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Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
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Friday Night Notebook
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Browns vs. Lions live …
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Akron trounces Howard to reach .500
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Fondly remembered film from World War II era might be 'Fighting Lady'
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Thursday, Aug 14, 2008
If it's Thursday, this must be the mailbag . . .
Q: As a youngster growing up in Iowa in late 1940s and 1950s, a favorite family outing was going to ''Ma and Pa Kettle'' movies. I most remember ''Cheaper by the Dozen.'' I would love to share watching a Ma & Pa Kettle movie with my daughter, Emily (now 30). Are any of these movies available? How would I find them?
A: There are a couple of DVD sets, The Adventures of Ma & Pa Kettle, Volumes 1 and 2, which together have eight movies, starting with The Egg and I, a Fred MacMurray-Claudette Colbert comedy that introduced the Kettles to moviegoers. (There are also two other Kettles movies, but without the original Ma and Pa team of Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride). If your local retailer does not have the DVDs or cannot order them, the two sets are on sale at Amazon.com for about $15 each.
By the way, while the Kettles had a lot of children, Cheaper by the Dozen — whether the 1950 version with Clifton Webb or more recent updates with Steve Martin — did not involve the Kettles. But the Cheaper movies are also on DVD.
Q: I think the first movie I went to with my dad was called ''The Fighting Lady.'' It was a dramatic story from World War II and carrier war in the Pacific. I remember one of the heroes was called Smokey. I saw a movie recently on TCM called ''Men of the Fighting Lady'' but it was listed for 1954 and the movie I saw was no later than 1945. And I'm certain the TCM movie was not the one I saw. If you have any information, I would be deeply grateful.
A: While The Men of the Fighting Lady is a well-regarded film, it's not the one you saw as a child. (For one thing, Men involves the Korean War.) There is in fact a film called The Fighting Lady, from 1944, which was called a ''newsdrama of the Pacific.'' It won an Academy Award for best documentary, and one of the people in it was a young lieutenant known as ''Smokey'' Stover. (Smokey Stover was the star of a newspaper comic strip, so people named Stover tended to get tagged ''Smokey.'')
Getting back to The Fighting Lady, it is on DVD. You can also watch it online; I saw it at http://video.google.com.
Q: I am writing to ask you about a movie that starred SidneyPoitier. It was about the bomb that destroyed the world. Sidney and another man and a woman were the only people in New York City. Then the two men had it out for the woman. That's all I can tell you.
A: Let me tell you more, then. The movie is 1959's The World, the Flesh and the Devil. But it starred Harry Belafonte, not Sidney Poitier, with Inger Stevens and Mel Ferrer.
Q: Years ago I saw a movie starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford called ''Gilda.'' I haven't been able to find it. I thought you could find it for me.
A: The 1946 movie, which cemented Hayworth's reputation as a screen siren, is available on DVD. In addition, Turner Classic Movies will show it on Friday at 9:45 p.m. as part of a daylong presentation of Hayworth movies. It also has showings scheduled for noon Sept. 27 and 1:30 p.m. Oct. 17.
Q: I am trying to find on VHS or DVD a Disney movie called ''Big Red'' or ''Big Red Dog.'' Walter Pidgeon played in it. By the way, we do not have a computer.
A: Big Red, from 1962, was released on DVD in 2000 but copies have become hard to find and rather expensive. A VHS release can still be found at a lower price. If you don't have a local tape seller who can get it for you, try to find someone with a computer who can order it from an online retailer like Amazon.com.
•
Do you have a question or comment about movies, TV and other popular culture? Write to rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com or the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309. Please mark the note for Mailbag and do not phone in questions.
Letters may be edited. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. You can find more columns, questions and answers at http://www.ohio.com/entertainment/heldenfels.
If it's Thursday, this must be the mailbag . . .
Get the full article here.
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