Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Shout! Factory.
For
the honor of the crown and the destiny of a country, four heroes must
reassemble for one last epic battle in the cult film classic, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK. Directed by Randall Wallace (We Were Soldiers, Pearl Harbor), Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon) leads a phenomenal cast, including Jeremy Irons (Red Sparrow), John Malkovich (Bullet Head), Gérard Depardieu (To the Ends of the Earth), and Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary) in this thrilling tale of majesty and Musketeers. On December 26, 2023, Shout! Select will release THE MAN IN THE IRON MASKCollector’s Edition in 4K UHD™+ Blu-ray™.
This must-have home entertainment release features new 4K transfer from
the original negative in Dolby Vision, and special bonus content. Movie
collectors and fans can now preorder THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK
Collector’s Edition 4K UHD™+ Blu-ray™ at ShoutFactory.com.
Louis
XIII, King of France, had a son, Louis, who succeeded his father to the
throne. But, known to very few, the heir had a twin brother, Philippe,
hidden away after birth and forced to languish in prison, his identity
unknown behind an iron mask. His brother, now grown and King Louis XIV,
proved to be both corrupt and a tyrant. Louis sends Athos’ son, Raoul
off to certain death in war, so that he could have his woman for
himself. Athos, together with two of the other Musketeers, Porthos and
Aramis, swear revenge. Only D’Artagnan remains loyal to the crown, but
will he join his former compatriots to free Philippe from prison, kill
the king, and put Philippe on the throne in his place?
UNITED ARTISTS Presents A RANDALL WALLACE Film LEONARDO DiCAPRIO JEREMY IRONS
JOHN MALKOVICH GÉRARD DEPARDIEU GABRIEL BYRNE “THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK”
ANNE PARILLAUD JUDITH GODRÈCHE A UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION LTD. Production
Music by NICK GLENNIE-SMITH Costume Designer JAMES ACHESON Edited by WILLIAM HOY
Production Designed by ANTHONY PRATT Director of Photography PETER SUSCHITZKY
Based upon the novel by ALEXANDRE DUMAS Co-Producer PAUL HITCHCOCK Executive Producer ALAN LADD, JR.
Produced by RANDALL WALLACE RUSSELL SMITH Written for the Screen and Directed by RANDALL WALLACE
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK Collector’s Edition
Bonus Features for UHD/Blu-ray
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
· NEW 4K Transfer From the Original Camera Negative
· Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
· In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
· Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Randall Wallace
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
· NEW 4K Transfer From The Original Camera Negative
· Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
· Audio Commentary with Randall Wallace
· Interview With Producer Paul Hitchcock
· Interview With Production Designer Anthony Pratt
If Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968), Joseph Sargent’s Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), Sir Ridley
Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), Simon Wincer’s D.A.R.Y.L. (1985),
and the television show Small Wonder (1985 – 1989) are all about
anything that we can be absolutely sure of, they are about prescience and the
coming of “Artificial Intelligence.” Following Stanford University professor John
McCarthy’s 1955 Dartmouth workshop and his introduction of the term “Artificial
Intelligence,” or “AI” as it is generally referred to now, AI means many things
to many different people today. When these outings reached audiences, they were
merely regarded as science fiction, though today there is an argument to be
made that they should be reappraised as science fact. AI was not a term used
when those films were released and has only come into universal parlance with
the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022. One wonders how Alan Turing,
Marvin Minsky, Allen Newell, and Herbert A. Simon, the four men all regarded as
the “founding fathers” of Artificial Intelligence in the early 1950s, would
have regarded these stories and if they were in line with their notions of AI.
Richard Colla’s The Questor Tapes is a
made-for-TV movie that was largely ignored by audiences despite its interesting
premise of a scientist named Emil Vaslovik (Lew Ayres) and his desire to build
a superhuman android named Questor, expertly portrayed by veteran actor Robert
Foxworth. Filmed in 1973 and intended to be the pilot for a projected NBC
series, Questor was the brainchild of Gene Roddenberry, a television
screenwriter and producer who is best known for both being confused with author
Ray Bradbury as well as being the creator of the initially unsuccessful but
later wildly popular sci-fi television series Star Trek. Broadcast on
Wednesday, January 23, 1974, Questor begins with a team of scientific
and electronic experts who, following the disappearance of Vaslovik, attempt to
bring his vision to fruition despite being unable to decode the programming
tape while also accidentally erasing most of the tape’s contents – a nod to the
Watergate scandal of the time?
Geoffrey Darrow (John Vernon) is the new head
of the project, and he butts heads with Vaslovik’s assistant, Jerry Robinson
(Mike Farrell), who interrupts the data transfer and insists that the
programming should be done with the partially erased tapes. When the android
fails to respond, the “experts” leave the facility, dejected. While alone,
Questor, bald and naked, whirrs to life and, in a positively ridiculous
sequence, begins to transform itself from an “it” to a “him” (wait until you
see how it adds hair to its chrome dome), managing to dress itself in clothing
that perfectly fits. Questor sets off on a journey to search for Vaslovik and
hopes to understand his purpose while attempting to fill in the blank spots due
to the erased portions of his memory tapes. To do this, he enlists the help of a
reluctant Robinson. Questor begins by talking the way that a robot would be
perceived to speak, but through his travels with Robinson he begins to sound
more and more human. There is a humorous sequence after the duo make their way
to London and need to obtain more money. Questor solves this issue by using programmed
intelligence to gain the upper hand in a casino sequence that would be later
used by Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Barry Levinson’s Rain Man
(1988) and by Jessica Alba in the “Cash Rules Everything Around Me” episode
from October 2000 of the James Cameron-created series Dark Angel.
They make their way to a wealthy Lady Helena
Trimble (Dana Wynter) who worked with Vaslovik and he gleans more info from her
as to his creator’s whereabouts, though he is shot in a park by a soldier and is
summarily returned to the laboratory. Following his repair, Questor sets off to
Mount Ararat, allegedly the location of Noah’s Ark, and locates Vaslovik in a
cave thanks to some nifty matte work by the late great Oscar-winning artist
Albert Whitlock. Vaslovik, as it turns out, is also an android – shades of Blade
Runner? Who can forget the revelatory stuttering of Felix Flankin at the
end of Jules Bass’s 1967 outing Mad Monster Party? I will leave it up to
you, the reader, to have a look at the film to explain the rather involved denouement
but suffice it to say Mr. Roddenberry had a knack for creating projects that
initially went nowhere, then revisiting them and turning them into hits. While Questor
was initially conceived of as a series, with the movie intended as the series
pilot, creative differences between Mr. Roddenberry and NBC forced it to be nixed
and promoted as a one-off movie-of-the-week (known in the industry as an MOW)
which, I feel, explains the film’s abrupt ending. Many of the ideas touched
upon, including the notion of automatons and androids, made their way into the
highly successful Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994).
Questor explores themes common to other films
of a similar ilk: What gives us our identity and what constitutes humanity? How
do we, as humans, quench our thirst for knowledge and curiosity? Both Mr. Foxworth
and Mr. Farrell possess good chemistry and it would have been nice to see where
the series went.
The laboratory portions of the film were shot
at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. While the technology of
1973 was considered to be “state-of-the-art” and then destined to become
“soon-to-be-obsolete” as all technology inevitably does (at least according to
Moore’s Law), it’s a kick to see how the experts reach their conclusions as to
how Questor will react to the environment. The special effects are, as you can
well imagine, dated, however the ideas are just as thought-provoking and
visionary and never more topical than when viewed now in an era when robots are
poised to man 18-wheelers, serve customers at fast food joints, and perform
minimum wage tasks deemed repetitive and boring.
Kino Lorber has released the film on Blu-ray,
and it looks great. There is an informative and spirited commentary track by
film historian and screenwriter Gary Gerani. Extraordinarily
knowledgeable and enjoyable to listen to, I will seek out other films that he
speaks on. His commentary encompasses brief but thorough bios of the leading
performers and makes comments on much of the onscreen action, how the sequences
were accomplished, while also delving into matters of the plot and how they
relate to the here-and-now. A first-rate commentary that easily lends itself to
repeated playback.
Rounding out the extras are trailers for the
film, as well as for Fear No Evil (1969), Scream, Pretty Peggy
(1973), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), The Groundstar
Conspiracy (1972), The Black Marble (1980), and Fuzz (1972).
Here is Kirk Douglas appearing as the mystery guest on the popular game show "What's My Line?". Based on the fact that he mentions his new movie is "Act of Love", we can pin the date of this broadcast to 1953.
Life goes from bad to worse for Confederate soldier John
Warner (George Hilton) in the opening half hour of “A Bullet for Sandoval,” a
1970 Spaghetti Western now available on Blu-ray in a Special Edition from VCI
Entertainment. On the eve of battle in Texas, Warner learns that his sweetheart
Rosa has just given birth to their son in plague-ridden Los Cedros, and now is
dying from cholera. Denied authorisation to leave camp, Warner rides off
anyway, incurring a death sentence for desertion. Arriving in Los Cedros with
hopes of marrying Rosa before she dies, he finds no sympathy there either. Rosa
has passed away, and her father Don Pedro Sandoval (Ernest Borgnine), a
powerful grandee who loathes “gringos” in general and Warner in particular, is
infuriated that the soldier has returned. He disowns the baby and drives Warner
and the newborn out of his palatial hacienda.
Fleeing Los Cedros with his son, Warner is rebuffed at
one way-station and then a second when he begs for milk for the infant. The
people at both places are fearful of being infected when they learn that he has
just come from Los Cedros. The weakened, feverish baby dies, and Warner becomes
a vengeful outlaw, assembling a gang of henchmen to raid the settlements that
drove him away when he needed their aid to keep his child alive. Three of the
men—Sam, Lucky, and Priest—are trustworthy. The other three—Morton, One-Eye (“a
sex maniac convicted of raping two little girls”), and Guadalupano—not so much.
Warner comes to enjoy the riches and women that accrue from his new career as a
bandit, but his ultimate target remains Sandoval. In the meantime, Don Pedro and
his fellow cattle barons on the Border convince the Confederate army to help
them pursue and eradicate Warner and his band.
Like most Spaghetti Westerns, “A Bullet for Sandoval” was
an international production with Italian studio backing, a cast of actors from
several countries, outdoor locations in the Spanish desert, and in this case, a
Spanish director (Julio Buchs), and Spanish writers. In the starring role,
George Hilton (born Jorge Hill Acosta y Lara) was an accomplished, darkly
handsome Uruguayan actor who had a thriving career in Italian genre movies but
was largely unknown to U.S. moviegoers. For marquee value in the States, the
producers paired him with Ernest Borgnine as the imperious Don Pedro. Who
didn’t know Ernest Borgnine from “The Wild Bunch,” “Ice Station Zebra,” a
hundred other movies, and “McHale’s Navy”?
With Borgnine’s name prominently displayed on ads, “A
Bullet for Sandoval” was one of several Spaghetti Westerns that opened in the
U.S. in 1970, after the surprise success of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
Derided by most critics as violent trash, they were usually relegated to
drive-ins and second-run movie houses. There, they filled a void on
double-bills left by the death of traditional, American-made B-Westerns like
those made a decade before with aging stars like Dana Andrews, Glenn Ford, and Robert
Taylor. Sometimes, ironically, they were paired with the homegrown Spaghetti
imitations that Hollywood studios had begun to produce, like “Two Mules for Sister Sara,”
“Barquero,” “Macho Callahan,” and “El
Condor.”
The critics may have dismissed the genre, but their
opinions were immaterial for the U.S. target audience of young guys in their
teens and early twenties, who welcomed pictures like “A Bullet for Sandoval” on
all-night movie marathons at local drive-ins. At one o’clock in the morning, in
a pleasant stupor of fatigue and beer, few would question the accuracy or
plausibility of a Civil War in which Confederate officers pause their military
campaign to help ranchers chase outlaws. As far as fans were concerned, such
fine points could be argued by history professors, as long as they could rely
on filmmakers like Buchs to deliver a gritty succession of gunfights, chases,
and gorgeous European starlets—in the case of “A Bullet for Sandoval,”
Annabella Incontrera, Mary Paz Pondal, and Paquita Torres—in low-cut peasant
blouses.
VCI Entertainment’s new Special Edition of “A Bullet for
Sandoval” presents the film in a remastered, 4K version from the original
negative, adding the English-dubbed voice track and diligently restoring ten
minutes of footage edited out of the U.S. print in 1970 and consequently, out
of previous American home video releases. As director and enthusiast Alex Cox
suggests in his informative audio commentary for the disc, the movie is better
than its synopsis implies. The script and direction give the story an epic
scope despite a limited budget, culminating in a briskly staged showdown in a
bullfighting arena, and Hilton and Borgnine offer heartfelt performances as the
two antagonists. Relatively rare for a Spaghetti Western, both Warner and Don
Pedro are emotionally damaged characters instead of the cool-cat bounty hunter
and deranged bandido who usually anchor such films.
Cox notes that the grim scenes of Warner and his friends
Lucky and Priest trying to keep Warner’s baby alive in the desert owe an
obvious debt to “Three Godfathers,” John Ford’s 1948 parable of the Nativity
story with horses and six-shooters. Ford was ever the optimist, and the infant
in “Three Godfathers” survives, delivered safely to a Western town called
Jerusalem by outlaw Bob Hightower, played by the indomitable John Wayne.
Warner’s newborn isn’t as fortunate in a world bereft of Christian charity, reflecting
the grim philosophy of the Spaghetti genre where the innocent are as likely to
suffer as the corrupt and the guilty, and often, more likely.
In addition to Alex Cox’s commentary track, the VCI
Special Edition includes the title sequence from the original Spanish version,
titled “Los Desperados,” and the U.S. theatrical trailer. It is an admirably
respectful package for a movie that few would have regarded as anything other
than disposable entertainment five decades ago.
The
British production, The Edge of the World, was acclaimed director
Michael Powell’s first important feature film. Released in 1937, it was
well-received in the U.K. and it also made something of a splash in the USA
among the more discerning critics and audiences who appreciated non-Hollywood
fare.
Powell
had been working in cinema in various capacities since the silent days as a
still photographer, scriptwriter, and director of short films. Through most of
the 1930s, he helmed over twenty pictures that had diverse levels of success, but
it wasn’t until 1936-37 that he had the chance to make a truly personal film. This
was the “big bang” breakthrough in his movie career.
The
Edge of the World is
based on a newspaper article Powell had read that documented how a remote
island, St. Kilda in the Scottish Outer Hebrides, was losing its population due
to the land’s inability to support the people, and because younger generations were
fleeing to Scotland and England for better opportunities. Powell wrote an
original script involving two families on such an island and how dramatic circumstances
change their lives.
Unable
to film on St. Kilda, Powell chose the northern island of Foula in the Shetland
Islands group. It was suitably similar in both the landscape and the people’s geo-political
issues. With a handful of known actors and by casting many characters from the
locals, Powell and cinematographers Monty Berman, Skeets Kelly, Ernest Palmer,
and Powell himself, captured (even in black and white) the beauty and awesome
grandeur of the cliffs-dominated island.
Two
dominant families on the fictional island of Hirta, the Mansons and the Grays, are
united by an upcoming marriage between Andrew Gray (Niall MacGinnis) and Ruth
Manson (Belle Chrystall). Ruth’s brother, Robbie (Eric Berry) is Andrew’s best
friend. Conflict arises when Robbie announces that he’s leaving the island to
go “see the world” because there’s nothing left on Hirta for him. Losing
someone like Robbie hurts the economy because there aren’t that many strapping
young men to do the fishing and crofting. Andrew attempts to convince Robbie to
stay, but Robbie will have none of it. Andrew’s father (Finlay Currie) is
somewhat sympathetic to Robbie and believes that the islanders’ way of life is
indeed diminishing and that they should all evacuate for the good of their
children’s children. Robbie’s father (John Laurie) disagrees and is determined
to stay, despite his son’s wishes. Andrew and Robbie challenge each other to an
age-old tradition of racing up one of the cliffs to determine if Robbie should
stay or not. The results of the contest are tragic… and this deeply affects the
futures of the two families and the rest of the story.
Michael
Powell appears at the beginning of the film as a yachtsman escorting Andrew
Gray back to the island for reminiscing (the rest of the movie is a flashback).
Short
and tight (at 75 minutes), The Edge of the World is a slice of life to
which few of us today can relate, but it is a well-made, touching depiction of
the story that Powell wanted to tell. Perhaps more important than the movie
itself is the fact that the picture’s reception enabled Powell to go on to
bigger and better projects, such as Thief of Bagdad (1940) and the
eventual brilliant partnership with co-director Emeric Pressburger.
In
fact, the making of The Edge of the World meant so much to Powell that
he returned to Foula in 1978 with a camera crew and some of the surviving
actors to make a short documentary, Return to the Edge of the World.
This half hour program is in full color and is a warm reunion between the
filmmakers and the people who still reside on the island.
Milestone
Film and Video presents a beautifully restored high definition of the feature
film (distributed by Kino Lorber) with an audio commentary by Powell’s widow,
Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker, film historian Ian Christie, and
Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis reading from Powell’s book on the making
of the film (200,000 Feet on Foula).
Supplements
include alternate scenes; the original trailer; the documentary Return to
the Edge of the World; Powell’s short 1941 film, An Airman’s Letter to
His Mother; and Powell’s home movies shot on Foula, narrated by
Schoonmaker.
The
Edge of the World is
recommended for fans of Michael Powell, Scotland history, and early British
cinema.
Celebrating
its 40th anniversary in 2024, the beloved classic FOOTLOOSE
arrives for the first time ever on 4K Ultra HD™ February 13, 2024
from Paramount Home Entertainment.
Originally
released on February 17, 1984, FOOTLOOSE thrilled audiences with
its spirited dancing, electrifying soundtrack, and inspiring story. Kevin
Bacon gives a star-making performance as a city boy whose rebellious love for
music and dancing shakes up a small town.
Directed
by Herbert Ross and written by composer and writer Dean Pitchford, FOOTLOOSE
was a massive success, earning $80 million at the domestic box office.
The film features an exceptional supporting cast, including Lori Singer, Dianne
Wiest, John Lithgow, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Chris Penn, along with a
sensational soundtrack featuring Kenny Loggins, Shalamar, Deniece Williams,
Bonnie Tyler, Quiet Riot, John Mellencamp, Foreigner, and more. Both
“Footloose” and “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” were nominated for the Academy
Award® for Best Music, Original Song.
Newly
remastered, FOOTLOOSE will be available in a two-disc 4K Ultra
HD/Blu-ray™ set or a collectible SteelBook™ with artwork designed to
look like an 80s Walkman. Both sets include access to a digital copy of
the film and the Blu-ray includes the legacy bonus content detailed below:
·Commentary
by Craig Zadan and Dean Pitchford
·Commentary
by Kevin Bacon
·Let's
Dance! Kevin Bacon on Footloose
·From
Bomont to the Big Apple: An Interview with Sarah Jessica Parker
·Remembering
Willard
·Kevin
Bacon's Screen Test
·Kevin
Bacon Costume Montage
·Footloose:
A Modern Musical - Part 1
·Footloose:
A Modern Musical - Part 2
·Footloose:
Songs That Tell A Story
·Theatrical
Trailer
Synopsis
City-boy
Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) is new to an uptight small town where dancing has
been banned. Ren quickly makes a new best friend in Willard (Chris Penn) and
falls fast for the minister's daughter (Lori Singer), but his love for music
and dancing gets him into hot water equally as fast.??
Humphry
Bogart and Eleanor Parker feature in the aviation romance drama, “Chain
Lightning,” available on Blu-ray via the Warner Archive Collection. Bogart is hot-shot
test pilot Matt Brennan flying for an aircraft manufacturer contracted to
produce a supersonic jet for the newly formed United States Air Force. The
movie soon flashes back to 1943 in WWII England where we see the origins of the
relationship between Bogart and Parker. Parker is Joan “Jo” Holloway, an
American Red Cross nurse stationed in England where Lieutenant Colonel Matt Brennan
is an experienced B-17 pilot. Richard Whorf is Carl Troxell, an engineer working
for a B-17 aircraft manufacturer sent to research the reason for aircraft
failures. Matt tells Carl exactly the issue which is obvious to those flying
the bombing missions, the air war and the lack of long-range air cover support.
While on a mission, they encounter a German Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, a
rocket powered interceptor that moves faster than anything in the allied
arsenal.
Matt
gets word he’s being rotated stateside to sell war bonds after surviving so many
bombing missions over Europe. He’s faced with a complicated choice because he
has to leave Jo in England. We hope he fulfills his promise to her, but this is
Bogart and I think we know what will happen. We meet up with Matt again after
the war working as a pilot trainer until he has a chance meeting with Leland
Willis, the head of Willis Aviation, that leads to a job as test pilot working
on developing jets for the Defense Department. Willis is played by Raymond
Massey as the semi-villain of the film. Carl is working for Willis and is also
now involved with Jo. The Matt, Jo, Carl love triangle is resolved, but tension
arrives in the rivalry between Matt and Carl as they each work on projects to
create a safe, fast jet.
Bogart
is good playing Bogart and this role is no exception. He does have genuine
chemistry with Eleanor Parker playing the girl who never fell out of love with him.
While this is by no means a Bogart classic, it is certainly a small gem in his
film career. Massey is good as the businessman who is willing to risk lives in
order to succeed and Whorf is a bit too predictable as the third part of the
love triangle and works hard to be the opposite of Bogart.
The
movie is chockfull of WWII aviation footage which is integrated well into the
story,including the crash landing in the early part of the movie. There is also
pretty good model work later as we see Bogart piloting the jets and he’s seen
at the controls in a studio cockpit and models used for the new jet attempting
to break a cross- continent flight record.
The
film was directed by Stuart Heisler, who had a career working on mostly B-movie
dramas and thrillers, though he had a few stand-outs like “The Biscuit Eater”
in 1940, “The Glass Key” in 1942, “Storm Warning” in 1950 and “Tokyo Joe” from
1949, the first of two movies with Bogart. Bogart’s filmography is filled with
classics, duds and those in between like “Chain Lightning.” Eleanor Parker
appeared in many movies, sometimes as the lead, throughout the 50s and early
60s. Raymond Massey was great at playing heavies and semi-villainous roles with
occasional heroic figures such as Abraham Lincoln. Richard Whorf is a bit of an
enigma for me, featuring in mostly B-movies and never quite reaching leading
man status.
Released in 1950 with
a flight time of 95 minutes, the movie looks and sounds terrific on this
region-free Blu-ray upgrade from the previous DVD release. Extras on the disc include the
animated “Bear Feat,” the Joe McDoakes comedy short film “So You Want to Be an
Actor” and the trailer for the film. The movie is recommended for Bogart fans
and aviation movie enthusiasts.
Joe Dante's "Trailers from Hell" site features Marlon Brando trailers this week, including director Sidney J. Furie's sadly neglected 1966 Western "The Appaloosa", with trailer commentary by film director Daniel Kremer, who authored a book about Furie. Kremer makes the most of the trailer's limited running time, providing fascinating and amusing insights into Brando's bizarre behavior on the set. The reluctant superstar had a bad attitude about making the film, which he had to do to satisfy a long-time contractual commitment to Universal. The film is not a classic, but like most of the movies Brando made in the 1960s, it is underrated.
Click here to order the Blu-ray of the film with commentary track by Cinema Retro's Lee Pfeiffer and film historian Paul Scrabo.
Imprint, the Australian video label, has released a region-free Blu-ray set, "Tales of Adventure Collection #2" consisting of four jungle-based action films: "Safari", Elephant Walk", "Fair Wind to Java" and "Angel of the Amazon". This is a limited edition set of 1,500 units.
BRING HOME ALL OF YOUR FAVORITE HILARIOUS
CHRISTMAS EPISODES
IN ONE BRAND NEW JOLLY COLLECTION
THE
OFFICE:
COMPLETE
CHRISTMAS COLLECTION
FROM
UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
AVAILABLE
ON BLU-RAYTM & DVD
SYNOPSIS:Come join
Dunder Mifflin for a holiday celebration like no other with The Office:
Complete Christmas Collection! Developed by Primetime Emmy Award winner
Greg Daniels, relive all 7 of the wackiest workplace holiday episodes in TV history.
Featuring “Christmas Party”, “A Benihana Christmas”, “Moroccan Christmas”,
“Secret Santa”, “Classy Christmas”, “Christmas Wishes” and “Dwight Christmas”,
‘tis the season for non-stop laughs.
SYNOPSIS:Come join
Dunder Mifflin for a holiday celebration like no other with The Office:
Complete Christmas Collection! Developed by Primetime Emmy Award winner
Greg Daniels, relive all 7 of the wackiest workplace holiday episodes in TV history.
Featuring “Christmas Party”, “A Benihana Christmas”, “Moroccan Christmas”,
“Secret Santa”, “Classy Christmas”, “Christmas Wishes” and “Dwight Christmas”,
‘tis the season for non-stop laughs.
EPISODES:
Christmas
Party – Holiday cheer is in short supply when Michael
insists on doing a last-minute swap of Secret Santa gifts, and Jim becomes
alarmed that his sweet and sentimental gift for Pam will end up in Dwight’s
hands.
A
Benihana Christmas – It’s a time for joy and goodwill toward others,
but the staff is feeling none of it as Michael deals with a broken heart and
Angela and Pam create rival Christmas parties.
Moroccan
Christmas – It’s time for the annual Christmas party and a
drunken Meredith gets into the holiday spirit by setting her hair on fire.
Secret
Santa – Michael is outraged when Jim allows Phyllis to be
Santa at the Christmas party, where holiday spirits are dampened by the
company’s troubles. Meanwhile, Andy’s Secret Santa gifts to Erin backfire and
Oscar has a secret crush.
Classy
Christmas – Toby takes a leave of absence and corporate sends
Holly to cover for him; Michael forces Pam to hold a second Christmas party on
the day Holly arrives; Dwight challenges Jim to a snowball fight.
Christmas
Wishes – Andy tries to make this year’s Christmas the best
ever by granting each person’s holiday wishes; Robert California tries to drown
his sorrows at the office party.
Dwight
Christmas – When the party planning committee drops the ball
on the annual Christmas party, Dwight gets everyone to celebrate with a
traditional Schrute German Christmas.
BONUS
FEATURES:
Audio
Commentaries
“Christmas Party” Commentary with Jenna Fischer, B.J. Novak, Kate
Flannery, David Denman, Editor Dave Rogers, Writer Mike Schur and Executive
Producer Greg Daniels
“Moroccan Christmas” Commentary with Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, and
Brian Baumgartner
“Secret Santa” Commentary with Mindy Kaling, Ellie Kemper, and Claire
Scanlon
Here's the original New York Times advertisement for "The Poseidon Adventure" announcing its premiere in Manhattan on this date in 1972.
Note that in those days, big budget movies didn't usually open "wide" to neighborhood theaters. Instead, they played in select theaters in big cities for quite some time before being released in a large number of venues nationally.
The late, great Rutger Hauer was an amazingly
talented actor. Named the Best Dutch Actor of the Century by the Dutch public,
the Saturn Award nominated thespian had an extremely entertaining career where
he memorably played both heroes and villains in classic films such as Nighthawks, The Hitcher, Blade Runner,
Ladyhawke, Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. Just to name a few. Recently, Hauer’s wonderful turn as
Nick Parker in 1990’s action-packed film Blind
Fury was released to Blu-ray.
Written by Charles Robert Carner and directed
by Phillip Noyce, Blind Fury deals
with Nick Parker (Hauer), a soldier who was blinded in Vietnam, but developed
his remaining senses and, through intense training, becoming an expert with a
samurai sword before returning to the States. When Parker’s best friend and
fellow soldier, Frank Deveraux (Terry O’Quinn), is kidnapped by ruthless
criminals, Parker decides to take Frank’s young son, Billy, (Brandon Call) to
Nevada in order to find and rescue his dad. However, the deadly thugs want
Billy so that they can use him to convince Frank to make their illegal drugs.
With the help of Frank’s girlfriend, Annie (Lisa Blount), Nick does everything
he can to protect young Billy from the homicidal hoods and save Frank before
it’s too late.
Filmed around the Midwestern United States
and released by Tri-Star Pictures in March of 1990, Blind Fury, which was produced by Daniel Grodnick and actor/director
Tim Matheson, is a highly enjoyable action adventure/martial arts film with
well-drawn characters and just the right amount of comic relief and heart.
Based on the Japanese character Zatoichi—a blind swordsman who was created by
Kan Shimozawa in 1948 and appeared in 26 films—Blind Fury is basically a loving remake of the seventeenth Zatoichi
film Zatoichi Challenged (1967).
Clocking in at a brief 86 minutes, Blind Fury moves along pretty quickly
and not only features excellent direction by Phillip Noyce, but also a
well-known, veteran cast who do a terrific job. Naturally, Rutger Hauer is
excellent in the role of Nick Parker. Trained by blind judo champion and
Paralympic silver medal winner Lynn Manning, Hauer has said that playing a
blind swordsman was one of the most difficult jobs he’s ever had to do.
Besides the super talented Call, O’Quinn and
Blount, the exciting film also features wonderful performances from Noble
Willingham, Nick Cassavetes, former pro boxer Randall “Tex” Cobb, comedian Rick
Overton, the immortal Sho Kosugi, the lovely Meg Foster, former professional
wrestler Tiger Chung Lee and former pro football player Jay Pennison.
Blind Fury has been released on
a region one, two and three Blu-ray, and is presented in its original 1.85:1
aspect ratio. The entertaining film looks excellent and sounds just as great.
Special features include a very informative audio commentary by screenwriter
Charles Robert Carner (moderated by filmmaker Douglas Hosdale)as well as the original theatrical
trailer. The Blu-ray also comes with a slipcover which contains some
fun-looking artwork of Nick Parker in action. If you’re a fan of old school
action/martial arts cinema; Rutger Hauer; samurai films or all of the above,
then definitely check this one out.
Kino Lorber has released a Blu-ray collection: ""Columbo: The 1970s, Seasons 1-7"
Here are the details:
"Columbo" is the landmark series that set the standard for the
murder mystery genre. Remastered in 4K by Universal, "Columbo: The 1970s"
includes the first seven seasons of this enduring classic on Blu-ray!
Starring Peter Falk in his four-time Emmy-winning role as the
cigar-chomping, trenchcoat-wearing police lieutenant.
Special Features: • Restored in 4K by Universal Pictures • Includes the 1968 Movie-of-the-Week "Prescription: Murder" and the 1971 Pilot "Ransom for a Dead Man" • Shorter 71-Minute Cut of "ÉTUDE IN BLACK" • Optional Music and Effects Tracks for All Episodes • Episode Guide Booklet • Newly Commissioned Slipcase Cover Illustration by Tony Stella • Optional English Subtitles
This Season 6 episode of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In features guest star John Wayne, who at one point is dressed as the Easter Bunny. There's also an abundance of politically incorrect humor that would never be broadcast today. Click here to view.
Ryan O'Neal, the star of "Love Story" and "Barry Lyndon", has died from unspecified causes at the age of 82. He had been experiencing health issues since being diagnosed with leukemia and prostate cancer over a decade ago. O'Neal learned the craft of acting on his own, never having taken a lesson. He entered the film industry as a teenager, performing stunts. In 1964 he received his first major role, starring in "Peyton Place", the successful TV series based on the hit feature film and its sequel. His career went into high gear when he was cast with another up-and-coming actor, Ali MacGraw, in the 1970 screen adaptation of Eric Segal's bestselling novel "Love Story". Segal had adapted his own screenplay to form the basis of the wafer-thin novel about a doomed romance between a young couple at Harvard University. The novel sold millions and paved the way for Paramount's big screen version, which was both a critical and financial success. O'Neal and MacGraw both earned Oscar nominations. O'Neal's post-Oscar career skyrocketed and he worked in with some of the industry's top directors including Richard Attenborough, Peter Bogdanovich and Stanley Kubrick, who raised eyebrows by casting the American actor in the leading role in his opulent 1975 epic "Barry Lyndon". The film won enormous acclaim but much of it didn't rub off on O'Neal, as some critics voiced the opinion that Kubrick, who was not known as an "actor's director" had cast him simply because he was a bland screen presence who wouldn't distract from the more spectacular aspects of the production. Nevertheless, O'Neal had been riding high with hits like "What's Up, Doc?", in which he co-starred with Barbra Streisand, "The Main Event"and "Paper Moon", in which he starred with his pre-teen daughter Tatum, who became the youngest actor to receive an Oscar. O'Neal also had a major role in Attenborough's 1977 WWII epic "A Bridge Too Far". His misfires included the starring
role in an ill-fated 1978 big screen sequel to "Love Story" titled
"Oliver's Story" which he personally denounced as "a complete-off" that
he did for the money.One of his last major big screen hits was "The Main Event" in 1979, which teamed him again with Streisand.
By the 1980s, O'Neal's career was in a tailspin. He still found work but the better roles and films eluded him. Attempts to move into television did not have successful results. He also suffered an endless stream of sensational stories in the press about his personal behavior, most of it centered on his mercurial temper. He was once arrested for beating his son Griffin, though charges were eventually dropped and years later would be arrested on drug charges along with another son, Redmond. He had been married and divorced twice when he began a long relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett, who was married to actor Lee Majors at the time. The couple never married but Ms. Fawcett was mother to Redmond O'Neal. O'Neal and Fawcett split up but eventually reconciled and he saw her through her traumatic battle against terminal cancer. He worked in television with little success before landing a recurring role on the popular series "Bones". The O'Neal family's personal problems had long been regular fodder for gossip columns. He was estranged from Tatum for most of her life and the two never fully reconciled, even though the two had co-starred on a reality show that portrayed their relationship favorably. Characteristically, O'Neal would later say that the show was sanitizing what was still a very volatile relationship. He proclaimed that one of his most satisfying late-in-life highlights was reuniting with Ali MacGraw to co-star in the moving stage play "Love Letters".
Here's your chance to enjoy season one of the classic TV series "The Saint" starring Roger Moore. Shout! TV is making all of the episodes available for free streaming. Click here to view.
The 1980s were chock full of amazing action
franchises and action stars. The stars were legendary: Charles Bronson, Clint
Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Mel Gibson,
Danny Glover, etc. The franchises were just as legendary: Death Wish, Dirty Harry, Rambo, Terminator, Missing in Action, Lethal Weapon, etc. Not to mention the
beloved James Bond series which produced five blockbuster movies throughout the
80s, three starring Roger Moore and two starring Timothy Dalton. Then, there
were the great one-shot action films of which there are way too many to list
here. Of course, martial arts/action; especially those featuring ninjas, were
just as popular with cinemagoers. Yes, it was an exciting decade.
In 1985, Cannon Films, led by immortal
producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, decided to start a new action movie/martial
arts franchise titled American Ninja.
Cannon, who were responsible for the popular
Missing in Action and Death Wish
series of films as well as several well-loved ninja movies which starred the
fantastic Sho Kosugi and partly started the ninja craze, wanted Chuck Norris to
play the lead role of Private Joe Armstrong. However, Norris declined. Cannon
then went on a worldwide search and, after auditioning over 400 candidates, they
chose up and coming actor Michael Dudikoff. The well-made movie would go on to
spawn four sequels, two of which (parts 2 and 4) would see Dudikoff return as
the silent, but deadly Armstrong. Thanks to our friends at Kino Lorber, the
original film has now been released on Blu-ray.
Written by Paul De Mielche (from a story by
Gideon Amir and Avi Kleinberger) and directed by action veteran Sam
Firstenberg, American Ninja tells the
story of Joe Armstrong (Dudikoff), a US Army private who uses his Ninjitsu
skills when a supply convoy is ambushed by rebels led by a Black Ninja Warrior
(Tadashi Yamashita). Now marked for revenge by the Black Star Ninjas, Joe, with
the help of his friend, Corporal Curtis Jackson (played by the late, great
Steve James), must do everything in his power to rescue the kidnapped Patricia
Hickock (Judie Aronson)—daughter of Joe’s commanding officer—and take down the
Black Star Ninjas for good.
Made for one million dollars, American Ninja (aka American Warrior and American
Fighter) is a solid and entertaining 80s action film with an engrossing
enough story, a terrific cast, and exciting action sequences which are more
than competently handled by director Firstenberg (who already had some Ninja
experience directing the Sho Kosugi martial arts/action classics Return of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination for Cannon).
The fun, 95-minute movie also features John Fujioka, Don Stewart and Richard
Norton.
Trained by 10th degree black belt
and martial arts champion Mike Stone, American
Ninja instantly made Michael Dudikoff an action movie star. Over the next
two decades, Dudikoff would appear in a plethora of action films. He would also
reunite with Steve James two more times in American
Ninja 2: The Confrontation and Avenging
Force; both directed by Firstenberg. James, who I believe would have become
a major action star if not for his untimely death, went on to reprise his role
as Curtis Jackson a third time in American
Ninja 3: Blood Hunt.
American Ninja has been released on
a region one Blu-ray. It is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and
the film looks and sounds incredible. The special features include an
informative audio commentary by director Sam Firstenberg (moderated by
filmmaker/editor Elijah Drenner) as well as a second commentary with
Firstenberg and Stunt Coordinator Steven Lambert. We are also treated to Rumble in the Jungle: The Making of
American Ninja, the original theatrical trailer and TV spot, and a very
cool-looking slipcover. This is pure 80s goodness. Don’t miss it.
The
film classic that put director Bernardo Bertolucci on the map outside of Italy
was 1970’s The Conformist, hailed by the arthouse cinema circuit as one
of the masterpieces of international filmmaking in that decade.
An
Italian-French-West German co-production, The Conformist was filmed in
Italy and France and stars celebrated French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, who
made several pictures in Italy along with the many in his native country.
Although Trintignant could speak Italian, he was almost always dubbed by an
Italian actor in these pictures; in fact, all Italian movies of the era were
usually dubbed in post-production. Luckily, the dubbing here is quite good
because at least Trintignant is mouthing the correct Italian language dialogue.
This
is a gorgeous-looking movie, often cited as a groundbreaker in cinematography.
Vittorio Storaro made his name with the picture, just as Bertolucci did.
Francis Ford Coppola allegedly used The Conformist as the “look” he was
going for when he made The Godfather. Storaro is one of only three
people who have won the Best Cinematography Oscar three times (he won for Apocalypse
Now, Reds, and The Last Emperor, another Bertolucci title).
This
is reason alone to view the film today. The content is perhaps a little too
attached to the time period in which it was made, in that the editing and
narrative flow of the movie is somewhat experimental with its use of flashbacks
and time-jumping that filmmakers liked to play with in those days. As a result,
the first half of The Conformist takes some getting used to (and is, at
first, difficult to follow), but the second half is riveting. The subject
matter is also extremely political in that it is a psychological character
study of a man torn between the desire to fit in and to do what is right within
the context of the socio-political climate of his time.
It’s
1930s Italy, during Mussolini’s reign. Trintignant is Marcello, a wannabe
social climber… but to do so, he must during those years be a member of
Mussolini’s party and, well, a fascist. Most of his friends are members of the
party, as is his closest pal, a blind man named Italo (José
Quaglio). In 1938, Marcello accepts the assignment to assassinate his former
college professor, Luca Quadri (Enzo Tarascio), a staunch anti-fascist living
in Paris with his wife, Anna (Dominique Sanda). Marcello marries Giulia
(Stefania Sandrelli), a pretty girl who is naïve and rather common, in an
attempt to be “more like ‘normal’ people.” Marcello disguises his true purpose
on the trip to Paris by bringing along Giulia, and he is shadowed by his
handler, Agent Manganiello (Gastone Moschin, recognizable to Western audiences
as Don Fanucci from The Godfather Part II). Once in Paris, Marcello and
Giulia enjoy social gatherings with the Quadris, and there is some eyebrow-raising
hanky-panky that occurs between Anna and not only Marcello, but also Giulia!
(The seductive dance between Anna and Giulia at a party is a highlight of the
movie, and stills from the sequence dominated its marketing.) In the meantime,
Marcello is struggling with his assignment. Thrown into his head torment is the
trauma he suffered back in 1917, when as a boy he was molested by a young man.
There
is a lot going on within the characters’ psyches in The Conformist. It
is a rich, deeply layered motion picture that asks many questions and provides
few answers. Some sequences were shocking in 1970 and are still disturbing
today. This is potent cinema, providing the early evidence that Bertolucci was
a formidable artist who would push the envelope.
The
RARO Cinema Art Blu-ray edition (from RAROvideousa.com, distributed by Kino
Lorber) is a 2-disk set. The first disk contains a new stunning 4K restoration
from the original camera negative. This is accompanied by an audio commentary
by film critic Bilge Ebiri. The second disk is the 2011 HD restoration that
both Bertolucci and Storaro worked on. The inclusion of the second disk feature
is curious since the new restoration is far, far superior and should be the
go-to viewing. It appears that the second, older version is simply there for
comparison.
Supplements
spread over the two disks include an interview with Valentina Ricciardelli, the
president of the Bernardo Bertolucci Foundation; an hour-long documentary, “In
the Shade of The Conformist”; and trailers of the film from 1970, 2014,
and 2023.
The
Conformist is
for fans of Bernardo Bertolucci, Vittorio Storaro, Jean-Louis Trintignant,
international cinema, and political films.
Writer/Producer Norman Lear has died at the tender of 101. Lear was one of the few remaining people in the entertainment industry that could truthfully be called a legend. His background is far too detailed and remarkable to summarize here but we should remember he was a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Forces and flew over 50 combat missions in Europe in WWII. His admirers may also be surprised to know that he was an Oscar nominee, having been nominated for his screenplay for the acclaimed 1967 comedy "Divorce, American Style". But Lear was best known for transforming the face of American television and, along the way, bringing about important social changes. Lear was a life-long liberal who wanted to address controversial issues through his work. The 1971 premiere of "All in the Family" brought a sea change that no one saw coming. Until then, most American sitcoms were safely following the rule book of presenting non-controversial scenarios. It was rule followed by even the greatest and most beloved comedy shows such as "The Honeymooners" and "The Andy Griffith Show". With "All in the Family", Lear introduced the character of Archie Bunker, played in immortal style by Carroll O'Connor. Archie was a working class stiff from the working class borough of Queens, New York. He was rude, crude, selfish and bigoted. However, Lear was wise enough to also give him redeeming qualities, 'lest audiences would quickly tire of tuning in each week to simply be offended. The scripts caught the tensions of the era, in which dinner time conversation was often a battle between generations.The show was a huge hit that ran for many years and even spawned a successful follow-up series, "Archie Bunker's Place". Lear was also conscious of representing minorities in a humorous but dignified manner. There were predecessors: Diahann Carroll played a Black single working mother a few years earlier in "Julia" and post- "I Spy" Bill Cosby had his own short-lived sitcom years before his legendary 1980s series. But both of these series played it safe in terms of taking on any subjects that might make white viewers uncomfortable. With "Good Times", "Sanford and Son" and "The Jeffersons", Lear brought Black sensibilities to TV for the first time. Audiences of all backgrounds tuned in. Lear's minority characters weren't saints. They were flawed human beings. Audiences appreciated Lear's determination not to be patronizing to the characters.The result probably went a long way to bring about racial understanding, though there's no way to measure the impact. He also produced "Maude", which was also a major hit and show that
promoted women's liberation and touched upon the most sensitive issues
of the day. Norman had his share of flops, but, fittingly, no one remembers them. Only the hits come to mind.
I only spent time with Norman Lear on one occasion, ten years ago at a party he and Carl Reiner hosted for our friend producer David V. Picker in Beverly Hills. Lear was a spry young 91 years-old at the time and listening to him and Reiner engage in hilarious banter, you felt he was immortal. Now he, Carl and David are gone. It's hard to believe they are no longer with us but their work and achievements live on and Norman's legacy is a towering one. Perhaps writer Mike Barnicle expressed it best today on the "Morning Joe" chat show: "He brought America into people's living rooms."
Nicholas Anez’s Science
Fiction Thrills… Horror Chills is the fourth installment of the author’s
“Celluloid Adventures” series, all published by Baltimore’s Midnight Marquee
Press.Although I’m not familiar with Anez’s
original triad, I can reliably muse - based
solely on the strength of his newest effort - the preceding trio are as
well-researched, informative and against-the-grain-in-opinion as is this new
volume.
In his introduction to Science Fiction Thrills, Anez – full disclosure, a contributing
writer to Cinema Retro magazine - informs
readers that his intent in the writing of this current book is to “hopefully
create interest” in fourteen –mostly dismissed upon original release – sci-fi
and horror films.These were films that,
in one way or another, failed to find an appreciative audience despite creative
merit.Being a guy from New Jersey, I
can appreciate Anez’s fighting up from the mat for recognition of these
underdog efforts, championing under-performing films he posits as overlooked
cinematic treasures.
The fourteen films that go under Anez’s microscope are: Son of Dracula (1943), Alias Nick Beal (1949), The Maze (1953), Donovan’s Brain (1953), 1984
(1956), The Mind Benders (1963), Crack in the World (1965), The Mummy’s Shroud (1967), The Power (1968), Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969), The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972), Who? (1974), The Medusa Touch
(1978) and Capricorn One (1978).The latter title, Peter Hyman’s “space
mission” conspiracy film Capricorn One
is, of course, an odd man out in this study.Though not critically praised on its release, the film actually performed
reasonably well at the box office.
Each of Anez’s contributing essays are formulaic in
presentation: an introductory paragraph or two; a multi-page synopsis of the
film’s storyline; a discussion of the movie’s production history (including
full cast and crew credits); a review of a film’s critical reception and
subsequent box office performance.The
book is filled with a score of illustrations – both photographs and promotional
memorabilia - all well-reproduced in balanced black-and-white saturations.The book additionally closes with an eight-page
Appendix where the author lists his favorite sci-fi and horror flicks - as well
what he considers the greatest performances by an actor or actress in both
genres.Suffice to say, I share many of
the author’s cinematic enthusiasms.
To his credit, Anez doesn’t argue that any of the films under
examination - in an extremely readable and cogent two-hundred and fifteen page
paperback - is necessarily a “lost classic.”But Anez does suggest that each film studied here offers challenging
ideas and (mostly) cerebral storylines.Some of the films, he argues, were critically maligned or were proven box
office disappointments for economic reasons: that is, a shortfall of money.Too often the production budgets allotted
were simply too modest to mount and support the project’s ambitions.Having said that, Anez also notes the paucity
of money wasn’t always the reason a particular film did not light up the big
screen as hoped.The author opines some
of the films perhaps simply fell to the wayside due to the carping of critics (i.e.
the alleged miscasting of Edmond O’Brien as “Winston Smith” or of Michael
Andersons’ “unobstructive” direction of George Orwell’s novel 1984).
Other films, such as Basil Dearden’s The Mind Benders, might not have met expectations due to the filmmakers
having chose to mix multiple genre devices into their storylines.Anez gives examples: The Mind Benders is described as being “as much a domestic drama as
a thriller.”He offers John Farrow’s Alias Nick Beal as “a supernatural
horror story,” but one that “also fits in the category of film noir.”The author also contends that Robert
Siodmak’s Son of Dracula (a personal favorite
of mine, featuring an arguably miscast corn-fed Lon Chaney Jr.) remains “a
vastly underrated horror movie that is also a romantic tragedy.”
It soon becomes apparent that Anez’s argument that
certain films failed at the box office - or with film critics – was not due to
the quality of the films themselves.Instead many were perhaps doomed by visionary “outside-of-the-box”
productions that were tough to commercially pigeonhole.Perhaps these films didn’t achieve nor enjoy
a measure of acclaim due to the schematics of the filmmakers.It’s suggested such creative teams, at their
own expense, had gambled on their film’s commercial potentials – perhaps accidentally,
perhaps purposefully.Ultimately, they
chose not to cater to clichés or to rigid formulas or to the expectations of
their target audience.
In the book’s afterword, Anez notes he chose to focus on
“an era in which science-fiction movies depended on ideas and not special effects,” a time when horror films conjured chills
“upon the power of suggestion and not
graphic gore.”Reading through these
essays it becomes obvious that Anez is a strong champion of scenarios that feature
solid writing and cerebral storytelling.It’s of interest that of the fourteen films examined here, no fewer than
eight had been adapted from pre-existing science-fiction novels or other
literary sources published from the 1940s through the 1970s.
Anez acknowledges that some of these films under his
microscope might now appear dated - even open to some ridicule by contemporary
standards - for their dopey, unsophisticated poor-science-based projections.He muses other films might have been doomed at
the box office by their gloomy, paranoid prognostications of a dreary, dystopic
future.(Certainly none of the films Anez
examines here can be thought of as “feel good” movies – quite the opposite, in
fact).Such dystopic melancholia is
reflected in Anez’s own opinions.He
writes of his fear that contemporary exercises of political correctness and encroaching
Orwellian cancel culture movements might yet alter - even expunge – aging artistic
works and forms of “popular culture from the past.”“In today’s Hollywood,” Anez sighs, “nothing
is implied anymore; everything is explicit.”
I’m probably not as fatalistic as Anez on some of the points
he makes, though one can certainly understand – and even sympathize with – some
of the arguments he makes.But by my
reckoning, home video has - from inception - assured that a majority of cultural
artifacts will survive in their original forms for some time well into the
future.Certainly books and films and
music reflective of the aggrieved historical period in which they were created
will survive in their original state.How could they not?There’s too
many of us who have carefully collected and curated these artworks to see them
suddenly made unavailable.But it is also
true that many of these works might – might
- need to co-exist alongside a bowdlerized version for generations to come.
The real question is whether or not our shared histories
– good, bad, tragic, celebratory or indifferent - can be erased easily?The jury is out on that point, and the debate
on the historical revisionism of culture, I imagine, will be argued long into
the future.It’s of interest that many
of the future-looking films that Anez studies in Science Fiction Thrills… Horror Chills cautions and forewarns against
the censorship of free ideas - be those ideas well-meaning, ignorant, brilliant
or otherwise. I was going to end this review with Shakespeare’s famously reflective
and internal ponder on the duality of intentions, “Ay, there’s the rub.”But I
admit I almost didn’t, perhaps employing a bit of guarded self-censorship.After all, Shakespeare, the “immortal bard”
of Avon, might not prove so immortal after all.He too is now a target of cancel culture.
One
of the more under-seen and underrated films from 1985 is John Boorman’s
impressive The Emerald Forest, which gave us an ecological message long
before that was much in the public consciousness.
Of
a more cinematic significance, this picture is a grand adventure full of action
and spectacle, much like Boorman’s Deliverance (1972) or Excalibur (1981)
before it. The production values also indicate that this was no easy feat of a
movie to make.
The
Emerald Forest was
shot in and near São Paolo, Brazil, right smack by the Amazon
River and in the rain forest. Native extras populated much of the movie, which
possibly for the first time provided to audiences of a mainstream motion
picture depictions of how indigenous tribes in the jungle live. The result is
fascinating, and the National Geographic lesson is enhanced by an
exciting tale of kidnapping, exploration, survival, and human trafficking!
Powers
Boothe is Bill, a high-ranking engineer with a corporation that is building a large
hydro-electric dam on the edge of the rain forest. He’s moved his family of a
wife and two young children—a boy and a girl—to the city. One day while
overseeing the work of clearing the area of trees, Bill and his family have a
picnic at the edge of the jungle. Little does he know that the “Invisible
People,” a tribe that has not had contact with civilization, has dared to get
close to what they refer to as “the edge of the world.” When Tommy wanders off,
he is kidnapped by the tribe. Bill thus embarks on a long process to search for
his son, but to no avail.
Ten
years later, Tommy (Charley Boorman) has assimilated into the tribe and become
one of the Invisible People. His “father” of the tribe (Rui Polanah) loves him
like a son, and Tommy loves him back, although he has dreams of “Daddy.” Now
Tommy is ready to take a mate, and he chooses young and beautiful Kachiri (Dira
Paes). Meanwhile Bill and a photographer embark deep into the jungle to look
for Tommy again. They encounter the hostile “Fierce People,” who force Bill to
become prey in a hunt through the jungle. Tommy ends up saving Bill, and the
real father and son reunite. Tommy, however, refuses to accompany Bill back to
his first home. And then the human traffickers enter the story. To say more
would spoil the tale!
There
is a lot of “Tarzan movie” aspects to this picture, but without the
unintentional racism. There is also a lot of nudity of all the indigenous
people on display, which received some criticism when the picture was released
(Dira Paes was only fifteen years old). However, this was not exploitation.
Boorman and his team took great pains to be accurate and truthful in the
depiction of the tribes’ customs and ways. Yes, the Fierce People are portrayed
as the villains and the Invisible People are ultimately shown to be good at
heart (even though they kidnapped a young white boy). There is indeed some idealism
and moral ambiguity going on in The Emerald Forest, especially when it
comes to the film’s climactic raid on a human trafficking center in the jungle.
Finally, there is the message that indigenous people are being wiped out by the
actions of white people who are cutting down rain forests.
Powers
Boothe does an admirable job here, but it is Charley Boorman (son of the
director) who steals the movie. He was around eighteen when the picture was
made, and he manages to speak the indigenous language, perform jungle stunts,
and carry on with his native costars as if he were one of them. Boorman’s
direction is notable, too, given the locale and the cast with whom he had to
work. Philippe Rousselot’s cinematography is also quite commendable.
Kino
Studio Classics’ new Blu-ray release is a welcome one, and its 1920x1080p
presentation is colorful and rich. There is an audio commentary by filmmaker
Edgar Pablos and film historian Nathaniel Thompson that sheds light on the
production. Supplements include the theatrical trailer and other Kino trailers. There is also reversible sleeve artwork.
The
Emerald Forest is
for fans of director John Boorman and of jungle exploration adventures.
Recommended.
(Three
Ages: 1923; Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline)
(Our
Hospitality: 1923; Directed by Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone)
(Cohen
Film Collection)
“KEATON
CLASSICS DOUBLE FEATURE”
By
Raymond Benson
The
availability of Buster Keaton on Blu-ray can be a head-scratcher. Kino Lorber
seems to have the monopoly on Keaton’s features and shorts, but the puzzlement
comes with more than one release of certain titles in Kino’s catalog of disks for
sale. Add to this befuddlement is the Cohen Media Group and their Cohen Film
Collection’s ownership of Keaton’s library. Cohen has also released Keaton
Blu-ray disks—and they’re distributed by Kino Lorber! (And still others
are released by Eureka Entertainment, licensed by Cohen!) Which editions are we
supposed to get?
A
new Cohen Film Collection release, available from Kino Lorber, is The Buster
Keaton Collection, Volume 5, which includes a double bill of the master
filmmaker’s 1923 features—Three Ages and Our Hospitality. (Also
available from Cohen Film Collection are Volumes 1 – 4, which likewise
contain double bills of Keaton’s features from the 1920s.)
Here
on the Cinema Retro site, I reviewed the Kino Lorber release of Our
Hospitality in 2019. Apparently the Kino versions are different
restorations from the Cohen’s restorations. The latter are performed by Cineteca
di Bologna as part of Cohen’s “Keaton Project.” Long ago, Cohen Media Group
acquired the rights from the Keaton estate, even though other companies have
had access to them. I won’t even attempt to sort out the rights issues here. Just
know that the Kino Our Hospitality disk had bonus features, whereas the
Cohen Film Collection double bill discussed here does not contain any
supplements aside from Cohen’s own trailer of Our Hospitality release
and other Cohen releases.
That
said, the Cohen restorations by the Keaton Project are likely the best to come
about. They look marvelous. Bonus features? Who needs supplements when the
feature films are the best quality available?
Three
Ages was
Buster Keaton’s first feature film (not counting The Saphead, 1920, in
which he only starred). Co-directed with Eddie Cline, Keaton presents the
“story of love,” i.e., courtship, in three different time periods—the stone
age, the Roman age, and modern times (the 1920s, of course). The same cast
portrays the same character types in each story, and the film narrative jumps
back and forth between these time periods throughout the run of the picture. Keaton
stars as the “lesser” man when compared to his more attractive, manly, and
wealthier rival played by Wallace Beery. The woman who is the object of both
men’s affection is played by Margaret Leahy (the actress made only one film,
and this is it). Beery’s character is a bully, and Keaton must overcome the
man’s physical strength and social standing with cunning and trickery. There is
certainly amusement and clever bits here, but Three Ages could be called
baby steps for Keaton as a feature filmmaker when compared to later works. Three
Ages was perhaps the Keaton film most in need for preservation, as there
are many instances—a few seconds here and there—in which visual elements are
deteriorated. The restoration folks have done the best they could, and this is
probably the finest you will ever see Three Ages. The lively score for
this release is composed and conducted by Rodney Sauer.
Of
more importance and interest is Our Hospitality, considered one of
Keaton’s greatest works, and it was only his second feature (it is co-directed
by John G. Blystone). The story takes place in the early 1800s and draws upon a
rural family feud like the Hatfields and McCoys—in this case the McKays and
Canfields. When patriarch John McKay is killed by James Canfield (and vice
versa), Mrs. McKay flees with little baby Willie McKay (played by Buster’s
real-life infant son, Buster Keaton Jr.). Twenty years later, Willie inherits
the old family estate in the south and returns to claim it, only vaguely aware
of the feud that has existed for decades. On the way he meets Virginia (played
by Keaton’s wife at the time, Natalie Talmadge), who happens to be a Canfield.
Upon arrival at home, Willie continues to court Virginia, but her brothers
won’t have it. The rest of the picture is a cats-and-mouse game of Willie
avoiding being killed and at the same time wooing the woman he wants to marry.
There
are many striking aspects about the picture. Keaton’s paid great attention to
detail in the design and location shooting. Apparently, he took great pains to
create realistic locomotives and tracks that depicted early train development
in America (although he played with time period accuracy for the sake of more
interesting visuals). The final act contains some spectacular and hair-raising
stunt work by the star, including an incident of falling into rapids and almost
drowning on camera. Mostly, though, the story is well-constructed, the
characters have more depth than in the other silent comedies of the day, and,
in the end, Our Hospitality is one of Keaton’s most satisfying movies.
Interestingly,
it’s the only Keaton film to feature three generations of Keatons—Buster
himself, his previously-mentioned son, and his father, Joe Keaton, as a train
engineer.
The
Cohen presentation here is gorgeous and near perfect. Carl Davis supplied the
wonderful musical score that accompanies it.
For
Buster Keaton fans, you can’t go wrong with this double bill release (nor with
the Cohen Film Collection’s other four volumes). Highly recommended.
The
celebrated filmmaker Elia Kazan’s last picture, The Last Tycoon, was
adapted from celebrated writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last novel (published
unfinished in 1941). Released in 1976, the film features a stellar cast,
Oscar-nominated Art Direction, and a respectful, intelligent screenplay by
playwright Harold Pinter.
And
yet, The Last Tycoon is a noble and interesting failure. That is not to
say it’s not worth seeing. There is a lot to admire in the movie, especially
for audiences interested in Hollywood history.
Robert
De Niro plays Monroe Stahr, the production chief and creative head of one of
the biggest studios in 1930s Hollywood. Anyone who knows anything about this
era of Tinsel Town will realize instantly that the character of Monroe is
inspired by Irving Thalberg, the genius producer who held the same jobs at MGM
during its golden age. He’s young, handsome, smart, and has some health
problems… but he has a way dealing with talent and executives.
Robert
Mitchum is the head of the studio, Pat Brady, perhaps something of the Louis B.
Mayer of the story. His daughter, Cecilia (the radiant Theresa Russell in her
first film) would like nothing more than to be with Monroe, but the
moody and melancholic Monroe, a widower, has his eyes and heart set on the
enigmatic Kathleen (Ingrid Boulting in her first film), a woman of beauty and
mystery who is not part of the Hollywood scene.
Throw
in a supporting cast—the likes of Tony Curtis, Jack Nicholson, Jeanne Moreau,
Ray Milland, Donald Pleasence, Dana Andrews, Peter Strauss, Jeff Corey, John
Carradine, and even a young Anjelica Huston in a small role—and you’ve got
classic Hollywood on the screen.
So
what’s the problem? Pinter’s script does a splendid job of emphasizing the
themes of the novel and Kazan manages to present a gorgeous-looking canvas of
star power and fine acting… but the movie ends up being, well, flat. There’s
something missing.
Guess
what… the missing element is the source material. Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel
is about dreams and ambitions left “unfinished.” Monroe’s “lonely at the top”
persona is because his life and work is unfulfilled, just like the house he’s
building on the beach—it’s unfinished. It’s not even clear that he wants to
finish it.
The
main love story thrust of the movie—that of Monroe pursuing Kathleen—is
ultimately unsatisfying, even if what does occur is what naturally
should. Once again, the issue is that we are left with threads that are vague,
uncertain, and unsettled.
In
a wonderful bit in which a famous novelist played by Donald Pleasence is having
difficulty adapting his style of excessive dialogue to the movies, Monroe
improvises a scene without characters speaking by describing what a character
“sees,” and in turn, what the audience sees. When Monroe stops without
completing the scene, Pleasence asks, “What happens next?” And Monroe has made
his point that the pictures are a visual medium.
What
happens next? Exactly.
Unfinished.
There
is an intriguing subplot tease involving the possible formation of a writers
union (in which one of those “commie” organizers from New York, played by
Nicholson, attempts to come to terms with Monroe), but this, too, is never
resolved. The sequence is doubly ironic in that Kazan himself was embroiled in
the HUAC Red Scare witch hunts in Hollywood in the 1950s, and there was a large
faction in that town who had knives out for the director in later years for his
cooperation with the government.
It
was an honorable attempt to bring Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon to the
screen, though. Revisiting the picture after nearly fifty years, seeing these
actors again when they were young and vibrant, and delving into the myths and ambiguities
of the Golden Age of Hollywood is still very much worth the time.
Kino
Classics’ Blu-ray release features a handsome 1920x1080 restoration that shows
off Victor J. Kemper’s cinematography and the lush production design by Gene
Callahan, Jack T. Collis, and Jerry Wunderlich. There is an audio commentary by
film historian Joseph McBride, who shines light on the darkness of this strange
piece of cinema. Trailers of other Kino Lorber titles round out the
supplements.
The
Last Tycoon is
for fans of classic Hollywood, Robert De Niro, Elia Kazan, Harold Pinter, and
any of the other actors featured in this unusual presentation.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
On November 28th, Arrow Video brings
director Roger Vadim’s Barbarella to 4K UHD and Blu-ray with a brand
new, eye-popping 4K restoration from the original negative. The film is based
on the scandalous international comic book and stars Jane Fonda as a
beautiful and intrepid cosmic adventurer. The story follows space vixen,
Barbarella, as she engages in sexy, interplanetary romps while trying to stop
the evil Durand Durand (Milo O'Shea) from using the ultimate weapon of
mass destruction he’s created. Featuring actors John Phillip Law, Marcel
Marceau, David Hemmings, Claude Dauphin, and Anita
Pallenberg, and an out-of-this-world ‘60s pop visual style, Barbarella
is a feast for the eyes in 4K UHD.
The two-disc 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray
limited edition bonus content includes a reversible sleeve and a fold-out
poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tula Lotay; six
double-sided collector’s postcards; an illustrated collector’s booklet
featuring new writing on the film by Anne Billson, Paul Gravett, Véronique
Bergen and Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, and select archival material.
Both discs are loaded with bonus
content, including audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, trailers, image
galleries and more.
Click here for full details and to order from Amazon
RETRO-ACTIVE: MEMORABLE ARTICLES FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
By
Hank Reineke
In September of 2021 I attended Manhattan’s Quad Cinema screening
of Thomas Hamilton’s affectionate documentary Boris Karloff: the Man Behind the Monster.As a life-long fan of the actor - and the
owner of dozens of books examining the actor’s career in film, stage and radio
- this was the sort of career-spanning appraisal I was hoping to someday
see.Then, only a few weeks following
that theatrical screening, Cinema Retro
was provided a stream of the doc for critical review.This enabled me to watch the film a second
time, revisiting bits of commentary I had missed or recalled only hazily.At the time the stream was provided to Cinema Retro, it was still uncertain if Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
would be offered on physical media.That
question was answered in October 2022 when the film became available as a two-disc
combo Blu ray/DVD set from Voltage Films/Abramorama.
In the sixteen-page booklet that’s included in the set, director
Hamilton advises both he and scripter Ronald MacCloskey originally envisioned
their Karloff doc as a bold “4-hour, 2-part film or a 6 part miniseries.”They certainly had enough material to do so,
with a reported 60+ hours of interviews involving no fewer than fifty-five
subjects.And, that sixty hours of
recorded interviews, of course, didn’t include the footage gleaned from
Karloff’s fabled filmography.
While you’re not going to find some sixty-odd hours of
extras on this release,the set does suggest that it offers an expanded
director’s cut (titled on packaging - but not on the film itself - as Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story).This is a bit curious.The version screened theatrically at the Quad
ran 103 minutes – at least as per its billing at the cinema.The
Rest of the Story disc runs one hour and forty-three minutes.Which, if my math skills haven’t failed,
equals the same 103 minutes of running time.
Of course the new set does feature two additional bonus
selections.The first, Meeting Boris Karloff, is, truthfully,
not a terribly essential addition, but not uninteresting.It’s an offering of fourteen minutes of interview/commentary
by three figures a bit tangential to Karloff’s legend.Of the trio, author and film historian Kevin
Brownlow shares his reminisce of his November 1964 interview with Karloff.He recalls Karloff as an interesting
interviewee – one who wasn’t remiss to take issue or correct erroneous information
found in the press clippings Brownlow had collected.But he noted Karloff always challenged misinformation
in a gentlemanly manner.
Andrew Pratt, described as a “great nephew” of the actor,
then shyly recounts his one and only meeting with his great uncle.He credits that meeting as inspiration to
pursue a career in film art direction – a career that would earn him a number
of nominations and awards from the Academy, BAFTA, and the Art Directors
Guild.The last subject interviewed was
Anthony Bilbow, a television host of BBC-2’s Late Night Line-Up. His only real connection to Karloff was when
the actor was a guest on the program, September of 1968.He recalls Karloff as a gentleman kind and
warm, modest and self-effacing – but not in a “counterfeit” sort of way.
The final bonus feature of the set is a three-minute
interview with the co-scriptwriter of Boris
Karloff: the Man Behind the Monster, Ron MacCloskey.This New Jersey-based writer and comedian
fell under Karloff’s spell at age seven, having caught Frankenstein on a late night TV telecast.A collector of Frankenstein memorabilia,
MacCloskey’s interest in Karloff’s work proved lifelong and ultimately led to
his teaming with director Thomas Hamilton to start shooting this documentary in
2018.
If the doc itself is truly an expanded version of the original,
it doesn’t really change or radically alter anything presented in the
theatrical cut.I’m more than willing to
stand corrected if indeed, the doc is offered here in an expanded form.My frame-by-frame memories of those 2021
screenings are all a bit hazy now, so I can’t say with any certainty if extra
footage/commentary was included.But, if
you missed it the first time, I’ll tack on my original “streaming” review of
October of 2021.I very much enjoyed the
doc on its original run and my opinion of its merit has not changed at all.Read on, should you wish:
There’s a telling moment at the dénouement of Thomas
Hamilton’s and Ron MacCloskey’s affectionate documentary Boris Karloff: The Man behind the Monster.Sara Karloff, the now eighty-two year old daughter
of the beloved actor, opines that her father’s lasting cinematic legacy is due,
in part, to the tenaciousness of his devoted fan base.It’s a demographic that we soon discover
consists of a number of amazingly creative people: folks whose loyalty to and
enthusiasm for Karloff’s work has not wavered over the decades.Sara’s contention is inarguably true.As this ninety-nine minute Voltage
Films/Abramorama documentary unspools – crisply narrated by Paul Ryan and
featuring commentary by preeminent Karloff scholar and “Biographical
Consultant” Stephen Jacobs - we discover the actor’s admirer’s bridge several
generations of fans and filmmakers.
The first generation to discover Karloff in the decades
following his big splash as the Frankenstein monster in 1931, include directors
Roger Corman and Peter Bogdanovich.Both
men would have the opportunity and honor to work with the actor in his twilight
years.The second generation of admirers
were those introduced to Karloff via neighborhood cinema screenings or through
television broadcasts of Shock Theater
in the late 1950s/early 1960s.
These filmmakers, profoundly influenced by Karloff’s art,
would go on to create a few cinematic gems of their own:John Landis, Joe Dante, and Guillermo Del
Toro, to name a few.The latter
gentleman is particularly effusive in his praise, describing Karloff’s
performance as the vampiric Wurdalak
in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath as a
“tremendous” example of the great actor’s “physical presence, his majesty, his
demonic power.”
If the documentary is chock-full of talented filmmakers offering
tributes, the film is also supported by the erudite commentaries of film
scholars David J. Skal (The Monster Show:
a Cultural History of Horror), Gregory W. Mank (Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: the Expanded Story of a Haunting
Collaboration), Donald F. Glut (The
Frankenstein Legend: a tribute to Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff), Sir
Christopher Frayling (Frankenstein: the
first Two Hundred Years), and critic Leonard Maltin.
There are also short tributes and reminisces by several
actors – three now gone - who had worked with Karloff at some point in their
career: Dick Miller (The Terror),
Christopher Plummer (The Lark, Even the Weariest River), Ian Ogilvy (The Sorcerers), and Orson Bean (Arsenic and Old Lace).Karloff’s tells part of his own story through
audio recordings made available to the filmmakers courtesy of the British cinema
historian/author Kevin Brownlow (The
Parades Gone By…) and the Pacifica Radio Archive.
It has long annoyed me that when one searches out the
term “Boris Karloff” in the ever-expanding IMDB, the resulting prompt
identifies the actor’s signature film as The
Grinch that Stole Christmas (1966).My daughters would remind me that my personal agitation of this result is,
by definition, a “first world” problem, one hardly worthy of condemnation.But as cinema’s preeminent boogeyman for four
decades, seeing Karloff’s storied career reduced to a role featuring only his
disembodied voice as the Grinch… Well, let’s just say that I still find it somewhat
misleading and inappropriate.
Be that as it may, Hamilton’s film reminds Karloff
himself might disagree with my wariness of the Grinch being bandied as the
cinematic crown jewel of the actor’s legacy.Sara Karloff recalls receiving a phone call from her father immediately
following his recording of the narration for that beloved Dr. Seuss vehicle.The actor we learn was profoundly happy with
his work on the now-famous animated holiday classic, telling his daughter
proudly, “I’ve done something which I think is pretty good.”
Karloff would pass away a couple of years following the
first broadcast of The Grinch that Stole
Christmas, but he worked to the very end of his days, appearing in a number
of memorable – and a few less-than-memorable – films, several of which would see
release in years following his passing.His last films were little more than cameo-length appearances shot on a
Hollywood sound stage.It was director
Jack Hill’s idea to take the Karloff footage from these shoots and blend the
results into a series of Mexican horror films.
Karloff, rightly and proudly, would choose to refer to
his spell-binding turn as the semi-autobiographical aging horror film actor Byron
Orlok in Bogdanovich’s Targets (1968)
as his feature film swan song.Technically,
it wasn’t.But the brief appearances in that
post- Target series of Hollywood-Mexico
co-production mash-ups were mostly an excuse for an old pro to continue to ply
his trade and keep busy.But working
oxygen-tank dependent and wheelchair bound on the Jack Hill-directed sequences,
Karloff was prevented from doing much of anything with the already somewhat
cut-and-paste material given to him.
Karloff, of course, was not the only “horror film” star
of the genre’s celebrated Golden Age of the 1930s and 40s. Karloff, we learn, was actually not happy with
the designation “horror movie”, much preferring his films to be termed as
“thrillers” or “shock” pictures. His contemporary competitor as grand ghoul of
the horror film - one whose own legacy would burn bright into the next century -
was Bela Lugosi.Although Lugosi had too
often played second-fiddle to Karloff in matters of employment and billing, the
Hungarian’s post-mortem fame may have eclipsed his friend’s star over the last few
decades.
For starters, Lugosi’s sad and lurid dependency on morphine
and alcohol in his final years made him the subject of tabloid fodder, and
gossip then – and now – still rules.Lugosi’s
slow demise coupled with his appearances in several of Edward J. Wood’s revered
cult films brought him a big degree of post-mortem fame.A brand new generation would discover the
actor through Martin Landau’s Oscar-winning turn as Lugosi in Tim Burton’s
semi-biographical drama Ed Wood.
To be fair, Lugosi’s string of mad performances in Wood’s
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957), Bride of the Monster (1955), and Glen or Glenda (1953) are, in many ways,
were no less better or worse or more undistinguished than Karloff’s walk-ons in
the creaky Jack Hill/Mexi-horror films of spring 1968. Though both sets of films are passably
entertaining in their own uneven, cult-ish ways, both actor’s cinematic exits
were ignoble ends to these two great men who famously made audiences shiver in
1931.
James Whale’s Frankenstein
would ultimately transform Karloff into a full-fledged movie star, but it had
been a long road to achieving such fame.The actor had been working on various Hollywood backlots since the
silent era.In the course of his
earliest silent film efforts – beginning with such titles as The Lightning Raider (1919) and His Majesty, the American (1919) – he
worked as little more than an extra.His
subsequent fame would cause a score of budding film historians to carefully
survey battered old prints of Karloff’s earliest filmography in the often
futile hope of catching a glimpse as he passed by the camera.
In truth, his decade-long career as a silent film actor
was mostly non consequential.He would
appear in approximately sixty or so silent films between 1919 and 1929.He would, on occasion, be gifted a role of
some heft, most notably as that of “The Mesmerist” in The Bells (1926) opposite Lionel Barrymore, but he was most often
cast in adventure-orientated serials as a heavy, or as a Hindu, Mexican or an Arab,
a mystic or a general ne’er-do-well.
It was his casting as the sadistic “Galloway” in Howard
Hawk’s sound prison drama The Criminal
Code (1930) that brought him to the attention of Universal executives
looking to cast a suitably cadaverous-appearing actor as the Frankenstein
monster.Following Lugosi’s rejection of
the part due to the absence of dialogue afforded, Bela’s pass on the role was
fortuitous for Karloff.He was still hungry
and looking for that big break.Although
the role of the monster would forever typecast him, the actor remained forever
grateful for having taking the role in Frankenstein,
once describing the career door-opening creature as “the best friend I ever
had.”
It’s not hard to see why Karloff’s portrayal of the
monster remains the preeminent of the Universal series.He was, after all, the only actor to have
been given the opportunity to actually act and emote, to bring a sense of pathos
to the role.He was abetted, of course,
by Jack Pierce’s iconic make-up which, rather than masking, cannily sculpted
and made highlight of Karloff’s facial features and sunken cheeks.This gave the monster, according to one of
the participants in the documentary, a “full expression range.”The trio of actors who would subsequently
portray the monster in the Universal series simply weren’t given the
opportunity to apply any emotive effect of their own.Even by Son
of Frankenstein (1939), the third film in the series, the screenwriters had
already reduced the monster into little more than a hulking, lumbering menace
and henchman.
It is discouraging to learn that when Frankenstein had its gala premiere in
the autumn of 1931, Karloff was not even invited to attend.He was already forty-four years of age when
he assumed the role, a no-name celebrity and hardly a handsome matinee idol of
any recognition.The unexpected
phenomenal success of Frankenstein
would change all that, and Universal was quick to capitalize on the actor’s
sudden notoriety as Hollywood’s most beloved boogeyman.Karloff’s natural proclivity for taking on
roles of menacing villainous characters with icy stares would allow his casting
into a string of Golden Age horror classics – not only for Universal but for
other studios as well, including memorable turn in MGM’s The Mask of Fu Manchu.The
latter remains a great, entertaining film… if undeniably one of the most
politically-incorrect lavish big studio productions of the 1930s.
When the market for horror films softened in the
mid-1940s – thanks, in part, due to the horror genre’s continuing perceived transgressions
of the Hays Code - Karloff easily transitioned to character roles, where,
according to his daughter, her father’s natural “dark coloring,” permitted him
to slip easily into “ethnic roles.”As
one of the founders of the Screen Actors Guild, he was able to exercise his
freelance status by working for, amongst others, RKO, Columbia, Monogram, and
Warner Bros.
Another avenue of opportunity had presented itself around
this same time.In 1941 Karloff was
lured, against his better judgement according to this film, to take on the Broadway
role of the villainous Jonathan Brewster in Joseph L. Kesselring’s stage play Arsenic and Old Lace.It was to his life-long disappointment that a
clause in his theatrical stage contract prevented his returning to Hollywood –
as did several fellow members of the original Broadway cast – to reprise the
role for the much beloved Frank Capra film adaptation of 1944.
Though initially frightened to work in theatre before a
live audience, the success of Arsenic
emboldened Karloff to accept several other roles in such Broadway productions as
The Lark (with Julie Harris), The Linden Tree, The Shop at Sly Corner, and even in a memorable turn as Captain
Hook in a 1950 production of Peter Pan.Fortunately, we of a certain age who missed
out still can get a small taste of what we missed since kinescopes survive from
early Hallmark Hall of Fame
broadcasts of the original production of The
Lark and a 1961 re-staging of Arsenic
and Old Lace.
Though Karloff’s work in radio is mostly ignored in this
documentary, the film does take pains to point out that he was among the first
movie stars of his generation to fully embrace television.Though he would often appear in serious
televisions drams for such programs as Texaco
Star Theater or Playhouse 90, he
was not above spoofing his own curious fame as Hollywood’s grandest ghoul on
any number of variety programs hosted by the likes of Red Skelton or Dinah
Shore.
(Stefanie Powers and Robert Vaughn with Karloff in "The Mother Muffin Affair" on "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." (Photo: Cinema Retro Archives)
In the 1960s, he would famously host (and occasionally
act) in episodes of the television program Thriller,
or appear in drag as “Mother Muffin” in an episode of The Girl from U.N.C.L.E – or with former U.N.C.L.E. agent Robert
Vaughn in the spy-film The Venetian
Affair (1966).Joe Dante also
references the series of wonderful long-playing albums Karloff would record
over the years, his unmistakable, lisping voice introducing children to a wonderful
selection of folk tales, ghost stories, Washington Irving classics, and
time-worn fables.
Boris
Karloff: the Man behind the Monster reminds us that the actor (1887-1969)
accomplished a lot in his eighty-one-years, a large percentage of which would
encompass appearances on screen, on stage, on air, on record, and on
television.To their credit, the
filmmakers share what they can in the constraint of the film’ ninety-nine
minute running time, and the film certainly succeeds as an excellent
primer.Karloff wonks like myself might
hold out hope that a multi-part, Ken Burns-style series might someday be put
into the works, but I imagine that’s unlikely.One hundred and thirty four years have passed since Karloff’s birth.The fact that contemporary audiences remain completely
entranced by his filmography in 2021 is testament enough to the worthiness of
this loving tribute painting him as one of Hollywood’s greatest.
Supernatural Horror Classic, The
Devil’s Partner (1961) Newly Restored 4K Special Edition
Includes Newly Restored Bonus
Film, Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961)
On Blu-ray & DVD Jan. 16th
Special Features Includes New Interview With Roger Corman
ROCKPORT, Mass. — January 2024 — For Immediate Release — Vintage film restoration and distribution company Film Masters continues its tribute to the pope of pop cinema, Roger Corman, with the third installment of The Filmgroup series on Blu-ray and DVD, The Devil’s Partner, available Jan. 16.
Corman and his brother, Gene, founded The Filmgroup to distribute their own films. While the company did produce the majority of its films, including the cult classic Creature From the Haunted Sea, it also occasionally acquired projects by other filmmakers, as is the case with The Devil's Partner (1961). From director Charles R. Rondeau, the film is a macabre tale of an elderly man who regains his youth after making a deal with the devil.During the summer and fall of 1961, the two films were often paired as a double feature.
Half Man, Half Beast, He Sold his Soul for Passion — Director/actor Edgar Buchanan (best known as Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction)
appears in this supernatural thriller about an old codger trying to
reclaim his youth, employing black magic to lure a woman away from his
rival. The film also stars Jean Allison,Richard Crane and Ed Nelson.
This well-crafted, independent feature has been hailed for its
atmosphere and as a pioneering film in the devil worshiping subgenre
made popular in the ‘70s.
Made in 1958, The Devil’s Partnerlanguished with no release date until it was picked up and distributed by The Filmgroup, becoming a steady presence on the drive-in circuit, often appearing in tandem with Creature from Haunted Sea, another Corman classic from the golden age of drive-in schlock.
This spoof of spy/gangsters/monster movies stars Anthony Carbone
as a gangster and smuggler who decides to kill members of the ship’s
bungling crew and blame their deaths on a legendary sea creature. What
he doesn’t know is that the creature is actually out there!Also starring Betsy Jones-Moreland and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown) under the pseudonym Edward Wain.
?
The film was conceived when Corman finished shooting The Last Woman on Earth in Puerto Rico and discovered he had enough film left over to make another film. He enlisted long-time associate Charles B. Griffith,
who—legend goes—had six days to write the script. Ever the pragmatist
when it came to budget, Corman recruited locals to appear in this film
as extras.
Special Features:Commentary for The Devil’s Partner is by Larry Strothe, James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan and Matt Weinhold of the Monster Party podcast; theatrical-length commentary for Creature From the Haunted Sea
is by fan favorite Tom Weaver, with contributions from Roger Corman,
Kinta Zertuche and Larry Blamire. Weaver also provides the liner notes
for the film. Ballyhoo Motion Picturescontributes Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story
with Part III of the story, as well as their new interview with Roger
Corman on the formation of The Filmgroup; recut trailers, based on the
original theatrical trailers; original Creature From the Haunted Sea theatrical trailer (from 16mm archival elements scanned in 4k); and a full essay for The Devil’s Partner by author Mark McGee.
Both films are presented with a theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, as well as in a 1.37:1 television format. The televised version of Creature From the Haunted Seaincludes anadditional
15 minutes of footage shot years later to extend the film for a sale to
Allied Artists. Discs are region free and include English SDH.Audio is DTS-HD/Dolby AC3s.
"Young Billy Young" is the kind of film of which it can be said, "They don't make 'em like that anymore". Not because the movie is so exceptional. In fact, it isn't exceptional on any level whatsoever. Rather, it's the sheer ordinariness of the entire production that makes one pine away for an era in which top talent could be attracted to enjoyable, if unremarkable, fare such as this. Such films, especially Westerns, were churned out with workmanlike professionalism to play to undemanding audiences that didn't require mega-budget blockbusters to feel they got their money's worth at the boxoffice. Sadly, such movies have largely gone the way of the dodo bird. In today's film industry, bigger must always be better and mid-range flicks such as are no longer made. However, through streaming services such as ScreenPix, it's possible to still enjoy the simple pleasures that such movies provide. (The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is now out of print.)
The story opens with botched robbery in Mexico committed by Billy Young (Robert Walker) and some cohorts including Jesse (David Carradine). The plan to steal horses from the Mexican military goes awry and Billy is forced to split from his fellow robbers with the army in hot pursuit. Making his way back across the border to New Mexico, he is penniless and desperate. He has a chance encounter with Ben Kane (Robert Mitchum), a tough, sarcastic older man who he encounters again in a nearby town. Here, Billy is being cheated at cards by the local sheriff, who goads him into a gunfight. Billy ends up killing him but stands to be framed for the sheriff's death. He's saved by Ben, who rides along with him to another town where Ben has agreed to take on the job of lawman. Ostensibly he is there to keep order and collect back taxes from deadbeats but in reality, he is on a mission of revenge. Some years before, Ben's son had been gunned down by a criminal named Boone (John Anderson) and Kane has learned that Boone is a presence in the new town and that he is being protected by a local corrupt businessman, John Behan (Jack Kelly). Ben makes his presence known immediately by enforcing the law in a strict manner. He's confronted by Behan, who tries to intimidate him. This results in Behan being slapped around by Kane. Behan also grows to resent the new lawman because he is flirting with his mistress, saloon entertainer Lily Beloit (Angie Dickinson). When Behan abuses her as punishment, he gets another beating from Kane. Meanwhile, Billy runs into Jesse and accuses him of having deserted him in Mexico. The two men fight it out and Jesse is later involved with the accidental shooting of the town's beloved doctor while in the employ of Behan. Kane learns that Jesse is Boone's son and holds him in jail as bait for Boone to come out of hiding. The plan works all too well. Boone turns up with a small army and lays siege to the jailhouse where Kane and Billy are holed up.
"Young Billy Young" was compared to a TV show by New York Times critic Howard Thompson on the basis that it contains so many standard elements of westerns from this time period. There is the bad girl with the heart of gold, the evil business tycoon, the brash young gun and his wiser, older mentor, the heroes outnumbered by superior forces and a lovable old coot (played against type by Paul Fix in full Walter Brennan/Gabby Hayes mode.) Yet somehow it all works very well, thanks mostly to Robert Mitchum's stalwart presence. With his trademark ramrod stiff walk and cool persona, Mitchum tosses off bon mots like a frontier version of 007. Even the Times acknowledged that "Mitchum can do laconic wonders with a good wise-crack". He has considerable chemistry with Dickinson, though the action between the sheets is more implied than shown. Robert Walker Jr. acquits himself well in the title role and David Carradine makes an impression even with limited screen time. The film was directed by Burt Kennedy, an old hand at directing fine westerns in reliable, if not remarkable, style and it all culminates in a rip-snorting shoot-out that is genuinely exciting. The fine supporting cast includes Willis Bouchey, Parley Baer and Deanna Martin (Dino's daughter) in her acting debut. One oddball element to the film: Mitchum croons the title song over the opening credits. If this sounds strange, keep in mind that Mitchum improbably once had a hit album of calypso music.
The film is currently streaming on ScreenPix, which is available to Amazon Prime customers for $2.99 a month.
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
By Lee Pfeiffer
There has been a very positive response to Cinema Retro's coverage of
"B" WWII movies in some of our back issues. Writer Howard Hughes concentrated on the films produced by Oakmont Productions, the
British-based company that financed and released such modestly-budgeted
gems as Attack on the Iron Coast, The Thousand Plane Raid, Hell Boats,
and Mosquito Squadron. These films had no lofty pretenses of being
potential Oscar winners. Instead, they were made simply to generate a
modest profit. However, they tended to be intelligently scripted and
well-directed and acted, with showcase roles afforded to stars who
didn't usually get top-billing (Lloyd Bridges, Christopher George, David
McCallum). The 1970 film Underground was not an Oakmont production but
is largely indistinguishable from the company's catalog of titles. It
stars Robert Goulet as Dawson, an embittered American agent for military
intelligence who is based in England. Dawson is wracked by guilt
because his mission behind German lines in occupied France ended
disastrously. Both he and his fellow agent (his wife) were captured.
Dawson, under extreme torture, revealed his wife's true identity and she
suffered a horrendous death at the hands of the Gestapo. Dawson managed
to escape and make his way back to England, though how he achieved this
remarkable feat is glossed over in the script. The film opens with
Dawson bluffing his way aboard a plane carrying a fellow agent on a new
mission over occupied France. Dawson, who is determined to atone for his
previous failure by taking on this mission himself, disables the agent
and parachutes in his place to meet his contacts in the French
Resistance. His French underground colleagues find him to be a bitter,
unpleasant man and it isn't long before they realize that he is an
imposter for their real contact. Nevertheless, Dawson persuades them to
let him carry out the important mission which involves kidnapping a high
profile German general who has vital intelligence information and
bringing him back to England. Dawon's team is headed by Boule (Lawrence
Dobkin), a headstrong and valiant man who frequently locks horns with
Dobson over strategy. The team also includes Yvonne (Daniele Gaubert), a
beautiful agent who is Boule's wife. Complications ensue when Dawson
shows his more human side and he and Yvonne secretly become lovers.
Underground is the kind of film that often receives the backhanded
praise of benefiting from "workmanlike" efficiency from its stars and
director Arthur H. Nadel. Yet, like the Oakmont productions, it probably
plays better in today's era of overblown, CGI-stuffed action movies
than it did at the time of its initial release. The film is tightly
scripted and the plan to capture the German general is straight out of a
top-of-the-line Mission: Impossible episode. The movie was shot on
location in Ireland but the countryside passes convincingly for France.
Goulet, grim and determined, makes for an impressive leading man and
there are fine turns by Lawrence Dobkin and Carl Duering, who is
impressive as the German general who adds a clever plot twist to the
story line. Like most of these WWII mini "epics" of the period, the
production team manages to make the film look far more expensive than it
probably was. The action sequences are exciting and well-staged,
particularly a climactic shootout as Dawson awaits the arrival of a
British plane on a makeshift runway as German forces close in on him and
his team.
Underground has been released by MGM as a region-free DVD with a rather bland cover design instead of the terrific original poster artwork. Transfer quality is very good but there are no bonus extras.
We basically
became friends because we both loved The Prisoner. They were showing the
series on Channel 4 for its 25th anniversary; we were both hooked and stayed
hooked, too. As with a lot of people, the tedium and restrictions of lockdown
led us to consider the idea of a podcast. There were a few Prisoner
podcasts already out there, but they were either a bit dry and professorial or
strangely dismissive. One frustrating aspect was the apocryphal information
that had cemented itself as part of Prisoner lore, we really wanted to
set the record straight where we could.
The ‘Free For
All’ podcast was an absolute hoot to make, and it brought us into contact with
loads of Prisoner devotees from around the world. We’d expected a bit of
pushback from a certain type of social media gatekeeper, but there was
absolutely none. Plus, we got to interview Prisoner stars Derren Nesbitt
and Jane Merrow, which was a thrill.
The problem with
making a podcast about something as finite as a 17-episode TV series is that
once it’s done, it’s done. We’ve made some specials (a Columbo episode
and a look at Danger Man aka Secret Agent) and have more in the
works, but ultimately, we were Prisoner-ed out.
We thought that
what we’d recorded had the makings of an entertaining book. It had to be more
than just a transcription of what we’d said in the podcast, but we did
incorporate some of that element into the text to give it a conversational
feel. With the book, as well as the podcast, we wanted readers to feel that
they were hanging out with like-minded friends. This was also an opportunity to
create an entry point for new viewers by injecting contemporary connections and
a lot of humour, making it accessible to everyone.
We also felt that
we’d uncovered things about The Prisoner that didn’t seem to be covered
in any of the literature or ongoing discussions. We have some theories about
the controversial final episode ‘Fall Out’, that we think, are quite unique and
stand up to scrutiny better than many of the tired 1960s drug culture theories.
As much as the book is a deliberately fun and entertaining read (even if your
memory of The Prisoner is a bit rusty), it holds its own as critical
analysis of a much-discussed series.
(L to R: Authors Chris Bainbridge & Cai Ross.)
There were a few
obstacles to overcome, mainly in the form of rights issues. Necessity being the
mother of invention, we created a Prisoner-ish original, with the
invaluable help of Alan Hayes, the book’s designer, Prisoner expert Rick
Davy and talented graphic artist Jemima Duncalf, who illustrated it.
I hope that it
will sit snugly on the shelf in amongst the grand tomes that make up The
Prisoner library. It’s a testament to the enduring fascination of Patrick
McGoohan’s extraordinary series that the number of books written about it is
still growing nearly sixty years after it first appeared.
Here's a vintage public service announcement in which John Wayne promotes the American Cancer Society. Strangely, the spot has some factual errors. The Duke says he went for a check up after completing his 199th film...which may be accurate if you count every chapter in the old serials he made as a separate movie. The segment shows him in "North to Alaska", which was released in 1960. In fact, Wayne came down ill while filming "In Harm's Way" in 1964 and had a lung removed shortly thereafter which did save his life. The spot goes on to have him show a clip from the 1969 movie "True Grit" which he says was seven years after his diagnosis. In fact, the film came out only five years after his cancer surgery. Well, at least the spot was well meaning and did cause a spike in people getting cancer screenings.
If there is such thing as a family-oriented sex farce, the 1969 hit "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell" fits the description. The delightful concoction stars Gina Lollobrigida as Carla Campbell, a vivacious woman of relative wealth who lives in a modest Italian village. She is known for her rather upscale lifestyle that includes a live-in maid, Rosa (Naomi Stevens) and the fact that she can afford to send her 18 year-old daughter to a fancy American university in Switzerland. Life is very pleasing for Carla, who is known for using her money for charitable purposes. She has told everyone that she came by her wealth when her husband, an American officer named Captain Campbell died in action during WWII. She tells a moving tale about how she married him when he took shelter at her house when she was only 16 years old. They fell in love, married and had only a few days together before he was shipped out and killed in battle. During their brief marriage, she became pregnant with their daughter Gia (Janet Margolin), who is now far more American than Italian in her speech and mannerisms. Carla claims that her financial security comes from her late husband's family in America, which has been kind enough to send ample checks every month to provide for her and Gia. Carla also has her own boy toy, hunky Vittorio (Philippe Leroy in a very amusing performance), who oversees her small wine business. As with most Italian lovers depicted in comedies of this period, the two spend a good deal of time verbally sparring with each other but every time one of them threatens to leave, the other uses sex as lure to get her/him back.
A crisis erupts one fine morning when Carla discovers the town is preparing to host a reunion of American airmen who were stationed there during the war. Turns out she has been living a lie. She confides to Rosa and Vittorio that there had never been a "Captain Campbell" who she married. In fact, she created him out of thin air to cover the fact she was pregnant and took the name from a can of Campbell's soup! In reality, three different airmen had been housed with her family during the same week. As one moved out, another moved in...and she had relations with each of them. At the war's end, she was not certain which of them was the real father of her baby so she wrote to each man and told him he was the father. The three men all believed that he was her only lover and dutifully and secretly sent checks to Carla over a period of twenty years, continuing the practice even after they married and had kids of their own. Now the three ex-G.I.'s are coming to town and will expect to slip away from their spouses and see Carla. Making matters worse, Gia has heard about the reunion and has made a surprise return from school in order to meet the men of her father's fighting unit. All the set pieces are now firmly in place for a traditional Italian farce. There is a script flaw in that the film should be taking place some years earlier, as the age of some of the characters doesn't add up. Also, as the movie was released in 1968, why are the Americans visiting Italy to celebrate their 20th anniversary reunion? That would mean they were in the country three years after the war ended.
The three men who think they are Gia's father are a diverse lot. Justin Young (Peter Lawford) is an aristocratic playboy who is accompanied by his long-suffering wife Lauren (Marian Moses), who can barely endure his constant womanizing. She correctly assumes that he intends to hook up with another girl while in Italy for the reunion, though she doesn't know that he believes he will be seeing the mother of his daughter. Walter Braddock (Telly Savalas) also has an abrasive relationship with his wife Fritzie (Lee Grant), who constantly throws painful insults at him because the couple can't have children. (Walter doesn't believe the medical diagnosis because he feels he fathered Gia). Then there's Phil Newman (Phil Silvers) and his loyal wife Shirley (Shelly Winters in full Shelly Winters mode). The couple has their young sons along for the trip and Phil finds that every time he concocts a way to meet up with Carla, family responsibilities intrude. Finally, each man manages to contact her and Carla finds herself in the unenviable position of having them all make secret visits to her villa at the same time. This results in the predictable madcap scene in which she tries to hide them from each other. Director Melvin Frank (who co-wrote the script) demonstrates an ability to make such ancient comedy scenarios work, thanks in no small part to the presence of those great male second bananas, each of whom gets plenty of screen time. (Only Lawford seems miscast. He looks too much like a dapper movie star and no one attempts to explain why an American airman has a British accent.) Carla's complex situation becomes increasingly troublesome as pace becomes frantic, resulting in car chases, lovers quarrels, the unveiling of long-kept secrets and a very moving and sentimental finale.
Lollobrigida gives one of her best performances in this film and was nominated for a Golden Globe. The sheer amount of talent on display makes us point out once again that in days of old, such marvelous actors were taken for granted. Today, there is a dearth of great character actors and the film industry is not better off because of it. The film zips along at a brisk pace, accompanied by Riz Ortalani's inspired score, topped off by the infectious title tune which is crooned by Jimmy Rosell, which was also nominated for a Golden Globe.
The movie is currently available for streaming through Screenpix, which is available to Amazon Prime subscribers for an additional $2.99 a month).
Here's a vintage behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the 1968 western "Guns for San Sebastian" which had Anthony Quinn squaring off against villain Charles Bronson in an underrated gem from the era. Click here to order Blu-ray from Amazon.
If you're of a certain age and grew up in the New York City area, then you know that WPIX TV used to show Laurel and Hardy in "Babes in Toyland", otherwise known as "March of the Wooden Soldiers", every Thanksgiving. If you remember those days, then here's pleasant blast from the past.
(To view in Full Screen Mode, click on "Watch on YouTube.)
The good folks at Shout! Factory have a streaming site, Shout!TV and are making it possible for fans to stream beautifully mastered episodes of "The Prisoner", the classic series starring Patrick McGoohan. In fact, every episode is available for streaming. Be seeing you at Shout!TV...Click here to view.
Writing on the TCM web site, Raquel Stecher looks back at the connection between Warner Bros. boss Jack Warner and Frank Sinatra and how it resulted in several of the Rat Pack motion pictures, though Sinatra would ultimately discard old pals Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford due to personal disputes. The crime classic "Oceans Eleven" featured the full Rat Pack but by the time "4 for Texas" was made, only Sinatra and Dean Martin appeared together. Click here to read.
THE
FUGITIVECOMES
TO 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAYTM AND DIGITAL
THE
1993 ACTION THRILLER FILM STARRING HARRISON FORD AND TOMMY LEE JONES WILL BE
AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 4K RESOLUTION WITH HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)
Purchase
the film on 4K Ultra HD Disc and Digital November 21
Burbank, Calif., October 4, 2023 – As part of the
year-long centennial celebration for the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros.
Studio, the acclaimed action thriller film The Fugitive from director
Andrew Davis (A Perfect Murder, Holes) will be available for purchase on 4K
Ultra HD Disc and Digital for the first time on November 21.
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of its 1993
release, The Fugitive will be available to purchase on November
21 on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc from online and in-store at major retailers and
available for purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play,
Vudu and more.
The Fugitive stars Academy Award nominee Harrison
Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble and Tommy Lee Jones as Deputy U.S. Marshall Sam
Gerard, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The
film also stars Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Andreas Katsulas, and Jeroen
Krabbé.
Directed by Davis from a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and
David Twohy from a story by Twohy, the film is based the television series “The
Fugitive” which was created by Roy Huggins and ran from 1963 to 1967. The film
was produced by Arnold Koppelson.
The Fugitive was nominated for 7 Academy Awards
including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor, for which Jones won the
award, and Best Original Score.
The Fugitive will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray
Disc for $33.99 ERP and includes an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with the
theatrical version of the feature film in 4K with HDR and a Digital download of
the film. Fans can also own The Fugitive in 4K Ultra HD via purchase
from select digital retailers beginning on November 21.
The 4K restoration of The Fugitive was
completed at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) and was
sourced from the original camera negative. The restoration was overseen
by director Andrew Davis.
About the Film
The Fugitive Ultra HD Blu-ray disc contains the
following previously released special features:
Paperback
Street Date: October 5, 2023
Size: 229mm x 152mm
Pages: 434
Illos: 64 B&W stills and ads
ISBN: 978-1-915316-09-7
RRP: UK£22.99
Review by
Adrian Smith
One
of the most important and influential television writers of the twentieth
century, Nigel Kneale has enjoyed something of a resurgence in popularity of
late. Headpress published the biography Into the Unknown by Andy Murray
(not the tennis player) a few years ago, Electric Dreamhouse published a lavish
collection of essays on his legacy called We Are the Martians, Comma
Press reissued his collection of short stories Tomato Cain last year,
and now Headpress again brings us this dense, information-packed study of his
1970s folk horror-inflected (before the term ‘folk horror’ had been invented) anthology
show Beasts. This attention is well deserved: Nigel Kneale wrote the
screenplay for the groundbreaking 1954 BBC production of 1984 before creating
The Quatermass Experiment, a show that was so popular that pubs across
the country would empty as people ran home to watch it. Quickly followed by Quatermass
II and what was arguably the best of the three, Quatermass and the Pit,
these shows were hugely important in the early history of television, and Nigel
Kneale’s name was forever associated with science fiction and horror. The
sixties proved to be a bit more difficult for him after some issues he had with
the BBC, but there was still some amazing work, such as The Year of the Sex
Olympics, which effectively predicted the rise of Big Brother and Survival-type
reality shows.
In
the mid-1970s he was commissioned by ATV, one of the independent commercial
stations that formed part of the ITV network, to write a show loosely connected
by a single theme. There were many such shows in the 1970s, often hung on one
writer’s work and with a horror focus, such as Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected
or Brian Clemens’ Thriller. The six episodes of Beasts, plus
pilot episode ‘Murrain,’ had some form of animalistic connection and explored
strange and unexplained phenomena; a couple besieged by rats, a ghostly
dolphin, an actor becoming obsessed with the monster he plays in a film, a pet
shop owner conducting werewolf experiments, a shopgirl whose telekinesis
manifests as a destructive rodent, and a family who discover a mummified animal
in the walls of their new home. These were unique, disturbing and memorable
television dramas that undoubtedly made for memorable viewing experiences, and
they have remained influential to this day.
Screen’s
new book on Beasts is a well-researched piece of work. The author has
had access to production records, scripts and other ephemera, and he also
covers the wider social and historical context around the subject of each
episode as well as the critical and public response. It’s an incredibly deep
dive and one which will keep fans of the show, and of strange 1970s British
television in general, thoroughly engrossed. It is not a book to read if you
have yet to see Beasts however, so do seek out the DVD collection, enjoy
its equal levels of nostalgia and creeping dread, and then dig into The Book
of Beasts to discover everything you could ever want to know about this
series and its impact on popular culture.
Imprint, the Australian video company, has released a boxed set of Blu-rays devoted to Gene Hackman. The set is region-free and limited to 1500 copies.The set includes "I Never Sang for My Father", "Bite the Bullet", "March or Die" and "The Domino Principal".
Click here to order. (Prices are in Australian dollars. Use currency converter to see value in your local currency.)
Horror films featuring either attached, murderous
hands with minds of their own or just a homicidal, disembodied hand on the
loose have been around since the early days of cinema. Classic films like The Hands of Orlac (1924), it’s 1935
remake, Mad Love, as well as The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) and Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) are
just a few that immediately come to mind.
After the phenomenal success of 1973’s The Exorcist, a plethora of demonic
possession films flooded theater screens, creating a popular cycle of movies
which consisted of, amongst other things, satanic possession and the power of
good (usually in the form of a Catholic priest) to stop it. Titles such as Beyond the Door (1974), Abby (1974) and The Omen (1976) quickly followed, with the first two, although
thoroughly entertaining, aping The
Exorcist quite a bit. Unfortunately, there were also many films that were
merely unenjoyable and stale Exorcist
cash-ins. However, in 1981, a low-budget filmmaker smartly combined the
homicidal hand idea with satanic possession and created a fun, little cult film
called Demonoid.
While in Mexico, Mark Baines (Chinatown’sRoy Jenson) unwittingly unleashes an ancient evil in the form of a
severed hand. The hand immediately possesses Mark and wreaks havoc until the
poor man is killed and the demonic hand is separated from his dead body. Once
free, the hand continues to possess anyone it comes across, leaving a trail of
blood in its wake. With the help of benevolent Irish priest, Father Cunningham
(Stuart Whitman from Eaten Alive), Mark’s
wife, Jennifer (The Brood’ sSamantha Eggar), does everything in her
power to try and stop the evil hand before more innocent blood is spilled.
The fun film features two Academy Award nominees:
Samantha Eggar (for 1965’s The Collector)and Stuart Whitman (for 1961’s The Mark). Needless to say, Eggar and
Whitman are both convincing due to taking their roles and the premise of the film
seriously. This only helps the audience to believe in it as well, therefore
making the film even more enjoyable. Fans of 60s/70s cinema and television will
also be happy to spot highly recognizable character actor (and sometime
stuntman) Roy Jenson from Our Man Flint,The Getaway, The Gauntlet, Kung Fu and
Star Trek, just to name a few. Last, but not least, actor/stuntman Ted
White (Starman), who is best known to
genre fans for playing our favorite hockey-masked slasher-killer, Jason
Voorhees in 1984’s Friday the 13th:
The Final Chapter, shows up as an unfortunate victim of the hand’s deadly
rampage.
Filmmaker Alfredo Zacarias’ idea for Demonoid sprang from a desire to make a
film about the good and evil that dwells within every person. Combining the
disembodied hand idea with demonic possession/Exorcist-like themes, Zacarias fashioned a somewhat original and
enjoyably cheesy drive-in film that grindhouse fans like me find extremely
pleasurable. The movie may be a bit silly in spots (certain scenes of the hand
moving around as well as the actors pretending that their left hands have a
mind of their own are unintentionally hilarious and quite charming; not to
mention the fact that Stuart Whitman goes in and out of an Irish accent
whenever he feels like it), but it’s still an interesting and entertaining
enough horror-thriller with a solid, likeable cast and a fun monster in the
form of the disembodied hand.
Demonoid has been released as
a Blu-ray/DVD combo from the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome. The film, which
has been restored from the original 35mm camera negative and scanned in 2K, is
presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and, with the exception of a little
grain here and there, the transfer looks beautiful. Special features include
the theatrical trailer, TV spot, an artwork gallery, and an interesting and
informative video interview with writer/director/producer Alfredo Zacarias. The
disc also contains the international version of Demonoid titled Macabra,
which runs ten minutes longer than the US version and features a different
soundtrack (the US version uses music taken from the 1977 sci-fi classic The Incredible Melting Man). We are also
treated to a Macabra trailer and TV
spot. The eye-catching, original poster artwork for Demonoid can be seen on the Blu-ray sleeve and the Blu-ray disc
itself while the striking artwork for Macabra
shows up on the DVD disc as well as on the reversible sleeve. All in all, a
very well put together collection of a not very well-known, but extremely fun
film.
William Holden, Grace Kelly and Mickey Rooney star in James
A. Michener’s Korean War drama, “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” released on Blu-ray by
Kino Lorber. Holden is Lieutenant Harry Brubaker, a lawyer and Naval Reservist
called to active duty during the Korean War. The film opens in November 1952
where we meet Brubaker returning to the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Savo
Island off the coast of Korea. He ends up ditching his plane in the ocean after
running out of fuel and is rescued from the icy waters. Mickey Rooney gives a
memorable performance as Chief Petty Officer Mike Forney, the helicopter pilot who
rescues Brubaker from the ocean. Forney wears an unauthorized addition to his
uniform, a green top hat and matching scarf, when flying. He also likes to
brawl while on shore leave due to girlfriend problems. Earl
Holliman plays Nestor Gamidge, the rescue man who assists in getting the
pilots into the helicopter and brawling with Mike.
Brubaker is a good pilot and WWII veteran who’s resentful
because his civilian life was disrupted by the recall for the Korean War. He
starts to question his abilities as a pilot after ditching his plane and is
nervous about an upcoming bombing mission. Grace Kelly plays his wife, Nancy
Brubaker, who surprises her husband by visiting Japan with their children which
casts additional doubts on Brubaker’s ability to carry out dangerous missions.
Headquartered on the USS Savo Island, the naval task
force commander is Rear Admiral George Tarrant and is played by Fredric March.
Tarrant lost his sons during WWII and is filled with many regrets in life but
tries to change Brubaker’s mind about his career as a naval aviator.Rounding out the cast is Charles McGraw as
Commander Wayne Lee, the fighter wing commander, who leads the climactic
assault on the bridges. Robert Strauss is
Lieutenant “Beer Barrel,” and Willis Bouchey as Captain Evans.There’s also an uncredited bit role by Dennis Weaver as the mission briefing
officer.
The movie is divided into three parts. We meet the
members of the carrier crew in part one. The middle section features shore
leave in Japan where we meet Mrs. Brubaker and the Brubaker’s two young
daughters. There’s also some shore leave drama involving Forney and Nestor
which shows Brubaker’s dedication to these men. The final part of the movie
involves the bombing mission at Toko-Ri which pays off beautifully.
The movie features great use of United States Navy
resources as the bulk of the film takes place on the deck of the carrier USS
Essex with extensive use of the F9F Panther and shots of the carrier task
force. The use of actual United States Navy ships and aircraft rather than
models is an essential part of the authenticity of this movie. Michener himself
spent time on board the USS Essex gathering research for what would become the
short novel, “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” which was released in 1953. That
experience by Michener was made into the MGM release, “Men of the Fighting Lady,”
with Michener played by Louis Calhern. That movie was released in May 1954, a
few months prior to the premier of “Toko-Ri.”
Holden gives one of his typical cynical performances
which he was great at doing, especially in such films as “Sunset Blvd,” “Stalag
17” and later in “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “The Horse Soldiers.” He’s
not quite so cynical in this film and gives a great performance as
Brubaker. Grace Kelly isn’t given much to do other than looking beautiful as
the dutiful wife with kids in tow, but she’s important in sealing her husband’s’
doubts. All her scenes were filmed on studio sets in Hollywood with someone
doubling for her in long shots in the location scenes. I think Rooney gives the
standout performance as Mike Forney with the green top hat and scarf. Earl
Holliman is also good as Mike’s best friend and sidekick with Fredric March and
Charles McGraw good as the stoic and capable father figures. I wish Robert
Strauss’ comedic skills were put to greater use in the film, especially
considering he is fondly remembered in “Stalag 17” with Holden. There’s a side
story set up at the start and end of shore leave involving a set of golf clubs carried
by Beer Barrel that’s never explained.
The movie is directed by Mark Robson with a screenplay by
Valentine Davies. While Robson is not a name that rings bells, you certainly
know his movies which include “Peyton Place,” “The Prize,” “Von Ryan’s
Express,” “Valley of the Dolls” and “Earthquake” to name a few of his most well-known
movies. Robson started his career working uncredited as an assistant editor for
Orson Welles and eventually worked his way up to editor and director
culminating in several high-profile big budget movies. He died of a heart
attack in 1978 shortly after the completion of “Avalanche Express” which was
released the following year.
The score by Lyn Murray is serviceable and the on-location
shipboard filming adds great production value to the movie. The model work
depicting the crash landing scenes are very done as well. The film was released theatrically in December
1954 by Paramount. This Kino Lorber release looks and sounds better than ever. The
movie clocks in at 102 minutes and is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio
which resembles VistaVision, even though it isn’t, as the movie went into
production during the transition period when the process was still being perfected.
The Blu-ray release includes an outstanding audio commentary by film historians
Steve Mitchell and Steven J. Rubin as well as trailers for this and other Kino
Lorber releases. The movie is highly recommended for fans of Holden, Kelly,
Rooney and military drama.
To
TV fans of a certain age, the acronym ITC instantly invokes memories of spies,
guns, girls, espionage, memorable theme tunes, lush sideburns, flared trousers,
almost continuous smoking, purple flock wallpaper and grand, globe-trotting
adventures.
Actually,
the wide-ranging TV shows made by Lord Lew Grade’s pioneering company have fans
of all ages, with shows like The Saint, The Champions, The Persuaders! and Randall
& Hopkirk (Deceased) (US. My Partner The Ghost) still appearing in
television schedules to this day, nearly 70 years after Grade scored his first
hit in 1955 with The Adventures of Robin Hood.
And
so it’s everyone from grandparents to grandkids who have been tuning in in
their droves to hear ITC Entertains The World, a podcast that celebrates all
things ITC. Fronted by devotees Jaz Wiseman, Al “Smudge” Samujh and Rodney
Marshall, the podcast casts an eye at the output of this much-loved stable,
from whole-series overviews to individual episodes. They also look at the
movies made under the ITC banner (films like Blake Edwards’s The Tamarind Seed and
Peter Sellers’s career-reviving The Return of The Pink Panther).
I
spoke to Rodney Marshall about the podcast and his love of all things 1960s,
starting with the genesis of the podcast.‘Like a lot of podcasts, ours started
in lockdown. Jaz approached me and suggested that we did one based on the
little-known ITC show Gideon’s Way, which I hadn’t actually seen. I watched
them all and thought it was fantastic. You have all those great 1960s guest actors,
the Anton Rodgerses, Peter Bowleses and Annette Andres. I thought the podcast
would be very niche but it proved surprisingly popular.
‘I’ve
known Jaz for a long time through my late father. Jaz interviewed him for lots
of DVD commentaries when The Avengers came out.’ Rodney’s father just happens
to be Roger Marshall, a very familiar name to fans of vintage espionage
television shows. The creator of popular UK dramas like Travelling Man, Zodiac
and Floodtide, Marshall Sr also co-created the highly regarded and influential
private detective show Public Eye in 1965, starring Alfred Burke as
down-at-heel gumshoe Frank Marker.
He
was also a regular contributor of scripts for the likes of The Avengers,
writing 15 episodes of the iconic 1960s series.
After
the success of the Gideon’s Way podcast, they were encouraged to broaden their
scope and cover the entire range of ITC shows, but to do that they needed a new
recruit. ‘We thought that in terms of voices, three is better than two. Jaz got
in touch with his old friend Smudge, who is very much into the history of
Elstree studios, into Hammer films and of course, ITC shows. I think all three
of us bring something different to the podcast. Jaz is into things like music
and titles, Smudge is very into things like directors and direction, talking
about fish-eye lenses and the like. I’m more into the scripts, probably because
of dad.
‘It
was a learning curve for me because these two guys are ITC-mad. They probably
have huge tardis-sized rooms full of all things ITC. If I said to one of them,
“Do you have a copy of the scripts for The Persuaders! that my dad wrote for?”
and they’d probably have three different copies of it.’
We
bemoaned the fact that following the sad demise of the distribution company
Network, it now seems unlikely that long-running shows like The Saint will
receive the BluRay treatment and be discovered anew in pristine condition. It’s
a huge shame since the likes of The Prisoner and Man in a Suitcase have enjoyed
BluRay remastering and look breathtakingly fresh and vibrant as a result.
(L to R: Rodney Marshall, Jaz Wiseman and Al Samujh.)
'Man
in a Suitcase is very much a shared love. I discovered it in the early nineties
when BBC started showing it again during the school holidays. In my early
misguided smoking days, I used to copy McGill’s habit of standing my cigarette
up on the table between puffs. Naturally, I wasn’t able to pull it off with the
same je ne sais quoi as Richard Bradford.
Marshall
is very much an admirer of the US actor. ‘Bradford’s performance is
astonishing. When you put him up against someone like Colin Blakely or
Jacqueline Pearce, Bradford is dynamite. He has an incredibly magnetic
presence. A lot is made of the fact that there was a lot of tension between him
and the actors and stuntmen, but the main directors on the show absolutely
loved him. Peter Duffell who was one of the main directors was our next door
neighbour and one of dad’s mates, and he raved about Bradford.
‘He
may have overdone the Marlon Brando thing; he would race around the set four or
five times in order to look breathless before a take, but he really invested
himself in his performances. Like Patrick McGoohan, he was a lead actor who
wouldn’t take bullshit. If an actor came along and just wanted a quick cheque,
they wouldn’t put up with it. Bernard Lee turned up drunk for an episode of Man
in a Suitcase, and Bradford walked up to him and said, ‘I’m not putting up with
this crap.’ Bernard Lee immediately switched onto acting-mode and suddenly
there were no problems.’
Marshall’s
other great ITC love is one of its earlier hits, Danger Man (or Secret Agent in
the States), a popular and innovative pre-Bond spy series that made a global
star out of Patrick McGoohan. ’I think what kept McGoohan engaged with Danger
Man for so long is the fact that he’s undercover in so many different roles.
One week he might be playing a roaring drunk, the next week he’s a timid
school-teacher in glasses, sending someone into a nervous breakdown by stalking
them! That variety made him feel like he was back in his old rep company in Sheffield.’
Danger
Man was one of several ITC shows that, like ABC’s The Avengers, made the shift
from black and white to colour in the mid sixties, when the US networks made it
mandatory. Marshall however, believes that something was lost after the transition.‘I
still think that The Prisoner, Man in a Suitcase and the amazing Strange Report
aside, the best ITC series are from earlier in the decade like Gideon’s Way,
Danger Man and The Saint, which I much prefer in black and white.
‘I
always felt that when a show went from black and white to colour, you lost a
lot of the subtlety. Take an episode of The Saint like ‘Scorpion’ with Dudley
Sutton, who rides around on a motorbike bumping people off and even tries
strangling his girlfriend. Perhaps its something to do with the shadows, but
you can pull off a kind of darkness in a monochrome episode which doesn’t quite
work in colour. Jaz recorded a DVD commentary for the Avengers episode ‘Town of
No Return’ with Brian Clemens and director Roy Ward Baker, and they both said,
‘you know, black and white is more…real.’
The
podcast casts its net wide to cover not just the big, popular hits but some of
the ITC gems that may have faded from the public consciousness. ‘Man of The
World from 1962 is very interesting, with Craig Stevens from Peter Gunn playing
a photo journalist travelling the world getting himself into scrapes. It
actually started in colour then went back to black and white after its budget
was slashed.’
Intriguingly,
The Sentimental Agent starring Carlos Thompson started off as an episode of Man
of The World. The powers that be were so impressed with Thompson that they span
it out into a whole series. Marshall explains, ‘Carlos was like a continental
Roger Moore, very good looking, very charming, very flirty. But suddenly he
fell ill, and they had to make the rest of the series with this humourless guy
who was none of the above.’
The
podcast, like the work it celebrates, is a labour of love and it’s benefitted
from some Lew Grade-style serendipity that brought exactly the right three
people together to extol the many virtues of a series of entertainments that
are still adored by millions.
‘We’re
lucky,’ concludes Marshall,‘because Jaz has access to a library of things like
the music and a lot of interviews and DVD commentaries that he’s done with the
likes of Richard Bradford and Sir Roger Moore, who was hilarious. On the
commentary for The Saint, they debunked the theory that Patrick McGoohan turned
down the role. He was interviewed for it, but producer Bob Baker thought he was
unsuitable for the role as he refused to do any romantic scenes. They said to
Roger, ‘we knew that kissing ladies on screen wouldn’t be a problem for you,’
and he replied in that most Roger Moore way, ‘Indeed not!’
(ITC
Entertains The World is available to listen to across all streaming platforms.)
I
was introduced into the world of Billy Idol’s music in late 1983 when my
younger sister discovered his music. His signature hits “White Wedding (Part
1)” and “Dancing with Myself” from his self-titled 1982 album emanated from her
room daily and I found his energy to be infectious. At that time, his follow-up
album, the widely popular Rebel Yell, was just released (it’s now forty
years-old!) and it really put him on the map, setting him apart from the group
he burst on to the scene with in 1976: the short-lived Chelsea, and then later,
Generation X. With guitarist Steve Stevens, who has been with him ever since,
and a group of musicians, Billy Idol, whose surname was inspired by one of his
teachers labeling him as an “idle” student, began his Rebel Yell tour
and was Yours Truly’s first foray into the world of rock concerts. Since then,
he has toured the globe and garnered legions of fans the world over.
A
self-professed history buff and environmentalist, Billy teamed with then-New
York Mayor Bill de Blasio in February 2020 just weeks before the COVID-19
shutdown to promote a public awareness Anti-Idling campaign in New York City to
remind drivers that motor vehicles are forbidden to idle for no more than three
minutes, and no more than one minute in a school zone. So, he’s very
pro-environment.
In
April of this year, Billy did something that no artist has ever done before: he
performed a concert at the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, NV, which was filmed for
the new concert film Billy Idol: State Line, playing in theaters this
week. The first 20 minutes of the film reveal that Billy would have been a
history professor had he not been in a band (I for one am glad that he never
got his teaching license) and gives a brief history of the construction of the
modern engineering marvel. Amazingly, this is Billy’s maiden voyage to Hoover
Dam and you can tell that he is stunned by it.
He
plays an acoustic set at the foot of the dam with Steve Stevens of “Eyes
Without a Face” and “Rebel Yell” before taking the stage or, in this case the
Hoover Dam helipad, to belt out “Rock the Cradle of Love,” “Dancing with
Myself,” “Flesh for Fantasy,” “Eyes Without a Face,” his trademark cover of
“Mony Mony,” “Blue Highway,” “Rebel Yell,” “Hot in the City,” and “White
Wedding (Part 1).”
Will
this venue become a mecca for future bands?
This
is a must-see on the big screen for Billy Idol fans.
See
the press release below for more information:
BILLY IDOL: STATE LINE MAKES U.S. THEATRICAL DEBUT NOVEMBER
15
FILM
DOCUMENTS THE FIRST CONCERT EVER PERFORMED AT HOOVER DAM
IDOL
CONTINUES WATER CONSERVATION ACTIVISM WITH PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS IN
CONJUNCTION WITH U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Billy Idol: State Line, a Vertigo Live concert film documenting the rock legend’s
April show at the famed Hoover Dam - the first ever concert performed at
the location - is set to make its U.S. theatrical debut on November 15, 2023.
The movie highlights the history and significance of Hoover Dam and includes
performances from two unique sets of Billy Idol’s iconic hits: a full band
concert at sunset with special guests that electrified and illuminated the
surrounding Black Canyon and an acoustic duo set on the roof of the powerhouse
at the foot of Hoover Dam straddling the Colorado River, directly on the
Nevada/Arizona state line. Tickets and additional info on film screenings can
be found at billyidolstateline.com, with additional screenings to be
added shortly.
For
both sets, Idol is joined by his collaborator and lead guitarist of over forty
years, Steve Stevens. Performed in front of only 250 fans, the full band
set features special guests Alison Mosshart (The Kills, The Dead
Weather), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols, Generation Sex) and Tony Kanal
(No Doubt). See the film’s trailer here.
“Our
show at Hoover Dam was a monumental and surreal career highlight,” notes Idol.
“I’m excited to get State Line out into the world. With this film we set out to
highlight the continued importance of one of the most inspiring infrastructural
achievements of the 20th Century, while also bringing the power of rock n roll
to a stunning, magical location. I think we more than succeeded on both
accounts.”
Idol’s
first-person experience of the Colorado River Basin drought conditions while
shooting the film at Hoover Dam inspired his ongoing efforts to promote the
importance of water conservation, including appearing in a series of public
service announcements being released by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
See Idol’s most recent P.S.A. with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haalandhere.
Of
his activism relating to water conservation, Idol adds, “The drought conditions
prevalent in the American West are severe and impossible to ignore. It takes
all of us conserving water in whatever ways we can to preserve the future of
our natural resources for our grandkids and beyond. I’m proud to help amplify
this issue in whatever way I can.”
Billy
Idol: State Line is
produced by Lastman Media for Vertigo Live in collaboration with the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas and is distributed theatrically
throughout North America by Unbranded Events and U.K./rest of world via
Kaleidoscope Entertainment.
Idol
will also perform in Las Vegas the same day as Super Bowl LVIII in
February; see below for a complete list of tour dates.
For
46 years, Billy Idol has been one of the definitive faces and voices of
rock’n’roll. Between 1977 and 1981 Idol released three albums with Generation X
as their camera-ready frontman. In 1982 he embarked on a
transatlantic/trans-genre solo career that integrated the bold and simple lines
of punk and rock’n’roll decadence. Touring consistently around the world for
the last ten years and showing no signs of slowing down, Idol released both The
Roadside EP in 2021 and The Cage EP in 2022 on Dark Horse Records,
earning praise from fans and critics alike. In January, Idol cemented his name
among Hollywood legends with the first Walk of Fame Star of 2023.
Idol
recently wrapped the first-ever Generation Sex tour in the U.K. and E.U. The
punk supergroup is comprised of Idol and Tony James from Generation X, and
Steve Jones and Paul Cook from Sex Pistols. November 10 marks the 40th
Anniversary of Idol’s seminal record Rebel Yell, with an expanded
edition of the album due in early 2024.
Paramount Home Video has released a set of five horror films in 4K UHD format. Here is a breakdown of the films included in the set.
Rosemary’s Baby(1968)
I
was in the minority of those left unimpressed by Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s
Baby (1968), based upon the 1967 novel of the same name by Ira Levin. I
never saw what the fuss was about and could not find it even remotely scary
when I originally saw it in the 1980s on VHS. I rewatched the film when the
Criterion Collection released it on the now-out-of-print Blu-ray in October
2012 (if you have that version, hold on to it) and I realized that I had an
incorrect reading of it. I believe that the terror that oozes from the screen is
directly attributed to Rosemary Woodhouse’s (Mia Farrow) new life in the
enormous Dakota Apartments (made famous by Mark David Chapman following his
murder of John Lennon in December 1980) which is surrounded by people who
initially make her feel safe and welcomed, but slowly begin to reveal their
true natures which are malevolent and evil. Her husband Guy (maverick
independent film director and actor John Cassavetes) is a struggling actor who understudies
for a Broadway play and is suddenly fast-tracked to the lead role by the
inexplicable blindness that befalls the play’s lead actor (portrayed by an
off-screen Tony Curtis over the phone) following a discussion with two nosy
neighbors (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon as Roman and Minnie Castavet,
respectively) who ingratiate themselves into their lives. Coincidence? Guy is often
short-tempered with his wife, but midway through the film he suddenly has a
burst of fatherhood when he suggests to her that they have a baby.
Overwhelmingly happy, Rosemary soon becomes suspicious of the people around her
during her pregnancy. They are revealed to be a coven of witches, and Rosemary
is carrying Satan’s child during a disturbing sequence of supernatural
impregnation that she believes was just a dream.
Rosemary’s
Baby is the ultimate gaslighting movie. It
is also a movie that, I would imagine, would work to great effect on the psyche
of female audience members for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is
due to knowing what the outcome of Rosemary’s pregnancy is, and knowing that no
one, not even the doctor (Charles Grodin) she has foolishly and naïvely
confiding in regarding her suspicions regarding the coven, can or is even willing
to help her. The film is set against a backdrop of complete normalcy, and when
that normalcy is slowly eroded by the Devil’s minions in sheep’s clothing, it’s
too much for us and Rosemary to bear. It’s also a film about betrayal, and it’s
shocking to see how Guy willingly confesses to her that he had no problem
selling her out to this life inorder to make an easy life for themselves,
something he sees as a bonus. Her reaction to him and to the (offscreen) face
of her baby is complete disbelief, and Ms. Farrow is more than capable of
carrying the film. Rosemary’s horrifically contorted face when she sees her
baby for the first time, Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking (sorry, Walt…), is
all that the audience needs to know that the evil has come full circle.
Rosemary’s
Baby turns 55 this year. Filmed in the
final four months of 1967 and released on Wednesday, June 12, 1968, it takes
place in 1965 and 1966. Ruth Gordon won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her
performance. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest horror films of
all time, and it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by
the Library of Congress in 2014. The film spawned a TV-movie follow-up in 1976
with Patty Duke.
(Photo: Cinema Retro Archive)
The
new package contains the film in 4K UHD on one disc, and the film on a standard
Blu-ray, the latter boasting the following extras:
Rosemary's
Baby – A Retrospective
– this piece, originally shot in 2000 for the DVD, runs just under 17 minutes
and includes comments from the late film producer Robert Evans, the late
production designer Richard Sylbert, and Roman Polanski.
Mia
and Roman – this piece runs
roughly 23 minutes and contains a lot of nice behind-the-scenes shots taken
during filming on location in New York City, with input from actress Mia Farrow
and director Roman Polanski.
Theatrical
Trailer
50th
Anniversary "Redband" Trailer
This
is a nice upgrade to 4K that will make you feel as though you’re watching it in
a cinema again, though the lack of a feature-length commentary by film
historians is disappointing given the film’s stature in the genre, making one
wonder if the director is just against this sort of thing. Steven Spielberg and
David Lynch do not offer commentaries on their works, sadly.
NOTE:
It has come to Paramount’s attention that there is an error on this pressing,
and they are going to correct it with a disc replacement program. Apparently
there is a line of dialog missing from the film! When you purchase this box
set, click on this link to request the replacement discs which
should become available in the next several months.
Pet Sematary(1989)
Stephen
King published two frightening and best-selling novels in 1983: Christine
and Pet Sematary. Attempting to sandwich these massive tales into films
that ran less than two hours is a near impossible task and neither film, the
former directed by John Carpenter and the latter by Mary Lambert, is completely
successful in this regard. Lensed between August and November 1988 and released
on Friday, April 21, 1989, Pet Sematary begins with a familiar nod to
Dan Curtis’s creepy Burnt Offerings (1976) as Dr. Louis Creed and his
wife Rachel (Dale Midkiff and Denise Crosby) leave the Windy City and arrive at
their new Ludlow, Main home with their young daughter Ellie (Blasé Berdahl) and
even younger son Gage (Miko Hughes). The house is located right in front of a
major road that trucks whiz by at a high rate of speed, setting up the roadway
as the imminent threat. Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne), the family neighbor, takes
them to the Pet Sematary and explains how children bury their pets there. This
proves convenient when the family, sans Louis, visit Rachel’s parents
for Thanksgiving, and Ellie’s cat Winston Churchill (“Church” for short) is
killed by a truck. Jud takes Louis to a location beyond the Pet Sematary called
the Micmac Burying Ground dating back to ancient Native American days. Buried
pets have come back to life, though their personalities are different, and this
is no exception with Church. The idea is to save Ellie the grief of losing him.
Following
Ellie’s displeasure of the now-reanimated Church’s smell, Gage finds himself in
the path of a truck and, following his death, Louis digs up his corpse
and heads for the Micmac Burying Ground despite verbal warnings from Jud. Unfortunately,
Gage comes back as a meanie, killing those around him until a final showdown
with his father.
Despite
being written by author King, the screenplay never really manages to get above
the level of a gross-out horror film. The subject of grief is best left to
serious dramas (think Ingmar Bergman) as director Mary Lambert can only give us
what’s on the written page as a truncation of an oversized novel, is fairly
schematic at best. Whereas the novel is more of a deep-rooted mediation on the
nature of the overwhelming emotion of grief over the death of a child, the film
focuses more on the horrific aspects of the deaths at hand. It does seem to be
enough, however, to satisfy genre fans.
Bonus
Content (on both 4K UHD Blu-ray and Standard Blu-ray Disc):
Feature-length
commentary by director Mary Lambert
Pet
Sematary: Fear and Remembrance –
this piece is in high definition and runs about 7 minutes. Select members of
the film’s cast and crew look back on the film and its reception.
Pet
Sematary: Revisitation –
this piece is in high definition and runs about 10 minutes. The director discusses
the film’s production, how she came to direct the movie, and restoring the
film.
Still
Galleries – this is in high
definition and consists of a large selection of photos separated into four
sections.
Storyboards
Introduction by Mary Lambert
– this intro runs 1 minute in length. She explains how they derived the new
transfer from the original camera negative and how the storyboards came to be.
Storyboards – this feature is extensive and
recalls the image galleries of the laserdisc days. By using the left and right
buttons on the remote control, you can navigate what is essentially a visual
representation of the film. Very cool!
Behind
the Scenes – this is a
stills gallery that, like the storyboards, can be navigated in a similar
fashion, showing images on the set of shooting during the summer of 1988.
Marketing – nice section of stills containing
the marketing of the film for both theatrical and home video exhibition.
The
following extras are only on the standard Blu-ray, though I will never
understand why they do not replicate all extras on both discs as there is more
than enough room to do so:
Stephen
King Territory – this
is a nice piece from 2006 that is shot in standard definition for the then-DVD
release and runs about 13 minutes. It discusses the autobiographical genesis
for the story, which really happened to Mr. King’s family and daughter.
The
Characters – also from 2006
and shot in standard definition, this runs 13 minutes and looks at the
motivations behind the characters and the cats used on the set. They had an
ingenious method of making the cat’s eyes glow maniacally with an attachment to
the Panavision cameras.
Filming the Horror – running 10 minutes, Mary Lambert
discusses how the script came to her and while she read Stephen King’s novels, she
did not consider herself to be a horror film director. Miko Hughes, who was
two-and-a-half-years old when he played Gage, appears to have had a fun time on
the set!
Smile(2022)
David
Sandberg’s 2013 short film Lights Out is a brilliantly frightening,
just-under-three-minute film about a woman seeing a strange creature in her
kitchen and bedroom. It is widely available on Youtube and is one of the
scariest movies I have seen in my 42 years of watching horror films and
thrillers. It provided the basis for an unnecessary, feature-length film of the
same name three years later, also directed by the same person, who has gone on
to direct Annabelle: Creation (2017), as well as other projects. Likewise,
Parker Finn is a director who made a short film called Laura Hasn’t Slept
(2020), starring Caitlin Stasey and Lew Temple as her somnologist. It’s the
second short he made after his impressive and creepy The Hidebehind
(2018), a nearly ten-minute now-you-see-me, now-you-don’t bit of computer
trickery that will make you think twice about trekking solo in a forest. In Laura
Hasn’t Slept, which is just under twelve minutes, Laura tells her therapist
that she has a recurring nightmare wherein a frightening man is constantly
smiling at her. While I appreciated the effort of this film and experienced no difficulty
in determining the ending, the prospect of sitting through the theatrical
version entitled Smile simply did not sit well with me. My disappointment
with Lights Out nearly made me pass on Smile, and I am glad that
I reconsidered.
Unlike
most of the horror films marketed today, Smile is every bit as
terrifying as its marketing campaign has professed. Like The Blair Witch
Project (1999), Smile feels like the sort of film that would
emotionally bifurcate the audience into those who love it and those who hate
it. In terms of genre tropes, the film’s most obvious cinematic antecedent is
David Robert Mitchell’s superb It Follows (2014), and a nod to the
film’s title can be further traced back to the malevolent chauffeur, played
with icy stillness by the late Anthony James in Dan Curtis’s Burnt Offerings
(1976). While it is true that familiarity can often breed contempt, this does
not make Smile any less frightening. There is credence to the notion
that although the film might offer up a less-than-compassionate view of mental
illness and handle the subject flippantly, the movie should ultimately be
judged for what it sets out to do: scare you. It may not be completely
original, but it is no less frightening.
Sosie
Bacon, the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, gives a bravura
performance as recently engaged Rose Cotter, a psychiatrist who meets a new
patient, Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey, the actress from the short film), who fails
to convince Rose that she is being chased by a demon that possesses people by
smiling at them. Rose’s training misinterprets this as an episode of some sort
of psychosis until Laura screams and reacts violently to something in the
examination room invisible to Rose. Laura’s terror suddenly turns inexplicably serene
wherein she effortlessly cuts her own throat with a broken plant’s pot while
smiling maniacally at Rose, who reacts with complete terror. Unbeknownst to
Rose, a terrible curse that plagued Laura has now been transferred to her. It
takes Rose a while to make this realization. In the interim, she blames what
she experiences on overworking, reluctantly taking a week off at the urging of
her manager. Her fiancée (Jesse T. Usher) wants to help her but feels
powerless. Rose begins to have hallucinations, and as the audience we see what
she sees. Her mother’s painful death becomes a force that she needs to reckon with
and is a major reason why she works as hard as she does. The hallucinations
become more and more unnerving. With the aid of her ex-boyfriend cop Joel (Kyle
Gallner), she begins looking into murder cases wherein people having died by
suicide that they committed in front of another person, and they themselves
have also witnessed a suicide. A turning point occurs when Robert Talley (Rob
Morgan of Netflix’s Stranger Things, in a small but powerful role), a
murderer currently in prison, managed to escape the clutches of the entity.
With Joel’s help, Rose goes to the prison to see him. He tells Rose that the
entity feeds on other people’s trauma. Apparently, the only way to relieve
oneself of this curse is to murder someone else in front of a witness to thereby
transfer the trauma on to them (again, similarly like in It Follows). Rose
attempts to do this, yet it turns out to be another hallucination. By the end
of the film, Rose confronts her childhood trauma at her now-abandoned childhood
home in an unsatisfactory ending that paves the way for a sequel.
Thematically
similar to Rosemary’s Baby in that the protagonist knows the truth and
cannot seem to convince anyone around them that they are not crazy, Smile,
while certainly not original, manages to take a familiar horror genre trope and
seriously make it its own, packing a powerful emotional punch with several
genuine jump scares nearly on a par with Gary Sherman’s Death Line
(1972) and William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III: Legion (1990). In order
for a film like this to work, the performances need to be believable and they
are all spot-on.
Bonus
Content (on 4K Ultra HD Disc):
Audio
Commentary by director Parker Finn
– this is a feature-length discussion by the film’s director who speaks about
the movie scene by scene regarding what he wanted in the scenes and what he
got. I normally shy away from such commentaries as I am not interested in a
blow-by-blow description of the film, but the director speaks so intelligently
about it that he is a constant pleasure to listen to.
Something's
Wrong with Rose: Making Smile
(HD) – at just under 30 minutes, this is a behind-the-scenes look at what it
took to make the film in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flies
on the Wall: Inside the Score
(HD) – Smile has one of the creepiest scores that I have ever heard, and
it was composed by Cristobal Tapia de Veer. In under nine minutes, we are
treated to his vast studio and his methods of creating ungodly sounds for the
film.
Deleted
Scenes with Optional Commentary by director Parker Finn – there are two scenes provided here
with an optional commentary and add depth to Rose’s character. These run just
under 12 minutes. I would have loved to have had these scenes added as an
optional cut of the film viewable through seamless branching.
Laura
Hasn't Slept – Original Short with Introduction by director Parker Finn – this is the short film that
Paramount scouts saw at South By Southwest in Austin, TX that paved the way for
Smile. It runs about 11 minutes.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
THE BELOVED HOLIDAY FAVORITE COMES
HOME
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ON 4K ULTRA
HD
"LOVE
ACTUALLY 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION"
YOURS TO OWN NOVEMBER 21, 2023
FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME
ENTERTAINMENT
INCLUDES BLU-RAY™ AND DIGITAL CODE
SYNOPSIS:Funny, irresistible, and heartwarming, Love Actually is the
ultimate romantic comedy that follows eight couples whose lives intersect
shortly before Christmas. From the makers of Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting
Hill, this beloved film is headlined by an incredible roster of stars
including Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson,
Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Rowan Atkinson and more. Take a breathtaking
tour of love's delightful twists and turns as you fall under the spell of Love
Actually and share the laughs and charm again and again!
BONUS FEATURES:
·Making LOVE ACTUALLY (NEW)
oJoin Writer/Director Richard Curtis along the with cast and crew as they
reflect on the making of the film and its legacy 20 years later.
·Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Richard Curtis
·The Music of LOVE ACTUALLY with Introductions by Richard Curtis
·The Storytellers
oA featurette exploring the film’s main storylines, featuring interviews
with the cast discussing their characters and the major elements within each
on-screen relationship.
·Kelly Clarkson “The Trouble with Love is” Music Video
·Billy Mack “Christmas is All Around” Music Video
·Feature Commentary with Director Richard Curtis and Actors Hugh Grant,
Bill Nighy and Thomas Sangsters
Instagram: @uniallaccess
X: @UniAllAccess
Tiktok: @universalallaccess
LOVE ACTUALLY FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Alan Rickman, Bill
Nighy, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson,
Martine McCutcheon, Rowan Atkinson
Casting
By: Mary
Selway CDG
Music
By: Craig
Armstrong
Co-Producers: Debra Hayward, Liza
Chasin
Costume
Designer:
Joanna Johnston
Line
Producers:
Chris Thompson
Production
Designer:
Jim Clay
Director
of Photography:
Michael Coulter BSC
Editor: Nick Moore
Produced
By: Duncan
Kenworthy, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Although
he had made two previous feature films and several shorts, it was Mean
Streets that placed Martin Scorsese into the minds of discerning filmgoers.
This low budget independent picture (released by Warner Brothers) proved, as
filmmaker Richard Linklater states in a Directors Guild of America interview
with Scorsese from 2011 (presented here as a supplement), that artists who
wanted to make a movie could go out and find the means to put their
vision on the screen without interference from studio brass. Indeed, that’s
what Scorsese did.
At
the time, Scorsese was trying to make it in Hollywood. It was John Cassavetes
who had urged him to stop working for Roger Corman (for whom Scorsese had made
1972’s Boxcar Bertha) and “go back to his roots.” Well, Scorsese’s roots
were in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City. He had grown up there.
He had friends there. He knew the life there, all the “goodfellas” and wannabe
tough guys and low level (and some high level) gangsters. So the filmmaker
crafted a screenplay with fellow NYU film school alumnus Mardik Martin, cast
guys he knew such as Harvey Keitel in the lead (he had starred in Scorsese’s
first feature, Who’s That Knocking at My Door from 1967, retooled and
released in 1968 and again in 1969) and Robert De Niro (who had also grown up
in the neighborhood and had known Scorsese when they were younger; this was
Scorsese’s first collaboration with De Niro, then an actor who had done some
Roger Corman films and was still attempting to up his game). Other familiar
faces that have appeared in Scorsese’s oeuvre were also cast—Victor
Argo, Harry Northup, David Carradine, and Murray Moston—but also other notable
actors who have been in mob-related pictures such as David Proval, Richard
Romanus, and Cesare Danova. Amy Robinson, who later became a producer (she
co-produced Scorsese’s After Hours in 1985) was cast as the female lead.
Mean
Streets features
the hallmarks of what we would come to know to be in a “Martin Scorsese Film,”
especially when he focuses on the underworld, a topic to which he has returned
many times: brotherhood, loyalty, friendship, betrayal, guilt (lots of guilt),
Catholicism, sex, drugs, rock and roll, crime, and violence. This life in
Little Italy is edgy, gritty, dangerous, and quite self-contained. There isn’t
a moment in which an audience might think—oh, this couldn’t happen… because
Scorsese convinces you that it can and has.
Charlie
(Keitel) is a small time hood in Little Italy. His uncle is Giovanni (Danova),
a big time Mafioso. Charlie acts as a big brother figure to his friend, Johnny
Boy (De Niro), who is reckless and not the brightest bulb in the socket, and
who owes money to several gangsters, including Michael (Romanus). Charlie
secretly dates Teresa (Robinson), who is Johnny Boy’s sister. She suffers from
epilepsy and is an outsider to the closed-knit Italian culture of the
neighborhood. Giovanni wants Charlie to get away from Johnny Boy, but Charlie
can’t do it. Eventually the debtors come to get Johnny Boy to pay up, and Charlie
must make decisions that will tear him apart. And that’s when the violence
erupts.
What’s
truly amazing about Mean Streets is that, according to cinematographer Kent
Wakeford, only 6% of the film was actually shot in Little Italy (this reviewer
believes it is slightly more, but certainly not as much as 10%). The rest was
all shot in the Los Angeles area! Scorsese and his design team managed
to find locations in California that somewhat resembled New York City, and
nearly all of the interiors were shot in real spaces (existing bars, hotels,
and apartments). No sound stages were used. For decades, critics and film
historians have touted Mean Streets to be one of the “great New York
films, shot on the streets” when, in fact, it wasn’t! That’s not to say that
it’s not a great New York film, because it is.
Mean
Streets is
a rough and ready, visceral, fast moving, in your face crime picture with unsavory
characters and a vibe that will make you nervous. You might ask, well, is it
entertaining? You bet your life it is. But with these ne’er-do-wells, your life
may not be worth much.
The
Criterion Collection presents a new 4K digital restoration approved by Scorsese
and frequent collaborator/editor Thelma Schoonmaker (who was not involved with
the film), with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. After several home video
releases in the past on DVD and Blu-ray, this one is obviously tops.
Supplements
include the excellent previously mentioned discussion about the film between
Scorsese and Richard Linklater at the DGA; an audio commentary by Scorsese and
Amy Robinson on specific scenes from the film; a new, observant video essay by
Imogen Sara Smith about the picture; an interview with DP Wakefield; excerpts
from a documentary about co-writer Mardik Martin; a vintage promo video from
1973 about the making of the film (the only supplement ported over from
previous home video releases); and the theatrical trailer. The package booklet
contains an essay by critic Lucy Sante.
Mean
Streets is
a must-have for fans of Martin Scorsese, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, and New
York City mob movies. Get it now… just remember to pay your debts!
From a 1974 issue of Boxoffice magazine, though the photos are from at least a couple of years previous to this issue with the exception of the depiction of the Colorado 4 Cinemas in Denver, which was an artist's concept drawing. The Alameda Theatre in San Francisco is showing "Pete 'n Tille" with Carol Burnett and Walter Matthau, while the Americana 5 multiplex in Panorama City, California is showing "The Graduate", "Doctor Zhivago", "The Dunwich Horror", "The Brain" and "Take the Money and Run". The photos were from an advertisement promoting theater chains.
For those readers of a certain age who have retained fond memories of the laser disc era, here are a couple of treats: two 1990s ads promoting laser discs of "Dances with Wolves" and "Terminator 2:Judgment Day".
On this date in 1963, Stanley Kramer's all-star Cinerama comedy "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" opened at the Cinerama Dome Theatre in Los Angeles. The film represents what people mean when they say "They don't make 'em like that anymore!"
