yanceycravat

After several days now hoping my TCM signal would get back on track I finally called TWC. I explained they didn't have to send someone out just fix the signal since it's the only station this is happening on. Well they sent a fellow anyway who called his supervisor who told him it's a "head-in" problem that they are aware of and are trying to fix. Now on that score I'm no expert but it would seem to me after all this time they'd know how to fix a problem like that pretty quickly. Of all the stations in all of cable this has to happen to the one I watch all the time! Yancey

I agree. It won't really be worth it until I feel I could get my money's worth. In the mean time though it seems like it will be a fantastic alternative to TCM and renting DVD's. Yancey

This is no April Fool Joke - I;m surprised no one has posted this before. From CNN h2. Netflix, Hulu and their rivals are locked in a constant battle to score new content. But classic movies and TV can get lost in the fray -- and Warner Bros. is launching a streaming service aimed at that niche. For $10 per month, [Warner Archive Instant|http://instant.warnerarchive.com/] allows users to stream content from the 1920s through the 1990s. The catalog includes what the company says are "rare, hard-to-find" TV shows and movies from Warner Bros., MGM, RKO and Allied Artists. Offerings include a 1921 adaptation of "The Scarlet Letter" and 1991's "Until the End of the World" with William Hurt. The monthly price tag is $2 more than both Netflix ([NFLX|http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=NFLX&source=story_quote_link]) and Hulu Plus. But Warner Bros., which is owned by CNNMoney parent company Time Warner ([TWX|http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=TWX&source=story_quote_link], [Fortune 500|http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10472.html?iid=EL]), is promoting the rarity of its catalog as its selling point. Warner Archive Instant's FAQ page refers many times to "other streaming services" lacking its classic titles. Archive Instant features only 122 titles at launch, but Warner Bros. says new content will be "regularly added." The service also lacks compatibility with most devices at launch. Archive Instant users can stream via the website, but the service works with only one connected-TV device: Roku. Only Roku users will be able to stream the high-definition versions of the handful of titles with that option. The Web version of Archive Instant won't stream in HD. Archive Instant will also feature monthly streaming movie or TV marathons built around a common theme or interest. [ |http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/03/technology/warner-bros-archive-instant/?source=cnn_bin#TOP] http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/03/technology/warner-bros-archive-instant/?source=cnn_bin Yancey

The interesting this about THE DONOVAN AFFAIR is that it's such early Capra it's hard to compare to later efforts like "MR. SMITH" or "WONDERFUL LIFE". While there are some great laughs there's no Capra-corn. I'm guessing it having been a stage play first has something to do with that. Capra was five years away from winning an Oscar. Besides Jack Holt and Fred Kelsey probably only real ardent film buffs will recognize the other names and faces. I hope this event turns out to be one of those great festival events that people will be talking about the year after like WINGS or WENT THE DAY WELL. Yancey

Thanks, Guys! It's going to be quite a nifty trick. I look forward to seeing you there for sure. While not the largest part in the movie I do get to voice the title character among other smaller parts. Donovan was played by John Roche. Unfortunately he doesn't have a very distinct voice to imitate like Gable or Ronald Coleman. Fortunately he doesn't have a very distinct voice so no one will be thrown! Yancey

I just wanted to call everyone's attention to this rare and very unique screening. It will be quite an experience and something you won't soon forget. Read below why you've got to see/hear it to believe it. Oh, yes, yours truly has the great honor of lending a hand, or voice, as it were, to the proceedings. Yancey Cravat ------- THE DONOVAN AFFAIR (1929) Dir. Frank Capra The Festival is proud to present a unique way of "restoring" an early talkie whose soundtrack has been lost, with this special screening of Frank Capra and Columbia Pictures' first all-talkie. Although the Library of Congress holds a print of this rarely seen film, the original sound discs have been lost. Now Bruce Goldstein, director of repertory programming at New York's Film Forum, will present the west coast premiere of the picture with live actors and sound effects to re-create the lost soundtrack. Like many early talkies, THE DONOVAN AFFAIR is mostly stage-bound, set primarily in a single room where the host of a society dinner party is murdered while the lights are out. Nonetheless, Capra and cameraman Ted Tetzlaff livened it up with some creative camera angles. Goldstein searched the nation for a script to the film, finally finding about 60 percent of the lines in the records of the New York State Board of Film Censors. Working with actors capable of capturing the rhythms of 1920s stage stars, he reconstructed the rest of the dialogue through careful study of the film stars' lip movements. *In attendance: Bruce Goldstein and company.* This screening is presented with a print courtesy of the Library of Congress Film Archive.

Unfortunately Sherman Hemsley would not likely be considered a "classic movie actor". While he was a success on Broadway he is remembered for his George Jefferson role on ALL IN THE FAMILY and THE JEFFERSONS, He may also be remembered for AMEN. As I write this I'm hard pressed to think of even one film he was in never mind having a significant role. Actors in the category of Sherman Hemsley never get a heads up from TCM. Yancey

There's no buisness like "Shoe" Buisness!

I was hoping to glimpse the Three Stooges but that's the way it goes. I was surprised BM's scripted comments mentioned the restored version when the TCM guide clearly indicated the released version was airing tonight. I believe TCM has shown the restored version in the past. Yancey

I watched AMC quite a lot back in the day. Supplemting my TCM Viewing with Paramount titles mostly. I don't recall them reading the same scripts but it makes sense. I've noticed the TCM intros are altered somewhat to fit the theme of the moment but the basic facts are usually repeated. Yancey

Yesterday I recorded IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and watched it today. I noticed Ben's wrap-up was from 2 weeks ago when they aired FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. I never saw that happen before. I was wondering if anyone else had. I suppose it must be something of a nightmare keeping all the intros right. Which also begs the question what does TCM do with all their old Intros. It might be fun to see some from the beginning. Just a slice of TCM trivia. Yancey

Good point. I suppose someone must have miscalculated. I never thought about the when, where and why scheduling for TCM news or the vault series commercials, etc. but I guess someone is checking with a stop watch how tight these things must be. I guess you can say TCM tricked us at the end of our Universal Horror treat! Yancey

Not much I suppose. Probably a little gag about the vase coming from Egypt and Dick Foran saying Oh, no, not for me.... Or something like that. Yancey

Not sure what happened but the end of THE MUMMY'S HAND got chopped off rushing in RO's wrap-up! Now that was a horrifying end. Yancey

> {quote:title=markfp2 wrote:}{quote}I know exactly what you mean and It use to drive me crazy too, then it occurred to me, it's their house and their TV and if they're happy filling every inch of that screen with distorted, stretched out or cropped pictures so be it. > I suffer in huffy silence. If you could expand the print size of a book so that you were missing the words on the edge or pitch a singer/musician higher or lower so that you missed the full tone it's probably the same thing. You may miss a little but you get the gist of things. I don't need to see the top of Lincoln's head to know who he is. Yancey.

Now that widescreen TV's are more prevalent most of my friends and family want to fill up every inch of space on the screen. I can't get anyone to watch a pre-1950 movie or TV show in it's normal 4:3 ratio. Nobody wants the black bars ON THE SIDES!!!! They keep blowing up the picture. It's driving me complete mad. The time has come, TCM, please alert folks that they're not seeing the whole picture!!! Yancey

After viewing the Cinerama fims the other night I was surprised how much I enjoyed the new "SMILE" format. Was this a one time airing or will SMILE format be the new Cinerama standard for TCM? I vote yes. Your thoughts? Yancey

Just goes to show sometimes you don't need 200 million to entertain people. Here's to a good story, well told! Yancey

Fred - SHADOW OF DOUBT and SINGAPORE WOMAN were two of the great ones this week. These are exactly the kind of movies that absolutely make TCM for me. I can really get into a breezy hour long B picture. Usually the stories are very entertaining with pretty good writing. Even when the scripts are lacking the casts are peppered with great character actors that still make the whole thing really enjoyable for me. The relationship between Constance Collier and Edward Brophy in SHADOW OF DOUBT was marvelous. I consider these movies the hidden gems of the TCM library. Maybe one month TCM could pick a night where they salute B pictures. No film longer than 65 minutes! Yancey

The current Essentials schedule runs through the end of January. The new Essentials season will most likely start in March as it has the last few years. It will be interesting to see if either Drew Barrymore or Robert Osborne will be back for that. After, what, 18 years, of Robert Osborne being omnipresent for fans like me the announced changes are going to take some getting used to. The fact that it more or less started last night came as something of a surprise. I'm not saying I was hoping for some sort of on air baton passing. Just that it felt kind of tossed in there without fanfare of any kind. Sort of like a hidden bump in the road that makes you ask, What just happened? Yancey

Cutter - I knew that was going to happen. It's just, what's the difference between today and yesterday? It's absolutely no big deal and I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over it. I just was curious as to why it would start tonight and not next month. Just a bit of trivia is all. Yancey

Of course, that's one opinion... I, on the other hand, will miss seeing RO on a regular basis. Yancey

Thanks, Cutter! That makes a lot of sense. Still I found it interesting they played Ben's intro instead of Robert's. I thought a lot could be read into that. And right now they're doing it again.... And Ben didn't say he was filling in for Robert Osborne... Hmmm... I guess it's started. Yancey Edited by: yanceycravat on Sep 27, 2012 6:30 PM

It's 5 PM and they played Ben's intro theme not RO's then it went straight to a Mack Sennett/Harry Langdon short? No Ben Intro talk... What was that all about? Yancey

Fred - I hate to get into this again but last night *ALL* the intros and wrap-ups were letterboxed and all the movies were 4:3. All of Ben's intros have been letterboxed regardless of the film's aspect ratio. I mention this purely for point of reference to those who care about this thread. Yancey