CaveGirl

Dargo, speaking of Garrison I bet that you would totally enjoy reading the following book about sideline antics surrounding the assassination: https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Marys-Monkey-Cancer-Causing-Assassination/dp/1937584593

He sure didn't look like Paul Bern though, Princess. Too bad Paul Giamatti [sp?] was not around then.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, in following Film Lover's post about the Lubitsch film I watched this morning: 7:00 AM CATALINA CAPER, THE (1967) A group of teens try to foil a group of crooks searching for a stolen scroll. Dir: Lee Sholem Cast: Tommy Kirk , Del Moore , Peter Duryea . C-82 mins, Okay, I should have known better since other than Tommy Kirk and Del Moore, no one seemed to have any acting talent. What saved it from being a total bust, was the early appearance in it of the great Little Richard looking as pretty as ever and wearing a total gold lame suit, with zippered jacket and a flowing brown scarf and sounding marvy on the soundtrack. I have no idea what he was singing, as it was not a song from any of his albums that I own, but he still could hit those high notes and had a voice so strong he never needed a microphone to be heard in the back row. D- for the film, but A+ for Mr. Penniman!

Reading this informative depiction of Hollywood was like being there! Thanks for the great picture of Mel's Drive-In with Lucas.

I dunno. There's something about her that was always so austere and chaste that it would be hard for me to imagine Sean Connery ripping her clothes off, and her not calling the police or her pastor on him. Plus I don't think she would have allowed Hitch to peroxide her lovely hair to a platinum tone. Sorry to be Debbie Downer on this... Speaking of "WTBA" have you seen the commercial with George Hamilton as the Super Crispy Colonel Sanders icon? He looks more like George Jefferson with white hair!

Fantastic idea! He also could have played the lead in "Annie Get Your Gun" and it would have given new meaning to the song about not being able to get a man with a gun.

Thanks, C or K! You are so lucky to have such a famed performer ensconced in your local happy hunting grounds. I always liked Francis the Talking Mule and of course who doesn't like Donald O'Connor, but lookswise he could never compete with Ed or Trigger. He did have almost as good a sense of humor as Eddie Boy though.

I have a strong feeling that Ed and Trigger would not have gotten along. And Ed talking to Trigger would have been a big mistake.

Being that Webb Parmalee Hollenbeck is one of my favorite actors, I think it is sad that he was not used more in Westerns that needed his innate talents. Sure there are lots of singing cowboys, but dancing cowboys are few and far between. One fantasy casting of Webb, or Clifton as he was more normally billed would have been with him in the part of the Dancing Kid, in "Johnny Guitar". Sure Scott Brady was fine in the role but let's not lie, with a real trained dancer in the part, the film could have been spectacular. I can see Joan Crawford now reeling around the room in Clifton's arms and though he was a bit long in the tooth at the time, if Fred Astaire could be dating young chicks in films, why not Clifton. Okay, so Clifton was gay but no one knew that at the time and his dancing skills were superb. So I would have recast "Johhny Guitar" with Clifton as the Dancing Kid, and maybe Richard Haydn in the Sterling Hayden part and that would have been one crazy Western for sure. Recast a Western with Clifton in a part normally for John Wayne or others and earn my esteem!

I always thought Mia was a bit off the rails, from the haircutting episode during "Peyton Place" to trying to get Old Blue Eyes to marry her and then doesn't it seem like being with Woody Allen was definitely a good career move for her mostly moribund acting ambitions? So I look forward to reading this book and thanks for sharing info about it! And this is not because I am a big Woody fan, because I'm not. Used to like him but kind of got over it as the years passed.

But within some of these minor B-Westerns are classic performances by C&W stars like Tex Ritter and Roy Acuff which are fun to see. Tex was not such a bad actor by the way, but looks nothing like son, John. I sure hope that in one of these Westerns Tex might find it in his heart to sing "The Long, Black Veil" but I think it came out way after his movie career ended sadly. Oddly enough, in yesterday's Western called "Cowboy Canteen" even the Mills Brothers were dressed up in Western gear to sing a number. I don't think their clothes were from the Nudie Collection though!

You're making me laugh. I think you have channeled the real Clifton Webb since that is probably exactly how he would feel when faced with Western garb and a horse.

As Mister Ed would say, "Hey, Buddy-boy, I clicked on that and all that came up was a photo of a new Honda Civic."

As one who feels fairly well versed in almost all movie categories, I think the one I know the least about from personal experience in viewing, is the Western one. For that reason I am thrilled that TCM is showing this Western festival of serial pictures and others which usually do not play on tv. I own an Encyclopedia of Western Films mostly because I feel nescient about stars like Charles Starrett, Buck Jones, Tom Mix and so many others due to never having the opportunity to see their films. Now of course, the big Western movies I have seen since they are played a lot in revivals and on tv. It is only the smaller oaters which a kid would have seen in theatres in the 1930's and 1940's that I feel deficient about knowing. For that reason, I enjoyed all the films I saw yesterday on TCM. I particularly liked seeing the two William Witney films, since the famed cult director's stuff is not always shown. "Home in Oklahoma" from 1946 was my favorite since it starred Roy, Trigger and Gabby, but I also liked "Springtime in the Sierras" from 1947 with Roy and Trigger even though Andy Devine was not as welcome. Witney is credited for choreographing his fight scenes in Westerns according to the style of Busby Berkeley and has been said to be one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite directors so it was fun to see Witney's work on TCM. He did many films for Republic but also directed works like "The Bonnie Parker Story" and "Master of the World" with Vincent Price but is noted for his many innovative Westerns. Though I look forward to reseeing many of the classic Westerns that TCM has programmed, it is the obscure ones that I am most excited about since no film knowledge is complete without knowledge of Westerns, in my book. Anyone else watch any of the films yesterday? I really enjoyed seeing the inimitable Charles Middleton in an early one, but he was not playing Ming the Magnificent as a cowboy.

Sorry Dargo I can't agree with you on this one. The most "smarmy" character in "The Shop Around the Corner" for me is definitely Pepi, as played by William Tracy. Why he always has dates waiting around the corner, and I even think the wife of the boss, has hit on him when he delivers her medicine and shopping purchases. I'm sure he grew up to be a real "smarmy" Lothario!

Now there is one "smarmy" guy I'd enjoy dating! Thanks, Miles.

I love Jack Carson hitting on Judy Holliday in "Phffft" even though she's the wife of his best friend, Jack Lemmon. His explanation of his "technique" with women, is definitely "smarmy" but it sure is fun to watch him work it.

Absolutely, Sidney Falco really is an "arsenic cookie" and a smarmy one at that!

Lorna, from the looks of Maltin I doubt he ever had much success in a singles bar, so the theme of the movie is really not in his wheelhouse to review or critique. I say, watch it, as it is a great cautionary tale!

I wonder if I should start a Hobbit Haters Club, Kid?

Um, Japanese subtitles?

While watching some of the Westerns yesterday, with Roy Rogers I was as always impressed with the wonderful palomino known as Trigger. Originally named Golden Cloud, he supposedly began his career carrying Olivia DeHavilland as Maid Marian in the Robin Hood epic with Errol Flynn. Trigger, having been born on July 4. 1935 was a thoroughbred who could do 150 tricks by the time he was working with Roy, and the palomino was one Roy had picked out of a group of five, to play his steed on film. Trigger apparently was such a ham that he would start to bow if he saw even a few people gather, and could walk up stairs to visit sick children in hospitals and was also potty trained, which helped when he and Roy would stay in hotels. Trigger was the consummate performer but sadly was never bred and died on July 3, 1965 and as we all know, Roy's love for him caused him to have Trigger preserved by a taxidermist and he stood for many years at his museum, and was bought finally after being at Branson by a group who plan a Western museum. On the other hand, Mister Ed though not a big movie star like Trigger, did have many stars of films pay court to him on his eponymous show, "Mister Ed" like Clint Eastwood, Mae West, and Zsa Zsa Gabor among others. Ed's real name was Bamboo Harvester, and he too was a palomino with many talents, some of which were his ability to understand over 25 worded commands, to bat a ball while playing with the Dodgers, to pick up phones, close up his stable doors and pout, and many other things. One talent he had over Trigger was of course his ability to talk, and to put humans in their place. Mister Ed was a gelding, which sadly means he had been castrated so again there is no progeny to carry on the line, but there is a situation about his demise from kidney and arthritic problems which is called EdGate. Some say he lived from 1949 to 1970 and others say he was euthanized by a caregiver who thought he was in pain, and a double horse was trotted out as Mister Ed for photo ops. Even Alan Young added to the controversy by saying he used to visit Ed after the date he was supposed to have been dead. Whichever story you believe, it is immaterial as both palominos were exceptional performers, but my question is...Mister Ed or Trigger? Just like answering if you prefer Ginger or Mary Ann or the Munsters versus the Addams Family, I think picking Ed over Trigger or Trigger over Ed will be very telling. Please explain your reasons for your vote. No votes for Bullet or Buttermilk will be counted in the tally!

I've had a horrible day so far, Sepia. I had to climb a fence to get to work since they were paving my street and I had to park my car one street over, my cable sound went off after an Emergency Alert System blurb that lasted for ten minutes, I burnt my croissant I was having for breakfast, and my phone went dead, but just knowing that someone else hates the Hobbit, has made my day improve immeasurably!

You really need to see the one in 3-D, as it is just not the same otherwise.

Great story, Princess!