MUSINGS, PONDERINGS, RUMINATIONS AND FANCIES

[Hibi]

Check out Debbie this evening in WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN? She is terrific as the brittle, self-absorbed, ambitious Adele. A very charismatic performance and I think one of her best!

Not so crazy about THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. Reynolds can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned but I've never cared for the movie -- no memorable songs or production numbers -- everything is frankly a galumping (is that a word?) bore, lol.

HOW SWEET IT IS. Avoid...at...all...costs.

THE RAT RACE. I don't know which is more overheated -- the brassy, life-is-tough SOME CAME RUNNING-ish score or Don Rickles as "Nelly", dance hall owner and pimp. Tony Curtis is supposed to be from Milwaukee, the same way Sinatra is from Indiana in THE TENDER TRAP; both do not even try disguising their New York/Jersey accents. In a vain attempt to convince us he's a Midwesterner, Tony tries to be soft-spoken and polite but it really doesn't work. Debbie at least is a tad more believable as the more cynical of this pair. Thank goodness for good old Jack Oakie -- best thing in the film.

Bronxie, when I was about ten-years-old, I went to see The Rat Race at the Burnside Theater on Burnside Avenue, between the Concourse and Jerome. I was never so bored in my life. The Rat Race is not a film for ten-year-olds! (I haven't seen it since.)

LOL! I saw the beginning the other day. It started off well.

[Hibi]

I wanted to stay awake for THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY (apart from Debbie, an odd cast -- Lili Palmer, Fred Astaire, Gary Merrill, Charlie Ruggles...) but nodded off about thirty minutes in.

TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR -- the Tammy song always makes me cry, it's so wistful (like Moon River). I used to warble it as a young'un. Debbie is wonderful! (as always)

I've always liked the title song as well. Was it Oscar nominated? (probably not).

[Hibi]

Yep, Tex. And I'll bet if they ever mentioned that city out there in California that was growing by leaps and bounds during their lifetimes and where they were a'buildin' all them there freeways, they probably pronounced it just like FitzPatrick did as well, huh.

No, they pronounced it as most do today. My folks lived in Perris (outskirts of Riverside) for a time in the early 50s when my Dad was stationed at March AFB. It was a one stoplight kind of place even when they went back to revisit it in 1976. It's mushroomed, like most of Southern California now.
Had other relatives down in San Diego as well (some due to their Navy commitments) but I've only heard the "Angle" pronunciation in film or on TV.

In my case, I remember well the times some of my parent's relatives from their old stomping grounds of Indianapolis would come out to visit us in L.A. and would want us to take them to Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and Hollywood back in the '50s and '60s. Frequent visitors Uncle "Slim" (who for so many years I could never understand why he was called that and due to his being quite heavy at that time...Mom would come to tell me it was because he was quite skinny when he was younger) and Aunt Gertie his wife, always pronounced it like FitzPatrick did in his 1935 short 'Los Angeles: Wonder City of the West'.

(...and of course, you can hear it pronounced in that manner in many of the film noirs that Eddie Muller presents as well...in fact, I remember hearing character actor Roy Teal saying it that way in one of Eddie's recent presentations)

Oh, NO! Not the Los Angeles pronunciation debate again!!!

[Hibi]

TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR -- the Tammy song always makes me cry, it's so wistful (like Moon River). I used to warble it as a young'un. Debbie is wonderful! (as always)

I always wanted to see the Gone With the Wind sequel about the miscegenation between the Hattie McDaniel and Clark Gable characters, Mammy and the Bachelor.

It ain't fittin', it just ain't fittin'!

LOL

Actually Rhett would have been better off with Mammy -- he did tell Scarlett that Mammy was the one person he wanted respect from. Then also, Belle Watling was in love with him and she could have "reformed" if they married.

Anybody but Scarlett!

I also thought Rhett/Belle would be a good match post I Don't Give A Damn!

[Hibi]

Oh yeah, I forgot about Tab Hunter....interesting casting all around.

As for San Francico, unfortunately by the time I got there in the early 1970's, it was hippie-scruffy, no elegance at all. That's why I feel sad when watching VERTIGO, GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER or PAL JOEY. Heck, even 1968's YOURS, MINE AND OURS showed a city still "old-school".

Even though there are some jokes about birth control and the like, Yours, Mine, and Ours is at heart an extremely square movie, unlike a bunch of other late 60s "generation gap" movies trying to be hip and failing badly. I recently mentioned having seen Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding, which is a good example of the genre. Others I'd add would be things like Bob Hope in I'll Take Sweden or everybody in Marriage on the Rocks.

I will also add HOW SWEET IT IS! to that awful gen-gap sub genre. Oh, God, I'LL TAKE SWEDEN, lol. (although I do like Frankie Avalon singing "I'll take Sweden, ya, ya, ya!") Lovely Dina Merrill has one of the worst Scandinavian accents ever. Jeremy Slate too. All those movies are just so BAD.

Don't forget Take Her, She's Mine and Generation!

[Hibi]

I didn't change the channel after the ABC nightly news -- and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS just came on.

Cecil B. DeMille was always a lousy director.

Not here! The local ABC channel cut in on the network news with a weather bulletin and bled into The Ten Commandments for 15 minutes and I had to miss the beginning! (the only station to do so). I was OUTRAGED!!! I only watch the campy parts but I was ticked they did that. (It wasn't even that bad out) I bet the station got a lot of complaints. Why not just run on the bottom of the screen? (like the other stations did) I HATE when they preempt programming! It's not like its run any other time of the year! (TEN)

[Hibi]

...Oh, God, I'LL TAKE SWEDEN, lol. (although I do like Frankie Avalon singing "I'll take Sweden, ya, ya, ya!") Lovely Dina Merrill has one of the worst Scandinavian accents ever. Jeremy Slate too. All those movies are just so BAD.

Betcha didn't know that this is Vlad Putin's favorite movie title, did ya Bronxie?!

Oh wait. Never mind.

Now that I think about this, it's actually 'I'll Take Finland'.

(...sorry 'bout that)

LOL! Now THAT was funny!

[Hibi]

"Moses! Moses! You stubborn, splendid, glorious fool!"

If the Razzies had existed back then, Anne Baxter would've won one! But to be fair, who could've put over the dialogue she was given???

[Hibi]

Never apologize, mister. It's a sign of weakness.

Putin's favorite score might just be the rousing martial music from Hitch's TOPAZ.

(...must now try my best to not reply with, "You're Putin me on here!"...been used MUCH too many times already...no originally at all)

Eeh, as I'm sure you've noticed after all these many years here Bronxie, MY weaknesses are SO bountiful and transparent that tryin' to keep 'em hidden from others would be a full time job in itself!

And so I really don't care about that kind'a thing anymore.

(...MUCH too taxing on his old soul of mine here if I did)

I've never heard it! You sure you're not PUTIN me on?????


My nickname for him is a rather vulgar euphemism (Fill in the blank, POON____) Apologies to those offended but I really call him that!

[Hibi]

"Moses! Moses! You stubborn, splendid, glorious fool!"

Yep, and then there's always...



"M-yeah! M-yeah! Where's your Moses NOW, see?! Where's your messiah NOOOOW, see?!"

(...sorry...once again...but I'll NEVER get that old Billy Crystal routine outta my head)

EPIC miscasting! (LOL) But to be fair just about everyone chews the scenery in this one (except where it's needed, Heston!)

[Hibi]

I give GC an MA rating--mildly amusing, and even that's a bit of a stretch.
I believe the Mankman called it a zany comedy. I'll give him the zany part.
I'm neutral on Debbie Reynolds, but she did do a good impression of a
Marilyn lookalike. It just wasn't very funny, which is especially bad in a flick
that is almost two hours long. And just as one thinks things can't get much
duller enter Pat Boone, then again and again, as a rich momma's boy. How
original. As expected 1964 gender bending is pretty sedate. One good thing,
Balzac is still on a roll, if only as a phone number.

Yeah, as if the movie didn't have enough problems, who's bright idea was it to cast PAT BOONE?????

[dianedebuda]

I watched Goodbye Charlie (1964) last night. Maybe I was just in the mood for some mindless fun, but I enjoyed it. Better than the 1.5 star rating I saw for it; I'd give it a 2 or maybe 2.5. I was 15 when it came out, so maybe that had something to do with being able to slip back into the era of that kind of comedy. I thought Walter Matthau overplayed his character on purpose and was a hoot. Pat Boone was a good fit for his character IMO.

So Bronxie (if I may use Dargo's tag for you), you have company here.

[Dargo]

I give GC an MA rating--mildly amusing, and even that's a bit of a stretch.
I believe the Mankman called it a zany comedy. I'll give him the zany part.
I'm neutral on Debbie Reynolds, but she did do a good impression of a
Marilyn lookalike. It just wasn't very funny, which is especially bad in a flick
that is almost two hours long. And just as one thinks things can't get much
duller enter Pat Boone, then again and again, as a rich momma's boy. How
original. As expected 1964 gender bending is pretty sedate. One good thing,
Balzac is still on a roll, if only as a phone number.

Yeah, as if the movie didn't have enough problems, who's bright idea was it to cast PAT BOONE?????

Well, ya gotta remember here Hibi that by '67, Rudy Vallee would've been 20 years too old to play that kind'a part again in some movie, now wouldn't he?!

And besides, I gotta say I thought Pat was fairly good in it. Well, he was no worse than anyone else was in it, anyway.

Btw, and speaking of Rudy...I remember reading somewhere that Billy Wilder originally wanted him to play the Osgood Fielding III role in 'Some Like It Hot', but I can't remember why Joe E. Brown got the part instead.

(...anyone here remember this and why this turned out to be?)

[CinemaInternational]

Happy Belated Easter to everyone else who might celebrate it (thanks Bronxie for the wish)

I recall liking Goodbye Charlie when I saw it. I thought it had decent pacing and good performances. So you are not alone, Bronxie.

What's the Matter with Helen is a chilling and effective film, with two knockout leading performances from Debbie and Shelley. Debbie once wrote that she had a nightmare the night before they shot the film's most violent scene, and she went into the prop department the next morning and found that the prop knife was actually real. They didn't film the scene until a prop knife was found. That most violent scene was edited at the time to avoid an R rating, but the MPAA raised the rating on the film to an R about 8 years ago. Strange to re-rate a film 45 years after it was made, but MGM has resubmitted a lot of their late 60s/early 70s titles, and many have been given the R even though they were originally PGs (see also Sinful Davey, Mississippi Mermaid, The Happy Ending, Gaily Gaily). But then again, the film also had the misfortune of having the ending spoiled in the trailers, the posters, and the DVD cover.

Cecil B. DeMille was once regarded as one of the ultimate directors of films, one of the very finest, but his reputation took a big hit in the 60s after his death and never recovered. I have to say I really like some of his films like King of Kings (1927) and Reap the Wild Wind (1942). No, he wasn't the world's best director, but I manage to appreciate many of his films for their sheer earnestness, that wasn't as heavy as the later Stanley Kramer [Kramer did make a few films I liked, but On the Beach and Inherit the Wind are practically impaled on screen. I dubbed the latter film, unbearable to me, as "Inherit the Windbag".] (DeMille did have some head-scratchers though, such as 1930's indescribable Madam Satan or 1932's This Day and Age where a group of teenagers take vigilante action by kidnapping a gangster and hovering him over a pit of rats, which causes the Capone type to reform. Call it an early prototype of Willard.)

The Ten Commandments? I only saw that version once....unfortunately right before the former family dog died, so it will always be tainted a bit in my memory because of that. (I still can't watch the last film I saw before the dog died, The Barefoot Contessa, again) I recall thinking it was decent, if overlong. People still get a kick out of Anne Baxter's theatrical turn.

As for Putin, I have the distinct feeling that his favorite films are likely old USSR propaganda films, since he seems hellbent on reconstructing it. (Any bets that his favorite song is "Back in the USSR"?)

If we are talking about vivid fights with parents over movies, Barefoot in the Park immediately comes to mind. I liked it, my father despised it saying that Jane Fonda was screaming all the time (60s comedies in general are a bit loud).

Joanne Dru had the most unfortunate real life name: Letitia LaCöck. I guess she could have kept her real name had she ever joined up with Andy Warhol's company.

As for apologies, sometimes they are needed, but I found out the hard way that too many cause others to attack you like you are the slowest moving animal on the savanna.

I used to get the Fox Movie Channel, but the cable company had a long drag-out fight with Disney last September, and well, when then all got it ironed out, they dropped several channels entirely, and that channel was one of them. They repeated things endlessly, bur I miss it because I saw several films there for the first time.

Completely unrelated to anything talked about, but an error in an on demand listing made me laugh out loud. MGM+ (the channel once known as Epix) is listing 1983's The Big Chill as an ACTION movie.

[CinemaInternational]

I wanted to stay awake for THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY (apart from Debbie, an odd cast -- Lili Palmer, Fred Astaire, Gary Merrill, Charlie Ruggles...) but nodded off about thirty minutes in.

TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR -- the Tammy song always makes me cry, it's so wistful (like Moon River). I used to warble it as a young'un. Debbie is wonderful! (as always)

I've always liked the title song as well. Was it Oscar nominated? (probably not).

Yes, Tammy was an Oscar nominated song, but the win that year went to the Frank Sinatra standard "All the Way"