The Great (film) Debates vol. 95

Bad things come in threes, and so do Hollywood dinners.

Name three Hollywood stars (living or dead) you’d like to invite to dinner.


Panelist: T-Rav

I'd have to go with Charlton Heston, because he was freaking Moses (and I'd also like to get his opinion on all those Planet of the Apes sequels); Paul Newman, who may have been a bit wacky politically but seems to have been a genuinely nice guy (and of course a great actor); and on the living side, Jennifer Lawrence, aka the future Mrs. T-Rav.

Panelist: Floyd

William Powell (from My Man Godfrey, The Thin Man movies), Jack Lemmon, and Kevin Spacey... Why? William Powell was Golden Age -- my favorite actor from the 1930s and 40s. Powell was in Mister Roberts (his last film) with Jack Lemmon who was just starting in films. Lemmon was in Glengarry Glen Ross with Kevin Spacey who was just starting out in 1992. All three were and are great storytellers. I imagine a setting like Jon Favreau's Dinner For Five -- good food, great cigars, drinks, maybe some poker and a lot of movie talk stretching from silent movies to the latest Netflix series about politics.

Panelist: AndrewPrice

Gene Autry... the nicest human being ever. Quentin Tarantino... the most interesting director ever. Robert Shaw... who impresses the hell out of me.

Panelist: BevfromNYC

Let me just start off by saying if you’d ever eaten with an actor, well, let’s just hope it’s not a buffet! Okay, that being said, one would have to be Cary Grant, but it would have to be in one of those great old supper clubs like the El Morocco in NYC and would involve martinis. Secondly, Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn because I bet they would have some really great stories to tell about old Hollywood. And then maybe Vincent Price, but I would make him cook because I hear he was amazing in the kitchen and what an interesting career he had!

Btw, have any of you watched TCM’s replays of old Johnny Carson interviews with Hollywood stars? I just saw one with Henry Fonda. Of course that is when people like Carson actually talked and interviewed them. Carson was the best.

Panelist: Tennessee Jed

1) Philip St. John Basil Rathbone (June 13, 1892- July 21, 1967) -- In the fall of 1966, I had the pleasure of meeting Basil Rathbone and hearing him speak at my college. As it turned out, he would die some 8 months later, victim of a heart attack. He was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. Born in South Africa to the son of a mining engineer, Rathbone also served as an intelligence officer during WWI. Later he became a renowned Shakespearean actor, then a film actor in the 1920's. When he came to the U.S.A., he was often cast as a villain playing against Errol Flynn. In the late '30's and early 40's he became known for playing the great fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. I also liked him since his family was originally from Liverpool (as was mine), and of course, there is the Sherlock thing.

2) Jennifer Anne "Jenny" Seagrove (b. July 4, 1957) -- born in Kuala Lampur, this British born actress first came to my attention in the film Local Hero. I also liked her in the role of Mary Morston (who later becomes Mrs. Dr. John Watson) in the film The Sign of Four featuring Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke as Holmes and Watson. Seagrove overcame severe anorexia as a teen. She gives a lot of money to charity, and, of course, she is also a classically and incredibly beautiful woman. I mean if you are a guy setting a fantasy table for folks from the acting profession, why wouldn't that be a prime consideration? If I'm honest, I probably wouldn't have thought to include Jenny if I didn't just see her in an episode of "Endeavor," the BBC show about the early career of Inspector Morse.

3) Kevin Costner (b. Jan 18, 1955 Lynnewood, Ca.) -- believe it or not, I'd invite Costner. By all accounts, he seems like a fun guy in real life, and one who is not a hugely obnoxious liberal. I think he would be a nice addition to the group who would have some fun inside Hollywood stories, and make the two Brits feel at home. On the DVD of Open Range, Costner talks in detail about getting the financing set up for that film, and other issues surrounding the production. He did a great job of talking about that stuff and I found it fascinating. So you are invited, Kevin! ;)

Panelist: ScottDS

This should've been two questions: who you'd like to invite to dinner, and who you'd like to invite to a pub!

For dinner, I would like to invite Groucho Marx (I wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise), Bill Murray, and Stephen Fry.

To a pub, I would like to invite Brian ("Gordon's aliiive!") Blessed, Robert Shaw, and Michael Caine. And yes, I realize Blessed and Fry aren't exactly "Hollywood stars" but they're certainly talented and interesting individuals.

Comments? Thoughts?