BY LEE PFEIFFER

Here is a TV interview from the archives of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" from May, 1968 that presents a rare chat show appearance by Marlon Brando, who was motivated to appear in order to discuss the recent assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Apparently only a B&W video exists of the appearance.) Brando discusses the fact that he had been looking forward to reuniting with director Elia Kazan to star in "The Arrangement". However, King's assassination motivated him to back out of his film career temporarily in order to launch a charitable drive with the goal of bringing about racial equality. He and Carson have a somber discussion about the state of race relations in America and both agree that if people don't learn to coexist peacefully, then extremists from both sides of the political spectrum will fill the void. Their observations are thoughtful and prescient, and unfortunately could easily be deemed as relevant for current day America. Looking at the video today, there is a haunting aspect to it. We know that as dire as the nation's situation was in May, 1968, it was about to get a lot worse with the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy just one month later, something that Brando and Carson probably couldn't even conceive of in those dark days.

Dan Blocker was one of the most beloved TV stars of the 1960s. He played the gentle giant "Hoss" Cartwright on the long-running TV show "Bonanza". But there was much more to his life than most of his fans realized. He was a decorated war veteran and had a previous career as a schoolteacher. Also, he co-starred with Frank Sinatra in two hit feature films, "Come Blow Your Horn" and "Lady in Cement". Blocker died from medical issues in 1972 at age 43. This short documentary presents interesting facts about his life and career.

Reader and contributor Allan Webb made us aware of this fascinating footage shot by the Lumière brothers of Venice in 1896. It's purported to be their first experiment in filmmaking. Given that the cover story of Cinema Retro issue #49 is "The Venetian Affair", it seems appropriate to post this. One aspect stands out: the timeless visual quality of Venice. Aside from the fashions of the late 19th century, the landmarks seen in the footage could have been filmed today. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, New York was going through some tough times, with spiraling crime and grime afflicting the great city. Director Michael Winner tapped into popular sentiments that society was falling apart and law enforcement was too overwhelmed to protect the citizenry. The resulting film, "Death Wish", was as controversial as it was a populist hit. Years before, the notion of a vigilante searching the streets of Gotham in the hopes of meeting up with would-be muggers would not have hit the emotional cord it did in 1974. Some critics called it fascist, others called it racist (despite the fact that Winner took pains to present a multi-racial depiction of the denizens of society). Yet, audiences responded with enthusiasm every time Charles Bronson (in a very fine, subdued performance) let loose on the villains. New York is going through some hard times again due to the impact of the virus, but it's likely Gotham will return to fine form once the current crisis has passed. Until then, "Death Wish"- along with films such as "Taxi Driver" and "Midnight Cowboy"- still serve as cinematic archaeological artifacts of a more challenging era that brought about plenty of problems in society, but also inspired some memorable films. -(Lee Pfeiffer)

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Writing on the Filmlink web site, Cinema Retro contributor Stephen Vagg provides an insightful look into yet another fine writer/director who never got the acclaim he deserved: Ken Hughes, who directed a wide variety of fine British films ranging from notable "B" movies to big budget gems such as "Cromwell" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". Click here to read.

Here is a bare bones but quite interesting overview of the life of Hollywood "bad boy" legend Jack Palance, who did it his way right to the end. 

Today marks the birthday of Fred MacMurray. Writer Joe Elliott provides a fitting tribute to the late actor.

BY JOE ELLIOTT

Classic Hollywood actor Fred MacMurray is probably best remembered today as the easy-going father in the popular, long-running 1960s family sit-com “My Three Sons.” As the head of the growing Douglas clan, the pipe-smoking, sweater-clad MacMurray each week dispensed his gentle blend of wisdom and humor to the delight of American television audiences. One might have thought this was the kind of role MacMurray had always played. Not so, a fact that was first brought home to me by my mother. I recall as a kid hearing her say she didn’t much care for him. Not like Fred MacMurray??? “But why?” I asked. “Because of the jerks he played in the movies,” she told me. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered what she meant. As many CinemaRetro readers will know, MacMurray was a popular film star long before his days in TV. Many still fondly recall him from his appearances in such Disney favorites as “The Shaggy Dog” (1959) and “The Absent-Minded Professor” (1961). However, even before that, MacMurray starred in several well-known roles, notably including ones where he played, to borrow my mom’s word, a “jerk.”

MacMurray, a native Illinoian born in 1908, supported himself in his early years as a singer and jazz saxophonist (he played a trumpeter in 1937’s “Swing High, Swing Low” with Carole Lombard.) His first credited film role was in the forgettable “Grand Old Girl” (1935). While the movie didn’t go anywhere, MacMurray, on the other hand, was off and running. That same year, he appeared in no fewer than six other films, including the George Stevens’ masterpiece, “Alice Adams” with Katharine Hepburn. He quickly became one of Hollywood’s busiest young actors, portraying everything from air pilots to cowboys. In 1940, he appeared alongside rising star Barbara Stanwyck in “Remember the Night.” Soon he was being paired with many of Hollywood’s other leading ladies, including Alice Faye, Jean Arthur, Roseland Russell, Marlene Dietrich, and the beautiful British actress Madeleine Carroll.

MacMurray starred in “Dive Bomber” at the start of World War Two and made several other routine dramas during the war years. Routine, that is, all except for one. Near the end of the war, he was again cast with Stanwyck in “Double Indemnity,” considered today a bona fide noir classic. MacMurray plays insurance salesman Walter Neff in the film. Neff becomes obsessed with the sexy wife of one of his clients, played by Stanwyck, and is willing to do anything to have her. As a result, he allows himself to be lured into a plot to brutally kill her well-meaning but naïve husband in order to collect the life insurance money on him. Director and writer Billy Wilder is said to have wanted MacMurray, who by then had a well-established good guy image, for the role to surprise and shock movie audiences. It was probably this film that started my mom thinking of him as a jerk.

Like his friend and frequent co-star Barbara Stanwyck, MacMurray didn’t like to play the same role twice, and so the next year starred in the zany black-comedy “Murder, He Says.” “Murder” is, without a doubt, my favorite “Fred movie.” Peter Marshall (MacMurray) works for the Trotter Poll ("like the Gallup Poll, but not as fast"). He is sent out to find a co-worker who has mysteriously disappeared. In the process, he stumbles upon a backwoods family of homicidal maniacs, including the bullwhip-wielding matriarch of the clan (Marjorie Main) and her half-witted identical twin sons Mert and Bert (Peter Whitney), one of whom has a crick in his neck. There is some stolen money everyone is after, the location of which is hidden in the lyrics of a nonsense song. The creaky old house where Peter is held hostage is full of weird people and secret passageways. There are two girls, both claiming to be the same person. There is a hilarious climactic scene where everyone is assembled around the family dinner table. They keep turning the lights on and off while spinning around the lazy-Susan to avoid eating the poison-laced food.

MacMurray with Peter Whitney and Marjorie Main in "Murder, He Says".

Anybody who eats the food glows in the dark. “Murder, He Says” is a crazy, rambunctious movie, full of broad slapstick humor and great one-liners. A classic screwball comedy and one MacMurray is entirely at home in. Fred would go on to make more than forty more films in his career. Arguably his two best post-war roles, “The Caine Mutiny” (1954) and “The Apartment” (1960), once again featured him as first-class cads.

Fred MacMurray was one of the highest-paid film actors of his day. His shrewd investments in real estate and stocks made him one of the richest men in Hollywood. Perhaps one reason he was so rich, apart from his smart business sense, was his frugality, some might say, stinginess with a buck. Actor Robert Vaughn, who co-starred with him in “Good Day for a Hanging” (1959), told a revealing story about some boots. Vaughn arrived on the set one morning wearing a pair of expensive new leather boots he had recently purchased at a fashionable Hollywood boutique. MacMurray was much taken with them and asked Vaughn where he got them. The next day Fred appeared wearing a similar pair. When Vaughn asked him about them, he said he had spent the previous afternoon visiting one local thrift shop after another until he found just the pair he wanted! For all that, Fred MacMurray was very much a family man in real-life who enjoyed spending his off-hours playing golf, fishing, and working on his farm. "I take my movie parts as they come," he once said when asked about his career. "I don't fly into an emotional storm about them. I just do them. I guess I am an offhand comedian in a natural way."

Actress Tina Cole co-starred with Fred MacMurray on “My Three Sons.” She was the real-life daughter-in-law of Beverly Garland. Garland played Fred’s wife on the final four seasons of the show.

Here are a few memories Tina Cole recently shared with me about working with Fred MacMurray:

“I thought Fred was a gentle, very sincere man with a genuine love and respect for the family. He was quiet and rather shy off the set, but hysterical when he was on and he could say more with one lift of an eyebrow than most actors could with their entire face! 

Fred was known for his ‘frugality’ and both cast and crew were very surprised with the huge bouquet of flowers he, and his wife June, sent me on my first day of shooting. He knew about fellow cast member Don Grady's and my deep love for each other and was disappointed when we did not marry. Thereafter, every time I saw him he would ask if I had fallen in love. He wanted to see me happily married, which I thought was so sweet.

Here's a little story Fred once shared with me: He had just finished the movie ‘The Apartment’ (in-between filming ‘My Three Sons’), and he and his family were vacationing at Disneyland. A woman who saw the ‘The Apartment’ went up to him in front of his family and belted him with his purse. ‘Mr. MacMurray,’ she said indignantly, ‘I took my kids to see that awful movie and I will never see anything you’re ever in again!’  After that, Fred only did family-oriented films realizing as he did he had developed a different reputation. He stopped doing ‘heavy’ parts because of the effect that woman had on him. True story.”

He never won a competitive Oscar, though nominated numerous times. However, in 2003, the Academy awarded Peter O'Toole an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar. O'Toole is a study in old world class and graciousness. The icing on the cake must have been that his good mates Sean Connery and Michael Caine were there to see him receive the honor.

The year was 1972 and Charles Chaplin, having been virtually banned from Hollywood due to his left-leaning political views in the age of McCarthy, made a triumphant return to the movie capitol to accept an honorary Oscar. The comedic genius was loathed by many in his personal life, but few would fail to be moved by this moment, which probably elicited the greatest ovation in Oscar history. (Note the presence of Jackie Coogan in the audience. As a child, Coogan starred with Chaplin in The Kid).

Shirley Jackson's famed ghost story novel "The Haunting of Hill House" was originally made into an MGM film by director Robert Wise in 1963. Jan de Bont's 1999 remake was poorly received and most recently, there is a hit Netflix series inspired by Jackson's book. However, for pure brilliance, Wise's interpretation of the story still stands as a masterpiece of the horror film genre in which ambiguity and unexplained events prove to be more chilling than most films that employ over-the-top special effects. For all of respect accorded the film today, it was not particularly well-received by critics when it originally opened. One of the more positive and insightful reviews was written by James Powers for The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to read.

If you're a Cinema Retro reader, you probably don't have to be told how impressive director John Boorman's 1972 adaptation of James Dickey's bestseller "Deliverance" is, but here's a reminder.

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Remember when it was exciting to see your favorite movies premiere on prime time television? Most of the time, they were edited for time or content and, of course, you had to suffer through commercials in the pre-streaming and home video era. Still, they generally garnered high ratings. Here's a vintage 1972 intro for the popular "NBC Saturday Night at the Movies" program, this week showing the top-notch 1967 Western "The War Wagon". 

From the Paramount archives: enjoy this scene from John Ford's classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962) and relish the amazing array of great actors: John Wayne, James Stewart, Lee Marvin, Strother Martin, Woody Strode, Vera Miles, Edmond O'Brien and Lee Van Cleef.

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In 1969, there wasn't a category to honor achievement in Makeup at the annual Oscars telecast. However, so impressive was John Chambers' work on "Planet of the Apes", that the Academy honored him with a special Oscar- and it was presented by Walter Matthau and an appropriate surprise guest star!

Here is rare footage filmed at a press junket in Yugoslavia on the set of "Kelly's Heroes". Don Rickles is in rare form and there are appearances by Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and director Brian G. Hutton, who shows up late in the footage (he's wearing a hat). During filming, the movie was still under its original title, "The Warriors".

Hard to believe but Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman at one time paid the bills by hawking cars in TV commercials and John Travolta featured in a promo spot for the U.S. Army. Kim Basinger and Lindsay Wagner promoted shampoos and Cybill Shepherd was known for promoting makeup. Enjoy these blasts from the past.

Here's the original trailer for director Norman Jewison's Best Picture Oscar winner for 1967. "In the Heat of the Night" also won Rod Steiger a Best Actor Oscar. Sidney Poitier's Virgil Tibbs proved to be so popular that United Artists brought him back in the sequels "They Call Me Mister Tibbs!" and "The Organization".

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Director Robert Aldrich's underrated 1972 Western "Ulzana's Raid" is brutal but highly engrossing and presents Burt Lancaster in a terrific performance. It was one of several Westerns Lancaster did in this period that still resonate today: "Valdez is Coming" and "Lawman" remain at the top of the list along with "Ulzana's Raid". 

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Director Martin Ritt's 1963 classic "Hud" depicts a charismatic heel played with stunning brilliance by Paul Newman. The film featured Oscar winning performances by Patricia Neal and Melvyn Douglas and a gem of a supporting turn by Brandon De Wilde.

The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Enjoy these vintage U.S. TV spots promoting American films released mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. We won't divulge the titles so you'll have some surprises!

The following news items were reported in Film Daily during the week of October 21, 1963

Stephen Boyd in "The Fall of the Roman Empire"

Paul Lazarus Jr., executive vice president of Samuel Bronston Productions, is lining up tours to the Bronston Studio in Spain for exhibitors who have expressed interest in (and booking) Fall of the Roman Empire. The trips, on which theater men will be on their own, especially for transportation, are expected to start shortly after mid-November.

Steve McQueen in "the Great Escape" (Like we really had to tell you!)

United Artists' The Great Escape rolled up $205,915 in the second week of its Golden Showcase run at 21 theaters in the greater New York area.

Arthur Kennedy, Victory Jory, Sal Mineo, George O'Brien, and Dolores Del Rio have been signed for key roles in Cheyenne Autumn Warner Bros. film which John Ford is directing.

Britain's Shirley Eaton will fill the sole femme part in MGM's Rhino in production in South Africa.

Executive Council of British Film Producers Association will support the move by the Association of Independent Cinemas to reduce the admittance of teenagers to "A" pictures from 16 to 14. Films classified as "A" by the censor are forbidden to children under 16 unless accompanied by an adult. Films tagged "X" are forbidden to those 16 and under while "U" films are for the entire family.

How the West Was Won has passed the 500,000 admission mark at the Warner Hollywood Cinerama Theatre, where the MGM production has grossed more than $1,000,000 since its opening October 21...Ticket orders are being taken into December and the engagement will continue indefinitely.

 (Above: advert for London engagement of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World)

Stanley Kramer and many of the stars of his It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World will appear on The Jerry Lewis Show, ABC-TV November 2, the night before the UA Cinerama comedy has its international press preview at The New Cinerama Theatre in Hollywood.

Almost a decade after Paul Newman won universal praise for the 1966 detective film "Harper" (UK title: "The Moving Target"), he returned as wiseguy private eye Lew Harper in the 1975 sequel "The Drowning Pool". Critics and audiences were relatively unimpressed this time around, but the film has many delights and showcases Newman at his most charismatic. The movie also has a helluva suspenseful and exciting final scene in the titular location. Enjoy the original trailer and click here to order the film from the Cinema Retro movie store.

Here's a great musical number: the only on-screen teaming of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bing Crosby in the 1964 Warner Bros. film "Robin and the Seven Hoods", which boasts a terrific score by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. In the film, Crosby plays a meek accountant for Sinatra's mob. Sinatra and Dino decide to show Crosby how to spice up his image by performing the marvelous musical number "Style". The film also features the classic song "My Kind of Town" and a show-stopping one-man number by Sammy Davis Jr. that tears up the screen. If you've never seen this underrated gem (directed by the equally underrated Gordon Douglas), you can do so by clicking here to order the Blu-ray from amazon. 

Director Mark Robson's tragic boxing drama "Champion" was widely praised when it premiered in 1949, earning six Oscar nominations including one for Best Actor for rising young star Kirk Douglas. It was this film that made Hollywood studios take serious notice of Douglas and there would be no looking back. Douglas would be a bonafide star throughout his entire career. The original review of the film in the Hollywood Reporter lavishes praise on Douglas, calling him a "vigorous, manly, exciting actor". Click here to read the full review.  

Relive the hilarity of Mel Brooks' brilliant 1977 homage to Alfred Hitchcock, "High Anxiety". In issue #26, we published an exclusive interview with Mel in which he discusses his interactions with Hitchcock during the making of the film, which are also very funny, indeed.

Here's the early scene in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" that established the tone and style of the film, directed with perfection by George Roy Hill from William Goldman's brilliant and witty screenplay. Paul Newman's Butch Cassidy has the unenviable task of engaging in a knife fight to the death with the towering figure of Ted Cassidy- but he proves brains can be worth more than brawn.

Margaret Hamilton with Ray Bolger and Jack Haley in an MGM promotional photo for "The Wizard of Oz".

Movie lovers associate actress Margaret Hamilton almost exclusively with her immortal portrayal of the Wicked Witch in the 1939 MGM classic "The Wizard of Oz". However, as writer Veronika Bondarenko points out in a column for Pocket Worthy, there was much more to the woman and her talents. Hamilton was proud of her performance in "Oz" but ultimately resented the fact that her other career achievements were largely ignored by the public and critics. She appeared in such diverse productions as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "13 Ghosts", "My Little Chickadee", "The Red Pony", "Brewster McCloud" and "The Anderson Tapes". She was also a veteran of stage productions and appeared in countless hit TV shows.

To read about her remarkable life and career, click here.

Here's a trip back in time: Bob Hope's opening of the 1966 Academy Awards broadcast in 1966, the first to be telecast in color.  Interesting to note some of the quips about current events and people of the day including Ronald Reagan's political ambitions in California, George Hamilton escorting President Johnson's daughter Linda to the ceremonies, quips about Lee Marvin's drinking and Richard Burton's prowess as a lover and references to "The Agony and the Ecstasy". Some of it still remains funny, thanks to Hope's inimitable delivery.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Writing on the Mental Floss web site, Jake Rossen recalls the impact of the 1983 ABC-TV airing of the controversial film "The Day After" starring Jason Robards. The movie was director Nicholas Meyer's warning to the world about the dangers of a nuclear war. At the time, the Cold War was very much in play and the stakes were high. ABC found they could get scant advertisers to sponsor a program with saw the destruction of America through the eyes of residents of a small Kansas town. To the network's credit, it aired the film anyway. What they lost in advertising revenue over two hours, they made up for in prestige. The show, which aired in the days when cable TV was in its infancy, attracted an astonishing 62 million viewers. (It would later be released overseas as a theatrical feature film in a slightly extended version.) Those of us of a certain age who recall watching it were left deeply moved and very upset as we watched the "lucky" survivors cope with facing a slow, torturous death. Perhaps in this modern era of a pandemic, it would still  be difficult to watch even in the post-Cold War era, as our nightly news presents scenes of an America that seems scarcely recognizable, with desperate teams of physicians and nurses working in hellish, over-crowded hospitals- much like the scenario presented in "The Day After". The film represented a time period in which the three major networks were proud to produce and telecast controversial productions that often had a societal impact (think "Roots".) "The Day After" certainly did and it's been theorized that President Reagan was so moved by what he saw that he redoubled his efforts to finalize important arms limitation deals with the Soviets.

Click here to read.

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An informative documentary by Jerry Skinner tracing the career highlights of the legendary Clark Gable.

Here's a marvelous and cleverly-edited segment on Gerry Anderson's TV adventure series "The Protectors", which debuted in  1972 and ran for two seasons consisting of 52 episodes. Most people don't associate the show with Anderson, the king of TV animated series. The series starred Robert Vaughn and Nyree Dawn Porter as mysterious, rich adventurers who take on international criminals.  "The Protectors" was clearly inspired by "The Avengers" but boasted a larger budget that allowed for filming in exotic locations worldwide. It must be said that Vaughn never cared for the show and bad-mouthed it in a New York Times interview even before it debuted, claiming that the half-hour format didn't allow for compelling plots. Nonetheless, the series was a success and has developed a cult following. Even the end title song, "Avenues and Alleyways" by Tony Christie remains a pop culture favorite in the UK.

Brian VanHooker, writing for the website MEL, takes an in-depth look at the direct-to-video VHS sequels to Disney hits that became all the rage in the 1990s and expanded into the DVD era. They were brought about by the failure of the theatrical sequel "The Rescuers Down Under" and would go on to become an important source of profits for the company. Click here to read.

If you've never seen the 1965 film adaptation of John Le Carre's bestseller "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", don't hesitate another minute. One of the great thrillers of the 1960s, directed by Martin Ritt with a complex screenplay by Paul Dehn and Guy Tosper that will have you riveted and guessing throughout. There's also a superb cast headed by Richard Burton in a glorious, Oscar-nominated performance as the dour, disillusioned secret agent.(Don'[t be discouraged by the hokey narration on this American trailer!)

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Here are some rare original NBC programming promos for premiere week in September, 1968 including movies such as "Madame X" and  "Becket" and TV shows "Get Smart", "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", "Bonanza" and many others.

Let's take a trip in the Cinema Retro time machine to August of 1970. Here were the big films that were playing in London at the time. Among the titles playing: "Paint Your Wagon", "The Lion in Winter" (in its 78th week!), "Airport", "Battle of Britain", "Patton" (under the UK title "Patton: Lust for Glory"), "M*A*S*H", the star-studded remake of "Julius Caesar", "Woodstock", "Hello Dolly" and John Wayne as "Chisum". Best of all, you could go on a date to a first rate theater in those days without applying for a second mortgage.  (Data from Kine Weekly film trade magazine).

To Catch a Thief, with Cary Grant.

Click here to read a complete list of Hitchcock cameo film appearances as well as the opportunity to view them. 

Those were the days! This entertainment section from the Dallas Morning News of May 3, 1964, shows a wealth of great movies in theaters that week- along with a stage appearance by cast members of The Beverly Hilllibillies! Among the movies you could check out this week were Tom Jones, Lilies of the Field, Move Over, Darling, Seven Days in May, The Silence and The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. (Courtesy of Jim Kroeper collection)

We're not sure how many readers might still find movies dealing with the destruction of mankind by biological agents to be entertaining, but if you're in the mood, check out this complete version of "The Last Man on Earth", a 1964 Italian adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend". The film stars Vincent Price and, despite its obvious budget limitations, it's an effective chiller- and truer to the novel than the two other screen versions, "The Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston and "I Am Legend" starring Will Smith. Both of those films were boxoffice hits but that doesn't diminish the value of Price's lesser-known contribution to the Matheson canon. (Watch Joe Dante analyze the trailer on the Trailers from Hell site.)

In a 2018 essay that coincided with the 50th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", Owen Gleiberman, writing in Variety, analyzes the impact of the movie and what it all really meant. (His theory is that it was less about space travel than the fact that technology could now mimic the intimacies of human feeling.) The film seemed poised to be a boxoffice flop but an imaginative new marketing campaign aimed at younger audiences clicked and paid off handsomely. Today, of course, it is regarded as a classic for the ages, even though some posture that anyone who thinks they really know what it is all about doesn't know what it's all about. It remains a fascinating puzzle that each of us can interpret in our own way.

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After James Cagney went into retirement from filmmaking in 1961 with Billy Wilder's "One, Two, Three", he kept a very low profile, preferring to remain on his farm in upstate New York or huddling with his friends at his beloved club The Players in Manhattan. When Cagney reemerged in public in 1974 to accept the American Film Institute's lifetime achievement award, audiences were happy to see how well he looked and how vibrant he still was. Here you can view his marvelous acceptance speech which reflected the man himself: humble, grateful and very witty.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Joe Dante's "Trailers from Hell" web site enlists our ol' pal John Landis to "celebrate" the ultimate guilty pleasure movie, Universal's cheesy "Jaws" on wheels concept, "The Car". Released in 1977, I recall attending an advance critic's screening in New York. As the audience howled in laughter, grim-faced Universal executives made notes on the reaction. I later recommended to one and all that they should see the film immediately, which several did. Apparently, however, while they agreed it was a hoot, some of the most unintentionally hilarious bits were apparently excised from the film before its general release. Perhaps bad movie lovers can launch a quest to find and restore that missing footage, just as historians have been trying to track down all those cut scenes from "The Magnificent Ambersons". 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

To the dismay of his millions of fans, Cary Grant went into self-imposed retirement after the release of his final film "Walk Don't Run" in 1966. He made no statements about his decision, no dramatic appearances on TV programs to make the announcement. He simply and quietly just let it be known in the industry that he was no longer making films. Right up to the evening at which he was to receive his honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement at the 1970 ceremonies, it was expected by many that the award would accepted on his behalf by someone else, as Grant was adverse to speaking publicly.  It was a real thrill when he walked out on stage and, despite having to contend with some bizarre inside jokes from Frank Sinatra, Grant went on to make an extremely gracious speech, sharing his honor with all of the colleagues he had worked with. No wonder the Cary Grant image is still the gold standard when it comes to style and dignity.

Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman in "The Avengers".

Writing on the Mental Floss web site, Jake Rossen bemoans the fact that in decades past, many of the great TV programs aired by the BBC were systematically destroyed or taped over with no regard for their artistic value. Among the lost gems: early episodes of the first season of "The Avengers" and early "Doctor Who" shows. Rossen examines how one woman's decades-long crusade to salvage the programing and find lost prints resulted in at least some of these treasures being located and saved for posterity's sake. Click here to read.

Writer Ralph Jones looks back on the debacle that was the 1999 big screen production of "Wild Wild West", based on the popular 1960s TV series "The Wild, Wild West". Despite an abundance of talent topped by superstar Will Smith, the film was a critical debacle. Thanks to Smith's boxoffice clout, it wasn't a boxoffice disaster, but even before the movie premiered, there were signs a turkey was about to be unveiled. In his article, Jones contacts some of the key participants in the botched attempt to turn yet another beloved TV series into a big screen franchise.

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Writing on the Rolling Stone web site, David Epstein makes the case that director George Roy Hill's 1977 hockey comedy "Slap Shot" starring Paul Newman is the best sports movie of the decade. That certainly wasn't the opinion among critics or the public when it initially opened. The film's advocacy of violence in sports was derided by many who found it distasteful. Influential film critic Rex Reed denounced the characters as "Droogs on ice", a reference to the violent bands of young predators depicted in "A Clockwork Orange". However, like many films that were initially disparaged, "Slap Shot" grew in stature over the years and developed a cult of devoted fans.(Lee Pfeiffer)

Click here to read the article.

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BY LEE PEIFFER

Esquire has reprinted Gay Talese's legendary 1966 profile of Frank Sinatra. Esquire refers to it as "one of the most celebrated magazine articles ever published". Titled "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold", the piece covers some very intimate aspects of Sinatra's life both professionally and personally. Talese never got to interview Old Blue Eyes but was granted extraordinary access to his daily activities. Talese presents a masterfully written portrait of a controversial legend. The article isn't a hit piece on Sinatra, but it doesn't shy away from portraying him as occasionally ill-tempered, selfish and impulsive. On the other hand, while the article doesn't beatify Sinatra, it points out he was capable of acts of extraordinary kindness and a dedication to human rights. He was a complex man, to say the least. The article follows Sinatra around throughout the wee small hours of the mornings. He hated being alone and he was a creature of the night. Talese traces his carousing with Jilly, the famous New York restaurant owner whose name became legendary due in no small part to Sinatra's loyal patronage, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and actor Brad Dexter, who is primarily remembered for being the one cast member of "The Magnificent Seven" who no one can remember by name. It's a remarkable (and very long piece) that represents American journalism at its finest.

Click here to read.