CaveGirl
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Posts posted by CaveGirl
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Well, ya know, Nip this is written by John Cheever and if you know anything about his life then you know that he was apparently having [i'm trying to be delicate] affairs of a non-hetero nature the whole time he was supposedly happily married with kids and living in, uh, probably Connecticut, that he would try to hide from family and friends.
Plus he was always rather suicidal, and that is why he wrote things like the short story "The Five Forty-Eight" or whatever it is called about the amoral executive, and that one about the guy trying to maintain his athletic skills at an advanced age ["Oh Truth, O Beauty" maybe?] and knowing this background makes one realize that Cheever often seems to get a bit misty-eyed about what was really happening in his life and transposes it to his stories, and he wondered sometimes if his own family would be there when he got back from sordid doings in the big city.
Or...maybe he was just hoping Burt would play it in his bathing suit.
By the way, this comment below of yours is brilliant as I feel the same way when I watch anything on CBS:
"a mental time displacement almost a science fictiony one. maybe that's why I first saw it on the cbs late movie." -
Of course I own scads of books on all the great, and classic films of world cinema but the books that I could not do without would be "Research # 10: Incredibly Strange Films" and "The Psychotronic Encyclopedia".
Through them I have been introduced to oddities on film that I have immensely enjoyed and found quite exhilirating. Without these books I would not have known to tune in to "Child Bride", "Night of the Ghouls" or Santo films, much less seen "Night Tide" or "Mom and Dad".
I also might have missed out on les oeuvres of people like William Beaudine or Samuel Z. Arkoff. One cannot live on the bread of Fellini and Antonioni and Dreyer and Bunuel alone and more's the pity.Name your go-to movie bibles that succor you in sad times and in good ones.
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"Lolly-Madonna" was considered a bit risque when it came out from what I've read.
I think they should pair it with Ryan in "God's Little Acre" and then also show a midnight movie, with "Shanty Tramp" which sadly Robert was NOT in .
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Totally!
I've always known who he was, since I was about fourteen and started buying books about movies, but it was fun to see even more of his work on TCM.
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"Cabaret" is a movie that I have a funny story to tell about. Well, at least I think it it funny, you can be the judge.
It was being shown at a revival in a theatre in my town. I had a very nice next door neighbor, who was 95 years old and was really a very fun individual who I had known almost my whole life. She was thinking of going to see it with her hubby who was 96 years old and had been her high school teacher when she lived on a farm.
A new neighbor had moved in recently and was sitting on the front porch and listening to this conversation. Did I mention that she was quite prissy and about 69 years old and had been trying to take over the neighborhood from the moment her furniture was delivered.
When she heard Mrs. S. saying that she was going to see the film "Cabaret", buttinsky new neighbor blurts out "Why, dear Mrs. S. I think you need to rethink that since you don't realize that this film has nude scenes and you know that you would not want to see that."
Mrs. S, looks her straight in the eye and says "If they don't mind doing it, I don't mind watching it!"
Goes to show that open-mindedness does not have an age.
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No I haven't seen it before. I must admit that I never cared for the swimming scenes of Esther Williams . I'm just not that interested in swimming.O
Uh, this movie really has nothing to do per se with real swimming. Just a metaphor and one most heavily pushed down the viewer's throat, GPF. Seriously, you really must try it as a replacement for a sleeping pill. Burt runs around the neighborhood, looking for pools to swim his way home, and all the while wearing tight swim trunks but with no style a la Mark Spitz at all. It even has Joan Rivers as a party guest. I promise you a good night's sleep if you give it a try.
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PORKY'S - (6/10) - The peak/pit of the R-rated teen sex comedy boom of the early 80s was this monster hit about a group of sex-starved Florida high school boys in the 1950s. They chase girls, set up peep-holes into the girl's shower room, visit prostitutes, play pranks on each other, and journey to the title establishment, a backwoods swamp shack strip club and red-neck bar. That sets off a series of battles that escalate to the raucous conclusion. Like a lot of these teen comedies, they take a few moments here and there to address a more serious issue. This time it's antisemitism, giving some characters the chance to "learn and grow."
The cast of mostly unknowns remained that way, despite the film's unexpected massive success. The supporting cast features a few familiar faces, such as Alex Karras, Susan Clark, Art Hindle, and Kim Cattrall in a small but memorable part. The jokes are crude, the story is barely there, and only a couple of the characters stand out in any way. But the film definitely struck a chord with audiences in 1982, when it went on to become the fifth-highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grossing Canadian production ever, a record it held until 2006! I recall when it was released here, it played in our theater for nearly 6 months. That may not seem like a lot, but our town only had one theater, and it had only 4 screens at the time. It was the longest I can recall a film playing in our theater until TOP GUN came out in '86 and played for nearly a full year!
Rewatch. Source: DVD.
It definitely was "fifth-highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grossing Canadian production ever" with the operative word being "grossing", Lawrence!
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Whenever I think of Michael Gough, it's 'Horrors of the Black Museum' that comes to mind.
He's wonderfully crazy in that. I saw it half a dozen times as a kid - on the big screen too. It kept coming around to my neighborhood cheap theatre.
Yes, I meant to mention that one as it is my all-time favorite Michael Gough appearances. It is so wacky it is just marvelous. Thanks, DB! Those crazy binoculars that can kill are one fab concept.
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Love him! Some celeb [can't remember who] said once that Ryan's face looked like it had tire tracks from a Mac truck on it, which is why he was so appealing on-screen.
Gotta agree!
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Insomnia really is a problem for me and I'm always interested in movie recommendations.
Unfortunately, if a movie is sleep-inducing that I've recorded by PVR, I tend to delete it.
Perhaps I should not have deleted The Pride and the Passion after all.
Hey, GPF have you tried "The Swimmer" with Burt Lancaster? I actually like it since I like all John Cheever's stuff but my mother always swore that after watching Burt swim halfway through his neighborhood that it was like a soporific miracle cure.
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My favorite true historical character in films, will always be Saucy Jack or to give out the trade name, Jack the Ripper. How can he not be fascinating, a bit like an anonymous phone caller where you try to imagine what the person looks like who has just accidentally dialed your number. Will he look like Christopher Lee, or Lawrence Tierney or maybe even Gustav von Seyffertitz [sp?].
There are many, many great films with Jack as either a main character or even in a sideline part, but they always entertain. Being that Jack could be a sailor, a barrister, a member of the Royal family, a butcher, a member of the CID, or even Victoria's own surgeon, one is never bored thinking about or watching any expose of Jack and his crimes. When he plays his "funny little games" and takes a girl to the greengrocer for some nice black grapes right before he offs her, you just know that you are not dealing with the average criminal mind. Whether he is "From Hell" or just from Soho, you know that those dark, wet London streets will be entertaining as long as you are just watching it in a movie about Jack.
That is why I am always drawn to watch whether it be an A-list film or just a Hammer knockoff.
What historical personage in a film always make you want to watch?
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This Richard Lynch? Which It's Alive was he in?
That's he!
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You are most definitely welcome! If I'm not mistaken, TIME WITHOUT PITY was one of Ann Todd's final films, perhaps her very last? What a great actress.
Losey came from the town in Wisconsin where I lived the past few years. Downtown LaCrosse there is a Losey Blvd. His relatives were among the original settlers, a very prominent family in the community.
Google a map for:
Losey Blvd La Crosse Wisconsin
Didja ever mosey past Losey, TB?
Sounds like a title for a Hoagy Carmichael tune!
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Yes, I vote for a DONT LIKE Button too!
I was thinking that a "Hate, Loathe, Despise and Abominate" button would be better, than such a bland "Don't Like" button. No offense, Hibi.
And for those who say I am being too nasty, I stole the line from Judy in "Meet Me in St. Louis" and if it is a mild enough epithet for the Smith family then I don't feel the least embarrassed for suggesting it here at the ultimate movie website. So there!:
Rose Smith: Money. I hate, loathe, despise and abominate money.
Mr. Alonzo Smith: You also spend it.
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After reading Palmerin's OUT OF AFRICA posting, I'm sure someone will now soon pick THE ENGLISH PATIENT as another sleep-inducing example. However, I have to say for some reason which I can't quite place into words, I remember really "getting into" TEP the first time I watched it and found its story "haunted" me for days afterward.
(...anybody else with me here?)
Well, though I am attracted to men with facial scars [except for Al Capone!] poor Ralph Fiennes was a bit beyond the pale. I was hoping he would look more like that actor Richard Lynch, who played the scary part in "It's Alive" but alas no. But as usual you make a good point about TEP being a fine film with many aftershocks to one's system. Thanks, Dargo!
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"Sort of like saying that Ed Wood was as good a director as Orson Welles simply because they were both Americans."
What? You don't think Eddie boy is as good a director as Orson Welles, Palmerin?
Just teasing!
You will have to agree though that they did have some things in common, such as always needing money for their productions and using whatever means they could to complete them.
Great post, thanks!
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I just watched "Konga".
Well, it was actually yesterday but is still in my mind.
It came on, and I actually did not know what I was watching, but then I noticed the lead was played by one of my favorites, the dastardly British villain extraordinaire, Michael Gough. Sure he can play anything from aristocrat to butler to Shakespearean malcontent to mad scientist, but I like him best when he has to work with the most horrid material.
And in "Konga" he does and he does it admirably. He has been in some of the most top drawer films and plays of all time, but no matter what the part, he gives it his all!
Too bad at the end after his jilted fiancee gives the growth serum to the ape, Konga decides to take Gough on a ride to Big Ben and around London proper.
I think I saw this on Comet, so luckily it might be shown again this month.
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Trouble sleeping lately? Worried about the state of the nation or if Bravo will let Teresa Guidice the Jailbird back as a housewife in New Jersey? Feeling concerned that the Academy Awards might ignore the remake of "White Like Me" starring Godfrey Cambridge Junior?
Solve all these pressing problems by watching Robert Benchley today:
4:18 PM HOW TO SLEEP (1935)
In this comedy short, Robert Benchley tries to teach the audience how to sleep and how to fall asleep.
Dir: Nick Grinde Cast: Robert Benchley ,
BW-11 mins,
Or name a movie that always puts you to sleep?
For me that would be "Paint Your Wagon".
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Yes, closer looking to Conte or maybe George Maharis of Route 66.
You're both wrong. That is obviously Anthony George who played on the tv series "Checkmate" and also was Burke Devlin on "Dark Shadows". I dare you to do a side by side comparison!
http://www.listal.com/anthony-george
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10649061
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TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2016
TCM
ALL THE BROTHERS WERE VALIANT (1953)..Robert Taylor & Stewart Granger
MEET JOHN DOE (1941)..Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck
THE HANGING TREE (1959)..Gary Cooper & Maria Schell
THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (1941)..Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier
Encore
TUMBLEWEED (1953)..Audie Murphy & Lori Nelson
THE WHITE SQUAW (1956)..David Brian & May Wynn
LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL (1959)..Kirk Douglas & Anthony Quinn
THE JAYHAWKERS (1959)..Jeff Chandler & Fess Parker
Retroplex
BRANDED (1950)..Alan Ladd & Mona Freeman
MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST (1950)..Marie Wilson & John Lund
FXM Retro
DECISION BEFORE DAWN (1951)..Richard Basehart & Gary Merrill
HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949)..Edward G. Robinson & Susan Hayward
CRASH DIVE (1943)..Tyrone Power & Anne Baxter
*****
Other recommended picks:
Amazon Prime
JUBILEE TRAIL (1954)..Vera Ralston & Joan Leslie
Hulu
TIME WITHOUT PITY (1957)..Michael Redgrave & Ann Todd
TB, "Time Without Pity" is a superb film. Firstly as you know it is directed by the wonderful, Joseph Losey, of "The Servant" fame and so many others, and besides Redgrave and Todd as inducements it was supposedly written as a play by Emyln Williams and photographed by Freddie Francis. By the way, I don't think I have ever thanked you for keeping me up to date on all the great movies available daily with these posts of yours. I used to make a complete perusal of TV Guide for movies I'd want to see, before there started being so many hundreds of channels to check which could take hours. Now I'm too lazy, but I appreciate being the receiver of your bountiful gift of your most generous time to prepare this daily listing for me and others and would like to thank you most heartedly!
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I'm sure someone already had a thread about this channel, but I couldn't find it in a search, so.....
My cable server last week(first noticed it Tues.) dropped COZI for AntennaTV. I haven't called WOW for an inquiry, but it's sad COZI is gone. Although there were jus a handful of shows I'd watch on it, and depending if there wasn't anything I was in the middle of on some other channel, mostly on COZI I'd watch the Dick Van Dyke reruns, Superman, The Lone Ranger, and Make Room For Daddy. But not all the time as some of their show times were at odd hours and/or when it was difficult for me to tune in.
The thing that bugged me at first about AntennaTV was that at first, and for the first five days(it's straightened out now) there was no info as to what was on. My "guide" grid that I'd get whenever I hit the "guide" button on my remote only said, "no data". I'd have to just tune in to see what they were playing, and if I came in the middle of a commercial, had to sit through it to see what was on.
I came up with some surprises. Like one morning, I tuned in to see they were showing HAZEL, a TV show I just LOVED when I was much younger( I was 10 when it premiered) . Plus I NEVER saw it in color( we never had a color set), and another surprise was....probably due to the B&W filming, I recall Whitney Blake's hair being MUCH blonder than it looks in color. But she always was a "h o t t i e"(how does THAT rate the star treatment from Otto censor?) and even back then, I always wondered, "How'd a goofy looking old fogey like Don deFore get such a hot looking young wife?" I've noticed a LOT of that kind of stuff on TV over the years.
But they're "on the grid" so to speak now, so I'll be able to see what's on ahead of time now. Doesn't look like TOO bad of a line-up. And some old CARSON "Tonight Show" episodes. so maybe I won't miss COZI too much, but also, it all might be experimental at this stage, so perhaps I SHOULD call WOW and get Nick Danger's "Bird's eye lowdown on this caper".
Sepiatone
Since Antenna did not replace any channel on my grid, I tend to like it. I got to see my favorite male of all time the other day [Eddie Haskell] which makes watching the channel a real joy!
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I joined this forum about a year ago. After about a month, I tried to post on that Suggest-a-Movie page, and it said I don't have an account. I created an account over there and it still wouldn't allow me to post. I gave it some time, and still nothing. This was a while back so things may have changed, or not. I inquired about it over here, no known issues. This was tested on three different up-to-date web browsers (Firefox, Opera, IE), each of which I temporarily disabled all known plug-ins and protections just to be sure. I even tried it on a different computer just to be sure. Then I just quit trying since I had done a reasonable amount of trying. Mind you I know my way around a computer. Just click on my signature.
Now I am reading about this survey. I'll just say that I am one of those who never takes a survey, under any conditions. I don't answer any polls. I also cringe at the thought of having jury duty. Sure there will be some who look forward to and enjoy that sort of thing, but that is just not me. There might be some quality responses, or not, depending on how you look at it and who joins in. Now this is different, some may say, it involves the future of how TCM will schedule movies.
To that I just say, continue to play old movies from the late 20s through approx the 80s, and continue to focus on finding older rarities to pad the schedule with, rather than repeats. In 2014 you had a large number of 1930s American rarities, as evidenced by my own findings which you can see if you click on my signature and look at "Report #6." Was that a one-time fluke?
Your thoughts on this issue, MovieCollector run similarly to my own. I also have very little interest in taking polls or filling out surveys. And your issues with the non-responsiveness on other parts of the site speaks volumes. I have no beef with TCM in general as I am happy to have any place to watch old and classic movies, but your complaints do remind me of places that have a suggestion box and then you find it is emptied monthly without anyone really reading the contributed notes [as applies to your suggested movies or other submitted comments or questions]. To paraphrase Groucho, I would not want to join any club online that would want me as a member! So I guess I'm not even a member of the Out of the Inner Circle Club.
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I will definitely watch "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" since it is a fairly good rendering of the sordid love triangle between elevated chorine, Evelyn Nesbit and her affairs with Harry Thaw and architect, Stanford White who met his demise due to the jealousy of his competition. Thanks, TB!
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Thanks, Nip but I'm waiting for PBS to show the Director's Cut of "Two Thousand Maniacs!" by Hershell Gordon Lewis.
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Deja Vu All Over Again
in General Discussions
Posted
I had the pleasure yesterday, thanks to TCM of watching both versions of the Somerset Maugham tale, "The Letter". The first one shown from 1940, I first saw when I was about fifteen and I've seen it since probably over twenty times being that when it is on, I tend to watch it. You could say I am a bit obsessed by it. Bette is marvelous in it and the direction by Willie Wyler is superb. After seeing it many times I decided a few years back to read the original story by Maugham and though the movie follows the story mostly I was surprised to see that some of the famous dialogue was missing. Nevertheless, I watched the remake then got to enjoy watching the Jeanne Eagels version, which I had missed last time it was on.
Firstly, it was amusing to see that in this version, good old Herbert Marshall plays the cuckoldee, instead of the cuckolded! And the movie starts off with the exposition of his relationship with the "Chinese woman" and Leslie's sending off the original letter to him. Jeanne, looking to me like a combination of Marlene Dietrich mixed with Carroll Baker, was fine in the part, but a lot more frantic and outwardly emotive than Bette. Though Gale Sondergaard was not Chinese methinks she was a lot more believable as the love interest than the woman in the 1929 film. Now I can't say much for Reginald Owen as I usually find him a bit risible and when angered he reminds me of the silly Major in "Fawlty Towers" nevertheless it was wonderful to see both versions and be able to immediately compare them artistically.
The older film ended quite abruptly, and was missing all the scenic and eerie moon shots through trees and the great music of the Wyler version so I still prefer that one, but I think the latter built upon the assets of the first film and amplified aspects of it so it was not for naught. Personally I think not even having an actor playing Hammond, being shown [except for being shot repeatedly by Bette!] was preferable to the 1929 concept.