Shirley Jackson's famed ghost story novel "The Haunting of Hill House" was originally made into an MGM film by director Robert Wise in 1963. Jan de Bont's 1999 remake was poorly received and most recently, there is a hit Netflix series inspired by Jackson's book. However, for pure brilliance, Wise's interpretation of the story still stands as a masterpiece of the horror film genre in which ambiguity and unexplained events prove to be more chilling than most films that employ over-the-top special effects. For all of respect accorded the film today, it was not particularly well-received by critics when it originally opened. One of the more positive and insightful reviews was written by James Powers for The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to read.
If you're a Cinema Retro reader, you probably don't have to be told how impressive director John Boorman's 1972 adaptation of James Dickey's bestseller "Deliverance" is, but here's a reminder.
Remember when it was exciting to see your favorite movies premiere on prime time television? Most of the time, they were edited for time or content and, of course, you had to suffer through commercials in the pre-streaming and home video era. Still, they generally garnered high ratings. Here's a vintage 1972 intro for the popular "NBC Saturday Night at the Movies" program, this week showing the top-notch 1967 Western "The War Wagon".
From the Paramount archives: enjoy this scene from John Ford's classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962) and relish the amazing array of great actors: John Wayne, James Stewart, Lee Marvin, Strother Martin, Woody Strode, Vera Miles, Edmond O'Brien and Lee Van Cleef.
In 1969, there wasn't a category to honor achievement in Makeup at the annual Oscars telecast. However, so impressive was John Chambers' work on "Planet of the Apes", that the Academy honored him with a special Oscar- and it was presented by Walter Matthau and an appropriate surprise guest star!