tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251043500092242623.post1962851671535786584..comments2024-03-25T03:31:09.538-04:00Comments on markrothmansblog: Richard Erdman On The OTN. Part Two.mark rothmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06577361966051927102noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251043500092242623.post-15201532318062713392013-07-16T19:32:54.268-04:002013-07-16T19:32:54.268-04:00Thanks for the heads-up on Erdman's YouTube in...Thanks for the heads-up on Erdman's YouTube interview with Muller. I'll be sure to look it up.<br /><br />I'd forgotten Erdman was on Lou Grant, but your mention reminded me of my favorite Lou Grant episode. Lou, for a change, ahs to work on the Trib's night desk, and Erdman plays Hal, one of the members of the night crew. That night (as I recall) there's some kind of disaster on a ship that's carrying a lot of society people. Lou somewhat reluctantly sends the society reporter because she knows the people. She comes back and writes the story. She has all the facts, but as Lou looks at the story on the computer, he sees that her opening paragraphs are awful -- written in society-reporter speak. Lou, after grimacing, says, "Hal..."<br /><br />"I've already fixed it," Hal says.<br /><br />Wonderful moment, Having spent literally decades doing nighttime newspaper work, I can tell you that this sort of thing rings very true, and Erdman's character (and Erdman's performance) help make it that way.<br /><br />Mark Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463881222804863326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251043500092242623.post-48035284091840740792013-07-16T18:07:26.598-04:002013-07-16T18:07:26.598-04:00"Saints And Sinners" was a Four Star ser..."Saints And Sinners" was a Four Star series.<br />The pilot was shown on Dick Powell's anthology, which has been mentioned here a time or three.<br />We know that during Powell's lifetime, he was very much hands-on with the company's TV projects.<br />Thus, since he'd worked with Richard Erdman several times over the years, using him in S&S was likely his idea.<br /><br />One of the films Dick Powell did with Richard Erdman was a noir thriller called "Cry Danger!"<br />Powell was an ex-con who everybody was chasing because they all thought that he had a stash of loot hidden.<br />Erdman was his old war buddy, an amputee and full-time drunk (who was after the money himself.<br />Erdman got this part through the screenwriter, William Bowers, of whom he later said fondly, "He was a drunk, so was I ... still am, by the way ..."<br /><br />Bowers gave ERdman on of the greatest noir lines of all time - this exchange with his barmaid/pickpocket girlfriend, Jean Porter:<br /><br />Porter: "Isn't it early for you to start drinking?"<br />Erdman: "Listen, doll-girl, when you drink as much as I do, you got to start early!"<br /><br />At YouTube, you can find Richard Erdman's appearance (alongside femme fatale Rhonda Fleming) at one of Eddie Muller's Noir City events, answering audience questions and telling stories about this and other experiences.(The quote about Bill Bowers above is from this event.)<br /><br />Alos, if you have the special edition DVD of "Stalag 17" (my all-time favorite Christmas movie), Erdman does the commentary track, along with Gil Stratton Jr. and Donald Bevan (one of the playwrights).<br /><br />By the way, Richard Erdman was born in 1925, so he doesn't break 90 for another two years yet.<br />Here's hoping that at the very least, the producers of "Community" finally recognize the major talent they've been wasting all this time, and actually give him some real stuff to do.<br />(If it had been up to me,I'd have given him an upgrade just as soon as Chevy Chase started behaving like an asshole - but that's just me ...)Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.com