haines his way

12/05/2002:
"HARD-BOILED EGGS"

Well, dear readers, here we are on a fine Thursday morning writing these here notes. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too? The first thing that comes to mind is where in tarnation was everyone yesterday? Oh, it isn’t that we didn’t have lovely posts and excellent questions, we did. But, it’s been so busy around here that the drop in posts took me aback and then it took me afront. Well, let’s make up for it today, oh, yes, let’s make up for it. I’ll wear Max Factor Pancake #7 with some light rouge when I make up for it. Of course, one could point out that “it” has never made up for me and/or us. But today we shall make up for it and the devil take the hindmost. What the hell am I talking about?
I had a splendidly splendid day yesterday, directing the three little interview segments we had to do. I had a really excellent cameraman and he was so excellent in fact, that I am thinking about hiring him for my very own upcoming film. He was fast, he was on my wavelength and we got along famously.
Last night I watched a brand spanking new DVD entitled Goldmember. I have found little moments in the other Austin Powers movies which I thought clever so I gave this one a whirl. I’d heard it was fairly dreadful and a lot of it was. But I must say, the opening bit was very clever and it made me laugh out loud. In any case, it’s one of those state-of-the-art DVDs, so it looks and sounds incredible.
I received a few more PAL DVDs which I’d bought on eBay – and I checked them out on the computer and I must say they all look great, and none are available here in the states. A beautiful transfer of Hercules (with Steve Reeves) and The Last Days of Pompeii (also with Reeves) both of which had lots of direction by Sergio Leone. I also got El Cid and Fall of the Roman Empire, which have nice transfers but which are sadly in mono. And finally, David Cronenberg’s The Brood, a very strange film which I’m very fond of.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? DVDs, that’s all I talk about. Let’s talk about something else like hard-boiled eggs. But let’s not talk about them until we all click on the Unseemly button below.

Well, what can we say about the hard-boiled egg? Let’s see – I once poached a hard-boiled egg but they made me give it back. Those hard-boiled eggs are coddled, if you ask me. Then I scrambled to get a hard-boiled egg but at that particular time hard-boiled eggs were as rare as hen’s teeth and when was the last time you saw hen’s teeth, that's what I'd like to know. So, I had no hard-boiled egg, which I tried to get over easy but it was hard to get over although not as hard as finding a hard-boiled egg, which was really getting me fried. Then I had a brilliant idea – who knew how to find hard-boiled eggs better than my friend Benedict, but unfortunately Benedict was in Florentine and couldn’t help with the hard-boiled egg search. Oh, well, what can one do when one can't find a hard-boiled egg other than keep their sunny side up? What the hell am I talking about?
My goodness, I was on an egg roll there for a minute, wasn’t I? We don’t allow groaning here at haineshisway.com. I have been told by those in the know that there is snow in New Jersey. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, there is snow in New Jersey. If Miss Anna were here I would tell her, “I believe in snow. And I believe in snow.”
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must cut the footage I shot yesterday and insert it into the show I’m working on, which is called Sex, Sex, Sex (that is three sexes). Today’s topic of discussion: Everyone remembers their favorite big stars from yesteryear – Cary Grant, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly, Mae West and on and on. But many big stars of that era are virtually forgotten today. Who were/are your favorites? I’ll start – Joel McCrea, one of the finest screen actors, he could do anything – comedy, drama, westerns, you name it. I never tire of watching his wonderful performances, especially in Sullivan’s Travels, Foreign Correspondent and Ride the High Country. For female, I’ll just choose my heartthrob, Veronica Lake, who was always underappreciated as an actress. She, too, is wonderful in Sullivan’s Travels, and does swell work in This Gun for Hire and a number of other pictures. Your turn. And let’s have lots of posts for my mental delectation – otherwise I shall not be entertained during the day and if I am not entertained during the day I turn into a hard-boiled egg.

Replies: 73 Unseemly Comments

Today I'm being treated to one of my 17 favorite things -- the first fallen snow!
Posted by The Ghost of Coltrane @ 12/05/2002 07:30 AM PST

Egg-zactly. Who am I all of sudden - Vincent Price?
Joel McCrea - yes. Foreign Correspondent is terrific and Ride the High Country.
He also co-starred with my favorite Frances Farmer in Come and Get It.
Frances who ended her movie career opposite Connie Stevens, Mark Damon, and Bobby Driscoll in 'The Party Crashers'....where another character says to Driscoll and Stevens referring to Farmer..."Why don't you go over to Josh's house and drive his mother crazy?" Yikes!!
So to add to Frances and not steal Joel McCrea - I will place the ex-Mr ZsaZsa on my list.
George Sanders...also in Foreign Correspondent ("Cancel my rhumba lesson") and with Miss FF in Son of Fury.
And to add to Veronica's luster, the story at Paramount was that she would go into the fan mail department, shake the dimes out of the envelopes addressed to her, and throw the letters away.
8-D
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 07:51 AM PST

Ida Lupino
Richard Widmark
Two remarkable talents.And not too many DVD's from these performers.
Posted by Arnold M. Brockman @ 12/05/2002 08:03 AM PST

Have an egg roll, Mr Kimmel...
Posted by Matthew @ 12/05/2002 08:34 AM PST

Have a kumquat...have two.
LOL Matthew
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 08:36 AM PST

Actors who have been forgotten? Forgotten by whom? The readers of People magazine or the dear readers of haineshisway.com? Would Claude Rains count? I've enjoyed his work in everything I've seen him in. Maybe John Garfield fits better into the category bk is looking for.
I'll be back later with my thoughts on the ladies.
Posted by Jay @ 12/05/2002 08:49 AM PST

If you want to see snow, come here. I have plenty to give you! Snowball fight anyone?
Posted by Jennifer @ 12/05/2002 08:56 AM PST

My favorite old "forgotten" movie stars? Paul Muni and Thelma Ritter.
Posted by Pam @ 12/05/2002 08:58 AM PST

Claude Rains 8-D
Thelma Ritter in Titanic to her bridge partner when one hand doesn't quite work out: "Don't send a baby to buy the beer."
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 09:04 AM PST

Thelma Ritter channeling every word Joe Manciewicz wrote for her in ALL ABOUT EVE.
Posted by Jay @ 12/05/2002 09:27 AM PST

Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 09:29 AM PST

Only 3 days left until BK's Birthday. Oh what fun it will be.
Posted by The count @ 12/05/2002 09:31 AM PST

Jrand: Now now...Mr. John Ritter's career is picking up again. He's not THAT forgotten. Oops...you said Thelma. Nevermind. Hehehe...
It's cold up here in NYC but (!) it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (oh! A Jerry Herman reference.) Right now we have about 2 inches of snow but they're predicting up to 8 inches. Last night they were saying only 4"-6". I hope this doesn't prevent me from seeing Debacle of the Vampires tonight. ;-)
Posted by Jason @ 12/05/2002 09:35 AM PST

Unseemly Trivia #5472
One has often pondered the question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" I bring this question up because of today's egg reference.
The answer, in case you were wondering, is "The Egg". At least in the HainesHisWay universe.
The egg was first mentioned in November of 2001 and a chicken reference didn't come until December.
Thank you and have a good day.
Posted by Craig @ 12/05/2002 09:36 AM PST

Actually, Jason, Ms Ritter was Pam's choice....but I heartily concur.
TR about a group of people gathering on deck in Titanic:
"Where I come from it's either a revival meeting or a crap game."
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 09:39 AM PST

I thought "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" was a Meredith Willson reference. A Jerry Herman reference would be "We Need A Little Christmas".
"It's Beginning to Look...: was a pop song Willson wrote in the late 40's and interpolated in HERE'S LOVE as a counter-melody to "Pine Cones and Hallie Berries".
There's snow in NYC, but it's not nearly as bad as the media is making it out to be. This always happens... every time it snows all the tv weathermen try to panic everyone into staying home.
Forgotten movie stars: Virginia O'Brien, June Allyson, Van Johnson, just to name a few. Many of the MGM musical stars are not known to the younger moviegoers of today. Hopefully if the movie version of "Chicago" is a success, musicals --- including the kind that MGM made --- will be back in style. However there are very few people around who know how to make them, and film schools don't teach musicals. Actually, film schools don't teach much of anything. The best movies ever made were made by directors who never set foot in a film school. But I digress...
I'm glad to see that most critics agreed with me on the Paul Newman OUR TOWN. My favorite was the Times critic who clled it "lukewarm".
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/05/2002 09:49 AM PST

"...and I want plenty of ice!"
Posted by Bar patron on the Titanic @ 12/05/2002 09:49 AM PST

On the contrary, William E. Lurie, film schools teach a lot of things. Why, my Joe and I can always recognize the first movie by a film school graduate because:
(1) It uses lots of shots tracking fast close to the water or the ground for no particular reason.
(2) Many scenes use a hand-held camera to achieve an "arty" effect.
(3) A bad rock band appears somewhere in the movie, for no particular reason, and all the members of the band are friends of the director. He owed them a favor.
(4) The story contains nothing original, and every scene or shot is a "homage" to a classic film that this film's intended audience (teenages in search of a scary date movie) have never heard of.
(5) There is at least one surrealistic dream sequence which makes no sense.
(6) There is a shower scene. There must be a shower scene. The more creative directors use a bath tub scene.
(7) The score consists of constant repetition of a simple theme written by the director's former roommate.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/05/2002 10:04 AM PST

As to everybody's foods yesterday, I must tell you that I spent a year among the "Upers", i.e. resident's of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and I did indeed eat pasties.
For the uninitiated, this is pronounced to rhyme with "nasty", not "tasty" although it can be very tasty and are seldom nasty. It is a sort of meat pie brought to the shores of Lake Superior by Cornish immigrants, although most of the residents there are descendents of Finnish miners.
When I arrived, I checked a book out of the library to learn how to pronounce Finnish. When I called roll in class, none of my students recognized their names pronounced the correct way.
Ah, I could tell you of my time among the Upers! Alas, I did not go snowshoing. I was told that the best snow shoes were the ones sold in the State Prison Gift Shop. They were so good, in fact, that when the inmate who made them was released, a committee from the town convinced him to stay and open a business. Talk about rehabilitation!
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/05/2002 10:11 AM PST

WFO-
You forgot that there is at LEAST one montage set to a hit song as if plucked from MTV which recaps 90 percent of the movie just before the end of the movie..just in case the audience wasn't paying attention...
Posted by Craig @ 12/05/2002 10:13 AM PST

But do they teach them that screenplays are more important that special effects? That realistic characters are more important than cutting and editing?
I don't care how "state of the art" a film is... if it doesn't have a good plot, then what's the point of all the technology. Film schools teach technology... they don't care about the most important thing about a movie: telling the story!
Did Max Sennett, D.W. Griffith, John Ford, Billy Wilder, Vincentte Minelli, Alfred Hitchcock, George Cukor or Michael Curtiz go to film school? No... and their films are better than anything being made today. To paraphrase Norma Desmond: "They didn't need technology, they had screenplays then".
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/05/2002 10:16 AM PST

W. Lurie -
Are you ready for your digitally enhanced CGI close-up now?
Posted by Craig @ 12/05/2002 10:21 AM PST

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh- you young whippersnappers - none of ya could direct an episode of
77 Sunset Strip.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 10:45 AM PST

Just a word on behalf of minor 1940's star and highly under-rated comic actor Jack Carson.
Somewhere I have a piece of videotape of a sketch he performed on the "Admiral Four Star Revue, written by Nat Hiken in 1949. His execution and timing was SO brilliant. Right up there with Sid Caesar and Phil Silvers.
Posted by mark rothman @ 12/05/2002 10:47 AM PST

William Lurie: You're absolutely right about my silly Herman reference mistake. I knew it didn't sound right. "We Need A Little Christmas" was the song I apparently THOUGHT I was quoting. Haha! Oh well...we all get a little confused sometimes...right?
The snow is still coming down but I was just out getting some lunch and I must agree that it's nowhere near as bad as "they" would like to make it out to be. However...my heat still isn't working properly so I feel like it wouldn't make much difference if I just went and slept out in the snow.
For those of you who might be home on this frigid NY afternoon...WNYE 25 is broadcasting a production of Strauss' SALOME "right this very minute" (THERE'S the Herman reference) starring Catherine Malfitano and Bryn Terfel. Shes about to do the Dance of the Seven Veils. Scandal I tell you...
Posted by Jason @ 12/05/2002 11:00 AM PST

"We're waiting for the egg to hatch" -- Sherman Edwards reference.
Susan Hayward
Rory Calhoun
Guy Madison
Frances Farmer
Clifton Webb
Gene Tierney
Alan Ladd
Tyrone Power
Alice Faye
...sigh......
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 12/05/2002 11:16 AM PST

I always wished I could see Al Nessor (Evil Eye Fleegle) in more roles on film..
Posted by Craig @ 12/05/2002 11:17 AM PST

The Roundabout Theatre Company has cast The Look of Love at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The new revue of the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David will land there April 1. May 4 will be the official opening. June 15 is the final performance.
The cast features Liz Callaway—as previously reported by Playbill On-Line—as well as Kevin Ceballo, Jonathan Dokuchitz, Eugene Fleming, Capathia Jenkins, Jeanine La Manna, Shannon Lewis, Rachelle Rak and Desmond Richardson.
The Look of Love will feature the choreography of Ann Reinking and staging by Scott Ellis. It is conceived by David Thompson, Ellis, David Loud and Reinking. Loud will do the music direction and vocal arrangements.
This just cries out for a Bruce Kimmel CD release!!!!
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 12/05/2002 11:18 AM PST

Hey, Jason, for a REAL Salome - watch Don't Knock the Twist - where a 'Twist of the 7 Veils' threatens to cause the cancellation of the UBN Television Network's 90-minute Twist Spectacular!
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 11:34 AM PST

Janine La Manna is an amazing talent. Not only should she have won a Tony for Seussical, but Kris and I saw her fill in for Anne Hampton Callaway in Swing and she was every bit the star performer the role required.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 12/05/2002 11:36 AM PST

Ron - I saw your list and thought JMK was back from Wisconsin for a second there.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 12:14 PM PST

I loved all the Alan Ladd films - with or with our Veronica Lake and I thought Glenn Ford was terrific. The Tony Curtis movies like "The Black Shield Of Falworth" were great favourites. I could never cope with Kirk Douglas as an actor - don't care too much for Michael either.
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 12/05/2002 12:28 PM PST

Thnaks for the suggestion late post yesterday. I do have my Annette boxed set and two double Lesley albums. It will be a change!
This site is so helpful. I may even have time to play my Shelly Fabares collection.
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 12/05/2002 12:32 PM PST

I should read more carefully before I add posts! don't know why my mind strayed to Tony Curtis - I know he his not forgotten.
Eggs and Chickens Craig. Obviously a reference to Paul Simon's "Mother & Child reunion"/
And where is the cast album of "The Cape Man"?
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 12/05/2002 12:44 PM PST

I only have two words:
(and I'm gonna shout them):
IRENE DUNNE.
Posted by td @ 12/05/2002 12:54 PM PST

Tom -- I'll be glad to make a copy for you if you don't get one elsewhere.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 12/05/2002 01:14 PM PST

Now, that's what I'M talkin' about. This is a nice number of posts and there's still lots of hours to go.
I must tell you, dear readers, that I am nauseous right now because I just had to look through a plethora of male and female genitalia for a montage. I don't understand certain trends, but the ones were in right now are HORRENDOUS.
Posted by bk @ 12/05/2002 01:45 PM PST

Tom - isn't that a great Annette set....ur...uh....the CD set that is.
Annette, in fact, I think, beat Connie Francis to the top 40 chart by a few weeks.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/05/2002 01:47 PM PST

And people wonder why we don't have cable tv.
Posted by Laura @ 12/05/2002 01:56 PM PST

You're doing a montage of human genitalia BK? Whatever for?
Posted by Jason @ 12/05/2002 02:13 PM PST

All this talk of chickens and eggs reminds me of one of my favorite stories:
The Chicken and the Egg are laying in bed together, both of them damp with perspiration and physically spent. The Chicken takes a long draw on its cigarette and turns to the Egg. "I suppose," says the Chicken, "that settles the answer to THAT question."
Posted by Jay @ 12/05/2002 02:38 PM PST

Well, Doris Day is one of my faves, but she seems too recent, and she's far from forgotten.
Normally, I would say Fred Astaire and Myrna Loy, but I don't consider either of them forgotten.
Of stars that may not be as well known today, I would have to choose Lon McAllister and Puletter Goddard.
Posted by Kerry @ 12/05/2002 04:00 PM PST

Hey, José!
Thanks for the snow. It just took me 2-1/2 hours to get home, and it's usually half an hour, and Joe was worry, worry, worry. And it's all your fault, because you wished for snow!
I guess we're going to finally have to break down and get a cell phone.
But it is lovely. And now I hope it keeps up long enough that Hofstra calls a snow day tomorrow. So keep wishing.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/05/2002 04:05 PM PST

Lurie: "But do they teach them that screenplays are more important that special effects? That realistic characters are more important than cutting and editing?"
What are you, some kind of weirdo? Maybe, just maybe you will find a director who believes this--but certainly not a movie executive.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/05/2002 04:13 PM PST

My Great Aunt Omlette brought her egg recipe with her when she immigrated to America as a young bride.
Posted by Sandra @ 12/05/2002 04:14 PM PST

Kerry,
Is it a joke ( yoke ?) I don't get,
or did you mean to print
Paulette Goddard ?????
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 04:40 PM PST

I suppose I should blame the filmgoeres today (instead of the filmmakers) for supporting the crap and not going to see the few quality films that are made, but somehow I think if there were more quality films made people who stopped going to the movies years ago might start going again.
Here's an interesting idea: Instead of making one movie for $100,000,000, why not make 5 dis-similar movies for $20,000,000 each. The total cost would be the same but there would be a lot more variety and the combined grosses should easily top what the one costly film would gross, meaning bigger profits.
On a totally different note (D flat), following is a quote from Carol Channing's book. She is discussing the day when Gower Champion first staged the title number from HELLO, DOLLY:
"Every one of those gifted, handsome young men except Joel Craig was dead within the first two years. For the next years of playing Dolly, the company and I did AIDS benefits every Thursday night after the show for the memory of those glorious men."
What's wrong with this quote (besides the obvious)? Simple. DOLLY opened in 1964 and the first cases of AIDS were not detected until the early 1980s. Since Joel Craig was indeed in the 1964 cast, I would like to know who the hell Miss Channing was trying to fool. Maybe some of the chorus of the original production died fifteen to twenty years later and maybe she did do AIDS benefits during one of the many tours, but this statement makes me wonder how much else in the book is pure fiction being passed of as memoirs.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/05/2002 06:31 PM PST

Yes, I meant Paulette Goddard. My fingers just didn't type what I told them to type. Maybe I should start taking my gingko biloba again!
Posted by Kerry @ 12/05/2002 06:35 PM PST

William,
I believe Miss Channing has
problems with her "mémoire",
but her editor should have
helpt correct those errors, IMO.
"Ah, yes, I remember it well !"
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 06:54 PM PST

Jean Arthur is one of those
ladies of the past that i take for
a mighty fine actress......
Paulette Goddard !! Wasn't
she pretty ??????
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 06:59 PM PST

She brags about the fact thjat she wrote the whole book by herself with no help.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/05/2002 07:00 PM PST

There, you've got your
answer...
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 07:04 PM PST

JEAN ARTHUR -- now THAT's what I'm talking about!
and HEDY LAMARR!
and LANA TURNER!
and JUDY GARLAND!
Hey! Let's put on a show. I know! We'll call it "Ziegfeld Girl" -- one of THE Greatest MGM Musicals Ever Made!
Tony Martin belting "You Stepped Out of A Dream", Judy getting a job singing "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," Hedy just radiant and stunning and "showy" and Lana Turner full of sass and sadness and descending that grand staircase into film history -- one of THE GREAT WALKS down any staircase ANYWHERE (a sequence she credited to Roger Edens in her autobiography) -- and a young, impossibly "beautiful" Dan Dailey as a prize fighter ("you seen me when I done it").
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 12/05/2002 07:06 PM PST

And I have I missed the commentary somehow, but has anyone not seen the latest PEOPLE Magazine...cover photo of Ben Affleck...with the appellation SEXIEST MAN ALIVE in bold letters?
Anyone but me having a tough time keeping from hurling?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 12/05/2002 07:14 PM PST

Anyone out there simply idolize one Miss June Preisser?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 12/05/2002 07:18 PM PST

Robert, please say you haven't forgotten about me!!!
: )
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 12/05/2002 07:21 PM PST

People Mag is ALWAYS wrong.
I AM the sexiest man alive, but
they, ignorant People, just
don't know me !!!
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 07:33 PM PST

Francois,
The Hainsies and Kimlets have never doubted you!
Posted by Hapgood @ 12/05/2002 07:54 PM PST

Just in from my THIRD (yes...I said third) viewing of Dance of the Vampires. Luckily Mr. Crawford was out tonight (and they said he never misses a performance...) so we got to see his stand-by Robert Evan who was SOOOOOOO much better that I think the producers should consider firing Crawford. Not that it matters...the show isn't going to run all that long anyhow. Strangely enough...the critics come tomorrow and I think hey had more technical problems tonight than in the first two viewings put together.
I'm hearing from people in the biz that MAN OF LA MANCHA has been panned in all three of the major New York newspapers. Of course...people in this business tend to over-dramatize...so they may only be mixed reviews. Either way...they're not raves! Too bad...I liked it.
Posted by Jason @ 12/05/2002 08:33 PM PST

Thank you, Hapgood, thank
you !
My girlfriend is not Jennifer
Lepèze ( French slang for
"dough" ) but YOU can be the
second sexiest man alive if
you wish..........
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 08:33 PM PST

Who is Ben Affleck?
Posted by Laura @ 12/05/2002 09:24 PM PST

A vote for Hapgood! Am I in the middle od a performance of "Whistle"?
Well Hello Francois, it's good to have you back where you belong.
Robert Armin. I did not know it was available anywhere. I have the Paul Simon version of course. I don't care how bad the show was (and all those negatives about poor taste etc - I thought the music was great on the Simon album). Yes please.
Wasn't Paulette Goddard beautiful. I loved her with chaplin in Modern times.those eyes!
Posted by Tom Guest @ 12/05/2002 09:35 PM PST

Yes, gorgeous eyes, a little bit
à la Vivien Leigh I think.....
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 09:47 PM PST

Tom,
Has your area been affected
by the fires ?
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 09:48 PM PST

fires are only around the Sydney and New South Wales area. It has been so dry here that the summer will be a real worry. Late January and February are the worst times. We have had rain for three days which is great - but then we get more growth in the bush. Houses get rebuilt. Last time we had fires - over 20 years ago here, it was horrifying. You discover what are your priorites. All i wanted was to save my dogs - no not even teh Sondheim Cds were put in the car. Our garden was destroyed but our house was spared. Thank you my friend for your concern.
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 12/05/2002 10:03 PM PST

Boy,
I understand; under such
threats and pressure it has to
be a question of "being alive".
Posted by François @ 12/05/2002 10:21 PM PST

We of course all need to know the following:
Annette's first chart hit was a year after Connie's "Who's Sorry Now". Brenda first hit the top 100 even earlier. (Thanks Joel W.).
I had the feeling that Annette may have recorded "Don't Jump To Conclusions" and "How Will I Know My Love" earlier than "Tall Paul" but they did not chart. I was probably too busy watching Considine & Kirk to notice!
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 12/05/2002 10:25 PM PST

Well, William, the snow actually caused some commuting problems for me today too - it took me about two hours to get into the city via the DC Metro - normally it would have taken me about 40 minutes, but it took a while to dig out the driveway, and then the trains were running late. *And the "smell" of the vinyl in the subway cars literally makes me sick to my stomach - quite the fun ride in - NOT!
-But it did look quite beautiful this morning. "It" referring to the snow.
Well, that's about it for me. I should have been in bed an hour ago at least. However, thankfully, I'm staying in town with one of the cast members in their apartment/housing. And we're not called until Noon - so I can sleep in a little bit.
As for stars from the past... My mind isn't working properly now, so...
Thankfully, I did not have to head back
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 12/05/2002 11:42 PM PST

Ron - to be honestly perfect I did forget. Thanks for the reminder. I sent a message to myself to get it done this weekend. Now, if I can only remember to read the message!
Tom -- I sent you an email. Let me know if you don't receive it.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 12/05/2002 11:47 PM PST

Here's to Poulette Godard! Oeuf!
My dear Laura, who is Ben Affleck indeed! Why he is the Sexiest Man Alive, hadn't you heard?
But seriously folks--not--I had noticed that cover, Ron, and when I mentioned it to my Joe, he asked, "What? Not even Matt Damon?" What is particularly ironic is that you should mentioned today's Hollywood's idea of a film idol on a day when everyone here is listing the real greats and "forgotten" greats.
Maybe tomorrow we can discuss our favorite classic comedies, and People will announce that Adam Sandler is "the funniest man alive".
I'll go for Kind Hearts and Coronets, but then again it is probably "forgotten" in the sense that Wit is considered a foreign language to too many film makers.
Oooh! Aren't I in a catty mood? Well, they just announced that classes are being held, so here it is 5:30, and I'd better get ready to plow through the snow again. Talk to all of y'all when I get there.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/06/2002 02:25 AM PST

You are right, Tom. But I wasn't counting Who's Sorry Now as a pop tune since it was a re-recording of a classic. And I thought Tall Paul charted before Lipstick on your Collar by Miss Connie Francis. But then again, it's all in how you look at it!
12 degrees F here. Yes, 12!
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/06/2002 02:34 AM PST

re: Carol Channing's faulty "memoirs"...
I had read a review of this "biography" on Theatre Mania, in which the following was suggested:
"Channing has 20th Century-Fox buying Marilyn Monroe a ticket to Blondes every night for a month to study Channing's performance; but this would have to have been in 1950 or '51, and Monroe wasn't yet a star. When the Blondes movie does open, in 1953, Channing supposedly is already touring in Wonderful Town -- which sounds unlikely, since the show premiered on Broadway in February of that year and ran 17 months. And while Channing and Mary Martin are rehearsing Legends (1985), Carol regales Mary with anecdotes about Zoe Caldwell in Master Class (1994)!"
"It takes a woman" like Carol Channing to put this stuff over with a straight face...
Posted by Dave @ 12/06/2002 06:58 AM PST

Ben Affleck, indeed!
The sexiest man alive is our very own Mr. Guy Haines. Well, I've never actually seen him. But such a sexy voice!
Posted by Laura @ 12/06/2002 07:02 AM PST

Ask BK: Got a question? Ask Bruce Kimmel...

© Copyright 2001-2003 Bruce Kimmel.
All Rights Reserved. Site design by hijinks design.