"Hob-Knobbing With A Hollywood Starlet."

My niece was once a star, a movie star. Hob-knobbing with the likes of Robin Williams, Sally Field, Mike Myers, McCauley Caulkin, Pierce Brosnan, and Ted Danson. Okay, so you're not thrilled with the inclusion of Ted, so quickly erase it from your memory banks.

Hob-knobbing with the likes of Robin Williams, Sally Field, Mike Myers, McCauley Caulkin, and Pierce Brosnan, my niece was once a star of the silver screen. As they say, "the proof is in the pudding," and the pudding will follow. Submitted for your approval and perusal. Uncle v.c.

"Haggis, Part One"

Yes, that was my niece sitting next to Mike "Haggis" Meyers at the beginning of the film. The setting-a coffee house. Shades of beatniks who went before, ergo, the "beat generation."  

"Comparable To A Picasso?"

The Pond describes the following dish [ haggis ] as a "work of art." It's image as meaningful as any Picasso. 

"Guess What's Coming To Dinner?"

Must be a Scottish thing. I can unequivocably announce to the world that the Catfish Clan has never had haggis on its supper, er, dinner table. 

"Drink To ME; Drink To My Health; You Know I Can't Drink Anymore!"

Yummy. And the last pix of Haggis. R.I.P. 

"And Whatever Happened To The Courtship of Whoopi's Father?"

She also drew rave reviews in "Getting Even With Dad" starring a thirteen year old McCauley Culkin and Ted Danson. Her big scene? Playing Ted's ex via a framed photograph adorning his dresser. Show biz, eh?  

"Scene At The Bar! I'll Have a Manhatten!"

Amber's scene is soon to follow the Hillard's foray into the pool. The kids, Mrs. Hillard, and the dashing Stu Dunmeyer are engaged with swimming as Mrs. Doubtfire withdraws, meandering towards the bar. A young woman clad in a bikini and her male friend exit before Mrs. D. takes a seat. The young woman in question is my niece. Allergic to pepper, v.c. 

"Oscar Levant? Who In The Hell's He?"

Me niece wasn't in this movie but Clark Gable was. And Doris Day. Oscar Levant once quipped, "I knew Doris before she was a virgin," alluding to her wholesome image portrayed in the movies. Que sera sera, eh? 

"Amberoonie"

In Mrs. Doubtfire, Amberoonie, a name I coined for her when she was just a young teen. Who once visited with us-me and kitty-on loan from her grandmother and Gramps Fred, while she was vacationing on the Pond. Cheese and crackers.  

"Rest in Peace?"

Harmon Killebrew played for the now defunct Washington Senators. Who in the 60's moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. Harmon is the only major leaguer from Boise, Idaho. However, Washington was awarded with another expansion team. At one point Ted Williams was their manager. ( late 60's ) "All I could think of was Ted and what he would have thought if he'd known what John Henry had done to him," Hamon told the Daily News. "It was bad enough knowing that somewhere in one of these cylinders, Ted was hanging suspended, upside down, with his head in a bucket. But he was in there with four or five other bodies and assorted heads. 

"Wonder If He Knew Ricky Ricardo?"

Pedro Ramos played for the Washington Senators back in the day. Here he is smoking a fine Cuban cigar. From whence did he hail? Why, Cuba, of course. He came to the U.S. before the advent of the Castro regime. I remember seeing him pitch against the Bravos as a Philadelphia Phillie. Past his prime, Pedro's gut was hanging over his belt. He retired soon thereafter. 

"Smokeless Tobacco and Bill Tuttle"

Who is Bill Tuttle? A journeyman outfielder who played for the A's ( Kansas City ) and Twins to name a few. He also is a crusader against tobacco, specifically smokeless tobacco. The next time you hear the term "smokeless tobacco", remember the name Bill Tuttle.Joe Garagiola can tell you all about him. Like many professional baseball players, both Tuttle and Garagiola were frequent users of chewing tobacco in the early 1950's. Garagiola quit. Tuttle kept chewing.

Tuttle underwent five operations in which parts of his face and skull were removed and rebuilt. Tuttle eventually lost his ability to talk, but not before becoming one of baseball's most effective anti-smokeless campaigners. He remained passionate about the subject until the very end. A few months before his death in 1998, he scrawled Garagiola a note which read: "Keep up the fight."
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"Two Brothers"

Tommie and Hank Aaron hold a Major League Baseball record-most home runs by brothers-that will probably never be broken. Tommie had 13 homers while Hammering Hank had 755. 755 plus 13 = 768. P.S. Curt Simmons, a good pitcher from the 50's/60's, once quipped: Trying to throw a fastball by Henry Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster."

 

"Where You Gone Joe....?"

Speaking of brothers that's Dom Dimaggio on the left. His brother was....Joe Dimaggio. In the middle is Mickey Vernon, and Ted Williams on the right. Ted served in World War II and the Korean War. Known for having eyes like an eagle. Had he not gone to war, he may have topped the Babe's home run record before Hammerin' Hank.  

"Películas Más Obscuras"

Golden Pond is translated into spanish for your approval. It was copied by me from a referree who engaged a direct hit to the Pond. For your perusal:

Otro cuadro a partir de últimos años '50 de ese circa clásico del horror, "la gente del cocodrilo." Filmado en La.From dvddrivein.com: Cuide Jane Marvin (garland), lo revela bajo hipnosis que su nombre verdadero sea Joyce Webster y cuenta una historia increíble como la película revela en retroceso. En luna de miel con su marido, reciben al veterano de guerra Paul Webster (grúa de Richard), un telegrama, casuing lo a camine de su tren y desaparezca. 

"More Obscure Movies"

Another picture from that horror classic circa late fifties, "The Alligator People." Filmed in La.From dvddrivein.com: Nurse Jane Marvin (Garland), reveals under hypnosis that her real name is Joyce Webster and tells an incredible story as the film unfold in flashback. On honeymoon with her husband, war veteran Paul Webster (Richard Crane), a telegram is received, casuing him to walk off their train and disappear. She eventually tracks him down to a plantation mansion in the Bayou swamps and is unwelcome by the owner, Mrs. Lavinia Hawthorne (Frieda Inescort from RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE), who claims she never heard of Paul Webster. Joyce insists on staying, and soon discovers her hubby looking leathery and scale-faced as he creeps around the mansion and its swamps in a trenchcoat. It seems that Paul was the victim of a nasty plane crash and ended up being burnt with a body full of broken bones. Trying to prompt a full recovery, a scientist experimented on him using a special regenerative formula extracted from alligators, but unfortunately, the results are transforming him into a reptile. 

"Gorgo"

"Gorgo" topples Big Ben. The townsfolk corral Gorgo thinking they have the creature under wraps. The joke's on them as Mama Gorgo shows up to save her baby. And save Gorgo Jr. she does.  

"Your Mama"

Mama Gorgo.  

"Cereal"

The Caped Crusader and Robin, the Boy Wonder. I saw this serial 20 or so years ago, shown in its original serial form. 12 episodes? each ending with a cliffhanger. "Indiana Jones" was based on this format. And whatever happened to Adam West and Burt Young, eh? 

"Holy Back In The Day"

The "Batmobile" in 1949. Is that Commisioner Gordon in the front seat?  

"And Whatever Happened to Ted Nugent"

"Journey To The Center of the Earth" with James Mason, Arlene Dahl, [ redhead ] and Pat Boone. Who yesterday lashed-out at one Cindy Sheehan. Seems she has a new ally, the venerable Al Sharpton. Go figga. "Journey" inspired the Amboy Dukes who in '68 recorded "Journey to the Center of the Mind."  

"Outtakes From Hitchcock and Steve Reeves"

Alfred's cameo from "Rear Window." Which starred Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. And which starred Raymond Burr [ Perry Mason ] as the traveling salesman who kills his wife. Mr. Burr auditioned for the part of Hamilton Burger before landing the lead role. Fate, eh?  

"Outtake 2"

From "North by Northwest." Here's a scene with James Mason, Eva Marie Saint, and Cary Grant. Look at the kid between Cary and James. If you watch the movie, the youngster plugs his ears with his fingers, knowing that Eva is about to shoot Cary with a blank pistol. Funny no one caught it. Or maybe they did? Kitty Kitty Kitty, er, Judy Judy Judy.  

"1951"

Not sure but methinks this is Alfred Hitchcock's cameo from "Strangers On A Train," a grizzly thriller which starred Farley Grainger and Robert Walker. The shot where Robert Walker kills Farley's wife is worth the price of admission in 1951. Good evening! 

Driving Miss Daisy

>"Lifeboat" from Alfred. That's Hume Cronyn next to William Bendix ( see "Babe Ruth Story" and Life of Riley ) and Talleulah Bankhead on the right. Hume was married to Miss Daisy, aka Jessica Tandy. Bendix plays Gus who meets an early demise, thanks to Walter Pidgeon, the Nazi Sub Commander 

"This Foray Started Out To Include All Outtakes But Soon Turned Into An Alfred Hitchcock Outtakes 'Cept For This One"

Steve "Hercules" Reeves starred in two "Hercules" movies in the early 60's. Both have the mark of a film translated into another language. The lips and mouth movements don't match. I bought the second one the other day on DVD. It is gawd-awful. Couldn't even watch the ending.