Turner Classic Movies--for my money, the only reason to have cable or satellite--has put together a masterful obituary piece that salutes those moviemakers who passed from this mortal coil in 2008. Even the Oscars' obit won't highlight some of those familiar people you see here--it's really a beautifully researched bit of TV. Having worked at Turner before, I know positively that the camera crew was sent to Atlanta's nearby Lake Lanier to film the wraparound bits (a man-made lake, it's drying up due to a lack of rain in Georgia). The song, by the way, is Joe Henry's "God Only Knows." Get a hanky, 'cuz yer gonna need it... (and, incidentally, add B-movie queen Beverly Garland, Oscar-winner Van Johnson, sexy Eartha Kitt, cerebral playwright/screenwriter Harold Pinter and To Kill A Mockingbird director Robert Mulligan to this mix).
4 comments:
Obviously done before some of the end of the year deaths you mention, plus I'd also add Majel Barrett Roddenberry, of Star Trek fame. Filming the forlorn and water-deficient scenery at the once lovely Lake Lanier made it seem more like an obituary for the entire planet, which perhaps it was. I don't know if I'd have equated deceased stars with worn-out and unusable lake equipment, but the song is nice, anyway! :-)
Hi! Dean,
What a really "moving" tribute...to actors, actresses, directors and writers.Whom have made the transition Like you said, "from this mortal coil."
Dean said,"Having worked at Turner before, I know positively that the camera crew was sent to Atlanta's nearby Lake Lanier to film the wraparound bits." ...Wow!
"The song is Joe Henry's "God Only Knows," Tks, for the title of the song.
The "Dame" :-(
You're right spot on, Lisa, about the questionable aspect of filming all the equipment and stuff. I like the nature shots, though. That makes sense. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...that sort of thing...
That was probably better than the Oscar montage - in no small part because it didn't have audience applause emerging in fits and starts to tell us who's worthy of mourning and who isn't (would it kill them to sit on their hands for a few minutes? What's meant as a tribute to especially missed individuals turns into the most morbid sort of popularity contest...)
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