My wife once read a biography of Vivien Leigh that implied that Laurence Olivier and Danny Kaye had a thing. I love all three of them, so I don't care if they had a menage a trois! In fact, I hope they did.
BTW, how did we get into old B&W movies? That's threadworthy!
For me, I'd say it was a combination of the influence of both my parents (my Dad's favorite movie was the original King Kong, and my Mom's was Some Like It Hot - those are probably in my top three along with 2001: A Space Odyssey).
The other factor is how WPIX, WOR, and WNEW (in the NYC area) used to show nothing but old B&W movies on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the 70s. Mostly Universal horror, Japanese monster movies, and Abbot & Costello. Plus things like Chiller Theater. I used to scan the NY Times TV listing (all of which was printed on one broadsheet you could fold into a handy guide for the week) and look at the movie listings for the week, which were easy to spot, and it was always interesting that they indicated if a movie was B&W or color.
I'm guessing some of you watched the same stuff on TV. When I finished college, they were still showing old B&W movies on weekend mornings but it had changed to more Errol Flynn, Ronald Colman, and such, and I used to watch those, drink coffee, and .
Last edited by JKL2000; 02-20-2018 at 07:00 PM.
I did hear something once about Danny Kaye but no other names mentioned. For some reason I always liked his hair. Maybe it was just the way he combed it but he sure had a lot. With all his energy, I though he would have been great with the Marx Brothers. Dr., did you know about Bette and Joan? For me, starting on Friday nights and all through Saturday it was sci-fi movies. I ate and sleep in front of the tube. My mom suggested some things she liked so instead, I went to westerns. Then finally I came around to her way of thinking. I think it was just a matter of age.
The older I get, the better I was.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
Just wondering, why do you think The Outer Limits hasn't gotten more rerun play? I've always been able to get The Zone on a couple of channels but it was rare to get TOL. Do people think it was to complicated? Compared to TTZ it may have been. TOL, I believe, was an hour and TTZ didn't do hour episodes until season four. I became so frustrated I ran out and got the dvd's. But, we've seen TTZ much more than TOL, it would be hard for most people to be objective but I've seen some great episodes of TOL.
The older I get, the better I was.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
That I couldn't tell you. I do know that The Outer Limits reruns on one of the sub-channels like Antenna TV or MeTV. I tried watching an episode not too long ago because we thought it was so cool when we were kids. Couldn't get through it, tho. I've found that I don't find most episodes of The Twilight Zone interesting anymore, either. I think shows like Black Mirror have ruined me for those old shows; I don't think TTZ and TOL have aged well in this current era of excellent TV shows.
lol. Well, the problem was Bette was strictly heterosexual. Or maybe she heard that Joan had a nasty smelling pussy. lol
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
Re Lolita, one of my favorite Kubrick movies. Certainly uncomfortable material, and Kubrick, considering the time that was made, is so salacious yet subtle its amazing to think what he got away with in that. One of my all time favorite scenes is when Clare Quilty (Sellers) is quizzing Humbert on the porch about his situation at the hotel and his 'daughter'. Sellers' dialog and nervous obsession is absolutely hilarious:
Quilty: Hello, heh-heh, heh-heh. Hello.
Humbert: Oh, you're addressing me?...I thought there was perhaps someone with you.
Quilty: No, I'm not really with someone. I'm with you, heh-heh. I didn't mean that as an insult. What I really meant was that, uh, I'm with the State Police, uh, here, and, uh, when I'm with them, I'm with someone, but right now, I'm on my own. I mean, I'm not with a lot of people, just you. Heh.
Humbert: Well, I wouldn't like to disturb you. I'll leave you alone if you prefer it.
Quilty: No, you don't really have to go at all. I like it, you know, because, uh, I don't know what it is. I sort of get the impression that you want to leave but you don't like to leave because maybe you think I'd think it'd look suspicious, me being a policeman...You don't have to think that, because, uh, I haven't really got a suspicious mind at all. I look suspicious myself. A lot of people think I'm suspicious, especially when I stand around on street corners. One of our own boys picked me up the other week - he thought I was too suspicious standing on a street corner and everything. Tell me something, uhm, I couldn't help noticing when you checked in tonight. It's part of my job - I notice human individuals - and I noticed your face. I said to myself when I saw you - I said, 'That's a guy with the most normal-looking face I ever saw in my life'...It's great to see a normal face, because I'm a normal guy. It would be great for two normal guys like us to get together and talk about world events - you know, in a normal sort of way...May I say one other thing to you? It's really on my mind. I've been thinking about it quite a lot. I noticed when you was checking in, you had a lovely, pretty little girl with you. She was really lovely. As a matter of fact, she wasn't so little, come to think of it. She was fairly tall, what I mean, taller than little, you know what I mean. But, uh, she was really lovely. I wish I had a lovely, pretty tall, lovely little girl like that, I mean...Your daughter? Gee, isn't it great to have a lovely, tall, pretty little, small daughter like that, it's really wonderful. I don't have any children, boys or little tall girls or anything. I'm not even...Heh-heh, may I say something? I thought you was looking a little uneasy at the desk there. Maybe I was thinking that you want to get away from your wife for a little while. I don't blame you. If I was married, I'd take every opportunity to get away from my wife.
Humbert: She had an accident.
Quilty: That's really terrible. I mean, fancy a fella's wife having, a normal guy's wife having an accident like that. What happened to her?
Humbert: She was hit by a car.
Quilty: Gee, no wonder she's not here. Gee, you must feel pretty bad about that. What's happening? Is she coming on later or something?
Humbert: Well, that was the understanding.
Quilty: What? In an ambulance? Heh-heh. Gee, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that. I get sorta carried away, you know, being so normal and everything. Tell me, umm, when you were standing there at the desk checkin' in with the night manager, Mr. George Swine, who I happen to know as a personal friend of mine, umm, I was wondering if, uh, he fixed you up with, uh, sort of good accommodation here...You're quite sure about that, because, I mean, I could really easily have a word with George Swine. Uh, I mean, he's a really nor-normal nice sorta guy and I've only got to have a normal word in his ear and you'd be surprised what things could happen from a thing like that. I mean, he-he'd probably go and turn some of the troopers out so you could have a lovely room - a bridal suite for you and your lovely little girl.
Humbert: No, please, I don't want you to take any trouble on my account. We're perfectly comfortable.
Quilty: But he should do it. It's his job to fix you up with something nice, I mean, you know, he gets paid for doing that thing and when he sees a guy like you coming in, all normal and everything, with a lovely little girl beside him, he should say to himself, 'Gee, I've got to give that guy a lovely sorta comfortable foamy bed to sleep in.' I mean, you know, I just don't like to hear things like that happening because I could go over and really take a swipe at him for not giving you a lovely, comfortable, sleepy, movie-star bed. You know what I mean, heh, I mean, you know, what has he got ya? On the floor or something?
Humbert: Well, the little girl is probably asleep already - in the bed - and, uh... [laughs] I don't know why we're discussing this because...
Quilty: Listen, why don't you let me have a look at the room - at the accommodation that you have, now, and-and-and- really take it in for a second - and then I could come down and have a word with George Swine? It would be so simple.
Humbert: If you'll excuse me.
Quilty: You're going because you maybe think that, uh, me being a policeman and everything, I think you're sorta suspicious. I-I don't think that at all. I think you're really normal and everything. You don't have to go because of that...You have a most interesting face. Goodnight.
Kubrick had a, uh, "twisted" sense of humor. He was laughing so hard during some of Malcolm MacDowell's scenes in A Clockwork Orange that he had to stuff a tie (or scarf) in his mouth so he wouldn't make any noise. And according to Kirk Douglas, when he saw one of the first drafts of the script to Paths of Glory, it was a comedy. I think there's a lot of subtle and/or dark humor in Kubrick's films. I think The Shining is as funny as it is scary. I love the scene right after Wendy finds Jack's "manuscript":
Wendy: Don't hurt me.
Jack: I'm not gonna hurt you.
Wendy: Stay away from me!
Jack: Wendy.
Wendy: Stay away!
Jack: Darling. Light of my life. I'm not gonna hurt you. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, "I'm not gonna hurt you." I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash them right the fuck in.
And then, of course, Dr Strangelove (my all time favorite movie) is nothing but that subtle and dark humor. George C Scott is hilarious in it. He also gets all the best lines.
Incidentally, Kubrick loved Sellers' performance in Lolita so much he put him in Dr Strangelove (and gave him three roles).
Almost forgot to ask: have you read Vincent Lobrutto's bio of Kubrick?
Last edited by Hal...; 02-21-2018 at 11:23 PM.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
Strangelove is definitely my fav comedic movie of all time and has always been in my top 5 if not 3 for any movie. I try to work a Gen. Buck Turgidson quote into conversations at least once a week. It should be mandatory viewing for any elected official as well as anyone working in the Pentagon/Joint Chiefs etc., although a lot of the humor would probably fly right over many of their mussed heads.
Never read that bio, have seen some doc films on Kubricks career.
The book is great. Tons of interesting info in it.
Have yet to see any documentaries on Kubrick (one was made by his daughter, wasn't it?). Have been meaning to see them, tho.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
Had time to watch a couple of flics. The B/W one , The Three Faces Of Eve , a multiple personality film with Joanne Woodward in the title role. I never saw it before, it was a big thing in its time , but I found it to dated for my taste.
The older I get, the better I was.
I agree on all counts here. As expansive as he was in 2001, Strangelove showed how off center he could be. He must have been watching a few westerns at the time to cast Slim Pickins and Sterling Hayden. Love listening to Pickins read off what's in the survival kit and watching him ride the warhead. As for Jack in The Shining, I think he's always had that, eyes spinning in it's sockets, kind of weird humor. A Clockwork Orange is still a stopper for me. First time I saw it was in college and a few of us must have stayed at the bar too long because it blew all of us away. Couldn't stop talking about it.
The older I get, the better I was.
This film even at the time had a few issues. But once again, Lee J. Cobb gave another great performance. From what I understood, her personality didn't change just by being called a certain name. The film made it seem that they could be turned on and off like a light switch. I also heard that the woman's husband didn't care much for the way he was portrayed. Lots of liberties taken. As for Joanne Woodward, she was perfect in The Long Hot Summer.
The older I get, the better I was.
OMG! How could I forget about Hal in 2001??? He's often hilarious, too!
And yeah, Slim Pickens is great. Love the "combination Russian phrase book and Bible". He may – operative word there, "may" – have had the best line in the whole movie when he says at the end, "shoot, a fella’ could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.”
As for Sterling Hayden, don't forget, he was in Kubrick's The Killing, too. I believe Hayden did a lot of film noir movies in the 50s. That's how he got cast for The Killing, iirc.
And just for the record, Dr Strangelove may be my favorite movie, but I still think 2001 is the better movie. In fact, it's probably the only movie I can watch even now and still get that seeing-it-for-the-first-time feeling.
Oh, absolutely! I never said I never liked them. I just think they're kinda dated, now. But that's just me.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
TCM continues it's 31 days of Oscar with one of my all time favorites, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, tomorrow afternoon. I think this is the movie where Liz Taylor is the most beautiful. Some say National Velvet but I disagree. At the time she was one of the most beautiful women in the world. With Paul Newman, sparks and emotion are everywhere. Wonder why the two of them never got together?
The older I get, the better I was.
I'm guessing four reasons:
- Liz was high maintenance
- Newman was probably jealous that Liz's eyes were more beautiful than his
- Liz was stealing Eddie Fisher away from Debbie Reynolds at the time
- Newman was already married to Joanne Woodward
Well, she is one of the all time classic Hollywood beauties. Gorgeous woman, for certain, but I wouldn't pinpoint a certain time. I mean, imo, she was just as beautiful at 40 as she was at 20.I think this is the movie where Liz Taylor is the most beautiful.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
I'd still take Maureen O'Hara over Liz though I imagine there was a fair amount of high maintenance with Mo as well
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL,1951. My all time favorite movie.
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