RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES

By Lee Pfeiffer

A&E has released every episode of the classic spy series Secret Agent starring Patrick McGoohan in a comprehensive boxed set. The show was widely seen as having been inspired by the success of the James Bond series, but by the time it ran in the USA under the title of Secret Agent, it had already been a hit show in the UK known as Danger Man - and it clearly preceded the 007 craze. The show ran as half-hour episodes in England but was expanded to one hour when a deal was made to air the program in America. It proved to be one of the last successful series to have been shot in black-and-white. McGoohan, who turned down the role of James Bond prior to Sean Connery being signed for the part, disdained sex and violence in popular entertainment. Thus, his protagonist, agent John Drake, relies on his wits and fists as opposed to weapons in order to thwart his enemies. Drake romanced women, but generally as a necessary aspect of the mission and not in a quest to achieve sexual fulfillment, as Bond often did. The boxed set contains the same transfers and extras that had been available previously from A&E, but this time they are conveniently packed in slim-line cases and have been made available in one boxed set.

The show holds up remarkably well, with excellent, believable scripts and superior acting being the series' hallmarks. McGoohan, known to be a quirky, short-tempered man in real life, is never less than compelling as Drake. The series also boasts an impressive array of talented actors and actresses who would go on to find stardom in their own rite during the 1960s. American fans of Secret Agent will find the half-hour Danger Man episodes of particular interest since these did not air in the USA. The set features some modest extras including a biography and filmography of McGoohan, a photo gallery and the original American opening credits sequence that showcased Johnny Rivers' smash hit title theme song (which was never broadcast in the UK). It should be noted that the set also includes the color two-part episode that was turned into the feature film Koroshi, which was released  theatrically in certain countries. If you don't already have this classic series in your library, this affordable collection of all 86 episodes  should prove to be irresistable now that its available in one boxed set that consists of 18 DVDs running over 57 hours.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

When I received an unsolicited screener of a new film called The Scarlet Worm from Unearthed Films, I let it languish for weeks. Finally, primarily because it is a Western, I got around to viewing it. It's a gritty, grim affair that ranks among the best independent movies I've seen lately. However, I was curious about the cast members because, as talented as they are, I had not heard of any of them. The reason why became clear when I looked at the "making of..." extras on the Blu-ray. Incredibly, this ambitious movie was put together by a team of virtual strangers who met each other on-line. They conceived of the plot and shot the movie on such a low budget that they had to live in an abandoned house that had been foreclosed by a bank. When viewed from this context, The Scarlet Worm is an even more impressive achievement. The film centers on a immoral hired gun named Print (played by film critic Aaron Stielstra, who also provides the film's atmospheric score). Print fancies himself the protector of everything moral in the small, remote desert community in which he lives. He arbitrarily decides lives and dies, and much of his killing is done for pay under the instructions of local cattle baron, Mr. Paul (Montgomery Ford), who wants Print to assassinate a bordello owner named Kley (Dan van Husen), ostensibly because he forces his whores into undergoing barbaric abortions. However, there is a more personal reason for Paul wanting the "hit" to take place. This sets of a virtual war between Paul and Kley that involves an eclectic number of eccentric gunslingers on both sides. The Scarlet Worm may sound like an old Roger Corman horror flick, but the title actually has an intriguing meaning that becomes clear in the course of the film. The movie, very well-directed by Michael Fredianelli, draws upon imagery from any number of old Western classics ranging from the works of Peckinpah and Leone to Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. The film doesn't stint on brutality and some of the sequences, particularly involving the crude abortion practices, are hard to stomach. Yet, Fredianelli successfully paints a convincing picture of the hard scrabble life on the American frontier, where lives could be snuffed out on a whim. The production team does wonders in compensating for the low budget and manages to provide some very professional and convincing set designs and costumes. The crew also doubles as actors. The most notable performances are those of professional veteran thespians like Ford and van Husen, who have film credits dating back decades. Both are in top form, finally having been awarded leading roles. Stielstra makes for a mesmerizing and highly complicated villain. Lanky in build with a Wyatt Earp look, Stielstra's Print is an unnerving figure- charming one moment, murderous the next. There are also some fine performances by the women who play the abused hookers, with Rita Rey a particular standout. It should be noted that the actresses don't shy away from appearing fully nude in the movie, but it never comes across as gratuitous. Instead, it presents frontier prostitution as a grimy world where women's lives depended on the whims of the men who routinely used and abused them. The Blu-ray looks first rate and contains a "making of" featurette, as well as various trailer for the film. There are also some trailers for productions members of the cast and crew are involved with. The team also has a slasher film out there, but it looks like a waste of their talents to produce yet another gruesome Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style movie. Instead, their production company, Wild Dogs Films, should set their sites on more lofty goals such as The Scarlet Worm. It's an amazing achievement in indy film making and I look forward to their next endeavor. 

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On Blu-ray and DVD

4-Disk Box Set

By Raymond Benson

Any fan of British cinema must celebrate Criterion’s deluxe packaging of David Lean’s first four films as a director. These collaborations with writer, performer, and “personality” Noël Coward are exemplary examples of the fine work made by the Two Cities Unit production house, which was formed during the Second World War. In each case, the films are presented in beautiful new high-definition digital transfers from the 2008 BFI National Archive’s restorations. And, as this is a review for Cinema Retro, the readers of which include many 007 fans, it must be pointed out that there is indeed a connection between the films (three of them, anyway) and Bond. Actress Celia Johnson was Ian Fleming’s sister-in-law (her husband was Ian’s older brother, Peter Fleming), and her daughters Kate Grimond and Lucy Fleming are currently on the Board of Directors of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd., which of course guides the Bond literary franchise. And if you’ve never seen Celia Johnson perform, you’ve been missing something. She is arguably one of the greatest actresses the UK has ever given us.

In Which We Serve, co-directed by Coward and Lean, and starring Coward as a naval captain (not his usual persona), John Mills, Bernard Miles, and Celia Johnson, is pure war propaganda stuff, but it’s well done and compelling. The 1942 picture was made when Britain was fighting for her life, and it was the year it seemed the Axis might win. Lean was plucked from the ranks of clever film editors to handle the technical aspects of the production whilst Coward concentrated on acting. According to all accounts, Lean ended up actually directing most of it because Coward grew bored with the process. It’s a surprisingly good picture, despite its sentimentality. Look for a very young Richard Attenborough in his first film role—he’s just a kid!

This Happy Breed, 1944, stars Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, Kay Walsh, and John Mills, and it’s a poignant drama about a working-class family’s life between the two world wars. Coward rarely wrote about anyone that wasn’t upper-class, so in many ways the film is a novelty. Like How Green Was My Valley, it is an honest and wonderfully-acted ensemble piece about a people, based on Coward’s stage play of the same name. It’s the second-best picture in the set.

Blithe Spirit, 1944, stars Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, and Kay Hammond, but the film is stolen by Margaret Rutherford, who displays so much verve and energy as the medium Madame Arcati that the rest of the cast seems asleep. Based on Coward’s hugely popular stage play, the film won an Oscar for Visual Effects (namely creating Hammond’s ghostly apparition). It’s pure fluff, but it’s entertaining and whimsical in a way Lean never explored again.

Brief Encounter, 1945, is the jewel in the crown here. Based on Coward’s short play, Still Life, the picture features the performance for which Celia Johnson is primarily known (she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar). Paired with Trevor Howard, she displays a truthfulness and believability not often found in 1940s cinema. Brief Encounter is the often sentimental yet profoundly effective tale of two would-be adulterers who take an affair to the line—but do not cross it. The picture deservedly provided Lean with his first Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Extras abound. Each disk includes a video interview with Coward scholar Barry Day about each respective film; an episode of The Southbank Show from 1992 examines the life and career of Coward; and a couple of vintage documentaries on Lean are among the more interesting features. A booklet of essays rounds out the handsome package.

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By Dave Worrall 

Photos copyright Mark Mawston. All rights reserved. 

The 50th anniversary of the James Bond film series got off the grid yesterday (Sun 15th) with the official launch of 'Bond in Motion: 50 Vehicles, 50 Years', an exhibition of OO7-related vehicles at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in Hampshire. To commemorate this historic turning point in the Bond franchise, Eon Productions (the Bond film-makers) and the motor museum (celebrating its 40th anniversary this year), have put together the largest official collection of famous James Bond vehicles the world has ever seen.

Sunday also saw Eon kick-start the 50th anniversary with many special features in British newspapers and magazine supplements including The Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Mirror.

Before opening to the public on January 17th, the world's press and selected guests were invited to attend the unveiling of fifty different forms of transport to celebrate fifty years of the OO7 movies.

Guests in attendance included Chris Courbold (SFX Casino Royale-Skyfall), Vic Armstrong (Stunt co-ordinator and 2nd unit director on many films), actors Colin Salmon (Die Another Day), Shane Rimmer (You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me) and Ken Wallis, the inventor of the autogyro who doubled Sean Connery in the sequences with 'Little Nellie' in You Only Live Twice.

American businessman Michael Dezer, who purchased the entire 'Cars of the Stars' and 'Bond Museums' last year, flew over especially for the occasion. The boat from From Russia With Love was loaned to the museum by Mr Dezer for the exhibition. Mr Dezer's car museum, which is anticipated to be the largest in the world, is due to open this year in Florida.

Entertainment Weekly's Joshua Rich provides us with yet another completely superfluous, yet admittedly fun, movie list, this time evaluating the merits of major James Bond actresses and characters. Some of his observations are spot-on (i.e Ursula Andress and Diana Rigg rank among the best; Denise Richards and Britt Ekland among the worst. ) Some of the other conclusions seem delusional: would you really consider Lotte Lenya's Rosa Klebb to be a "Bond Girl?" or Maud Adams' Octopussy among the worst characters? Click here and judge for yourself

Cinema Sex Sirens by Cinema Retro publishers Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer is now shipping in the UK and Europe. The limited editions signed by the authors are almost sold out in our UK office. If you pre-ordered the book, it's on it's way to you. As of right now, there are only 13 copies of the signed edition, available exclusively from Cinema Retro, left for sale in the UK.

Because the book's publication was delayed by a few weeks, we are now expecting pre-orders for the American market and the rest of the world to be shipped in November. Note: The regular American publication date for the book is March 2012- so by ordering the limited edition, you will receive the book months in advance of the general public! There are very few limited editions signed by the authors available from our American office also, so order today! Click on the banner at the top of this page for ordering details or click here. 

Here is the official press release from Omnibus Press:

CINEMA SEX SIRENS

With an introduction by Sir Roger Moore

By Dave Worrall & Lee Pfeiffer

Published by Omnibus Press

November 2011

Hardback

‘I have appeared alongside many of the ladies featured in this book. My only grumble is that they are all far prettier than me.’ Sir Roger Moore

Cinema Sex Sirens is an exuberant celebration of the female stars of the Sixties and Seventies. It was the last great era of the cinematic sex siren – a time when massive cultural changes produced an unprecedented relaxation of censorship and yet old-fashioned Hollywood glamour still held sway.

The Sixties and Seventies was an era when actresses unashamedly embraced the tag ‘Sex Goddess’ or ‘Sex Siren’ and willing exploited their beauty and bodily charms to further their careers. This highly desirable coffee table book focuses on the key actresses of the period, ranging from cinematic legends to cult actresses.

The authors, Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer, present a luminous collection of idealised women whilst at the same time offering a fascinating insight into the movies’ depiction of female sexuality. From international icons like Brigitte Bardot, Helen Mirren, Sophia Loren, Natalie Wood, Ann-Margret, Raquel Welch and Jane Fonda to less celebrated sirens of British and European cinema, such as Susan George, Ingrid Pitt, Sylva Koscina and Britt Ekland, Cinema Sex Sirens offers an unparalleled collection of stunning glamour photos and a fascinating snapshot of sexuality in the Sixties and Seventies.

The Cinema Sex Sirens era marked a new spirit of frankness in society and the movie industry lost no time in following suit, shaking off over 25 years of strict censorship and enforced self-regulation. And the women who defined this new era of eroticism became world-famous, defined a generation’s view of sexuality and still continue to fascinate today.

Each chapter focuses on one actress. featuring rare full colour photos, a biography and commentary, supplemented by some superb international movie poster artwork and magazine covers.

About the authors:

Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer are the founders and publishers of the long-running Cinema Retro magazine (www.cinemaretro.com), which proudly covers movies of the Sixties and Seventies. They have co-authored The Essential James Bond, the best-selling 007 film book with sales in excess of 250,000 copies.

Dave Worrall also established the highly successful company Solo Publishing in 1987, which has produced high profile magazines and books pertaining to the James Bond phenomenon.

Lee Pfeiffer has authored books covering the careers of Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford. He has also taught classes about cinema at New York University, written and produced DVD documentaries and runs film location trips through his company T.W.I.N.E. Tours.

 

Forget about the fact that more people probably attended your last birthday party than paid to see the Catwoman feature film. Still, there's no denying that Halle Berry certainly looked great in that eye-popping costume. She's one of a number of actresses featured in the Huffington Post's slide show tribute to the sexiest big screen female super heroes. Click here to view

 

Another icon of 1960s TV claims he was snookered out of merchandising and video royalties. Mike Connors, who starred in the popular private eye series Mannix, claims that Hollywood accounting practices manage to show that his hit series that ran for years is still technically in the loss column, thus CBS and Paramount are denying him royalties. Connors says the more the show grosses, the greater the losses. This is due to notorious accounting practices that artificially inflate a show's production costs and overheads. Actors and actresses have been taking studios to court for decades over this method of denying royalties to talent. For more click here

Farley Granger, the dashing star of stage and screen, has died at age 85. Granger was best known for his leading roles in two Alfred Hitchcock classics of the 1940s: Strangers on a Train and Rope. In the former, he memorably played a character who jokes with another man (Robert Walker) about mutually murdering a troublesome person in each other's lives. His life becomes a nightmare when the man takes him seriously and commits murder on his behalf- and expects him to do the same. The handsome and erudite Granger often played romantic leads and engaged in whirlwind affairs with famous actresses. However, in his 2007 autobiography, he revealed he was bi-sexual and had been living with his male partner since the 1960s. For more click here

If you're still drooling over actresses who have played Catwoman in the past, you can give those photos of Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry a rest. Anne Hathaway will be the latest beauty to suit up in the cat suit for Christopher Nolan's next Batman pic. The title: Dark Knight Rises. (You can make the obvious juvenile sexual joke). For more click here

 

Anne Francis, the sultry blonde actress who pioneered the image of women as action heroes in Honey West, has died at age 80 after battling cancer for several years. Francis entered show business at an early age, modeling as a child. She later performed on radio before landing roles in some high profile films such as Bad Day at Black Rock and the 1950s sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet. In the mid-60s, Francis broke new ground by starring as Honey West, the sexy private eye who solved cases while toting around a pet ocelot. The show only lasted a single season, but quickly developed a cult following that endures to this day. Francis was among the first actresses to portray a woman as credible hero in an era where most females were consigned to playing demure housewives. Francis also appeared in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone as a woman who finds herself trapped in a closed department store amidst some very lifelike mannequins. By the late 1960s, Francis was regarded as a supporting actress. She had roles in Funny Girl, Brainstorm and the Jerry Lewis comedy Hook, Line and Sinker, but she thrived through her work on television, where she remained active until her illness forced her into retirement several years ago. For more click here

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On the Den of Geek web site, writer Ti Singh makes some poignant and largely sensible recommendations for elements he'd like to see in the next James Bond movie. Among the key points:

• An end to the hurky-jerky editing style that marred Quantum Of Solace
• A return to larger-than-life villains and allies
• Easing up on the use of CGI
• Casting older, more mature actresses
  
• Ensuring the film has a decent theme song. (Singh's plausible observations go slightly off the track with his rather strange choice of John Barry's All Time High from Octopussy as the worst Bond song, passing over the dreadful "song" from Quantum that was universally despised.)

Click here to read the article 

Actress Jill Clayburgh has died at age 66 after losing a 21 year battle with leukemia. Clayburgh was credited with being one of the important actresses to usher in a new era of quality roles for women in the 1970s. She received two Oscar nominations: for the 1978 film An Unmarried Woman and the 1979 comedy Starting Over. Clayburgh was married to Tony winning playwright David Rabe. Her connections to the theater extended back to her childhood - her mother was secretary to legendary Broadway showman David Merrick. Clayburgh's elite upbringing (her father was vice-president of two major corporations) did not spare her from a troubled youth. Her rebelious ways led her to psychiatric care at the tender age of 9. Once immersed in the acting profession, however, she thrived on screen, stage and TV. Among her major feature films: Semi-Tough, Silver Streak, Gable and Lombard and Bertolucci's Luna. She also appeared in many major TV series over the decades. Her final film Love and Other Drugs has not yet been released. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

Sony has recently released an excellent set of five films starring Kim Novak. The legendary star epitomized glamour and sex appeal in the 50s and 60s before turning her back on Hollywood and going into self-imposed exile. Much of Novak's appeal can be attributed to the fact that, unlike many other actresses who clamored for the spotlight, Novak was content to reside in her rural home and carve out a new life for herself away from the madding crowds. That's precisely why this new DVD collection is so important to fans and film historians alike. Novak contributes insightful comments about the making of the five movies included in the set: Bell, Book and Candle, Jeanne Eagles, Middle of the Night, Picnic and Pal Joey, all of which are making their debut on DVD. In watching the films, one realizes that Novak never quite got her due as an actress. Typically dismissed as attractive, likeable but limited in terms of acting ability, she actually possessed considerable talent and could play light comedy as well as dramatic roles.

The films in the set each have their individual merits but one that most fans will probably be unacquianted with is Middle of the Night, Novak's own personal favorite in which she is cast in a May/December romance opposite the great Frederic March. The film bombed at the box-office despite its merits, and Novak complains that this relegated her to "stupid dumb blonde" movies thereafter - which undoubtedly convinced her to ultimately retire from acting altogether. The most impressive titles are Joshua Logan's excellent Picnic with William Holden as a shiftless drifter who turns a small town into a hotbed of sexual tension and George Sidney's Pal Joey, which teams Novak with two legends: Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth. The latter film is particularly delightful, as it presents three classic songs: My Funny Valentine (Novak laments the fact that her solo was dubbed), Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered and The Lady is a Tramp, which Sinatra performs to perfection.

In addition to Novak's excellent conversations with film scholar Stephen Rebello, the set also includes theatrical trailers for every movie. There are also new featurettes about the star, but they mostly consist of her commenting over still photos. Novak does allow the camera to shoot around the grounds of her rural estate and to photograph her indulging in her passion for painting. However, we never do see a close-up of her, which makes her mystique as powerful and intriguing as ever.

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(Continue reading for the Sony press release and detailed description of the boxed set)

By Lee Pfeiffer

Singer Eddie Fisher has died from complications from hip surgery. He was 82. Fisher was once a national singing sensation in the 1950s. He wed Debbie Reynolds and seemed poised for a successful acting career as well. However, the storybook marriage fell apart. Henceforth, Fisher would be known primarily for the more scandalous aspects of his love life. When his best friend Mike Todd was killed in a plane crash in 1958, Fisher not only comforted his widow Elizabeth Taylor, but ended up marrying her shortly thereafter- much to the horror of an outraged public that was then used to sanitized stories about the purity of entertainer's lives.In an instance of bitter irony, Fisher lost Taylor to actor Richard Burton, when the two co-starred in the 1963 epic Cleopatra. The romantic scandal was so torrid that it became front page news all over the world and made Fisher the butt of comic's jokes as the unwitting cuckolded husband. Fisher later married another sex symbol, Connie Stevens, but that marriage also ended in divorce. Fisher would remarry two more times. He attempted a comeback in the 1980s but the effort failed. He wrote two autobiographies that outraged his family and children by painting his ex-wives in unflattering ways and divulging embarrassing pillow talk. He is the father of actresses Carrie and Joely Fisher. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

In the course of editing Cinema Retro magazine, I've met countless actors and filmmakers- many of them true legends. While each encounter is a memorable and cherished moment, one does get a bit jaded over time and you tend to adapt an attitude that "it's all in a day's work." However, while in London for Cinema Retro's recent Movie Magic Tour of British film locations, Dave Worrall and I were invited back stage at the London Film Museum to meet Ray Harryhausen. The special effects genius and his friend and biographer Tony Dalton were about to engage in an interview before a packed auditorium. Although Ray has been a contributor to Cinema Retro and allowed us access to his personal archives of priceless film props, I had never met the man. Making the occasion even more special was his impromptu reunion with actresses Caroline Munro and Honor Blackman. I was fully aware I was observing a wonderful bit of movie history. Blackman played the Greek goddess Hera in Harryhausen's landmark 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts. As we all chatted, I recalled seeing the movie for the first time and the lasting impression it has had on me. Jason was not particularly successful at the box-office compared to Harryhausen's trademark monster movies, but it has grown in stature and seems to have inspired an entire generation of younger movie directors and special effects experts. 

Sony has finally done justice to the movie with a superb Blu-ray release. Harryhausen, who is now 90 but as spry as ever, is all over the special edition in both new and previously-released bonus features. Harryhausen's mastery of stop-motion animation required the kind of patience and skill that few could imagine in this era of overblown CGI-stuffed action film monstrosities. While there is no denying today's animated features are wonderful in their own unique way, there is nothing comparable to Harryhausen's achievements. If you don't understand why, the special features on the Blu-ray will illuminate the subject for you. In essence, every second of film required dozens of minor movements of the model figures Harryhausen created. It's a craft that still exists today, but barely. The film itself impresses more today than it did in 1963, with virtually every scene transfixed in one's memory from the playful attitudes of the gods, who use humans are pawns in their games, to the extravagant action sequences highlighted by the legendary battle with the skeleton army. If there is a weak aspect to the movie it is the casting of Todd Armstrong as Jason. Although physically appropriate for the role, Armstrong is the victim of some bad dubbing that distracts from his performance. On the other side of the coin, Nigel Green is wonderful as Hercules, playing the part in a far more down-to-earth manner than previous screen incarnations.

 

By Lee Pfeiffer

Patricia Neal, the tough-but-sexy actress who won an Oscar for Hud, has died at age 84. During her lifetime, she lived through many dramatic episodes including being the lover of the married Gary Cooper. She also overcame a severe stroke that threatened to sideline her career permanently, but she made a stunning comeback. Neal's film credits include the sci-fi classic from director Robert Wise The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Subject Was Roses (another Oscar nomination), the Elia Kazan classic A Face in the Crowd, Otto Preminger's WWII epic In Harm's Way and many others. However, it was her performance as the world-weary woman working on an all-male cattle ranch in Martin Ritt's 1963 drama Hud that won her the Best Actress Oscar opposite Paul Newman. Neal's performance has been called one of the great acting achievements of 1960s cinema. She continued to be a mainstay in New York society, appearing at many events up until recently. For more click here For critic John Farr's tribute to Neal, click here

 

If you can overlook her troubled love life, Sandra Bullock has plenty to be happy about. Not only is she a recent Oscar winner, but she's also the top-paid actress in the world, pulling in an estimated $56 million during 2009. Trailing far behind are Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz with "only" $32 million each. For more click here

 

Vonetta McGee, one of the most prominent actresses to gain fame during the period of Blaxploitation films in the 1970s, has died at age 65. She had been battling health problems since she was teenager and had been on life support for the last few days. McGee resented the term Blaxploitation and felt frustrated that she never received studio support to emerge as a bigger star. Still, she worked consistently and in hit films like Blacula, Shaft in Africa, Melinda and Thomasine and Bushrod. She also had a few key roles in The Lost Man opposite Sidney Poitier, and most notably, as the female lead, Jemima Brown, in Clint Eastwood's 1975 spy thriller The Eiger Sanction. In later years, she had a recurring role on TV series L.A. Law. For more click here

Click here to watch the original trailer for The Eiger Sanction

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the University Press of Kentucky:

Lexington, KY— She showed Joan Crawford how to dress. She wrote the MGM Norma Shearer movies and the script for the film that made Clara Bow Hollywood’s “It Girl.” She wiled away the hours talking with a young John Huston, then working at Warner Brothers. For her 99^th birthday in 1999, she published her memoir, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood. Eleven years later, Frederica Sagor Mass can now add supercentenarian to her long list of accomplishments.

On July 6, 2010, Maas celebrated her 110^th birthday at the Country Villa health care center in La Mesa, California. Not having children of her own, she was joined by her grandnephew Tony Tovar and his family, as well as a chocolate cake, per her request. Maas’ monumental birthday makes her the second oldest recorded person in California, just behind 110 year-old Soledad Mexia, who is 11 months older.

Maas was a journalism student at Columbia University in 1920, when an ad for assistant to the story editor at Universal Studios caught her eye. She eventually became the story editor for the New York office, selecting plays, novels, and stories that would translate well to the screen. When the studio reneged on the promise to make her studio writer, she left New York and moved to Hollywood, which was still a relatively underdeveloped town. She sold her first script almost immediately and soon landed a coveted writing job at MGM. There at the commissary she would spend time with studio figures such as director Erich Von Stroheim and actresses Norma Shearer and Marion Davies.

The Plastic Age (1925), starring Clara Bow, was Mass’ first big success. After that, Maas worked on several other films with the starlet, including Dance Madness (1926), Hula (1927), and Red Hair (1928). For His Secretary (1925) and The Waning Sex (1926), Maas worked alongside her good friend and actress Norma Shearer. She also contributed to the films Flesh and the Devil (1926), Rolled Stockings (1927), and The Way of All Flesh (1927).

Maas remained down-to-earth amid the outward glamour of Hollywood, knowing only too well how studio politics worked. After several years at MGM, Maas requested to be transferred to another production unit and was labeled a “troublemaker” as a result. Maas remembers, “What I did was a very big no-no. Producers might steal from one another and stab each other in the back, but when it came to dealing with dissatisfied, unhappy writers, producers were fraternal brothers who stuck together—especially when some lowly writer challenged their sovereignty.” Studio troubles, combined with an FBI investigation during the red scare of the 1950s, force Maas to work on more freelance projects and eventually led her to start a new career in insurance.

During her film career, she survived the transition from silent film to sound and then from black-and-white to color.  She lived through two world wars, the Depression, the McCarthy era, and eighteen different presidencies. Maas has witnessed over a century of history, and this birthday another milestone to add to a long list of life experiences.

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The International Movie Database has become a "must-read" for movie lovers around the globe, as it offers a treasure trove of information about virtually every movie ever made as well as credits and biographical details of the people who made them. However, there are some people who are not enamored of the service, which offers much of its data free to readers and charges a fee for a more comprehensive plan aimed at hardcore movie lovers and journalists. Seems there are plenty of actors and actresses who oppose IMDB's policy of listing the actual birth dates of thespians. (Notably, industry professionals, such as technicians and directors, have voiced no such complaints.) The Writers Guild of America, which provides much of the information used on IMBD, is siding with the actors and has formally asked IMDB to remove the birth data, even though it is invaluable to researchers. Thus far, IMDB has admirably stuck to its guns and noted that it only removes information if it is found to be inaccurate. For more click here

A new documentary examining the tragic and influential life of Warhol Factory star Candy Darling, entitled Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Warhol Superstar had its US premiere at the New Directors/New Films Festival, last Friday, April 2nd, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The writer and director, James Rasin, was present with key members of his crew, most notably Jeremiah Newton, who executive produced and whose shared life with Darling provided the main focus
of this revelatory, intelligent documentary.

Framed by a present-day narrative involving close friend Jeremiah Newton's efforts to give Candy's funeral urn a final resting place (in tiny Cherry Valley, New York -- the significance of which is never explained), the documentary recounts in vivid detail the fast-burning life of Warhol's most legendary Superstar. (The only one of Warhol's Superstars, by the way, paid tribute by two Lou Reed-penned songs for The Velvet Underground.) The filmmaker and his crew weave together early video clips, film footage, recordings, photographs, period music and and original score to create a dense narrative fabric, making it one the most thorough and authoritative biopics of the Warhol clan.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

With two of the finest British actresses of this or any other generation in the main roles and a cast of instantly recognisable homegrown talent, Mary Queen Of Scots is a long lost classic costume drama on an epic scale.

Mystifyingly unavailable since its original theatrical release almost 40 years ago, it is at last set to make its DVD courtesy of Second Sight on 1 February 2010.

Nominated for five Oscars this outstanding costume drama stars two of the greatest British actresses; Vanessa Redgrave (Julia) in the title role and Glenda Jackson (Woman In Love) as Queen Elizabeth I, along with a stellar cast including Ian Holm, Trevor Howard, Patrick McGoohan and Timothy Dalton. It also boasts a score by John Barry. 

Originally released in 1971, this lavish Tudor power play tells the story of Queen Mary, the last Catholic ruler of Scotland who faces religious prejudice, from the Protestant community and, in particular, her half-brother James Stuart (McGoohan) leader of the Protestant faction. Throughout her reign she is faced with a fierce adversary, her cousin the Queen of England Elizabeth I. 

Mary Queen Of Scots is a passionate and energetic costume drama with an outstanding cast that makes for powerful viewing.

Bonus features include: Isolated John Barry music track with commentary by film historians Nick Redman and Jon Burlingame, Overture and intermission music, Promotional featurette

Includes subtitles for hard of hearing

(Click here to order from Amazon UK) 

‘Two of Britain's finest actresses shine in tailor-made roles’

Radio Times

Whatever you thought about the Oscar ceremonies, here's an angle that is sure to unite all movie fans: the Huffington Post's photo essay on which actresses displayed their cleavage best. Check here to see the contenders.

Director Gary Marshall is determined that his hit 1970s TV series Laverne and Shirley should be brought to the big screen. Marshall wants to cast Jessica Biel and Jennifer Garner in the roles originally played by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams in the sitcom that was set in the 1950s. Marshall envisions the original actresses will make cameos in the new film. For more click here

I just picked up the latest issue of Cinema Reto today. Full marks to Tim Greaves for finally giving Lust for a Vampire it's just due. I have always thought this was a very fine film and that all the fuss about the song "Strange Love" was absurd. A lovely song which by all means doesn't ruin the film by its inclusion. Regarding the alternate "clothed" scenes. These did surface in the U.S. on television. When the film shown a few times on Channel 7 in Los Angeles the print was titled To Love a Vampire and the alternate clothed scenes of both the dormitorygirls and Judy Matheson's seduction were included.

I actually met Yutte Stensgaard a number of years ago when she had "disappeared". I was working in Beverly Hills and this lovely woman came into the office from the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. I instantly recognized her as Yutte Stensgaard. She was less than pleased to be recognized and refused to give me her autograph or discuss her films. I assured her that Lust for a Vampire was nothing to be ashamed of and that she had a considerable cult following. I felt badly that she was so down on her film career. But I heard that she later re-evaluated this and was more comfortable discussing her movies.

Gary Smith

Retro Responds: Many thanks for the support, Gary...and thanks for the update on Ms. Stensgaard. Like many actors and actresses who starred in "B" or cult movies, they sometimes felt ashamed of their participation in such films. However, as they see the genuine affection they have accumulated from fans over the decades, these artists often eventually take pride in the fact they were part of the film's legacies. If it's any consolation to Ms. Stensgaard, the issue bearing her cover is proving to be one hot seller for Cinema Retro!

By Lee Pfeiffer

Just because the BAFTA awards was the social event of the season in London doesn't mean British ex-pats were willing to let their countrymen have a monopoly on partying. On Sunday night, members of BAFTA's American east coast contingency gathered to watch a simulcast of the awards show. The venue was a strange one for people from a nation that is generally immune to the joys of baseball: Mickey Mantle's restaurant on Central Park South, founded by the late New York Yankees legend. Indeed, it was not a love of baseball that led BAFTA officials to rent the venue for the second year in a row. Rather, it was the abundance of TV screens strategically placed around the restaurant that affords virtually every diner a prime viewing spot. I was the guest of Lisa Harrison of BBC America, and a member of BAFTA's east coast office. Thus, I had to 'suffer' being the only male at a table of charming British ladies, each of whom had some very interesting takes on how they wanted the awards to turn out. Understandably, they were rooting for the home team and were pleased when a British film won a significant award.

Although the show's host Jonathan Ross is largely unknown to Americans, he's an iconic figure on British TV (imagine someone with the clout of Jay Leno and David Letterman). Ross's monologue was not as razor-sharp as we might have expected, but the refreshing thing about the BAFTA telecast is that it is actually about the films and filmmakers, not the comedic timing of the host. I also like the fact that there is virtually no padding to the ceremonies. Ross did a good job of moving the show forward at a rapid pace, with nary a second wasted. The acceptance speeches were all dignified and classy and the awards themselves were generally regarded by the New York contingent as well-deserved. (Interestingly, it seemed virtually no one was cheering for Avatar to win any major award except for the category of special effects. This led me to believe I am not alone in my view that the film is supremely over-rated.) The choices of director Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker as the top winners gained cheers from the crowd.

By Lee Pfeiffer

For decades, Warren Beatty has been known to be an oddity in Hollywood, not only for his sometimes quirky behavior and often tongue-tied attempts to make coherent statements, but also because of his aversion to formal interviews. Beatty has rarely consented to discussing his personal life, which was considered by many to be an admirable quality. However, all bets are off now that he has authorized author Peter Biskind to write his biography. Biskind-writing from Beatty's personal anecdotes- goes into the most intimate details of the superstar/producer's legendary love life (his female conquests are said to be over 10,000- but just who has been calculating this over the course of Beatty's life remains unclear). As proof that the notion of being a  "gentleman" is as outdated in Hollywood as that bouncing ball that movie audiences used to sing along with, Beatty goes beyond the pale in humiliating his former lovers. In the case of Jane Fonda, he even goes so far as to describe her unique oral sex techniques, which involve an ability to dislocate her jaw. Nice. No wonder Beatty never became the successor to Cary Grant. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

The film industry is finally catching on that middle aged and older people still like to go to movies - and they don't necessarily want to see mindless action films filled with space aliens getting blasted by hi tech weaponry. Like most audiences, older people want to see stories they can relate to. One of the biggest obstacles in providing that type of entertainment has been Hollywood's legendary refusal to acknowledge that mature actresses can be sexy as well as commercially appealing.That prejudice is quickly being eradicated, thanks in no small part to the enormous success of Mama Mia! Suddenly, actresses like Sigourney Weaver and Meryl Streep are all the rage - and they are not being cast as dowdy grandmother types, but as vibrant, highly sexual women. The major studios are slow to pick up on what has been a trend for years in the porn industry, which helped coin the term MILF (look it up on Google, if you are unaware) to make millions from producing DVDs with older women. TV followed suit with plenty of shows geared toward older female audiences, ranging from reality programs to dramas such as Cougar Town. It looks like the all of those endless Viagara commercials have finally resonated with studio types who have woken up to the fact that there is life - and sex appeal- after the age of 30. For more analysis click here to read The Guardian's take on the trend.

As Cinema Retro 'regulars'  know, we have occasionally been able to find unpublished or rarely-seen interviews with legendary film personalities and provide them for our readers. In issue #1 of the magazine, Steve Mori provided an unseen interview Steve McQueen from 1968 and in issue #15, Steve did the same with a fascinating 1974 discussion with Lee Marvin. Now contributing writer Kris Gilpin has been kind enough to share with us with a 1988 interview with director Monte Hellman, whose work is revered by some of the great directors of our time. Please keep in mind that the text and events that are discussed in this interview took place in 1988 and have not been amended. (This is part one of a two-part interview.)

INTERVIEW WITH MONTE HELLMAN

By Kris Gilpin

Born July 12^th, 1932 in New York City, writer-director Monte Hellman’s work is miles above typical American drivel; while working in various traditional genres (war, western, road film, etc.), he has produced a series of very personal character studies, while still remaining true to the genre within which each film is set.  And his films have a definite European flavor to them; in fact, he still has a huge following in Europe – with Monte Hellman film festivals constantly being held there – despite the fact that his last feature (the western China 9, Liberty 37, starring the late, great Warren Oates, Jenny [An American Werewolf in London] Agutter and Italian superstar Fabio Testi) was released a decade ago.

After studying theater at Stanford University and film at UCLA, Hellman spent three years acting and directing in summer stock before landing his first gig in film, as the assistant editor on the Richard Boone TV series, Medic.  He quit that job to return to directing plays for a theatre company he founded, then accepted an offer from B-movie mogul Roger Corman (who had invested in his theatre company); Hellman’s first film, Beast from Haunted Cave, was shot back-to-back with Corman’s Ski Troop Attack in North Dakota, using the same cast, crew and locations.  He then helped finish a number of films for Corman, one of which was the infamous The Terror, starring Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson and Dick Miller, a film they all made up as they went along.

Next, Hellman shot two films back-to-back in the Philippines, Back Door to Hell, a war story with Nicholson and country singer Jimmie Roders, and Flight to Fury, a film noir starring, and written by, Jack Nicholson.  (Hellman, who always edits his own pictures, was cutting Back Door at night, while directing Flight during the day.)

His international fame came in 1967, with a pair of westerns filmed in Utah (once again back-to-back): the existentialist, purposely vague The Shooting (with Nicholson and Oates) and equally existential Ride in the Whirlwind (with Cameron Mitchell and Nicholson, who once again wrote the script).  Four years later I first saw Hellman’s subtle cult masterpiece, Two-Lane Blacktop (which featured Oates in a superb performance, the late Beach Boy drummer-singer Dennis Wilson and songwriter James Taylor, in his only starring role), and I’ve been in love with road movies ever since that day.  The film’s screenplay, by Rudy (Candy Mountain – another road film – and Walker) Wurlitzer and Will Cory, was so impressive it was published in its entirety before the film’s release in Esquire magazine.  This was followed by Cockfighter (aka Born to Kill), again starring Warren Oates, this time with Harry Dean Stanton; the film was recut by producer Roger Corman and not seen its original form until several years later.

Now Monte Hellman is back with Iguana, the story of Oberlus, a sailor from the early 19^th Century who is persecuted due to the lizard-like scales, which deform half of his face and neck (Oberlus is played by Everett [Quest for Fire, Silver Bullet] McGill).  He flees to a desert island, where he declares war on mankind, capturing castaway sailors and cutting off the fingers and heads of the “slaves” who disobey him.  When Carmen (Maru Valdivielso), a beautiful/sexy Spanish libertine, comes to the island, the two of them eventually play out a twisted version of Beauty and the Beast (the film also features Fabio Testi in a supporting role).

Hellman was kind enough to give me a friendly, long interview on Saturday October 29^th, 1988, in his Los Angeles home.  I met his pretty daughter, Melissa, and marveled at the framed stills and lobby cards adorning the walls and bookshelves (early stills of Nicholson, John Ford [with Hellman], Sam Peckinpah [who acted in Hellman’s China 9], Martin Landau, Millin [The Shooting, Ride in the Whirlwind] Perkins, the late Laurie Bird [from Two-Land Blacktop, as the hitchhiker who unknowingly breaks up the cross-country race between Warren Oates and James Taylor, and she was also in Cockfighter]; a foreign lobby card for La Sparatoria [The Shooting], a Japanese lobby card for Two-Lane, etc.  And you can still hear the loss in his voice when Hellman recalls his old friends Oates and Bird).  Many thanks to Monte Hellman (who has always been a favorite filmmaker of mine) for giving me such a complete interview that day.

 

The Huffington Post has an amusing photo presentation of famous actors and actresses who have changed their names. Click here to read

By Lee Pfeiffer

In a movie industry obsessed with producing CGI-packed epics and animated family films, there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for quality films about real people. Last year saw an outstanding slew of intelligent films like Revolutionary Road, The Reader and The Wrestler, but their primary audiences never extended much beyond the urban art cinema crowd.There's no way around the simple fact that the public would rather see a brainless Transformers movie than any tale that might speak to the human heart or condition. Nonetheless, credit must be given to studios that still take the plunge and finance distribution of intelligent, well-made films.Case in point: Fox Searchlight's Amelia, which celebrates the life of Amelia Earhart. The film provides yet another solid role for Hillary Swank, who continues to impress as one of the most exciting actresses on screen today. The diversity of the roles she takes on is testimony to her talents and an indicant as to why she has already been awarded two Oscars.

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES

Entertainment Weekly has a slide show of ten hot actors/actresses from caveman movies. Some are appropriate, but others are pretty lame: anyone who can get turned on by images of Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble has a problem, even if it involves them in a sapphic situation! There's also John Lone in Iceman and his makeup gives him all the sex appeal of Magilla the Gorilla. Saving graces are Barbara Bach in Caveman, Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C and Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes even though they admit they had to cheat to include him on the basis that the film pertained to the prehistoric ape era! To view click here

There is a wonderful video on YouTube that celebrates the history of legendary actresses...each photo brilliantly morphs from one actress into another. It's by Phillip Scott Johnson....click here to check it out. 

By Lee Pfeiffer

Lovable kook Sharon Stone has finally found a way for us to....er....stand up and take notice: she's posed topless at age 51 for Paris Match. It's only when Stone speaks that the unintentional laughs result. The magazine cover may prove to either inspire or depress women of similar age - and it proves once again that when it comes to popular culture, no one has more fun than the uninhibited French. While Americans suffer through indistinguishable magazine covers all featuring reality show morons and mean-spirited "scandals" about actresses who suffer from cellulite, the French stick to real glamor. Let's just hope People magazine doesn't try to jump on the bandwagon by having Rosie O'Donnell in a similar pose.

By Lee Pfeiffer

While you might not see major Hollywood stars taking advantage of the Cash for Clunkers car rebate program, there is no doubt the glory days are over for some of the industry's most over-paid stars. Cinema Retro has repeatedly pointed out there are precious few stars with the drawing power to justify their enormous paychecks and production deals - and now studios seem to agree. They have sliced the salaries of some famous actors and actresses and cut back on the perks, as well. The only one immune from the cost-savings measures is Will Smith, who remains the closest thing Hollywood has to a genuine superstar. For more click here

The Sexuality and Spirituality of a Porn Priestess

By Graham Hill

Having already paid tribute to Georgina Spelvin and Juliet Anderson, I now complete my Cinema Retro porn legends trilogy  by introducing you to another sexual superstar from the “Golden Era” – Kay Taylor Parker.  Naturally, as you might expect, all three ladies have moved on from those bygone days of love and lust on the big screen.  And just as Georgina and Juliet are so different and fascinating, so is Kay.  In fact, Kay is completely different in that her status as a porn star is just one of many lives that the now sixty-five year old beauty has experienced. I will not attempt  to explain each and every one of them, but I will acquaint you with her body and soul.

It may be a taboo subject for some, but Taboo (1980) is the movie that Kay Parker is best remembered for.  You could say that she was one of the first to launch the mature woman/ younger man trend that is so prevalent today.  Once upon a time, before X-rated movies became totally obsessed  with Botoxed beauties sporting store-bought breasts and pre-pubescent genitalia, the actresses in the industry relied on their natural assets – including Kay, whose 38-DD bust line made her an instant superstar in the X rated film business.  Entering the adult scene at age 33, she exuded not just maturity, but a sense of warmth and charm that elevated any scene she was in. Kay was born in Birmingham, England in 1944.  The middle child of a typical working class British family, with her father being a sailor in the Royal Navy, she unfortunately didn’t have many fond childhood memories.  She recalls her father being a harsh disciplinarian who often  accused her of “acting up.”  To say that Kay is a believer in re-incarnation and the metaphysical world is an understatement  for someone who believes she has lived 182 lives.  She is totally and completely convinced of having been born in Atlantis 48,000 years ago.  For a better understanding, I refer you to her book Taboo –Sacred Don’t Touch or to her website. Kay is not your usual porn-star profile, she’s very much her own person  and is extremely beautiful, highly intelligent and ultra compassionate.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Actress Zena Marshall, who played the deceitful bad girl Miss Taro in the first James Bond film Dr. No, has died at age 83. Marshall's character was the first prominent villainess in a Bond movie, playing a sexy seductress who tries to set Sean Connery's 007 up for murder. Bond turns the tables - but not before he enjoys an evening in bed with her. Marshall, who was born in Kenya, appeared in many British films and TV series in the 1950s and 1960s, but like many of the Bond actresses, left the profession to concentrate on domestic life. She enjoyed a renaissance of popularity in recent years, appearing at autograph shows and Bond-related events, most of which were organized by the British based web site Bond Stars. (Click here for recent photo of her at the Bond Stars site) 

Sony has released a six-DVD boxed set tribute to Jack Lemmon, marking the first-time release of these films in the DVD format. Here is the official press release.

In a career that spanned half a century, Jack Lemmon was truly America’s Everyman. Although he worked in every genre from musical to western, he truly excelled at comedy, turning in a series of nuanced performances that garnered worldwide acclaim. On June 9, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) honors one of the most versatile and accomplished actors in Hollywood history with The Jack Lemmon Film Collection, in partnership with Chris Lemmon, Jack’s son and biographer. This must-have six-disc boxed set features five classic performances from the gifted two-time Academy Award® winner for Save the Tiger (1973) and Mister Roberts (1955). The set includes Phffft! featuring Kim Novak, Operation Mad Ball, featuring the film debut of Ernie Kovacs, The Notorious Landlady featuring Fred Astaire, Under the Yum Yum Tree, and Good Neighbor Sam. In addition, the bonus materials include a two-part documentary hosted by Chris Lemmon featuring intimate interviews with friends, fans, and colleagues, including Kevin Spacey, Andy Garcia and Shirley MacLaine; and photographs from the life and work of Jack Lemmon. The collection also includes the Ford Television Theatre’s “Marriageable Male” episode starring Jack Lemmon. The Jack Lemmon Film Collection will be available for $59.95 SRP.

 

Gone are the days when the image of middle-aged women was relegated to that of June Cleaver on Leave It To Beaver. Suddenly, older is hotter -though Hollywood still didn't get the memo and continues to under-employ some of our favorite actresses. Our friend Tommy Z, who runs the PlanetZMan web site celebrates legendary female stars with his new Cougar Hall of Fame. This new feature follows in the politically incorrect style of the rest of the web site (which gives tips on the best cigars and fine whiskeys, extols the virtues of large breasts and provides "The 10 Things Ladies Should NEVER Say to Guys".) The testosterone levels are off the chart on this site, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Click here to view the initial inductees in the Cougar Hall of Fame - and view some pretty hot photos of why they were included.  

In the latter part of their careers, Marlon Brando and Orson Welles took a lot of heat for allowing themselves to bloat to zeppelin-sized proportions. Today, however, either man might have passed for a sex symbol. The New York Times says that current male superstars are more portly than ever - and that audiences seem completely tolerant of their "more to love" physical appearance. Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, John Travolta and Denzel Washington are among those cited as losing the battle with middle-aged girth. Women aren't immune, but in a cruel irony, the industry routinely denies sizable roles to mddle aged actresses, so we rarely get to see if nature wreaks havoc on them. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

Peter Rogers' name probably isn't well known outside of the UK, but within the British film industry, he was a legend. Rogers has passed away at age 95. His body of work was largely defined by the laugh-charged Carry On series of films that pushed the envelope in terms of sexual content in the 1950s and 1960s. The series generally boasted a host of talented British comic actors all involved with bedroom antics featuring well endowed actresses. The series was always innocent fun and attracted mainstream audiences who wouldn't have dreamed of attending a real X rated film. Rogers had a productive working relationship with his wife Betty Box, who passed away in 1999. Betty was one of the industry's first successful female producers, having overseen production of the Doctor series of film farces. Rogers started in the film industry after WWII and worked on numerous B movies including writing and producing the cult thriller Timelock which offered Sean Connery one of his first minor roles. He introduced the Carry On films in the 1950s but the series hit its zenith in the 1960s when relaxed censorship rules allowed him to make the movies a bit more daring. The series' success was so steeped in British humor that it never generated much of an audience outside of the UK. In his native England, however, the films were enormous successes and Rogers became a revered figure. He opened an office at Pinewood Studios in the 1950s and remained active there until his death. He was still trying to launch a return of the Carry On series when he passed away. For more click here

By Raymond Benson

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Want to go see a Broadway or West End stage play—but at the local cinema?  No, it’s not a filmed stage production.  It’s a play translated to the film medium, but with complete faithfulness to the original play script.  Not only that, it stars big name actors and is directed by a top-notch director.  To complete the conceit, you get handed a playbill (program) when you enter the theater.  There might even be an intermission—or two!  And you have only four showtimes at which you can view the picture before it disappears, and you have to buy your ticket in advance with a subscription for a whole “season” of these filmed plays, or staged films, or whatever you want to call them.

This was the unique and exciting experiment called the American Film Theatre.

Back in 1973, producer Ely Landau launched this daring and unprecedented cinema series that played in the U.S. for two “seasons,” with a total of fourteen titles (but only thirteen were shown), all renowned works—classic and modern—originally produced on the stage.  Landau and his wife Edie were not Broadway producers, but they were Theatre People and had helped launch the “Play of the Week” series on PBS television, produced Sidney Lumet’s film version of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962), and were keen on inventing a way to make Broadway (or the London stage) accessible to everyone in America—at their local movie theater.

There have always been stage plays adapted for film—A Streetcar Named Desire, for example, or The Miracle Worker, or Hamlet.  But plays like these were “re-imagined” for the film medium—the script was often changed or re-written with added or deleted scenes, the action was “opened up” to include locations outside of a single, claustrophobic stage set, and the roles were usually re-cast with “Hollywood actors” rather than “Broadway actors.”  Then there were also the few stage productions that were filmed as is, i.e., cameras were set up in front of an actual proscenium stage while an already-rehearsed play was performed and the cameras simply recorded the production.  Waiting for Godot (1961), for example, was done this way for television. 

The American Film Theatre concept tried something different.  The directive was to take a great stage play, not change a word, and in most cases, use the actual play script as the screenplay.  The next step was to hire an accomplished film director to interpret the text for the film medium but stay faithful to the play.  Sometimes the director was the same person who helmed the original stage production.  A further step was to persuade the original casts from the Broadway or London productions of those plays to star in the film; or, when that wasn’t possible, to cast big-name Hollywood or British actors.  Thus, the result was indeed a filmed play—but you as an audience member wouldn’t be watching it from the middle of the orchestra or from the side or from the first balcony; instead you were up close and personal in a realistically-presented world (on studio sets and/or real interior or exterior locations)—just like in “regular” movies.  You had the best seat in the house, so to speak, but there’s no proscenium arch.  It’s a movie.  But it’s a play.  Get it? 

Landau didn’t have a lot of money to produce the series.  Getting the rights to the plays was the easy part.  In most cases, if the playwright was still living, he was more than happy to take a modest fee to see his play translated faithfully to the screen.  Edward Albee, for example, had already gone through a Hollywood experience with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  During that production, he and producer/screenwriter Ernest Lehman often clashed over the script until Lehman finally gave in and used Albee’s original play text as the film script almost verbatim (and yet Lehman was credited for the screenplay and received an Oscar nomination for it!).  So, when Landau approached Albee about doing A Delicate Balance in the American Film Theatre with promises that the actual play would be the screenplay, and Albee would have director and cast approval, the playwright jumped at the chance.  Landau collected the rights to the plays he wanted in this manner and started from scratch with every production, except for two.  Three Sisters, from the Anton Chekhov play and directed by Laurence Olivier, had already been produced and released in Britain only in 1970.  Philadelphia, Here I Come!, from the Brian Friel play and directed by John Quested, was an Irish production set to be released in 1975.  Landau bought the U.S. distribution rights for both films and presented them as two of the entries in the AFT program.  Thus, Three Sisters and Philadelphia, Here I Come! were the only pictures in the entire two seasons that Landau and his team did not produce.

The talent (directors, actors, designers, technicians) was asked to work at a reduced rate or at scale.  No one refused.  It was for a cause they all thought was worthwhile.  Lee Marvin, for example, joked that he “lost $225,000” by starring in The Iceman Cometh (which meant he did the movie for only $25,000—his going rate at the time was $250,000). 

Grants from American Express and other organizations helped fill out the rest of the production costs.  Finally, audiences were asked to subscribe in advance to a certain number of films in a particular season.  They could buy tickets for the entire season or a lesser selection if they desired.  Only four performances per film were shown at selective theaters around the country—simultaneously—and a new film premiered every month.  Just like theatre, only in the cinema. 

Being a Theatre Person (defined as someone who has studied and worked in the theatre—I was majoring in Drama at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1973 when the American Film Theatre premiered)—I found the series exhilarating.  Most people who appreciated and knew the theatre loved it.  They understood and “got” what Landau and his team were trying to do.  Unfortunately, the rest of the public met the series with a collective shrug.  Film critics complained that the films were “too much like stage plays” (duh!).  True, many of the productions were a bit claustrophobic because, like the original plays, they took place in single settings.  In only a few cases were the plays “opened up” to include scenes outdoors (such as Rhinoceros and Lost in the Stars).  What the critics didn’t understand was that the series was created to celebrate playwrights, and so the emphasis was on the plays.  With great acting.  And wonderful direction. 

Speaking of the acting, I assert that the AFT series contained some of the best performances one can see on the silver screen—ever.  It’s a shame that none of the films were eligible for Academy Award consideration (due to the limited showings and non-traditional distribution); otherwise we would have seen many of the AFT’s stars up for Oscars.  Only one of the films, The Man in the Glass Booth, was released in a regular theatrical run in 1975 after the AFT seasons were finished—and Maximilian Schell was indeed nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the picture. 

AFT’s first season consisted of eight films/plays.  Beginning in October 1973, one picture played each month through May 1974.  The second season consisted of six features (only five were actually shown) and ran in 1975. 

 

Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti has paired with actress Gail Gerber to write her fascinating autobiography that details her experiences in Hollywood as a young starlet in the 1960s as well as her career as a writer and Terry Southern's longtime companion. The book, Trippin' With Terry Southern, is due out in June. Here is an excerpt:

Hollywood, summer of 1964.  I had been living in California for almost a year now and still felt like a fish out of water.  Growing up in Canada where I studied ballet from the time I was a small child, Los Angeles was mystifying to me with its palm trees, bright sunlight forever contrasting with the deep shade, and its superficial inhabitants.  But I readily admit I was sort of a snob myself and didn’t know much about the actors or directors I came in contact with. Petite blondes like Sandra Dee were the reigning young actresses of the time but I couldn’t tell a Sandra Dee from a Tuesday Weld from a Connie Stevens.  They were all one big yellow-haired blur to me.  And forget about pop music—the minute The Beach Boys or Connie Francis would come on the radio I’d reach for the dial in a mad rush so as not to hear their insipid songs.  The dance and jazz worlds were where my interests and background lay. 

Arriving in town with my unwarranted bias and without knowing a soul, I had done pretty well for myself, or so I thought, in a short period of time.  I had a leading role in a play, two featured movie roles albeit in teenage B-movies, and had done a few guest TV shots.  I knew it wasn’t solely my acting talent that was landing me roles.  I was a pretty blonde with a shapely figure that looked good in a bikini and wasn’t afraid to show it off, which helped me tremendously.  It didn’t bother me in the bit, unlike actresses who I regularly came in contact with, that wanted to be known for their talent rather than their looks.

In August 1964 I found myself back on the MGM lot, after working there previously in the Elvis Presley musical Girl Happy, auditioning for a cameo role as an airport information girl in a big major production.  I was very excited.  The movie was The Loved One based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh and directed by Tony Richardson who was the hot director at this time.  Part of that British “New Wave” of directors in the late Fifties, Richardson directed such well-received movies as Look Back in Anger (1958), A Taste of Honey (1961), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) and the hit bawdy comedy Tom Jones (1963).  The Loved One was his second U.S. production.

I interviewed with associate producer Neil Hartley, the boyfriend of Richardson who was bi-sexual though married to actress Vanessa Redgrave since 1962.  Folks in Hollywood used to joke that Tony only wed Vanessa because he could fit into her clothes.  It seemed that every aspiring young actress auditioned for the part but they gave it to platinum blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield whose career was on the down slope.  This didn’t help as her scene was left on the cutting room floor and didn’t make it into the final print.  As a sort of consolation for not getting that role, I was hired to appear as one of the decorative background cosmeticians working at the funeral parlor with the film’s leading lady, Anjanette Comer. Little did I know that this would forever change my life.

The Loved One starred Robert Morse, who looked adorable with his shaggy Beatles haircut, as the young British poet named Dennis Barlow newly arrived in Hollywood to visit his upper crust uncle (John Gielgud) who shortly thereafter commits suicide when he is unceremoniously fired from the movie studio he has worked at for over thirty years.  Barlow then is given the responsibility of the burial arrangements and is led by his uncle’s pompous friend (Robert Morley) to the ornate Whispering Glades funeral parlor foundered by the Blessed Reverned Glenworthy (Jonanthan Winters).  He falls in love with one of the cosmeticians named Aimee Thanatogenos (Comer) a strange girl who fantasizes about death and lives in a condemned house on stilts in the Hollywood Hills.  But their blossoming romance is complicated by head embalmer Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger), a rival for the charms of Miss Thanatogenous and Barlow’s humiliating job at a pet cemetery, which he tries to keep a secret. When all the men in Aimee’s life let her down—Barlow’s occupation is revealed, Joyboy deserts her, Glenworthy proves to be a lecherous phony, and the Guru Brahmin (Lionel Stander), whom she writes to for advice turns out to be a drunkard—she commits suicide by embalming herself.

A number of actors make cameo appearances including James Coburn as a customs inspector, Tab Hunter as a tour guide, Roddy McDowall as a movie studio executive, Liberace as a coffin salesman, and most hilariously Milton Berle and Margaret Leighton as a battling Beverly Hills couple whose dog has died.

My scenes were set at Whispering Glades Funeral Parlor, which took weeks to shoot, and were filmed on location in the extensive gardens and interiors of a lavish estate called Greystone located on Sunset Boulevard.  It was the former residence of multimillionaire Edward Laurence Doheny II.  I worked mainly with Anjanette Comer, Rod Steiger, and Pamela Curran.  Anjanette never spoke to me or any of the other girls playing small roles.  Since she had the leading role, I think she thought we were beneath her and not worth her time. She was also busy learning her lines.

I remember hanging around doing nothing my first day on the set.  On the second day it seemed it was going to be a repeat of the day before.  I was sitting around earning more money than I ever did as a ballet dancer so I really couldn’t complain.  There was a whole bunch of us getting paid just to show up.  I was all decked out in the same costume as Anjanette, a tight form-fitting white dress with a matching veil, but with absolutely nothing to do but to just sit there and wait in the hot August sun.  I spotted a nice shady chair in a quiet spot and made a beeline for it, thinking I could pass the time over there.   A crew guy saw my lightning move and said, “That one’s a dancer.”  Terry Southern overheard and saw me.  He came over and introduced himself as the film’s screenwriter.  He was very slim at this time and was wearing his trademark dark sunglasses with a cup of coffee in one hand and his script in the other.  I thought, “Oh, great. Another old guy is hitting on me.” 

 

Alan W. Livingston has passed away at age 91. Never heard of him? Neither had we - but any baby boomer owes him a great debt for a multifaceted career that played a vital role in how popular culture was defined in the last half of the twentieth century. Check out this list of credentials, as published in The Hollywood Reporter:

"Alan W. Livingston, who created the character of Bozo the Clown and signed the Beatles to a contract at Capitol Records during a long and multifaceted show business career, died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 91.

Livingston, who was married to actresses Betty Hutton and Nancy Olson, also produced NBC's "Bonanza"; wrote the 1951 pop hit "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" for Mel Blanc's Tweety Pie; signed and paired Frank Sinatra with bandleader Nelson Riddle during a low point in Sinatra's career; and served as president of the entertainment group at 20th Century Fox." For the full article click here

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By Lee Pfeiffer

The 81st annual Academy Awards is now history and Slumdog Millionaire was top dog in the winner's circle with 8 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director for Danny Boyle. Kate Winslet won Best Actress for The Reader. In the Best Actor category there was a clear upset with Sean Penn winning the prize for playing the gay rights activist in Milk, despite the smart money being on sentimental favorite Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler. Best Supporting Actress was Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The late Heath Ledger was awarded Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight. In a moving and bittersweet moment, his family accepted on his behalf. Refreshingly, Kate Winslet, one of the most brilliant actresses working today, finally learned to deliver a concise and genuinely moving acceptance speech instead of the rambling nonsense she had mumbled through at previous awards shows. Similarly, Sean Penn was gracious and clearly surprised at his win. He praised America (perhaps just to deprive Fox News from having their talking points tomorrow morning) and confined his social activism to a statement that those who oppose equal rights for gays will someday realize they have shamed themselves and their families. 

I'll go against the annual trend of bashing the Oscars and say I thought this was a highly entertaining and briskly-paced show, devoid of long-winded speeches and that God-awful "spontaneous" patter between presenters that generally induces groans all over the world. The show still lacks a strong host, though Hugh Jackman was handsome, versatile and extremely talented in the dancing and singing numbers. What he doesn't possess is the razor-sharp wit exhibited by Steve Martin, who relegated himself to being one of the presenters. (His not-so-veiled smack at Scientology was hilarious, though he'll probably be trailed by men in black for the rest of his life.)  In the build-up to the show, much was made over the absence of star power. No Hanks, Ford, Eastwood or Nicholson on the podium. However, the producers did scrounge up some pretty impressive names. Among them: Robert DeNiro, Anthony Hopkins, Eva Marie Saint, Daniel Craig, Alan Arkin, Jack Black, Ben Stiller (whose comedic appearance promised more than it delivered) Ben Kingsley ...er, Sir Ben Kingsley (apparently even his children are required to refer to him as Sir Daddy), Michael Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Shirley MacLaine, and a genuine legend, gorgeous Sophia Loren, still looking like she walked out of time capsule. To the delight of older women everywhere, both Loren and Hawn proved that their bosoms are capable of defying Newton's Law of Gravity. A highlight of the show was the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award given to Jerry Lewis, who was very humbled (that's right, humbled!) by the honor. Lewis was presented with the award by Eddie Murphy, long regarded as one of the most unpleasant men in show business. Thus, by bringing out Murphy's softer side, maybe Lewis is not just a humanitarian, but a miracle worker.

There were some innovative changes this year. It was a great idea to have five previous winners in each acting category appear on stage to honor this year's nominees and to present the awards. I also liked the orchestra's consistent use of famous movie themes throughout the evening, and it was a nice touch to actually hear them play excerpts of this year's nominated scores. The blending of the three Oscar nominated songs into one production number worked far better than I had anticipated, as did a nice, classy production number in hat and tails that honored the great musicals. The well-directed and slickly-produced show had only one annoying segment: the generally moving memorial montage to artists who passed away in the last year. It was shown as Queen Latifah sang a lovely version of I'll Be Seeing You, but the director couldn't figure out where to zoom in and it turned out to be a botched hodgepodge of long shots of Latifah and postage stamp-sized images of the artists being nominated.(Maybe I missed it, but it didn't seem as though Heath Ledger was included in the tribute clips!)

From a fashion standpoint, there were few embarrassments or head-turners. The women looked rather blandly attired, but the men seem to (finally) be trending back toward the traditional black bow tie-with-tux look instead of that straight tie, which always makes the wearer appear under-dressed for such an occasion. There were a couple of major gaffes in fashion statements, however. Tilda Swinden, who has the complexion of Casper the Friendly Ghost, came on stage attired in what could only be charitably described as the slip cover of a living room couch. She probably paid a fortune for it, but the gown reminded me of that home-grown concoction that Carol Burnett's Scarlett O'Hara made up out of a pair of drapes (complete with curtain rod still in it) in her classic variety show sketch based on Gone With the Wind. The male fashion embarrassment of the evening came when the camera panned to nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was attired in black with a doo-rag on his head. In his quest to look funky, he may have thought he was evoking memories of Isaac Hayes, but ended up looking like a  white drag version of Aunt Jemima.  

What the show still lacks is an opening. Jackman tried hard with a somewhat clever comedic ode to the nominated films, but it wore thin quickly. Similarly, his bizarre notion of going into the audience to greet certain stars reminded me of a struggling night club comedian. I half expected him to shout, "Anybody here from New Jersey?". Still, he was a good sport, looked dashing and kept the action flowing without hamming it up. In all, this may well prove to be the lowest rated Oscars of all due to the abundance of art house films, but the Academy has nothing to be ashamed of regarding the presentation. It was one of the best in quite some time, though don't expect many other critics to say as much. The Oscars are the low-hanging fruit in terms of writing up lively reviews - and the temptation to use those good one liners writers come up with in advance to criticize the ceremony is just too much for many to resist. Oh, and for those of you who were paying attention, I did pretty well in my predictions, having been accurate in fifteen categories and wrong in only five, the most notable being Sean Penn's win over Mickey Rourke.

Click here for a complete list of winners. Click here for red carpet fashion photos.

As part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s showcase “Mavericks and Outsiders: Positif Celebrates American Cinema,” at the Walter Reade Theater, Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, I finally had the good fortune to see a film I had always heard people speak about in mixed tones of confusion, offense and admiration: Fingers (1978), written and directed by James Toback and starring Harvey Keitel. An added bonus was the appearance of Toback after the screening, who was welcomed onto the stage for a Q&A with noted French film critic Michel Ciment, the editor of the film journal Positif and one of the lone champions of the controversial film when it opened in theaters 31 years ago. (The twin heavyweights of film criticism at the time, Janet Maslin and Vincent Canby, both “piled on,” as Toback put it, with negative reviews that killed its box office word-of-mouth.)

Keitel plays Jimmy “Fingers” Angelelli, a virtuoso pianist who aspires to a life on the concert stage, rather than his day job of being a kneecap-breaker for his loan shark father (Michael Gazzo). When the movie begins he’s practicing a Bach toccata for a make-it-or-break-it audition with the head of Carnegie Hall. If he makes it, it could be his long-awaited exit out of a life of shaking down pizzeria owners for ten grand. In between practice sessions he’s driving a flashy red Cadillac convertible around town, wearing Botany 500 suits and a rakish scarf, and blaring ‘50s pop from his portable boombox. This is one dude who is a study in contradictions. Keitel interprets Jimmy so sympathetically -- the most obvious character tic being his fidgety hands that cannot be governed, hence his nickname – that you can’t help falling under his charm within the first few minutes of the movie.

Meanwhile, his father has one client that not only is refusing to pay up, but is mocking him behind his back: Riccamonza, a handsome, up-and-coming Mafioso. Jimmy’s father needs Riccamonza to be humbled – perhaps worse – to regain his respect, and he turns to his son as his only hope.

Adding to his stress load, Jimmy is crazy about an enigmatic girl (Tisa Farrow) who barely says a word, stares into space a lot and lives in a loft in Soho. (This was 1978, keep in mind.) It turns out she’s a prostitute working for a pimp played by Jim Brown – yes, that Jim Brown – the NFL Hall of Famer and ‘70s blaxploitation star. His role as “Dreems” is only one of a number of flavorful cameos in this strange, nervous, colorful and frenetic little picture.

The only film to have been financed by Fabergé Brut (Cary Grant was on their board of directors at the time and steered his fellow members to believe in Toback), it’s positively redolent with the drugstore after-shave, and pulses with a unapologetic sexual energy that the period was known for. Jimmy brazenly approaches women and talks to them in ways that would have him on NOW’s hit list, and other races come in for a bruising in language that would never pass the censors today. Still, the film has a moving, messy humanity and an urgency that makes it clear why it has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years.

The cinematographer, Michael Chapman, who also lensed Taxi Driver for Scorsese, gives Fingers a similar look: dark, gritty, but splashed with rich, violent color. 

A number of gem-like cameos are studded throughout: Stage actress Marian Seldes as Jimmy’s asylum-dwelling mother; Danny Aiello as one half of the two-member bodyguard detail surrounding arch-villain Riccamonza, the other half being Ed Marinaro; Tanya Roberts, in a bikini which slips off easily, as Riccamonza’s girlfriend; Lenny Montana (The Godfather) as the pizzeria owner (filmed at John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street), and – are you ready for this? – GOP fundraiser heavy Georgette Mosbacher as Jimmy’s father’s cheap and tawdry girlfriend, Anita. (Checking it out, it makes sense, she was then married to the producer, George Barrie.)

Toback had many a hilarious anecdote to tell host Ciment about the making of the film, his first directorial effort, and perhaps most memorable was concerning the shocking scene in which Dreems (Jim Brown) knocks together the heads of his two call girls, one of whom was Tisa Farrow. As Toback remembers, he approached Brown after the first, all-too-real take that left Farrow with real blood dribbling down her knotted forehead. Toback told Brown that they wouldn’t be doing another take, it was simply too painful for the actresses. Brown appeared to not be listening. “He was staring off into space, not even reacting,” said Toback. Finally Brown, in a voice barely above a whisper and in language that is unprintable, asked Toback why he hadn’t hired a more “delicate” actor like Sidney Poiter to do the scene so they could fake the head-butting. Farrow complained (and in today’s litigious environment who knows what an actress would have done) and later, as penance, Toback smacked himself on the head repeatedly with the butt of a pistol during the sound recording in post-production. He, too, had blood pouring down his face, but he didn’t want to ask his actors to suffer something he himself wasn’t willing to endure. “So whenever you’re going through the sound catalogue of heads being butted together,” Toback told the audience, “that is me hitting my head with the butt of a pistol.”

Another anecdote involved Francois Truffaut, who, during the year of its release, named it as one of his favorite from an American director in years. Shortly afterwards while at The Beverly Hills Hotel, Toback spotted the famous French auteur poolside, who was in town during the making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Instead of approaching him directly to thank him and risk putting Truffaut on the spot, opted to page him on a house telephone, as was the fashion of the day. When he picked up the phone – Toback watching from inside the hotel – he graciously thanked Truffaut for his support, only to be met with a long silence. Getting flustered, he suggested that he would love to meet Truffaut for a drink while he was in town. “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” replied Truffaut. “Why is that?” asked Toback. “I think we should just continue communicating to each other through our films.”

 

-David Savage

 

 

 

Cinema Retro columnist David Savage takes a look at Hollywood's most dubious career achievement.

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Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls: the film that inspired Whoopi Goldberg to say she hadn't seen this many poles abused since WWII.

In the run-up to this year’s Razzie nominations, to be announced Wednesday, January 21^st for 2008’s “honorees” for the worst achievements in moviemaking, the longlist buzz is already getting press. If it’s any indication, 2008 must have been a stink-bomb banner year for movies as it’s rare for the press to report on the worst movies of the year just-passed, before the nominations are even announced.

Among the films emerging as leading contenders for 2008’s gold-plated raspberry statuette -- always bestowed on the eve of the “other” gold-plated statuette ceremony -- are: The Love Guru, Mike Myers’ laughless Bollywood debacle; Speed Racer, Disaster Movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still (the 2009 “reimagining”), High School Musical 3, The Hottie & The Nottie (starring Paris Hilton in a brave, human-like performance) Postal (director Uwe Boll’s “best film to date”), The Happening and Meet Dave, starring Eddie Murphy as Eddie Murphy.

My personal favorite for Worst Movie of 2008 is the unbearably PC remake of The Women (which I wrote about last March), Diane English’s 12-years-in-the-making update to the 1939 ensemble classic. Think of it as WE network’s answer to the furs-and-cigarettes 1930s. Yoga mats replace chaise lounges, chai lattes replace gin-and-tonics, and self-empowerment bromides replace catty ripostes. Comic actresses with genius timing like Candice Bergen, Cloris Leachman and Debra Messing all went to waste in this ill-conceived mess.

But since the Razzies were created in 1980, the award itself has gained the patina of respect over the last two decades. Earning a golden raspberry has become its own singular honor, so delicious is the “bad”  publicity created by being part of a B-movie which, if the participants are lucky enough, will pass from critics’ wrath to (hopefully) ripen over time to the esteemed “so bad it’s good” Hall of Shame.  Witness Showgirls, Mommie Dearest, Battlefield Earth, Howard the Duck, et al. Elizabeth Berkley of Showgirls thought she may have committed career suicide after the 1995 movie opened to incredulous laughter, but now is firmly enthroned as B-movie royalty, in the tradition of Valley of the Dolls’ Patty Duke.

But perhaps most importantly, the award winners who show enough self-lampooning humor to show up at the ceremonies to hold the “fruit of their labors” are usually rewarded with more affection and respect by the public and press for being so game.

The best example was Halle Berry’s hilarious acceptance speech at 2005’s Razzies for her performance in Catwoman. (“I want to thank the writers…thank you for thinking this was a good idea…”)

I wonder, though: Has any actor or filmmaker ever won a Razzie on Oscar Eve and then won an Academy Award the next night for the same film? I asked the founder of The Razzies, John Wilson.

“No one's ever won both awards in a single weekend for the exact same

achievement,” said Wilson, “but we have had five instances of some overlap:

 

For 1980, James Coco was BOTH an Oscar and a Razzie nominee for his

supporting performance in Only When I Laugh.

For 1983, Amy Irving was BOTH an Oscar and a Razzie nominee for her

supporting performance (as Barbra Streisand’s “wife”) in Yentl. 

For 1988, Tom Cruise starred in both that year’s Worst Picture “winner”

(Cocktail) and that year’s Best Picture winner (Rain Man).

For 1992, Alan Mencken “won” both a WORST Song Razzie (for a song

from Newsies) and a Best Song Oscar (for a song from Aladdin) in one weekend. 

For 1997, screenwriter Brian Helgeland “won” both a WORST Screenplay Razzie

(for Kevin Costner’s Postman) and a BEST Screenplay Oscar (for L.A. 

Confidential) in one weekend. 

 

For all things Razzie, go to www.razzies.com. Special thanks to John Wilson, head RazzBerry for his contribution to this article.