sagebrush522

Well if this is a joke, it's a bad one. Ice Station Zebra? The spirit of Howard Hughes is with us. Ariel

> I do not believe a petition is necessary. As I > recall, there is a set being released in honor of her > 100th birthday next year which will contain all of > her best films. Do you have any idea which films that will be? Ariel

I frequently encounter the problem of having to login in repeatedly before I can post a message. Generally what happenes is I'll try to post a response to a message and will be asked to login which I do. I am then bumped back to the forum (instead of the reply screen). I then click on the message I intend to reply to and hit reply and I'm back to having to login again. This goes on for two or three tries before I'm successfully logged in and able to post the reply. Ariel

Nobody had to coax Spencer Tracy to do The Old Man and the Sea. He was in partnership with Hemingway and Leland Hayard to do the film right from the beginning. Some other films that Tracy was up for" He pulled out of Ten North Frederick which was filmed with Gary Cooper in it. The reason Tracy decided not to do Ten North Frederick, apparently, was because he objected to working with Suzy Parker who was an extremely inexperienced and inept actor. Through the 30s and 40s and beyond he was mentioned for many many films that he didn't make. They include The Plough and the Stars, Madam Curie (to be made with Garbo), Three Comrades, The Philadelphia Story, Dragon Seed, Robinson Crusoe, Desire Under the Elms, Lust for Life, The Plague, Angels in the Outfield, Jefferson Selleck, various Garson Kanin projects that never got off the ground. Ariel

The schedule shows Love Me or Leave Me being shown in October. I've read that since Michael Wayne, who was the executor of the Wayne estate, died, the estate has started restoring The High and the Mighty and it will show up on DVD soon. Whether TCM would show it, I have no idea. Ariel

ROTFLMAO However, they are mostly in color which counts for a lot. Ariel

Why a day for Elvis Presley? Did anyone in the history of film make as many bad films as him? I can't think of anyone. Ariel

After three or four times around with the log in/log out routine (and I'm sure glad no one else is having problems with this), I'd like to at last say that after seeing Blanchett in Veronica Guerin, I think she'll be able to play Hepburn as the tomboyish woman that she was. She doesn't look like KH but she has something of the Kate quality to her. I don't think Stefani looks anything like Jean Harlow but it, apparently, is a very minor role so it's not that important that she look like Harlow or even that she can act, which is doubtful. The film is being made by Scorses so I am confident that it won't be another Gable and Lombard, for instance. Ariel

Actually it is a pretty annoying problem. I'm glad you're not having it, though. What's your secret? Ariel

Well, actually after Miss Grant Takes Richmond, Lucy made Easy Living which was a drama and then appeared in a cameo in a Rosalind Russell film. She then did Fancy Pants with Bob Hope and the Fuller Brush Girl. She then was forced into The Magic Carpet by Harry Cohn (head of Columbia) who was trying to break his contract with her. She then went into TV. Ariel

I don't know about cheaper but there is/was a perception among the companies that release films for TV and video that customers feel cheated if there is space showing on the top and bottom of their screen. Hence pan and scan. AMC could show wide screen films in wide screen but then again it could show it's films uncut and without commercials interrupting the films constantly. It's not doing any of these things. AMC calling itself TV for movie people is cynical, to say the least. Ariel

Since I don't know anything about you, I have no idea what Lucy biographies you have read. However, the fact that Lucy had a less than sterling film career and that she really made her name in TV, is such common knowledge that I am surprised that you would argue about it. Ariel

There's a pretty good biography of Ball by Kathleen Brady which you should read. Her comment about Lucy's transition to TV seems quite accurate. Brady said: "Despite having been groomed by MGM and showcased in comedies at Columbia, Lucille had never ascended to the first ranks of stardom. Now thirty nine, she had little left to risk by going into television, particularly if by doing so she could keep her husband home." Brady's comment on Mame: "Mame was a flop, and even she knew she had been photographed in such soft focus that she had been rendered ridiculous. " Ariel

"Mame" is a very bad film indeed and certainly doesn't hold a candle to Rosalind Russell 's version of the film. But for Lucy's hit TV series, her film career would have been forgotten. However, many of her films are in color which seems to be the main criteria for this year's stars of the month. What's next for TCM? Commercials? Ariel

Hi: Regarding the Old Man and the Sea performance versus the Last Hurrah performance, I think the latter was better and was the more deserving of the Oscar nomination. I think Tracy should have won for one or the other that year but we all know how the Oscars are; fickle in the extreme. Regarding Tracy's Fox films and the Fox company, in general, it seems to me that they (Fox) are dropping the ball in a major way. Not only aren't they releasing the pre-1936 films on DVD but I see no effort on their part to even restore those films. I assume most of them, including films by Tracy, Will Rogers, the Charlie Chan films, and others, are silmply rotting away somewhere without Fox doing anything. I rag on Warner Video but Fox is much much much worse in this regard. I don't believe TCM has any rights to show the pre-1936 Fox films. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.. Ariel

Hi, A good way to check and see what is on DVD is to go to www.amazon.com and search for it. They say that King Kong (1933) is not on DVD although there was a VHS release. I would assume this is correct. Ariel

I don't know how good it is but there's one full length biography: Gentleman: The William Powell Story by Charles Francisco And a film book The Complete Films of William Powell by Lawrence J. Quirk On another topic, since I'm new around here maybe this has been discussed before but what is with the login problem? I'll be logged in and then try to respond to a message and have to login which puts me back to the front of the forum. and then when I get back to where I want to reply to the same message I'm required to login again. I seem to go through this cycle several times before I can actually reply to a message. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Ariel

Hi, Old Man and the Sea is available on DVD AND it wasn't made by MGM. My list included only the MGM films. Incidentally, my list erroneously included Woman of the Year which is already released on DVD. Ariel

Since I'm the one who brought up this topic and the Spencer Tracy topic, let's see which of his MGM films have not been released on DVD. They include: Bad Day at Black Rock The Actress Plymouth Adventure People Against O'Hara Malaya Edward, My Son State of the Union Cass Timberlane Sea of Grass Without Love Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo The Seventh Cross A Guy Named Joe Keeper of the Flame Tortilla Flat Woman of the Year Men of Boys Town Boom Town Edison, the Man Northwest Passage I Take This Woman Boys Town Test Pilot Mannequin Big City Captains Courageous They Gave Him a Gun Libeled Lady San Francisco Fury Riffraff Whipsaw The Murder Man And this a list for just one of MGM's many major stars. I don't think Warner Home Video is doing a good job at all about getting the MGM films on DVD. Ariel

I am aware that TCM has no control over this and it's the fault of Warner Home Video but is there anything stupider than Warner running these 'vote for DVD release' promotions? Obviously Warner Home Video should be releasing every one of the films that were voted on plus hundreds of more MGM classic films that it has the rights to. Why is it not releasing these films to DVD right away? I realize that getting the Dukes of Hazzard series out on DVD is a top priority for all lovers of the film art but how about squeezing in some actual classic films? Ariel

Actually Meryl Streep isn't anywhere near beating Hepburn's Oscar record. Kate won four best actress Oscars and Streep has one one best actress and one best supporting actress Oscar. In addition, several of Streep's nominations are for best supporting actress. Also, of course, Streep is working in an era where you're lucky to have enough nomination worthy performances by actresses to fill up the annual Oscar nomination roster. Just look at many of the films Streep has been nominated for. Many are extremely obscure and just not very good. Ariel

Hi, Has the book been accepted by a publisher? If so, which one? Thanks, Ariel

So when will Tracy be the star of the month? I believe the last time was in April, 2000 for his 100th birthday. Ariel

I guess the folks at TCM actually read these message boards because they've fixed the Colbert picture and it's now actually her. Ariel

Has any one looked at the star of the month wheel? Somebody has a picture of Hedy Lamarr showing for Claudette Colbert's day. Does anyone at TCM know anything about MGM films? Ariel