To Our Fellow Readers,
As a writer at CinemaRetro.com, I want to
thank you all for your support and kind comments regarding our work. It
is very gratifying to know that the movies that we writers love are
equally admired by others out there!
As most of us have been
movie fans for virtually our entire lives, there are inevitably titles
that we want to see again, but were too young to take notice of the
title. There is one film that I am looking for, and have been looking
for since the late 1970s, and I am asking for your help. All I have is
a description
of the film, and if anyone out there is able to identify it or point me
in the right direction, I will personally thank you on this website.
Here is my
description:
In the late 1970s, I saw a film in my elementary school that I have not forgotten. I
want
to say that this film is European(?) and was made in either the 1960
or
1970’s, but I am not sure. In the film, a young boy gets a white teddy
bear for Christmas and is
disappointed because He wanted a brown teddy bear instead. He takes the
bear with him on a train ride and tells the bear that he wants the brown
one
instead. He gets to the North Pole and asks Santa for the other bear,
but when Santa gives it to him, he is told that he has to hand over the
white
teddy bear. He can only have one. I don't recall if he goes home with
the original bear, or does the exchange. This film is not animated, it
is live-action.
If you have any information about this film,
please email me at horrorexpress1968 at yahoo.com (please replace the
"at" with the actual "@" sign). Please put "Santa 16mm Children's Film"
in the subject line. Thank you in advance!
-Todd Garbarini
By Lee Pfeiffer
The doctor is in....Blu-ray, that is. Warner Home Video has released David Lean's 1965 blockbuster as a deluxe Blu-ray edition and it's probably a cliche to say it, but the film has not looked this good except on the big screen. Zhivago is as much a film about cinematography and production design as it is a human story of entangled romantic relationships set against the chaos of the Russian Revolution. Additionally, Maurice Jarre's classic score should have earned him co-star billing. As such, the Blu-ray format does justice to Freddie Young's magnificent camerawork and John Box's lavish sets. The film was never regarded as highly by critics as it was beloved by the public. Coming off Lean's triumphs with The Bridge On the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, most reviewers gave the movie respectable, if unenthusiastic notices. Certainly the pace is slow, even by 1965 standards, and the plot meanders to the degree that some of the characters and their relationships become confusing. The performance of Omar Sharif as the titular character has been deemed as bland (a criticism Sharif himself agrees with), but the flaw lies less in the actor than in the fact that Zhivago is a largely boring character who merely serves as a witness to the incredible events unfolding before him. The Boris Pasternak source novel caused a sensation when it was banned in the Soviet Union, which naturally ensured it's best-seller status across the rest of the world. Lean's screen adaptation certainly keeps in those aspects critical of the Communist dogma, but accentuates the love story at its center. The movie proved to be critic-proof, as audiences lined up around the globe to make this one of MGM's biggest moneymakers ever.
Continue reading ""DOCTOR ZHIVAGO" COMES TO BLU-RAY "
Here's a real gem: a 9 minute vintage featurette about the making of the epic 1969 musical Paint Your Wagon starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg. The film was one of the most unfairly maligned movies of the era, primarily because it lost a fortune and marked the end of director Joshua Logan's distinguished career. However, like the similarly-scorned Cleopatra, it remains wonderful entertainment. This featurette is narrated by the stars, Logan and composer Alan J. Lerner. Click here to view