Table Talk!

 Charles Laughton and Judith Anderson

 Basil Rathbone and Angela Lansbury

 Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood

 Joan Crawford and Caesar Romero

 Ann Dvorak, Hedy Lamarr, and Ann Baxter

 Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

 Ben Gazzara and Fred Clark

Brian Aherne, Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland

Tonight on TCM!

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) Young German soldiers try to adjust to the horrors of World War I.

Dir: Lewis Milestone Cast: Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray.

The Best of Everything (1959)

The Best of Everything is a shabby precursor to 1967’s Valley of the Dolls, poorly played out and often as cheap as the paperback books Fabian publishes. Though old hat for girls of my generation, the movie still has the ability to discomfort and confuse. With the alcoholic and often too touchy boss (played by Brian Aherne, sadly), the snide and predicting male anti-hero who falls under the spell of love after several pitfalls, and the ever constant suggestion that women should simply stay at home and care for their men which is ironically paralleled with the equally constant display of how men are selfish pigs, it leaves one to wonder why a girl wouldn’t strike out on her own. If anything, the film depicts the second-class citizenship attitudes men liberally practiced in the workplace.
Amanda Farrow (Joan Crawford) a jaded and cynical editor at Fabian Publishing House is involved in a disappointing affair with a married man and can’t help but take out her frustrations on the girls under her charge. Namely Gregg Adams (Suzy Parker), an aspiring actress involved with playboy stage director, David Savage (Louis Jourdan), Caroline Bender (Hope Lange), a suddenly ambitious secretary cum editor recently jilted by her longtime boyfriend and April Morrison (Diane Baker) a young typist who is seduced by rich playboy Dexter Key (Robert Evans) and soon finds herself pregnant and abandoned. Turning to one of the senior editors Mike Rice (Stephen Boyd) for consolation, Caroline finds little sympathy and much encouragement from him to get married and stay at home. She handily plays into his prediction that she will become another Amanda Farrow and despite the strength she displays throughout most the film she crumbles quickly when she realizes that she can’t handle being a successful businesswoman. Whaaa???







There are several aspects of this film that left me cold, not the least of which having glamorous stars such as Aherne and Crawford relegated to playing a horny old man and an embittered old woman. I kept wishing the movie wouldn't be so predictable, that Caroline would prove Mike wrong and that Gregg would see that she was so much more than her relationship with a greasy stage director and that April would not instantly fall and start darning socks! for the male nurse who attended her at the hospital. All too cheesy and wrapped up too easily for me.

Tonight on TCM!
A whole evening with the lovely, if slightly annoying at times, Norma Shearer!
I'll be DVRing The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) and Marie Antoinette (1938)

Vigil in the Night (1940) **Spoiler**

This wonderful film contains three great elements: Brian Aherne, a good plot, and a dramatic Carole Lombard. Having seen Lombard in comedies only, I was thrilled when I realized this was a dramatic piece. Better yet, I wasn't at all disappointed with it!
Anne Lee (Lombard), a quiet dependable and devoted nurse sacrifices her reputation and career when she takes the blame for her sister's negligence at nursing which results in the death of a child. Lee moves to the next town, Hepperton, after she elicits a promise from her sister to finish her her nurses train and gain her certificate as she has done. They can both then move on to London for better work. At the new hospital, Lee instantly wins over the staff as well as Mr. Bowley (Julien Mitchell), the hospital's main source of funds. All goes well until a nurse from her former position shows up to apply for a job. Lee was set to visit her sister that day to see her receive her certificate. While Lee is on the bus with Matron East (Ethel Griffies), this nurse tries to reveal what Lee did at her former job. However, before she can say anything damning, the bus suddenly crashes and Lee takes charge of getting all injured passengers- including the vindictive nurse- the proper care which includes calling upon Dr. Prescott (Aherne). Already impressed with Lee's ability and her quiet control in the face of danger, a friendship develops between the two. Prescott reveals his frustration with Bowley who denies the hospital much needed funds especially in face of a small pox epidemic that's bound to break out soon.
The next day Lee's sister Lucy (Anne Shirley) shows up at the hospital with a husband in tow. Joe Shand (Peter Cushing) was once in love with Lee but she refused his proposal due to her dedication to nursing. Joe and Lucy are headed to London without Lee. Reeling from that disappointment Lee then must deal with Bowley's when his attentions become more ardent. He tries to woo Lee with lavish gifts which she denies, imploring him instead to look to Prescott's cause and donate money to the hospital. When Mrs. Bowley catches her husband mid-woo, she demands Lee's dismissal and accuses Prescott of sending her to pester her husband.
Forced to leave, Prescott, who's aware of what really happened, begins to write her a recommendation but also reprimands her for saying anything to Bowley which he considered he told her in confidence. Humiliated, Lee leaves without the recommendation.
When she reaches London, she finds Lucy's husband Joe alone and drunk in their apartment and her sister being charged with negligence once again in conjunction with a nursing home. At Lucy's trial, Dr. Prescott comes to the rescue, revealing the scam that the nursing home has been run under and clearing Lucy's name from any involvement, stating she was following a crooked doctor's orders.
Meanwhile, the small pox epidemic has broken out and the Lee sisters go back to Hepperton to volunteer in the quarantined area. Their courage encourages other nurses who before, refused to volunteer- this includes the vindictive nurse who benefited from Lee's care after the bus accident. Needing a more sanitary set up, Lee takes charge and orders the supplies and has the bills sent to Bowley. Enraged, he confronts her only to find the whole staff is backing her and now his own son has succumb to the pox and is quarantined. Now seeing the error of his ways he promises Prescott that he will be more cooperative in the future.
That problem solved, Lucy is given the responsibility of sitting with Bowley's son through the night. After resuscitating him with mouth to mouth, the boys fever breaks and he's through the worse. However, Lucy's devotion comes at the cost of her own life- a sacrifice she is glad to make. Lee barely has time to mourn as a mine accident causes the next series of chaos at the hospital. Before she and Prescott rush off to save lives, he admits his love for her.

As I said before, this movie had great elements, but I was most impressed with Lombard's dramatic turn. Her quiet way of speaking while portraying a resilient inner strength is borderline eerie. Having been cast in comedies due to her innate ability to cause laughter, Lombard desperately wanted to show her serious side. Vigil in the Night is evidence that she could be just as serious as she was funny. Imagine the possibilities of what she could have brought to the screen if her life hadn't been tragically cut short.

The Lion In Winter (1968) England's Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir. Cast: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Merrow, John Castle Dir: Anthony Harvey

Marriage Among the Stars...

Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell

Fredric March and Florence Aldridge

Update: This wonderful couple should be considered the Gold Standard as well. They were married and worked together for 48 years!

Brian Aherne and Joan Fontaine

Gary Merrill and Bette Davis

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

Whoops! John Gilbert is a two-fer having married both Virginia Bruce and Ina Claire!

Ricky Ricardo and Lucille Ball

Tonight on TCM!

Summer Under the Stars: Glenn Ford

Weekend at the movies...

I promise I have a life outside of TCM. Kind of. It's so hard not to flip to the DVR and check out what exciting things TCM has lined up for me! I thought instead of doing different blog entries for each movie I saw this weekend, I would just list them here.


A Night to Remember is the second film I have seen featuring Brian Aherne. I first saw him in Sylvia Scarlett and despite my Cary Grant adoration, thought that he was the best thing about Sylvia Scarlett. He was just as perfect in A Night to Remember- watching him run around with Loretta Young (also fantastic in the film) and solve a murder case is delightful. Full of fast quips and comedic misunderstandings, the viewer is treated to Aherne's natural talent for comedy and charmed by his Britishness. Naturally, I am excited to learn that he is in Juarez (with Bette Davis) which is currently in my queue as I am fast becoming a fan of this actor. Oh! I just realized I will be making a three degrees of separation reference in this blog! Brian Aherne to George Sanders to Bette Davis. Let's segway...

Later in life, after retiring from films Brian Aherne wrote a biography of his friend George Sanders entitled, A Dreadful Man. As I am a huge George Sanders fan, I cannot wait to get my hands on that book! Which leads into the next film I saw.



The Saint Strikes Back is one of those suave sleuth stories, well, it would have to be if George Sanders is playing the sleuth. The first in a series of five Saint films, this was good movie if only because George Sanders plays the lead, talks a lot, and manages to be both villain and hero simultaneously. Other than that, the story is a bit hard to follow and the Saint takes a few unnecessary detours (I thought) to get the case solved.

The third movie I saw, much to my regret was Return From Witch Mountain. I have set a goal to see every film that Bette Davis made that's available. That means the bad ones too. And boy, was this one a doozy! The problem was that it was a film for children and it didn't require any real talent from Davis. Quite frankly, she played the role like one who expects to get a paycheck whether she's fabulous or not. I have seen films of hers done at a later date and she was much better so, maybe she just had contempt for this film (couldn't blame her, it had an imprecise and unimaginative storyline). It's just sad to see such a great talent wain.


Brian Aherne on Bette Davis:
"Surely nobody but a mother could have loved Bette Davis at the height of her career".

The last film I saw was Toys in the Attic. I'm not yet a fan of sixties cinema but it had Geraldine Page in the cast and I'll just say it, anything that has Geraldine Page in it is good. Real good. She is the best character actress I have ever seen and I look forward to watching anything she has been in. This film was no exception, she was absolutely fantastic as Dean Martin's sister who holds an incestuous love for her brother (oh, Hellman you are good!).

Tonight on TCM!
Bells Are Ringing (1960) An answering service operator gets mixed up in her clients' lives. Cast: Judy Holliday, Dean Martin, Fred Clark, Eddie Foy Jr. Dir: Vincente Minnelli