Retro Thing: Picture Frame With That Charmer, James Garner

 This blog caught my eye because I have this picture also - only I got mine when it was first in the stores.


There are a couple of things of interest going on within the glitzy gilt of this picture frame, so I hope that you'll indulge a few random thoughts. First, if you'll look in the upper right corner, you'll see that it took 20-30 years for this frame to be marked down from 88 cents to 80 at the thrift store where I got it. Second, check out the example photo - it's James Garner from his days in the 50's TV classic "Maverick". By the way, if you haven't cast an eye across a fistful of Maverick episodes, you don't know what you're missing. Arguably TV's first anti-hero, the series made the whole enterprise of television look good, and made Garner into a national treasure... but I digress.
Check out the name of the picture frame's purveyor - "Korvettes". Korvettes was a national chain of discount department stores that pre-figure today's bargain giants like Wal-Mart. Starting out as a five and dime store, the chain eventually grew into a number of large stores, and were the first large retailers to plunge into the American suburbs in the 50's and 60's. Korvettes used innovative (some would say sneaky) approaches to discount prices (there used to be strict laws about chain stores selling products below the manufacturer's suggested retail price).
I grew up with a Korvettes store until it was replaced by Kmart in the late 70's. One unusual aspect of the Korvettes I knew was that they had a very nice electronics department in bold contrast to their other rather cheap merchandise. They were the last place I knew of that had listening booths to let you preview a record before you bought it. Check out this commercial for Korvettes that focuses on their large assortment of electronic goodies. I spotted a number of products that we've covered here on Retro Thing, but no sign of my cheapie Maverick picture frame.

The Rockford Files - The Final Season

Crimespree Cinema: DVD Review: The Rockford Files: Season Six

Thursday, January 29, 2009

          Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Release date: January 20th, 2009

MSRP: $39.98

Stars: James Garner, Noah Beery Jr., Joe Santos

I'm an unabashed James Garner fan and The Rockford Files season six is among his best. By this, thelast season, he's so comfortable in the role he could have done it inhis sleep, but seems to add greater and greater depth to the character. Co-stars like Lauren Bacall, Tom Selleck and Mariette Hartley from thehugely successful Polaroid camera commercials they did together a few years before didn't hurt either. The stories for the most part were a reason to bring Jim and his crew together but that was plenty. And some, like Katheryn Harrolds reprisal of the blind Psychologist and deep love interest Megan, are downright tender, as is Noah Beery's caring but somewhat befuddled father role as Rocky.

For the one or two of you who have been living in a Yurt in Lower Slobovia the last several decades, or are too young, I'll give a brief backstory. Ex-con Jim Rockford is a Private Investigator (a neat trick in itself) barely hanging on. He lives in a trailer in the low rent
district of Malibu. He has a friend, Angel, another ex-con who if he were your or my friend we would throw under a bus A.S.A.P. (My Editor said that would have made a great episode explaining why Jim didn't). Jim is not your usual iron jawed, steel fisted P.I. He gets the stew
knocked out of him at regular intervals and will fight if he has to and run when he can. The anti-hero hero that was a hit because he played you and me only better.

I'm not going to belabor the point. This is good stuff and stands up well considering it's thirty plus year age.

There's something for everyone here from comedy to angst and you youngsters owe
it to yourselves to check it out. Us old schoolers already know.

Order season six of The Rockford Files.

Lee Crawford

P.S. There are no special features.

For more reviews from Lee, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

Posted by MysterLynch at 2:08 AM

Labels: DVD Review, Lee Crawford, television

Visiting The Troops - 809th Engineer Battalion, Camp Ruam Chit Chai, Thailand

Photo Gallery - 809th Engineer Battalion, Camp Ruam Chit Chai, Thailand

809th Elephant Mascot

Photo Credits:   ¹²  
Richard McBrien,

Co C - 809th Engr Bn

James Garner

"Flew in from Korat, stayed a few hours with the Troops, ate with us and shook hands!"

James Garner visits Troops in Troops in the North!

"One of the nicest movie stars anywhere in the world!

Shook hands with every Trooper!"



²⁰ Photo Credits:

Bill Sweeney, 281st MP Co

Oklahoman makes AOL’s Top 50 TV Hunks list

Oklahoman makes AOL's Top 50 TV Hunks list

James Garner in Maverick He rates higher than Johnny Depp and Mario Lopez on AOL’s countdown of TV’s hottest hunks of all time. He’s also ahead of these gorgeous guys: David Boreanaz, Luke Perry, Rob Lowe, Jimmy Smits, Dean Cain and John Schneider.
He is James Garner, who was born in Norman and went on to star in “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files.”
Garner ranks 16th on the list. The AOL editors picked Patrick Dempsey at No. 1.
Here are the 34 TV stars Garner topped in the poll, as well as the 15 picked ahead of him.

AOL’s Top 50 TV Hunks
◊50. Wentworth Miller (”Prison Break”)
◊49. Alex O’Laughlin (”Moonlight”)
◊48. Jack Wagner (”Melrose Place”)
◊47. David Boreanaz (”Bones”)
◊46. John Corbett (”Sex and the City”)
◊45. Jon Hamm (”Mad Men”)
◊44. Luke Perry (”Beverly Hills, 90210″)
◊43. Paul Michael Glaser (”Starsky & Hutch”)
◊42. Patrick Duffy (”Dallas”)
◊41. Mario Lopez (”Saved by the Bell”)
◊40. Chace Crawford (”Gossip Girl”)
◊39. David Duchovny (”The X-Files”)
◊38. David Hasselhoff (”Baywatch”)
◊37. James Denton (”Desperate Housewives”)
◊36. Michael Landon (”Bonanza”)
◊35. Rob Lowe (”Brothers & Sisters”)
◊34. Gary Dourdan (”CSI”)
◊33. Jonathan Rhys Meyers (”The Tudors”)
◊32. Lyle Waggoner (”The Carol Burnett Show”)
◊31. Jimmy Smits (”NYPD Blue”)
◊30. Dean Cain (”Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”)
◊29. Jared Leto (”My So-Called Life”)
◊28. Lee Majors (”The Six Million Dollar Man”)
◊27. Eric Dane (”Grey’s Anatomy”)
◊26. Chris Noth (”Sex and the City”)
◊25. Blair Underwood (”Dirty Sexy Money”)
◊24. Eddie Cibrian (”Third Watch”)
◊23. Johnny Depp (”21 Jump Street”)
◊22. John Schneider (”The Dukes of Hazzard”)
◊21. Harry Hamlin (”L.A. Law”)
◊20. Jason Lewis (”Sex and the City”)
◊19. Matthew Fox (”Lost”)
◊18. Jensen Ackles (”Supernatural”)
◊17. Benjamin Bratt (”The Cleaner”)
◊16. James Garner (”Maverick”)
◊15. Ashton Kutcher (”That ’70s Show”)
◊14. Erik Estrada (”CHiPs”)
◊13. Pierce Brosnan (”Remjington Steele”)
◊12. Chad Michael Murray (”One Tree Hill”)
◊11. Don Johnson (”Miami Vice”)
◊10. Tom Selleck (”Magnum. P.I.”)
◊◊9. Michael Vartan (”Alias”)
◊◊8. Mark Harmon (”NCIS”)
◊◊7. Taylor Kitsch (”Friday Night Lights”)
◊◊6. John Stamos (”Full House”)
◊◊5. Tom Welling (”Smallville”)
◊◊4. Taye Diggs (”Private Practice”)
◊◊3. Josh Holloway (”Lost”)
◊◊2. George Clooney (”ER”)
◊◊1. Patrick Dempsey (”Grey’s Anatomy”)

–Penny TV
Posted: 10 Dec, 2008 |
Categories: Oklahomans on TV By: television.

New Pictures of Jim

These pictures of Jim were taken at Efrem Zimbalist Jr's 90th birthday party in November. With great thanks to Jim's long time assistant, Mary Ann, and the Yahoo Rockford Files Group.

 

Here is Jim with Jane Russel. 

 

And here is Jim with the Birthday Boy, his old friend, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

As you can see, Jim looks just great. And many happy returns to Efrem Zimbalist Jr!