....Run, don't walk over to TCM today.....They are having a 1961 film marathon, and their choices are not to be missed.

If you want to see where the writers of Mad Men are pulling all their ideas for absolutely everything, you won't want to miss these movies.

I missed the first couple, unfortunately, but came into it in the middle of The Explosive Generation with Bill Shatner (in a surprisingly subtle performance) and a teenaged Beau Bridges, among others.

This one was very pro-youth, anti-establishment, complete with a protest demonstration, but at the high school level. Shatner played the progressive rock against which the opposing sides broke themselves.

I can really see why Matt found 1961 to be so fascinating, and so important.

Right now they are airing Something Wild with Carroll Baker, and the intro shots of Manhattan make the Mad Men intro look like The Simpsons! If you can catch it just for the intro, it would be worth it.

It was extremely edgy, almost Hitchcockian in its stark perspective.(a not-so-subtle "tip of the hat" to AMC and Mad Men, I presume).

I saw something (came in the middle of it) with Rita
Tushingham, Lynn Redgrave, and Peter Finch where it appeared Rita was Peter's mistress and he was wanting to dump her and she was not happy about it....don't know what the name of that one was....then a "teen" movie came on with all the guys sporting "Arnold Palmer" cardigans....cool cats for sure....looked to be about 1965????

That movie was "The First Time", made in 1969. It had some wonderful scenes of Niagara Falls. I watched just enough to know it was about 3 teenage boys who took a day trip to the Canadian side of the falls to find a whorehouse and have sex for the first time. I did not stick around to find out if they were successful, but they met up with a very young Jacqueline Bissett just before I turned it off.

The one with Peter Finch was "The Girk With Green Eyes" and took place in Ireland. Very early Lynn Redgrave. I remember liking that movie years upon years ago, but when I saw it again recently, it seemed very dated to me, and I wondered what all the fuss was about.

Oh, criminy, excuse me....should be "The GIRL With Green Eyes".... girk with green eyes sounds like a horror movie....I just hate making typos and not catching them before I hit submit.

Typos....that's what you get for gettin' around me!(they're catching!)

You hardly ever make them, z! I, on the other hand, have them in about every other post! so frustrating.

ha?

I didn't finish those movies, either....they seemed so, I don't know...childish?....I guess there's a reason we liked them when we were younger....they don't hold up upon re-watching at 58 all that well...

I watched "Something Wild". I saw two actressses I recognized. Doris Roberts and Jean Stapleton. Doris Roberts was a bit hard to place since she had dark hair and now she is a blond but you couldn't miss Jean Stapleton. This movie had a lot of subtleties in it that at the age of eleven I wouldn't have understood. I found the movie very interesting.

Season 3 of MADMEN is supposed to or will start AUGUST 16TH 2009 I believe.

AUGUST????????????????? I can't wait that long! This may come from left field, but contenting myself with the DVDs and itunes is like masturbation -- just something to get me through but not what I really want :-) .

Nancy! Why I believe Aunt PittyPat has fainted clean away!

Aunt Pitty>>>>>"ooooooooohhhhhhh oooooooooooooo!!!" (as fellow Maddicts surround her fanning her face)

My new TV Guide section (May 10 -- May 16) that comes with my Sunday newspaper has this in the Q & A column ("TV Pipeline"):

Q:
When does the third season of "Mad Men" start? Last I heard, the series creator was in a dust-up about a contract dispute.

Seattle

A:
AMC says the drama set in the advertising world will start up anew again in July, and "Mad Men" mentor Matthew Weiner still will be on board as its main creative force, having reached a new two-year agreement with Lionsgate Television in January.

This info must be the info they had before the LATEST info about it being August....who the hell knows, anyway, it seems to change week to week....July OR August is about as close as we are going to get in pinpointing it, I think!

HHmmmmmmm...."Seattle"....was that you, jamm?

ha

.....Actually, and this is late, I am with you SCfan and z.....I jumped ship (had work to do), and didn't even get to see Something Wild, and then after that it was average again, and moved into the later 1960s. No real interest there.

Are you guys watching the re-runs?

If you mean re-runs of Mad Men, no, I am not. I really, really want to, but I cannot stay up that late. I must get up early on Mondays, and try as I will, by 10 p.m. Sunday nights, I can barely keep my eyes open.

I know there are ways of taping the show, but I refuse to to that. AMC should be providing the re-runs of such a celebrated and award-winning program at a reasonable hour. Why they choose not to do so is beyond my comprehension.

The sooner, the better (for series 3) We will probably be a few episodes behind you fellow Maddicts so for us it could be Autumn-or as you say, so wonderfully descriptive, The Fall.

The sooner, the better (for series 3) We will probably be a few episodes behind you fellow Maddicts so for us it could be Autumn-or as you say, so wonderfully descriptive, The Fall.

Sorry, click happy.

.....Oooohh, z......you are a hard nut.

I thought I was persnickety.

Well, Dry, I have to say I'm DVRing it and watching it a couple times during the week when I feel good and ready...usually there's some night when nothing good at all is on...no trouble finding one of those!

I love that word persnickety...

Isn't it something, EP, how the English are fascinated by Americans and Americans are fascinated by the English?

I guess in our Baby Boomer Generation, anyway, a lot of that goes back to the British Invasion (the 60's one, not the original!)

Oh Sc, I'm glad you cleared up that bit about the '60s one and the original one! Yes, you are so right about us being fascinated by each other. Certainly during the 1960s virtually everything for me was American, events, people, places, TV etc. etc. This overan into the 1970's with the incredible films that seemed to pour out of Hollywood. I suppose its still around except during the '60s and 70s its seemed so far away, so unobtainable.

Nowadays we live in the Global Village (whatever that is) so I suppose most things are there for the taking (taking being the important word here)
I think the attraction of MM for me and the few fans over here is the fact that its a period piece that recalls a slower, dare I say it a BETTER world?

Nostalga aside, I think our love affair with both cultures will always continue-I know from my visits to your country people always are fascinated, always wanting to know who, why, how, if, when etc, long may it continue.

I confess to having been an anglophile since my childhood days when I fell in love with "The Secret Garden" and "The Little Princess" books. I have never lost my love for all things English, from tea and scones to flower gardens, murder mysteries, Jane Austen, Noel Coward and French and Saunders. I love your movies and your actors, from Trevor Howard in "Brief Encounter" to Rowan Atkinson in "Keeping Mum". Mr. Atkinson's "Black Adder" series still keeps me smiling. Of course, as you can tell from my avatar, my all time favorite actress is the wonderful Dame Judi Dench.

Alas, I have never made it to England proper, only to the shores of Ireland, but I have hopes of making it to your lovely country someday.

I know our perspective is much different from the English point of view on your Royal Family, EP...but, I think they are fascinating...kind of like our Kennedy Clan but much more refined....!

I can certainly see both sides of the ways of thinking in your country (for and against their continuing existence) since there is support for either view.

Did you see the movie "The Queen" with our zerelda's idol, Judi Dench (who's one of my favorites as well)? I saw it and I admire JD's acting in anything she's in, but, do you think it was very accurate, EP, from an insider's/British subject's point of view? I loved the part when she got stuck in the mud in her jeep and while waiting for help, had the encounter with the beautiful stag....wonderful acting.

I also think Princes William and Harry have turned out smashingly (!) don't you? Princess Diana would be very proud.

Well, time for a "cuppa"...yum...EP, what is your favorite English tea?

Ooops....that was Helen Mirren....silly silly Scfan....
.....never mind!

LOL

Speaking of Helen Mirren....here's a shot of a very sexy 63 year old!

What a knockout!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1035510/Helen-Mirren-bikini-queen-reigns-supreme-63.html

Actually I was just thinking what a good QE2 Judy Dench would be. They are both superb actresses yet I do tend to swing towards Helen who I think is just a bit more versatile. Sorry, Dame Helen!

We do have an odd relationship with our royal family which goes from outright hatred to amusement to reveration. It fluctuates though; when Diana died everyone started to turn against them until HM did that incredible speech-the best bit of PR by any head of state, bar none. Someone, probably Mr. B no doubt had it written and told, sorry, advised HM to go for it-a master stroke.

The 'stag' part was my favourite scene-its accuracy-well who knows. Assam is my favourite tea. By the way ladies if you really want to know how to make tea (REAL English tea) check out George Orwell's 'A Nice Cup Of Tea' essay-available on the Net. SCfan-I've just thought wasn't John Steed a big tea fan??

I don't remember if JS was a big tea fan, but being an English man (Englishman?) he must have been.

I just remember he was the only man I ever saw who actually looked good in a derby! Very suave and dapper was he.

I have one of those "brown betty" teapots, EP, and I always "add a measure for the pot" and all that....makes wonderful full-bodied tea. I brew mine so strong that I'm the only one that will drink it (strategy! ha)
I prefer English Breakfast tea (loose) and I got some Stash Orange Spice Tea for Christmas that is heavenly (instant tho' it is!)

I will check out that essay...sounds right up my (and z's!) alley!

Sounds like your an accomplished tea drinker already SC. Try a china cup to add the finishing touch (as in Orwell's essay).

Tea Pots with cups and saucers abound in 1960s Brit TV and Film. Alfie, The Beatle's Films, The Prisoner, Avengers, The Italian Job, James Bond and the classic, 'Darling' with Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde and the incredibly cool Laurence Harvey.

That maverick Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) in 'The Ipcress File' (1965) broke the mould when he would only drink coffee-a sign of the times, we have never looked back and now drink more coffee as a nation than ever. The coffee advertising here in the 1960s was vintage Sterling Cooper and it worked! A DD type must have been at the helm!!

Yes, EP, I do love me brew....although there's nothing wrong with coffee, either...love it iced...maybe a southern thing....although there are a lot of ads recently for iced coffee...

Did they advertise coffee over there in the '60's like SC did Lucky Strikes? "....Go ahead, have your coffee...enjoy it....you deserve it...so what if the caffeine makes your heart race to the point of aging you 5 years to every 1....you're going to die anyway...die with a nice of cup of joe in your hand!" (similar to what the Lucky Strike guy said right after Pete's lousy pitch...."Are you crazy?!.. You're going to die anyway, die with us?!") loved that scene!...right before DD had his brainstorm right as they were walking out--- and saved the day by the skin of SC's -- and his -- teeth!) Yes, that scene was almost as good as Roger's upchuck scene....what a show....

Remember a few weeks ago when zerelda mentioned about the forum ads reflecting our posts?

Now there's one for loose tea....this is getting spookier and spookier!

(humming theme from The Twilight Zone....)

= - \

...What a show........................

.....Love Helen Mirren, for years and years, but she does seem to love the full frontal nudity.....and wears it well, BTW!!

It's not for everyone!

Just sayin'....

SCfan-I noticed the tea advert too....as you say...spooky...

Yes, Dry...that bikini pic link shows HM in one of her more modest poses, I agree....

I guess that is one 63-year old beauty who likes to embody the old saying "When ya got it, flaunt it!"

Go Helen...you've definitely "got it" girl....

I know she's married to Taylor Hackford, the director...anyone know if he's an American or a Brit?

Mr. Hackford is American. They met when he was directing her in White Nights. I have never seen this movie, but when I looked up Mr. Hackford, I read about it, and now I would like to see it. The ballet and dancing sequences in the movie got some wonderful reviews, as did Isabella Rossellini
and Gregory Hines, and, of course, Mikhail Baryshnikov.

.....Great dance sequences. Shame about Gregory Hines.....R.I.P.....

I've never seen it either, z...sounds worth checking out, though.

I don't know why I get Judi Dench and Helen Mirren mixed up, but, I do. Both similarly talented and in looks, too, and both English...I think I've got it straight, though, for now.

CRS disease strikes again????

Ha

.....SCfan, don't check out the Helen Mirren movie, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.

You'll hate it.

What makes you think so, Dry?

...just read a summary....you're right, Dry...

No Thanks.

...one thing about HM...no one can ever accuse her of not having a broad range in her choice of movie roles!

Yeck!.....

..and wasn't she also in Caligula way back there....talk about depraved...triple yeck....

.....And a few.....Really makes you wonder about all those similar choices. She's had a long, respected career, so far.

Have you ever read interviews with her? She's many things, and not someone you can buttonhole.

I like that in a fellow lady.