Redgrave with James Mason in her greatest success, Georgy Girl.
Lynn Redgrave, of the Redgrave acting dynasty, died on May 2 at age 67. She had recently been battling breast cancer. Redgrave made her screen debut in a bit role in the Oscar winning 1963 film Tom Jones, directed by her brother-in-law Tony Richardson. She scored her best leading role three years later as the frumpy title character in the classic British film Georgy Girl, for which she received a Best Actress Oscar nomination. By her own account, however, Redgrave's career paled in comparison with her sister Vanessa's and her father Michael Redgrave's. She continued to act over the decades, occasionally scoring good reviews for supporting performances but never fully capitalized on her early success. Her other films include The Deadly Affair and Smashing Time. For more click here
"Entered His House Justified: The Making of the Films of Sam Peckinpah" may have one of the longest titles of the year, but anything relating to the master maverick director is difficult to summarize. The latest in a line of shelf-breaking volumes dedicated to Peckinpah is from author Jeff Slater, who has amassed an impressive list of interviewees to shed new light on one of the film industry's most analyzed personalities. Peckinpah, like so many other geniuses, was not completely appreciated in his own time, partly due to the inability of studio executives to recognize his innovative filmmaking techniques and partly because Peckinpah- like Orson Welles- specialized in forming circular firing squads. His own excesses often did more damage than did the legendary studio interference with the classic movies he produced.
Hammer Films starlet Julie Ege makes a clean breast of it in this 60s glamor photo.
One of our favorite retro web sites is Starlet Showcase, which features an amazing archive of great Hollywood glamor photos, all thoughtfully categorized into appropriate themes. Thus, you can trawl through sexy film posters, starlets in bathtubs, harems, fashions, etc. Click here to check it out
I'll admit to not being very conversant regarding the films of George Romero, aside from Night of the Living Dead. With the remake of his 1973 thriller The Crazies now in theaters, I thought it would be worthwhile checking out Blue Underground's Blu-ray release of the original film. Despite the title, which insinuates this is some kind of campy monster movie, I was quite surprised the film is a highly effective suspense movie played straight-faced and without over-the-top characters or situations. The storyline finds that a top secret government experiment in biological warfare has gone astray, leaving residents of a small Pennsylvania town infected. Suddenly, many locals begin to display signs of madness that eventually culminates in their acting as raving, murderous lunatics. As the townspeople scramble to prevent themselves from being infected, they must also deal with the horrendous problem of fending off attacks from friends and loved ones who are now hunting them down to kill them. This frightening scenario clearly inspired the slicker and more polished British film 28 Days Later and its sequel 28 Weeks Later, but Romero's production is also highly effective in delivering the chills.
This article from the Warner Brothers pressbook for The Cowboys covered Wayne's appearance at Radio City Music Hall.
By Lee Pfeiffer
It was January 1972 when my friend Alan and braved bitterly cold winds to stand on a seemingly endless line at Radio City Music Hall for what felt like an eternity. What would cause two 15 year-old kids to suffer this test of endurance? A chance to see our idol, John Wayne in the flesh. The Duke was making a rare New York personal appearance on stage with director Mark Rydell to promote the opening of The Cowboys. They were to introduce kids who had won a national contest to attend the screening and have lunch with The Duke. The Big Apple was not Wayne Country. While Duke's films cleaned up at box-offices around America, this bastion of east coast liberalism was generally immune from his appeal. Thus, the opportunity to see Wayne in person was too good for local fans to resist. From the looks of the crowd, every Wayne fan in the region must have shown up. When we finally made our way into the cavernous theater, the Duke strode on-stage, dressed nattily in a blue blazer and tie. I remember being amused when he put on eyeglasses to read some introductions. It seemed to be an unintentional replication of the scene from Big Jake where his character did the same thing, much to the amazement of his character's ex-wife, who is a bit shocked to see the imposing man had human frailties.I recall Wayne introducing the young kids who had been fortunate enough to win the contest. Then the film unspooled and I remember thinking this was one of Wayne's finest achievements (an opinion I still hold).
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES
A welcome addition to the library of any fan of spy
movies or 1960s TV is I Spy: A History and Episode Guide to the Groundbreaking Television Series
by Marc Cushman and Linda J. LaRosa (McFarland, $40). This is a meticulously researched and very
entertaining look at the groundbreaking show that aired on NBC between 1965 and 1969. The show provided
the first serious dramatic role for an African American actor and helped vault Bill Cosby (previously
known primarily as a stand-up comic) into fame and fortune as a leading man. The chemistry he shared
with co-star Robert Culp was instrumental in the show's success. The series presented Culp as Kelly
Robinson, a world-famous tennis pro and Bill Cosby as Alexander Scott, his trainer. In reality, the
tennis schtick was merely a cover for their real day jobs as intelligence agencies for the
U.S. government.
Fans of mercenary-themed action films like The Wild Geese, Dark of the Sun and The Dogs of War will be happy to know that the 1969 action adventure The Last Grenade has been released by Scorpion on DVD. Best of all, like most titles from this company, it is a Region 0 DVD, meaning it can be played on any system in the world. The film stars Stanley Baker as a tough-as-nails mercenary leader who we first see with a large contingent of his men as they await rescue in Africa after successfully completing a mission. When the rescue helicopter arrives, however, the men are largely mowed down by Baker's partner, played by Alex Cord. The double-cross is the centerpiece of the story, as Baker and his small band of surviving men plot to have their revenge. The opportunity comes when they are summoned by a British General (Richard Attenborough) to Hong Kong. Here, they are informed that Cord has allied himself with Communist terrorists who are trying to undermine British control of the territory. Because they hide on bases in mainland China, the British government can't officially pursue them, thus it's a job for mercenaries.
One of our favorite thrillers of the 1970s is John Schlesinger's film adaptation of William Goldman's best-seller Marathon Man. What a cast: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller and William Devane. Olivier's torture of Hoffman set back the profession of dentistry for years. Isn't it time for Paramount to release a special edition DVD of this great film? Click here to view the original trailer.
In years gone by, theaters would often exhibit actual 8x10 stills and 11x14 lobby cards to promote their current attractions. When the theaters went to mostly multi-plex formats in the 1980s and showed numerous films in the same facility, the art of movie marketing took a hit in terms of creativity. Now, you just get the theater poster and some over-sized standees in the lobby. During the glory days of theater marketing, collectors would often complain that not only were the scenes that were chosen to be in the publicity stills often the most boring or unrepresentative shots imaginable, but they would often contain sequences that never even appeared in the final cut. Thus, out of literally thousands of images to choose from, some bozo in marketing would manage to choose one that didn't even appear onscreen. This aggravation has provided grist for the Cinema Retro Library of Completely Useless Information as illustrated by this scene from Woody Allen's Oscar-winning 1977 film Annie Hall (which was shot under the title Anhedonia- meaning an inability to feel pleasure.) In one scene, Allen's character Alvy Singer bemoans his fading love affair with Annie Hall and seeks romantic advice from strangers on the street. In the scene illustrated, Allen approaches an imposing looking bald gentleman - but whatever dialogue occurred is lost to the ages as the scene was snipped from the final cut. We don't know the actor's name but we'll just say the photo satiates our long-standing fantasy about Woody Allen co-starring with Tor Johnson of Plan 9 From Outer Space fame!- Lee Pfeiffer
If there were more teachers like Sidney Poitier in To Sir, With Love, we'd be tempted to go back to high school.
CNN has a unique screen clip montage of the greatest movies ever made about inspirational teachers (No, National Lampoon's Animal House isn't included, even though it arguably inspired more students!) Click here to view
Leonardo DiCaprio will star as private eye/treasure hunter Travis McGee in Oliver Stone's film version of The Deep Blue Goodbye. The film will be based on one of John D. MacDonald's series of McGee paperback thrillers that were all the rage in the 1960s. Rod Taylor played McGee in the 1970 film Darker Than Amber. For more click here
Redford, photographed in Ireland by Cinema Retro's John Exshaw.
Don't count Robert Redford among the directors and actors who are enthralled by the plethora of extras on DVD releases. The Oscar winner says that knowing too much about the making of a film robs the audience of the magic of the movies. He tells USA Today, "Films were meant to be a kind of magic that transports you somewhere
else because you can imagine on your own and not have everything spelled
out about this trick and this explosion. I would be just fine with none
of that." Redford is happy about Blu-ray technology and is pleased that the release of The Natural will allow viewers to experience the film through state-of-the-art technology - it's just those extras that fail to win him over.
As writer John Latchem reports, the recent death of actor Robert Culp has spurred DVD companies to commemorate his legacy. Image Entertainment issued a press release touting the fact that Culp's iconic 1960s series I Spy is presently available on DVD. Now Mill Creek will re-release the 1970s series The Greatest American Hero in which Culp co-starred with William Katt. For more click here
In a candid interview, Pierce Brosnan says that he realized he could no longer play James Bond once the Jason Bourne films starring Matt Damon became huge successes. At that point, he knew that the 007 would have to turn to a younger man in order to keep competitive. Brosnan says he and Quentin Tarantino had previously discussed plans to film a gritty version of Casino Royale, but neither man was associated with the blockbuster 2006 screen version that introduced Daniel Craig to the Bond role. For more click here
Kimberly Lindbergs gives a valuable and insightful analysis into the 1970s Western Hannie Caulder in which Raquel Welch plays a woman who becomes a gunslinger in order to track down the men who raped her and killed her husband. The great supporting cast includes Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, Strother Martin and Christopher Lee. Click here to read on TCM's Movie Morlock's web site. The film is available on DVD in the UK, but not North America. Click here to order from Amazon UK
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES
We're always amazed at the number of major films that are announced with fanfare only to fall into development hell and never go into production. Here's one we've never heard before from an industry trade magazine in November, 1964. It concerns James Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman:
"Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli will produce The Pass Beyond Kashmir for Columbia release, Columbia first vice-president M.J. Frankovich announced here at the weekend."
CUBBY BROCCOLI
What makes the story rather surprising is not only the fact that the film never went into production but that it was slated to be a Columbia production. Cubby Broccoli had enjoyed a good relationship with the studio in the 1950 when he partnered with Irving Allen to form Warwick Films which produced a number of boxoffice hits. However, by the early 1960s he and Saltzman had formed Eon Productions and was exclusively associated with United Artists henceforth. UA had financed and distributed the James Bond blockbusters and both Broccoli and Saltzman held UA boss Arthur Krim in high regard for having taken a chance on the franchise (Columbia repeatedly passed on Eon's overtures to back the series- much to the studio's regret.)
HARRY SALTZMAN
Broccoli and Saltzman originally intended to make other films outside of the Bond franchise, both independently and as a team. However, as the 007 films grew in size and budget it became difficult to mount any non-Bond related film. In 1963, the pair did manage to bring the Bob Hope comedy Call Me Bwana to the screen. In 1968, Broccoli produced the Ian Fleming story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a major musical on his own. Similarly, Saltzman produced three Harry Palmer films starring Michael Caine and the 1969 WWII epic Battle of Britain sans Broccoli. The Broccoli/Saltzman partnership ended after the release of the ninth Bond film The Man With the Golden Gun in 1974. Although Saltzman dabbled in producing in the ensuing years, he never was associated with another hit film. Broccoli continued to run the Bond franchise on his own and reinvigorated the series after the lukewarm reception accorded Golden Gun. The two men had never been close on a personal basis and often had well-publicized differences in their creative and business philosophies. However, they did see each other over the years on rare occasions. Saltzman accepted Cubby's invitation to attend the London premiere of For Your Eyes Only in 1981 and Cubby and his wife Dana did visit Saltzman in his later years when he was in declining health.
UPDATE: Our eagle-eyed contributor Hank Reinke informs us that The Pass Beyond Kashmir was based on a 1960 spy novel by Berkley Mather, who contributed to the screenplay of Dr. No. The plot centered on a private detective based in Bombay who begins embroiled in a dangerous assignment that entails traveling through India and Pakistan.
Cinematical columnist Jeffrey M. Anderson pays tribute to the 1945 "B" movie Detour, which was made for $30,000 and went on to be one of the most acclaimed low budget films ever made. Click here to find out why
Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra: grand entertainment, shoddy history.
In an interesting article in the Huffington Post, writer Aladdin Elaasar discusses Will Smith forthcoming action film The Last Pharoah in the context of how the tale of an ancient rule fits in with the dilemma of Egypt's current political problems. Elassar also covers the legacy of other films relating to ancient Egypt. Click here to read
Since the late 1970s, there have been plans to revive The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as a big screen feature. The closest those plans got to fruition was a reunion movie made for CBS TV in 1983 that starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. Now, progress is being made once again with an acclaimed screenwriter formally attached to the project. Click here to read
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
‘Sutherland’s
performance is the most astonishing piece
of screen acting since Brando’s Last Tango In Paris’ Time
Out
Mr. Bongo Films is delighted to announce the
release
of Italian cinematic maestro Federico Fellini’s
Casanovastarring screen stalwart Donald
Sutherland
as the legendary lothario.
Based on
the memories of Casanova, Fellini offers his version using rare visual
daring
and imagination.
Casanova is one of
Fellini’s most spectacular productions and comes to DVD on 17 May 2010
courtesy
of Mr Bongo Films.
Robyn Hilton was a 33 year-old nude model when Mel Brooks cast her as his secretary in the 1974 classic "Blazing Saddles". Hilton hoped her spectacular figure and the pedigree of being in a Brooks film would jump-start her career, but it never happened. She gravitated into the porn industry before retiring in 1977 and dropping out of sight. There was some consolation, however. In 1974, she was voted the prestigious "Hottest Body Ever" award from Boobtacular Digest! (We have a complete run of the magazine on a shelf next to The New England Journal of Medicine). Wherever you are, Robyn, thanks for the mammaries!
Although movie fans continue to believe the mistaken myth that Lee Van Cleef played "The Ugly" in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", in reality that part was immortalized by Eli Wallach. Van Cleef actually played "The Bad" - a character nicknamed Angel Eyes. Prior to Sergio Leone's masterpiece, he had been inevitably cast as villains. In the wake of the film's success, however, he was generall cast as the heroic leading man. Here, the New Jersey-born western icon does a half-Monty in the spaghetti western "Death Rides a Horse", one of many Leone-inspired horse operas made in the 1960s and 1970s.
Basehart in Fellini's masterpiece La Strada. (Photo: Cinema Retro archives)
Cinema Retro columnist Herbert Shadrak recently spoke to
Stephanie Kellerman, a friend of the Basehart family and webmaster of The Talented Richard Basehart shrine at www.richardbasehart.com
Cinema
Retro: Was Richard Basehart an actor’s actor? Was his enormous talent only
truly appreciated by other actors?Â
Stephanie
Kellerman: Several actors commented that he was an actor's actor because they
did appreciate his talent, but you would find an argument from his fans saying
that his talent was only appreciated by other actors. As for me... I
appreciated other actors because I liked the characters they played, but I
really didn't have an interest in the actors themselves. With Richard, I
watched him because I was interested in him and how he seemed to make each role
his own. To me, when others acted, they seemed to play the same character in
all their movies, different variations of themselves. They just had different
names. Richard was one of the few actors who could make the roles he played so
believable and the different characters came to life with their own personalities.
CR:
Why was this great actor so unappreciated during his lifetime – and perhaps
even now, 25 years after his death?
SK:
I think that happened because of two reasons. One, he moved to Italy for a
decade and was out of the public's eye in the USA. And two, he accepted the
role of Admiral Nelson in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, with which he will
be forever identified. If
he had stayed in the U.S., I believe he would have become a greater star here.
He is considered a much greater star in Europe. Also, I have received several
comments over the years from people who emailed me at my Richard Basehart
tribute site that they had no idea he had such range as an actor because they
only knew him as Admiral Nelson, and were astonished when they went back and
watched some of his old movies, which by now most everyone has forgotten about.
Incidentally,
we wouldn't have had Richard as Admiral Nelson if he hadn't needed money to pay
off Valentina Cortese after their divorce. She agreed to one last payoff
and Voyage was his chance to get out of making any more payments to
her. That means if he didn't have that expense, he wouldn't have taken the
role and the roles he would have taken otherwise would probably more closely
reflect what he had done in the past.
Among the plethora of WWII dramas set in POW camps, Bryan Forbes' 1965 film King Rat is among the grimmest. The problem with many of these films, including the classic The Great Escape, is that the conditions depicted in the prison camp are benign enough that one wonders why anyone risks their life to escape. Not so with King Rat, which afforded George Segal one of his first and most important roles as a leading man. Segal is Corporal King, a low-ranking soldier who has managed to manipulate his way to being the de facto top-ranking officer among Allied prisoners in a Japanese POW camp. Through cunning, conning and cheating, King has established himself as the indispensable man: someone who can get decent food, medicine and other life-saving commodities for a price. Consequently, his superior officers not only defer to him but patronize him as well, hoping to get special goods and favors. King's relative riches afford him a lifestyle that is resented by many. His uniform is pristine, his hair neatly combed and he barely breaks a sweat even in the midst of the tropical hellhole he resides in. He also has a band of slavishly loyal minions who do his bidding, including superior officers.
Sharon Stone's sequel to Basic Instinct was met with a collective yawn from audiences.
Gone are the days where big studio releases could bank on sex to sell a major film. Last Tango in Paris, Fatal Attraction, 9 1/2 Weeks, Basic Instinct were all pop culture sensations that brought in big box-office. However, as Brent Lang of The Wrap site writes, the abundance of sex on the web has diluted the shock value of erotic-themed mainstream movies. Most have ticket sales that are- well- flaccid. Click here to read
A top-secret script for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was erroneously left by someone in a British pub near Leavesden Studios, where the film is in production. An enterprising individual who found the script realized its value and sold it to The Sun, one of the UK's biggest tabloids. The paper says the script was left by a member of the crew who went on a boozy binge with his crew mates. The careless person has not been identified but he must be sweating bullets, as such scripts are generally numbered or otherwise encoded in order to identify people who might leak or sell key information from major films. Although star Daniel Radcliffe occasionally joins the crew at the pub, he's off the hook as he wasn't there on the evening in question. To its credit, the Sun didn't divulge any plot spoilers but did say the film will deviate substantially from the book. The paper then returned the script to Warner Brothers. For more click here
A new documentary examining the tragic and influential life of Warhol
Factory star Candy Darling, entitled Beautiful Darling: The Life and
Times of Candy Darling, Warhol Superstar had its US premiere at the New Directors/New Films Festival, last
Friday, April 2nd, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The writer
and director, James Rasin, was present with key members of his crew, most notably Jeremiah Newton,
who executive produced and whose shared life with Darling provided the
main focus
of this revelatory, intelligent documentary.
Framed by a present-day narrative involving close friend Jeremiah
Newton's efforts to give Candy's funeral urn a final resting place (in
tiny Cherry Valley, New York -- the significance of which is never explained), the documentary recounts in vivid detail
the fast-burning life of Warhol's most legendary Superstar. (The only
one of Warhol's Superstars, by the way, paid tribute by two Lou
Reed-penned songs for The Velvet Underground.) The filmmaker and his
crew weave together early video clips, film footage, recordings,
photographs, period music and and original score to create a dense narrative fabric,
making it one the most thorough and authoritative biopics of the Warhol
clan.
John Forsythe, the handsome and distinguished star of TV, stage and movies, has died at age 92. Forsythe had a hit TV series with Bachelor Father and later starred in the long-running prime time soap opera Dynasty. He also provided the voice of Charlie in the Charlie's Angels TV series. On the big screen, Forsythe starred in two Alfred Hitchcock films: the whimsical The Trouble With Harry and the Cold War thriller Topaz. He was also heavily involved in charitable causes. For more click here
Jane Fonda sprang to screen stardom in the 1960s by playing up the image of a sex kitten. Within a few years, however, she would be a controversial political activist and women's lib proponent.
Jane Fonda knows a thing or two about the struggle of women in the world of film. Despite being the daughter of a screen legend (Henry Fonda) and the brother of an in-demand young star (Peter Fonda), Jane Fonda's early roles rarely extended beyond playing sex kittens. When her politics became radicalized in the late 60s, she began to fight for equality for women in all aspects of society. She continues the battle through the Women's Media Center, which she co-founded. The center seeks to increase opportunities for women in film. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there is finally a woman up for a Best Director Oscar this year (Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker), Fonda reports that the percentage of women directors is actually falling. To read more click here
No strike-outs for these guys: new film to trace true life Yankee wife-swappers.
Ben Affleck will direct- and possibly star in- The Trade, a true life big screen story about a sex scandal that kept New York Yankees baseball fans riveted in the 1970s. Team mates Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich brazenly admitted that they had fallen in love with each other's spouse. They decided to literally wife swap. The story caused a sensation at the time and has been percolating as a possible big screen production for a number of years. It's possible that Matt Damon may also become involved with the project. For more click here
Warner Home Video has released John Wayne's The Green Beretson Blu-ray. Wayne stirred up a hornet's nest among his political opponents when he released the film in 1968 at the height of the protest movement against the Vietnam War. After his 1966 visit to Vietnam to bolster the spirits of American troops, the Duke wanted to make a statement in support of the U.S. involvement in the war. He felt so strongly about the subject that he directed the movie as well as starred in it. (Ray Kellogg directed most of the major action scenes.)
The film remains one of only two films the Duke directed, the other being his 1960 epic The Alamo. Predictably, the movie caused a firestorm of protest, as it was released just when calls for withdrawing from the conflict were picking up steam. Most critics wrote the film off as hopelessly inept from an artistic standpoint. Indeed, Wayne employed every cliche imaginable and the script seemed to have been left on a shelf since the WWII era. There is the lovable company scrounger (Jim Hutton) who unofficially adopts a doe-eyed orphan kid and other key characters are actually named Kowalski and Muldoon.Wayne does address the political controversies of the era, but the opposing viewpoint of the war is seen through diatribes of another cliched character, a liberal reporter played by David Janssen. Wayne's simplistic outlook on the conflict is represented by his answer to Janssen's complaint that due process of law is not being followed. Wayne's Colonel Kirby tells him, "Out here, due process is a bullet."
Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in The Petrified Forest.
The folks at the Neatorama web site have unveiled a hidden Hollywood treasure: a Warner Brothers reel of bloopers from films of 1936. The reel was obviously intended for private use among industry insiders, as it features some well-known actors cursing when they blow their lines. There are no hilarious knee-slappers here, but it is fascinating to see behind the scenes footage of legends such as James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. Click here to view
Rosemary's Baby, released in 1968, made Polanski a hot property in the American film world - but tragedy and scandal were to follow in ensuing years.
With his latest film The Ghost Writer having recently premiered in Europe, Roman Polanski is back in the news - and this time, it's relating to his work, not his on-going legal problems stemming from his infamous sex-charged scandal from the 1970s. In an article in the New York Times, writer Dennis Lim analyzes Polanski's films- and comes to the conclusion that, perhaps, no one truly knows what makes the controversial director tick. Click here to read
RETRO ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVE
P.B. HURST, AUTHOR OF THE NEW BOOK THE MOST SAVAGE FILM: SOLDIER BLUE, CINEMATIC VIOLENCE AND THE HORRORS OF WAR (McFarland) LOOKS BACK AT WHAT IS PERHAPS THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL WESTERN OF ALL TIME.
A good
number of critics in 1970 believed that Soldier Blue had set a new mark
in cinematic violence, as a result of its graphic scenes of Cheyenne women and
children being slaughtered, and had thus lived up – or down – to its U.S.
poster boast that it was “The Most Savage Film in History.â€
A massive
hit in Great Britain and
much of the rest of the world, Soldier Blue was, in the words of its
maverick director, Ralph Nelson, “not a popular success†in the United States.This probably had less to do with the
picture’s groundbreaking violence, and more to do with the fact that it was the
U.S. Cavalry who were breaking new ground.For Nelson’s portrayal of the boys in blue as blood crazed
maniacs, who blow children’s brains out and behead women, shattered for ever
one of America’s most enduring movie myths – that of the cavalry as good guys
riding to the rescue – and rendered Soldier Blue one of the most radical
films in the history of American cinema.The film’s failure in its homeland might also have had something to do
with the perception in some quarters – prompted by production company publicity
material – that it was a deliberate Vietnam allegory.
I was
unaware of most of this in 1971 when, as a nervous fifteen-year-old English
schoolboy, I read about the film’s horrors in newspapers, and heard lurid
accounts of the cutting off of breasts from my classmates, who had illegally
seen the film at a cinema that wasn’t too bothered about the age of the patrons
(all of whom should have been at least eighteen to view what was then an X
certificate film).
I had
managed to survive several Hammer horrors – Scars of Dracula, Lust
for a Vampire and Countess Dracula spring readily to mind – at the
very same cinema when I was underage.But
having been scared witless by the mutilation scene in Hush, Hush Sweet
Charlotte, when that gripping movie had played on TV several months
earlier, I wisely realised that any of the various cuts inflicted on the
Indians by the cavalry in Soldier Blue represented a mutilation too far
in terms of my well being.So I waited
for the picture to turn up on television (as it takes considerably more guts to
walk out of a packed cinema than to hide behind the sofa!).Waited and waited as it turned out.
I eventually
viewed the picture, which stars Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss and Donald Pleasence, when ITV
transmitted it in 1980.However, there
was a small problem: the notorious massacre sequence, which is the picture’s
reason for being, had been removed virtually in its entirety (seemingly more
cuts had been inflicted on the film than had been perpetrated on the American
Indians!), as it was deemed too horrific for television.(It took another twenty-two years for the
film to be shown on British terrestrial television in something resembling its
theatrical release form!)So I still
hadn’t viewed the notorious scenes that had sparked, in conjunction with films
such as The Devils, Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange, the
screen violence inferno that engulfed Britain in the 1970s.
Hollywood may finally have a method of profiting from its next flop like Heaven's Gate: bet against the film succeeding.
By Lee Pfeiffer
The good folks at Wall Street investment firms who guarded your money so well in the recent financial meltdown now have a new ideal for sapping what's left from your piggy banks: gambling on the financial fate of major films. The firm Cantor Fitzgerald is seeking permission to launch a complex plan whereby investors would bet on whether specific films in production will soar or tank upon their release. From the firm's standpoint, the idea is brilliant. Everyday people are always looking for ways to be associated with the glamor of show biz, even if it is on a dotted line basis.The problem is that, what most of them know about the movie industry is limited to what they see on Entertainment Tonight. As Mother Jones magazine, which reports on this story points out, the deck would be stacked among industry insiders who could see a flop in the making and bet on a film's failure. To ensure the bet pays off, they could manipulate marketing strategies and use other techniques to make good on their investments. The investment firm promises that they would hold "boot camps" for potential investors to teach them the ins-and-outs of the film business. (I'm not making this up, folks.). If nothing else, this would give them the chance to wring even more money out of the suckers who attend these Camp Run-a-muck's for attention-starved investors.
Among the gems recently released by Paramount as part of the studio's Centennial special editions DVDs is John Ford's 1962 classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.Count me among those who consider the film a masterpiece, but upon its initial release, the movie was dismissed as morose and claustrophobic by short-sighted critics who couldn't see beyond Ford's penchant for filming in the great outdoors. The plot finds James Stewart as Ransom Stoddard, a tenderfoot lawyer who goes west in the naive belief the populace will welcome his offer to bring civility and legal representation to the residents of a small town. Before he even gets to his destination, his stagecoach is robbed by the vicious bandit Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), who takes special delight in beating and humiliating the lawyer. Stoddard is nursed back to health by sympathetic townspeople, primarily Hallie (Vera Miles) and her cynical, macho boyfriend Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). Tom sizes up Stoddard's abilities to fend for himself and advises him to leave town immediately. However, Stoddard is determined to bring the rule of law to the town and stubbornly stays on - until Valance challenges him to a gun duel from which only one man will emerge alive.
The cover art for the Blu-ray release of the 1981 Italian thriller The New York Ripper screams "The most controversial horror film ever made!" Although the hyperbole may be true, I'll confess that I had never even heard of the movie until viewing the screener copy from Blue Underground. Apparently, the film does have a long history of being censored and the original version is still banned in the UK. Research shows there have been numerous international versions of film, many of which have been compromised by edits ranging from minor to the exclusion of entire key sequences. Blue Underground's release is the complete 93 minute version of director Lucio Fulci's vision of the film.As you might imagine, the movie isn't for everyone. A strong stomach and penchant for kinky sex scenes might well be advised.
The film was shot on location in New York City (with interiors shot in Rome) in 1981. The Big Apple was in the midst of its decline during this period and movie makers exploited the public misery to the fullest extent. Big studio releases like Taxi Driver and Death Wish were seen as legitimate social commentaries, while other smaller budget movies just seemed to exploit the explosion in crime. Viewing The New York Ripper today, one has to force oneself to remember those bad old days in Gotham. With the city now having undergone an amazing renaissance that has resulted in the lowest crime statistics on record, it might be difficult for those who did not grow up in or near the city to recall how accurately films reflected this era. Fulci's film centers on a psychopath who menaces New York by murdering numerous women in the most horrendous manners. Bizarrely, he uses the voice of Donald Duck in taunting phone calls to the police. Nominally, the film would seem to be based on a modern version of London's Jack the Ripper, but more likely Fulci was inspired by the Son of Sam murders that gripped the city in the summer of 1977.
Scorpion Releasing has made possible the DVD debut of the 1973 cult horror film Doctor Death, Seeker of Souls. The special edition release is top-notch in all respects. The movie was the brainchild of Eddie Saeta, a lifelong member of the movie community who started out as Harry Cohn's messenger boy and later became a well-respected assistant director. (He worked on a number of the Three Stooges shorts at Columbia and several Man From U.N.C.L.E. episodes that were turned into feature films.) Doctor Death was a rare opportunity for Saeta to fulfill his dream of directing a feature film. The low-budget horror opus was shot in 12 days - a remarkable achievement, given the film's ambitious special effects and varying sets and locations. The movie is played primarily for laughs, with John Considine cast as the titular villain, a charismatic practitioner of black magic who has secured the secret to eternal life. When the present body he inhabits is on the verge of death, he is able to transfer his soul into a recently-deceased person. The fly-in-the-ointment is that, if a suitable cadaver is not available, the good doctor secures one through murder. In contemporary times, he turns his art into a for-profit venture by charging distraught people huge sums to bring their loved ones back from the grave by transposing their souls into another body. The script follows one such grieving victim, Fred Saunders (Barry Coe), who cannot accept the fact that his beautiful young wife Laura (Jo Morrow) has died from an illness. He hires Doctor Death to bring her soul back to life - and it doesn't ruin any plot device to inform the reader that certain unexpected complications occur.
Sean Connery rehearsing the pre-credits sequence for Thunderball in France.
Way back in 1965, the pre-credits sequence of Thunderball amazed audiences with the scene in which James Bond makes a getaway via use of a personal jetpack. Unlike many of the cutting-edge gadgets seen in the Bond films, however, this one took quite some time to make it to consumers - 45 years, to be precise. Nevertheless, a company is now marketing the first jetpack available for sale to consumers, so your dreams of traveling like 007 can finally be fulfilled- as long as the trip lasts about 30 minutes, you're not afraid of heights and you have a spare $75,000 to spare. Click here for more
A number of readers have written to publicly request that Universal release The Nude Bomb on DVD. It will therefore come as a shock to those readers to discover that the film has been out on DVD for quite some time. Universal wisely released it to coincide with with the 2008 premiere of the Get Smart feature film starring Steve Carrell. Fans could be forgiven for not noticing, as Universal used scant resources to make the film's availability known. There is good reason for this: the 1980 big screen Get Smart feature film disappoints on all levels. The hit TV series ran from 1965 to 1970, with CBS having picked it up after NBC canceled the show. A decade later, Universal brought Don Adams to the big screen in a full length motion picture. At first glance, The Nude Bomb seemed promising: writers Bill Dana, Arne Sultan and Leonard B. Sultan were brought on board from the original series. However, Barbara Feldon, who played "99" chose not to appear and Edward Platt, who had the pivotal role of Chief had passed away years before. Thus, the scenario Adams found himself in was comparable to a Three Stooges reunion minus Larry and Moe.
I recently discovered Cinema Retro Magazine, and I just wanted to tell
you how happy I am to find a publication devoted to classic films. Not
only am I a big fan of retro movies, I am something of mash-up editor
with a penchant for retro sensibilities... Please check out some of my
mash-ups if you get the chance. I think you folks will enjoy them.
Here's a link to my Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/whoiseyevan
Keep
up the great work!
Sincerely,
Ivan Guerrero
Retro responds: Excellent work, Ivan...our readers will really enjoy your clever mixing of original film trailers with new concepts. I especially like the way you turned Gone With the Wind into a vampire flick!- Lee Pfeiffer
Sir Christopher Lee in the original classic version of The Wicker Man.
Director Robin Hardy's long-awaited re-imagining of the horror cult classic The Wicker Man is in post-production. The original film was a box-office bomb when it opened in the 1970s but has since grown in stature and acclaim. Sir Christopher Lee will reprise his role as the mysterious and evil Lord Summerisle. Lee describes the film as "erotic, romantic, comic and horrific enough to loosen the bowels of a bronze statue". You don't read that kind of endorsement every day! The film has got the blogosphere in a flutter with fans impatient to hear more. Click here for Empire's coverage.
Empire reports that producer Paul Maslansky intends to re-launch the critically-reviled but popular Police Academy series. Steve Guttenberg, who starred in the films between 1984-1994, has expressed interest in appearing in the new series, which has yet to have a firm start date or director announced. However, it appears that Maslansky intends to start the premise from scratch. For more click here
Director Joe Dante's web site Trailers from Hell is a habit-forming delight, presenting trailers from cult movies along with narration by directors and film historians. Click here to view the original trailer for the 1970s buddy cop comedy Freebie and Bean starring James Caan and Alan Arkin.
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
One of my favorite comedies of the 1960s is The Ghost and Mr. Chicken starring Don Knotts, in typical nervous guy persona, as Luther Heggs, a nerd who is annointed a local hero because he survived a night alone in a supposedly haunted house. This results in his worst nightmare: having to address the local Chamber of Commerce picnic. As can only happen to Knotts, he's nervous enough even with his speech written, out but when a freak gust of wind blows it away, the mayhem begins. - Lee Pfeiffer
Click here to buy the Don Knotts four film DVD collection including The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Reluctant Astronaut, The Shakiest Gun in the West and The Love God?.
Actress Carol Marsh has died at age 80. Marsh's screen career was rather limited, but she did have major roles in several pivotal British film classics. She gained her first big break by winning the female lead role opposite Richard Attenborough in the 1947 crime classic Brighton Rock (aka Young Scarface). She played an impressionable young woman who has the misfortune of falling in love and marrying a ruthless young gang leader. She also played the key role of Lucy in the 1958 Hammer Films version of Dracula (aka Horror of Dracula) opposite Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Marsh played the title role in the 1949 version of Alice in Wonderland. She also appeared in the classic Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (aka Scrooge). Marsh had not made a feature film since 1959 but did continue to act on British television until the mid 1970s.Â
Like most classic movie fans, I have have viewed The African Queen countless times. However, I had never truly seen The African Queen until I attended a special digital screening of the restored version. Cinema Retro was among a select number of publications to be invited by Paramount for the unveiling of the restored version of director John Huston's classic adventure. The screening took place at Viacom headquarters in Times Square (Viacom is the parent company of Paramount). Following a reception attended by Ron Smith, the man who headed up the restoration process, we were escorted into the screening room where a new documentary was shown detailing the painstaking efforts to preserve the film. When the movie itself was shown in digital format, the result was literally breathtaking. The film looks better than Huston could have ever hoped for.
Peter Graves, who became an icon of 1960s TV as the star of Mission:Impossible, collapsed and died at his house from an apparent heart attack yesterday. He was 83 years old. Graves toiled for years as a supporting actor in feature films, having made an impression as a German.spy among American POWS in the 1953 classic Stalag 17. Graves was the star of the popular 1950s TV western series Fury. Both he and his younger brother James Arness, who starred in Gunsmoke, found major success on CBS. Graves played agent Jim Phelps in the hit 1960s spy show Mission: Impossible and the opening of every episode, in which a tape self-destructs after reading him his assignment, remains an iconic aspect of TV history.The role won him a Golden Globe award. Graves was generally cast as stalwart heroic types, but in the 1980 big screen comedy Airplane! he displayed a deft flair for comedy as the macho airline pilot with a penchant for little boys and gladiators. Graves worked consistently over the decades, also hosting the popular Biography TV series for years. For more click here
UPDATE
The Peter Graves article is not 100% accurate. Â
Although
the mainstay of the series had the mission given on tape and the
tape
self-destructing, there were plenty of episodes without the taped
mission
briefing and also where Phelps would destroy the tape by hand.
Â
Tom Stroud
Subscriber
Retro
responds: That's interesting...I haven't seen the show in so many
years, I must be getting rusty. I never recall Phelps destroying the
tapes manually, but I know better than to argue with a guy who has a
virtual PHD in spy movie culture of the 60s! Thanks for the correction. -
Lee Pfeiffer
Variety, the legendary but cash-strapped entertainment publication, is cutting costs again - but this time, they may have gone too far. Variety fired popular and trusted film critic Todd McCarthy, who has been with the publication for thirty-one years. Think about how long that is: it was the year Apocalypse Now premiered. However, experience means nothing to the hacks who run today's corporations. McCarthy is just the latest in a long string of revered film critics who have been put out to pasture in recent years due to cost-cutting and an insane obsession with appealing to the youth market. It's not a coincidence that, as the number of films worth watching has declined, so has meaningful film criticism. McCarthy and his peers look almost quaint in an era in which many younger film reviewers feel compelled to punctuate every other sentence with expletives. The Wrap reports that a grass roots Facebook movement is underway by disgusted Variety readers who are trying to find a new employer for McCarthy by signing a pledge they would be willing to pay a fee to read his work. Incidentally, Variety also fired their long-time theater critic David Rooney, among others. For more click here Click here for L.A. Times editorial
