Palmerin

But what about the context? Why did people of the 1920s and the 1930s behave so irresponsibly, including the politicos in their top hats, cutaways and spats? Was the bathtub gin and green beer of the bootleggers a particularly toxic type of LSD?

Regarding the screwball genre, it seems 'tis all a matter of context--a matter of YOU HAD TO BE THERE TO UNDERSTAND IT. I understand the impact of Elvis and the Liverpudlians because I grew up in that time of stagnant sterile pop that Presley and the Fab Four revitalized; I obviously was not alive during the silliness of the Flappers and the Sheiks, nor during the foolishness of screwball, which only ended with the arrival of the literally deadly serious 1940s. Some of you are very knowledgeable in history; would you please provide the context whose absence prevents me from understanding BRINGING UP BABY and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY?

Watching WHAT'S UP, DOC was one waste of time and money that I still continue to regret.

I'm 6 with 1; how tall are you? As for IHON, the problem might be that screwball is a comedy genre that has never appealed to me. What is so funny about upper class people behaving like idiots?

A dozen movies from which to choose: that's a big WOW!

Judging from the movies shown on 2 May 2017, and today, 3 May 2017, Gable played a lot of gangsters. Why was that the case? He is in no way as intimidating as Bogart, Cagney, Muni, Raft, Robinson, De Niro, Pacino, or Pesci; even in MANHATTAN MELODRAMA--the movie that set the trap for John Dillinger--his character is so sympathetic that he can in no way be described as a fit antagonist for William Powell. Also, why is IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT a comedy classic deserving of being watched more than once? Which movies were its rivals for the 1934 Best Movie Oscar?

Back in 1983 I was visiting a cousin of my mother who lived at Hollywood, FL. The day was quite pleasant until her husband pointed out to me a town house that belonged to a mobster who spent his winters there. The evening was utterly ruined; all that I wanted to do was to get out of there as fast as I could manage. That mobster was eventually arrested and imprisoned, with none of his neighbors, including my cousin once removed, coming to any harm, thanks be to Christ.

My barrio was a basically decent neighborhood, but unfortunately it bordered a very disreputable section of Rio Piedras. I had more than half a dozen bicycles stolen from me by the juvenile germs who populated that area.

R&R took its time to make an impact in PR; I still cringe at the memory of what passed for pop music in the 1950s and the early 1960s. The Beatles were eventually noticed in Borinquen, and their example and that of their contemporaries eventually revitalized pop in my country--something deserving of much gratitude.

was there ever a time when any of you folks felt tempted to live a life similar to that of Henry Hill? I grew up in modest lower middle class circumstances, but I never wanted to earn my money the cheap and easy way. The priest of my parish, Father Pedro Gallo--a rather dour intimidating gentleman who rarely ever smiled--was nevertheless very successful at infusing in me a conscience and a sense of responsibility towards others.

... I'm reminded of a comment in a previous showing, which said that this movie was made because its producers were sure that the Beatles were a flash in the pan who would soon be forgotten, so they made AHDN as a cynical ploy to extract extra money from their fans. Is this true? I, for one, cannot believe such a preposterous DISPARATE=PILE OF NONSENSE.

A novel about the Underground Railroad! Do you recommend it?

Why was Ball cast as a no talent nobody whose desperate attempts to enter show business are doomed to failure because she has nothing to offer? As exemplified by Lucy and Arnaz themselves, show people like to marry fellow show people; Norma Shearer and Jennifer Jones were married to producers who cast them in their biggest star vehicles. LB should have played the partner of her husband, or at least the manager and agent of Ricky's band. What say ye?

Having read the novel, and being thus very aware of all the good material that was omitted from the movie, I was hoping against hope that at least one person on this board would agree that making a miniseries of GWTW was a worthy promising idea. Instead, the unanimous opinion here is that GONE is too representative of its time to warrant making such a risky move; even casting Halle Berry as Mammie and Denzel Washington as Pork would not improve matters any. Pity; I will have to console myself with current shows such as WGN's UNDERGROUND and proposing the possibility of a production about Dred Scott, whose story is indeed very riveting.

BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES???!!! A lot of accomplishment was expected out of Wolfe's book; why did the movie adaptation come out so bad?

It is generally agreed that part of the success of Mitchell's novel and Fleming's movie was the fact that GONE reflects so accurately the character of the 1930s: not as blatantly bigoted as in the time of BIRTH, but certainly not as open as things would start to become with the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950s. That leads me to this unsettling reflection: if a new miniseries of GWTW were filmed, complete with everything that was omitted from the original script, how would the public react to it? Would the public of the 21st century be willing to take in stride the features of the original novel and movie that are now unanimously regarded as very dated?

'tis always a life and career lesson to discuss and find out why a project with the star power of a T&C failed both with the critics and with the ticket buyers. As a poster at the old IMDb put it: imagine the kind of CGI you could have bought with 90 millions!

90 millions wasted on a bad imitation of Woody Allen's dramedies; for that kind of money the public had the right to expect a mighty epic in the style of GLADIATOR and the LOTR trilogy! Certainly, if Allen had been in charge of that project, he would have finished on time without ever going over budget.

That is the one; thank you very much. I had forgotten that it includes one of the first roles of Billie Whitelaw.

Which is the Terry-Thomas comedy in which he organizes a gang of robbers with three old ladies? In the ending they appear at the Tower of London disguised as beefeaters, getting ready to steal the jewels of the Crown.

Judging from its article in IMDb, I think AMANTES is the movie I remember. Thanks for your help; I'll try to watch it again.

... most of a Spanish movie that was obviously very recent. It told the real life story of a love triangle in the 1950s that ended with the murder of one of the women involved. The concluding scroll said that the surviving couple were condemned to death, but that Franco commuted the sentence, and the two were instead condemned to prison terms that they served. Does anyone here recognize this plot?

Great ending: Elisha Cook speaking to the audience= SOON THEY--the ghosts--WILL BE COMING FOR ME, AND THEN THEY WILL BE COMING FOR YOU!!!

As far as I can remember mine was THE GAMMA PEOPLE of 1956, with Paul Douglas, Walter Rilla, and Eva Bartok. I was born on 18 September 1954, and it's the earliest movie I remember from the late 50s horror and sci fi show LA PREMIERE DEL MAS ALLA=THE PREMIERE FROM THE BEYOND. It played on Sunday evenings, so it was a great way to start the work week.

Did they succeed in making you regard movies as more than a trivial way to waste a couple of empty hours?