tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post6422930656174664636..comments2024-01-27T00:19:36.912-08:00Comments on Coleman's Corner in Cinema...: The Scarface Mob (1959)Coleman's Corner in Cinema...http://www.blogger.com/profile/04761319284479513957noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-53646766366896993392011-11-26T19:33:48.533-08:002011-11-26T19:33:48.533-08:00Pretty effective information, lots of thanks for t...Pretty effective information, lots of thanks for the article.<br /><a href="http://www.antianxietyherbs.net" rel="nofollow">anti anxiety</a> | <a href="http://www.forddealersnj.org" rel="nofollow"> ford dealer nj</a> | <a href="http://www.dallasaquariumcoupons.org" rel="nofollow"> dallas aquarium coupon</a>Jacobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-79000863418833691572009-01-24T01:05:00.000-08:002009-01-24T01:05:00.000-08:00Thank you, mc, for the kind comment. You're right-...Thank you, mc, for the kind comment. You're right--Robert Stack was terrific.Coleman's Corner in Cinema...https://www.blogger.com/profile/04761319284479513957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-21731854463570996492009-01-23T17:58:00.000-08:002009-01-23T17:58:00.000-08:00Fantastic review. I just saw this recently and en...Fantastic review. I just saw this recently and enjoyed the heck out of it. Robert Stack was something else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-14360037616276119222009-01-16T17:39:00.000-08:002009-01-16T17:39:00.000-08:00Yes indeed, Anonymous. Thank you for the comment.Yes indeed, Anonymous. Thank you for the comment.Coleman's Corner in Cinema...https://www.blogger.com/profile/04761319284479513957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-13638488780768056542009-01-16T17:38:00.000-08:002009-01-16T17:38:00.000-08:00THE UNTOUCHABLES was a great TV show. Robert Stack...THE UNTOUCHABLES was a great TV show. Robert Stack was an awesome presence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-69035159206692175892009-01-07T18:51:00.000-08:002009-01-07T18:51:00.000-08:00Thank you so much for the very comprehensive comme...Thank you so much for the very comprehensive comments, Sam. Most appreciated as always. Fascinating indeed to learn that you became a member of the Knights of Columbus! Yes, some of the "ethnic" dialogue is insincere, and the stereotypes are present. However, there is little question that the TV movie and show were hard-hitting, noirish entertainment. Thank you again!Coleman's Corner in Cinema...https://www.blogger.com/profile/04761319284479513957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-36898390113775603792009-01-07T15:34:00.000-08:002009-01-07T15:34:00.000-08:00Quasi-documentarian in its form, The Untouchables ...Quasi-documentarian in its form, The Untouchables television series continually provoked intense responses from the viewer. Winchell's narration often criticized a “dangerously indifferent public.” Paradoxically, Al Capone is referred to on at least two occasions as the most infamous result of “America's experiment with Prohibition.” Viewing the issue of the ethnically centroidal matter, the fittingness of the real-life historical drama cannot be dismissed. Prohibition was but one major triumph of the progressive era....."<BR/><BR/>Indeed, in this fecund and insightful passage, as with may others in this essay Alexander Coleman takes on the issue of public response, which in this context was pre-ceeded by a cogent lead-in that dealt with typecasting, a rigid stereotyping that as the author amusingly relates "caused great ire from the Knights of Columbus". (I actually was a member of that group years ago, as I am also Italian-American, and had to undergo quite an initiation as I recall). Some of the 'naturalistic' dialogue was rather insincere, like the chosen line 'stupido' which was a narrow constriction of what Italian_Americans said in exclamatory phrasing. I remeber THE SCARFACE MOB, but I don't own it, and better recall of course the UNTOUCHABLES series, which as you authoritatively relate was a convergence of elements, not the least of which was the stunning performances by Robert Stack (who deserved an Oscar for Sirk's 'Written on the Wind')and Neville Brand. Your attention to specifics in their style and reception is superlative.<BR/>In the end, it's your historical placement of this piece in the pantheon of television that makes it stand out most consumately. A marvelous launching of this series at Dark City Dame's incomparable residence.<BR/><BR/>January 7, 2009 5:29 PM<BR/><BR/>COPIED AND PASTED from the comment section of Dark City Dame's site.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-64602979454512772009-01-07T15:07:00.000-08:002009-01-07T15:07:00.000-08:00Oddly enough Tony, none of those classic televisio...Oddly enough Tony, none of those classic television crim edramas you mention are on legitimate DVD yet. that was a fantastic story about the immigration experience, and I wanted to address that comment here. The story there of your mother's rescue of that intoxicated woman and their ensuing bond is very moving.<BR/> This is one of the greatest 'comments' I've ever read. But then, Alexander's response was fascinating as well and the ensuing discussion on these timeless shows.<BR/><BR/> I will make my longer response to Alexander's review of THE SCARFACE MOB at Dark City Dame's site and I will copy and paste it back here when I am done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-22063218463340036792009-01-06T11:26:00.000-08:002009-01-06T11:26:00.000-08:00Ah, I had just gone to bed before your second comm...Ah, I had just gone to bed before your second comment appeared, Tony.<BR/><BR/>Yes, I keep wishing that the latter seasons would be released. <I>Have Gun--Will Travel</I> was a fine show, a western noir of sorts like you say. Richard Boone was terrific in it.Coleman's Corner in Cinema...https://www.blogger.com/profile/04761319284479513957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-11412665367614726902009-01-06T04:14:00.000-08:002009-01-06T04:14:00.000-08:00Alexander, I loved Have Gun, Will Travel too. A gr...Alexander, I loved Have Gun, Will Travel too. A great noirish western series about a hired gun. Richard Boone had a very hip persona. Sample episodes from other seasons are legally hosted on Hulu - but only for US IP addresses:(Tony D'Ambrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359495250856189815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-49215416696228957352009-01-06T04:05:00.000-08:002009-01-06T04:05:00.000-08:00Tony, I cannot express how thankful I am for your ...Tony, I cannot express how thankful I am for your very detailed, intelligent and gently emotional comment. And thank you so very much for the kind words. <BR/><BR/>I myself, being an avid fan of noir, crime dramas and, yes, gangster pictures--so long as they're good, of course--as well as a great admirer of Italian and Sicilian culture, have always approached this issue with delicacy but also firmness with regards to your point: "What did happen was the only thing that could happen did happen - both in the US and here: the great mass of decent Italians took the dream of a new country in both hands and embraced hard-work and an openness to establish roots and an honest future for their kids. They became proud citizens of their adopted nation - like the Jews, the Irish and others."<BR/><BR/>Truer words on the subject were never written. <BR/><BR/>My own father was, as an adolescent, an enormous fan of <I>The Untouchables</I> television series. From him, I now have the show's first season on DVD. He described certain memorable scenes to me, and I had seen <I>The Scarface Mob</I> on an old BETA tape years ago. I was astonished at how much I remembered--I was probably ten or so when I saw the extravaganza, but as I watched it last week, I was taken aback by how powerful it remained, and how difficult it was to take one's eyes from the unfolding drama. <BR/><BR/>I truly appreciate your relating of your own story, Tony, and that of your mother and father. In reading about the Knights of Columbus controversy with regards to the television show, I learned that, apparently, many Italian- and Sicilian-Americans enjoyed the show.<BR/><BR/>That is a particularly touching story about your mother and the Anglo lady.<BR/><BR/>I am finding the series quite rewarding as I begin viewing the first season from the very beginning. Packed with intense drama (no one could stare like Robert Stack), double-crosses, killings and well-handled social commentary, this is a series that must have played a large, underappreciated role in redefining pulpy, gritty--and, thus far, serialized!--dramatic television. Evidently, the violence and risque subject matter (a striptease is performed in <I>The Scarface Mob</I>) put Arnaz and company in hot water with the FCC. <BR/><BR/>"Btw, I am reminded of other great TV crime dramas of the period: Peter Gun, Bourbon Street Beat, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, 87th Precinct... Is any of this stuff on DVD?" <BR/><BR/>Wow, I do not know, but I would love to find out. I have heard of all of those but <I>Bourbon Street Beat</I>. I'll have to look into all of those soon. Thank you for the tip in the way of a question. Classic TV shows are given DVD releases all the time nowadays... Speaking of my dad, I bought him the first three seasons of the Richard Boone western series, <I>Have Gun--Will Travel</I>, a show he loved when it ran.Coleman's Corner in Cinema...https://www.blogger.com/profile/04761319284479513957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4342369910596581403.post-91339126318139389482009-01-06T03:10:00.000-08:002009-01-06T03:10:00.000-08:00It has been over 40 years since I last saw an epis...It has been over 40 years since I last saw an episode of the Untouchables, but the series still holds vivid memories of a gritty realism and immediacy that made it essential weekly viewing in my home. Alexander has admirably evoked this in this sharp and nuanced essay.<BR/><BR/>I am not American. I am Australian, but my father is Sicilian and my late mother was Greek. They were part of the great wave of migration to Australia from the 30s through to the 60s, so my childhood experience is akin to that of the first wave of second generation Italo-Americans growing up in the 20s and 30s in US cities, but the Mafia has never had a significant presence over here, so there is a significant difference. There was prejudice and stereotyping, and as far as popular entertainment went, we didn't exist, sort of like black Americans in 40s Hollywood.<BR/><BR/> So a show like The Untouchables was hardly welcome fare in that sense, but my father was an avid fan and he never complained of stereotyping - it should be understood in Southern Italy, la Cosa Nostra is a part of the fabric of life, so we would have had a hard time arguing bias. <BR/><BR/>There was no point fighting the truth - organised crime during Prohibition had a strong Sicilian presence. What did happen was the only thing that could happen did happen - both in the US and here: the great mass of decent Italians took the dream of a new country in both hands and embraced hard-work and an openness to establish roots and an honest future for their kids. They became proud citizens of their adopted nation - like the Jews, the Irish and others. In every street and every-day these new citizens belied the stereotypes and overcame prejudice in anonymity.<BR/><BR/>An experience of my childhood is a vivid example of this process. My parents ran a corner-store in a socially mixed suburb. One of my mother's customer's was an Anglo-lady who liked to drink. Our store was on the way to the pub. One Saturday afternoon, this lady was so drunk she collapsed in the gutter near the store and must have lay there a while as passers-by ignored her. When my mother saw her, she picked her-up and walked her home. Neither woman ever mentioned the episode to the other, but a new deeper bond existed between them.<BR/><BR/>Btw, I am reminded of other great TV crime dramas of the period: Peter Gun, Bourbon Street Beat, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, 87th Precinct... Is any of this stuff on DVD?Tony D'Ambrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359495250856189815noreply@blogger.com