misterbee-1

This is a terrific little film. Light entertainment, nothing to think about, just sit back watch the stars of Hollywood's Golden Age and enjoy. Any movie with Dennis Morgan AND Jack Carson has to be good, and Doris Day pretties up the whole thing. Lots of cameos by Hollywood's best and lots of talent. I recommend this movie when you're tired and stressed and just want a good movie to relax to. The other great thing about this movie is you never know who will show up. Gary Cooper and Dennis Morgan sitting at a drug store counter, Coop sipping Coke, Dennis prattling on and Coop just saying "Yup." Just goes to show you don't need to say a lot, especially a lot of "F" words to show your talent. Nobody in Hollywood today comes up to these stars in terms of talent and class.

One of my all time favorite movies. I love to watch Andy Griffith work the Lonesome Rhodes character along with everybody else in the movie. One of the marks of a great actor is how well he plays a bad guy and Griffith plays a great bad guy. It's not hard to dislike Rhodes but everybody around him is as bad as he is trying to get a piece of the Lonesome Rhodes pie. Anthony Franciosa plays a great part as the greasy creepy hanger on. You can see Franciosa working Rhodes. One scene he's snapping his fingers to something Rhodes is singing and he's just plain creepy. Rod Brasfield plays Beanie, Rhodes' traveling buddy. I remember Brasfield from a 50's TV show that showcased up and coming country stars of the time and old favorites as well. He was a pretty fair comedian and does a pretty fair job in this movie. All in all, great movie.

I was a teenager when this show was on in 64 and I never missed it. It's on AMLTV now, and I catch it whenever I can. Between Robert Lansing and Paul Burke, my friends and I preferred Lansing. He always gave an intensity to the role, sort of stand-offish, but always in command. But when Paul Burke stepped in as commander of the 918th Bomb Group, he brought pretty much the same intensity. I'm not sure if Lansing tried to copy Gregory Peck's General Savage, but Lansing did a great job transitioning the role to TV. The show was produced by Quinn Martin (QM Productions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinn_Martin) who produced some of the best shows of the 60's. For those of us who have always been fans of the great old B-17 Flying Fortress, 12 OClock High is still a great TV show.