September 24 - September 30:
King Creole (1958)
Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau
Elvis is great in this dark tale of crime and corruption in New Orleans. If only Carolyn Jones could have lived, but it's just not that kind of movie.
He and She (1967) (Episode: "The Old Man & the She")
Paula Prentiss, Richard Benjamin, Jack Cassidy
Viewed at the Museum of Television and Radio, NYC. I really wish MT&R had more episodes of this goofy sitcom. Paula, who works at the Traveler's Aid Society, brings home an old Greek man who came to the US by mistake, but desperately wants to stay, despite his utter lack of comprehension of the English language. Adopting him won't work, so they have to think of another plan. Jack Cassidy is laugh out loud hysterical on this show as the self-absorbed star of the TV show Jetman.
She's Nobody's Baby (1981)
Marlo Thomas, Alan Alda, hosts
Viewed at MT&R. A short-but-good documentary about womens' advances during the 20th century. The main impression I was left with was that most of the folks the media hold up as "role models" today seem seriously lacking when their accomplishments are compared to women like Margaret Sanger, Carrie Chapman Catt and Amelia Earhart.
September 17 - September 23:
Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)
Elvis Presley, Suzanna Leigh, James Shigeta
Not one of E's better-regarded works, I nonetheless love it because he's in it, plus it's a great Hawaii travelogue, with fabulous scenery, costumes and goofy supporting performances.
We also watched bunch of fragments of Elvis films in both of our hotels...
September 10 - September 16:
Very little watching happened this week, as we were busy packing and preparing for our trip.
September 3 - September 9:
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
William Powell, Myrna Loy
We watched this one on our anniversary, since Thin Man movies are special around the Lounge. They're home in San Francisco for this one, with frequent outings to the racetrack and wrestling arena, but Nick finds time to solve a murder, anyway. I love the "war years" touches, like Little Nicky's army uniform and the fact that the director of many of the Thin Man films (including this one), W.S. Van Dyke, is credited as Maj. W.S. Van Dyke II.
Lost in America (1985)
Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty
Every time one of us mentions Albert Brooks to someone we're usually met with "Oh, I hate him," but we love him and this goofy road trip movie wherein David and Linda (Brooks and Hagerty) liquidate all their assets, buy a gigantic motor home and hit the road. Zany mayhem ensues almost immediately.
77 Sunset Strip (1960) (Episode: "Family Skeleton")
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Edd "Kookie" Byrnes
A formerly "bad" woman (she associated with gangsters and sang in a nightclub) is suspected of having her husband kidnapped. As often happens on this show, it turns out she has a heart of gold and the supposedly "nice" women are to blame. Yvonne "Batgirl" Craig is one of the baddies.
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966) (Episode: "The Romany Lie Affair")
Stefanie Powers, Noel Harrison
April gets a job with a gypsy circus to catch the evil circus manager and his mother (the fortune teller) who, as a sideline, bilk rich women out of their stocks. She keeps getting thrown into the bear cage, but people always save her at the last minute. Unfortunately for the bad guy no one saved him!
The Thin Man (TV) (1958) (Episode: "The Art of Murder")
Peter Lawford, Phyllis Kirk
Viewed at the Museum of Television and Radio, NYC. I was still in a Thin Man frame of mind when I hit the museum this week, so I watched this. I've seen the show before and already knew that it bears much more resemblance to Mr. and Mrs. North than the actual Thin Man movies, but that's okay. In this one Nora sees a killer escaping from the scene of the crime, so he kidnaps her and hides her in his theater (he's an actor-manager). Yes, she gets saved!
What's My Line (1960) (Mystery Guest: Myrna Loy)
Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis, guest panelist Dirk Bogarde
Viewed at MT&R. Continuing my Thin Man orgy, I watched this one because it had Myrna Loy. She didn't disguise her voice very well and Dirk Bogarde (who really needed a shave, IMHO) guessed her identity fairly quickly. The other guests were a Rockette and a bat boy for the Yankees.
The History of White People in America (1986) (Episode: "White Religion")
Martin Mull, Fred Willard, Michael McKean
Viewed at MT&R. I'd never heard of this series, which was created for Cinemax, but this episode, at least, was hilarious. It's a mockumentary about, well, the history of white people in America who, if this show is any indication, are really boring.
The Jeffersons Labor Day Neighbor Day Marathon (1975-85)
Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford
TVLand is in the middle of this fabulous marathon as I write this and I spent many slothful hours on the couch last night watching. I love this show. My favorite character is Mother Jefferson, but I'm really fond of all of them. No wonder it ran 10 years! I'll be watching more later today...
Click here to see what we watched in July and August...
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Click here to see what we watched in May...
Click here to see what we watched in April and early May...
Click here to see what we watched in March and early April...
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