CaveGirl
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Posts posted by CaveGirl
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If there hadn't been that downpour perhaps poor Janet
Leigh would not have in her confusion left the main highway
and wound up on the road to the Bates Motel, and met
Normie, who even brought out an umbrella to keep her
dry. He turned out to be not much of a gentleman.
You said a mouthful, Vautrin.
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In the Tuesday Weld thread I mentioned SOLDIER IN THE RAIN.
Elaine learns of Benjamin's diddling her mother during a rainstorm in THE GRADUATE.
OK, so how about THE ILLUSTRATED MAN?
OK, maybe not that significant, but for a touch of comic relief, Melvyn Douglas getting stranded at the new Blandings house during a rainstorm during the recently broadcasted MR. BLANDONGS BUILDS HIS DREAMHOUSE, and telling cofused droppers by , "Friend of the family. Came in out of the rain."
OK, how abut BRANDO, on bended knees, crying "STELLA!" with rain getting him soaked?
Sepiatone
Oh, yeah Brando looked really good in the rain, Sepia!
Excuse me, just reread your post and saw you wrote "Mr. Blandongs"!
Sorry but I'm really surprised that typo did not get deleted. Could be a whole new movie starring Harry Reems.
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I suppose we're derailing the thread, discussing our weather preferences like this when it's supposed to be about rain in movies - and there are many movies in which rain - or the lack of it - plays an important part.
But anyway...don't get me wrong, Dargs baby, I do not like cold. And I'm not an all-precipitation equal rights activist, either. Nope, just rain. I don't like snow, sleet, or hail. And I'm not big on cold rain that wants to turn into snow.
My favourite kind of weather is when it's mild but not hot, about 20 degrees (uh, about 70 American), and cloudy, with at least an hour or so of soft gentle rain. A clear blue sky feels harsh to me.
(I know, I know, everyone here will think I'm crazy...)
Ya know, what Rose Kennedy said, Miss W.:
"The birds still sing after the rain."
I don't think that would have gotten me through all the tragedies but I guess it worked for her.
But since you LIKE rain so much, for you the quote should be:
"The birds still sing after a clear blue sky."
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As a native Oregonian, if there's one thing I know about... it's rain.
Some of my favorite rain scenes have already been mentioned (Singin' in the Rain and Breakfast at Tiffany's).
-There's always the corny "love scene" between Spiderman and Mary Jane in the Tobey Maguire Spiderman series. You know the one where it's pouring and Spiderman is hanging upside down and Mary Jane pulls his mask back so his mouth is exposed and they share a romantic smooch in the rain.
-In Jurassic Park, the epic T-Rex scene is set in the rain.
-Humphrey Bogart standing in the rain at the train station reading Ingrid Bergman's "Dear John" letter in Casablanca.
-In Clue, it's raining outside for I believe the entire film.
-In Rocky Horror Picture Show, Brad and Janet have to run through the rain and end up taking refuge in Dr. Frank N Furter's castle.
-In Key Largo, it's raining throughout the entire film.
-It also rains throughout The Spiral Staircase.
-In Cape Fear (1962), a huge thunderstorm hits at the climax of the film when Gregory Peck is trying to trap Robert Mitchum.
-In Pleasantville, a major pivotal moment in the film is when it rains for the first time. This new experience excites the younger generation and angers the older generation. It is after the rainstorm when the town's transformation from black and white to color really starts to speed up.
It's interesting how rain can be symbolic, like in Pleasantville, it's a symbol of washing away the old, staid ideals and bringing in new ideas that will help allow the younger generation to grow and thrive through progressive ideas.
Rain can also be scary and dark. This is evident in genres like mystery, suspense and horror and in the noir style of filmmaking.
Rain can also be romantic, like in Spiderman and Breakfast at Tiffany's. To an extent the rain scene in Casablanca is romantic even though Bogart is heartbroken. They were planning on leaving on the train together to marry. Bogart is so excited to marry Bergman only to have her break his heart. His anguish is intense because of how much he loves her.
Rain can also be fun, like in Singin' in the Rain. Rain puddles elicit a childlike innocence and the joy that can come from splashing around is infectious. It's hard to watch Gene Kelly singing and dancing his heart out in the rain and not instantly feel happier.
Rain can have varying degrees of intensity (in Oregon we have weather reports that will state the week will contain trace rain, drizzle, showers, rain, heavy rain, and heavy showers... all of this in one week!). The scarier rain will be heavy and often accompanied by lightning and thunder. The nicer rain will just be a heavy drizzle but often in the daylight, like in romantic films.
Wow, SR I'd totally forgotten about that scene in "Pleasantville" but you make a good point.
Thanks for all your many submissions!
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Reminds me of all the times Northwest Airlines would send this L.A. boy to their headquarters in Minneapolis for business...in JANUARY!!!
Yep, and I remember each and every time I'd step out of the MSP terminal to get on my hotel shuttle bus I'd think to myself..."HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU LOCALS AROUND HERE LIVE IN THIS CRAPPY COLD WEATHER FOR AT LEAST FIVE MONTHS OUT OF EVERY FREAKIN' YEAR???"!!!
(...hell, if it rained more than 3 or 4 days in a row in L.A., I'd start getting "cabin fever", 'cause I couldn't either be out on the tennis court, at the beach, OR ridin' one of my motorcycles around...nope, I just never got why ANYONE would choose to him the frozen freakin' TUNDRA...OH, and I never received all that great an answer to my query whenever I'd ask 'em...well, OTHER than that one about "enjoying the four seasons", anyway...although it seems EVENTUALLY there's many of 'em who FINALLY figure out they DON'T and move to the sunbelt...funny, ain't it?!!!)
Dargo, Prince said he lived in Minneapolis because it was so cold that it kept "dangerous" people out.
Uh, I guess your visits predated his comments!
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Eeh! Screw THAT, lady!!!
(...you can't play tennis in the freakin' rain, ya know)
But you could enter yourself in a wet tennis shoe contest, Dargo!
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Well, it's raining in the final scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Sentimental though it may be (but actually I don't think it is), it's hard to resist that final shot of Holly, Paul, and the cat, all three soaking wet and hugging each other.
Incidentally, I love rain. Aside from the movies (and I love rainy scenes in movies), I just love rainy days. I actually prefer them to sunny ones, most of the time. Of course, one can have too much of a good thing. But in general, I love misty grey cloudy days, and if there's a little rain there too, so much the better. Rainy days are so much more interesting than clear blue sky sunny ones. And we need rain. I never understand why people complain when it's rainy -especially if a rainy day follows a week of sunny ones.
Yes, MissW that scene in BAT is a winner!
I like rain too, but not so much that it blows my umbrella away. Just wondering, what's your favorite "rainy" movie? "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" or ???
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CG, I adore the notion of rain in/on film; several years ago, at the height of drought conditions in my part of the country; I devoted a post to rain washed films on my (now defunct) blog. A (somewhat ) lesser-known film by Hiroshi Shimizu, The Masseurs and A Woman (1938), and Akira Kurosawa's One Wonderful Sunday (1947) both inspired my thoughts on rainy days and Sundays. I included a reference to the rain sequence in Blade Runner (1982), which is one of the more visually poetic depictions. I also included three versions of the film with the title Rain: the first starring Gloria Swanson (1929), the second starring Joan Crawford (1932), the third directed by Joris Regen (1929), image below. I also can't imagine film noir without rain washed streets and the sound of falling rain punctuating some tough guy's patois.
Thanks, WG for such a beautifully expressed post. I certainly wish I had enjoyed the opportunity to read your sadly now defunct blog.
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Has Charles Butterworth posted on the message board?
Hopefully no, since he's been dead since the late 1940's.
By the way, I resent that during the competition for who is most boring at the TCM Message Board that my name was not entered into the contest.
Surely I should receive the honor, being that I am often told how boring I am, when I inform people in the outside world that my favorite movie star is Don Defore, or when I try to show them the extended version of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die", the director's cut.
If a vote is taken, I beg all here to vote for me, since I have no other awards on my mantel, and would be most proud to be considered worthy of this title, especially from other film fanatics.
Having just spent two hours writing down every movie directed by William Witney, and after organizing my photo tribute album to Grant Williams and putting my Roland Young collectibles in Rubbermaid containers for the garage, I certainly think I have proven that I am more boring than almost anyone alive.
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I watched the entire Falcon film, since I wanted to see if Ricky or David would show up in Harriet Hilliard's office. No such luck!
But it didn't matter because as usual, Tom Conway was a dapper and suave Falcon. In one scene, he was wearing a sartorially attractive cravat, formed from perhaps an ascot, under his white crew neck sweater, with maybe an alpaca sports coat in a light tone, and dark slacks. Impeccable!
Sadly at the same time, Harriet was wearing the most horrid dress I've ever seen onscreen, with a pilgrimesque collar all decorated with white and dark rick rack. I have a horrible feeling that it might have been red rick rack which would make it all the worse. Nevertheless, the film still had staying power due to the many other people in it, which made it worthwhile like Edgar Kennedy, playing puppeteer to the Velma Dawson Puppets, and the movies most famous drunk, the great Jack Norton playing the 2nd tramp that wakes up the Falcon in his car in the woods.
Another person enlivening the proceedings was Jane Randolph who must have dumped poor old Ollie from "Cat People" and realized he was a bore compared to the Falcon. Oh, we also had Cliff Edwards but no Jiminy Crickett sadly.
The storyline was about fake bonds, rustic hotels named Pinecrest [which looked a lot like the one in "Twin Peaks", murder and unrequited love. All in all, another great Falcon programmer!
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SO yesterday I was scouring YouTube for "classic" films and came across (what was to me at least) a pretty obscure little gem titled "Take Care Of My Little Girl" starring Jeanne Crain. It was a film about fraternity/sorority life in 1951.
So these girls all live together in their "sorority house". Apparently pledging back then was a big deal. I identified w/SOME of it but other things were not familiar, hence my question. In one scene during the movie, the sorority house is giving a formal dance but there were NO men present! The girls were dressed up in formal gowns and dancing but they were all dancing with EACH OTHER
At one point a girl goes up to another and asks if she'd like to dance and the girl replies "I don't dance with girls" (so apparently this was NOT the norm back then) to which the asker replies "then would you like to wrestle?"Now it was too easy to jump to the OBVIOUS conclusion so I didn't. But that scene was so weird to me. My question for those who were around and of age during that time? WHAT GIVES? Was it normal to have formal girls only dances where girls asked other girls for dances and danced with each other without a male in sight? I am a movie/book BUFF of that era and I have NEVER heard of, read about nor seen anything like this before.
Boy, you have lived a really sheltered life and I guess never even attended an Italian wedding? At those I've seen lots of instances of where the women danced with each other while the men were off chewing the fat and standing around the open bar.
Having been born back during the suffragette days I feel competent to answer all your questions. And let me assure you, that such instances of women doing things that you describe have absolutely nothing to do with being from the Island of Lesbos [not that there is anything wrong with that!].
Sure it was common in those days to have all the girls reined in together in a dorm or sorority house and they would dance with each other. This was also common also in all-girl Catholic colleges. Why I know someone who went to one, and the girls were not even allowed to wear shorts in their own dorm room, and this was in the early 1960's. At night they even had to be sure to wear robes over their pajamas or nightgowns if they needed to go to the little girls room.
Now of course there were times when the girls were allowed out of the sorority house or dorm to attend formal dances that actually had men at them. But in the off times, when men were way off campus at their own colleges, the girls had to find someone to practice dancing with didn't they? So of course, they used their roommates or sorority sisters to play the men.
Nothing so strange about this. Kind of the reverse of the Shakespearean habit of having all men in the cast of a play, pretending to be the women in all the scenes.
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Great film with the great John Barrymore late tonite!
Or maybe early tomorrow, if you are not a late night owl.
Check it out:
ARSENE LUPIN (1932)A gentleman thief risks his life in an attempt to steal the Mona Lisa.
Dir: Jack Conway Cast: John Barrymore , Lionel Barrymore , Karen Morley .
BW-84 mins, CC,
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April 26 at 12:30 PM ET. One of my favorite Falcon movies. Being shown as part of Edgar Kennedy day-he's the puppeteer (I had to look it up). Harriet Hilliard is better known as Harriet Nelson of Ozzie and Harriet fame in case you recognize the face.
If you like the Falcon and the Saint type movies, you'll like this one.
He's the "puppeteer"?
They should put it on a double bill with "Being John Malkovich" maybe?
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And who had NOTHING to do with either movie!
So....NOW who's the "bore"?
Sepiatone
You guys are making me laugh!
In a contest for who is most boring at the TCM site, I would say it has to be Charles Butterworth.
I'm afraid posting facts about Robert Walker, Pere or Fils just doesn't make the grade.
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Today's Categories For me Are The Unique Categories Plus the Juvenile Award;
JUVENILE:
Roddy McDowall in How Green Was My Valley
FAVOURITE HITCHCOCK PERFORMANCE, MALE OR FEMALE:
Nigel Bruce in Suspicion - my favourite Nigel Bruce performance
FAVOURITE SYNERGY:
The cast of Here Comes Mr. Jordan
WORST DECISION BY AN ACTOR: AKA BIZARRO AWARD
George Raft decides he won't work with a first time director. Bogart gets the role of Sam Spade instead.
FAVOURITE INTRODUCTION TO SEVERAL FAMOUS ACTORS AND ACTRESSES:
Citizen Kane, made up of Orson Wells and his Mercury Theatre troupe. This film introduced, among others: Joseph Cotten, Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead, Everet Sloane, and everyone in the film was essentially new to the big screen. They all went on to film and television careers.
FAVOURITE LAST PAIRING OF AN AWESOME SCREEN COUPLE;
Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHaviland in They Died With Their Boots On
FAVOURITE ANIMAL PERFORMANCE:
Asta in Shadow of the Thin Man
FAVOURITE DANCE TEAM:
Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich
I think I am going to have to agree wholeheartedly with everything in your post, CF! Love all the same choices that you have made.
Oh, but I do have to warn you that spelling "favourite" with the extra "u" seems to get Dargo upset. Why, I don't know.
I like to spell "glamour" that way too!
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No ! The same? I'm so glad you shared that gem of arcane information with us, we'd never have known otherwise.
Miss Wonderly, I'm really glad you were not here the day I posted that my favorite sports movie was "The Bob Mathias Story" which stars Bob Mathias as Bob Mathias!
Being redundant is one of my better qualities some say!
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but let's No ! The same? I'm so glad you shared that gem of arcane information with us, we'd never have known otherwise.
The Jerome Kern biography can be seen in a movie that just aired on TCM called Till The Clouds Roll By. Jerome kern is portrayed in the movie by Robert Walker. That is the same Robert Walker who was in Strangers on a Train.
What always freaked me out about Robert Walker Junior, oh CFGPF [having trouble keeping up with your monikers!] was how exactly he resembled his daddy. Kind of spooky and I bet it unnerved Jennifer Jones since she basically dumped poor old Robert Senior for the love of a man who could do more for her career.
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Okay, I forget where I read this but it seems that holier than thou Bing Crosby was noted for picking up women in each film he was in. What I read was, that if you want to know who he got involved with you should just look for any woman in the cast that goes on to the next film he is in. I also read concerning him with Grace Kelly, that she also was noted for taking up with any man in the cast who could help move her career on to the next spot up, and had an affair with Crosby and look what happened next.
Of course, these all all unsubstantiated comments. It does seem though that Errol Flynn said basically the same thing about Crosby and said the studios would protect their sacred cows, and leave Flynn out there as the whipping boy and scapegoat for any scandalous behaviour.
Great topic!
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This immortal known as an actor, composer, songwriter and author, was educated at the Jesuit Academy in Italy. He was a playwright and actor in Rome, then created the radio programs "Art Linkletter's Party", "Stop That Villain", and the "Radio Hall of Fame". He appeared in the road production "Time of the Cuckoo". His brother was famed composer Otto Cesana.
But his biggest claim to fame was inventing the character of "The Continental" which he used in a half hour show of the same name on tv in 1952-1953, which was the basis of the take-off as done by Christopher Walken on SNL.
Sadly so far no known episodes of The Continental have shown up in archives, but if they do I will be first in line to buy one price unimportant!
What's your favorite Renzo performance on film, since he was in many like "Stromboli", "The Naked Maja", "Francis of Assisi", and "A Lady Without Passport" among them?
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Stevie Winwood is a great musician, and very much under-rated here in North American. He wrote that very beautiful song that most people know but cannot name who performs it: Can't Find My Way Home, by Blind Faith, led by Steve Winwood. He also was the main songwriter and inspiration behind the unique British band Traffic. And so much more...
It's a cliche that's been said to death, but like all cliches, that's because it's so true (and what I just said about cliches is a cliche in itself ) - that every single person has their own singular taste in music, we love what we love and musical preferences, more than just about anything else, even movies, is extremely personal. I always try to keep that in mind when discussing music with others, especially when their taste diverges from mine (but I think you and I have enough in common, musically, that we'd have lots to talk about...)
My favorite Winwood song with Traffic is "Medicated Goo". Enjoyed reading your post, Miss Wonderly.
I have immense respect for Winwood having seen him in concert, in which his opening act was Jimmy Cliff. After a long set, Cliff left the stage and Winwood actually came out ready to play and the audience was still standing on their feet for Cliff. Winwood, instead of acting the star and getting miffed, encouraged Cliff to come back out and play a couple encores, securing my belief that great talents appreciate and are not jealous of other great talents. I certainly can't imagine Kanye West doing the same, can you?
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Cliff Robertson had a few uncredited roles in the 1940s, but he did not really make a strong impression on screen until he appeared opposite Joan Crawford in AUTUMN LEAVES. In the film, he played an emotionally disturbed man who married Crawford, and the highly dramatic role established the actor as a dependable leading man. He would enjoy a long and distinguished career in movies and on television. He tried his hand at all kinds of material—there were roles in films like GIDGET; UNDERWORLD U.S.A.; THE BEST MAN and PT 109, where he turned in a deft performance as John Kennedy. And the great thing about Cliff Robertson is that even when he was making movies he still had time for episodes of classic television—turning up in weekly installments of The Twilight Zone and Batman. In 1968, he hit a career high, when he gave an Oscar-winning performance in the science fiction drama CHARLY. After this, he moved into directing and character roles. During his lifetime, there wasn’t a decade when he wasn’t on screen in a project that resonated with audiences. Even in his last years, he managed to do three SPIDER-MAN movies.
Cliff Robertson present and accounted for..!
I've always liked Cliff Robertson and let's not forget the scandal that he went to the mats about in Hollywood, for which he was basically blacklisted in the 1980's for turning in David Begelman of Columbia, TB.
Here's the short synopsis online which maybe some people are not aware of:
"Columbia Pictures scandal
In 1977, Robertson discovered that his signature had been forged on a $10,000 check payable to him, although it was for work he had not performed. He also learned that the forgery had been carried out by Columbia Pictures head David Begelman, and on reporting it he inadvertently triggered one of the biggest Hollywood scandals of the 1970s.[21] Begelman was charged with embezzlement, convicted, and later fired from Columbia. Despite the pressure to remain quiet Robertson and his wife Dina Merrill spoke to the press. As a result, Hollywood producers blacklisted him. He finally returned to film five years later, starring in Brainstorm (1983).[15][22] The story of the scandal is told in David McClintick's 1982 bestseller Indecent Exposure."
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Who loves ya, Telly?
Recently, I began watching the first season of Kojak on Hulu. After looking at a dozen episodes, I had already given perfect scores to quite a few of them:
“Siege of Terror,” the very first episode, easily earned a 10. The high speed chase at the beginning was a heart-pounding way to start the series, and the scenes with the hostages were intense. Guest Harvey Keitel was amazing as a would-be killer.
I watched “Cop in a Cage” and had to give it a 10. I loved the whole concept of a squeaky clean ex-con harassing Kojak (Telly Savalas) but not quite getting away with it. And the part at the end where Kojak does the wedding dance with his niece in the street was marvelous. An IMDb reviewer called it Kojak’s Big Fat Greek Wedding, which seemed right. Savalas often shared his Greek heritage with viewers, and the series was richer for it.
“Dead on His Feet” was a 10, largely because of Harry Guardino’s guest performance. The plot, about a veteran cop trying to avenge his partner’s death, seemed a bit predictable. But Guardino and Savalas elevated the material at every turn, and I could not give it a lower score. The moment where Guardino’s beleaguered character confronts a mobster in a restaurant is not to be missed.
“Last Rites for a Dead Priest,” with Jackie Cooper posing as a man of the cloth. In reality, he’s a thief masterminding a heist. It was very well written and played. The climactic finale in an abandoned building was one hundred percent “noir” and atmospheric. I loved how Cooper’s crook ironically giving last rites to a member of his gang while trying to find out where the goods had been stashed. Excellent all the way.
The one with a young John Ritter, “Deliver Us Some Evil,” was probably a 9.5 but I gave it a 10. I liked the innocence Ritter projected while his character was getting deeper into a life of crime. The scenes near the end where Kojak was in the helicopter, and they followed Ritter’s van to the warehouse were highly engaging.
Bizarrely, there was an old Carson episode on last nite on that Antenna station, with Jackie Cooper as the guest. He talked about being a child star, going to the Academy Awards and falling asleep in Marie Dressler's lap, being in competition with Lionel Barrymore and other sundry things. He was very interesting and refuted the fact that as a child star he had a miserable life, when Carson mentioned that Robert Blake had talked about such on the show. Cooper apparently had a much more stable home life and must have enjoyed his star turn as a kiddie.
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I have him in an episode from my boxed set of the tv show "Tales from Tomorrow" circa 1952.
Ya almost wouldn't recognize him at all!:
Tales of Tomorrow (TV Series)
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Since neither is anywhere on my radar, they may go on iiving.
Exactly who IS on your radar, DGF?
Enquiring minds are very curious!
At one point a girl goes up to another and asks if she'd like to dance and the girl replies "I don't dance with girls" (so apparently this was NOT the norm back then) to which the asker replies "then would you like to wrestle?"
A sad day for music lovers.
in General Discussions
Posted
Too bad Roky Erickson did not go further.
There is some interesting thoughts about the 13th Floor Elevators in that book "Unknown Legends of Rock and Roll".
Thanks, DGF!