Some of the Rod Taylor Films on TCM January 29, 2015: An Appreciation
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Rod Taylor
ecarle — 11 years ago(January 31, 2015 03:04 PM)
Since the movies ran into the morning, I set up the DVR for some of them and looked at a few of the Rod Taylor movies that TCM ran on January 29 to commemorate his passing. I didn't watch each movie all the way through, and I'd seen a coupla of them enough times not to need to(The Time Machine and the Birds)5b4, but I found them a bit interesting nonetheless:
The Time Machine(1960):
The Time Machine has great special effects for its time that still hold water todaythey aren't really worse than CGI, just different. And the tone of the story is fascinating to me: rather sweet and fey for the most part(as anchored by Alan Young's very nice and sweet Scottish friend to Taylor)but straight down to cannibalistic horror with those monstrous Morlocks. The idea of being trapped below ground WITH them remains horrific to think about. And Taylor is quite the physical fighting hero against them.
The Birds(1963): We know all about it as a famous(and flawed) Hitchcock movie, but "sandwiched" between Rod Taylor in such sixties fluff as "Sunday in New York" and "The Glass Bottom Boat"(more below) it looked positively like "profound Oscar bait for the ages." Honestly. All of a sudden Rod Taylor was in a production that seemed WAY above his other stuff. TCM host Ben Manckeiwicz noted that "The Birds" really launched Rod Taylor as whatever star he was; he got leads in studio A pictures beceause of it.
Sunday in New York(1963): From the same year as The Birdsfluff. But sexual fluff of a really aggravating Hays Code sort. It starts great though, with the very concept of "Sunday in New York" announcing itself as the sun rises over the city and Mel Torme sings the jazzy theme song by Peter Nero. Rod Taylor is billed 5b4first, then Jane Fonda(as the woman he will woo), then Cliff Robertson(as Fonda's swinging bachelor airline pilot brother.) All of them get establishing clips as their names appearRod and Jane are on the same "Mad Men" commuter train into NYC and the nostalgia is palpable.
Early on, Jane Fonda surprises her sexy bachelor brother Cliff Robertson at his swinging bachelor pad, and the Theme is Established: Jane won't have premarital sex with her boyfriend(we'll meet him, he's Robert Culp; this movie has parts for three macho guys) and her brother Cliff advises her "men only marry decent girlsyou can't have sex with him." Well. We are also incredibly told by swinger Cliff that his sexy girlfriends who want to spend Sudnay with himhe hasn't had sex with any of THEM, either.
So its 1963 and everybody's swinging bachelors and bachelorettes and everybody's talking about sex but NOBODY's having it. The whole movie seems to be about frustration.
Some funniness does ensue(this was a Broadway play) when boyfriend Culp arrives and Taylor has to pass himself off as Fonda's brother while her REAL brother(an amused Robertson) just plays a business friend and they all go out on a group date.
Awnothing more to say about this one. Except young Rod and Jane and Cliff and Robert were all very good looking people and yeahRod rather outpoints Cliff and Robert in star quality.
The Glass Bottom Bo111cat(1966): Its a Doris Day movie, and a rather sad one. I'd say this was just about the end for Doris as a true movie star. She would make a few more movies in 1967 and 1968, but this is her 'last hurrah" as the kind of character the movies really NEEDED. Indeed, from books I've read, the American Counterculture actually targeted poor Doris as needing to be "banished from the movies" in order to reinvent the movies. She got the message, went off to a TV series by 1968 I think.
Anyway, an unfortunately aging looking Doris is paired with an impossibly macho looking Rod andthey don't really fit. She looks too old for him, though her voice is still sexy and her body is in great shape.
For his part, Rod Taylor gets to play Rock Hudson/Cary Grant here, complete with the male sidekick that Rock and Cary got with Doris. Instead of Tony Randall(for Rock) or Gig Young(for Cary), Rod gets funnyman Dick Martin, who seems oddly adrift without HIS straightman Dan Rowan, in the film. I was struck by how much Dick Martin reminded me of John Slattery as Roger Sterling on Mad Men, don't know why. Though Slattery also looks like an older Owen Wilson to me.
Doris and Rod are surrounded by a full compliment of 1966 TV comedy talent: Dom DeLuise and Paul Lynde and John McGiver and Edward Andrews; I must admit I just smiled seeing them all back together again, too. And in a great moment, Paul Lynde(in full female drag) briefly runs into The Man From UNCLE himselfRobert Vaughn with full Jerrry Goldsmith Best UNCLE theme. And in another "sixties in joke," the married couple from "Bewitched" return to do their "husband never sees what the wife sees" act. "The Glass Bottom Boat" was rather like a "1966 greatest TV hits package" all in one silly moive.
There was also a role for a TV "asterisk" tall macho Western star Eric Fleming plays a US government agent who turns out -
clore_2 — 11 years ago(February 01, 2015 02:01 PM)
Rod Taylor was supposed to be in another film with John Wayne. He was cast in
Circus World
but walked off early when Henry Hathaway was favoring Claudia Cardinale in the scenes with Taylor.
Taylor complained and Hathaway supposedly said "But Rod, American men only go to the movies to stare at European women."
It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me -
pouncemo — 11 years ago(February 01, 2015 09:36 PM)
ecarle the Psycho man. I loved reading your piece above about the TCM Rod Taylor films. BUT, two of my all-time favorite films are "Sunday In New York" and "The Glass Bottom Boat".
I guess that makes me shallow, but I so don't care. I can't defend my opinion as eloquently as you defend yours. I wish I could because I think these films deserve better than being dismissed as fluff. And anyway, what's wrong with fluff???
I love that they are fluff from a time that is very nostalgic to me. But it is more than nostalgia. These were really first rate films of their kind.
They had budget and gorgeous people and pleasant interiors, exteriors, wardrobe, and snappy dialogue, light bright pace and sweet, simple story-lines ala boy meets girl
And as you say, all those familiar, multi-talented supporting players.
I love that there's no war, nobody gets cancer, or murdered and on and on.
And I also love elevator music. Truly, I do. So there. -
ecarle — 11 years ago(February 03, 2015 08:30 PM)
Ya got me!
See what happens when the Psycho man wanders off his turf?
For the record, I grew up on Sunday in New York and The Glass Bottom Boat, my parents loved them, as a kid I found them sexy(Sunday) and funny(Boat) anda snob I am not.
But even the mainstream man has to maintain levels of mainstream. -
pouncemo — 11 years ago(February 27, 2015 11:05 PM)
Thanks for your reply. It helps me understand where you're coming from. It is nice to know that your parents loved them and that you found them sexy and funny as well.
I get that these films are not mainstream anymore and that insight perfectly encapsulates the differences between then and now. In the 60's they were mainstream. But not for a very long time now. And hey, Viva le difference, right?
But I would never be out to "get" you ecarle, or ever think you are a snob. And I'm not sure you're ever off your turf film-wise. We always love to hear what you have to say.
I'll sleep better knowing that you'll be maintaining the mainstream. One less thing to worry about while I watch Doris and Rod with elevator music. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 11 years ago(February 04, 2015 05:52 PM)
I love
Sunday in New York
.
It seems to get better with each viewing. Too bad that my Favorite Hottie didn't have a bigger part in it. He just sat there for a bit and held the radio.
Anyhow, Rod Taylor was excellent in the leading role.
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen