Director Mark Robson's film adaptation of the novel "Von Ryan's Express" is one of the best war films of its era. The trailer is also very good, if you can withstand the hokey, over-the-top narration!
Joe Jordan, the writer and
film historian who applied his prodigious research and keen analysis to acclaimed
books on the movies of Robert Wise and William Castle, has now focused his
critical acumen on one of Hollywood’s most legendary directors in “Magic Time:
The Films and Scripts of Billy Wilder.” (BearManor Media, 2023)
Born in 1906, Wilder worked
as a journalist before turning to film. He initially made his mark writing film
scripts in Germany before emigrating to America and pairing up with screenwriter
Charles Brackett on such classic pictures as “Midnight” (1939), “Ninotchka”
(1939) and “Ball of Fire” (1941). The two continued working together as Wilder
graduated to the director’s chair on “Double Indemnity” (1944), “The Lost
Weekend” (1945) and “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), before terminating their
partnership upon completion of the latter. Wilder then teamed with screenwriter
I.A.L. Diamond on another run of classics, inclusive of “Ace in the Hole”
(1951), “Some Like it Hot” (1959 and “The Apartment” (1960).
From the beginning to end of
his directing career, Wilder was an authentic auteur, one whose films were
easily identifiable by their visual elegance, sardonic wit and often-dark take
on human nature. Few were his equal at blending cynicism and romanticism. Wilder
maintained this distinctiveness over an extraordinary range of material—film
noir, screwball comedy, wartime thriller, courtroom drama, Cold War satire.
“Magic Time” is another
standout addition to the body of critical literature devoted to the great
filmmaker. Following the recipe of his book “Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures”
(2020), Jordan treats each film to its own chapter. Chapters 1 through 10 cover
the films Wilder worked on as screenwriter only; chapters 11 through 35 on
those he made as a director/writer. Jordan briefly describes the historical and
social context at the start of each new production—including Wilder’s personal
and professional circumstances, his state of mind, his thoughts about the
actors and crew—before launching into a lengthy comprehensive synopsis, leaving
out no detail or plot point. The effect is almost like watching the film unfold
in one’s mind, so if it’s been awhile since you’ve seen, say, “A Foreign
Affair” (1948), Jordan brings you up to speed as he touches on narrative, theme,
tone, performance—the total fabric of the film, liberally interspersed with
classic quotes courtesy of Wilder–Bracket or Wilder–Diamond.
Despite including an amazing
amount of exposition, detail, observation and analysis about each film, the
chapters are relatively brief, with Jordan’s insights and information delivered
in clear, user-friendly language. Thanks to its structure, one can read the book
straight through from start to finish, or simply open to a random chapter to get
a fun, fresh slant on a favorite Wilder film.
Even if you’ve seen a
particular film many times, Jordan can still surprise and enrich you with his
critical acumen. I thought I was on familiar terms with every narrative aspect
of “Sunset Boulevard,” which is in essence the story of three aspiring writers,
but I never gave much thought as to the myriad ways in which those three
narratives contrast and compete with one another, or the degree to which they
inform and direct the film’s overall narrative.
There are many such examples
embedded within this book. One cannot come away from reading it without having
gained new insight and appreciation for the classic Wilder films that we almost
know by heart. But if Jordan helps us see familiar favorites through new eyes,
he also makes a strong case for getting to know lesser-regarded Wilder films
such as “The Emperor Waltz” (1948) and “Fedora” (1978).
Jordan amusingly ends “Magic
Time” with an extended addendum titled “101 Motifs, Catchphrases and More (From
A to Z)” that rounds the book off in an offbeat manner, listing numerous recurring
narrative, object and dialog tropes—including Bolsheviks, catchphrases, card
games, cities in Ohio, close calls, monocles, sharing of cigarettes and more—that
can only be termed Wilderian.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Perhaps even God can't save the Queen in Golden Harvest's
A Queen's Ransom (also known as International Assassin), an explosive
action-thriller starring George Lazenby (The Man from Hong Kong), Angela Mao
(Lady Whirlwind) and the legendary Jimmy Wang Yu (The One-Armed Swordsman).
As Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Hong Kong for a state
visit, a band of skilled mercenaries plan her assassination. Contracted by an
Irish Republican (Lazenby), the international group of hired killers includes a
Japanese explosives expert (Chang Pei-shan), a Thai boxer (Bolo Yeung), a
Filipino sniper (Peter Chan Lung) and a veteran of the National Liberation
Front of South Vietnam (Wang Yu). As the conspirators move to carry out their
plot, two police officials (Ko Chun-Hsiung and Charles Heung) work with a young
socialite (Tanny Tien Ni) in a race against time to save the Monarch's head -
while also trying to manage a crisis that has brought a huge number of refugees
to Hong Kong, including a young Cambodian princess (Mao).
Written and directed by Ting Shan-hsi (Rebel Boxer), A
Queen's Ransom was Golden Harvest's attempt to capitalize on the popular
success of the political thriller in the wake of The Day of the Jackal. Eureka
Classics is proud to present the film for the first time ever on Blu-ray from a
brand new 2K restoration.
BONUS FEATURES:
·1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of the
original Hong Kong theatrical cut from a brand new 2K restoration ·1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of the
original English language export cut from a brand new 2K restoration ·Original Mandarin and optional classic
English dub (Hong Kong theatrical cut) ·Classic English dub (Export version) ·Optional English subtitles, newly translated
for this release ·Brand new audio commentary on the Hong Kong
theatrical version by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) ·Brand new audio commentary on the export
version by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema ·Brand new documentary featurette by martial
artist and actor Michael Worth ·Reversible sleeve featuring original poster
artwork ·Trailers
What a year it was! In 1966, you could see the following movies playing locally in Winnipeg, Canada: Dean Martin as Matt Helm in The Silencers, James Coburn as Our Man Flint, The Trouble With Angels, Carry on Cleo, The Sound of Music and a quadruple feature of monsters flicks: Die Monster, Die, Eegah, Tomb of Ligeia and Planet of the Vampires.
Although Charles Bronson had been making movies for nearly 25 years and was quite popular in Europe, this international smash hit made him a superstar for the rest of his career. Michael Winner's provocative saga of a grieving father's vigilante vengeance became a Nixon-era touchstone that engendered four increasingly exploitative sequels over the next two decades. Hard to imagine what originally slated director Sidney Lumet would have made of this with Jack Lemmon in the lead.
As always, you can find more commentaries, more reviews, more podcasts, and more deep-dives into the films you don't know you love yet over on the Trailers From Hell mothership:
http://www.trailersfromhell.com
One
of the most iconic and influential movies ever made, ONCE UPON A
TIME IN THE WEST has been restored from the original 35mm Techniscope camera negative by Paramount’s archive team, L'Immagine Ritrovata and The
Film Foundation. This
restoration honors the 2007 Film Foundation photochemical restoration overseen
by legendary director Martin
Scorsese by matching its build and color palette. The
result is the definitive home release of the film, which features the
165-minute extended cut restored to its glory.
A
must-own for every cinephile’s collection, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE
WEST will be presented in a Limited-Edition two-disc 4K Ultra
HD/Blu-ray™ set that includes both new and legacy bonus
content, as well as access to a Digital copy of the film. The film is
presented in Dolby Vision™* and HDR-10, along with English 5.1
DTS-HD Master Audio and English Restored Mono Dolby Digital for an exceptional
home viewing experience.
·Commentary
by the Hosts of the Spaghetti Western Podcast –NEW!
·A
Look Back with Leonard Maltin—NEW!
·Commentary
with contributions from directors John Carpenter, John Milius & Alex Cox,
film historians Sir Christopher Frayling & Dr. Sheldon Hall, and cast and
crew
Widely
considered to be one of the greatest Westerns—and one of the greatest
films—ever made, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST was
selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in the U.S. National Film
Registry in 2009. The film stars Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason
Robards, and Charles Bronson.
Synopsis
Set
in the dying days of the Old West, a struggle to control water in a dusty
desert town embroils three hard-bitten gunmen in an epic clash of greed, honor,
and revenge.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST will also be available on
4K Ultra HD Digital on May 14.
This is a limited edition. Click here to pre-order now from Amazon.
Cinema Retro columnist Brian Hannan takes a sentimental journey back to 1967 to review "B" movie producer Sam Katzman's teenage exploitation film, "Riot on the Sunset Strip". Never shy about using hyperbole, Katzman's trailer for the film immodestly calls it "The most shocking film of our generation!" Click here to read on Brian's addictive blog The Magnificent 60s.
A
very young Stanley Kubrick made his first feature film, Fear and Desire (called
The Shape of Fear during production and until it found a distributor),
at the age of twenty-two. It was very much a DIY production. In many ways
it is the epitome of early independent filmmaking, the kind in which a fellow
with a camera goes out to make a movie and then worries about finding a
studio to release it. The picture was financed by family and friends, written
by a school pal (future Broadway playwright Howard Sackler), and cast with
young, struggling New York actors who were willing to work for peanuts. Kubrick
produced and directed the movie, but he also photographed and edited it
himself, too. It took a year-and-a-half to finish, and then he went about
marketing it himself.
The
astonishing thing about all this is that Kubrick was operating on chutzpah.
While he had already made two documentary shorts, he was simply “winging it”
when it came to making a feature length fiction narrative film. What he had on
his side was his cinematographic capabilities. He knew cameras, lighting, and
composition like the back of his hand, for he had spent four years after high
school working as the youngest staff photographer for Look magazine in
New York creating narrative “photo essays,” almost the equivalent of
storyboards. Editing a movie, directing actors, and telling a good story was
another matter… and something he would eventually learn how to do.
Unfortunately, while Fear and Desire looks gorgeous and is indeed a
lesson in photographic composition and lighting, it fails on all the other
aspects of movie making.
Kubrick
himself disowned Fear and Desire not long after its release in 1953. In
fact, he attempted to acquire all existing prints, including the negative, and
burn them. Luckily for film historians and Kubrick aficionados, he was
unsuccessful. The copyright in the movie was owned by Kubrick’s uncle, Martin Perveler,
a fairly wealthy pharmacy owner in California who put up most of the money and
received Associate Producer credit. The feature had disappeared for decades and
was sometimes available on poor quality bootleg VHS tapes and DVDs. It was only
since Kubrick’s death in 1999 that today’s copyright owners and the Library of
Congress made the movie available. In the USA, Kino Lorber distributed
excellent quality DVD and Blu-ray editions several years ago. Now, Kino has
released new 4K UHD and Blu-ray versions of the film, including the original
70-minute premiere cut that hasn’t been seen since 1953. (After its premiere,
Kubrick cut about nine minutes for the theatrical release, limited as that was.
It was this 62-minute cut that has been the more familiar one to film buffs.)
Another
remarkable aspect about Fear and Desire is how ambitious it was.
Kubrick’s later, more mature works are often extremely existential in theme and
tone—they are big budget art films that challenge audiences to actually think
about what they’ve seen. Kubrick is big on ambiguity, symbolism, and metaphor
in all of his later, more well-known features. Right out of the gate, Kubrick
embarked to make an extremely non-commercial art film that deals with the
meaning of existence and the futility of war. While he would later succeed with
this kind of art house contemplative head scratcher, Fear and Desire unfortunately
comes off amateurish, pretentious, and painfully like a student film.
That
said, one who knows Kubrick’s work can see glimpses of the genius underneath
this early effort. What he was attempting is quite “Kubrickian,” and there are
moments and images that are indeed striking.
The
story is thus… A four-man platoon are fighting an unnamed war in an unnamed
country. They are lost in a forest behind enemy lines. The goal is to get back
to their side. When enemy combatants are spotted in a structure, the men decide
to strike one for the team and kill off the opposition. Weirdly, the enemy
general and his sidekick look just like the platoon’s lieutenant and private
(they’re played by the same actors). Whoa, profound! And, in typical
Kubrickian fashion, one man, another private (played by young Paul Mazursky,
who would go on to be a director of note himself) goes mad, nearly rapes a
civilian (Virginia Leith), and runs off like a banshee from hell. Will the
others make it back to “civilization?” Maybe. Maybe not. As the lieutenant
says, “We have nothing to lose but our futures.”
The
same could be applied to Stanley Kubrick’s first endeavor.
Besides
Mazursky and Leith, the other actors are Frank Silvera as the sergeant (if
anyone is the protagonist here, it’s him), Kenneth Harp as the lieutenant, and Steve
Coit as the first private. Silvera would go on to play the villain in Kubrick’s
next, also independently made, feature, Killer’s Kiss (1955). Kubrick’s
first wife, Toba, has a cameo as a fisherwoman (she and Kubrick had been high
school sweethearts). Toba also worked on the crew, but the stress of making a
first film with Stanley Kubrick destroyed their already unstable marriage.
Kubrick
had flown the cast and tiny crew from New York to California in the spring of
1951 and shot the film in the San Gabriel mountains. It then took him over a
year to raise the money to do all the post-production (mostly post-sync sound).
He submitted the 70-minute cut to the Venice Film Festival in August 1952,
where an unofficial premiere took place (he wasn’t present). Only in late 1952
did Kubrick meet the international film distributor Joseph Burstyn, perhaps the
important figure of art house cinema in America at that time. Burstyn agreed
to release the movie, and it had its official premiere in March 1953. It
received mostly negative reviews, which prompted the director to delete nine
minutes to tighten the feature. There were, however, a handful of very positive
notices from the likes of critics such as James Agee and Mark Van Doren, both
of whom recognized that there was undeniable talent buried within this strange,
unsettling movie.
Kino
Lorber’s new 2-disk release of the 4K restoration comes with a UHD disk and a
Blu-ray disk of both the 70-minute and 62-minute cuts. The longer cut is
accompanied by an audio commentary by film historian Eddy Von Mueller. The
shorter cut has an audio commentary by film historian/screenwriter Gary Gerani.
Von Mueller’s commentary is quite informative about the tortured history of the
film; however he makes several odd mistakes (he says the fisherwoman is
Kubrick’s sister, not wife; he says the star of Barry Lyndon is
“Patrick” O’Neal; and 2001: a Space Odyssey is from 1966, not 1968).
Gerani’s commentary covers much of the same ground with a different
perspective. Sadly, neither pinpoints the bits that were actually cut from the
longer version of the film. It’s up to us to figure it out (this reviewer finds
that some scenes in the first half of the movie were merely shortened… there
are no full scenes missing in the theatrical cut).
The
real treasure trove in this release is that for the first time, in the USA,
that is, we get Kubrick’s early short documentaries in high definition. Day
of the Fight (1951) and Flying Padre (1951) were only available as
bootlegs in bad quality. Only The Seafarers (1953) had been released on
home video prior. Now we have all of Kubrick’s early work on one gorgeous
release.
Kino’s
new Fear and Desire package is a must-have for Stanley Kubrick fans,
because looking past the feature’s shortcomings will reveal what would come
from the master filmmaker. It’s a fascinating step back into the auteur’s
young mind.
I’ve always loved action cinema. It’s one of
my all-time favorite genres. When I was a teenager in the mid-1980s, I saw a
VHS copy of the action film Bucktown
and I’ve been a huge fan of its star, Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, ever since.
A former pro football defensive back for
(amongst others) the Kansas City Chiefs (1965-1967), Williamson, who holds
black belts in Taekwondo, Kenp? and Shotokan karate, later moved on to acting.
Some of his first appearances was guest starring on TV shows such as Star Trek and Ironside. He quickly graduated to features, appearing in Robert
Altman’s M*A*S*H and Otto Preminger’s
Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.
In 1970, Williamson starred in the
appropriately titled action movie Hammer (the
nickname was given to him during his football days). The film was a success and
it began his long and entertaining career as an action movie superstar. Standing
at 6ft. 3 inches tall and rarely seen without a prop cigar in his hand, Williamson
would go on to appear in a plethora of action classics (many of which were
distributed by major Hollywood studios) such as Black Caesar, Take a Hard Ride, Black Eye, Three the Hard Way,Mean Johnny Barrows (which he also
produced), and 1978’s Inglorious Bastards.
In 1976, the Hammer created his own company,
Po’ Boy Productions, which would not only see him star in, but also direct, a
ton of action films the likes of Death
Journey, No Way Back, Mr. Mean, Foxtrap, and The Kill Reflex. Williamson is also a veteran of Italian
exploitation cinema. He has appeared in the cult classics The New Barbarians, The New Gladiators, and Black Cobra 1-4. Just to name a few. In later years, he would act
in films such as From Dusk till Dawn
(for cinema titans Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino) and Original Gangstas (directed by the
legendary Larry Cohen and co-produced by Williamson) and he shows no signs of
slowing down.
Recently, the Hammer’s somewhat forgotten,
1973, action-packed, James Bond-like film
That Man Bolt was released on Blu-ray.
Solidly directed by David Lowell Rich and Henry
Levin from an entertaining screenplay by Ranald MacDougall and Charles Eric
Johnson, That Man Bolt tells the tale
of courier and martial arts expert Jefferson Bolt who is hired to transport a
million dollars from Hong Kong to Mexico City. However, Bolt soon realizes that
he’s been set up and now he’s dead set on paying back everyone who double-crossed
him.
Produced by Universal Pictures and released
in December of 1973, That Man Bolt,
aka Operation Hong Kong, is an
exciting adventure flick (sort of a 007/martial arts combo) which not only
contains well-crafted action sequences, but also some memorable characters
played wonderfully by its talented cast.
Leading the way, of course, is the always
charismatic Fred Williamson who convincingly plays the intelligent and capable
Jefferson Bolt. There are also appearances by familiar faces such as Byron
Webster, Miko Mayama, Teresa Graves, John Orchard, Jack Ging and Paul Mantee;
not to mention martial arts champions Mike Stone, Emil Farkas, David Chow and Kenji
Kazama. Enter the Dragon fans will
recognize Geoffrey Weeks who appears in a brief role, as well as the voice of
the great Keye Luke (who not only dubbed Shih Kien in Enter, but also performs the same duty here).
The fun film which was shot in L.A., Las
Vegas, Macau and Hong Kong, also features some terrific cinematography by Emmy
Award winner Gerald Finnerman, and a cool, Lalo Schifrin/John Barry-like musical
score by composer Charles Bernstein.
That Man Bolt has been released on
Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. The region one disc presents the movie in its original
1.85:1 aspect ratio. The 2K transfer looks gorgeous. The disc not only contains
the original theatrical trailer, but also
That Man Hammer, a short, but entertaining interview with Fred Williamson.
Overall, this is a highly enjoyable, early 70s action-adventure that definitely
deserves to be re-discovered. It’s also a very nice addition to your Fred
Williamson collection. And if you’re just beginning to get into the Hammer’s
filmography, That Man Bolt is a great
place to start.
“YOU
AREN’T REALLY ANYBODY IN AMERICA IF YOU’RE NOT ON TV”
By
Raymond Benson
While
Nicole Kidman had been working in films since the late 1980s and starred in two
big movies with future husband Tom Cruise in the early 1990s, for this reviewer
it was 1995’s To Die For that proved to the world that Kidman could hold
her own and carry a movie alone. Even with an impressive body of work that
would continue to today, To Die For can easily be listed as one of the
actor’s best works.
To
Die For is
based on a 1992 novel by Joyce Maynard, which, in turn, was a fictionalized
improvisation on the true-crime murder-for-hire case of Pamela Smart. The
murder of Smart’s husband by teenagers who were, as it turned out, hired by
Smart herself, was sensational TV fodder in 1990-1991. The keywords of
“sensational” and “TV” become the thematic concepts of Buck Henry’s adaptation
of the novel that turns the tabloid tale into an acerbic dark comedy about the
lust for fame and the means by which some people might employ to get it.
Gus
Van Sant directs the film with a bravura collage of styles that molds the story
into something of a mockumentary. Actors address the camera as if they are in a
television reality program (something that was just beginning to take off in
those years). Videotape footage mixes with film stock, emphasizing the fine
line between Suzanne Stone’s reality and fantasy life on television.
Stone
(Kidman) is a drop-dead gorgeous young woman with big ambitions. She wants fame
and fortune by being a television personality, and once she sets out to
accomplish that goal, her little hometown in New Hampshire will never be the
same. First she seduces and marries Larry (Matt Dillon), the son of Italian
parents who may or may not have connections to the mob. Larry is in a
successful restaurant business, so he has enough money to keep Suzanne in
style. Next, she finagles her way into the local cable TV news station, run by Ed
(Wayne Knight). When she begins a personal video project at the local high school,
she attracts the attention of three juvenile delinquents—Lydia (Alison
Folland), who isn’t a bad person but is sadly trapped in a “white trash” world,
Russell (a young Casey Affleck), the true bad-news of the trio, and Jimmy (a
young Joaquin Phoenix), who is short on brains but long on libido. Suzanne, who
feels resistance from Larry regarding her dreams to leave town and head to Los
Angeles where she’s convinced she can make it big, decides to seduce poor Jimmy
and get him and his friends to bump off Larry. To reveal more, which indeed
differs from the true case of Pamela Smart, would spoil the “fun.”
Yes,
“fun” it is. This is a comedy, folks. Sure, it’s a pretty dark one, but the
team of Van Sant and Henry make sure that this sordid little fable is told with
tongue-in-cheek. It’s also somewhat of a cautionary tale, warning us that what
we see on television isn’t always the truth. Those beautiful people on the
screen who anchor the news, interview celebrities, or present the weather are
not gods and goddesses. It’s one thing to work toward a career in television
with determination… it’s another thing altogether to think of that career as a
Xanadu in which everyone is rich and famous.
Nicole
Kidman is superb in To Die For. She’s funny, sexy, and at times very
scary. Kidman plays this madwoman to the hilt and she’s the backbone of the
movie. Apparently the role was first offered to Meg Ryan, who turned it down.
Kidman, however, takes it and delivers an exhilarating star turn. Phoenix, in
one of his early appearances, also makes an impression. At the time, who knew
that he would one day be a multiple Oscar contender and ultimate winner? The
same is true of Affleck. Other notable actors in the movie include Illeana
Douglas as Larry’s sister, Dan Hedaya as Larry’s father, and Kurtwood Smith and
Holland Taylor as Suzanne’s parents. The film also sports a few interesting
cameos: Joyce Maynard, the novel’s author, appears as Suzanne’s lawyer; Buck
Henry is a high school teacher; George Segal is a lecherous network executive;
and David Cronenberg (!) is a hitman.
The
Criterion Collection’s 2-disk package presents the film in a new 4K digital
restoration, approved by Van Sant and director of photography Eric Alan Edwards.
It comes with a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (and it makes Danny
Elfman’s lively score sound really good!). The first disk is the picture
in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision HDR. The second disk is a Blu-ray and the special
features. Disappointingly, there isn’t much in the way of supplements. An audio
commentary featuring Van Sant, Edwards, and editor Curtiss Clayton is good
enough. The only other extras are some deleted scenes (some of which
tantalizingly depict how the film might have had alternate endings) and the
theatrical trailer. An essay by film critic Jessica Kiang accompanies the
booklet.
To
Die For is
for fans of Nicole Kidman, Joachin Phoenix, and the caustic mind of Buck Henry.
Here's a gem from the web site studdblog.blogspot, which specializes in reproducing old newspaper ads of local American theaters from decades past. This one comes from the Sky Vue Drive-in, though we aren't sure where it was located. This particular double-feature combines two Sean Connery films- the latest (at the time in 1971) James Bond blockbuster "Diamonds are Forever" paired with Connery's ill-fated but impressive historical Arctic adventure "The Red Tent". According to the ad, Connery's co-star in the latter film was the legendary "Claudia Capdinale"! (As publishers, we sympathize with anyone who has to deal with typos!) Most impressive was the ticket price: two major films for $1.25. That was a bargain even in 1971!
The late, legendary New York City sports columnist Jimmy Cannon was known to quip, "Nobody asked me, but..." and then provide his thoughts about whatever was on his mind. In that spirit, nobody asked me but I'll weigh in on the 96th Annual Academy Awards broadcast from last evening. Reviewing the Oscar ceremonies is like shooting fish in a barrel in that there are always aspects of a production of this size that will inevitably be justly criticized. However, no matter how in vogue it is to bash the Oscars, regular readers of Cinema Retro know that I've tried to maintain objectivity. Here are my random observations:
Host Jimmy Kimmel did a decent job, as he had in the past. The Academy long ago abandoned ensuring that the host of the ceremonies has a background in the film industry. That went out the window when long-time host Bob Hope was replaced by Johnny Carson, whose brilliant timing resulted in higher ratings. Carson had the gig for quite some time and a variety of hosts followed, with Billy Crystal being the most popular. Kimmel is probably not well known in certain areas of the globe but his late night chat show is very popular in the U.S. That makes for both good and bad news. The good is that Kimmel is quick-witted and can improvise cleverly. The bad news is that he keeps shoehorning comedy bits into the broadcast that would be suitable for his TV show but still seem out of place on the Oscar presentations. There were mercifully fewer of these transgressions this year and the same can be said with the atrocious "spontaneous" banter between presenters, which was kept to a minimum.
I confess that I never watch the red carpet pre-show simply because of the vacuous banter ("Who are you wearing tonight?") but in general, outrageous attention-getting outfits were not on display. The ladies all looked very glamorous and most of the male stars were nattily attired in traditional black tuxes, although a number of them chose to wear open collar shirts and no ties. I guess that was to show non-conformity but some of them looked like the guys I used to see in the late 1970s queueing outside of Studio 54. (Full disclosure: I'm not a slave to fashion myself and as I write this, I am sporting a T shirt with an image of Shemp Howard imprinted on it.)
The event had its share of big names in attendance but for many years it has been noted that some of the diminishing ranks of living legends rarely attend the ceremonies unless they are nominated. Yes, we had Steven Spielberg there to present the Best Director award and Arnold Schwarzenegger was reunited with his "twin", Danny DeVito, for some amusing moments. Al Pacino attended to announce the Best Picture award but he did so in a cursory and confusing manner that undercut the impact of his appearance. There were no signs of the likes of Meryl Streep, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand, Harrison Ford or Denzel Washington. Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster were in attendance, as was Martin Scorsese, as they were all up for awards, though none won. It was astutely pointed out that De Niro and Foster had been in the auditorium before on the same night back in 1977 when they were both nominated for Scorsese's "Taxi Driver". Regarding Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon", his acclaimed film was shut out of any wins, the momentum having switched to "Oppenheimer". Similarly, last year's most popular movie, "Barbie", only won for Best Song. I must admit that while I thought the film's concept and execution were clever, I was not swept up by enthusiasm for the film. But then again, I doubt that men in the late late sixties were the demographic target for the marketing campaign.
It was an innovative idea to have previous winners introduce the nominated actors in their respective categories. Another nice touch was the homage paid to union members who work behind the scenes on film productions. We also learned that there were finally be Oscar recognition for casting directors, though the process might be a challenge in terms of deciding who exactly was the responsible party for casting certain actors, given that producers and studio executives have a say in the process. There was also a good video segment that paid tribute to the importance of stunt people throughout movie history. Acceptance speeches were fine, and the pace was brisk. The show had started earlier this year and, amazingly, ended up finishing on time.
The "In Memoriam" segment was the worst ever. This ritual and the controversies about it had inspired a major Washington Post article that ran a couple of days before the ceremonies. I gave up trying to figure out all the notable people were not mentioned and the staging was awful. The cameras concentrated on the elaborate settings and musicians, with photos of the dearly departed shown on a screen in the background. Most of the images were pretty pretty small even on today's giant-sized TVs and people who were not instantly recognizable had their credits line too tiny to read. Why can't the Academy get this right? TCM certainly does with its annual in memoriam video. They ought to just buy the rights to that.
The songs were all pleasant enough, but none of them particularly memorable.
A highlight of Oscar ceremonies used to be the presentation of honorary Oscars to legendary figures in the industry. The Academy decided with was all too superfluous and years ago relegated the honorees to brief film clips from a separate ceremony. This year, even that cursory effort was no longer included. Instead, we were told to scan a code on the TV screen in order to watch these honorees receive their Oscars. What a wasted opportunity. Mel Brooks was among those honored and the mind reels at how wonderful it would have been to see him receive the award on live TV. As a public service, we are presenting his speech below.
Politics were present, as usual, but kept somewhat restrained. There were references to the Israel/Gaza crisis and a moving and heartfelt speech by Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov in which he pleaded that peace might finally come to his beleaguered country. It earned a standing ovation, but unfortunately these people can't move the aid package through Congress. At the end of the show, Jimmy Kimmel read a social media posting by Donald Trump in which he eviscerated the host's performance on the show. Kimmel's reply may have been witty but if he really wanted to one-up the former president, he wouldn't have mentioned him at all. It would be nice if politics didn't play a part in these ceremonies, but that hasn't been the case in decades and with political tensions higher than they have been in the U.S. since the late 1960s, it's doubtful the Oscars will ever again be a telecast that brings people together in a common love of movies.
It was nice to see a Godzilla movie get Oscar recognition and I thought I could hear the cheering in Tokyo in my living room.
In my opinion, this was one of the better Oscar telecasts of recent years, even without Will Smith on hand to provide some spontaneous action.
Here's a blog devoted entirely to director William Friedkin's 1977 masterpiece "Sorcerer". The film bombed with critics and the public when first released but has acquired an enthusiastic following over the decades. Friedkin told Cinema Retro that it was his favorite among all of his films. (See issue #29 for an exclusive interview with Friedkin about the film.) The web site showcases a really cool "Sorcerer" T shirt.
TCM – Thursday, March 7, 2024 - Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today announced a new limited series, Two for One, that will feature 12 nights of double features curated by some of the most celebrated filmmakers in Hollywood beginning April 6. TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz will be joined by each director, including Steven Spielberg, Patty Jenkins, and Spike Lee, to introduce the two films they chose. They will offer commentary on the double feature’s cultural significance, its influence on other films, behind-the-scenes stories, and their own personal reflections.
“This was such an eclectic group of filmmakers to sit down with, which was invigorating, from Martin Scorsese talking about a Robert Mitchum western, to Spike Lee discussing Elia Kazan, to Olivia Wilde’s breakdown of Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame,” said Ben Mankiewicz. “In these double features, these 12 directors lead us on an insider’s journey through cinematic history.”
Two for One which airs every Saturday night, premieres April 6 at 8PM (ET).
Two Films. One Filmmaker. Countless Perspectives. Below is the complete film schedule:
Saturday, April 6 | Martin Scorsese - Blood on the Moon (1948) & One Touch of Venus (1948)
The first African-American to direct a major film for a Hollywood
studio was Gordon Parks, whose feature film debut "The Learning Tree"
was released in 1969. Parks may have shattered the glass ceiling but
there wasn't a tidal wave of opportunities that immediately opened for
other minority filmmakers, in part because there were so few with any
formal training in the art. One beneficiary of Parks' achievement was
Ossie Davis, who was internationally respected as a well-rounded artist.
He was a triple threat: actor, director and writer but his directing
skills had been relegated to the stage. In 1970 Davis co-wrote the
screenplay for and directed "Cotton Comes to Harlem", a major production
for United Artists. The film was based on a novel by African-American
writer Chester Himes and proved to be pivotal in ushering in what became
known as the Blaxploitation genre. In reality, it's debatable whether
"Cotton" really is a Blaxploitation film. While most of the major roles
are played by Black actors, the term "Blaxploitation" has largely come
to symbolize the kinds of goofy, low-budget films that are fondly
remembered as guilty pleasures. However, "Cotton"- like Gordon Parks's
"Shaft" films which would follow- boasts first class production values
and top talent both in front of and behind the cameras. Regardless, the
movie had sufficient impact at the boxoffice to inspire a seemingly
endless barrage of Black-oriented American films that were all the rage
from the early to mid-1970s. The Blaxploitation fever burned briefly but
shone brightly and opened many doors for minority actors.
The film was shot when New York City was in the midst of a
precipitous decline in terms of quality of life. Crime was soaring, the
infrastructure was aging and the city itself would be on the verge of
bankruptcy a few years later. Harlem was among the hardest hit areas in
terms of the economy. The once dazzling jewel of a neighborhood had
boasted popular nightclubs, theaters and restaurants that attracted
affluent white patrons. By the mid-to-late 1960s, however, that had
changed radically. Street crimes, organized gangs and the drug culture
spread rapidly, making Harlem a very dangerous place to be. It was
foreboding enough if you were Black but it was considered a "Forbidden
Zone" for most white people, who spent their money elsewhere, thus
exacerbating the decline of the neighborhoods. "Cotton Comes to Harlem"
serves as an interesting time capsule of what life was like in the area,
having been shot during this period of decline. Director Davis was
considered royalty in Harlem. Despite his success in show business, he
and his equally acclaimed wife, actress Ruby Dee, never "went
Hollywood". They stayed in the community and worked hard to improve the
environment. Thus, Davis was perfectly suited to capture the action on
the streets in a manner that played authentically on screen. Similarly,
he had a real feel for the local population. As with any major urban
area, Harlem undoubtedly had its share of amusing eccentrics and Davis
populates the movie with plenty of such characters.
The film opens with a major rally held by Rev. Deke O'Malley (Calvin
Lockhart), a local guy who made good and who is idolized by the
population of Harlem. O'Malley is a smooth-talking, charismatic con man
in the mode of the notorious Reverend Ike who uses religion as a facade
to rip off gullible followers. This time, O'Malley has launched a "Back
to Africa" campaign for which he is soliciting funds. It's based on the
absurd premise that he will be able to finance disgruntled Harlem
residents back to the land of their ancestry. The hard-working,
semi-impoverished locals end up donating $87,000 in cash but the rally
is interrupted by a daring daytime robbery. An armored car filled with
masked men armed with heavy weaponry descend upon the goings-on, loot
the cashbox and take off. They are pursued by two street-wise local
cops, "Grave Digger" Jones (Godfrey Cambridge) and his partner "Coffin"
Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques). Davis provides an exciting and
colorful car chase through the streets of Harlem, as the cops fail to
snag the robbers. They also discover that O'Malley has gone missing,
leading them to believe that he orchestrated the heist himself so he
could keep the proceeds raised at the rally. The plot becomes rather
convoluted, as Jones and Johnson learn that a bale of cotton has arrived
in Harlem and its somehow connected to the crime. They assume that the
stolen money has been stashed in said cotton bale, which quickly changes
hands among the most unsavory characters in the community. Getting in
on the action is a white mob boss and his goons who are also trying to
recover the cotton bale. The cotton itself is resented in Harlem because
of its historical links to slavery and by the end of the film, the bale
ends up in a stage show at the famed Apollo Theater where it is used as
a prop in a bizarre production that involves historical observations
about the black experience intermingled with a striptease act! Through
it all, Jones and Johnson doggedly chase any number of people through
the streets, engage in shoot-outs and car chases and come in and out of
contact with Rev. O'Malley, who professes his innocence about being
involved in the robbery. The Rev isn't so innocent when it comes to
other unscrupulous activities such as chronically cheating on his
long-suffering girlfriend Iris (Judy Pace) and manipulating other women
in a variety of ways.
The most delightful aspect of the film is the showcasing of some very
diverse talents of the era. Godfrey Cambridge (who made it big as a
stand-up comic) and Raymond St. Jacques enjoy considerable on-screen
chemistry even if the script deprives them of the kind of witty dialogue
that would have enhanced their scenes together. They make wisecracks
all the time and harass some less-than-savory characters but the
screenplay never truly capitalizes on Cambridge's comedic potential. The
film's most impressive performance comes from Calvin Lockhart, who
perfectly captures the traits of phony, larger-than-life "preachers".
He's all flashy good looks, gaudy outfits and narcissistic behavior.
Lockhart seems to be having a ball playing this character and the screen
ignites every time he appears. There are some nice turns by other good
character actors including pre-"Sanford and Son" Redd Foxx, who figures
in the film's amusing "sting-in-the-tail" ending, John Anderson as the
exasperated white captain of a Harlem police station that is constantly
on the verge of being besieged by local activists, Lou Jacobi as a junk
dealer, Cleavon Little as a local eccentric, J.D. Canon as a mob hit man
and Dick Sabol as a goofy white cop who suffers humiliation from
virtually everyone (which is sort of a payback for the decades in which
Black characters were routinely used as comic foils). The film has a
surprisingly contemporary feel about it, save for a few garish fashions
from the 1970s. It's also rather nostalgic to hear genuine soul music
peppered through the soundtrack in this pre-rap era. Happily, life has
not imitated art in the years since the film was released. Harlem has
been undergoing the kind of Renaissance that would have seemed
unimaginable in 1970. The old glory has come back strong and the center
of the neighorhood, 125th Street, is vibrant and thriving once again.
These societal perspectives make watching "Cotton Comes to Harlem"
enjoyable on an entirely different level than simply an amusing crime
comedy.
The film is currently streaming on Screenpix, available for subscription through Amazon Prime.
If the 1960s was the era of spy movie mania, the 1970s was an era of "rogue cop" movies. Seemingly everyone was in on the act and that included John Wayne, who teamed with director John Sturges for the first and only time for "McQ". The Duke played a Seattle detective who is combating corruption in the police department. The film boasted a good script and a fine supporting cast. Here's a highlight from the film. (Lee Pfeiffer)
Retro movie historian Mike Malloy presents some vintage interviews in which Henry Silva and Fred Willilamson share their memories of working with Lee Van Cleef.
In this classic clip from the 1967 WWII film "The Dirty Dozen", the late, great Jim Brown shows he could command the big screen with the same assurance that he commanded the football field with as a legendary athlete.
"I Love You, Alice B. Toklas" might leaving contemporary viewers asking "Who is Alice B. Toklas?" The answer: she was a companion of writer Gertrude Stein. Toklas was a fellow writer who became idolized by pop culture addicts for daring to have written a cookbook that included a recipe for pot brownies. The 1968 big screen farce was anything but fun to make. Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker were to have made their directorial debuts with this film. However, once Peter Sellers was signed to star, the mercurial and unpredictable actor had them bounced from the directors chair(s), though their screenplay was retained. Shortly after production began, Sellers brought Mazursky back on board to offer advice about salvaging a production that Sellers was growing increasingly leery about. The truce was short-lived because Mazursky criticized the way Sellers played a love scene with Leigh Taylor-Young, who made her big screen debut in the film. Mazursky was fired again as the film hobbled through production under the direction of Hy Averback. Sellers was apparently also feuding with his wife, Britt Ekland, who was simultaneously filming "The Night They Raided Minsky's" against Sellers' wishes.
The story presents Sellers as Harold Fine, an L.A. lawyer and self-described "square". He is courting his law firm's secretary, Joyce (Joyce Van Patten), an amiable bubble-head who constantly pressures Harold into proposing to her. He finally relents and a wedding date is set, much to the delight of Harold's parents (amusingly played by Jo Van Fleet and Salem Ludwig). In the meantime, Harold finds himself unexpectedly immersed in the local hippie culture when his car is damaged and he finds the only accessible vehicle is a flower-powered decorated loaner he gets from the repair shop. At the same time, his hippie brother Herbie (David Arkin) introduces him to the gorgeous Nancy (Leigh Taylor-Young), a free-spirited young woman who indulges in drugs and free love. Harold finds himself smitten by her and when she leaves him some pot-laced brownies, it results in the film's funniest scene in which Harold ends up serving them to his parents and Joyce, resulting in the kind of over-reaction one might attribute to a tab of LSD. Nevertheless, it is quite an amusing segment. Ultimately, Harold leaves Joyce at the synagogue seconds before taking the vow of marriage. He dashes home and vows to start a new life with Nancy. Before long, he is sporting long hair, mod eyeglasses and is living in his car. It seems perfect until the screenplay predictably delves into one of those scenarios in which the motto is "Be careful what you wish for- you just may get it!".
Sellers is the glue that holds the fragile premise together, even if his American accent slips every now and then. Taylor-Young makes for a lovely leading lady and Joyce Van Patten is stuck in the role of constantly jilted lover who craves Harold no matter how many times he humiliates her. Unfortunately, the premise wears thin pretty quickly and the movie is never as funny as it should be or you expect it to be. In fact, it bears a certain resemblance to Blake Edwards' "The Party", which was released the same year. Both films were based on an initially funny scenario that ultimately ran out of steam as the movie wore on. At the time, Roger Ebert reviewed the film favorably but pointed out that it was another example of a Hollywood studio punting when it came to presenting the hippie culture and depicting the rebellious young people as sanitized caricatures. Perhaps the biggest laugh to be had was by Paul Mazursky, who would direct the smash hit "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" the following year, thus establishing himself as a major name in the film industry.
The region-free Warner Archive boasts a fine transfer. The only bonus feature is the trailer.
Here is a wonderful documentary about Roger Moore with comments from his friends and colleagues including Gregory Peck, Maud Adams, Michael Caine, Lewis Gilbert, Tony Curtis and others. The film covers Sir Roger's career as well as his extensive work on behalf of UNICEF.
In this rare promotional interview posted by the Harry Palmer Movie Site, Oscar Homolka discusses his role as Colonel Stok in the 1967 film "Billion Dollar Brain", starring Michael Caine in the third and last of the Palmer feature films made for theatrical release. Homolka had appeared as the same character in the previous film, "Funeral in Berlin".
This episode of the marvelous web series "Behind the Stunts" looks at producer Euan Lloyd's classic 1978 British adventure film "The Wild Geese" starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Kruger and Stewart Granger, who was lured out of retirement for the movie. The film is one of the best macho flicks of its era and boasts incredible stunts, which are recounted here by some of the people who performed them.
Here's a blast from the past: In August, 1966, Boxoffice magazine reported on the opening of a new, state-of-the-art 900+ seat movie theater: the Winchester in Lubbock, Texas. The description reads:
"It was constructed at a cost of about $250,000...Exterior finish of the the theatre is of face brick, Egyptian stucco and glass. From the 400-vehicle paved parking area, lighted and supervised, at the front of the Winchester, patrons enter the theatre under the canopy protection of a drive-through portico. (There is) an elaborate box office, with inside and outside service windows for convenience and a refreshment center highlights the foyer. Year around air-conditioning comfort-controls the entire structure. The projection room, with an all-transistor Century sound system, is equipped for all processes, including Cinerama. Projectors are Century with Strong Futura lamps...The 1,820- square-foot screen measures 28 x 65 feet. There is no stage. Invitational previews of the theatre and showings of the premiere attraction, "Doctor Zhivago", were held on August 16 and 17 and formal opening for the general public-a sellout- was held on August 18. A full house of dignitaries and opinion-makers, industry representatives, and Lubbock press, radio and television people were guests for the Tuesday affair."
Kino Lorber has released a Blu-ray edition of The Internecine Project, a 1974 London-based thriller directed by Ken Hughes and starring James Coburn in a bravura performance as a charismatic villain. Coburn plays an internationally respected economics expert who finds himself being tapped to be an adviser to the President of the United States. However, he must first ensure that his sordid sideline of running a small London crime ring is swept under the rug. To do so, he devises a complex scheme to convince each member of his team to murder another. The film, written by Barry Levinson and Jonathan Lynn, bristles with tension and leads to a wonderful and satisfying conclusion. Aside from Coburn's outstanding performance, you can relish yeoman work from Lee Grant, Kennan Wynn, Harry Andrews and Ian Hendry- all set to Roy Budd's atmospheric score.
The Blu-ray is a welcome upgrade from the previous Scorpion DVD edition. It ports over the interview with Jonathan Lynn, who would go on to be best known for writing famous British comedy TV series. On most special editions produced by major studios, the interviews are chopped into brief soundbites. Refreshingly, this one allows Lynn to talk for almost 30 minutes- and he goes beyond discussing The Internecine Project to detailing working on Clue, which he wrote and directed.Unfortunately, this edition does not include the interview with Coburn's daughter that was featured on the DVD release. The Blu-ray does contain the original trailer along with trailers of other crime thrillers available from KL. Highly recommended.
Here's one of many memorable scenes in director Robert Rossen's 1961 classic "The Hustler" with Paul Newman as "Fast Eddie" and Jackie Gleason (a real life billiards pro) as Minnesota Fats. The film is a downbeat look at a gritty world most people never see and the sub-culture of those who inhabit it. The performances are brilliant, including those by Piper Laurie and George C. Scott.
In this interview, Steven Spielberg recalls meeting John Ford when he was a young, aspiring filmmaker and the advice Ford gave him that resonated throughout his career. He also extols Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" for being the classic that it is, even if it was underappreciated back in the day. The fact that the film was shot mostly in a studio led some viewers to express disappointment that it lacked Ford's signature grandeur and magnificent vistas. But the story still resonates today, making poignant observations about courage, cruelty, love and cowardice society, as well as the value of a free press. Indeed, the lessons of "Liberty Valance" are as timely today as they ever were.
In this fascinating short, songwriter Carol Connors recalls the strange way that "Gonna Fly Now" became the signature song for the "Rocky" film series.
Here's some interesting insight into the filming of a scene from The Beatles' 1965 movie "Help!" in which they appeared with legendary British comedic actor Frankie Howerd. Actress Wendy Richard, who was also in the scene, explains how the experience went from being a joy to heartbreaking.
Joe Dante's "Trailers from Hell" site presents the U.S. trailer for the 1967 007 film "You Only Live Twice" with insightful and amusing commentary by writer/comedian Dana Gould, who admits that while he doesn't believe this is the best Bond movie, it is his personal favorite.
Published by Drugstore Indian Press (imprint
of PS Publishing)
May 2023
512 pages
Paperback
ISBN: 9781786368997
RRP: £15.99
Review by Adrian Smith
If, like me, you love old movies, the chances are high
that a love for the thrilling pulp magazines of the 1950s can’t be far behind.
Robert Silverberg, now an award-winning science fiction author, was one of the
most prolific writers (allegedly averaging around 1 million words a year) for
dozens of magazines throughout that decade including Super-Science Fiction,
Monster Parade, Fantastic and Monsters and Things, amongst
many more. Capable of seemingly churning out stories in any genre he turned his
hand to (including pornography when required), these short tales were designed
to be read once and then forgotten once the next issue came along. Of course,
what was once disposable is now highly sought-after and original copies of many
of these short-lived magazines are out of reach to us mere mortals. Thankfully
the almost equally prolific writer and editor Stephen Jones has compiled a representative
sample of Silverberg’s horror and sci-fi stories published between 1957 and
1959 for this excellent new collection published by Drugstore Indian Press,
accompanied by suitably retro illustrations from American artist Randy Broeker.
Most of the stories are just a few pages long, so no time
is wasted before the thrills and chills set in. From premature burials, mad
doctors, demons, werewolves, vampires and ghouls to aliens, global conspiracies,
sinister cults and outer space adventures, the stories pack a pulp punch and
are all very enjoyable, especially the ones with twist endings that would not
be out of place in an episode of The Twilight Zone. With titles
including ‘Secrets of the Torture Cult,’ ‘Beasts of Nightmare Horror’ and ‘Vampires
from Outer Space’ (a precursor to Colin Wilson’s The Space Vampires
perhaps?), Silverberg's imagination was extraordinary, producing a continual
stream of stories, often published under pseudonyms so that it didn’t look like
he’d written the entire magazine. In his introduction to this collection (he’s
still with us, at the ripe old age of 89!), he discusses his early career and
his need to keep the [were]wolf from the door by writing anything he could get
paid for, and it was clearly good preparation for the highly-respected novels
which would earn him fame later on.
Given the sheer number of short stories Silverberg
produced, one can only hope that another collection from Drugstore Indian Press
is on its way. These are really fun, pulpy stories that remind us of all of another
era; when guys called Skip drove hot rods, when Big Jack hosted late-night talk
shows about the occult on stations like WYXD, and when teenage librarians like
Marty could accidentally raise the old gods using a stolen copy of the
Necronomicon. Robert Silverberg’s Monsters and Things belongs on the
shelf of any discerning 1950s nostalgia junkie.
The conventional wisdom is that physical media (DVDs, Blu-rays) is in a death spiral in the age of streaming. In article for the BBC's web site, writer Claire Thorp makes the case for treasuring physical media. Let's face it: streaming is great, but as the article points out, your "ownership" of your favorite videos is tentative, subject to them vanishing without warning due to licensing expiration situations and other factors. Additionally, streaming can't provide those great bonus extras collectors treasure. The article advises that the only way to permanently possess these treasured films is to own them outright. Click here to read.
Alfred Hitchcock has been a huge influence on my life, ever
since I saw my first Hitchcock film,I Confess, at the age of 10 years
old. I was immediately struck by the moral ambiguity of the film and the
conflicted viewpoint of the central character, a priest, played by Montgomery
Clift. Although I wasn’t aware of camera angles, film theory and mise-en-scene
at the time, I could sense a gripping plot, characterisations and camera
movement.
Since then, I’ve written four books on Hitchcock, the Master of
Suspense. Two books are on the making of specific films,The
BirdsandMarnie,
which were made in the early 1960s and have a close production history because
they had shared screenwriters and production crew; and a more general book
calledAlfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass,
which is about all of his films, for aspiring screenwriters and film makers. My
latest book Alfred Hitchcock Storyboards, is as the name suggests, a
celebration of Hitchcock’s visual art and storyboarding in collaboration with
key production illustrators, storyboard artists and set designers.
When I was writing my first
Hitchcock book, “Hitchcock and the making of Marnie”, 25 years ago now, I was
excited to see the extensive storyboards for the racetrack and hunt sequence at
Margaret Herrick Library, part of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and
Sciences in Los Angeles. I was immediately impressed about the level of detail.
I was lucky enough to interview the production designer Robert Boyle and
storyboard artist Harold Michelson who had a wealth of knowledge and memories
about working onThe BirdsandMarnieand I knew that was just the start. Because
this is my fourth book on Hitchcock, the Estate gave me permission to reproduce
them which is very exciting to share with readers today.
As Hitchcock directed 52 films in his career, I couldn’t include
every film or storyboard, so I decided to focus on a selection of films which
are representative of Hitchcock’s 60 year career. So I chose The 39 Steps, Shadow of a
Doubt, Spellbound, Vertigo, North by
Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie and Torn
Curtain. These films span Hitchcock’s early British period to one of his
last films he made at Universal Studios in Hollywood. Teaming up with Titan
Books who specialise in art and film books, I’m pleased to say that the coffee-table
book includes never-before-published images, especially from The 39 Steps,
Marnie and Torn Curtain. I was also able to feature some of the
art directors, production designers and illustrators who worked on these films,
including the more celebrated ones like Salvador Dali who Hitchcock hired for
designing the Spellbound dream sequence.
(Photo: Tony Lee Moral)
Through
storyboarding each scene, Hitchcock, likened the beats in a film to the notes
on a sheet of music being conducted by an orchestra. Hitchcock was a very
technical director and was keen to manipulate the audience’s emotions, the
highs and lows, and storyboards were central to his practice. Think about the
shower scene in Psycho, the crop duster attack in North by
Northwest and the crows gathering silently on the jungle gym in The
Birds, they are all examples of carefully orchestrated storyboards.
Studying
the storyboards definitely opened my eyes to films which I hadn’t focused on
before such as Shadow of a Doubt and Spellbound,
and what was apparent was the level of detail from both Hitchcock’s early films
and his move to Hollywood. In Shadow of a Doubt, storyboarding and
set design are very important to show a typical American family and the chaos
that erupts when a sinister force, in this case Uncle Charlie, comes to visit. Spellbound is
another film where the dream sequence was storyboarded and Hitchcock was very
interested in dream theory and analysis. There’s also a great behind the scenes
story I discovered about some lost and found Salvador Dali art for Spellbound.
But you’ll have to read the book for that story.
They couldn't sing or dance- which is why it was so amusing to see Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas engage in both activities on the 1958 Oscars broadcast!
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Legendary director Don Siegel (Dirty
Harry) directs the iconic John Wayne as an ageing gunfighter dying of cancer in
his final screen appearance, a superb adaptation of Glendon Swarthout's classic
western novel, The Shootist.
John Bernard Books is the stuff of
legend, a renowned 'shootist' whose reputation looms large. But it's 1901, and
like the old west, John is dying and a reputation like his draws trouble like
an outhouse draws flies. As word spreads that the famous gunfighter is on his
last legs, the vultures begin to gather; old enemies, the marshal, newspaper
men, an undertaker, all eager to see him dead. Other men might die quietly in
bed or take their own lives, but J. B. Books will choose his executioner and
face down death with a pistol in each hand.
With an outstanding cast that
features not only Wayne, but James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Scatman
Crothers and John Carradine, The Shootist is an elegiac ode to a monumental
screen presence and to the Western genre itself.
Bonus Materials
·New 2K remaster by Arrow
Films from the original 35mm camera negative
·High Definition Blu-ray
(1080p) presentation
·Original lossless mono
audio
·Optional English
Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
·Brand new audio
commentary by filmmaker and critic Howard S. Berger
·The Last Day, a new
visual essay by film critic David Cairns
·A Man-Making Moment, a
new interview with Western author C. Courtney Joyner
·Laments of the West, a
new appreciation of Elmer Bernstein’s score by film historian and composer Neil
Brand
·Contemplating John
Wayne: The Death of a Cowboy, a new visual essay by filmmaker and critic Scout
Tafoya
·The Shootist: The Legend
Lives On, archival featurette
·Theatrical trailer
·Image gallery
·Reversible sleeve
featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Juan Esteban Rodríguez
·Double-sided fold-out
poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Juan Esteban
Rodríguez
·Six postcard-sized lobby
card reproductions
·Illustrated collector’s
booklet featuring new writing by film critic Philip Kemp
This Blu-ray will be released on March 12. Click here to order from Amazon.
One of the UK’s most beloved film franchises
has been somewhat neglected of late. Despite decades of television reruns,
since the DVD boxset release over a decade ago there has been no sign of any
sort of upgrade of the ‘Carry On ‘films, which, if there were any justice,
would have been raised to Criterion levels by now. Remarkably this is still the
case in the UK, so thankfully Australian company Via Vision Entertainment have
taken a firm grip of the baton and begun releasing the ‘Carry On’ films in
series order, four at a time. The first eight films in the series were mostly shot
in black and white and based around everyday life, such as military service,
the healthcare system, schools, the police, cruise holidays, and the beginnings
of second-wave feminism (Carry On Cabby (1963), if you’re wondering). But
then Peter Rogers, the producer and brains behind the series, had the fabulous
idea to begin making period dramas and spoofs of current hits. Carry On Jack
(1964), about pirates, was the first of these, and with that move, in my
opinion, the ‘Carry On’ films really hit their creative and comedic peak.
This means that ‘Carry On... Collection 3’
contains arguably the four best films in the entire franchise (although I know some
fans would beg to differ): Carry On Spying (1964), Carry On Cleo
(1964), Carry On Cowboy (1965) and Carry
On Screaming (1966).
Carry On Spying
(1964), the last one shot in black-and-white and the first to directly spoof
genre conventions, has perhaps been forgotten in favour of the more smutty ‘Carry
On’ films that followed later. Starring regulars Bernard Cribbins, Kenneth
Williams, Charles Hawtrey, and introducing newcomer Barbara Windsor as Daphne
Honeybutt, a name even Ian Fleming would have been proud of. Far from being the
giggling saucepot she would later be known for, Windsor’s character here is
brave, intelligent and forthright, more than once saving the mission and her
hopeless compatriots. Hot on the heels of From Russia with Love (1963), the
film is a hilarious and almost spot-on spoof of the budding James Bond
franchise (Cubby Broccoli objected to one character being called Agent 009½ so they
were reluctantly renamed 000), coming before the flood of Eurospy films that
would take all sorts of liberties with Bond a couple of years later. Shot at
Pinewood Studios, already the home of Bond, it is unsurprising that the sets here
are very close to Ken Adam’s designs, especially the secret underground
headquarters of STENCH, led by the evil Doctor Crow, and were probably built
and lit by many of the same technicians. The cast, with Kenneth Wiliams taking
a rare lead role, are a joy. Williams, who would often be cast as pompous,
arrogant authority types in later films, plays here his idiotic character made
famous in Hancock’s Half Hour, complete with his catchphrase “Stop
messing about!” The comedy is hilarious,
and as a Bond spoof it works very well as a standalone film for those who may
be unfamiliar with the charms of the ‘Carry On’ franchise. Naturally, given
that it is now sixty years old, some of the humour is a little painful,
reflecting some of the post-colonial attitudes of the time. But the odds are
that if you are Cinema Retro regular, you can probably handle it.
Carry On Cleo is
probably the franchise’s most lavish and high budget production, thanks to the
genius decision of Peter Rogers to move in on the abandoned Cleopatra sets
left behind at Pinewood when the disastrous Elizabeth Taylor production was
shipped off to Cinecittà in Rome to start again. With full access to sets,
props and costumes, Carry On Cleo looks a million dollars, and is also a
million times more entertaining than Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra. The
cast are fabulous, with Kenneth Williams in full arrogant mode as Caesar, Sid
James as the lecherous Mark Anthony, Jim Dale as an escaped English slave, but
most importantly with Amanda Barrie, who had an important role in Carry On
Cabby, as the beautiful and mesmerising Cleopatra. Whether in costumes
originally created for Liz Taylor, or bathing naked in ass's milk, she's simply
stunning. It has always been my favourite ‘Carry On’ film, packed with sight
gags, brilliant nods to the original film (20th Century Fox were
particularly furious at the original Carry On Cleo poster design which
mercilessly spoofed theirs) and wonderful sets and matte paintings. This was
the heyday of Pinewood Studios, and the skill and expertise on show here sets
it apart from the later, cheaper ‘Carry On ‘films shot mainly in muddy fields.
Carry On Cowboy
arrived just as the Spaghetti Westerns were getting started in Italy but owes
more to the prevalence of American western films and TV shows (Bonanza, Gunsmoke,
etc.), and is another clear spoof in the Carry On Spying mode. Genre
conventions are milked for all their comic potential, and the cast are
uniformly excellent, from Jim Dale’s accidental sheriff, Sid James as the
villainous Rumpo Kid, Charles Hawtrey as the whisky-addled Big Chief Heap, Joan
Sims as a prostitute with a heart of gold, Kenneth Williams as a cowardly mayor
and, in a reference to actual history, Angela Douglas as the first-rate shot
Annie Oakley. This is great fun, and not far removed from what Mel Brooks would
do less than ten years later, but without the fourth wall breaking.
The last film in the set is possibly the most
well known outside of the UK – Carry On Screaming. This time they had
Hammer Films firmly in their sights, with references to Frankenstein, Jekyll
and Hyde, spooky mansions and the sexiest of sexy vamps, all mixed together
with plenty of gags and a plot which borrows heavily from House of Wax
(1953), meaning Vincent Price gets a bit of a nod as well. In the lead role as Police
Sargeant Bung is Harry H. Corbett, making his only ‘Carry On’ appearance, but
he was an extremely popular comedy actor in the UK at the time thanks to his
starring role in the sitcom Steptoe and Son. Kenneth Williams plays the
undead Dr Watt (his name allowing for some “Who’s on first?”-type comedy confusion),
alongside Jim Dale, Angela Douglas, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey and the stunning
Fenella Fielding, who vamps for all she’s worth in a red dress so tight fitting
that she was unable to sit down between takes.
Across the films are appearances from other
‘Carry On’ favourites including Bernard Bresslaw, Kenneth Connor, Peter
Butterworth and a pre-Doctor Who Jon Pertwee, who in the early 1960s was
probably best known for doing funny voices on radio comedy shows like The
Navy Lark.
It’s wonderful to see these films restored
and available in HD at last. They look fantastic and remind us of what great
craftsmanship there was in British cinema in the 1960s, even at the cheaper end
of the production scale. This boxset also comes with a lovely booklet which
reproduces in full colour the original pressbooks for the first twelve ‘Carry
On’ films. They’re fascinating to look at, although you might need a magnifying
glass if you want to read some of them! Bonus features-wise, the sets are a bit
light, simply including original trailers for each film and the commentary
tracks which were recorded for the original DVD releases more than a decade
ago. Whilst it’s great to have these, and they are very entertaining (Fenella
Fielding has the kind of voice you could listen to all day), it would be great
to see some of the archival documentaries and interviews that have been shown
on TV over the years included too, or even commission the official ‘Carry On’
historian Robert Ross, whose new co-authored book Carry On Girls is also
excellent, to produce some new documentary material.
However, we physical media collectors are
spoiled these days and often expect too much! For the price, this boxset
delivers what we really want, which is excellent restorations of much-loved
British comedy gems. These really are the best of the series, and if you don’t
agree, in the immortal words of Sid James: “Knickers!”
You can order ‘Carry On Collection 3’ direct
from Via Vision here:
Director
Billy Wilder was on an incredible streak during the decade of the 1950s. Some
of his most notable works were made between 1950-1959, and his 1957 courtroom
drama, Witness for the Prosecution, is one of the high points.
Based
on the 1953 stage play by Agatha Christie (which, in turn, was based on one of
her short stories), Wilder’s film version actually improves a bit on the
already engaging theatrical work. (By the way, the stage play is currently
enjoying a long and successful run in London at County Hall’s old courthouse
and actual courtroom, and this reviewer can attest that it is a magnificent
production, definitely worth seeing in those authentic environs.)
Tyrone
Power received top billing as Leonard Vole, the accused (Power, an American,
plays the role as one as well). The fabulous Marlene Dietrich is Christine, the
“witness for the prosecution.” But make no mistake—this movie belongs to
Charles Laughton, who received third billing. Laughton plays barrister Sir
Wilfrid Robarts, who is the senior counsel for Vole. As his private nurse, Miss
Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester) declares during the trial when Wilfrid makes a
slam-dunk move, “Wilfrid the Fox! That’s what they call him, and that’s what he
is!”
The
nurse character is something that screenwriters Wilder and Harry Kurnitz
(adapted for the screen by Larry Marcus) added to the story, as well as turning
Sir Wilfrid’s character to be more of a protagonist. Seeing that Laughton and
Lanchester were married in real life, their chemistry and constant bantering
together is priceless, providing the film with comedic elements that the play
never had.
Vole
is accused of murdering a wealthy widow that he befriended. She had become
besotted with him and made him a beneficiary of her will. Vole is married to
German immigrant Christine, who at first provides an alibi for Vole. Sir
Wilfrid, despite recovering from a heart attack and is not in the best shape
for a highly publicized trial, takes the case of defending Vole. It’s a shock
to Wilfrid when the prosecution calls Christine to testify against her husband—because
she is actually married to someone else back in East Germany, dodging the law
that a wife can’t testify against a spouse. To reveal any more of the twists
and turns—and especially the surprise ending—would spoil the fun. (In fact, a
voiceover announces at the end of the movie that the “management of this
theater” suggests that the secret of the ending not be revealed to friends!)
All
three of the leads are particularly outstanding, and they are strongly
supported by not only Lanchester, but also John Williams, Henry Daniell, Torin
Thatcher, Una O’Connor, and Ian Wolfe. Wilder’s direction is a lesson in
pacing, the rise and fall of tempo and suspense, and his guidance of the
actors. Dietrich, in fact, would not agree to do the picture unless Wilder was
hired as director.
The
film was popular in 1957. It received Academy Award nominations for Best
Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Laughton), Best Supporting Actress
(Lanchester), Best Editing, and Best Sound. Curiously, the screenplay wasn’t
nominated. Lanchester did receive the Golden Globe award for her stellar
performance.
Kino
Lorber Studio Classics has issued a Special Edition Blu-ray that replaces their
earlier 2014 release. The contents are exactly the same except an audio
commentary by film historian Joseph McBride (author of Billy Wilder: Dancing
on the Edge) has been added. Previous supplements included are a short
piece of Wilder discussing the film with director Volker Schlöndorff,
and the theatrical trailer. The restoration itself looks marvelous in glorious
black and white.
Witness
for the Prosecution is
a must-have for fans of Billy Wilder, Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich,
Agatha Christie, and courtroom thrillers. Great fun all around.
(A
previous edition of this film was released in 2017 by Classic Flix and was
reviewed on Cinema Retro in 2020. The film has been re-issued as a
“Special Edition” from Kino Lorber Studio Classics in 2024. Much of the
following review is repeated, but updated, from the earlier piece.)
A
sub-genre of film noir is that of the so-called “docu-noir,” a
crime drama usually based on a true story and told as a Dragnet-style
procedural. Most likely there is an omniscient voiceover narrator, a focus on
the lawmen who are investigating the case, and all the other stylistic and
thematic elements associated with film noir in general: starkly
contrasting black and white photography, urban locations, shadows, gritty
realism, angst and cynicism, and sometimes brutal violence.
Eagle-Lion
Films was a British/American production company that existed for only a few
years in the late 40s, disbanding in the early 50s. There was some talent
involved, and they produced a variety of genres and pictures of varying quality
(Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes was a rare Best Picture
nominee). Many of the studio’s pictures were films noir that were shot
as B-movies with low budgets and barebones casts and crews. Anthony Mann
directed a couple of their classic crime movies—T-Men and Raw Deal,
both of which fall into the “docu-noir” category. Unfortunately, due to bad
management or negligence, many of Eagle-Lion’s titles fell out of copyright and
currently reside in the public domain. Hence, one can often find bargain bin,
cheap knock-off DVDs and Blu-rays of these films.
He
Walked by Night
is a prime example of a quality presentation of an equally impressive little
movie. Made in 1948, Walked is a true story loosely based on the crime
spree by Erwin “Machine Gun” Walker, who shot cops and committed burglaries and
armed robberies in Los Angeles in the mid-40s. In real life, Walker was
arrested and sentenced to prison, but he was paroled in the 70s. This is not the
ending to the story that is depicted in the film.
A
young Richard Basehart portrays disturbed war veteran Roy Morgan, a habitual
burglar and armed robber. An off-duty cop on the street suspects Roy of being a
burglar. Roy shoots and kills him. The POV switches to the police, especially
Lt. Marty Brennan (Scott Brady), who is based on the investigator of the true
case. He is assisted by Captain Breen (Roy Roberts), and forensics man Lee
Whitey (Jack Webb, in an early screen appearance). The story follows the police
investigation juxtaposed with Morgan’s eccentric and lonely existence, and the
criminal’s increasingly violent crimes. The big break comes when a stolen item
is recovered by an electronics pawn dealer (Whit Bissell), who has been
unwittingly fencing for Morgan.
It’s
all engaging stuff, and Basehart delivers an outstanding, creepy performance as
Morgan. The police procedural sequences are done well, such as when a composite
drawing of the suspect is created by all the witnesses to the crimes. The
climactic set piece of a chase in LA’s sewer system is exciting, atmospheric,
and pure noir. Oddly, it is similar to the ending of The Third Man,
which was released a year later.
Even
though Alfred Werker is credited as director, audio commentary speculates that
Anthony Mann stepped in to helm some of the movie. Is it one of those Christian
Nyby/Howard Hawks (The Thing) or Tobe Hooper/Steven Spielberg (Poltergeist)
controversies? No one seems to know. He Walked by Night, however, does
contain several sequences—including the final sewer chase—that are stylistic
stamps of Mann. That said, much of the credit for the picture’s success goes to
celebrated noir cinematographer John Alton.
Another
sidebar related to the picture is Jack Webb’s meeting and further networking
with the picture’s technical adviser Detective Sergeant Marty Wynn. This led to
the ultimate creation of Dragnet as a radio and television show.
Kino
Lorber’s new Special Edition Blu-ray presents a 16-bit 4K scan of the 35mm fine
grain, and it looks quite wonderful, a remarkable step-up from other public
domain transfers that are out there. It comes with English subtitles for the
hearing impaired, as well as an audio commentary by biographer and producer
Alan K. Rode and writer/film historian Julie Kirgo. New to this Special Edition
is a second audio commentary by film historian Imogen Sara Smith.
Unfortunately, the Kino Lorber edition does not contain other supplements that
the previous Classic Flix edition did, nor the 24-page booklet that accompanied
that packaging.
For
fans of film noir, police procedurals, and gritty crime dramas, He
Walked by Night is a good time at the movies.
Mel Brooks has been awarded an honorary Oscar, but you'd never know it if you watch this year's Academy Awards unless they make a brief mention of it. Gone are the days where viewers were treated to such wonderful moments, as the Academy long ago decided that honoring film industry legends was a superfluous part of the TV broadcast. Better to make more time for the awful "spontaneous" banter between presenters and lame comedy routines. At least the Academy made the presentation available on its web site, so here it is. (Lee Pfeiffer)
Woody Allen’s Chekhovian-titled Hannah and Her Sisters
(1986) is reportedly only twenty percent of what he actually wrote for the film
on his Olympia SM-3 typewriter, which he has owned for decades and written all
of his films on. Given how extraordinary this outing is, one can only wonder what
the remaining projected film would have looked like. Conceived of as his answer
to Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander (1982) which ran three hours
theatrically and nearly five-and-a-half hours on Swedish television as a
mini-series, Hannah is considered by many to be Mr. Allen’s finest hour,
although I am in the minority as I view Another Woman (1988) as his best
film, with Hannah coming in at a very close second.
Hannah is a sumptuous film, the first Woody Allen outing to be
photographed by the late great cinematographer Carlo
Di Palma who would go on to work on eleven more films with Mr. Allen. He
captures the visual splendor of New York and all its beauty and ugliness over a
two-year period between Thanksgiving holidays. It is also a family affair. Hannah
is a housewife/actress and is played wonderfully by Mia Farrow. Her parents are
her real-life mother, Maureen O’Sullivan, and actor Lloyd Nolan, who used to be
actors as well. Hannah is married to businessman Elliot (Michael Caine) and
they have a good number of children who are all played by Ms. Farrow’s and Mr.
Allen’s real-life adopted offspring. Hannah’s sisters consist of the
emotionally adrift Lee (Barbara Hershey), who is in a relationship of sorts
with the hermetic painter Frederick (Max von Sydow) and the actress-wanna-be Holly
(Dianne Weist) who always appears to be on the verge of a breakdown between
bouts of ingesting nicotine and alcohol following auditions. As with previous
Allen outings, especially his 1979 film Manhattan, Hannah revolves
around myriad romantic entanglements, but it is not all fun and games. Elliot
is intensely attracted to Lee who is a lost soul and is pulled to him thanks to
Frederick’s older age and insouciance. Holly and her actress friend April
(Carrie Fisher), with whom she runs a catering company to make ends meet, battle
it out for the affections of David (Sam Waterston), an erudite architect who
uses opera and fine wine as his tools of choice to woo them both.
As if this were not enough, Mickey (Woody Allen) is a television
producer/hypochondriac and is Hannah’s ex. He has a near-death experience when
he becomes convinced that he has a brain tumor and ponders the meaning of life,
questioning his parents and his co-worker played by Julie Kavner while also
looking to religion for answers, but stopping short after speaking with a Hare
Krishna, confirming the absurdity of shaving his head, wearing long robes, and
dancing around at airports. Though most of the action is that of a serious
theme (Crimes and Misdemeanors would take this to even further horrific
heights in 1989), the film also balances it with outright hilarity. The ending
is perhaps one of the most hopeful and positive in all the Woody Allen
filmography.
Hannah boasts two celebrated cinematic moments. The first occurs in a
restaurant among the sisters as Lee tries desperately to hide her affair from
Hannah who simultaneously attempts to talk Holly off the ledge when she announces
her decision to take off a year to try and find herself. The camera circles the
triumvirate in a 360-degree maneuver that illustrates Lee’s increasing
discomfort with the situation at hand as the tension mounts.
The second comes near the film’s end when Mickey notices Holly
perusing titles in Tower Records and engages in a humorous and heartfelt exchange
with her. The scene is done in one take and is a highlight.
Among Woody Allen fans the question has usually been which do they
prefer: Annie Hall (1977) or Manhattan (1979). They can add Hannah
to the mix. This was Ms. Farrow’s fifth outing with Mr. Allen and she does a
wonderful balancing act of being the confused wife of an adulterer and the
sister of a neurotic.
After being lensed in the fall of 1984, Hannah opened
nationwide on Friday, February 7, 1986 to near universal acclaim, leaving Mr.
Allen wondering how had he failed, the idea being that if you make something
that just about everyone loves, you must be making something that fails to be interesting
or challenging!
Hannah won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay for Woody Allen, Best
Supporting Actor for Michael Caine (who will never live down his unavailability
to accept the Oscar in person as he was away filming Jaws IV), and Best
Supporting Actress for Dianne Weist. It is one of his best-scored films,
boasting a soundtrack of both upbeat and melancholic tunes.
The film is available in a Region B Blu-ray from Fabulous Films, the
fine company that released Manhattan. The
source material is terrific and the film’s warmth shines through.
Click here to purchase this from Amazon’s UK site.
(A
previous 50th Anniversary edition of this film was released in 2018
by Kino Lorber and was reviewed on Cinema Retro in 2020. The film has
been re-issued on Blu-ray as a “Special Edition” in 2024. Much of the following
review is repeated, but updated, from the earlier piece.)
The
late director Norman Jewison, who passed away on January 20, 2024, was on a
roll in the late 1960s. After a handful of well-received small romantic
comedies, he directed The Cincinnati Kid (1965) featuring Steve McQueen as
a Depression-era poker player, followed by the Oscar Best Picture-nominated The
Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (1966), and then the brilliant
In the Heat of the Night (1967), which did win the Best Picture
Oscar and landed Jewison a Director nomination.
His
next project became a heist picture/romance, the story of which was pitched to
him by Alan R. Trustman, a lawyer with no screenwriting experience. Jewison was
intrigued, so, according to the excellent interview with the director that
appears as a supplement on Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray edition of The Thomas
Crown Affair, he gave Trustman a crash course in how to write a movie
script. When it was completed, Jewison got the film green-lit.
When
Jewison’s agent—who also represented Steve McQueen—read the screenplay, he
suggested McQueen for the part. Even though the actor and director had gotten
along on Cincinnati Kid, Jewison admits that he didn’t think McQueen was
right for the role because the actor never wore suits. McQueen then met with
the director—wearing a suit—and convinced him that he could be Thomas Crown.
The
Thomas Crown Affair is
a stylish, twisty-turny, clever piece of 1968 pizazz. It emphasizes the
ultra-cool cosmopolitan and fancy lifestyle of the rich during the Mad Men era
when it was actually happening. The flashy camerawork and then-innovative
split-screen/multi-screen display of simultaneous action scenes was snappy and
unique. The brilliant main title designer, the late Pablo Ferro, is credited
for much of this work, and it is this visual technique that gives the movie its
pulse.
Crown
is a former banker in Boston, a happily wealthy playboy-sportsman who decides
to pull off a complicated bank heist simply because he can. He puts together a
team of individuals (including getaway driver Jack Weston) who don’t know each
other or him, and the gang meets only at the time of the robbery inside the
bank. Crown himself isn’t there. The heist is successful, and the mastermind
gets away with $2.6 million. Detective Malone (Paul Burke) is determined to
catch whoever was responsible, but the crime was too well thought out. No evidence
or clues were left behind. An insurance investigator, Vicki Anderson (Faye
Dunaway, in her first role post-Bonnie and Clyde), is brought in and she
immediately takes control of the operation, much to Malone’s chagrin. It
doesn’t take long for Crown to come under Vicki’s suspicions—so she sets out to
entrap him by, well, having an affair with him.
That’s
the plot in a nutshell. While much of it is seemingly improbable, the story is
told with conviction and such technical prowess that it’s hard not to go along
for the ride. Jewison’s handling of the heist itself and the romantic sequences
between the dual eye candy, McQueen and Dunaway, is masterful. Both actors are
fine in their roles; McQueen especially continues to exude the 60s cool that
was his trademark.
Kino
Lorber’s brand new 4K restoration looks quite good, and it comes with two audio
commentaries—one by Jewison himself, and the other by film historians Lem Dobbs
and the late Nick Redman. Supplements
include the previously mentioned interview with an aging Jewison, who was still
sharp and talkative, an interview with title designer and split-screen maestro
Ferro, and a vintage on-the-set featurette from 1967 with the cast and crew.
The original theatrical trailer, along with other Kino Lorber releases,
complete the disk.
The
Thomas Crown Affair was
remade by John McTiernan in 1999 with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Was it
better than the original? Maybe yes, maybe no. Only you can decide; but
consider this—the 1968 version has Steve McQueen, a young Faye Dunaway, a
variety of really hot and nifty sports cars, and an Oscar-winning title song,
“The Windmills of Your Mind” (remember that?)! Recommended.
I
have never understood religious cults, and I still don’t. How someone can
permit themselves to be brainwashed into following a self-appointed “religious
leader” and hang on their every word represents, to me, a soul searching for acceptance
or love that they believe has been denied them. My initiation into the existence
of cults was in the December 4, 1978 issues of both Time Magazine and Newsweek
Magazine. Their reports about the Jonestown murders in Guyana, which completely
shocked my sensibilities with images of dead adults and children lying face
down in filth, were the stuff of nightmares. This horrific event has spawned
books, documentaries, and jokes about “drinking the Kool Aid” when referencing one’s
blind commitment to a ridiculous situation. An article two months later in my
local newspaper about “witches,” pagan practices, bowls of blood and animal
ribcages in the woods less than ten miles from where I lived did little to assuage
my fears about them. David Koresh, the leader of the religious sect
referred to as the Branch Davidians, led his followers into the Mount Carmel
Center, a compound in Waco, Texas, which culminated in a standoff with law
enforcement in April 1993 with most of them dying in a storm of bullets and
fire. NXIVM, the organization founded by Keith Raniere five years later
masquerading as a self-help and personal development program group, came under
fire for being a cult following reports of sex trafficking of branded women.
Hollywood is no stranger to films about such
subjects. Most of them are cut from the cloth of genre and horror films. Split
Image (1982) is a bit of a different take on this terrifying subject as
seen through the eyes of suburbanites and therefore is far more relatable. Directed
by Ted Kotcheff between April and June in 1981 just before he unleashed John
Rambo on the world with his phenomenal First Blood, also released in
1982. Split Image was originally reported on under the title of Captured
when it was featured in the wonderful but short-lived bi-monthly movie magazine
published in 1982 called “Coming Attractions.” I saw the film on CED Videodisc nearly
40 years ago and was amazed at how little I recalled of it.
Danny Stetson (Michael O’Keefe of Lewis John
Carlino’s 1978 film The Great Santini) is a parallel bars athlete eyeing
college. He lives with his parents Kevin and Diane (Brian Dennehy and Elisabeth
Ashley) and younger brother Sean (Ronnie Scribner of Tobe Hooper’s 1979 TV-Movie
Salem’s Lot) in a sprawling house like the killer’s in Dario Argento’s Tenebrae
(1982), complete with large see-through windows and a built-in pool. By chance
he meets a beautiful young woman named Rebecca (Karen Allen of Steven
Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981) who engages in small talk about
big subjects. Accompanying her to a weekend outing, he is introduced to scores
of people at a retreat called Homeland who welcome him with open arms –
literally – and who all chant and engage in reciting positive affirmations while
discussing Jungian archetypes such as the duality of man. The happy and joyous
atmosphere completely rubs him the wrong way when he meets the group’s leader,
Neil Kirklander (played wonderfully by Peter Fonda), but he stays and sleeps on
the premises and one night makes a break for freedom. Bill Conti’s score here
is recognizable as the precursor to his wonderful score to Robert Mandell’s
thriller F/X (1986). Confronted by Kirklander, he eventually falls under
his spell and informs his mother that he will not be coming home. He undergoes
a ritual whereby he renounces his identity as Danny and is reborn as “Joshua,”
prompting a visit from his parents that results in a near donnybrook
precipitated by his temperamental father.
Split Image, which opened in New York on Friday, November 5,
1982, does a decent job of exploring the practice of capturing and “deprogramming”
an individual who has fallen under the spell of a cult and this is done by
Charles Pratt (played by the incomparable James Woods) who, somehow, makes his
living “deprogramming” people. After kidnapping “Joshua” with his parents’
permission, he forces him to undergo “treatment” to bring “Danny” back to life.
Many of these scenes look as though they came out of a horror film, and it
makes one wonder how much of this was imagined by the writers and how much is
based on factual circumstances such as this. The film looks at the ethics of “interventions”
and how it can alter a person’s free will and their ability to make their own
choices. Like Irwin Winkler’s At First Sight (1992), it waivers between
being compelling and occasionally feels a little “TV Movie of the Week”-ish by
today’s standards.
The film is now available from Kino Lorber on
standard Blu-ray. Some of the shots within the house appear to be a little
darker than they should be, but it is probably just how the film was shot. Mr.
Kotcheff does an expert job of framing the film for 2.35:1 anamorphic
photography, which is a huge step up from the pan-and-scan transfer of the
early 1980’s.
This is a sparse disc in the way of extras, however
the major one is the feature length audio commentary by film historian and filmmaker Daniel Kremer who
mentions his own movie, Raise Your Kids on Seltzer (2015), which is
about retired “deprogrammers”. When I was in middle school, Ralph L. Thomas’s
1981 film Ticket to Heaven appeared in my Weekly Reader issue and
I had a much different idea of what that film was about. It turns out that
deprogramming is the theme, and Mr. Kremer also mentions Blinded by the
Light, which was released in 1980, and starred both Kristy and Jimmy
McNichol, directed by cinematographer John A. Alonzo. This is a very
entertaining and informative commentary which also touches on Mr. Kotcheff’s
other films and placing him into the auteur category.
The
Blu-ray also comes with the following trailers: Split Image, Gorky
Park, 52 Pick-Up, The Bedroom Window, The Wanderers,
and The Hard Way.
Please note that issue #55 of Cinema Retro has sold out. Therefore, we can no longer accept subscriptions for Season 19, as we cannot provide all three issues. Any pending orders for Season 19 will receive issues #'s 56 and 57 and a pro-rata refund for issue #55.
(A previous edition of this Blu-ray title from Kino Lorber was reviewed at Cinema Retro in 2020. This review covers a new edition released in 2024, repeating much of the previous writeup but with new material.)
The late Carl Reiner received top billing in this magnificent comedy that was released in the middle of the 1960s, when relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were tentative at best. Détente was at play, but there wasn’t much trust between the two countries. Two years after Kubrick’s Cold War black comedy, Dr. Strangelove, Norman Jewison tried his hand at a picture with a similar theme, only it was one that was much lighter in tone.
Reiner shares the movie with another acting master who recently left us. Alan Arkin made his feature film debut with his portrayal of a Russian submarine political officer. He and Reiner are joined by a marvelous supporting cast of character actors who all have comedic turns. Penned by Oscar-nominated William Rose (who had written or co-written The Ladykillers and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and would win the Oscar the following year for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming focuses on the conflict between a group of misplaced Soviet submariners and the panicky townsfolk of a New England island off the coast of Massachusetts after the summer tourists have left. What it’s really about, though, is communication, or rather, the lack of it, and how a series of incidents that are lost in translation might lead to misunderstandings. Director Jewison delivers that message to the audience wrapped neatly in a barrel of laughs.
Reiner is Walt Whittaker, a playwright who has spent the summer on the island with his wife (Eva Marie Saint) and two children, and the family is ready to depart. His rented house on the coast happens to be near where the Russians’ submarine accidentally runs aground. The captain (Theodore Bikel) sends Lt. Rozanov (Arkin), officer Alexei Kolchin (John Phillip Law), and seven other men to go find a boat, commandeer it, and bring it back so they can tow the sub away from the island. Things begin promisingly, and then all hell breaks loose as one mishap after another foils the Russians’ scheme. Police Chief Mattocks (Brian Keith), his deputy Norman Jonas (Jonathan Winters), and, ultimately, war veteran and head of the citizens militia, Hawkins (Paul Ford), receive conflicting reports of the “invasion” and set about investigating it in their own misguided ways (although Mattocks is indeed the sensible one). Throw in a sudden romantic attraction between Alexei and the Whittaker’s babysitter, Alison (Andrea Dromm), the antics of phone operator Alice (the splendid Tessie O’Shea), and Luther, a drunk “Paul Revere” who spends the entire film trying to catch his horse (Ben Blue), and you’ve got a recipe for a comedy classic. The climax, however, is surprisingly suspenseful when the Russians and Americans finally reach a standoff at the harbor—until an unrelated crisis occurs that shakes everyone out of the mob mentality.
The straight man role was something Carl Reiner could do well; he always brought a heightened intensity to his parts that was simultaneously boisterous and believable, and yet amusing, too. Arkin, whose dialogue is 85% authentic Russian throughout the picture, immediately proved to the world what an amazing actor he is (he received an Oscar nomination for his performance and won a Golden Globe). Winters and Ford both provide much of the insane humor. O’Shea is hilarious, especially in the scene in which she and Reiner are gagged and tied together and attempt to escape. Law, a newcomer at the time, is a striking and likeable presence, and he masters the Russian language and the accented English with aplomb.
It’s all great stuff, punctuated by Johnny Mandel’s score of American patriotic music mixed with Russian folk songs. Along with Arkin’s nomination, The Russians are Coming… was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Rose), and Best Editing (Hal Ashby was co-editor).
Kino Lorber’s high definition restoration looks good enough, despite some washing out of color in some places, as well as blemishes and artifacts that can be seen in many of the images. This new 2024 edition has added an audio commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Mark Evanier, who complement the onscreen action with informed background. The earlier supplements of an informative and entertaining “making of” featurette with an interview with Jewison and the theatrical trailer remain on the disk.
In short, The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming is grand fun, and it’s a fitting showcase for the late, great Carl Reiner and Alan Arkin.
This remarkable collection has been personally curated by Amplifyd founder and CEO Daniel Willis, who is also an expert in the area of James Bond collectibles. Steve Oxenrider's 007 collection is noted among Bond fans as arguably being the most impressive to be found anywhere.
One
of the more popular and enduring genres to come out of Hollywood in the late
silent era and the first fifteen years of talkies was the gangster picture. They
sprung into the public consciousness as a result of Prohibition (late 1919 to
1933), which is when real life gangsters were making a splash in America. Early
Pre-Code gangster movies were shockingly violent and gritty—titles like Little
Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932). After
the Production Code kicked in during the summer of 1934, the genre was still
popular and being churned out (especially by Warner Brothers) but they had been
toned down somewhat with more “likable” gangsters.
James
Cagney became a star as a result of playing a gangster in The Public Enemy,
and a pretty mean one at that. Coming from vaudeville, though, he had other
talents. His real heart was in singing and dancing (he won his only acting
Oscar for doing just that in Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1942). In the late
thirties, he continued to make gangster films but he made a big deal out of
resisting them. When The Roaring Twenties was made in 1939, Cagney
proclaimed that this was his swan song playing such a character. At least it
was for ten years, when he made his one and only gangster comeback in White
Heat (1949).
Panama
Smith (Gladys George) says in The Roaring Twenties, “He used to be a big
shot.” There is no “used to” with James Cagney. He was always a big shot in
Hollywood and on the silver screen, a larger than life actor who commanded
whatever picture he was in. He had charisma in spades, the kind of energy that
could ignite a movie projector’s lighting rods, a voice that would forever be
fodder for impressionists, and a superior talent that many actors today could
only dream about.
It's
no surprise that The Roaring Twenties totally belongs to James Cagney,
even when someone like Humphrey Bogart is co-starring. (At the time Bogart had
yet to star in his own feature film; throughout the thirties he did a lot of
playing second banana.) In fact, The Roaring Twenties was the third and
last picture that Cagney and Bogart made together (the other two being Angels
with Dirty Faces and The Oklahoma Kid, 1938 and 1939, respectively).
The
movie came from a short story, “The World Moves On,” by Mark Hellinger, a
well-known journalist of the time. An info-scroll at the beginning of the movie
tells us that Hellinger based the story on “real people” that he knew, implying
that The Roaring Twenties is a true story, or at least inspired by one.
The story was turned into a screenplay by Jerry Wald, Richard Macauley, and
Robert Rossen. Anatole Litvak was initially hired to direct the movie, but it
was ultimately helmed by Raoul Walsh, who had already made some gangster
pictures and would do more in the future.
Eddie
Bartlett (Cagney), George Hally (Bogart), and Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn) meet in
a foxhole during World War I and become friends. Upon returning home to New
York City, times are tough for GIs. Eddie and Lloyd start a taxi company and
George goes into crime. Eddie reaches out to the young woman who had written to
him during the war, Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane), but discovers she’s a bit
too young for him. A couple of years later, though, she’s the right age. By
then, Prohibition has kicked in. Eddie and his good friend Danny (Frank McHugh)
get into the bootlegging business with Panama Smith at a speakeasy. Eddie wants
to marry Jean, but Jean actually has eyes for Lloyd, so there’s a little
triangle thing going on to which Eddie is blind. Eddie eventually partners up
with George, and throughout the “roaring twenties” they make names for
themselves as powerful racketeers. But then things go south, as they always do
in gangster pictures.
The
Roaring Twenties was
one of the more popular movies of 1939. It was a big hit, and in fact it out
grossed The Wizard of Oz at the box office. This is not a surprise, for The
Roaring Twenties is an excellent piece of Hollywood entertainment. It’s
slick, it’s well acted and well directed, and its “epic” in structure, covering
a period of fifteen years, is compelling. It’s also a bit of a musical, too,
with Priscilla Lane adeptly performing a few 1920s-era numbers at the
speakeasy. Today the movie is considered one the best of the 1930s gangster
titles, and for good reason—and that reason is James Cagney. Why the film was
not nominated for a single Academy Award is a mystery.
The
Criterion Collection’s new 4K digital restoration with an uncompressed monaural
soundtrack is presented in a twofer package that contains a 4K UHD disk of the film in Dolby Vision HDR, and a
Blu-ray disk with the film and special features. An audio commentary, ported
over from the old Warner Home Video disk, is by film historian Lincoln Hurst. English
subtitles are available for the hearing impaired. The restoration is truly
magnificent, a beauty to behold. The images, shot by DP Ernest Haller, are so
pristine and clean that the movie might have been shot yesterday.
Disappointingly,
the special features are minimal. There is a new interview with critic Gary
Giddins that is interesting enough, and a short vintage 1973 interview with
director Walsh, the theatrical trailer, and that’s it. It’s a shame, really,
that the original Warner DVD’s supplements of the “Warner Night at the Movies”
features—shorts and a cartoon—and hosted by Leonard Maltin, are not included
here. An essay by film critic Mark Asch adorns the booklet.
So,
get on your Fedora and pin-striped suit, or your flapper outfit, and take a
trip back to The Roaring Twenties. Highly recommended for fans of James
Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, gangster pictures, and classic Hollywood studio movies.
Here's a fine documentary examining the life and career of Robert Mitchum from The Hollywood Collection.
"For nearly a century, Hollywood has captivated and influenced generation after generation of moviegoers. Its magic has left an indelible imprint on every culture with a movie projector. Originally broadcast on PBS, HBO/Cinemax, TNT, A&E, Lifetime, and Bravo, this is one of the most comprehensive collections of biographies and cinema retrospectives ever compiled, a spectacular treasury of 32 revealing biographies of Hollywood’s most beloved stars. These biographies, some narrated by the stars themselves, include interviews with friends, family members and colleagues, as well as clips from their most memorable films, and in some cases, rare home movies.
“Over 350 actors, writers, directors, producers, make-up people, publicists, agents, and family members all gave of themselves to help make these shows possible. This was the way it was in Hollywood in its classic era and these were the stars that captured us.” – Gene Feldman, producer/director of The Hollywood Collection."
(To watch in full screen mode, click on "Watch on YouTube".)
Here are some uncredited home movies from the set of director Martin Ritt's "The Molly Maguires", filmed in eastern Pennsylvania in 1969. Whoever shot the silent footage did a good job of capturing some interesting visuals from behind the scenes, including candid shots of stars Sean Connery, Richard Harris and Samantha Eggar.
