filmlover

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1939

On TCM today...(and, by the way, this thread is now NOT going to be just "today on TCM". I am working on a large piece on "The 39 Steps" in its various incarnations, and I have other things after that.) *Hobson's Choice* And here's a really spooky poster for "Dead of Night." I'm actually surprised these graphics were approved way back then.

Hi, Valentine. Yes, for the first while, I was thinking I might turn it off, but then the absurdity began to make me laugh. And I could see how Monty Python could be inspired by this. The one problem I am having from that evening is I can't get that blasted "Summer Holiday" song out of my head! Interesting notes about Lauri Peters from Wikipedia: "Peters created the role of Liesl Von Trapp in the original 1959 Broadway production of The Sound of Music. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Musical, which she shared with her sibling castmates. She was married to actor Jon Voight (1962–67), whom she met when he joined the cast as Nazi messenger boy Rolfe, with whom Liesl has a song ("Sixteen Going on Seventeen") and a mutual attraction."

The 5 for $50 sale is here sooner than you thought. Today only and free shipping. http://www.wbshop.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-WB-Site/default/Search-Show?cgid=WACOLUMBUS&adid=1011WACColumEml&src=EWACOLU But I agree with you. I had trouble finding 5 titles before, but now with the things they have been issuing it is even harder.

Jill St. John, IQ 162, entered Univ. of California at age 14.

Sunday, Oct. 8, 1939

Saturday, Oct. 7th, 1939

UK movies on tonight

Fri., Oct. 6th, 1939 The left edge of this had been removed by someone not very careful. Edited by: filmlover on Oct 6, 2011 8:13 AM

I thought it was, "Listen up, ya muggs, you're not gettin' your commendment tablets from anywhere but my mob, see. Ten, hah! That's small stuff. I can get ya fifty of them for the same price...mebbe a little more."

re: Body Heat, I'd forego Hurt and the other stars. Better to have Lawrence Kasdan, because he wrote and directed it, and thus must have a love for film noir and would be better to speak on the subject. I'd half-expect William Hurt to say, "I'm just an actor. I don't know."

Kyle, those WB title lobby cards are wonderful!

Thurs., Oct. 5th, 1939

Wed., Oct. 4th, 1939

Some various Blu-ray news... ************* Kino Video have revealed that they are preparing Blu-ray releases of Albert Parker's silent Sherlock Holmes (1922) and Buster Keaton's Seven Chances (1925). Additionally, the studio is also bringing Frank Borzage's original Farewell to Arms (1932), winner of two Oscar Awards, and William A. Wellman's Nothing Sacred (1937). Street date for Sherlock Holmes and Seven Chances is December 13th. Street date for Farewell to Arms and Nothing Sacred is December 27th. ************* An early announcement to retailers indicates that PBS will release on Blu-ray Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton's documentary These Amazing Shadows: The Movies That Make America (2011). Earlier this year, the film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Street date is November 22. These Amazing Shadows: The Movies That Make America tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, an eclectic collection of films that typify cinema's contributions to American culture. The 550 films inducted thus far constitute a roll call of national cultural and artistic treasures that reflect a nation's self-perception, fears, and ambitions. ************ While the Criterion Collection will release its January slate later this month, the distributor has posted a still frame on its Facebook page hinting at a potential January title. Criterion will not confirm the film's identity until mid-October, but most believe that the picture indicates a Belle de Jour Blu-ray. *********** Eureka Entertainment (UK) have revealed that they are getting ready to release a number of classic and cult films on Blu-ray: Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Silence de la Mer (1949), Pier Paolo Pasolini's Accattone (1961) and The Gospel According to Matthew (1964), Shohei Imamura's The Insect Woman (1963), Peter Watkins' Punishment Park (1971), Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop(1971), and Alex Cox's Repo Man (1984). Street date for Two-Lane Blacktop, Le Silence de la Mer, and Punishment Park is January 23. Street date for Repo Man and The Insect Woman/ Nishi-Ginza Station is February 20th. Street date for Accattone and The Gospel According To Matthew is March 26th. Ruggles of Red Gap will be out later in 2012. **************

Tuesday, Oct. 3rd, 1939

I asked for it to be moved to the "Your Favorites" forum. I've decided I would like to add new posts on a regular basis, which goes beyond the original month I planned, so having it there makes it easier for you and me to find it than digging through pages here in General Discussions. Here's the new address for it: http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=161496&tstart=0

Not quite done yet, Ugaarte... I've been saving some of the best art for this, *my selection of...* *"25 Must-See British Films."* One word of explanation, I focused these 25 on British-made films made about England or the English people. For this reason, I left off some of my favorite films, such as The Thief of Bagdad, The Third Man, Black Narcissus, Hamlet, The Mouse That Roared, and others. In alphabetical order *Alfie* Come on, can you tell me you can resist a movie where the main character introduces himself to you and then says if you expect to see the opening credits now, you're mistraken? Michael Caine is a cad throughout the movie, but just as the ladies love him for being what he is, so do we. And, naturally, there is also the theme song. A superstar-making film. *The Boyfriend* (aka The Boy Friend) Ken Russell directed this backstage musical that's part British music hall and part Hollywood extravaganza. English model Twiggy stars in this spoof, and, surprisingly, she is quite good. Of course, it helps she is playing someone who has no acting experience, an assistant director that is forced to go on when the star injures her foot. (The impact of seeing who that star is comes later on for us, the audience. When the film was first released, the audience was abuzz because she is uncredited; now, many here won't recall her at all, but I won't spoil it. You'll have to see the film.) It's a very enjoyable picture, a love letter to the Hollywood Busby Berkely musicals of the early 1930s, but with its own heart. *The Bridge on the River Kwai* Seldom has there been a film that shows the strenth of the British spirit AND the foolishness of military behaviour. Alec Guinness captures both of these perfectly. There is also a fine-tuned performance from former silent film star Sessue Hayakawa as the Japanese camp commandment. *Brief Encounter* A film of a man and a woman who meet at a railroad station and end up falling in love. Unfortunately, she is already married. It is a quiet affair, if affair you can call it, but it is of true love that happens when you meet the person you should be with, and the inner gigantic pain that comes of realizing that wanting is not the same as what is allowed. Both Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson are perfect in this film, but Johnson is the one whose heartbreak we share. Beautifully written by Noel Coward and directed by David Lean. *The Four Feathers* What do you do when your best friends and your fiancée accuse you of cowardice because you won't go to war? What Harry Faversham did to make them take back their feathers is a tale of incredible bravery. An early Technicolor film. *Goodbye Mr. Chips* Robert Donat deservedly won the Best Actor Oscar for this film (yes, even in beating out Clark Gable's performance in Gone With the Wnd). He ages from a young school teacher to an elderly master during the course of the film, and matures from an unliked chap to a much-loved-and-respected man. Greer Garson is lovely, but it truly is Donat's film all the way. When he is an old man, you never feel that is a young man behind the makeup. They say a true performance is in the eyes. Donat's eyes reflect everything good or sad that happen to him. *Great Expectations* If you should watch this film after Goodbye Mr Chips, you will be in a for a cultural shock. Chips' strict private school is a joy compared to the graveyard and rundown estate of Great Expectation. And Pip, a young man, loses his heart to the cold, tortuous Jean Simmons, who is being trained by a bitter old woman in the fine art of man-destroying. Moody, terrifying, everything you expect from a story by Charles Dickens. *A Hard Day's NIght* Ah, some fun and adventure at last, ha ha! The Beatles star as...the Beatles. Four great lads on a lark through the city on a day of a TV concert. No muckin' about,now! A film that is pure delight from start to finish. *Henry V* A patriotic Shakespearean film from World War II. Olivier at his most stagey and showy, but also what you want from a grand play by the Bard at Stratford-On-Avon. The film alternates between actors upon the stage and that of "actors" upon the world. With more films like this, Olivier could have won the second world war all by himself. *Hobson's Choice* Charles Laughton's name may have top billing and his huge form may fill the posters, but it is John Mills, every meek man's hero, who is the center of the film, with a growing independence and strength in not only opposing his superior, but in gaining the love of Hobson's ambitious daughter. Though John Mills may not have the flamboyance of a James Mason or Stewart Granger, or the pomposity of an Olivier, he certainly was more grounded in the way the general moviegoing public saw themselves. You will likely find him in more films in this list than any other star. *In Which We Serve* And this is one of those John Mills films. The only WWII film you ever need to see. A small group of British survivors of their ship being sunk cling desperately to a liferaft. While doing so, memories of their home life fills their minds. This was a masterpiece of the average, everyday man, which is all the more surprising since it was written, directed, and produced by sophisticate Noel Coward. And he starred in it, too. Once you have seen this motion picture, you will be recommending it to others. *Kind Hearts and Coronets* You know how there are certain movies that you just need to hear the title of to make you laugh at the rememberance. KH&C is such a film, and all my smiles are due to Alec Guinness in this. He plays various members of a family being disposed of in imaginitive ways. (I just realized what I said earlier about John Mills being in more films on my list isn't correct. Guinness takes that honor.) *The King's Speech* The most recent film on the list is not the least in my heart. Colin Forth is an actor whose work I have appreciated in the TV production of Pride and Prejudice (there is no better Mr. Darcy to my way of thinking), as well as the films Love Actually and Bridget Jones's Diary. But he tops all performances with this. You truly feel for him every moment as he battles his stuttering problem. I was surprised Geoffrey Rush was not also nominated in the Best Actor Oscar category, but I am pleased Firth won. Winner of Best Picture. *The Ladykillers* Alec Guinness creepy? Heck, yes. In this film when that door opens and the little old lady sees this sleazy-looking man, one feels that here is a charcter that takes evil pills for lunch. Thiose eyes would frighten any one, but she not lets him in, she allows him to board there. Then you have his fellow crooks...er, sorry, "musicians"...as disfunctioning a group of bad guys as you will ever come across. The result? Plenty of laughs. *The Lavender Hill Mob* This time, Alec Guinness is a sly employee who gets it into his head to rob his employer of a load of gold bars. And the scheme is further developed when he comes across a person (Stanley Holloway) with a bit of larceny to his character, too. The trouble is they need to have professional help..real crooks, that is. That's where the real fun begins. Watch for Audrey Hepburn in one of her earliest moments on screen. *The Lion in Winter* Talk about performances you will remember all your life! If ever there was a case of irrestible force meeting an immovable object, here they are, Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn, respectively. This had to be why large movie screens were invented, because TV is too small to adequately exhibit the power of these two actors when they get going at each other. Two years earlier, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor played fueding spouses, but their arguments were ugly and much too real to what we might here from a neighbor's home. With O'Toole and Hepburn, however, you fed off the incredible wit and elation of their power struggle. *A Man For All Seasons* Robert Shaw was often over the top in his performances, but what a joy to watch. Here as King Henry VIII, he blusters and bellows and struts. What he wants, he must have. Unfortunately, for him the much calmer and moral Sir Thomas More, portrayed by the wonderfully reserved Paul Scofield, disagrees with what the King wants, a separation from the church so he can divorce and get married again. Therein would be conflict enough to create a magnificent story, but this also has basis in historical fact, making the politics of 16th century England all the more fascinating. Winner of 6 Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor (Scofield), and director (Fred Zinneman). Also nominated was Wendy Hiller as Thomas More's wife. *A Matter of Life and Death* (aka Stairway to Paradise) "One is starved for Technicolor up there," sighs the guide who has come to Earth to take back crashed English flier David Niven to his final resting place. However, because he came later than the incident took place, the flier has now had time to fall in love with an American girl (Kim Hunter) and she with him. He is put on trial to see if he can stay, but the prosecuting attorney is the spirit of a British-hating Colonial (a wonderfully venomous Raymond Massey). Brilliant film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger which makes full use of Technicolor in the Earth sequences. *A Night to Remember* Though James Cameron created a more visual representatiion of the Titanic, for facts I would rather watch A Night to Remember. It is only fitting that England produced this film, as the Captain and the crew were English, and the greatest look at how the British could keep a stiff upper lip when duty required it. (One interesting thing, if you can view the 1943 Nazi-propaganda version of the disaster called Titanic, you may spot something familar after seeing A Night To Remember. The ANTR film has taken footage from the 1943 film, only flipping the film so where something went in one direction, now it is going in the other.) *Notting Hill* My favorite comedy of all time, no matter the continent. Superbly written and directed, and with a supporting cast that is second to none. Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are wonderful, and give touching performances, though the romance is a trifle unbelievable. But the mastery of the actors who support them has each of them bringing their character to life. You truly care about them and cheer them by film's end. They really do give eaning to the word "ensemble". But, above all, the script by Richard Curtis, is the film's true masterpiece. *Oliver!* LOL, okay, I admit it, Oliver! is an endurance test. The bad: Mark Lester and his singing (though there are rumors it was dubbed by a girl) and Oliver Reed (sorry, I've never liked him). But the good far outweighs the bad: Ron Moody as Fagin, Shani Wallis as Nancy, several excellent songs, and a couple of all-out production numbers, "Consider Yourself" and "Who Will Buy?" Enjoyable, but not anywhere close to being worthy of the Best Picture Oscar it won over A Lion in Winter and Funny Girl. *Pygmalion* "I'm a good girl, I am!" To me, Audrey Hepburn was glamour personified, and I could accept her very well as society Eliza, but I always have trouble with her as flower girl Eliza. But I can believe flower girl Wendy Hiller, "that squashed cabbage leaf" as Henry Higgins puts it. And Leslie Howard could play charming very well, but he played droll oh so much better, and never better than here as Higgins. *Richard III* A full-bodied performance by Laurence Olivier as the evil Richard makes this a film worth watching, it is something to have you glued to the screen. It saddens me to think how much poor we would be if we had never had Olivier's performances as Shakespearean heroes and villians committed to film. Though I highly disagree with the term "world's greatest actor" being applied to Olivier (in many film roles, I feel Olivier is over-acting, not natural, to the point one doesn't take him seriously) but he is my willing teacher to the best one can see with regards to Hamlet, Othello, Henry, and Richard. *The 39 Steps* This is my favorite Hitchcock film, bar one. Hero on the run, accused of a crime he didn't commit, while still trying to stop important secrets from being taken out of the country. Sure, North by Northwest did it in color and with Cary Grant, but The 39 Steps did it first, and didn't take so long getting there. Also Robert Donat is so very enjoyable to watch while being handcuffed to the lovely but troublesome Madeleine Carroll, particluarly in the room where they are spending the night. The way he spins off a humorous yarn of how his whole family was no good charms even her. Plus, the final scene at the music hall where Donat calls out, "What are the 39 Steps?" is among my favorite Hitchcock moments, with the entertainer on stage either going into a sort of glazed-over automatic telling of facts per his occupation, or a professional pride in getting all questions answered correctly. *To Sir, With Love* Could you get any more British than the kids and the street people here? I highly doubt it. But best of all was the casting of Sidney Poitier, the teacher we all wish we could have had, the fish out of water at this lower-class English school. Sure, it's almost a reworking of The Blackboard Jungle, which also had Sidney Poitier in the cast, but I prefer TSWL. Judy Geeson is marvelous as the student he is able to make a breakthrough with, and Christian Roberts as the tough guy shows he can grow.

Mon., Oct. 2nd, 1939 Sorry, edge torn on this one.

*And, finally, the British film industry from 2000 to Present* And... While many of the new tites I have listed here, as a necessary part of the film history, may not be of interest to classic film fans here, it shows how far the British film industry has come from the silent days of One might think that the UK film producers have abandoned England's own special identity in order to capture a worldwide market, but if you look at the film that won the Best Picture Oscar this year (and winning the Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay), it was a look back at the heart of the English people... Nice. : ) I'm going out now to get some fish and chips.

It had nothing to do with criticism of TCM. It was because you keep creating thread after thread about the same thing. I know because I am the one who reported it. People answer you to the best of their ability about why Hot Spell probably isn't shown, and you know it, but you just won't stay on one thread about Hot Spell. You will do a new thread almost every other day. You act like a spoiled child in a store crying at the top of his lungs until his parents buy him the toy he wants.

*The 1990s*:

*The 1980s:*

*I am listing several posts today covering the remaining years of this history from 1970 to the present day, with a decade for each post, highlighting popular films from each.* As we get closer to today, films would cost so much that occasionally it is a joint US/UK venture or something similar. So the ones below are either 100% UK or a combo with another country. *The 1970s:* (David Lean tok the criticism of Ryan's Daugther so badly, he didn't direct a film again for over a decade.) An unusual poster from Japan of A Bridge Too Far

Sunday, October 1, 1939