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Christmas Music Guru
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  • Register:09/07/2005 11:04:22

Date Posted:04/08/2014 07:00:18Copy HTML





This passing is especially hard to take because Mickey Rooney was such a favorite of mine...

One of the greats from the Golden Age of Hollywood...

From the Andy Hardy pictures (which were a particular favorite of mine -- such 'feel good' movies) to so many other great, great motion pictures like Boys Town (1938), The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1939), Babes In Arms (1939), Young Tom Edison (1940), Strike Up The Band (1940), Babes On Broadway (1941), The Human Comedy (1943) and National Velvet (1944).

And speaking of the aforementioned Andy Hardy pictures, the best of these, Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), comes in at #9 in my favorite Holiday movies of all-time; click here.

In addition to the aforementioned Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), Mickey made an additional treasured contribution to the Christmas season with his resplendent voice-overs as Santa Claus for the Rankin/Bass TV Christmas specials Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (1970) and The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974).

I think I'll let the videos posted below round out my tribute to this great entertainer...















Lawrence F. "Chip" Arcuri Owner/Webmaster | The Yule Log.com
Christmas Always Share to: Facebook Twitter MSN linkedin google yahoo #1
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  • Register:08/28/2006 07:41:07

Re:The Mickster is gone...

Date Posted:04/09/2014 02:12:33Copy HTML

Yet another great and talented actor is sadly gone now.  I thought I saw something about his passing the other day :-(
Thanks for the videos Chip, he was so young back then, and even when he was older, he still looked young to me, probably because of his height.

I can't think of the episode right now, but there was, I believe, a Twilight Zone episode, where he was a jockey, and he wanted to be big, and ended up getting his wish, but it wasn't the wish he really wanted because in the end, he got a chance to be in a horse race, and it would of been the biggest of his life, if my memory is correct, and now he was way too tall for being a jockey.

Rest In Peace Mickey
Christmas Isn't Just A Day In December, It's A Way Of Life. Susan
Christmas Music Guru Share to: Facebook Twitter MSN linkedin google yahoo #2
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  • Register:09/07/2005 11:04:22

Re:The Mickster is gone...

Date Posted:04/09/2014 07:30:26Copy HTML


That's correct Susan; that Twilight Zone episode you are referring to was The Last Night Of A Jockey from 1963.

Mickey was a fine dramatic actor. In my opening post I posted a clip from the great 1943 motion picture The Human Comedy, which is one of the films for which he was nominated for Oscar's Best Actor; and posted below is another poignant clip from that magnificent film. This classic film is one of my all-time favorites, and it is the film that MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer always said was his favorite of all the motion pictures that MGM produced under his tenure (which spanned 1924-1951). For anyone interested, the film will be airing this Sunday at 3:45pm (EDT) as part of TCM's 24-hour salute to Mickey. By the way, for those not familiar with the film, don't be fooled by the title as this is not a comedy at all, but rather a great, great drama.





Lawrence F. "Chip" Arcuri Owner/Webmaster | The Yule Log.com
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  • Register:08/15/2005 03:26:24

Re:The Mickster is gone...

Date Posted:04/10/2014 03:40:06Copy HTML

One of my favorite Mickey Rooney films is the 1984 made for syndicated TV movie, It Came Upon The Midnight Clear. I have the RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video VHS copy (which I transfered to DVD-R disc) and I watch it every holiday season since 1984. It's a shame they don't broadcast this great film anymore during the Christmas season. It's probably because it deals with death and dying as much as it is a Christmas movie. On Monday, I took out my DVD-R copy and watched it again. It still makes me cry. The film came out in 1984, just about 8 months after my father had died of skin cancer so its discussion about death and angels has a place in my own life dealing with the passing of my dad. Anyway, I consider this one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies.
Christmas Music Guru Share to: Facebook Twitter MSN linkedin google yahoo #4
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Re:The Mickster is gone...

Date Posted:04/10/2014 08:55:24Copy HTML


Mickey made a lot of these later Christmas productions, including a few that were animated.

In addition to 1984's It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, these later efforts included 1979's Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July (animated), 1990's Home For Christmas, 1991's
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5; The Toy Maker, 2005's The Happy Elf (animated), 2007's A Christmas Too Many, 2008's Wreck The Halls and 2008's A Miser Brothers Christmas (animated).

No doubt the strongest of these later Christmas productions were
1979's Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July and 1984's It Came Upon A Midnight Clear; and the weakest no doubt was1991's Silent Night, Deadly Night 5; The Toy Maker.



Lawrence F. "Chip" Arcuri Owner/Webmaster | The Yule Log.com
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