filmlover
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Posts posted by filmlover
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Oh, great, now I can't get it out of my head.
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I have the feeling I've heard it elsewhere, too. The song's title is "All I Do is Dream of You", not Think. Gene Kelly also sang it in Singin' in the Rain (it survives as an outtake on the soundtrack CD issued by Rhino). Judy Garland sang it in Andy Hardy Meets Debutante but it got deleted.
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We are coming up on our fourth Challenge next month.
Hi, lzcutter,
Thanks for the plug about the Challenge. Actually, it will be the fifth Challenge. path40a hosted the first one, you the second one, hlywdkjk the third one, and matthelm the fourth. And I will be taking the fifth (in more ways than one, lol).
Speaking of allieharding, I mentioned in a different thread that the upcoming night of the Saints and the Falcons in March (would that make it when the Saints come March-ing in?) was probably inspired by a Challenge schedule of Matthelm's. I forgot that allieharding had a day of George Sanders with the Falcons and Saints, too. So I think they are both to be congratulated.
And speaking of British films, I keep hoping that one day TCM might use my Challenge suggestion for a regular British Sunday Theater. I have such a fondness for those movies since I was a lad growing up in British Columbia, Canada, when I got a healthy import of those films on our local TV channels (there was a local TV station that also had a British Sunday Theater when I was a kid; ironically, it came out of Bellingham, WA., a U.S. channel.)
Kyle has seen his "Pulp Fiction" and "John Ford Unarmed" themes used.
And if I recall correctly, Kyle's Challenge idea of Harry Warren was the inspiration for this month's TCM tribute to the composer.
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NZ,
One, Two, Three and The Seven Little Foys are available on DVD.
Something to Sing About, Great Guy, Time of Your Life, and Blood on the Sun are available from several companies because the films are PD.
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I love TCM for many reasons, one of which is that it shows letterbox films. And they apologize when they get shipped a pan-and-scan version. Pretty much every other station runs only the pan-and-scans, which made me wonder: do these other stations apologize to the public when they have only a letterbox version to air?
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Hi, Cinema, thanks for the answers. Please know I wasn't expecting an answer from you because I don't consider you a complainer, and I was kind of letting off steam at those who are. (Mostly, it was Leo's attitude that ticked me off.)
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I am looking to join a film club where we can watch films and discuss them afterward.
Actually, tom, we have that already. It's called the TCM Message Board, lol. Welcome to the Club.
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I adore Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year.
I loved the scene where he grows pale when he finds out that the TV show is live, not taped. "I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!"
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I would love to get Captain from Castile. And I hope they do some featurette about Alfred Newman's magnificent score.
In addition to Jesse James (which also stars Tyrone Power), Fox will be releasing Return of Frank James with Fonda the same day. Too bad they didn't do them in one package.
Fox should do a Tyrone Power boxset.
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Hi, cinema, actually you bring up a point I have wanted to comment on for some time. I can't recall who said it first, but a poster said TCM shouldn't be showing films that are available on DVD, that people can get them anytime. I felt that there are two things wrong with that argument:
1. If TCM only showed movies that were not on DVD (or VHS), that would certainly mean almost every classic would be gone (Casablanca, Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and so many more), as well as hundreds, possibly thousands more regular films.
2. I can afford to buy DVDs or rent them when I like but there are many people out there who can't afford them, even in just renting. And why should anyone be forced to do that? Isn't Turner Classic Movies about showing classic movies?
And there is a third point that has to do with dollars and cents: Running a great film attracts new viewers. Running a B movie starring Ilona Massey is not likely to do that.
I accept TCM for all the things it is, even if I don't care for a certain movie from time to time. I have no interest in the Lana Turner MGM soapers from later in her career, but I don't raise a stink if they are on when I happen to turn on the TV. I watch TCM, A LOT! But there are other things to do if there is a film I don't care to see. Look at something else on TV, or a video, or read a book, or talk with friends. But I truly would love to see some poll taken of complainers, AND they have to be HONEST in their answers:
1. Do you really watch all of a TCM movie when it is aired or just parts of it while you do other things? Or possibly just watch a film for a few minutes to see a favorite moment from a film and then turn off the TV?
2. Do you watch all of two or more movies an evening while it is being broadcast?
3. Do you just record the movie, turn to other channels, and probably never watch all of it later?
4. How many hours a day do you really watch TCM? (This is something I would like to hear from those who complain about changes. You can include how many hours you used to watch before you got upset. Remember, be honest.)
5. Does TCM have to have only the movies you like on every hour of the day? (sorry that is facetious but the complainers complain about things no matter what hour they are on, so I assume they never sleep).
As for repeating films, I mentioned in another post that TCM probably has licensing agreements like other stations do. You can't always just rent a film from a company for a one-time showing. Sometimes the package is probably three showings during a two month period. If a TV network gets into a contract like that, which is normal, I believe, and they decide to air the film only one time, then they have basically just thrown away a lot of money, or if you prefer they have paid three times the amount of a normal one-time airing.
Part of what bothered me about leo's post was his attitude in saying "I think that problem rest with their lazy programers." I think TCM's programmer is anything but lazy, and if leo had ever taken one of the TCM Programming Challenges on this board he would know how hard work it is in even planning out one week, let alone 52 weeks.
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Other MGM titles once promised but sadly MIA are the Alfred Hitchcock Box that was to have included Rebecca, Spellbound, The Paradine Case, The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps.
Actually, NZ, there was a Hitchcock boxset, "Wrong Men & Notorious Women", put out by Criterion that contained Rebecca, The 39 Steps, Notorious, The Lady Vanishes, and Spellbound. Admittedly, it is out of print now and highly sought after by collectors (which makes me even happier because I was lucky enough to be one of those who got this when it first came out).
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Let's not forget Portrait of Jennie at the very end, and if memory serves me right wasn't the painting in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in color for a few moments?
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Thank you so much for the info--I will try what you suggest BUT if tcm has 20,000 titles in their library which is extensive, then why he hell do they - must they, show the very same titles seen earlier weeks before? I think that problem rest with their lazy programers. What do U say or think about that?
Leo, for somebody who has been a member of these boards for almost three years, I am surprised you haven't seen the many posts that have come up about this subject. There seems to be a MAJOR misconception about how many films are actually in the TCM library. People assume because nearly every film ever made is mentioned in the TCM database, that these are in the TCM library. No. Don't forget, this is AFI's database. The TCM library was about 3,000 movies. The keyword is "was".
lzcutter has been kind enough so many times to tell about this that I will just reprint one of her recent posts about this, so she won't have to do so:
"When Ted Turner did the merger with Time-Warner a few years back, the TCM library was part of that deal.
That library is now belongs to Time-Warner and is under the care and handling of Warner Brothers studios.
At the time of the merger, the TCM library consisted of all RKO films, all pre-1948 Warners films and all pre-1986 MGM films.
When the TCM library changed ownership and the library became part of the Warner Brothers library, the Warners film library was finally reunited after years of being separated.
What this all means for TCM the station and we the viewers of the station, is that they have to rent/lease all the films they show. TCMProgrammr has said they are doing multi-year deals with Paramount and from the looks of the January schedule, they have done a great deal with Sony to be able to show not only Sony owned films (the post-1986 MGM library as well as the United Artists library) but Sony's Columbia Studios library as well.
20th has their own Fox Movie Channel so it is not easy for TCM to get the rights to air Fox Films but every once in awhile they do get lucky. In February, thanks to the 31 Days of Oscar, we will be treated to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" from Disney (a studio TCM almost never gets to air film from). Universal (which owns a good chunk of the Paramount film library now as well as its own) is also starting to work multi-year deals with TCM from what I understand."
By the way, Leo, Lard Cregar may describe how he looked, his name was actually Laird Cregar. And just to correct the others you mentioned, it's Claude Rains, George Sanders, and Linda Darnell. And Raymond Burr and Laird Cregar were not related.
And Scaramouche was on TCM not too long ago.
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And another year starts.
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A side note to the levity:
Billy Wilder liked the name Sheldrake so much that he used it in Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, and Kiss Me, Stupid.
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I also had no knowledge of John Astin being married to anyone other than Patty Duke.
Sorry, I meant Deborah Walley was married to John Ashley. In BBB, they were the two skydiving instructors.
Regretably, Deborah Walley, Meredith MacRae, and Donna Michelle are no longer with us. Walley died of esophagal cancer in 2001, MacRae in 2000 from complications of brain cancer, and Michelle died of a heart attack in 2004.
As to Marta Kristen, she was the elder daughter on Lost in Space. The younger was played by Angela Cartwright (Make Room for Daddy). I had a chance to meet Marta Kristen at a film collectors convention about two years ago and she is still very beautiful.
Other bits of trivia that you may find hard to believe: Harvey Lembeck (Eric Von Zipper) was also an acting teacher. And Bobbi Shaw (Buster Keaton's assistant in BBB. "Ya! Ya!") is a respected drama coach in L.A..
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Was Marta Kristen in the TV show Lost In Space?
Yes, she was.
More trivia about the films tonight:
Merideth MacRae, who played Animal in Bikini Beach, was the daughter of Gordon MacRae (Carousel, Oklahoma, etc.) and Sheila MacRae (Alice Kramden in the late 1960s versions of The Honeymooners).
Donna Michelle, who played Animal in BBB, was a Playboy Playmate of the Year.
Deborah Walley was married to John Astin at the time they made Beach Blanket Bingo.
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Cover art for upcoming Mr. Moto vol. 2:
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I looked up the coverting to region free a few days ago and read somewhere that Sony Region 1 DVD players probably won't convert. And I don't know that I want to take a chance on screwing mine up since it is a DVD recorder. But I certainly did think about it.
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While watching Foreign Correspondent yesterday, I was put in mind that today you have a chance to see his son, Jody, in Bikini Beach and Beach Blanket Bingo tomorrow. The resemblance is very strong. It's a shame that Jody McCrea never had a chance to get good acting roles because there are a few moments in his love scenes with Marta Kristen in BBB that he shows he could have had talent.
Also stick around near the end of the big fight between the surfers and Eric Von Zipper's gang in Bikini Beach for a surprise cameo. BBB also has Buster Keaton.
Now, for those who will be seeing these for the first time, it is true they are dumb, and dopey, but dang it, I really have a soft spot for these films. They were a fun part of my moviegoing when I was a kid. And I get a kick that they are the first films of Robert Osborne's first evening in 2007.
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Thank you all for your concern. I'll be okay. What they hey, it's good to rerst before the new year begins.
I hope everyone has a great - and safe! - New Year.
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I am going to be relaxing tonight. lol, last night, while watching The Saint or The Falcon, I went to the kitchen to get some potato chips, and not watching where I was going on the way back, I tripped on a speaker wire and fell against some things. lol, I wasn't like the old lady who said, "I've fallen and I can't get up", rather, I was "I'm staying on the floor for the next several minutes. I'm in too much pain to get up." But I'm generally okay, some scratches and what will probably turn out to be a mild concussion. Worst of all, I spilled most of the potato chips.
So, if I can't even walk from the kitchen to the living room, I am certainly not going to take a chance outside. Once a ****, always a ****.
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Hi, Rusty,
The Sanders tribute may have been a coincidence, but I don't think that can be said for the upcoming TCM night in March:
21 Wednesday
Saint In New York, The (1938)
Saint Strikes Back, The (1939)
Saint In London, The (1939)
Saint Takes Over, The (1940)
Gay Falcon, The (1942)
Date With The Falcon, A (1941)
Falcon's Brother, The (1942)
Falcon And The Co-Eds, The (1944)
Compare it to Matt's Challenge from a few months back. Almost identical.
6:45: The Saint Strikes Back (George Sanders, Wendy Barrie) 1939 /64m / RKO
8:00 The Saint in London (George Sanders, Sallie Gray) 1939 /72m / RKO
9:15: The Saint?s Double Trouble (George Sanders, Bela Lugosi) 1940 /67m / RKO
10:30: The Saint Takes Over (George Sanders, Wendy Barrie) 1940 /69m / RKO
11:45: The Saint in Palm Springs (George Sanders, Wendy Barrie) 1941 /66m / RKO
1:00: The Gay Falcon (George Sanders, Wendy Barrie) 1941 /67m / RKO
2:15: A Date w/the Falcon (George Sanders, Wendy Barrie) 1941 /63m / RKO
3:30: The Falcon Takes Over (George Sanders, Wendy Barrie) 1942 /65m / RKO
4:45: The Falcon?s Brother (George Sanders, Tom Conway) 1942 /63m / RKO
Al Jolson & Ruby Keeler on late tonight
in General Discussions
Posted
...or early tomorrow depending on where you are. TCM is showing the only teaming of husband & wife Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler in "Go Into Your Dance" at 2AM PST Friday or 5AM EST. I have been looking forward to this for some ime. Thanks, TCM!
Be cautious in setting your timers for this. It's an 89 or 90 min. movie and it is listed on the schedule in a 90-min. time period. Give a few minutes extra on the timers both ways.