wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Mr. Osborne;
I watch TCM classic Movies daily. I am really
begging you to schedule the showing of Magnificent Obsession with Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne.
Robert Taylor became a star due to this movie
just as this movie made Rock Hudson a star in 1954.
Please also show The Conpirator with Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor. This movie gave
her the first screen kiss.

I don't ever see them listed and I check every
day. Please make my wish come true
I'm an invalid and watch Tv all the time.
Thank you Mr. Osborne,
Dolores Kaczmarek

TCM is the best TV station. Get Robert Osborne back on with a better topic. Great guest, get him back soon.

Ditto kj above (7). Leonard (the host) was just going to say sth. about Rush Hour 3 but didn't get a chance to elaborate. The truth is it's an awfully silly film with all the Asian stereotypes intact. Plus Chris Tucker's name got listed before Jackie Chan's (Chan's was the first in the previous two). The very talented Hiroyuki Sanada ("Twilight Samurai", etc.) got only limited airtime. Hollywood still has a long way to go in accurately portraying Asians on the big screen. Btw, this DVD ("The Slanted Screen"), fyi: http://www.amazon.com/Slanted-Screen-Jason-Scott-Lee/dp/B000NJL4SU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1213119278&sr=8-1

The number of non-Italians portraying Italian-Americans is very high. Much worse is that the Italian-Americans characters are usually portrayed as dimwitted uneducated thugs.

Irish are usually stubborn drunks...

etc

The black character in Rush Hour is extremely demeaning. He is a stupid, ignorant, peevish child in a man's body.
I wonder if this character was created for the international market as much as for the American.

I love Robert Osborne on TCM!

And now it's sort of come full circle, where roles are filled in a color-blind manner (but the subject is debated back and forth depending upon whose ox is gored, so-to-speak.)

...al pacino (italian american) plays a cuban in scarface.
anthony quinn (mexican american) plays a greek in 'zorba the greek.'
lou diamond phillips (filipino american) plays richie valens (mexican american) in 'la bamba.'

Did you see David Henry Hwang's play "Yellow Face"? An amusing look at whites playing Asians. Funny that all the Charlie Chans were played by white actors. But Keye Luke was the Americanized Number 1 Son. Gee, Pop!

How about looking at depictions of Irish, Italian, Germans, Scandanavians etc. Or are they too white to worry about?

I would like to point listeners to a book
by a previous guest Sheridan Prasso; "The Asian Mystique"