therealfuster

betrothed have to yell out "Top of the world, Ma" at auspicious times?

to make sure the guy knows how to tango, look good in Vicuna, and enjoys watching waxworks melt?

Mr. Ruggles too! Other old men in movies I'd date, are Harry Davenport, C. Aubrey Smith, George MacReady [he'd scare me a bit!], H.B. Warner, Roland Young, Melville Cooper, Harry Carey, Ray Collins, Ernest Truex, Samuel S. Hines, Cecil Kellaway, Eric Blore, S.Z. Cuddles Sakall, Dick Elliott, Antonio Moreno and mostly....Nigel Bruce. They're a bit old for me, but all so cute! I wonder if they all had cars and knew how to drive?

that the 1951 version of "A Christmas Carol" is superior to the Hollywood 1938 version. That one is just a wee bit too cute for my tastes. And no one back in the day, or even since has been able to beat Alastair Sim as Ebenezer, with Kathleen Harrison, and of course Michael Hordern and the unbelievable Ernest Thesiger, make it a classic which stands the test of time. Even the great Albert Finney could not make one forget Sim in the role, though I will say he was great reprising Redgrave's role in the classic, "The Browning Version". I like "Christmas in Connecticut" and try to watch it every year, and also Jean Shepherd's "A Christmas Story". Interestingly [at least to me] I was at a book signing some years ago, where a lady got up and remarked on how she loved the wholesome representation of the family in that story, and how nice it was to see such good family values in a book and on film...and Jean Shepherd said that it was based on his own parents and family, and that the parents were not happy together at all, later got divorced, and that the reader lady had obviously missed the whole point of the book. She sat down quite quickly after that..... I wish TCM would show the off the wall Christmas film called "Christmas Holiday" with Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly. It is like listening to one of those Rhino "Bummed Out Christmas" albums, and is a real downer and taken from an exceptional book by esteemed author, Somerset Maugham. Don't let some lame review on the Net, by anyone who does not get the film, deter you from seeing this movie. It is marvelous, with Gene Kelly playing a complete mama's boy and loser, his mother being played by the exceptional Gale Sondergaard, and Deanna Durbin playing a grown up part, with direction by noir expert Robert Siodmak, and script by Herman Mankiewicz. Very strange plot lines...with an offbeat angle for Christmas, and a dour downbeat ending. Read the book first, if you get a chance. It was a bomb in 1944, Kelly probably did not like looking like a con man, but these elements make it a real noir seasonal gem.

I just almost bought that film last nite, in a Something Weird compilation: "High School Big Shot / High School Caesar / Date Bait" (Something Weird) Since I already had High School Caesar and Date Bait, I passed it up. Now I'm missing seeing how horrid looking this Pittman is...and I feel deprived. Does he look worse than Jack Elam or Allen Garfield?

which has the most unusual or innovative credits you've ever seen? I'm partial to a lot of those old Forties films, which have fancy cartoon character openings, or ones where a book is opened by a disembodied hand, which turns the pages of the credits. One film I really like for its credits, is "Mad Love" which has a most three-dimensional beginning, with a hand crashing from behind through the glass that the credits have been on. It really starts the film off with an astounding bang, and I will attribute its creative thrust to the fact that cameraman Karl Freund, was the director, and may have been a wee bit more visually stimulating than most directors. I also like "Bell, Book and Candle" in which James Wong Howe uses the anthropological artifacts and masks of Oceania, et cetera in the shop of witch Kim Novak, as backdrops for each cast member's name, in the opening credits. It is clever and sets the stage for the film premise. What's your favorite opening credit segment in a film?

I did watch "Number Seventeen", and was enjoying the jump cuts, and odd shots and strange angles. I hate to admit this...but I fell asleep though and missed the end. I usually don't do that, but had done some power shopping earlier in the day, which wore me out. I was reminded of some odd shots I just saw in my newly purchased Pier Paulo Pasolini film, "Mamma Roma" with one of my favorite actresses, Anna Magnani, like when she threw her shoe at the pimp guy. I thought I had a giant fly on my tv, when the beginning credits rolled. Even Hitch had not thought of doing that.....it started reminding me of "The Ring" film and the interference on the dvd at the beginning. This is a topic for the site. Odd beginnings to films?

this would really all depend on which British rock groups you produced...now wouldn't it? If it was Led Zeppelin, you may have a shot. If it was The Troggs, or Gary Glitter.....well, I just don't know. There are two women here who meet all of your criteria...but they live in Indiana and Ohio, and you don't have a car. Now do you wish you'd learned to drive?

I love this film! I like the musicology angle, what with Redgrave portraying a career onscreen, little heard of in films. It was adapted from a book by Ethel Line White called "The Wheel Spins" and was produced by Gainsborough Pictures in England. In a film of a similar bent called, "So Long at the Fair" from 1948, one sees the same theme, but Hitch's film is a lot more entertaining. And how could it not be, with the priceless Dame May Whitty being a participant? Lots of Macguffins abounding, and the train ambush reminds me of the one in the film, "My Little Chickadee" but the film never lets up and is entertaining throughout. I particularly like the evil looking Baroness, but I could do without Radford and Wayne. They do wear on one a bit, just like in "Dead of Night". Lensed in a little over a month in the Islington Studio, in 1937, Lockwood and Redgrave both later mentioned the laissez-faire attitude with which Hitchcock attended his acting troupe, getting from all some fine performances, by not directing but allowing things to roll at their own pace. This film deservedly won the New York Critics Award for Best Film of 1938. Like many a successful film, it was remade, but was a pale shadow of the original. Who watched this fine film on TCM? I missed "The 39 Steps" but have it on tape already...

but exactly where are you buying your vcr's from? Taiwan? The back of a truck? Seriously, I'm sure all here have extreme concern for anyone who has to continually get up at 4:45am to watch TCM movies, not that I have not occasionally done it myself and are worried about you, as a fellow fan of TCM and particularly of Stanley Kubrick. I may not be an expert, but perhaps I or we can all help you figure out how to get your vcr timers working, so that you don't flunk out of school, due to narcolepsy in class from watching TCM films all night long and thru the morning hours.

that nuclear war hits while you are down in the TCM vaults, your life is spared...you have all the old films to watch with "time enough at last" and you step on your own glasses and break the lense. You don't wear glasses do you?

poison, and I will pick up some for both Stoney and me.

I have been getting that message constantly for about the last month. I just delete the email, without even opening it up.

are you my double or doppelganger? The two things I look at first are the same as you, first the foreign films on Friday and then the silents to be shown on Sunday late night. Thankfully I am female, so we can put such concerns about our double identity out of our mind, or it might be like like "The Dark Mirror" film. I like all the silents and pre-codes too, but do check the whole month and actually get out a colored marker to highlight things to watch, to make sure I don't miss any good stuff, and I lay the xeroxes on my coffee table for easy reference. I'm addicted to TCM for sure....

was one in a million! I can see him now, in the scene with Judy Holliday in "Phfffft!" [never can remember exactly how many "f"'s are in that title] where he is describing the two types of men that a woman can date, after her marriage to Jack Lemmon has gone down the tubes. Jack says that men on the prowl are either criers or laughers. It is hilarious, and he brought so much to so many films. Great choice!

I like this line, as said by Barbara Stanwyck in "The Lady Eve": Jane Harrington: You see Hopsi, you don't know very much about girls. The best ones aren't as good as you think they are and the bad ones aren't as bad. Not nearly as bad. This line is memorable also: Charles Pike: You ought to put handles on that skull. Maybe you could grow geraniums in it.

can be tricky. Since it was the product material and not the designing company for many objects, it does not say Bakelite on the bottom. As used in jewelry, and items for home use...some people check to see if it is true Bakelite by rubbing a section of the piece till it gets hot...and then smelling it. It has a decidedly unpleasant smell of formaldehyde or carbolic acid fumes. One can also put the piece in hot water if small, to get a reaction. Some people heat metal and then pick an inconspicuous place on the supposed Bakelite object and stick in the metal point, and see if you get the formaldehyde smell. Be careful though and don't ruin the object. Don't bite any Bakelite, as if it is gold though, as you may break a tooth. It was used to make pool table balls you know.

Tonight at 1:00am on the TCM schedule for Thursday [really early Friday morning] they are showing: "The World Of Henry Orient " [Two poor little rich girls dog the steps of a womanizing pianist. Peter Sellers, Angela Lansbury, Paula Prentiss. D: George Roy Hill. C 107m.] If you have not seen this film, may I suggest a viewing. It is a great little film, and not too well known, but has some fine pedigrees. To begin with, it was written by Nora Johnson, daughter of the famed screenwriter and former newspaperman Nunnally Johnson, of films like "The Grapes of Wrath", The Woman in the Window", "Along Came Jones", "My Cousin Rachel", "How to Marry a Millionaire" and numerous others. He assisted his daughter on the writing of the script and it was awarded a nomination for best written American comedy for 1965, by the Writers Guild of America. This film is very witty and clever, with Peter Sellers at top form trying to elude the attentions of his two teenage groupies, all the while trying to be the suave, man about town pianist, that he thinks he is....assisted by Angela Lansbury and the wonderful Paula Prentiss. With clever direction by George Roy Hill, of Butch Cassidy fame and excellent cinematography by Boris Kaufman, brother of Russian director, Dziga Vertov of the revolutionary silent, "The Man With a Movie Camera" which TCM has kindly shown....this film aims to please, and accomplishes it with ease. Boris Kaufman also lensed classics like "On the Waterfront" and Kazan's "Baby Doll" and his stuff is always right on and interesting to watch. This is not a big movie, just a small, well articulated gem. Enjoy!

but I would kill to view it! I love Simon, and last year picked up Vigo's "L'Atalante" and enjoyed his overwhelming presence in that film. It was as much fun as watching him in "Boudu Saved From Drowning". I noticed my local Borders has Carne's "Quai des Brumes" with Simon coming in I think, so I may buy that one. Simon certainly is a great character on film! If you ever locate the 1939 version anywhere or see it coming out on dvd, please tell me, Venerados.

TCM did show it before, in the last year which was when I caught it, and taped it. Nevertheless, if I'm up...I will watch it again this Saturday morning. I had looked for it for years, having heard of its reputation, but of course it was unavailable due to the copyright infringement or legal issues, surrounding Visconti's appropriation of the Cain story without permission. But I think Cain, being who he was...would have highly approved of this version, which catches his gritty style to a T. Being a foreign film fan, do you immediately go to the late Friday part of TCM's monthly schedule, first thing...when you get it?

I did the right thing...and actually watched both videos, and...naturally voted for you. Seriously, I liked yours much better, as it had some rather sci fi-like touches amidst all the normal day to day activities, and reminded me a bit of a certain Stanley Kubrick and Doctor Strangelove-like reality. So, best of luck and I hope and your friend win!

but I'm the odd man out. I love "That Uncertain Feeling". I think it is deliciously hilarious like a whipped souffle of comedic touches. And this points up I think, that it may be where one is coming from which makes them privy to certain nuances. Being always a fan of things and history from the Forties and Thirties since I was little, I do notice that often I'm finding some old film fabulous, while my companion or fellow viewer seems bored to tears, whomever my companion might be. The Lubitsch touch is ephemeral, light and frothy and does not withstand too much scrutiny, as it is like lightning in a bottle. So I can't defend this film, other than to say that though the IMDb reviewer calls it "mildly amusing", I will guess that I probably would not find amusing other films that this IMDb reviewer prefers. I particularly like Burgess Meredith in this film, but Merle is quite good, and a perfect Lubitsch woman. As a kid, I remember asking my mother why she liked Melvyn Douglas in films, as I just did not find him appealing, and she said when I was older I'd get it. I get it...now. He's classy, sophisticated and intelligent, rare qualities to be sure in Hollywood. Not that great looking, but wonderfully droll and amusing on film.

and Warners did have an amazing bench of supporting players. I'll go with...Eugene Pallette, Melville Cooper, Herbert Mundin, Franklin Pangborn, Walter Connolly, Henry O'Neill, Frank McHugh, Douglas Dumbrille, Moroni Olsen, Rhys Williams, J.M. Kerrigan, Charles Dingle, and mostly Henry Daniell and Quinn [big Boy] Williams. I cannot see a film with Big Boy, without laughing about his moniker, and enjoying his simple wit and generous nature. I also love Nat Pendleton, and contrary to the parts he was given as a musclebound, brain dead brawny guy, in real life he was quite accomplished and educated.

for my money, is better than the approved James M. Cain, American version from 1946! Now I've always loved the Turner/ Garfield film, even though if one reads the book, they will see that the Lange/Nicholson version follows it better and the description of Cora is more like Lange, as being a bit beaten down, and wearing crappy clothes with little makeup. Nowhere does Cain have Cora wearing white hot pants and a halter top, as does our girl Lana! But I digress...nevertheless, the Garfield version has a lot of heat in the right places, much like the sizzling grill scene...but after seeing the Italian version by Luchino Visconti, I was blown away at how well this story translated to a foreign locale. One would not think it would work, but it does. I say, this is a must see for serious film fans, and TCM is showing "Ossessione" this Friday [really Saturday morning] at 2:00am, and then "The Postman Always Rings Twice" at 4:30am. Watch them back to back, and see if Visconti's doesn't get under your skin....

I honestly did not mean to imply that I thought a welcome was obligatory here, or that I was so shy that I needed one. I just could not figure out the comings and goings of people here, and thought maybe I was posting too much. The answers of everyone in this thread, are helping me understand the place better. Yes, I was the one who someone talked about their wife's maiden name with...