On TCM today 11/13/16- A very entertaining MGM musical about a turn of century Chicago music store owned by S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall— with feuding employees Van Johnson and Judy Garland unknowingly exchanging secret love letters and comic support by screen great Buster Keaton. Look for the screen debut at the age 2½ of future Oscar winner Liza Minnelli!
TCM 8/25/16–the William Wellman directed classic Battleground (1949) where we see how the 101st Airborne Division held off the Germans on a snowy WW II battlefield and how the Oscar nominated here James Whitmore (talk about a great performance as a tough combat veteran) started a long successful career as a character actor cumulating with his brilliant role in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) as aging inmate Brooks Hatlen.
Let us share stories about the classic movies, big stars and character players we love to watch again and again!
On her 87th birthday today – I cannot forget the great performances of Vera Miles for two master directors: John Ford in The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty (1962) where she understood the Fordian concept of the Western …and Alfred Hitchcock in The Wrong Man (1956) whereas Henry Fonda’s wife she gave extra bite to Hitchcockian terror!
A big birthday salute to Cindy Williams today from Larry Storch! It is great to see TV legends Shirley and Agar celebrating on 8/22/16.
On TCM today 8/22/16- Lady in the Lake (1947) – We literally get to see on screen the detective’s point of view with Robert Montgomery as both the director and Phillip Marlowe facing a very striking Femme Fatal in Audrey Totter as well as very NOIR shady cops Tom Tully and the great Lloyd Nolan cast here against type as a dishonorable cop. What happened to Officer McShane or FBI inspector Briggs?
On TCM today 8/21/16- Directed by Richard Brooks- The Catered Affair (1956)-a poor man’s Father of The Bride with a screenplay by Gore Vidal and Bronx location photography by John Alton where my fav Ernest Borgnine plays hard working cab driver Tom Hurley (Husband of screen great Bette Davis and father of Debbie Reynolds here) faced with paying way beyond his means for his daughter’s wedding…Does Ernie get his lifelong dream of owning his own taxi medallion or does Bette get her lifelong dream of having a spectacular nuptial for her baby? The bride Debbie does not care as either way she gets her dream husband Rod Taylor!
Posted by Larry Storch on FB to honor Rose Marie’s recent birthday. Brings back memories of another time!
On TCM later today 8/20/16 – The Maltese Falcon (1941) – Director John Huston’s artistry in visually creating unique characters like: massive crook Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) with his diminutive henchman Wilmer (Elisha Cook Jr.), international eccentric criminal Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), the gorgeous liar Bridget O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor), and most of all the smart private eye with a low rent office Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is a feast for the eyes- as Bogie says: “The stuff that dreams are made of .”
On TCM 8/20/16- By capturing the other character’s reaction to Oscar winner here Claire Trevor in Key Largo (1948) playing washed-up, boozy nightclub singer Gaye Dawn and her pathetic rendition of the torch song “Moaning Low” for a drink, master director John Huston brings out the cold lack of compassion from Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) and the developing admiration of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for each other.
Lawrence of Cinema 