Dargo
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Posts posted by Dargo
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4 hours ago, Mr. Gorman said:
@DARGO: It's a "second generation" FALCON that reposes in my carport. A 1964 Standard Series 2-Door Sedan. Complete with '170' CID engine, a 2-speed automatic (Ford-O-Matic) + a manual choke knob to get the fuel flowin'. There is no power steering or power brakes. They were available, but the older lady who bought the car new back in August 1964 didn't want them. The brakes are the old-time single master cylinder hydraulic brakes. I've never had them re-done with dual master cylinders . . . but I do keep them tuned up at all times. That is probably the most important thing to do when one has an aging Falcon with its original braking system intact. Keep the brakes tuned up and full of fluid!
It has ▬ bench ▬ seats and an old-time bare metal dashboard. The horn is made of chrome and will not 'give'. 🦷 → I know it won't give because I ate it back in 1994. 🦷
One thing I can honestly say about my '64 Falcon: The road visibility is the *BEST* of any vehicle I've ever ridden in. The 'blind spot' is miniscule compared to any other car or truck or SUV or 'Cross-Over Utility' vehicle. You can see all around you; who's coming and who's going. My #1 Most Important Feature for a car: Can I see what the hell is going on around me? 👁️ You don't need a camera mounted on the car to see the road or to back up. The rear window is so large and at 'ground-level' you can see what you need to see. 👁️
Inside the car there are→ no ← 'Turn Signal' arrows on the dashboard; you have to memorize 'Turn Stalk Down = LEFT blinker signal' and 'Turn Stalk Up = RIGHT blinker signal'. It is not wise to mix them up. I reckon you're old enough, DARGO, to remember cars like this.
(Say, does anyone remember the 1968 hit by British singer LEAPY LEE? "Little Arrows"! ↨).
It does have a couple of 'Optional' (at the time) safety features: Back-up lights mounted in the center of each taillight lens + a side-view mirror bolted on to the front door that's adjustable. There are lap belts as well. That's it . . . but some Falcons do not have back-up lights or front-door side-view mirrors. The 1st owner of the Falcon paid a wee bit extra to obtain those functions.
I actually have fun counting the 'Safety Features' the FALCON does not have compared to cars built just 3-5 'model' years later. 😜 It's an impressive list. → Compared to 2022-model year cars I don't think I could count that high . . . seems like carmakers and customers in the misty past weren't enamored of 'Safety Features' until the Federal Government stepped in circa 1965/66 with several highway safety mandates. I remember reading Pres. Lyndon Johnson signed some kind of traffic safety bill in 1965.
Here are features standard in modern cars the FALCON does not have:
No air bags [no surprise there].
No padded dashboard
No orange blinking 'Hazard Flashers' [not mandatory until the 1967 model year; my '67 Lincoln had them].
No shoulder belts [not mandatory until the 1968 model year; my '67 Lincoln did *not* have them, but you could see where they would be if you bought the 'Option'].
No windshield defroster/defogger for the windshield or the large rear window -- IF you fancy 'defogging' these 2 windows you have to do it yourself. So I do when the occasion calls for it. I have a squeegee.
No head restraints on the front seatbacks. [I think those were made mandatory in the 1969 or '70 model year for U.S. passenger cars]. I *think* these kind of head restraints were meant to minimize whiplash, but I'm not certain.
No lights on the side of the car -- some form of 'side light' on both sides of all U.S. passenger cars was mandatory by the 1968 model year. My '67 Lincoln did not have any side lights, but the '68s did and forever onward. 1966 Lincoln Continentals did have side lights if I remember rightly, but they were not mandated by the Fed. Govt. yet.
No shatter-proof safety glass. The original windshield remains uncracked, thankfully.
And on and on and on . . . I'm sure there's probably another two dozen things that are mandated for modern vehicles.
(P.S. Couple of other things: No overflow 'tank' for the radiator. If the fluid get hot the car simply leaks coolant on the ground. Also, the windshield wipers are shiny chrome. I haven't seen a newer model car in decades with chrome windshield wipers. I've not had any issues with them, however. I'm just glad the wipers still work after 57 years . . . ).
NOW BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING.
Nice writeup here, Mr.G.
In fact, it was so detailed that I could almost envision it exactly as it sits in your carport, except for one thing. You failed to mention its color.
And nope, can't say I ever remember hearing Leapy Lee and his recording. I guess none of the Top 40 DJ's on 93 KHJ Boss Radio in Los Angeles (who can be heard on DiCaprio's '66 Cadillac convertible's radio in the film Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood) ever played it during that time.
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12 minutes ago, Allhallowsday said:
Is JOHN TRAVOLTA in that one? "Beloved"? What the...?
Yep, and just before his big breakout Sweathog days.
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THE DEVIL'S RAIN
aka...MARTY'S EVIL TWIN
And who always knew exactly what he was going to do on Saturday nights...and did it.
(...and it wasn't ever good)
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1 hour ago, SansFin said:
I know that people will disagree with my assessment. That is normal because I am such a disagreeable person.
Steve McQueen is the ultimate cool because of his loner and live-and-let-live attitude and his looks which tell that he has seen much of life. He presents similarly to the WWI pilots who later became motorcycle riders because they sought the freedom and the control of their own destiny.
Robert Mitchum is as cool as a dead frog in the middle of the road because of his overbearing attitude and his looks which are those of a punch-drunk boxer who did not have the sense to quit after his ninety-second consecutive loss. It would have been typecasting if he had been given a role as a Brown Shirt goon.
Dean Martin could portray a cool character but it was not of his personal nature. He was a wonderful singer but an obnoxious drunk and self-styled womanizer also.
Btw here Sans, your mention of "motorcycles" above inspired me to push myself away from this keyboard, hop on my oldest machine, a 1970 Triumph Bonneville...and one very similar to the one Dino is on here...
...and go for a little half-hour jaunt on it. Haven't ridden this one for a while.
(...and so thanks)
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6 hours ago, SansFin said:
I know that people will disagree with my assessment. That is normal because I am such a disagreeable person.
Steve McQueen is the ultimate cool because of his loner and live-and-let-live attitude and his looks which tell that he has seen much of life. He presents similarly to the WWI pilots who later became motorcycle riders because they sought the freedom and the control of their own destiny.
Robert Mitchum is as cool as a dead frog in the middle of the road because of his overbearing attitude and his looks which are those of a punch-drunk boxer who did not have the sense to quit after his ninety-second consecutive loss. It would have been typecasting if he had been given a role as a Brown Shirt goon.
Dean Martin could portray a cool character but it was not of his personal nature. He was a wonderful singer but an obnoxious drunk and self-styled womanizer also.
LOL
Ya know Sans, I've been waitin' for your return, and especially so to see what you'd reply with here in regard to your boy McQueen. Welcome back.
Now first, you're a little off with your "WWI" returning war veteran becoming motorcylists thing here. This social phenomenon actually became most pronounced among the WWII returning war vets. Motorcycle "clubs" such as The Boozefighters began in the immediate post-WWII era, In the 1953 film The Wild One, Lee Marvin portrayed the leader of a fictionalized version of that group. The Hells Angels m/c "club" was also started during this time. Yep, it was the immediate post-WWII era in which motorcycling had its biggest increase and until its even bigger boom began with the Boomer generation and the "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" sales slogan of the 1960s.
Secondly, and re Mitchum...well, I guess you'll never appreciate how cool he was, and so I'll save my keystrokes here, as we've covered this little debate in the past many a time.
And thirdly, Dean Martin wasn't an "obnoxious drunk". That was mostly part of his "act" and not of his real life. And in fact, when he DID play drunk ("play" being the operative word here) he seldom played the obnoxious or "mean" drunk but mostly the happy or funny type.
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22 minutes ago, Bronxgirl48 said:
We probably did, lavender! Those were the days, my friend...
Ooh, what was Cross County? Sounds like a wonderfully preppie department store. We never got to explore the area, just visited Aunt Mitzi, Uncle Irving and my two cousins Ben and Gary, in their home at 2 Sherwood Terrace. They lived in an ivy-covered, English Tudor-style apartment building. Rather picturesque to my eyes.
Didn't these two move up to Vermont and start an ice crea....
(...oops, sorry...never mind)
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Anyone see Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings' funny little "dad joke" reference to Dino the other night?
In the category of something such as "Sea Creatures", the question asked what this was...
...however, not only did none of the contestants get it right, I don't think any of them got Jennings' joke, either.
As he answered the question for them he said, "As Dean Martin would say, that's a Moray!"
(...I loved it, but then I would, wouldn't I...and even considering that I'm not a dad)
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Quentin Tarantino was on Stephen Colbert's show last week promoting his new book which is a novelization of his own film Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood.
(...the director pointed out that his book includes many of the scenes in the film he wanted to shoot but didn't because they would have made it many more hours longer)
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3 hours ago, Ray Faiola said:
Thanks McGoo!!
In my very best Jim Backus impression...
"You're welcome, Ray oooool' boy!"
(...although I assumed you meant "Magoo" here...and you DID look like Weatherly back then, ya know...at least in your wedding pic here, anyway)
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Can't say I've ever watched this Lydia movie, and so tell me:
Does it explain why she got all of those tattoos???
(...sorry, couldn't resist)
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Okay, and now WHAT was this thread supposed to be about again HERE???
Oh yeah. Somethin' about why some people would in essence "Throw the baby out with the bathwater" (saaay, when's the last time you heard THIS old sayin' TOO???) and decide or even contemplate the thought to "never watch TCM again" and JUST because they showed a movie in which a word was bleeped out of it!
(..well, THIS is what I THINK this thread was/is BASICALLY about anyway...OR in other words, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING!!!!)
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8 minutes ago, ElCid said:
I think he was a management/technical kind of guy placed in the wrong position. He tried to use mathematics and charts and graphs and so forth to plan for defense. Doesn't work that way. The he would have to listen to the politicians in the State Dept, CIA and elsewhere because they knew more than he did and were experts at manipulating information. Add in the generals and admirals in the Pentagon, as well as life-time career civilians there, and he was really out of his depth probably.
The generals and admirals, DOS, CIA and others always say - give us more and we can win. The French just laughed.
True again.
And thus he being perhaps yet another example of the ol' "Peter Principle" (saaaay, when's the last time you heard THAT old phrase, HUH?!) which said "People rise to the level of their incompetence", and 'cause ol' Bob SHOULD have just STAYED in Detroit and run car companies instead of involving himself in the business of our country's national defense!
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14 minutes ago, ElCid said:
Lots of blame to go around for the mess in Southeast Asia. McNamara probably less than most.
True. I guess in his defense (as the Sec. of that Dept., ironically
) he was just goin' along to get along and was just prescribing to his president the policies his boss wanted to hear, huh. AND, doin' his level best to sell his boss's policies to the American people.
(...the gutless little yes-man)
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15 hours ago, Mr. Gorman said:
Something about former Defense Secretary ROBERT S. McNAMARA that's easy to forget: He was an executive at the Ford Motor Company and was the "Father Of The FALCON", a car that was meant to be utilitarian, simple and cheap. And also a car I've owned since 1989. I like cheap, simple and functional basic automobiles. My FALCON is so simple it cheers me up just looking at it reposing under the carport while it waits to go places and do stuff.
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THE GREEN BERETS (1968) might be the simplest 'Vietnam' movie I've ever seen. Not much complexity in it as far as I can remember. I've seen it twice.
1 hour ago, ElCid said:He is also responsible for the four seat Thunderbirds. While many prefer the two seat versions, the four seater was far more successful and was a great success for Ford for many years.
So basically here gentlemen, what you're sayin' is that McNamara should have stayed in the Detroit car biz and never should have moved to Washington D.C.
AND if he had, then we might not have been drawn into that mess in Southeast Asia.
Well okay! At the very LEAST anyway, he then wouldn't have had to write that book which was his mea culpa about his involvement in that mess just before he died, anyway.
(...btw Mr.G...first generation Falcon or second?)
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17 hours ago, Ray Faiola said:
Here's my wife and myself 40 years ago last month! We had a "New York" cake!
Ya know who you look like there, Ray?
Actor Michael Weatherly, who's presently starring in the CBS television series Bull.
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Check out the following link, Lily. The opinions expressed within it agree with your thoughts here...
Color Film Noirs - Film Noir (classicfilmnoir.com)
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8 hours ago, Sepiatone said:
In this case, I'd say BOGEY was the oldest brother.
Sepiatone
Which now reminds me...
Yep, Bogie was also cool alright of course, and then and as I said earlier in this thing, I've always thought Mitchum really was the "King of Cool".
Now, both Bogie and Mitchum besides effectively playing hero/antihero roles, they both were also able to very effectively play the crazed or psychotic murderous villain in some of their films too...Bogart in The Two Mrs. Carrolls, Conflict and perhaps most notably in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Mitchum in Night of the Hunter and Cape Fear.
But, with the possible exception of The Getaway and in which he really is more the "antihero" than "villain", did the so-called "King of Cool" McQueen ever play that type on screen?
(...can't think of one right off here, anyway)
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Oh how I'd NOW love to joke here that John Huston's The Bible was better than the book...but I can't and 'cause I've never really read the thing cover to cover.
(...yeah yeah, I know...see ya in Hell)
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18 minutes ago, TomJH said:
I'm constantly drawn to seeing Palm Springs Weekend again and again because of Troy Donahue's charisma and underappreciated acting genius.
I just wrote that so I could tell myself I was the first person in history to ever write or say those words.
Actually you could replace Palm Springs Weekend with the title of any other film in which Donahue appeared and I suspect those words would remain just as unwritten and unspoken.
Poor Troy. Poor poor Troy.
But then again and on the OTHER hand, the luscious Suzanne Pleshette must have seen SOMETHIN' in him in order to agree to marry him...
...for all of eight months anyway.
(...poor Troy...poor poor Troy)
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1 hour ago, Oneeyeopen said:
I enjoy A Summer Place because it try to deal with a taboo topic (teenagers and sex, adultry, alcholism, divorce) and does a decent job. Kudos to Arthur Kennedy a favorite of mines. I've watched him in films over the years where the other actor was a huge star, but he held his own and made me notice him.
He played Cagney's younger brother in City for Conquest
He played the arrogant greedy calvary officer in They Died with Their Boots On opposite Errol Flynn
He played the rapist in Peyton Place with a great cast - Lloyd Nolan, Lana Turner, Leon Ames
He played a newspaper reporter in Elmer Gantry with Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons
And, he played a fictionalized version of famed 20th century American journalist Lowell Thomas named Jackson Bentley in Lawrence of Arabia, and in a manner of speaking this film's narrative is a recollection of his characters impressions of the film's titual character.
(...another of my favorite Arthur Kennedy roles)
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Yep, gotta admit the best thing about Palm Springs Weekend is all the cool cars in it, and like this '63 T-Bird Roadster that Robert Conrad, who plays a real jerk in the movie, drives around the Coachella Valley...
Oh wait! AND of course, the OTHER cool thing in it is the cute as all hell Stefanie here...
(...how could I forget THIS?!!!)
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2 hours ago, Bronxgirl48 said:
Thank you so much, Herman! I grew up there in the 50's and 60's -- frankly a much better era all around in terms of safety. I am sure by the '80's it had become quite gritty. (I had already left for California in 1970) My neighborhood was 190th Street and Aqueduct Avenue, near Fordham and Jerome Avenues. We had Jan's Ice Cream Parlor -- I can still taste their sundaes.
But you're in Florida now, right Bronxie?
(...thought you were, anyway)
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51 minutes ago, Peebs said:
Just a side note, looking up the title I found another documentary from 1998 called STEVE MCQUEEN: KING OF COOL. So, who is the real king of cool?
I've said it before around here. In my view, it's always really been Robert Mitchum.
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2 hours ago, JamesJazGuitar said:
MOVIES-TV is an over-the-air station and thus subject to those old-time content restrictions.
But one thing that really bugs me about MOVIES-TV is that when they show The Dark Corner, a 1946 Hollywood noir film, near the end they are showing a Donatello statue of a women. They block out her chest! Note that if those two pointing objects were A-OK back in the 13th century when the statue was created, and A-OK when this film was shown back in 1946, it should be A-OK to show them now in 2021!.
(well at least I got something off MY chest,,,,,but not hers).
Just for clarification purposes here James, the correct and full name of the channel you're referencing here is: "Movies!", and with that exclamation mark at the end.
(...take it from someone who some might say uses WAY too many of 'em in his posts around here!!!)
LOL
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(Say, does anyone remember the 1968 hit by British singer LEAPY LEE? "Little Arrows"! ↨). 
What happened to "King of Cool"?
in General Discussions
Posted
LOL
Why Sans! It's the very same sort of "Harley" as what your boy Stevie is astride here...
...and here...
...and here...
...and here...
(...yep, these "Harleys" were/still are manufactured by those superfluous-u spellers over there across the pond, ya see...AND even though the letter 'U' is NOT superfluous in the name of this motorcycle brand or "marque" as those superfluous-u spellers would call it)