When watching older movies on TCM I enjoy that sometimes bofore a primetime movie starts the TCM host (can't remember his name) talks about trivia and tid bits about the the movie that is getting ready to start. Unfortunately I didn't catch the first 10 minutes of "Mackenna's Gold" on TCM tonight, can anyone tell me what he had to say, if anything about the movie. Thanks again my IMDB droogies.
shaream also watching this movie. TCM Host Name is Robert Osborn.
Synopsis of What he told:
This movie is taken as same crew which did "Guns of Navarone" directed by Same director J.Lee Thomson.
Greogory Peck Initially rejected this role. Role was offered to Steve Mc Queen, who also rejected this role, as he was too old. At last the role went back to Gregory Peck.
Wait till end of this movie. Host will come back add some comments about the movie.
If u hv seen this movie. It is a great a movie I watched this movie when I was a kid.
-Sri
Am also watching this movie & noticed Denver Pyle in it. don't see him in the credits at all.
Saw this movie in ship out base near San Francisco when I was heading out for Viet Nam in 1971. Couldn't stand that Turkey Buzzard song.
I don't think that was Denver Pyle.
I think it was a very aged Raymond Massey (I thought it was Denver Pyle at first, but remembered that Pyle would have looked slightly "younger" at the time and always appeared considerably more well-fed than the character in the movie).
"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"
You're probably right, I was playing Euchre on-line at the time, and so wasn't paying complete attention to it. Had I been paying attention to it, I most likely would have shut it off & went to bed, as it is a perfectly awful movie.
The only reason I stayed for it the first time was there was naught else to do on base.
Unfortunately, that piece of crap is being followed by the original, Greed, by the greatest movie maker ever, Erich von Stroheim. The unfortunate part is that I must retire now as I am almost dead to the world. It is so sad that the idiots at MGM hacked this movie to bits for a few pieces of silver. The least they could have done was divide the film in thirds & released them separately.
And, yes, Zasu Pitts was an even greater tragedienne than the marvelous comedian she later became.
I saw the film in the State-Lake Theater in Chicago as a teen. I thought it was OK, but no "True Grit" or even "Butch Cassidy" (Both films debuted the same year [1969])That was the problem with this Western; it had too much competion! Missed it on TCM, but Dave Letterman saw it and added the theme song "Old Turkey Buzzard" to the sound of breaking glass for when he tosses a card through the "window" on his set!
shareState-Lake, huh? I saw it when I was 8 at either the Nortown or Uptown in Chicago on a double bill with "Che" starring Omar Sharif as Che Guevara. All I knew was that it had Lurch and Catwoman in it and at the of "Che" that Omar Sharif got shot up real good!
Old turkey buzzard, Old turkey buzzard....flyiiiinnnnnnnn high
I recorded this and just watched it, small correction on your synopsis of Robert Osborne's commentary. He just said McQueen passed on the role, but no mention of him being too old - McQueen was only 39 at the time, and 14 years younger than Peck.
shareI think that what was meant was the character was too old for Steve McQueen, not the other way around.
~~Bayowolf
If we die... it will be for GLORY, not gold.
Osborne didn't reveal anything amazing, such as whether or not there ever was a '3 hour plus' version of the movie, etc.
I'll always regret deciding to see the movie "The Chairman"(also w/ G. Peck and directed by J Lee) instead of Mackenna's Gold that fine June, 1969 day...(they were playing across the street from each other)why?...'cause I've never had the chance to see MG in 70mm since. Now, of course all the original 70mm prints have long since faded, and the chances of such an unregarded film being restored are nil. I know there still are 35mm Technicolor IB prints of it around 'cause that's what the DVD was made from.
Yeah! You missed out! I saw MG in 70mm at a drive-in that was billed as the biggest screen in Arizona and it was gorgeous. The only drawback was that all of the sound came through one of those crappy drive-in speakers. I could have seen it at the Cine Capri (where this movie had its premiere) which had a 70' screen (the drive-in was 90') and the sound would have been in whatever-the-state-of-the-art stereo was back then, but it would have been a buck-fifty a person. The drive-in was a buck a carload.
~~Bayowolf
If we die... it will be for GLORY, not gold.