I think it's time we acknowledged that Turner Classic Movies has the franchise on old films which is detrimental to Tyrone Power, since TCM owns no 20th Century Fox films.
As a result, Ty was eliminated from "Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era." Any newcomer interested in film due to TCM stands a chance of never hearing of Tyrone Power or seeing one of his films thanks to the TCM monopoly. I went to the TCM message board and NO ONE even mentioned that Ty was missing.
I know I'm too much of an activist for everyone's taste, but unless we keep the pressure on TCM, they will never do anything about this - they won't make any attempt to license Fox films and they'll rewrite history by eliminating him from everything they publish, which is a lot.
I am asking people to go to http://www.tcm.com/TCMCFA/feedback.jsp at the bottom of the page and complain about Ty not being in the book. Not all at once, but over the next couple of weeks. You can use any subject you want - General Comments, merchandising - there is a list of topics there, any one will do.
It's interesting you brought this up, 'case I was in a local bookstore a few days ago, saw the book and couldn't quite believe as to some of their choices.
In all honesty, (if memory serves) it seems like, on a whole they have a good selection---or at least people that deserve to be in the book. Then I saw......Robert Taylor. Huh? Don't get me wrong, I like this actor well enough and he did some good films but does his work seriously warrant the exclusion of TP. There is no strong later work to speak of, or even stronger films in the 40's and earlier, for that matter---not to mention the theatre resume that Power had that Taylor can't even begin to come close to (he wasn't bigger box office).
Weird, weird choice.
So, yeah, now that you mention, since TCM--a channel that I do love, quite frankly---has been churning out some high profile film books of late, they in turn do seem more and more as glorified ads for their cable schedule.
Anywho, I'm rambling but thanks for the tip, Maria.
Yes, I'm in the process of writing a diatribe on one of the sites I work for about this book and the omission of Power and a few others. It would be great if you would complain.
I absolutely LOVE TCM. I'm glued to it, and I give it many compliments in my article, but leaving out 20th Century Fox stars is just horrible. I also perfectly agree with you about Robert Taylor. But you can turn on TCM every day and see him in a movie. So that's why he's there.
The three I think are outrageous are Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Anthony Quinn. Keaton and Lloyd were stars and comedians, and comics belong in a separate book. And Anthony Quinn? Give me a break.
So I'm going after them in a BIG way. So far Turner has heard from some people and before I'm through they will hear from a lot more. Thanks, Maria
