New Movie For James Garner

James Garner is making a new movie with old pal Lou Gossett Jr.

clipped from www.nationalledger.com BACK TOGETHER AGAIN: Oscar-winning actor Lou Gossett Jr. reports that "Capture the Flag," the indie film he's currently shooting, is a reunion for him and veteran actor James Garner, who holds a special place in his heart. "James put me on the map in the '70s film called 'Skin Game,'" recalls Gossett of the 1971 film about two con artists in the post-Civil War south. "Capture the Flag," says Gossett, "is about these kids between 10 and 12 in a military academy. I play one caretaker of the school from the Navy, and Garner plays the other caretaker, who's from the Army. We're retired, and our competition is supposed to be peaceful, but it's our last hurrah. It's all very tongue-in-cheek."

Happy Birthday!

On the occasion of your 80th birthday, Mr. Jim Garner, I just want to thank you. When I became a fan of yours during the first episode of Maverick, I was just turning 13. Instant crush!

Over the years though, a teen crush developed into a deep admiration for you as a person. Not only are you the most fun to watch of any of the actors I've ever seen, you are a genuinely good man. In fact, you were my male role model growing up, and I still think I made a pretty good choice.

So, thank you - not only for all the truly unparalleled performances over the years - but for proving that there really are people worthy of admiration in the way they conduct themselves and live their lives.

I know you'd never think of yourself as a hero, but you are.

Happy birthday, and may there be many, many more.

36 Hours

36 Hours (1965)

36 Hours takes the typical concept of a war movie and tosses it out the window, instead giving us a cynical, suspenseful, psycho-thriller that will make you smirk, think, and it will surprise you.

James Garner plays US Army Major Jeff Pike, who's dispatched to Portugal on a mission just before D-Day. He's privy to the details of operation Overlord, and the Germans know it. Through their nasty network of Nazi spies they manage to kidnap him, and then the real fun begins.

Read the rest of this great review of 36 Hours at 36 Hours (1965) starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor

Heartsounds

Heartsounds (1984) – Glenn Jordan helmed one of the finest telemovies of the last thirty years with this delicately-handled yet emotionally charged docudrama about the difficult experiences of Martha Weinman Lear, when her husband, Harold, suffers an ongoing series of heart attacks. As the leads, Mary Tyler Moore and James Garner are nothing short of perfection. Working with Jordan, from a script by Fay Kanin (adapted from Weinman's bestselling memoir) the two actors bring to fruition a series of moments dazzlingly poignant and authentic; seldom has a film struck so many real and deeply resonant chords, mirroring the tensions and emotional contradictions of real life experience. Screens on the Encore Love Stories Channel, 4/1 at 5:45am, 4/5 at 9:10am, 4/15 at 9:30am, 4/25 at 7:15am.

I remember seeing this when it was first broadcast. It is incredible. It's so unfortunate that this wonderful telemovie doesn't seem to be available anywhere - even to watch, let alone purchase. In fact, this is the first time in all these years I've seen it listed at all. If you haven't seen it, don't miss a chance.

This is the very vehicle in fact that made the "big time" critics sit up and take notice of what they had been missing in James Garner's performances. Since then, they've been moaning about how underrated he is as an actor because he makes it look so easy that he doesn't get the credit he deserves for the enormous talent it takes to do that.

So, how come we, his ignoramus fans, knew this all along, while the elite, professional critics missed it for almost 30 years? Makes you wonder, doesn't it...

James Garner interview

Great interview with Jim during the release of "My Fellow Americans."