Here we go again....envying Rod Taylor for having his own personal time machine. We can provide the next best thing for retro movie lovers. Feast your eyes on these ads from the entertainment section of the New York Times in January, 1969-- and keep in mind all of these films were currently showing in theaters simultaneously.
In these rare excerpts of a 1976 interview, Bobbie Wygant discusses John Wayne's career with the Duke himself. Wayne discusses being in on the advent of widescreen movies with the 1929 production of "The Big Trail" and also talks about the background of making his latest (and final) film "The Shootist", going into some details about how he wanted to make significant changes to the source novel. It's all rather tantalizing and we wish the entire interview was available.
Coming off their triumphant political thriller "Seven Days and May", Burt Lancaster and director John Frankenheimer went directly to France to begin filming another classic, the WWII adventure "The Train" (1964). Lancaster plays an everyday guy who is now a member of the French Resistance. The war is winding down and the Allies are closing in. Paul Scofield is the ruthless, elite German general with a fanatical obsession with "rescuing" the great works of art that had been removed from museums. He seeks to steal them for himself and has them loaded aboard a freight train in the hope to make it back to safer territory. Lancaster has been enlisted to stop him, as Scofield is stealing some of the nation's greatest art treasures. In the climax, shown here, the two men confront each other in a scene that is superbly played by Scofield, who made his feature film debut in "The Train".
Spolier Alert! If you haven't seen the film yet, better not watch this clip. It depicts the last scene of the movie.
Click here to order Kino Lorber Blu-ray special edition from Amazon.
Here is a highly entertaining compilation of publicity photos and behind-the-scenes shots taken on the set of the 1959 Oscar winning classic "Ben-Hur". The photos show the cast and crew hard at work, joking around, attending the premiere and enjoying visits to the set from the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Kirk Douglas. Speaking of Douglas, the soundtrack music added to the montage inexplicably includes the famous main theme for Douglas's "The Vikings"!
Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" remains a staple of popular culture. The show provided many poignant episodes and helped the careers of many rising young stars, as well as provided plum roles to industry veterans. Yet, we shouldn't view the series through rose-colored glasses. There were many episodes that fell short or were total misfires and this was apparent to Serling. In an article for Screen Rant, Gene Kosowan examines the flaws in the series that left Rod Serling frustrated. Click here to read.
Lucille Ball is very much back in the public eye due to the success of the acclaimed film "Being the Ricardos". Here's a blast from the past, provided by Shout! Factory- the complete Dean Martin Roasts program "honoring" Lucille Ball. The lineup of greats is almost surrealistic: Jack Benny, Dan Rowan, Don Rickles, Bob Hope, Ginger Rogers, Dick Martin, Totie Fields, Milton Berle, Henry Fonda, Nipsey Russell, Vivian Vance, Rich Little, Foster Brooks, Phyllis Diller, Gale Gordon, and, of course, Dino. This time capsule from 1975 is the epitome of what would now be called politically incorrect humor, but it thankfully preserves a period of time in which people could not only take a joke about themselves, but were honored to be the recipient of those pointed barbs. - Lee Pfeiffer