Emily Dean
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Posts posted by Emily Dean
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To all those eviscerating William Shatner for not attending Leonard Nimoy's funeral...
#1: He had a prior commitment for a charity function and his failure to appear would have been very detrimental to the charity in as much as the whole proceeds were a result of his participation.
#2: Leonard Nimoy being Jewish would have understood Mr. Shatner's commitment to a charity and would not expect Mr. Shatner to fail to live up to his obligations....charity work is a very strong component of the Jewish faith and furthermore a commitment is just that.
#3: Mr. Shatner is 84 and I am certain that private jet or no private jet night-time appearances and a late over night flight may be constitutionally difficult
#4: Leonard Nimoy knew and had Mr. Shatner's friendship during life...which is what really counts.
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Me-TV is doing a retrospective tomorrow of Leoard Nimoy in the afternoon I believe and running a special episode of Star Trek to night. Tune in and prosper.
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Just an FYI...for those of you who regard Leonard Nimoy in high esteem, Me-TV is devoting this Sunday to running episodes of various shows that he was in. For instance last night on Perry Mason the broadcast included him in an episode as the identified villain (who of course, neither Hamilton Burger or Lt. Tragg identified). Long before he grew pointy ears he appeared in many westerns, and other dramas. I think I saw him not long ago in one of the Me-TV "Rope Operas".
Tonight Me-TV is running a special Star Trek episode with Mr. Spock as the main protagonist. Cuddle up and share a toast to Spock and live long and prosper.
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I see that there were several comments and acknowledgements regarding Bob Hope. Feelings among the "now group" run high in the negativity quotient but just like some of the actors/commedians prevelant today, Bob Hope is a man for his times.
The fact that his times crossed through several decades is a testimony to the relevance of his persona and subject matter that was entertaining to the audience of those decades that shared the time periods with him. Having watched him mostly on television and then later on the Saturday TV movie I enjoyed him and his "posse" of favourites like Bing Crosby, Fred Allen and others.
While many of his movies were schmaltz, I definitely enjoyed him in the Road Movies and really liked the fact that he and Bing often broke the 4th wall. I took that as a recognition by them both that they didn't take themselves too seriously. So here on Saturday morning, with snow coming down and restless doggies, I'm off on the "Road to Morroco".
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I believe Lionel Barry was superb in all his movies. I absolutely adored him in all the Gillespie movies, I mean, who couldn't be the most empathetic to the ill and injured than someone who knew the challenges first hand.
I think the fact that he was confined to a wheelchair for much of his movie career may have resulted in him becoming even a better actor just to meet the hurdles being physically limited would incur.
But even so...his role in The Grand Hotel is outstanding and I think even outshines the other actors regardless of their Big Ticket type attraction.
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Thank you Top-Billed for the Ann Southern information. I am looking forward to her
appearance as a SOTM. I really believe she deserves a month of celebration. I am just
sorry that the Maisie series will not be on Saturday and Sunday for some binge watching.
Anyway...let us see who else we are able to lobby for...I still want a George Sanders SOTM; but somehow TCM just doesn't see it. Same applies for James Gleason; Here Comes Mr. Jordan and The Clock would just fall flat without his contributions and that goes for
many other movies as well.
Well; if we combine our keyboard skills on one collective push for an actor at a time
our voices may be heard. James Gleason and George Sanders are "stars in my eyes".
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I for one like the oldies but goodies. I don't think black and white has anything to do with it...it's just
a sense of seeing the world in different times and eras. Thank you very much...I lived through the 60's
through now and really don't want to sit down and live through it a second time.
I know classics are defined on something other than age but to me, for some reason I am just not as
nostalgic for the newer movies (60's-80's) as I am for other eras. And lastly to those who whine about
their favourites not being on....change the channel, read a book or take a walk.
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These days I would happily relocate to Carvel. No TV, only Bing and Fred Allen on the radio, no talking heads and I could find loafers and bobby socks to wear with my peddle pushers and go outside and play. My parents would not get reported to the authorities for letting me go to the drugstore by myself and I would have teeter totters and carousels to play on in the playground.
Oh to be young again (not from the Carvel era) but close enough.
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You can say this and that in regard to Svengoolie's schmaltz but I enjoy it.
For all you young ones...those of us who grew up watching The Big Movie or something like it in the 50's, Svengoolie brings back memories of flickering black and white television and numerous antenna machinations.
Actually as I stated last week in another topic on Svengoolie, I didn't know Milburn Stone was ever in movies and assumed Gunsmoke was his first large public exposure, until identified in a Svengoolie presented Universal horror movie.
As far as the Milton Berle/Henny Youngman routines, they were the originators of television schmaltz so a better fit for Rich Koz you couldn't find.
I look forward to Svengoolie on Saturday night, after a bewitching hour of Superman (best in black and white), Wonder Woman (the original WWII topics) and the subtle messages of Gene Rodenberry (which in some cases, sadly have come true) and I can cozy up to an evening in the 50's.
As for the cars, what a delight...just looking at the clashing of fins in some, the plethora of Nash Ramblers and others brings back memories of Dinah Shore and seeing the USA in my Chevrolet (actually my USA visions were through a series of Fords), but none the less a trip down memory lane for sure.
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I too have been watching Svengoolie...and was shocked, I tell you shocked to know that Dmytryk directed this and never would have believed that Milburn Stone was in anything but Gunsmoke.
The movie is schlocky...there is no question but I love it just the same as I realize that the movies were made for the times...no TV and only radio and WWII blazing away. Who wouldn't have enjoyed an afternoon of the Ape Woman along with tigers and lions and a large ape.
Nice of Svengoolie to introduce us to the man behind the ape...and what his other credits are when it comes to disguises. Svengoolie reminds me of my childhood and seeing TV as it is was produced in the 50's on local stations.
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The heresy of not considering George Sanders a big enough star to warrant a SOTM. If I have to put up with Jerry Lewis TCM can b#%^#y well feature George Sanders as a SOTM.
Where would All About Eve, Rebecca, Dorian Gray , Foreign Correspondent , Forever Amber and Confession of a Nazi Spy as well as Saturday morning favs The Falcon be without George. Even David Thomson gives George his due in his Biography of Films. And don't forget that wonderful "Village of the Dammed" with George giving the film some stature beyond the usual Sci Fi fare
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Thank goodness...Sterling Hayden is an interesting actor and for the merry month of May we should see some "Sterling" performances across a wide venue and eras of film performances including my all time favourite: Dr. Strangelove. Next to Casablanca and The Life of Bryan that is one of my most enjoyable movie repeats.
Now I will just have to continue forging along and pushing for a George Sanders SOTM...but not too soon after Sterling Hayden. Two sequential months of cynics in the movies might be too depressing.
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I have been reading all these posts regarding best war movies for each war and find that first you start with movies and then it morphs into politics etc. Movies about war teach us much about ourselves mostly, our response to the subject, our response to the techniques of the directors, photographers etc who made the movie and what intrinsically reaches into our psyche about the film and the subject itself.
I also think our personal exposure to war drives our responses to war movies. I know as a daughter of WWII RAF pilot I respond differently to movies about WWII than I do to movies about other Wars. I think the movies about the Korean War were difficult to make into "entertainment" as there was no great threat (in the minds of many) posed as there was in WWII and also, I think the public suffered from "war fatigue" as it came so close after WWII.
Vietnam too, impacted me personally through both my brother and husband. But the war played out on television in real time so it was truly hard to conceptualize it into "entertainment". Then too, began the dialogue of propaganda in movies versus art. And too, most in Hollywood and in the arts in general didn't have to fight, it was truly not a war that the nation as a whole had to contribute too.
I know I will have rubber chickens thrown at me for my observation, but truly, to me and remember this is just to me, the best movies are about WWII. It is truly the only good vs bad war where the outcome has resulted in my ability and all of you to proffer our opinions openly about the best and worst war movies. Can any of you see the subject discussed under Hitler or Stalin?...
And a PS to person who knows little about Gallipoli but manages to disparage Churchill in relationship to its outcomes...I recommend some reading, mostly by Australia and New Zealand authors. Much of history has maligned Churchill for Gallipoli but a closer look at the naval and army leaders demonstrates it wasn't so much Churchill but the total lack of military leadership and planning that resulted in the disaster.
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Fred: Why didn't I think of that opening; you are so right!!! A puzzling and intriguing opening to what is a very good story and film. It is a Somerset Maugham story and George Sanders should have had one of the roles. George Sanders is the right man for many of Maugham's stories.
Although for the cheated upon husband you couldn't do better than Herbert Marshall...just think what Bette Davis did to him in Jezebel..poor Herbert. However Bette and George did just great in "All About Eve" so I can't complain.
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I didn't have time to wade through all of the pages so I'll just add mine on top of most likely the many commenters posting the following:
1. Laura
2. A Touch of Evil
I cannot think of any other films (and I have watched quite a few) that are as
compelling as these two openings.
What I cannot believe is...where is the corresponding "Best Ending"?. Shouldn't this be the beginning and end all comments of definitive movie scenes? I mean sometime soon there will be a post on the "best middle bits". Oh well it's fun anyway.
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Well I just have to put in my 2cents!!!
World War I:
Gallipoli
World War II
In Which We Serve
Twelve O'clock High
GI Joe
Sahara
The Best Years of Our Lives
Korea
The Bridges of Toko Ri
MASH
Vietnam: Apocalypse Now
Cold War: Dr. Strangelove
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George Sanders "Knocks My Socks Off" as well. We only wish that TCM would see the light!!!. I watched "The Picture of Dorian Gray" the other day, and even though I've seen it numerous times I still watch for
George's scenes....don't get me started on all his other movies.
I read a lot of Somerset Maugham and if ever there was a Somerset Maugham character, it is George Sanders.
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I have been watching the "Carry On" series as well...regular Saturday morning fare. My parents introduced me to the first one, I believe it was at the "foreign film" theatre in Dallas. Where I saw the other ones, I cannot remember, but my parents being from the England and Scotland, dragged us to more English films than any other children in our neighborhood.
I am forever grateful as it introduced me to the likes of Peter Sellers (I'm All Right Jack) and Terry Thomas among others. Additionally I am able to follow all the dialogue and understand all the slang.
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TCM should show more 50's and early 60's Science Fiction movies. While there were great (for the day) special effects in many, there was also good acting and decent plots. Even the "bad" ones are worth watching.
I think that would be fun. I loved the Sci Fi about the large woman, the side effects were hilarious however the creativity behind the movie was to be admired in as much as the operative word then was creative, not computer.
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I think it would be great fun (and good advertising in both directions) if Svengoolie perhaps without makeup was a guest programmer on TCM.
Oh I whole heartedly agree!!!. You know he is not so bad and he introduces you to actors, until I watched the Weird Woman, I didn't realize Frank Morgan had a brother; and by golly, once you knew you could see the resemblance between the two.
I think it is a great idea...maybe for October and the annual scarefest.
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I am able to think of several songs that may be considered overplayed throughout movies. Whether they are irritating or not is up to the "ears of the hearer".
Laura
The Merry Widow Waltz: Shadow of a Doubt
As Time Goes By
The Theme Song from Dr. Zhivago
Moon River
Charade
The Elephant Walk
I believe in some instances the overplaying of theme songs in movies is a method of the movie executives to promote the song for the Academy Awards and the desire to have a hit single and sell albums.
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Great idea to post...there are quite a few great BBC series to watch. This is definitely a "jewel in the crown" if you will graciously forgive the pun. Among others was the "Churchills" a series of the family prior to Winston which was absolutely fantastic. Don't get me started or I will bore you to death with my likes in regards to BBC series. ITV did some great series as well...one was "Family at War" which to me was mesmerizing.
However, I am not a fan of Downton Abbey. If you want to see the pre-cursor to this series and the better one I recommend Upstairs, Downstairs.
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TopBilled: I am with you 100% for a George Sanders SOTM. I could watch all the Falcon films as Saturday morning escapades along with his other appearences. I love the idea of him with Linda Darnell...what a gift. Let's keep pushing this forward.
Along with George Sanders as SOTM I would like to see some of the better known character actors get thier SOTM like James Gleason for instance....he was a shining star in the The Clock, an even bigger star in Here Comes Mr. Jordon as well. Thanks again.
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I too like the "Grass is Greener" and thought it a very sophisticated movie for its time...as I did "Indiscreet" as well. Let's face it, either as the Bachelor or the pretend married man...Carey was sophisticated with a capital S.
Is political correctness getting in the way of classic broadcasts?
in General Discussions
Posted
How ironic this topic resurrected itself. Today of all days, The Telegraph, in its on-line film section had a column on 14 films the column's author found offensive and politically incorrect.
The Usual Suspects were on the list, the much maligned and overly reprehensible (for its lack of PC) is the Song of the South with an argument over whether they were crows or blackbirds, Breakfast at Tiffany's with Mickey's Japanese impression, any early (60'/70's) James Bond move(who knew?), Dumbo and Peter Sellers in the Party and just about any role he had. What amazed me is that the columnist failed to include any Monty Python movies.
There were a myriad of comments with a few marked deleted, but if you want to get a glimpse of how the Brits debate PC, etc. you should take a peek.
As for me...I enjoy the movies I do because of a connection and a resonation with some facet of my life or emotional construct and I have no desire to spend my time thinking oh, how politically incorrect. I look no further. Movies are a reflection of their times and unlike written history, they cannot be altered.
All I remember about the Song of the South is the music and fables, Dumbo's mother dies I think and Dumbo is an outcast based on his big ears. Breakfast at Tiffany's was all about Audrey Hepburn and her clothes and James Bond was as risqué a movie as I had ever seen. Peter Sellers was a marvel at mimicry and a delight to watch. His best roles for me are in Dr. Strangelove and he was un-PC in all of them.
Like I stated watch movies for what they are and the talent that went into making them.