If you think you know a lot about Steve McQueen, The New York Times has an informative piece tied in to the Porsche he raced in and was later used to film Le Mans. It's a fascinating chronicle of the car and the men who drove it, tied in to the fact that the vehicle is now up for auction. To read click here

The Laugh-In cast with guest stars Tiny Tim and John Wayne: where else would you find those two together?

With the recent passing of Dick Martin, writer Danny Miller pays tribute to the influential Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. In addition to pointing out what made the series so influential, there are a number of great clips from the show and even a blooper reel. To view click here

The following press release was sent to Cinema Retro from Warner Brothers:

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS: THE WARNER BROS. STORY

New Documentary is Centerpiece of Warner Home Video’s Year-Long Celebration of Studio’s 85th Anniversary

Directed by Richard Schickel, Narrated by Clint Eastwood and Produced in Partnership with PBS’ American Masters, Comprehensive Five-part Work Documents Studio’s Storied History from Rin Tin Tin to Harry Potter

MORE THAN 50 RESTORED WARNER BROS. CLASSICS TO MAKE DVD DEBUT THROUGHOUT ANNIVERSARY YEAR

On April 4, 1923, four brothers from Youngstown, Ohio (Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack L. Warner) officially incorporated their new motion picture company which to this day continues to entertain the world with great films.

Throughout 2008, Warner Home Video (WHV) will celebrate Warner Bros. (WB) Studios’ 85^th anniversary with an initiative that will debut more than 50 new-to-DVD feature films along with its centerpiece, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, an illuminating new documentary produced, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker and Time magazine Senior Film critic Richard Schickel. Clint Eastwood narrates.

As part of the partnership with American Masters, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story will be broadcast nationally as a three-part special in September 2008.

Susan Lacy, the creator and executive producer of American Masters, which is produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, noted "Given our long co-producing relationship with Warner Bros. -- on such projects as George Cukor, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland and John Ford/John Wayne - it is thrilling and appropriate that American Masters can bring You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story to PBS."

“PBS’ American Masters is acclaimed for its exceptional documentaries illuminating our collective past, whether through individual achievements, or in this case, through the vision of a film studio,” said John F. Wilson, Sr. Vice President and Chief TV Programming Executive, PBS. “Exploring this impressive body of Warner Bros. films to more fully understand America’s unique place in history will be a wonderful and entertaining journey for our viewers.”

The DVD debuts in September. Simultaneously, a 550-page full-color companion book -- written by Schickel and George Perry, with an introduction by Eastwood -- will be published worldwide. George Perry is the former The Times of London film critic and is the author of many books on film.

In the documentary, Schickel chronicles the history of Warner Bros. in an unprecedented way, using excerpts from hundreds of Warner Bros.’ films to illustrate how many of the studio’s films have served as a mirror of the values, mores and attitudes of the eras in which they were produced.

“This documentary is definitely in Richard’s DNA. His fascination with Warner Bros. goes back to his boyhood in Milwaukee where the only theatre in town was owned by Warner,” said George Feltenstein, Senior Vice President, Theatrical Catalog Marketing, and Warner Home Video. “It’s a groundbreaking work that, rather than dealing with executive intrigue, contract disputes or casting couch adventures, focuses on the studio’s films as a microcosm of America’s cultural and social history. It’s a unique cinematic achievement which has never been attempted on this level ever before - for this or any studio.”

To help celebrate the 85^th anniversary year, from the vast WB library among the industry’s most celebrated movies, more than 50 are being restored for their DVD release this year including: All This And Heaven, Too, The Beast With Five Fingers, Black Legion, Brother Orchid, Deception, Flamingo Road, Gold Diggers Of 1937, Inside Daisy Clover, Kid Galahad, Lady Killer, The Mayor Of Hell, Night Nurse, None But The Brave, Pete Kelly’s Blues, San Antonio, Thank Your Lucky Stars, Three On A Match, Virginia City and Watch On The Rhine.

New special editions of Warner Bros. Pictures favorites including Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, Gypsy, Risky Business, and Splendor in the Grass are also set for the anniversary year celebration. A number of other new-to-DVD special editions and thematic box sets drawn from Warner’s classic MGM and RKO collections will also be part of this anniversary slate.

Each quarter of 2008 will be marked with the release of several timeless collections, such as Frank Sinatra, Dirty Harry, Gangsters, Super Heroes, Musicals, Westerns, Oscars and more.

On August 31, the Hollywood Bowl’s “Big Picture” night will honor the studio’s magnificent movie music legacy with a special Warner Bros. musical concert to be held at the famed 18,000 seat amphitheatre. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by one of Hollywood’s foremost composers, David Newman, will perform music to accompany pivotal and well-known scenes from classic Warner Bros. films.

More about the Schickel Documentary

Clint Eastwood, who has worked with Richard Schickel on a number of projects, will narrate the documentary. The creative force behind many earlier works about Warner’s talented stars and directors, Schickel now takes on the task of telling the studio's entire history, with each sequence underscoring the crucial roles Warner Bros. and its films have played in portraying our society, a role the studio still plays today, some 85 years after its incorporation.

Through the use of rare archival interviews, some of which have not been seen for decades, as well as a great deal of newly photographed material, Schickel celebrates the colorful legacy of Warner Bros. throughout the decades, featuring cleverly assembled film clips from literally hundreds of films. Each of the documentary's hour-long sequences focus on a specific period in the studio's history, from the silent movie days and the development of sound, the depression, WWII, the advent of television, the onset of new technologies, and even the broadening and diversification of media companies in recent years.

Schickel engagingly retraces the legendary insights and demystifies the myths of some of Hollywood’s most magnificent productions such as The Jazz Singer, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, To Have and Have Not, A Streetcar Named Desire, Giant, Bonnie and Clyde, The Exorcist, All The President’s Men and the Batman and Harry Potter films; and talent from the likes of legends such as Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Paul Newman, James Dean, Doris Day, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Paul Newman, Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Barbra Streisand and George Clooney. As the films from Warner Bros. studios have served as a roadmap and mirror of our social history, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story is sure to be viewed as an entertaining and unique roadmap to the colorful history of Hollywood and filmed entertainment.

For more information about Richard Schickel and his work, visit www.richardschickel.com

The Thunder Child website presents writer Steve Vertlieb's superb tribute to legendary film composer Miklos Rosza, an amazingly talented man who created film scores for Ivanhoe, Ben-Hur, Double Indemnity, Brute Force, El Cid, Time After Time, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Naked City, Lust for Life and many more. To read about the remarkable life of a remarkable man click here

British quad poster for one of the two Sweeney feature films.

During a taping of Jonathan Ross's chat show on UK TV, actor Ray Winstone confirmed news that is sure to delight British movie fans: he will be reviving the legendary TV series The Sweeney as a feature film. The show, which ran in the 1970s, became "much-see TV" in England because it was the first crime drama that presented the London police force in a realistic manner. The heroes were flawed men who tried to cope with violent crime on a day-to-day basis. John Thaw starred as Inspector Jack Regan, the role to be taken on by Winstone. His fellow detective was played by Dennis Waterman. Although the series had not been imported to the USA, its popularity in Great Britain was such that it spawned two successful feature films. For more on the history of the series, click here.

Attenborough in the 1963 classic The Great Escape

British writer and Elstree Studios historian Paul Welsh recounts meeting Lord Richard Attenborough at a recent tribute for director Bryan Forbes. To read click here

Kudos to Huffington Post critic Jack Donaldson who supports what Cinema Retro has been saying for years - that the overload of CGI effects has robbed movies of their heart and wonder. Yes, we'll grant special dispensation for the super hero flicks which look far better than the days when we used to see a string hanging from George Reeves' back. However, as Donaldson points out, there is literally no sense of awe left in the movie-going experience. What could you possibly see onscreen that could match the first glimpse of James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 or breathtaking thrill of seeing the space battles in Star Wars? Sure, some of the effects used in these films look crude by today's standards, but the fact is that fans return to these earlier efforts far more than the do the more recent entries in these series. When CGI was first introduced, it was used practically and sparingly. The first glimpse of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park was thrilling, but by the time the first sequel was released, the effects were already yawn-inducing. It won't be long before stuntmen are as relevant today's film industry as Fatty Arbuckle. You'll just have the star of the movie waving his arms in front of a blue screen. It will look convincing, but it won't be the slightest bit thrilling. To read Jack Donaldson's column click here.

If he had his way, Steven Seagal would have showed us his vision of The Wrath of Khan.

John Wayne didn't make too many mistakes in his career, but when he did, they were howlers. Remember when he played Ghengis Khan in The Conqueror, wooing Susan Hayward with "This tartar woman is for me and my blood says 'Take her' and "Yer Beeootiful in yer wrath!" Well, that performance would have undoubtedly been Oscar material compared to the film that almost happened: Steven Seagal in a 2002 big screen version of old Ghengis' life. That's right, the cigar store Indian of emotion playing the conqueror the world. Seagal is to charisma what Vladimir Putin is to slapstick humor. It's all recounted on the web site of Cracked magazine, along with many other Hollywood near-misses that Divine Providence seems to have spared us from. It's a hilarious article, even if writer Steve Clark indulges in the cliched penchant for peppering every sentence with needless obscenities - though none are quite as offensive as picturing Seagal as Ghengis Khan. To read click here

"A long time ago, on a movie set far, far away...."

Carrie Fisher has a case of True Confessions concerning her off-screen relationship with Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford. In a frank new interview, Fisher's comments reveal that she came onto the set determined to have an affair during production of the film. She then alludes rather naughtily that Harrison Ford's force might have been with her, though Fisher just stops short of telling all. Gives an all new context as to why her character was named Princess Leia. For more click here

Where have you gone, John Wayne?

Today's action hero is less the Duke than the dork - Seth Rogen will be playing The Green Hornet.

If you're tired of today's touch-feely action hero who is in touch with his sensitive side, you can count writer Kevin Williamson as a soul mate. The columnist for Canada's London Free Press gripes that he's sick of seeing watered down men of action and pines for the days when macho men were omnipresent forces on theater screens - and yes, he shares Cinema Retro's skepticism that pudgy Seth Rogen is the most qualified actor in the world to play The Green Hornet! To read the article click here

Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn: memorable antagonists in Peter Yates' "Bullitt"

If you wonder why we at Cinema Retro seem stuck in the past when it comes to movies, just consider the following. In the year 1968, the following films were released: The Lion in Winter, The Producers, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Odd Couple, Faces, Rosemary's Baby, Romeo and Juliet, Oliver!, Bullitt, Planet of the Apes and Funny Girl, to name but a few. What year in recent memory spawned anything like this memorable selection of films? The Los Angeles Times has a photo gallery tribute to the great movies of 1968. Click here to view

In a lengthy and extraordinarily personal essay, Sir Roger Moore recalls his friendship with Frank Sinatra. Sir Roger relates that he was astonished that, upon meeting Sinatra and then-wife Mia Farrow in the 1960s, they told him they were big fans of The Saint. From that point on, they became close friends. Sir Roger recalls Sinatra's penchant for charity work, though the iconic singer rarely took credit for his acts of kindness. Among the good deeds carried out by the Chairman of the Board: paying for the destitute Bela Lugosi's funeral and shouldering the extensive medical expenses of Lee J.Cobb, a man he had never even met. For the full essay from The Times of London, click here.

For our money, American Graffiti remains the best movie George Lucas ever made. Probably no other movie spawned so many major careers for it's largely unknown cast. Click here to catch up on what the talent has been up to for the last thirty-five years.