I Just Watched...

[Hibi]

LOL. Whit Bissell was in more bad movies than I can count, but this was one of his good ones..........yeah, that's where I first saw him too, years ago...

[Hibi]

I LOVE John Hodiak's voice. Such a sad end.

[LornaHansonForbes]

13 minutes ago, Hibi said:

I LOVE John Hodiak's voice. Such a sad end.

I've always wondered how he and JUDY GARLAND got along whilst filming THE HARVEY GIRLS. (as with Judy and ROBERT WALKER in THE CLOCK)

Bet the production assistants on both had their hands full.

 

eta: http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/movies/2014/04/16/One-hundred-years-of-John-Hodiak/stories/201404160030

[Hibi]

Why do you say that? Was he difficult on the sets?

[speedracer5]

9 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

1. Something tells me ROBERT RYAN looked 35 when he was about 12.

2. Actually, it's WHIT Bissell, but before you think I'm gettin' all high fallutin' on you, THE ONLY REASON I KNOW THAT is because he was in I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF

3. John Hodiak is hot. Like, even by modern standards. Have you wiki'd him? He's one of those whose personal life and death shapes how I feel about them when I see them onscreen in something. i BET HE AND ANN BAXTER WERE ONE HOT, VOLATILE PILE OF LAVA TOGETHER THO.

PS- that's a BEWITCHED reference in re: A. Krabbitz, yes?

1. I know! Whenever characters' ages are mentioned in films, I usually think, "Really?" I mean I know people tended to look older back then, and hair and makeup can definitely aid in the aging process, but man.  Like in Casablanca, they say that Bogart is 37.  I'd buy 47.  In How to Marry a Millionaire, William Powell guesses that Lauren Bacall is 25.  Maybe 35. Even when Bacall was actually 19 in To Have and Have Not, I would have easily accepted her as 29.  I think it's probably the voice. I never really thought much about Robert Ryan, but as I see him in more films, I like him. 

Then there are character actors like William Frawley and Elizabeth Patterson, who look exactly the same in a 1930s film as they do in I Love Lucy!  Mayor Pike from The Andy Griffith Show pops up everywhere and no matter what year the film is from, he always looks and sounds exactly the same. 

2. Corrected.  I was writing from memory, I mis-remembered.  "Whit Bissell" sounds like a model of a vacuum cleaner.  I thought he looked familiar, then I realized that he plays a character in The Time Tunnel, this sci-fi time travel show from the 1960s that I've been watching on Hulu--it stars dreamboat James Darren! 

3. John Hodiak is pretty cute.  I thought so when I saw him in Lifeboat for the first time. It's a shame that Hodiak succumbed to that surprise heart attack. 

4. Yes.  Abner Kravitz (aka George Tobias) is the husband to Gladys Kravitz, grade A snoop.  The Kravitzes are the next door neighbors of the Stephenses.  Gladys always legitimately sees something kooky happening next door, goes: "Abner! Abner! Mrs. Stephens has a pool in her front yard! (for example)."  Then by the time Abner comes to the window to see whatever it is, Samantha has always made it disappear.  Abner just thinks Gladys is nuts and gives her some sort of medicine.  Not sure what the medicine is.  I always assumed it was a sedative or something.  For the record, Gladys Kravitz #1 is WAY better than Gladys Kravitz #2. 

[LornaHansonForbes]

I hope HoldenisHere is here. I'd hate for him to miss a good BEWITCHED reference....

[cigarjoe]

On 8/14/2018 at 9:01 AM, LornaHansonForbes said:

i'll make this short, but i'm posting another I JUST READ review because it links to classic film...

I just read RED HARVEST by DASHIELL HAMMETT actually, I reread it, but I didn't remember a damn thing about it other than the bare premise and the fact that I liked it as much as, if not more than, THE MALTESE FALCON when i read it 14 yearsish ago.

It's kinda like if DICKENS had decided to give HARD TIMES a body count somewhere up in the twenty-somethings...You can't put this book down, and I say that because if you do: YOU WILL HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN IT WHEN YOU PICK IT UP AGAIN. There is seemingly a cast of hundreds introduced in its two hundred sixteen pages (Jane Austen would be  so proud...sort of) and it's easy as hell to forget who is who, BUT SINCE ALMOST EVERYONE DIES IT KINDA WORKS OUT OKAY.

James Ellroy would need a flowchart to really, really follow this puppy- IT'S THAT COMPLICATED.

One of those AGATHA CHRISTIE CHARACTER GLOSSARIES in the front would SO have HELPED. 

that said, I'd give it three and a half stars out of four and recommend it. i can see why it wasn't adapted during the PRODUCTION CODE ERA, but a shame it wasn't(?) adapted by an American Studio some time in the 70's...I know MILLER'S CROSSING is an unofficial remake of sorts...

 

Last Man Standing (1996) with Bruce Willis and Bruce Dern is supposedly based on it.

[kingrat]

I saw the last hour of A Town Like Alice and liked it very much. Peter Finch is excellent as an Australian prisoner of war in Malaya during WWII, but Virginia McKenna is even better as an Englishwoman who keeps getting sent from prison camp to prison camp, as the Japanese commanders insist they have no room for women prisoners. McKenna has several big dramatic scenes which she plays very well. Some outstanding character actresses play the other Englishwomen. Based on a novel by Nevil Shute, who wrote On the Beach. There was also a mini-series.

[Tikisoo]

Speedracer said 4. Yes. Abner Kravitz (aka George Tobias) is the husband to Gladys Kravitz, grade A snoop.

While most of us first saw George Tobias on BEWITCHED, once seeing him in so many supporting roles in so many movies, we realize what a truly fantastic actor he was. He wasn't particularly handsome so he remained in supporting roles most of his career. But just off the top of my head I can recall him playing a Russian, an Englishman, a Southerner, a soldier, blue collar worker, gangster, pilot and the list goes on.

Tobias is right up there with Ward Bond, Thomas Mitchell & Alan Hale as talented & prolific supporting actors in so many great classic movies. Just look at all he brings to his last role as Kravitz which is essentially just a straight man part.

[LornaHansonForbes]

 

FILE TO: THE DEPT. OF EVEN STOPPED CLOCKS etc.:

THE STRANGER'S RETURN (1933) (MGM)

LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW:    ***1/2 King Vidor. Lionel Barrymore, Miriam Hopkins, Franchot Tone, Stuart Erwin, Irene Hervey, Beulah Bondi. A young woman, recently separated from her husband, leaves the city to stay at her grandfather's farm. Here she finds her roots, as well as a kindred spirit in neighboring farmer Tone, a college graduate. Why this rich, mature, beautifully made film isn't better known is a mystery. Phil Stong helped adapt his own novel for director Vidor.

(end review)

Damn straight, Lenny (or whoever wrote the review).

This is an aggressively charming movie; I don't think MIRIAM HOPKINS was ever lovelier- it's easy to forget how BEAUTIFUL she was early in her career. Laugh if you want to, but this was a great example of an actress willing to be authentic for a role- Hopkins (a native Georgian) actually lets her Marcel wave relax and doesn't do heavy make-up or high glam (and plays 1/2 her scenes at least in jodhpurs and no bra!). She and LIONEL BARRYMORE pair wonderfully, LIONEL used to be not one of my favorites and then I saw DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS (1948) and I adore him now. Yes, he was a ham, but he was a likeable ham, and the sort of ham that compliments all the others around him and (usually) brings out the best he can in his fellow actors...although, to be honest, FRANCHOT TONE is in this and he is the unquestionable WEAK LEAK in the cast. BEAULAH BONDI- it's worth noting- excels in a rare villainous part.

there is something very magical about little films like this made between 1930 and 1934- when they figured out how to do sound right and there was no Production Code. This is, technically, a Precode, although there's nothing raunchy about it, just an honesty that is refreshing and it makes it uncannily relateable to an audience today.

Contrast this MGM production of the thirties to what they would have done with the same story in the 1950's- likely turned it into a bright Technicolor All American musical extravaganza without a genuine moment in the whole thing...and you get an idea of the trajectory in general of American filmmaking.

King Vidor directed this...which is surprising because it's neither VISUALLY IMPOSING nor HIGHLY THEATRICAL...which is a nice change of pace from the rest of his ouevre. 

The editing was very odd in this movie though; there were brief moments of total blackness between shots EVEN WITHIN THE SAME SCENE...I'm not sure what the story behind that is (a restoration maybe?); but the print TCM showed is very nice and clean, and for any of you who like classic "AGRI-PICS" (ie THE SOUTHERNER) and are interested in some vintage footage of farming in the 30's, this one comes highly recommended.

[LornaHansonForbes]

11 hours ago, cigarjoe said:

Last Man Standing (1996) with Bruce Willis and Bruce Dern is supposedly based on [the novel RED HARVEST by Dashiell Hammett]

In an alternate universe somewhere JOHN HUSTON directed a version in 1971 starring WARREN OATES as THE CONTINENTAL OP and HUSTON HIMSELF as OLD MAN ELIHU and it made A CLOCKWORK ORANGE look like CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG by comparison.

[LornaHansonForbes]

i also had the unique experience of watching the last...Gosh, I guess I would say "15" minutes of THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE yesterday, but in LYLAH CLARE minutes that counts as an hour and a half.

HONEST TO GOD, PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THIS MOVIE CAN CAUSE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.

as TERRIBLE as this movie is and as UNIQUELY BAD as KIM NOVAK is and as STANDARDLY BAD as BORGNINE is and as CRACKED OUT as the direction is and as WRETCHED as the dialogue is- I still say PETER FINCH is "good" in this- in that he maintains a certain dignity even during moments where EVERYONE ON SET KNEW THIS THING WAS GOING TO BE A SPECTACULAR DOG OF A MOVIE. he sees it through and he plays it astoundingly straight; really, not since GARY COOPER in THE FOUNTAINHEAD has an actor seen an assignment through with a more quiet nobility- even as a quartet played an endless loop of Nearer My God to Thee on the set during the final says of the shoot.

coming in at the end tho, i was able to envision a path out of the mess that is this movie- I think if FINCH'S character HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR LEWIS ZARKHAN had to sit in the theater as an audience that had just seen footage from THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE walked out- dazed, angry at the world, possibly vomiting and convulsing- it might have at least given anyone who had sat through this a sense of something close to peace with what they have just spent over two hours of their life watching.

"VARDROBE!!!!!!!"

[cigarjoe]

2 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

In an alternate universe somewhere JOHN HUSTON directed a version in 1971 starring WARREN OATES as THE CONTINENTAL OP and HUSTON HIMSELF as OLD MAN ELIHU and it made A CLOCKWORK ORANGE look like CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG by comparison.

In 1925 Hammett's novelette Corkscrew was published. It was reworked and published as Red Harvest and came out in 1929. It's pretty much the same "playing both ends against the middle" theme.

Red Harvest took place in Personville nicknamed "Poisonville" in the novel these were actually based on Butte, Anaconda, and Walkerville in Montana, where Hammett worked for Pinkerton. Butte and Walkerville were the mining towns and nearby Anaconda was the smelter town.

What I found interesting was that Corkscrew was way more descriptive in everything than Red Harvest which makes me wonder if a lot of description was edited out. I like descriptive passages and found Red Harvest pretty sparse.

[CaveGirl]

On 8/15/2018 at 11:19 AM, Hibi said:

LOL. Whit Bissell was in more bad movies than I can count, but this was one of his good ones..........yeah, that's where I first saw him too, years ago...

I love Whit Bissell in anything. It's like seeing one's favorite uncle in something he is so ubiquitous in films of that time period.

[CaveGirl]

15 hours ago, speedracer5 said:

1. I know! Whenever characters' ages are mentioned in films, I usually think, "Really?" I mean I know people tended to look older back then, and hair and makeup can definitely aid in the aging process, but man.  Like in Casablanca, they say that Bogart is 37.  I'd buy 47.  In How to Marry a Millionaire, William Powell guesses that Lauren Bacall is 25.  Maybe 35. Even when Bacall was actually 19 in To Have and Have Not, I would have easily accepted her as 29.  I think it's probably the voice. I never really thought much about Robert Ryan, but as I see him in more films, I like him. 

Then there are character actors like William Frawley and Elizabeth Patterson, who look exactly the same in a 1930s film as they do in I Love Lucy!  Mayor Pike from The Andy Griffith Show pops up everywhere and no matter what year the film is from, he always looks and sounds exactly the same. 

2. Corrected.  I was writing from memory, I mis-remembered.  "Whit Bissell" sounds like a model of a vacuum cleaner.  I thought he looked familiar, then I realized that he plays a character in The Time Tunnel, this sci-fi time travel show from the 1960s that I've been watching on Hulu--it stars dreamboat James Darren! 

3. John Hodiak is pretty cute.  I thought so when I saw him in Lifeboat for the first time. It's a shame that Hodiak succumbed to that surprise heart attack. 

4. Yes.  Abner Kravitz (aka George Tobias) is the husband to Gladys Kravitz, grade A snoop.  The Kravitzes are the next door neighbors of the Stephenses.  Gladys always legitimately sees something kooky happening next door, goes: "Abner! Abner! Mrs. Stephens has a pool in her front yard! (for example)."  Then by the time Abner comes to the window to see whatever it is, Samantha has always made it disappear.  Abner just thinks Gladys is nuts and gives her some sort of medicine.  Not sure what the medicine is.  I always assumed it was a sedative or something.  For the record, Gladys Kravitz #1 is WAY better than Gladys Kravitz #2. 

Didn't Gladys fall out of a tree or something, which caused her chin issues? Seems like I saw her on tape once telling this story.

[CaveGirl]

On 8/15/2018 at 11:10 AM, LornaHansonForbes said:

1. Something tells me ROBERT RYAN looked 35 when he was about 12.

2. Actually, it's WHIT Bissell, but before you think I'm gettin' all high fallutin' on you, THE ONLY REASON I KNOW THAT is because he was in I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF

3. John Hodiak is hot. Like, even by modern standards. Have you wiki'd him? He's one of those whose personal life and death shapes how I feel about them when I see them onscreen in something. i BET HE AND ANN BAXTER WERE ONE HOT, VOLATILE PILE OF LAVA TOGETHER THO.

PS- that's a BEWITCHED reference in re: A. Krabbitz, yes?

Your comment about Ryan looking 35 when he was 12 made me laugh. I'm trying to think who said it, but I can't remember, but some other actor said he liked Ryan's face since it looked like it had been run over by a semi-truck! He did have a roughened look and boy, could he make those beady eyes go into slits when he was ticked off!

[CaveGirl]

26 minutes ago, cigarjoe said:

In 1925 Hammett's novelette Corkscrew was published. It was reworked and published as Red Harvest and came out in 1929. It's pretty much the same "playing both ends against the middle" theme.

Red Harvest took place in Personville nicknamed "Poisonville" in the novel these were actually based on Butte, Anaconda, and Walkerville in Montana, where Hammett worked for Pinkerton. Butte and Walkerville were the mining towns and nearby Anaconda was the smelter town.

What I found interesting was that Corkscrew was way more descriptive in everything than Red Harvest which makes me wonder if a lot of description was edited out. I like descriptive passages and found Red Harvest pretty sparse.

Speaking of Hammett creations, I wish TCM would show "The Dain Curse" though it's unlikely since it was a mini-series. I've seen it once, and it did have James Coburn and Jean Simmons in it and the great Paul Stewart, of "Citizen Kane" fame, but even after reading the book I was a bit confused. I wonder if others here have ever seen it and what they think of it. I remember reading it as the last book in a collection of five of Hammett's, which included "Red Harvest" which I liked a lot more.

[scsu1975]

34 minutes ago, CaveGirl said:

Speaking of Hammett creations, I wish TCM would show "The Dain Curse" though it's unlikely since it was a mini-series. I've seen it once, and it did have James Coburn and Jean Simmons in it and the great Paul Stewart, of "Citizen Kane" fame, but even after reading the book I was a bit confused. I wonder if others here have ever seen it and what they think of it. I remember reading it as the last book in a collection of five of Hammett's, which included "Red Harvest" which I liked a lot more.

I remember seeing The Dain Curse, but I got a little bored with it. I also recall Johnny Carson making some jokes about James Coburn's hat.

[LawrenceA]

I spent the last couple of days watching the 39 episodes of the second season of Science Fiction Theatre, a syndicated anthology show that ran from 1955 to 1957. The first season was in color (a rarity at the time), but this lower budgeted second season was in black and white. The quality was a bit lower all around, as well, with a bare minimum of sets and location work. The cast was also much more limited, with many of the same guest stars returning for multiple episodes, and less golden age movie stars, although a few still appeared. Much like the first season, this is often dull, and the emphasis is on dialogue, lecture-style monologues, and simple scientific mysteries rather than space opera adventure. It's still a good snapshot of mid-twentieth century attitudes on science and its place in the world. 

Guest-stars included Vincent Price, Bonita Granville, Charles Winninger, Bruce Bennett, Peter Hansen, Dick Foran, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Lockhart, June Lockhart, Victor Jory, Ruth Hussey. Ray Collins, Marhsall Thompson, Bill Williams, Arthur Franz, Wayne Morris, Skip Homeier, DeForest Kelley, Martin Milner, Donald Curtis, Lyle Talbot, and Whit Bissell. One particularly goofy episode, concerning past-life regression, was directed by William Castle. 

 

[CaveGirl]

51 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

I spent the last couple of days watching the 39 episodes of the second season of Science Fiction Theatre, a syndicated anthology show that ran from 1955 to 1957. The first season was in color (a rarity at the time), but this lower budgeted second season was in black and white. The quality was a bit lower all around, as well, with a bare minimum of sets and location work. The cast was also much more limited, with many of the same guest stars returning for multiple episodes, and less golden age movie stars, although a few still appeared. Much like the first season, this is often dull, and the emphasis is on dialogue, lecture-style monologues, and simple scientific mysteries rather than space opera adventure. It's still a good snapshot of mid-twentieth century attitudes on science and its place in the world. 

Guest-stars included Vincent Price, Bonita Granville, Charles Winninger, Bruce Bennett, Peter Hansen, Dick Foran, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Lockhart, June Lockhart, Victor Jory, Ruth Hussey. Ray Collins, Marhsall Thompson, Bill Williams, Arthur Franz, Wayne Morris, Skip Homeier, DeForest Kelley, Martin Milner, Donald Curtis, Lyle Talbot, and Whit Bissell. One particularly goofy episode, concerning past-life regression, was directed by William Castle. 

 

 

52 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

I spent the last couple of days watching the 39 episodes of the second season of Science Fiction Theatre, a syndicated anthology show that ran from 1955 to 1957. The first season was in color (a rarity at the time), but this lower budgeted second season was in black and white. The quality was a bit lower all around, as well, with a bare minimum of sets and location work. The cast was also much more limited, with many of the same guest stars returning for multiple episodes, and less golden age movie stars, although a few still appeared. Much like the first season, this is often dull, and the emphasis is on dialogue, lecture-style monologues, and simple scientific mysteries rather than space opera adventure. It's still a good snapshot of mid-twentieth century attitudes on science and its place in the world. 

Guest-stars included Vincent Price, Bonita Granville, Charles Winninger, Bruce Bennett, Peter Hansen, Dick Foran, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Lockhart, June Lockhart, Victor Jory, Ruth Hussey. Ray Collins, Marhsall Thompson, Bill Williams, Arthur Franz, Wayne Morris, Skip Homeier, DeForest Kelley, Martin Milner, Donald Curtis, Lyle Talbot, and Whit Bissell. One particularly goofy episode, concerning past-life regression, was directed by William Castle. 

 

OMG! I own that too and bought the set last year. I love the Truman Bradley introductions and you've got to admit that the episode where the new neighbors had the "Broomba" type thingie which was sweeping their house was pretty radical! Just think, people use those dumb things now to sweep rooms but this was from the early 1950's. The new neighbors turn out to be aliens as I recall. It's fun seeing all the stars early in their careers. Watching the color change from bright to almost non-existent on some episodes still doesn't ruin my fun in watching. I liked the episode where Truman had the chicken on the table which seemed hypnotized the best.

[misswonderly3]

4 hours ago, CaveGirl said:

Your comment about Ryan looking 35 when he was 12 made me laugh. I'm trying to think who said it, but I can't remember, but some other actor said he liked Ryan's face since it looked like it had been run over by a semi-truck! He did have a roughened look and boy, could he make those beady eyes go into slits when he was ticked off!

Really?  I've never thought of Robert Ryan as "beady-eyed". In fact, he has rather nice eyes.

Actually, I would say his eyes often convey a certain sadness, even when he's roughing someone up  ("Why do they make me do it ? !")Now, it's true, since he often plays the "bad guy", he does sometimes narrow his eyes to look menacing. Comme ca:

 

But on the whole, I love Robert Ryan: his face, his eyes, his acting, and almost all the films he  was in. He's one  of my faves.

[CaveGirl]

Just now, misswonderly3 said:

Really?  I've never thought of Robert Ryan as "beady-eyed". In fact, he has rather nice eyes.

Actually, I would say his eyes often convey a certain sadness, even when he's roughing someone up  ("Why do they make me do it ? !")Now, it's true, since he often plays the "bad guy", he does sometimes narrow his eyes to look menacing. Comme ca:

 

But on the whole, I love Robert Ryan: his face, his eyes, his acting, and almost all the films he  was in. He's one  of my faves.

I find him very attractive too, but I get your drift, Miss Wonderly. But he could make those pretty eyes squint a bit when he wanted to scare someone, and he could scare me a lot.

Have you ever noticed that often the actors who can do the best scaring, are really nice guys in reality, like him and George Macready? I never in my life saw anyone in person do that narrowing their eyes to slits look, that you see often on soap operas till a few years ago with a wacko woman who worked where I did. She came up to me, and gave me this look where her eyes narrowed and she looked like she was ready to pull out a knife, and all I could do was kind of laugh, since it only reminded me of movie villains.

[Hibi]

Did anyone record Sunday, Bloody Sunday on Peter Finch day? I'm wondering if it was the original version. The last time they showed it was the edited for tv version. Havent had a chance to check it out yet. If it's edited, I'll just delete it then like the last time.

[misswonderly3]

10 minutes ago, CaveGirl said:

I find him very attractive too, but I get your drift, Miss Wonderly. But he could make those pretty eyes squint a bit when he wanted to scare someone, and he could scare me a lot.

Have you ever noticed that often the actors who can do the best scaring, are really nice guys in reality, like him and George Macready? I never in my life saw anyone in person do that narrowing their eyes to slits look, that you see often on soap operas till a few years ago with a wacko woman who worked where I did. She came up to me, and gave me this look where her eyes narrowed and she looked like she was ready to pull out a knife, and all I could do was kind of laugh, since it only reminded me of movie villains.

 Interesting you mention George Macready. I just watched "Paths of Glory" last night , where he plays an obnoxious  - I'm tempted to say "evil" -French general.

 Richard Widmark is another great example of a guy who often - particularly in the first half of his career - played horrible people,psychos or racists or weirdos, whatever - and apparently was an absolute sweetheart in real life, long-term marriage, only the one wife, pleasant and professional with all his co-stars and directors, etc.

I don't know about narrowed eyes, but he sure looks scary here:

So, did you find out what the wacko co-worker's problem was?

[CaveGirl]

8 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

 Interesting you mention George Macready. I just watched "Paths of Glory" last night , where he plays an obnoxious  - I'm tempted to say "evil" -French general.

 Richard Widmark is another great example of a guy who often - particularly in the first half of his career - played horrible people,psychos or racists or weirdos, whatever - and apparently was an absolute sweetheart in real life, long-term marriage, only the one wife, pleasant and professional with all his co-stars and directors, etc.

I don't know about narrowed eyes, but he sure looks scary here:

So, did you find out what the wacko co-worker's problem was?

Well, she actually was not a coworker, but in management and had been berating another worker for going to lunch outside the building without asking her for permission, and I had decided to blow the whistle on her and report to her superior that she was going against EEOC Rules by implying that one has to ask permission daily to take their lunch outside the building, and that I had witnessed her doing this to many lower employees in the echelon of the hierarchy. I don't think she liked being reported, which is why she confronted me in the hall, with the narrowed slitty eye look. In a few days, a surprise announcement was made by the Vice President I had reported her to, that she was retiring to spend more time with her family, in a nicely worded announcement sent around to all the departments. One nasty manager down, a million to go probably! Thanks for asking...

Your takes on Macready and Widmark are right on. Macready is intelligently frightening, but Widmark in that role seemed to have a few loose screws, which is probably scarier.