CaveGirl

I've always thought Tom Ewell and Henry Jones looked a lot alike. Might not be so much in their actual features but they always got almost the same type parts. Great call on Strudwick and Cotten! Diana Dors and Jayne Mansfield comes to mind also.

Any month with A Clockwork Orange, Freaks and Blue Velvet in it, is a good month. Debra, there is much violence in Kubricks' film, but it is choreographed which is the whole point of the plot about organic combined with mechanical elements. Even the "Singing in the Rain" sequence is not just gratuitous sex for sex sake but makes a point. My favorite scene is the one at the beginning with Rossini's "The Thieving Magpie" music used as a backdrop to...should I say it? No, I would need to have a spoiler alert. This is one of the few, maybe only sci -fi films that actually has the intelligence to show class distinctions between the futuristic mortals of the set pieces, both in their clothing and behaviour and in their home decor. If you know Russian, you will be ahead of the game since the author used many portmanteau words with strange spellings for the Droogie characters speech patterns and lingo, and horrorshow to all who view it. I hope you enjoy it, and enjoy seeing Schlitzie for the first time in Freaks which is also a classic. Blue Velvet explores the sordid underbelly of suburbia and as usual is a David Lynch spectacular. Thanks for posting the upcoming must sees!

Thank you, Palmerin for inserting wording to denote a very disgusted emoticon instead of using said emoticon, as from that I can tell you are a person of high caliber. I appreciate your input.

Isn't Atticus Finch the later incarnation of Josef Mengele, who did evil experiments on twins for the National Socialist party in Germany? I heard he hid in South America for awhile, but then came south to America and hired Scout and Jim to play his children, after Scout flubbed her voice inflection test for that Twilight Zone episode and had to be dubbed by the girl who also did Rocket J. Squirrel's quips, June Foray.

Dargo, Joan is great in that episode and more than a match for James Kirk, who was always seen putting back on those pants after commercial breaks, due to his affinity for the distaff half. But I digress, though Joan is fab in everything my personal favorite of her performances is in the classic "Tales From the Crypt" taken from the EC Comics tale "All Through the House". To this day, I cannot forget Joan hacking her hubby in the head with an axe, seeing the blood flow on the lovely plush white carpeting in Joan's abode, and seeing Joan calmly and without even mussing up her hair or breaking a fingernail, clean up the mess and hide the body...that is, until she hears the radio warning that a mad killer, has escaped from the friendly local insane asylum dressed like Santa Claus and to beware! And then...there is the knock on the door, and Joan running around bolting all the windows down and closing shades and trying to keep her little daughter up in bed, waiting for the real Santa to appear. Sorry, I got a bit excited there just reliving that kitsch classic. Joan is always just a joy to behold, even if she is holding an axe.

Hibi, I saw it in the program guide one gets mailed to them. It had Joan listed as a Guest Programmer I think, mentioning the four films Joan had picked. I've thrown out my program guide now so can't be sure. I was watching an old clip on the Net of Joan being interviewed on The Tonight Show with David Brenner as guest host, and it was worth the price of admission, if you like seeing a man drool all over a lady and look like he is about to lick the sole of her shoe. He was so enraptured with her, if she had offered to cut his head off for a date I think he would have agreed. Joan does seem to have that affect on some men, though Robert was his courtly male self with her as usual! Sorry you missed it...

Poor Steve Martin...it actually makes me feel badly to say this, as I really have always liked Steve's work and him personally also, but I have to agree with Movie Madness about the irony of the AFI selectors ignoring some of the aspects of their own rules of selection, namely: The selection criteria states that "the recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time." My guess is that Martin felt constrained to accept such an honor, as he seems hardly to be the narcissist who needs such accolades, but the list of receptors show many others too, who are dwarfed by others more worthy in the Hollywood annals. Now I can hardly dispute having someone like Sir David Lean or Hitchcock on the list, but here again and no offense to Mike Nichols as I like his work also, but I do think he had a mostly small output and it's not like his innovations for example in The Graduate were not due more to the author, than Mike's brilliance. There are a couple other directors on the previous list that I don't think are particularly noteworthy, but they are popular and that seems to be the word Hollywood kowtows to most also. I guess this all just proves that certain people in charge, like to give awards to other certain people they like or admire, and ignore others perhaps more worthy but less photogenic or less available or with less friends who will show up and dress up and give speeches and also bring in the spectators in a move spectacle type of way. I guess there is no point for me to wait for Karl Freund or Jean Vigo to be getting the AFI next year?

I have "Celine and Julie Go Boating" on dvd but can't tell you how far back I got it or where. I did buy some films when I was in Rome, and Florence a few years back. It's a great film to be sure and sad if it is not available still. Great topic by the way!

Love Trog, but no offense to Joan. I mean doesn't any movie benefit from Joan being in it? She raises camp to a whole new level. Besides latent prehistoric species on the loose is a Hollywood maxim.

Let’s face it, when certain things lose their luster it might be time to just throw them out. For example, the Academy Award for best original song in a motion picture, or whatever they call it. Every year some horrid song competes against mostly other horrid songs, that sound like they were written by people who are tone deaf. Oh, sure there is the occasional throwback, which one can actually remember and hum, but in general the list of nominees annually keeps proving the lack of talent that now subsists in Hollywood, or even outside its gates. Now I will admit that perhaps there is talent that Tinseltown honchos just refuse to recognize or hire, but that’s another story. Let’s go through some stats. Here are some titles of songs, which were considered the best of the bunch [please don’t send me the losers' cd’s for I have a low threshhold for pain] for the 2000’s and before: Lose Yourself, Into the West, It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp, I Need to Wake Up [thanks I’d prefer to stick with my narcolepsy], Jai Ho, Man or Muppet, When You Believe, A Whole New World, and Let the River Run. Really? This is the best of the whole year of all candidates? Oh sure, we had the theme from Titanic earlier and The Little Mermaid, but as far back as 1967 people had to suffer through songs like Talk to the Animals from Doctor Dolittle which was the beginning of the end. Now in a shocking twist from mostly high-toned songs, the Theme from Shaft was actually quite innovative and worth the win, but in general things have been going downhill since 1967, and I say retire this worn out warhorse from active duty and put the song category out to pasture. Compare the above mostly non-memorable songs, to previous winners in the 1930’s through the 1950’s. Even many of the songs that were losers in those years stand head and tails above the claptrap atrocities that now are showcase at Oscar time. In the 1930’s we start with The Continental, Lullaby of Broadway, The Way You Look Tonight, Thanks for the Memories, Over the Rainbow and move on in the 1940’s to When You Wish Upon a Star, White Christmas, Swinging on a Star, On the Atchison, Topeka and the Sante Fe, Zip-a-Dee Do Dah, Buttons and Bows, Baby It’s Cold Outside and in the 1950’s we find more classics like Mona Lisa, In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, High Noon theme, Secret Love, Three Coins in the Fountain [ get this the loser was The Man That Got Away by Judy G.], Que Sera Sera, All the Way, Gigi, and High Hopes. I rest my case. Why give awards when nothing is really worthy of an award? Seems ridiculous honoring such mediocre and less than talented songwriting neophytes. At least when people like Cole Porter, Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Kern, and so many others were around the tunes were actually clever and evocative and are still stuck in one’s memory after one hearing in a film. So…agree or not agree? And if you wrote one of the above songs from the latter years, please go back to Julliard and take a refresher course.

It was great to see Joan hosting her four movie choices with Robert Osborne recently. She is still beautiful, glamorous and looking like a real movie star. My dream to see her star opposite Liz Taylor, as her evil sister [or vice versa] in some lurid melodrama...is sadly over, but I hope she returns to TCM again, as it is fun to hear her takes on films both of her and of others. Her backstage Hollywood stories like about Sydney Guillaroff [sp?] was interesting to hear. I have enjoyed seeing his take on Garbo on a TCM short subject. Seeing Joan's earring fly off in the scene with June Allyson, in the remake of "The Women" is always fun, and "The Opposite Sex" is just one gorgeous film to view, as it is so colorful and the scenery and clothing are fabulous. I wish Joan would do some guest hosting for films about bad girls in town, as she is always marvelous, in a role or as appearing as herself. Anyone else a Joan fan?

Great idea, GMJLeo! Maybe they could show "The Leopard" back to back with the entire movie "Greed", and follow it with "Berlin Alexanderplatz"? I too miss hearing Burt speak in Italian. Could he not have learned it phonetically. That dubbing is not the right kind of voice for Mister Lancaster in my opinion. Thanks!

Vautrin, I've seen it mais, il n'y a pas de quoi. Tres bien, s'il vous plait!

James, I accept your "wow" and I raise you a "wow". Is that a Martin guitar?

It's "The Great Gatsby" from 1949 with Alan Ladd. Of all the Gatsbys, played by numerous stars I think Ladd would be the best. He encompasses everything about the character that Fitzgerald put in the text and subtext, and as I recall he was superb in the role. But I saw it so far back, it is becoming a pale memory. I can't seem to find a copy of it anywhere, except possibly bootleg ones on Ebay. I wish TCM would dig up a copy somehow and put it on the air. This film was directed by Elliott Nugent and has the great cinematography of John Seitz, and also stars Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey, Barry Sullivan as Tom Buchanan and with additional fun by Elisha Cook Junior [i wonder what Senior looked like?] and always a thug, Jack Lambert. Any information on this film's availability on tiv or on dvd would be most appreciated. Any other films you are searching for or wish TCM to show?

Fabulous! I have an album by Nino Rota that I bought at a record show, with themes from all the Fellini films but this looks great. Thanks for the heads up.

I think this is TCM's attempt to duplicate the Flashback effect in films. Could you just try to enjoy it?

Slayton, you slay me! "Belle du Jour" has that bell ringing all the time, making one try to figure out what is real and what is the dream. And "Juliet of the Spirits" definitely has a dreamy take to it, being with all that color after the more common b&w Fellini films. I own "81/2" but haven't watched in eons, so must rewatch. Thanks for your sage comments!

Merci, Monsieur Laffite! As to "Blue Denim" I would have sworn TCM played that at one time. Having always been a Brandon DeWilde fan I remember watching it on cable. Maybe it was some off the wall channel, but it was not quite as lurid as I expected but Carol Lynley was still good. Good luck, Holden and how are the other Caulfields, like Joan?

I also love Laird Cregar. I just got to thinking about what an interesting movie "American Graffiti" would be if Raymond Burr had been playing the Wolfman Jack role. He did have a great voice for radio!

John, I'm so embarrassed to say I own it. Total trash and yet very colorful and the costumes are amazing. I'd probably rather watch "Candy" though, since BTVOTD doesn't have Marlon Brando in it. Thanks for your input!

"I Know Where I'm Going" is a fabulous movie, if one has a sense of humor. It starts out a bit like a Monty Python sketch in that you are not sure what is going on, what is the intent of the film, and then takes a left turn at the fork of the road, as Yogi Berra might say. I would highly recommend it. If one hates me or my posts, one might not like it.

Technically not a cliche, but happens in almost every movie. They run out of who knows where, and hail a cab and immediately one is available and pulls right up and then the cliche begins as they say "Follow that car". That never happens to me in New York city.

One should like the hero, but I've always had a bit more predilection for the beast. When Kong gets shot on top of the Empire State Building, I get a bit teary. And when Henry Hull and that dangerous plant meet in "The Werewolf of London" I don't think of Warren Zevon, but I get all tingly envisioning the poor scientist's future with fangs and just pity him. Professor L. in "Atom Age Vampire" is as much a Latin Lover to me, as Fernando Lamas or Antonio Moreno, even if his skin is more pockmarked than Richard Burton. If I had to turn into a monster, I'd choose to be something like one of the chicks in "Invasion of the Bee Girls" as they are all gorgeous like Victoria Vetri [who also died tragically in "Rosemary's Baby"] or maybe "The Wasp Woman" as she gets to date Grant Williams, who was not shrunken yet and is a real pretty boy I could control easily. I also would not mind being Audrey Junior in the Roger Corman classic, since Seymour Krelborn looks like such a tasty morsel. Who wouldn't like a monster like the one created by Dr. Henry Frankenstein who appreciates good violin music, a cigar occasionally and has such affinity for tossing daisies in a stream. And Dracula's daughter, Countess Maria Zaleska, as a patron of the arts is a woman to admire not fear. The only monster I find not the least attractive is the Golem, as I hate Dutch boy haircuts and men with feet of clay. What monster would you like to date or be?

No, no, no!!! A gun is not what TCM's current noir host needs, unless; well, no we won't go there. I've dated a guy who was a detective and was packing his underarm gun holster when we'd go out to dinner. Had quite a few real brushes with the dark side, not just from reading books or pretending to be a G-man. Now he actually would be a good candidate for noir hosting chores, but he's under the witness protection plan right now. No gun, or tattoos, or skulls, or leather will help in this case for what a noir host needs if he is to be rivetting as a presenter on the TCM noir files. It's the attitude. The attitude of the current host is soporific. Why would I want to see the host of a noir festival be one of the guys who would be taken in by the dame. Would I want Kent Smith or Tom Drake to be more than a fall guy in the bigger scheme of things, and have to listen to what he has to say also. Blahsville! Of course not. This is why a woman host for any future TCM ventures into the wet, dark streets of Dashiell Hammett or Cornell Woolrich tales, would the the host with the most appeal. I might accept a man as host, if he at least be someone like George Sanders or Ralph Meeker who would not be easy fodder for the Claire Trevors of the world. Would I listen to the ravings of an inmate of an asylum, if I were interested in learning about the theme of insanity. Would I pay attention about traffic rules, from a guy who got hit by a chick in a Ferrari as he waved to her. No. Rhetorical questions but still true. All males who find noir women fascinating and would be easily taken in by them, need not give any more opinions on this topic. I'd kneel down in penance for my bad behaviour here, but it might bag my stockings.