MCannady1
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Posts posted by MCannady1
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Time to go pick up the kiddies but just wondering if films play that big of a role in most participants lives here?
How and in what way are they essential or not?
I find it hard to believe how seriously some folks take films and just consider them for myself a sideline luxury.
Bye for now!
I've loved older films since I was little watching on TV. Over time they have become so important to me with many relevant scenarios. To me, many of them are never dated or boring. My sister and I enjoyed so many 30's and 40's films on TV as we grew up in the 50's and 60's, Today we both feel that we learned many things from them and treasure the films with our favorites. Our parents loved these films too when they were young. I remember our dad saying "THey'll never make a great film like this again. Noone can top the 30's". . HE was referring to The Grapes of Wrath we had just watched together. After that our mom said they would never top the 40's - we had seen Gaslight with Ingrid and Laura with Gene Tierney. Today I have come to the conclusion that they were both right - the films from these two decades alone are priceless. Of course I love the 50's too and occasionally the 60's, (My friend in Sweden made me some great Silent films and I am thrilled with them too! Now I have seen the great Greta Garbo and John Gilbert and the original Lorna Doone '22 with John Bowers and Madge Bellamy).
Sometimes I think of our great TCM as being vital to my well-being and that of many other people. At one time AMC had that wonderful attribute of showing great older films. WHen they went by the wayside we were happy to get TCM.
Before we got TCM and did not even have AMC, my sister who lives in TX. called and said she has TCM. Every day she would set her timer and make me some surprise VHS tapes. After a few weeks I received a wonderful surprise package from her! To this day I have them and we have put them all on DVD. Every one of them still looks great.
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OOOOH now, CG! I'll have you know I take films VERY seriously!
(...'cause WITHOUT all those old movies I've watched all my life, I wouldn't have been able to steal..ahem..I mean BORROW the 99 percent of my shtick you've seen me post around here all this time!!!)
Me neither! I think I watched so many all my life that they helped make a firm foundation for more and more. In the 80's when we had the scare that the old movies were going away, I was really down. In fact, I loved looking at the TV Guide as a rule, but one day .... I looked and said "THere's nothing on!" Later I found out why. All of the older content was gone. Even the 50's and 60's seemed to be lacking. (I taped as many as I could from Movies Till Dawn, etc. on our CHannel 5. OTher oldies were on Channels 9,, 11, and 13.).
After that, our cable company featured AMC and even a wonderful magazine profiling different :"golden age" stars. Magazine stories included Bette Davis, CLaudette Colbert, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, MArlene Dietrich, etc. During the rest of the 80's and through the 90's I loved AMC and then they started to go down "on the skids", as I called it. Not only were commercials inserted within the films (clumsily at times) but worse yet, they sneaked in newer things, Planet of the Apes, etc. I had 2 work friends who tore up their magazines when newer things were featured. I didn't go that far, but quit watching them!
WHen TCM began I watched the TV Guide anxiously, but we did not have them on our cable line-up. And then finally - several years ago we finally succeeded in getting the channel. I love TCM, but now and then they go out on the limb I call - the oh, no like AMC did - with 70's nad 80's things. but they always return to the Scene of the Great! (How was that just now - I just became a Film Noir inductee! and have my friends doing the same. We all love TCM!
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I think it was in her autobiography
Never cared for Burt after reading that he had beaten up poor Inger Stevens. (ANd then later to read that he had done the same
to poor Judy Carne and later Loni Anderson!) These last 2 girls had been his wives. I was a teen when Inger may have committed suicide and had read somewhere that her friends thought she was despondent over Burt not wanting to get married! But there was more to the story I saw recently quoted from on a message board. Some people wrote a biography of Inger. Sadly, she was suicidal for a long time over serious issues. All I had seen was a gorgeous lady I wished I resembled and who had a gold mine of talent!
I was not aware of poor Judy suffering to the point of abusing drugs., I too hope she found fulfillment in her life. I loved her programs - mostly Rooftop. It was so cute and I loved Rich Little barging in on the couple. Dimly I recall an episode about a new apartment Judy and her hubby were going to rent. Peter said it has everything we could ever want, but is missing one thing ----- Judy said, "What?"
He said "Stan!" It was hillarious. THat was Rich's name on the show.
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I watched it every Friday evening - enjoyed the British scenes the most. Remember vividly that Dennis Waterman was profiled in TV-Guide and as I was eagerly reading it that very Friday before the show came on, was crushed to read a section that said Dennis was enjoying the opportunity for exposure to American audiences and then in an asterisked add-on by TV-Guide's editor that "unfortunately for Mr. Waterman, the show has recently been announced as not returning next season".
Watching that Friday was a very down experience after reading that. Seemed so ironic to find out the show had been cancelled at the very same moment it was highlighted for a TV-Guide article.
That was ironic that the show was cancelled around the time TV Guide profiled it!
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I watched it every Friday evening - enjoyed the British scenes the most. Remember vividly that Dennis Waterman was profiled in TV-Guide and as I was eagerly reading it that very Friday before the show came on, was crushed to read a section that said Dennis was enjoying the opportunity for exposure to American audiences and then in an asterisked add-on by TV-Guide's editor that "unfortunately for Mr. Waterman, the show has recently been announced as not returning next season".
Watching that Friday was a very down experience after reading that. Seemed so ironic to find out the show had been cancelled at the very same moment it was highlighted for a TV-Guide article.
Now I remember! I always liked Judy Carne from Love on a Rooftop with Pete Deuel. It was a delightful show. So Judy was the British girl! I just remembered Lynn Lorring's name on FE. THat was too bad that Dennis did not return to the show. (The whole scenario returns to me vaguely too, but we loved Fair Exchange!).
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I watched it every Friday evening - enjoyed the British scenes the most. Remember vividly that Dennis Waterman was profiled in TV-Guide and as I was eagerly reading it that very Friday before the show came on, was crushed to read a section that said Dennis was enjoying the opportunity for exposure to American audiences and then in an asterisked add-on by TV-Guide's editor that "unfortunately for Mr. Waterman, the show has recently been announced as not returning next season".
Watching that Friday was a very down experience after reading that. Seemed so ironic to find out the show had been cancelled at the very same moment it was highlighted for a TV-Guide article.
I vaguely remember it, at least the title. We (my family) didnt watch it (or it was on after I went to bed........)
I do remember Fair Exchange with Lynn Loring. WE loved her London accent! (But I don't remember who had the London accent - was that Lynn's friend? IT's been a very long time since I saw it, but all My friends remembe toor is it had Lynn Lorring as one of the teens! This was in the early 60's, My big sister and I watched it every week. I do think it was on early enough, as I was 11 and had a 9:00 bedtime during the school year. I know how it is or I should say was, sadly.
Decisions, Decisions! There were so many wonderful programs of the 50's and 60's that every time we turned around (it seemed) there was something else new and fun to watch - Dr. Kildare, Mr. Novak, GIlligan's Island were some of the new ones we enjoyed plus the new installments of Mr. Ed The Beverly Hillbillies, THe Farner's Daughter, Petticoat Junction, etc. We tried to cover most of the bases and caught so many (in between school and homework). The Dick Van Dyke Show was new and fun too.
Today we try to dodge the ones we don't like. Not long ago, I ended up watching my old movies on DVDs and DVDs of our favorite shows; Perry Mason, One Step Beyond, Twilight Zone, etc. Just recently I gifted my sister and her husband with Perry Mason series. My hubby and I still like Mystery! or Masterpiece Theater).
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Great observation. I agree.
What if Ida had cast it with women. Pre-THELMA AND LOUISE. That could've been quite interesting.
Ida was a wonderful actress and a superb director as well! I did like The Hitch Hiker too. It never side-tracked to other things; just the same dangerous intent. If Ida had set the main tempo with women in the cast, they would have been interesting too. A pre-Thelma and Louise would have been intriguing too (with Ida at the helm).!
Film Noir is great and though I have loved classic or "older" films all of my life; lately I have been drifting into FIlm Noir. I started to make a list recently and 5 of the films on it have Ida Lupino. AS you can imagine, it is a copious list and encompasses great film noir from the late 30's (The Lady Vanishes) through the early 60's. Many of these films are great and timeless!
The BIg Knife, Road House, Woman in Hiding, Beware My Lovely, Deep Valley, On Dangerous Ground are some of the films I have watched in the past and re-watched over the summer. (When I was little I remember our mom saying- whenever there was an
IL film on TV, "That's bound to be good!". Our dad would agree quite often. They really got my big sister and I (growing up in the 50's and 60's) interested in watching great films on TV. By the time I was 8 or 9 I remember watching The Stolen Face with Paul Henreid and Lizabeth Scott. Around that time I was hooked on classic films! They just kept coming and we kept watching - I Wake Up Screaming with Betty Grable, Victor Mature and Carole Landis was a wonderful film noir of the 40's I saw at that time, but they called them Suspense films. I love the description of Film Noir today - dark and mysterious settings at times and often bleak aspects to enhance the suspense. It is good that the tradition continues.
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I like her too. I have a complete set of her Nancy Drew films.
I think this is from AH, WILDERNESS.
Lovely picture! She was great in Ah Wilderness too!
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Yeah, Max won the Oscar for this one and deservedly so. The music is wonderful as are Hugo Friedhofer's orchestrations. And here is the studio recording of "It Can't Be Wrong" that was originally to be in the shipboard dinner sequence that preceded the ship's rail scene where Charlotte tells Jerry "You see - nobody ever called me 'darling' before":
I believe the vocalist is studio voice dubber Vera Van.
MAX Steiner always enhanced a great film with his wonderful music. Very nice to have the recording here that was to be in the dinner sequence origininally too!
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she really was a damn good little actress- her work in THESE THREE is one of the best I have ever seen given by a child. And I enjoyed the NANCY DREW series TCM ran in the early spring...although Nancy seemed to break more laws than Dirty Harry when it came to solving crimes. did you know Bonita Granville "starred" in an early series of books for young adults wherein she solved mysteries a la Nancy Drew, only as Bonita Granville?
Bonita was really a wonderful actress! I have These Three in which she was such a cruel kid menacing another girl. The Nancy Drew series are good though they did not quite follow the books. I just saw another early film with Bonita -- The Life of Vergie Winters with Johny Boles and Ann Harding. I thought the little girl in the film looked like Bonita and checked the credits. She had made an impact in this film, though she had little dialogue.
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Some of these films are available to the public, but not all, sadly. I am a big fan of the Universal Horror films. I mentioned in a recent post that in The Mystery of Marie Roget there is missing musical footage. During the beginning of a waltz when Marie is dancing with her companion, we hear the strains of a beuatiful waltz. After about a minute and a half to two minutes she steps outside and music continues for about 30 seconds.
In the restored version all looks great, but the waltz music is missing! We hear about 20 seconds of another brief waltz while Marie is dancing. Wonder how they blundered and made this mistake?
Anyway, I sent a copy of the film (the kind of snowy print I had from about 15 years ago when I taped it) and the brand new restored version. My friend watched and listened to both. Yes, she "heard" the same thing. Don't think it was intentional, but I think they should be aware of the mistake. To me it was a haunting music that made a lovely backdrop for the film.
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I've always been under the impression that his wife lived at home and was just an awful person to try to live with
(endquote)
Well, if Jerry's wife was "at home", it's a big stretch she'd send Tina to Cascades, a sanitarium. And an even bigger stretch she'd allow Tina to actually go live with a stranger. "Not wanted" or not....most women would want to maintain control of their child.
I'll go watch my DVD again to see what/if anything concrete is said about where Mrs Durrance lives.
BTW, I think Mary Wickes is a bright star as the caregiver nurse and lurve Gladys Cooper as the mother- the first role I'd ever seen her.
I got the feeling Mrs. Durrance lived at home and was absorbed - in herself. Imagine letting Bette - a stranger helping her daughter at Cascade! I love Mary Wickes and Gladys Cooper. I have seen and admired Gladys in many. In reality, I read that she was happily married to fellow actor, Philip Merrivale. Glad to see him in another film recently. Mary is wonderful in every film she does!
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Well in her next film Granville gets what is coming to her; It is Hitler's children and she get 10 lashes in a scene that was fairly brutal for the times.
Hitler's Children really stayed with me! TIm Holt was great as Bonita's boyfriend and Otto Kruger as an evil supporter of Hitler. They both die in disgrace for not agreeing with him , "Hitler is love!" That really got to me where they stripped off her clothes to disgrace her. Bonita was a very fine actress.
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I really like Barbara O'Neill and I was always disappointed that more wasn't made of her character in GWTW since she is one of the pivotal influences in Scarlett's life. In the book she was extremely important and in the film she seems a bit cold and distracted which is not how Ellen O'Hara was written. You do get that she is actually running the plantation. (Clearly Gerald O'Hara isn't doing much more than riding, visiting and getting drunk.) I am astonished that she was only 29 when she appeared in All This And Heaven Too. One of the scarier crazy lady performances of all time. She pretty much steals that film.
She is wonderful here, but surpasses herself in ATAHT! Too bad the character is not as importantly portrayed like in the book! I had read it a few years ago. Like you said, Gerald did not just ride around and get drunk!
Barbara was marvelous at 29 portraying the DUchess de Praslin in All This and Heaven Too.. In a way one could see her plight, though she was off the deep end and so scary./ Not caring if her children heard her accusing Bette of being with her husband! I inferred that she had suspected the duke of cheating with another woman and was wrong about it. This was about five years before Bette arrived. (She says she was made ill while having Raynald and looks significantly at the duke. When he tried to vindicate himself, she would not listen. Late, she tried to patch it up, but was too late. Hence, the long tear-filled letters she wrote to her husband who slept 20 feet away down the corridor! He would always say that he is sorry she was hurt and it was not his intention! But he has reached exasperation to the point of going off the deep end himself.
One more thing she tried to get to him only led to murder, in speculation. Imagine writing two letters to recommend the former governess, portrayed so beautifully by our Bette. One gives our girl a wonderful reference and the other one denounces her. Then she tells him it does not matter which letter he uses, as they are both blank! Then she laughs hysterically but it becomes a scream of terror as he heads over to her with fury in his eyes! ---- My favorite film of all time.
I got off track - Sorry! Regarding Now Voyager, So Charlotte had 3 brothers in the book! I guess they were older and married. I hope in the future books she marries. She really should have married John Loder's character (was it John as the wealthy Elliott she was considering marrying?). She could not marry Tina's dad. A wonderful film. Will look up the books! Gladys Cooper was great as the destroyer of her daughter. A wonderful actress! Paul Henreid and Claude Rains steal the show as well!
In the end Charlotte identified withaTina who felt unattractive as well.
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Well now I realize I've seen her in quite a few things, just before I knew who she was. I'm ready for an O'neil "star of the month," to get them all sorted out.
I have of course seen Barbara in GWTW and enjoyed her calm, level-headed performance as the mother of the O'Hara children, but she is a more key character in some other films. We do need star of the month for her! The other day I was thinking she reminds me of Katherine Emery of The Locket
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You're right Lorna. "Now Voyager," was the third novel in the five volume Vale family series. The second novel was all about Lisa Vale, so the reader is supposed to know quite a bit about her before we even get to "Now Voyager." In the book we get the entire pre-voyage make-over where Lisa takes Charlotte to her own hairdresser, etc. You know, as many times as I've watched this, I still can't quite figure out Charlotte's hair. She smooths the back straight down with her hand, so it must be short in the back but the front seems like long hair swept upward with combs -- sort of like Betty Grable's hair.
I love this film too! I didn't know there were other books in the series! I didn't quite get that haircomb either, Guess the combs have it! I am afraid I would have flunked out on that myself, as I have really impossible hair. Even the hairdresser would have a challenge!
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I really like Barbara O'Neill and I was always disappointed that more wasn't made of her character in GWTW since she is one of the pivotal influences in Scarlett's life. In the book she was extremely important and in the film she seems a bit cold and distracted which is not how Ellen O'Hara was written. You do get that she is actually running the plantation. (Clearly Gerald O'Hara isn't doing much more than riding, visiting and getting drunk.) I am astonished that she was only 29 when she appeared in All This And Heaven Too. One of the scarier crazy lady performances of all time. She pretty much steals that film.
Wow! I am glad someone else agrees with me about Barbara O'Neil. She was a marvelous character in All This and Heaven Too as the 'wife scorned':, I am a really big fan of hers. In the film Whirlpool '49 with Jose Ferrer and GeneTierney, she is marvelously eerie as a murder victim who has taped her possible murder on an LP! and hides it in her house. Gene finds it and while listening to the eerie, resonant voice, the killer returns to the scene as well. That is true that she was not utilized very well as the mother of the O'Hara children in GWTW!
Does anyone out there have the film When Tomorrow Comes? I taped it from a public TV channel in the 80's and the end is cut off. Another friend gave me his copy. but it also lacks the end of the film. In this movie with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne, Barbara plays Charles's wife who had a breakdown when she lost their baby. He cannot get a divorce, but suddenly meets and falls madly in love with Irene's character. A great film! (He worries about his wife injuring herself or someone else. His mother locks the wife in the bedroom, but she escapes and finds Irene's apartment. She says that her husband is all that she has and soon the darkness will descend on her mind again - during which time she plays with matches and other equally dangerous things). A really great film too! In it we see the character suffers., as she realizes she is doing crazy things but cannot stop her actions.
I love 30's and 40's films best and have been taping since I got a VCR in the 80's. Would really appreciate it if I can find the entire film!
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Thanks for the video, Lorna, though in that brief part with Davis's daughter she doesn't seem all that evil. Of course I haven't read her book, and I doubt if anything in it would diminish my love of Davis as an actress. She's always been maybe 5% below Stanwyck on my personal Actress Pantheon, and obviously we'll never see the likes of her again.
I'll see if I can catch it on You Tube. I was not impressed by B.D. either, but she did allege in her book that Bette babysat for her and was drunk while watching her children.
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Thanks for the video, Lorna, though in that brief part with Davis's daughter she doesn't seem all that evil. Of course I haven't read her book, and I doubt if anything in it would diminish my love of Davis as an actress. She's always been maybe 5% below Stanwyck on my personal Actress Pantheon, and obviously we'll never see the likes of her again.
I couldn't either! Nothing can diminish my love and admiration for Bette or Stanwyck. I did read My Mother's Keeper and I can only say it was not as graphically awful as Mommie Dearest had been about Joan Crawford. By the time I had finished MD I was really turned off on Joan. I had loved and revered her for her great films since I was a kid watching on TV. Now I still admire the actress for her wonderful portrayals but really feel bad about the things in the book. Some of these incidents had a witness. Joan's secretary had said, "Stop Joan, you'll kill her!"! which brought her to reality. Never will there be a Bette or a Barb. Stanwyck again!
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The restored version of TOUCH OF EVIL, which follows Orson Welles' wishes as to how it should have been shown. It's one of the ten classic noirs in Universal's boxed set.
I saw it lately too - the restored copy. A very scary scene toward the end is pretty authentic. The first time I was not prepared - as a
kid, for the scene was there in the early 60's. I think Orson would be glad to have it the way it should be. Well done!
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I'm watching Theodora Goes Wild live on TCM right now with Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas.
It's an interesting film and I'm happy to see Dunne not acting as hoity toity as she seems to in some of her films.
While I don't have any issues with Douglas really, he kind of seems like a back-up William Powell. If Powell declined the film, or wasn't available, they got Douglas.
i do like that one, but seem to prefer Irene's dramatic roles (like my mother and father did). When I grew up I really re-fell for the wonderful 30's and 40's great films I had enjoyed on TV in the 50's and 60's. But you are right that it is nice to see Irene in a comedy now and then; THe Awful Truth, etc. (About 3 nights ago I watched Irene and Ricardo Cortez in a great film called Symphony of Six Million, a real tear-jerker of the early 30's). Next I watched Lucille Ball and Patrick Knowles in a great semi-comedy drama called Beauty for the Asking. A great supporting actress, Frieda Inescourt enhanced the film.
Regarding Melvyn Douglas, I really like some of his early roles, but do like William Powell better at times. Have you seen The Old Dark House '30 with Melvyn and GLoria Stuart? Also enhancing a great cast was Charles Laughton in an early role as well. This is considerably more scary than the later remake of the same title in the early 60's. A wonderful actor/actress Elspeth Dudgeon can be seen here. Apparently he or she enjoyed playing roles of the opposite sex. It does say John Dudgeon in the credits, but I read somewhere that the name is Elspeth. A real mystery, but she was great in this good film to see on Halloween!). I did see him/her in a Blondie film but she resembled another actress there - even to her voice! The wonderful Gertrude Hoffman of the My Little Margie series I had seen when very young in the late 50's had a distinctive voice. Well, this lady looks and sounds like her! A real mystery.
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Last night I re-watched the marvelous film noir with Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame,
In a Lonely Place. The acting is wonderful and very timely. I remember first seeing the film while still in school in the early 70's. - lol~ Anyway, a friend just requested the film and I was checking my copy for her. Well, I ended up watching again, caught up in the spell of Bogie and Gloria. The little known actress (and murder victim) Martha Stewart is very good here and attractive too!
Tonight I am watching Spellbound '47, a great film with Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. It is both intriguing and frightening in spots!
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I just renewed my acquaintance with A Hard Day's Night. It's just as fresh and delightful as it was way back when. And the commentaries on the Criterion release are well worth listening to, as well.
Me too! I was 12 when I and my big sister went to see the film in the theater. It is still wonderful and fun to watch! I think Pattie Boyd and Cynthia Lennon are in it. (I read that Cynthia wore a dark wig). Anyway, they all look so young and handsome and the music is still very awesome!
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I've got chicken n' dumpling soup cooking away in the crock pot and a bottle of Dry Riesling chilling in the fridge...
Tonight, I'm having an Ingrid Bergman 100th birthday tribute, watching some of the films I recorded yesterday and a couple others I already owned.
Right now, I'm starting off with what is arguably, her most famous film-- Casablanca.
RICK: Your cash is good at the bar
BANKER: What? Do you know who I am?
RICK: I do. You're lucky the bar's open to you.
Great idea! I love all of the films with Ingrid starring in them that you mentioned, especially Spellbound and Casablanca. A great idea!
You're Sick. Which Movie Do You Want?
in Your Favorites
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If I were real sick and lying on the couch (this did happen to me one time!) and could only watch TV, I would want to watch some fantasy films, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, Mad About Men and Miranda with GLynis Johns.
I have a great memory for an incident that happened when I was only 3! MY sister was 6 and remembers it. I was lying on the couch wiht a really high fever. I could barely raise my head from the pillow. Our mother had put on the TV and I remember watching for the first time - Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid! Most notably, I remembered the scene where William Powell is standing near the water and of course only he hears an eerie voice "humming". Then I remember how beautiful Ann BLyth looked. He had brought her into the house and let her take a bubble bath! Well, his wife was out of town -- lol! Well, she loved the wife's combs and put them in her hair. Of course his wife returned unexpectedly and saw all the soapy water - and where were her combs?
ABout the time when the wife returned I was so engrossed that I didn't hear OR NOTICE the doctor come in with his medical bag. THey made house calls - rarely, but did in the mid-50's. MY temp. was 103.1 our mother remembered. When he gave me a pennicillin shot - OUCH! And then my gaze riveted right back to the TV! So that is an early memory I loved. I had a very bad case of tonsillitis for some reason.
I have the film now and each time I watch it I remember it! A really nice early memory.