Jean Simmons received only two Oscar nominations: best supporting actress as Ophelia in Hamlet and best actress in The Happy Ending . For me they don't begin to compare with her work in, say, All the Way Home, Home Before Dark, Spartacus, Elmer Gantry, Angel Face, and A Bullet Is Waiting , to name a...

TCM has been showing several little-known Joan Crawford films recently. A Woman's Face (1941) is just as good as Moira and several other writers have said. One of Joan's best performances, and one of George Cukor's best films. Perhaps Moira will add a link to her outstanding Morlocks post on that fi...

Mongo, what a beautiful picture of Leslie Caron. She still looked lovely this April at the festival. A friend once said, "Those little bird-like women hold up well." It's fun to see Constance Ford, of all people, getting the glamor treatment. Wyler, Laughton, Leslie, Olivia, Farley--wow, w...

Those of you who are registered at TCM City are now able to vote for your favorite schedule. Under the Messageboards, click on General Discussions and then look for the Voting Thread. We had eight excellent schedules, not to mention a couple of winners submitted out of competiton by lzcutter and Kyl...

Larry,

How is Joan Copeland doing? I have fond memories of her work in the soaps and as Fredric March's daughter in Middle of the Night. Her fans, and she must have many of them, wish her well.

The month-long salute to Jean Simmons concludes with seven films Tuesday night and Wednesday morning: Home Before Dark (1958). D: Mervyn LeRoy. After her release from a mental institution, a woman struggles to adjust to her unhappy marriage. With Dan O'Herlihy, Rhonda Fleming, and Efrem Zimbalist, J...

For all you Ben Johnson fans: we enjoyed Buck (2011), a documentary about Buck Brannaman, the cowboy who provided technical assistance for The Horse Whisperer . The film moves back and forth between telling us about Buck's life and showing us how he teaches horses and shows people how to teach their...

We enjoyed Buck (2011), a documentary about Buck Brannaman, the cowboy who provided technical assistance for The Horse Whisperer . The film moves back and forth between telling us about Buck's life and showing us how he teaches horses and shows people how to teach their horses in ways which are gent...

JF, I also found the Perry Mason theme very scary when I was a child. It still does, even though now I know that it borrows heavily from Gershwin's Piano Concerto.

Thanks, Moira! I'm really pleased by the four entries so far. All have been very imaginative, with lots of ideas that TCM could use. TCMprogrammr even complimented the schedules in mid-competition. Movieman, I hope you'll have time in the next week to prepare an entry. Filmlover is reportedly workin...

The Informer is not one of my favorite Ford films, though it is reasonably effective in its heavy-handed way. Come to think of it, that's pretty much how I feel about Victor McLaglen's performance. Ford doesn't share the world view that produced expressionism. Eventually he absorbed whatever he cou...

Moira, I was really glad to see The Power and the Glory on the schedule. It's an obscure film and, I believe, at one time was thought to be lost. It's also supposed to have had a significant influence on Citizen Kane : story of a tycoon, flashback structure, etc. This was a big prestige picture whic...

Enjoyed the picture of Tony Perkins and Tab Hunter, who were indeed in an awkward situation in Hollywood.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning TCM will be showing nine Jean Simmons films from the mid-1950s. I've seen seven, and all can be recommended if you like the genre: The Actress (1953). D: George Cukor. Simmons stars as an aspiring actress in an adaptation of Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play Yea...

I haven't seen this film in years, but still remember Trevor Howard's bath scene. He and Wendy Hiller were marvelous. Dean Stockwell at least has the right sensitive innocent quality.

This would make a good choice for the 2012 TCM film festival, with Dean Stockwell talking to R.O. before the showing.