CaveGirl
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Posts posted by CaveGirl
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2 hours ago, ChristineHoard said:
CaveGirl, FYI: it was Mary Miles Minter's mother who knocked off William Desmond Taylor.
Yeah, Christine I also read that book when it came out and boy, it was a good read with all the info on people like Mabel Normand's cocaine habits and how Mary's mother was jealous of her affair with WDT. But Dargo only reads books about the Marx Brothers, so I thought it would all be new to him. He is waiting for the expose called "Mommy Minnie, Dearest" that was supposedly taken from excerpts from Groucho's diary. Thanks!
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For all fans of the Big Eye artist, Margaret Keane, you might catch a glimpse of her work in the TCM Friday [02/09/18] night showing of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane".
Good old Lucille LeSieur, being a fan of the artist, who had done her portrait without even having to over-enlarge the eyes, wanted to showcase some of the Keane work in the film, so supposedly had several of the paintings incorporated into the neighbor's house next door, owned by Mrs. Bates [not Norman's mother, but actress Anna Lee, who was the mother of Venetian Stevenson, who was married to Don Everly, and was the daughter of the director...and on and on, with Axl Rose, as Venetia's one-time son-in-law, et cetera].
If you are a fan of such trivia or the Keane works, then enjoy looking for these big eye paintings, which fit in quite well with the Grand Guignol setting. Name something to look for in another movie, that is not widely known, if you like.
www.joancrawfordbest.com/crawfordbykeane1.jpg
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I am very excited to see that a short on the world famous aerial act, The Flying Cordonas is playing on Saturday [2/10/18] in the afternoon. Anyone who knows the family's story from Circopedia or other outlets, knows it is one meant to be filmed. The Flying Cordonas were first featured in E.A. Dupont's silent film, "Variete" in 1925 doing all the aerial high wire stunts, and also were in a lost film by Murnau, called "Four Devils" plus "Polly of the Circus" from 1932, while Alfredo doubled for Johnny Weissmuller in the original "Tarzan the Ape Man" from 1932.
Alfredo Cordona was known worldwide for his amazing ability to do the Triple Somersault on the Flying Trapeze [aka Triple Salto Mortal] and the family had performed with the Greatest Show on Earth, which was the combined Ringling and Barnum and Bailey units, plus appearing in their own circus. Tragedy followed the family with accidents, deaths and other sobering moments all through their many years of appearing. Despondent over being replaced as the most famous aerialist since Leotard, in 1937, Alfredo Cordona murdered his wife and put the gun to himself in a suicide, after suffering injuries on the high wire and other incidents that ruined his career. The family act continued with later generations for a while but finally ceased. The short TCM will show is called "Swing High" from 1932 and shows Alfredo, Lalo, Vera Bruce and other members at their high flying bests. Enjoy!
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On 2/5/2018 at 7:37 PM, speedracer5 said:
In the world of crap like Duck Dynasty, Real Housewives..., Kardashians, The Bachelor, Vanderpump Rules, Honey Boo Boo, Honey Boo Boo's Mom, etc. and PBS is a vast wasteland???
PBS is fantastic. Nova, American Masters, American Experience, the Ken Burns documentaries, Nature, all great. In fact, right now I'm watching the "Sitcoms" episode of PBS' Pioneers of Television series. I cannot comment on the children's programming because I don't watch it, but I did love Wishbone back in the day and I also used to watch Reading Rainbow.
I also really like vanilla yogurt. It's my favorite flavor.
OMG! How can anyone say the Kardashians are not worthwhile to watch? Just because Clint Eastwood said the E-Channel is a waste of videotape? Why just last night I was watching a Kardashian marathon and Kim told Kourtney that she did not think Khloe's style was stylish, and Kim said she wanted to be her stylist and take many items out of Khloe's Kloset and archive them.
I learned the word "archive" just from watching that episode and watching and listening is the new reading ya know.
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On 2/2/2018 at 9:14 PM, Dargo said:
My theory:
It was an ill-fated boat because it was built in America and owned by two Americans.
And YET, the spelling of its christened name included that dumb British superfluous letter 'u' in it.
(...HEY!...what are you grimacing about here?...HELL, at THIS point and after 37 freakin' years, MY theory is as good as anybody ELSE'S here, wouldn't ya say???!!!)
LOL
Dourgo, there are dour consequences for those who do not accept the non-superfluous "u" in words, but I digress.
And by the way, your nautical know-how has nothing to do with homicide investigations.
The operative part of "nautical' for you, would end with the letters "nauti". I think you should work first on solving the murder of director, William Desmond Taylor by Mary Miles Minter, and then take up this quest. Remember, the last time you judged R.J. you thought he had offed a mermaid while in the film "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" with your favorite actor, Gilbert Roland.
Cease and desist or face ignominy instead of the usual unctuous succour you engender amongst your mody amourous fans here. -
On 2/2/2018 at 6:16 PM, Sepiatone said:
MM wouldn't mind Reagan cuz he was a republican.
As for turning movie watching into an "event", well, y'all obviously hang with a different crowd than I ever did. Having a bunch of them over to watch a movie and DRINK on top of that only increases the possibility of some mook talking though 2/3 of the movie. And the drunker they are, the noisier they get.
No thanks.
Sepiatone
I actually agree with you, Sepia as I don't really need any host to telegraph to me what I am going to see in a movie or explain the movie after it ends. I also hate people talking through movies, which is why I am not a fan of shows which have that kind of constant interruptions. And no one not respectful of films is ever invited for a viewing experience.
But I might drink myself while watching a movie, but never again any red wine, which can stain a white couch if one is watching something like "House on Haunted Hill" and has some classic William Castle jump shocks! -
On 2/2/2018 at 11:06 PM, sewhite2000 said:
Dennis Miller introduced some movies on TCM, and MM made no objection to him.
Well, shoot, Denny Miller was great as Tarzan, the Ape Man in films and as Juliet Prowse's hubby in "Mona McCluskey" so I guess he had some film knowledge and he did work with that cutie, Bartlett Robinson in the latter, who I love in anything!
Oh, you meant Dennis Miller, the ex-employee of "Saturday Night Live"???
Never mind!-
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Forget "The Lost Weekend". Sure it is good Hollywood fare about alcoholism if you only want to see the sanitized version which ends on a happy or hopeful note.
TCM's showing of "On the Bowery" [1956] the other day was revelatory. Directed by documentary filmmaker. Lionel Rogosin it was a hard hitting yet compassionate telling of the true daily life of men and women whose drinking issues often derail them.
Rogosin was an admirer of the works of Flaherty and DeSica supposedly, and won the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival for the above film. It was said of him that "To tell the truth as someone else sees it" was seemingly his goal. John Cassavetes revered his work in the documentary field. In "OTB" Rogosin combines some scripted scenes mostly performed by Ray Salyer and Gorman Hendricks, along with true life vignettes of men and women ensconced in the Bowery missions for overnight stays and sustenance. The verisimilitude of such settings along with actual dialogue between real folk, reminded me a bit of the usage of real criminal elements in the denouement judgment scene of Fritz Lang's film "M". But the Rogosin film utilizes much more of a reality based storyline for its occupants, who make Ray Milland look like a piker in "TLW". Both Salyer and Hendricks had tragic endings after making this hard hitting tale sadly.
If I sound like I had any previous knowledge of Rogosin or his oeuvre, I did not. Having been a movie fan since childhood with numerous books I've absorbed, my lack if knowledge of this film or any of his other documentaries seems a glaring omission but it just proves that in the world of movies, one always can find something new to admire that perhaps they never experienced or knew of beforehand. It makes me happy to think that there are still gems that I have yet to view in the cinema world.
I would like to really thank the TCM programming crew for picking this fine documentary for viewing. Anyone else lucky enough to catch this film the other day or saw it previously?
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17 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:
I don't think we'll ever really know what happened that night.
It could very well have been an accident, maybe not.
As I recall, Natalie always had a fear of water. But the story as I remember it was, that there was some serious drinking going on at the Splendour, and perhaps she was inebriated, went to bed but then heard lots of noise, and went to stop a small boat that was banging against the side, and accidentally fell in. She was wearing a jacket that had down maybe in it, and instead of taking it off which would have aided in her perhaps staying afloat better, she kept it on perhaps thinking she would stay warm, which eventually weighed her down. She had the formerly broken wrist, which she always hid in films by wearing personally designed bracelets to hide the slight deformity, and perhaps was not so strong in her grip, due to this previous accident. Not to defend Wagner but perhaps at the beginning of the realization that she was missing, he may have been trying to prevent a big scandal erupting about arguments on the boat about Natalie's connection to Walken from her recent movie. Now in retrospect, it would seem that Wagner was being deceptive, but it could have just been a typical response at first to not wanting scandal sheets to write up about the incident, if Wagner thought she was really not in danger and might be found quickly, or on the boat. I have a feeling that unless Christopher Walken can contribute some serious new information, that this case will never be solved beyond accidental death claims.
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I hate Scooby Doo. I also hate Tweety Bird but both entities have lived on in spite of my dislike.
I always wanted Tweety Bird to get eaten on film. I will say at least we know the sex of Scooby, unlike Tweety who must have been a hermaphrodite, not that there's anything wrong with that. I think I first started hating Scooby when I would to to flea markets and find too many booths with rubber Scooby duplicates and Barbie dolls with messed up hair that some horrid child had tried to comb. Maybe I should give Scooby a pass, since he's not really that bad by comparison. I will say I didn't hate the movie version too much as the characters did look like the drawings of Scooby and friends.
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On 1/31/2018 at 3:34 PM, lydecker said:
We're getting a permanent Tiffany break. They didn't renew her contract and she is now off the air.
Don't tease us, Lydecker...you know it is cruel to do so!
Does this mean they will be using CGI technology to replace her visage in those ads with her laughing with Ben and the world's foremost authority on noir, with perhaps Gloria Grahame???-
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14 hours ago, slaytonf said:
Wait, wait! This is not idle chitter. The Olympics have figured in movies (figured--get it?--figured). There has been a skiing movie I can think of, and not too bad, Downhill Racer (1969). There's been a bobsled movie, Cool Runnings (1992). And--ok--figure skating movies. And hockey, too. But what about luge? Or biathalon? And no, there is no Olympic motorcycle racing--yet.
Nevertheless, the Winter Olympics will provide ample opportunity for diversion during this particularly dearthful Thirty-one Days of The Void. So while the rest of you will be munching on Twice-Chewed Tales, I will be gorging on downhill, skeleton, super-g, and such, which, since they show these sports during the day, I will be able to record, then watch at evening, editing out the commercials. Yum, yum.
I enjoy all the movies mentioned in this thread. They could do a day with some Sonja Henie films I bet. I remember my grandma always saying when they wanted to put Sonja in movies that they were continually trying to slim her down. Poor Sonja, a victim of the Hollywood skinny regime. I would have wished they also put on "The Bob Mathias Story" who as a two-time decathlon champ should really be seen particularly since he played himself in the film. How often do you get to see the real thing instead of an actor playing like he can do such grandiose things?
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1 minute ago, MovieMadness said:
We don't need political hosts on movie channels.
Let's not be prejudiced, MM.
If we can allow neophytes who know little about films, and people who can't really write in as hosts, I see no problem allowing a person in the government realm in to extemporize remarks about movies for our enjoyment.
I suppose you would not allow Ronald Reagan in to discuss episodes of "Death Valley Days" or "Bedtime for Bonzo' just cuz he went from acting in Hollywood to acting in Washington?Tsk tsk!!
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16 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:
Best known as Dr. Henry Frankenstein in 1931's FRANKENSTEIN and 1935's BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, I always wondered why he never appeared in 1939's SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, until I learned he had died 2 years earlier of tuberculosis!
Sad end to what could have been a very promising career. Who can forget his "It's alive! ALIVE!!" line in the original FRANKENSTEIN?
Of course he was also great in MAD LOVE too (as was Peter Lorre).
Love the way he pronounces the word "tissue" as something like "tiss-shew"!!!
He was also great in "Mad Love" as you mention, Beth!
Great post saluting a fine and fun to watch, unique actor. -
I would like to salute all who contributed to this thread about Chandler. Glad to see she is still remembered and appreciated.
And I for one, who would have loved to have known her, since that scene she is in, in "Dracula" which has her in bed and the side table lamp seems to have a big piece of cardboard over it, has been bugging me for eons!
What the heck is going on with that. I hope this image shows up cuz I've seen this crazy image debated for years online. I first noticed the oddness of the shot many years ago myself, and would pause the footage just to stare at it. Again...anyone know what that giant supposed piece of cardboard or whatever is doing over the lamp???
I sure wish Helen were here herself to explain it...
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I have no opinion, but sure would like to hear the instrumental version of the "True Grit" theme as done by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
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1 hour ago, TopBilled said:
Saturday February 3, 2018
Adventure classics on TCM
THE FOUR FEATHERS with Ralph Richardson
KING SOLOMON'S MINES with Stewart Granger
KSM is a fantastic movie, TB! I always watch a bit of it, since the visuals of the Watusi participants is amazing. I'm sure many haute couture designers have cribbed items from it for their lines. This photo of some of the styles is incredible:
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On 1/31/2018 at 6:50 PM, cigarjoe said:
Getting back to wine, the most appropriate wine for film noirs is probably a muscatel short dog nicely packaged in a dirty twisted paper bag
Cigar Joe, I think you are dead on with this brilliant exegesis!
But I digress...
The perfect replacement for Eddie Muller on TCM's Noir films is of course...Robert Mueller.
To begin with, even the surname is correct, since though Robert has the extra "e" in the middle, his name actually is pronounced as Muller while Eddie's name isn't even Muller to begin with. His dad fudged on that since his real name was something quite dissimilar and now Eddie Junior has tried to obscure that fact, unimportant though it is. Won't even name his father's real surname on any of his sites, which you'd think he would be proud of. I bet if Robert Mueller's real family surname was something like Voskevic or the like, he'd proudly display it on his FBI credentials.Secondly, unlike Eddie Muller [who according to his own testimony is the world's foremost authority on noir] Robert Mueller is not one who just has read about noirish events in books, but he has lived a life surrounded by noirish people and danger causing him to be an intrepid male of adventure. As Director of the FBI and during his tenures in Vietnam, Robert has seen more noir than Eddie ever has witnessed probably in his whole life. Mueller's real life escapades in Nam resulted in a Bronze Star and Purple Heart during ambushes and deadly skirmishes whilst Muller's most deadly skirmish was probably while trying to find his Mr.Boston book that fell under a tiki bar, when he was fixing his 1940's Swank cufflink duo.
Robert Mueller has worked investigating financial fraud, public corruption, and was also in the criminal division of DOJ, resulting in the prosecution of Gambino family icons like John Gotti, while Eddie Muller's connection to real crime is probably when he met Lawrence Tierney, who has been arrested a few times but is no criminal hotshot like a Bugsy Siegel. Mueller has dealt with homicides first hand while the only thing Muller ever killed was a martini.
Reading about crime in noirish circumstances is not the same as living amidst it. I bet Robert Mueller would be a whole lot more interesting and with his research skills could IMDB the movies shown just as well as Eddie. As they say, those who can do, and those who can't...teach, or maybe just write books about those dark, wet streets of noir. I'd prefer someone with real life experience instead of the usual suspects who wannabe noir male icons, but don't have the real life experience and think tilting their fedoras to look like Mitchum is all it takes to become a tv talking head that is mostly empty of extemporaneous film facts.
So if Robert Mueller does lose that investigative job in Washington, I vote for him as the new Noir Host at TCM. I'm sure he would want Ben on his team though, as he would dig his style and verbal aplomb.
Getting Mueller proves that the real deal always trumps the pale imitation! -
My interpretation is that Ingrid was cheating on her husband, Peter with Rossellini and was overtaken by shame?
What she should be ashamed of is that horrid dress!
Just kidding, TB...it's a fine movie and I applaud your selection of it.
Thank you.-
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Ya know, I've seen "Harper" but totally forgot the ending.
I think the most fun part is when Monica Vitti is wandering around the island with her friend's boyfriend, and then...poof! All of a sudden no one cares anymore about what happened to the other girl and Vitti and the guy become totally entangled.
Wouldn't want her as a friend, but she is great to watch in a movie. She is the epitome of nonchalance and is sophisticatedly cool.
Thanks, TB!-
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Sometimes one goes to find a new movie to watch, when there is something so much better available from the past.
One such film is Rene Clements' movie "Jeux Interdits" [aka "Forbidden Games"]. Sounding like some Sadean romp, it is actually a truly moving film about a small girl, orphaned by Nazi treachery which kills her parents to leave her wandering alone and lost, who is befriended by a family of farm people. The title refers to a ritualistic chain of events which involve the child and her new male friend. The pangs of death encompassing their world causes them to take action in some sort of seemingly on the surface morbid activity, but one which is vital to the healing of both participants. This movie starred Bridget Fossey who later went on to adult roles in French films. Rene Clement of course was the director of the wonderful take on the Patricia Highsmith character, Tom Ripley in his "Purple Noon" from 1960.
This 1952 movie was the Grand Prize winner at the Venice Film Festival and is still a touching and deeply emotionally rendered expose of the aftermath of war. I can highly recommend it.
Name a film from the past that has lost its following a bit, or is not shown much, but deserves more attention.
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49 minutes ago, NipkowDisc said:
how about charlie grapewin?
Well, I was never so much into him, but sure...he can be invited too, Nip. By the way, how could I have forgotten my favorite, Una O'Connor!
Someone who will NOT be invited is Sara Allgood. I always found her to be grating and irritating. -
On 1/8/2018 at 12:20 PM, Palmerin said:
You remember that I once asked about the viability of a villainous Audrey Hepburn; you also know about those marvelous CGIs in which Marilyn and Princess Grace come back to life.
Consider this scenario: there is a conflict, similar to those in many Crawford and Davis movies, and Audrey tries to intervene as a conciliatory pacifier. Her well intentioned efforts backfire so badly that the result is total disaster. Everybody not involved in the conflict admires her good will, and consoles her for her gallant efforts. At the conclusion she is alone; the camera closes in on her face, and she stares back at the camera. Her grieving face changes to a smile, and little by little her smile broadens and becomes more self-satisfied. The images of her smile are intermingled with flashbacks of the story, and little by little it is revealed that she manipulated the events to bring about the total disaster that was the result (she was motivated by revenge, if not indeed by sheer malice). The last shot is of her full face, smiling a smug malevolent sadistic leer!
Think about it: wouldn't a role like this have made LA PRINCESA QUE QUERIA VIVIR=THE PRINCESS WHO WANTED TO HAVE SOME FUN (the Spanish title of ROMAN HOLIDAY) one of the most terrifying movie villainesses ever?
This sounds like a scene missing from the final cut of Robert Altman's "The Player"? I would have enjoyed seeing it!!!!
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On 1/11/2018 at 9:40 PM, Princess of Tap said:
It sounds like you might like Hedda Hopper or Louella Parsons for this job. But since they're not around, I would suggest maybe Rona Barrett could be dug up. She sounds like your kind of person.
BTW: Scatologicalreferences are not appreciated.
Oh, geez! All I can think of is Rona Barrett crying on tv, when she ticked off Clement Freud by saying her new book was a lot like those of old Sigmund! It's probably on Youtube, and happened on a Jack Paar show I think or maybe Merv Griffin. Hilarious! I wonder if she still has frosted hair? Gosh, I hope she's not dead cuz then I'll be accused of making fun of the dead. Wasn't she Eddie Fisher's original fan club president???
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The Kardashians do seem like some subhuman species, I will admit.