both very much aware of each other's careers and lives. Over at Universal, I wonder what Rock Hudson thought about Audie Murphy and vice-versa. They were both the top male stars at the studio for twenty years. Another top male star at Universal for many of those years, Tony Curtis, writes some interesting anecdotes about Audie in his autobiography. While the rest of the contractees had dressing rooms, these three had lavish bungalows right next to each other. At Fox, I wonder what Marilyn Monroe though about Joan Collins. And what Tyrone Power and Gregory Peck thought about each other. Maybe we'll never know the answers to these questions, but it's fun to think about it.

*VENETIA STEVENSON* ISLAND OF LOST WOMEN (1959) with Jeff Richards & John Smith DAY OF THE OUTLAW (1959) with Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise & Alan Marshal STUDS LONIGAN (1960) with Frank Gorshin SEVEN WAYS FROM SUNDOWN (1960) with Audie Murphy, Barry Sullivan & John McIntire THE BIG NIGHT (1960) with Randy Sparks & Dick Foran THE SERGEANT WAS A LADY (1961) with Martin West, Bill Williams & Catherine McLeod

*I WALK ALONE (1948)* From Agee on February 14, 1948: Good performances by Wendell Corey and Kirk Douglas. There is a sharp scene about an old-fashioned gangster's helplessness against modern business methods. Some better than ordinary nightclub atmosphere. Otherwise the picture deserves, like four out of five other movies, to walk alone, tinkle a little bell, and cry "Unclean, unclean."

Yes, clore is correct. The Fay Wray episode was aired as a stand-alone one evening in primetime, before KING KONG. The Lansbury episode, Claire, will have aired twice. Also, Markheim starring Ray Milland was repeated when he was SOTM. And there was one with Buster Keaton and ZaSu Pitts that re-aired when he was SOTM. So maybe the Fay Wray selection will turn up again, too.

CHARLEY'S AUNT starring Jack Benney and Kay Francis will air on April 9th. Glad to see it. It's a fun flick! Also, Chester Morris continues as Boston **** with: BOSTON **** GOES HOLLYWOOD; THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME; AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON ****; and ONE MYSTERIOUS NIGHT.

From what I read, Hearst was unhappy with the results that the original director was getting with the battlefield sequences so he decided to take over and do them the way he felt they should be done. I suppose with all that money and Davies' reputation on the line, he felt it necessary.

Yes, I appreciate the huge amount of airplay she has had in the past few months. It's been fun (re)discovering these films and the performances she turned in at the height of her popularity.

*CITY LIGHTS (1931)* The finest pantomime, the deepest emotion, the richest and most poignant poetry were in Chaplin's work. At the end of CITY LIGHTS the blind girl who has regained her sight, thanks to the Tramp, sees him for the first time. She has imagined and anticipated him as princely, to say the least. It has never seriously occurred to him that he is inadequate. She recognizes who he must be by his shy, confident, shining joy as he comes silently toward her. And he recognizes himself, for the first time, through the terrible changes in her face. The camera just exchanges a few quiet close-ups of the emotions which shift and intensify in each face. It is enough to shrivel the heart to see, and it is the greatest piece of acting and the highest moment in movies.

*GEORGE RAFT* DANCERS IN THE DARK (1932) with Miriam Hopkins & Jack Oakie UNDERCOVER MAN (1932) with Nancy Carroll THE MIDNIGHT CLUB (1933) with Clive Brook, Helen Vinson & Alison Skipworth BOLERO (1934) with Carole Lombard & Sally Rand THE TRUMPET BLOWS (1934) with Adolphe Menjou & Frances Drake LIMEHOUSE BLUES (1934) with Jean Parker & Anna May Wong THE GLASS KEY (1935) with Edward Arnold & Claire Dodd EVERY NIGHT AT EIGHT (1935) with Alice Faye, Frances Langford & Patsy Kelly SHE COULDN'T TAKE IT (1935) with Joan Bennett RUMBA (1935) with Carole Lombard YOURS FOR THE ASKING (1936) with Dolores Costello & Ida Lupino IT HAD TO HAPPEN (1936) with Rosalind Russell & Leo Carrillo BROADWAY (1942) with Pat O'Brien, Janet Blair & Broderick Crawford CHRISTMAS EVE (1947) with George Brent, Randolph Scott, Joan Blondell & Ann Harding LUCKY NICK CAIN (1951) with Coleen Gray

Ruth Roman was back on TCM today in a film she made with Steve Cochran at Warner Brothers called TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY. She once again does a great job. However, her part should not be confused with anything Vivien Leigh ever played.

JANICE MEREDITH is the one I have most wanted to see. W.C. Fields has a role in it. And the battle scenes were supposedly directed by Hearst himself.

So it seems that Mayer held up the release of the picture for nothing. I really don't think he knew what he was doing with this entire project. This should've been made at Fox or else independently through United Artists.

Great informative post. I found it interesting how much GOING HOLLYWOOD cost. That seems to have been her most expensive picture at MGM. It turned out very well, combining her talents with Bing Crosby's. Do we have the figures for her final four films which were made at Warner Brothers? These include PAGE MISS GLORY, HEARTS DIVIDED, CAIN AND MABEL and EVER SINCE EVE. I have a feeling those were not cheap to make.

Yes...while I am not pleased with the selection of Angela Lansbury as SOTM, the Cardiff tribute more than makes up for it. This is what I come to TCM for...

*FRANCES SAGE* WITHOUT ORDERS (1936) with Sally Eilers & Robert Armstrong THE WITNESS CHAIR (1936) with Ann Harding, Walter Abel & Douglass Dumbrille MR. SKEFFINGTON (1944) with Bette Davis & Claude Rains

*THE STRANGER (1946)* From Agee on June 22, 1946: Although Orson Welles takes a reasonable amount of care not to insist on it, THE STRANGER is an art movie. It is a tidy engaging thriller about a Nazi arch-criminal (Mr. Welles) who hides out as a teacher in a New England boy's prep school. So far as I can make out, Welles never was and never will be a genius, but he is just as gifted as he ever was. In this film he is not using the most adventurous of his gifts, but neither is he indulging any of his weaknesses. There is nothing about the picture that even appears to be important or new, but there is nothing pretentious or arty either. In a quite modest way the picture is merely more graceful, intelligent and enjoyable than most other movies.

Begins tonight...

*IF WINTER COMES (1948)* From Agee on February 14, 1948: In its essence this tearjerker is much better than the determinedly tearproof allow themselves to realize. From there on out it is pretty awful. Rather well played; an overdone but promising performance by Janet Leigh.

*JACQUES BERGERAC* TWIST OF FATE (1954) with Ginger Rogers STRANGE INTRUDER (1956) with Edmund Purdom & Ida Lupino LES GIRLS (1957) with Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall & Taina Elg GIGI (1958) with Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan & Maurice Chevalier THUNDER IN THE SUN (1959) with Susan Hayward & Jeff Chandler THE HYPNOTIC EYE (1960) with Merry Anders, Marcia Henderson & Allison Hayes

The MacDonald Carey-Joan Caulfield entry, Apples on the Lilac Tree has a laugh track. I don't remember any of the other more humorous ones having laughtracks. I wonder if this one was filmed as a pilot for a potential series/sitcom.

The entire concept of obliterating a race of people is a nightmare. The topic makes for queasy filmmaking, but if you can stomach it, maybe there's some entertainment value in it somewhere.