July 22, 2024

Names you'd like to see as Kamala's vice president

My choices: Mark Kelly, Elizabeth Warren, AOC (a little early, but the thought…), Pete Boutegieg, Gavin Newsom (he can’t, but the thought …)

Late add: Katie Porter.

Later add: Al Franken.

July 22, 2024

TCM Schedule for Saturday, 7/27/24: Spartacus, Lolita, Dog Day Afternoon, Festival, Marlene Dietrich

SPECIAL THEME: FILMS OF THE 1970's
Sounder (1972)
Over the Edge (1979)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
- TCM DAYTIME
WEEKEND FEATURES
Small Town Girl (1953) (6:15 am ET)
MGM Cartoons: Half-Pint Palomino (1953)
Canadian Lancers (1956) (short)
Night Descends on Treasure Island (1940) (short)
Captain Applejack (1931)
Directors Playhouse: Affair in Sumatra (1956)
Popeye: Lost and Foundry (1937)
Murder on Approval (1956)
Service with the Colors (1940) (short)
Festival (1967) (Musical Matinee)
Lolita (1962)
Spartacus (1960)
- TCM PRIMETIME
TALES OF SCOTLAND
I Know Where I'm Going (1945)
Green Years, The (1946)
- NOIR ALLEY
Housemaid, The (1960)
- TCM LATE NIGHT: SUSPENSEFUL TRAIN RIDES
Shanghai Express (1932)
Berlin Express (1948)
MGM Parade Show #16 (1955)

Saturday, July 27 - The Full Day's Schedule

12:00 AM Sounder (1972)



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Sounder is a 1972 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt and adapted by Lonne Elder III from the 1969 novel of the same name by William H. Armstrong. The story concerns an African-American sharecropper family in the Deep South, who struggle with economic and personal hardships during the Great Depression. It stars Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, and Kevin Hooks. Taj Mahal composed the film's blues-inspired soundtrack and also appears in a supporting role.

The film was both a critical and box office success, and the National Board of Review ranked it as one of the Top 10 best films of 1972. Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield both received Oscar nominations for their performances, and the film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Taj Mahal's score was nominated for a BAFTA and Grammy Award, and 13-year-old Hooks earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer – Male.

In 2006, the American Film Institute ranked the film as the 61st in its list of most inspiring movies. In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Dir: Martin Ritt Cast: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks
Runtime: 105 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y



Trivia: Cicely Tyson commented in a TCM interview that director Martin Ritt's cinematographer (principal cameraman), while shooting the famous "homecoming sequence" with Tyson and co-star Paul Winfield, was so moved by their performances that he was certain he missed framing the action properly in the shots and respectfully asked them to do the difficult scene again. They obliged, but later examination of daily rushes revealed that they got shot and acted perfectly the first time, and the first take was a print.

2:00 AM Over the Edge (1979)



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Neglected suburban teens turn to crime as an outlet.
Dir: Jonathan Kaplan Cast: Michael Eric Kramer, Pamela Ludwig, Matt Dillon
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: Matt Dillon didn't actually want or expect to be cast in the movie. He went to the audition just so he could skip school.

3:45 AM Dog Day Afternoon (1975)



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Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 American biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning. The screenplay is written by Frank Pierson and is based on the Life magazine article "The Boys in the Bank" by P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore. The feature chronicled the 1972 robbery and hostage situation led by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile at a Chase Manhattan branch in Brooklyn.

Elfand brought Bregman's attention to the article, who proceeded to negotiate a deal with Warner Bros. and clear the rights to use the story. Pierson conducted his research and wrote a script that centered the story of the robbery around Wojtowicz. The cast was selected by Lumet and Pacino, with the latter selecting past co-stars from his Off-Broadway plays. Filming took place between September and November 1974, and the production was finished three weeks ahead of schedule.

Upon theatrical release on September 21, 1975, Dog Day Afternoon was a critical and box office success. The film was nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards and six Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 2009, Dog Day Afternoon was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Dir: Sidney Lumet Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Carol Kane
Runtime: 130 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-MA CC: Y



Trivia: During production, Al Pacino reportedly only slept a couple of hours a night, ate sparingly, and would sometimes take cold showers; this was in order to emphasize Sonny's disheveled, exhausted and yet wired appearance.

Trivia: Although he had initially agreed to play the part of Sonny, Al Pacino told Sidney Lumet near the start of production that he couldn't play it. Pacino had just completed production on The Godfather Part II (1974) and was physically exhausted and depressed after the shoot. With his reliance on the Method, Pacino didn't relish the thought of working himself up to a state of near hysteria every day. Lumet unhappily accepted the actor's decision and dispatched the script to Dustin Hoffman. Pacino changed his mind when he heard that his rival was being considered.

6:15 AM Small Town Girl (1953)



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A sheriff's daughter falls for a playboy arrested for speeding.
Dir: Leslie Kardos Cast: Jane Powell, Farley Granger, Ann Miller
Runtime: 93 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y



Trivia: Hank Williams Sr. was to have made his acting debut in this film as a small-town sheriff, but he died shortly before filming got underway.

Trivia: For the reprise of "Take Me to Broadway", Bobby Van performs an extended dance sequence in which he jumps continuously for nearly five minutes. At first glance, it appears that he accomplishes the entire routine in one take. However, the dance was so tiring that it was cut into five segments so that he could rest. The cuts are covered by changes in camera angles and placement. Peter Wolf's 1988 music video "Come As You Are" pays homage to Bobby Van's "Take Me to Broadway" street dance in this movie. Wolfe re-creates Van's performance quite faithfully, and early in the music video, Wolf passes a poster for this film, just as Van passed one for MGM's The Merry Widow (1952).

8:00 AM Short: Half-Pint Palomino (1953)
A millionaire puts up a large prize for the capture of the smallest horse in the world and Barney Bear is given the task.
Dir: Dick Lundy Cast: Paul Frees
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-G CC: Y


8:07 AM Short: Canadian Lancers (1956)
This short film shows youngsters training at the Junior Bengal Lancers riding school in Halifax.
Dir: Douglas Sinclair Cast: Peter Roberts, Heather Cameron, Mark Facey
Runtime: 8 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: N


8:16 AM Short: Night Descends on Treasure Island (1940)
This Traveltalks short focuses on the nighttime festivities for the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition.
Dir: James A. Fitzpatrick Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick (narrator)
Runtime: 8 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: Y


8:25 AM Captain Applejack (1931)



The worm turns when gangsters try to uncover buried treasure in a timid man's home.
Dir: Hobart Henley Cast: John Halliday, Mary Brian, Kay Strozzi
Runtime: 63 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-G CC: N

Trivia: Although this film was in the Associated Artists Productions (AAP) film library purchased from Warner Bros. in 1956, legal complications prevented it from being telecast until it first appeared on the Turner Classic Movies schedule Monday 10 July 1995.

9:30 AM Short: Affair In Sumatra (1956)
A native woman is caught between love and loyalty to her people, in this episode of the Screen Directors Playhouse television series.
Dir: Byron Haskin. Cast: Ralph Bellamy, Rita Gam, Basil Rathbone
Runtime: 26 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-PG CC: N


10:00 AM Cartoon: Lost and Foundry (1937)
Little Swee'Pea wanders into a busy factory, and by luck just manages to escape being killed by various crushing, grinding and cutting machines. When Popeye and Olive come to his aid, it is Swee'Pea, however, who redeems himself by saving them.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-PG CC: Y


10:07 AM Murder on Approval (1956)


A private eye investigates a deadly stamp counterfeiting ring.
Dir: Bernard Knowles Cast: Tom Conway, Delphi Lawrence, Brian Worth
Runtime: 70 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-PG CC: N

Trivia: The film was also called Barbados Quest.

11:30 AM Short: Service with the Colors (1940)
This short film focuses on new army recruits before the U.S. entry into World War II. Vitaphone Release 9933-9934.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason Cast: Lottie Williams, Robert Armstrong, George Haywood
Runtime: 20 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-PG CC: N


12:00 PM Festival (1967)




A celebration of the origins of rock. Not just the musical performances but also a portrait of a generation in its youth still short-haired and horn-rimmed, sleeping in station wagons, beaches, and lawns on their way to shows. This is the 1960s before they were the 1960s, when deep thinkers debated whether folk would beat ...
Dir: Murray Lerner Cast: Joan Baez, Horton Barker, Fiddler Beers
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-PG CC: Y



Trivia: First of the theatrical documentaries on counter-culture music festivals, preceding Monterey Pop (1968) and Woodstock (1970).

1:45 PM Lolita (1962)



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A professor finds himself in a struggle of temptation of desire for a young teen nymphet.
Dir: Stanley Kubrick Cast: James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelley Winters
Runtime: 153 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: Y



Trivia: Stanley Kubrick suggested that Shelley Winters read the novel before meeting with Vladimir Nabokov to earn his approval for the role of Charlotte. At the time, she was campaigning for future president John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy noticed what she was reading on the platform, he suggested she use a brown-paper cover so as not to jeopardize his election chances.

Trivia: Sue Lyon did not attend the New York premiere in June '62, as she was too young to see the film. However, she was allowed to attend the London premiere at the Columbia Theatre, in September.

4:30 PM Spartacus (1960)



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Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas in the title role, a slave who leads a rebellion against Rome and the events of the Third Servile War. Adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Fast's 1951 novel of the same title,[3] the film also stars Laurence Olivier as Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, Charles Laughton as Sempronius Gracchus, Peter Ustinov as slave trader Lentulus Batiatus, and John Gavin as Julius Caesar. Jean Simmons played Spartacus' wife Varinia, a fictional character, and Tony Curtis played the fictional slave Antoninus.

Douglas, whose company Bryna Productions was producing the film, removed original director Anthony Mann after the first week of shooting. Kubrick, with whom Douglas had made Paths of Glory (1957), was brought on board to take over direction.[4] It was the only film directed by Kubrick where he did not have complete artistic control. Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted at the time as one of the Hollywood Ten. Douglas publicly announced that Trumbo was the screenwriter of Spartacus, and President John F. Kennedy crossed American Legion picket lines to view the film, helping to end blacklisting;[5][6][7] Howard Fast's book had also been blacklisted and he had to self-publish the original edition.

The film won four Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design) from six nominations. It also received six nominations at the Golden Globes, including Woody Strode‘s only career Golden Globe nomination (for Best Supporting Actor), ultimately winning one (Best Motion Picture – Drama). At the time of the film’s release, it was the biggest moneymaker in Universal Studios' history, which it remained until it was surpassed by Airport (1970).[8]

In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Dir: Stanley Kubrick Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
Runtime: 182 mins Genre: Epic Rating: TV-PG CC: Y



Trivia: Stanley Kubrick was brought in as director after Kirk Douglas had a major falling out with the original director, Anthony Mann. According to Sir Peter Ustinov, the salt mines sequence was the only footage shot by Mann.

8:00 PM I Know Where I'm Going (1945)



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A determined young Englishwoman sets out to accomplish her goals even at the risk of her heart.
Dir: Michael Powell Cast: Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey, George Carney
Runtime: 92 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-G CC: Y

9:45 PM The Green Years (1946)



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An orphaned Irish boy is taken in by his mother's Scottish relations.
Dir: Victor Saville Cast: Charles Coburn, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler
Runtime: 128 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y



Trivia: Real-life husband and wife Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy portray father and daughter in this film. Not only that, Tandy is in reality two years older than Cronyn. Tandy gave birth to their second child, Tandy Cronyn, on the 26th of November 1945, the day after filming concluded.

12:00 AM The Housemaid (1960)



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Drama ensues when a married music teacher hires a young maid to take care of the house.
Dir: Kim Ki-young Cast: Lee Eun-sim, Ju Jeung-ryu, Kim Jin-kyu
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-PG CC: N

Trivia: The film was supposed to finish around 1:48:13. However, the shocking finale was considered to be too extreme for its time's public hence the unfitting cut after the original ending was added in post-production.


2:15 AM Shanghai Express (1932)



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A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Dir: Josef Von Sternberg Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong
Runtime: 80 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-14 CC: Y



Trivia: The extras in the film mostly speak Cantonese - a Chinese dialect used mainly in southern China. If the film were to be more accurate, the extras would speak Mandarin, but most Chinese residents in the Los Angeles area (who worked as film extras) spoke Cantonese, necessitating Josef von Sternberg to use Cantonese.

3:45 AM Berlin Express (1948)



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Allied agents fight an underground Nazi group in post-war Europe.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur Cast: Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Charles Korvin
Runtime: 86 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: The first Hollywood production in Germany after World War II.

Trivia: At the end of their bus ride through bombed-out Frankfurt, the main characters arrive at the massive I.G. Farben building. Completed in 1930, it was once the largest office building in Europe and home to the giant chemical business. From 1945 to 1952 it was the location of SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied European Forces). From 1952 to 1994 it was the headquarters of the U.S. Army's V Corps. In 1996 the building was acquired by the state of Hesse, and after a $25M renovation, it became the Westend Campus of the University of Frankfurt. The small, continuous elevators seen in the film, called paternoster lifts, are still in use.

5:30 AM MGM Parade Show #16 (1955)
Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald perform in a clip from Maytime. George Murphy introduces a clip from I'll Cry Tomorrow.
Dir: null Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, George Murphy
Runtime: 25 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: N

July 22, 2024

Kamala Harris as painted by Joan Baez

Beautiful.



(link to see more)

July 22, 2024

Foreign leaders react to Biden's decision not to seek reelection

Source: CBS News

World leaders watching the U.S. election have started to react to the decision by President Biden on Sunday not to seek reelection, discussing their relationships with the U.S. president and offering thoughts on his decision.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "I respect President Biden's decision and I look forward to us working together during the remainder of his presidency. "I know that, as he has done throughout his remarkable career, President Biden will have made his decision based on what he believes is in the best interests of the American people," Starmer wrote.

In a statement on social media addressed directly to President Biden, Polish President Donald Tusk said Mr. Biden's "many difficult decisions" had helped keep Poland, America and the world safe and democracy stronger. "I know you were driven by the same motivations when announcing your final decision. Probably the most difficult one in your life," Tusk wrote.

(snip)

Ireland's deputy premier Michael Martin said he heard of Mr. Biden's decision "with both sadness and admiration." Biden, whose family has roots in the country, was warmly welcomed when he visited Ireland last year. "This has no doubt been the toughest of calls, but one done, as ever, with dignity & class. I know that the people of Ireland will wish President Biden the very best," Martin wrote Sunday on social media.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/foreign-leaders-react-to-biden-withdrawal-starmer-tusk-harris-herzog/

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Americans aren't the only ones who see Biden in a favorable light.

July 21, 2024

Statement from VP Kamala Harris.

July 21, 2024

I think Kamala's campaign will give a boost to people (like me) still sad that Hillary didn't win.

We all know how we felt in 2016. There is still, I think, a rumbling of sentiment from those who were torn by Hillary's loss. It's time to avenge that.

July 21, 2024

If there was an expanded version of JFK's "Profiles in Courage," Joe Biden would be in it.

He's one of the bravest people in American history considering all he has been through. It's something we can all be proud of.

July 21, 2024

Joe Scarborough just said something on MSNBC that he says is scaring Trump.

For once, he said, Trump is not the Great Disrupter. He won't have the headlines for a change. As much as the Biden news saddens me, I like the fact Trump isn't in control for once.

July 19, 2024

As they did in 2016, the maga mugs are trying to ruin Democratic unity.

In 2016, we had the hacking of the DNC and the leaking of all the emails by Wikileaks and their Russian associates. Now, we had the debate and the continual cheerleading for Democratic disunity by the magas and their buddies on Fox and right-wing so-called media, not to mention the Dems who are caught up in it. It needs to stop or we WILL lose. The magas are loving what we're doing. We're playing right into their hands. (I do think they had a hand in starting this to begin with, but that's another an argument for another day.)

July 18, 2024

Jon Stewart demolishes Bill-o Reilly in brand new interview on "The Daily Show"

Bill-o is still 0 fer when it comes to debating Jon Stewart.

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