General Chat

Evening chaps, yes it was a Brough Superior that he was riding Ed, I've lost count of the times that my dad told me that! Yes a wonderful film Lawrence of Arabia, he always did make good ones though in my opinion (David Lean) , it was those wide shots wasn't it. I remember Peter O'Toole talking on Parkinson and saying when he and Omar Shariff did that gallop on the camels together, to stop feeling quite so nervous they both got very drunk!

Spencer Tracey was supprisingly very fast for a senior in that film, and hard and accurate, as is necessary in such an art..

In earlier years he co starred with William Bendix in a few films

Doctor Zhivago - now there's a film I haven't seen for a good few years. Yes I agree an excellent and moving film, Did I read somewhere that Omar Sharif was the second choice for the main role? I can't remember who they wanted to play the part originally.

Thinking of Omar Sharif and WW1 tales reminds me of another great David Lean film - Lawrence of Arabia. Major T.E. Lawrence was another one of those great characters from history. I remember seeing it at the pictures (now there's a word you don't hear much!) as a youth and missing the opening 15 minutes or so. In order to find out what was at the beginning, my friends and I stayed to watch the beginning and saw him die in the motorcycle crash - so we actually saw the film chronologically!!

Evening all,

Isn't the Spencer Tracy film "Bad Day at Black Rock"? The one where he is an army veteran who was invalided out and he drifts into the town, only to be bullied by the locals? The plot reminds me a bit of First Blood with Sly Stallone.

I thought Harrison Ford's first role was as the drag racer with the black car in "American Graffiti". The race at sunrise on the strip, to the sound of Green Onions by Booker T and the MG's, comes into my mind every time I hear the tune.

Ed

Hi David, nice to see you back on the thread.

I'm sure Ed will know the answer to that one about Harrison Ford and also the film with the fight scene that you mention...there's not much that baffles him with his film knowledge.

I just know if they've got nice curtains up!! ha ha!

Hope you come back on later tonight, we also have another regular on here to, our Nicky. Speak later. ☺

Didn't Harrison Ford get his start in films as one of the extras in Star Wars ?

Hello Pam, Hello Ed
Yes Kirk Douglas does break out of jail. Has to shoot his horse after it has an accident. The fight with the one armed man to get himself jailed was spectacular. That guy must have been invincible when he had two arms.

There's a fight scene like that in another film I can't remember the name of. The one armed man in this film is Spencer Tracy, Also in the film is a young trouble making Lee Marvin

Just a bit of trivia, Al Pacino is quoted as saying that Julie Christie was, "The most poetic of all actresses." Personally I think that was his way of saying, he just fancied her!!!

Doctor Zhivago, oh I love this film. It's one of those you either like or hate I think. Tom Courtney was so mis cast as Strelnikov though. Another good performance as always from Rod Stieger, always thought he was a bit off beam, wired up a bit differently to most! Julie Christie's eyes in the library with the sun shinning in on them is my hubbys favourite clip of her, he likes blondes.

It was my dad's favourite and I have it on video, it';s only just been very recently that I can watch it, but the music (which he loved) always makes me cry. The last scene gets me when he (Zhivago) see's her (lara) on the tram and she doesn't realise he's there and he dies on the street with strangers all around him. Oh I am a happy thing tonight!

On that note I'll call it a night. ☺

Laurance Harvey, blimey I've not heard that name for a while, they don't often show any of his films do they? I suppose though not being very old when he died he'd not made masses. I can remember what he looked like, not bad looking but a bit to fair for me. So I wouldn't fancy Michela Caine!

Edit: How sad that his daughter died young also, and what a lovely name, Domino.

Michael Caine ha's been in a lot of spy films, hasn't he?

The Fourth Protocol, the Holcroft Covenant (I remember reading the book - it bored me to tears so I never saw the film), the Black WIndmill and I think there's a few more too.

LAUGH MOMENT: I keep on typing Michela Caine instead of Michael. Don't think he would be amused!

She quite likes dark-haired men too -she married one! :-D

I think her great "pash" of the 60s was Laurence Harvey - the three films of his I saw were "The Long and the Short and the Tall", "The Manchurian Candidate" and of course, "The Alamo".

Sadly he was only 45 when he died. His daughter, Domino, also died at a very early age and she was played on film by Keira Knightley in the film "Domino". Domino Harvey was also a bounty hunter!

Another spy film and it takes us to 600.

Five Fingers, starring James Mason. Made in 1952. The valet to the British amabassador in Ankara sells military secrets to the Germans.

There you go Ed, we've made it to the 600.

Hi Ed, just been on the blower to my cousin Frank...he came up with a good one...Funeral in Berlin! With Michael Caine again.

You're sister likes the blonde men doesn't she!

Your go Ed...and we'll be 600. Not bad going considering it's been you, me and Nicky mostly!

Oh I might have to have a lay down!

Pam - two more posts will get us to 600!

Trying to think of spy films now:

How about Michael Caine as Harry Palmer in The Billion Dollar Brain and The Ipcress File.

OR

James Coburn in Our Man Flint and In Like Flint?

I now have to mention:

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

When I was little, you could forget James Bond, give me Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin any day!

The Spy in the Green Hat, the Karate Killers, One of our Spies is Missing and How to Steal the World - I can't remember the other films. Then there was the TV series too ...

(Sis who had a big thing for Steve McQueen also went wobbly over David McCallum ...)

Hello David, apologies for not saying 'hello'. I think as it's normally just Ed and myself on here I didn't notice...Gawd my eyes are going now!

Anyway welcome, and please feel free to come on here anytime you like with your favourite films. ☺

Hello David,

Lonely are the Brave - is that the one about the cowboy who escapes from prison and is chased by the Sherriff?

I love Cool Hand Luke - every time I see a hard boiled egg I think ot that film!

Pam, we've had a slight dusting of snow this evening but noting too serious - I suspect it will be gone by the morning.

Yes Ed, The Day of the Jackal, fantastic film! Yes Edward Fox as the cool calculating hit man. Really gripping stuff, it's one of those films I think, that even though you've seen it several times before there's always something you haven't noticed before.

Never seen The Dogs of War.

EDIT: We've got quite bad snow here, so far we'd got off quite lightly.

Hello Pam, yes I think we may have mentioned the Odessa File. It was originally a book by Frederick Forsyth. His other two big books of the era were also made into films, both of which I really enjoy:

The Day of the Jackal
The Dogs of War

Day of the Jackal especially; the way the assassin in finally caught - on a misconception - is brilliantly worked. I never tire of seeing Edward Fox in that one.

Another one of my favourites which I never tire of watching every now and then is The Odessa File, have we mentioned it before?