And the best Black and White movie ever is:

[Hal...]

JUBAL, JUBAL, JUBAL. COWBOY, COWBOY, COWBOY!!.

Given your enthusiasm, I gave Jubal a try. Mostly because Ernest Borgnine and Rod Steiger were in it because, as you may remember, I'm not a fan of Glenn Ford.

First off, I gotta say that I love that Technicolor look, especially in the early days with its saturation of color. This movie was a little toned down compared to some I've seen but the opening titles were beautiful.

Rod Steiger as Pinky. Huh. I've seen Steiger do an excellent job in movies but I've also noticed he sometimes goes over the top and I thought he did in this movie, too. Noah Beery, Jr was great, tho, in a smaller part. I was surprised to see Emile Meyer in a small supporting part (Meyer also played the villainous cattle baron Ryker in Shane).

The other thing that surprised me was that I thought Ford was very good in it. In fact, I thought he was better than Steiger in this movie. I doubt this movie will change my mind about Ford but I'm going to try to keep an open mind from now on where he's concerned.

I thought Ernie Borgnine as Shep was excellent. It's too bad that when I think of Ernie, the first things that pop to mind are McHale's Navy and The Poseidon Adventure, which is unfair because I think of those as lightweight roles. I guess I need to keep reminding myself of what a truly great actor he could be when I look at his filmography and remember him in From Here to Eternity, Marty, and The Wild Bunch. Some other movies I've seen him in where he did an admirable job are Bad Day at Black Rock, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, Emperor of the North Pole (very much like his sadistic Sgt "Fatso"), and Escape from New York. I've seen him in other things and I think he's at his best when the director keeps him reigned in.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

---

As for the story itself, which is based on Othello, I only have two things to say. The first regards the death of Mae, Shep's wife. In Othello, Othello strangles his wife Desdemona because he thinks she's betrayed him. In Jubal, however, it's Pinky who beats Mae because she's rejected him. I don't condone violence against women, in fiction or reality, but I thought Shep was more than justified had he slapped the shit out of her. But this leads to my second criticism:
So, Pinky beats the crap out of her to the extent she dies at the end of the movie. I could see where the writers were going with that story line and I thought it would make for a very interesting ending but they didn't follow through. The screenplay had two writers. Now whether they worked together or separately on it, I don't know, but I think the ending got changed. Maybe it was the director who changed it. Who knows? I can't even begin to speculate why, but it made for an ending that was way too quick and I thought it sucked. In fact, it kinda ruined the movie.

[ronmac]

I forgot to mention that if you miss a movie on TCM they upload all the movies, shorts, etc to their website and they can be viewed online for a week.

Do they do that with all of them? I thought it wasn't all.

[Hal...]

I don't know, Ron, I haven't looked at it that closely. I can tell you that there are 114 movies, including all those MGM travelogue shorts narrated by James Fitzpatrick*.

And it appears a movie is added the day after it's broadcast. I watched What's Up, Doc? yesterday and it's online, now.

Is there something you're looking for specifically?


* Incidentally, I can remember seeing travelogue shows when I was a kid and I loved them. Fitzpatrick is totally wrong for those MGM shorts, tho. I actually find him annoying.

[Hal...]

I saw that 20 Million Miles to Earth and Them are both on there so maybe I'll go watch them. I was going to watch Bataan but missed it. I'll wait until tomorrow and stream it.

[ronmac]

I don't know, Ron, I haven't looked at it that closely. I can tell you that there are 114 movies, including all those MGM travelogue shorts narrated by James Fitzpatrick*.

And it appears a movie is added the day after it's broadcast. I watched What's Up, Doc? yesterday and it's online, now.

Is there something you're looking for specifically?


* Incidentally, I can remember seeing travelogue shows when I was a kid and I loved them. Fitzpatrick is totally wrong for those MGM shorts, tho. I actually find him annoying.

Nothing in particular. I just think I recall wanting to watch something that had just been broadcast and it not being online. It might have been something off the wall like "Eraserhead," which never seems to be shown at a decent time the ultra-rare times it's actually on.

[ronmac]

I was watching baseball today and right after the game ended, I was able to catch the last 20 minutes or so of "12 Angry Men." Still blew me away. The old guy's racist rant where everyone slowly distances themselves from him and Lee J. Cobb's meltdown are such great performances. It really doesn't get any better than that. I might consider that a top ten movie.

[JKL2000]

Now TCM has gone too far, showing Sleepless in Seattle tonight. Hardly a classic.

[Hal...]

Nothing in particular. I just think I recall wanting to watch something that had just been broadcast and it not being online. It might have been something off the wall like "Eraserhead," which never seems to be shown at a decent time the ultra-rare times it's actually on.

I just checked and of the 19 movies & shorts shown yesterday between 6am and 4am, 9 are online; two shown this morning are now online, too. Unfortunately, Zabriskie Point isn't one of them.

[Hal...]

Now TCM has gone too far, showing Sleepless in Seattle tonight. Hardly a classic.

I'd say it's more of a classic than A League of Their Own or Honeysuckle Rose.

I don't mind TCM adding "newer" movies but I suspect it's because they're trying to attract viewers as the older ones who like old B&W movies are dying off.

Do you guys think that by the time we get to our 70s & 80s TCM will still be around?

[ronmac]

TCM certainly shows some crappy movies, probably more for the camp than to claim they are classics. I'll take them with all the commercial-free, unedited true classics.

[ronmac]

Plus, I don't mind looking at Meg Ryan.

[JKL2000]

Maybe they’ll show Turner & Hooch soon! They do show those Clint Eastwood movies with the orangutan, and even though orangutans are awesome, I’ve never watched those.

[ronmac]

Maybe they’ll show Turner & Hooch soon! They do show those Clint Eastwood movies with the orangutan, and even though orangutans are awesome, I’ve never watched those.

"Every Which Way but Loose," was the first one. While it was not career-defining for Clint, Ruth Gordon was a hoot in it.

[Hal...]

Any Which Way You Can played at one of the theaters I worked at so I saw it when it was released. I saw EWWBL probably 10 years later. AWWYC was much better.

They do show those Clint Eastwood movies with the orangutan, and even though orangutans are awesome, I’ve never watched those.

I can't watch them anymore once I found out what happened to Clyde. (warning: you may not want to read that)

[ronmac]

I got two paragraphs in and that was enough.

[JKL2000]

Any Which Way You Can played at one of the theaters I worked at so I saw it when it was released. I saw EWWBL probably 10 years later. AWWYC was much better.


I can't watch them anymore once I found out what happened to Clyde. (warning: you may not want to read that)

Now I have to kill Clint Eastwood.

[Hal...]

To be fair, Eastwood had nothing to do with it. In fact, I recall reading somewhere that he nor anyone else involved in those movies knew anything about it.

Maybe this will make you guys feel better:

[Hal...]

Just finished watching While the City Sleeps online on TCM. Pretty good movie with Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Sally Forrest (boy were they lookers), Thomas Mitchell, Ida Lupino, George Sanders, Vincent Price, and John Barrymore Jr.

[JKL2000]

[I]I can't watch them anymore once I found out what happened to Clyde. (warning: you may not want to read that)

I guess they didn't have the ASPCA present back then to make sure there was no animal cruelty. Clint should have shot the person responsible with his .44 magnum.

[Staun]

Good review of, Jubal, Hal. Not a great western but the story was good and I thought Steiger gave another great performance. Mae got exactly what she deserved in the end and Ford got his money's worth. Funny, I thought you might have gone after, Cowboy.

[Staun]

I got two paragraphs in and that was enough.

Geez!

[Staun]

I was watching baseball today and right after the game ended, I was able to catch the last 20 minutes or so of "12 Angry Men." Still blew me away. The old guy's racist rant where everyone slowly distances themselves from him and Lee J. Cobb's meltdown are such great performances. It really doesn't get any better than that. I might consider that a top ten movie.

The More you see, 12 Angry Men, the more you see people here injecting their own personal problems into this case. E.G. Marshall did a good job keeping the two apart but Ed Begley was about pure hate. You had to feel a little sorry for our friend Lee J. Cobb. Separation of father and son is a very difficult thing for a parent to endure. It wasn't so much about different points of view as it was about personal battles some of the men were fighting. Just some of the aspects that make this film more than great.

[Staun]

It is true that TCM can run a bummer at times. Wonder how they decide what films to run and which not to for that matter. Of course the great classics, but the others?

[Staun]

I'd drink water from a dirty hoof print to see a good western.

[Lopez]

Just finished watching While the City Sleeps online on TCM. Pretty good movie with Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Sally Forrest (boy were they lookers), Thomas Mitchell, Ida Lupino, George Sanders, Vincent Price, and John Barrymore Jr.

Watched that, too. Except for the ending, it was mighty good. Any movie with a non-horror show Vinny Price in it is right up my alley. Love it when he plays the cad or the corrupt lawyer. He was even great in The Fly as the mild-mannered brother of the fly.