Work has been busy busy -- to say the least -- but I can't complain too much because the payoff is fantastic. For example, last night, Glenn and I watched a great movie, part three of "The Man with No Name" trilogy, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. It was this film and its two predecessors which really put Clint Eastwood on the map. It's no wonder since Clint fits the role of "The Man with No Name" perfectly. But, I digress. Getting to the good part: This morning, I had a phone call with Tuco himself, yes, the wonderful Eli Wallach. I am a pretty big Eli fan, and how can I not be? His autobiography is titled The Good, the Bad, and Me -- too cute! He's just too adorable for words and an all-around great guy. Plus, not only did he tell me how much he loves TCM and thinks it is the "cleverest" idea, but he also said he loves me! Eli Wallach said that to ME! I had to pinch myself after that phone call!
Side note: Because of my infatuation with Eli Wallach and Sergio Leone, I have seen The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly before, but not in a long while. Since I'm trying to branch out and expose myself to more Westerns, Glenn was smart enough to grab the Spaghetti Western for our Friday night viewing. Of the Westerns I've seen to date, I have to say, I'm coming around. The genre is actually really great, and I'm starting to believe that one of my grad school professors had it right: When you think about it, pretty much every other genre is a Western at heart. But, that's an analysis which will have to wait until a later post. Another reason we went with that movie last night also had a lot to do with the fact that I've been yammering on about Eli for a while now. I can't help it -- I'm so excited!
Now, you're probably wondering why I'm having Saturday morning phone calls with Mr. Wallach. True, Eli and I aren't good pals -- yet -- but I did meet him once. During my senior year of college I took a Cinema Studies class devoted to director Elia Kazan. Well, my class was fortunate enough to attend a screening of Baby Doll at the Film Forum which was followed by a Q&A session between Eli and journalist Patricia Bosworth. There were less than 50 people at the screening, and 15 of them were NYU students. Eli was nice enough to come over and shake hands with each of us and answer questions we had. He was 90 then, and sharp as a tack. Well five years later, 95 years young, Eli will be this December's TCM Guest Programmer, produced by yours truly, and hence, the Saturday phone call and my enthusiasm for work! Eli is energetic as ever and very excited to be involved with TCM. I'll be re-introducing myself to him this coming Wednesday, and I am incredibly stoked. For all the running around I've been doing at work in recent days, I'm looking forward to this next week. It'll still be hard work, but it's gonna be tons of fun!
And speaking of my TCM work, well, I suppose reiterating some of my work: June 29th will be the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Frank Loesser, the lyricist/composer for musicals such as How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Guys and Dolls; and songs such as Baby, It's Cold Outside and Heart and Soul. Surely if you don't know the name "Frank Loesser" you know his music. Well, Robert will be co-hosting a night of Frank Loesser films on June 29 with Robert Morse, the original star of How To Succeed, and a current cast member on one of my favorite shows at the moment, Mad Men. He plays Bert Cooper, and in person, Morse looks more like baby-face J. Pierrepont Finch than the older half of Sterling-Cooper. Anyhow, you can decide for yourself:
Robert Morse is a fantastic co-host -- a bundle of energy, that's for sure. Sadly, he would not release any information pertaining to next season, nor did he offer me a walk-on role. Oh well. That's quite alright with me. Luckily, I really like my day job. Watch TCM!
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