Here's a marvelous video from the 2011 BAFTA awards in which recently-knighted Sir Christopher Lee accepts the Academy Fellowship, a lifetime achievement award from director Tim Burton, at age 88. As you might expect, his acceptance speech is the epitome of old school class and dignity.
Critics have long cited John Sturges' 1955 thriller "Bad Day at Black Rock" as the epitome of lean, no-nonsense filmmaking. There isn't a wasted frame in the film and there isn't an actor who doesn't thrive under Sturges' inspired direction. Here is the original trailer that features some unusual billing. Lee Marvin, then not yet at leading man status in his career, is billed first while the iconic Spencer Tracy, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, is billed last, perhaps for dramatic effect.
When director William Friedkin's expensive adventure film "Sorcerer" opened in 1977, it died a quick death at the boxoffice. Like other films that met the same fate, however, it has been re-evaluated and - much to Friedkin's satisfaction- it is regarded by many as one of the great movies of its era. In this clip, critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel review the film on their show "At the Movies". As usual, they disagree, with Siskel stating he was not impressed by the movie while Ebert argues the film is terrific. Ebert also gripes that the studio botched the marketing campaign, while Siskel points out that the film's title implied it was relating to the supernatural. Thus, audiences were expecting something akin to Friedkin's previous film, "The Exorcist". In any event, "Sorcerer" has withstood the test of time and plays even better today in the CGI era when we can appreciate the days when special effects and great action scenes were achieved the hard way.
(For an exclusive interview with William Friedkin about the film, see Cinema Retro issue #29).
Take a trip back in time with these TV adverts from Australian TV that ran in the 1960s and 1970s. There is a bizarre use of Frank Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year", sung by someone else with some lyrics changes in order to promote Toyota vehicles. There's also a "Man from U.N.C.L.E. spy spoof commercial, "The Man from A.N.T.I.C.O.L." about a secret agent who combats the common cold. Don't say we didn't warn you!
Here's one of those marvelous vintage "making of" production shorts that took viewers behind the scenes on a forthcoming film, in this case, the 1967 blockbuster "The Dirty Dozen". If you can tolerate the hokey narration, the featurette affords some great candid footage of the cast at work and play in London. The movie was shot at the now defunct MGM British Studios Borehamwood. Curiously, although the featurette depicts or at least mentions the major names in the cast, Donald Sutherland is not identified. He was not well known at the time but the film would help elevate his profile in international cinema and major stardom would follow.