telegonus's Replies


Thanks for all the decades musings, EC. They have my head spinning. Somewhat. As to the voices in Psycho, I've taken a shine to the somewhat similar vocal stylings of Johns Anderson and McIntire, with the former more deft and understated, the latter deadpan hilarious, a sort of Rocky & Bullwinkle for grownups. Both men had good runs in anthology shows of the same era as Psycho, and appeared in The Twilight Zone, as did several other cast members of the movie (Vaughn Taylor, Vera Miles, Balsam And Oakland, and even. in a tiny, non-speaking role, Ted Knight). The 50s-60s and 70s-80s cusps in Hollywood is an interesting take on what seem in retrospect, competing eras; not at the time so much as now, viewed as four decades of the 20th century. Those decades were also shaped by what even at the time, as a child, then teen, then a very young man, I was aware of as Old Hollywood in its death throes, and wasn't happy about. The historical breakdowns made major social change almost inevitable; and well beyond the usual suspects of Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll: the rise of at the time a largely youth-driven culture led by Elvis, then JFK, with reality kicking in the the Vietnam war, the civil rights movements, and the massive changes in manners, morals and fashion implicit is S,D & R & R. Psycho does appear as a key factor in these changes; as a template, a shocker and a hugely successful movie, filmed mostly on the Uni back lot, in glorious black and white and a cast of not thousands, or even hundreds but at most dozens; like maybe two or three, allowing for extras and very small parts players. What happened, in the wake of all this isn't that Hollywood began changing history so much as history changing Hollywood. By around the mid to late 70s, the summer blockbuster era of movies, then Saturday Night Live, it's like America had become like Fernwood Tonight merged with Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. No one could have predicted that. It was like a tsunami, and it came to a halt when Ronald Reagan became President and things began to settle; a little anyway. That remark, as delivered by Lurene Tuttle, was one of the many comic moments in an otherwise serious and unsettling movie. She was a veteran radio actress, appeared frequently on TV in the 50s-60s, and very good. Miss Tuttle spoke that line in a rather loud whisper to Vera Miles, and in a manner consistent with the time in which Psycho was made. And a Happy New Year to you, EC, and here's to good health and a long life! Charming lady, gifted actress, often in light or comic roles. When I see Miss Johns in anything these days she brightens my spirits, and makes me wonder why there aren't more like her today. RIP, Miss Johns. Yes, although for many, the Chaney, Jr. Wolf Man is up there, especially as he was, in non-wolf form, a man of conscience and moral integrity. In the Frankenstein monster there's an incipient humanity to him, yet he remains, due to the nature of his lab creation, essentially a dumb animal, albeit with some sympathetic human attributes. I find the Karloff Mummy poignant, especially in his (admittedly) morbid romanticism, or obsessiveness, if one prefers a more clinical perspective. Dracula and other, similar vampire creatures, is nearly impossible to relate to, yet his aristocratic ancestry and, for a monster anyway, poise and good manners, make him stand out, and lend him a measure of charisma. The Invisible Man, in the original 1933 film, is difficult for most of us to relate to due to his megalomania, sadism and overall narcissism, which came, for him, from the chemical that enabled him to become invisible, and was not inherent to his character prior to his becoming invisible. This, plus the fact that he can't be seen, make him wholly unlikable, unless, I suppose, the viewer has a yen for world domination and playing cruel tricks on innocent people. Brilliant stuff, Swanstep. Your three posts are a pleasure to read, and I haven't even seen the god-damn movie! Thanks to much for staying alive and keeping up the good work. Writing about films, modern and classic, on the Internet, is more difficult than many years past; and there's so much more going on now, in the world, movie-wise, intellectually and socially, as to make one's head spin; but there are still some good places left, and new ones that have sprouted, post-IMDB, the relative safety of the old place, and the accompanying good fellowship (gender neutrally speaking) it's easy to get demoralized or just plain overwhelmed by all that's going on in the world, much less the film world. By all means, keep up the good work! Indeed, EC, finding the classics by our own cleverness is the best way to go with this. YouTube and Archive.org both have lots of fans, and I gather that they get a lot of hits, in most senses of that word. My growing fondness for classic TV is a nice way to find old movies that aren't really that old, and certainly not movies. Filmed in the style of the classics, with many shot on the wonderful still alive and kicking back lots of old Hollywood. In their way, Perry Mason and Peter Gunn are chopped up movies, essentially first rate B's, allowing for the melodrama. Combat! is like a top of the line A picture, featuring a talented cast and guest players, and often amazingly well written stories, and not typical prime time fare. Many if not most Combats eschew the easy irony of the most "vulnerable" new character of the week dying (a hero, of course); on Combat, a total jerk who cheats at cards not only survives but prospers. The only "typical" thing is that he's "brought down" by all the good guy regulars shunning him. "Big deal!", says the average viewer, "but he's still alive, and he still has his rank even though his dereliction of duty caused another man's death". There are no easy answers on this show. Hitchcock's two shows made him a literal household name, and they also entertained the co-called average viewer, as to me they seem too subtle and sophisticated for prime time. But I guess not. For today, yes! For the Millennial viewers, they're too slow, too talky, too asexual, lack the requisite violence to please many if not most viewers. The decline of the Old Guard classical education, practically a dinosaur now, is a major factor in this change of pace and love of speed and gimmicky effects. I see no way this is going to turn around. Even the elite, generally liberal Brandeis University is strongly considering discontinuing granting advanced degrees in English. They don't want to burden young people with an education there's almost no market for. I've been away and round and about of late, EC, and delighted to see you back, whatever your screen monicker. My classic film viewing has been limited of late, due mostly to the local TV stations having gone digital-HD, although I still use an antenna and do not use cable, haven't for quite a few years now. Not a one of the digitals features classic Hollywood films exclusively, nor seems favorably inclined to draw classic film buff types to watch them, as younger viewers to a large extent steer clear if black and white films and TV shows, although many classic TV series of the 50s-60s are broadcast in black and white; and even shows that switched from one to the other, such as Andy Griffith's show, it gets a lot of air time, as does The Honeymooners, which was all black and white, as well as the 60s Dick Van Dyke Show, ditto, get regular airings. So all is not lost. What I miss the most is the local PBS station, or rather stations, showing of classic movies of the 30-40s era, including even 50s sometimes. They had access to the Ted Turner library, and they used Turner's logo before showing those films. It was, for at least a quarter of a century, a treasure trove for people like me (us, I gather), with damn near the entire Warners and MGM pictures, mostly A level, shown on weekends, often in odd time slots, with occasional repeat airings of many old favorites, in the same week sometime. That's been gone for at least a decade now, likely more, and I truly miss it, as it was my safety net for classic films. They didn't have most of the Paramount library, though they had some later films from the studio's backlog; and they showed many high quality Fox films, mostly from the post-1940 period, into the 50s, from The Grapes Of Wrath to at the very least All About Eve. Lots of Bette and Bogie pictures, too, 30s through 40s primarily, though their Warner package include two James Dean pictures, Rebel Without A Cause and Giant, but not, alas, Strangers On A Train. I think that Webber's character speaking as he did exposed his own shallowness and lack of seriousness regarding the murder case, and that his glib remarks were intended to show that. Viewed this way, I think that the actor spoke his lines well, and that this ad man guy was presented that way to show that certain kinds of people, even nice ones, as he may well have been at a personal level, have a very difficult time rising to the occasion when something very serious is under consideration. The character was in this similar to the baseball fan with the tickets burning a hole in his pocket. Unalike as these two were in disposition they were very alike in being able incapable of taking a truly moral stand in these case under consideration in the film. It's up there. Little Caesar and The Public Enemy are, too. The Big House, as good as any of them, isn't. There are a few others like that. Some ancient classics just don't get the love they deserve. Thanks for all the responses, EC (yeah, it's still that with me). I wish you the best with the admins. (Clore, when kicked off the IMDB, original version, he became Clore2, with maybe a slight diacritical mark addition, and Clore2 he remained.) As to James Cagney, he should have gone out a winner, as originally planned. I hate the movie Ragtime, thought it was beneath Cagney. A WTF career move, and I saw it in the theater. Milos Forman's prestige is somewhat of a mystery to me (I do "get" Ken Russell's cult status, but some directors just never got on my radar screen). For a long while retiring from the screen gracefully was an option, whether it was due to the coming of the talkies or encroaching middle age and a world war, in the 40s. The 50s, less so. Some retired, others didn't. Then there were the small number of players who "semi-officially" retired, then came back for a handful of movie and/or TV appearances (Tallulah Bankhead, never much of a movie name, Franchot Tone, Gene Tierney, albeit briefly). But professional dignity, or whatever one chooses to call it, is tough for even the biggest star to maintain; or much less the best actor (think Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson, active to the end, or as close as their health would permit). I can appreciate that Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire remained active or semi-active, long after their dancing careers were largely over. They liked being busy, and they had radiant smiles. It almost felt that the world was a better place than it really was when the old-timers remained in the sun, at least some of the time. Nowadays, with less of a sense of history, of continuum, the world doesn't quite seem so bright as it once did. Or maybe that's just me. Likely, eh? I've often wondered about same where [b]The Lost Patrol[/b] is concerned. The geography seems wrong to me, too. Good point. No. I doubt any aliens have visited Earth, can't say for sure; nor can anyone else for that matter. There appears to be no evidence of space people, or just plain beings from other planets and galaxies, ever having paid our planet a visit, and yet for all we know a space person may arrive here today, when the sun comes up! In other words, this can't be ruled out. No one can know for sure. Fast food workers don't really much for national holidays. Also, many (likely most) retail workers. People who flip burgers for a living, leaving aside their race for a bit, won't get jack for Juneteenth. It's best for government workers, state federal and local, which includes school teachers and school janitors; and those school districts that still have cafeterias will give those who work in them a paid day off. There may be some benefits for health care workers, not sure. Banks will close; at least where I live they do. Likely, the stock markets. Not sure about Wall Street itself. Okay. That was off on my part. My sense is that Juneteenth was easy to vote for in Congress, more so in the Senate than in the House, but a feelgood thing for both major political parties. It seems unnecessary to me, largely a reaction to the George Floyd case of police abuse and the death of Floyd at the hands of a police officer. There was so much controversy at the time, and for some time after, the creation of the new national holiday seemed almost, from a liberal perspective (I'm liberal, but don't share this point of view) that Floyd's death made it a necessity. Truly, I think we're too grown up for that. We have enough national holidays as it is. I've noticed same. With tall men, I mean. Farley Granger had at times hints, traces, of effeminacy; no big deal, but he did, and it worked in his favor as Guy Haines, helped make Strangers On A Train more credible, especially as to the gay subtext (that never gets "officially" mentioned, but which any reasonable sharp-eyed teenager can see). William Holden had none of that, and he was a very masculine actor, albeit not macho, or not in the usual ways (there were traces of that in Picnic, which is near a Guy Haines role for him). I think that Holden's rough, somewhat rugged complexion, meshed a bit with Robert Walker's rather"pocky" facial features, which reflected maybe vestiges of teenage acne. There wouldn't have been as strong a contrast between Holden and Walker than there was between Walker and the smoother faced Granger. Yup, and he makes no secret about it. Robert Mitchum strikes me as a man who had a lot of bitterness and hate in him; not a true sociopath, yet he seemed to get weird ideas in his head. It shows in his later films, mostly post-1960. If it had come out at a better time for him, Cape Fear might have enjoyed a success closer to Psycho, if not quite with the prestige, and given him a superstar second wind. Think Robert Shaw in the wake of Jaws.