GordonCole
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Posts posted by GordonCole
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I recall being at the dinner way back in time, honoring Kurosawa, with in attendance Steven Spielberg, in which Akira said in his remarks that people asked him why his films had long lasting appeal and he basically in a most polite way, lambasted Spielberg indirectly, by saying he, Akira never wanted to make easy moneymaker films or sure hit sequels, or had that as his raison d'etre. Later I saw excerpts and Spielberg's face looked a bit embarrassed as Kurosawa said this and showed why he was a great filmmaker and his oeuvre had lasted. It was from that moment on, that Spielberg in my opinion started trying to gain respect with his idea of more socially important themes in his films. Whether he was successful at that remains to be seen but I think he got a bit flummoxed by Kurosawa's remarks at the dinner and wanted to be seen from then on as a more serious filmmaker. Just my opinion.
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Who should pop up last night on The Virginian but Miss Bette
Davis. She played a "spinster." She wasn't as nasty as when
she tried to hang Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, but she did have
a blackmail scheme going. Of course it didn't work out in the
end.
Now that I see that Jessica Tandy and William Shatner were in
that AH episode, most of it comes back to me. It was one of
those period pieces, early 20th century, told in flashback. It
was basically a ripoff of the Michael Redgrave section of
Dead of Night. Speaking of Tandy, she was in one of my least
favorite episodes of AHP where she played the troubled woman
who pretended to have a baby, but really didn't. Dull.
Don't know if anyone has mentioned it but The Glass Eye won an Emmy award for its director Robert Stevens. Though I agree it did have antecedents to the Dead of Night episode, I find it a lot more insightful being that the romantic angle of Tandy's spinster character was developed fully with information regarding her obsession, and the ventriloquist being played by Tom Conway as Max Collodi was masterful. The beginning with Shatner as her nephew, viewing the glass eye she had saved really lent an eerie quality to the episode.The ending was quite shocking with the voiceovers about the dummy impersonator resonated and the episode was quite well done. It is a memorable episode as was Lamb to the Slaughter.
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It was great to see Sir Christopher Lee as the Star of the Month when I saw the monthly guide.
What would have made things even better would be if he had been featured on the cover of the guide. No offense to Lena Horne but Lee seemed a shoe in for that honor, since it is Halloween month and all. I guess it is difficult to make all happy as Lincoln once said.
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You knew Dan Tobin? Did he ever talk about working with Welles on The Fountain of Youth?
Allardice died in early '66, the AHH went off the air in '65. From what I've read he wrote every word of the wraparounds.
Yes, knew Dan Tobin well. He had been a commercial artist in Ohio before he decided to take off for Hollywood and he worked for a relative of mine at their greeting card business. I remember him commenting on how Welles would take off and no one could ever find him if he wanted to be left alone. Dan was disappointed when things did not work out for that project, but took it in stride since he worked continually over the years playing in so many series and movies. He was quite a character and also stayed friends with another commercial artist in Ohio that we knew who would visit him at our home in California when work took him there. Since Dan had worked with many luminaries from Katharine Hepburn to Cary Grant and so on, he pretty much knew a wide spectrum of film folk. He was as funny offscreen as he was onscreen and was like the grown-up Eddie Haskell in our eyes.
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She was The original June Cleaver that was cast. In the pilot, Ward was played by Max Showalter (Casey Adams)), and Beaumont replaced him. It is understandable that Billingsley would get top billing.
I think it was just politeness on the part of Connelly and Mosher towards a lady. They were that kind of men who would put Barbara first.
Also didn't notice if anyone had mentioned this but a lot of the credit for the unique qualities of the Hitchcock tv series goes to the writer he chose to script all the intros and exit lines for the show, not that the show wasn't totally a Hitchcockian creation with all elements in writers and producers being illustrious. Jimmy Allardice had written for the George Gobel show and also had a success with his Broadway play, At War with the Army. Our family friend, Dan Tobin knew him and as their macabre and offbeat senses of humor were aligned got on well. Both being from Ohio though at opposite ends of the state they shared a certain quirky midwestern take on things as Dan used to say which was reflected in the very witty intros Jimmy wrote for the show. Most people think of Hitch's asides and remarks as being totally Hitchcockian and he was most definitely droll, but all the lead-ins were written by Jimmy and he said Hitch loved when they were totally non-sequitur related to the episodes. He even often wrote supposedly off the cuff remarks for Hitch when he would make appearances. Hitch knew a good thing when he saw it and it saved him from having to come up with witty comments. Dan worked with Jimmy on later shows like The Munsters and his wife Jean, being a scriptwriter who had worked on some of the Ann Sothern shows like Jimmy. Jimmy was later involved with Hogan's Heroes and a lot of other shows each showing his unique take on life. When he died in the mid-1960's I think it hit Hitch hard and he never wanted to work with anyone but Allardice so the show, by then in the hourly segments, ended.
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Married...with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show were the first 2 primetime shows on the Fox network, joining the short-lived late night talk show hosted by Joan Rivers.
Tracey Ullman's show was hilarious. Where is she now one wonders?
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Sunday at 10:30am:
10:30 AM GREY GARDENS (1975)Documentary of a reclusive mother and her daughter who created their on own world in their mansion known as "Grey Gardens."
Dir: Ellen Hovde Cast: Edith B Beale , Edith Bouvier Beale , Jerry Torre .
C-95 mins,
I always wondered what happened to the Marble Faun; anyone know?
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AndreaDoria said: I thought it was rather rude of Tiki Soo to quote it and laugh at it and go on to say how funny some of us are.
I'm sorry you found my comment rude, that certainly wasn't my intention.
While it may seem logical (to us) the message board is a "test group" opportunity for TCM, corporations don't waste time on their loyal customers, they spend their energy trying to win new customers over, to strengthen the brand.
I seriously doubt if anyone is writing posts with the intention of impressing those people.
If you pay attention and read between the lines, you'll find some regular posters who want nothing more than to be "discovered" for their amazing talent and knowledge of classic film and invited as a guest host, research, reviewer or something or other.
The Rupert Pupkins of the internet.
In the field of psychology there is the term, PROJECTION meaning a state of mind in which humans defend themselves against their own unconscious negative impulses, by denying their existence and yet vividly seeing such unflattering qualities in others.
TikiSoo, thanks for the fine casebook example below of the term in your attempt to assess the motives of other "regular posters" here:
"If you pay attention and read between the lines, you'll find some regular posters who want nothing more than to be "discovered" for their amazing talent and knowledge of classic film and invited as a guest host, research, reviewer or something or other." TikiSoo
Rupert Pupkin would be proud of this subterfuge.
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Jungle Captive is on tonight, last film in the Ape Woman trilogy. Haven't seen that in ages -- don't remember much about it. Otto Kruger (who btw was the grand nephew of President Paul Kruger of South Africa and Kruggerrand fame) is the mad doctor; Vicky Lane plays the Ape Woman; Rondo Hatton plays Moloch the Brute. Sounds a treat!
It's a classic and even has Mister Archer in it to boot.
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Gene Hackman was also Sherwood Schwartz's first choice for the role of Mike Brady in "The Brady Bunch." But Schwartz then decided against him and went with Robert Reed, because Reed was a bigger name.
That would have been a whole other show. Kind of like going with Don Rickles in a Beckett play instead of his favorite actor Jack MacGowran.
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Don't recall which one, but one of the many blondes on the Perry Mason TV series said that she quit acting and went to work for a corporation because she was a single mother and could not feed herself and child on what she made in guest roles. She is one of those that you probably recognize her whenever you see her.
Even Donna Douglas of the Hillbillies worked in real estate but don't know if she was on Perry Mason. One person who was and was blonde was June Wetzel who did dabble in the business.
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Didn't mean to imply that & they were entertaining sorry
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Just to be serious for a minute: (I'll try not to be unctuous)
I respect Robert Osborne and appreciate what he does and how he does it as the main host representing Turner Classic Movies.
Still, the guy is 84 years old. I don't quite understand why he doesn't want to retire, especially if he has health issues. Yes, clearly he loves old movies and talking about them, and sharing his knowledge about them. And I can understand why he'd be reluctant to give that up.
On the other hand, he's been away from his spot as TCM host, on and off, for several years now, I believe due to the aforesaid health issues. I'm not unsympathetic to that, but I also think it's plain that he is probably going to continue in a frail state of health for the rest of his life. (Sorry if that sounds brutal.)
Maybe a good compromise would be for Mr. Osborne to continue at TCM in a special capacity, maybe "Robert Osborne's Picks" one night a week, something like that. (Or, if that's too much, one night a month?)
Meanwhile, I say let's have Ben step in as the new permanent TCM host, including the Essentials and all the other programming spots Robert O. did.
I know this might be controversial, that a lot of people don't like Ben Mankiewicz (and I'm not talking about his political leanings, I'm talking about his demeanour, etc.) I always liked Mr. Mankiewicz and would be happy to see him replace Robert Osborne as the main TCM host. It seems a logical step to me. I'd much rather see him than Michael Feinstein or Dave Karger (who the hell is he?) or that Tiffany babe.
The only thing I'm not sure of is if the Mankman wants the job.
This is spot on & I also hope Osborne stays onin some capacity he sure would be missed.
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I watched an interview with Ringo when he was promoting his new book Photograph in 2013. He mentioned all the Beatles had cameras and took many photos, but he stuck with it and has tons of them - many used in this book.
I think my wife just oredered that she has the original magazine from 1964 called Ringo's Photo Album with many good pictures. Thanks.
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REcently came up on some photos taken by a NY photog who was shooting the Beatles in Central park on their first visit & included were some shots of Ringo using a camera back just like in the film. We added this photo lot to our collection since it seems historically imiportant.Glad they showed at least a Hard Days Night and wish they'd show Help.
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If one can't see how FAKE this opening shot of "Heidi" (1937) is, better get to an optometrist fast!
Wonder if Eugen Schufftan could have handled it better.
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The version I have is on a four dvd set entitled "Grindhouse Experience Vol. 2". It has twenty movies on it, but the quality is universally terrible. All of the films were pulled from terrible old vhs copies, some taped directly off of European tv, with the channel logo on screen throughout the movie, and at least twice a commercial break will start. Videotape static and rolling tracking lines are visible frequently. At least four of them have the embedded subtitles, but not all the same language; one is in Turkish. Avoid this set at all costs!
A buddy of mine bought taht set and said it was a mess I didn't believe him till he showed me some of it. Wish I'd seen your comments before Lawrence he sent for it.
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# 1. I know lots of people probably like this one, but not me - The Longest Day (1962)
For me, the whole feel of this film is "off" somehow and the length of 178 (?) minutes is just too much for comfortable viewing. I sat through this at least twice and just don't have what it takes to make another go of it.
Still working on #'s 2-5
Didn't this movie have Frankie Avalon in it.
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Enjoyed thereview. Just traveled to some locations used in film. One of the best of Bregman.
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Spencer Williams was a talented and versatile performer. The films were varied in content but did show promise even with meagre budgets. Enjoyed all the ones shown mostly in a historical and race film context.
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Narrated by Robery Stack.History of the Korean War(1950/53)
My dad was in that one and always looks for movies about it.
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Carousel because the storyline sucks but the music is great.
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Indeed. Isn't there something about finding the right time to "step off the stage?" That time is long past for Mr. Osborne.
Like you, I mean no disrespect, he has been the "TCM brand" for a long time -- but at some point you either are, or are not, the TCM host.
One of the odd challenges of finding someone to fill Robert's shoes is that "people of a certain age," who were around even
at the end of the studio system, simply no longer exist. He was somewhat unique in his connection to classic Hollywood as well as
his acting/hosting ability. But Osborne 2.0 will have to be different.
To me, that's what makes Ben perfect. He has a completely different style, but being a Mankiewicz gives him cred that few others could claim.
I am tired of the slew of "guest hosts" and other wannabees. Did I mention "brand" before. Sure did. And TCM threatens to water down its brand by not officially naming a new host, giving that person the major slots and sticking with that person. And here's the thing about using actors as guests; they mostly suck at it. These are people who are used to learning lines and being OTHER people -- and of being directed. I don't know how these things get produced, but I'm willing to bet that the producers and directors are not in the position to say, "Hey, Madeleine, let's do another take...." A film director, sure, but not some TCM staffer. I still shudder when I think of how horrible Matthew Broderick was, despite his movie and Broadway skills.
So, bravo to you, Miss Wonderly. Now just tell me that you're not going to go around the room straightening things again.....
I like the Mank also since he's irreverent.
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I loved that movie, and I don't like Tom Cruise.
Ditto!
Rumors grow about *Wallace Beery being a murderer
in General Discussions
Posted
I'd heard some insider rumors on this many times but never confirmed. But Hollywood is full of hidden knowledge, underhanded scams and crimes and the lot. Banned films and footage that could be incriminating of people like Joan Crawford. Having a friend who authored a book on banned films and ones that were locked up I have heard it all. So when I see what is supposedly a "banned' film like "Visions of Ecstasy" I don't find it very shocking at all compared to what has gone down in reality in the film business since day one.