2 paramounts on tcm saturday june 28th

[louie]

BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 and COLLEGE HOLIDAY. have they ever shown these before?

[BixB]

Nope. The last time BBOF '37 got an airing on cable was on the old AMC back in the early 90's and it's was one showing only. They ran the whole Big Broadcast series one week and all quality transfers. The BB's of '32 and '36 haven't been seen since either outside of murky bootlegs. COLLEGE HOLIDAY hasn't been seen since the days of 16mm MCA-TV syndicated packages. Fingers crossed that they'll be showing decent transfers from 35mm. There have been a handful of times in the recent past where TCM was handed transfers from 16mm prints from Universal.

[louie]

thanks and WAHOO! sure wish tcm would do a weeks worth of long unseen paramounts or maybe a regular series once a month or something.

[Richard Finegan]

Those two movies are part of an evening of Jack Benny movies. When the June schedule was first revealed three months ago, they had the 1941 version of CHARLEY'S AUNT scheduled, but later dropped and replaced it when they realized they couldn't get the rights to run it (this also happened once before with this same film). So I was very surprised (pleasantly!) that to replace it with another Benny title, they chose COLLEGE HOLIDAY, a rarity that they'd never shown before (and one that probably hasn't been on TV anywhere in decades) when they could much more easily have gone with one of the 1930's MGM's or 1940's Warner Bros. Benny pictures that they run regularly anyway.
So...THANKS, TCM!

[Richard Finegan]

thanks and WAHOO! sure wish tcm would do a weeks worth of long unseen paramounts or maybe a regular series once a month or something.

Louie, these are Jack Benny titles - are you sure you're excited they're being shown?

Anyway, if you still don't get TCM and would like copies, I'm making sure they get recorded.

[LouieD]

Louie, these are Jack Benny titles - are you sure you're excited they're being shown?

Wrong Louie.

[Richard Finegan]

Louie, these are Jack Benny titles - are you sure you're excited they're being shown?

Wrong Louie.

Oh, of course! I didn't look close enough!
But still, if you're interested in these, I'll get them recorded.

[LouieD]

Louie, these are Jack Benny titles - are you sure you're excited they're being shown?

Wrong Louie.

Oh, of course! I didn't look close enough!
But still, if you're interested in these, I'll get them recorded.

No thank you.

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

I had kind of a strange experience with College Holiday. When I was a kid there was a local TV station that showed the Paramount features from the ‘30s and ‘40s on a regular basis. (To this day, it’s my favorite classic era studio.) One afternoon they showed College Holiday, and I settled in to watch. About halfway in, during a scene, there was suddenly a problem: the picture went out of focus, the sound got muddy, and the movie stopped. So they played a few commercials. Then a few more. Finally, one of those dread Please Stand By cards appeared on the screen, and a voice announced that the station was experiencing technical difficulties. (Well, duh.) After a few more commercials the movie resumed, with a re-run of the last scene that had played before the problem began. (That in itself was strange in pre-VCR days, to see the same scene twice.) But it happened again. The movie stopped at the same point, and the Please Stand By card returned. After a long wait, we were informed that, due to insurmountable technical difficulties, the film would not resume.

Now that I’ve had some experience with video I can assume that the U-matic tape of this movie came off the hub, or that it caught in the machine and got stretched, or something along those lines, but at the time it was a jolt. Forty-plus years have passed, and I still haven’t seen the second half of that movie. I don’t remember anything about it, except for the scene that was repeated. So I’ll tune in when it’s on TCM, and see if the details come back to me. Maybe I’ll catch the ending this time, unless I nod off.

[Jim Gettys]

Look for Mildred Dixon in College Holiday. She was the frequent Busby Berkeley chorine who resembled Louise Brooks, with her distinctive black helmet bob.

Jim Gettys

[Jim Reid]

Now that I’ve had some experience with video I can assume that the U-matic tape of this movie came off the hub, or that it caught in the machine and got stretched, or something along those lines, but at the time it was a jolt. Forty-plus years have passed, and I still haven’t seen the second half of that movie.

If it was 40 plus years ago, it's doubtful it was videotape. It was probably a bad splice that caused the film to get shredded in the projector. It's hard to believe someone would rethread the projector so that the same bad spot would go through the gate again. Oh well, they rarely gave IQ tests before hiring folks at tv stations back then.

[Dave Pitts]

I hope they actually run. TCM's had a number of titles not in their core collection recently that were slated to run and then replaced with other titles -- most recently, yesterday's announced 5:15 showing of Last Summer (1969.)

[Robert W]

We're not getting COLLEGE HOLIDAY here in Canada; it's replaced with THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929.

[momsne]

I just saw the start of my recording of "College Holiday." It looks like a flawless print. The movie starts with the Paramount logo. On the earlier "The Big Broadcast of 1937," there was a Universal bumper first, with the notation MCA Pay TV. In his introduction, Bob Osborne confirmed that this airing was a TCM premier. Both these movies have closed captioning.

By the way, the opening credits for "College Holiday" show great creativity. As does most of this movie. Jack Benny is first seen hiding in a piano, with the sheet music for "Love In Bloom" (his theme song) by the keyboard.

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

I watched both Paramount rarities on TCM last night, and—this time—saw College Holiday all the way through. Although there was a lot of talent overlap between the two pictures, I felt that The Big Broadcast of 1937 held up best of the two. Stronger songs would’ve boosted both pictures, but I liked the Benny Goodman numbers in the first one, and also found the Leopold Stokowski segment surprisingly enjoyable. (It sure wasn’t typical for a conductor of classical music to turn into a pop star, although it happened again later with Leonard Bernstein.) I also enjoyed Martha Raye’s swing numbers, especially the one in the train at the beginning of College Holiday. Like Betty Hutton, she’s a performer I can enjoy in moderate doses, and she’s usually a stand-out in these all-star hodgepodges.

It was interesting to see Jack Benny before he was “Jack Benny,” that is, before his comic persona had fully formed. No jokes about his stinginess, or vanity, or temperament. He was okay, but strangely bland. Similarly, I find Burn & Allen more enjoyable in their TV episodes than in their film appearances. Gracie, like Mary Boland, could make even second rate material sound amusing, but from what I’ve seen she was seldom given first rate material at Paramount. For me, the best Burns & Allen moment of the evening was their spirited dance in 18th century costumes in the second feature, alongside the doggedly unfunny Ben Blue. And one more observation: after the movies were over I wondered why neither Shirley Ross nor Marsha Hunt ever made it into the top ranks of stardom. I guess they never got the right breaks at the right time, but I felt each of them came off quite well in these appearances, given what they had to work with.

In any case, it was fun to see these flicks again. Once again I’m grateful to TCM for pulling half-forgotten rarities out of the vaults.

[entredeuxguerres]

It was interesting to see Jack Benny before he was “Jack Benny,” that is, before his comic persona had fully formed. No jokes about his stinginess, or vanity, or temperament. He was okay, but strangely bland....

A better view of the pre-“Jack Benny” persona occurs in Chasing Rainbows, 1930; incomplete, but what survives is quite marvelous. He's a good deal better than "okay."

I rarely, RARELY, agree with Leonard Maltin about anything, especially musicals, but in the case of this picture, his "almost unbearable" took the words out of my mouth. A notable exception was Benny Goodman's bit, but that didn't compensate for the idiot roaming around with his "bazooka."

I was too dispirited to continue with the second picture.

[boblipton]

I can watch Burn & Allen any time Gracie is talking; and "Just A Rhyme for Love" has some good choreography, but this one is a mess, isn't it? Beautiful print, though.

Bob

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

A better view of the pre-“Jack Benny” persona occurs in Chasing Rainbows, 1930; incomplete, but what survives is quite marvelous. He's a good deal better than "okay."

Haven't seen that one, but I did catch Benny in a short called A Broadway Romeo, made in '31. In this film he's a cynical, wise-cracking smoothie, and something of a ladies' man. He also cops a free meal by pulling a mean trick on a stranger. Now that was a very different Jack Benny.

[Marr&Colton]

I complained to TCM----the transfer of BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 was pretty soft and grainy--probably from the 1980s since it had "Universal Pay TV" logo which was a dead giveaway to its age. Wonderful movie, but Universal doesn't seem to be consistent in providing the most sharp, up-to-date transfers lately. COLLEGE HOLIDAY was a newer, nice transfer, but
awfully silly in spots. TCM needs to get some good transfers of BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN and LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, which haven't been shown since AMC had that package in the early 1990s.

[Harlett O'Dowd]

I complained to TCM----the transfer of BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 was pretty soft and grainy--probably from the 1980s since it had "Universal Pay TV" logo which was a dead giveaway to its age. Wonderful movie, but Universal doesn't seem to be consistent in providing the most sharp, up-to-date transfers lately. COLLEGE HOLIDAY was a newer, nice transfer, but
awfully silly in spots. TCM needs to get some good transfers of BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN and LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, which haven't been shown since AMC had that package in the early 1990s.

NEEDS?

[BixB]

You're barking up the wrong tree by complaining to TCM. It's Universal's responsibility. TCM does all they can to provide the best looking materials but they can only do so much with the sometimes bones that Universal throws them. It's been a lot worse. In some cases U gave them transfers of 16mm TV prints to run in such cases as LAS VEGAS NIGHTS or Whale's THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR. Honestly, I thought both films looked pretty darn good, considering how Universal has operated in the past. We're lucky we got what we did. I'd rather see those earlier transfers than nothing at all.

[entredeuxguerres]

...I'd rather see those earlier transfers than nothing at all.

Of course; doesn't that go without saying? I'd have been happy with that 16mm Kiss Before the Mirror, as I've never seen that picture at all. But why should it be thought ungrateful to express a desire for "something better," if there's reason to believe something better exists, or can be acquired? Without an honest acknowledgment that a thing is not all it could be, where's the motivation to improve it?

[BixB]

...I'd rather see those earlier transfers than nothing at all.

But why should it be thought ungrateful to express a desire for "something better," if there's reason to believe something better exists, or can be acquired? Without an honest acknowledgment that a thing is not all it could be, where's the motivation to improve it?

I'm not saying it's ungrateful to desire something better (provided it exits). I'm saying you're expressing your displeasure to the wrong parties. Again. It's not TCM's fault. Send your complaints to Universal. TCM has no control over what materials that are sent to them.

[boblipton]

...I'd rather see those earlier transfers than nothing at all.

Of course; doesn't that go without saying? I'd have been happy with that 16mm Kiss Before the Mirror, as I've never seen that picture at all. But why should it be thought ungrateful to express a desire for "something better," if there's reason to believe something better exists, or can be acquired? Without an honest acknowledgment that a thing is not all it could be, where's the motivation to improve it?

I am sure Christopher is quite capable of self-expression, but the word "Needs" is the one emphasized and I expect that's the point of disagreement. Universal needs to do.... nothing. Whether the copy of weird Paramount musicals from the 1930s is from a pristine lavender dupe, a fourth-generation 16 mm. interpositive or doesn't show up on TCM at all, Universal Studios will still be in some form of business producing a random mixture of good shows and cr*p long after you and I have ceased to do what we need to do, which is to pay taxes and die.

I know I resent it when other people tell me what I need to do, which strangely enough seems to translate into me doing what they want done. I imagine you feel twinges of resentment when people tell you what you need to do, that Christopher does also and wishes that people would stop blaming the President or Boehner for the fact that no one has taken out the trash for three days. Perhaps Christopher is hypersensitive to the word for some reason. I decline to speculate. Since my sixtieth birthday a few days ago, I am afflicted with a need to tell people to get off my lawn. Too bad I don't have one.

Bob