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Long speeches by Regis Toomey/soda jerk and James Gleason/editor

posted 11 years ago by donofthedial
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Those guys got some choice screen time!

They each have speeches that last for about 5 minutes each!

Burt the soda jerk aka Regis Toomey gets a hell of a shot and with minor interruptions, speaks his piece for 5 minutes. That's astounding...and he does a great job, too.

Editor Connall aka James Gleason gets his 5 minutes, too, and with even fewer interruptions...just him and Gary Cooper (who really lays back here) and Gleason gives a moving speech about his life and father and the way things are.

Hats off to both men!

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[–] vinidici 11 years ago

(Duplicate post, mostly deleted in re-edit but device glitch won't allow me to completely delete.)

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[–] vinidici 11 years ago

I noticed much the same. And even laconic ol' Coop had it in him to air the axe he had to grind on a couple of occasions, throughout :-)

There was a lot of fine acting by pretty much everyone in this picture. One of Cooper's best demonstrations of his genuine acting skills, in my estimation, was when he was being prepared to make the radio speech that the Barbara Stanwyck character had written for him, all the while being nervous in front of the audience who were eagerly waiting to hang on his every word, and also while a hefty offer to publicly end the "John Doe" charade was weighing heavily on his mind and coming into conflict with his simple values and his growing devotion to Stanwyck.

I will never be able to figure out anyone who posts in the IMDb boards their opinion that Cooper couldn't act -- for, in the scene I've just described, here it would have been a difficult performance to pull off with credibility for even the best of actors. As far as I'm concerned, however, Gary Cooper was, indeed, among the best and greatest actors who's ever gotten the celluloid treatment!

Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

Cooper has that long speech telling Stanwyck his dream about her, but, to me, that is a silly scene and not in the league with Toomey's and Gleason's speech.

His speech at the Norton mansion is pretty long, but I didn't time it. Good one.

And Stanwyck has her speech. Totally forgot. I find it a bit preachy, though, where the Toomey and Gleason speech don't feel as such to me.

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[–] vinidici 11 years ago

Agreed the "dream speech" was silly but even the minor characters like Beany and a couple of other newspaper flunkies were rolling their eyes at "Long John" over that one.

Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

It's a silly speech that an awkward man might make, so that makes it on the side ion the true, but as the guy in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE says after watching and listening Jimmy Stewart talk about lassoing the moon for Donna Reed, "Why don'rt you go ahead and just kiss her!" That's what Coop needed to do - stop talking and make with the kisses.

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[–] richard.fuller1 11 years ago

I thought that soda jerk speech was incredibly long and unnecessarily so.

This movie, which I am watching now for the first time, is reminding me of I Love Lucy's Friends to the Friendless episode.

That guy who spoke before Lucy joined them sounded like he was right out of this movie.

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

I like the pacing of Regis Toomey's speech. It's a hell of a thing b/c he is really talking for many members of all the John Doe clubs. he's just an average Joe doing his job, living his life and all of a sudden he is pushed into the spotlight. Toomey was in films and television for maybe 50 years in many projects. he always does good and this is a good example. His wife, Ann Doran, is good, too. Always good with that very distinctive voice of hers.

So did you like the film? Think you will watch it again some day?

I have not seen that episode of ILLucy, but it sounds like owes MJDoe a tip o' the hat.

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[–] richard.fuller1 11 years ago

I recorded it to DVD, took out the commercials, but it was hardly a fave. Had I watched it first, I wouldn't have bothered recording it. I'll keep it as an old movie, something intriguing about the ending, but there was no build-up for all of that.

It's obvious what was SUPPOSED to be the build-up, but it didn't reach that. The idea he would catch everyone's fascination like that was too bally-hooed. It would have died down way before Christmas.

It was intriguing, but it was kind of like watching the flip side of Wonderful Life; there was a man who stood alone and it all got away from him.

This one didn't do anything and it all got away from him, but George Bailey sacrificed and tried hard. This guy really didn't do anything.

And a lot of this movie was just padding; the soda-jerker speech, the makeshift baseball game in the hotel room, the guy talking to Cooper in Jim's Bar (perhaps the worst).

The way these outside figures got close enough to him to tell him this and tell him that, then someone would stand up at the radio station and say he was a fake, then D. B. stands up and says he was fake to save his own skin.

It just didn't follow thru what it was trying to do.

Very similar to My Man Godfrey, but I have always enjoyed that movie much more.

This one looked like a flip side to both of those movies; Godfrey and Wonderful Life.

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

For now - I just want to point out something -

It's obvious what was SUPPOSED to be the build-up, but it didn't reach that. The idea he would catch everyone's fascination like that was too bally-hooed. It would have died down way before Christmas.

1941 is almost 75 years ago. I think the burn out rate on media stuff was far slower and longer. Stuff took longer to get around. All you had were newspapers, radio, movie newsreels, magazines and only radio was immediate. PLUS - not sure how long the period was between the first John Doe news story and Christmas Eve.

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[–] richard.fuller1 11 years ago

I was taking a lot of that into consideration, depicted best in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, which I haven't seen for a while.

Fitting for the season, this also reminded me of Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the newspaper as to if Santa Claus was real or not; a simple letter conceived so easily could take hold and manipulate so quickly.

I just wasn't grasping the overdrive so well.

I haven't seen this movie on tv much and caught the ending once and was really intrigued as to what all took place, but the build-up just wasn't there. It just didn't follow thru.

They all concluded he would jump from that building. He could have just as easily gone somewhere else and jumped, when he was found, it still would have been a story. It didn't HAVe to be that building.

He could have jumped in the river and had his body found with the note in a bottle.

Just a lot of presumptions going on with this one.

It is interesting to think of Godfrey, this one, Great McGinty (which I didn't care for, but really liked more than this one), all the way up to Wonderful Life and what was going on in that era. Even Mr. Smith fits in with these guys.

I could get on a kick and crank out two or three of these guys and just sit there and think.

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

It didn't have to be that building.

I'm pretty sure that 'his letter' said it would be the City Hall that he jumped from.

Sometimes a first viewing isn't necessarily the best viewing. I hated SHADOW OF A DOUBT the first time I saw it. "Dull and slow and boring" was what I told a friend.

I don't think that MJD is Capra's best film and it certainly is not his worst.

I was surprised how decently it has held up over the years. So much of that America is long gone. You could use a check list and mark off the conventional things that have passed into history.

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[–] FeloniousMunk 11 years ago

You're so right...1941 WAS a very long time ago...almost 75 years. This movie was made when America was not only not yet involved in WWII, but at a time when the Fascists were winning it. And when America did not want to get involved, but knew it was only a matter of time. You have to remember these things, and remember this moment in history, when you watch it.

And most people who are watching it were not alive when it was made, so WWII means almost nothing to them. Consequently, they don't know or care much about 1941. Most of them do know about how the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, though, and how we declared war on England and Russia.

HONK if you love Jesus...
TXT if you want to meet Him...

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

....the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, though, and how we declared war on England and Russia.

It was the Japanese that bombed Pearl Harbor.

We did not declare war on England and /or Russia. They were our allies.

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[–] FeloniousMunk 11 years ago

Um, yes...and satire is not your strong suit, eh?

(It was a JOKE, son...)

HONK if you love Jesus...
TXT if you want to meet Him...

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

How could anyone tell? You're new here and you wrote an noncohesive post. You're emoticons were poorly chosen.

Oh, well......

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[–] FeloniousMunk 11 years ago

Better check my profile again. I've got three years on you. It's called reading comprehension for a reason.

Non-cohesive? That refers to types of soil. I'm guessing you meant incoherent.

HONK if you love Jesus...
TXT if you want to meet Him...

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

Another smart ass on ignore. Bye.

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[–] FeloniousMunk 11 years ago

Right back atcha, asshat...you're history.Toodles!

HONK if you love Jesus...
TXT if you want to meet Him...

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[–] donofthedial 11 years ago

To richard.fuller1 ~

You made many good points, but I ran out of steam during the holidays.

fwiw - I am going to hold on to your email and try and write something in the future! :)

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[–] donofthedial 10 years ago

You make some good points, though I don't agree with all of them.

They all concluded he would jump from that building. He could have just as easily gone somewhere else and jumped, when he was found, it still would have been a story. It didn't HAVe to be that building.

I think that the City Hall was a symbolic choice by him and he had announced that choice via Stanwyck's writing that very thing. he was kind of locked in. Jumping from CH is impressive. Jumping in the river is not.

That said - I am still impressed by the speeches of Toomey and Gleason. Both very sincere and heartfelt. Were you impressed?

Took me 7 months to get back here!

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