Comments on: TCM Pick O’ The Day: Saturday, January 31st

By: John Nolte

John Nolte — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:45:26 +0000

Donna V. Excellent call on “The Boston Strangler.” I had the pleasure of meeting Curtis at an autograph show ($50 pleasure but worth every cent, especially when I caught him eyeing my wife she still talks about it) and the photo I had him sign was from BS.

Tom — don’t feel bad, I didn’t see this until I was well into tmy thirties.

By: Morgan

Morgan — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:05:12 +0000

I gotta tell you, Mr. Shillue, I’m 25 and I KNOW I haven’t seen everything.

I know what you mean, though, about seeing films like Sweet Smell Of Success for the first time when you’re in your mid-20s (I saw Sweet Smell Of Success for the 1st time when I was 24). It always amazes me when I see gems like Sweet Smell Of Success for the first time.

By: Donna V.

Donna V. — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:02:41 +0000

Oops, that should of course be “Boston Strangler”

By: Donna V.

Donna V. — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:01:48 +0000

Damn these people who say Curtis was just a pretty face or only remember his Brooklyn accent in “Spartacus.”

I agree. Curtis was a woefully underrated actor. He was great in “The Boston Stranger” and “Some Like It Hot.” But Falco was his best role.

By: CW

CW — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:17:11 +0000

Yup, this film is memorably pungent. Downright nasty.
Great jazzy score by Elmer Bernstein too.

Another great performance by Burt Lancaster, playing against his old
Alpha male image, was in Atlantic City, as a pathetic old never-was trying to play out his fantasy of being important, powerful, etc.
He deserved an Oscar for it (got nominated).

Great bit of dialogue, capturing the folly of pointless nostalgia:

“You should have seen the Atlantic Ocean back in those days.
It was something then.”

By: onparkstreet

onparkstreet — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:42:18 +0000

I love Tony Curtis in this movie – he’s all striving energy, it’s painful how much he wants to BE somebody.

*Clive James has this great chapter in his book, Cultural Amnesia, about Tony Curtis. It’s a funny, rambling book, and it’s a good chapter on the actor.

By: Judith

Judith — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:36:47 +0000

…” The stoic Lancaster is the one raging with possibilities…”

Ditto for Lancaster in “From Here to Eternity” & in “The Rose Tattoo.” Burt is especially unpredictable & powerful when cast next to the great screen presence of Anna Magnini w/ her world weary sexual magnetism a la Tenessee Williams.

By: Jude

Jude — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:54:51 +0000

Couldn’t agree more. I love, love, love this film.

By: Bill Willingham

Bill Willingham — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:48:30 +0000

This film is part of my annual “Burt Lancaster is Evil” film festival, along with the marvelous Seven Days in May. Lancaster is a great hero in many films, but he makes the perfect villain.

By: Chuck Johanns

Chuck Johanns — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:47:47 +0000

Agree, great movie…but I believe most of the complaints about Curtis’ accent involved The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), famous for his line “..yonda lies da castle of my fadda.” He co-starred with Janet Leigh, who wore a bra as pointy as her 15th century headgear.