Apropos of yesterday’s post in which I linked the ill-fated American Movie Classics to the soon-to-be ill fated TCM, here’s another clip of AMC’s Bob Dorian. This time he’s introducing the Orson Welles version of ‘Treasure Island’ which is apparently paired with ‘Isle Of The Dead’. As usual, though, Orson sucks up all the available energy in the room and the three minute intro is more or less entirely about him. This is from 1987 and Jesus does it make me nostalgic for hair like that, jackets like that and sets like that. (Currently I sense the 80s are truly in eclipse but I remember them with fondness and warmth and wish to hell the movie business currently operated in the way that it did then…but that’s very much another story for another time). It’s hard not to compare Dorian with Ben Mankiewicz since the two occupy roughly the same role on their respective old-movie channels. Mankiewicz generally comes across to me as the good-natured college-professor–quasi-hip but ultimately with a rod in his ass which permits him to give you an F for the semester if he thinks it’s for your own good. Dorian, on the other hand, reminds me of a friendly High School counselor, perhaps one specifically involved in straightening out the ‘bad kids’ and getting them to participate in activities that will steer them clear of nefarious doings. (Sort of like Pat O’Brien constantly hawking the Dead End Kids to play basketball in ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’). Once upon a time the initials AMC stood for ‘American Movie Classics’. How long has it been since A&E stood for ‘arts and entertainment’? And when was the last time anything aired on ‘Bravo’ that led you to stand, applaud, and shout your praise in a foreign language?