laffite

> I don't usually talk this way about men but I confess there is something very powerful about Victor Mature's face. It's hard to describe. He has something that works for him but that would be ugly on anyone else. How's that for not really saying anything. If I were a woman, though, I would probably be crazy about him. I see he is a Bos'un Mate. He doesn't strike me as that. He should have been a Line Officer of some kind, perhaps a navigator. But back to normal, who is that little yeoman cutie up there? Is she adorable or what! :x Now Vic, you leave her alone, hear? Can't you see how happy she is to gaze upon you. Now don't you lead her on. She probably has a boyfriend who adores her. I think you'd better go the Chief's Club and have a drink or something. BTW, what movie is that from? L

Thanks, *Kingrat*, for the heads up on this one, my DVR is set. There is so much of Vaughn Williams I don't know. But I like very much Symphonies III and VI ( music buffs out there: who agrees that the 3m of VI could serve as a prescient augur of Dimitri Shostakovich) and a whole host of the so-called "minor" works such as "The Wasps," the near transcendental "A Lark Ascending," and not to forget that wonderful paean to music itself entitled, appropriately enough, "To Music." To mention a few. Looking forward to the show tonight...and some music.

*Jackie writes: What isn't clear to me is how Fran ends up. I have my own thoughts, but I'd love to hear what you think happens to Fran after Sam walks away?* She has a difficult sail back to the States. She feels a different person without Sam but she doesn't want to think about it. Back home she gains solace by the presence of a grandchild and for awhile she forgets her pain but it is there. She is a strong woman and can put up a good front always saying what she needs to in order to save face but when she is alone, she is unhappy. Inevitably, she returns to Europe where she was once accepted but it's not the same. It doesn't seem as easy and the attentions aren't quite as plentiful. Before, she had Sam as a safety valve, somebody to go to when she took a hit as in the Lockhart incident, but Sam is not there any more and now when she suffers disappointment she has only herself to fall back on and she finds that difficult. Yes, she is still attractive and she enjoys some admiration here and there but it all seems so empty. She can be genuinely liked by what she had formerly referred to as gentleman of "civilization" but she realizes that she really doesn't like them back. It's no longer a game, it's the real thing and the stakes are just too high. She returns home and though she misses Sam dreadfully she knows in her heart that he won't come back and though the sadness lingers she bears up quite well. She realizes fully that it was indeed her "funeral" and that Sam is a thing of the past. She still worries about growing old but this thought has a certain dormancy now because it has been displaced by the thought of Sam's absence. She can't worry about growing old any more because then she has to worry about Sam not being there, so she represses both. It will take awhile but she finds a certain bearing and will no doubt remarry and be reasonably content. She is a strong woman and despite her sorrow, she survives. Whatever... *Movieman writes: The one with Fran telling Sam not to be "too dreadfully lonely" is a fine line. Depending on how delivered it is either awfully condescending or genuinely concerned. I feel it is the latter but it must be said with care. Sam's response is tender, loving and tinged with just a bit of sorrow.* I think Fran delivered it in a way that was the most satisfying for the effect of the scene and it was quite in keeping with her character. She was not gloating. She was not trying to feel superior. She really meant it. She is honest in this way. i give her credit for that. Sam's response was a bombshell...for me anyway. Many men might feel what Sam was feeling but few would actually make themselves so vulnerable as to say it out loud. And because both were being honest there, it gives meaning to that look on Fran's face when the train is pulling away and Kurt, her new partner, is waiting at her side. She is going to Kurt and there is no regret (as yet) but thoughts are swirling as she realizes just how much Sam loves her.

LOVE HAPPY ...was she no longer because despite the precariousness of her position, took the time to sing "I'm Through with Love" while the three bandits just stood there dumbfounded and no doubt stricken all three like a thunderbolt out of sheer amorousness for the Sazarak-soused warbler ... and like sailors bewitched by that Siren on the Mediterranean coast in that great Epic of yore were distracted just long enough for Sugar to flee the scene, wearing that backless dress, hair flying in the wind, mink stole flailing behind, and thinking of Strasser who she thought was quite handsome screaming at those musicians. Not to be denied, three Anti-heros of the Golden Age of French Pulp, unfazed, caught up with her and...

Before this thread recedes into the abyss (as all threads must) I thought to post some caps. Please indulge. Thanks. *If you haven't seen Dodsworth, please do yourself a favor and ignore this post. Some of the caps are sequential and they tell the story. Why ruin this movie for yourself forever just to look at a few pictures. It's not worth it. Go do a crossword puzzle...or better yet, go get the DVD and watch... DODSWORTH.* Who is the woman on the right? Anyone else notice this? This is not when Sam is waiting for Fran, this is later after they are separated and he?s in the doldrums waiting for the divorce and being a tourist in the meantime. I thought it might be Edith?but it?s not. This shot is of some duration and the woman stares at him and wants to get his attention. Are we supposed to believe that Sam is so into himself that he notices nothing around him? Maybe it's nothing. == == == David Niven was great. == == == Indulge me ... Uh, I'll have a cup of that... Bye, Edith :x :x :x == == == *_PARTING OF THE WAYS_* == == == *_DENOUMENT_* *(Okay, this next series of caps is a serious spoiler, please do not look at them if you have not seen the film.)* *_SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER_* Okay, okay, that last one doesn?t belong there. This is Fran earlier just after Sam Left. It would have been cruel to end the movie like this and I'm glad they didn't. It would have been a *Portrait in Black* ending, where we are made to feel the pain. Poor Fran. This image of her is wrenching. L. //

CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS ?as they went by on the platform across the way, anything to keep himself from whatever was going through the minds of these formidable icons of the anti-hero golden age and their diabolical strategems who, as mentioned, had designs on Sugar Cane, yes the one and same who dumped that idiot trumpet player and stole Osgood Fielding III from that wacky bass player (who ended up in an aslylum) and married him and who bought her a fortune in jewelry that she reveled in day in night, that is, when she wasn?t tippling from a flask that she kept in her garter belt. The waiter knew that Miss Cane was due any minute and though he was a confirmed coward he still loved Miss Cane and thought to do whatever to save her...so eyeing the three legends of crime, he reached into his pocket...

*OOPS!* *I sent out the wrong welcoming party!* I'll take both, heh heh. A pirate can never have too many hostessessess...especially astors and olivias :x Thanks. Have you covered Miss Mary over in Brunettes? Here she is from Don Juan (1926). She looks about the same age as in the pic you sent. I love that picture, thanks. I took the above off TV with a digital camera some time ago. When she is put in prison Lucretia (Estelle Taylor) says, "Neri will be delighted." Needless to say Neri is not exactly a nice man. Happily she is saved by the Don (as we all know ). L.

*Welcome Pirate. I'm sure a nice room awaits you. They take Master Card, Visa, Euros, Gold Dubloons, Dollars and Pounds.* *CineMaven*, Great! I have doubloons and whatever else I've been able to plund---um, acquire here and there. But I'm afraid I don't have any of those other cards. I usually use PlunderCardExtreme. Does that work? Or should leave that one on the ship? *Jackie*, thanks to you as well. Now that's what I call a hostess. For a moment there I thought that might be Mary :x :x :x Astor but I realize now that it is sweet :x :x :x Olivia. I love her too. Thanks for finding that L.

Kansas City menuet

Skirting the coast of TCM City on the lookout for the Rambles Manor. That viewing room theater (and those rooms!) that *Movieman* posted looks a little opulent for a mangy ole pirate but said pirate is thinking he may be allowed entrance so long he leaves his sword at the door (unless a swashbuckler is being shown in which case a pirate must, of course, be armed). The above is a snapshot from Down to the Sea in Ships, a silent from ?22 that has great ships-at-sea sequences. In the above, the camera is stationary and the ship is going at an appreciable speed passing the camera to on the left side, a very neat passing shot. Laffite

AS YOU LIKE IT ...and then proceeded to dispatch Jack to the other world with a quick chop to the neck now having taken revenge with this infernal Jack for having had his movie contract voided by Tinsel Town now that the D&D twins were no more and he, Fantomas, was once again franc-less and without a crepe, and once again looking for work but who wants a retired adventurer especially one with a track record like his. Feeling depressed he called his friend Arsene Lupin who sympathized but was also in the doldrums and they thought to get together over a bottle of L?oville-Barton (2005) and lament the loss of the great French pulp heroes of yesteryear. Then the great gentleman cambriolateur Lupin had an idea, they would get together and...

THE BEST MAN ?for the Doris ?n Daisy job, videlicet, his twin brother Juve, who is a police chief and more qualified to chase those on the other side of the law and also providing a little artistic symmetry having one pair of twins chasing another. Once it came apparent that we had a Twins v. Twins situation, Hollywood wanted rights to the proceedings that was quickly jumped upon since Fantomas aka Juve, as aforesaid, had nary a franc not even for the cheapest crepe, which though not generally known, is his great passion other than (of course) designing exquisite tortures for his victims such as guillotining face up so that victims can witness their own executions. Doris n? Daisy scoffed at this saying they would just close their eyes, so there, and laughed and frolicked knowing they would be rich and famous after all but froze when they heard the knock on the door after which opening were aghast to find...

IN THIS OUR LIFE ?accept and resign themselves to lives of obscurity and ordinariness having decided that having to be somebody was overrated and that forgetting themselves and devoting their lives to others was the way of true fulfillment. They soon were bored to tears so Doris grabbed the gun her mother had given her on her fourth birthday and shot the first person she saw and soon they were in the headlines again and were aware that becoming famous was hard but infamous was easy and they became known as Doris ?n Daisy, the crime-spree twins. Inspector Clouseau, the famous investigator was put on the case and the fate of the twins were sealed now knowing that they would never be caught and they were happy as larks until?

Rembrandt thousand

SCARLET STREET SCARLET DAWN or THE SCARLET LETTER

EL DIABLO ?had welded his wily wicked influences in that the noise and lights were caused by a horrific auto accident in which the brute was killed throwing Steve in such despair that he donned his Superman costume and flew back to Krypton, a mighty feat considering he wasn?t Superman at all but Steve Reeves which goes to show what you can do when you really want to and if you just happen to have a Superman costume handy. A movie director who witnessed Steve?s amazing departure reflected that gosh they should make a movie of that guy but he was involved with a project of his own though his poor memory wouldn't allow for recollection and so he stumbled about Italy looking demented until someone recognized him and was amazed to see...

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE ?and then had the streetcar go off the tracks and ram into a brick wall, bursting into flames the likes of which cannot be adequately described by mere words alone. And that's pretty hard to do on a ship to Italy. Now pretty Jane can certainly take a hint but her love for Steve/Superman was so intense that it matched the love that Lana Turner had for Robert Taylor in Johnny Eager which was very considerable indeed, so much so that Robert had to deliver a chopping right hand to the jaw to be rid of her. Jane sighed and said she saw the movie too, then told him she would leave him forever on one condition, which was that he had to... Edited by: laffite on Nov 28, 2009 12:18 AM

The Thrill of it All... Happy Soap Opera-Comedy Love Me or Leave Me

Cheaper by the Dozen... Latter-Day Day Offering Move Over, Darling

ALICE IN WONDERLAND ?all over again only change the name to Jane and when she has all these wonderful adventures she can do a song and dance and during the breaks she can drop in on ole Steve to see how the leg is doing and get him a cup of tea or something. And if pretty Jane gets into trouble a telephone booth can be constructed for Steve to don his Superman costume and he?ll have a pair of crutches by his bed just in case. The producer thought this the stupidest idea he ever heard and threatened to pull out but pretty Jane sang him the sweetest song imaginable and the producer was so smitten he gave in, even paying home care visits for Steve who had fallen in love with pretty Jane and wanted to?

SUPERMAN ?himself who thought to pay an unscheduled visit to pretty Jane despite the fact that he was a horrible anachronism as Superman is totally out of place in a sea story but pretty Jane was delighted at the sight of this the hunk of all hunks and broke immediately into a song and dance routine that was to die for although the director yelled ?Cut? because the film wasn?t rolling and Jane said, ?Oh.? But that didn?t stop her swooning and she began to rack her brain to have Superman in the story despite he being the last person who needed any body building but soon had a splendid idea for him, he would be...

SECRETS AND LIES ?began circulating among the crew regarding who was to do all this cleaning and all this folding. The struggle for power reached fever pitch and it was decided that a talent show would decided who gets the bridge. A slightly built sailor was first and wowified the crowd with an imitation of Ralph Kramden losing his temper and was made Captain. The other Captain was quickly deposed and thrown overboard. The crew was so happy they joined hands and played Ring Around the Rosies and when they fell down they split a gut. They suddenly realized that the Simpson?s were on but couldn?t watch it because someone forgot to pay the cable bill. They found the culprit who was promptly keelhauled. In other words, everything was normal...One day Moby Dick emerged on the surface of the sea and made inquiry as to whether... Edited by: laffite on Nov 25, 2009 5:31 PM

The Shanghai Gesture (mother gin sling) winsome

A DOG IN FLANDERS CARNIVAL IN FLANDERS or MOLL FLANDERS

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS ?the Fat Knight himself, Sir John Falstaff, who after being rudely dismissed by that scamp Hal was now looking for work in whatever Shakespearean historical endeavor that might touch upon the history of the whoreson mandrake and knave, Sir John himself, and whose auditions consisted of swilling sack and bellowing archaic invective. The doctor, amazed at the sight of this considerable person, in girth if not worth, had his own problems having been cast in a sea story about a mean Captain who was fond of keelhauling members of his crew for the slightest infractions, such as throwing grapefruit over the side. The doctor liked grapefruit and thought this punishment unfair for which to remedy wrote a letter to the captain saying...