Meet new CMBA member Mark Throop, who has been flim-struck since youth and channels his deep knowledge and love of film into numerous reviews at his site Movies Ala Mark. Read on to learn more about Mark.
1. Tell us more about your site, Movies Ala Mark, and what led you to begin blogging?
The site is basically a relaxed compendium that I hope to eventually turn into a book, possibly a Volume 1 situation, the follow-up likely taking me most of the rest of my life, considering how outnumbered an individual is by the sheer number of movies that 'should' be part of a viable representative overview. The potpourri (or scattershot?) look of the All Reviews page shows that I hop between genres, time periods and homegrown/international selections based on my mood and the availability of material. I have my own collection to draw from, borrow from friends, use retail video outlets if available, and while on the move (as I have been of late) pick up strays on YouTube. Classics & indies, domestic & foreign, 'musts' & duds, a democratic selection, if you will. I started keeping lists when in grade school, stopped & restarted a few times as years went by (once I ceremoniously burned up 300 reviews) and finally got into serious mode about 11 years ago on the heels of a heartbreak, actually---I think the first entry was "The Naked And The Dead", which seems fitting. I guess my style is sort of Leonard Maltin with extra salt. I don't in any way think of myself as a critic, and try to keep the writeups not just fair to the film but conversational as if I was talking to a friend.
2. Your late brother-in-law was the American actor, and baseball player, Larry Pennell. What are your memories of him? Any particular series or films of his that you would recommend people watch?
Larry--"Bud" to family and friends, was a fascinating, complex, difficult, wonderful guy. Smart, flawed, generous, hilarious, tragic. To a little boy, he was larger than life---a "movie star", although in reality, like many professional actors, the sort of career he hoped to have didn't pan out, for a number of reasons and he ultimately ended up as a bit player, a trivia subject. He started in films in 1955, after serving as an officer in the O.S.S. and a decent career as a ball player. Over his years in Hollywood (with a few traipses abroad) he met, worked with, knew, or knew something about a genuine galaxy of personalities---too many to easily list. If any of you wish to know some examples let me know and I'll name-drop. He starred in a TV series in 1961-63 called "Ripcord", and has some quasi-fame from playing a movie star named 'Dash Riprock' on "The Beverly Hillbillies". He had credits in many TV series and film roles included 'The FBI Story' and 'The Great White Hope'. I'd recommend a great episode from "Thriller", a series hosted by Boris Karloff, entitled "Late Date" and a good one from "The Big Valley" called The Price Of Victory"--they're currently available on YouTube.
3. Actor Stewart Granger was a family friend. What are your memories of him?
Well, actually I have no personal memory, but Bud and my sister Patti (Larry's wife) got to know Granger in 1964 when Bud went to Yugoslavia to co-star (as the bad guy) in a German-made western (they were quite popular in Europe) called "Flaming Frontier" (I've never seen it). Oddly, Bud got fan mail from Europe for decades after that: go figure. Anyway, he and Patti said Granger, 51 at the time, was just a terrific guy, a raconteur. Many years later, Patti was grocery shopping in Pacific Palisades, California (she and my niece recently lost everything in the fire that destroyed Palisades in January of 2025) and she saw him. She didn't want to bother him, figuring he wouldn't remember the wife of some guy he'd worked with on a goofy Euro-western and so she didn't approach him. He walked over and said, sort of mock-hurt--"What are you, stuck up or something!?" and they proceeded had a nice, brief conversation. So, my knowledge of Mr. Granger is fun but second-hand. I was lucky enough to meet a number of other familiar actors: for the sake of brevity, those are tidbits for another time.
4. How did you become a classic film fan?
Simple enough: my early movie-going saw me, like millions of lucky audience members, overawed by 70mm and stereo sound in "Lawrence Of Arabia", "Mutiny On The Bounty", "The Longest Day", "How The West Was Won" and It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", followed up with the uber-cool of "Goldfinger"----I was captured alive. Along with entertaining my socks off, the epics of the 60s (and those from earlier years released on TV at the time) also pushed my interest in history and unleashed a desire to "go see"---much adventure travel has followed, and continues: in the past few years I've been blogging from Africa, South America and Asia as well as the States.
5. Which five films would you choose to show to someone who has never watched a classic era film before?
Now, one thing that I get asked over & over is "What is your favorite movie?" and I've gotten to the point of just saying "Oh, there's just too many to pick from", partially because all too often the person asking is so much younger than I am that there's a very good chance they won't know the films I might pick. But I'll wing it here---assuming we're talking 1930 to 1965-70? Hmmm...just five? "The Wizard Of Oz", "Gone With The Wind", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Ben-Hur", "Lawrence Of Arabia". See, now I could easily replace those with.................
6. Which of the Old Hollywood Studios is your favourite, and why?
It's tempting to go with Warner Brothers, since they had such a gallery of indelible personalities---Bogart, Flynn, Davis, Curtiz, on & on---and got into pictures with social issues as well as action and pep. I do/did like Fox (as in 20th Century, NOT the state regime media TV swill) and also Paramount. Which is not to knock Columbia, MGM, United Artists, RKO or Universal.
