TopBilled
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Posts posted by TopBilled
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There sure don't seem to be many fond memories of Cohn. LOL
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Mirren has a film coming out on August 31. There was considerable Oscar buzz late last year when THE DEBT screened at a few festivals. But Miramax (Disney) held it back, while hammering out a deal with another company to take over the rights. As a result, Mirren's performance is just now making it to theatres this summer.
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I know. I appreciate cleverness. I certainly stepped into it, didn't I?
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I think it's a nice idea, Terry. I am sure R.O. would appreciate the sentiments.
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Have at it, Valentine. I think most of the folks who frequent these message boards have been affected by TCM in a positive way.
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Good one, Fred. LOL
I think TCM does a very good job. We can either see ourselves as lucky or as ungrateful.
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There is a fair percentage of 'complaint' or rant threads on these boards. But quite frankly, I have yet to see any real legitimate concerns about the services and products TCM is providing its customers.
The biggest problem with a complaint thread is that while we are consumers who want the best quality, we are also guests on these message boards. It is like someone going into a neighbor's house and complaining about the neighbor to his or her face. It's rude, tacky and if you don't like them, then don't go to their front door. Stay away and go visit someone else at a different house.
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I don't think there's a Ginger movie I dislike. Of course, some are better produced than others. I probably like her phase at 20th in the 50s the best. Zanuck gives her some very good roles and the projects are flooded with so much other supporting talent.
I would say that my favorite Ginger film is TEENAGE REBEL. It's definitely a dated 50s melodrama, but Ginger is so gorgeous in it. I like the relationship of the troubled mother and daughter, and I think Ginger really plays the conflict correctly. She has one of her sexiest leading men in this picture, the very dashing Michael Rennie. They have excellent chemistry together. There's a great scene where they share a dance outside the house, and for a moment you get a glimpse of the old magic she had with Astaire, except it's with Rennie who is much more attractive and a rather good dancer himself!
My second favorite Ginger film is ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON. It was the first of two she did with Cary Grant. I guess I really like it when she's paired with British leading men. She brings out the best in these guys! And they make her look great!
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Ginger Rogers (given name Virginia McMath) was born on July 16, 1911 in Independence, Missouri. In her teens, she had already done Vaudeville, had already toured with a road show and was working on stage in New York. Before she was 20, she made her first motion picture out in California. It was 1930's YOUNG MAN OF MANHATTAN, for Paramount.
Much of Ginger's early success was due to her mother's prodding and unfailing belief in her. Indeed, Lela Rogers would arrange many of the behind-the-scenes deals that put on Ginger on top and kept her there.
An important fact is that throughout her motion picture career, Ginger was never less than third-billed and this includes her final film which she made in 1965. Her longevity as a leading lady for three and a half decades on film is truly extraordinary when you consider it.
She was still a household name when she guest-starred on cousin Lucille Ball's sitcom Here's Lucy in 1971 for an episode called 'Ginger Rogers Comes to Tea.' What other woman, besides Lucy, has that sort of name recognition and drawing power at 60? This is a testament to her talent; her versatility and ability to reinvent herself in many kinds of projects and roles; and it is also a testament of the public's undying love for her.
Thanks to classic film channels like TCM, she is still drawing new fans. In fact, it could be said that the public loves her now just as much as it ever did, even to this day in 2011...on the eve of her 100th birthday.
Ginger Rogers, of course, is a legend and remains an inspiration to us all. She is known for those much-celebrated RKO musicals in the 30s costarring Fred Astaire. But she also had a long solo career, in a variety of genres in film and on stage.
What is your favorite Ginger Rogers movie?
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After you asked about her, I did look up Helen Hunt. It seems that she has several projects in the works. They do not seem to be big-budget films, but at least she's still working and is finding some starring roles. Good for her.
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Bette Davis as Margo Channing is not the best example for this. Though, I agree, Mankiewicz's screenplay does touch on some bitter truths regarding older performers in show business.
You don't think there are older attractive women that younger men find sexy? Joan Collins' husband is more than 30 years younger than her, and he is madly in love with her. Maxwell Caulfield and Juliette Mills have been together a long time and she is quite a bit older. These hook-ups happened long before the term 'cougar' was invented, and there will be these kinds of relationships for a long time to come.
It seems to me there is a double-standard at play. An actress hits menopause and she's suddenly used up? Try telling that to Raquel Welch and her many admirers!
Part of the problem is that we as a public do not allow them to age gracefully, and thus, these older stars are afraid to take parts that reflect their true age.
I see it happening to the older men, too, just not so pronounced. They all don't advance in years like Cary Grant did. Some become rather out of shape and lose their hair and end up doing supporting roles on television (Beau Bridges recently on ABC's Brothers and Sisters comes to mind). Does it mean they are any less talented than before? No. Does it mean there shouldn't be roles for them? No.
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The one I went to most often in the late 90s and 2000s was the Rexall drugstore. I would stop in there when I went shopping at the Beverly Center. It's on the corner of Beverly and La Cienega. A friend of mine whose father was a screenwriter back in the 40s and 50s said it was a popular hang-out for writers and other such intellectuals. According to her, it was a favorite place for Aldous Huxley to visit. I don't know how true that is!
It is now owned by CVS.
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Thanks. That does give us a better idea of the general vicinity.
I searched both addresses on mapquest. Actually, I lived in West Hollywood back in 2004, not far from where Schwab's used to be. But I didn't go by Hollywood High very often, so I had to look it up!
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Schwab's was situated at 8024 W. Sunset Boulevard, where Sunset intersects with Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The famed drugstore is featured in Billy Wilder's classic film noir, but it has since been demolished.
Hollywood High School was, and is still, located at 1521 N. Highland Avenue. This is an area east of La Brea, and not exactly close by to where Schwab's was located.
Currie's was a chain of ice cream parlors. For instance, there was one in Glendale, one in Downey, etc. I assume that the one Lana hung out at during school hours was on Highland, or very near there, not by Sunset and Laurel Canyon.
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Richard Egan became friends with a young pup named Ryan O'Neal at the gym where they both worked out. He thought O'Neal had the potential to be a star. So Egan, who was appearing in the weekly television series Empire had his new friend featured in several episodes of the NBC western and O'Neill's career took off.
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I think Sept 28 is marked on many calendars. If only it were tomorrow!
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Right. It's a small inconvenience, and one that many of us do not have any trouble with, as long as TCM is able to continue airing hard-to-find titles.
I have noticed that it occurs every half hour on FMC.
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Good question. Helen Hunt should be working more, too. Maybe she's concentrating on her personal life, but she belongs back on our screens. Even if it's another television series.
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Technicolor musicals were still highly popular in the 1950s. Even as the studio system went into decline, there would still be occasional ones filmed in the early and mid-1960s, such as MGM's BELLS ARE RINGING with Dean Martin and Judy Holliday, or MGM's JUMBO with Doris Day. But it seems that the format really hit its high point in the fifties. And so did the careers of the pre-eminent musical artists who appeared in them.
Two of the era's more well-known male dancers continue to inspire viewers today. They both seem to take their cue from Fred Astaire whose greatest successes came nearly a generation earlier. Yes, it was the time of prosperity era puffball musicals, and we have within this slim time frame a pair of comfortable nice-fitting Genes.
Gene Kelly was MGM's top male musical performer in the post-war years. His contributions to the genre and to dance itself are immeasurable. The pinnacle of his achievement is best evidenced in the studio's AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. There are many other pictures, too, such as 1948's THE THREE MUSKETEERS, in which his swashbuckling derring-do is on handsome display, as well as some of the later efforts like the roller skating scene from IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER or the much more experimental dance and mime of INVITATION TO THE DANCE.
Meanwhile, at Warners, Gene Nelson was hoofing with the likes of Doris Day and Gordon MacRae in such ventures as LULLABY ON BROADWAY and TEA FOR TWO. He and MacRae reunited for the independently produced OKLAHOMA! Nelson, like his cross-town counterpart Kelly, is given many opportunities by his home studio to show off his particular brand of rhythm, and the results are genuinely fun.
I think it can be said that both performers brought uniquely individualistic talents and sensibilities to their shared artform. There was a tough denim-like quality to the way in which they approached the work. There was always something sexy, athletic and manly about it.
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Following-up on some of the items mentioned yesterday, plus a few more newsy tidbits:
As you know, I mentioned that *Jodie Foster* costars in CARNAGE, the latest effort by director *Roman Polanski.* It was filmed in France because Polanski is barred from filming in the U.S., though the story was originally set in New York. It will be a Sony Pictures Classics release, made on a budget of $25 million. It does not seem to be an ensemble film. (Foster did have a cameo role in Woody Allen's ensemble piece SHADOWS AND FOG years ago.) Jodie Foster is third-billed after Kate Winslet and Austrian-German actor Christoph Waltz.
More on *Kathleen Turner:* Her latest film THE PERFECT FAMILY is a comedy-drama. In the story, she plays a Catholic woman who has been nominated for an award by her church friends, but ironically finds fault within her own family and is unable to accept them all. Meanwhile, Turner has just signed on to voice Jessica Rabbit in ROGER RABBIT 2.
What's been going on with *Sissy Spacek*...? She will appear in THE HELP, hitting screens on August 12th. In 2012, she will be seen in BLACKBIRD, a crime thriller in which she is fifth-billed. She gets to work with *Kris Kristofferson* in that one.
Quick checking reveals that historical figure *Mary Todd Lincoln* was born in December 1818, while *Abraham Lincoln* was born in February 1809. He was almost ten years older than her. Meanwhile, *Sally Field* who is slated to play the first lady in a new film by *Steven Spielberg* was born in November 1946, and *Daniel Day Lewis*, as Abe, was born in April 1957. So it's the other way around, with Field ten years older than Lewis. I'm still glad Field has been cast in this part, but I hope the director and his screenwriter are not going to promote the idea that the sixteenth president was younger than his wife, as that would be another version of Hollywood rewriting history.
*Meg Ryan* may have a new project shaping up. I will report on that in the week ahead...
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I found these reasons on yahoo answers:
1. They do that to de-value illegal copying, mostly.
2. It's the same reason you see watermarks on photographs on the web. It's to prevent copying for profit.
There's a petition you can sign if you feel like doing something constructive about it:
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BRIGADOON was spoofed on an episode of I Love Lucy called 'Lucy Goes to Scotland.' This was one of the first shows in the European tour they did. Although it was broadcast in standard black-and-white, Desilu did shoot it in color.
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Thanks. The relish that Lionel Barrymore had flown to the commissary each week was actually made with fresh garden vegetables grown on his land back in Connecticut.
One of Louis B. Mayer's reasons for providing such a homey atmosphere at the MGM commissary was to entice workers to stay on the lot during lunch time. He was afraid that if folks went to some of the nearby bars in Culver City they would have too much to drink and not find their way back to work in the afternoon!
Lucy was still eating Jell-o in the 1980s, in the later years of her life. Her favorite drink, according to Lee Tannen who wrote a book about her, was lemonade.
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You're right...it is very impressive. What a home!
Ginger Rogers at 100: What are your favorite Ginger films?
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Posted
I think there are plenty of us Ginger-**** who appreciate the 65 hit films she made without Fred Astaire. That was but one phase of an illustrious career. She was one of the most versatile leading ladies on screen ever.