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[Ginny]

Thanks, DR Jane.  Something tells me we're going to keep a pretty low profile tomorrow.

[Jane]

Sigh.  I wish there were more to do than send MEGA vibes of healing & comfort.

[Ginny]

MEGA vibes are most appreciated.

[Jane]

I'm happy to report a bear did not get into our yard.  In fact it wasn't a bear at all.  Something knocked the gate ajar.  The problem has been fixed and a heavy duty lock has been put on the gate.

[Ben]

I'm listening to Beverley on BBC Radio Wales right now.

We will have the rest of our dinner from yesterday (Chicken Parmesan) and then we will watch some extras from the Forsyte Saga. We just finished watching the entire 26 episodes this past week. What a treat!!! Now we will look at some documentaries and deleted scenes and other pieces.

Anthony will watch Miss Marple at 9pm and I'll be in bed soon after that for another full week of work.

We will be going up to Poughkeepsie on Saturday. That's the pick up point. We will be visiting friends who have a house up in that area. They are about 15 minutes from the Poughkeepsie train station (Metro North). We will spend a relaxing Saturday and part of Sunday. A nice way to bring in August.

[Jane]

DR Ginny I just pray this emotional roller coaster you have been on will have a happy ending.

[Jane]

And DR elmore, please get better soon.

[Ginny]

Thanks, Jane.

[Jane]

From MBarnum:

Thanks DR Jane. I have already interviewed him and it will be out in Classic Images any month now. They are stopping in Beatty, Oregon and then driving to Portland, but wanted to stop and see me during their trip. Such nice people.

That is extra nice they want to spend time with you, not that I'm surprised.

[Jane]

DR Jennifer, cute card story.  I like she was impressed with her own art work.

[Matt H.]

Yes, years ago I was very interested in writing a book about the singers who dubbed many of the Hollywood greats in movies down through the years. Some, of course, were well known and even sometimes got screen billing while others were completely obscure. But I realized that

(a) the scope of the book was going to be far bigger than I had time to deal with it at that stage of my life,

(b) the saleability of such a book would be miniscule.

After I abandoned it, I noticed that it had partially been done by others (WHO SANG WHAT IN HOLLYWOOD) or was being currently worked on by folks who had been researching and interviewing for years. So, I'm hopeful of seeing such a book eventually. I have always found the whole subject fascinating.

Matt, there is not still not a really definitive (let alone accurate) book on the subject.

You're completely right; there isn't, but there is a fellow at the site where I work who knows the identity of every dubber ever in American film, and he's assured me he's working on the definitive book on the subject.

[Laura]

Continued prayers for John and Ginny and Richard.

[Matt H.]

There's an old WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS that has, IIRC, Tommy & Tuppence, or at least the actors who played them.

Yes, the actors who played them but not portraying them in this movie. It was a much more faithful version of the story than this new incarnation which actually gets kind of muddled and forced (a person holding a deadly poison syringe standing there waiting for Miss Marple to prove the guilt of that person. Yeah, right!)

[Laura]

Nothing exciting happens; I just taped until my memory card filled up. Elmore and Cillaliz find a shoelace:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_z_ITqVlYM

[Matt H.]

I watched THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS this afternoon, the last of the Marple films, and one I had already seen last weekend. Enjoyed seeing it again even if Joan Collins struggles in vain to hide her British accent.

The two legitimate Miss Marple mysteries turned into films in this set are clearly superior to the two where she was inserted into stories the character was never intended to be a part of.

[Matt H.]

Next I watched tomorrow night's episode of NURSE JACKIE by tuning it in from Showtime On Demand. Some funny stuff and some dramatic stuff, too. I've really been enjoying this series.

[Matt H.]

When that was over, I decided I wanted to continue watching more "Making of" documentaries of Hitchcock films, so I started with TOPAZ, probably my least favorite Hitchcock movie next to UNDER CAPRICORN. They didn't have a standard making-of featurette. Instead, the disc offered "An Appreciation" of the movie by Leonard Maltin. I don't think I had ever even bothered to watch this before, so I did today. I understand the points he makes in defense of the movie (and it was interesting reading comments from the film's disastrous first preview), but I'm not buying it. Yes, there are a couple of bravura sequences, but it's a long, slow crawl to get to them, and then you get to that very unsatisfying ending. Nope, not a favorite.

[Jane]

Sweet DR Laura.  I like when I can see Cillaliz's pretty markings.

[Laura]

Her markings don't show up in face portraits.

[Matt H.]

Next I watched the making of LIFEBOAT. I guess I hadn't watch that either (or if I had, I didn't remember it) since I was continually surprised by information imparted in it. I had NO idea that Zanuck didn't get behind the movie and that it didn't do well at the box-office. I had NO idea it was attacked as being pro-Nazi! (I guess because Walter Slezak seems almost superhuman at times (but Hitchcock went to the trouble of showing us why he remained so fresh and strong).

[Ginny]

Thank you, DR Laura.

[Matt H.]

One of the joys of the LIFEBOAT documentary was the participation of HHW mascot and all-around film buff extraordinaire Dr. Drew Casper. (He does the feature commentary on the movie, too, but I've never listened to it.)

[Matt H.]

I'm heading down to do some general cleaning up and then putting away the already folded laundry.

WBBL.

[Jennifer]

I was going to watch last sunday's TRUE BLOOD. Only my sis didn't record it properly. But she has it saved on her tv. So i guess i will watch it at her house at some point.

[Jane]

Her markings don't show up in face portraits.

I know.  I like the body shots

[Kerry]

I'm happy to report a bear did not get into our yard.  In fact it wasn't a bear at all.  Something knocked the gate ajar.  The problem has been fixed and a heavy duty lock has been put on the gate.

Sounds like a great idea for a story-- The Bear Who Didn't Get In Our Yard!

[Jane]

Next I watched the making of LIFEBOAT. I guess I hadn't watch that either (or if I had, I didn't remember it) since I was continually surprised by information imparted in it. I had NO idea that Zanuck didn't get behind the movie and that it didn't do well at the box-office. I had NO idea it was attacked as being pro-Nazi! (I guess because Walter Slezak seems almost superhuman at times (but Hitchcock went to the trouble of showing us why he remained so fresh and strong).

Interesting.  I'm very surprised it was attacked as being pro-Nazi.

[Jane]

As for The Topic du Jour...

I still have a pending offer for a book about auditioning, auditions, and how I manage to keep my sanity(?) - and a straight face - while playing auditions.

I wrote a long essay during my senior year in high school, which, I think will eventually get expanded into a longer form.

I bet if you went back and pulled up all your enjoyable posts on the subject you might find enough for a book.

[td]

When that was over, I decided I wanted to continue watching more "Making of" documentaries of Hitchcock films, so I started with TOPAZ, probably my least favorite Hitchcock movie next to UNDER CAPRICORN. They didn't have a standard making-of featurette. Instead, the disc offered "An Appreciation" of the movie by Leonard Maltin. I don't think I had ever even bothered to watch this before, so I did today. I understand the points he makes in defense of the movie (and it was interesting reading comments from the film's disastrous first preview), but I'm not buying it. Yes, there are a couple of bravura sequences, but it's a long, slow crawl to get to them, and then you get to that very unsatisfying ending. Nope, not a favorite.

Funny that you should bring up TOPAZ, as I watched it (and the appreciation) for the first time last night!

I'm not as down on the film as you are, but not quite as glowing as Maltin is either.
There are several things I agree with Maltin on regarding TOPAZ, first and foremost being that it could have used "stars;"  until last night I had only got as far as "the china shop" sequence, never even making it to the Copenhagen department store.
I thought that the characters were quite interesting (that Leon Uris created them probably helped) and that the premise was fascinating.
Yet, there is nothing truly Hitchcockian about TOPAZ, is there?  Except for the two scenes given remembrance by Maltin, the film could have been the handiwork of any European director of that era.
I did not for one moment buy John Vernon as a Cuban - and those piercing eyes!
I did like Dany Robin, though her character was utterly predictable and made up to be a classic "Hitchcock Blonde."
Karin Dor was likeable and given the most Hitchcockian moment in the film - and that is an awesome moment!
The men, except for Michel Subor as the young husband were quite interchangeble; now, Michel was quite the piece of eye-candy!
I would have prefered that John Forsythe had switched roles with Frederick Stafford.

Still, I am happy that I finally made it through TOPAZ.

[TCB]

I'm happy to report a bear did not get into our yard.  In fact it wasn't a bear at all.  Something knocked the gate ajar.  The problem has been fixed and a heavy duty lock has been put on the gate.

What if a bear has the key?