arslongavitabrev

i see i'm in good company--my crush was on Richard Chamberlain, from Dr. Kildare in grade school through Thornbirds and Shogun -- tho' by then the gaydar was raising serious questions. i saw him interviewed last year after he and his autobiography both came out; his story was quite affecting. i think i was most demoralized to learn about Cary Grant. (please, don't ruin my current thing for Robert Mitchum...)

oh, man, i was tired last night. of course i meant Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete.

we used to have IFC but lost it, i did catch a lot of foreign films there. all we have is sundance, and they do show some classic french films occasionally, although usually they are newer ones. even PBS will feature a subtitled film from time to time. and last week on an obscure channel i caught The Marriage of Maria Braun - much more powerful to me 20 years later, older & wiser. i'd like to see TCM present Jean Cocteau's La Bete Humaine, or Orphee. or some of Jules Dassin's films.

i'd forgotten Tony Curtis's other films; he was good in Houdini and Sweet Smell of Success as that agent, and Operation Petticoat was good fun. re:Spartacus, it was a hoot last year when they showed the "lost" sceme in the bath with the badly re-recorded dialogue. i agree with Cliff Robertson; the fact that he was married to VAST wealth probably explains his career. another actor i really think is way-overrated is Robert Redford.

> Does anyone or you remember George Saunders in 'THE > E SCOUNDRAL'? And he was in that film about kids with > evil powers...its name escapes me > Leo was it Children of the Corn? the one where their eyes were all whited-out?

that was one fine film that i'd never seen. Kay Francis was some piece of work as the wife. i enjoyed it totally, especially Carole Lombard in a serious role.

i'm new here, so forgive me if this has been covered before. once in a blue moon TCM will show a remarkable classic foreign film -- a couple of months ago there was one in italian in the middle of the night, and they did that eye-opening Baliwood month. i, for one, dearly wish they would do this more often -- am i the only one? is there some reason they don't?

lol, prof, frankly i'm more saddened and bewildered by my own inability to appreciate what the other 99% of today's movie fans seem to enjoy so much. frankly i can barely tolerate any of it.

and what about Eve Arden? in so many of her roles she was the queen of the sardonic riposte.

> arslong just for your information the Claudette > Colbert movie with Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple > is titled "Since You Went Away". > > Mongo silly me, of course, tx for correcting me. i suffer from CRS

just thought of two more: Claudette Colbert and Barbara Stanwyck.

> I think that These Three is playing this week. > Tuesday morning. Great movie. oh, goodie! i'm glad you flagged that for me. thanks all for answering -- and you reminded me that Miriam Hopkins returned to play the aunt in the second version.

> People meet, fall in love, and marry within a few > days*** > > I've often wondered about this too. Usually they fall > in love within MINUTES not days. you're right, of course. what i meant to say was, people meet, fall instantaneously in love, and get married within 24-48 hours

i don't agree with most of the replies so far, especially Gene Kelly! but i'm in agreement on Audrey Hepburn. I'm thinking about Wait Until Dark and what a one-dimensional performance she gave in that. OTOH, i simply enjoy looking at her. lol, i dunno why, but i'm thinking of Tony Curtis. someone remind me what he did worth a hoot aside from Some Like it Hot, although he was marvelous in that. what irks me more is when i see actors whom i know to have talent just walking through a movie (or movie after movie) to collect a paycheck -- Elizabeth Taylor springs immediately to mind.

i'm watching, and i'm REALLY WATCHING. unlike a lot of the films on TCM where i can be doing something else at the same time (like with Lady From Shanghai right now), when the silents are on they have my full and complete attention. what a revelation this month of Chaplin films has been! i had seen many of these silents years ago as a poor student at the Cinematheque in Paris, where we could watch films all day for one franc. since then, silents have been few and far between for me, and i am now totally and completely in thrall to them. i love them all. Mare Nostrum was terrific -- anyone else catch that one?

my favorites would have to be Wm Powell and Jimmy Stewart. Most realistic portrayals go to Susan Hayward, both Lemmon and Remick, Paul Newman (also in The Verdict), Ray Milland, Lee Marvin. Also, Dean Martin in that oater with John Wayne where he's trying so hard not to drink.

Garbo, all the way. when she is onscreen i can't take my eyes off her. i was watching that film the other morning with Melvyn Douglas and she was just breathtakingly beautiful. i respond more to her vulnerability than to Dietrich's imperiousness.

this is a great topic! i agree with both prior posts. there aren't a whole lot to choose from, are there? in too many older films there is minimal parent-child interaction, or else it is totally unnatural, based on my own 21 years of parenting. i was watching Mrs. Miniver again last night and admired Greer Garson's easy relationship with her kids, especially Tobey, but also older Vin. i know, another would be "While You Were Gone," with Claudette Colbert so ably mothering Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple. or how about Ernest Borgnine's mother in Marty? actually, my real favorite movie mother would have to be Mrs. Bennett in Pride and Prejudice

i would have a fling with Cary Grant (what woman wouldn't?); he's so handsome and he'd be endlessly entertaining. but he sems vain and self-centered. for the long haul, i'd choose Stewart; you can tell he's the real deal. he can be light and silly one minute and totally serious the next. Coop is just too morose.

interesting and saddening about George Sanders suicide; it almost sounds like something one of his characters would say. i have a real thing for him; i could listen to his voice all day long. Underrated? the list is tooo long. Some not yet mentioned who spring to mind are: Eve Arden Helen Broderick Edna Mae Oliver Kay Francis Betty Hutton Miriam Hopkins Susan Hayworth Edward Everett Horton Robert Montgomery Spring Byington S.Z. Sakal i'll think of more later

i think the casting of the film was top-notch; what an unusual and disparate group but each is perfectly suited to her/his role. i mean, Madonna, Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell and Tom Hanks all making sense together in a film, who'd'a thunk it? i wish Bitty Schram would do more film work.

since i often have TCM on 14 hours/day it has become necessary to keep the remote always at hand to mute. i mean, it was okay the first 30 or 40 times... lately the Claire Bloom piece is getting on my nerves.

Rita Hayworth!!!! i'm a HUGE fan of dancing, and i agree with a lot of what i've read in your posts. i was watching "You Were Never Lovelier" this a.m. for the Nth time; i'm also a HUGE fan of Rita -- how's about her Salome and the dance of the seven veils? she could tap, she could sing... mostly she was just so beautiful. no one mentioned Leslie Caron, tho' i'm not saying "great"; there is something studied and self-conscious about her. based on the interview filler, i'm still trying to picture Cyd Charisse in "American in Paris" -- wouldn't she have been a bit tall for Gene Kelly? she was grace in motion, however -- those long, long legs! Ann Miller could out-tap any of the other female dancers; i once read she could tap more beats per minute than anyone, period. i like her a lot, but i have always thought there was something gawky about her carriage. Cagney was a marvelous dancer, so light on his feet. i wish he had been able to do more in that vein. i also add my vote for Betty Hutton. do i remember Jane Russell dancing in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" or did she just sort of walk through it? lol, i just remember her, period.

this one's been bugging me for days; i'm glad i just found the boards here to ask. i seem to recall that there are 3 versions of The Children's Hour. One with Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, and Audrey Hepburn(?); one with deHavilland or Fontaine and Merle Oberon (???)-- the one where Bonita Granville is so superb; and a third, possibly earlier version... sigh. i hate when this happens. TIA

No one ever perspires or even sweats, even when wearing layers and layers of heavy clothing in period pieces -- unless it's a western and it's a man who has been out in the hot sun for hours. The ancillary to this is that no one ever smells at all unpleasant, even if they've been travelling on the stagecoach for several days. Suitcases are never difficult to carry, not even several at once. When people leave their homes, they simply grab their coat and walk out the door in one fluid, effortless motion. All children born prior to 1980 were completely and totally well behaved in every and all circumstances (except The Bad Seed and her ilk). Women of all means had the ability to craft astonishing hairstyles. Women enjoy wearing large, ridiculous hats perched at a rakish angle with no fear they might fall off. The average age of college students prior to 1980 was apparently 26. People meet, fall in love, and marry within a few days. The singular ambition of every secretary and shopgirl in the 1930's was to marry a rich guy, and they usually did. Children raise themselves and need virtually no care whatsoever. You can drink liquor morning, noon, and night, and still function. There is never a wait to get a table in a restaurant, and the waitstaff is always friendly and efficient; they usually know you by name. Gardens are always in lush bloom (unless there's snow on the ground). No matter how horrifying things get, they always turn out okay in the end.