The 'colorization' of TCM

[rover27]

Interesting. Only 24% of the movies shown in September are from the 1940's. To me that is the decade that is the gold standard of classic movies, even though 1939 is considered the greatest individual year. It would be nice to know what percentage of the movies shown in Sept., 2000 were from the 40's.

 

My guess is that it would be noticeably higher.

[mrsl]

*My Favorite Films:*

 

I apologize profusely for my grave mistake. Normally I check my dates but I admit I did not this time, but let me explain why. I have heard so many times, from different reviewers, and critics that Gable won his Oscar for *It Happened One Night* because they didn't think he was going to get it for *GWTW*. Which is truly dumb since there is a 5 year gap involved. I wonder how the rumor got started. But truly, that is what I was basing my post info on, and again I am sorry for the goof, and feel properly chastised.

________________________________

*Anne*

[MyFavoriteFilms]

Oh, no problem. I wasn't chastising you...please don't feel that way.

 

But you are making a good point about 'consolation prize Oscars.' Many people feel as if Jimmy Stewart's award for THE PHILADELPHIA STORY was to make up for the Oscar he did not get for MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. I am sure there have been others, but of course, Gable was not one of them. And speaking of GONE WITH THE WIND, Olivia de Havilland was not awarded for her portrayal of Melanie...but within ten years, she had two best actress trophies anyway!

 

[FredCDobbs]

> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote}

> Yep, I think this thread should've been more properly titled 'The modernization of TCM.' LOL

 

In his OP, I think Mr. Rover was using the term ?colorization? as sort of a metaphor. He?s really talking about ?newer movies?. Seems like we have one day of old classic black and whites for every two or three days of modern color and wide-screen films, and so many of the old classics are shown at 2 or 3 in the morning, while the modern color films are shown during the day and in prime time.

 

And how many times does anyone need to see ?Gidget??

[FredCDobbs]

> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote}

> but within ten years, she had two best actress trophies anyway!

 

 

She should have received an award for this Betty Hutton impersonation:

 

 

[MyFavoriteFilms]

Since we are talking about color and classic film...

 

I want to mention a foreign director whose work I very much admire. His name is Krzysztof Kieslowski and he made THE THREE COLORS TRILOGY in the early to mid-1990s. These three films were instant classics in his native Poland and abroad.

 

The first film is called BLUE, the second one is WHITE, and the last one is RED. I think RED is probably my favorite...the way he uses the color red to signify danger and the urgent desires of his characters is just amazing. I would love it if TCM featured an evening of this trilogy (which stars Juliette Binoche).

 

To read more about this remarkable director, check the wiki reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Colors_Trilogy

 

[molo14]

Mark and Kyle,

 

Thanks so much for your detailed replies. I've been wanting to get that off my chest for a while now and what you both wrote was very informative. I have a better understanding of how things work now.

 

I have my little nitpicks with TCM, (the new evening intro, the station bug isn't transparent enough, etc.), but those are very small potatoes compared to what we get from the network and the dedication of those who work there. After all, if didn't think it was the best thing television has to offer, I wouldn't be hanging around here so much.

 

So many films, that I've been waiting for years to see, eventually end up being aired on TCM. They certainly wouldn't show up anywhere else and the chances of many of them ever making it to DVD are pretty slim. Unless of course the archive series really takes off like gangbusters. (I can always hope).

 

So thanks again to you both for weighing in on this.

 

Molo (I can't even find a pay phone anymore!)

[hamradio]

molo14 wrote:

<< Molo (I can't even find a pay phone anymore!) >>

 

Superman has complained he has nowhere to change clothes.

[Kinokima]

As per your post pertaining to color some of my favorite use of color comes from the Powell/Pressburger films like the Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, & A Matter of Life & Death.

 

And also the 1940 version of Thief of Baghdad but that is just Powell.

[araner1973]

Yes, that emoticon will do just dandy. Thank ye!

[MyFavoriteFilms]

I haven't seen BLACK NARCISSUS yet but have heard much about it...

[markfp2]

> {quote:title=hlywdkjk wrote:}{quote} Some time in the past 'tcmprogrammr' wrote in here that TCM does have some sort of "special access" to the films of the "Turner Library" because of the corporate parentage which makes most of the films always available to TCM. But there is still a fee attached with every title which TCM now pays.

 

Excellent post, Kyle. Another thing he mentioned was, even though TCM may access to them, it doesn't mean it can have them anytime it wants. Which makes me think that perhaps TCM is limited to the number of those films they can play in any given year.

 

The other thing to keep in mind is that Warner Bros, has been leasing more films from the Turner Library to other networks such as HBO/Cinemax (another Time-Warner division) and Encore's various channels like Westerns. There has even has been a package of them running for the last year or two on various PBS stations.

 

That means TCM can't show them. That's because either the other channels have paid for exclusive rights or just as likely TCM doesn't want to bid against them for films they've shown many times before and will likely be available to them again in the future. The only thing that does is raise the price.

 

While I wouldn't say TCM has to "jump through hoops", the business of programming a network like TCM is far more complicated and expensive then the average viewer will ever realize.

[hlywdkjk]

*"Excellent post, Kyle."* - markfp

 

Thanks. I labored over it all morning.

 

*"Another thing he mentioned was, even though TCM may access to them, it doesn't mean it can have them anytime it wants. Which makes me think that perhaps TCM is limited to the number of those films they can play in any given year."*

 

Thank you for making that more clear. It is what I meant by "most of the films" being always available, but perhaps I didn't get it out there so explicitly.

I think the "limitations" of the Time-Warner/TCM arangement is visible in the line-up of "Turner Library" films being presented in conjunction with "Moguls And Movie Stars" this fall. I think there are some "odd" choices in the selections of films accompanying certain episodes. (And even odder omissions.) Perhaps some of the titles I anticipated seeing are in that PBS package you mentioned and are unavailable. (And I am not thinking of *Gone With The Wind* or *The Wizard Of Oz* as unexpected omissions,)

 

But then, I haven't seen the episodes so maybe I shouldn't speak about it 'til it appears and I know the context in which certain studios are being presented.

 

Kyle In Hollywood

[wouldbestar]

FredC, thank you for this hilarious clip and helping me put George Tobias's name and face together. I've loved his work for years but did not know who he was. For dramatic ladies, Ms. deHavilland and Lupino could make with musical comedy as well. As a member of the "I Love Olivia" brigade this was a treat.

[dukeroberts]

It Happened One Night actually came out in 1934, but I get your point. You were on a roll.

[LoveFilmNoir]

May I suggest collecting DVDs via Amazon and private collectors of bootlegs of black and white films? They exist.

 

Also, do people realize that a majority of what TCM shows are GOOD MOVIES with the occasional stinkeroo thrown in ( *Lylah Clare* anyone? ) and that there are just as many "black and white" films that aren't that good nor were they well received then or now that TCM just isn't going to show often? I don't want to have to pick and choose from BAD films simply because they are black in white.

[FredCDobbs]

TCM aired Lylah Clare a few months ago. So why air a bad modern film again, while never airing any classic Charlie Chan films?

[jamesjazzguitar]

As a leading member of the "I Love Olivia" brigade this was indeed a treat.

 

I say thank your YouTube! Yea I have know about YouTube for years now but only in the last few months have I really started to check it out. This is a problem because I work from home and there is soooooo much on the site that I have never seen before that if I don't limit myself I'll be broke!

[LoveFilmNoir]

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote}

> TCM aired Lylah Clare a few months ago. So why air a bad modern film again, while never airing any classic Charlie Chan films?

 

*Lylah Clare* isn't modern, just in color. And the point I was making is that there are actually some pretty lousy b&w films from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, that although they don't get play in prime time, weekends, or after 10AM EST during the week, they may still seem like a waste of a time slot to some. I've seen some films where I would have rather TCM aired a bad public domain print of a good film.

 

I am still hoping TCM airs those Chan films Fred, I really am. But I know at this point it is out of their control (but hopefully not for long).

[FredCDobbs]

> {quote:title=LoveFilmNoir wrote:}{quote}

> I am still hoping TCM airs those Chan films Fred, I really am. But I know at this point it is out of their control (but hopefully not for long).

 

You seem to know, so tell us, why does TCM not show any Charlie Chan movies? I we used to see them on the old AMC channel all the time, and TCM is selling the entire set. So why can we buy them from TCM, but we can?t see them ON TCM? Are we supposed to buy all the sets before they will show them to us on TCM?

[LoveFilmNoir]

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote}

> > {quote:title=LoveFilmNoir wrote:}{quote}

> > I am still hoping TCM airs those Chan films Fred, I really am. But I know at this point it is out of their control (but hopefully not for long).

>

> You seem to know, so tell us, why does TCM not show any Charlie Chan movies? I we used to see them on the old AMC channel all the time, and TCM is selling the entire set. So why can we buy them from TCM, but we cant see them ON TCM? Are we supposed to buy all the sets before they will show them to us on TCM?

 

Fred, with as many people who want to see these films, request them, and post on this board about them - TCM knows - THEY HAVE TO KNOW - that people want to see them and the only logical reason they won't show them is that they can't. It has to be. I doubt some programmer is sitting in the shadows hoarding the prints and having a good laugh at a thread like this that mentions them. Like you, I too would like to see these films at least once - and then maybe I will think about purchasing the films. As far as the advertisements, my only guess is the studio paid for advertising of the box sets.

[FredCDobbs]

> {quote:title=LoveFilmNoir wrote:}{quote}

> I doubt some programmer is sitting in the shadows hoarding the prints and having a good laugh at a thread like this that mentions them.

 

They are SELLING the prints, at $41.99 for each boxed set.

 

I?ve been watching Charlie Chan movies on TV since 1953, but all of a sudden, a couple of years ago, TCM stopped airing them and started advertising them for sale.

 

http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/results_title.asp?search=charliechan&media=&shopref=Shopping%3ASearchless+Home

[markbeckuaf]

With the exception of the Monogram Chan's, did TCM ever show the Fox Chan's other than during the Asian Images On Film series a couple years ago? I wish TCM would show more of the Monogram's, but I'm not sure they are in control of the Fox films, though it would rock for them to lease and show more of those too!

 

You can get most of the Fox Chan sets for around $25-ish on Amazon--in the marketplace. I have two and want to get more (one Oland, one Toler). The latest release of 4 Monogram's is a bit steep for just 4 of those films (wish they would re-do the entire Monogram series for a decent price), but it's cool to see a Roland Winters' performance get a DVD treatment, because so rare. Those Monogram's that were released a few years ago, as The Chanthology, is way over-priced now and difficult to find a decent price anywhere among US markets. I wish TCM would re-release those (all of them!) in a new set, minus what they just released in the Spotlight.

 

Whatever, would love to see them show up more on the channel! Why not?

[clore]

>>With the exception of the Monogram Chan's, did TCM ever show the Fox Chan's other than during the Asian Images On Film series a couple years ago?

 

 

Not that I can recall, but I wasn't hooked up to TCM until the year 2000. I remember that AMC aired them back in the days when they were worth watching, but the prints were not always the best. The whole group was restored for the Fox Chan Fest that was canceled after a few weeks in simmer of 2003.

[Big_Bopper]

I have great difficulty posting on here. That is why I don't join discussions.

 

Perhaps some of you TCM experts can tell me when/ if TCM has shown: Blood on the Sun, The Men, Underworld Story, Try & Get Me, ...?