lzcutter

>I feel like nobody on this board remembers that Hayao Miazaki was Director of the Month a few years ago. I never see it referenced on this board.I can't remember, but people on this board were probably proclaiming the end of the world that month. sewhite, It gets referenced every now and then. And yes, there was a thread, I think it might have been called *The Death of TCM* or something similar, that railed and railed about Miazaki films being shown throughout the month. A few fans of Miazaki, who were new to the boards, posted how thankful they were that the films were being shown but they got shouted down by those railing against the films. Most of those railing had never seen any of the films but it was the fact that they were "new" that caused them to fear that TCM was turning into AMC. The next month many of those same posters were singing TCM's praises for the programming they were doing during *31 Days of Oscar*. And so it goes, even seven years later.

>I know, right??!! Also no White Christmas ! All the classic Christmas Season movies are missing...do not understand...very disappointed ! TCM has to rent/lease all the films it broadcasts. The season between Thanksgiving and the end of the year is one of the most popular for networks as people like to watch classic holiday movies. TCM has to compete with AMC (who tends to have a lock on the long term lease of *White Christmas* ), Retroplex, Multiplex, the Encore channels, Hallmark (yes, I know they concentrate heavily on their own made for the holiday tele-movies but they are also running classic holiday movies as well) and a number of other networks when bidding on the lease rights. Lately, studios are realizing that their is more profit in the Sepiatone business model and renting films to more than one network rather than going for the bigger $$$ exclusive to the highest bidding network. But, that is a new trend that hopefully we will see more of next year. Till more studios adopt that business model, more and more networks compete for a finite number of holiday films and the competition is fierce. But that won't change NBC's long term exclusive contract for *It's a Wonderful Life* any time soon.

> And no Miracle on 34th st..won't be Christmas w/o that. *Miracle on 34th Street* is a Fox film that the studio holds dear to its heart. Some times TCM is able to rent it and other times, Fox prefers to rent it out to the highest bidder (see markfp's previous post) and some years prefers to keep it for their own movie channel.

Could it be that her opening remarks were edited for time and in doing so, truncated part of what she was trying to say?

>I wouldn't imagine they'd set up a large mirror across from Robert's chair an let him interview himself. I wonder why MANK didn't get the job? Alec Baldwin did the interview with Gene Wilder a few years ago for TCM and it was very well done. From various accounts, Robert O and Alec got along fairly well during their time together doing *The Essentials* and at the Film Festival. Maybe Robert O requested Baldwin or maybe there was a conflict with Ben M's schedule and the date for the taping. Whatever it was, one probably shouldn't read too much into it. Robert O and Ben M seem to have a good working relationship as well as a friendship.

With Suex2 enjoying a travel day, she asked that I post this latest update announcement for the TCM 2014 Film Festival: TCM will pay tribute to one of the entertainment industry's most celebrated figures ? Quincy Jones ? during the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival next spring. Jones will appear at multiple events during the festival, including a 50th anniversary screening of Sidney Lumet's powerful drama *The Pawnbroker* (1964), which marked Jones' debut as a film composer. Entering its fifth year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will take place April 10-13, 2014, in Hollywood. The star-studded event will coincide with TCM's 20th anniversary as a leading authority in classic film. In addition to the Quincy Jones tribute, the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival will feature three world premiere restorations. The slate includes two movies considered to be among the greatest films noir ever made: Billy Wilder's *Double Indemnity* (1944), which will be celebrating its 70th anniversary, and Orson Welles' *Touch of Evil* (1958). Also joining the festival lineup is the world premiere restoration of William Wyler's Best Picture Oscar? winner *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946). Previously announced films on the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival lineup include the recently restored *Gone with the Wind* (1939) and a presentation of *The Wizard of Oz* (1939) in its stunning new IMAX? 3D format. Both films are celebrating their 75th anniversaries in 2014. The festival will also include a screening of the Harold Lloyd comedy classic *Why Worry?* (1923), with legendary silent-film composer Carl Davis conducting the live world premiere performance of his new original score.

Robert Osborne for almost twenty years has been doing interviewing of classic era and post-1968 film stars for the TCM interview program, *Private Screenings*. Guests have included Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, Margaret O'Brien and a group of other child actors, Debbie Reynolds, Betty Hutton and many others. And now, this January, Robert Osborne will be the one being interviewed in a very special *Private Screening*. "Ever since TCM launched, Robert Osborne has been the face of the network and its passionate, driving force," said Charlie Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM. "Private Screenings: Robert Osborne is a perfect chance for viewers to get to know Robert and learn the story behind his fascinating career. As TCM celebrates its 20th anniversary, we are proud to take this opportunity to honor the man who has done so much to bring classic films to life for generations of movie lovers." The special *Private Screening* airs on January 6th. Robert O's former *Essentials* co-host, Alec Baldwin, is the interviewer. Baldwin and Osborne's conversation begins with his early days tracking the movies playing in New York and compiling the background information into a hefty notebook he affectionately calls "****." Viewers will not only get to see **** on camera for the first time, but also enjoy clips from Osborne's early days as an actor in commercials, as well as in the daytime drama The Young Marrieds and the pilot for The Beverly Hillbillies. In addition, Osborne is featured in several clips from The Dinah Shore Show, which frequently had him on to talk about the Academy Awards, and The Morning Program on CBS, for which he did movie and theater reviews. The special is packed with great stories from Osborne's life and career, which has included influential encounters with several notable figures, Jane Darwell, who suggested he move to Hollywood after working with him in a regional theater production; Lucille Ball, who put him under contract at Desilu and later encouraged him to go into journalism; Natalie Wood, who helped him work out the questions for his first interview; Olivia de Havilland, who asked Osborne to escort her to the American Film Institute's tribute to Bette Davis and whom Osborne continues to talk nearly every Sunday; and Dorothy Lamour, who introduced Osborne to the executives who would eventually launch Turner Classic Movies. Osborne also speaks about the many memorable Private Screenings interviews he has conducted since the franchise launched in September 1995, including with such stars as Betty Hutton, Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell and Mickey Rooney. So, be sure to mark the date, Jan. 6th, because you won't want to miss this special *Private Screening*.

I don't think any one in this thread or the other "TCM is changing" thread are advocating for TCM to show a smaller amount of studio era films in favor of post-1968 era films. One thing that we all seem to have common is a love for the studio era classics and we want them to remain the bulk of TCM's programming. Some don't want post-1960s films shown at all and others do, and that argument has been going on for over ten years here. And while that argument goes on and on and on, TCM continues to highlight studio era films in a larger number than post-1960 films, just as they have always done.

What does it take to kill this sterotype that young viewers don't watch TCM? TCM has a diverse audience encompassing the spectrum of age and color. You can see it in the promos for the Cruises and the FFestivals. You can see it in the photos that TCM puts on those microsites that young people, old people, 20 and 30- somethings, middle aged and senior citizens all watch TCM. You can see it on the various TCM sites on Facebook, there is a thread dedicated to TCM at TVwithoutPity which is hardly a bastion of AARP viewers as well as other sites. You can see it in the people who entered the Ultimate Fan Video Contest. Many of them are young people, including the winner. When the channel celebrated its 15th anniversary, one of the Fan Programmers was a young man still in high school. The majority of the remaining Fan Programmers were in their 30s and 40s and a handful were barely over 50 at the time. I suspect we will see a diverse age group when the channel celebrates its 20th anniversary in April with 20 more Fan Programmers. In surveys they have done, their largest demographic is the 18-53 years olds. We've had young high school and college students on these boards over the years that also attests to the fact that not just the post-55 crowd watches TCM. So, if you think young people don't watch TCM, you might need to reconsider that idea. Edited by: lzcutter on Dec 4, 2013 1:03 PM Edited by: lzcutter

Holden, I had the same problem using Chrome but if I opened the schedule in Firefox, the entire schedule opens up. Mary Astor is the SOTM!

I can only see the first three days which are the final three days of *31 Days of Oscar* celebration (February only has 28 days (except for leap years) so the Oscar celebration spills over into March. It's due to the fact that when TCM began the Oscar spotlight the awards were broadcast towards the end of March and March has 31 days. When the Academy moved the ceremony up a month, TCM followed suit but the only way to get to 31 days is to spill into the first few days of March.

>I find I watch TCM less, One thing that anyone who has watched the channel for many years has to understand is that there was a time when much of what TCM showed was new to many of its viewers because they were debuting films that hadn't seen been featured in an uncut, commercial free environment since they were last seen in a movie theater years ago. TCM brought those films to us and they still do. But like any long-term relationship, the newness is off the vine. If a relationship is to survive long-term, change has to occur. It cannot stay the same or that relationship will die. Adding to the dilemma, after years of video-tape masters being the standard-bearer for airing films, technology changed not only TCM but all of us as we embraced the digital age. The films now have to be in a digital format to be broadcast. And often, studios prefer to do restoration and preservation work before transferring a film to a digital format. It is going to take the studios a while to catch up with that just due to the cost and the size of their film libraries. And lastly, the studios have all been burned by film piracy over the years by bootleg copies and Youtube. Because of that, some have a moratorium of up to year (or more) on films recently released on DVD or Blu being available to TCM to rent. Why? Because they know the films will be bootlegged or copied to Youtube from the broadcast and that cuts into the disc sales. TCM has no control over that. They do not own the copyrights on the films, nor do they have access to negatives or sound elements, or previous video masters. That is all property of the studios that own the films and the studios are the ones responsible for maintaining their libraries and digitizing their libraries. So, as much as we would like more films, both well-known and obscure, from the studio era to be on TCM, part of that problem is availability. If the films aren't available or if the studio has a moratorium or a movie channel of its own where they prefer to keep their well-known titles for their own channel, there isn't much that TCM can do except to keep asking. Meanwhile, TCM still has 24 hours a day, every month of every year to program within their operating budget and they do so, as they always have, with a mixture of films from all eras including premieres, foreign films, repeats and original programming.

According to the Baltimore Sun in an article about the debut of TCM this what classic means these days: "Old movies, now referred to as classics (emphasis mine), have been the staple of non-network television since the rise of independent stations in the 1950s." The article also noted that TCM would play films from all eras and not just concentrate only on pre-1960 films. The article was posted by calvinnme in the other "Death of TCM" type thread that is currently on the boards.

>And is there still any way to request a specific film be shown? Welcome back, Thalbergfan, Yes, the *Suggest a Movie* site is still here. If you look at the banner at the top of the page, (Watch TCM, Schedule, etc), you should see Community listed (between Month Highlights and TCMDb). If you hover over the word Community, a pull-down menu appears and you can click on *Suggest a Movie* and go to the site to make your suggestions!

The second longest running topic/debate on these boards since they debuted back in 2002. The longest running topic/debate, of course, is "TCM is changing". That debate began within the first 60 days of the message board debut. There never, ever is a winner in either debate or a clear majority. And still,l the topic/debates go on. And through it all, TCM continues to show movies from the 1920s on forward, just as they have always done.

It's a short directed by Don Siegel called *Star in the Night*. It usually airs on TCM in December. In fact, it is airing on TCM on December 24th at 5:00 am. You can set up a reminder here: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/490846/Star-in-the-Night/

>Do the "suits" read these boards, or are we just wasting our figurative breath? You aren't wasting your breath,, they lurk and read. They've said so at various TCM events. They used to participate more here but they've been met with a great deal of ridicule and mean spirited posts and I think that might have contributed to their backing off.

Suex2 and Michelle, Thanks for the kind words. Also for the link to the catalog. I found the slabs in the catalog and according to the notes for each slab, they are all reproductions. I still could not find the wax figures or fixtures. The wax figures have been replaced a number of times as have the fixtures. It is possible that over the years, some fell into the hands of collectors and those are being sold. Should Grauman's owners ever decide to sell the real hand and foot print slabs I suspect a media uproar would ensue with Hollywood Heritage, the LA Conservancy, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and fans leading the charge.

MichelleLorraine, As someone who lives in Los Angeles, attends the Film Festivals and believes in preservation, I can assure you that the interior of the Grauman's theater is still intact: Here is what I have written about the work (in chronological order from the top down): Here's some information on the minimal changes coming to Grauman's: http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=168284&tstart=0 I have a friend who is on the Board of Hollywood Heritage, the preservation group that is responsible for saving Grauman's fifteen years ago (and involved in the changes taking place now) and she shared the information that I've been sharing with people since the FF. The one big change will be the steps that lead down into the theater. Those will go away (they aren't original to the theater). The slope of the theater will be altered with the addition of stadium seating but the slope has been altered more than once since the theater opened back in the 1920s. The owners are following federal standards. The IMAX screen and the new sound system is said not to alter the interior except for the changes already mentioned by me and Curbed LA. Hollywood Heritage saved Grauman's fifteen years ago when Hollywood and Highland was being built. They were the ones responsible for getting both the interior and exterior restored to what it looked like when it opened. They are watching this very closely and will step in, if need be, to keep the owners and leasee from destroying the interior or the exterior. From my Film Festival thread: For those who don't know, TCL, a Chinese television manufacturing company, has the branding rights to Grauman's for five years. They are working with the owners of the theater to install an Imax screen. The changes to the interior are supposed to be minimal with the loss of the stairs that lead down into the theater. They will relight some of the interior lighting that hasn't been lit in over seventy years. They are keeping the projection booth and the projection equipment as well. To see what the changes will look like: http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/04/see_the_changes_coming_soon_to_the_tcl_chinese_theatre.php Hollywood Heritage is the preservation group that fought the destruction of Grauman's fifteen years ago when the Hollywood and Highland complex was being built. They are also the group responsible for Hollywood and Highland completely restoring not only the interior of the theater but the facade and forecourt. So, it sounds like Hollywood Heritage has its eye on the project and won't let TCL or the current owners destroy anything. http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=169137&tstart=0 From just about 90 days ago: Here's the scoop on the makeover that Grauman's went through. Sounds like everything we love about the theater is intact, including the curtain. The big change besides the IMAX screen is the slope of the theater and the stadium seating. The slope of the theater prior to the makeover was not the original slope so they didn't destroy anything. It sounds like they took pains to make the stadium seating fit in with the decor and it sounds much more comfortable. http://variety.com/2013/film/news/chinese-theater-renovation-unveiled-1200605396/ And from Oct. 6th: I have heard reports back from people who have seen Grauman's interior and they report that the interior looks almost the same (though new seats, new screen, new sound system and new slope) and in some ways, improved. Seems they put LED lighting in the ceiling and that helps bring out some of the details that have been hiding in the shadows. All in all, I think the majority of Festival goers will be very pleased with the job done. Here is a YouTube video that shows in time lapse the work that was done on the theater including changing the slope (which I repeat was not original) and the chairs (also not original). In the video, you can see that the bulbs in the chandelier were replaced with LEDs which actually improves the lighting and helps show off the ceiling more than before. Because of the number of hand and foot prints that have been done for the forecourt, not all are on display. Many are in storage. Some get rotated out due to their age and the need for preservation work on them. Some of them have disappeared over the years. Others, like the ones for Mary Pickford and Doug Fairbanks, Sr have been returned. LiveAuctioneers sold the Marilyn Monroe hand and foot prints and in the catalog it says the source for the item is a former employee of the theater and not the original hand and foot prints but a slab that she was allowed to practice on prior to the ceremony with Jane Russell. Monroe was described as nervous and didn't want to make a mistake in front of the whole world. Grauman's still has the real ones. It also notes that Joan Crawford was also allowed a practice run prior to her ceremony and that her estate sold the practice run slab a few years ago. I can find no record of Bogie's being for sale but did find this article from the summer and Bogie's hands and feet are still enshrined in the forecourt along with Myrna Loy's and many others. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10166991/How-long-will-film-stars-shine.html As for Gene Kelly, I couldn't find any info regarding his slab being for sale. The owners of the Chinese are not in the habit of auctioning off the ones in storage. Nor could I find any info on the auction of the wax figures. As for the fixtures, I couldn't find anything in the current Profiles in History catalog about the fixtures. The light bulbs in the chandelier, as I noted, were replaced. If there are other fixtures, they may be from the original restoration of the theater almost 20 years ago ( that I talk about in posts above) when Hollywood Heritage oversaw the restoration of the theater back to more of what it looked like when it originally opened. Many fixtures were added over the years and those were removed in that restoration as they were not original to the theater. It is not inconceivable that some of those fixtures found their way into private hands and may be the source for the auction items. But, Grauman's theater still looks very much like it did last April during the Festival. It still has its red curtain, still has its interior. The three changes are the new seats and slope, the new sound system and the new IMAX screen. Here are some other reports: http://cinemagumbo.squarespace.com/journal/2013/10/1/graumans-chinese-theater-the-renovation.html http://blogs.laweekly.com/arts/2013/09/chinese_theatre_tlc_imax.php http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/09/see_all_the_lovely_renovations_at_the_imaxready_chinese_theatre.php Hope this helps put your mind at ease a tad!

>If changes need to be made, OK. But PLEASE, NO COMMERCIALS!! >Say it ain't so, TCM!! Baker, It ain't so. The OP who posted that was conjecturing about the future. And that conjecture flies in the face of what TCM's own Charles Tabesh has repeatedly said about the subject: "When AMC went commercial many years ago, the cable affiliates freaked out, because they were getting a lot of complaints from subscribers and they wanted to make sure that TCM never added commercials. And we?ve never have plans to add commercials. I think it?s actually written into some of our affiliate agreements.? Oh, and TCM doesn't chase ratings, as FXRey pointed out and Tabesh confirms. ?Zero. We don?t get ratings. We?re not even allowed to get ratings,? Nor is TCM chasing the so-called "younger crowd" in hopes of improving their standing. They are already in over 85 million homes. ?There?s no specific agenda or intent to bring in newer movies,? Tabesh said. ?It happens naturally some times, as we program thematically and we want to go in depth with whatever theme, whatever star we?re looking at. And sometimes that context leads us to newer movies.? Nor is the major demographic of the channel the post-55 AARP crowd: "I don?t want to say it was a surprise,? he said (TCM GM Jeff Gregor, by the way). ?But two-thirds of our audience is 18-54." Richard Steiner also offered some perspectives on the digital audience, which he said was larger and younger than some people might think. You can read all about here: http://willmckinley.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/10-things-i-learned-at-the-tcm-classic-film-festival/

>There was an interesting book, the name of which escapes me at the moment, that discussed in detail all of the Best Pictiure nominees from that year, THE GRADUATE, BONNIE AND CLYDE, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER, and DOCTOR DOOLITTLE. It's *Pictures At A Revolution* by Mark Harris. He was a guest with Robert O after the book came out and presented most of the movies he wrote about. I don't remember if *Dr. Dolittle* was shown that night or not. And the Academy changed the rules about the fancy studio sponsored dinners for films either being considered or vying for Academy Awards.

>Now we've got two of us mentioning two different studios having control, which leaves another conundrum I Not really. Paramount acquired Republic and its film library in the late 1990s. (Remember, Viacom owns Paramount). Here is the Wiki information: "In 1993 Republic won a landmark legal decision reactivating the copyright on Frank Capra's 1946 RKO film It's a Wonderful Life (under NTA, they had already acquired the film's negative, music score, and the story on which it was based, "The Greatest Gift")." "On April 27, 1994, Spelling Entertainment (headed by Aaron Spelling) acquired Republic Pictures. Soon after, Spelling consolidated its many divisions, reducing Republic Pictures to a marketing brand-name. Republic's video division shut down in 1995, allowing the video rights to the Republic library to be leased to Artisan Entertainment, while the library itself continued to be released under the Republic name and logo. *By the end of the decade, Viacom bought the portion of Spelling it did not own previously; thus Republic became a wholly owned division of Paramount*. Artisan (later sold to Lionsgate Home Entertainment) continued to use the Republic name, logo and library under license from Paramount. Republic Pictures' holdings consist of a catalog of 3,000 films and TV series, including the original Republic library (except for the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry catalogs, owned by their respective estates) and inherited properties from NTA and Aaron Spelling."

Kid, *It's a Wonderful Life* is back under copyright and has been for about ten years. Paramount holds the copyright and they are threatening legal action if the filmmakers go through with the film. The filmmakers thought the film was in the public domain but they were wrong. Since they don't hold the copyright to the film or the characters, the sequel isn't looking anything like a sure deal right now. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/a-wonderful-life-sequel-paramount-658508

>I never heard of this turkey until it turned up on TCM. It is not a classic film. It is not famous. It is never requested. FredC, I beg to differ as I think many others would. Just because you have never heard of *The Leopard* until yesterday doesn't mean that no one else has. Many people who love film just as much as you consider this film a classic and an important film in Burt Lancaster's filmography. According to various accounts, it was an important film to Lancaster as well. And it was shown as part of his SOTM. So, are you saying that only films you consider classic should be shown on TCM and any time TCM honors Stars of the Month it should only show films of theirs that meet the FredCDobbs classic criteria? The last time I looked it wasn't the FredCDobbs channel. I understand that you only want TCM to show films you like but it also helps to understand that other people watch TCM for reasons different from yours. That doesn't make them wrong in their likes and dislikes, it just makes it different from yours.

In remembrance of Kyle this holiday: Wish you were here to celebrate with us, Chief.