therealfuster

I like Donna Reed, and she was a good actress. But as you say, her television show gave new meaning to the words "sweetness" and "light". But even in her movies, she was mostly a nice docile lady...except for "From Here to Eternity"....true. Again, she was one of those onscreen actresses like Shirley Jones, who yearned for the prostitute role to give their careers new life. But most of the time, Donna did play parts like Mary Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life" and that was what I was referring to mostly. Speaking of smoldering... Deborah Kerr recharged her career also in FHTE, and also in "Tea and Sympathy" for sure!

Whoa...what a great movie! Yes, it has taken me since last week to watch my TCM movies taped all in one day. I had Finger of Guilt, The Threat, and Donovan's Brain to watch. I thought I'd seen almost every sci-fi film ever made, but somehow this film had escaped me till now. I knew of its reputation, and had wanted to see it many times, and realized how many other films owed their faulty plot lines to its magnificent story by Curt Siodmak, but somehow had never seen it in its entirety. Well...I was impressed! Firstly, being that I have never been much of a fan of former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, in her Davis acting days, I was amazed to see that in this film, the very things I've often thought of as her shortcomings, were the exact things that made her part so believable. Being that she always seems a bit mundane and boring in films and a tad too sweet, she was perfect as the devouted spouse of Lew Ayres, who plays the doctor/scientist trying to isolate the monkey brain. Also, being that the film did not use any of the usual Hollywood sci fi leads of macho men and beautiful women like John Agar or Lori Nelson, was a supremely effective move...as Ayres seems just like such a regular guy. With no need of special effects, being that the story was strong enough on its own, and though it could seem silly in lesser hands, it moved along nicely and was well done throughout and rather chilling. Ayres was uncommonly good when taking on the persona of the bodily dispossessed millionaire, and the repercussions in numerous films to follow, like "The Brain That Wouldn't Die", "They Stole Hitler's Brain" and countless others is immeasureable. The simple shot of the poor little monkey's brain, floating in fluid, is as unnerving as the part of "Eyes Without a Face" where the surgeon marks with a pen, and lifts off the facial skin of the grafting victim. Yet neither scene contain gratuitous gore...just straightforward set-ups. This film is much superior to the Erich von Stroheim version done first, and has excellent production values throughout and even good old Steve Brodie along for the ride. Did anyone else watch this film?

compared to some serious films mentioned, but seeing a W.C. Fields film as a kid, with my parents influenced me the most. Though I love Chaplin, Keaton, the Marx Brothers, and many other greats...there is a certain perversity in the Fields milieu, which I was able to get and understand...which has served me well as an adult, seeing what my parents were laughing at.... It is an acquired taste to like Fields, and relates to a more sarcastic undertone, than the typical comedy film that a child might see, like the Three Stooges, which is based more on physical comedy than verbal comedy, or combinations of both. Fields was talented as both a visual communicator, what with his amazing juggling talents, honed during vaudeville days as the Tramp Juggler, and was famed for his amusing ad libs and asides on stage, even when he worked in the Ziegfeld Follies before his movie days. Being an accomplished juggler is one thing, but being able to make it look like you are having mishaps during the juggling of cigar boxes and then recouping, is much more dificult. Fields attributed his vocal delivery to watching fruit vendors like his father, yell out available goods to customers on the street, and his impromptu snide remarks, to being imitations of his mother's comments, overheard as he was growing up. Apparently she was quite the comedian herself and left him a legacy of humor. Leaving home at an early age, William Dukenfield honed his considerable juggling skills, and became world famous. His screen image of the rather irascible con man, of less than honorable standards, who plays up to people, while insulting them under his breath, is unique...and I believe I owe my good taste in comedies, to watching his films with my parents as a child. Watching Fields as a henpecked husband, made me able to appreciate other subtly nuanced comedians or comedic actors like Robert Benchley or Roland Young types. So for that reason, I thank my parents for letting me watch W.C. Fields and his films with them, instead of making me watch shows directed at a kiddie audience. Being a Fields fan at eight has its advantages, and nothing in life is really shocking after that.

is one of my very favorite films! Being that as a teenager, I owned the book "Very Special People" which detailed many of the lives of the carnival performers in this film, I was very excited to see it the first time. It is a bit of a rewriting of history, to think though that all people in the 1930's were adverse to seeing this film. Not only do I have some relatives who saw it then, and ;thought it was a magnificent movie, they say that it had a specialized following and was regarded as great by many people, just not the regular middle range audience. Of course my relatives also liked Citizen Kane, but said they knew people who hated it, and asked for their money back at the box office. There's obviously no accounting for taste! I have discussed this film with some elderly folks I know, and they not only had appreciated the film on its release, but had seen many of the performers themselves, in the flesh in travelling carnivals which canvassed the US in the Twenties and Thirties. They said that the Hilton sisters were well known nation wide, and regarded as seasoned performers, and that the film was considered offbeat, but Browning fans got the point even then. Being that during rereleases in the Seventies, the film still could cause some silly grown men to leave the theater, it obviously is not the time period which reviled the film, but the people of certain fearful minds of any time period, who can still detest this film or be frightened by it. It can be frightening, what with Harry Earles becoming aware of Olga's villainy, and the ending scene in the mud, but one's emotions are manipulated throughout to begin to bond more with the "freaks" than some of the so-called normal people, who are patently offensive. My personal favorite in the film is Prince Randian, who rolls the cigarette and lights it. From what I've read I believe he was married and had children, at least that was what my book, "Very Special People" said. I love the theme that the "freaks" regard the "normal" people as the oddities, being that they will pay to see them, and that they have a code which makes them true to each other. Olga Baclanova is outstanding, as is the whole cast. Johnny Eck did some fine artwork later in his life, and there is a website I've seen on the Net, spotlighting some of it. I would highly suggest one read the story "Spurs" by Tod Robbins to get further background on this movie, and the influence on later films is inestimable, even reaching as far as "Boxing Helena" or "The Tin Drum" to my mind.

you curtailed your posting, due to one disgruntled poster. Would Sam Goldwyn have stopped talking, if someone complained? I think not. From what I'm reading in your post, I certainly hope I can look forward to more, rather than less posts by you! "Nice and quiet communities" are boring and only exist in films with Donna Reed. I like theoretical analyses of a Fellini film, as much as I like discussing shlock films, and I love backstage gossip so go for it. I have released you from your self imposed prison just like Glenda the Good Witch would! Thanks for your post!

are always the second fiddle chorus type girls in films...not the stars. Although Claire Trevor does rate a nod! I'll go with women like Robin Raymond, Cleo Moore, Toby Wing, Ona Munson, Isabel Jewell, Beverly Garland, Mary Beth Hughes, Mayo Methot, Veda Ann Borg, Gladys George, and Iris Adrian. Oh, I can't forget my favorite bubble gum chewing bimbo, with loose morals...Barbara Nichols! The films they were all in run the gamut. They all usually play the same kind of part, although even Bell Watling [Ona] got to play a kindly mother in Eddie Robinson's "The Red House". Fun query!

boaster of old films and silent films, and rarely see a film nowadays which can compare. But...there are always a few, which in my opinion would compete with some of the best from the past. I was talking about "The Player" by Altman in another thread, and that film was that rare gem, which paid tribute to old films with many in jokes, was made by someone who knew the comedy of manners of Hollywood, and it was in a direct line with many other films made about Hollywood. And I think it would be a fine film to play on TCM, even though it is after 1964, or 1944, or even 1934. It reminds me of some of the incisive films like "Letter to Three Wives" which had witty dialogue and clever situations. Good films are not relegated to any specific years [even 1939 which probably had some stinkers besides the classics] even though it many seem that many more good ones were made pre-1980. I definitely do not want to see cutesy, current laugh riots like Parenthood showing up a lot on TCM, or abortive remakes like the current The Ladykillers, which cannot hold a candle to the old film with Alec Guinness, but I have faith in the TCM programming panache, to keep the faith and pick only the cream of the crop of post-'60's films for showing in the future. They do seem to usually have really good taste....

missed your post about "Head". Yes, that is one of those oddball films, which is really not so good, but somehow becomes a bit of a cult film and fun to watch in retrospect. A bit like "Candy" which is a terrible waste of talents like Burton and Brando, and yet it is fun to watch Brando completely being off the wall, as the guru like guy. "Head" and "Candy" were disasters when first released. Hmmm...maybe there is hope for a rerelease of "Ishtar" now?

was a beautiful magazine! Besides some of the gorgeous art portrait covers of stars, they had wonderfully evocative photos inside, which must have been taken many times by exceedingly talented photographers like Hurrell perhaps. And they had visits to the homes of stars, in magnificent sepia tones. Speaking of "Tol'Able David"...that is a marvelous film. Watching the TCM silent and sound shorts, for the past few weeks, reminded me how much fun it is to see things that are untouched by modern inventions. The Westinghouse film, which showed workers streaming out of the factory, was interesting as not one person looked overweight! In "Tol'Able David" one sees sections of country, untouched by modern encroachments of civilization, so the film is not just entertainment but a document of history too. And...Richard Barthelmess is quite cute also! 1921 "Tolable David" (Inspiration Pictures) 1922 "Robin Hood" (version with: Fairbanks, Sr.) 1923 "The Covered Wagon" (Famous Players Lasky) 1924 "The Dramatic Life of) Abraham Lincoln" 1925 "The Big Parade" (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 1926 "Beau Geste" (Paramount) 1927 "Seventh Heaven" (Fox) 1928 "Four Sons" (Fox) 1929 "Disreali" (Warner Bros.) *1930 "All Quiet on the Western Front" (Universal) *1931 "Cimarron" (RKO Radio) 1932 "Smilin' Through" (M-G-M) 1933 "Little Women" (RKO) 1934 "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (M-G-M) 1935 "Naughty Marietta" (M-G-M) 1936 "San Francisco" (M-G-M) 1937 "Captains Courageous" (M-G-M)-(P.S. at least they got it right!?) 1938 "Sweethearts" (M-G-M) *1939 "Gone With the Wind" (Selznick/M-G-M) ("Photoplay," took a couple years off, as far as it's awards went. But came back in 1944 & added 2 more categories>Most popular male & female star. This went on for several years actually. All of the 1950's to be exact. *1944 "Going My Way" (Paramount) 1945 "Valley of Decision" (MGM) 1946 "The Bells of St Mary's"-(P.S. this was officially a 1945 release?) (RKO) 1947 "The Jolson Story" (Columbia) 1948 "Sitting Pretty" (20th Century Fox) 1949 "The Stratton Story" (M-G-M) 1950 "Battleground" (M-G-M) 1951 "Show Boat" (M-G-M) 1952 "With a Song in My Heart" *1953 "From Here to Eternity" (Columbia) 1954 "Magnificent 0bsession" (U-I) 1955 "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" 1956 "Giant" (WB) 1957 "An Affair to Remember" *1958 "Gigi" (M-G-M) 1959 "Pillow Talk" (U-I) 1961 "Splendor in the Grass" (WB) (NOTE: "Photoplay," kept going a wee-bit more & as nted, it added those 2 categories in 1944-(most of the time, those matched Best Film winner Example>*Bing Crosby-(1903-77) won through most of the 1940's Though it eventually stopped I stopped with '61, because it was around that time the Studio-System was ending "MATCH 'EM UP VS. OSCARS PICKS?" Thank You

I just got into that ordering site on here, which is a linkup with Movies Unlimited. Thought I'd look for a film, which has seemed to be unavailable for awhile..."Last Year at Marienbad" by Alain Resnais. I wrote and they currently have it in stock. Yippee! So I now will be getting the videocassette, as there is no dvd available. I think it is being worked on currently as a dvd remastered film, but I cannot wait that long. I shall buy that when it happens and have both. I also am happy, because I got recently the SCTV first season boxed set, the current Ed Wood boxed set, and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" [which has been out awhile], "Three Coins in the Fountain" and the tv series "Millennium". I should be busy watching these for awhile, but will still let TCM films take precedence every night. Oh I also bought Pier Paulo Pasolini's "Mamma Roma" as I love Anna Magnani and cannot watch "The Rose Tattoo" anymore for my Magnani fix. Anyone else here find any films to buy on that site?

I remember. I have read the book by Charles Webb, but it has been quite a while ago. There are those who like to criticize the book, and say that the film is great...but not Webb's book. But in truth, there is much just criticism of Buck Henry getting way too much credit for the witty dialogue in the film, as it was taken line for line from Webb's book, and he really deserves the credit. Nothing against Henry, because if I were writing a screenplay, and the book had great dialogue...why change it. But I do believe that the credit lies with the author of the book and not Henry. He did have the good sense to use Webb's wording as is... I cannot recall exactly if the "Plastics" line is in the book, nor would I bet my house on it. But...as I recall in totality, it seems like comments were made by people and critics of that time period, who did mention that every famous line in the film, was in the book...so I think, yes....that the line had to be in the book, as it is one of the most famous ones. The title of Webb's book is "The Graduate" and I don't think there was much more psychological background of the characters in the book, as the story was meant to be openended to interpretation. Thanks for your questions, and have no fear, Bakelite never bites!

mea culpa needed....I'm just a Bakelite freak! I would not doubt at all, if Bakelite gets beat up a bit, that it gets a shatter effect a bit like windshields. Bakelite can get splintery. I guess I just treat my jewelry as if it is the Hope Diamond, so it is very pristine. We'll watch TCM and movies of Carmen Miranda, if you visit, as the Senorita looks like she'd like all the fruity Bakelite jewelry from the 1940's.

but there was a recreation within a show of the Little Match Girl on a tv show from the 1950's, in black and white. On the "Father Knows Best" tv show! Kathy, known as Kitten is reading the book, and falls asleep and dreams that she is the Little Match Girl. There was a whole segment with Kathy playing the Little Match Girl, lighting all her candles that she had to sell, to keep warm. It was rather cute and I think it might have been a Christmas episode, because I think I remember them being around a tree in the end. Not probably what you are looking for, but in the right time period.

the umpteenth showing of "To Kill a Mockingbird"! Gotcha! I simply had to laugh this past weekend. I had noticed as a new poster, all the continual cracks about TKAM and its repeat showings on TCM. Being obnoxious, I think I immediately butted in, and tried to defend it, being that it is such a good movie. Well on Friday past I think it was, I had the tv tuned to TCM as always, even if I am not in the room...and I heard familiar music. It was the opening credits of TKAM, and regardless of the fact I've seen it a million times, I did watch that segment as I admire that cigar box opening. I then even intermittently would check out a scene or two that I like. I did not watch much of it, just a few favorite parts in the beginning. I was gone Saturday, and on Sunday I turned the tv on to TCM, and...lo and behold, TKAM was playing again! I simply had to laugh. I thought of all the people here who have questioned its frequent airings, and how they were probably pulling their hair out and screaming to beat the band. Lest anyone think though, that I too am now fed up...I cannot agree. Even though I had just watched bits of it on Friday, again I was drawn into it, with the scenes about Atticus continuing to read to Scout, the mad dog segment, the kid with the adenoid problem who is the children's friend, the syrup scene, the "Stand up, Miss Scout your father is passing" bit and many others, culminating with Duvall as Boo appearing at the end. My thoughts are that being put in that Essentials package, that they play this film more often to fit in that slot. They should of course be making up more introduction bits for other great movies. But probably every time it plays, there are some people who have never seen TKAM, and honestly I do think it is a movie which everyone should see one and one in which you can find new things everytime you watch it. There are many mockingbird allusions, in the film...and it is fun to look for all of them. So, I shall praise To Kill a Mockingbird, till the cows come home. Also it is responsible for the drink called Tequila Mockingbird, which is also a great legacy!

are a drag. Like that director, Ingamar or whatever, who was the transeuxal sister of Ingrid Bergman, and made all those horrid Swendish monstrosities, which are so dour like Hour of the Wolfen, Pursona, Wild Strawberry Blonde, Sawdust in Tinseltown, A Virgin Named Spring, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad the Seal, and Through a Glass, ****. I do like that Bob Hope film, called "I'll Take Swenden" though...

in life or in films, from a bit different angle, like a 90 degree one...so the people who seem the saddest to me in movies, are not the ones who usually act sad by their actions, or instill sympathy in others since they are being abused or whatever. It is often the person who seems totally successful or together, who will strike me as being really the sad one deep down, like Charles Foster Kane in CK. So, on that note, the person who seems the saddest to me, on first speculation is the one played by Richard Harris in the film, "This Sporting Life". I think his name is Frank in the movie, and he is a very strong and macho person, who is beginning to be a star on the local rugby team. He can get most things he wants with his brutish, and loud personality...but when he meets up with a potential girlfriend who is a widow [as played by Rachel Roberts] Frank's inability to ever be anything but forceful and tough, defeat him in his quest to show her his interest and love. Which is very sad to watch. He only knows how to act in bombastic ways. He reminds me of the Beverly Hillbillies episode, where they think Jethro is a great golfer, because he can hit the ball in one stroke almost getting a hole in one every time. But when he tries to putt, he instead wallops the ball a mile instead of a foot, as he can only hit the ball at one power level. Another person in films, who seems sad to me because he seems so happy originally, is Kirk Douglas in "The Bad and the Beautiful". Great question!

That is a pretty good deal. I shall check it out...

and Dietrich definitely could lead the field for inserting a type of risque innuendo into her roles, witness the noble steed bits and other inferences in the Catherine the Great role. I keep thinking of those references in the book "Hollywood Babylon" to Marlena and Hattie McDaniel, but that may just be fol de rol. Last night I was watching the final dvd of the "I, Claudius" BBC boxed set, and it had that documentary about the unfinished Alexander Korda film with Laughton, and there was a fine interview with an elderly but still attractive Von Sternberg talking about his involvement with the production. You've probably seen this documentary, but if not....look for it. Very well done with Dirk Bogarde narrating and interviews also with Merle Oberon, Emyln Williams, et cetera.

Rialto have their own ordering web sites. They are both respectable. So is Kino, by the way and all of the above have many classic films, with great foreign catalogs.

interesting! I just saw a National Geographic tale from that Dog Whisperer's secret journal, called The Shiny. It was about a dog which slipped on a glossy waxed linoleum floor, and was afraid from then on of all shiny surfaces. Hmmm...that might make a good movie for Hollywood, and it could star Benjy [benjie...sp?]. That bit about dubbing in the perfectly orchestrated taps is a bit disconcerting, is it not? I can never look at Ann Miller now without having to see if the tapping is synchronized....

is coming up on the TCM schedule. This being one of the Frankenheimers that I enjoy most, I wondered if others enjoyed seeing him use Angela Lansbury in a more vicious way, than she is usually seen in films? Her performance in John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate" is also noteworthy for sheer malevolence which might even scare Cruella de Ville. I note with humor that her age as the mother of both Beatty and Harvey is a bit impossible, and yet she pulls it off admirably in both films by the mere conviction of her mature performance. Another Frankenheimer film which is a bit offbeat is "Seconds" which is almost becoming a reality, with all the plastic surgery shows proliferating on American tv. Anyone else here a Frankenheimer fan?

I've been enjoying all your posts since I first landed here. I agree this is a Shangi-La for movie fans. If only Ronald Colman would show up as a poster, I could die happy...

I remember reading once in some rock and roll trivia book, that there was some protestation by the Rodgers contingent, over the off the wall version of "Blue Moon" which charted in the Top 40 lists for the rock group the Marcels, in 1961. Being that it was a bit, well outre and not rendered as a slow ballad, but rather as a frenzied doo **** style freak hit. That was...until the royalties started coming in, which proved to be quite lucrative and then all complaints from that side ceased. I think it may have gone to the number 1 slot, and was also rerecorded in a similar vein by Elvis and Sha Na Na.

Howard da Silva, and he even managed to make Louis B. Mayer come alive in the kitsch classic of all time, "Mommie Dearest". Speaking of Silvas, Stoney...how do you like Henry Silva? He is one of my favorite character actors and multipurpose bad guys, and still being alive I wish he could sit down for an interview for TCM.

not mention The Blue Angel, well just because it is so good and such an obvious choice, But I do really admire that film too and also Underworld.