Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

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Sue Sue Applegate
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Thanks, Cinemaven, for the support. I feel that Salome Jens did make unusual choices, and had a deep reserve of hidden talents that, obviously, have stood the test of time considering her newest theatrical performances scheduled for June and August in On Golden Pond with Andrew Prine. I would love to see that!

I think the scariest actor I encountered as a youngster was probably Vincent Prince when I saw him in House of Wax.
His performance in that film horrified a gawky, 11-year-old oilfield brat transplanted to Clark, New Jersey, who was full of frights about being so different (and taller) than everybody else (even the teachers and principals) in 6th grade. As I matured (?), I realized he was married to Vera Charles (Coral Browne) and I lightened up.

But viewing Seconds at a screening at the TCMFF 2012 reminded me what horror can do to your peace of mind...greener pastures are never on the other side of the fence.
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

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I was frightened of Donna Reed on her TV show. It may have been the way the show was filmed, not necessarily Donna herself. I don't know if I saw original shows or reruns, but to my childish mind, she seemed like a Stepford Wife, though of course that movie hadn't been made yet. I thought she was too good to be true, even at the age of 4 or so. I did not feel this innate fear of Beaver's mom, or of Hazel, or of Inger Stevens. In fact, I loved Inger so much at an early age that I went around saying Yah to any question asked me for weeks, driving my mother crazy.
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Thanxx again Christy, for spotlighting her. I'm trying to picture her in the new production of "On Golden Pond."

Yah, Wendy? LOL!!! Oh wow.
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Jackie, that is weird about the Donna Reed phobia. I think there was a time I was afraid of Hazel because she reminded me of a really mean teacher I had, but I got over it because she was just so nice to Bobby.

Cinemaven, I think I am having more trouble picturing Andrew Prine as Norman Thayer because he was in so many westerns. But there was a time in the sixties that I thought he was the man for me. It was after Pernell Roberts and Robert Fuller and Clint Walker, and right before I fell in love with Fess Parker as Daniel Boone, and then for about two weeks somewhere in there I was in love with Ed Ames and I must have played "Try to Remember" a gazillion times on the piano just because the sheet music had Tishmingo's picture on it, which was before I went totally coo-coo Pidgeon sisters for David McCallum, who was so much shorter than me, but it just didn't matter. And then along came the Monkees...which I still don't understand.

I just remember standing and screaming for them in the Sam Houston Coliseum, and my mother and my cousin Mike thought I was totally wacko. But by gosh, I chewed all that bubble gum so I could collect all those special edition cards, and pasted all those cards up on my bedroom wall, and the only part of the secret panoramic picture puzzle that was incomplete was Davey's elbow. No many how many packs of those silly Monkees cards I bought, I could never find the one that had a picture of Davey's elbow, right beneath the tambourine.

But I digress...
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Uh...Christy? Your sixties stream-of-consciousness post made me
LOL!!!!!!

Holy cow...I'm proud of myself that I could follow the trail of broken dreams you had liking those guys. I can see each and every actor you mentioned in my mind's eye. Apparently you were more mature than I, b'cuz while you were crushing on men, < alas > I was liking boys. Jon Provost ( Timmy, "Lassie" )...Bobby Diamond ( Joey, "Fury" )...Billy Gray ( Bud, "Father Knows Best" )...Paul Petersen ( Jeff Stone, the Stepford Son to Donna Reed, I guess )...Jay North ( Dennis, "Dennis the Menace" )...Johnny Washbrook ( Ken, "My Friend Flicka" )...and my second favorite ( after "Timmy" ) was little Johnny Crawford.

Go figure.

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mmm johnny crawford.
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Ha!! Awwwww. His voice sounded like maple syrup. I loved to hear him say "Paw." So cute and pouty.

"I was child and he was child
in this kingdom by the tv...


* ( Listen...if you don't tell Edgar Allan Poe, I won't tell Edgar Allan Poe! )
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Johnny Crawford is a sweetie who currently has an intersitial on MeTV. And I always felt that he made the right decisions as Mark McCain, but I think if Chuck Connors was hanging around my hacienda all the time, I might might be that insightful...

But, since my "early altitude" unmistakably cast me in the role of being able to emote face to face with a contemporary adult crowd, I sensed my search for an imaginary crush sent me to partners who would be able to swing me around on the dance floor in equality instead of disparity... :lol:

Ahhhh...Ed Ames....dreams next to my pillow...Yes, I'd follow Tishmingo into the wilderness..
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It must be time for an international revival of On Golden Pond because Stephanie Powers starred in the UK production of the play this spring with Richard Johnson (Jemmy in 1965's The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, and lately as Bernard Qualtrough in MI-5).

For more information, follow the link:
http://www.stefaniepowersonline.com/news.

For an informative interview about her UK appearance in Plymouth in April, follow this link:
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Humour- ... story.html

Any chance Stephanie Powers might visit the next TCMFF in 2013 to introduce McClintock with John Wayne or Die, Die, My Darling with Tallulah Bankhead?

And if you live in the L.A. area, don't forget about Salome Jens' performance in On Golden Pond in Glendale in July and August!
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Image

One of the most exciting events at the Turner Classic Movie Festival 2012 opened the doors to the Cinerama Dome on Sunday, April 15, and included an introduction by Robert Osborne and the animated Debbie Reynolds to How The West Was Won. A film suggested by the Life magazine series, "How The West Was Won," the enormous script, ultimately credited to James R. Webb, with uncredited supplemental material by John Gay, had four major directors, Henry Hathaway, John Ford, George Marshall, and Richard Thorpe. Six second unit directors were also employed for the many location shoots, and narration by Spencer Tracy added to its credibility.

As always the dapper and personable TCM host, Osborne's tentative restlessness during his introduction with Reynolds belies the fact that he knew Debbie Reynolds just might say and do anything, and audience members could tell he was stepping into uncharted "Debbie" territory. Recalling her exciting experiences and revelling in the unusual circumstances of filming such an enormous project, she laughed and remembered Peck with a smile and a wink, and seemed to relish working with legendary queen of the quips, Thelma Ritter.

I traveled to the event with a dear friend, David from Seattle. Luckily, he understood my enthusiasm and excitement for the screening of HTWWW, as I hummed the theme song on and off for an hour before the film started. I originally saw the film during it's re-release in Houston, Texas, and the event meant a return to seeing the colorful, energetic story. The directorial duties were immense, and the vast physical expanse mingled with uncertain elements like herds of buffalo, trains wrecks, and desert climes only added to the accomplishments of location shooting by several directors, both first and second units. The original score by Alfred Newman accentuated the broad strokes of the film canvas and added to the thunderous feel of the buffalo stampedes and runaway trains.

Image

Thelma Ritter's salty language, repeated by Debbie Reynolds, is certainly understandable considering the treacherous, harrowing circumstances of the shoot-- a runaway wagon, bulky costumes, and attention to the emoting of a climactic action scene filmed with horses, wagons, guns, and arrows. The initial portion of the film dedicated itself to the love
stories of the two Prescott sisters, Debbie Reynolds and Carroll Baker.

Image


Reynolds character, Lillith , falls in love with a gambler with the Celtic gift of gab, Cleave Van Valen, portrayed by Gregory Peck, on the long wagon trail to an exhausted gold mine, and impresses Aggie, Lillith's traveling companion (Thelma Ritter), by telling her what beautiful hair she has, and how he would hate to see it hanging on a lodgepole. Baker's character, Eve, falls in love with a wandering mountain man, Linus Rawlings , acted by Jimmy Stewart, who always feels he will be "going to see the varmint," but because he loves Eve so much, decides to settle on a farm by a river in Ohio.

With literally a cast of thousands that also included John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, George Peppard, Agnes Morehead, Eli Wallach, Carolyn Jones, Harry Morgan, Andy Devine,Robert Preston, Walter Brennan, and Richard Widmark, the film encompasses a time of frontier struggle with awe-inspiring vistas.

Image
Fred MacMurray, Stanley Livingston, Don Grady, Barry Livingston, and William Demarest

Stanley Livingston, who portrays Zeb Rawlings' (George Peppard's) son, Prescott Rawlings, and is also remembered as adorable Chip Douglas on My Three Sons, was a member of the audience and was introduced by Robert Osborne to
the TCMFF fans attending the How The West Was Won Cinerama extravaganza, and received a big round of applause. Currently he is involved in the following Cinerama project, and courtesy of Stanley Livingston's Facebook Page:

BREAKING NEWS...

RE: CINERAMA FILM - "IN THE PICTURE"
My latest project... "IN THE PICTURE" - is a CINERAMA Film that is scheduled to premier at and open THE 2012 CINERAMA FILM FESTIVAL in HOLLYWOOD (Los Angeles, CA) September 28, 2012 at 10:00 am. The 2012 Cinerama Film Festival runs from September 28th thru October 4th, 2012 at THE ARCLIGHT CINEMAS & HISTORIC CINERAMA DOME theater complex in
Hollywood. "In The Picture" will be screened a second time on SEPTEMBER 30th at 8:15 pm along with the first Cinerama film, "THIS IS CINERAMA".

"IN THE PICTURE" is the first film to be shot in the original "3-Strip 35mm widescreen process" in over 50 years. The last film to shot and released in CINERAMA was "HOW THE WEST WAS WON" (which I also appeared in back in 1962).

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT "IN THE PICTURE" & THE CINERAMA FILM FESTIVAL at the ARCLIGHT CINEMAS & HISTORIC CINERAMA DOME:
https://www.arclightcinemas.com/news/pr ... potlightM2

TO SEE A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE MAKING OF "IN THE PICTURE" THAT
WAS SHOT DURING THE PRODUCTION:


TO SEE THE FINAL SCENE IN "HOW THE WEST WAS WON" (with yours truly,
George Peppard, Carolyn Jones and Debbie Reynolds):


And, BTW...

IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW ADORABLE STANLEY LIVINGSTON IS NOW THAT HE'S ALL GROWN UP OR JUST WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT "IN THE PICTURE," FOLLOW THIS LINK:

http://www.StanleyLivingston.com/


Festival Passholders, some of whom are members of the TCM Message Boards, and The Silver Screen Oasis, are also featured in "In The Picture
."

Don't forget that if you think Debbie Reynolds is a "national treasure," access the Kennedy Center Facebook page and recommend her for this year's honors:
https://www.facebook.com/KennedyCenter
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by Rita Hayworth »

Thanks for sharing this ... I love the My 3 Sons Colored Picture ... Do you own that picture?
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Thank you, kingme. Unfortunately, I do not. But it is a lovely photo! :lol:
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That's so cool Sue Sue!
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by moira finnie »

Thanks for the reportage, Blaze Starr Christy! I loved all the Thelma Ritter references. I have heard Reynolds speak admiringly about Thelma and her friend Agnes Moorehead in the past in interviews. It's good to hear the contributions and humanity of these talented women recalled with respect and appreciation.

One question: did any of the people at the screening mention Robert Preston?
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I recall Robert Osborne mentioning his name, but I don't think Debbie made a reference to him. Lynn was there, so maybe she might have more to share and will chime in with her recollections soon! :lol:
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