Today most of the movies that can make me laugh out loud were filmed decades ago. Anything else more recents can only get a smile or a heh. Comedic movies today rely on cursing, sex, and avoid humor like the plague.
"And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King,"
DRAG ME TO HELL was the funniest movie I've seen in years, and I'm 67. It became even funnier when I realized it was a very loose remake of the classic British horror film CURSE OF THE DEMON. Naturally, it bombed at the box office.
I watched BEHAVE YOURSELF for the first time in years and enjoyed it. Granger did seem out of place, but it had a great collection of character actors. I don't know if our dog would've enjoyed a movie where the dog is smarter than Elisha Cook Jr and everybody else.
There is one curious point. The relationship between Francis L. Sullivan and Hans Conreid seemed to echo that of Cook and Sydney Greenstreet in THE MALTESE FALCON where Bogart refers to Cook as a "gunsel" or a young man used for immoral purposes. In an interview with the WASHINGTON POST, Cook said that was the relationship between the two characters.
Personally I still prefer Tracy and Hepburn, Grant and Preston Sturges. When I wrote my first screenplay I used SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS as a model of construction with a nod to character actor Al Bridge. The story? THE WAGES OF FEAR with women driving two truckloads of nitroglycerin to an oil well fire. Any job a man can do, a woman can do better. Hollywood, of course, wasn't interested, but I had fun.
I wonder if 'The Maltese Falcon' used a double meaning with that Bogart's reference to Elisha Cook Jr. I think 'gunsel' has been used to describe a young inexperienced gunman hoodlum as well as a young gay male. I believe 'gunsel' is German for 'little goose.' It makes me wonder if that type of double relationship was prevalent among the gangsters of America once upon a time.
It seems strange that Elisha Cook Jr. could still be described as a boy when he was approaching 40 years old at the time of that 'The Maltese Falcon.' But he did have that little boy look all of his life. Unfortunately the looks turned a bit too weird in his really late films.
I didn't rumble it at first, but I think that you are right about there being a 'gunsel' relationship between Francis L. Sullivan and Hans Conreid in 'Behave Yourself.' It is the strange ambiguous way that Conreid asked "How about sex?" Francis L. Sullivan is fairly reminiscent of Sidney Greenstreet.
Somewhere I think I read it was a Yiddish term. I don't know about that since I'm only half Jewish. But Cook did confirm the relationship between him and Greenstreet in a Washington Post interview.
Thinking of Cook reminds me of a story about Marie Windsor. My father had retired and moved the family to Lake Havasu in 72. Windsor was one of the celebrities in a tennis tournament there. My sister Lia was a ball runner and also was hired by Windsor as a babysitter. My father, of course, knew Windsor's
films, but my stepmother I think was embarrassed to meet her because she couldn't remember having seen her in anything.
My favorite Windsor films include Narrow Margin and the Republic western with Wild Bill Elliott, Forrest Tucker, HB Warner, Jim Davis and Paul Fix--quite a cast. Elliott is a reformed gunfighter turned preacher, Windsor is an outlaw on the run who falls for Tucker who's out to arrest her, and Davis and Fix are just out to get her.
You're quite right. I've just looked it up to see that 'gunsel' is a Yiddish term. It is interesting to know that Elisha Cook did confirm the type of relationship between him and Sidney Greenstreet in 'The Maltese Falcon. It's only slyly implied in the film.
I look out for that Marie Windsor western and 'Narrow Margin.' I've just checked the page for 'Hellfire' on IMDb. With Bill Elliott in it. There's a great picture of her in what looks like a saloon girl costume. The only film I can remember seeing her in so far is 'Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy.' I have that on DVD.
I watched A&C Meet The Mummy recently. Not one of their best. I think Edddie Parker was the mummy. The only monsters at Universal he didn't seem to play were the Creature from The Black Lagoon and Paula Duprez. He was a fixture at Republic on the stunt team headed by Tom Steele.
Years ago my Dad met Acquanetta who played the Ape Woman at a poetry session in Phonenix and asked her if she hadn't been in the movies. Acquanetta had married a car sales business and was active in charity and philanthropy and was glad people still remembered her.
Thinking back to A&C I met Beverly Washburn who appeared with Lou on Wagon Train. I told her I had seen her in Spider Baby, a low budget black comedy with Lon Chaney and Mantan Moreland. Her mouth just about hit the floor as did her friend's. They couldn't believe I had seen it and didn't know it was on DVD. Chaney who had lung cancer sings the title song.
I also remember a not so subtle gay joke in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars where Donald Kerr's reporter Hap calls out "Oh, Boyees" in a limp wristed voice to distract Ming's soldiers. It took me years to catch on to that.
I notice Barry Levinson's Diner has been turned into a stage musical. I had a friend Ralph Tabakin who appeared in all of Levinon's films until his death 2001. Levinson considered Ralph a good luck charm.
This is great stuff. I am enjoying all your memories. I like 'Meet Frankenstein' of all the A&C comedies. It has some good monster jokes in it. I like this one the best:-
Lon Chaney (as Wolf Man): "In half an hour the moon will rise and I'll turn into a wolf."
Lou Costello (as Wilbur): "You and 20 million other guys."
The Acquanetta film that I would most like to see is 'Dead Man's Eyes.' That has Lon Chaney in it. 'Spider Baby' is a hope-to-see one for me as well.
So gay jokes go back to at least 1938 it seems. With that limp wristed quip from Donald Kerr. I like his character name in that one. Happy Hapgood.
I have Asperger's. The good news is I know more about movies than you want to know. The bad news is I know more about movies than you want to know.
At 72 my wife and I rarely go to the movies. 24 was the last movie we saw. I like James Bond, Lord of The Rings but I have significant hearing loss and the sound is excruciatingly loud. It just isn't worth it. So we wait for the films on ppv Elsa and Fred with Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer and George Segal was the last new movie we've seen-very rare to see a romantic comedy for seniors.
On the other hand I did see A Million Ways to Die in The West. Not as bad as I thought it would be but give me John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Allen Lane(the voice of Mr. Ed) and Wild Bill Elliott.
Ralph Tabakin was a longtime speech and drama teacher in Silver Spring and Wheaton, Md who appeared in all of Barry Levinson's movies. He was a character actor in movies such as Rain Man where he's the casino security man who figures out how Hoffman and Cruise are raking in so much money. Ralph suffered from a back wound he received in D-Day, and in later years his screen time was limited but Levinson always used him. Levinson also pay tribute to Ralph on the RM commentary.
There is a great outtake on the ACMF commentary where Costello is sitting on Glenn Strange's lap and Strange breaks up. I"ve heard that Strange might have been the singer whose voice was dubbed for Wayne's singing cowboy movies. Wayne did his own singing once and recommended studio owner Nat Levine hire Gene Autry.
Have a good day.
Asperger's must be distressing at times. I did find out a little about the syndrome when it was announced that Scottish singer Susan Boyle was revealed to be a sufferer. And watched her on TV to get a little idea of how it affected her. I hope that your wife and others give you support.
I don't often go to the movies myself. As a whole I like the films that they were made in the classic vintage period. Sound is a problem. Films are loud now and then there actors who have hoarse whispery voices which I find annoying. I like quiet well spoken voices of the old school. Those that had theatrical training. Vincent Price and Herbert Marshall are my favorite speakers.
I will try to catch a film or TV appearance by Ralph Tabakin sometime. I would also like to see that out-take of Lou Costello sitting on Glenn Strange's lap. I haven't got that extra on my DVD of 'Meet Frankenstein.' I'll go through the connections and trivia sections on the IMDb's pages for Wayne's singing cowboy movies. Just try to confirm if Glenn Strange's singing voice was used on any of those films. There is so much information on these boards.
I would watch Rain Man with the writers' commentaries to find out more about these disorders. I took a film class several years ago, and RM was cited by the instructor as a prime example of dramatic realism(?). Hoffman might have the Oscar, but Cruise is the main character through whose eyes the audience sees the movie. He's also the character who changes over the course of the film. But the audience needs a character to identify with which is why Cruise has a girl
friend.
I watched Remember The Night with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck last night. Must more romantic and funnier than Double Indemnity, but it also has its darker moments due to Preston Sturges' script. Sturges is not well remembered these days--too independent. But he turned out Sullivan's Travels, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Unfaithfully Yours and a few more before he self destructed in the late 40's. Like Capra and deMille he had a very large stock company.
My taste in films runs the gamut--westerns, comedies, musical, horror, sci-fi. I used to belong to the American Film Institute at the Kennedy Center where I saw Elizabeth Taylor, Jimmy Stewart and Gene Kelly in person as well as Mike Nichols who turned up in the audience during a sneak preview of Black Sunday.
Kelly introduced Singin' in The Rain, and appropriately enough it was pouring outside. Carter even came over from the White House. George Stevens Jr. announced that if the projector broke down "Mr. Kelly will go out and sing, dance and stomp in the rain for us."
Stewart was asked why never made many musicals. "Well, for one thing I can't sing." and Taylor said Montgomery Clift was her favorite leading man.
Have a good weekend. Oh, Ralph is kind of the gloomy Gus type in Levinson's movies way down in the cast listings. He was also the ME on Homicide where he had prominent billing in one episode.
I'll put 'Rain Man' on my list to check up on the type of disorders. And 'Remember The Night.' I like 'Double Indemnity,' It's my second in choice of noirs. 'The Maltese Falcon is first. I like Barbara Stanwyck. I need more of her films. Top of my list of hers to get on DVD is 'Witness For Murder' (1954).
I like a wide range of films too. But I don't particularly care for war action. I like the documentaries on Nazis. Evil but fascinating.
That's a lovely memory of the Gene Kelly introduction of 'Singin' In The Rain.' Great musical. I nearly like the 'Good Mornin' Good Mornin' routine as much as Gene Kelly splashing about in that rain. I reckon that umbrella was the best dancing partner that he ever had. Magical stuff.
I'll check closely for Ralph's appearances. TV 'Homicie' might be my best chance to see him. A lot of the TV shows of that time are starting to be re-aired now. So I hope to get a chance to catch up on 'Homicide.' Have a nice weekend.
I think I can trace my interest in films back to my grandmother whose stage name was Dot Buckley. She was an actress in DC and New York around 1920. Her first husband was a bootlegger and worked for a local gambler. Her second husband was Charles Lawrence "Larry Woodall" who played major league baseball for 10 years and appeared in two or three of Joe E. Brown's baseball comedies.
Larry was a bullpen manager and scout for the Red Sox. Around 1948 they sent him to Birmingham to scout Willie Mays. I've read four different accounts of what happened but Larry went back to Boston and told the front office he didn't think Mays was Red Sox material. There is a picture of me sitting in my great grandmother's front yard in Mount Rainier, Md which is not far from the scene of the anthrax attacks in 2001. I'm sitting in my cowboy suit(1948/9) on a tricycle Larry bought for me with his share of the winnings from the World Series.
Dad apparently won a baby contest around 1920-2 and was given a movie contract. But his parents and his father went back to Md. "I could have been another Mickey Rooney." Yeah," I replied, "and been bankrupt from paying all that alimony." "But look who I would've been buried to. Ava Gardner."
Dad retired to Phoenix and reinvented himself as CW singer. His sister went to dancing school with Shirley Temple. Skip a few generations and my niece lands a role in a low budget romantic comedy Welcome to Hew York. It's about nine young people and their romantic entanglments. WTNY premiered at the Apollo about3 years ago but never found a distributor. It is available to DVD.
I don't know if you've heard about an Australian horror movie The Babadook which I watched last night. A mother reads a pop up book to her son about a strange creature called The Babadook and they find themselves terrorized by...You guess it. Very low budger--#31,000 I think. It's also heavily influenced by Polanski's Repulsion which I saw on a triple bill with Phantom of The Opera and Vadim' Blood and Roses 50 years ago and it was a shock. I saw it again recently and it is still a shock.
Usually I avoid today's horror movies, and I hope Hollywood doesn't remake this one. I thought Drag Me to Hell was the funniest movie I'd seen in years, especially when I realized it was a very loose remake of Curse of The Demon. Sam Raimi said they stole the idea from me.
I've written one psychological horror story The Man Who Lived across the Hall from Woody. The main character is schizophrenic and imagines Woody Allen lives down the hall from him in DC. The story scared the daylights out of me because I got so far into his mind.
Good night. Time to put the wife and dog to bed.
Unlike you, I have no family background in the acting/entertainment spheres. I was always encouraged to watch movies and given books on them to read from an early age. I will look out for that romantic comedy that your niece played in. Amazing how babies got film contracts years ago. I forget the name of the one who teased W.C. Fields in his films. But I suppose it was only Mickey Rooney who stayed the distance after an early start. Ending up making over 300 films I believe.
I look out for 'The Babadook.' I notice it has a good read up on the message boards on it's IMDb page. I always like to get the street review that the message boarders give on any film. One thread says it's the best horror film for a decade. Today's horror movies are usually not very good. I tend to like the old gothic stuff made pre 1975.
Your horror story sounds really inventive. It's a bit scary when characters in your own mind start to take over. I've never really attempted fiction. Just some articles for small press magazines. They have unfortunately disappeared in the age of the Internet. Nice talking to you.
About time for lunch. I asked Rebecca about the movie when it came out on DVD and she didn't want to talk about it. It's rated R for raunch. The director's a standup comic from Md who was inspire by his friends and neighbors in Harlem.
The 3 women all have strange names: April, May and June. Rebecca plays May who's SO, I think, is played by the writer/director.
One movie partly shot around this part of Maryland was The Blair Witch Project, but I don't know where.
Next time: Rockville's most famous dead celebrities and how my wife got to hold Oprah's hand.
Good warning. I know what sort of movie to expect. I'll look out for Rebecca as May. I always wondered what the category 'R' stood for. Also sometimes I see RB.
shareG is for everybody.
PG is for more mature audiences,
Pg-13 is for teenagers over 13.
R is for rotten.
XXX is for porn.
X used to stop short of porn,
NC17 means nobody under 18 is allowed.
As promised earlier: Rpckville, MD's most famouns dead celebrities are F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald who are buried not too far from where we live. I don't know what their connection with this are was, but Fitzgerald was a descendant of Francis Scott Key.
When they died, St. Mary's Catholic Church denied them burial in the cemetery. I don't know what the exact reason was. They were buried in a public cemetery way off the beaten path. Finally several years ago the family prevailed upon the church and they were dug up and buried in the church cemetery. Today there are plaques on the fence that identified St. Mary's as the resting place of the Fitzgerald's.
My creative writing instructor Sam Blate instigated a yearly literary conference in Fitzgerald's name.
Muckraker Upton Sinclair was living in a Rockville nursing home when LBJ signed a meat inspection act into law and invited Sinclair to the White House.
Since you like film noir, here's another local writer James M. Cain who lived near Maryland U. When the AFI had a film noir series he came down to introduce Double Indemnity and discuss his career. Robert Aldrich introduced Kiss Me Deadly.
Now Opraph. June for years had wanted to go to Chicago and see Oprah in person.
The logistic of getting and her wheelchair to Chicago and back presented quite a challenge. However, what it we could get Oprah to come here? If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain. But faith can move mountains.
One of Oprah's special people was Matty Stepanek, the boy poet and peacemaker who had been on her show several time. Matty had MS or MD as had his brothers and sister who died young. When he died at 14, both Oprah and Jimmy Carter came to his funeral. I think the police had to block off the main road because of the size of the crowd.
A few years later a park in Matty's honor was established in Rockville, and June wanted to go to the dedication. The word was Oprah was in Africa and wouldn't be there. Then the word went out that she was on her way. It would've been another mob scene if word had gotten out.
When the statue of Matty and his dog were unveiled Oprah came close enough to June she could reach out and hold Oprah's hand. Oprah isn't that powerful. June still had diabetes and CP.
You also mentioned Vincent Price. I met a distant cousin of his once on a job interview. The interviewer's name was Stanley Price which was the name of a character actor dialogue coach years ago. Price told me when the actor died, his wife received numerous letters of condolence. The only time Price told me he met his cousin was when the actor was doing a one-man show about Oscar Wilde at Ford's theater.
Once again time to put the wife and our dog Scruffy to bed. Next time Larry McMurtry and the Dashiell Hammett first editions as well as Robert Duvall and Lonesome Dove.
Good night, Mrs. Calabash wherever you are.
That is really fascinating stuff about famous writers. It must have been great to have James M. Cain and Robert Aldrich introduce those films. I am a great admirer of Robert Aldrich's 'What Ever Happened To Baby Jane.'
I'm always pleased to read any information on Vincent Price. I hadn't heard of cousin Stanley. Vincent did quite a bit of theater work I take it. He seems to have been enormously popular. Especially with his fellow actors. He is an icon to me and many of his followers even now. I think he met his first wife while doing stage work in London. It seems as though Hollywood didn't give him a proper chance until after he was married. He does seem rather foppy in of those early screen appearances.
Oprah Winfrey is popular on UK TV whenever she comes over. Quite inspirational. That is fascinating information about her and Matty Stepanek. Very emotional.
Ted signing off for now, in Norfolk England.
Stanley Price, the actor, was a dialogue and accent coach who had sort of a wild eyed look about him. I've lost track of the number of serials I've seen him in where he's often unbilled. He played the tite character in The Invisible Monster, one of the last Republic serials.
Vincent Price was asked once by David Frost why he wasted his talents on horror movies. "For the money, and I like doing them." Probably his best comedy was Champagne for Caesar which was a spoor of radio quiz shows. Ronald Colman is an unemployed actor and self proclaimed genius who gets on a show and keeps answering the questions which drives Price crazy as the sponsor.
I also remember Price telling Frost people were always confusing him with George Sanders. One night he was hosting a UN dinner and one of the dignitaries asked him "Just how many of the Gabor sisters have you been married to?" The answer was two==Zza Zza and Jolie.
I didn't realize you live in England, Ted. That's all for the moment. Paul
I haven't seen any of those Republic serials. Perhaps I will never get to see Stanley Price. I don't know if Republic did one called 'Dr Satan' (I think). But that is the one I would like to have on DVD most of all if any of those 1940s serials are still available.
'Champagne For Caesar' is great. Good pairing of Vincent Price and Ronald Colman. I like the way that Vincent turns Robert Mitchum's 'His Kind of Woman' into a comedy. VP runs riot in the second half of that film. I don't think that horror films were really a waste of Vincent's talents. With his theatrical training and refinement he gave such class to those Edgar Allen Poe's poems and quotes in Roger Corman's adaptations of the author's work. It's seems strange people confusing Vincent Price with George Sanders. Both had great voices and an gentlemanly air about them. But in no way do they look alike.
Thank you for listing the categories of films on the other post, Paul. Trouble with living in England is that we can't play American region DVDs. There is such a wealth of them. Bye for now.
I recommend Corman's autobiography How I Made 100 Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost A Dime. Very entertaining with contributions by Nicholson, Hopper, Dick Miller and other filmmakers who got their starts with Corman. Corman never expected to receive an Oscar and said he knew nothing about the stock market or horse racing so he invested in people. In Apollo 13 he plays a cost-cutting senator.
I have Price's evening of Edgar Allen Poe on DVD where he recites four of Poe's poems. He also said he liked to go theatres playing his films and when the show was over he would come up behind teenage girls and ask if they enjoyed the movie. He also was a contestant on the $64,000,000 Challenge where he challenged jockey Billy Pearson on art and was in turn challenged by Edward G. Robinson. His two tv shows ESP and Supertrain bombed.
The Republic serials were the best, one of them being The Mysterious Dr. Satan starring Eduardo Cianelli. Actors of his caliber didn't usually appear in them, but there were exceptions for future stars--John Wayne, Jennifer Jones, Walter Brennan, Leonard Nimoy, Ken Curtis, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Stutnmen such as Tom Steele, Dale van Sickel and others would still be working in the 70's. Spielberg's Duel showcases Dale van Sickel and Carey Loftin who doubled Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate.
I shall miss you. Please let me know if you want the story on Duvall, Hammett, MacMurtry and Lonesome Dove. It does all tie together.
I've never got round to buying that Corman autobiography. But recommendation from you is good enough for me. He did plough money back into his film I have heard. Very astute man I should imagine.
That is a lovely Vincent Price DVD to have. He was so suited to the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Including the period costume. I had heard something similar about VP appearing to surprise fans like those teenage girls in that way. Leaning over from the back of a theater seat to ask if unsuspecting members of the audience in front of him were enjoying the film. One of his films of course. Those sort of stories make him very endearing to his fans even today. I haven't seen any of his TV shows. But I have heard, on another board, that he appeared with Hans Conreid on a pantomime quiz show once. Now that is a pairing I would have really like to have seen.
Yes. That is the Republic serial I was referring to. I couldn't think of Eduardo Cianelli's name at the time of posting. Which is remarkable because I have him on DVDs in 'Winterset' and 'Foreign Correspondent.' And I recently saw him in 'Gunga Din' on TV. Good actor with a sinister feel to his screen personality.
Yes, please keep the stories coming if you would, on Duvall and Hammett etc. I love reading all what you have to say in your posts.
A few random thoughts since it's after 10pm here. I watched Remember The Night with Stanwyck and MacMurray the other night. It's more romantic and funner than Double Indemnity. MacMurray is a prosecutor who takes Stanwyck home to meet his mother Beulah Bondi and murder her husband according to the host. It was the last film Preston Sturges made before he finally had the chance to direct his own scripts.
Some of Sturges' films border on film noir and/or dark comedy such as Sullivan's Travels, The Great McGinty Hail The Conquering Hero and Unfaithfully Yours. He also wrote The Power and The Glory about a business tycoon's rise and fall told by his associate. It starred Spencer Tracy in 1933, and Orson Welles said don't ever mention that movie to me.
I watched Objective Burma with Errol Flynn last night. Apparently Churchill banned it because it gave too much credit to the American.
The story about McMurtry, Duvall, Hammett and Lonesome Dove is too complicated so late at night.
I'm looking for the new Peculiar Crimes Unit novel by Christopher Fowler. Too old geezers have a knack for solving bizarre murders that Scotland can't touch. Too much reliance on modern technology. The new book involves grave robbing and the disappearance of the ravens from the Tower of London.
I spent a week in London in 1980. I was working for the Navy, and the Pentagon had a travel agency--$85 from Kennedy to Stansted and $85 back provided the date you wanted to return was open.
Good night.
'Remember the Night' sounds like the comic thriller that I would like to see. Something off-putting about MacMurray in 'Double Indemnity' is that he is a single man, but his wedding ring is clearly visible in some scenes. I noticed that the other day too when watching 'The Nun's Story.' Audrey Hepburn played a nun in that film with her wedding ring noticeably on show. I wonder why actors can't take off their wedding rings when necessary while making films.
Not a lot Preston Sturges work seem to be released on DVD here in the UK. I like dark comedies such as those you describe. I hope that I get to see some of his work.
I have actually seen documentaries on the Burma campaign. I think the American troops were called Merill's Marauders. A tough bunch. Churchill owed a lot to America bringing the US into the European war. I think he could have relented on 'Objective Burma.'
I'll look out for the Peculiar Crimes Unit novel by Christopher Fowler. That sounds right up my street. A bit of old gothic stuff thrown with the grave robbing. And a bit of folklore perhaps. The ravens have been kept there for centuries as you probably know. If they ever disappear from the Tower, then it means a dire fate for England.
I'm glad you've been to London. I don't travel there much nowadays. I prefer to keep in the provinces. Bye for now.
The two main detectives in the PCU books are Bryant and May. Bryant is irascible as hell, sloppy and knows more useless information than me. He is also close to being a Luddite. Don't let him near a computer. If he he has a cell phone, he is apt to drop it down the toilet. And don't put him behind the wheel. His partner May is into modern technology. Together they drive their superiors at the Yard crazy. They also have a team of young assistants.
The acknowledged inspiration for the series in Anglo-American writer John Dickson Carr who specialized in locked room and impossible situation crimes. His books have been out of print for years. A few have been made into movies such as Dangerous Crossing with Jeanne Crain as a bride whose husband vanishes aboard ship in a Lady Vanishes type plot. The various crew members swear she was the last passenger to come on board.
I have a special edition of TLV, and it includes another movie starring Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford in another foreign intrigue plot. I saw them months ago in Dead of Night.
The PCU are in chronological order starting with Full Dark House which has a Phantom of The Opera type plot with a murderer who can walk through walls and jump off a building without killing himself.
White Corridor is atypical. A murder is committed in a morgue where the only door and the windows are locked on the inside. The only suspects are four corpses . Meanwhile, May and Bryant are trapped in by a very bad blizzard with a serial killer on the loose in the traffic jam. You just hope Bryant doesn't drop their cell phone in a snow drift. Meanwhile a member of the royal family is coming to visit their offices. Our heroes are bound to embarrass the unit if they can get back in time!
Talk to you later.
Those PCU books sound great. Bryant and May was the name on match boxes for years. I haven't seen them lately so I don't know if the firm still exists. I have heard of John Dickson Carr. I'll check to see if my local library has got some of their out-of-print books in their vaults somewhere. I'd like to see that 'Dangerous Crossing' film. Strangely enough I watched Hitchcock's 'The Lady Vanishes' on DVD the other night.
Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford were comic relief in a lot of movies. Did You like 'Dead Of Night'? A few weeks back I posted a thread on whether their segment in that anthology was right for the film on the 'Dead Of Night' message boards. No replies as yet but I hope that a few will trickle through gradually.
Would you recommend reading the PCU series in chronological order? Or is it OK to pick them up as you go along? I'll check to see if my library have got any of those books available. Catch you later.
It does help to read PCU in order, especially Bryant and May Off The Rails and On Their Own which is a two-parter. I read them out of order which was a big mistake. I forget I read the names were inspired by a matchbook company, Fletcher also writes horror novels and might bring our heroes over here. I guess that's only fair since we exported Black Friday to your country.
Dead of Night is, of course, the granddaddy of all horror omnibus films such as those with Lee and Cushing years ago. Did you know Price and Cushing had the same birthday? May 27 is the day before mine which is the before JK and Bob Hope.
I will read those PCU novels in order. I've collected the chronological list off Wiki. Some unusual titles among that series.
I hadn't heard of Black Friday until last year. This year the UK shops have been swamped with Black Friday reduction notices. I don't suppose a lot of British people know what it's all about. But let's say it the official date to start Christmas shopping over here now.
Yes. I had noticed that birthday cluster at the end of May for horror actors and other celebrities. Vincent Price too. And my favorite singer Peggy Lee is around about that time too. So I'm bound to remember your birthday.
Awful time getting through to you because IMDB once again changed passwords on me. Old fashioned technology brain new fashioned technology world. I don't have a cell phone, an I-pad or any of that stuff. June has the cell phone. I see Blackberries may go the way of the dodo. Dad refused to learn computers.
He came from the seat of your pants school of accounting. He spent 38 years working for the federal government, retired at 55 and moved the family to Arizona. He also didn't know how to read or write music so he sang accapella.
The Arizona Songwriters Association paid tribute to him on his 90th birthday. After he died in 2010 we had a memorial service and some of his songwriting buddies performed.
He always wanted to sell just one song, and he thought opportunity had come knocking when somebody from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon studio turned up in the audience one time when he was performing. HB gave us Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, etc and Mel Blanc provided many of the voice. The rep said he liked Dad's song The Lonesome Coyote and thought the studio could use it. He told Dad he would call him after he went back to Los Angeles but he never did.
Re the Bryant May books I remembered last night there are two others you have to read in sequence--The Victoria Vanishes and his book from last year. Young women are found dead outside London pubs, and the unit goes on a pub crawling tour of London. There is also a pub that reappears years after it was torn down.
The book was inspired by an Edmund Crispin mystery The Moving Toyshop.
TVV also reminded me of a Simon Pegg/Nick Frost movie that involves pub crawling but I can't remember the title. I found Pegg a strange choice to play
Scott in the revamped Star Trek series. One of my bosses worked with Leonard Nimoy years ago. He was a troubleshooter for a California company, and Peggy said everybody knew he wanted to be an actor.
One of his first roles was in the 12 chapter Republic serial Zombies of The Stratosphere. Mars is a dying planet and Nimoy and Lane Bradford come here to set off an atomic bomb that will knock Earth off its axis so the Martians don't have to bother with illegal immigration laws. Republic serials were a dying breed by then with low budgets and short running times.
Buster Crabbe was once asked what he thought of Star Wars. "It's Flash Gordon on a bigger budget than I ever had."
I read the title for the next Bond picture is Spectre. Was that name of the secret organization in Casino Royale. One of my former bosses was Wilson's roommate in law school. After CR came out, Wilson invited fans to write to him with their opinions on the movie. I've only seen one other director Sam Raimi do that. Around 1955 CR was done as a live one hour program with light comedy actor Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond. Peter Lorre as the villain and perennial bad guy Gene Roth as a henchman. Years later Nelson was asked about playing Bond. "Just call me Agent 003.5"
I have a cell phone because I don't have a land line. Cell phones are so convenient if you have the smallest type that fits into the trouser pocket. I don't like smart phones or tablets. I do my few precious Internet hours away from home. I know people even now who are like your Dad used to be. Still refusing having anything to do with computer. I feel sorry for your Dad not achieving his ambition to get one of his songs published. But that was a nice tribute at his funeral.
I'll make sure to read 'The Victoria Vanishes' before the 2013 Bryant and May book. I'll look out for 'The Moving Toyshop' too. I'll try to track down that pub-crawling movie title too.
I passed up a chance to buy a Buster Crabbe serial on DVD some time ago. But I wish I had bought it now. Especially it was for Republic. But at least that DVD suggests that the old serials are available in the UK.
I need to catch up with some of the James Bond series. I've seen Daniel Craig for his playing of the role so much on these IMDb boards. But I reckon that he's OK. I don't think that I've ever seen Barry Nelson. I reckon the theme tunes for Bond films are not so good now. John Barry was a great composer. 'You Only Live Twice is my favorite. Catch you later.
What are you doing for the holidays? We very rarely go anywhere. June and I've gone to Phoenix once or twice over the holidays, but it is always madness. The one real advantage to June being in a wheelchair is somebody pushes her through the terminal and we get to bypass the long line until we get to the checkpoint.
Favorite holiday movies? With commentaries: Miracle on 34th St with Maureen O'Hara. Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in archival recordings.
Without commentaries A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim and Patrick McNee. It's A Wonderful Life. The 3 Godfathers with Wayne, Ward Bond and Harry Jr. Preston Sturges' Christmas in July with Dick Powell which is technically not a Xmas movie.
Did you know Lionel Barrymore had a change of heart in IAWL? Either the scene wasn't filmed or it was cut out. At the end of the movie Potter shows up at the Bailey home to return the money he stole and turns away thinking there's no room for him at the celebration.
Stewart said it was his favorite movie. His contract had been cancelled when he enlisted, and when he came back he didn't know what he was going to do. Then Capra called him. "What's it about?" "It's a comedy," Capra told him. "It takes place on Xmas Eve. It's about an angel named Clarence. And you commit suicide."
"I'll do it."
Charles Lane, a thin, sour looking character actor, appeared in nine Capra films and said Capra always made you feel import. Your character had to have a purpose in life and be going somewhere. Some directors you came in, did your job and went home at the end of the day.
Barry Nelson played the hotel manager in The Shining, and he was also it Bataan with Robert Taylor and Thomas Mitchell. It's a variation on The Lost Patrol with a small group of soldiers holding the line against the Japanese.
One of the best versions of that basic story is the 1951 noir western Little Big Horn. Lloyd Bridges is a cavalry office determined to lead his men on a 250 trek to rendezvous with Custer even if he has to kill everybody in the process. Very violent for 1951. A lot of familiar face--John Ireland, Marie Windsor, Jim Davis of Dallas, Reed Hadley, Sheb Wooley and Rodd Redwing. Hadley had a stentorian voice that was used to narrate Fox films and newsreels in the 40's.
Redwing was a Native American quick draw artist who could throw a knife, reach for his gun and fire it before the knife hit its target. I saw him once on What's My Line where nobody recognized him or even guessed he was an actor. Wooley was a CW singer who went to Hollywood in the waning days of the B western. In High Noon he was the brother of the man coming to kill Cooper.
Some other noir westerns: Station West with Dick Powell, Pursued and Blood on The Moon with Mitchum, The Tall T with Randolph Scott and Richard Boone and The Naked Spur in which you fully expect Jimmy Stewart to have a nervous breakdown
I don't take holidays now. I keep a large aviary with an ever increasing stock of budgies. So I never like to be away from home for too long. Holidays are a hassle anyway. That is handy to get priority because your wife is in a wheelchair. But that is as it should be. You and June would have double hassle otherwise.
I watched the Alistair Sim version of 'Scrooge' the other night. He is good. But I also like the less sentimental 'Scrooged' I like the tearaway cab driver who is the Spirit of Christmas Past in that one. That's quite an atmospheric sequence.
No. Didn't know about the Lionel Barrymore change. I've checked Charles Lane's IMDb photo. I know his face. My favorite Capra movie is 'Arsenic and Old Lace.' I've got that on DVD. Those maiden aunts in that are brilliant. It's one of the best black comedies ever made. I like Jimmy Stewart's quick response in deciding to make IAWL that you describe.
I haven't seen 'The Shining' yet. I've checked Barry Nelson's IMDb photo. I'm pretty sure I've never seen him in anything yet. Nor have I seen 'Little Big Horn.' Sounds good. 'Yellow Sky' and 'The Naked Spur' are probably the best noir westerns that I have seen to date. Jimmy Stewart is great with Janet Leigh in 'Spur.'
Nasty plane crash a few miles from where we live. A mother and her young sons were killed when a plane crashed in a residential neighborhood and the fuel caught fire. The pilot and two passengers were killed.
The airpark was built 30 years ago when there were about 3500 people living in Gaithersburg. Today there are 60,000. There is air control tower, and the planes fly too low. Sometimes there are student pilots from nearby flying schools. And the pilots don't always stick to the flight paths. This was a disaster waiting to happen. The husband and their daughter weren't home at the time.
Watched a Norwegian horror film Dead Snow 2 in which Nazi zombies come to life to take revenge on the living. How do fight Nazi Zombies? You bring the Communist Zombies to life. Fairly funny if you like that kind of movie, and this was shot in English as well as Norwegian.
The Sony hacking attack is getting worse. Go to the IMDB for The Interview, and the responses are downright vicious and virulent about Sony, Hollywood and this country. Apparently the executives at Sony haven't heard that when you send out e-mails, other people can read them. In this case, the executives sent out racist comments apparently about Obama.
At the moment Hillary Clinton is the front runner for the Democratic nomination, but she is being coy about whether she will run or not. Her closest competitor Elizabeth Warren, a Senator, has just said she's not running. As for the Republicans, it's wide open with Bush' brother Jeb sounding like he's planning to run.
I didn't vote for Obama either time. In 2012 I spent 5 days in the hospital with dehydration after falling down twice and almost once. They held me over for a fifth day because they liked my jokes and stories. I wasn't well enough to go the polls and stand in line. A very conservative friend said I would do anything to get out of making a decision between Obama and Romney. Although I'm registered as a Democrat, I would have voted for Romney.
Dad always considered politician a bunch of crooks, and I tend to agree with him. The outgoing Congress has the worst record of accomplishment in I don't know how many years.
There are a couple of stories about Bill and Hillary I'll save for another time.
Time to put the wife and the dog to bed.
Small private planes seem to be always crashing in the US. I suppose the only ones that have ever made the news are when there has been a bit of a celebrity involved. At least the news never breaks over here otherwise. All those student pilots sound a bit of a menace.
Dead Snow 2 sounds good. Nazis do fascinate me. I'll have to check that out and other Nazi zombie movies. As I gather they are becoming a bit of a feature in films now.
That doesn't sound good about Sony. Anything political on emails are sensitive and liable to be made public. I do watch some of the US political campaigning on TV when it comes nearer the time for the Presidential elections. But even now I'm not too sure of the political bias that the parties represent over there. British politics has broken away from it's traditional meanings a bit. So I'm never too sure who represent who's interests anymore.
I guess you would be a good raconteur in hospital. Just one question, but don't answer it if you don't want to. Do you think US cops do have a bias against black people? It is very concerning what is happening over there with all that unrest.
That's a very sensitive question/topic. There are good cops and bad cops just as in any other profession, and it's a job I wouldn't want to have. In spite of the Civil Right Act of 1964 courtesy of LBJ and other strides made by blacks in the 50 years since, some of that Jim Crow attitude still exists.
Years ago Dad gave a speech at a neighborhood swimming pool association in favor of admitting blacks, and it surprised me because I don't remember him expressing any views on race relations, He told me he thought it was time to admit blacks. On the other hand there was the old Glen Echo Amusement Park where blacks were not allowed. I don't remember that. Glen Echo, Md, by the way, was the home of Clara Barton founder of the Red Cross.
On the other hand, that very conservative friend mine unfortunately has had a lot of biases over the years toward blacks, women, gays, immigrants and other groups. He's forever trying to get me to share his views and switch to the Republican Party. The night before the 2000 election he called me to tell me what was going to happen to this country if Obama were elected without bothering to ask me first who I was going to vote for. That's the kind of scare tactics I associate with Nixon, Agnew and Joe McCarthy.
Agnew, of course, was Nixon's VP who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and had to resign. Agnew was Governor of Maryland where we live. McCarthy was a Senator in the 40's and 50's who went around looking for Communists in the Government. There was also the blacklist in Hollywood.
Oscar winner Lee grant in her autobiography tells how she was blacklisted. A well respected character Roman Bohnen had been blacklisted because of his views which were not necessarily Communist influenced, and he had to go England to find work. When he died, there was a large turnout from the Hollywood community, and Grant was asked to speak at the funeral. The FBI was making notes of who was attending and who was speaking. Grant said she didn't know she had been blacklisted until she went to an audition.
I don't think I answered the question. I think a lot of what is tearing this country apart is due to Obama. I didn't vote for him in 2008 because I didn't think he had enough experience. If I hadn't been sick I would have voted for Romney because he was the under dog.
It's going to get nastier because the Democrats lost the Senate in the elections last month. They have never forgotten how in 2000 the Supreme Court decided in favor of George Bush over Al Gore.
One thing nobody in my family told me at a recent reunion was they don't discuss politics. My sister Lia and her family are very liberal. Ken and Lia are both lawyers. Ken worked for the agency in charge of the BP oil spill and was passed over for the top job. When I asked him why he kinda laughed it off. "I was the only person in the agency who had clean hands." That tells you something about the agency.
I was once a field auditor for the Federal Energy Commission, but that's a whole different story.
Have a good day. Oh as to being a raconteur I've always loved to tell jokes and stories, and I found a great outlet in Toasmtasters, the international organization devoted to public speaking.
The cops do have a difficult job to do. Perhaps young inexperienced ones can get over-zealous. I really can't decide about the two high profile cases of cop brutality against blacks. That stranglehold video one looks a bit nasty. I'm glad that the arson and looting only took place over one night (I think) over the Ferguson affair.
It is strange to see how blacks are portrayed in old films. I like some of humor that black actors were asked to play in some of them. They really get into the spirit of the thing and make me laugh. Unfortunately that humor has left us and serious race issues hold our attention more now. I am surprised about the segregation issues that your Dad was involved in. But things have changed so quickly since then. The 1960s black rights movement should have put an end to the trouble about race. But unfortunately it hasn't turned out that way.
Politics is a minefield of dirty tricks. Strangely enough I was watching a film last night for the first time directed by an American who had to come to England to work because he was caught up in the Communist Witch-Hunt. Kelsey's 'The Damned.' Good film. I'm glad to have that one on DVD at last. It's a Hammer production for Columbia Pictures. Very cross genre for Hammer in the 1960s. I don't know if you've seen that. I think the American title is 'These Are The Damned.' About especially prepared radioactive children trained in readiness for the post nuclear outbreak.
I could never do public speaking. That's why I try to express myself in writing. No nerves involved for me in writing on these message boards. But I'd be a quivering jelly in front of an audience.
I've just checked 'The Damned' IMDb page. I've got it wrong in the post I have just sent. The director's name wasn't Kelsey. It was Joseph Losey.
shareI think I saw only two of his films--King and Country and The Servant with Dirk Borgarde. Was The Damned part of the Village of The Damned series. I only saw the first with George Sanders and Barbara Shelley.
Herb Jeffries, the Bronze Buckaroo, was the last of the singing cowboys and died earlier this year. He made a series of these westerns because black kids didn't have anybody to look up to like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy. I tried to watch one and the comedy was horrible. Today's audiences probably only know RR from his restaurants.
John Ford hired Stepin Fetchit for two movies--Judge Priest with Will Rogers and The Sun Shines Bright which was a remake. The central character is a southern judge who deals with racial and nonracial problems in a small Kentucky town. A subplot involving a prostitute was restored in the remake when the whole town turns out for her funeral. The relationship between Rogers and Fetchit was comparable to that of Jack Benny and Rochester.
Hattie McDaniel deserved the Oscar she won for GWTW. Butterfly McQueen quit movies because all she was offered was maids. I did catch Louise Beavers of Mr, Blandings Builds His Dream House in Make Way for Tomorrow last night. That is a heavyhanded tearjerker from Leo McCarey. Beulah Bondi and Victor Moore are two seniors who are evicted from their home and try to move in with their children, such as Thomas Mitchell. None of the 5 children want BOTH parents living with them and together with their spouses they resent their parents intrusion into their lives The movie deals mostly with Bondi's growing realization that she is a burden. The movie doesn't have a happy ending. McCarey has a great cameo as a car salesman and won the Oscar that year for The Awful Truth. "I won it for the wrong movie."
I think 'The Servant' is probably Joseph Losey's most highly rated film. 'The Damned' is fairly rated as well. It's not part of 'Village of the Damned' series. Just a similarity in that children in both cases are born close together. But the children in Losey's film are benevolent. They are victims rather than aliens. The US version was cut so I hope you get to see the longer version if you get the chance.
I'd never come across Herb Jeffries before. But I see on his IMDb message boards that there is a link to a good biography of him. So I will read that sometime. I don't mind Roy Rogers. I love Trigger.
I'll check out those Stepin Fetchit movies on IMDb. Corman did a film dealing with racial issues in the early 1960s. It's called 'The Intruder.' Good performance by William Shatner in that one.
I always enjoy watching Hattie McDaniel. I loved seeing her as a maid. But of course black actors were generally cast as house staff at that time. I love Mae West telling Louise Beavers to take the bath she's run for her in 'She Done Him Wrong.' Mae is indisposed. Also Clarence Muse is great as the black butler in Bela Lugosi's 'Invisible Ghost.' Scared by the ghostly happenings of Lugosi's house, at one point he asks "Do I look white to you?"
I was born in the early fifties. This was the kind of comedy that I looked at as a kid. I really enjoyed this movie. But that's me.
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