If John Agar had resigned his Universal contract . . . in '50s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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If John Agar had resigned his Universal contract . . .

Author	Comment
Mora		#81	[-]
Mar 19 12 3:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ah, clore, IMO not one of Agar's finest hours. Saw it once and found it hard sledding.
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Monsterpal		#82	[-]
Mar 19 12 3:50 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Lenny Bruce has a writing credit on THE ROCKET MAN.
Mora		#83	[-]
Mar 19 12 4:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Did he ever live that down?
clore103051		#84	[-]
Mar 19 12 4:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Mora wrote: Did he ever live that down? Boy, that experience could have generated reams of material for Lenny. Looking at the list of Panoramic Productions for Fox, I realize that it's the only one that I haven't seen.
telegonus		#85	[-]
Mar 20 12 1:13 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Panoramic was an odd little unit, nepotistic (sic?) of course, but WTF. They made some neat little color pictures for Fox that were better than most of the bigger budgeted stuff during the early CinemaScope period. As to Raft in the Bogart part in Dead End, making the character more sympathetic might have worked for him. Raft had played his share of good bad guys and bad good guys and he certainly would have fit in better with Gorcy and the gang than Bogart did. What looks bad on paper might have worked on film. One touchy issue with Raft, though, would have been billing. As an established star he'd probably have demanded top billing. He seldom played second fiddle to anyone in those days, was billed over Fonda in Spawn Of the North.
Mora		#86	[-]
Mar 20 12 9:57 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've considered the Raft billing in "Dead End", as well. He undoubtedly would have been billed below Sylvia Sidney, as he was both in "Pick-Up" and later in "You and Me" (his last film under his Paramount contract), but I wonder if his name would have come above Joel McCrea's. Of course Raft was billed below Gary Cooper in "Souls at Sea". I also wonder how Raft would have fared with the Dead End Kids. Apparently they got away with some shenanigans with Bogie (and later pranked Ronald Reagan). They supposedly were better behaved with John Garfield, and it's a fact Cagney was quick to put them in their place during the making of "Angels With Dirty Faces". Huntz Hall later reported that the gang liked Bogart, who often played stickball with them between scenes; Cagney, on the other hand, didn't have much to do with them (other than giving a stiff upper arm to Leo Gorcey), and usually retired to his dressing room between scenes. Since Cagney freely admitted that George Raft as "the only really tough man I knew in the business", I'm sure the gang would have had to stay in line if they'd worked with him. They could never have got away with divesting him of his trousers as they supposedly did with Bogie. Besides, with George's pants coming almost up to his chest, that would have been a tough trick.
TomWeaver999		#87	[-]
Mar 20 12 10:11 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I like the part where Agar licks spider venom off his finger.
CucamongaDan		#88	[-]
Mar 20 12 12:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I really need to watch Tarantula again since yesterday I said J.A. would have been good in a giant bug movie, then for some reason several hours later I started thinking about Tarantula. I'll have to look for the spider venom licking scene- I wonder how it compares with all the careless handling of Coelecanth fluid in Monster on the Campus. Maybe we should check all the U-I monster movies for such strange behavior. There is a thread that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on my friends. Some people started it not knowing that a tree can walk, And they'll keep posting forever about a movie they can mock...
telegonus	Raft In Dead End	#89	[-]
Mar 20 12 6:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I can easily see Raft gallantly allowing Sylvia Sidney to get top billing in Dead End, Mora, and I can also see Joel McCrea allowing himself to come third, as he'd done many times in the past (though this would soon end). The Dead End kids would likely not give Raft a hard time. Even if he didn't punch out their headlights right there on the set there might be "mob" repercussions later on. He was not a man to trifle with, nor was he known for having a sense of humor,--about himself, I mean,
clore103051		#90	[-]
Mar 20 12 6:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In 1946 though, with Raft still having some measure of clout, he was billed over Sidney in MR. ACE.
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telegonus		#91	[-]
Mar 20 12 11:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Raft had some modest successes during and right after the war. Johnny Angel comes to mind. Nothing in the same league as To Have and Have Not, but there it is. I don't think Nocturne bombed, either. When he worked for RKO Raft seemed to be roughly on a par with Dick Powell and Pat O'Brien. Even his final film for the studio, A Dangerous Profession, isn't bottom of the barrel or even close as to budget and cast.
Mora		#92	[-]
Mar 21 12 11:59 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, when it comes to Raft not having a sense of humor, we have this from Edward G. Robinson (regarding their working together on "Manpower"): "Raft was touch, difficult and thoroughly impossible to play with. He threw a punch at me and I was ready to walk". Others who were on the receiving end of Raft's pugnacity were: Lew Ayres, Wallace Beery, Paramount producer Benjamin Glazer, Peter Lorre - and, though accidentally, Marc Lawrence and Marlene Dietrich.Working with George in "Invisible Stripes", Frankie Thomas said that Raft was a very quiet man who between takes would walk over to the far corner of the set and speak with guys whom Thomas said looked very much like hoodlum types. Yeah, so I think for that alone, Gorcey, Hall, Halop and the others would have behaved. As for his post-Warner films, he did okay for a while - the movies for the most part are watchable, but the roles he chose pretty soon got to be monotonous. He didn't want to play any more gangster parts, but when he really had his next surge of success (if briefly) it was returning to form in "Rogue Cop" and "Some Like It Hot". With apologies, I think we probably should have moved this to Off-Topic Discussions.
GaryP11111		#93	[-]
Mar 21 12 12:09 PM Burgomaster Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes, please take this to the off-topic folder. Thanks, -G GARY L. PRANGE "Sic gorgiamus allos subjectos nunc." Check out my YouTube Video of the Week! (updated 8-3-09)
skelton knaggs		#94	[-]
Mar 21 12 12:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I like the part where Agar feels left behind on his own thread topic........ "You can't smell any reefer, can you"?
Monsterpal		#95	[-]
Mar 22 12 2:30 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And now we return you to your regularly scheduled Agar.
bela lugosi		#96	[-]
Mar 23 12 6:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Speaking of John Agar, anyone want to meet up in chat this Saturday night at 10pm EST for Svengoolie's screening of THE MOLE PEOPLE? Should be fun!
CucamongaDan		#97	[-]
Mar 24 12 11:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	We get Svengoolie on ME-TV but not till 10 PM Pacific. Not that I might not drop in anyway. Actually I watched Tarantula the other day and then started watching The Mole People since it was on the same DVD. I hadn't watched it since I was about 12 when I thought it was unbearably stupid. Now that I am more mature I found it stupid but bearable and entertaining in parts. I liked the way the mole people look and I like when they come out of the dirt. I like the way Agar and the other guy do a synchronized punch and run on their captors. Then I fell asleep, but not because the movie was so dull, I was just tired. There is a thread that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on my friends. Some people started it not knowing that a tree can walk, And they'll keep posting forever about a movie they can mock...
Mora		#98	[-]
Mar 27 12 10:43 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	My fondest memory of "The Mole People" was feigning illness to skip out of school to watch its showing on the 1 p.m. "Movie Matinee". Really wanted to see it since as a Monster Kid I thought the Mole People masks offered in FM through Captain Company were so cool. The film pretty much disappointed me, but the real kicker came when school was let out for the day and I suddenly recovered from my "illness", wanted to go out and play with my friends, and my wise Mom, who obviously caught on to my ploy, made me stay indoors. I sacrificed playtime for "The Mole People" and overall thought it was a pretty poor exchange. Have seen the film since and really haven't changed my opinion. The monsters are neat but the film doesn't rate among U-I's finest. Anyhoo, maybe if "Tarantula" had come after (and grossed the amount John Agar told me it did), actor Agar might not have been so quick to depart the studio.
skelton knaggs		#99	[-]
Mar 27 12 12:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	http://www.archive.org/details/destinationSpace For those of you who haven't seen this, I think you'll find it quite interesting from A-gar historical point of view. John Agar gets billing here but sleepwalks through the role with not much dialogue. A little tedious and challenging to sit through, but stick with it.Nice job of splicing in scenes from you know what..... Shi......TTTT. Sorry seems the video was pulled due to copy write.... "You can't smell any reefer, can you"? Last Edited By: skelton knaggs Mar 27 12 3:43 PM. Edited 1 times.
Mora		#100	[-]
Mar 27 12 1:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Lest we forget that John Agar was nominated for "Worst Actor of All Time" in The Golden Turkey Awards.
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If John Agar had resigned his Universal contract . . .