Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

An Afternoon with Sir Roger Moore An Evening with Sir Roger Moore

Sunday 27 October 2.00pm Wednesday 6 November 7.30pm

LEEDS GRAND THEATRE NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE, BIRMINGHAM

Box Office: 0844 848 2700 Box Office: 0844 871 3011

An Evening with Sir Roger Moore An Afternoon with Sir Roger Moore

Tuesday 29 October 7.30pm Sunday 10 November 3.00pm

G LIVE, GUILDFORD THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW

Box Office: 0844 7701 797 Box Office: 0844 871 7647

An Evening with Sir Roger Moore An Evening with Sir Roger Moore

Wednesday 30 October 8.00pm Monday 11 November 7.30pm

WATFORD COLOSSEUM EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE

Box Office: 0845 075 3993 Box Office: 0131 529 6000

An Afternoon with Sir Roger Moore An Evening with Sir Roger Moore

Sunday 2 November 1.00pm Wednesday 13 November 7.30pm

READING HEXAGON MILTON KEYNES THEATRE

Box Office: 0118 960 6060 Box Office: 0844 871 7652

An Afternoon with Sir Roger Moore An Afternoon with Sir Roger Moore

Sunday 3 November 2.30pm Sunday 17 November 3.00pm

THE LOWRY, SALFORD QUAYS NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE

Box Office: 0843 208 6000 Box Office: 0844 871 7646

There have been so many false starts in the attempt to bring The Man From U.N.C.L.E to the big screen, we've given up trying to summarize them all. Suffice it to say that fans believe there is a curse on any such attempt. The latest development won't do anything to dispel those beliefs. Tom Cruise, long rumored to be starring in the role of Napoleon Solo originated on the TV series by Robert Vaughn, has formally bowed out. Ironically, he's bypassed the U.N.C.L.E. project in order to do yet another installment of the Mission: Impossible series. So Cruise has dropped one film inspired by a classic 1960s spy franchise in favor of another. Still, Warner Brothers remains keen on making U.N.C.L.E. a new franchise and Guy Ritchie is still attached as director. Arnie Hammer is also still with the film, presumably to play the role of Illya Kuryakin that was originally played by David McCallum. However, at this rate, we can assume the curse will strike again. Maybe the only way U.N.C.L.E. will ever make it to the big screen is in the form of the two part feature films that were derived from the TV show in the 1960s. For more click here 

Actor Steve Forrest has passed away at the age of 87. The brother of famed actor Dana Andrews, Forrest had a successful career in films and television. A WWII veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, Forrest was discovered by Gregory Peck and appeared in numerous films including Flaming Star, Spies Like Us, The Longest Day, Heller in Pink Tights, North Dallas Forty and Mommie Dearest. He was also a proficient vocalist and golfer. On TV, Forrest enjoyed his greatest success, starring in the short-lived, but fondly remembered British adventure series The Baron. As the titular character in the 1965 show, Forrest played an American antiques dealer living in London who would secretly undertake dangerous international missions in the service of British Intelligence. Forrest also had the lead role in the 1970s hit TV series S.W.A.T.  For more click here

It's been quite a while since a film starring Robert Redford got a lot of positive buzz at film festivals. However, his offbeat starring role in a new film called All is Lost got a great reaction after its premiere showing at Cannes. Directed by JC Chandor, the movie depicts Redford as a lone sailor who finds himself in jeopardy on the high seas. The film is said to be masterfully directed and acted and its predicted Redford may score a Best Actor Oscar nomination even though he has no dialogue in the one-character adventure flick. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

Ernest Borgnine's final film, The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vincente Fernandez has been released on Blu-ray on the Indican video label. The following is my review of the film's recent theatrical release:

The independent production is a modestly-budgeted family comedy/drama that presents the legendary Oscar-winner with the kind of showcase role that actors in their nineties almost never have. Borgnine makes the most of it, too, giving a terrific and moving performance that earned him the Best Actor award at last year's Newport Film Festival. Written and produced by Elia Petridis, Fernandez centers on Rex Page (Borgnine), a cantankerous old coot given to griping about every aspect of life. He seems oblivious to the fact that he has an adoring wife (June Squibb), a devoted middle-aged daughter (Dale Dickey) and and a worshipful granddaughter (Audrey P. Scott). Rex is frustrated by his failure to fulfill his dream of becoming a big time actor on the silver screen. He once came close to landing the leading role in a spaghetti Western, but lost out to a competing actor. He's spent a lifetime in self-imposed hell, obsessed with watching this B movie and learning every line of dialogue, which he repeats to anyone in his presence. When a health crisis sees the fiercely independent Rex move into a nursing home, a series of incidents motivate him to reevaluate his life. The nursing home is a money mill for corrupt bureaucrats who use the patients as cash cows. It doesn't take Rex long to figure this out and he quickly wears out his welcome by insulting and chastising fellow elderly patients who are part of a click belonging to the corrupt family that owns the facility. He also is abrasive towards the largely Hispanic staff of nurses and orderlies, often referring to them in unflattering racial insults.

The relationship between Rex and his caregivers gradually softens, however, when the young staff members learn that Rex, a former popular DJ, once briefly met and shook the hand of the film's titular character, Vincente Fernandez, a "Mexican Frank Sinatra" who enjoys mythic stature in the Hispanic community. Rex transfixes the staff by telling and retelling his account of this brief meeting in the 1970s. This common bond allows Rex and the staffers to form a mutually respectful relationship that grows stronger by the day. Rex particularly takes a shine to his nurse Solena (stunningly beautiful Carla Ortiz)- and he comes to her defense, saving her from the clutches of would-be molester Dr. Dominguez (Tony Plana), the chief administrator.  In a scenario that is a clearly geriatric version of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Rex inspires his young friends to stand up for their rights and take on the oppressive bureaucrats who exploit them. He must also deal with challenges in his own life when his family feels he's been alienating them in favor of his adopted family at the nursing home. 

The film contains more than its share of sugary scenes and corny cliches. (The villains are so lacking in any redeeming qualities that they practically twirl their mustaches.) Nevertheless, director Petridis offers Borgnine the finest role he's had in more years than I can remember. He dominates every scene and, ironically for his final film, looks like the picture of good health. Petridis, who must clearly be obsessive about spaghetti westerns himself, cleverly manages to intertwine many aspects of Western movie lore into this contemporary story so that even a card game between Borgnine and a nursing home nemesis is drenched in Leone-like imagery and music. This homage extends to the brilliant title credits which are cleverly derived from the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood "Dollars" trilogy. This is a feel good family film that is marred by one easily correctable misjudgment: the insertion of a completely unnecessary expletive said from a mother to her young child. It's wildly out of place in an otherwise uplifting tale for all ages. If director Petridis is wise, he'll exclude this from the video and pay-per-view versions of the film.

I only had the pleasure of meeting Ernest Borgnine once several years ago for an interview for Cinema Retro magazine. He struck me as a warm, honest and kind individual. Thus, perhaps I had a bit more of a personal outlook when viewing Borgnine's final sequence in this film, which Elia Petridis handles brilliantly. It's so touchingly filmed and directed that I was moved to watch this scene several times. Not since John Wayne's final scene in The Shootist has a legendary actor had a more appropriate on-screen send off.

The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez is not high art, nor does it pretend to be. However, it is an enjoyable film that refreshingly extolls family values. The supporting cast members are all very talented and a pleasure to watch, but is  Ernie Borgnine who justifiably dominates the movie and your memories of it.

The Blu-ray release, which boasts an excellent transfer, includes commentary track by director Elias Petridis and producer Darren Brandl, who both enthusiastically share their memories of making the movie. They both acknowledge that the film has been praised for its superb title sequence, but bizarrely don't seem to be aware of the fact that it is a brilliant homage specifically to Sergio Leone's Man With No Name movies. Instead, they simply imply it is based on traditional Westerns. Come on guys, watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly  and you'll see exactly why everyone loves the credits to Vicente Fernandez. Even the film's ad campaign is creatively based on that classic. The Blu-ray also contains the original trailer and other trailers for Indican video releases, most of which are films centered on themes of social significance.  There is also a bonus supplement of raw footage shot by Brandl on his cell phone of the behind the scenes aspects of the production. While the footage doesn't shed much light on how the movie itself, it does illustrate how the production team had to cope with a very limited budget (everyone is crammed into a small work space). There is also a good deal of reverence in seeing young Petridis return from his first meeting with Ernest Borgnine and speaking incredulously about how the legendary actor promised to defer to him as director and call him "sir". It's nice to see how much respect this new generation of filmmakers had for the revered star. 

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Click here to read Elia Petridis' statement about working with Ernest Borgnine, who passed away before the film was released.  

By Darren Allison, Cinema Retro Soundtrack Editor  

When considering the scores for movie Westerns, film music collectors often refer to classics such as Max Steiner's The Searchers, Dimitri Tiomkin's Rio Bravo or Victor Young's Shane, all of which are, of course, fabulous scores. Monstrous Movie Music have again, (and in keeping with their refreshing style), ventured into new territories with the release of Paul Dunlap’s Western score to Hellgate (1952) (MMM-1972). Rather surprisingly, this CD marks the first full release to feature Dunlap’s film music. The composer was incredibly prolific throughout his career scoring diverse projects which spanned from many of The Three Stooges movies to the cult classic AIP horrors including the Teenage Frankenstein/Werewolf series of films. For a B movie western, there was something a little different about Hellgate – it was really rather good! Hellgate was directed by Charles Marquis Warren, a tough all-rounder who would go on to produce the popular TV series Rawhide. The film boasted a strong, testosterone fuelled cast featuring Sterling Hayden, James Arness and Ward Bond. Hayden plays a veterinarian who is wrongly convicted of guerrilla activities shortly after the Civil War. The prison camp is tough and he has to survive the sadistic commandant (Bond), a cruel guard (Robert Wilke), and deceitful prisoners like Arness. Throw in some Pima Indians (who patrol the canyon walls) in order to catch any escapees for a reward, prisoner punishment that involves being baked in metal coffins or whipped within an inch of their lives and you have a Western story that is well above the expected standard of Poverty Row Lippert Pictures. Dunlap’s music is incredibly dramatic throughout, but it isn’t your regular western score. His main theme begins with heavy brass and drums, but slips into a more solemn, string based theme before it builds gently and provides a sense of hope. It sets the tone perfectly and emphasises the film’s opposing themes of hatred vs. forgiveness. Tracks such as “Kearne Makes Lunge at Nye” illustrate Dunlap’s ability to create genuine excitement by employing his full range of brass and string sections. Quality, for the best part of this score, is highly acceptable. MMM took the decision to release Dunlap’s original recordings in place of re-recording his score, which I believe was the correct option. Whilst there is some minor noise (from the surviving acetates) evident on a handful of tracks, it does not detract or spoil the acoustic soundscape and naturally maintains the composer’s original work. As a bonus, Monstrous movie music has generously included Dunlap’s excellent score for The Lost Continent (1951). A simple enough story, The Lost Continent successfully merged two fantasy elements, combining rocket ships with roaming dinosaurs on a south pacific island. Making good use of an increased budget, Dunlap was able to employ a 47 piece orchestra, and it was warranted – given the enormity of aircraft, rockets, natural disasters and battling monsters that confronted the composer. The result was a highly enjoyable score, and whilst some of the music has been lost in time, the 28mins of music included here make this a CD that is hard to ignore. We can only hope that there is a lot more of Paul Dunlap’s music to come. Included is a great 20 page booklet that covers just about every aspect of the music, composer and the film, all written (in exquisite detail) by David Schecter.

Click here to order  

Click here to read review of Hellgate DVD 

Branded to Kill is among the Nikkatsu films to be screened.

The BFI will showcase a month long London film festival tribute to Japan's legendary Nikkatsu Studios during the month of June. Below is press release information:

The oldest of Japan’s film studios, Nikkatsu was established in 1912 as the Japan Cinematograph Company (Nippon katsudo shashin kaisha). Home to ‘father of Japanese cinema’ Shozo Makino, it fostered early directors like Kenji Mizoguchi, Daisuke Ito and Tomu Uchida, until restructuring of the industry by the wartime government in 1942 saw its production facilities hived off to form the new Daiei Corporation, with Nikkatsu surviving only in an exhibition capacity.

In 1954, Nikkatsu resumed production, rising phoenix-like under the guidance of studio head Kyusaku Hori to carve out a unique identity in the highly competitive market of the postwar Golden Age. Its breakthrough came with the 1956 double whammy of Takumi Furukawa’s Season of the Sun and Ko Nakahira’s Crazed Fruit, kicking off a boom in so-called ‘Sun Tribe’ (taiyôzoku) movies. Such films, with their controversial youths-on-the-loose narratives and sunny beachside settings providing a Japanese mirror to Hollywood titles like Rebel Without a Cause and Blackboard Jungle, were emblematic of a new era of carefree hedonism and sexual liberation for a generation of postwar baby-boomers, and were soon emulated by other studios.

In the 1960s, Nikkatsu cultivated its ‘Borderless Action’ (mukokuseki akushun) brand – the onscreen worlds drawing from American and European cinema and bearing little resemblance to contemporary Japanese reality. Produced at a conveyer-belt pace by directors including Koreyoshi Kurahara, Toshio Masuda and Takashi Nomura and featuring the company’s ‘Diamond Line’ roster of matinee idols like Yujiro Ishihara, Hideaki Nitani, Akira Kobayashi and Jo Shishido, these gaudy mash-ups of genres including musicals, film noir, gangster movies and even American Westerns defined the company’s product against its rivals. While the playful populism of most of its productions saw them fall beneath the radar of international critics, Nikkatsu’s output as a whole remained eccentric enough to spawn talents such as Shohei Imamura and Seijun Suzuki.

With the steady loss of innocence across the decade marked by the collapse of the Japanese studio system at its end, an era in Japanese cinema came to an end, although it would be Nikkatsu, arguably, who defined the new one too, when from 1971 onwards, it launched its new Roman Porno erotic line.

Click here for film festival tickets and info 

By Darren Allison, Cinema Retro Soundtrack Editor 

From its heavy percussion based main title, She Demons (1958) (MMM-1971) opens with a sense of heart pounding excitement and sets the tone for what is to follow. Nicholas Carras’s jungle-based score is threaded with dramatic cues of which the composer makes impressive use of his 22 piece orchestra. Whist She Demons (as a movie) was never going to attain the title of ‘classic’, Carras’s music, as is often the case, promotes the film to a higher level. Cues such as Escape and Nazis in Pursuit make excellent use of the orchestra’s brass and string section. Carras provides a hopeful, triumphant end title that runs concurrent with a few lonesome drum beats which provides continuity with the film’s central themes. For an isolated island movie (occupied by scantily clad girls, caged mutant women and Nazis) they probably don’t come any better than this. MMM have previously delighted us with a couple of superb Carras scores such as Missile to the Moon and Frankenstein’s Daughter. Their commitment to the composer’s work has proven to be a fruitful decision as She Demons is certainly one of his most accomplished scores.

Doubling up very nicely with She Demons is Guenther Kauer’s score to another low budget slice of sci-fi, The Astounding She-Creature (1957). If Carras’s score for She Demons was impressive, Kauer’s is simply enlightening. Granted, Kauer’s score was recorded using a 45 piece orchestra and as a result, the sound is a great deal richer. Perhaps more remarkably, Kauer sent his 33 minute written score to a friend in Germany who conducted and recorded the music (performed beautifully by The Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra) without screening the actual film. Cue timings were sent, but it often meant that final cues were not always precise. However, what emerged was a wonderful sounding score. Ronnie Ashcroft’s rather poor film succumbed to many edits and, as a result, the final music mix suffered. Thankfully, all of Kauer’s score is delivered here and is an orchestral delight. It is a beautifully crafted and intelligently written composition that really has no right to accompany such a lacklustre movie. Like many sci-fi classics, there is an undeniable ambiance that is certainly Herrmannesque in its delivery, and that can’t be a bad thing. Included is a super 20 page booklet that covers just about every aspect of the music, composer and the film, all written (in exquisite detail) by David Schecter.

TO ORDER CLICK HERE 

CINEMA RETRO ISSUE #26, THE SECOND ISSUE OF SEASON 9, HAS NOW SHIPPED TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS WORLDWIDE. 

DON'T MISS A SINGLE ISSUE OF THIS SEASON. IF YOU HAVEN'T SUBSCRIBED,DO SO TODAY!

HIGHLIGHTS OF ISSUE #26 INCLUDE:

• Lee Pfeiffer interviews comedy legend Mel Brooks, who reflects on his long career in TV and feature films
• Mike Siegel takes you to the set of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, the 1971 classic starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George; rare production photos and international ad campaigns. 
• Howard Hughes examines the Spaghetti Western classic The Five Man Army starring Peter Graves, Bud Spencer and Tetsuro Tamba
• Dean Brierly pays tribute to the great French crime films of the 1960s and 1970s 
• David McCallum recalls the making of Oakmont Studio's 1969 WWII film Mosquito Squadron
• Cinema Retro attends the 40th anniversary cast and crew reunion of Bob Fosse's Cabaret and gets interviews with JoeL Grey, Michael York, Marisa Berenson and Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies. Plus we cover the "re-premiere" at New York's Ziegfeld Theatre, attended by Liza Minnelli herself.
• Don R. Stradley looks at Sextette, the bizarre cinematic swan song of Mae West
• Raymond Benson's ten best films of 1985
• Gareth Owen examines the making of the 1969 spy flick The Chairman (aka The Most Dangerous Man in the World) starring Gregory Peck 
• Dave Worrall covers the new restoration of the Hammer horror classic Dracula (aka Horror of Dracula) 
• Remembering the brilliant, cynical comedy of Paddy Chayefsky in The Hospital starring George C. Scott and Diana Rigg
• Plus the latest DVD, soundtrack and  film book reviews

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Easiest way: click here to subscribe for season 9 through eBay.

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With Superman about to be revived (again) for the big screen, the Geeks of Doom site looks back at the entry that put an end to the Christopher Reeve Supey franchise. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was to be the most ambitious entry in the series. However, despite the presence of Reeve and Gene Hackman (reviving Lex Luthor), the 1987 film was a disaster on all levels. The article includes extensive comments from actor Jon Cryer, who was initially thrilled to be in the film but later learned from Reeve that the final cut would be a major disappointment, thanks to penny-pinching producers who reduced the budget by about 2/3. Click here to relive the unhappy memories.  

By Lee Pfeiffer

Sony has released the 1955 crime drama 5 Against the House as a burn-to-order DVD. The little-remembered film is interesting on a number of levels and boasts an impressive, eclectic cast. The low-budget flick depicts four young ex-G.I.s who fought in Korea who return to the States and enroll in college. Al (Guy Madison) is a straight-as-an-arrow type who is engaged to sultry nightclub singer Kay (Kim Novak). Ronnie (Kerwin Matthews) is a brainy upstart with delusions of grandeur and a superiority complex. Roy (Alvy Moore) is an affable joker who is very much a follower, not a leader. Brick (Brian Keith) is the most troubled of the group. He bares psychological problems from his combat experience and has a hair-trigger temper. The guys' only vices are taking an occasional trip to Reno, Nevada and engaging in some minor gambling and womanizing. However, Ronnie concocts an audacious plan to prove he can outwit the authorities and rob a casino. He suggest that the plan be put into operation with the intention of returning the money to the casino after the fact. Ronnie wants to build his ego, not his bank account. Roy and Brick sign on to the plan, but when Al balks, Brick's anger comes through. He threatens his friends with a gun and forces them to pull off the incredible scheme. The film, deftly directed by Phil Karlson, makes effective use of on location shooting in Reno at a place called Harold's Casino. The movie works best as a character study and the performances are all first-rate, with the exception of Madison, who is a bit of a stiff in the lead role. Novak is her usual sexy self and Keith, long-underrated for his dramatic capabilities, gives a powerful performance. The film is one of the earliest to take a sympathetic look at the emotional toll war takes on returning veterans. 5 Against the House is engaging throughout and although it is unremarkable in the long run, it represents the kind of overlooked gems that  the burn-to-order DVD format is rescuing from complete obscurity. 

An original trailer is included.  

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MEL BROOKS: COMEDY AS THE CURRENCY OF FRIENDSHIP

By Eddy Friedfeld

(Photo copyright Steven R. Stack)

Mel Brooks is profiled in a superb American Masters documentary entitled Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, which premieres nationally on PBS stations on May 20^th.  One of 14 EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winners, he has earned more major awards than any other living entertainer, and shows few signs of slowing down.  With new interviews with Brooks, his friends and colleagues, including Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman, Joan Rivers, Tracey Ullman, Rob Reiner, and his close friend, with whom he created The 2000 Year Old Man, Carl Reiner. A DVD with bonus material will be available Tuesday, May 21 from Shout Factory.

"When they called me to say I had been chosen as the next 'American Master,' I thought they said I was chosen to be the next Dutch Master. So I figured what the hell, at least I'll get a box of cigars. When I realized my mistake I was both elated and a little disappointed at losing the cigars," Brooks said.

The comprehensive film takes viewers from Brooks’ early years as Melvin Kaminsky in the Catskills (“I became a drummer because I wanted to make a noise,” Brooks said. “I could have been a floutist, but there was not enough noise”), to his work with Sid Caesar (“that SOB held me back because of his Promethean talent”), to finding his own voice. He knew he had something, he didn’t know how to peddle it, ultimately realizing that his “job was to spot the insane and the bizarre in the commonplace.”

The documentary has a unique and a decidedly different feel. “You get a view of the participants being seen on monitors,” said filmmaker Robert Trachtenberg. “I'm a photographer by trade so I usually shoot my documentaries in studios to achieve a consistent look (and be able to get more people interviewed per day). Because Mel is a filmmaker, I thought it was appropriate to show the milieu - the edges of the set, the monitors, etc. I didn't want the interviews to exist in a vacuum, and I flat out refuse to have a vase of flowers or a lamp behind someone's head.”

“Mel was different from anyone else I've worked with because .... he's Mel! It's a pleasure to talk with someone who is so bright and has such command of the language - you don't want it to end. The most fun was being able to throw out questions that he hadn't heard before - or approach topics from an angle that was new to him. As Rob Reiner says, he's at his very best when he's put in a corner. I asked him deep, probing questions for four months, and he got to keep the shirt we bought for him. So I think we both made out pretty well."

In preparation for my conversation with Mr. Brooks earlier this week, I spent two weeks calling close friends with whom I shared an eternal love and reverence for Brooks and his works and sought their input as to what made him better and more enduring than anyone else who does what he does. It was the joyful conversations themselves that provided the obvious conclusion: No one else could have gotten me to make those calls to other busy people who took the time to think and laugh. Each call reflexively elicited dialogue from his films (including my favorite, “What’s a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?”), which over the years has become the shorthand of our affection. Brooks’ comedy is the currency of our friendships.

While it is well-settled that he is a genius at comedy, he is also a genius at collaboration and friendship. Infused in his work is his love for comedy teams and the journey: The Marx Brothers and the Road Pictures with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. At the core of every one of Brooks’ films there is a partnership and a friendship between at least two characters that are on an adventure. It is the well-defined characters that launches and sustains the comedy and makes the stories enduring. “Unconsciously I was a pup in a cardboard box with three other pups, my brothers, and we tumbled about with each other,” Mel Brooks insightfully said, recalling his modest Brooklyn roots. “That’s why my films are almost always two guys on a journey,” he said.

“When you parody something, you move the truth sideways,” Brooks said. However in developing the on-screen friendships, Brooks built foundations of truth and drilled down deep into the relationships.

I invoked Sid Caesar, Brooks’ friend and former boss, who said: “Great comedy is stories with beginnings, middles and ends. And its best version is combining comedy with pathos. In City Lights, Chaplin’s little tramp character falls in love with a blind girl. He takes out his last dime and gives it to the blind girl to buy the violets she is selling. When she goes over to the water fountain to rinse out her cup, Chaplin follows her with love in his eyes. She rinses the cup and then throws the water in his face. There was a hush in the audience because they didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. That to me was a great piece of comedy because Chaplin captured that bittersweet moment, and was truly working both sides of the street.”

While most of the interviews analyzed the comedy penthouses of his skyscraper classics, I challenged him to analyze the foundation of Brooks’ work: The Da Vinci “science of the art,” the sub-textual pathos of his work- comedy as the currency and engine of friendship, defining the essence of the characters that define and drive the comedy, and a comparison of his fictional friendships with his real-life counterparts. Brooks’ understanding and creation of screen friendships mirror his real-life friendships which go back decades.

Early days: Mel and Sid Caesar  (Photo courtesy Mel Brooks/PBS)

Blazing Saddles, Brooks’ 1974 masterpiece is a satire of Western films and a brilliant social commentary on race and government. The two heroes- Black Bart (Cleavon Little), the Sherriff of Rock Ridge and The Waco Kid (Gene Wilder), are overtly friendlier than Newman and Redford’s Butch and Sundance, on which they are based. When it comes to character development, the Brooks films take the attendant characters and make them more passionate, compassionate, and affable. The comedy is buttressed by friendship, heroism, and honor.

The last interchange in the film occurs after Bart has killed Harvey Korman’s villainous Hedley Lamarr:

Kid: “Where are you going?

Bart: “Nowhere special.”

Kid: “Nowhere special… I’ve always wanted to go there.”

As the two ride off into the sunset, and then into a town car, the scene is as poignant and heartfelt as it is anachronistically funny, with the best friends not knowing where they are going next, and not concerned because they are going there together.

The screen friendship mirrors the relationship Brooks has with Carl Reiner, his comedic and creative partner in crime for over 60 years. “When I first joined The Admiral Broadway Review, the predecessor to Your Show of Shows, I was so unsure of myself I was throwing up between parked cars. I came from South Third Street in Williamsburg [Brooklyn]. I thought I was destined to work in the Garment Center and work my way up from shipping clerk, to salesman, to maybe a partner. I thought that any minute I would be fired. Sid fought for me, but [Show of Shows producer] Max Liebman didn’t want me.” According to legend the stern and staid Liebman would throw lit cigars at the young and animated Brooks.

With Carl Reiner, 2001 (Photo courtesy Robert Trachtenberg/PBS)

“Carl came to the show and thought I was really talented- he supported me at every turn. Carl was a little older and had been on Broadway, he starred in Call me Mister. I was leaning on him for the first two years until I felt I could be there and had my own sense of confidence. If I said I was the best, he said “’you are.’” He created the 2000 Year Old Man with his tape recorder having faith that I could become any character he threw out: From a submarine commander to an Israeli psychiatrist or a Cockney English director.”

“The first portion of my life Carl was my rock. Christ said on this rock I will found my church. On this Jew from the Bronx I founded my church.”

In public from across a room he looks at Carl not only affectionately and for artistic fuel, but often protectively, to make sure his friend is okay. To anyone with close friendships of their own, their rare and enviable bond is apparent and palpable. There is purity to it. They are the Butch and Sundance Kid of comedy, both comedic alchemists, creating funny lines, images and situations literally from the air spinning their golden wit and entertaining and energizing everyone around them, endeavoring to make everyone in the room not only entertained by but engaged in the comedy. “We have a talent for that- turning a room into a community and we enjoy doing that,” Brooks said.

“He’s not a kid anymore and I still love him,” Brooks said of the now 91-year old Reiner. Things turned around. 60 years later Carl leans on me. We’re both very lucky we’ve survived the storms of age and loss. It’s the son’s duty to take care of the father. He just called to ask whether I want the marinated lamb chops or the baby lamb chops- I said get the baby lamb chops thick.”

In 1967’s The Producers, Brooks took the name of Gene Wilder’s character Leopold Bloom from James Joyce Ulysses, and undertook the challenge of making the audience root for two characters that are crooks. It is because of the affection and friendship between Bloom and Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) that the story works.

“You can’t help yourself, you want them to succeed,” Brooks said. “I try to explain it all in the lovely speech that Bloom makes in the courtroom trying to protect his friend, Max.”

After the jury foreman (Bill Macy) announces that the jury finds the pair “incredibly guilty,” Leo says:

Leo: “Ladies and Gentleman of the jury, Max Bialystock is the most selfish man I ever met in my life.”

Max: “Don’t help me.”

Leo: “Not only is he a liar and a cheat and a scoundrel and a crook who has taken money from little old ladies, he has talked people including me into doing things that they would never have done in a thousand year… this is a wonderful man who made me what I am today. And what about all the women: Max made them feel young, attractive and wanted again.”

“It’s the father taking care of the son,” Brooks said. “And then the young guy is taking care of the old guy. I also had that in The Twelve Chairs. The young streetwise guy is dealing with the “’out of it’” privileged aristocrat, who never had to worry about life until the revolution set him back on his heels.”

1974’s Young Frankenstein, which director Brooks co-wrote with Wilder has Wilder’s Victor Frankenstein nurturing Peter Boyle’s monster. In none of the other 200-plus versions of the genre did the creator ever risk his life to save his creation. Boris Karloff never sang and danced when he portrayed the monster, nor did he sit on his creators lap. “In no other version did anyone say: “This is an angel- this is a good boy,”” Brooks said.

Both The Producers and Young Frankenstein are metaphors for Brook’s friendship with Gene Wilder. In accepting his Oscar for Best Screenplay from Frank Sinatra for The Producers he thanked Wilder three times, with both men fighting back tears. “Gene Wilder came from nowhere, unknown. Just like Carl spotted the talent in me ten years before that, I spotted the talent in him. I knew there was no more talented actor in comedy or drama than Gene Wilder.”

“He was so grateful to me for supporting him emotionally and bringing the best out of him. I have a great wine collection because of him. I was drinking Manischewitz until I met Gene. He really understood wine. Anne [Bancroft] and I went over to his apartment in the [Greenwich] Village one night. A real dump. But he had a rotisserie, a barbequed chicken. I didn’t know how he did it. He served Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a Rhone wine, and I said “What the hell is this liquid?”

So I began buying that wine and then he served Nuits Saint Georges, a burgundy. I had not yet hit gold, a claret or Bordeaux. At the next meal he ordered Lynch Bages, a French Bordeaux, which I began to collect Bordeauxs, including Sassicaia. I now send Gene something I don’t think he can afford and he’s always happy to get it.”

Cinematic legends meet: Mel, Alfred Hitchcock (who he used to call "Al"!) and Anne Bancroft during the production of High Anxiety. (Photo courtesy of Mel Brooks/PBS)

1982’s My Favorite Year was Brooks’ love letter to Sid Caesar and early television, and was based on his own experience as the youngest writer on Your Show of Shows. Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker) is assigned to chaperone the less than reliable movie-star Alan Swann (Peter O’Toole) who is scheduled to appear on King Kyser’s (Joseph Bologna) Cavalcade of Comedy. The film made me fall in love with Sid as well. I told Brooks that it was 20 years to the week after I saw My Favorite Year that I was writing with Sid. The affection between the two is still strong. “If Sid Caesar was in a coma and you walked into the room, Sid would get up, say “’hello Mel,’” and drop back into the coma,” I said.

Brooks acknowledges the connection he still has with the 90 year old Caesar, whom he visits regularly. “I’m one of the few people who can get his synapses to fire in that special way. And I’m proud that I can do that. Because if there was no Sid Caesar there would be no Mel Brooks.”

I reminded Brooks of an evening at New York’s Pierre Hotel in 2000, where Caesar was honored and Brooks presented him with an award. He moved the capacity crowd of the great ballroom to near tears. “And it’s not the chicken,” the choked up Brooks said at the time, praising his friend. “Life takes you on different paths. I got on the right road when I went with Sid- and it never went wrong.”

He recalled the now fabled “Writers’ Room,” still one of the most romantic metaphors in history for creativity and comedy and arguably the greatest collection of comedic talent ever assembled.

“It was very stressful to be that creative. We had an Olympic level of comedy height and had to get over that crossbar. We knew when we were settling for cheap standup material and when we were exalted in terms of the human condition and being genuinely funny. We always aimed for that. Max Liebman was a master- he put on live Broadway review every week for 39 weeks a year. Sid wanted me- I could come up with bizarre things- all kinds of crazy things that distinguished Sid from other comedians. I came up with material for the German Professor character and foreign movies.”

“There were only a few of us in the beginning. Max supervised the writing with Sid and Carl sitting in. There was Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen and then myself. Tony Webster was brought in. The later incarnation of the Writers’ Room included Doc and Danny Simon, Mike Stewart, Aaron Ruben, Woody Allen, and Larry Gelbart. We’d work separately and all meet and complete each other’s tasks. Unless there was a big movie parody where we all sat in a room together. It is still the only show where the writers became as famous as the stars.”

He recalled meeting another young writer whom he is still close to, Rudy DeLuca, who along with Steve Haberman is part of Brooks’ inner circle. “Rudy is a real pal- he was working on the Carol Burnett show with his partner, Barry Levinson. Rudy has such a funny personality- he was crazy board member in Silent Movie. In High Anxiety, Rudy played the hit man with the aluminum teeth. Who came up with the idea of putting a little Japanese umbrella in his drink when he was stalking me in the bar.”

“Barry also wrote with me on High Anxiety. He would tell me stories about growing up with his friends in Baltimore. I took him to Il Vitelloni, Felini’s first film- which is about a group of friends who grow up together in Italy. I said, this sounds like what you’re talking about. Take your stories put them together and take out the ones that don’t work. He wrote the script to Diner in three weeks.”

I explained to Brooks that two people shaped my creative life and influenced what I wanted to do more than anyone else: Larry Gelbart and Mel Brooks. “Including me, he could have been the best writer in the Writers’ Room,” Brooks said.

I told him that 1974 was my “favorite year,” Gelbart’s MASH was on TV and Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein were in the movies. The intellectual driven comedy made the smart kids feel hip and ambitious. “You have to know a little bit about the world and the history. All the references are critical- if you don’t get them you don’t get the essential comedy and what we’re trying to do.”

In 1982- I bought 10 copies of The High Anxiety Soundtrack, the flipside of which included the songs from all of the other prior Brooks’ films, to give as holiday gifts to friends. When I presented it to one of my college friends, he clutched the LP to his chest and ran off eager to play it. Flash forward to 1995, I get a box in the mail- it was The 2000 Year Old Man Boxed Set that had just been released on CD with a note from that friend thanking me for the LP 12 years earlier.

Brooks recalled a similar experience: “I screened High Anxiety for Alfred Hitchcock. He didn’t say a lot, turning to me a few times, when the newspaper ran down the drain, he said “’brilliant,’” which was very nice. He said he had less showering [in Psycho] than I had. At the end he got up and left without saying a word. I was so worried. I thought this is no good. I guess he didn’t like the picture.”

“The next day on my desk in my office at 20^th Century Fox there was a beautiful wooden case of 1961 Château Haut-Brion. Six magnums. Priceless. Unbelievable to this day. There was also a little note: "Dear Mel: I have no anxiety about High Anxiety, it’s a wonderful film. Love Hitch.”

“The only two people who ever said I was a good director were Hitchcock and Billy Wilder. I never heard from anyone else in the business. Until the AFI called me. Last October, the AFI named Brooks the recipient of the 41st American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, which will be presented in June, joining Shirley MacLaine, Tom Hanks, John Ford, James Cagney, Jack Nicholson, Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood, Sidney Poitier and both Kirk and Michael Douglas.

“I’ve always been saluted as a comedy force but never as a film director. I always explained the movie clearly so that the story worked. My dream was to get over the Williamsburg Bridge and get to Manhattan ever since I was three years old. Me and my childhood [and lifelong] friend Gene Cogan, formerly Eugene Cohen, would walk over the bridge to Delancey Street and get a knish and a root beer. I knew there was something great over that bridge.

Young Melvin Kaminsky got his knish and root beer. And Mel Brooks crossed the East River Rubicon and journeyed to entertain millions as a masterful storyteller and continues to entertain new generations of grateful fans with big noises that get even bigger laughs.

Cinema Retro Contributor Eddy Friedfeld teaches comedy and film history at NYU and Yale and is the co-author of Caesar’s Hours with Sid Caesar

Can't get enough Mel? Check out Lee Pfeiffer's extensive interview with him in the latest issue (#16) of Cinema Retro.

Click here to order Make a Noise from Amazon. 

Artist Pete Emslie of the Cartoon Cave web site provides yet another impressive tribute to a pop culture favorite- Batgirl herself, Yvonne Craig, who celebrates her birthday today. Keep 'em coming, Pete!  Click here for more of Pete's tribute to Yvonne.

By Lee Pfeiffer

You don't have to be gay to admire John Schlesinger's 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday, but it probably helps in terms of appreciating just how ground-breaking the movie was in its day. As a straight guy of high school age when the film was released, I do remember it causing a sensation, although it would literally take me decades before I finally caught up with it. Gay friends always spoke reverently of the movie and expressed how the most refreshing aspect of the story was how "normally" a loving relationship between two adult men was portrayed. In viewing the film as a recent Criterion Blu-ray release, I feel I can finally appreciate that point of view. Gay men have long been portrayed in movies, of course, but for the most part they have been depicted as objects of ridicule or as sexual deviants. There were the odd attempts to present gay characters as sympathetic in films such as The Trials of Oscar Wilde and the brilliant Victim. Yet, even these fine efforts present homosexuality as a burden those "afflicted" must bear. Stanley Donen's 169 film Staircase offered fascinating and bold performances by Rex Harrison and Richard Burton as two aging queens. However, the studio marketing campaign over-emphasized the oddity of two of the film industry's great lady's men playing a gay couple. In fact, the ad campaign showed Burton and "Sexy Rexy" giddily dancing, thus falsely conveying that the film was a comedic romp instead of a poignant and intelligent look at loving homosexual relationship. Schlesinger, one of the first unapologetic directors to come out of the closet (if, indeed, he was ever in one) decided that the most daring aspect of this highly personal film would be in its very ordinariness. The story covers a complicated love triangle between three disparate people. Dr. Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) is a middle-aged, Jewish London doctor who is involved romantically with a much younger man, Bob Elkin (Murray Head). Hirsh doesn't flaunt his homosexuality, nor does he attempt to painstakingly deny it. He just lives his life as a respected member of his community, although it is clear his family thinks he's straight. (In one amusing, though uncomfortable sequence, Hirsh attends a Bar Mitzvah and has to endure attempts by nosy female relatives to set him up with his "dream girl"). The relationship between Hirsh and Bob is fairly intense, but is compromised by one uncomfortable fact: Bob is bi-sexual and is carrying on an equally intense love affair with an older woman, Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson). Both Hirsh and Alex know about each other and (barely) tolerate the triangle as the price of having Bob in their lives. For his part, Bob is a rather self-absorbed young man who seems to have genuine affection for both of his lovers, but is also either oblivious or uncaring about how the uncertainties of the relationship are affecting their psychological well-being. 

Sunday Bloody Sunday was released a time when the gay rights movement was moving into high gear in the post-Stonewall period. It illustrates why the 1970s is regarded by many as the most liberating decade in film history, with old line directors like Hawks, Welles and Hitchcock working at the same time young turks like Schlesinger were shaking things up in a way the old masters never had the opportunity to do, thanks to the restrictive motion picture code. Sunday is primarily remembered for an eyebrow-raising scene in which Hirsh and Bob engage in a romantic kiss. There's nothing sensational about the tasteful way in which this rather routine gesture between lovers is presented on screen. In fact, it was the sheer lack of sensationalism that drove home Schlesinger's primary message: that loving gestures between gay men can be every bit as routine as they are between husband and wife. The fact that the kiss was enacted by two straight actors did add considerable gravitas to the moment and must have caused more than one straight viewer to think "Well, if they don't care about enacting such a scene, why should I feel uncomfortable watching it?"  Schlesinger also dared to film tasteful but passionate bedroom scenes between Bob and Hirsh. Nevertheless, nothing much actually  happens in Sunday Bloody Sunday. The story was based in part on real-life experiences and people from Schlesinger's own life. The story merely traces the ups and downs in the love triangle as Bob causes panic in both Hirsh and Alex by announcing he is thinking of moving to America. Hirsh and Alex do have an unexpected face to face meeting during this crisis and their sheer civility and inability to engage in more than light banter only adds to the dramatic tension. 

The primary attribute of the film, aside from Schlesinger's spot-on direction, is the brilliance of the performances. Glenda Jackson was then emerging as a national treasure for the British film industry and the little-known Murray Head acquits himself very well indeed. However, it is Peter Finch's performance that dominates the movie as we watch his character go from loving acceptance of Bob's youthful self-absorbing actions to downright fury as his realization that Bob will never have the same passion for him. It's a superb performance on every level. Some viewers find the film's bizarre final sequence in which Hirsh addresses the viewer directly about his philosophy of life, but I found it to be a distraction and somewhat confusing. Nevertheless, this is a fine film, worthy of the praise it has generated over the years, and one that remains remarkably timely today.

The Criterion Blu-ray is right up to the company's top-notch standards. The transfer is beautiful and there are the usual informative extras including:

• New interviews with Murray Head (who says that, as a young actor, he found his character to be rather despicable), cinematographer Billy Williams (who supervised the Blu-ray transfer), production designer Luciana Arrighi, Schlesinger biographer William J. Mann and the director's long-time partner, photographer Michael Childers who shot many of the great production stills for the film.
• A 1975 audio interview with Schlesinger
• Screenwriter Penelope Gillatt's original introduction to the published screenplay (there is plenty of coverage throughout the Blu-ray concerning the tense working relationship between Gillatt and Schlesinger, who accused the writer of taking the lion's share of credit for a screenplay he had extensively rewritten.)
• The original theatrical trailer
• Extensive liner notes by writer Ian Buruma, Schlesinger's nephew who appeared as an extra in the film.

In all, an outstanding tribute to an outstanding work by one of the era's great filmmakers.  

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By Dollie Banner

When I came of age in the eighties and nineties, cinema art houses were filled with American independent films, most of them gems. It seemed that then movie lovers could see nearly every film released. In the years since the number of independent films have grown exponentially, and I often worry that I’m bypassing, or even worse completely ignorant, of some worthwhile films that get lost in cinematic obscurity.

The Exhibitionists (2012), the second feature from director Michael Melamedoff is such a film, a compelling chamber piece about seven characters revealing their true desires over the course of two nights. At the heart of the film is fragile Regina (Pepper Binkley), who we meet nervously awaiting the arrival of her husband Walter (Richard Short), an agent provocateur filmmaker just returned from a cross-country film shoot. In tow he brings fellow crewmember Gordo (Daniel London), whose dutiful wife Gretchen (Lauren Hodges) has been keeping a tight watch on Regina, and Lynn (Ella Rae Peck) their lovely and vivacious intern who has been earning extra credit with George off the clock. Tensions between the five occupants at Walter and Regina’s apartment are already strained when the arrival of Regina’s brother George (Mike Doyle), on leave from a seminary, and musical diva Blithe Stargazer (Laverne Cox) set a series of betrayals and revelations in motion.

First conceived as a stage play, screenwriter Michael Edison Hayden has adapted his own work into a film that bears a strong resemblance to higher profile plays-turned-films closer (2004) and carnage (2011). All three examine the private truths behind seemingly healthy relationships through expertly written characters. The Exhibtionists never quite reaches the probing dexterity of the other two pieces, but what it lacks in sophistication it makes up for with a titillating and refreshingly ambiguous sexuality. Both Hayden and Melamedoff are aided by a group of skilled and attractive actors. Viewers expect a few thin performances in micro-budgeted films, but this cast is uniformly committed and capable. Particular standouts are Ella Rae Peck of NBC’s deception, whose natural beauty and delivery make an instant impression and Laverne Cox (Netflix’s orange is the new black), a force of indeterminate sex whose palpable magnetism affects everyone else in the film. Their two scenes together sizzle and mark a tipping point in the film.

Shot in just over ten days, Melamedoff deftly places the viewer in the middle of the action often utilizing reverse shots to canvas multiple characters’ perspectives. It’s a shame he didn’t have more funds to work with because although the film has definite style, it also cannot hide it minimal budget. The score by Teddy Blanks, who also created the opening sequence, is unapologetically electronic and retro. It’s a little too similar to music heard in soft core cable offerings, but manages to establish and sustain a sense of unease throughout the film. Perhaps it is the association with the music cues, but The exhibitionists ultimately fails to fully deliver on its title and promise of sexual provocation. I thought I might be watching a modern take on the sexploitation films of the sixties and seventies such as Score (1973) by Radley Metzger, but this film never evolves into erotica. Despite that The Exhibitionists is an intriguing work and engages the viewer from the first shot to the last.

The Exhibitionists was unfortunately relegated to a few festival appearances in lieu of a theatrical run. Now it’s available on VOD and DVD, presented along with a few extras. Best amongst the special features is Michael Melamedoff’s very informative commentary which illustrates how purposefully he went about constructing the film. Also included are some behind the scenes stills, Walter’s edited pitch for Blithe that features some hardcore footage and a festival interview with director Melamedoff and actor Richard Short, all short but nifty. Viewers can also download the score if they want to stage their own party at home. Hopefully with this release The Exhibitionists will finally find the audience it deserves.

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(Click here to visit reviewer Dollie Banner's web site)