Epics, Spectacles and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History by Sheldon Hall and Steve Neale

Published by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 2010

376 pages

Review by Adrian Smith

It is often assumed in popular film history that the craze amongst movie studios for the Hollywood blockbuster began with the success of Jaws in 1975, and was cemented by George Lucas with Star Wars in 1977. Hall and Neale, in this fascinating new book, demonstrate that the blockbuster has actually been around since the days of silent movies. And it is not just the epic spectacle of huge sets and casts of thousands that set these out as blockbusters, but also the way studios handled their directors and stars, production budgets, marketing and release patterns. Some films would become roadshow pictures, meaning they would have an extended run (sometimes for over a year) in a limited number of cinemas before being rolled out across the country. It was treated like a theatrical production, where people booked seats in advance. During the 1960s, inspired in part by the successes of independent companies like AIP with their mass drive-in products, studios began to adopt a showcase strategy, where the film would show in some key cities and first-run theatres whilst simultaneously opening on a regional-saturation basis. The book explains in great detail both the highs and lows that studios and producers went through. They have uncovered a lot of financial information which makes this book an excellent resource for anyone conducting their own research into Hollywood history. It also provides some perceptive insight into the cinema-going habits of filmgoers fifty years ago. Before Alfred Hitchcock insisted that latecomers not be allowed in to screenings of Psycho (1960), it was common practice for movie theatres to not have specific show times. People would just turn up, and if the movie was halfway through, they would just remain in their seats and wait for the film to start again. When All About Eve (1950) was released scheduled performances were attempted, but the idea was abandoned after four days because of poor business and the reluctance of exhibitors to adopt it. It took another ten years before the idea really took hold with Psycho, and thanks to the success of that film (over $9 million domestic rental, more than ten times its production cost), it became more commonplace.

Epics, Spectacle and Blockbusters is primarily an academic book, with rather a plain cover and only a limited number of black and white illustrations, but it does contain a great deal of absorbing information and detail which is simply unavailable elsewhere. It should be compulsory reading for all heads of Hollywood studios today, in the hope that they may learn to avoid making some of the mistakes of their predecessors.

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By Todd Garbarini

As a child growing up in the 1970s, I read the TV Guide from cover to cover, diligently marking the shows that I wanted to watch for the week.  I have a fairly good memory when it comes to the shows that I viewed, and despite being a fan of Project UFO, I don’t recall its pre-emption for the January 18 and 25, 1979 airings of NBC-TV’s Legends of the Superheroes, two one-hour episodes now available on a single disc from the Warner Archive DVD Collection.  They feature Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, Garrett Craig as Captain Marvel, Howard Murphy as the Green Lantern, Bill Nuckols as Hawkman, Barbara Joyce as The Huntress, Rod Haase as The Flash, Alfie Wise as The Atom and Danuta Rylko Soderman as the Black Canary.  The first episode is called The Challenge, and its title could not be more appropriate: Batman and Robin need to find the Doomsday Device before the villains destroy planet Earth, and the audience is challenged to sit through the 50-minute episode with their eyes wide open.How this show, complete with a forced laugh track, made its way to television remains a mystery, but this is from the network that put Supertrain on the rails. At times I found myself cringing at the (lack of) humor and thinking of ABC-TV’s Star Wars Holiday Special as a rival in camp/kitsch and just plain insanity.  It’s truly incredible to watch mature adults running around in ridiculous costumes, attempting to act.  Children appear to be the intended audience (or victims) of this show as sophomoric humor abounds, with Frank Gorshin as the Riddler giving a master class in scene-chewing. He interacts with a cavalcade of crazy characters to get the better of the Dynamic Duo, who both stop at Calabasas Automotive which boasts gas for sixty four cents per gallon. 

Episode two, The Roast, fares better, with Ed McMahon (!) emceeing a Friars Club-like roast sans low-brow humor, though it should have been hosted by Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.  Ruth Buzzi makes an appearance, and some of the jokes actually work this time around.  Howard Morris plays some bald-headed fool who looks like the father of Mr. Six from the Six Flags commercials. 

The disc contains some outtakes which, unsurprisingly, are no funnier than the actual show, and a sing-along metronome track to “That’s Entertainment.”     

If you’re waiting for Not Legends of the Superheroes XXX with the top adult performers of today, don’t hold your breath; Tori Black won’t be appearing as Black Canary anytime soon, so if you’re a fan of the Batman series from the Sixties, or if you saw these shows in 1979 and want to revisit them for purposes of nostalgia (or want to keep your relatives away), the DVD is worth a look. 

All kidding aside, while they are not my cup of tea, I am pleased that Warner Archive has made these obscure shows available.   

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Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti pays tribute to his friend, actor Aron Kincaid, who starred in such cult movies as The Girls on the Beach, Beach Ball, Ski Party and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Kincaid died earlier this week. Click here to link to Tom's tribute at his Sixties Cinema web site.

Haworth as Sally Bowles in the Broadway production of Cabaret

By Tom Lisanti

Over the past year, a number of 60s personalities have died, but the one that has most saddened me is Jill Haworth who died in her sleep earlier this week. She was one of my most favorite interviews, as she graciously invited me into her home in 1999. She was just so saucy and honest, holding nothing back. What makes it even sadder for me is that I am reading the new entertaining Sal Mineo bio by Michael Gregg Machaud and Jill is quoted extensively throughout as she had a long romance with the actor.

Petite blonde Jill Haworth made three movies while under personal contract to Otto Preminger--Exodus (where she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Female Newcomer), The Cardinal, In Harm's Way--before going freelance. After starring in the British horror movie It! she landed the role of Sally Bowles on Broadway in Cabaret. The musical was a huge hit and Jill remained in the role for 2 1/2 years.

Surprisingly, when she returned to Hollywood in 1969 all she could get were TV guest spots and horror films, theatrical and made-for-TV, including one that gave me the creeps as a kid, Home for the Holidays. Though Jill never stepped on a Broadway stage again, she did do regional theater during the late 70s and 80s and then concentrated solely on voice over work. She did one last movie Mergers & Acquisitions in 2000 playing a loopy ex-hippie mother of two competing sons. She stole the movie.

Below are some of Jill's sassiest comments to me:

When asked what she thought of John Wayne from In Harm's Way.

"He was the meanest, nastiest man with the worst attitude I ever worked with."

Asked why she stayed in Cabaret so long, she jokingly replied:

"Just to spite Walter Kerr." (Who in his NY Times review said "the musical's one wrong note is Jill Haworth whose worth no more to the show than her weight in mascara.")

When asked if she ever had a chance to play Sally in the film version of Cabaret, she said:

"No, they always wanted Liza Minelli for the movie. She's still doing the movie!"

When Cabaret was revived on Broadway in 2000 with Natasha Richardson and Alan Cummings, Jill was miffed that she was not invited to the opening. When I said "maybe they couldn't find you", she snapped, "I have only been living in the same apartment since 1966!"

Jill never let her stardom go to her head. She was in awe of her Sutton Place neighbor Greta Garbo who walked her dog almost the same time Jill would walk hers. But Jill was too shy to ever say anything. After Cabaret opened, she passed the reclusive star who said, "Good morning Miss Haworth" to which Jill replied, "Good morning Miss Garbo." Jill told me that was worth more to her than anything.

Finally, I received one of the nicest compliments from her after my book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema (now available in soft cover at www.sixtiescinema.com) was released. She called to thank me for including her and told me that of all the interviews she had given, the piece I wrote really sounded like her and she appreciated that. Farewell dear Jill.

By Todd Garbarini

I first saw The Red Shoes on a PBS viewing 35 years ago on a Zenith black and white television.  My younger sister, who was taking dancing lessons at a nearby studio, seemed transfixed by Moira Shearer’s effortless moves.  While the Hans Christian Andersen tale of a ballerina who is danced to death went over my head, the images, even then, remained burned in my subconscious.  Such is the power of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film, quite simply one of the most sumptuous color films ever photographed.  Shot in the original three-strip Technicolor dye transfer process, The Red Shoes was released by the Criterion Collection on laserdisc in 1995 and on DVD in 1999.  While those versions were a real eye-opener to those of us who were used to seeing the film on television, on 16mm, or on videocassette, the new 2010 Criterion Collection Blu-Ray and standard DVD releases of the film are a revelation.  These new transfers are the result of an extensive two-year, 4K digital restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive (headed by UCLA archivist Robert Gitt) and The Film Foundation, in association with the British Film Institute, ITV Global Entertainment Ltd and Janus Films.

Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2009, the restoration made its way to the Film Forum in New York City in February 2010 where film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, widow of filmmaker Michael Powell, introduced the film.  Isabella Rossellini was also in attendance of the film’s premiere to show her support of this great film. 

By David Savage

One of the most anticipated genre film festivals on the North American circuit is Noir City, the annual San Francisco Film Noir Festival, hosted at the glorious Castro Theatre – itself a cinematic landmark and “character” in countless movies filmed in the City by the Bay. This year’s edition, with the theme of “Who’s crazy now?” kicks off January 21^st and runs through the 30^th, 2011. Over the 10 day span, a tantalizing lineup of twenty-four films will be screened – including three brand new 35mm prints funded by the Film Noir Foundation, High Wall (1947); Loophole (1954) and The Hunted (1948).

“We show films you can’t see anywhere else,” said Noir City co-founder and noted film historian Eddie Muller over the phone from his Bay Area home. “We are the only festival that goes out of its way to preserve rare titles, then uses those proceeds to restore other rare titles.” Festival attendees regularly turn up in period dress, Muller says, as proof of their devotion to the genre. For the Castro Theatre, built in 1922 and seating 1,400 people, it’s one of the biggest draws of the year.

Citing an arrangement his Film Noir Foundation has with a major Hollywood studio, Muller’s organization agrees to fund preservation and restoration prints to be made if the studio will deposit a print with UCLA’s Film & Television Archive – the premiere restoration facility in the world. The studio retains ownership but allows UCLA to grant screening licenses, such as the wildly popular Noir City festival in San Francisco. It’s an agreement, says Muller, that provides ongoing proof that restoration and preservation of rare and endangered films is a worthwhile effort. Still, he allows, it’s always a hard case to make to the studios, which are forever looking into the future for new revenue streams and not into the past. Once in a while, Muller says, a studio will step forward to fund the full restoration of a print, which is what Paramount did recently with Strangers in the Night (1951) when their archive heard that Film Noir Foundation was prepared to shoulder the $27,000 restoration cost on their own.

Other highlights include The Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), considered by critical consensus to be the first American film noir, starring Peter Lorre; Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) with Marilyn Monroe in one of her strongest performances of her young career; and a handful of films not available on DVD, such as 1946’s The Dark Mirror, with Olivia de Havilland (directed by noir master Robert Siodmak), Beware My Lovely with Ida Lupino, and a bizarre puzzler from 1948, Fritz Lang’s Secret Beyond the Door starring Nightmare Alley’s Joan Bennett and Michael Redgrave. According to the program literature, it’s a Noir City tradition to show one incomprehensible film each year – and this year this is it. Apparently Lang’s off-the-rails Freudian blowout is a cross between Rebecca and Bluebeard. Muller calls it “ridiculous but visually stunning.” Funded by The Film Noir Foundation, it was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Like a grim-faced police lineup, most of noir’s beloved Usual Suspects are to be found in 2011’s edition, like Barbara Stanwyk, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart. However, audiences will also appreciate some surprising names – actors, screenwriters and directors – not usually associated with noir, notably French director Jean Renoir’s The Woman on the Beach (1947); Otto Preminger with his Angel Face (1952) and A Double Life (1947), directed by George Cukor and starring an Ronald Colman in a dual role which won him an Oscar. The script was written by screwball comedy veterans Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin.

For Noir City 9’s complete 2011 festival lineup and more information on how you can join and contribute to The Film Noir Foundation, visit http:/www.noircity.com.