film lover 293

LornaHansonForbes--A question about Dream a Little Dream. TCM notes on the film have it making just over 5 million dollars; do you remember if it was a "cheapie"? Also, film was shown on TCM in 2009, according to reviews. Thanks for any info.

Continental Divide?

Porgy and Bess (1959)

Panama Hattie

1937

The Man Who Knew Too Much?

One, Two, Three

Oklahoma Crude (1973)

My Man Godfrey

The King and FOUR Queens (1956)

PURPLE Rain

Murder! (1930) ?

Night of the Lepus (1972)

"Portrait In BLACK" (1960)

O'Leary, Mrs.; played by Alice Brady in "In Old Chicago" (1938).

Once: When I was in college, I decided studying was preferable to sitting through "Howard the Duck" (1986). I walked out after ten minutes: there was already a line before me at the cashier's of people wanting refunds.

"The Kennel Murder Case" (1933). Starring William Powell and Mary Astor. Powell in maybe the best of the Philo Vance series, just before "The Thin Man" (1934) was filmed. Takes place at a dog show. Complicated "locked room" mystery with lots of suspects. Great watch with a sense of humor that goes along at a fast pace. A very satisfying ending. 8/10 stars.

Better watching the movie of "By Love Possessed" than trying to read the novel by James Gould Cozzens; the Loong book has all the interest of an instruction booklet written for a build-it yourself garage written in German/Latin. JMO.

TopBilled--If you haven't already seen it, "Lady of Burlesque" (1943) proves Barbara Stanwyck could put over a song and dance number with the best of them. Also, I believe she had two numbers in "Ball of Fire" (1941). The lady was truly multi-talented. About June Allyson--One has to take the WW II era in which she became a star into account. After an attention getting debut in "Girl Crazy" (1943), she came to represent The Girl the GI Left Behind in 1943-45; and a teary female persona fitted those times. Her vocal talents (she had a perfectly good low alto; some people like(d) and some dislike(d) it) were also used in starring roles like the ones she had in "Two Sisters From Boston" (1946), "Good News" (1947), and in cameos in "Till the Clouds Roll By" (1946) and "Words and Music" (1948). Over the years, she eventually transitioned to a dramatic actress. I'm not saying the lady was perfect; but she DID have talent that suited and pleased people in her starring years, or she wouldn't have had a career that lasted over five years. JMO.

A musical number that was supposed to be in an available film. Supposedly, the print of "Voodoo", a Judy Garland song from the film "The Pirate" (1948) so enraged Louis B. Mayer that he had the negative of the number burned. A vocal fragment of the song still exists and was available to be heard on YT. I've heard the fragment and it's intriguing to think what would make Mayer so angry.

I have three: The short story "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King, from the 1978 collection of short stories "Night Shift". JL is a prequel to the book "Salem's Lot" (1975). JL has the potential to be a Great supernatural film, but King's works have fared badly when adapted for the screen (television or movie). Notable exceptions are the 1978 television mini-series "Salem's Lot" which was well done and Reggie Nalder was memorable as the head bad guy; "The Stand", which was better than ok, considering all the stuff that had to be cut out (source novel is over 1000 pages long); and "Firestarter" (1984), which had Drew Barrymore and George C. Scott in excellent performances, and spectacular special effects. "Shadow of the Moon", by M.M. Kaye--I'd love to see this tale of forbidden love in the India of 1856-57, just before and during the Sepoy Mutiny translated to the screen. But the novels' atmosphere of ghostly unreality and air of dream-like, balletic violence is probably unfilmable. "Hex and the City" or "A Hard Day's Knight", both by Simon R. Green. Both are Nightside novels, familiar to fantasy/sci-fi fans. The first is unfilmable, the second is a twisted take on the Camelot legend. The author's point of view and sarcasm would be tough to translate to film--but I wish someone would try..

Mercedes McCambridge as the voice of The Demon in "The Exorcist" (1973).

Names under consideration are Charlie Sheen, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton: they are to host "The films for Bronx Cheers Awards." Contenders include "Crossroads" (2002), "Scary Movie Part 17", " Ishtar" (1987), and "Revolution" (1986). Guest hosts must interview the stars of said films and discuss why each film deserves a "Bronx Cheer Award". Actually having a Bronx accent does NOT automatically qualify one for the Award.

GregoryPeckfan--am replying to your post of 7:03 E.S.T. yesterday about five worst movies: "Wicked Stepmother" (1989) is a watchable comedy while Bette Davis is on-screen: once her character disappears from the film, movie falls apart and the laughs disappear. "City on Fire" (1979) I saw late night in college; watching Ava Gardner was preferable to studying for statistics, LOL--even if the special effects weren't very special. "Trog" (1970) was Joan Crawford's last film, and a legendary disaster; it pops up on TCM 2--3 times a year. "Sextette" (1978) was Mae West's final film; again, have not seen it, but it is supposed to be worse than "Myra Breckenridge" (1970), which I had the misfortune of seeing in college. Have never heard of "The Naked Zoo".

Venomous News Update: Mount Vesuvius has just erupted with No warning, effectively ending the Pompeii Film Festival. All films entered have been destroyed as there was no time to find them before molten lava consumed them. The townspeople were smart enough to flee at once--no casualties among Them. Marisa Tomei fled topless, but nobody noticed. Donald Trump and Aldo Campinari were the only two injured--Trump had his hair burned off, and Campinari had his hands burned off while attempting to save the lava covered negative of "The Winner". Pope Francis has called off his private screening; "I have too much other stuff to do now than watch some stupid film; I will watch one of Marisa Tomei's earlier films instead. A Strange news item--The giant squid from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954) has been stolen from Helena Bonham Carters' locker room. A shopkeeper in Liverpool insists that three masked men brought it in and insisted it be dyed orange. We Wonder Why?