MUSINGS, PONDERINGS, RUMINATIONS AND FANCIES

[Sepiatone]

That's why I said, "My eyes!" as if Cagney is saying, " I just saw a brassiere!"
I didn't imagine seeing a bra would have that much impact on a worldly guy like Cagney.

Maybe she was wearing the same bra he wore when he dressed as a lady to dance in the review EVERY SAILOR 12 years earlier.


Sepiatone

[Bronxgirl48]

Appreciate your Widmark list, Jim! I almost forgot that as (relatively) late as 1952 Richard was doing an almost sneer-for-sneer Tommy Udo reprise, complete with his signature snickering laugh, in O. HENRY'S FULL HOUSE, the Clarion Call episode. Weird to say the least.

[Dargo]

That's why I said, "My eyes!" as if Cagney is saying, " I just saw a brassiere!"
I didn't imagine seeing a bra would have that much impact on a worldly guy like Cagney.

Maybe she was wearing the same bra he wore when he dressed as a lady to dance in the review EVERY SAILOR 12 years earlier.


Sepiatone

Well, ya know Sepia, it WAS said that Jimmy became a bit disheartened when they gave the Shanghai Lil role to Ruby Keeler and not to him, don't ya?!

(...naaah, not really)

[Bronxgirl48]

The talented but jaundiced Elia Kazan once insinuated that Jimmy Cagney was the only guy who could look "convincing" sitting on his mother's lap (not only in WHITE HEAT but also some very early possibly pre-PUBLIC ENEMY roles) Not sure what old Elia was trying to suggest. Kazan was a piece of work to be sure, lol.

[Dargo]

Appreciate your Widmark list, Jim! I almost forgot that as (relatively) late as 1952 Richard was doing an almost sneer-for-sneer Tommy Udo reprise, complete with his signature snickering laugh, in O. HENRY'S FULL HOUSE, the Clarion Call episode. Weird to say the least.

Good point here, Bronxie.

I haven't watched this film in years, but I do remember thinking while I last watched this film that Widmark's portrayal of the criminal in this one seemed to be very closely patterned after his star-making performance in 'Kiss of Death'.

And so and after just now searching out the Wiki page for 'O. Henry's Full House', the following is what is said about this part of this movie anthology:

"The Clarion Call"
Directed by Henry Hathaway, from a screenplay by Richard L. Breen, it stars Dale Robertson and Richard Widmark. A detective cannot arrest a murderer he knows from his past due to his honor involving an outstanding financial debt to the criminal. Once a newspaper offers a reward, after being mocked by the criminal, the detective arrests the criminal and collects the reward to repay the debt.

This vignette reunited Henry Hathaway and Richard Widmark who'd worked together on the noir classic Kiss of Death (1947). Widmark's character in The Clarion Call, "Johnny Kernan", is actually a reprise of his Oscar-nominated character "Tommy Udo" from Kiss of Death. Widmark's Udo/Kernan character was inspired by his love of Batman comics' "The Joker". The Tommy Udo performance in turn influenced Frank Gorshin in preparation for his "Riddler" character on the Batman TV series in the 1960s.[3]

(...I must admit I hadn't previously known of Widmark's love of Batman comics and that he had used The Joker character as his inspiration...ya learn somethin' new every day, I guess)

[Bronxgirl48]

Wow, Dargo! I didn't realize the Hathaway-Widmark connection and the rest, boy, we indeed learn something new every day, wow. Thanks!

Hey, right now I am in the mood for this double feature: THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN.

Go figure.

I'm through with the icy movies even though we are still sweltering. Give me some delicious pulp.

[TikiSoo]

I'd like to weigh in on Richard Widmark. My favorite film of his would have to be Kiss Of Death (1947), his skull like face and evil giggle is still chilling to this day.

You're not kidding. We screened that and our audience was completely fascinated by this portrayal-it was the role of a lifetime for Widmark.
It's so hard to imagine him as a regular family man & father who just "acts" for a living.

I first saw him (& William Holden) on old I LOVE LUCY shows not knowing who they were. I still say their names with the contortions of Lucy's face describing the fruit she stole off their trees!

[Swithin]

This headline on the CNN website scared me today. I don't know whether the future holds The Thing from Another World; or The Lair of the White Worm!

A worm has been revived after 46,000 years in the Siberian permafrost

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/28/world/wo ... index.html

[Dargo]

I first saw him (& William Holden) on old I LOVE LUCY shows not knowing who they were. I still say their names with the contortions of Lucy's face describing the fruit she stole off their trees!

I've just checked with my authority on all things 'I Love Lucy' (my wife Judie) here Tiki, and she confirmed my thought that even though he is only referenced to and never actually appeared on the program, it was Robert Taylor's name (and an alleged orange that was supposedly autographed by him) that Lucy contorts her face while saying his name and along with Richard Widmark's.

[LostHorizons]

What does the phrase “dead as Star Trek” mean? Samuel L. Jackson says this phrase in the Spirit and I have been trying to decipher what it means. The only thing I could come up with is it must mean an unsatisfactory end because so many people were angry at Kirk’s death in Wrath of Khan.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I was pondering about some stars who died before their time, what would they have done if they had lived. Some examples-

Lon Chaney- he died at 47, still a big star. He made only one talking film, his last The Unholy Three (1930) and he seemed to make a good transition. He had a gruff, tough guy voice. I can see him being cast in gangster films in the 1930s.

James Dean- if he had not been killed in a car crash at 24 in 1955, I think he would have had a very long and successful career. I believe he would have been competing with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen for roles. I can see Dean playing the lead in films like Cool Hand Luke (1967) and The Great Escape (1963).

Robert Walker- he died of alcohol and drug combination in 1951 aged 32. I can see him turning to TV in the later 1950s, probably playing a bumbling dad on a sitcom.

[Bronxgirl48]

The talented but jaundiced Elia Kazan once insinuated that Jimmy Cagney was the only guy who could look "convincing" sitting on his mother's lap (not only in WHITE HEAT but also some very early possibly pre-PUBLIC ENEMY roles) Not sure what old Elia was trying to suggest. Kazan was a piece of work to be sure, lol.

I thought it was Andrew Sarris who said that, but I could be wrong. Kazan did say in his memoir that he couldn't think of a convincing romantic scene Cagney had with a woman, but thought Cagney was more believable in dramatic scenes with other men. Kazan also said he wondered about men who gave their wives male nicknames; Cagney called his wife Bill. Cagney began in vaudeville with a drag act, by the way.

I only remembered the lap-sitting but you've jogged my memory with the rest of Kazan's words -- thanks for this, kingrat. I was surprised later on to learn that Cagney (during a WWII star junket) had some kind of crush on (of all actresses) Merle Oberon. Whether this was a rumor or not, can't be sure but it imprinted itself on my mind, lol. Sort of weird.

[Bronxgirl48]

Swithin, if ever that worm comes alive and slithers towards South Florida he will be dispatched by one of our famous alligators, a species itself that should have been extinct already by millions of years, lol.

[Bronxgirl48]

I was pondering about some stars who died before their time, what would they have done if they had lived. Some examples-

Lon Chaney- he died at 47, still a big star. He made only one talking film, his last The Unholy Three (1930) and he seemed to make a good transition. He had a gruff, tough guy voice. I can see him being cast in gangster films in the 1930s.

James Dean- if he had not been killed in a car crash at 24 in 1955, I think he would have had a very long and successful career. I believe he would have been competing with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen for roles. I can see Dean playing the lead in films like Cool Hand Luke (1967) and The Great Escape (1963).

Robert Walker- he died of alcohol and drug combination in 1951 aged 32. I can see him turning to TV in the later 1950s, probably playing a bumbling dad on a sitcom.

Great pondering, Jim! Completely agree about Lon and Jimmy but would hate to think of Bob as a sort of Dagwood, lol. I'm sure he would have done a few Hitchcock episodes in the late '50's through the early '60's and also show up in several of Alfred's movies through those years.