LornaHansonForbes

someone else may have mentioned this, but another downside to the elimination of the voiceovers: it makes it unclear if the day's programming is a salute to a star or director, like the delightful (albeit odd as it was neither her birth or death day) Irene Dunne Festival on Monday or the Michael Powell films that aired yesterday...or the lineup of Mathau films today or the Bob Hope (ugh!) tribute tomorrow.

They could've at least shaped the mobile like a tree, you know, big green circles and ovals with narrower browns and reds at the bottom. Sometimes I think the set-decoration and prop department at Fox was comprised of rejects from Warner's and MGM.

It's Hard Out There For a Pip.

Easy. Sneezy, Dopey, Sleepy, Doc and Lamont.

Waitwaitwaitwait, where'd you hear this? I didn't know she'd dropped the Pips. I remember seeing them all together when they came to my hometown to perform during our annual Azalea Festival. (that was a loooong time ago though.)

I really, really enjoy Roberta Flack- but I get that vocally she's not the powerhouse that Aretha and Gladys are.

they did. can you dig it, baby?

Yeah, I also though the ending was....odd. (I read where they actually added the scene of Carroll and Jones and their brood walking down the street together after the filming was completed, and THANK GOD they did, or it would've ruined the whole thing.)

to take it back to CLAUDINE, this is one of the reasons I love TCM so much: we all think the issues, struggles and problems we face today are unique and new, and then you watch some film from 40, 50, 60 years (or more) ago and see that people back then were going through the exact same thing. Again, I really, really liked this movie a lot, and it was eye-opening to see so many issues- welfare, police brutality, black militance, pregnancy- explored and explored quite well. The script was just excellent- really well-researched and very genuine; balancing drama with humor (esp. the scene where Claudine's daughter confesses she's pregnant.) It's a damn shame the movie didn't come out in 1975 as opposed to 1974 as the former was not a great year for leading actresses (Louise Fletcher won for her supporting work in CUCKOO'S NEST and promptly vanished into obscurity.) Had Diahann Carroll been up that year, there's a damn good chance we'd all be saved the embarassment of having to refer to Halle Berry as the first "black Best Actress" for her hooker/waitress who is "saved" by nice white guy Billy Bob Thornton in the borderline hardcore porn MONSTER'S BALL.

Yes...but don't forget the Pips. Rockin' soundtrack.

No. Ironically, I cut several down. Allow me to explain: A very good friend of mine owns three very grand, but vacant, houses with large yards that I maintain...I have really let the edges of one of them get out of control- the azaleas are teeming with cherry laurel- which is a very nice, evergreen tree that grows to about 25-30 feet and would be a terrific tree in every respect, were it not incredibly invasive in the area of the south where I live. (the seed-bearing fruits which are inedible to humans but loved by birds are spread all over.) So I was going through the azaleas removing about 80-90 cherry laurel saplings, some of which were about ten feet tall or so (don't worry, there are plenty of big, established ones all over the property.) So really, the scene bore a striking resemblance to this: Very cathartic, really. I interspersed my version of I'LL PLANT MY OWN TREE with the occasional chanting of "box office poison" and "HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY" as I hacked away. Few films has had as seminal an impact on my life as MOMMIE DEAREST.

Don't worry, you're in good company.

Osborne just shared the Bette Davis on an airplane story. Good TCM tonight.

Oh my gosh, this may be a little premature because I still have about 20 minutes to go; but I am love, love, love, love, loving CLAUDINE (1974.) Not only did Diahann Carroll deserve that Oscar nomination, but I really wish James Earl Jones had snagged one as well. EDIT: finished it. Wonderful movie. Just a wonderful movie. And Robert's conversation with Diahann has been one of the best he's had with anyone. LOVE HER.

I absolutely agree. That's a very charming, intelligent, and well-written film with a likeable ensemble. I also like EASY LIVING (1937) but I don't think they've shown that one since Ray Milland was the star of the month.

OMG, I was singing that song to myself today as I worked in my yard. I kid you not.

Yes, and absolutely work in Dietrich's WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION line. (You get 10% for that suggestion DGF)

Someone needs to do a DAMN GOOD ACTRESS "HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY" REMIX- set the line to a thudding electronica beat and do some edits... "WORK! damn good damn good damn good...damndamndamndamndamn damn good actress. Damn good actress...thud thud thud. Work it work it work it..." (I'd buy it, and I HATE dance music.)

and a big thanks to all of you for the feedback, have enjoyed it immensely don't have the time to reply right now...a big thunderstorm is coming my way and I better sign off before I get zapped (maybe by Jean Arthur herself, hurling a bolt down from Actress Heaven.)

Charles Coburn winning his Oscar for THE MORE THE MERRIER (love the monocle) His win comes at the one-minute mark:

It really does seem like it. I leave my TV on all day and it's always on TCM and I've gotten to where I've memorized certain interstitials by heart (the "letterboxing" one, or Meryl talking about Bette, or that damn Bonham's promo, which while interesting and well-done annoyed me because the Weekend Guy kept giving away the ending to CITIZEN KANE.) I have not seen the "damn good actress" bit- which was part of the introduction to the recurring "word of mouth" series they had. but they're doing a pretty good job with working in new interviews and I've really liked some of the things they've done with the modern music, so at least they're changing up what runs betwixt films.

I really miss hearing "damn good actress!"

Dunagan also did an interview with NPR (to be kept on record at the Library of Congress) wherein he told a very funny story about how he had kept his HOLLYWOOD past a secret (especially his role as the voice of Bambi) from his fellow officers in the Marine Corps. One day a superior called him into his office and informed him that he was going to be put in charge of assembling a long, arduous report that no one else wanted to do. Dunagan asked if it was possible the report could be given to someone else as he had too much of a workload on his hands already. His superior replied with something to the effect of "do this or you're going to be getting called "Sgt. Bambi" for the rest of your time in the Corps." Dunagan complied.

Bypassing the FILMS EVERYONE LOVES BUT YOU CAN'T STAND thread to create a special slot for this (plus it's been so quiet around here lately) I'm not even sure where to begin here... 1943 is one of my absolute favorite years in film, ( CASABLANCA, THE HUMAN COMEDY, FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO and SHADOW OF A DOUBT would all make the cut were I forced to compile a "forties faves" list) not just for the quality of the productions, but also taking them in the historical context (so much quality product in a year where so many dark things were happening in the real world.) Which brings us to THE MORE THE MERRIER, directed by George Stevens and starring Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn and a radial saw slicing through a nail continuously. To get to the good first: Joel McCrea is always good and Coburn is excellent, I understand the Oscar because he does a terrific job elevating the story, his scenes are the only ones that really work. But sersely: Jean Arthur. OMIGAH, please don't anyone think I'm being anti-woman here, because I vastly prefer "women's pictures" and show far more interest in actresses of the decade than I do in actors. I have no problems with films about independent, strong-minded women- in fact, I take issue all the more with films wherein women are forced to reduce themselves to traditional roles...But Jean Arthur. It's hard for me to think of another romantic comedy where the heroine is more grating and unlikeable (save maybe A FOREIGN AFFAIR and THE TALK OF THE TOWN, which also star guess who) than THE MORE THE MERRIER. Why exactly we are supposed to "root for" this harpy of a woman to get together with Joel McCrea is over my head. Run, Joel, run for your G******* life and don't stop running. And it's not entirely Jean Arthur's VOICE that bothers me (although it does account for a healthy portion of my annoyance), it's the frosty, difficult, uptight, prudish, condescending, hokey, and constant feigning of un-pretentiousness of the character (and most of the characters she plays) that just sticks in my craw. (and a mighty craw it is.) Last night, I actually had the film on low volume while reading and waiting for the WWII docs to come on, and that scene at the end where Jean is screeching and bawling and moaning and crying NONSTOP for the last five minutes of the movie made me come thisclose to hurling me book at the TV screen (my remote is long lost.) To make it all the more off-putting, I have never met another person who doesn't like THE MORE THE MERRIER, never read a review of it that was less than stellar, and some have even argued Jean Arthur should have won the Oscar for which she was nominated (Danny Peary does in his excellent book ALTERNATE OSCARS, which I agree with 98% of the time.) So in closing, I know this is a mess of a post, but I have to admit, I invite anyone else who doesn't care for the film to raise their hand and say "simpatico"- just so I know I'm not alone in this whole wide world... If the convo proceeds, I'm fine with it broadening to a discussion of 1943, the films of George Stevens and even Arthur herself...I merely ask that you hold back on the replies chastising me for my dislike of Arthur with a certain tongue-clucking, and for the love of God, please don't refer to her as "a treasure" because my response to that is "well then, she should be buried."

I could not find the article (btw, I misspelled his name it's Donnie DUNAGAN, and FTR, he was a MAJOR in the Marine Corps.) There is this youtube video of him being interviewed by, I kid you not, a puppet.