Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

This could also be titled: "I didn't know they made that..."

I didn't know Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Perkins, Bruce Cabot, Wayne Rogers, Chloris Leachman, Don Gordon, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band made a 1970 movie about a right-wing radio station in New Orleans. 'WUSA' Script by T. Malick.

Found it while reading about a film I have seen (and enjoyed) 'Pocket Money'.

Then there's the anti-vietnams documentary type movie, F.T.A., 1972, with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, FTA acronym for Fuck the Army.
I remember those early to mid-seventies Army units I was with did have a few morale problems, and racial problems. Especially those units that had draftee's waiting to be released from the service.

Here are a couple that were a waste of star talent and you wonder how they ended up in them.

The Swimmer with Burt Lancaster. I don't know if anyone saw it but it was pretty bad.

Something to Live For (1952) with Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, and Teresa Wright. I have never even heard of this film

Eh? 'Pretty bad', 'The Swimmer'? That must be a typo, right? 'The Swimmer' is like, Criterion caliber stuff. Fine reputation. Based on a John Cheever short story. Cheever was one of America's literary greats. In league with John O'Hara and Louis Auchincloss and John Updike. The movie made from that little story is a gem. I'm sure not alone ranking it one of Lancaster's greatest ever. I'd put it in his top five performances myself.

article:
https://www.criterion.com/current/pos...

We will agree to disagree on The Swimmer. It just wasn't to my taste even if it was written by John Cheever. But variety is the spice of life.

Timothy Bottoms was at one point, a money-making star. He was in 'The Paper Chase' and 'The Last Picture Show' and a bunch of other heartfelt flicks

(is actor Sam Bottoms his brother? don't know)

then there's actor Joseph Bottoms who starred in Disney's 'Black Hole' and other lukewarm stuff. Is he related? beats me

but I was surprised to discover the nifty little film 'The Dove' starring Joseph Bottoms was produced by ...Greg Peck?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dov...

let's get to the Bottom of this somebody please

Sam, Timothy, Joseph, and Ben are all brothers. Now I have bottomed out!

Well, I swan. Learn't sumptin new!

Another fine acting family.

I haven't heard that phrase "I swan" forever. Reminds me of when I was a kid.

Sidney Greenstreet, Humphrey Bogart, and Alexis Smith in 'Conflict'. (Bogart the villain and Greenstreet the good guy.)

Wha??

'The Subject Was Roses' --Broadway play that beat out Neil Simon's 'Odd Couple' as well as a play by Edward Albee -- for the Tony Award that year?

I didn't like Conflict very well but Greenstreet was great, as ever.

Oscar Wilde visited Colorado. You heard me.

I haven't been as surprised as this, by any bit of historical trivia, in a long, long, time.

What the heck? Why the hang would he ever visit such a godforsaken backwater!?

Was the pervert looking for young orphan boys, or what? Wilde and Rimbaud and Gide. Good lord, don't issue passports to these molesters

Wasn't Milland in a whole bunch of b-movies in the 70's? Don't think I have seen any of them. Edward G. takes a nice turn with Heston in Soylent Green.

Yep

I think your are right, Spencer........The Man With the X-Ray Eyes, Frogs and something really horrible about being a two headed man.(Can't think of the title). It was a real come down for an Oscar winning star on the downslide.

If you look very closely, you will see Clark Gable in the silent film The Merry Widow directed by Erich von Stroheim. I guess you have to start somewhere. but working for that impossible man could have put him off trying film as a profession. Thankfully, von Stroheim probably didn't even notice him.

There's a book that's similar to the Hitchcock/Trufault book, but it's Cameron Crowe interviewing Billy Wilder. And he talks about Milland winning the Oscar for Lost Weekend. He's pretty cynical. He's like "yeah, it's easy playing the deranged guy. What's hard is playing the straight guy."

Karl Malden is my favorite 'straight joe' actor who dazzled while seemingly doing not much of anything at all on screen.

a snippet of production trivia that boggles my mind

"At the time, the Beatles were interested in making an anti-war film. At Bertrand Russell’s suggestion, Paul McCartney met with the producer Len Deighton to discuss the opportunity of the band portraying the ..."

Holy hannah. Two performances I never would have thought came from the same actor. I'm stunned.


"Flatnose Curry" from 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'


''Floyd" (henchman of Doyle Lonigan) in 'The Sting'.

actor: Charles Dierkop. Went on to star in low-budget slasher horror after his tenure with George Roy Hill.

Feliks wrote: "Karl Malden is my favorite 'straight joe' actor who dazzled while seemingly doing not much of anything at all on screen."

I usually like him, but The Pawnbroker is pretty lame. I understand that it's not supposed to be comfortable, and I have no problems with films by Costa-Gavras that may be difficult. I just really didn't like the movie.

Its disturbing in lots of ways; but that makes it anything but 'lame' if by 'lame' you mean 'weak' or 'ineffective'. Mighty powerful flick by any measure.

Waitaminute. Costa-Gravas wha-? I thought that was a Sidney Lumet movie

I was just comparing the two because Costa-Gravas made a lot of deep serious films in the same vein, like Music Box. Usually Lumet is one of my favorite directors.

that speaks to your credit

I gotta admit I am not a fan of almost any movie rendition of Robert Louis Stevenson's bizarro horror yarn, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde".

The original story is paltry --bordering on stupid--and has spawned untold number of idiotic adaptations.

Why the hell did a fine actor like Oliver Reed stoop to appearing in "Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype"??? Where was his respect? Did he need money, did he want to pick up some chicks from the set?

I think Reed was on the down slide. He may have drank himself out of his career. He was a bloated mess in his last years.

"Jekyll & Hyde: Together Again" is another one which tried my patience. Whoever starred in that, I don't even care to remember. Peter Sellers? But it's so corny, even when played for laughs.

I mean, come on. Is there any more clumsy plot-device than a scientist mixing beakers and retorts of colored liquid in his laboratory???

"Norwood" (1970 ).
Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Joe Namath, Carol Lynley.

A Vietnam veteran return his Texas home but feels restless and decides to become a radio singer. Written by Charles Portis, author of 'True Grit'.

There's just no end to the bizarreness

For whatever it's worth, my man, Spencer, is probably the definitive Jeckyll/Hyde. Plus, ya got Ingrid.

I'd go with Frederic March I reckon; as good as Tracy is March is almost always my go-to

I never knew what 'muk luks' were, before today

Fans: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Audrey Hepburn

Dean Koontz wrote 'Demon Seed'? I din' kno dat

Being Halloween, there are lots of horror/thriller movies around, but I'm not too fond of either although some of the classics are okay.

Not my favorite genre either but have to admit that one film really scared me (it probably should be in "guilty pleasures"). It was showing at our local Midnight Movies at one of the small theaters and the place was packed to the rafters.....the film?....the original Night of the Living Dead by George Romero. We have talked about this before in one of the other topics but I never forgot the first time I saw it. One scene made many people gag or leave the theater. Super low budget but really effective. I have seen it several time since and it still is chilling, especially the ending. It put Romero on the map!

Have never seen it. I'm just not into horror movies, except for 'Rocky Horror Picture Show'. 😁

I probably would never have seen it but it had been held over for three consecutive Friday midnights which never happened and they had to turn people away. My friends and I figured that it must be worth seeing so we got in on the third week. People were actually sitting in the aisles....lucky the fire department wasn't around. Everybody was talking about it and how scary it was, so we took a chance. They were right! It now has cult status.

I'm no drinker but we all went to a local bar which was owned by an acquaintance and had a drink.(Bars didn't close until 3:00 am) I remember saying "I think I am having a stroke"