lzcutter

If you mean "Being but Men" the piece in the promo narrated by Morgan Freeman, the poem is by Dylan Thomas: Afraid, letting our syllables be soft For fear of waking the rooks, For fear of coming Noiselessly into a world of wings and cries. If we were children we might climb, Catch the rooks sleeping, and break no twig, And, afert the soft ascent, Thrust out our heads above the branches To wonder at the unfailing stars. Out of confusion, as the way is, And the wonder, that man knows, Out of the chaos would come bliss. That, then, is loveliness, we said, Children in wonder watching the stars, Is the aim and the end. Being but men, we walked into the trees.

fxreyman, I have long contended that were it not for WW2 and his participation, Ford could not have made The Searchers the film that it was.

Painta, It is not a new promo by TCM. This is one of their traditional holiday promos that they run this time of year. I think the promo has been a staple at TCM going on four years now. The poem is by Dylan Thomas, "Being but Men: Being but men, we walked into the trees Afraid, letting our syllables be soft For fear of waking the rooks, For fear of coming Noiselessly into a world of wings and cries. If we were children we might climb, Catch the rooks sleeping, and break no twig, And, afert the soft ascent, Thrust out our heads above the branches To wonder at the unfailing stars. Out of confusion, as the way is, And the wonder, that man knows, Out of the chaos would come bliss. That, then, is loveliness, we said, Children in wonder watching the stars, Is the aim and the end. Being but men, we walked into the trees. Since TCM has redone their media room, I don't know if the promo is available online. Perhaps Kyle does?

I caught this one last night on TCM and it had been years. I marveled at how in the beginning Ford and the cinematographer went to great lengths to make Fonda resemble photos of Lincoln, down to the shadows around his eyes. Also, it looked like Fonda likely had a false nose to look more like Abe. At one point in the courtroom scenes I realized that the furniture was all off scale to make Fonda seem taller. Plus the ill-fitting clothes helped Fonda to appear taller and more gangly than he was. I also noted that every Ford film seems to have an orator who goes to great lengths to show us how educated an speaker he is all the while sounding like a windbag. But mostly, I loved the music, Ann's theme, that Ford re-used in Liberty Valance. The music here is used to highlight the deep, abiding love that Lincoln had for his lost love, Ann Rutledge. If Ford had made a sequel, Lincoln would marry Mary Todd but would always be haunted by his lost love. Ford uses it again as the Cactus Rose theme in Liberty Valance, playing usually over scenes that center around Tom and Hallie. Two different movies bound together by a musical theme that tells us something about the two similar couples in each film. _________________

I'm at a loss as to how anyone could think Ford was phoning this one in. My Darling Clementine is Ford, perhaps, at his most lyrical. The cinematography in this film is just wonderful and it is easily one of the best shot films of all time. The sparse landscape with the sun filtering through, the use of light and shadow to help tell the story, the acting by Fonda and Mature are all worth noting. While the historical facts may not be accurate (this is, of course, directed by the man who often challenged us to think about myth vs fact), that cannot be laid entirely at Ford's feet. He did not write the script. Plus as noted by MissG, it is the not the story of Earp or Holliday or the OK Corral gunfight. It is the story of men, family and a society on the edge of the frontier and the choices those that live there make and the consequences of those decisions. From the beginning, Ford is telling you it is not a historical drama as the film was shot in Monument Valley and Tombstone is not on the edge of Monument Valley and, in fact, no where near Monument Valley. As for the commentary by Robert O at the end, as has been noted here before, the researchers who either write his copy or supply him with the facts sometimes do a slipshod job and get the info wrong. But that does not take away from the beauty and the lyricism that is My Darling Clementine.

Kim, The one good thing to come out of the merger is that the Film Library is now under the care of Warner Brothers where the post-1948 films have been reunited with the pre-1948 WBros films. Also, since the Film Library is under the care of Warners, they have been able to release them on DVD and in boxed sets. WBros George Feltenstein (among others) seems to understand the importance not only of restoration and preservation but of making the films available to the public. As for why Ted included the films in the merger, I don't know the answer to that one. But as we have seen, TCM has worked hard the last few years to expand their broadcasting titles beyond the original library titles. TCM broadcasts 24/7. If we stop and think about just how many hours a week or a month (not to say a year) that is, they need access to as many films as their budget will allow. Fox Movie Channel, on the other hand, repeats the same films throughout the day. TCMProgrammr has written here that they are pursuing long term agreements with Sony (the owner of the Columbia library) and Paramount. He has also posted about the fact that they have to rent every film they show. They have an agreement with WBros for the original Turner Library but the agreement does not allow them to rent the films for free. I believe TCMProgrammr when he says that TCM has no plans to start going with commercials. They went digital because of the mandate from Congress requiring all channels to be digital by February, 2009 and because one of these days high definition television will be the broadcast standard.

Also with 150,000 movies in the library there is no reason to show the same ones as often as you do.>> Maryj, TCM does not own its film library. At one time, they owned the Turner Film Library which included all RKO, all pre-1986 MGM films and pre-1949 Warner Bros films. However, that library became the property of Time Warner when Ted Turner merged his company into theirs at the turn of the century. Since then, TCM has to rent every film it shows. So, consequently, they do not have access to that mythical 150,000 film library. I suspect you might have fallen into that trap that many do when reading the database. Just because a film is in the database does not mean that it is owned by TCM or that TCM even has access to it. The database here strives to be a comprehensive database of films from all studios and countries.

Ayres, It is great to see you around here again! I thought that many of the guest programmers last month loved movies. Whoppi Goldberg, Alex Baldwin, Harvey Fierstein and some others seemed to love the old films as much as us. I agree that TCM should use many of the posters here for the on-air promotion and as Guest Programmers. People that love movies are often very passionate and that can interest others as well. Any time we see someone who is passionate about something we may not know much about or have much awareness about, it usually sparks our interest. Hope TCM is listening!

Moviebuffer, The posters (Movieman1957, Filmlover and Kyle) are long-time posters on this board and all have reputations of being fair minded, knowledgeable and likeable posters. They were merely standing up for the TCM Challenge and those that take the time to participate in the Challenge. As stated earlier, the Challenge was created over two years ago by a now-gone original poster, Path40a,and has evolved into a well-known and anticipated thread. Those who participate look forward to the chance to create new schedules. Creating these schedules take a great deal of creative thinking and some real elbow grease and no one enters into it lightly. The rules of the Challenge have become a tradition and are there to make the programming that goes into the Challenge as realistic as possible. The Challenge was created and started to give an idea of what goes into actually programming for the Channel. The parameters of the Challenge are there to mirror the parameters the real programmers use. The Challenge does give its participants a bit more lee-way than our real-life counterparts have but the basic rules are the same. Suffice it so say, most people who participate come away with a much better understanding of programming for the channel. They also come away usually looking forward to next one. Many of the films and themes used in the various Challenges have been used by our real-life counterparts and many of us take that as a compliment. It was gently suggested that instead of trying to change the rules of the Challenge (especially with one currently under way) that Hawkraven's idea would be better served in the Trivia forum. I doubt that any of the posters to this thread are happy not only that he left but that he felt the need to call them names before announcing that he was taking a leave of absence. I look forward to the latest Challenge ending this Sunday and wish you all the best with your schedule!

I have loved William Wellman and his movies since seeing the initial release of "Men Who Made the Movies" and the segment devoted to him back in the mid-1970s. It was a pleasure to see it again last night and the first night of films was great. Loved listening to Bill, Jr talk about his dad. The last time I saw Bill, Jr at a screening of The High and the Mighty last spring he had a thick head of that famous Wellman hair and bore a striking resemblance to his father. Looking forward to next week's offerings. In the meantime, I can't be the only one who enjoyed the evening, can I?

Silverkid, M, Metropolis and Intolerance have all been broadcast in the last few years on TCM. Napoleon, I'm not sure about because with its tridych panels at the end, it loses some of its impact on the smaller screen. Plus, TCM does show other Griffith and Lange films.

Here's the NYTimes weighing in on the box set: http://tinyurl.com/2ava9n The LATimes and the The Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ae/articles/1202ford1202.html DVDBeaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews5/ironhorse.htm The TCM Press Release: http://tinyurl.com/yoky9u

Longsi, Last year TCM was able to get White Christmas after many years of trying. Alas, it was only a one year (or less) lease. Chances are TCM would have preferred a multi-year lease because many of the posters here had been clamoring for years for the film to be shown, but TCM was likely at the mercy of Paramount (the film's owner) and Paramount dictated the terms and conditions of the contract. As for his specials, TCM does not show television specials as its focus is feature films. I believe Bing has been the Star of the Month in the last three years. Message was edited by: lzcutter

Patful, Listen carefully, can you hear the crowd cheering?? Hope so! Also, all of us in the peanut gallery are cheering you as well for joining us in our reindeer games. I'll overlook that jab at Westerns..... You really should watch Dodsworth one of these days. I think you'd like it. Congrats on jumping into the deep end!

TCM has no control over which tier it is in or which channel it is on or which package it is tied in with. That is under the control of the cable company. As for going digital, TCM has no choice. It is mandated by Congress that by 2009, all channels will be digital. For those with televisions without a digital input, they will have to get a digital box in order to receive the television signals. The old analog bandwiths were getting too crowded with channels and there is a need for that bandwith to be used by emergency services. The federal government handed down this mandate, not the networks. As for the bug and bootlegging, Ebay is awash in DVDs of titles, especially the rare ones, that were recorded right off of TCM. Each time a film is bootlegged for the purpose of selling them on the secondary market, it hurts the overall sale of legit released studio era classics. The bug during a broadcast doesn't bug me and doesn't take away from the enjoyment of watching the film. If the bug helps curtail the bootleg market, in the minds of the studios, that's okay with me. I would rather TCM had access to the rare titles and continued to broadcast them instead of the studios refusing to lease them lest they be bootlegged.

According to IMDB, it is part of the "Bringing Up Baby" Two Disc Special Edition.

It may be part of the Cary Grant box set. If not, it shows frequently on TCM.

I think the documentary you are looking for which has aired on TCM a few times is called: Cary Grant: A Class Apart. It was released in 2004.

Chip and Patful, Thanks for the kind words. I do appreciate them. Patful, I am looking forward to your posting of your schedule. You wouldn't let a girl down would you?

"It's an insult that they never even got nominated. It is so dumb of the Oscars. After finding all this out I have lost all respect for the Oscars. The Oscars are a joke and a sham.">> Okay, time out. I'm not saying the Oscar voters got it right (or even close to right) every year but before we continue to dis them a bit of history might be in order. Looking back at who got overlooked and who got snubbed is great Monday morning quarterbacking. We tend to forget that many of the movies we now consider to be classics were box office duds and many of the performances we consider great were initially panned by the critics and avoided by movie goers. Many of these now classic films would have never had their reputations rehabbed had it not been for a renaissance of interest in them in them in the 1960s and early 1970s. Because of that interest, they flourished on the revival house circuit which brought them back to the big screen in many cities and audiences had the chance to re-evaluate them. Add to that television documentaries such as "Hollywood" and "Men Who Made the Movies" and "Life Goes to the Movies" all served to expose a new generation to the glories of these films. In addition, the Oscars have never been chosen in a vacuum devoid of influence or money. The reality is that in the classic era the studios had the say in who got nominated and they threw their weight and influence behind who they thought should win. This phenom didn't start with Harvey Weinstein. It started with the moguls and their PR machines along time ago. We are just more aware of it today because we as a society have grown up and are more aware of it. Plus today we have E!, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Hollywood and a myraid of silly shows that focus on the marketing of films than ever before. But we continue to watch those shows so that in the end probably says a great deal about us (the universal us) as much as it says about the Weinsteins. Some years Oscar voters get it right and some years they seem hopelessly out of touch. But that's the glory of the Oscars. How many times have you watched a film and thought "well, that was hard to watch" only to rediscover it years later with some life experience under your belt and say "wow, that really is a good movie". The Oscars are never about the best performances and the best pictures. Look at them as moments captured each year in the history of film and what the winners say about not only Hollywood, the making of movies and us as a society. Because the Oscars have tended to reflect that more than anything else these almost last 80 years.

Wouldn't it be great to have TCM clean up the mess and premiere the "definitive" restored versions? We're not talking about forgotten movies...we're talking about "34th Street.">> You have an admirable idea. The problem though is that neither "34th Street" or "Wonderful Life" is owned by TCM. "34th Street" is owned by Fox which has its classic movie channel and while it has shown itself open to doing cross promotion with TCM next month for the eagerly anticipated "Ford at Fox" box set, because Fox owns the rights to "34th Street", they would be the ones to undertake the restoration. As for "Wonderful Life", it is a Liberty Films release which is now under the jurisdiction of Paramount. I recall a post from Cinesage, Jr last year where he stated that the Liberty Films were now under the care of Lionsgate Film. But because the search feature only works sporadically here, I can't find the post. As for the restored version of "Star is Born" that was spearheaded by Ron Haver of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He was the film programmer there back in the 1980s and convinced Warners and the AFI to underwrite the restoration of the film as a tribute to George Cukor. Cukor died the night before he was to see the restored version.

Dprzy, what details are you looking for? The name of the poem? The author? When it was produced?

One of the things I love about TCM this time of year is the promos. I have loved the "Woods" promo with Morgan Freeman's dulcet tones from the first time it aired a few years ago. Each year, TCM creates a Happy Holidays promo. Last year's was set to a Julie London Christmas song. This year's combines the choregraphy of Busby Berkeley with the winsome teens from what looks like the campus of the Classic Cinema College (LOL). A great job TCM promo department!

We have been with Netflicks for over five years now and haven't had a problem with them shipping new discs. As of last week, we entered the holiday mailing period (usually starts the Monday before Thanksgiving and lasts until Christmas) where everything takes longer to get where it is going. Perhaps that contributed to your delay?

Here's another thread started a few months ago that also talks about the remake. The thing to keep in mind is that the Writers Strike is causing many films to be pulled from production schedules and there is no guarantee that once the Strike is over that those films will go back into production. Add to the mix that the Screen Actors Guild's contract expires next June and they are looking for the same provisions regarding new media that the Writers are. If the Writers don't settle soon, it could be a long strike with the Actors joining them in late Spring. http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=112983&start=0&tstart=0