795 thoughts on “Site Index”

1. Can you please consider doing the films of Yvonne De Carlo and Ramon Novarro. She was one of the most gorgeous women in film and a huge draw in the 40s and 50s. She was memorable as Burt Lancaster’s double-crossing women in Criss-Cross (1947) and Moses’ wife in The Ten Commandaments (1956). Novarro was the first Mexican Hollywood superstar in the 1920s and went on to be a director and screenwriter as well. He is best-known for the first Ben-Hur (1925), but also other top films.
   Thank for your consideration and keep up the great work

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2. Cogerson

   Slightly off topic, but what about color TV in the 1950’s? Surprisingly, the first show filmed in color was The Cisco Kid (with Duncan Renaldo as Cisco & Leo Carillo as Pancho) way back in 1950, years before a color TV came onto the market. Talk about foresight. Off my reading, the first network color show was a Donald O’Connor special in late 1953. The January 1, 1954 Rose Parade was telecast in color.
   With color TV “invented” some color shows began coming out. Some were extant b/w shows which went to color filming. Wild Bill Hickok with Guy Madison & Andy Devine went to color in 1954. In 1955 Superman went to color. In 1955 Gene Autry filmed his last season in color. There was also My Friend Flicka, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and Science Fiction Theatre. In 1956 The Lone Ranger went to color for its last season. There was also Judge Roy Bean.
   Most of these were syndicated shows, usually aimed at the kiddie market. The prime time lineup remained almost exclusively b/w. Syndicated shows aimed at adults, for example Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt, also remained in b/w.
   NBC especially did do live broadcasts like the Rose Parade, football games, and live TV shows in color, at least for specials, but I haven’t been able to pin this down. I would be interested in any info anyone has.
   To my knowledge, the first regular color network show was The Pattie Page show during the 1957-1958 season.
   The first filmed network show was Bonanza which debuted in 1959.
   As for movies, many of the old color movies were on TV, but in b/w prints in those days. Not that this mattered very much. I don’t know what the percentage of homes with color TV in the fifties was, but it had to be very low. Word of mouth about the very small amount of color programming had to discourage new buyers.
   The earliest figure I have is that 3.1% of American households had a color TV in 1964.
   About this time color exploded on TV. The main reason wasn’t network programming decisions, but pressure from TV manufacturers to go to color to stimulate color TV sales. Money talks and while I haven’t checked for certain, I imagine the networks were probably owned by parent companies which also controlled a subsidiary producing TV sets.
   Anyway, sorry for running on about TV on a movie blog, but these facts do help explain why b/w remained the popular choice among movie producers until into the sixties.

   *I have gray market copies of The Little Foxes (with Greer Garson & Franchot Tone) and Blithe Spirit (with Claudette Colbert & Noel Coward) from 1956 and both state they were presented in color, although the Kinescope copies surviving are in b/w.

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   1. Hey John…great information on the start of color and television. I knew none of this information. I have seen lots of movies where the family is excited about watching television…I imagine “color” television did the same thing. Heck I remember growing up….and being “stuck” with the black and white television…..while my older brother got the “color” television.

      I can imagine entire families watching the Rose Parade in color. 3% in 1964….I imagine that number quickly started to rise as the 1970s arrived. I think you are correct…the networks had their fingers in the television sells market…..sounds like a good decision. That way they got money on all ends.

      No problem….your entertainment comment is interesting for sure. Seeing Greer doing a Bette role was probably pretty interesting. Thanks for sharing this information and for the visit.

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3. “I want a man who’s kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?”

   “How many husbands have I had? You mean apart from my own?”

   Famous for being famous – RIP Zsa Zsa Gabor

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   1. Hey Steve….RIP Zsa …..RIP.

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5. 1 I think many comedy actors can become repetitive because their type of talent can limit them from varying their roles and as Laurel and Hardy made 79 short films it was inevitable that those movies would perhaps seem more repetitive than others in the genre.

   2 VIDEO COMMENTS (1) wisely you have stuck to their feature films and as there were 27 of those you have therefore covered the majority (2) when I saw that you had a top TWENTY I was half expecting to see a 21st and that being Ollie’s solo with the Duke, The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) (3) Our Relations is the only one of the 20 with which I am not familiar(4) searching my memory of your many videos that I have now watched I have come to the conclusion that only Bogie’s posters match those of the silent/early talkies comedy stars and among the many class act ones this time I marginally favoured Dancing Masters, Nothing but Trouble, Bonnie Scotland and most magnificent was Way Out West (5) I counted 6 super black and white stills and my favourite was the one with the piano (6) 9.3/10 and yet another scoop for you so tell me is this guy Cogerson a dry bread who by and large doesn’t find the very early comedians funny enough?

   3 Anyway guess “Who’s on First?” in my posts tomorrow!

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   1. Thanks Bob, your review and observations always appreciated. Yeah I stuck to the movie comedies featuring both actors so The Fighting Kentuckian was out, sorry.

      There are fans who prefer their comedy shorts, The Music Box would have figured highly on that list, top 5 for sure, but it’s only 29mins long. I think the minimum running time for a ‘feature-length’ movie is around 50mins? Most of John Wayne’s B-westerns of the 1930s were less than an hour in length.

      I must have seen all the Laurel & Hardy comedies in my youth but can’t remember which gags belong to which film. Let’s see.. Swiss Miss was memorable with the rope bridge and gorilla sequence. The Music Box had arguably their most famous gag, pushing the piano up a long flight of stairs.

      And than of course there’s their famous song and dance in Way Out West “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine” which became a top 10 chart hit in Britain if you remember back in the day?

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHDI1e4fFjk

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      1. Yeah I wonder why Bruce hasn’t done a page on Laurel & Hardy yet, no box office stats maybe? They must be the greatest comedy team in film history surely? They are up there with Chaplin and Keaton.

         I prefer the Marxes but Bud and Lou have their fans too…

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         1. HI STEVE

            I think you are wrong there Steve as the more impossible it is to get stats the more he is drawn to the challenge. Possibly tied down chasing after further obscure stats for Cary Grant movies.

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            1. Hey Bob….I do in fact like challenges….but I am smart enough that when I am banging my head on a very hard surface….that eventually I need to stop….because that hard surface will never stop being hard. One day I might find some L&H box office ….but for the time being they will remain my Ahab Moby Dick…lol.

         2. Hey Steve….you are correct in your guess…..a frustrating lack of box office is the main culprit as to why we do not have an UMR page on them. The search continues…..

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      2. 1 Yes I remember that hit song.

         2 I also remember L & H coming to Belfast in t 1953 and staying at the Grand Central Hotel and the City Centre became gridlocked for even the limited traffic of those days. They came out unto the balcony of the hotel and Ollie did that famous tie twirling routine of his which drove the crowd wild! Their movie career was of course over by then and they were on a live tour of the British Isles but the adoration of the crowds showed that in the for us over here still largely pre-TV age there was always some mileage left in Legends. Anyway thanks for your further feedback.

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         1. Thanks for that anecdote Bob, L & H were much loved all over the world. Good to know they visited Britain. Sadly we’re among the last generation too have fond memories of these great comedians. The next generation will only have happy wistful memories of Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler… 🙂

            The one challenge I have for Bruce – worldwide figures for King Kong (1933) my favorite monster movie – I’ve read several books on the film, at least one of them claiming it was the biggest hit of the 30s until Snow White came along. Maybe they were guessing, or they added up the grosses from all the successful re-issues of the 40s and 50s. Was it the biggest film of 1933 at least?

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            1. Hey Steve….I will see if I can get that number for you. I actually do not think I have a single page on UMR that has King Kong rated….maybe it is time for a Bruce Cabot or Fay Wray page.

            2. Cheers Bruce, a Fay Wray page would be nice, she was pretty and Hollywood’s very first ‘scream queen’ , they didn’t have to dub her screams for King Kong they were all her own. When she died The Empire State Building, in a rare occurence, dimmed its lights for 15 minutes to honor the actress.

            3. Hey Steve….I will add her to the request list….interesting trivia about the 15 minute tribute at the Empire State Building. Thanks for the return visit.

   2. Hey Bob….Laurel and Hardy has been one frustrating comedy team for us at UMR.com. We have tried many times….and checked and read many books on L & H…..and have pretty much come up empty handed when trying to find box office grosses….which is needed for our page rankings to work. The best I can come up with are some Harrison Report adjectives on about 8 of their movies….and one of their late 1920s movies. We will continue to search…but for the time being..we bow to Mr. Lensman and his You Tube video.

      Good comments on Steve’s video…look forward to your thoughts on Abbott and Costello….which we do have a page on. Good stuff as usual.

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