I guess we should start talking about your movie list for the next two weeks. I took a look at the keyword 'Christmas' at IMDb. 2,809 listings have Christmas written all over them. Just to review, you can sort the list by rating or year, and it is littered with TV shows and TV Movies. We'll skip TV for now.
If you go by ratings, and discount the anomalies like The Godfather (1972), the number one Christmas movie is A Jersey Christmas from 2008. I have never head of it...or of anyone in the cast. I guess when you have only a few reviews (mostly by cast members) anything can be at the top. Jersey got 22 votes compared to The Godfather with 424,200 votes. Let's look deeper, and only at Christmas movies.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) came in at #52. No contest. It is one of the best Christmas movies. A foreign film from 1961 called Placido came in at #82, just three places after a TV documentary called "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show." Placido sounds like a decent entry on the list, but will be difficult to find. No doubt many men consider Victoria's Secret a gift from Santa.
After passing such Non-Christmas movies like The Apartment (1960 - which actually has some Christmas aspects, but wasn't really a Christmas movie) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), I think I will give up on IMDb's list. It needs some housecleaning.
The MovieFanFare blog has voting going on now for favorite classic Christmas movies. Take a look at it. The top four as of this morning are It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street (1947), White Christmas (1954) and A Christmas Carol (1951).
I voted for the fourth place A Christmas Carol, originally titled Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim (1900 - 1976). It is a movie that has the look of being ten years older than it was, and if you let yourself get into the mood of the film, you will be moved by Sim's performance on Christmas morning, after his three ghostly visits. Plus he does a great polka.
Happy Christmas, and keep reading. I will fill in the Bit Actors in the next week or two.
Showing posts with label It's a Wonderful Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label It's a Wonderful Life. Show all posts
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sheldon Leonard
There was a bit actor named Sheldon Leonard back in the forties who really became an important man in TV. He was born in NY in 1907, and that NY accent and his gruff, good looks and wavy hair, made him a perfect choice to play a gangster or heavy.
Of course, everyone remembers him as Nick the bartender in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He played the gangster type when George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) was in his fantasy sequence of never being born, and he was kindly as Mr. Martini's employee in the rest of the film.
He made a half dozen films, more or less, each year during the forties. His characters were named Pretty Willie, Chink, Tito, Slip, Monk, Silky, Chuck, Smacksie, Mickey, Ace, Lucky, Blackie, Trigger, Swifty, and of course, Nick. Get the picture? The great thing was that he could play the gangster straight or with humor.
In 1955 he played Harry, the Horse in Guys and Dolls. That was a good roll in a great movie, but by then he had found television. He appeared in a few more films and did some voice overs, until 1992. What he did well was producing and directing.
Just look at this list as producer:
If he had just worked with Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner and Andy Griffith, he could have called his life fulfilled. Sheldon left us in 1997 but his legacy will live on.
Of course, everyone remembers him as Nick the bartender in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He played the gangster type when George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) was in his fantasy sequence of never being born, and he was kindly as Mr. Martini's employee in the rest of the film.
He made a half dozen films, more or less, each year during the forties. His characters were named Pretty Willie, Chink, Tito, Slip, Monk, Silky, Chuck, Smacksie, Mickey, Ace, Lucky, Blackie, Trigger, Swifty, and of course, Nick. Get the picture? The great thing was that he could play the gangster straight or with humor.
In 1955 he played Harry, the Horse in Guys and Dolls. That was a good roll in a great movie, but by then he had found television. He appeared in a few more films and did some voice overs, until 1992. What he did well was producing and directing.
Just look at this list as producer:
- The Danny Thomas Show
- The Dick Van Dyke Show
- The Andy Griffith Show
- Gomer Pyle, USMC
- I Spy
If he had just worked with Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner and Andy Griffith, he could have called his life fulfilled. Sheldon left us in 1997 but his legacy will live on.
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