MattHelm Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 The Boston **** movies are in the TCM database, has anyone seen these? I never have, but I've been listening to the old radio shows with Chester Morris playing him, and would love to see a night devoted to these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albatros1 Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Are you sure they are in the TCM Library? I don't recall ever seeing them on TCM but I have seen them on TV but not for many years. I listen to the radio series and saw the movies when I was a kid. He made 13 of them. I always enjoyed his acting. "Five Came Back" one of my favorites. I second the motion for a night of Boston ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattHelm Posted February 6, 2006 Author Share Posted February 6, 2006 They're in the TCM movie database, I don't know if that's the same as their library though. It lists 17 of them, a couple were silent films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 They were originally released by Columbia Studios. Columbia's library is now owned by Sony. The movies in the database include films from all studios not just what is available in the TCM library. The studio that released the film is credited about half way down the page when you do a search for a film title. TCM would have to rent them if they want to show them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattHelm Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Thanks for the info, I had a feeling they weren't owned by TCM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattHelm Posted February 9, 2006 Author Share Posted February 9, 2006 I found a site that sells all of the **** movies in a DVD set, that includes 5 episodes of the '50s TV series. But they look like low quality VHS to DVD transfers. Interesting site though. http://www.skaryguyvideo.com/main.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vallo13 Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Finally...Thanks Matt. vallo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLovinsMissouri Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Have also found a site that sells Boston **** Series (Movie & TV) http://www.downunderdvd.com/ Movie Series A - M (yellow in color) Boston **** 4 DVD Boxed Set (Discs 1 to 4) price : US$36 Purchased several titles from Trevor Scott of Australia. Prices are great and free shipping anywhere. Good Luck Jim Lovins (Mr. Jim from Missouri-USA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snarfie Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 During the ensuing year... TCM just aired four of the Boston **** movies starring Chester Morris a month or two ago. Good movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pktrekgirl Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Yes. The first four Boston **** films were aired by TCM last month and I watched and enjoyed all four. I mean, THE THIN MAN they are not...but they are fun little films - all of them short (about 1:10 max) and Chester Morris does a great job in the role. His 'foil' police inspector is dumb as a box of rocks...but I guess that's part of the fun. You can purchase the complete set (including the TV series) from Forgotten Films, and if I remember, the price was quite reasonable given then number of DVDs in the set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLovinsMissouri Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Yes, The Thin Man Series was classics. downunderdvd.com Available at the above site for The Thin Man 4 DVD Boxed Set (Discs Nos. 1 to 4) price : AU$38 or US$36 Disc No. 1 - The Thin Man Movie Series (Starring William Powell & Myrna Loy) The Thin Man (1934) Another Thin Man (1939) The Thin Man Goes Home (1944) Disc No. 2 - The Thin Man Movie Series (Starring William Powell & Myrna Loy) After the Thin Man (1936 Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) Song of the Thin Man (1947) Disc No. 3 - RKO's "The Thin Man" Clones Disc Star of Midnight (1935) The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) Disc No. 4 - The Thin Man TV series (starring Peter Lawford) The Angel Biz Acrostic Murders Mayhem to Music La Sabre Invecta Est? Lost Last Chapter Maine Thing Dead Duck Dead Giveaway The Dollar Doodle The Departed Doctor Asta Day Beauty and the Bath One movie series stands apart from the others; its entries were filmed two and three years apart; its stars were of the major rank; and the films were not looked upon as B grade efforts. This was The Thin Man, a highly successful movie series launched in 1934 with a delightfully unpretentious blend of screwball comedy and murder mystery from a story by Dashiell Hammett. William Powell and Myrna Loy played Nick and Nora Charles, a perfectly happy, sophisticated couple whose marriage never stood in the way of their having fun and going off on detective capers. It garnered four Academy Award nominations : Best Picture, Actor, Director & Adapted Screenplay. A further five sequels followed from 1936 to 1947 each retaining the same charm and infallible byplay of the two stars, aided by their dog Asta, who soon became a star in his own right. A young James Stewart featured in After the Thin Man (1936), while Another Thin Man (1939) introduced Nick Jr as their baby who grew up in succeeding entries. Nick & Nora sleuthed at the racetrack in Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) - a witty entry that featured Donna Reed and famed acting teacher Stella Adler in supporting roles. The Thin Man Goes Home (1944) presented Nick's parents (Harry Davenport & Lucille Watson), while the final outing of the series, Song of the Thin Man (1947) featured an 11 year old Dean Stockwell as Nick Jr and had the pair frequenting many jazz hangouts for some offbeat sequences. Following the success of MGM's first The Thin Man film, RKO studios stepped in and starred William Powell in two similar vehicles, directed by Stephen Roberts and featuring, in turn Ginger Rogers & Jean Arthur : Star of Midnight (1935) and The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936). Star of Midnight (1935) When a dancer disappears from a theatre, criminal lawyer and amateur detective Clay Dalzell (William Powell) and society beauty Donna Mantin (Ginger Rogers) join forces in a sparkling, mystery drama reminiscent of MGM's The Thin Man. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) William Powell recreates, for RKO, his Nick Charles character, now as Dr. Bradford, M.D. and Jean Arthur substitutes as Nora. This film works because Powell and Arthur have terrific chemistry, and a crackerjack good comic-mystery script. The mystery is clever, and the humor urbane and lighthearted. If you have enjoyed MGM's The Thin Man films, do yourself a favor and watch this. Made after The Thin Man (1934) but before any of The Thin Man sequels, it was the top grossing film of 1936 ! The Thin Man TV Series A follow up to the successful movies , this 1957 - 59 30 minute TV series starred Peter Lawford & Phyllis Kirk. Nick Charles, an ex-private detective, marries Nora and lives in a luxurious Park Avenue apartment in New York City. Nick's former underworld friends still hang around and get him involved in a number of crimes that he solves. Beatrice Dane is a beautiful con artist using the alias "Blondie Collins" and Nora finds it difficult to be hospitable to her The quality of prints and sound is excellent, I know have purchased them from my friend Trevos Scott in Australia who is the collector and owner of this website. Good Luck and enjoy! Jim Lovins (Mr. Jim from Missouri-USA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pktrekgirl Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Well, The Thin Man is available in a commercially released DVD package with special features. So there is no reason not to buy it. And the other films are on TCM a fair amount, so it would be easy to get those for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snarfie Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Hi, thanks for the DVD info. I may be okay with just seeing them on TCM & not need to purchase though. Thanks! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 A whole Boston **** series is coming up on TCM next month, March 28, starting at 8 Pm Eastern. 7 of them in a row. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayresorchids Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 For some reason I never took much notice of Chester Morris until I saw him in a movie with Carole Lombard called The Gay Bride (1934). He played a peripheral mob character called "Office Boy" who knows that Carole's marrying just for money, but merely looks on in amusement until he and Carole start falling for each other, much to the complication of Carole's gold-digging plans. He had a sort of James Cagney-like role in this Warner Brothers-like MGM caper, and I found him most appealing in it. After that I began watching for him in the Boston Blackies and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 The Gay Bride was the first movie to make me notice Chester Morris, too. Very cute movie! Then it was in The Divorcee with Norma Shearer. However, I must confess that in that one I really wanted her to stay with Bob Montgomery. Miss G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorainmay Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 [/nobr] [nobr]After all your endorsements of The Gay Bride, I'm going to have to seek it out. I've only seen a few minutes of it in the past and found Morris' snappy sarcasm to be delightful.[/nobr] [nobr]I'm eager to see all the Boston Blackies coming on March 28th. Though I was familiar with Chester Morris in the Boston **** series from years ago, I "rediscovered" his appeal when I viewed the 1936 version of Three Godfathers with Lewis Stone & Walter Brennan. This Depression era Three Godfathers is my favorite version of this story, with lots of hardbitten cynicism laced with the decency beneath the outlaw Morris' shell. Even though he even claims that "There ain't no Santy Claus!", Morris is "betrayed", ultimately, by his own spiritual and physical wandering in the desert. His redemption is much less sentimental than the later John Ford version. The latter, photographed beautifully in color, has a harsh, Fordian beauty in the desert to redeem the overlay of schmaltz that I think mars the power of that film.[/nobr] [nobr]Chester Morris seems to be at his brash best in Three Godfathers--it's a shame that he languished in the highly entertaining yet dramatically limited Boston **** during what should've been some of his most productive years. Having sought out his films whenever I could over the years and seen some of his best work on film, such as Red-Headed Woman (1932), The Divorcee (1930), and The Big House (1930), I'd say that Three Godfathers may have been his last, best work on film.[/nobr] [nobr]Why so few good films from a good actor? Unfortunately, from what I've read about his career, he may have been his own worst enemy at times. Whenever he was under contract to a major studio, he seems to have had a habit of insisting, loudly and repeatedly, that he should be a great leading man. He only seems to have succeeded in alienating his employers repeatedly. Though always working, he was one of those actors who never quite grasped the brass ring. In Three Godfathers he's dynamic, funny, attractive and he shows more subtlety than usual.[/nobr] [nobr]Btw, I also think that Lewis Stone was really splendid in his part in this version of the tale. He's not too sentimental as an educated man who's thrown his life away but, as he gradually realizes that he's not going to survive, seems to be doing a mostly silent philosphical review of that ruined life. He has his stentorian moments, but it's a relief and a delight to see him play a thoughtful yet livelier character than ol' Judge Hardy.[/nobr] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayresorchids Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 That's what I love about this board. We've made you want to check out The Gay Bride, and you've definitely made me want to check out Three Godfathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Chester Morris has a "naughty" face---he's perfect to play sarcastic, cocky characters. He and Carole Lombard go back and forth with each other that way in The Gay Bride and it's pretty funny. I'd love to see that version of Three Godfathers---I've also always wanted to see the one with Harry Carey. Miss G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorainmay Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 [nobr]Miss G., Your mention of Chester Morris' "naughty" face made me smile. I understood exactly what you meant, but hadn't seen it put quite that way before. This mischievous quality bubbles out of him in several pics, and is especially evident in some of the Boston ****'s shown last month on TCM. He giggles at his own cleverness sometimes in a couple of scenes--is it the absurd dialogue that provokes him? Or perhaps his bemusement is due to one more unexpected turn taken in his career path?[/nobr] Chester Morris and Herbert Mundin, seeing the humor of it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pktrekgirl Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 I think the first film I saw him in was The Divorcee, and I really quite enjoyed him in that. I've also seen Red Headed Woman, The Big House, Secret Command and the first 4 Boston **** films. I really like him. I do agree that the Boston **** films are really sort of fluff...but they are fun fluff...and quite watchable. And he is fun to watch in them. I will have to try and find Three Godfathers and The Gay Bride. Right now I have Alibi on my TiVo from last week and can watch that. I really would like to become more familiar with his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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