lzcutter
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Posts posted by lzcutter
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There are three Harold Lloyd films tonight- *Number, Please*, *Never Weaken* and *A Sailor Made Man*
*Umberto D* is the TCM Imports tonight following the Lloyd films.
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Be sure to add an ! at the head before the h in http and another ! at the end immediately following the g in jpg.
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> perhaps Chaplin held his work too close to the vest, but what about Harold Lloyd (who would later work with Sturges), Buster Keaton or some Mack Sennett shorts?
Chaplin and to a lesser extent Lloyd were very protective of their films and copyrights.
By the 1940s, Hollywood wasn't in a mood to look back at its roots and highlight silent comedies. Silents were the past and Hollywood in the 1940s probably preferred to stay in the modern era of sound than silents.
One reason I think they went with a Disney cartoon is that RKO was the studio that released Disney's cartoons and they were probably easier to deal with than Warner Brothers when it came to rights.
Plus, Disney cartoons were incredibly popular even if they didn't feature Mickey. Pluto was a very popular cartoon character having been introduced ten years earlier in *The Picnic*.
Plus, audiences were treated to cartoons along with a newsreel prior to the main feature back then and while they may not have been as sophisticated as we like to think we are these days, they did enjoy laughing at the antics of their cartoon favorites.
Today, most of us prefer the anarchy of Bugs and company but back then we shouldn't underestimate the love people had for the cartoon characters of the Disney stable.
Considering the times they were living through, cartoons were often a bright spot.
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> For all the B-Movie series fans...looks like TCM is having a George Sanders marathon Tuesday July 3, including 3 Saint movies and 3 Falcon movies, woo hoo!
Stargazing,
Bad news, the George Sanders marathon was bumped to pay tribute to Ann Rutherford who died a few weeks ago.
Hopefully, the Sanders films will be rescheduled.
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> it was a damn fight everywhere I was, every place I worked, in New York, in Hollywood, all over the world.
Joe,
She was one of the first performers to break the color line on the Las Vegas Strip. Jack Entratter, who ran the Sands Hotel, had booked Lena for the hotel's famed Copa showroom and instead of staying in the trailer in the back of the hotel (where African-American performers like Nat King Cole usually stayed when they played the hotel), Entratter insisted this time that Horne stay in the hotel.
Old-timers in Las Vegas say that the policy wasn't officially changed at the hotel until Frank Sinatra, who was a good friend of Entratter's from their days in New York when Entratter ran the Copacabana nightclub, insisted on the policy change when Sammy Davis, Jr played the hotel.
It's great to have you back, by the way. It's just not the same if we can't start the day with this thread!
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> followed by a noir with my main man Edmond O'Brien, 711 OCEAN DRIVE (1950)!!!
Mark,
*711 Ocean Drive* is a nifty little film. The filmmakers were able to actually film at Hoover Dam and the government allowed them to shoot interiors of the Dam as well.
Shooting interiors isn't allowed very often and usually filmmakers had to fake the interiors on soundstages. Not this time! The only other time I can think of was an old episode of the *Rockford Files* but there may be a couple of other examples.
Hoover Dam was renamed Boulder Dam during the Roosevelt administration. After Roosevelt died, Congress passed a resolution restoring the name Hoover Dam. Growing up in Las Vegas, we just called it the Dam.
There's also some nifty scenes shot in Palm Springs that are always fun to see.
*711* is one of my fave Edmund O'Brien films!
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> Are you saying that people write letters to TCM asking TCM to "Please show us some BAD ITALIAN SCI-FI FILMS"?
There are posters on this very board that enjoyed those films (they have even posted thanking TCM) so despite the fact that you may not have liked them, those films do have their fans.
Should TCM ignore those fans because some here don't like those films?
I don't think so but then, as always, your mileage may vary.
Edited by: lzcutter to pose a better question perhaps
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> Are you saying that people write letters to TCM asking TCM to "Please show us some BAD ITALIAN SCI-FI FILMS"?
There are posters on this very board that enjoyed those films (they have even posted thanking TCM) so despite the fact that you may not have liked them, those films do have their fans.
Should TCM ignore those fans because some here don't like those films?
I don't think so but then, as always, your mileage may vary.
Edited by: lzcutter so the duplicate posts match
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> Do you think TCM should show really bad Italian sci-fi films from the 1960s, films that no one here ever requests?
FredC,
We are a very small sampling of the overall number of fans who watch the channel. On any given day, there are less than 100 fans posting here and usually fewer than 50 posters who come back on a daily basis. Just because we hang out here does not mean we are the only fans of the channel that TCM listens to. People write to TCM via snail mail, via email, they use the channel's Facebook pages, the Twitter account and the CFU to reach out to the channel.
You know me well enough by now, that you should know that I don't have a problem with TCM showing Italian sci-fi films or even Italian dramatic films and comedy films. I also don't have a problem with TCM showing films from other countries and other genres. I may not like all those films but that's okay.
Why? Because I don't expect TCM to program 24/7 to only fit my needs and likes. I have no problem with them showing films that I may not like or even want to watch because I am not the only viewer that matters.
There is no one size fits all TCM fan who is more important than all others.
Despite all our differences in the types of films we like and watch, *we all matter to TCM and that's what matters most.*
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> I wish everyone would realize that they aren't going to like every movie TCM shows and stop complaining.
bundi,
Amen. This topic is as old as these message boards. It used to pop up periodically through out the year and then went to popping up quarterly, then a few years ago it moved to popping up about every other month. Then it seemed like for some part of the year, it came up every month.
Now, it has moved, in some form or another, to popping up almost every other week.
People have been swearing that TCM is turning into AMC from the moment that AMC officially went to the dark side. There is one poster here (not FredCDobbs) who has been saying that since 2005 when she posted here another name.
In all those years, TCM has shown no signs of following AMC's footsteps. They won the battle with AMC so why would they want to change direction and become AMC II?
TCM staff have posted here that there are no plans for TCM to start airing commercials and abandon showing classic films. They have stated the same at the Film Festivals, the Cruise and in interviews. From the executive suites to the staffers, they all value not only the channel but how passionate their fan base is. But even they are baffled by the constant criticism this topic boils over with.
Yet, the idea still persists here that unless we hold TCM accountable by coming here and posting every time the channel shows or does something we don't like, they will magically turn into AMC right before our eyes.
The channel is two years shy of celebrating 20 years on the air, these message boards have been around for over a decade and the majority of old-timers who still post here have been doing so for over 7 years.
In all that time, despite all the chest beating, all the complaining and the wailing that it is only a matter of time before TCM becomes AMC, the channel is still doing what they were doing when they went on the air in April, 1994: showing silents, showing a majority of studio era films, showing a smattering of modern films, still showing original documentaries and doing it all uncut and commercial free.
And I suspect that when we are all celebrating 20 years of TCM in 2014, they still will be.
But by then, if this trend keeps up, we will probably be dealing with new threads on this topic on a daily basis.
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> but mainly because Gloria's friends remarked to me about their frustration with Universal and Columbia as well as TCM over the lack of availability of Gloria's work.
There's not much TCM can do about the availability of Gloria Jean's work. That responsibility belongs to the studio(s) that own the films that Gloria Jean made.
TCM has to rent all the films it airs and in order to air a film on TCM, it has to be in a digital format.
Universal is notorious for dragging their heels on digitizing their film library (much to the dismay of fans of Universal and Paramount classic films).
Columbia's film library is now owned by Sony and Sony has been working on digitizing the films in their film library but the economic downturn that began a few years ago, slowed not only Sony's efforts but other studios as well.
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Roy,
I love Ward Bond as an actor but based on what I've read about him over the years, as a person, he is not one I would have liked to have hung out with.
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> Do these stars get a personal request from RO, or jst a request from TCM executives to sit down with RO?
It probably depends upon the star. Many are good friends with Robert O and still turn TCM down.
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Ginnyfan,
The problem is often two-fold for TCM. Many stars from the classic era just don't want to participate in interviews, they prefer to let their work speak for them and are comfortably enjoying their retirement. Stars that fall into this category include Maureen O'Hara, Lizabeth Scott, Vera Miles and many others.
The Turner Archive Project which was started by Roger Mayer and George Feltenstein when both were part of Turner Entertainment back in the late 1980s/early 1990s has done film/video interviews of classic era veterans both in front and behind the camera. Since Turner Entertainment's merger with Time-Warner, the Archive Project is now part of Warner Home Video where Feltenstein works and they are still doing interviews every year.
It's my understanding that copies of the interviews are housed at the Academy and are available for studios to use in bonus features. TCM accesses these interviews for many of the *Word of Mouth* and other promos that appear on the channel.
Many actors feel that since they have sat down and done an extensive interview for the Archive Project, there is no need to do a separate interview with Robert O for *Private Screenings*.
Other actors from that era are dealing with health and medical issues and just don't feel up to doing a television interview or may not be able to.
So, TCM keeps asking and in many cases keeps getting turned down as in the case of Doris Day, Olivia DeHaviland, Vera Miles, Maureen O'Hara, Lizabeth Scott,etc but they keep asking because every once in awhile someone who has turned them down previously finally agrees to sit down with Robert O.
Case in point, Kim Novak who finally agreed this year and sat down for an extended interview with Robert O which was taped before an audience at this year's Film Festival. That interview will likely appear on the channel early next year.
So, it's not always for lack for trying on TCM's part.
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> Anyone who shows dozens upon dozens of Mack Sennett silent films in September isn't changing anytime soon. It will be very clear when they are and they obviously are not. I never hear you people talking about things like the Sennett festival, it's always b*itch, b*itch, b*itch.
Jonas,
As Vic McLaglen often says, "Thank you, kindly, Colonel, darlin'"
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Stephan,
I used the Search function (the one that slayton suggested you try) and used the words Hayley Mills, for the date I set last year and for poster I put FredCDobbs.
Here's the thread you are looking for:
http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=159108&start=25&tstart=0
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> What about running them on tcm since Paddy o day is tonight. Why not run all the others too soon ?
TCM has to rent the films it airs. Withers did the majority of her work at Fox, if my memory is working. Fox has their own movie channel-Fox Movie Channel- though that channel has undergone some changes lately and is airing fewer classic films from the Fox vault since they changed formats.
The good news is that Fox is working more with TCM than previously and more films from the Fox library are making their way to TCM.
Here's hoping the Jane Withers films are among them in the months ahead.
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Chief,
I, too, hope that Rey and Annie are okay. He had posted a week or so ago, that he had found a new job recently after being unemployed for months.
I've got them in my thoughts and prayers.
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"There" is the Internet Archive which the poster was talking about. Here's the link to make it easier for you:
http://archive.org/details/Gaslight_1940
As it's in the Public Domain, as noted earlier in this thread, it is available for free from the IA with no rights infringement involved.
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> But where? The "Road to Hollywood"? or some other screenings?
Check out the TCM home page. TCM and Fathom Events have partnered to bring classic films to theaters around the country. They usually include a pre-recorded introduction by Robert O (much like he does on the channel only longer) and some bonus features.
Past screenings include*Casablanca*, *Singin' in the Rain*, *West Side Story* and *The Wizard of Oz*.
They are digital prints and they are shown on an evening in theaters across the country.
TCM has been running promos for them. The recent screening of *Singin' in the Rain* also had the bonus of the interview that Debbie Reynolds did at the TCM Film Festival with Robert O after the screening at this year's Festival.
So, this would be different from the *Road to Hollywood* screenings that take place prior to the Festival as these screenings seem to take place every six to eight weeks.
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Growing up in the 1960s/1970s, I've been a film buff all my life. I've had the good fortune to live in cities where seeing classic films on the big screen was easy to do.
MrCutter, however, wasn't so lucky so he hasn't seen many classic films on the big screen.
Thanks to TCM and their partners, he has now seen *The Wizard of Oz*, *Casablanca* and a few others all on the big screen.
Were they digital projections? Yes. Because, with the exception of the screening of *Casablanca* we saw. they were done on one evening in a variety of theaters across the country.
Did MrC care that they were digital screenings instead of film? Not that much. What mattered to him was being able to see the films on the big screen with an audience.
We went to a screening of *Singin' in the Rain* at the TCM Film Festival, a film I have seen many times on the big screen but he had only seen on VHS and DVD over the years. Sitting in the audience watching Gene Kelly dance in the rain, after years of seeing it on tv and used in commercials, I was reminded for the first time in years why that dance sequence is such an iconic moment in American film history. Did it matter that it was a digital print and not film? Not at that moment.
I've always felt that these classic screenings that TCM co-partners with Fathom Events on is more for people like MrC who haven't had many chances to see classic films on the big screen over the years and now have the opportunity and less for people like me who have had ample opportunity to see them numerous times over the years.
And that's okay with me. Serious film buffs can always find festivals and other opportunities to see classic films projected on film projectors but people like MrC don't always have those options or know they exist.
With the loss of revival and art houses over the years, outside of major cities it has become harder and harder to see classic films on the big screen and these events at least gives people that opportunity.
Edited by: lzcutter because to is a small but important word
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macabee,
It sounds like *The Major and the Minor* starring Ray Milland and Ginger Rogers. It was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder.
Hope that helps!
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The trick is to put no space between ! and the h in http at the head and no space between the g (in jpg) and ! at the end.
How about TCM airing classic, iconic TV shows UNCUT?
in Hot Topics
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> To all the naysayers that said it "would never happen", TCM is going to show, next Saturday morning, I believe, two episodes from the old GREEN HORNET TV SHOW starring VAN WILLIAMS and BRUCE LEE.
infinite,
You might want to double check. According to the website schedule, TCM is airing the Green Hornet serial from the 1940s not the 1960s series.
There is a difference.
Really.