Bogie56

Good stories. I saw Richard right after that encounter on The Strand in The Sunshine Boys with Danny DeVito. He wasn't in very good health then. It was only a few months later that he went into hospital for some operation and that was that. Lovely man. I couldn't get over how excited he was to talk to me about Uncle Monty! DeVito by the way was quite amazing in Sunshine Boys. All he had to do was walk out onto the stage and pause and the entire audience would erupt in laughter. Quite phenomenal to see actually.

I'm shamelessly bumping this up as it should be of interest. Ben talks about reading these chat forums and the reaction people first had to him as a host and he also talks about the cruises.

I met Richard Griffiths not long before he passed away. I guess to the younger generation he will always be remembered as 'Uncle Vernon' in the Harry Potter films. But to me, his filmic crowning glory was as Montague H. Withnail, or just 'Uncle Monty' in Withnail and I (1987). In the short time I had to speak with him I told him how much I liked him in that film. He was really chuffed as the Brits would say and offered this insight into Uncle Monty ... "he is a man of great integrity." Withnail and I is a cult classic in Britain.

Nothing gets by you JamesJazz. Let's just say it was a mistake that I caught before you could quote it!! How about The Prime Cut of Miss Jean Brodie where Maggie Smith and her protege, Pamela Franklin rule Edinburgh's underworld with an iron fist. Anyone caught crossing their paths is turned into Haggis.

I thought Jim Backus did a very credible job in both Bright Victory (1951) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Yes, I watched Monkey Business (1952) not long ago and once again found its 'comedic' moments mostly cringe-worthy. But Marilyn is gorgeous to look at in this one.

Listed as a TVM on the imdb, a documentary that I saw in February 1970, The Unfinished Journey of Robert Kennedy by Mel Stuart and narrated by John Huston.

"Excuse me sir, Does that include television?" - Peter Sellers responding to "You'll never work in show business again" in The Party

"Ive got something caught in my throat. I think it's my foot!"

The Wagons Roll at Night of the Following Day. Circus owner and TCM fanatic, Humphrey Bogart kidnaps Marian the librarian and forces her to research the trends of all screenings of Tor Johnson movies.

Tor has always been outside of the closet. In fact, he never could fit inside of it in the first place.

"Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand Why she walked like a lass but barked like a lad Oh my Lassie, la, la, la, la, la. la Lassie"

i didn't watch them today, but loved Ben's intro when they showed Lassie Come Home a while back where he mentioned that the trainer stood off-camera with a treat. And that the treat was for Donald Crisp. LOL.

Most of you are probably aware that the sound of the tap dancing in films is put in later during post production. While they are shooting the film the actors dance to music playback making the sound unusable. Later the same actors come into the sound studio and re-perform their steps in sync to picture playback. Then they add these clean sounding footsteps or taps to the full music soundtrack. It's tricky to perform those steps the first time, never mind do it again in sync to a picture that cannot be changed. Well, I had the occasion to watch one performer do this at a studio. I was watching through the projector porthole in the back room. The performer was Liza Minnelli and the film was Stepping Out. Very interesting I must say. She was good too.

Try not to put people off listening to the interview.

I didn't see Lassie carrying any sticks of dynamite in its mouth like Won Ton Ton.

(deep inhale) "My goodness, I feel I can breath again!"

Au contraire, Lydecker. Lassie should have been put down in the first film! What a pain in the butt. Lassie Come Home (1943) Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester are so poor they cannot feed their own family let alone the useless mutt. So, they sell it and are able to eat once again. But Lassie keeps escaping from its new owner and turns up like a bad penny again and again, embarrassing Crisp and continually upsetting poor Roddy just when he seems to be getting over things. Son of Lassie (1945) Peter Lawford joins the RAF and is embarrassed time and again when Lassie turns up. The mutt even stows away on his bomber during a mission over Norway. Forced to parachute over enemy territory, Lawford manages to connect with the Norwegian resistance. But who ruins everything? Lassie, of course. The Germans follow Lassie and the mutt gives away the game by returning to its master. Courage of Lassie (1946) After riding the rails, Lassie jumps off the train near Vancouver and makes its way back home. Its in such a state that Elizabeth Taylor has to put her life on hold to look after it. Hills of Home (1948) Edmund Gwenn is saddled with looking after the useless dog in this one. Lassie is afraid of water which results in lots of problems for its reluctant owner. Challenge to Lassie (1949) Usurping the Greyfriar's Bobby story, Lassie threatens the livelihood of the local Chruchyard keeper by continually turning up like a bad penny to sit on his dead master's grave. What a stupid mutt. The Sun Comes Up (1949) Jeanette MacDonald is leaving the theatre with her son and about to cross the street to their car. Lassie, who was waiting in the parked car jumps out of the open window which prompts Jeanette's boy to run toward it. He is then hit by a truck and killed. Lassie, look what you did! If that's not enough. Lassie later befriends Claude Jarman, Jr. and Jeanette is sucked into looking after this yucky orphan. it also ended Jeanette MacDoanld's screen career. The Painted Hills (1951) Lassie does nothing while her master is killed.

There was a radio program in Britain in the 70's called Mastermind, or some such thing where a panel of eggheads were bombarded with obscure questions like the mass of the planet Jupiter and what year did Pope such and such rule from. One question that the entire panel agonized over and just couldn't get was who was Yogi Bear's sidekick. Ya-ya? Bobby? No-no? We give up.

Agreed, Andy. As a young boy I also liked Widmark in the westerns and adventure films such as The Long Ships (1964) though they probably weren't films to trumpet anyone's acting abilities. Two others I would mention for his solid performances are The Bedford Incident (1965) and Run For the Sun (1956) though they probably fall somewhere just behind the ones you have already mentioned.

"I want more sand in the desert!" - Vittorio De Sica directing in After the Fox

Ben talks about the TCM faithful's reaction to him by the way in part 2 of this interview. And he speaks of reading these forums.

I wish I could take credit for it but I am just following someone else's lead.

Perhaps if Tor is star of the month, or maybe even as a Sunday night foreign film, TCM will show Volker Schlondorff's 1996 Young Torless?

Tuesday, June 16 6:30 a.m. I’m curious to see A Dog of Flanders (1935) 4:45 p.m. And Goodbye My Lady (1956) is another boy and his dog movie that I have yet to see. And I like Brandon de Wilde. 9:45 p.m. Ladies In Retirement (1941) with Ida Lupino. I had recorded this ages ago on vhs (I shamefully admit!) and have yet to see it. After reading about it here on the boards in a thread this past week I think I should at least try to grab a dvd recording of it this time around.