I know this is a bit off topic and probably better suited to the Classic Toy Trains forum. But since most of us got into the hobby because of Lionel, I thought I'd post it here.
If they made a movie about the history of Lionel, who should be cast as Joshua Lionel Cowen?
I would say the late Jamse Gandolfini would have been perfect. But unfortunately, he's passed on. I say when I doubt, Tom Hanks. What do you guys think?
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
I didn't start with Lionel.
Anybody except Tom Cruise.
Mandy Patinkin. He's big into 3 rail O gauge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuDhn_pzbI8
Andre
Mike Wolf.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html
And they could make a bunch of sequels about the litigation between all the parties involved! Much of which has a familiar ring over in the "Big Dawg" thread.
Ed
Well it's "Cowen", variation of "Cohen". Gandolfini was way too big, Cowen was average or slightly below average height, and wasn't fat either. He went bald fairly young.
https://americangallery.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/t-e-stephens-joshua-lionel-cowen.jpg
Allen Arkin when he was younger unless it has to be the way someone looks now.
Jim
Why, oh why, would it have to be a "name" actor?
After watching years of Law and Order, I'm convinced that New York is full of excellent actors, some of which would look exactly like J. Lionel.
And since this kind of film is, uh, low budget; you might even have a chance of making it, if you didn't have to pay big bucks for an actor.
I think Patrick Stewart;
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Joshua+Lionel+Cowin&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard
Patrick Stewart
Make it so!"
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
What is a Lionel?
Oh yeah, that fake looking 3 rail stuff. Heck, up here in the Chicago area, the only thing with three rails was the elevated mass transit.
I grew up on the real deal - - - American Flyer.
Rich
Alton Junction
I, too, grew up on American Flyer, which is now owned by Lionel.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
richhotrain What is a Lionel? Oh yeah, that fake looking 3 rail stuff. Heck, up here in the Chicago area, the only thing with three rails was the elevated mass transit. I grew up on the real deal - - - American Flyer. Rich
I grew up on Long Island, tuning with three rails is totally prototypical there.
GP-9_Man11786 richhotrain What is a Lionel? Oh yeah, that fake looking 3 rail stuff. Heck, up here in the Chicago area, the only thing with three rails was the elevated mass transit. I grew up on the real deal - - - American Flyer. Rich I grew up on Long Island, tuning with three rails is totally prototypical there.
Well, that explains it.
No matter, I still prefer American Flyer.
Frank Fritz lol. Nah, probably... Hmmm. Christopher Loyd? (He was Doc brown in Back to the Future, right?)
I think Bob Hoskins would be a good older Cowen.
Jason Alexander... He pulled off AC Gilbert, Give him a crack at Cowen!
Rob
To tell the truth, Jason Alexander looks a LOT more like J.L. Cowan than he does A.C. Gilbert!
"Why a big name actor?" was said earlier. Reason is you need a good "hook" to get people to watch, whether it's a theatrical release or a TV movie. As good as a no-name actor might be, without that "star" attraction there's no attention getting.
I'm not sure how you'd do this. The young J.L? The middle-aged J.L? What era?
I think I'd do it like this: Give it a title of, say, "Lionel, The Third Wing of Christmas." There's the attraction of the Lionel name, hey even non-train people know who Lionel is, and the attraction of a Christmas movie. In a two hour period do the rise, fall, and rise again of the company through the various eras centering on the Christmas season, you know, first trains around the tree and such, then trains around just about EVERYBODY's trees, then they go away, and then magically come back.
From the Cowan to the MPC to the Kughn to the Calabrese era. Tell the story of an American icon that refused to die. Make it fast-paced and it just might work.
It might be a tad confusing to use the same guy for Cohen and Gilbert, just a minor point...
Is there a need to start a my brand is better than your brand war?
tinplatacisIt might be a tad confusing to use the same guy for Cohen and Gilbert, just a minor point...
Not as confusing as Sally Field playing the roles of Tom Hanks' love interest in one movie and his mother in another, but hey, that's just me.
cwburfle Oh yeah, that fake looking 3 rail stuff. Heck, up here in the Chicago area, the only thing with three rails was the elevated mass transit. Is there a need to start a my brand is better than your brand war?
Hey, that war's been going on for decades. Like the Civil War, it'll never really end.
Thread got it's start on "the other side" if you get my meaning.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
American Flyer lost.
After all, who owns what now?
Ah, but remember S gauge ain't dead and American Flyer's still around, even if it's owned by, ahem, "The Enemy."
And THIS is coming from a three-rail guy!
And even Confederate money's worth something now!
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month