blonderbbt

I nominate Maureen O'Hara, a beautiful woman who proved you could be tough, a man's equal and feminine at the same time. Not easy characters to portray.

While all the performers listed below are a talented bunch, notice what's missing here? Women! Could it be that most of the gals got their "due" while the guys as a group were the most overlooked? For the females, Jean Arthur. Irene Dunne. Joan Blondell. Glenda Farrell. Ann Sothern. All beautiful, fine comediennes who could handle drama too.

Hi Mongo. Your choices are all terrific. Van Heflin won an Oscar as did Edmond O'Brien, but when pundits mention world -class actors, these fine performers get left out. Why?! Joel McCrea made it look too easy as did Fred MacMurray. And subtle low-key acting is not easy. The fact that Mr. Widmark is still among the living and has not yet been voted a lifetime achievement award from AFI or an honorary Oscar is a disgrace. Blonde Rabbit

Since I'm a newbie, please forgive me if this topic has been exhausted. If not, here's my question. Which TCM featured performers do you consider underrated? I'll cast the first three votes: Paul Henreid, Robert Ryan and Franchot Tone. Please share your thoughts on this?

Yes, yes, it would be wonderful to see a complete interview with Miss Page. Robert Osborne made reference to her as being "a pistol." Wouldn't it be terrific to see this beautiful, sharp 90+ year old lady tell her story? I'm all for it!

While I agree that sometimes the word "classic" is overused - like the word "legendary" - if you have a cut off year, you miss some gems. For example, a few weeks ago TCM showed TOOTSIE and SOME LIKE IT HOT back to back. TOOTSIE came out in 1981 yet I think it's a classic with a fine, timeless performance by Dustin Hoffman that stands alongside the performances of Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Joe E. Brown in SLIH. One thing - were I programming TCM, I'd keep the newer ones to a minimum (yes, even dear TOOTSIE) if they can be seen readily on other channels.

I'm salivating already....my screen name should have been DOCUJUNKIE! All the suggestions so far are just terrific. LOUISIANA STORY is a "don't miss." Directed by Flaherty, wonderful score by Virgil Thomson, real people - not reality TV real people - and an adorable raccoon. Show it and the others soon, please please please.

I second Vitaphone's nomination of some early sound films especially THE ROGUE SONG with Laurel and Hardy and Lawrence Tibbett, the great singer I mentioned in a previous post.

I got my wish recently! I had suggested the 1929 version of RIO RITA with Bebe Daniels and John Boles and it appeared last week on the Mad About Musicals day. Naturally after waiting years to see it, forgot to set the tape....but I managed to see part of it. This, and any other early musicals that still exist, are fun to see even, if they creak.