Actor/writer Ryan O'Connell created and played one of the most huggable, lovable and complicated gay characters I've ever seen in a series. I blogged about him back in May of last year. He played Ryan Hayes, a Southern California intern at a hipster website in SPECIAL, an original Netflix series.
The character, like his creator and the actor who plays him, is a young gay man with cerebral palsy. The series and the delightful, talented, smart Ryan O'Connell have not received anywhere near the attention they should be getting from gay media. He is an original and a most creative trailblazer. But does he get the attention of an Andy Cohen, a Carson Kressley or a Lil Nas? No.
Rarely do we see current gay life through the eyes of someone with a physical disability. Let's face it -- the gay male community can often make a newcomer feel like he's on a rollercoaster that's constantly going down while he screams. No matter how good your manners are, no matter how spiritually substantial you are, if you're not a "hot-looking guy," you're not on the A-list of dating. Good looks are currency in the gay male community. You could have saved a half dozen orphans by pulling them out of a burning building. But, if you're not hot-looking and young...you could catch on fire while sitting at the bar and the bartender would not pick up the seltzer gun to put you out. In the last 25 years, I've had that feeling in some Manhattan and West Hollywood bars. Ryan Hayes is a guy who wears thick glasses and has cerebral palsy.
His mother, wonderfully played by Jessica Hecht, loves living with her gay soon. However, he needs to step out and became an independent citizen. And she clings to him because he's her buffer against loneliness. She's unmarried and afraid to step out into the world, meet a guy and start a new life for herself. We follow Ryan in his workplace and see the co-workers who become friends and we see him on some awkward dates. Ryan knows what the emotional and social obstacles are in his case, but he bravely moves forward.
Last season, in the spring of this year, Ryan O'Connell was absolutely charming and funny as a guest on CBS MORNINGS one weekday morning. He was on to promote his new book, a novel called JUST BY LOOKING AT HIM.
I don't recall seeing gay media giving him lots of attention for his book. In the touching final episode of Season 2, Ryan says to his mother "We deserve big, gorgeous lives." So does Ryan O'Connell. As I wrote earlier, he is a trailblazer actor, writer and activist. I recommend you go to Netflix and watch the two seasons of SPECIAL. Those episodes are entertaining, enlightening and provocative. He gives us a fresh view of gay life that you can relate to even if you're straight and feel like an outside on the field of love.
Ryan O'Connell is someone who deserved to be in the spotlight for Pride month. Here's a peak at the show's Season 2.
She had a scene with Tom Hanks in the movie BIG. She had a scene with Geena Davis in the 1994 romantic comedy, ANGIE. She was a regular on the ABC TV drama series, CHINA BEACH. Nowadays, Nancy Giles is a familiar face on national TV as a contributor on CBS SUNDAY MORNING. Nancy does some great interviews.
Nancy Giles now has a podcast and I was a guest on it for one show this month, I'm about to give you information on how you can hear us on her THE GILES FILES podcast now in Season 3.
When you get there, look for *Search* in the upper right corner. Type Giles Files in Search. When you see Nancy, click on her to enjoy our June 23rd chat.
If you have time to listen, PLEASE write Nancy a short review or comment.
We talk about entertainment news of this year and classic films of yesteryear. One thing we talk about is my 1989 visit on St. Patrick's Day with TV sitcom legend, Lucille Ball. She invited me to her home for cocktails. I was working on VH1 at the time. She'd seen my interview of Sally Field on my weeknight celebrity talk show and liked it.
While I was there, having a vodka tonic, I mentioned that my favorite film of hers was 1942's THE BIG STREET co-starring Henry Fonda. I told her that, if I had a revival movie theater, I'd make it a double feature with MIDNIGHT COWBOY.
She loved the idea and got why I'd pair them. THE BIG STREET is a drama with Lucy as a tough, self-absorbed Manhattan nightclub singer. She winds up crippled, wheelchair-bound and somewhat of a New York City down-and-outsider. She's forgotten by her upscale friends. She learns about friendship from Fonda's character who's also somewhat of an invisible citizen. He's a busboy. Now disabled, the singer dreams of going to Florida but that seems to be an impossible dream. The busboy gets her there.
Think of the crippled, ailing Ratso (Dustin Hoffman) in MIDNIGHT COWBOY who wishes he could get out of New York City and go to Florida. Hustler Joe Buck (Jon Voight), just as much an outsider as Ratso, gets him there.
I think THE BIG STREET has Lucille Ball's best big screen performance. Here's a trailer.
I hope you enjoy Nancy and me on THE GILES FILES podcast.
I was on Twitter and saw a positive tweet that caught my eye. A fellow had seen a short film, perfect viewing for PRIDE month (which June is) and he loved it. The short film is free to see on YouTube. I watched it -- and it is good! Although not a comedy, the title might make you think it is. Titled THE UNSURE MASSEUR, it runs only 15 minutes.
Human touch and the revelation of honest feelings between two gay men are at the center of this short feature.
A handsome, young Asian-American fellow has made an appointment for a legit massage. As he admits to the also young and handsome masseur when he's undressed and stretched out on the massage table, he's not just there for the rubdown. He says, "...I'm here to learn..." His love is landscaping. He learned the art from his grandmother in Sante Fe. She taught him about "...plants, garden design, what smells nice..." Her death left him heartbroken. He relocates to another city and considers becoming a masseur to make the money to pursue his landscaping dreams. He once considered working as a go-go dancer.
The masseur has them trade places for his tutorial. He has the client give him a massage so he could tell the client what to do, how to do it and what he might be doing wrong. He too opens up and reveals the challenge of keeping his work legit -- providing just a massage, no sexual services. The two lead actors are Jae Kim and Kevin Grant Spencer. The short film was written and directed by Reid Waterer. I loved the verbal intimacy that arises between the two gay men in addition to the physical intimacy of the massage.
THE UNSURE MASSEUR is well-shot, well-acted and well-written. There's a sad warmth that comes from the client. He's lonely and needs to be touched. That's exactly what led me to get my first massage a year after my partner died. Again, this 15-minute feature is free for you to see on YouTube.
That Englishman is a damn good actor. Mark Rylance won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Steven Spielberg's Cold War espionage thriller, BRIDGE OF SPIES. I first noticed him in the adult, emotionally engrossing 2001 film, INTIMACY, about two people who get naked and have sex as a medicine to heal from the wounding realities of everyday life. (Rylance has a lovely member.)
The way the world has been the last couple of years, we haven't really heard about or talked about a new "feel-good" film. Personally, I can't immediately think of a feel-good film that's been released in the last couple of years. Most of the mass market fare seems to be about comic book-based characters who wear capes.
I saw a feel-good film over the weekend -- and it stars Mark Rylance as a real-life character in a comedy based on a true story. He plays perhaps the worst golfer of the 1970s who somehow made it into the British Open Golf Championship.
Kind, gentle, smart Maurice (pronounced Morris) Flitcroft is an optimistic, 40-something working class family man. Sally Hawkins stars as his loving and supportive wife.
Two of his three kids are twins who want to be disco dance champs. Maurice stays up late one night and watches TV. A program about golf captivates and sparks something in his spirit. He wants to learn the sport and play in the championship.
Quick-thinking Maurice and his equally quick-thinking wife write letters that get him into the championship. He's an unknown, an underdog who will attract viewers because of his perseverance. The movie, now playing in some cities, is called THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN. It's a film that teaches us "Practice is the road to perfection." It's also a sweet, warm film about family love and never giving up on one's dreams.
The Sally Hawkins character could've been just sort of a cheerleader to her husband, but there's more depth to it. She had fallen in love with a simple shipyard worker (Maurice). She's on the brink of getting a great opportunity. But she reveals to Maurice that she has an out-of-wedlock baby. She was abandoned by the father. Maurice commits to her and to being the baby's father. The newborn is their first of their three children. Maurice becomes the great love of her life. She loves and understands his hijinks as he plays golf against the wishes of the upper class championship organizers.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN has surprises. solid performances and plenty of warmth. It's great to know that feel-good films are still in production. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN is one -- and a truly entertaining one. It's a winner.
I loved her singing ever since I was a kid. She was one of the dearest and most down-to-earth stars I ever met and worked with. I met her through Rose Marie of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW fame. Rose was in a revue show that toured the country. Another one of the 4 GIRLS 4 quartet was...Rosemary Clooney. I wound up writing some material for the show and that's how I got to meet and work with her. She gave me her home address. She even mentioned me to her nephew, George Clooney. I got that info from George himself.
After watching hours of live news coverage, I needed something to sooth my ears and refresh my mind. So, let me share with you, a few of my favorite Rosemary Clooney vocals. One o my favorite albums in my old record collection was the jazz album she cut with the great Duke Ellington.
Here's Rosemary Clooney with Duke Ellington doing "You and Me."
Here she is doing Duke's classic, "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing."
PEYTON PLACE was a racy, highly best-selling novel that was turned into a good, 1957 hit movie that got Oscar nominations. It spawned a 1961 sequel that was not nearly as good as the original nor did it have any of the original cast members. But RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE did have a couple of worthwhile elements -- the juicy supporting role performance from Mary Astor and the tune sung over the opening credits by Rosemary Clooney.
Here's Rosie singing "The Wonderful Season of Love" from RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE directed by her then-husband, Jose Ferrer.
That shimmering voice. The fabulous phrasing. How I loved the singing of Rosemary Clooney.
James L. Brooks. He won three Oscars in one night -- for producing, directing and screenwriting TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. It won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1983. Shirley MacLaine won for Best Actress. Jack Nicholson won for Best Supporting Actor.
Before that, on television, Brooks gave us ROOM 222, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, TAXI, the popular spin-offs from THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW -- RHODA, PHYLLIS and LOU GRANT -- plus THE TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW andTHE SIMPSONS. His other celebrated films are BROADCAST NEWS (1987) and AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997).
Again, I was on Netflix. I discovered a series called THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS. Directors and actors come on for a one-on-one interview. I immediately went into Season 3, Episode 2 to see the half-hour with James L. Brooks, a man who holds a very special place in my heart.
We learn about his origins -- his family in his youth and his first jobs in television. He was an usher, a news writer and he worked on documentaries. When he worked on TV as a writer and when he worked as a filmmaker, he always said the work as a team sport. He talks about his TV shows -- ROOM 222, TAXI, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW -- and he talks about his films -- TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and BROADCAST NEWS. All those stories are wonderful. He's not asked about AS GOOD AS IT GETS, but the interviewer does mention it. I wish the interviewer had asked more questions about Brooks' flop, 1994's I'LL DO ANYTHING. Originally a musical, after folks started walking out of preview screenings and brutal advance word from The Los Angeles Times, he decided that the only way to save it was to remove all the musical numbers, which he did before the film's national release. I'LL DO ANYTHING starred Nick Nolte and Tracey Ullman. A satire of Hollywood lifestyles, the deleted music included new songs by Carole King and Prince.
The James L. Brooks warmth, wit, vulnerability and grace are evident in the interview. I wish I'd conducted it.
James L. Brooks was a guest on my VH1 show in 1987. He was promoting BROADCAST NEWS. He was a terrific guest -- gracious, honest and involved. He confirmed that classic film actress Jean Arthur was his muse for crafting the Mary Richards character on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. He was really talkative and involved when I asked him an openly gay character who'd been cut out of the BROADCAST NEWS final print. Brooks assured me the character was only deleted for sake of the film's running time.
The openly gay male character was one of the most important producers in the newsroom. He sees that handsome and straight Tom Grunick (William Hurt) is getting a lot of attention but he senses Grunick's true nature before producer Jane Craig (Helen Hunt) does. He pretends to flirt with and make a pass at Grunick to see if Grunick will accept the pass just to further his newsroom career ambitions.
Brooks was very impressed that I'd done my homework. When we were done, as he was leaving the studio, Brooks gave me a warm goodbye and said, "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again."
We did. I was invited to a party held after a screening of 1989's THE WAR OF THE ROSES, a movie Brooks had co-produced. Brooks was at the party. He remembered me and said that if he could ever help me with anything, contact him on the Fox lot in L.A.
Another excellent guest on my VH1 talk show was singer Bobby McFerrin. His song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was a huge hit and the album was a Grammy winner. His manager, Linda Goldstein, took home a Grammy for producing the Record of the Year. She was in the studio watching my interview. She and Bobby were both hugely impressed that I knew Bobby McFerrin's father was an opera singer and dubbed the singing voice for Sidney Poitier in the movie PORGY AND BESS. Linda, who turned out to be a fellow Los Angeleno, and I became fast buddies. We kept in touch.
When I was near the end of my VH1 contract, Linda called me and said she was interested in branching out as a manager. She was representing only singers and wanted to manage people in other performance areas -- like me. As it turned out, she and I would be in L.A. for a few days at the same time. I told her about James L. Brooks. She said, "Let's see if we can get a meeting with him while we're in L.A."
She faxed his office on the Fox lot. We expected to get a response perhaps the following day. Linda and I were both stunned to get a response about 20 minutes later. A "yes" response with a day and time for the meeting.
While Linda and I were still in New York and up to the time she was driving us to the Fox lot, we rehearsed how we'd get to the point for a 15 minute meeting because this Oscar and Emmy would surely have other things to do.
James L. Brooks gave us 45 minutes of his time coupled with some wise advice. He remembered our interview and had seen other episodes. By the way, THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW was a very popular, groundbreaking late night show at the time. Brooks said that my show was very smart and sophisticated and I should be getting offers to do another one. However, because Arsenio was so popular, white agents and producers would be seeking another Black guy kind of like Aresenio instead of realizing that there are different kinds of Black people just like Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett were both white guys, each one a different kind of talk show host.
I didn't kid myself when I was on VH1. Even though I had A-list celebrities and even though I got rave reviews from TV Guide, People magazine and The New York Times, that didn't mean I had an agent and it didn't mean I get offers to host another celebrity talk show. And that would be because of race. I never was offered another celebrity talk show opportunity.
Mr. Brooks told Linda, "Package him the way Tracey Ullman was packaged and pitched to me. When you get the package done, let me know and we can talk again." And he told me to take an acting class. He said, "Even if it's just for one season, it'll look good on your resume."
I took acting classes. A couple of years of acting classes. Linda got back to New York and she was pregnant with her first child. She decided not to take on any more clients and concentrate on her newborn. That was unlucky for me professionally but, personally, I totally understood.
I didn't get packaged and pitched to James L. Brooks, but I will never forget his kindness, advice and the time he gave me.
By the way, it's Helen Hunt's birthday. She won the Best Actress Oscar for AS GOOD AS IT GETS, directed and co-written by James L. Brooks. Jack Nicholson won for Best Actor.
(In my previous post, you can see a reel of clips from my VH1 talk show and a clip of Shirley MacLaine telling how Brooks rattled her nerves the day before shooting started on TERMS OF ENDEARMENT.)
Some of you who follow my blogpost may not be aware of the TV work I did. This post is about that.
Here's a question about me that came from an ABC News producer in 2000 and the producer of a national radio show in 2006: "Does he know anything about movies?" In both cases, I was pushing to get the job of film reviewer and historian on new shows about to make their debut. I had to push because neither producer had taken time to read my resume. However, I did get the jobs.
I've been a classic film enthusiast and student ever since I was a grade school kid back home in Los Angeles. My knowledge of classic films led to my first TV appearance. When I was in high school, I became the youngest and first Black contestant on a syndicated film quiz show shot in Hollywood. It was called THE MOVIE GAME and was hosted by a fellow from New York named Sonny Fox. I was nervous. But I won.
My first professional TV job, after I graduated from a Milwaukee university, was to be the weekly film critic and celebrity interviewer on a show called PM MAGAZINE that aired on the city's ABC affiliate. I also did print film reviews in local publications, I worked on Milwaukee's ABC affiliate for four years. Some of my celebrity interviews aired nationally and that led to me getting a TV job from New York City.
In New York, in the late 80s, I was approached to be a VH1 veejay. And I was given my own prime time weeknight celebrity talk show. I loved working there. Here's some of my VH1 shows.
After VH1, I was contacted to work on live morning shows in New York City.
I also loved hosting film shows on local cable.
When I was the entertainment editor for an ABC News production that aired on live Lifetime TV, I had the chance to do some film history in my weekly segments.
I have blogged about Marilyn Monroe a few times. Well, brace yourself. I'm about to do it again. I love her work. To me, she is still one of the most under-appreciated actresses of her day. That's probably because she was reviewed and interviewed mostly by men who were dazzled by her beauty and sex symbol charisma and were oblivious to her multi-talents.
Marilyn Monroe's work still holds up and one example airs on cable's TCM (Turner Classic Movies) this coming Tuesday, June 14th. The movie is the 1953 comedy, HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, also starring Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable.
By the early 1940s, 20th Century Fox studios had landed on a format that proved very successful. Make movies about three young women looking for love and husbands -- hopefully rich husbands. We see this in the hit Betty Grable musical MOON OVER MIAMI (1941), in the musical THREE LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE (1946), HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, the drama, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING (1959) and THE PLEASURE SEEKERS (1964) starring Ann-Margret.
In 1953. Fox contract player knocked out three home-run performances, each one different. First was the crime drama, NIAGARA. In a cabin amongst honeymooners, she plays the blond bombshell married to an older, depressed Korean war veteran who seems to suffer from PTSD. She's having an affair. She and her lover plan to murder the gloomy husband. Monroe is just as effective a blonde femme fatale wife who gets tripped up in her own devious game as Lana Turner was in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE and Rita Hayworth in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Monroe sizzles when she sings "Kiss" along with a record on a record player. I bet she carbonated the hormones of many male moviegoers watching NIAGARA.
Next came the Fox film version of the hit Broadway musical, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. Monroe took on the role of Lorelei that had made Carol Channing a star on Broadway. The story was altered, updated and jazzed up to suit the talents of its stars. At first, Fox planned to give the Lorelei role to Betty Grable. Grable who had been Queen of the Fox Lot since 1941's MOON OVER MIAMI. But Monroe got the part because, being a stock player, she could be paid less. She was not a star like her co-star, Jane Russell. Monroe, as the dumb like a fox blonde, is completely different than she was as Rose in NIAGARA. She's a true-blue friend who loves diamonds and a bookworm of a rich man's son. She's sexy with a wide-eyed innocence. This musical comedy shows off her brilliant comedy timing. And notice how she listens to her fellow actors. She's in the moment. Lorelei's scene with the little froggy-voiced boy on the luxury liner has Monroe doing the kind comedy scene one would've associated with Lucille Ball in those days.
In addition to that, Marilyn Monroe could sing! One of the highlights of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES is her now iconic "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" number.
I saw Chita Rivera in a one-woman Broadway show about her life and career. She talked about the choreographers she'd worked with and one of them was Jack Cole. She said that Cole's choreography was very specific and demanding but wonderful. Marilyn Monroe performs Jack Cole's choreography in GENTLEMAN PREFER BLONDES as if she was born to do it. Even Gene Kelly was impressed with Monroe's dance moves. (Kelly did a cameo in her 1960 comedy, LET'S MAKE LOVE, which also featured musical numbers choreographed by Jack Cole.) Marilyn could act, sing and dance.
Next came HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE which further proves that she was a pro at comedy. In this one, with its trio of lovelies seeking rich husbands, Monroe is the one with the bad eyesight. In her words she's "...as blind as a bat." But she has succumbed to the famous Dorothy Parker adage, "Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses" and refuses to put on her spectacles for fear they'll make her look like an old maid.
HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE shows Marilyn Monroe's knack for physical comedy. The scene where she checks herself in a ritzy ladies' lounge mirror and then tucks her glasses into her purse before she exits breaks me up laughing every single time.
And there's Monroe's airplane scene. Pola (Monroe) is a lovable ditz. A guy she's dating wants her to come from Manhattan to Atlantic City, New Jersey for the weekend. He gives her a schedule of flights from LaGuardia. But, at the airport, she does not wear her glasses. Instead of boarding a flight to Atlantic City -- which would've taken a little under 30 minutes -- she boards a plane to Kansas City, Pola has been on that flight for over an hour and doesn't realize she's made a mistake.
If Jennifer Lawrence or Scarlett Johansson had delivered those three performances in the same year, they probably would've been in the Oscar race for some of that work. Marilyn Monroe was never nominated for an Oscar.
HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE airs at 8p ET Tuesday, June 14th, on TCM.
Wow. Time has flown. It seems like just yesterday, I was staying up late at night to watch a brash Midwesterner with a full head of hair, a guy known for being an avid jogger in Manhattan, make some celebrities uncomfortable while he made young adult TV viewers laugh with his smart-alecky humor. This was David Letterman on NBC. The former NBC & CBS late night entertainment talk show host now looks like an extra in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF with white hair and a full white beard.
Letterman has a Netflix interview show called MY NEXT GUEST (NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION). His list of guests goes from Barack Obama to George Clooney to Cardi B. to......Will Smith. Because of Smith's angry physical and verbal actions on the Oscars this year, I was interested in watching that hour-long interview.
The interview obviously was shot when Smith's biopic movie, KING RICHARD, was coming out. That's the film that brought Will Smith the Oscar for Best Actor shortly after he slapped the taste out of Chris Rock's mouth on a live international telecast.
About that Oscars incident: I'd long been a Will Smith fan. I felt his performance as the complicated yet devoted Compton dad to tennis phenoms Venus and Serena Williams was outstanding and I was hoping he'd win the Oscar KING RICHARD. At first, I thought his action with Chris Rock was a comedy bit until he returned to his seat and began shouting foul-mouthed statements to Rock.
Until that night, I had no idea whatsoever that Will's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, suffered from alopecia. I thought her close-shaven hair was a style she preferred as I've known a few Black women who kept their hair that way for a time and they did not have alopecia. Was Chris Rock aware of Jada's alopecia?
Smith's slap angered me because the Oscars this year were produced by a Black man with other Black folks on his team. Then there was the presence of Best Actor Oscar nominee Denzel Washington, the most Oscaar-nominated Black actor in Oscar history, and the fabulous historic Best Supporting Actress win of Afro-Latina and openly queer Ariana De Bose for Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY. What Will did pulled some focus from them -- and it was not the best representation of a highly paid and famous Black American man for a global audience.
I thought Chris Rock was basically saying that Jada could get film roles like Demi Moore did -- because Demi shaved her hair off to play a military character in G.I. JANE.
Comedian Wanda Sykes was one of the Oscars hosts that night. What if she had made the comment Chris Rock did? Would Will Smith had charged onstage and slapped her?
Letterman's very mature yet also funny interview of Will Smith took place before a small audience in Hollywood's The Comedy Club. A graphic appears telling us that it was taped before the Oscars telecast. Letterman introduces the actor as "America's friend," mentions Smith's just published memoir and, as they sit, compliments him with "...you're a beautiful man."
It's established that Will Smith is one of Hollywood's most bankable stars. Much of the first half-hour is spent on Smith's rap music career that led to his sitcom, THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR. It contains a very funny account of Smith's meeting and auditioning for Quincy Jones at his swanky, celebrity-filled Bel Air home. In those sections of the interview, Smith mentions his late father a lot. His dad was not perfect man but he had a huge impact on him. Smith says that his father taught him "integrity and discipline."
In the second half, Smith tells of the two years he took off from making movies before he did KING RICHARD. He went on an intense "spiritual journey." His description may remind fellow boomers of Cary Grant praising L.S.D. for helping him make some emotional breakthroughs.
Will took a foreign substance, a drink, 14 times under supervision. It caused hallucinations and insight. He goes into detail about that. He talks about his kids and his marriage. He never mentions Jada's name nor does he say the word "wife." He talks about the impression meeting Nelson Mandela had on him and what he learned from Mandela about forgiveness.
Today, my question to Will Smith would be "How would your father have felt about what you did to Chris Rock on live TV?" and "How would Nelson Mandela have felt to see you slap Chris Rock unexpectedly on live TV?"
And "Can you get a refund for all those spiritual journey sessions?"
His conflict with Chris Rock should've been handled offstage and behind tbe scenes. That would've been handling it with integrity and discipline.
Here's a trailer for Letterman's Netflix show.
The Will Smith interview is Episode 2 in Season 4 of Letterman's show.
Saturdays now seem to be my day to scroll through Netflix to find something of interest. Today, I found an Oscar winner. It came out in 2020. It won an Oscar in early 2021. I watched IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU and it put tears in my eyes. Get this -- it runs only 12 minutes long. The Oscar it won was in the Best Animated Feature category.
The story opens with the sound of birds chirping. We see an overhead shot of the illustration of a suburban neighborhood. We go inside one house. A couple is at a long table eating. The husband at one end. The wife at the other. We see immediately that there is not just physical distance, but emotional distance between them.
The couple is grappling with unspeakable grief. Their little girl is dead. The wife breaks down in the laundry room when she realizes that her daughter's shirt was one of the items she put in the washing machine. Now the trace of her daughter's scent in the shirt is gone. Eventually, memories of the joy she brought into her parents' lives come forth.
This feature is a plea for gun safety. The little girl was killed in a school shooting. This feature was released in 2020 and won Hollywood gold in the spring of 2021.
Columbine. Sandy Hook. Parkland. The evil committed at those schools was already dark American history when IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU was released. Then this year, evil struck Uvalde, Texas and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
Something must be done about gun safety here in America. The evil of assault rifles must be stopped.
Today is June 10, 2022. 100 years ago today, a little girl named Frances Gumm was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The youngest of three sisters, the girls performed on the vaudeville circuit and the family eventually settled in Southern California. Frances was a kid with a big voice that could touch your heart. She couldn't even read music. She was an untrained singer, dancer and actress who grew up to become one of the most extraordinary and memorable talents in show business. Her name was changed to Judy Garland.
My gay card would be revoked if I didn't post something about Judy today -- so here you go.
One of my favorite Garland recordings comes from a radio performance. Three years before MGM cast her (and then dropped her) from its film version of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, Judy did a number from the new Broadway hit. Here she is swingin' "I Got the Sun in the Morning (and the Moon at Night.")
I love her rendition of "But Not for Me" in the 1943 MGM musical, GIRL CRAZY.
Greer Garson, the ladylike and multi-Oscar nominated MGM star, had scored success in a couple of biopics in addition to winning a Best Actress Oscar for the World War 2 drama, MRS. MINIVER. She was pitched the chance to let hair down in a satirical musical number in MGM's all-star revue, 1945's ZIEGFELD FOLLIES. Greer turned it down. The number was given to Judy -- and she's perfect for it. Here she is as a glamorous Hollywood grand dame in "A Great Lady Gives an Interview."
As for dancing, she's a knock-out doing "The Portland Fancy" in 1950's SUMMER STOCK with Gene Kelly.
SUMMER STOCK also has Judy's iconic "Get Happy" number.
There will never be another like her. I leave you with a cut from Judy Garland's 1964 London Palladium concert with her daughter, Liza Minnelli. Judy sings "What Now, My Love."
In a week of difficult, soul-crushing news on network television, I've got a TV programming note that's perfect for family viewing. It's a classic film that could refresh your soul and make you smile again for a couple of hours.
If you get cable's TCM channel -- Turner Classic Movies -- Hollywood great Judy Garland is the TCM Star of the Month for every Friday in June.
When I was a child of the '60's, growing up in Los Angeles, one of my favorite nights of the year was the night of the annual prime time special network presentation of THE WIZARD OF OZ. I'm sure many fellow boomers feel the same way. It usually aired as a CBS special back in the day when we didn't have TV recording abilities, VHS and DVD rentals and 24-hour cable that had channels like TCM. We had CBS, ABC, NBC and local stations broadcast from a big, heavy box of bulbs, wires and a screen that was centered in your living room. Also, you were lucky if you had a color TV.
What I loved about those nights were, of course, the brilliant musical fantasy itself with its amazing cast, highlighted by the sincerity and poignancy of young Judy's truly iconic performance. Her last line always touched my heart, It still does. I also loved our mother's THE WIZARD OF OZ annual TV presentation ritual of making brownies or chocolate chip cookies and sitting down to enjoy them and the movie with my sister and me.
This Friday, June 10th, TCM airs THE WIZARD OF OZ at 8p ET following Judy Garland with Gene Kelly in THE PIRATE ar 4p ET -- featuring Garland's sexiest and funniest performance in an MGM musical -- and IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME with Van Johnson at 6p ET.
THE WIZARD OF OZ will air on TCM uncut and commercial free.
I'll be watching.
When I grew up, here's something I realized about Judy Garland's performance in THE WIZARD OF OZ. She started work as a contract player with a moving, memorable, big voice when she was 13. She was under contract to MGM, the A-list Hollywood studio for musicals. She began appearing in films. She was not yet a star. The performance in 1939's THE WIZARD OF OZ made her one. Garland worked at MGM for 15 years and became a top Hollywood star. She pretty much grew up in front of the MGM cameras.
MGM eagerly wanted Shirley Temple for the role of Dorothy. Temple was a major money-maker at 20th Century Fox and Fox would not loan her out to MGM.
MGM gave the role to teen Judy. When Judy was 15/16 and making the movie, she was surrounded by middle-aged veteran performers -- Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Ray Bolger, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton and Frank Morgan -- all grown-ups at their best.
However, if you couldn't believe in the longing, sadness, humility, strength, sincerity and love in Dorothy's character, the whole multi-million dollar MGM production would fall apart. She's the key figure. Plus, Judy had to learn new songs and dances. That was a daunting assignment. Judy had a lot resting on her shoulders for a kid -- and she carried it off beautifully. Judy Garland was an extraordinary, natural talent.
It's Sunday, June 5th. The brilliant monologist, Spalding Gray, was born this day in history. He was revered by New York City audiences in the 1980s. I was one who had a reverence for his work. His skill of sitting at a desk and telling his life stories, as he did in 1987's SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA, had an influence on me when I had my weeknight celebrity talk show on VH1. In fact, Spalding was one of my favorite guests on the show.
In 2008 or 2009, when my bank account was nearing malnourishment and I could not get any regular TV or radio employment, I got a very nice call from a young lady named Amy Hobby. She worked with director StevenSoderbergh and he was working on a documentary about the late monologist. Ms. Hobby told me that Mr. Soderbergh wanted permission to use a long clip from my VH1 interview of Spalding in the documentary.
I was touched but also disappointed. I told her that I loved interviewing Spalding but, unfortunately, I did not have a copy of that show. She replied, "Oh, we have it." Spalding had recorded that entire edition of my talk show and it was found in his belongings.
I was extremely touched to hear that. So much so it just about put tears in my eyes. Sometimes, you can become invisible to those who've been up close to you for a long time. That was the case with me. Mom, Dad, my sister and my brother, I discovered, didn't watch my show. Other things occupied their time and got their attention. None of them had a recorded copy of any of my weeknight show on national television.
But Spalding Gray did.
AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE is the name of Steven Soderbergh's documentary. It's part of the Criterion Collection. You'll see me in the documentary. Here's a trailer.
It is our loss that the monologist-actor-writer took his own life in 2004.
Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin wrote that Judy Garland's voice was "one of the most enduring sounds of the 20th Century." She and her two older sisters had been vaudeville performers ever since she was 2 years old. A little girl with a big voice, after years of traveling the country, still performing on vaudeville stages. the family landed in Southern California when Frances Gumm's named had been changed to Judy Garland. She performed on some radio shows. At age 13, she signed a contract with MGM, the top Hollywood studio for musicals, and started work as contract player. Over the course of the next 15 years of her contractual employment, Judy Garland would prove to be one of the most extraordinary and charismatic talents on the MGM lot. She could act, she could dance and. Lord, how she could sing.
Judy Garland is TCM's Star of the Month. Her movies will be featured every Friday in June. This month also marks the centennial of Garland's birth. The TCM (Turner Classic Movies) salute starts June 3rd at 1:00p ET with an airing of PIGSKIN PARADE (1936). This is a college football musical comedy starring Betty Grable. Judy does three songs and that's pretty much it. PIGSKIN PARADE was made at 20th Century Fox when Judy, I believe, had just turned 13 and was about to start her MGM years. She was still an unknown talent, a Hollywood hopeful.
The Regency was a big, popular revival movie theater on the upper West side of New York City near Lincoln Center. (You get a glimpse of it in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS as Woody Allen's characters walks to a Tower Records store).
Back in the late 80s, I went to The Regency one Saturday evening to see PIGSKIN PARADE. I did not expect that large theater to be packed, but it was. After young Judy sang "It's Love I'm After," the place erupted into terrific, enthusiastic applause.
The other June 3rd movies featuring young Judy Garland are BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938, EVERYBODY SING starring Fanny Brice, LISTEN, DARLING starring Mary Astor as her mom, BABES IN ARMS and BABES ON BROADWAY. Those last two co-star Mickey Rooney.
On Friday, June 10th, THE WIZARD OF OZ airs uncut and commercial free at 8p ET. I definitely want to be seated in front of my flatscreen TV for that one.
On Friday, June 24th, there's the restored, remastered, highly acclaimed 1954 remake of A STAR IS BORN. After Garland's MGM contract was terminated in 1950, she did concert dates here and abroad and then made her big screen comeback in a film that brought her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress,
It was Hollywood legend that, after its exclusive engagement, Warner Bros studio head Jack L. Warner had 40 minutes cut out so that nationwide theaters that would play it in continuous screenings could squeeze in one or two more screenings.
The remake was directed by George Cukor. Warner made the cuts without Cukor's or Garland's knowledge. Over the next few decades, the search for the lost footage was like a Hollywood search for the Holy Grail. Footage was found -- footage that included two musical numbers Warner deleted -- and the restored, remastered A STAR IS BORN had a special 1983 premiere at Radio City. Garland's A STAR IS BORN leading man, James Mason, attended as did Garland's daughters, Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft. Lorna's dad produced the film when he was married to Judy.
I was there too thanks to Lorna. She got me a ticket. (I had done a TV interview of her.) Yes, the place was packed. There were people standing in the aisles. You would've thought New York had just won the World Series based on the overwhelming cheers and applause after Judy sang this number in A STAR IS BORN. Here's "The Man That Got Away."
During the ten years I worked and lived in Milwaukee, on the weekends, I'd meet friends at the local bars to catch up, search for a possible boyfriend, laugh a lot and have a few drinks. Sometimes, more than a few. When I got back to my humble apartment after midnight, I'd turn on the radio and listen to a marvelous DJ named Ron Cuzner. He hosted a very late-night jazz show called "The Dark Side." Cuzner was very stylized yet engaging with his unique vocal delivery. He was sophisticated yet down-to-earth. He was like a bit of Manhattan dropped into the city known then as an inspiration for TV's HAPPY DAYS sitcom. On his show, he introduced me to quite a few jazz artists.
One was vocalist Lee Wiley, a lady with a voice like velvet. In memory of Ron, I may be introducing her to some of you now.
Here's Lee Wiley doing "I've Got a Crush on You."
She does a sweet job on "Oh, Look at Me Now."
Let's wind it up with Lee Wiley's rendition of "Manhattan."
