johnnyweekes70

I humbly agree with you. I've posted it before but it would appear nobody else agreed with me, that the twits as I've been calling them lately, of today, as you say, "can't measure up to the real actors and actresses we once had." Definitely. I mentioned Loni Anderson's Thelma Todd, Jude Law's Errol Flynn, to name two that wholely suggest people should avoid impersonating stars. An exception was in Ed Wood. Vincent D'Onforio did a superb Orson Welles and Martin Landau did a superb Bela Lugosi. Can't think of many others, including Errol Flynn's John Barrymore, something I don't mind, but isn't really that good. Nobody could come close to Dietrich so don't even bother.

Sounds like Peter O'Toole.

There's a shot of a car's headlights being turned off in the "Open All Night" intro that I just saw in Hitchcock's The Wrong Man. I thought, I've seen that one before...

By design, I don't think there's one of them around today who'll be thought of as a legend. Individuality ensures a persona to be regarded as a legend and so we regard Bogart, Cooper, Garbo, Dietrich, Crawford, Cagney, Keaton, Gable, and so on as legends. Maybe because they did it first or have been with us for so long we look at them as icons of the medium. I can't see beyond Nicholson, Newman, Eastwood, DeNiro, Streep, Pacino, and a few others to regards the people who are today's excuses for film-stars to be anything other than shallow models who work under a few good directors. The press likes to compare Hanks to Cary Grant, so that eliminates Hanks as a individual legend, and even Costner was compared to Cooper, but Costner's done himself in anyway with a long string of bad films. If we don't even regard Alan Bates or Albert Finney in high degree anymore, how can we ever hold any of these homogenous twits around today in the same league as Gene Kelly, Spencer Tracy or Grace Kelly?

William Nolte was largely an assistant director but who had a prolific career in most fields behind the camera. The Dukes is Tops is one only two films he was given sole credit as director on. The imdb has page for him at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0634524/

I think A Soldier's Playting was Langdon's first Warners picture. The Strong Man was Langdon's first feature for First National that Warners later took over.

One can only hope that Mr. Connery's remarks might inspire others to do the same.

It could be because movie studios no longer employ the kind of publicity people that keep film stars' images decent, but msladysoul is right. The twits of today also lack couth and originality---not that every old film star was original. There are to be different 'images' of masculinity and femininity that stars were shaped that still applies to today's film personalities but they're a dime a dozen now and a dim shade of Bogart, Tracy, Garbo, et. al. Most of the greats of yesteryear probably wouldn't even get a job in the market at all these days.

I take it you don't approve of Gwyneth, Deborah. I couldn't have said it better. SALTs, that's hilarious. I think moviemakers should avoid bio-pics at all cost. You're right, Gable and Lombard proved that. What's more unfortunate about that film is its availability on DVD from Universal when, apart from one bad Shirley Temple film, nothing else of Lombard's work that Universal holds the rights to has been issued. That burns me up. Same with Dietrich. No one can replace Lombard, Jill Clayburgh proved that and no one can replace Dietrich so, as I wrote before, I hope it's left at that. Did you ever see that TV movie about Thelma Todd with Loni Anderson? Or the one about Rita Hayworth with Lynda Carter? Or the film version of Flynn's autobiography with Duncan Regehr? Point made.

MGM is pitiful when it comes their DVD issues of great films. It's a shame The Big Country and The Best Years of Our Lives, not to mention everything else they've issued, are so minimally represented. But at least the films are available and I can't complain about that.

getoverit718, TCM did have John Garfield as Star of the Month early last year or late 2003. Each night was co-hosted by Osbourne and Garfield's daughter, Julie. Her comments about her father were fascinating and practically everything he did was shown. I especially liked Nobody Lives Forever, a little-seen film-noir with Geraldine Fitzgerald.

Well put, nsallieharding.

Gish was a very unique actress. I find it interesting to watch The New York Hat, a Griffith short from 1912 back-to-back with The Whales of August. Such different time periods yet the same woman. An amazing career. My favourtie Gish silent is The Wind, a bleak but brilliant film and she's mesmerizing in it. I've only made it through the first twenty minutes of The Scarlet Letter, something always distracts me. I'll get to it one day. I haven't seen Orphans of the Storm in years but now you mention it, featio, I think I'll dig it out. I used to watch more silents than I do now; I go through phases. I am, however, really looking forward to Kino's upcoming release of Maurice Tourneur's The Blue Bird. I trust TCM will air that at some point.

Ned Sparks makes me howl with laughter just by showing up. There are some moments of his in Lady for a Day and 42nd Street that are unforgettable. His deadpan style might be obnoxious to some, but an appearance by him spruced up many a scene in many a film.

Oops. In another thread I noticed I got my wires crossed with Cary Grant movies. What was I thinking? Still, I think The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is latter-day screwball, not quite in the same league as The Awful Truth, but irreverant and improbable nonetheless, which is a hallmark of screwball comedies.

I knew they were holding out. I'm glad they're not copping out by withholding Son of Kong. I'll definitely be saving my pennies for the 4-disc set. Yippie!

In screwball comedies, nothing really makes much sense. The dialogue is ridiculous (like the oft-quoted voodoo bit in Awful Truth or everything in My Man Godfrey) and the situations are generally against reality. Slapstick is low-brow physical comedy of the kind Mack Sennett and Al Christie used to make. There's a new series of DVDs from Kino that ought to clarify things if you need featuring Charley Chase, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The set does include Lloyd but I don't like his inclusion in a set called Slapstick Symposium; his comedy was not slapstick.

Yes, if it's to be made at all, I agree. I recall a few years ago Uma Thurman was slated to do Dietrich and I shuddered at the thought. I don't mind Uma but she's no Dietrich. Few are (or were).

The Prisoner of Shark Island is probably my favourite John Ford film. It features a terrific performance by Warner Baxter and superb cinematography by the always reliable Bert Glennon. It's tight and absolutely riveting. It's sad other Ford films have overshadowed it due to its unavailability, other than the occasional FMC airing.

Usually an oedipus complex demands a psychosexual love for the parent of the opposite sex and hatred for the parent of the same sex. I can't remember Cody's feelings for his late father but his attitude towards his mother was definitely something Freud would have appreciated. I don't like Freud. His term superego, I think, was just self-projection. I like White Heat, however, but I think it overshadows so many other great Cagney performances---all his psychos do. Its unfortunate when an actor gets pigeon-holed for things they personally didn't approve of. The only reason Cagney made White Heat was to restore a failing image the result of lackluster pictures his brother produced. They were going to film White Heat but didn't have the money. It would have been a very different film if it hadn't been made at Warners. And speaking of psychos, nobody really talks about Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, arguably Cagney's wickedest and vicious character, utterly devoid of the notions of affection Cody Jarrett had. One can only marval at the evilness Cagney slipped into his characters---coming from an otherwise quiet, decent chap.

I hope not. Dietrich doesn't need to be made the butt of another superficial Hollywood biopic. There was only one Dietrich. Leave it at that.

I made some disparaging remarks about remakes in the thread devoted to remakes and then I read Sean Connery's revelation that he's "fed up with the idiots [who make movies today]...the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies, and those who green light them. I don't say they're all idiots - I'm just saying there is a lot of them. It would almost need a Mafia-like offer I couldn't refuse to do another movie." I couldn't agree more, and it's certainly a sign of the times when an actor of Connery's calibre notes how pathetic the current film scene is.

"the luscious Virgina Mayo" -- You bet. Lucky Dad indeed!

reginnagiddons, if you don't mind me saying so, I would have never in a million years have suspected anyone of including Ivan Dixon in a list of handsome men. You're absolutely right, Ivan was a good-looking fellow, but that comes right out of left field. It exhibits personal and original taste. Hope you don't mind the observation.

I believe TCM would have to licence Sex and the Single Girl.