CaveGirl

Class acts all of them, TB! Who doesn't like Marie and Alison was hilarous too, especially in the W.C. Fields movie. Agnes Moorehead leads the pack in being able to play anybody, anywhere.

Well, of course I would put Ed Wood at the top of the list. As Picasso once said, "Good taste is the enemy of creativity" and since Ed did not have much taste, he was incredibly creative. He was also quite prolific even with his limited resources and so ahead of his time that he foresaw the future of crossdressing and addressed this topic in "Glen or Glenda" [aka "I Changed My Sex" 1953] and not only produced, wrote and directed but even played the lead. A real quadruple threat in Hollywood. With other classics to come and all this in the early 1950's, who else would have touched such subjects like crossdressing on film? No one I can think of sadly! I think films like "Jail Bait" prefigure some Russ Meyer epics with Tura Satana, and things like "Night of the Ghouls" and "Bride of the Monster" having come out in 1954/1955 lead the way for other similar horror films of Hammer and other cheapie B's made in the USA. A real fan can join the Church of Ed Wood and celebrate Woodmas on the birthday of this off the wall genius. Name another ahead of their time auteur in films.

I read the book too, and I think Eleanor is a bit neurotic but the book is wonderful nevertheless. All Shirley Jackson's stories are very outre, which makes her a one of a kind author. I remember one story in a collection of short stories by her, where some of the characters would then show up in other non-connected stories and you felt like you were entering the Twilight Zone. By the way, in the original book by James, it is never made clear though one can have opinions, whether things are really happening or are all in the mind of the governess. Henry James did an excellent job of showing how myopic and mental malcontents can see things that perhaps are not there. Or they are they and people discount them due to the source.

I think you are lying, GPF because my palomino was related to Mister Ed and she said Ed was only ever smitten with a filly named Flossie and you can see her in the episode where Ed tries to find his mother and be reunited with her. With Mister Ed's mama, not Flossie!

Ya never know, GPF; ya might really enjoy the non-original Calamari version, particularly if it is deep fried!

Great choices, Speedracer. Bizarrely I own both the movie "Grease" soundtrack and the original Broadway cast album with Barry Bostwick as the Danny part. Thanks!

Oh, thanks TC since I'd forgotten "American Graffiti" and it is one of my favorite soundtrack albums that I own. It has so many great hits, and they were played wonderfully in the movie under the auspices of the Wolfman Jack character and fit the scenario so well of kids driving around at night listening to their car radios. It is a great double album!

Just wanted to see if everyone was awake! Hey, if TCM can sell wine for movie watching, how about starting a calamari enterprise also though I don't know what movies it would be best for as a dinner item. Maybe "Moby Dick" or perhaps "Jaws"? There is a really funny take-off of TCODC on Youtube if you decide not to watch all the German cinema tonight. I do plan to watch the documentary concerning the Third Reich years and before, and "Faust" since I've only seen the Jan Svankmajer version with puppets and clay models. Anyone who loves expressionistic lighting should be in heaven tonite. Who will be glued to the tv set?

So true about Ennio Morricone, who always surprises and is highly talented!

Don't you just hate that, when you buy a soundtrack album and the one song you want is not there. I remember I wanted the song, "Foul Owl on the Prowl" from the movie, "In the Heat of the Night" and never thought it would be on the album but got lucky and it was! Thanks.

Hey, GPF we have some similar albums. I see you have the music from "Bonanza" but do you own the "Bonanza" Christmas album with Hoss singing "Deck the Halls"? I bought it at a record show and if I want to get people to leave my house during the holidays I just put it on and presto, people disappear!

Though I do not consider movies from the 1970's as classics, there still are some which I would enjoy watching and which could become classics. But not as many by far as those of preceding decades. I think it is just like comic books being called from the Golden or Silver period.

I've read that book, TB and it is quite revealing. One funny thing I remember is that Diana took credit for starting the trend for women to get a tan on vacation. She said that at that time people thought a tan indicated that one worked on a farm, but she thought it would look smashing with her all-white wardrobe for the vacation and so tanned and came back to the States as "brown as a berry" and then everyone started imitating her. True or not, makes for a good story. Great write-up as usual!

I'm pretty sure I own that book "The Great Stars" since I saw it on my bookshelf the other day while I was cleaning the room with my Swiffer for the first time in months. I can also recommend "Did He or Didn't He" which is a goofy book but a lot of fun. Also "Va-Va Voom" which is about all the fun girls of films. I do have more serious books, like the series on each studio's entire output of films, and of course exposes on Dreyer, and Bunuel and "The Foreign Film Encyclopedia" so I think your idea of spotlighting film books here is a great idea, Spence!

As great as Ann was in all those musical films, I still get the most kick out of seeing her as the apartment complex manager in "Mulholland Drive", TB. I think it is because her true personality seems to come out there, and it is like she is playing herself, and being that "herself" was a really fun individual with a great sense of humor, it is wonderful to see that onscreen.

I don't know how many record collectors we have here, but it seems a natural bent for a movie buff to also be into such things sometimes. If one collects movies, one also might enjoy collecting movie albums, rare or not. Though this was not from a movie, I recall Richard Rodgers "Victory at Sea" album for years was highly sought after, due to its unavailability. Another album, this time from a film, that garnered wide praise and high costs was "The Caine Mutiny". One of my personal favorite albums in my collection is the original vinyl for "A Clockwork Orange" for which Kubrick hired the very interesting Walter Carlos to score, along with using excerpts from works by Rossini, Ludwig Van, Elgar, and others. Walter Carlos was also famous for being one of the first gender reassignment surgery patients, and later became Wendy Carlos. For none of the above reasons, I treasure this album due to its multi-faceted musical approach and striking soundtrack. Another album which is superb is the one for "Forbidden Planet" due to the participation of Louis and Bebe Barron, who came up with the unforgettable electronic score or as some call it, "musical tonalities" Once heard never forgotten. So whether worth thousands and a rarity, or just an album that you hold dear for other reasons, what are your favorite soundtrack albums?

I'll go with Tony Franciosa. I think he admits that he was a bit of a terror on set, and blamed it on getting famous too young. Which resulted in him often not getting parts from then on, in spite of his looks, charm and altogether fetching personality on screen.

How about "In The Company of Men" from 1997 with Aaron Eckhart. I remember this film getting a lot of flack when it came out, since it presented such a hateful situation. But when I finally saw it, I did think the storyline packed a wallop, no matter how cruel the tale was. Here's the IMDB plot synopsis: Two business executives--one an avowed misogynist, the other recently emotionally wounded by his love interest--set out to exact revenge on the female gender by seeking out the most innocent, uncorrupted girl they can find and ruining her life.

Quite a great selection of titles mentioned already, almost all of them ones I love also! But I did not see anyone mention, one of my top favorites, "Carnival of Souls". This movie spooks me out, every time I see it. As I recall it was made in about a month, cost almost nothing to produce [like under fifty thousand bucks] yet has great staying power and is a cult classic. Directed and written by Herk Hervey, who originally worked in making industrial films I think, and starring unknowns like Candace Hilligoss, it still rivets one during its many rather supernatural sequences. The man who appears at the side window as the character Mary is driving, the car radio transmissions on a station that Mary cannot turn off, the seemingly haunted carnival pavilion out in the sticks, the scene when Mary, as church organist starts playing rather frighteningly diabolic music in her bare feet, Mary shopping in town when all of a sudden all sounds around her are silenced, all of these moments are burned into my brain. Occasionally when I just need a good scare I get out my Criterion copy of this film and play it, or invite someone over who's not seen and try to gauge their reaction. Most usually don't want to go home if it is already dark out! Whew! It creeps me out just thinking about those scenes. Its denouement is great too, and the film has been said to be influential on David Lynch and others like George Romero. But really, this film is a one of a kind and not to be duplicated, no matter how much money could be involved. Just a little bit of perfection in black and white, which is like a bad dream. Any other fans here?

My dad and grandpa always liked Eddie Condon on guitar, James and also Django Reinhardt. I have a big 78 album with him and the Hot Club of France. Thanks for the review of the Miles film!

By J.B. I am assuming you mean the J. of the Blythe family?

I have not seen this film. Thanks, FL!

Yeah, and some of the flesh in that movie was ultra-scary!

Watched the David Cronenberg film "Videodrome" last nite and it still holds up. I guess the medium really is the message or even the massage. The idea of a sort of Marshall McLuhan type effect on people viewing things on film or videotape, which supposedly have subliminals, was not a new concept even then, but was shown quite effectively in the film. The scenes with Deborah Harry almost emerging from the tv set, were perhaps ripped off by "Ringu" and other films, but were revolutionary at the time. My favorite part is when the videotapes start to quiver and shake! Name another science fiction film which seems prescient for the future.

Yeah, I think he is dating that female cop that he called an S.T. when he was picked up for being erratic or maybe bad acting violations?