Welcome Me

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Lucky Vassall
Posts: 272
Joined: January 27th, 2014, 2:40 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA

Welcome Me

Post by Lucky Vassall »

(Sung to the tune of “Heil to Me!” from that great musical play and terrible musical film, “The Producers.”)

Greetings from the Golden Gate, home of “Vertigo,” “Dark Passage,” “What’s Up, Doc?” and a few hundred other films.

I’ve decided to make my first post a long one. That way, no one will be surprised if my future posts tend to the garrulous, an old man’s privilege. Young people are supposed to learn from their elders (even if the only thing they learn is how to be bored to tears).

I have always placed a high premium on well-written scripts. Any really talented director and/or actors can make a pretty good script better than it deserves, but it takes a near-perfect script to produce a true destined-to-be classic. Hollywood has never given the writers the credit they deserve. I’m glad so many directors are now getting personally involved in the writing. I think the results speak for themselves.

I like all genres, with a strong preference for comedy, but I especially enjoy coming-of-age films. However, I wonder why, in this day and age, with few exceptions, Hollywood still thinks only boys come of age.

A few thousand words about my Avatar. Some may not recognize Mrs. Murgatroid, a wonderful creation of Billy De Wolfe, one of my favorite comedians, and not just because, like Ruth Gordon and yours truly he grew up in Wollaston. His reference in the skit to “Highland Avenue” refers to a real, very steep street in Wollaston, just a few steps from the original Howard Johnson’s Drug Store.

He first did Mrs. M. on Broadway, but she remained his best known and most performed character throughout his life. She is immortalized in the Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire musical “Blue Skies (1946).” Universal has released the DVD on a disk with an earlier Bing Crosby film, “Birth of the Blues.” They seem to have managed to keep copies of the skit off YouTube, but it can be found in the film starting at 72 minutes in and running about six minutes.

I have done my own homage to Mrs. Murgatroid using a poem by Ogden Nash which, coincidently or not (I think, not), includes the line: “Mrs. Murgatroid eats opium for breakfast.” Should anyone feel a desire to watch my mug mugging, it can be found at:

[youtube][/youtube]

(Don’t say you weren’t warned.)

Finally (no, I haven’t run out of words, just energy), an explanation of my “signature:”

:–)—

It’s my invented I-never-tell-a-lie smiley.

Pinoc-U-no(se)!
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movieman1957
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Posts: 5522
Joined: April 15th, 2007, 3:50 pm
Location: MD

Re: Welcome Me

Post by movieman1957 »

Welcome. Nice to have you here and also nice to read you.

We've been here almost 7 years so you have some catching up to do. Enjoy.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Rita Hayworth
Posts: 10068
Joined: February 6th, 2011, 4:01 pm

Re: Welcome Me

Post by Rita Hayworth »

Welcome Aboard Lucky and I'm a huge What Up Doc Fan Movie of Streisand and O'Neal and Company.

Glad you came to join us today!
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moira finnie
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Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
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Re: Welcome Me

Post by moira finnie »

Welcome to Lucky from Wollaston by way of San Francisco from a former resident of West Squantum Street! (Small world, isn't it?)

It's good to see you and your homage to Mrs. Murgatroid here, which is a hoot. (fyi: I inserted the "http://" in front of your video's web address--without the quotation marks--to make it visible to members online).

I hope you'll enjoy the site.
Avatar: Frank McHugh (1898-1981)

The Skeins
TCM Movie Morlocks
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Lzcutter
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Posts: 3149
Joined: April 12th, 2007, 6:50 pm
Location: Lake Balboa and the City of Angels!
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Re: Welcome Me

Post by Lzcutter »

Welcome Lucky!

We have a couple of posters who are also in SF and Oakland. Dewey, our own Elliot Lavine, is a film programmer and a couple of times a year programs classic films, especially precodes and noirs, at the Roxy in the Mission. ChiO, also known as Owen, often comes out from Chicago- sometimes with Mrs.ChiO, at least once a year for Elliot's retrospectives. Then there is SF's own Jack Burley, also known as Marco, who lives in the Haight, loves movies and Disneyland and Buy Rite ice cream.

Me, I returned home to my beloved City of Angels this summer after a three year stint at the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio.

The rest of us a pretty diverse group but we all have one thing in common, we love talking about film.

So, glad you could join us and look forward to talking with you!
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: Welcome Me

Post by RedRiver »

We're thrilled to have you join us, Lucky Vassall! San Francisco is one of the few cities I recognize on film before having it confirmed. It's those hills! I enjoyed Billy De Wolfe in GOOD MORNING, WORLD, a TV show that should have seen greater success. Goldie Hawn, Billy, and the entire DICK VAN DYKE creative team, and the show failed? Who knows?
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Lucky Vassall
Posts: 272
Joined: January 27th, 2014, 2:40 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA

Re: Welcome Me

Post by Lucky Vassall »

Thank you all for the kind words. I really do feel welcome. Now, excuse me while I spend a few years catching up on all the posts.
[size=85]AVATAR: Billy DeWolfe as Mrs. Murgatroid, “Blue Skies” (1946)

[b]“My ancestors came over on the Mayflower.”
“You’re lucky. Now they have immigration laws."[/b]
[i]Mae West, The Heat’s On” (1943[/i])

[b]:–)—[/b]
Pinoc-U-no(se)[/size]
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Lucky Vassall
Posts: 272
Joined: January 27th, 2014, 2:40 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA

Re: Welcome Me

Post by Lucky Vassall »

moirafinnie wrote:Welcome to Lucky from Wollaston by way of San Francisco from a former resident of West Squantum Street! (Small world, isn't it?)

It's good to see you and your homage to Mrs. Murgatroid here, which is a hoot. (fyi: I inserted the "http://" in front of your video's web address--without the quotation marks--to make it visible to members online).

I hope you'll enjoy the site.
Nice to find another "close" friend. I lived on Vassall Street (Well, would you believe it? Bet his first pet's name was Lucky!), just one block from the beach and a few blocks west to Hancock Street where there was still the old 6 mi. marker to Boston.

Thanks for fixing up the youtube connection. I had a feeling that I was doing something wrong. Wonder how may times you're going to have to save me.

I already feel well at home here, thanks to you and the other welcoming new friends.
[size=85]AVATAR: Billy DeWolfe as Mrs. Murgatroid, “Blue Skies” (1946)

[b]“My ancestors came over on the Mayflower.”
“You’re lucky. Now they have immigration laws."[/b]
[i]Mae West, The Heat’s On” (1943[/i])

[b]:–)—[/b]
Pinoc-U-no(se)[/size]
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