scsu1975

Lloyd played a character nicknamed "Speedy" in The Freshman, released in 1925. I suspect that is the reference.

Mirage, with Gregory Peck, contains a scene where a man falls out of a high rise building during a blackout. However, there is no reference to watermelons.

I believe that having an affair with Ann Sheridan would cause me to lose it and make a lot of dumb decisions.

Saw this one a long time ago. If you can buy Walter Slezak as an Italian ...

If there is a wine connection ...

Saw that with Internet Explorer, but not Firefox.

Yeah, but there was something about this film that appealed to me.

This is one case where a low budget works in favor of a film. The cheap sets, continual fog, and blurry scenes add immeasurably to the creepiness of this movie. You also never get a good look at the strangler, and that's a plus. The film is actually quite good, and is a remake of the German film Ferryman Maria, done by the same director. I watched Ferryman Maria on youtube a few years ago (German, with subtitles) and found it pretty stunning. Of course, today, it would have to be known as Ferryperson Maria.

The guy who designed the poster was probably seeing double, for some odd reason.

Oh, so that explains the love beads around Olivier's neck.

How about mentioning some of these people who played American Indians? Boris Karloff Bela Lugosi Wallace Beery Ted de Corsia Chuck Connors Jeff Chandler Gilbert Roland Ricardo Montalban Sal Mineo Michael Pate Anthony Quinn Rita Gam Debra Paget And don't even get me started on some of the people who tried to play Italians.

While Birth of a Nation features white actors in blackface, another 1915 film, released just a few weeks after Birth, not only featured white actors in blackface, but was released in many parts of the country under the title The N***** (asterisks intentional, you all can figure out what the word is). In other parts of the country, it was released as The New Governor. It was from Fox, and is presumed lost, but I have been working on "reconstructing it" via the written word for the last few years. There is a still from the film which appears in the book "Pictorial History of Silent Cinema," and I am copying it below. The actor in the center is William Farnum. I could not identify the actors on either side of him. On the right hand side, the two women are Agnes Everett and Claire Whitney. The woman on the ground is Gertrude Clemens, primarily a stage actress, who often appeared in blackface roles. The blackface actor she is clutching is the future comic actor Henry Armetta, in his first screen appearance. Farnum, who discovers that his grandmother was a slave, also briefly appears in blackface, when he looks in a mirror and imagines himself as a black man.

LOL. Yes, the writing, directing, acting, set design, camerawork, etc.

Mine too, by a longshot. I know some people would say Duck Soup, but I find that film just way too zany (although I do like it). A Night at the Opera just has a better storyline, and one hilarious scene after another. Even the music doesn't interrupt the flow. Both Groucho and Chico wanted the song "Alone," sung by Allan Jones, cut, but producer Irving Thalberg overruled them, and the song became a big hit. And, of course, the finale where the Brothers wreck the opera, is among the funniest in film history. No matter how many times I see this, I laugh so hard I cry. I don't know if I will ever be able to sit through a performance of Il Trovatore without cracking up. "Boogie boogie boogie."

Well, she did tell Andrews that she had given up the best years of her life.

Welcome to the boards. He is using double-talk (so it's gibberish). For a good example of this, watch William Demarest in All Through the Night.

I get that message on my laptop when I use Firefox to log in, but not Internet Explorer.

City of Fear (1959) youtube Solid little suspense film with Vince Edwards as an escaped con who thinks he has a canister of heroin, when it actually contains cobalt-60. Cops John Archer and Lyle Talbot have to track him down without alarming everyone in Los Angeles. Steven Ritch, who co-wrote the script, appears as a scientist. The L.A. locations are a plus, as is the presence of the sexy Patricia Blair as Edwards’ chick. Edwards is less robotic than usual, and does a convincing job as a guy who is slowly croaking from cobalt poisoning. Maybe next time he’ll try a medical career. I could have done without some scenes featuring his furry arms. On the other hand, I did appreciate a gratuitous scene of Kathie Brown adjusting her stockings.

Plus, a boffo film score by Ron Goodwin, using a Baroque-like fugue.

Thieves Highway (1949) Directed by Jules Dassin Neat little gem featuring Richard Conte as a trucker who eventually gets even with an unscrupulous fruit dealer (Lee J. Cobb) who had gypped his father and had him maimed. At first, the plot may seem uninteresting, with Conte and his partner (Millard Mitchell) hauling apples to San Francisco. But the film keeps picking up steam, and features plenty of road action, and some very interesting characters. Valentina Cortese, as a “ho” whom Cobb uses to distract Conte, is outstanding. Jack Oakie, as a rival trucker, gives his usual comic performance, but as the film draws to its conclusion, we see him morphing into a tough guy who has Conte’s back. The dialogue is crisp: “Touch my truck and I’ll climb into your hair.” Conte has always been a mixed bag for me. He never ruins a film, but he doesn’t necessarily improve it either. He is solid here, in what his probably his best performance I’ve seen to date. Of course, he really shines when he performs the inevitable beat down of Cobb (with no stunt doubles). However, the ending is a bit corny. Conte and Cortese make a hot couple. In one scene, they play tic-tac-toe on Conte’s chest. This is something I may consider trying with my fiancée. FXM Retro

Try using the back button on your browser to get back to the forums page, or just open the tcm site again. Do not click on "TCM Message Boards," because this will only get you back to the "upper sections." The "lower sections" are called the forums.

Hope Emerson et al blow away the Indians in The Guns of Fort Petticoat

Dolores Michaels mowing down Vietnamese in Five Gates To Hell:

If you listen very closely during the "Who's On First" routine, you can hear the crew laughing in the background. Despite numerous takes by Jean Yarbrough, the laughing continued, so he just gave up.

Lurene Tuttle as the title character in Ma Barker's Killer Brood