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Post by BingFan on Dec 8, 2022 22:49:26 GMT
Thanks for the Cheaters review, TopBilled. I agree with you (and Robert Osborne) that this film would be a great addition to TCM’s schedule each holiday season.
I don’t remember hearing that Barrymore and Lombard were the original choices for the roles that Joseph Schildkraut and Ona Munson ultimately played, so thanks for that interesting information. While I’m sure that Barrymore and Lombard would each have done a good job with those parts, I think Munson and, especially, Schildkraut were near perfect in their portrayals.
As you say, Schildkraut gives a multi-layered performance. Near the beginning of the film, the viewer could easily imagine him somehow swindling the Pidgeon family. But he ultimately becomes the hero of the story, showing the others how they might live their lives with more humanity. It’s interesting that in another great Christmas movie — The Shop Around The Corner — Schildkraut is equally successful playing the villain of the story.
The Cheaters really does deserve a regular place on TCM’s holiday schedule and should be given a release on DVD/blu-Ray so that it’s more fully available to existing fans and potential viewers.
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Post by BunnyWhit on Dec 10, 2022 21:02:34 GMT
Many people are sad at holiday time. If you want to feel those feels -- All Mine to Give (1957). Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell; dir Allen Reisner. Music by Max Steiner, which makes those feels even....feelier. The film is based on a true story of a couple who immigrate from Scotland to Wisconsin in the mid-19th century. They find their way in the new community and are accepted, they start a family, then tragedy strikes. The eldest son is then tasked with an unthinkable chore on Christmas. Watch it with a hanky. Or two. ![]()  |
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Dec 11, 2022 5:03:56 GMT
The film is based on a true story of a couple who immigrate from Scotland to Wisconsin in the mid-19th century. ![]() Thank you. I see it on the Internet Archive. That is movie 10, 762 on my waiting list now. Zoinks. |
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Dec 20, 2022 1:15:04 GMT
Thank you to everyone for their tips and suggestions. It was lovely to watch two new Christmas movies I'd never seen before. Even as Glynis Johns fell ill I was finding All Mine to Give (1957) quite an uplifting movie of frontier strength and immigrant ingenuity in a world that most of our distant relatives must have endured: a world with no safety net, no credit cards, no telephone, no curbs, no antibiotics, no central heat or plumbing or electricity, nowhere to go for help. I foolishly took a moment to pop out to the internet to see if there were any photos of the real life family members upon which the story is based. Then I needed a tissue or two. It may come across as a 1950's melodrama but look a little deeper and it is quite a surreal holiday tale. From this somehow comes How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963). There is a photo of young Robert, now a grown man, with his grandson Dale who later becomes a screenwriter. Glynis Johns it seems is still alive. With the death of Olivia de Havilland in 2020, she became the oldest living and longest surviving Academy Award nominee in any acting category.  |
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Dec 20, 2022 1:24:47 GMT
Remember The Night (1940) was pretty well a perfect movie. The lighting, the acting, the music, the writing - all perfection. The opening shot with the cuff glinting and the fabulous anklet on the delicate mannequin foot is lux and stunning. It is criminal this movies doesn't get wider airplay.
I don't recall however anyone here mentioning I would need tissues for this one so it was a bit of a shock to have the wind knocked out of me when Lee visits her mother. This film has left me pining for waxed paper, popcorn poppers and piano sing-alongs. I found it interesting that as large and luxurious as the Sargent home was there was no electricity. Elizabeth Patterson is a treat, not acting on film until 51, yet another story a note of a child from a very conservative home going off to live their dream on stage.
I knew nothing of bubble dancers nor flannel cakes so as always so much wonderful research, including Martha Mears. The rendition she & the band did of My Indiana Home blew me away. I wish there was a proper way to thank Fred Toones for his brave work opening the door for so many to pass through enriching us all.
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Post by dianedebuda on Jan 2, 2023 15:36:59 GMT
Didn't get around to watching any Christmas movies until a couple of days ago. Then was a marathon of playing 'em while I put together jigsaw puzzles.
One film to add to the Christmas list that we may reference next year: Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). End scene has Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr in Santa outfits ringing bells & singing. |
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