Micky Graziano

Mick the maleviolent:

Many thanks for the tip of the mickster cap for my scribblings. You still amaze me with the trivia you pull out of several of your orifices. Honestly, you put me to shame. I am not worthy. But having said that, let us proceed.

As you have probably surmised, my title quote would have been Tony Curtis in THE DEFIANT ONES (1958). Who was the director? They say that Tony Curtis insisted that Sidney Poitier get top billing. What rock and roll star was originally interested in playing Joker Jackson, and what black star did he pick to co-star with? Who played Big Sam? I know, that's an easy one. Who played evil Sheriff Max Muller? There were three other "name" actors in it, name one. What OUR GANG member played the kid with the transistor radio. That was his last screen appearance before "an untimely death by a shooting accident."

Kudos on remembering Mr. Peepers first name was Robinson. No, I had forgotten old Tony Randall on that show.Good recall on your part. Yes, old smarty pants, his next series was THE ADVENTURES OF HIRAM HOLIDAY, and yes he was the voice of UNDERDOG. Brando's pet, Russell, actually was a racoon, if you can imagine that. And yes, Cox was the top square on the left on HOLLYWOOD SQUARES for many years before his death. There are those who think it was a suicide. Brando claimed that he checked into it, and it was a bone fide heart attack. MORITURI is also correct as the only Brando movie he played in. And hey, I get no atta boys for my terrific ONE EYED JACKS trivia?

I agree with you that Cox was great as Preacher Goodwin (Why not Badlose?) in SPENCER'S MOUNTAIN (1963). Who directed that film? Who played the wife? The book was written by Earl Hamner Jr. What very successful TV series was a spin-off, some say even rip off of this book and film? Who played #1 son, Clayboy Spencer? Who played the Grandpa, in his final film role? Here is a tough one --what character actor appeared in both this film and THE DEFIANT ONES?

Now onto MAVERICK, the TV series. Big Mike was played by Leo Gordon. My mother never really knew Gordon's name, Even when he appeared in McCLINTOCK, and the Duke punched him in the face, my Mom referred to him as "Big Mike". Alan Hale Jr. did several MAVERICKs though, so you fuzzy cortex was half right, sort of. Didn't you like my (5) Pappy quotes entertaining? The music, sir, theme song sung by those much too cheeful Ken Darby singers, and the score by David Buttolph. The announcer, who I believe did the lead in and tag lines for all the WB Westerns then, like CHEYENNE, SUGARFOOT, BRONCO, etc, was none other than Edwin Reimers. That was a tuff one.

That quote was done by Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe in THE BIG SLEEP.
Here's another good one for you, "My dick has stage fright, man."

Right on with those RIO BRAVO & EL DORADO comparisons. Bang on, big buddy; damn, you're good. Yeah, the Lee Marvin TWILIGHT ZONE was a zinger. But what about the Robert Redford one where he played Mr. Death to the old lady who wouldn't come out of her apartment? Or Art Carney as the fake Santa in the slums? Or Jonathan Winters and Jack Klugman in the Hustler clone?

Robert Blake's real name was Mickey Gubitosi ( So you and he share the nickname, Mick, right?) For an Italian kid, when he was a kid, he sure had to play a lot of Mexican and latino kids and Indians. He called Little Beaver, "Little Whipper". Yup, old Don "Red" Barry was one of the RED RYDERs. The first several films Blake was in had Wild Bill Elliott as the big red guy. Actually between 1944 and 1946, Blake did 20 of the RED RYDER films with Bill Elliott. In 1947, big Red was played by Allan Lane for 3 more films; just before Blake did THE RETURN OF RIN TIN TIN (1947). But let's not forget Blake's debut into films as Mickey in OUR GANG. Between 1939-1943 he did over 3 dozen of those. Good job as the young John Garfield in HUMORESQUE. Yeah, they say that Joan Crawford was a bitch on wheels to everyone and for everyone.

What the hell prompted you to throw Sally Field's dad, Jock Mahoney at me? Yeah, he did a ton of Westerns, most of them crap. On TV he started out with the series, THE RANGE RIDER (1951-1953), like 76 episodes.Who played his young sidekick on that show? His second series was, of course, YANCY DERRINGER (1958). An odd actor named X-Brands played his sidekick, who wielded a huge shotgun. What was his strange character's name? DERRINGER only ran a year, at 34 episodes. Mahoney appeared in TARZAN, THE MAGNIFICENT (1960) with Gordon Scott. Later, he actually played Tarzan himself. What film was that? Old pal Leo Gordon was the bad guy in it.

Good work on remembering Keach in DOC, and Faye Dunaway as Big Nose Kate. Frank Perry directed it. The "Jewish" actor who played Wyatt was Harris Yulin.

Now onto Herschel Bernardi and Craig Stevens in PETER GUNN (1958-1961). It was the first TV show to use hot jazz as a theme song. The theme became so popular that it won a grammy and went to #1 on the pop charts. Who wrote the music? Who was the producer and writer on the show? Did you know that Robert Altman directed several of the episodes. Bernardi's character was named Lt. Jacoby. The femme fatale, the torch singer at the bar, was the delectable Lola Albright. What cartoon character's voice, and famous commercial, did Bernardi do? What Broadway musical did Bernardi do, replacing Zero Mostel? Did you know he also did a musical version of ZORBA on the stage? The bar owner was not so famous old movie actress, Hope Emerson. About all I remember her in was CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT (1954). She died in 1960. I don't know who replaced her on the series. What "small person" had a reoccurring role on the show? What kind of a car did Peter Gunn drive, a convertible I believe. Craig Stevens who was considered a poor man's Cary Grant, mostly did TV for his whole career. I had remembered that he had done MR. LUCKY (1959) on TV, another Cary Grant role, but when I looked it up the lead character was played by John Vivyan. Who was his sidekick on that show, who later played in GERONIMO with Chuck Conners. Do you remember the lost film GUNN (1967) directed by Blake Edwards? Craig Stevens was the only original cast member. Who played Edie? Who played Lt. Jacoby? It seems to be a lost film, hard to find. And here is a titty twister. In 1989, Blake Edwards directed a TV movie called PETER GUNN. Who played Gunn and Jacoby in that one? Oddly both actors first names are also Peter. What Western did Craig Stevens do with Randolph Scott in 1958? What other TV detective series used hot jazz for its theme, starring John Cassavetes?

Man, Mick, your recall of the dialogue between Brando and Steiger in that cab was great! It put me right in the seat with them! Tough question, but the cab driver was played by the "Jewish" actor Nehemiah Persoff. Yup, old Fred Gwynne did stand out of the gang as Slim, working for the nefarious Lee J. Cobb. The heavyweight fighter you are referring to was Two-ton Tony Galento, who always claimed, at 5'9" tall, that he only trained on beer, hamburgers, and spaghetti. He had a lethal left hook and a colorful career. He did in fact knock Joe Louis down in the second round of their fight, and then the Brown Bomber kicked his ass. Galento in 1931 knocked out three different opponents while drinking copious amounts of beer in between bouts. He was also called the Jersey Night Stick. In 1931 he ate 50 hot dogs before he knocked out Art DeKuh. In WATERFRONT, who played Jocko, the bartender? Two other heavyweight fighters, who incidently also fought Joe Louis, and were also in the movie, were Tarni Mauretti, and Abe Simon.

Now about that famous scene in the cab. Did you notice that there were blinds in the back window? That was because producer Sam Spiegel for to pay for a rear projector. Now a little known fact is that Brando's mother had just died a few weeks before, and he had a deal whereby he left the set every day at 4pm in order to go see his analyst. They were midway in shooting that scene and he just got up and left. So all of Steiger's close ups were done with a crew member reading Brando's lines. Then there is the rumor that Brando and Steiger improvised that scene. Actually Brando, who was fond of improvisation, did start doing that and Stieger jumped right in too. Elia Kazan, who already knew Brando well yelled," Cut the shit, Buddy." Brando went by Bud to his "friends". Mostly they stuck to the Budd Schulberg script after that. Although, it is said that Brando did pitch a fit with the bit where Steiger pulls a gun on him. He felt it was all wrong for the characters. So some of those moments were improvised. The original script, by the way, was written by Arthur Miller. He called it THE HOOK. Which later, that title was given to a war film about Korea, staring Kirk Douglas.

Now it is said that Brando was not hot to play Terry Malloy. They had to woo him and keep him interested. The buzz is that the part was originally written for a famous tough guy actor who died just before it was filmed. Name him. Two other famous actors were considered for the part of Malloy before Brando took it. Who were they? Kazan finally seduced Brando into the taking the part by sending him a filmed scene, with Karl Malden, who was already on board. Kazan got Malden to direct the scene using a pal of his from the Actor's Studio, an up and coming young actor. Some say Brando took the part to prevent this young actor from getting it. Who was the young actor? Who was the part of Charlie offered to before Stieger got it? What very famous actress turned down the part of Edie before they cast Eva Marie Saint in it? The famous actress went on to do a Hitchcock picture instead. Saint had to compete with one other young actress who was being considered. She later went on the fame on TV in a "magical" sit com. Who was she?

As a kind of fun thing, Schulberg had Fred Gwynne as "Slim" give his real name at the hearing. The name he used was Karl Malden's real name. What was it? The Oscar Brando won was stolen, or was lost. It surfaced months later at an auction house in London, and he got it back. One of the problems the film had, in terms of law suits, was that the main characters were based on real people, and the issue of the mob ruling the docks was very real. Terry Malloy was based on a longshoreman who was a whistle blower named Anthony De Vincenzo. Cobb's Johnny Friendly was based on moster Anthony Anastasia. Malden's Father Barry was based on Father John M. Corridan.

Now as to Anthony Quinn/Zorba. He played heavyweight Louis "Mountain" Rivera in REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962). Of course Rod Serling wrote it. Who directed it? Serling wrote it originally for live TV. Some feel that the 1957 cast and production were superior. Who played the manager Maisch in the 1962 version? Who played him in the teleplay in 1957? Who played the cut man Army in the movie? Who played him in the teleplay in 1957? Who played the social worker Grace in the movie? Who played her in the teleplay in 1957? What two heavyweight champions played themselves in the movie? Who played "Mountain" in the 1957 version, who was an ex-boxer himself? His name was different than in the Quinn film. What was it?

You got me on the most nominated actress, (6) times who never won for Best Actress. Did she win for Best Supporting Actress? Jean Simmons or Deborah Kerr come to mind.

And now on to the Degree Game. Great job on connecting Tab Hunter to Karl Malden.
Tab Hunter in BATTLE CRY with Fess Parker.
Fess Parker in HELL IS FOR HEROES with Steve McQueen.
Steve McQueen in NEVADA SMITH with Karl Malden.

I, of course, took a different tack.
Tab Hunter in THE BURNING HILLS (1956) with Natalie Wood.
Natalie Wood in WEST SIDE STORY (1961) with Russ Tamblyn.
Russ Tamblyn in TAKE THE HIGH GROUND (1955) with Karl Malden.

No kudos for me for getting from Jim Backus to Robert Wagner in (2) degrees?
Now for my brainpan shaker.
Beulah Bondi was Ma in THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS (1941) with John Wayne.
John Wayne was in NORTH TO ALASKA (1960) with Capucine.

Your new challenge is to get from Dennis Hopper to Johnny Depp.

Big Cinema Hug: Glenn called Horse.

Mick wrote:

Tell me oh great swami of literary and movie critic acclaim, is my subject a double entendre or art imitating life or life imitating art? I do this in honor of your describtion of Wally and Marlon in the thereafter of ashes. It was Twainesque; short, humorous, tear-jerking with an ending like precious life itself as Roy and Gene used to sing"Blow you tumbling Tumbleweed." All kidding aside, that was good writing on your part!

I had heard that Wally really was a scraper but he knew what bread the butter and kept up the act. It's sad that Robinson Peepers left us so early and I think he committer suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Do you remember Tony Randall on that Sunday night show Mr Peepers. He followed that with Adventures of Hiram something? I remember him as a regular on Hollywood Squares and as the voice of Underdog. I recall reading that his relationship with Marlon went way back and now upstairs somewhere. I think they were both tempermental types along with the intellectual and humorous side. I think the pet, Russell, was a snake probably one of those twenty foot jobs. The only movie was Morituri and my bald buddy Yul did his yusual great performance. My favorite Wally was the timid preacher in Spencers Mountain when Henry Fonda "Clay Spencer" got him drunk while he was trout fishing and the preacher was trying to convert him.

On Maverick I think Big Mike was played by the "Skipper" Alan Hale Jr. and the music I recall but the composer escapes me along with the announcer but I think they only used him in the early episodes. You have me by the quotetails on those lines and I'm dying to find out who said them. Walter Brennan lost his teeth to mustard gas in World War l so Stumpy came without any dental work. Arthur Hunnicut played his role in El Dorado, Your buddy James Cann played "Mississippi" to Ricky Nelsons "Colorado", Ed Asner did John Russels part and even though I love Mitch I liked Dean Martins part as the drunk "Dude" better.

I remember the Lee Marvin Twilight Zone where he played a heavyweight fighter taking on a robot fighter played by Michael Conrad. How about Telly Savalas, who in real life was almost given up for dead at Anzio, with the evil possessed doll. I heard Robert Blakes real name one time and it was all Italian with 22 sylables. He was Little Beaver to Don "Red" Barrys Red Rider, who sadly committed suicide. Blake was young Garfield in Humoresque which I saw on the late movie for the first time last week. Joan Crawford can sure play a bitch which was said of her in real life. My mother said that if you threw a blanket over her naked shoulders she would still be the best dressed woman around. It even had a very young "Peter Gunn" Craig Stevens in it. What two tv westerns did Sally Fields real life Daddy do oh goochie do with eyes of blue? Sometimes I just have to wax poetic when my mind has a fart in it stuck sideways. In Doc, Faye Dunaway was Big Nose Kate and the Jewish actor played Earp but I can't think of his name. I believe he came out of the Yiddish theater like Nehemiah Persoff and Herschel Bernardi, what part did Herschel play in a detective tv series and what was his name, who played the Femme Fatale to the detective played by who? What was the real name of the old time actress who owned the bar that they frequented?

Bear with me a doozy question ensues; you know kid when you were 165 lbs you were beautiful, you could have been another Billy Cahn but it just wasn't your night at the garden! My night, my night, I held that bum up for 3 rounds, I could have killed that bum! It was you Charlie, you should have looked out for me a little I could have been a contender I could have been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am with a one way ticket to palookaville, it was you Charlie it was you! Who was the cab driver in that great back seat scene between Steiger and Brando? Did you notice a very young Herman Munster in it and what heavyweight fighter who actually knocked down Joe Louis was in the great On the Waterfront?

Hey Alexis Zorba, what name did you use when you were the sparring partner for that giant heavyweight fighter Primo Carnera who was so slow that you ran around him to get him in shape. What actress has been nominated the most times (6) but never won the Oscar for best actress? Just like you said, the academy is made up of twits and faggots.

Okay, Tab was in Battle Cry with Fess Parker:
Fess was in Hell is for Heroes with Steve McQueen,
Steve was in Nevada Smith with Karl Malden.
Okay your target actress is Beulah Bondi, please connect with actress Capucine.

Regards: You know, somebody up there likes me! Rocky Graziano Mick!