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silentfan66, Quote: "I proudly display my George Harrison Yellow Submarine Figures on my bookshelf. You are never too old for toys." silentfan66...prepare to be amazed. A good friend from my junior high and high school days was given a animation cel from "Yellow Submarine". A certified original animation cel. At the time of the gift, his former next door neighbor was starting a career in NYC as dealer of such items and...he mailed him an original "Yellow Submarine" cel. Nice gift. Rusty

Dolores, Yes...Soupy may have got some of his schtick from Jackie. Thinking about the audience for the Sales' Trivia Bowl (including myself)...the atmosphere at Soupy's appearance was alive (with fleas). Oh, I'm kidding...but I am not kidding about: No White Fang... No Black Tooth... No Pookie... And no pies... Rusty

Matt, I think there would be no Saturday morning Superman, if not for your answer to the third "programming challenge". So, thank you. I caught only the last two episodes of Superman, but I thought the two episodes were fun. And, I think no problem with showing several serial episodes back to back (who wants to wait a week...huh?). By the way, while I was attending college at CU Boulder, one of the guests at the annual Trivia Bowl was Noel Neill. She was asked to talk about working on the Superman television series and answer audience questions. Ms. Neill was an interesting guest and aware of the venue. "Aware of the venue", unlike one of the other guests for that year's Trivia Bowl--Soupy Sales. Soupy Sales appeared to think he was in a Las Vegas lounge. An entertaining few minutes, but sort of a strange Sales presentation. Rusty

I was planning on posting the following the last time this topic "appeared". I was planning on posting, but I needed to collect more data before I was confident the following is relevant: "When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One", a story by David Gerrold (1972). If you get a few minutes, look up my reference. This is truth--IT...is...alive. By the way, David Gerrold wrote the next to best episode for the original Star Trek television show--"The Trouble With Tribbles". Rusty

mongo, I noticed during the "Grey Gardens" intro credits the same production team made the 1970 documentary "Gimme Shelter". mongo...have you watched "Gimme Shelter"? If you have watched the thing, please...your opinion of "Gimme Shelter"? While I am here, here is my "take" regarding "Gimme Shelter". I know Mick Jagger and the rest of the Rolling Stones enjoyed playing up their bad boy image, but "Gimme Shelter" made the Stones look bad. And I mean bad in a not good way. I cannot for the life of me, understand why the Rolling Stones allowed the movie (in particular, the footage of Jagger and other Stones watching the footage of their Altamont concert) to be released to the public. While I am here, my "take" regarding "Grey Gardens"...one Beale was crazy, the other Beale was not crazy. I see the same production group made a documentary about the artist Christo. I just looked up the Maysles brothers on IMDB. Man, I think Christo is a heroic person. Also, Christo is one of the great artists working today. I think I will search out and try to find the Maysles' Christo documentary. Rusty

filmlover, Your James Cagney comment is on target. The target, of course, is why TCM is the greatest television channel in the short history of television. I include the ground breaking HBO channel. I started watching TCM in 1997. The first time I really appreciated what TCM could provide this viewer was during a Joan Crawford star of the month bit. I estimate TCM broadcast at least twenty-five Joan Crawford films in one month. It was an education to see (in four weeks) a classic actress in a variety of roles. I think, education is the key word. Broadcasting an artist's body of work over a short period of time is, for an interested viewer, a fantastic learning experience. One more example. The second time I really appreciated TCM as an education experience was when I first noticed the character actor Herbert Marshall in the film "The Enchanted Cottage". I thought, "Hmm...I really like that guy (Marshall), I wonder if he has appeared in other movies?" To tell the truth, watching Herbert Marshall in "The Enchanted College"...I thought he might be Noel Coward. I don't know why I thought Herbert Marshall might be Noel Coward. Maybe, Marshall's sophisticated manner. Anyway, I made a mental note to look for Herbert Marshall in the future. Watching him in "The Letter" and "The Little Foxes" and "Trouble In Paradise" and many other movies...well, TCM provided me the opportunity to learn about this great actor. I could mention many other examples, but I will stop here. filmlover...thanks for your message. Rusty

filmlover, I recorded the recent AMC broadcast of "Devil's Rain" on my DVR and watched the thing last night. Zipping through the commercials, I noticed something odd. As I remember, AMC's format change was to attract a younger viewing audience. Well, the commercials I was skipping through were ads for drugs...no-impotence, help-sleep and exten...that sort of thing. Does not appear the ads are targeting the "younger crowd". About my choice of "Devil's Rain" to record and watch? I have never seen the film...not a bad movie and, of course, "Devil's Rain" does star William Shatner. Rusty

Bob Hope. Not the--"I can show up on the 'Tonight Show with Johnny Carson' any damn time I please" Bob Hope. The Hope-Crosby Bob Hope. Or, "The Ghost Breakers" Bob Hope. In fact, I watch "The Ghost Breakers" every time TCM broadcasts the thing. I have a DVD of "The Ghost Breakers". At least once a month, I watch my DVD of "The Ghost Breakers". My wife is going to kill me. Rusty

anonymous124 Yeah...I heard Ben's "funny Fail Safe" comment. He had problems reading his teleprompter. He was trying to say, I guess, Dr. Strangelove was a funny Fail Safe... Blehh...the guy (Ben) has jumped the shark. Okay...so "jump the shark" is now cliche. The shark...Ben has jumped. BTW: I thought he was funny his first few months of TCM employment. Rusty

"Leave Her To Heaven" (1946)... Buy the DVD...you won't regret the purchase. Are you thinking, "what the hell kind of DVD review is that?" Okay...I'll add some stuff. I received this by mail the day after the recent Private Screenings with Robert Osborne...child stars version. In case you missed the broadcast, one of Mr. Osborne's guests was the actor Darryl Hickman. During the Private Screenings, Hickman talks a bit about working on "Leave Her To Heaven". The DVD of the movie includes a commentary track and the commentary track includes two commentators--Darryl Hickman and a guy named Richard Schickel. Schickel reviews movies for some news magazine. Oh, I know...Schickel reviews movies for Time. Anyway, the commentary track is very interesting. I think Mr. Schickel and Mr. Hickman watched and recorded their comments at different times and the DVD production team spliced the commentary track together. Why do I think the commentary track is spliced together? A couple of reasons. First, no "give and take" between Schickel and Hickman. Second, the commentary divides up into three parts. The first part I will call, "pre-Hickman" (before Hickman's character makes an appearance). The first part is mostly Schickel commentary with Hickman making "odds and ends" comments. Hickman's comments are really not related to anything you are watching on your television screen. However, Hickman's comments are interesting and if you watched his appearance on Private Screenings will be familiar. For instance, Hickman talks about working with Elizabeth Taylor, going to studio school, etcetera. Okay...so the first third of the DVD commentary is a pretty uninteresting Schickel commentary interspersed with entertaining, but not relevant to the movie, Hickman comments. The second part Hickman's character is on screen and Schickel disappears from the commentary track. Hickman's comments include trivia about making the movie and (I am pretty sure he is watching the movie while recording his comments) talks about the movie's cinematography, costumes, sets and production personnel. If you watched the Private Screenings broadcast, you know Hickman is a raconteur and his comments for this DVD are not a disappointment. So, where did Schickel go? My opinion, based on Schickel's pre-Hickman comments...I don't think he really likes this movie. I bet, Schickel did record stuff during the Hickman-only part of the commentary, but were not included on the DVD because they were boring. The third part is "post-Hickman" (he has left the screen...so to speak) and, I am embarrassed to write this...I left the commentary track. I don't know what happens on the commentary track for the final third of the movie...maybe, another contributor knows? A couple of other reasons to buy this DVD. It is cheap...I bought mine at Amazon for twelve dollars and fifty cents. Gene Tierney stars...by the way, one of her best roles. Another thread (this forum) is concerned with the best Technicolor movies. The consensus of the contributors to the Technicolor thread is the Powell-Pressburger productions (Red Shoes, Black Narcissus) are the best. Well, I will place "Leave Her To Heaven" in MY top ten Technicolor productions. The video is gorgeous. The audio is pretty good...too. Included with the extras is a side by side comparison of pre-restored and restored for DVD bits of film. This DVD started with a damn good print...Fox's pre-restored film is not significantly worse than the "restored for digital" material. No other DVD extras are worth mentioning. So...buy this DVD for the price, the story, the beautiful Technicolor, the eccentric commentary track and...of course, Gene Tierney! Rusty

Last night, I watched "The Great Man Votes" starring John Barrymore, Virginia Weidler and Peter Holden. Here is something I have been wondering about since the...I think, 2005 broadcast of "The Great Man Votes". What happened to Peter Holden? I mean, there is nothing about the guy on the internet...except for his appearance in "The Great Man Votes". No other mention of Holden...filmography-wise. Or, for that matter, any other-wise. I just read the TCM.com article about the movie. The article is mostly about the relationship between Weidler and Barrymore. John Barrymore threw Virginia Weidler across the set when she upstaged him?! Did that incident scare the young Holden (and his family) right out of Hollywood? Out of North America? The reason I ask is...he was an adorable little tyke and was enjoyable to watch in the movie. I am just wondering... Rusty

Matt, Quote: "I think I was a boyfriend of Gloria Grahame's in another life." In your other life...what were you, twelve years old? Oh, yeah. I love you too, man... I've got to go now and re-combobulate. Rusty

Any performer who (in character) is forced to say, "rath-oh". Double the pomposity if the same performer is forced to speak, "do...say". Triple the pomposity if the same performer speaks, "do...say" AND waves a greater than six inch cigarette holder. Rusty

Dolores, "International House" is included with the W.C. Fields' DVD box set. Talk about yer funny stuff. Nice group of films, but I wish they would have included the movie "If I Had A Million" (1932). Have you ever seen "If I Had A Million"? Specifically, the W.C. Fields sequence? Makes parallel parking a funny subject... During the TCM tribute to W.C. Fields, I don't think "International House" was included. Rusty

First. I hate tattoos. The tattooed girl (no longer with the show) on "Mythbusters" gave me the creeps. Watching her, all I could think was, "long sleeves...please". And that tattooed guy on "Ghosthunters"...creeepy. Second. Rob Zombie was great as an "introduce the film" host. I recorded the two Ed Wood films and I made sure I kept Zombie's introductory remarks on the recordings. I don't think it really matters whether Zombie's remarks were written by him or a "ghost" writer...I enjoyed the bits of trivia (with film clips) before running the movie. Third. Favorite bit of dialogue (picked out of a cornucopia of howlers): From "Plan 9 from Outer Space"... Military Man 1: Well, they must have a reason for their visits. Military Man 2: Visits? Well that would indicate visitors! Four. Favorite scene (picked from a bounty of...oh, you know what): From "Bride Of The Monster"... Heading to the Bride Of The Monster homestead, newspaperwoman Janet Lawton (Loretta King) crashes and falls out of her car. Lobo (Tor Johnson) stumbles upon the wreck. Lobo ignores the injured Lawton and makes a beeline for her fabulous, hairy (angora?) hat. Lobo picks up Lawton's hair hat and pets the thing before stashing in his pocket. By the way, I agree with the comments regarding..."Plan 9" is not really the worst movie ever made. Just watch the movie "Stark Fear" from 1962. The movie was broadcast on my local PBS station...my God, what a horror. Second thought, don't watch "Stark Fear"...I don't want you to hate me. Rusty

Jack, Thank you for the location information. One good turn deserves another. Or should I say, "one hand washes another?" Anyway. Last night, I watched the film "International House". During the watching, I heard a slogan I think may become my favorite thing to say. In fact, I may say the slogan at least two times a day for the next several weeks. During "International House", Colonel Stoopnagle of Stoopnagle and Budd ("The Inventors") says, "Stoopnocracy Is Peachy"... For more Stoopnocracy, here's a Stoopnocrat link: http://stoopnagle.tripod.com/phil.htm At present, my favorite thing to say was heard on the new SciFi show--"The Investigators". One of four investigators, "The Skeptic" said, "...what's to it." At the end of a sentence. I was appalled. I immediately started saying, "...what's to it"...all the time. Rusty

Where is the Chrysler building? BTW: I love the streamline/industrial bank decor, "the future is...now!" Rusty

"I Wake Up Screaming" (1941)... First. I want to thank ken123 for directing me to this movie. He mentioned the film in another thread. The DVD of "I Wake Up Screaming" includes a wonderful second audio track, commentary by Eddie Muller. I usually listen to five minutes of a commentary track, discover the commentator is simply telling me what I am seeing on the screen, decide this is a waste of time and turn the thing off. To tell the truth, I usually do not even bother with a commentary track. The reason I turned on the Eddie Muller commentary for "I Wake Up Screaming" is to learn something about one of the performers--Carol Landis. I had a vague recollection of a bad end for Landis...something about her and Rex Harrison and suicide...I could not remember the details. I thought the Muller commentary would mention something about Carol Landis...particularly, if her death was scandalous. I was correct. I did learn the details of Landis' death from Mr. Muller's commentary. What I did not expect was playing the entire movie a second time (immediately after watching the first time)...with the second audio turned on. Mr. Muller's commentary was so informative I kept watching the movie...and listening to Muller...and watching the movie. What did I learn from the Eddie Muller commentary? --The lighting, staging and presentation of plot makes "I Wake Up Screaming" the first 20th Century Fox film noir. Eddie Muller calls the film "proto-noir"...many of the elements in this film would become standard items in future film noir. --"I Wake Up Screaming" was created by H. Bruce Humberstone (director), Milton Sperling (producer), Edward Cronjager (cinematography), Richard Day (art direction), Thomas Little (set decoration) and Roger Heman (sound). The group's last film for 20th Century was the Sonja Henje musical--"Sun Valley Serenade". From a light musical to a "proto-film noir"? Based on the previous work of the "I Wake Up Screaming" creative team, Eddie Muller is at a loss to explain how this film got the "noir look". --Victor Mature (the protagonist) does a lot of "scalp acting". I noticed his scalp thing...I did not know it had a name until I heard Eddie Muller's definition. If you watch "I Wake Up Screaming" you won't miss Mature's "scalp acting". --How Laird Cregar (the other male lead performer) made his start in Hollywood show business. He paid for and performed a one man show (as Oscar Wilde) at a theater in Los Angeles. His show was a hit and led to several studio contract offers. I guess the Fox offer was the most generous. --Oh yes...and Carol Landis? Death by suicide...probably because her movie career had stalled and...whatever. The young Rex Harrison was having an affair with Landis at the time of her suicide and his reputation was damaged. Oh, you know, scandal sheet stuff. --One more. Muller mentions the character actor Edward McWade had a deal with every studio in Hollywood, as follows: If you have a library scene in your movie, I will be the curmudgeon who "shushes" the loud talkers and points at the "QUIET" sign on the library wall. A "loud talkers in the library scene" is included in "I Wake Up Screaming". Rent this movie. Don't buy the DVD. Why not buy the DVD? Okay...buy the DVD if you want to "fill out" your collection of film noir titles. I say, "rent the DVD" for one reason. I have watched...uhm, maybe fifteen 20th Century Fox film noir DVDs. The Fox DVDs appear to have been "cleaned up" during the transfer from film to digital. Cleaned up...meaning removal of scratches, marks, etcetera. The black and white cinematography has good contrast and is pleasing to watch. What I just wrote about 20th Century Fox DVDs is true of "I Wake Up Screaming". However, for some reason the picture jumps during "I Wake Up Screaming". And I don't mean once, or twice...I mean a lot. It is as if the film used to transfer to digital had lot of torn sprocket holes and the digital transfer group ignored the problem. Strange. Anyway, the first viewing of "I Wake Up Screaming" the problem was noticeable...the second screening of the movie it was annoying. I suggest...rent the DVD of "I Wake Up Screaming" and decide if the movie is worth a purchase. Rusty

Dolores, I've read the first four chapters of the Taylor link...I'll get to the rest later. Thinking about the subject, I have a copy of that compendium of trash, "Hollywood Babylon". I bet the William Taylor story is included. I remember the Wallace Reid story is included in "Hollywood Babylon". I remember the Reid story because of a quote attributed to Reid's wife, "they just put him (Reid) to sleep"...referring to Reid's death in his "get off the dope" hospital. The reason for my message is one quibble regarding the Taylor story. The quote, "Taylor was close to the actress Mabel Normand and, for good reason, deeply concerned about her...In either case, Normand, like so many people in Hollywood in the post-World War I era, had experimented with mood altering drugs. She became addicted, and Taylor wanted to help her kick the habit." The word "Hollywood" should be replaced by "America". The first few decades of the twentieth century, addiction to morphine and its chemical analogs was very common in the United States. After all, until [you insert year here...I'm not going to look up the date] opiates were legal. Morphine was easily obtained through prescription...remember the mother character in "Long Days Journey Through Night"? That sort of thing. Okay. I know, "...I hear there's a nit pickers convention..." Rusty

benwhowell, John Waters as host of ANYTHING on TCM is one...great...idea. Mr. Waters presents as intelligent and with fine, ironic sense of humor...very entertaining interviewee. Changing the subject to Rob Zombie...has anyone watched Rob Zombie interviewed? All I know about the guy is... Zombie was/is a member of a musical group called "White Zombie". Music I don't know, but I would probably enjoy. Zombie directed two(?) blood-fests. Movies I have not watched. Movies I (probably) will never watch. I always try to separate the professional from the personal. For instance, I understand Ted Healy (of Ted Healy and the Three Stooges) was one son of a ****. Does that influence my enjoyment of his performance in the movie "Fugitive Lovers"? I'll answer my question...no, I still laugh at Ted Healy's antics in the "Lovers" movie. For Zombie's case, I will turn around the "separate professional and personal" thing. Rob Zombie may be heavy metal man and direct gross-out movies, but for all I know he might host his show like a tatooed, wild haired Hugh Grant. He might turn out to be a great host...I won't know until he shows up on my television screen. My last paragraph reminds me of an old Robert Klein comedy routine... The professional football quarterback who talks like he went to school at Eton and Cambridge until he is in front of an interviewer's microphone. Magically...without missing a beat...the presence of the microphone makes the quarterback sound exactly like Junior Samples at his drawl-iest, "war gonna haf aw real goood footbawl game...". Rusty

Jack, Whoops...another of my theories into the s*** can. I hope I have better luck with my efforts to place phlogiston on the periodic table. Rusty

benwhowell, Quote: "I do think Divine was divine...he should have, at least, received a Golden Globe nomination." What is my number one favorite bit of television watching? Divine performing the song "The Name Game" on the David Letterman show...early 1980s. A few months ago, I researched "Divine on Letterman". An internet look-see. I found only a couple of vague references to this nonpareil television moment. Based on my internet research, I may be one of three people on Earth who remembers Divine doing "The Name Game" on David Letterman. Strange...very strange. Rusty

Fred, I think you were an impressionable (and imaginative) child...right? I'm glad "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" was released a couple of years after your California trip. "Mom? Is...that...man...holding...a...pod?" Rusty

Hello, A couple of months ago, the topic, "what classic Hollywood star you would like for a lunch date"...or something similar. I wrote, "I would like to lunch with Errol Flynn". After watching the child stars private screening, I would like to have lunch with Jane Withers. She seems like a wonderful person. Here is a bit of a coincidence. The day after the child stars private screening, I received the movie, "Leave Her To Heaven". I had ordered from Amazon last week. Only eleven dollars! I'm happy with the DVD, but I also ordered the DVD of "Ghost And Mrs. Muir". I have not received as of today and where is the darn thing?! One more private screenings comment. Margaret O'Brien talked a little about Shirley Temple. Darryl Hickman worked with Shirley Temple...right? I was wondering if Dickie Moore had done anything with Shirley Temple, but after watching Shirley Temple in "Bright Eyes" and having watched Dickie Moore in "My Bill"...I don't think nature allows so much adorable-ness in close proximity. Rusty

During last night's TCM broadcast of "Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell", I heard the following dialogue (I am paraphrasing): [Group of airplane crash survivors are gathered around stewardess passenger. Rest of passengers want to know what happened to her and the "assassin" passenger during their recent disappearance. Stewardess is mute and pretty much catatonic. Assassin passenger still missing. Psychiatrist passenger hypnotizes stewardess to draw out her story]: Stewardess (her recall is presented to the audience in a series of pictures): "The assassin guy and I saw a blinding light. The light came from a flying saucer. The assassin guy walked into the blinding light. His forehead split open. Purple, amoeboid goo came from the blinding light and crawled into his head. His forehead closed up. I screamed." Passenger 1: "Impossible!" Passenger 2: "Impossible!" Passenger 3: "Impossible!" Passenger 4: "Impossible!" Passenger 5: "Impossible!" Psychiatrist Passenger: "You say, her story 'impossible'. I say, I hypnotize her. I say, her story must be true..." Passenger 1: "But, blinding light....impossible!" Even though I watched the thing at three o'clock in the morning (central time) and I was not in a merry mood...the "blinding light" line made me laugh. I love goofy dialogue. Rusty