Thanks TCM for Upperworld

[clore]

At least it's one film for Warren William's birthday.

 

My candidate for a Summer Under the Stars tribute.

[markbeckuaf]

I'm for it 100%!!!! Warren William for SOTM!!!!!

 

And yes, this film is rocking!

[clore]

Ironically, while UPPERWORLD is airing as part of a Mickey Rooney salute, his part was actually deleted from the film prior to release.

[audreyforever]

Never knew that...

[clore]

I didn't either, but having watched the whole thing and then realizing that I didn't spot him, I checked the IMDb. I wonder if he was to be a playmate for Dickie Jones in a scene.

 

Right now Mick's doing double duty, besides TCM, he's on ABC - his voice anyway - in SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN.

[brackenhe]

Great film with the wonderful Warren William getting most of the screen time. He's oddly very sympathetic here. Mary Astor is always welcome even though she has a small, albeit important part. I'm not a fan of Ginger Rogers but here she's got a little dirt on her and is tolerable.

 

Yes, I was a little confused about this being part of the first day for Mickey Rooney's SOTM. He wasn't in it unless I missed him. I did go into the kitchen for a minute.

[musicalnovelty]

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

> I didn't either, but having watched the whole thing and then realizing that I didn't spot him, I checked the IMDb. I wonder if he was to be a playmate for Dickie Jones in a scene.

>

I'm sure you mean Dickie Moore, as Dickie Jones is not in UPPERWORLD.

But anyway, it's nice that all three of the guys are still with us: Dickie Moore, Dickie Jones, and Mickey Rooney.

[clore]

Odds botkins - did I make that mistake again? I made that mistake a few years ago when writing about the Private Screenings show with the former child stars.

[MyFavoriteFilms]

I know the CITIZEN KANE purists will beat me with a stick, but this film proves to me how much Herman Mankiewicz and Orson Welles stole from what came before.

 

The scene with Warren William and Ginger Rogers entertaining each other by the piano was reused in KANE when Welles' character was first courting Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore). The name 'Alexander' has been reused, too (it's the first name of Warren William's character in UPPER WORLD). The set-up is identical: powerful tycoon drifts from wife to find love in the arms of a showgirl. It's a cliched plot, to be sure.

 

I think both films, UPPER WORLD and CITIZEN KANE, are taking a swipe at W.R. Hearst. The scene in UPPER WORLD where Mary Astor's character has the elaborate costume party is borrowed directly from Heart's decadent parties with Marion Davies. Except here, the wife (not the mistress) is giving the soiree.

[mavfan4life]

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

> Ironically, while UPPERWORLD is airing as part of a Mickey Rooney salute, his part was actually deleted from the film prior to release.

 

 

I went backwards and forwards through this film looking for him after not seeing him in it during the actual viewing. Couldn't find him until I saw somewhere his scenes were deleted. With all the films TCM is showing this month, it is really odd they would show one he's NOT in.

 

David in Seattle

[FredCDobbs]

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

> I think both films, UPPER WORLD and CITIZEN KANE, are taking a swipe at W.R. Hearst. The scene in UPPER WORLD where Mary Astor's character has the elaborate costume party is borrowed directly from Heart's decadent parties with Marion Davies. Except here, the wife (not the mistress) is giving the soiree.

 

I was in his big dining room. It has a long table and is outfitted like an old English castle. Off of it, or near it, is a large indoor swimming pool. The whole house looks a lot like the one in the movie, both inside and out. And, like in the movie, it does seem cold and lonely when there are no guests or parties going on.

 

The Hearst family donated it to the State of California, and they opened it to tours years ago.

 

Look at this room and the giant fireplace...

 

http://www.hearstcastle.org/content/tour-1

 

Many of the rooms on the ground floor of the main house had few or no windows, so the rooms were very dark, and they must have been cold in the winter.

 

Here?s the dining hall. No windows that people could see out of. Very odd. It is a very gloomy ?home?.

 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=188361455996&set=a.188359890996.136619.124143445996

 

Edited by: FredCDobbs on Dec 8, 2010 5:57 PM

[markbeckuaf]

> {quote:title=mavfan4life wrote:}{quote}

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

> > Ironically, while UPPERWORLD is airing as part of a Mickey Rooney salute, his part was actually deleted from the film prior to release.

>

>

> I went backwards and forwards through this film looking for him after not seeing him in it during the actual viewing. Couldn't find him until I saw somewhere his scenes were deleted. With all the films TCM is showing this month, it is really odd they would show one he's NOT in.

>

> David in Seattle

 

Yeah, it's wild, but whatever got this on, it's all good!

 

Warren William is WAAAAAAY overdue for either a SUTS or SOTM or both!!!

[MyFavoriteFilms]

I love that fireplace. It's gorgeous.

 

The dining hall seems like an important place of business...even if that business is eating a few morsels and washing it down. LOL

[lzcutter]

*I was in his big dining room.*

 

FredC,

 

I've been there, too! One of the best tours that MrCutter and I took of Hearst Castle was the evening tour that is offered in the summer/early fall.

 

Docents dress in vintage costumes and wander the grounds and house in costume.

 

I think my favorite part of the Castle is the kitchen with the industrial size appliances and the dining room. Hearst only put out the "fine china" for very special guests. The rest of the time, he and Marion and their guests dined on regular 'blue plate" dishware.

 

On the table is a bottle of ketchup which Hearst seemed to love on most everything.

[FredCDobbs]

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

>

> On the table is a bottle of ketchup which Hearst seemed to love on most everything.

 

 

Yes, I remember the tour guide mentioning the ketchup bottles on the table. Seems that

when Hearst put out the fancy china and the silver, and special dishes and bowls, all

very expensive, he had regular bottles of ketchup and jars of mustard on the table, which

the tour guide seemed to think wasn?t classy.

 

http://photographsofcalifornia.com/Central_Coast/Santa_Barbara_Hearst_Castle/photos/Hearst_Castle_15.jpg