Puerto Rican Character Actor Alberto Morin

Over the years, United States territory has produced its share of famous actors. Olga San Juan, José Ferrer,  Rita Moreno, Henry Darrow, and yet others came from Puerto Rico. Along the actors who originated in Puerto Rico was Alberto Morin. Although many movie and television viewers won't recognise his name, they most certainly would recognise his face. He appeared in movies from Gone with the Wind (1939) to The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) and TV shows from I Love Lucy to Cagney & Lacey.

Alberto Morin was born Salvador R. López on December 26, 1902, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He made his film debut in the movie Beau Sabreur in 1928. He spent much of the Thirties playing small uncredited roles in such movies. His role as Rene Picard, the Frenchman from Louisiana Who marries Maybelle Merriwether in Gone with the Wind (1939), was actually one of his bigger roles during the decade. Curiously, although he was Puerto Rican, Alberto Morin often found himself playing Frenchmen and assorted other non-Latino ethnicities. Much of this was not simply due to Mr. Morin being a master of accents, but because he spoke seven languages (including Spanish and English) fluently. 

Alberto Morin's fluency in multiple languages came into good use during World War II when he served in the OSS. It was while he was serving in the OSS that he met director John Ford. At the time, John Ford was an officer in the United States Navy. Following the ear, Alberto Morin would appear in three of John Ford's movies. He played a lieutenant in Rio Grande (1950), a French resistance fighter in When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950), and a manager in The Wings of Eagles (1957).

As a character actor, Alberto Morin's roles in movies varied widely, from those that were on for mere minutes to those who had much more time. In Casablanca (1942), he played the French officer who insulted Yvonne (Madeleine Lebeau). In The Asphalt Jungle (1950), he played grocer Eddie Donato, where Doc (Sam Jaffe) and Dix (Sterling Hayden) hide out following their heist. Among his bigger movie roles was General Leclaire in Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970). His final role was in The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), in which he played one of the "Senile Brigade," a group of old men who provide comedy relief throughout the movie.

Alberto Morin's roles on television were often larger than the ones he played in films. An example of this is the I Love Lucy episode "The French Revue" he played Robert DuBois, a French waiter who tries tutoring Lucy in the language. He had earlier guest starred on Carlos in the episode "Cuban Pals." He guest starred in three episodes of Dobie Gillis, the best of which may be "For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls." He played Captain Lopez, the skipper of a ship who wanted to performance a marriage ceremony at least once in his life. In the Batman episode "The Thirteenth Hat"/"Batman Stands Pat," he played eccentric sculptor Octave Marbot. In the My Three Sons episode "My Son the Bullfighter, he played the Spanish teacher Professor Madora. 

Alberto Morin was a versatile actor who played a wide variety of roles. Indeed, he was so convincing as a Frenchman that at least one book of which I know described him as "a Puerto Rican and French actor.." His proficiency in languages from French to Italian certainly came in use during his career. While he may not be as well-known as fellow Puerto Ricans Rita Moreno and José Ferrer, he was certainly memorable.

Alfred Hitchcock Preents Turns 70

It was on this date seventy years ago, on October 2, 1955, that Alfred Hitchcock Presents debuted. It is one of my favourites shows of all time, I am not sure how many times I have seen its entire run. It is one of those few shows in which I cannot think of a single bad episode, although I am sure that there has to have been at least one.

 I wrote a fairly detailed post on Alfred Hitchcock Presents years ago, so I won't do so again. If you want to read that post, you can do so here. I also wrote about one of my favourite episodes for this year's Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon. You can read all about "Arthur" here. 

The 70th Anniversary of the Sitcom The Honeymooners

Despite having run only a single season, The Honeymooners is counted among the greatest television situation comedies of all time. While many sitcoms, particularly those that ran only one season, disappear af the end of their network runs, the 39 episodes of The Honeymooners have been run continuously since the show ended its original run on CBS. It was 70 years ago today, on October 1, 1955, that The Honeymooners debuted on CBS.

The Honeymooners centred on New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and his wife Alice Kramden (Audrey Meadows). Ralph often wants a better life and, as a result, comes up with various get-rich-quick schemes. He has something of a temper, although underneath all the bluster he is a soft-hearted man who loves his wife and his best friend. Of the couple. Alice is the level-headed one. She manages their finances. She responds to both Ralph's schemes and his tantrums with sarcasm, and even though Ralph often ignores her advice, she is more often than not right. Ralph's best friend is Ed Norton (Art Carney), a New York City sewer worker. He is rather good-natured and carefree, and often gets involved in Ralph's get-rich-quick schemes. His wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph) was Alice's best friend and tended to dominate Ed at times.

The Honeymooners originated as a series of sketches on the DuMont television show Cavalcade of Stars. Cavalcade of Stars was originally hosted by Jack Carter and then Jerry Lester. It was on July 15, 1950 that Jackie Gleason became the show's host. Jackie Gleason had been the show's host for little more than a year when he and  Harry Crane and Joe Bigelow came up with a sketch inspired by the popular radio show The Bickersons. The sketch would centre on a couple who argued, but in the end loved each other deeply. Jackie Gleason wanted the sketch to be a somewhat realistic depiction of a poor married couple living in Brooklyn. Such titles as The Beast, The Couple Next Door, and The Lovers were considered before they settled on The Honeymooners.

The first Honeymooners sketch aired on Cavalcade of the Stars on October 5, 1951. In that first sketch, Jackie Gleason played the role of Ralph Kramden, while Alice was played by Pert Kelton. Art Carney appeared in that sketch, but as a police officer rather than Ed Norton. Eventually, the characters of Ed and Trixie Norton would be added to the sketches. Ed was played by Art Carney from the beginning, but Trixie was originally played by Elaine Stritch. Elaine Stritch was replaced after one appearance because her style of humour was too much like Jackie Gleason's. Joyce Randolph then took over the role. Mr. Gleason had noticed her in a commercial for Clorets. 

A bigger cast change in the sketches would be the replacement of Pert Kelton by Audrey Meadows. Pert Kelton and her husband were listed in Red Channels, a document purporting to list alleged Communists and fellow travellers in the entertainment industry. She remained on Cavalcade of Stars for some time after being listed in Red Channels, but she was ultimately removed from the sketches in January 1952. Audrey Meadows had appeared on Broadway in Top Banana and had been a regular on The Bob and Ray Show. When she tried out for the role of Alice, Jackie Gleason initially rejected her because he thought she was "too pretty." She then had a photographer take pictures of her with no makeup, with her hair a mess, wearing an old housecoat. She posed in a kitchen with a frying pan. The photos convinced Jackie Gleason to cast Audrey Meadows as Alice.

In the summer of 1952, Jackie Gleason's contract with DuMont was set to expire. It was then that CBS lured him away from the smaller network with a significantly higher salary. It was on September 20, 1952 that The Jackie Gleason Show debuted on CBS. Given their popularity, it should come as no surprise that The Honeymooners sketches made the transition to the new network. If anything, on The Jackie Gleason Show, the sketches proved even more popular than they had been on Cavalcade of Stars. Running from seven to thirteen minutes in the first season of The Jackie Gleason Show, by the show's second season Honeymooners sketches were running as long as half an hour. By the third season, some episodes of The Jackie Gleason Show were entirely dominated by Honeymooners sketches. Mostly because of The Honeymooners sketches, The Jackie Gleason Show ranked no. 2 in the ratings for the year during its third season, surpassed only by I Love Lucy. 

It was the continued popularity of The Honeymooners sketches that led to the classic sitcom. With Jackie Gleason's three-year contract with CBS set to expire, CBS and the Buick division of General Motors offered Jackie Gleason an even bigger contract, reportedly worth $11 million. The contract required Jackie Gleason to produce 78 episodes of the sitcom The Honeymooners over two seasons. There was also an option for a third season of 39 episodes. During the first season, he would receive $65,000 per episode in the first season and then $70,000 per episode in the second, although he was required to pay for all production costs out of that money. Jackie Gleason was not the only one who profited from the deal for a new Honeymooners sitcom. Art Carney received $3,500 per week, while Audrey Meadows received $2000 per week. On top of this, she also insisted on residuals for the series, so that in the end she became rich from the show. Joyce Randolph, who didn't appear in every episode, received $500 per episode.

The Honeymooners was filmed live in front of a studio audience at the DuMont Television Network's Adelphi Theatre in Manhattan. Episodes were filmed with a minimum of rehearsing, as Jackie Gleason thought rehearsals would rob episodes of spontaneity. Episodes were shot using the DuMont Television Network's Electronicam. In the days before videotape, Electronicam was a system that made capturing live performances on film easier. In the end, recordings of The Honeymooners would have better sound and picture quality than other live shows shot using kinescope.

As The Honeymooners portrayed a poor, working-class couple, it featured the most basic of sets. The Kramdens' apartment was sparsely furnished. What is more, it apparently had only two rooms. There was the main room that was used as a living room, dining room, and kitchen, and then the bedroom, which was never seen.  Jackie Gleason wanted it to resemble the Chauncey Street apartment in which he had grown up. The Norotns' apartment was similar, although they had a few more amenities. While Ed Norton made the same amount of money as Ralph, he was also notorious for paying things on credit.

The sitcom The Honeymooners was lighter in tone than the original sketches, particularly in their early days. Particularly in the earliest sketches, not only was Ralph Kramden bitter about his station in life, but also about being married. Alice was quarrelsome and abrasive. Once Audrey Meadows was cast as Alice, the sketches became less mean-spirited and more sentimental, evolving into something closer to the sitcom. 

Given that the Classic 39 episodes of the sitcom The Honeymooners are not only considered superior to The Honeymooners sketches that came before and after them, but the sitcom The Honeymooners is among the greatest sitcoms of all time, it might seem surprising today that the show's reviews were initially mixed to positive. John R. Callaghan in his October 20, 1955 "Words and Music' column in the Press-Telegram from Long Beach, California stated, "There are those who feel that Gleason dropping his full-hour live variety show in favor of the half-hour Honeymooners on film has lost something...including some viewers." The New York Times described the show as, "...even not likely to worry Frank Sinatra or Dinah Shore." If anything, the trade publication Broadcasting & Telecasting was even more critical, writing, "The Jackie Gleason Show died October 1. Services haven't been held yet, but the body's cooling. Barring some rejuvenation by CBS, it's only a matter of time." TV Guide gave the show a positive review, referring to it as "a rollicking, slapsticky, fast-paced situation comedy..." No less than Steve Allen liked the show, writing in his 1956 book The Funny Men, "The Honeymooners is as wonderfully funny as ever...."

Viewers also seemed to have a mixed reaction to the sitcom version of The Honeymooners. The show started strong in the ratings upon its debut, but slipped in the Nielsens as the season passed. It perhaps did not help that it was scheduled against high-rated The Perry Como Show, which ranked no. 18 for the season. In the end, while The Jackie Gleason Show had ranked no. 2 in the ratings during the previous season, The Honeymooners ranked a still respectable no. 19 for the year. Indeed, the ratings were good enough that the show probably would have had a second season. It was Jackie Gleason, rather than CBS, who brought the show to an end. 

After producing "the Classic 39," Jackie Gleason felt that he and his team had run out of original ideas for the show and that he and his writers simply could not keep on producing scripts at the quality that they had. It was then with the 1956-1957 season that Jackie Gleason returned to his hour-long variety show, of which The Honeymooners sketches would continue to be a part. 

As to the sitcom, it accomplished something very few single-season shows have ever accomplished. It had a successful run as a syndicated rerun. It aired on WPIX in New York, WFLD in Chicago, KTLA in Los Angeles, KDFI in Dallas,  and many other television stations across the United States through the years. It would later air on such cable channels as TBS, TV Land, WGN, and yet others. It currently airs on the digital broadcast networks MeTV and Catchy Comedy. 

For many years, while the "Classic 39" were being endlessly repeated on local television stations, new Honeymooners sketches were being produced on Jackie Gleason's shows. Over time the casts in these new sketches would change. It was in 1966 that Sheila McRae took over the role of Alice from Audrey Meadows and Jane Kean took over the role of Trixie from Jane Randolph. It was in 1990 that Audrey Hepburn hosted The Honeymooners Anniversary Special, which featured clips from the show and interviews with Art Carney and Joyce Randolph. Jackie Gleason had died in 1987.

While the sitcom The Honeymooners only had moderate success upon its debut, through repeated airings on television over the years it has since become regarded as a classic. That is not to say that the show has not had some criticism over the years. The show has been criticized for Ralph's lines, "One of these days ... One of these days ... Pow! right in the kisser!" and "To the moon, Alice!," often uttered while he was arguing with Alice. At least since the Eighties, these lines have been viewed as offensive, and even as demonstrating an acceptance of domestic violence.  In a 1985 interview with CBS News, Audrey Meadows addressed the lines, mentioning that "He never did touch her. There was no violence there. It was his way of letting off steam, and that's it." At the same time, she admitted that the lines would not work anymore. Some have pointed out that even when Ralph made such threats, Alice never backed down. Quite simply, she knew he would never carry out such threats, as the two loved each other far too much. Indeed, one of Ralph's best-known catchphrases, uttered as he embraced his wife, was, "Baby, you're the greatest." 

The Honeymooners has left behind a considerable legacy. DC Comics published 12 issues of Jackie Gleason and The Honeymooners from 1956 to 1958. Warner Bros. produced three animated theatrical shorts parodying The Honeymooners: 'The Honey-Mousers" (1956), "Cheese It, the Cat!" (1957), and "Mice Foolies" (1960).  The Hanna-Barbera animated series The Flintstones drew upon The Honeymooners to such a degree that Jackie Gleason later said that he had considered suing Hanna-Barbera, but did not do so because he didn't want to be known as "the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air." The sitcom The King of Queens owed some inspiration to The Honeymooners. It has been parodied on everything from Moonlighting to The Simpsons. In 2005 a feature film based on the show, starring Cedric the Entertainer as Ralph and Mike Epps as Norton, was released. 

Since its debut, The Honeymooners has come to be regarded as one of the greatest shows of all time. In 2002, TV Guide ranked it at no. 3 on their list of their "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time," after Seinfeld and I Love Lucy. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America included it at no. 31 on their list of the 101 Best Written Shows of All Time. IGN included The Honeymooners at no. 71 on their list of the Top 100 TV Shows of All Time. The Honeymooners may not have been a huge success upon its debut, but it has since come to be regarded as one of the greatest all-time shows. People will probably still be watching it 60 years from now. 

Hammer Horrors on TCM in October 2025

Every October, Turner Classic Movies shows a lot of horror movies. Quite naturally, many of these films were produced by Hammer Film Productions Ltd., the most famous maker of horror movies short of Universal Pictures. This year is no different. Indeed, Monday, October 20 will see an entire day of Hammer horror movies. 

Every year I post a schedule of the Hammer horrors on TCM in October. As of right now, the schedule only goes up to October 19, but I will post the times for movies when they do become available. I really wish TCM would fix the schedule to where it displays the whole month at least a week before the prior month ends. It would make things much handier! 

All times are Central. 

Friday, October 10:
8:30 PM Fanatic (1965--American title, Die! Die! My Darling)

Saturday, October 18:
9:00 PM The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Monday, October 20:
5:00 AM The Mummy (1959)
6:30 AM The Witches (1966--American title, The Devil's Own)
8:30 AM Dracula (1958--American Title, Horror of Dracula)
10:00 AM Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1969)
12:00 PM Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
1:45 PM The Devil Rides Out (1968, American title The Devil's Bride)
3:30 PM Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
5:15 PM Taste of Fear (1961 American title,  Scream of Fear)

Thursday, October 30:
Dracula (1958--American Title, Horror of Dracula)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Nightmare (1964) 

While I'm on the subject of Hammer Films, I want to let my fellow Hammer fans who are also bloggers that Gill of Realweegiemidget Reviews and Barry of Cinematic Catharsis are holding the Hammer-Amicus Blogathon V, in which bloggers write on topics related to Hammer Film Productions and Amicus Productions (and this year Hammer imitators such as Tigon, Tyburn, and so on). If you want to know more about the blogathon, do visit either of those fine blogs! Actually, you should visit them even if you aren't interested in the blogathon. 

The Late Great Claudia Cardinale

Legendary Italian movie star Claudia Cardinale died on September 23, 2025, at her home in Nemours, Île-de-France at the age of 87. She starred in such films as 8 1/2 (1963), The Pink Panther(1963), and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).

Claudia Cardinale was born on April 15, 1938, in La Goulette, French protectorate of Tunisia. Throughout her childhood, she spoke French, the Sicilian dialect of her family, and Arabic. She didn't learn Italian until she was grown up. She studied at the Saint-Joseph-de-l'Apparition School of Carthage. Planning to be a teacher, she studied at the Paul Cambon School in Tunis. It was during this period that she and some of her classmates were cast in the short "Les Anneaux d’or (1956)," directed by Mustapha Fersi and René Vautier. Director Jacques Baratier spotted her in the short film, "and cast her in a small part in his movie Goha(1958). That same year she appeared in Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) and Three Strangers in Rome (1958). In the remainder of the Fifties, she appeared in the films Venetian Honeymoon (1959), The Magistrate (1959), The Facts of Murder (1959), Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti (1959), Upstairs and Downstairs (1959), Vento del sud (1959), Il bell'Antonio (1960), Austerlitz (1960), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), and Silver Spoon Set (1960). Il bell'Antonio (1960) was the first of several films she made with director Mauro Bolognini.

Arguably, the Sixties would mark the height of Claudia Cardinale's career. In 1963 alone, she appeared in such classic films as Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963), Luchino Visconti's The Leopard (1963), and Blake Edwards's The Pink Panther (1963). Later in the decade, she appeared in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). During the Sixties, she also appeared in such films as Auguste (1961), The Lovemakers (1961), The Lions Are Loose (1961), Cartouche (1962), Careless (1962), La ragazza di Bube (1963), Time of Indifference (1964), Circus World (1964), The Magnificent Cuckold (1964), Sandra (1965), Blindfold (1965), Lost Command (1966), The Professionals (1966), Sex Quartet (1966), A Rose for Everyone (1966), Don't Make Waves (1967), The Day of the Owl (1968), The Hell with Heroes (1968), A Fine Pair (1968), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Diary of a Telephone Operator (1969), The Conspirators (1969), The Red Tent (1969), and The Adventures of Gerard (1970). 

In the Seventies, she appeared on television in the mini-series Jesus of Nazareth. She appeared in the movies The Butterfly Affair (1971), A Girl in Australia (1971), The Audience (1972), The Legend of Frenchie King (1972), La Scourmone (1972), One Russian Summer (1973), Blood Brothers (1974), Conversation Piece (1974), Libera, My Love (1975), The Immortal Bachelor (1975), Blonde in Black Leather (1975), A Common Sense of Modesty (1976), I am the Law (1977), Goodbye & Amen (1977), L'arma (1978), Fire's Share (1978), Father of the Godfathers (1978), Little Girl in Blue Velvet (1978), Escape to Athena (1979), and Si salvi chi vuole (1980). 

In the Eighties, Claudia Cardinale appeared in the movies The Salamander (1981), The Skin (1981), Fitzcarraldo (1982), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Le Ruffian (1983), Henry IV (1984), Claretta (1984), Woman of Wonders (1985), Next Summer (1985), A Man in Love (1987), Hiver 54, l'abbé Pierre (1989), and The Battle of Three Kings (1990). She appeared in three episodes of the TV show Naso di cane, and in the TV movies  Princess Daisy, Blu elettrico, and La Révolution française.

In the Nineties, she appeared in the movies Mayrig (1991), 588 rue paradis (1992), Son of the Pink Panther (1993), Elles ne pensent qu'à ça... (1994), A Summer in La Goulette (1996), Sous les pieds des femmes (1997), Stupor mundi (1997), Riches, belles, etc. (1998), and Li chiamarono... briganti! (1999). She guest-starred on the TV shows Flash - Der Fotoreporter, 10-07: L'affaire Zeus, Nostromo, and Desert of Fire. She appeared in the TV movies Mia, Liebe meines Lebens and Élisabeth - Ils sont tous nos enfants.

In the Naughts, Miss Cardinale appeared in the movies And Now...Ladies and Gentlemen (2002), The Demon Stirs (2005), Cherche fiancé tous frais payés (2007), The String (2009), Signora Enrica (2010), and A View of Love (2010). She appeared in the TV movies Hold-up à l'italienne and Il giorno della Shoah.

In the Teens, she appeared in the movies Father (2011), Gebo and the Shadow (2012), The Artist and the Model (2012), Joy de V. (2013), The Silent Mountain (2014), Les Francis (2014), Effie Gray (2014), Ultima fermata (2015), All Roads Lead to Rome (2016), Una gita a Roma (2016), Nobili bugie (2016), Rudy Valentino: Divo dei divi (2017), and Rouge City (2020). She guest-starred on the TV shows The Law of and Il bello delle donne… alcuni anni dopo. She appeared in the mini-series Bulle. Her final film role was in the movie The Island of Forgiveness (2022). 

In 8 1/2, Claudia Cardinale played Claudia,  the Ideal Woman, both an actual actress that Guido (Marcello Mastrioianni) knows and the idealized vision of a woman that Claudia sees in the movie. In many ways, it was the perfect role for Claudia Cardinale. She was beautiful, intelligent, charming, and extremely talented. The Fifties and Sixties saw multiple Italian actresses rise to international stardom, and I must confess that Claudia Cardinale has always been my favourite. I have had a crush on her since I first saw her in The Pink Panther when I was a lad.

Of course, it would not be until adulthood that I realized how talented Miss Cardinale was. She played a wide variety of roles beyond Claudia in 8 1/2 and Princess Dala in The Pink Panther. In The Leopard, she played the daughter of a prominent citizen who falls in love with Prince Tancredi Falconeri (Alain Delon). In Once Upon a Time in the West, she played Jill McBain, the widow of a murdered rancher who fights against the railroad to keep her land. In A Girl in Australia, she played Carmela, A Calabrian prostitute who migrates to Australia as a mail order bride. Claudia Cardinale could be good even when a particular film was not. Don't Make Waves (1967) received mixed to negative reviews, but she gave a fine performance as artist Laura Califatti. Claudia Cardinale was one of the most famous Italian stars of her era, and that fame was due to much more than her beauty. Claudia Cardinale was an extraordinarily talented actress who consistently gave good performances.