CT Million
@ctmillion.bsky.social
Emmy-winning Cameraman, Filmmaker, Musician, Writer, Dog Valet. Student of history, language, film, trivia, and film trivia. Curator of #NoirChecklist for #NoirAlley, #TCMParty. Your dog will probably like me.
"Basin Street Blues" became a signature song for trombonist and vocalist Jack Teagarden when leading his own bands. Teagarden had shorter arms than most trombonists, so to compensate, he developed incredible embouchere, creating his trademark super mellow tone.
#TheStrip #TCMParty #NoirAlley
#TheStrip #TCMParty #NoirAlley
November 23, 2025 at 6:10 AM
"Basin Street Blues" became a signature song for trombonist and vocalist Jack Teagarden when leading his own bands. Teagarden had shorter arms than most trombonists, so to compensate, he developed incredible embouchere, creating his trademark super mellow tone.
#TheStrip #TCMParty #NoirAlley
#TheStrip #TCMParty #NoirAlley
Although he only shot a couple of noirs- including Act of Violence- #TheStrip cinematographer Robert Surtees shot a few other movies you might have heard of: Ben-Hur, Oklahoma, King Solomon's Mines, The Graduate, The Last Picture Show, and The Sting, among others.
#TCMParty #NoirAlley
#TCMParty #NoirAlley
November 23, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Although he only shot a couple of noirs- including Act of Violence- #TheStrip cinematographer Robert Surtees shot a few other movies you might have heard of: Ben-Hur, Oklahoma, King Solomon's Mines, The Graduate, The Last Picture Show, and The Sting, among others.
#TCMParty #NoirAlley
#TCMParty #NoirAlley
The rowboat scene and the orange grove scene are the two scenes shot by original #Chinatown cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who was too slow and old school for Roman Polanski. He was replaced by John A. Alonzo, who had a background in documentaries and working quickly with natural light.
#TCMParty
#TCMParty
November 23, 2025 at 3:44 AM
The rowboat scene and the orange grove scene are the two scenes shot by original #Chinatown cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who was too slow and old school for Roman Polanski. He was replaced by John A. Alonzo, who had a background in documentaries and working quickly with natural light.
#TCMParty
#TCMParty
So many #noir tropes in #DoubleIndemnity that my last #NoirChecklist for it only covered the first half hour:
-Monotone narration
-Sap protagonist
-Entire story is a flashback
-Wisecracking maid
-The femme fatale to beat all femme fatales
-More innuendo than an Italian proctologist
#TCMParty
-Monotone narration
-Sap protagonist
-Entire story is a flashback
-Wisecracking maid
-The femme fatale to beat all femme fatales
-More innuendo than an Italian proctologist
#TCMParty
November 23, 2025 at 2:19 AM
So many #noir tropes in #DoubleIndemnity that my last #NoirChecklist for it only covered the first half hour:
-Monotone narration
-Sap protagonist
-Entire story is a flashback
-Wisecracking maid
-The femme fatale to beat all femme fatales
-More innuendo than an Italian proctologist
#TCMParty
-Monotone narration
-Sap protagonist
-Entire story is a flashback
-Wisecracking maid
-The femme fatale to beat all femme fatales
-More innuendo than an Italian proctologist
#TCMParty
OK hold up, you’re telling me the lead-in to #NoirAlley Saturday night is a double bill of #DoubleIndemnity and #Chinatown? A classic #Noir vs #NeoNoir clash of titans? Now that’s what I call a #Noirvember to remember! #TCMParty
November 22, 2025 at 12:55 AM
OK hold up, you’re telling me the lead-in to #NoirAlley Saturday night is a double bill of #DoubleIndemnity and #Chinatown? A classic #Noir vs #NeoNoir clash of titans? Now that’s what I call a #Noirvember to remember! #TCMParty
Step right up, Dutton Peabody!
November 21, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Step right up, Dutton Peabody!
He just won a "Giants in Broadcasting Award” from the Library of American Broadcasting, and he’s still got the hair at almost 80! (Although he looks to have added some gel now…)
November 18, 2025 at 6:32 AM
He just won a "Giants in Broadcasting Award” from the Library of American Broadcasting, and he’s still got the hair at almost 80! (Although he looks to have added some gel now…)
This weekend I saw two great film restorations at the SF Silent Film Fest, held this year at the fabulous 1941 Art Deco Orinda Theater: Clarence Brown’s THE TRAIL OF ‘98 and KOHLHEISEL’S DAUGHTERS, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and introduced by film historian (and my old teacher) Joe McBride #TCMParty
November 18, 2025 at 6:13 AM
This weekend I saw two great film restorations at the SF Silent Film Fest, held this year at the fabulous 1941 Art Deco Orinda Theater: Clarence Brown’s THE TRAIL OF ‘98 and KOHLHEISEL’S DAUGHTERS, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and introduced by film historian (and my old teacher) Joe McBride #TCMParty
Kurosawa was also obviously influenced by Hitchcock's #Rope in the first half of the film– the expansive apartment with a picture window view of the city, populated by many different interacting characters precisely shot in long, ten minute takes.
#TCMParty #HighAndLow #NoirAlley
#TCMParty #HighAndLow #NoirAlley
November 16, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Kurosawa was also obviously influenced by Hitchcock's #Rope in the first half of the film– the expansive apartment with a picture window view of the city, populated by many different interacting characters precisely shot in long, ten minute takes.
#TCMParty #HighAndLow #NoirAlley
#TCMParty #HighAndLow #NoirAlley
The cops and others in the first act of #HighAndLow are staged in carefully blocked master shots like a Rembrandt painting. #NoirAlley #TCMParty
November 16, 2025 at 6:49 AM
The cops and others in the first act of #HighAndLow are staged in carefully blocked master shots like a Rembrandt painting. #NoirAlley #TCMParty
Some actors you look at and just know that their visage puts them beyond being just another actor; they are instead a MOVIE STAR.
Toshiro Mifune is one of those actors. #HighAndLow #NoirAlley #TCMParty
Toshiro Mifune is one of those actors. #HighAndLow #NoirAlley #TCMParty
November 16, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Some actors you look at and just know that their visage puts them beyond being just another actor; they are instead a MOVIE STAR.
Toshiro Mifune is one of those actors. #HighAndLow #NoirAlley #TCMParty
Toshiro Mifune is one of those actors. #HighAndLow #NoirAlley #TCMParty
Rock Hudson's breathy, low register voice in #BattleHymn may have been the inspiration for the vocal inflections of that creepy scam blood test lady, Elizabeth Holmes. #TCMParty
November 12, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Rock Hudson's breathy, low register voice in #BattleHymn may have been the inspiration for the vocal inflections of that creepy scam blood test lady, Elizabeth Holmes. #TCMParty
Martha Hyer's second husband was former Warners studio boss and independent producer Hal B. Wallis. After retiring from acting, she wrote the screenplay for the Wallis-produced True Grit sequel Rooster Cogburn (with a healthy dose of "inspiration" from The African Queen.) #TCMParty #BattleHymn
November 12, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Martha Hyer's second husband was former Warners studio boss and independent producer Hal B. Wallis. After retiring from acting, she wrote the screenplay for the Wallis-produced True Grit sequel Rooster Cogburn (with a healthy dose of "inspiration" from The African Queen.) #TCMParty #BattleHymn
It was a balmy, Hawaii-like evening in the Bay Area, thanks to the last remnants of our summer (everyone else’s fall.) So I was compelled to break out my island resort wear.
November 11, 2025 at 5:02 AM
It was a balmy, Hawaii-like evening in the Bay Area, thanks to the last remnants of our summer (everyone else’s fall.) So I was compelled to break out my island resort wear.
Ben Burtt- a semi regular at #TCMFF and a lovely man- won the second of his four Oscars for the sound design on #RaidersOfTheLostArk. #TCMParty
November 8, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Ben Burtt- a semi regular at #TCMFF and a lovely man- won the second of his four Oscars for the sound design on #RaidersOfTheLostArk. #TCMParty
In much the same way that many ladies (and not a few men) watching #RaidersOfTheLostArk are swooning over Harrison Ford, was there an adolescent boy (and perhaps not a few girls) who saw it back in the day who didn't immediately fall in love with Karen Allen? #TCMParty
November 8, 2025 at 3:52 AM
In much the same way that many ladies (and not a few men) watching #RaidersOfTheLostArk are swooning over Harrison Ford, was there an adolescent boy (and perhaps not a few girls) who saw it back in the day who didn't immediately fall in love with Karen Allen? #TCMParty
Damn bro, Gene Tierney just called and wants her hair back.
October 31, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Damn bro, Gene Tierney just called and wants her hair back.
The two books London wrote based on his Fish Patrol experiences, along with parts of his autobiographical novel, John Barleycorn.
October 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
The two books London wrote based on his Fish Patrol experiences, along with parts of his autobiographical novel, John Barleycorn.
It's a little weird seeing George Tobias as a gangland enforcer when he played so many comic immigrants and lovable sidekicks in old Warner Brothers films.
#Southside1-1000 #TCMParty #NoirAlley
#Southside1-1000 #TCMParty #NoirAlley
October 26, 2025 at 5:02 AM
It's a little weird seeing George Tobias as a gangland enforcer when he played so many comic immigrants and lovable sidekicks in old Warner Brothers films.
#Southside1-1000 #TCMParty #NoirAlley
#Southside1-1000 #TCMParty #NoirAlley
If those shots from the back seat of the car look familiar, it's because #Southside1-1000 cinematographer Russell Harlan shot the noir classic #GunCrazy the year before, where he had adapted a jockey saddle as a camera support for the infamous bank robbery sequence. #NoirAlley #TCMParty
October 26, 2025 at 4:45 AM
If those shots from the back seat of the car look familiar, it's because #Southside1-1000 cinematographer Russell Harlan shot the noir classic #GunCrazy the year before, where he had adapted a jockey saddle as a camera support for the infamous bank robbery sequence. #NoirAlley #TCMParty
I mostly know Don DeFore as Hazel's harried boss, so I'm interested to see if he can carry a #noir.
#Southside1-1000 #NoirAlley #TCMParty
#Southside1-1000 #NoirAlley #TCMParty
October 26, 2025 at 4:22 AM
I mostly know Don DeFore as Hazel's harried boss, so I'm interested to see if he can carry a #noir.
#Southside1-1000 #NoirAlley #TCMParty
#Southside1-1000 #NoirAlley #TCMParty
Today would have been Johnny Carson’s 100th birthday. Staying up late as a kid in the summer watching his show gave me an education in comedy and show biz and television and classic film, and was at least partially responsible for setting me on my life and career path.
Thanks, Johnny.
#TCMParty
Thanks, Johnny.
#TCMParty
October 24, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Today would have been Johnny Carson’s 100th birthday. Staying up late as a kid in the summer watching his show gave me an education in comedy and show biz and television and classic film, and was at least partially responsible for setting me on my life and career path.
Thanks, Johnny.
#TCMParty
Thanks, Johnny.
#TCMParty
When I was in film school, the five "lost" Hitchcock films were still lost and not available anywhere. The professor in my Hitchcock course had some contacts, and borrowed a bootleg 16mm print of #Vertigo from a private collector to show to the class on the down low. It was quite exciting. #TCMParty
October 20, 2025 at 12:23 AM
When I was in film school, the five "lost" Hitchcock films were still lost and not available anywhere. The professor in my Hitchcock course had some contacts, and borrowed a bootleg 16mm print of #Vertigo from a private collector to show to the class on the down low. It was quite exciting. #TCMParty
Yep, also the inspiration for the great Cagney pre-Code Picture Snatcher.
#BlackTuesday #TCMParty #NoirAlley
#BlackTuesday #TCMParty #NoirAlley
October 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Yep, also the inspiration for the great Cagney pre-Code Picture Snatcher.
#BlackTuesday #TCMParty #NoirAlley
#BlackTuesday #TCMParty #NoirAlley
Innovative #BlackTuesday cinematographer Stanley Cortez, brother of actor Ricardo Cortez, trained under several silent film cinematography pioneers. He also shot The Magnificent Ambersons for Orson Welles and The Night of the Hunter for Charles Laughton. #TCMParty #NoirAlley
October 19, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Innovative #BlackTuesday cinematographer Stanley Cortez, brother of actor Ricardo Cortez, trained under several silent film cinematography pioneers. He also shot The Magnificent Ambersons for Orson Welles and The Night of the Hunter for Charles Laughton. #TCMParty #NoirAlley