jraskin-1

"Tillie and Gus" is a must-see early Paramount effort by the great W.C. The Great Man is in top form, and is ably aided by Ms. Skipworth. I recently purchased the DVD of this film, and was taken aback during a quick sequence within the courtroom scene in the early part of the film. It has been noted, and can be verified upon viewing, that Edgar Kennedy let slip the "s" word, when uttering the exclamation "oh sh*t" in the Laurel & Hardy short, "A Perfect Day" and unless I'm mistaken, he utters the magic word much more blatantly during the courtroom scene in "Tillie and Gus" in which Kennedy plays the judge. Unless my ears deceive me, the exchange between High Card Harrington, the Judge and Gus goes: High Card: "Six shots" The Judge: "Six sh*ts" Gus: "Six Cigars." Everyone, please take a look at this scene and see if you hear what I heard! I watched it ten times in a row, and still can't believe it.

I just re-watched this episode on my SNL first season DVD collection, and found it thoroughly enjoyable and poignant. This episode was hosted by Jill Clayburgh, who was approaching the heights of her fame. It was ironic, that in the lengthy sketch featuring Jill as a guidance counselor to John Belushi's Julio character, Chevy Chase says at the end of this sketch (after the Belushi character shoots Clayburgh)that Jill's character was diagnosed with cancer and was going to die anyway. Strangely prescient line of dialog here. This episode also featured the first appearance of Mr. Bill, which honestly, gave me the chills when re-viewing, as this became such an iconic part of the show in its early years, plus this episode featured one of the great classic appearances of Andy Kaufman on this program. Add in Leon Redbone giving two fantastic performances, and you have an episode that more than stands the test of time. Highly recommended!

This is one of the greatest feel-good Westerns ever made. I would rank it among the top three Westerns of all time. Everything goes according to formula, but it's so well scripted, acted and directed that whenever it appears on our beloved TCM, I cannot stop watching until the movie is finished. It appears as though all the lead actors were having a great time going through their paces, and the result is an incredibly joyful experience for a movie lover. Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, all at the top of their games. John Wayne really has never been better. This movie is just so well-crafted, that anyone that doesn't embrace it as one of the best examples of the Western genre, is just not getting into the spirit of the great American Western. And please tell me who was ever sexier than Angie Dickinson in her role as "Feathers." Really one of the greatest movies of all time!

I just watched Block-Heads as part of the newly-released "Essentials" DVD collection, and thought it was very enjoyable. Although it was one of the boys later efforts for Hal Roach, the energy and slapstick were still to be seen in full force. I have scanned the user reviews for Block-Heads on IMDb, and did not see any reference to something that I believe slipped by the censors, and obviously most viewers.

I was a bit startled to notice that at the 54:50 mark of the film, as Mrs. Hardy slams the non-working phone down, she seems to utter the s-word! Check it out, and see if you hear what I hear. This curse word seems to be quite audible, more so than Edgar Kennedy's s-word slip in "Perfect Day." Minna Gombell, playing Mrs. Hardy, had obviously worked herself up into such a state of agitation, that this word just seemed to slip out, and strangely, no one seemed to notice!

I'll admit that I like a certain degree of plausibility in films. Thus, it was hard for me to totally embrace this movie after watching the scene in which the husband (Alan Curtis) comes home to his darkened apartment and calls out for his wife, wondering where she is,unaware that detectives were there waiting for him. It was obvious that Curtis expected the wife to be home, not to mention alive, yet the detectives never took this into consideration. If you strangled your spouse, would you return home later and call out for her? Besides, who could have tipped off the detectives that a murder had occurred? OK, if you get by these sore spots, you'll find a well-made film noir that is worth watching.

I just viewed "The Big Pond" on DVD, having purchased it through a private collector. Although the film is stagy (especially the over-acting of George Barbier), I found it quite enjoyable. Having just seen (for the 20th time) the Marx Brothers "Monkey Business", I wanted to see the Chavalier film that introduced the song, "You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me" to movie audiences. You get a healthy dose of the song throughout this film, but it's such a great song, I was happy to hear its various reprises, vocal and instrumental. Another excellent Chevalier song from this film, "Living In The Sunlight, Loving In The Moonlight" brought back memories of Tiny Tim's rendition of this song on his "God Bless Tiny Tim" album. I found Chevalier to be at his best in this film, and highly recommend it to anyone that can track down a copy!

I just had the opportunity to see this film on our most valuable classic film resource, TCM. It was good to see, purely for historic purposes regarding Frank Capra's career. One good thing about the silent parts is that if you had taped or Tivo'd the film, you can scan the silent scenes at double speed and still follow the story. One curious thing (stemming from the original story) stood out for me though; if I wanted to change my name from Goldfish to a classier name, I would surely change it to Gold instead of Fish! After all, Samuel Goldfish changed his name to Goldwyn. I say, when in doubt, keep the Gold and lose the Fish!

Any pre-1935 film with Spencer Tracy is not only rare viewing, but required viewing for true film buffs. This is a somewhat light-hearted story with Tracy as a billboard sign artist, teamed with Stuart Erwin. Mis-adventures ensue when they encounter a young woman forced to wed a hayseed she doesn't love. Somewhat ambitious production value brings the story from the rural hinterlands to a conclusion in New York City. Spencer Tracy gives a solid performance as a hard-on-the-outside soft-on-the-inside artist. Stuart Erwin provides comedy relief as his sidekick. I don't recall this film ever being shown on television, as it's one of those early Fox films that are hard to come by. Recommended, easy viewing for Tracy fans.