lzcutter

Hey, maybe someone else can get a shot here. Whew!>> CineMaven, I have a hard time believing you don't have a list of defining moments that is different from mine. I went for the historical view. But there are other points of view to take as well! Sorry for barging in. There are so few threads these days that are engaging, I was just enjoying the moment!

Big Hand for a Little Lady

The John Wayne/John Ford Film Collection may be the next box set I get.>> Kyle, This might be another one to consider. It comes with the great PBS documentary from two years ago.

Kyle, You know me and John Ford and I know you and Ford. If Ford at Fox, the complete set, is too much, I would recommend his American Comedies set: From Movies Unlimited: Will Rogers stars as "Doctor Bull" (1933), a country physician who must rise above the small-town gossip surrounding his relationship with a local widow when he tries to quell a typhoid outbreak. With Vera Allen, Marian Nixon. Then, perhaps the best film example of Rogers' down-home wit was "Judge Priest" (1934), an early comedy-drama from John Ford. Rogers plays a small-town judge whose unconventional but sound policies endear him to his constituents. Tom Brown, Anita Louise, Hattie McDaniel, and Stepin Fetchit also star. Four-disc set also includes "Up the River," "Steamboat 'Round the Bend," "When Willie Comes Marching Home," and "What Price Glory?" 8 2/3 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Spanish; deleted scenes; featurettes; photo gallery; theatrical trailers; audio commentary. These rarely show up on TCM.

The Great Train Robbery Birth of a Nation The Iron Horse The Jazz Singer the birth of the talking picture Broadway Melody of 1929 the birth of the musical 42nd Street the evolution of the musical Scarface and The Public Enemy ripped from the headlines story-telling Becky Sharp Glorious 3-Stripe Technicolor Gone With the Wind epic filmmaking from a best seller Stagecoach the western evolves Stranger on the Third Floor the introduction of film noir Sunset Blvd the return of Gloria Swanson The Robe Cinemascope Rebel Without a Cause Teenagers in trouble The Wild One Brando Streetcar Named Desire Sexual themes explored Winchester '73 Jimmy Stewart's deal transforms deal-making in Hollywood Spartacus Kirk Douglas breaks the Blacklist by listing Dalton Trumbo in the credits Dr Strangelove The Cold War played for laughs Easy Rider The counter-culture arrives Star Wars and Jaws The blockbuster arrives There's more but I have to give it more thought. Message was edited by: lzcutter

I see that SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is coming up this month; it'll be my first viewing.>> BG, Enjoy it!! It is a wonderful film and beautifully shot in technicolor. Ben Johnson is a treat for the eyes as well.

Another week is beginning, so if you haven't committed to the latest TCM Challenge, now is the time. This is a wonderful way to get a feel for the creativity that goes into the actual programming of the channel. Also, TCMProgrammr follows these Challenges and has used ideas from past Challenges in the day-to-day programming of the Challenge. We have had one schedule posted so far. No matter if you are a previous Challenger or a newbie, the rules are listed on the first post of this thread. So Come On In and Join the Fun!

Jeffrey, Who knows the working minds of Paramount Home Video? I certainly don't. I'd be willing to bet that TCM requested the restored version and Paramount may have indicated early on that they would provide that print. However, for whatever reason, Paramount shipped the old release. Why they did this is a mystery. They had a chance to publicize the restoration and perhaps get fans excited if the film was finally coming to DVD. Perhaps they were worried about piracy issues and didn't want DV-Rs across the country burning copies to sell on Ebay? This being Paramount I doubt they thought that deeply but you never know. Perhaps the restored version was not yet on a digital format and Paramount decided that instead of spending the money for the transfer to send the old copy instead. Which given Paramount's track record may have a grain of truth in it. As I said, who knows how the minds at Paramount Home Video work? Volumes have been written on these forums about their inability to capitalize on and promote their silent film library. If we are going to be mad at anyone, it should be at Paramount. To continue to sit on the restored version and not offer to the public is a shame. Message was edited by: lzcutter

Given that it's Disney and Disney always goes to great lengths to protect its image, I'm betting that they will provide TCM with a print that is devoid of racy content. This is after all the company that recalled The Little Mermaid because the cover art for the VHS had a castle tower that looked too phallic. It will all depend on the print provided by Disney. So, if it is not the so-called uncut version you are hoping for, your gripe would be with Disney, not TCM.

Drednm, Paramount supplied the copy of Wings that was broadcast. TCMProgrammr said that they hoped it would be the restored version with the Carl Davis score but that was not what Paramount supplied.

Or as Chico would say: The Sanity Clause.

Terry, Very good points. I only responded to the original poster because she read the article that talkietime had posted and gleaned from that article the misinformation that TCM had recently been acquired by Time Warner and even more inaccurately, that Time Warner was going to sell TCM off to the highest bidder. I didn't want those two pieces of info to be taken as fact and used to start more panic and distrust around here. Every year we have this same argument about the future of TCM and every year nothing ever gets resolved except that the argument tends to go on and on and on.

Prince, You are going to love March and April for their pre-code selections. BTW, you might want to double check your post. It seems rather contradictory as written right now.

As this week is slowly coming to an end, I wanted to remind everyone that it's not too late to join the Challenge. Remember, TCMProgrammr reads these threads and has used the ideas in past Challenge schedules as part of the programming. Here's your chance to be heard!

It was not reassuring to me to learn that TCM is owned by a conglomerate that wants to spin it off>> Thelma, Time Warner has owned TCM for over ten years now. As for spinning it off, the article does not say that is even a possibility. It talks about selling Time Warner Cable which has no connection to TCM. Time Warner Cable is a national cable provider. There are numerous posts here from TCMProgrammr, who is a programmer for the channel. He has assured over the last few years that TCM has no plans to go the way of AMC, has no plans for commercials and has no plans for becoming a completely different channel. You can find those posts using the search function and they might help allay your fears. TCM went on the air in 1994 with the mission statement of "showing the classic films from the 1920s to the 1980s". When it celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2004, it updated its mission statement to include the 1990s. Concerns are always high this time of year with more contemporary films being on the schedule but it is, as someone noted, the "31 Days of Oscar". This is TCM's yearly salute to the films that were nominated and the winners of the last 80 years of Oscar history. TCM has always had promos selling movie related items such as DVDs, books, calendars and such. It is a small price to pay if it keeps other advertising off of TCM.

Metz, Is this the thread you are looking for? http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=122649&tstart=0 It's in the Trivia forum.

Could I actually like John Ford? Am I that foolish?>> Frank, We should all be that foolish. "Lest we forget"

Frank, Thanks, as always, for the many compliments. As for the 'better angels of our nature' well Lincoln said it first but I still find TKAM speaks to those angels. But an erudite soul like you knew that I'm sure. You really should watch more Ford films. You might actually learn to like Pappy. If not, you'd at least get to enjoy some wonderful films. As for Gone With the Wind, while my mom and I shared many an animated classic together when I was a toddler, GWTW was my first adult film that we saw togeter when I was either 10 or 11. A few years later, we would go to see The Godfather together. So, perhaps,. I suspect that GWTW is more about the memory of time spent with mom (who is still with us) than anything else. Message was edited by: lzcutter

True. He lost to Ben Kingsley>> And many of us are still scratching our heads about that one. But Oscar loves bio-pics and Oscar loves British accents more than, it seems, actors, playing alcoholic lawyers, who give the performance of their lives.

Five Most Important Films to Me: 1) To Kill a Mockingbird: The most vivid childhood memory of a film that I have. The issues that the film confronts have stayed with me for over forty years and in the end, speak to the better angels of our nature. 2) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Ford reminds us all of the price that is often paid by both sides when legend becomes fact. 3) Casablanca: It may not amount to a hill of beans but one of the finest love stories ever crafted. 4) The Searchers: The dark side of the winning of the American West. 5) The Iron Horse: Ford tackled the western in this silent epic and in doing so, cinematically wrote the language for this genre and then using that language, helped the genre to mature and find its voice. Honorable mention: Cinema Paradiso: Rarely has a film so exquistely captured what it means to love the movies. Films I've watched th most: the ones above plus "Singin' in the Rain", She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, LA Confidential, The Godfather, Gone with the Wind. Most important film I haven't seen: The Covered Wagon

Yes, I still go to the movies because there are movies that really need to be seen on the big screen to be fully appreciated. Luckily, I live in a city where we have a moive theater that caters to the movie-goer and film buff.

El Cid has recently been restored and I am hoping and praying that it comes to TCM. It is a really wonderful film.

"All the President's Men" is one of my faves along with "Dave".

KPR, I am a big John Ford fan so that probably skews my view but of those in the box set these are the ones closest to my heart: The Iron Horse Here Ford tackles the western and in doing so, sets the stage for the western to mature as a genre over the next sixty years with Ford at the helm of many of the best the genre would have to offer. Four Sons Pilgrimage Drums Along the Mohawk The Grapes of Wrath: Great performances and great cinematography. How Green Was My Valley: With Ford it's about ritual in the military, societal and family.. This film brims with family ritual. Honorary mention: My Darlin' Clementine: Again good performances and great cinematography. Steamboat 'Round the Bend

Kim, If you liked this one, I would also recommend another Lincoln film, "Young Mr Lincoln" starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford. It was shown on TCM during Ford at Fox back in December but if you have the Ford at Fox box set (which I think you mentioned that you do) it is part of that collection as well.