Althouse: "Everybody hated something. I hated the heights. Red Buttons hated the water. Stella [Stevens] hated the dirt and so did..."

September 8, 2019

"Everybody hated something. I hated the heights. Red Buttons hated the water. Stella [Stevens] hated the dirt and so did..."

"... Ernest Borgnine. Shelley Winters hated being fat and Jack Albertson hated Shelley Winters."

Said Carol Lynley, years ago, talking about "The Poseidon Adventure," quoted in "Carol Lynley, actress in 1972 blockbuster ‘The Poseidon Adventure,’ dies at 77" (WaPo).

It's not too late/We should be giving/Only with love can we climb/It's not too late/Not while we're living/Let's put our hands out in time...

44 comments:

Ken B said...: One of the most beautiful faces in profile. Perfect.; 9/8/19, 8:43 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: This era was the apotheosis of Mad magazine.; 9/8/19, 8:43 PM
stevew said...: Was that the first of the mega disaster movies? I was in high school, must see date mvie!; 9/8/19, 8:47 PM
Fernandinande said...: "The Poseidon Adventure"

We just finished watching/skimming "Poseidon" a few minutes ago.

What are the chance of something like that never happening?; 9/8/19, 8:51 PM
pacwest said...: Kumbaya; 9/8/19, 8:56 PM
Wince said...: Her character in Poseidon was the prototype of the whiney snowflake.

IIRC that's Waddy Wachtel playing guitar in that clip.; 9/8/19, 9:06 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: To follow up my last comment..; 9/8/19, 9:08 PM
Michael K said...: Just died at 77. Last week.; 9/8/19, 9:10 PM
Kevin said...: @stevew, Poseidon Adventure was 1972, and Towering Inferno and Earthquake were 1974. But Airport was 1970, so I think that wins.; 9/8/19, 9:12 PM
The Godfather said...: I saw the movie (the original one) in the theater when it came out, and I thought it was very good. Fat Shelley Winters played an-eventually-heroic character well; I rooted for her. Of course modern CGI can make stuff like this much more "impactful", but that tends to distract the audience from the human story, which is really what we care about. At least I do.

Oh, and I liked the song, too.; 9/8/19, 9:23 PM
narciso said...: Ah those were classic disaster films, when they remade poseidon in the 00s i wondered what they wey were thinking.; 9/8/19, 9:29 PM
fleg9bo said...: My sister had a teen fashion magazine with Carol Lynley on the cover. I was smitten. Or is the correct word "smut?"; 9/8/19, 9:33 PM
madAsHell said...: Blockbuster??; 9/8/19, 9:35 PM
narciso said...: Ah yes i remember her now, but i never knew her name.; 9/8/19, 9:40 PM
Wince said...: Even Carol Lynley agrees with me!

THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE - Q&A with CAROL LYNLEY

Q: Is there anything about your character in the movie that you would have liked to change?

I would have liked her to be more like me! I am not whiny! But it worked well for the character, and the producers wanted her to be sensitive, so I guess that's what you the audience got.; 9/8/19, 9:44 PM
rcocean said...: Well, everyone hated Shelly Winters. I always thought the Red buttons - Carol Relationship was silly, but they had to pair everyone up, and she got stuck with Red buttons.

One thing I liked about P/A. as a kid were kids. They weren't the usual too-cute, snarky or weirdo kids Hollywood usually gave us. I also loved the guy falling backwards into a stained glass window, That was cool - even on TV.; 9/8/19, 9:47 PM
rcocean said...: Shelly Winters was actually good in this one. A yenta playing a yenta.; 9/8/19, 9:48 PM
narciso said...: Didnt know she was also in dynasty.; 9/8/19, 9:51 PM
gspencer said...: And Ethel Merman hated Ernest Borgnine.

But she only found that out after she married him.

In her autobiography Merman (1978), the chapter entitled "My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine" consists of one blank page.; 9/8/19, 10:06 PM
Kathryn51 said...: I have never watched Poseiden Adventure, but I well remember Carol Lynley appearing on just about every drama that I watched in highschool (late '60s). Just checked her TV appearances on Wiki - yep, Man from U.N.C.L.E., Invaders, It Takes a Thief, Big Valley, . . .

I'm surprised there is no mention of Star Trek - coulda sworn she was in one of its episodes.; 9/8/19, 10:25 PM
Wince said...: I'm surprised there is no mention of Star Trek - coulda sworn she was in one of its episodes.

Maybe you're thinking of Teri Garr?; 9/8/19, 10:34 PM
Rory said...: Susan Oliver was in the Star Trek pilot. She was pretty similar.; 9/8/19, 10:50 PM
eddie willers said...: IIRC that's Waddy Wachtel playing guitar in that clip

I had to go and look at that clip. Once you pointed it out, I could tell that curly hair from behind. (I've been binging on live Linda Ronstadt shows on youtube)

And checking out at IMDb, I saw where the keyboardist was Michael Omartian. He produced Christopher Cross' five Grammy winning debut album (and a gazillion others)

The goofy looking drummer got no screen credit.; 9/8/19, 11:02 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Kevin is right- Airport' was made in 1970, and its Wiki page even says it was the first of the 70's disaster movies. I think I had seen them all by the time Airplane! was made mocking them in 1980.; 9/8/19, 11:22 PM
narciso said...: Susan oliver was ten years older, a somewhat similar type.; 9/8/19, 11:23 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I remember her most for the numerous appearances she made as different characters on Fantasy Island.; 9/8/19, 11:23 PM
narciso said...: Although airplane was based on zero hour, not the arthur hailey derived film; 9/8/19, 11:25 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It's been a while since I have seen the movie, but I think her character was one of the ones that made it to the hull and was rescued.; 9/8/19, 11:27 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It was one of the earliest movies I can remember seeing with my parents in a theater. As a 6 year old, I thought it was fantastic. I was an enthusiast for the 70s disaster films- I saw The Towering Inferno in the theaters as well as two of the Airport sequels.; 9/8/19, 11:31 PM
From Inwood said...: One year in the '50s I saw her & her mom get into a cab every morning as I walked to the bus for my school.; 9/8/19, 11:33 PM
LordSomber said...: Carol Lynley was indeed hot, but one mustn't ignore the equally fetching Pamela Sue Martin in hot pants.; 9/9/19, 12:33 AM
AndrewV said...: Ah those were classic disaster films, when they remade poseidon in the 00s i wondered what they wey were thinking.

Actually it was remade twice. First the two part TV movie The Poseidon Adventure (2005) and then the big budget movie Poseidon (2006); 9/9/19, 1:27 AM
campy said...: She was lovely in Otto Preminger's The Cardinal (1963).; 9/9/19, 6:16 AM
dreams said...: Her best movie Bunny Lake is Missing was on TCM this weekend.; 9/9/19, 8:03 AM
tcrosse said...: There was a silent 1911 version of The Poseidon Adventure by D.W.Griffith, which was being screened on the Titanic the night it sank. Honest.; 9/9/19, 8:23 AM
narciso said...: Ah yes, i grew up on pamela on the nancy drew mysteries well the one seaaom in 1976.; 9/9/19, 9:00 AM
William said...: She was about my age, and I became aware of her existence in my teen age years. Some bells toll louder than others. Tuesday Weld was the towering figure among cute blonde teenage stars, but Carol was pretty good. She had a longer, more productive life than Sandra Dee.; 9/9/19, 9:05 AM
Maillard Reactionary said...: What's with the Japanese subtitles?

I imagine this movie was popular there. They love this kind of stuff, and think it really goes on in America.; 9/9/19, 9:43 AM
Sam L. said...: One of the many movies I never wanted to see, and didn't.; 9/9/19, 11:56 AM
Alec Rawls said...: I like the marketing right in the title, calling a made-up horror story an "adventure," because after all it's just entertainment. Let's go on an adventure though hell! Only $2.; 9/9/19, 12:25 PM
Rory said...: "Tuesday Weld was the towering figure among cute blonde teenage stars, but Carol was pretty good. She had a longer, more productive life than Sandra Dee."

Tuesday, Sue Lyon, and Yvette Mimieux are all still around. Hollywood had a deep bench in the 60s.; 9/9/19, 12:51 PM
madAsHell said...: There was a silent 1911 version of The Poseidon Adventure by D.W.Griffith, which was being screened on the Titanic the night it sank. Honest.

That must be the new Joe Biden filter I've been hearing about!!; 9/9/19, 12:56 PM
Richard said...: Had to mention Susan Blakely. Remember her in Towering Inferno? Hubba-hubba!; 9/9/19, 3:42 PM
Fen said...: Robyn Wright doesn't even know his name: Sgt. 1st Class Elis Barreto Ortiz, 34, from Morovis, Puerto Rico.

Althouse: :"You're wrong. The name is in the article. Why make assertions without checking?"

I did check. My mistake was when I got to the bottom of the page where it says:

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I thought that was the end. Although now I see the article continues beyond that. Thank you so much for taking the time to point out my mistake.

Althouse: Really, Fen, your commenting needs improvement.

No, it really doesn't. It's been very sharp lately, more than usual. You are just saying that because I challenged you yesterday on another topic and you are holding a grudge. You sure you want to play that game? Because I am more stubborn than you.

Althouse: I'm going to start deleting you a lot more, beginning with this comment in half an hour. You may copy what you've written and attempt to rewrite it. If you don't want to go to the link and read or you need and don't want to get a subscription, you need to be circumspect about what you say is in the article.

OH. GO. FUCK. YOURSELF.

I will now happily copy everything I post here to repost 10 times over every time you delete it. And if you manage to ban this profile I will make several more and do it all over again.

OR

You can front page a public apology to me for being a vindictive bitch and singling me out because I had the audacity to challenge you on something stupid. What was it again? Oh right, I said I was "skeptical" that you were aware of the NPC meme. LOL.

(lets see now... New desktop folder: Althouse, new txt doc: Althouse1, copy and paste and save. Ready to launch upon deletion. Your turn....); 9/10/19, 9:41 AM