Peter O'toole passes

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=843642

His Lawrence of Arabia was stunning, but I always liked his role in night of the generals in 1967.......such talent.

When I was a kid I went to the Pen Theater on East Cervantes (where the fire department headquarters is now).
I have a really vivid memory of three movies I saw at the Pen. The first James Bond movie, the first Eastwood spaghetti western, and Lawrence of Arabia.
The other two were mindblowing experiences. But it was O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia that had the most impact on me.
I had never seen an actor play a role like that. Both the actor and the role were really different for someone who was 13 years old and didn't have a lot to go on yet.
But with more time I began to get a better idea of it. And the actor and the role got even more unique to me.
O'toole and Lawrence were both really different than other movie types.
You couldn't tell if both were gay or were so straight that they could look and act gay and get away with it.

Later on I learned that O'Toole was the Jim Morrison/Janis Joplin/Jimi Hendrix of actors. In other words he was at the center of a high profile bunch of actors who were notorious drunks who partied to the limit.
And that sealed it for me.

Rest in peace.

Pen theater+James Bond was a good experience.  Bob I would say the Pen was 2nd only to the Saenger. Agree?

The City and the Country had some hard words about it but I dont know if or how they ever solved the issue. Big news at the time.


The more things change.....the more they stay the same.

Mr Ichi wrote:Pen theater+James Bond was a good experience.  Bob I would say the Pen was  2nd only to the Saenger. Agree?

It was like this for me,  CG.  I went to the Pen,  the Rex,  the Florida,  and the Saenger (and to the Navy Point when I could travel that far) for the Saturday matinees.
Going to all of them represents the best time of my life.  It was all "the great escape" from all the other stuff in my life.  
But if you were to get me drunk and put a gun to my head and ask me which one was the best,  it would have to be the Saenger.  Only because the Walgreens soda fountain was across the street to always make that escape last even longer.

Okay so I spelled Saenger wrong. I think. I'm not gonna bother with googling the correct spelling. lol

It was a wonderful time to be a kid, and an American. The buttered popcorn was real butter and the boxes of milk duds were huge and actually had the box full. Simple pleasures, and the fantasy of films peaked many a young person's imagination. My wife's little small town had a theater......it was small, dirty, and broken down, but her memories are as sweet as the finest theaters.

Bob wrote:Okay so I spelled Saenger wrong.  I think.  I'm not gonna bother with googling the correct spelling.  lol

You it spelled right.  We just say it wrong. Sang-ger  I thought it was wrong also so I gooogled it

I finally figured out who seaoat is...he was sitting next to Lincoln when he was shot, Was the captain of a slave ship...on and on ...
Here this song will explain....

I got kicked out by an usher with one of those flashlights for laughing at something inappropriately.......they booted us all out....there was no appeal, and they let us know in no uncertain terms that they would rather just kick our asses. I tended to mind my manners after that incident.

let me introduce myself.........but first turn off that night light.

Bob wrote:When I was a kid I went to the Pen Theater on East Cervantes (where the fire department headquarters is now).
I have a really vivid memory of three movies I saw at the Pen.  The first James Bond movie,  the first Eastwood spaghetti western, and Lawrence of Arabia.
The other two were mindblowing experiences.  But it was O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia that had the most impact on me.
I had never seen an actor play a role like that.  Both the actor and the role were really different for someone who was 13 years old and didn't have a lot to go on yet.
But with more time I began to get a better idea of it.  And the actor and the role got even more unique to me.
O'toole and Lawrence were both really different than other movie types.
You couldn't tell if both were gay or were so straight that they could look and act gay and get away with it.

Later on I learned that O'Toole was the Jim Morrison/Janis Joplin/Jimi Hendrix of actors.  In other words he was at the center of a high profile bunch of actors who were notorious drunks who partied to the limit.
And that sealed it for me.

Rest in peace.

My most vivid memory of him in that movie was him walking on the top of the train in the white Arab outfit and it blowing in the wind.

You know FT started a thread on this topic yesterday and yall ignored while yall were playing with your black santas.

or is it some of the men on here are shovenistic pigs? < I think it is the later.

Did you see in that Cavett interview what Welles said about Gen George Marshall?
That makes me want to learn more about Marshall.

My most vivid memory of him in that movie was him walking on the top of the train in the white Arab outfit and it blowing in the wind.


Beautiful photography and great action scenes. My favorite during this time period was Dr. Zhivago.

For those who didn't watch the whole interview (it's pretty lengthy so I understand), here is one segment of it in which Welles talks about sitting beside Hitler at a nazi rally and then he talks about George Marshall at the end...

I have seen the interview. Wells was a genius. His appraisal of Marshall was dead cinch correct and his urging the country to rebuild Europe in 1947 was critical to post war peace. Wells observed the man.......Have you seen the Cavet interviews and how he completely trashes Jerry Lewis......I could listen to this man speak all day.

I had not ever seen him talk about Jerry Lewis until seeing this interview for the first time yesterday.

Years ago I participated in a message forum for movie buffs.  I very often talked about how I loathed having to watch Jerry Lewis on all those Tonight Show appearances.  Lewis was one of the most obnoxious windbags who ever got in front of a tv camera.

I was really pleased to learn that Orson Welles shared that opinion.  lol

Not only did we note the passing of Peter O'Toole, but also Joan Fontaine.

May you both RIP

Why is everyone getting so soppy over an actor that didn't know they were alive and could have cared less. He did a job, got paid well, lived a wealthy life of excess and croaked...bye bye who's next ?

TEOTWAWKI wrote:Why is everyone getting so soppy over an actor that didn't know they were alive and could have cared less. He did a job, got paid well, lived a wealthy life of excess and croaked...bye bye who's next ?

LOL  Homer Simpson is going to kick your ass for that statement.

Why is everyone getting so soppy over an actor that didn't know they were alive and could have cared less. He did a job, got paid well, lived a wealthy life of excess and croaked...bye bye who's next ?


Nobody has gotten soppy(whatever that is), rather those who appreciate art, music, theater, movies, and sport often simply appreciate the uniqueness of those who made our lives a little more pleasant......those of us not suffering deep depression and captured by insufferable gloom and doom, however suffer no loss or gain.....they live in a simple unfeeling lonely isolated world.