Walter Mitty dreams for a day

A few years ago I read a Garrison Keillor novel called "Love, Me" that played out one of my Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye version) dreams.

It's about a small-town scribe who writes a best-seller, moves to New York and works for Mr. Shawn at The New Yorker. I was so taken with it that I nearly moved to Manhattan. (I'd have been broke by the end of the week, but hey...)

Every Sunday (and every day if I wish), I play out another Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye version) dream listening to Jonathan Schwartz on WNYC-FM and/or his new The Jonathan Channel. He's forgotten more about The Great American Songbook than I will ever know, and he likes the Red Sox. 

Tonight, and most nights over the last 20 years, I've played out another Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye version) dream by watching Robert Osborne on Turner Classic Movies. 

For the channel's anniversary, TCM aired a special "Private Screenings" on Osborne, interviewed by his best "Essentials" co-host, Alec Baldwin. 

Osborne's life is better than even a black-and-white MGM movie. He wrote for the Hollywood Reporter back when that meant something. He had a special relationship with Natalie Wood. He hung out with Peter Lawford at Louis B. Mayer's old mansion. He moved to New York and had a morning movie moment on CBS. He talks to Olivia de Havilland each week. 

And, nearly every night for the last two decades, he's hosted primetime introductions of the creme de la creme of classic cinema on TCM. 

Some guys have all the luck, as they say. 

'Andy Hardy' perfect fodder for foggy night

Nursing a migraine tonight with medicine and MGM's finest.

Yes, I decided last night to set the DVR to record Turner Classic Movies' 24-hour "Andy Hardy" marathon. It's part of TCM's month-long tribute to the great Mickey Rooney, who is 90 years young and still workin'.

It's fluff but perfect fodder for a foggy (in more ways than one) night.

The Hardy pictures were basically a sitcom in the days before television. It was gentle, predictable comedy about a "typical American family" that evolved into a star vehicle for Rooney as his character became more popular. Typical installments portray his misadventures in love. Usually at some point in the picture, Andy finds himself in a jam. A "man to man talk" with his father Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) helps put Andy on the right path.

The series was so popular that it was awarded a special Academy Award in 1943 for representing "the American way of life." Sixteen films were produced from 1937 to 1958, although the first one, "A Family Affair," was merely a one picture deal. But it proved so popular that the Hardy clan returned for a "sequel" -- albeit with an almost completely different cast. Lionel Barrymore played Andy's father the Judge in the first one.

The regular cast also featured Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker and Ann Rutherford. MGM also used the series to promote some of its up and coming actresses, including Judy Garland, Donna Reed, Esther Williams, Lana Turner and Kathryn Grayson.

Production ceased after the 1946 entry, "Love Laughs at Andy Hardy." But some of the cast returned for something of a reunion in 1958's "Andy Hardy Comes Home." It was intended to relaunch the series, but proved to be the final "Andy Hardy" film.

My only complaint -- although that's not the right word -- is that TCM for some reason is showing the films in reverse order. So we get to watch Mickey/Andy grow younger!

I have long admired Rooney, who may be one of the most under appreciated actors in Hollywood history. While watching TCM, I surfed over to the Knox County Public Library's website and placed a hold on Rooney's autobiography, the aptly-titled "Life is too Short."

They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Nerd moment for the week

Wouldn't you know it? I fell asleep right at the good part.

OK, here's my nerd moment for the week. Last night, I rearranged my entire evening so I could catch one of my favorite movies on TCM.

"Abe Lincoln in Illinois," from 1940, stars Raymond Massey as the Great Railsplitter, following our greatest president's journey from New Salem, Ill., through his fateful train ride to Washington in 1861 to become president of the United States. It's corny, melodramatic, plays fast and loose with history, but is a lot of fun.

And the funny part is I keep missing it every time it airs. The last time TCM showed the film (it's not available on DVD), I set the TiVo, all excited that I'd finally be able to watch this classic from start to finish. Yeah, it didn't record.

So guess what happened last night? I got all the way through the movie and fell asleep right at the part where Lincoln gives his famous "house divided" speech. I woke back up on the night of the 1860 election, when Lincoln waits calmly at the telegraph office for the results.

I did manage to catch his dramatic speech at the train station that closes the film, but I guess I'm just not supposed to EVER see this damn thing in its entirety. One thing I was glad to see is that the film faithfully replicates certain aspects of Lincoln's life, including his broken-promise engagement to Mary Todd (he later changes his mind and, for some reason, she does too) and his early struggles with money and difficulty finding a direction in life. Massey is a dead-ringer for Ol' Abe.

On a serious note, I did think a lot about Lincoln -- and our current election -- after the movie ended. And it really makes you marvel at this most remarkable American story.

Lincoln had been a one-term U.S. Representative and a state Rep. in the Illinois legislature for a few years prior to winning the Republican nomination for president. And that was about it.

He'd lost a Senate seat against the Little Giant, Stephen Douglas, in 1858. Honest Abe could tell a funny story, but he wasn't much to look at. He had a high-pitched voice. He couldn't have been elected dogcatcher if he'd came of age in the TV era.

But if ever a human being was born to play a certain role in history, surely it was this gentle soul from Springfield by away of Kentucky. His tale is indeed one for the ages.

'The Dark Past' gets inside your head...

Some nights, when the weather is just so and the mind is of a particular temperament, there’s nothing better than curling up on the couch and losing yourself in one of those glorious black-and-white movies from the 1940s. I got lucky last night and sat down to eat supper just as such a film began airing on TCM.

Called "The Dark Past," the film stars Lee J. Cobb as a pipe-smoking psychologist and a very young William Holden as the mentally-troubled escaped convict that interrupts Holden’s quiet weekend at his lakeside cabin. Although a near literal remake to an earlier film starring Edward G. Robinson, this examination into the criminal mind is an engaging little flick. More importantly, it’s a lot of fun.

Al Walker (Holden), on the run from the local police, shows up at the weekend home of Dr. Andrew Collins (Cobb) along with his entire gang. Collins has his wife and young son at the house, along with several weekend guests.

While everybody is held at gunpoint, Collins and Walker engage in a literal and mental game of chess downstairs. Walker pretends to dismiss Collins’ profession. But he’s fascinated.

Oh, and it turns out that Walker is having a recurring dream. He wants Collins to stop it. Witty psychological banter ensues, as well as a bit of adventure that was a staple of these kind of films. It put me in mind of a picture Humphrey Bogart made late in his career called "The Desperate Hours."

No doubt psychologists and police officers would find much to scoff at during this film. I doubt there’s any serious psychology here. But the idea is a good one.

What motivates someone to turn to a life of crime? Is it behavioral? Is it personal choice? Is it both? Is it neither?

But let’s not get too wrapped up in all that. The point of this movie is to entertain, not preach. And entertain it does.

I didn’t nod off the first time, which is more than I can say for most of the modern day, big-budget, CGI blockbusters.