Very Little TCM

[mrsl]

Here it is 3:12 a.m. and I'm getting ready to watch The Male Animal which I haven't seen in about 30 years. Unfortunately most of the TCM I've watched in the past 2 or 3 months has been at this time of the a.m. Much of TCM lately has been an awful lot of repeats of the umpteenth time. Am I imagining this? Seriously. I know October Fridays are lost to Halloween, which is fine, but it seems like an awful lot of foreign language, and silent films have filled primetime lately, or repeats.

I find myself watching a lot of redecorating and commercials lately. Even my Western channel is filled with repeats except early a.m. (middle of the night). I've revisited a lot of Murder She Wrote, and Little House on the Prairie during the day, and commercial fill movies at night. The HBO channels are filled with teenage movies, and I find myself digging through bins of $1.00 to $5.00 DVDs with and without extras, just for something to watch without commercials. Today I picked up a copy of My Favorite Brunette (Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour), and As the Clouds Roll By.

So, am I imagining things or not?

Anne

[movieman1957]

Hi Anne:

Insomnia? As a regular sufferer of this malady I find it hard to find anything to watch in the middle of the night. Probably with the hope of going to sleep I don't want to be committed to something.

I don't think there are that many foreign or silent films in the prime time hours although you did get two nights for Louis Malle. I do think that with each night having a theme and with trying to program the most watched time to the broadest audience probably does get in the way of the variety you get in the day.

Next month during the day you get a different franchise. Whether it be a different series orin two cases a day of Tim Holt and Ken Maynard westerns.

All in all I think they try and do thrie best with what is available understanding that there are going to be times like this.

Get some sleep.

[Bogie]

I'm an insomniac as well wait that should be

LOL!

Unfortunately i've been to busy with other stuff to catch a lot of TCM but i've noticed a ton of movies that have aired recently that's being shown in the prime hours of the day. The foreign stuff well...at least they have a reason for doing it with that Louis Malle thing. (Wasn't he married to Candace Bergen at some point?)

I consider this month the lull before the storm as the next 3 months are jam packed with goodies.

[sandykaypax]

I agree, the next three months on TCM are jam-packed with goodies. I'm not a person that enjoys horror films, even relatively tame ones, so I don't usually watch a lot of TCM in October.

I've been so busy with work lately that it's just as well...however, it's given me a chance to watch some dvds. This morning I watched Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in The Old Maid. Great performances from both stars, and it had one of my favorite character actors, Donald Crisp.

I did watch Spencer's Mountain last night "live" on TCM. Pretty good, although Maureen O'Hara's character got on my nerves a bit. The oldest son wanted to go to college and she kept saying things like--We're poor people! Don't get his hopes up! She also looked too glamorous, even in cotton dresses, to be an uneducated, God-fearin', country wife.

Robert Osborne said after the film that Fonda didn't like Spencer's Mountain. His agent was sent the script for it at the same time as another offer for Fonda---get this---Edward Albee had written the role of George in the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Fonda in mind. Fonda's agent turned it down without ever showing Fonda the play, or even telling him about the offer. When Fonda found out, he got a new agent.

Sandy K

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Dang. I'd get a new agent, too!

[markfp]

Hi Anne, I go through "dry" periods with TCM now and then, but that's to be expected. We all like to think that everytime we turn on the TV TCM will have all our favorites and others we haven't seen yet, but being practical it just doesn't happen. TCM has to program for so many viewers with different tastes there are bound to be times that don't get us excited. However, judging by the December and January schedules, I think we'll be very busy and happily losing sleep for TCM.

I've recorded hundreds of movies from TCM and there's an awful lot I haven't seen yet. So those slow periods give me time to catch up a little and I do watch other channels too. I also prowl through my local public library and can always find movies I want to see there. I love going through the dollar DVD bins, you never know what little gem you might find.

Well, rest up, as I said we're going to lose a lot of sleep pretty soon.

Mark

[mrsl]

Having gone through November day by day, I see a lot of mystery. Much of it will be fun to see, but a lot of it has been showcased lately - Philo Vance, Lone Wolf, The Saint, etc. I never heard of Penrod and Sam, so that may be fun, and I do like Little Tim Holt.

Thrusday night, we saw On Golden Pond, and if we missed it, 9 days from today, we can see it again.

Nov. 6 will be fine if you're a Man from U.N.C.L.E. fan - - - NOT!!!

Okay, enough of that. I also looked at the first 15 days of Dec. and I have finally come up with the irrefutable truth - - - I've been watching TCM for too long. I've seen almost all of it, and the repeats are of movies not especially to my taste. December has a few offerings that are new and different, but not much. November is about 1/2 and 1/2, 50-50, 6 of one half dozen of another.

Whoever said Nov and Dec were chock full of new stuff must be a new viewer. I didn't go all the way to the end of Dec because I didn't want to see if New Years Eve is going to be all Marx brothers again for the third year in a row with all the same cornball movies.

That is my problem though. I've watched for 10 years and seen most of what they offer. Unfortunately when they get new stuff, they show it to death, like those 3 or 4 that were lost for 50 years. They've shown those movies so many times now that I can practically say the dialog along with the actors and they're coming up again in Dec.

So, I'll shut up now since it's finally broken through this thick skull of mine and I'll try to be more enthusiastic about the few I haven't seen like Miss Marple, Dr. Kildare, and Warren William as Perry Mason, but just one more thing before I close, PUHLEEZE - TWO consecutive days of Andy Hardy???!@#$#!??

Anne

[markfp]

Anne, You bring up a good point. I agree that many of us who have been with TCM for most of the years have seen "everything". There are a lot of great MGM and WB classics, that I love, but just can't watch anymore because I've seen them many, many times. Not to say, that I won't ever watch them again, just that I need a year or two "rest" from them. That's why I'm delighted to see TCM running films from other studios now. Even if I don't like them all, it's something new and different.

I think that TCM has been running more repeat showings as a cost savings matter. Getting films from other studios is costing more than running the MGM/WB/RKO films that's been their staple for years. It's cheaper to lease one film for 10 showings than it is to lease 10 different films for one showing each. Additionally, all the films in the new packages, such as the Paramount and Columbia films, may not be available to TCM all in one year.

Since TCM doesn't sell commercials I imagine they must operate within a very tight programming budget. So it seems that more repeats is a compromise they must make to get new films without busting that budget.

[Bogie]

I admit I haven't been with TCM very long but even if I had been a viewer for 10 years or more I still would think most of the movies in the next few months are exciting and "new" because I have a very erratic sleeping pattern and because i'm a huge sports fan so sacrifices are to be made.

BTW Anne if you still haven't already looked NYE is going to be Astaire/Rogers classics.

[SSO Admins]

Anne,

Have you considered NetFlix? The three at a time plan is like $17 a month, and there are cheaper plans as well. There are a lot of good movies that TCM can't show, and a lot of them are on DVD.

[Hollis]

Evening all,

And I thought I was the only serious insomniac on board. Mine started about 2 years ago and I haven't a clue as to what caused it but it shows no signs of relenting. If I get 3 hours a night it's been a good night. I typically get about 1 good night's sleep (7 or 8 hours) every week and a half or so. It gets very frustrating. Does anyone know what causes their own version of the affliction and what, if anything, can be done about it? I'd really be interested in hearing from you and how you handle it.

As always,

Hollis

[movieman1957]

Hollis:

I'm not as afflicted as you but my nights tend to run from two sources. Worrying and dreams. Of course, some nights I just can't sleep. I'm a bit of a night owl so by the time I figure to have a very late night it is too late to do anything about it.

I tend to worry about most anything (though I know I shouldn't.) Both my worrying and insomnia I get from my mother. I have stupid dreams. I can wake myself up from them but getting back to sleep is not always easy. I'll get up and watch TV or read a little but that doesn't always do much good.

Last month over about a five day period I had about 8 hours. I finally crashed and caught up.

The thing that usually helps is soft music. Classical or anything by John Barry. Also a familiar movie might help. Just leave it on and if you get comfortable enough to fall asleep, great.

Good luck.

[mrsl]

Hi Hollis:

You and I seem to be afflicted with the same thing, symptoms, time lengths, and number of 7/8 hour nights.

I don't really worry, so that's not what keeps me up. I am tight with money, but as long as I keep my head about it, I can manage on what I take in, little though it is.

I don't consider it lucky that I don't work, but at least since I don't, I am free to take a nap whenever I need one - I never get through a day without one. I've asked my doctor if it's the combination of meds I take because it has been going on for about the same length of time as I've been taking my meds, but she said no, and I also asked the pharmacist and he said no also. I generally check this site first to see if anybody is on and if not, I just watch TV until I finally conk out again, and I then finish the night out on the couch.

Anne

[Mr. Arkadin]

Anne,

Two films coming up I would recommend, are Beauty and the Beast (1946) on Nov. 1, and Our Man in Havana (1960) showing Nov. 3.

Beauty is a French film, but I don't think you really need language to enjoy this wonderful fairy tale that we all know so well. The sets are amazing and it's truly one of the greatest films ever made.

Our Man is a hilarious comedy with Alec Guiness as a failed vacuum cleaner salesman who becomes a spy for the Crown in Cuba.

These are both wonderful films that do not show much on TCM at all. Check them out, I think you'll like what you see.

[TalkieTime]

Here is some background and comment concerning Our Man in Havana as found in Kovacsland: A Biography of Ernie Kovacs, by Diana Rico:

“Kovacs’ new film project was Our Man in Havana, a melancholy satire starring Alec Guinness as a Cuban-based vacuum cleaner salesman who becomes entangled with the British secret service. Ernie was cast as the cold-blooded Captain Segura, a Batista-regime head of the political police . . . known as the Red Vulture. Graham Greene had adapted the screenplay from his own 1958 novel. Carol Reed was producing as well as directing . . .”

“Best known for his atmospheric, skillfully plotted thrillers and dramas, the London-born Reed was a meticulous worker with a keen eye for detail and tremendous powers of concentration. He and Greene had already collaborated successfully on The Third Man and The Fallen Idol and had spent two weeks in 1958 scouting locations in Havana for their new film. The region’s growing political unrest . . . and when Fidel Castro’s small band of bearded guerillas toppled the dictatorship of General Fulgencio Batista in January 1959, the decision about whether to shoot in Cuba was still up in the air. . . the commitment to go ahead to Havana was not made until the beginning of March, six weeks before the shoot’s scheduled startup.”

“There was no time to waste. On March 13 production headquarters were established at Havana’s Hotel Capri, which Alec Guinness has described as ‘very gilded.’”

“After Reed and the cast arrived in mid-April, the production team adhered to a rigid six-day-a-week schedule (Reed arranged for tea to be served on the set twice a day). At the end of the day, the work was not yet over, for there was so much ambient noise on the streets that synchronized voice recordings had to be made each evening in a local studio. All this was accomplished in the wet swelter of spring in the tropics, where temperatures reached the nineties by midmorning and worsened under the intense heat of the movie lights.’

“Kovacs found the old, familiar Havana in an ecstatic uproar. ‘The city was full of excitement and chaos. Rich American businessmen were withdrawing rapidly, and there were no tourists,’ remembered Alec Guinness. ‘Men in the streets would often stop us, pull up a trouser leg to show scars from electric shock torture inflicted by Batista’s police, and then laugh, saying, ‘Viva Fidel!’”

“During the day, the hot streets of Old Havana were dotted with stands bursting with ripe papayas, mangoes, and bananas and with carts piled high with exotic flowers—golden acacias, white diamelas, red-and-black pensamientos. In the warm evenings, Habaneros strolled the seawall along the Malecon, music wafting out of nearby hotels. Underneath the gaiety, however, lurked a frightening violence. ‘My father was deeply concerned during that film because of the takeover.’ remembers Elisabeth (Kovacs’ daughter). Guinness recalled that ‘what looked like tumbrels made their slow way through the streets; they were in fact farm carts or battered lorries with cages of chicken-wire imprisoning shocked and puzzled peasants on their way to be interrogated.’ Everyone seemed to be carrying firearms, and hundreds of executions were being carried out.”

“Nervous over Havana’s political unrest, anxious about working in the illustrious and potentially stuffy company of the English (the cast also included Noel Coward and Ralph Richardson), Ernie reverted to outrageous schoolboy behavior. Journalist Robert Emmett Ginna, who visited the set for Holiday magazine, reported that when he wasn’t on camera Ernie ‘was every instant the jolly joker of his television fame.’ ‘The first day Ernie and I worked together,’ described Guinness, ‘he deliberately got his head stuck in the clapper-board, kept up a hilarious, foul-mouthed commentary on all who were watching, and I thought, ‘Oh, hell! This is going to be an endless music-hall turn and we shall never complete the film.’ And it was exhausting.’ Carol Reed ‘was tolerantly amused, which is more than some directors would have been’ by such shenanigans.”

“But as Kovacs relaxed and his frenzy diminished, Guinness came to grow ‘very fond’ of him, finding him rash and extroverted and, ‘in a Goonish (The Goon Show was a BBC radio show) way, just about the funniest man I ever met.’ For Ernie’s part, his daughter Elisabeth recalls, ‘he loved Alec Guinness;’ he especially admired the British actor’s subtle sense of humor, which he told one interviewer was ‘better than innuendo.’ The unlikely pair often went for walks together, making stops at Havana’s countless bars. ‘One evening,’ remembered Guinness, ‘I was touched when he suddenly said, ‘You know something? I was dreading working with all you toffee-nosed Brits: Sir Carol Reed, the Noel Coward, Sir Guinness. There’ll never be a laugh, I thought; but you’re the ones who laugh with me—not all those American broads and clapped-out bores.’”

“Ernie’s hotel suite was on the same floor as Alec and Merula Guinness’s, whose suite resembled ‘an ante-chamber at the court of Louis XVI.’ One afternoon the actor was walking down the corridor when he noticed that Ernie’s door was open. ‘He was sitting at a desk typing furiously, a vast cigar jammed in his face,’ described Guinness. ‘he spotted me and waved in a ‘I’m terribly busy’ way, but somehow I sensed it wasn’t quite real. Then I noticed there were about half a dozen lovely girls, all totally naked, sprawled about the room reading magazines.’”

“Guinness tactfully asked, ‘Shall I shut your door?’ Ernie responded. ‘They’d say Kovacs is in that room with a bunch of naked broads. And they’d think the worst. With the door open they can see for themselves it’s all perfectly innocent.’ Guinness later recounted the story . . . ‘What he’d done was hired a whole lot of girls just to take their clothes off and sit around the room.”

“Initially Ernie’s role required that he grow a beard. In Castro’s new regime, facial hair was regarded as a badge of revolutionary fellowship. When he first appeared in the streets, a buzz ran through the crowds. A little boy called excitedly, ‘Miren a Ernie el barbudo! El es uno de los nuestros!’ (‘Look at Ernie the bearded one! He’s one of us!’) But the government intervened, declaring that only heroes, not villains, could wear beards in the Cuban capital. To play the Batista officer, Kovacs was required to shave.”

“Ernie told one reporter that he liked strutting about in the blue uniform of the despised Batista police. ‘Especially crossing streets,’ he said ‘stopped traffic both ways. It was great fun until I found myself staring into an automatic rifle with the safety catch clicked open by the bearded soldier behind it. ‘Movie! Movie!’ I started shouting and gesturing. After that I never left the set without two guards.’ It was in fact dangerous for Ernie to be impersonating a Batista sympathizer, for these people were being imprisoned and executed daily. Kippie Kovacs remembers her visit to the set clearly: ‘That was the heavy-duty one. My dad dressed up in a uniform, and we were in a car with him. People were throwing rocks at the car. I believe this particular visit was cut short because of that.”

“During a crucial nightclub scene in which Captain Segura is doused with a siphon by Maureen O’Hara . . . Reed ordered retake after retake. . . Finally Reed got the shot to his satisfaction. Finished for the day, Ernie went off to change, then retuned to say good-bye to his fellow actors, taking a seat off-camera. ‘Softly, Sir Carol ordered (the camera) to roll, and out of nowhere a huge stream of water smote the freshly dressed Mr. Kovacs, who leaped to his feet with a bellow.’ Reed’s camera captured the authentic surprise on the faces of his performers, which had been his goal. ‘Very nice, Ernest,’ the director said, ‘hope you didn’t mind; I needed that reaction, you know. You were first-rate.”

“In Greene’s novel Captain Segura is a shadowy background figure. By his existence and his power he affects people’s actions, but he only occasionally appears in person. (One notable exception is a long scene . . . in which (Guinness) tries to get Segura drunk in a game of checkers played with little bottles of bourbon and Scotch; whenever one of the men captures a piece, he must drink its contents.) Greene enlarged the role in his screenplay, but it seems to make no difference. Perhaps told by Carol Reed to play the threatening role with restraint, Ernie holds back so much that he establishes little on-screen presence for his murderous police captain. During interrogations, his words promise danger but he does not; trying to seduce a woman, he flounders, mechanical and unconvincing. (Alec Guinness, on the other hand, communicates flirtation magnificently with no dialogue, using just his eyes and face.) Kovacs’ emotional tenor never changes; he conveys the Latin’s rigidly controlled surface but not the complexities behind it. . . . When the film opened in January 1960, the critics saw it as a chilling portrayal, but this may be more because of what the other characters say about Segura, the way they must bend to his authority, than because of Ernie’s performance which was the weakest he would ever give in a film.”

I don’t agree with author Rico's last comment. Kovacs’ portrayal was just right, IMHO.