I'm right here with you for all of this. And I'm pretty sure these Christmas specials are how I became familiar with Ives and Durante. I never knew about the Ives/Pete Seeger beef, though. Pete has always been a hero of mine for his actions, btw.
Now let me begin by stating that I did watch the Big Country movie from beginning to end, it was made in 1958 if I remember (not looking on my phone Paul, promise). I had my Gregory Peck moment (always loved him, something about his voice, though I can’t say I remember much what the movie is about). Anyhow, thank you for this great post! I have a few Jimmy Durante songs in my playlist, he always brings a smile when I listen to him (there’s a video clip from the 50s of him singing in duo with Louis Armstrong, delightful). Karloff is another of my favorites, I somehow always knew he had a beautiful heart which shows on those recordings. His voice is tremendous, I watched many of his movies from the 30s and 40s, some B or Z or whatever you want to call them, he’s always a treat to watch. I remember also watching one of his later movie, Target, from 1968 (still not checking my phone Paul), some kind of break between the old, classic horror impersonated by Karloff and the new violence from the American society, very real, as exemplified by the story of this shooter. Anyhow, I remember a scene where Karloff enters his hotel bedroom, and gets a scare from seeing his reflection in the mirror, just a great scene! Anyhow, I went a bit far away from the Christmas spirit, I’m sorry. Thank you for bringing back the memory of these wonderful entertainers. Again, the younger generation doesn’t know what they are missing!
I'm right here with you for all of this. And I'm pretty sure these Christmas specials are how I became familiar with Ives and Durante. I never knew about the Ives/Pete Seeger beef, though. Pete has always been a hero of mine for his actions, btw.
No love for the Burgomeister Meisterburger.
Now let me begin by stating that I did watch the Big Country movie from beginning to end, it was made in 1958 if I remember (not looking on my phone Paul, promise). I had my Gregory Peck moment (always loved him, something about his voice, though I can’t say I remember much what the movie is about). Anyhow, thank you for this great post! I have a few Jimmy Durante songs in my playlist, he always brings a smile when I listen to him (there’s a video clip from the 50s of him singing in duo with Louis Armstrong, delightful). Karloff is another of my favorites, I somehow always knew he had a beautiful heart which shows on those recordings. His voice is tremendous, I watched many of his movies from the 30s and 40s, some B or Z or whatever you want to call them, he’s always a treat to watch. I remember also watching one of his later movie, Target, from 1968 (still not checking my phone Paul), some kind of break between the old, classic horror impersonated by Karloff and the new violence from the American society, very real, as exemplified by the story of this shooter. Anyhow, I remember a scene where Karloff enters his hotel bedroom, and gets a scare from seeing his reflection in the mirror, just a great scene! Anyhow, I went a bit far away from the Christmas spirit, I’m sorry. Thank you for bringing back the memory of these wonderful entertainers. Again, the younger generation doesn’t know what they are missing!
I discussed Targets with Bogdanovich once. He said there were lots of things he hoped to do with it, but (of course) there was no time and no budget!