By RM
wednesday, august 6, 2025 at 3:09:00 a.m. edt
A time capsule of social history (or decay):
From TV GUIDE, 1975, an article about Tony Orlando and Dawn (something I never watched, and never would):
From one of the producers: "The ethnic mix is right. It used to be that when people boasted that America was built by minorities, they meant Irish, Jews and Germans. [Native-born Americans didn't build this country?] Now it's blacks, Puerto Ricans and Chicanos or you're not in the ballgame. [Needless to say, the producers are Jewish.] There was an audience waiting." [44% audience share- there REALLY must have been nothing else to watch!]
Mr. Orlando chimes in: [He always looked like a f_ag to me, though the article says he had a wife and child. The two women look scrawny and unappealing, and I didn't like any of their hit songs, either.] "Our very presence together is saying symbolically, 'Let's get together'... It is pleasing to me to see the ...barriers break down... and to know that it's okay for all of us to be vulnerable."
Especially toddlers baked in ovens by their siblings, or White women beaten nearly to death at concerts.
-RM
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7 comments:
"Irish, Jews and Germans" = bootleggers. Along with the Italians (not mentioned for some reason), who also helped build this country by bringing Organized Crime to our shores.
For the record, my background is Italian, Irish and German, so nobody should be offended by my comments! I'm reminded of the old anecdote about THE UNTOUCHABLES, which may or may not have actually happened: The producers got a phone call saying [roughly], "If-a you don't stop-a showing Italians as violent criminals, you gonna get a bomb in-a your studio!"
-RM
So what do you eat for dinner usually,RM:brats,"sauerkraut pasta" and a shamrock shake--followed by a few Heinekens? Or have you taken the shake off the menu these days?
--GRA
Actually I don't like "ethnic" food- strictly meat and potatoes for me. I do have a temper though!
-RM
Let me make amends for trivial posts- perhaps NS will post this separately:
I caught up with some of the TCM "noirs."
THIS SIDE OF THE LAW- The title is totally meaningless! This is a knock-off of MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS, a well-regarded "B" about a woman who is held captive and groomed to impersonate an heiress. In this case, somebody pulls Kent Smith off the street and uses him to impersonate someone he just happens to be the exact double of! Now who in the world looks and sounds exactly like Kent Smith? Stories like that never work- there was a HITCHCOCK episode where the plot revolved around someone being replaced by an exact duplicate, so who did they choose for the role-Sebastian Cabot! Imagine finding anyone on earth who is an exact replica of Mr. Cabot! There was also a CHEYENNE episode where Clint Walker, who looks like the Son of Kong, encounters his (unrelated) twin. On top of that, the movie is talky and slow, and poorly written- the hero is thrown down a 20-foot-deep well and only gets a bump on the noggin, but when the villain goes down the same well at the end, he breaks his neck and expires. (The bottom of the well is also brightly lit, even though a cover was pushed over it.) Kent Smith is handsome and has that great voice, but had more success as a character actor in the 1960s. Not an auspicious debut for director Richard l.. Bare!
COUNT THE HOURS- This was a real surprise- I thought it was excellent! Don Siegel started as a film editor, and it shows- the movie is really tightly put together and fast-paced. The script is full of twists and turns, and thankfully doesn't harp on the theme of "outsiders" being crucified by small-town "prejudice." The original intent may have been different- it does seem odd that "itinerant fruit-pickers," described as "trash" by the locals, would be such clean-cut "white bread" (please forgive the use of that expression) types.
WHAT THE HECK! My comment got cut off in mid-post!
I was saying, perhaps the characters were originally written as ethnics (or at least rougher types), but it was changed in development.
John Alton's photography is gorgeous (as usual) and makes it seem as if it was intended to be a 3D feature. Louis Forbes' music interestingly uses a theremin to indicate the killer, giving it a horror-movie tinge. The acting is fine, with Jack Elam notably NOT overacting his role. Teresa Wright is stunning- she had something of Patricia Neal's "look," which I like! Adele Mara is a highlight as the "bad girl"- a starlet from Republic, where she was mostly wasted. Mac Carey a pillar of seriousness and integrity, as ever.
Mr. Siegel would go on to bigger things, some better than others, but his talent shows here. Watch this back-to-back with THE VERDICT (Lorre-Greenstreet classic, Siegel's debut)!
COUNT THE HOURS-
https://ok.ru/video/3501729581748
THE VERDICT-
https://ok.ru/video/2598641469954
-RM
Which comment was that? "'Irish, Jews and Germans' = bootleggers"? I see it fine. If that's not the one, be more specific, and I'll rescue it.
No, it was about the movie- I must have hit "Post" by mistake before finishing the commentary. I just continued it from where it was cut off. Sorry for the confusion!
-RM
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