Speaking of Burl Ives — and I was speaking of Burl Ives — Greg Ehrbar sent me this link to a half-hour BBC radio program about his life and times. If you want to listen, hurry because it'll only be good for another day or two.
And, hey! If my friends at Turner Classic Movies are reading this, it's been a while since you've run Ensign Pulver, the 1964 sequel to Mister Roberts that Jack Lemmon turned down because he thought (rightfully) the script was weak. It's far from a great movie but it's kinda fun to watch, especially because of all the now-familiar faces and/or great character actors in the cast. There's Larry Hagman, Walter Matthau, Jack Nicholson, Peter Marshall, Tommy Sands, Dick Gautier, Al Freeman Jr, James Farentino, a skinny James Coco, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Kay Medford and George Lindsey in his pre-Goober days. In fact, everyone in that movie became famous except Robert Walker, the guy who drew the thankless task of replacing Lemmon as Pulver. He's darned good in it but how can anyone follow in those footsteps and be properly appreciated?
I mention it because Burl Ives was just wonderful as the despicable Captain that everyone loathes. He was a great singer but he was also a darn good actor. How about it, Turner Classic Movies? Double-feature with Mister Roberts?
Better still, how about it, Warner Home Video? Ensign Pulver is not out on DVD. It was out on VHS once upon a time and you can still find that but no one buys VHS tapes these days. If you guys can't sell a product with the names of Matthau, Nicholson and Hagman on the packaging, it's time to close the department. There are Andy Griffith Show fans, mostly female, who'll buy this for the three seconds of Goober shirtless.
Come on. If I can't get Skidoo released on DVD, maybe I can get this one out of the vaults. And then we can do something about The Flim-Flam Man and Pretty Maids All in a Row.