TopBilled

I wonder if folks can have a discussion about race without politics in this case. I hope so. But I do find the timing of this series interesting, and potentially motivated by something beyond the scope of film, considering it is two months prior to the tenth anniversary of 9-11. And of course, they have to explain the value of the series...otherwise, why go through with it.

Thanks. And as has been stated, Cruise has never been awarded an Oscar. Neither has Pfeiffer.

Thanks for the correction. I meant THE CHEAT. Both these films are on a special precode disc called Forbidden Hollywood.

THE HEIRESS was only a year or two before THE MATING SEASON. This was part of her mulit-picture deal at Paramount. Wyler brought her back to Hollywood after she spent several years exclusively on stage. When she does these supporting roles under de Havilland and Tierney, scene stealer that she was, she pulled out all the stops. In her mind, she thinks she is still a lead actress-- sort of a real-life Norma Desmond. Soon afterward, she goes up against Laurence Olivier in CARRIE, in another supporting role given her by Wyler. Oliver is almost no match for her. Lead actress Jennifer Jones is practically obliterated by Hopkins' theatrical maelstrom. Later, in that same decade, she was slated to do a Roger Corman film as Ma Barker. She would've been the lead in that one. Wyler gives her yet another job in THE CHILDREN'S HOUR...and she inhales the scenery. LOL As the 60s continue, we find her playing FANNY HILL, in a lead role, and it is a perfectly delicious part for her. And she is up to her old tricks in THE CHASE, her last film, trying to hog the spotlight away from Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. But going back to Thelma Ritter, I think she and Hopkins are a very good match in THE MATING SEASON. This intersection of talent works, because they both approach the story in dynamic ways, and they walk off with the picture. That's what great actresses do.

Terry, perhaps you are mis-remembering the 1989-90 awards season. LOL It was a year of upsets all around. Michelle Pfeiffer and Tom Cruise were the favorites that year. They both won Golden Globes and were expected to win Oscars. Instead, Jessica Tandy and Daniel Day Lewis walked off with the statuettes.

I just read the one for EVERYBODY SING...it is amusing, but I think it does a disservice to the artists who invested their craft in it. LILLIAN RUSSELL is my favorite Alice Faye vehicle, and I would give it 3 1/2 stars. This one for GYPSY WILDCAT illustrates a point. He expects a film in an entirely different genre to turn out like THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE: D: Roy William Neill. Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Nigel Bruce, Leo Carrillo, Gale Sondergaard, Douglass Dumbrille. Lowbrow saga of princess raised by gypsies; colorful, splashy, but routine. James M. Cain was one of the writers!

Yes, she is truly fabulous in THE SNAKE PIT. I think it's a great performance.

Yes, I get the feeling that maybe he has watched the first twenty or thirty minutes of a film and he does not like it, so he gives up and writes a bad review of it. Some movies do not redeem themselves till the last ten minutes, and you have to hang in there and see it till the end, when invariably your opinion changes. That has happened to me on more than one occasion, that a film I really didn't like in the beginning but patiently watched all the way through actually improved.

Good point. Maybe someday TCM's database will have reviews from Rogert Ebert, too. Maltin is not the only one in the critic/review business.

BIG COMBO is the only one of these I have seen. It's offered by Alpha Video.

Let's not go into that. Let's keep this discussion focused on the reviews only and if the comments are accurate about the films. Thanks.

Interesting that a film from the mid-50s, when television was already in vogue and would re-run some of these movies, wound up lost.

Thanks 3rdMan...it would be nice to see those titles on TCM.

But Fred let's bring it back to a relevant discussion...which of those have aired on TCM in the past year or so? Anyone can post a link to a list. As I said, I started from that list and whittled it down if there were titles that have been played in recent months.

This is one of his I did not like. For BABES IN BAGDAD (1952), he gives it zero stars and really slams the whole affair: D: Edgar G Ulmer. Paulette Goddard, Gypsy Rose Lee, Richard Ney, John Boles, Sebastian Cabot, Christopher Lee. Embarrassing, hokey costumer made even seedier by miscast veteran performers. Come on, it's Paulette and Gypsy. Of course, it's going to be campy. That's the charm of it. Since he obviously does not appreciate that type of acting, he really has no business critiquing it. He seems very harsh on women over 40 in classic films. I think he grades the male action stars, well past their prime, more favorably.

The lists I post are fairly comprehensive. I reference the internet movie database production lists for the studios, from 1930 to 1970..so if I have missed something, it is because it may not have been identified properly on the imdb. Sometimes there are co-productions between studios and they are only listed under one studio, not both. Also, if something is in frequent rotation on TCM, I don't bring it into these discussions...I usually take those titles off the list, because the focus here is which ones are still in the vaults or not getting much airplay on cable. Are there other AA titles you can see I have omitted?

I like Leonard Maltin. I really do. He's a treasure, and his ratings are fairly helpful. But every now and then I just do a double-take and say 'huh?!' when I read some of his reviews. I think the ones that bother me most are when he's unnecessarily negative. I don't think a negative review helps anyone. If he feels adversely about a movie, then he should just not review it, which would essentially be the same as giving it zero stars. Or, if he feels like giving something under two stars then he should offer suggestions for how it could've been better (sometimes he does this, but very seldom). When I read a handful of negative reviews from him, I think 'man this guy hates movies...he can't find anything good in them.' Sometimes, his intent seems more to register vehement dislike or disapproval and really slam the artists. Again, I don't think that helps. During this thread, I plan to re-post some of Maltin's various reviews...the ones I think where he is right on the money, and the ones where he seems rather off-target or on a tangent because he doesn't like the performer or he was expecting something else and disappointed in the final product, an opinion that may or may not be shared by other folks.

Yes, and I am darn sure Coop didn't come cheap. LOL

She pranced and acted her fanny off in A ROYAL SCANDAL. It was the very definition of tour-de-force. Tallu's work in FAITHLESS and MERRILY WE GO TO HELL is also better than what she is allowed to do in LIFEBOAT. She is restrained by Hitchcock and the fact that Fox wants to keep her in check as an ensemble player, not promote her as the lead. In a ROYAL SCANDAL she is once again in an ensemble picture, but she is able to use that vast set to her advantage and cast her presence over all the proceedings, even when she is not on camera...we are constantly wondering what her next move will be.

I don't agree that Loretta Young was being awarded a Lifetime Achievement award for THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER. That would imply she was retiring and she was not giving that impression at all since her career was still in full bloom. It was probably a sentimental vote...again, the Academy was voting for a film and a character that had won their hearts over, instead of handing out the statuette for the technical merit of Young's performance. I happen to like Young's screen work a great deal, but I think she was much better in other films and I think that the other best actress nominees in '47 were probably better. I would've given the best actress award to Rosalind Russell for MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA. Roz has a much more challenging role and pulls it off admirably. I would have given the supporting actress trophy to Gloria Grahame for CROSSFIRE. Katina Paxinou should've been nominated for ELECTRA...she is on fire in that film. Instead, perennial nominee Ethel Barrymore received a nod for THE PARADINE CASE and she has negligible screen time and very little to do even when she is on camera.

I looked it up as I had not heard of it before. Maltin gives it 3 stars. Here's his description: "Sullivan gives strong performance as man who falls victim to his slum environment and ends up a vengeful crook."

Good example. And I love Hopkins. Too bad they didn't get Oberon to play the girl's grandmother in the remake...that would've been even better!

Good point, clore...makes sense. Don't forget FRIENDLY PERSUASION, which they do air. This is probably the most prestigious AA title, due to its stars and its multiple Oscar nominations.

AFFAIR IN HAVANA AND MILLIONS DIE! ANGEL BABY ANNAPOLIS STORY, AN ARROW IN THE DUST BAD BOY BATTLE FLAME BATTLE ZONE BIG CIRCUS, THE BLACK GOLD BLACK ZOO BLONDE BLACKMAILER BOB MATHIAS STORY, THE BOBBY WARE IS MISSING BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS, THE BOWERY TO BAGDAD BRIDE AND THE BEAST, THE BULLWHIP CALLING HOMICIDE CALYPSO JOE CANYON RIVER CHAIN OF EVIDENCE CRASHING LAS VEGAS CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, USA CRY BABY KILLER, THE CRY VENGEANCE DARK AVENGER, THE DEATH IN SMALL DOSES DESTINATION 60,000 DIAL RED O DIG THAT URANIUM DINO DISC JOCKEY DISEMBODIED, THE DRAGONFLY SQUADRON DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE DUDE GOES WEST, THE FACE OF FIRE FIGHTER ATTACK FIGHTING TROUBLE FINGER MAN FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT FORT VENGEANCE FROM HELL IT CAME GEORGE RAFT STORY, THE GOLDEN IDOL, THE GUNFIGHT AT COMANCHE CREEK GUNSMOKE IN TUCSON HANDS OF A STRANGER HEROES DIE YOUNG HOLD BACK THE NIGHT HOLD THAT HYPNOTIST HONG KONG AFFAIR HOT ROD HULLABALOO HOT SHOTS (1956) HUMAN JUNGLE, THE HUNTED, THE HYPNOTIC EYE, THE I WAS AN AMERICAN SPY IN THE MONEY INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) JAIL BUSTERS JENNIFER JOHNNY ROCCO JOY RIDE JUNGLE GENTS KILLER LEOPARD KILLER LUST, THE KING OF THE WILD STALLIONS LAST OF THE BADMEN LITTLEST HOBO, THE LOOKING FOR DANGER LOOPHOLE LORD OF THE JUNGLE MAGNIFICENT ROUGHNECKS MAN FROM GOD'S COUNTRY MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, THE MAZE, THE MEXICAN MANHUNT MITCHELL MURDER IS MY BEAT NAKED IN THE SUN NAVY WIFE NEW ORLEANS AFTER DARK NO PLACE TO HIDE NORTHERN PATROL OKLAHOMAN, THE OREGON PASSAGE PANHANDLE PAPILLON PARIS PLAYBOYS PAY OR DIE PURPLE GANG, THE QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE RAWHIDE TRAIL, THE RETURN FROM THE SEA REVOLT IN THE BIG HOUSE RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 ROYAL AFRICAN RIFLES, THE SEVEN ANGRY MEN SHACK OUT ON 101 SHOTGUN SNOWFIRE SON OF BELLE STARR SPOOK CHASERS SPY CHASERS STAMPEDE STRANGE INTRUDER SUDDEN DANGER THE COME ON THERE'S A GIRL IN MY HEART THREE FOR JAMIE DAWN THREE THE HARD WAY TICKLE ME TORPEDO ALLEY TWENTY PLUS TWO UNWED MOTHER UP IN SMOKE WAR OF THE SATELLITES WOLF LARSEN WORLD FOR RANSOM WORLD WITHOUT END YOUNG GUNS, THE

I think Thelma is overshadowed by Grace Kelly in this particular offering. The film that I really like her in is THE MATING SEASON. We have a fading lead actress in career decline, picking up a character role (Miriam Hopkins)...and we have a rising character actress (Thelma Ritter)...and these two meet and clash and it is explosive, it's fireworks on screen. To me, Gene Tierney and John Lund are really background...it's the mothers-in-law that I care about in this picture. They are both so wonderful to watch on screen together. There should've been a sequel with them at odds over the raising of a grandchild. In fact, as I think about it, THE MATING SEASON should be remade with Merryl Streep (in the Hopkins role) and Kathy Bates (in the Ritter role).