FredCDobbs
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Posts posted by FredCDobbs
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
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Why is the silver screen called the silver screen? The screen is not silver.
Most screens of the classic era had glass beads imbedded in their white surfaces which helped make them seem brighter and whiter when a projector light hit them, and so they looked like highly polished silver.
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Hello all,
I know that TCM presents classic films in large theaters across the country, but what films would you love to see in an actual theater? I was recently thinking about what it would be like to watch the Big Country or Libeled Lady on the big screen, as when you're in a movie theater all of your attention is focused on the movie.
Also do you think watching a movie in a theater effects the movie in your opinion?
All 4:3 format films (that's about 1:33 to 1). All such classics, and some that aren't so classic.
There is nothing like seeing the old films on big clear sharp screens. Luckily, many big cities continue to open up retro theaters all over the US.
I was lucky enough to see Treasure of the Sierra Madre on the big screen in 1948, Sunset Boulevard on the big screen in 1950. High Noon on the big screen in 1952. I saw Gone With the Wind on a big screen during a re-release in 1953. Invasion of the Body Snatchers on the big screen in 1956. And dozens more before 1960.
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Dang! That scene, and similar ones, must be in at least 20 films made from the 1940s to the 1960s!
I saw it myself in the 1960s, in person. Of course it was in color then. -
Hey Kid, can you bring this game back?
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I don't know the name of it, but other people are searching for it here:
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I wonder if there is anyone else here (besides me) who didn't like it?
Watching 2 hours of a husband and wife fighting and cursing each other is not my idea of "entertainment".
The plot was just too simple (husband and wife arguing for 2 hours), when compared to A Streetcar Named Desire, 12 Angry Men, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which all had plenty of interesting arguments.
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I think this movie is one of the most interesting, mature, and realistic films made by Hollywood. Plus, it was "entertaining" to the audience.
Here are the movie credits for one of its screenwriters:
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The "schoolboy" antics of Flynn and Niven is there to entertain the audience but I believe that accurately reflects the behavior of most of the pilots of the WW1 era. You had to be somewhat of a "crazy daredevil" to fly any airplane in those days and to go into combat in an airplane that was a necessity if you had any chance of surviving.
I think you are a correct about this, but it is an affectation. In other words, it is a mental "defense mechanism" that helps keep someone from going crazy or deserting. They would really rather be back home, and playing any game of Sports would be better than all this shooting and killing. And of course, being alone for a night with one's girlfriend would even be better.
But they have no choice, so they pretend the flying and shooting is a lot of fun, like a big game, and they pretend they are brave. It is the only way they can survive mentally, plus, it does help them not be afraid, and that gives them an edge in a battle and can help them to win the battle.
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If anYOne could help me with a title of a movie I saw a while bACK... It was set in war of 1812 and the battle of fort McHenry with Francis Scott Key on a ship watching the battle... It shows him writing the Star Spangled Banner..... Thanks for your help....
I think this was a short film just about how and why the song (a poem) was written. It might be this one:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0152523/
See this:
"O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
And see this:
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Fred, at the beginning of the war airplanes were used almost exclusively for scouting the enemy forces, to observe the enemy positions and report back. Then individual pilots started carrying their side arms in case they crossed paths with enemy planes and could shoot at the enemy pilot. Then the plane itself was being equipped with weapons, guns and bombs, and the airplane became a direct participant in the combat. I believe most air missions were still primarily intended to be for reconnaissance or attacking enemy ground forces but each side would send up their own planes to counter the enemy airplanes. If one side could win the "air war" and dominate the skies that side would have a big edge in the overall war. That certainly would prove to be the case in future wars.
Ok, I see that you are correct, and that answers my question.
Seems that the air battles were to disrupt the spying and scouting. But the air battles were more exciting than simple film of just scouting and spying, so I suppose that's why the movies concentrated on the air battles.
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It has always seemed odd to me that a dozen or so guys on each side in the war, take off every morning and fly toward each other, then try to shoot each other out of the sky. And everyone on both sides is upset because their buddies are killed.
Going up each day takes no territory. It has nothing to do with the ultimate outcome of the war. All it does is kill the pilots.
Why not call the other side on some kind of telephone and say, "Hey, let's agree not to go up today? Let's take a day off. Or a week. Or a month??"
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Good thing I put my air conditioner on.
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NIGHT OF THE QUARTER MOON is on YouTube in 2 parts. If there is some sort of rights issue, I didn't want to put it on this message board as a direct link.
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This is a pretty good Mountie movie:
North West Mounted Police (1940) Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster
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I didn't know it was Chester Morris Day. I was out and about and tuned into Secret Command just in time to see Chet lying in a hospital bed smoking a cigarette. Boy, those were the days.
You just can't get good cigarettes and whiskey in hospitals anymore!
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Jean Harlow
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Dang! Wrong post on Wrong thread!
Anyway, I can't wait to see the Chester Morris and Alice White film!! They are great together.
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YouTube says that Lionsgate and Radio Canada are blocking Grand Illusion, so you might want to take the matter up with them, since they appear to own the Canadian rights.
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, I'm very annoyed that Canadians don't get to see Foreign Correspondent,
Foreign Correspondent 1940 -
July 1st is Canada Day - the anniversary of the birth of our great nation.
Canada has been a major influence on Hollywood from the beginning.
I was disappointed to see no special programming on July 1st, 2014.
Anyone else feel the same way? Thanks. Mark London Ontario
Sounds good to me.
Every now and then I see a film on TCM that was made in Canada, or has Canadian actors in it, or was made by a US film company about Canada, so it shouldn't be any trouble to put some Old Classic Canadian films on the air on July 1.
Especially since US and Canadians share this message board.
(And how about some Mexican classics from the 1930s and 40s on Cinco de Mayo?)
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Or for that matter, people turning into demon dogs. I still remember that moment from Ghostbusters, and it was a pretty shocking scene in a way.
I think the theme of the original short story and the radio show (which I heard live as a kid, around 1953), is that normally docile and harmless animals began attacking humans in large numbers. Birds are about the most harmless animals in nature. But, because of that, they aren’t scary.
http://ia700208.us.archive.org/21/items/Lux18/Lux-530720-52m26s-839hrt-Birds-HMarshallBLGerson.mp3
So to make it scary, we need some normally docile animals, but larger ones with teeth, that suddenly turn into killers, such as small pet dogs, which most people find cute and most don’t attack anyone. And now is the right time because of all the bad attacks from the well-known killer dogs that we hear about on our local news quite often. You see, the fear in a new movie would be caused by friendly type pet dogs suddenly turning into killer type dogs in large numbers. Or, we could use domestic cats.
I can’t think of any other animal for such a movie, but for me, birds just aren’t frightening. You can swat away a group of birds with a broom. You don’t need to shoot them.
The radio show was a little frightening because of the remoteness of the story teller. But Hitchcock’s filming location in the movie was too big, too commercial, too near a very large city, and with too many people all around, for it to feel “remote” or frightening.
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They'd be easier to defend against than birds. A handgun could get the job done with dogs - they're easier to hit and there's far, far fewer of them.
I saw it myself in the 1960s, in person. Of course it was in color then. 
Why has TCM stopped showing INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS?
in Horror
Posted
TCM used to show this about once a year, but now it hasn't been shown in several years. Any reason for this?