AddisonDeWitless

And they *still* won't stop talking about *the effing drapes.* Just get Venetian blinds people. Seriously.

I'm maybe 25 minutes into The Cobweb. John Kerr is worse than I remember and they won't stop talking about those *GD drapes*. It's like watching Grand Hotel where all everyone does is argue about what to order from room service.

There is also Captain Blood, for which (unless I am mistaken) Curtiz recieved the only "write-in" nomination for Best Director in Oscar History (I think he came in second in overall voting, this is back when they published the complete results.) Another Curtiz film that's not a "great" movie per se, but a damn inn-teresting one (and a personal favorite of mine) is 1949's Flamingo Road with Crawford, Sydney Greenstreet, Gladys George and Zachary Scott. It's a film that everyone involved with was assigned to, and maybe not thrilled about doing, but it moves at such a brisk clip and is a delightfully old-fashioned venture with a lot of style. It's also one of Crawford's absolute best performances (especially since she suceeds in spite of being waaaaay too old for the role.) There's also a great music score and wonderful Warner Bros. production values. Everyone in it is giving 100% and it perfectly sums up the old adage "they don't make 'em like this anymore." Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Sep 19, 2012 6:50 PM

I just realized I got one element of the plot *wrong* in my synopsis, at the end, the President does NOT sink two manned battleships belonging to other countries. He sinks two of our own "obsolete" unmanned battleships and threatens the Euro powers with total destruction unless they comply. My bad. (It's still effed up though.)

Sallright. But before we get in to whether we can talk about it or not, I want to know: *ANYONE WHO SAW IT, WHAT DID YOU THINK?*

Thanks. I dunno' though, folks is sensitive 'bout these sorts of things.

Whoa. I realize this thread is in all likelihood destined for lockdown, and so be it I guess, but OMG did anyone else watch this thing?!?! First off: *thanks TCM for showing it.* It's a pretty obscure title, I TOTALLY SEE WHY NOW, and it's a film I have been much-interested in seeing thanks to an entry it recieved in The Psychotronic Film Guide. So no matter what, I'm glad I got the chance. That said, it is the most jingoistic, *pro-Fascist,* heavy-handed piece of political tripe I have EVER seen. The idea is that (in the one subtle thing about the film) The Angel Gabriel sorta kinda' possesses a Warren G. Harding-esque, do-nothing, corrupt President (Walter Huston, oddly stilted and wearing some Carnival of Souls raccoon-eye makeup) after an auto accident. The President then SUSPENDS CONGRESS, DECLARES MARTIAL LAW, CALLS MILITARY TRIBUNALS TO TRY CRIMINALS USING THE SAME BROWN-SHIRT TYPE GUYS TO TRY THE CRIMINALS THAT CAPTURED THEM AND THEN (holy s***!) calls a meeting with world powers wherein he proceeds to have a "Hah-Hah, FOLLED YOU SUCKAHS!" moment in which HE DESTROYS TWO BATTLESHIPS TO DEMONSTRATE OUR MILITARY POWER AND THEREBY BLACKMAILS THE WORLD INTO SOME SORT OF PEACENIK LIBERAL, BULLCRAP PIPE DREAM which Lord Knows ain't gonna last. And all of this is supposed to be *a good thing.* Then he dies. Oh my god, I didn't know God was a Fascist. Quick, before the padlock gets snapped: what do you guys think? Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Sep 18, 2012 10:02 PM I got the last part about his sinking the battleships wrong originally. My total bad.

thanks for the research. I also forgot *Sig Ruman* (sic?)

Chimichonga? Choco-chicklet? Chattanooga Choo-Choo? Charleston Chew?

Now that I think of it, isn't there also a subplot in The Cobweb about upholstery as well?

God, I forgot about Lillian Gish! At least she did Night of the Hunter circa the same time. Someone posted a thread last week about All-Star casts in bad movies and I meant to chime in with my opinion that The Cobweb is the ne plus ultra of such.

Well, thank you. But momma's got to go to work on occasion. ps- that big dance number they just showed in Two Faced Woman was terrific. pss- why is Constance Bennett dressed like a member of the High Court of Ming the Merciless? That pointy shoulder, black sequin thing with the ambitious jewelry she's working is weeeeeeeeeeeeeird, but she is working it.

> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote} > Seems like a lot of people have flown off the radar lately (or acquired different screen names...) Yeah, I still miss Red River.

> {quote:title=RaquelVixen wrote:}{quote} For that matter, what ever became of kriegerg69? He's MIA. I was just wonderin' that meself the other day. He *is* the resident Horror Man. Sometimes people step away from ye boards for a while 'cause they don't find any of the discussions/films currently playing inn-teresting fodder for conversation, I know I do from time to time (thus thrilling most of the other posters, until like a bad penny, I show up again to b**** about something.)

nice pun

> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}Where is johnbabe these days? Why you askin' me like I know the guy? In re: Two-Faced Woman, I know this is kvetchy of me, but there seems to be an unwritten policy that all TCM tributes of the last few years must contain at least one of the star's worst films. ( Susan Lenox ain't all that either, but the two silents this morning were fun, and I'd take most anything over Anna Kareninininina AGAIN.)

I've never seen Two-Faced Woman before (and it's not easy to see it now as the National Weather Service *keeps interrupting with that lovely beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee* *eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep sound to inform me that it's raining hard outside* (glad to know my tax dollars are working for me.) Anyhoo, it's not working (the film) and I am surprised by how much Garbo... *OMG, AS I WRITE THIS, THEY ARE INTERRUPTING FOR THE THIRD EFFING TIME SINCE THE MOVIE STARTED! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* *EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEP! BEEP!* ...was losing her accent. There are moments where she sounds almost American.

Forgive me, but I must beg to differ on The Cobweb, it *stinks something awful*. Can't think of any movie that utterly wastes a better cast (save for John Kerr*) in all the history of classic filmdom moreso than it does. Vincente must've been even gayer than usual during the production, as it's the only movie that I can think of that tries to make a MAJOR plot point out of draperies. (Yes, you read that right.) Written on the Wind and Designing Woman are both fine though. * and I don't mean that as a compliment to John Kerr.

yes, that was nice. but personally, my FAVORITE of the recollections from actors working on The Breaking Point is still Patricia Neal, from the Garfield Bio that TCM shows sometimes: "so he said to me, 'alright, this dame you're playin', she's a ****, do ya get it? Like a ****! Ya' understand?' " And Pat Neal was all "yes, John. I get it." ps- I paraphrased from memory, she also says he was a nice guy.

Namely Gladys George, Maria Ouspenskaya, C. Aubrey Smith , Marjorie Rambeau and William Demarest. ..and for some supporting players who may not have enough films to fill out a whole 24 hours (Ernest Thesiger? Phyllis Povah? Patricia Collinge? Laird Cregar? Mary Boland?) may I suggest a Star of the Month dedicated to Scene Stealers ?

For fans of Warner Bros., Curtiz, Garfield, Patricia Neal, Hemingway, classic cinema, film noir, black and white pictures and movies in general: *it is a terrific film, a genuine essential and a don't miss* (in my book at least.) It's also *a great film* if you're a fan of To Have and Have Not, or if (like many others) you like THaHN, but think that- while inn-teresting- it could be better.

Roddy McDowell. Has he ever been on SUTS or SOTM?

(applause)

> {quote:title=TCMWebAdmin wrote:}{quote}Your thoughtful comments indicate (that) a reasonable effort to foster a bit less hostility is not going to work. Yeah, so often people give me a "thoughtful", rational and/or considerate explanation for something and I say, "gee, that's nice, but it really inspires me to take the most *unreasonable* approach possible to solving things." Great idea.

That was very eye-opening, thank you. I'll check out the Region 2(?) aka "euro-DVD" player, as I have often seen foreign-issue DVDs that have piqued me interest, but as I recieved my third overdraft notice from the bank yesterday, I d'na think it'll be happening any time this year (or next)...honestly, sometimes I have thought about investing in a good, old fashioned VCR as that is a good way to build your film library cheap and my local library has a massive, stunning collection of classic titles on VHS that just sit there and it seems like everything is on VHS, even titles that've yet to make it to DVD. I just wish VHS tapes held up better with the test of time, but it sounds like some of these DVDs also falter with age. Lord, they just don't make anything worth a damn anymore, do they?