tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64136871346462210552024-02-19T03:42:19.160-05:00Michael's Mixed Media PlayroomMementos of the movies, music and books that have been important to me.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.comBlogger429125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-39641154958094087112022-08-25T10:17:00.000-04:002022-08-25T10:17:05.677-04:00Mother, Jugs and Speed<div>Apparently, nostalgia for the 1970s has been overtaking me which accounts for my re-watching of this dark comedy which I saw when it first came out in 1976. I was in college and I remember thinking it was a bit cheesy but also kinda daring in how it mixed comedy and drama. With two of the three leading roles taken by 70s icons (Bill Cosby as Mother, Raquel Welch as, well, you know), I would have thought this might not have weathered the years too well, but it remains surprisingly watchable, though today's young people might not dig it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh52_vCiT4-BMkLHwjgicz2XMHh4yVqUbHFjIUEI8KzVYUXEaGhZ4nHlpLUxCx5PcZqGcMSCxHi3l0j5rPshs93wWjo2K5XOuM10ASkJon65OZR4bYtpYijjXUD4kmFAEo3CoY1ljUGEQMsm-BuKSEqC8E85F7jvEnTVre9ZLsj5M0J9_CIjwgsDaO3wg/s542/mother%20jugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="415" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh52_vCiT4-BMkLHwjgicz2XMHh4yVqUbHFjIUEI8KzVYUXEaGhZ4nHlpLUxCx5PcZqGcMSCxHi3l0j5rPshs93wWjo2K5XOuM10ASkJon65OZR4bYtpYijjXUD4kmFAEo3CoY1ljUGEQMsm-BuKSEqC8E85F7jvEnTVre9ZLsj5M0J9_CIjwgsDaO3wg/s320/mother%20jugs.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><br /><div>The title trio works for a scrappy little ambulance service in Los Angeles. Mother is the old hand, cocky and confident as he swigs beer from the driver's seat; Jugs is the office dispatcher who is taking night classes to get certified to be a driver, though the big boss (a wonderfully slimy Allen Garfield) isn't yet ready for women in the ambulances; Speed (Harvey Keitel) is the new guy, a cop currently under investigation on corruption charges. There is some character development along the way, including Jugs and Speed becoming an item, but mostly the film jolts from one emergency call to another. Mostly they're played for darkish humor, with the funniest moment being an attempt to get a woman on a stretcher down from a second floor apartment that goes hilariously awry. Sometimes there is tragedy: there is one death in the ambulance, and one of the drivers is shot dead during an altercation with an out-of-control drug user. The three stars (and Garfield) get most of the spotlight, so it's not exactly an ensemble piece, but there are solid turns from Bruce Davison as a likeably mellow driver and Larry Hagman as a crazed horndog. Keitel, known mostly for fairly intense roles, gets to relax a bit here. It takes some time to get used to him in that mode, but he does a nice job and works up some decent chemistry with Welch. Even Cosby, current-day pariah for his record of sexual assaults, is good. The PG rating is a relic of the era—this might get an R today.</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-12121038394657991282022-08-16T07:35:00.000-04:002022-08-16T07:35:31.068-04:00The Wolf of Snow Hollow<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPF0rKCGzIZshKEGSTC825xZ5or7eEWRB2Yft-oVbtw0jnC6K4W0Vma64apMS-4lRwjcH4RleSJg7jrWTXe9ISRH2ZcDJcc2S186_CuMlu6bdtkcTogSB__b69U3-f53QhYN9nTVVDfpyJ3VM-epRY-9zBQE-QGcyq6VfhvY2vb_FbDz2QNqgzkQu-wg/s858/jim%20cummings0816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="858" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPF0rKCGzIZshKEGSTC825xZ5or7eEWRB2Yft-oVbtw0jnC6K4W0Vma64apMS-4lRwjcH4RleSJg7jrWTXe9ISRH2ZcDJcc2S186_CuMlu6bdtkcTogSB__b69U3-f53QhYN9nTVVDfpyJ3VM-epRY-9zBQE-QGcyq6VfhvY2vb_FbDz2QNqgzkQu-wg/s320/jim%20cummings0816.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>My first exposure to the indie DIY guy Jim Cummings (he writes, directs, produces and acts) was this film from 2020. In the current mode of genre-mixing, it combines horror, dark comedy, and domestic melodrama, and does a pretty fair job of it. In a small snowy town (that I assumed was in Colorado but the film was shot in Utah), Cummings is a single dad, recovering alcoholic, and police officer whose ailing father (character actor legend Robert Forster) is still the town sheriff. There appears to be a particularly savage serial killer loose and the locals eventually assume the deaths are caused by a werewolf. Cummings isn't sure, and with help (and hinderance) from his dad, a female detective (Riki Lindhome), and other cops, Cummings eventually figures things out, though not before falling off the wagon and getting close to a breakdown.<p></p><p>Cummings is both quite handsome and surprisingly good in what winds up being a complex role. His character is (generally) competent, intense, and sensitive, and though there are some quirky walls put up, likeable. Forster died of brain cancer not long after this movie was shot, but if he was sickly, you'd never know it from his performance, which is strong as usual. The snow, all of it real, I assume, adds so much to the atmosphere. Highly recommended.</p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-7830344896551984402021-11-18T11:01:00.003-05:002021-11-18T11:01:57.960-05:00Movin' with Nancy<div>On a night honoring Nancy Sinatra, TCM showed her 1967 TV special Movin' With Nancy. I have a vague memory of seeing this when it aired (I would have been 11 years old). Mostly I recall her colorful mod outfits and feeling disappointed that she didn’t sing "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" which had been a big hit the year before. When I flopped down on the couch the other evening for a re-viewing, I expected a delightful trip down psychedelic memory lane, but very quickly I found myself sitting up and taking notes on a rather strange brew.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgbLFSqq1Vk0U7UFlzflplTUGWVaPFnRt2m0ZOpSaHIl3BMe_tPip63lYXZCT1vkTt881ZWthatigx78j_LeqnGLen1k4UClOMEYziAwZk0_90G6Ya541zWnRZGL_5KKHhkqEVvjg2ccL/s700/nancy+movin05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="700" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgbLFSqq1Vk0U7UFlzflplTUGWVaPFnRt2m0ZOpSaHIl3BMe_tPip63lYXZCT1vkTt881ZWthatigx78j_LeqnGLen1k4UClOMEYziAwZk0_90G6Ya541zWnRZGL_5KKHhkqEVvjg2ccL/s320/nancy+movin05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>First, it's not a traditional 60s variety show, on a stage before a live audience; it's a collection of short films that feel very much like 80s music videos. The first features Nancy driving around, singing about needing to get out of town, setting up a sort of theme for the show, tied to its title, although this conceit is jettisoned whenever it doesn't fit. In the second, she escapes into the sky in a big balloon, singing "Up, Up and Away" while a small cadre of dancers in brightly-colored clothes leap in the air. There are two duets with her producer and musical partner Lee Hazlewood: the humorous break-up song "Jackson" and the surreal "Some Velvet Morning," perhaps the strangest pop song to make the Billboard Top 40.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sinatra's best solo bit comes with "This Town," sung as she walks around mannequins posed in an urban waterfront area. This leads into a cute bit with Dean Martin as he plays her "fairy god-uncle" who uses his cane as a wand to make an unhappy Nancy happier as they duet on "Things." Then a somewhat creepy vibe enters as Nancy sings "Wait Till You See Him" as she stares longingly at bigger-than-life photos of her famous father Frank. Following is her father singing "Younger than Springtime" at a recording session; Nancy enters, watches him finish, then stands with him in an awkward embrace as they listen to the playback. She has a nice scene posing for a fashion shoot with Sammy Davis Jr. as a rather fey photographer and she closes with "Who Will Buy?," a beautifully wistful song from the musical Oliver which turns into a frenetic dance number led by David Winters (A-Rab in West Side Story).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Pi25AZmbmB8IfrkFz96lwt68u_jyWiEHBYuG2eLPWlyoKvNAjX4S-s_aTO1UevrR6DBo9Mo4zh1d0Iw7WVmGb2OPFVdIicd9zQjIFlylOGbqucIDzL6X1Ut4kky9eRTbWcZ-XI7Iv4ca/s752/nancy+movin07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="752" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Pi25AZmbmB8IfrkFz96lwt68u_jyWiEHBYuG2eLPWlyoKvNAjX4S-s_aTO1UevrR6DBo9Mo4zh1d0Iw7WVmGb2OPFVdIicd9zQjIFlylOGbqucIDzL6X1Ut4kky9eRTbWcZ-XI7Iv4ca/s320/nancy+movin07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Random observations: First, Nancy Sinatra is not a terribly expressive singer or actor. She’s not exactly wooden, but she frequently looks distracted, or like she's thinking about being more expressive but deciding against it. Her voice is serviceable but not great; she's fine in her duets, but less impressive in her softer songs, like her song in honor of her father. She looks good in her collection of mod 60s styles and she works well with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. The concept of filmed outdoor pieces really does feel like a precursor to the later music video genre, and director Jack Haley Jr. deservedly won an Emmy for the show.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4zaZrJmLHyYdSYpVEQDxGW7ZMI2FjsdfxIucslbS7ukY597fN4HzhhKYeJjcnE3qSC-Z_GkX5x5duj5jud60g26e0DS6-K5TvWQ7s74RfYDIUuYTzG3rfFTGsEu3k-FTxU2z1cQps4Fb/s871/nancy+movin01+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="871" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4zaZrJmLHyYdSYpVEQDxGW7ZMI2FjsdfxIucslbS7ukY597fN4HzhhKYeJjcnE3qSC-Z_GkX5x5duj5jud60g26e0DS6-K5TvWQ7s74RfYDIUuYTzG3rfFTGsEu3k-FTxU2z1cQps4Fb/s320/nancy+movin01+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Though several of the songs she performs here were radio hits, it's still disappointing that she doesn't do "Boots," especially as it seems to be teased frequently with many close-up shots of Sinatra's boots as she walks. Her duet of "Things" with Dean Martin actually hit #1 in Norway. The TCM showing included the original ads for Royal Crown Cola, being pushed as the "mad, mad cola with the mad, mad taste." Nancy sings one of the ads, as do Dino, Desi & Billy (a teen pop group featuring Dean Martin's son) and a handsome Australian singer named Robie Porter. As an example of the kind of TV special that went the way of the dinosaur, it's an interesting and occasionally enjoyable experience. But it's difficult to get past the discomfort of the daddy stuff (Frank is referred to as "Daddy" in the main credits).</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-11013673424045231822021-09-29T10:10:00.002-04:002021-09-29T10:10:47.174-04:00Cinderella 2021<p>Once again, I fell prey to the lure of a well-made preview. The new musical version of Cinderella from Amazon Studios looked like it would be great fun from the two-minute trailer I saw online. Billy Porter as the fairy godmother? A village of people singing and dancing to "Rhythm Natio"”? Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver as the King and Queen? (And speaking of Queen, "Somebody to Love" is sung by the Prince and his buddies.) Yes please, I thought. But no, all hopes were dashed upon seeing the other 110 minutes of the movie. Director and writer Kay Cannon had notable ambitions in creating a female empowerment pop-musical fairy tale film, and a couple of sequences shine, but it fails to come together to make a satisfying whole.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxeHoLVmz63V2QMA_EDsWU9wYYwzaCQjFXoFAXoyz9Erd8ROySA2rJi-D3EactnwdA14Pw_HvaPfoE8OArrv_mr0naV7mtYY7So-FZAOkgHz5YwL-42hnTuVIomoSlamnLG4arT2zj3k4/s1319/cinderella01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1319" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxeHoLVmz63V2QMA_EDsWU9wYYwzaCQjFXoFAXoyz9Erd8ROySA2rJi-D3EactnwdA14Pw_HvaPfoE8OArrv_mr0naV7mtYY7So-FZAOkgHz5YwL-42hnTuVIomoSlamnLG4arT2zj3k4/s320/cinderella01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>In this iteration of the old standard tale, Cinderella (singer Camila Cabello) is an aspiring dress designer whose dreams are stymied by her wicked stepmother (Idina Menzel) who insists she stay in the basement, smeared by cinders. Meanwhile, the Prince (Nicholas Galitzine) is being pressured by his parents to pick a bride--ideally a good political choice to keep the kingdom on its feet--but he is still into partying with his bros and is in no hurry to settle down. His folks decide to host a ball, invite the whole village, and make the Prince pick a wife. A Fairy Godmother (Billy Porter, who is the best thing about the movie but who is only in it for about ten minutes) transforms Cinderella into… and so on. The biggest change in the story, and one I wholeheartedly applaud, is that Cinderella's real desire isn't for a man, but for a dress business, which could be enabled not by the Prince but by a wealthy village woman. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27qvtD-ndwSsR-Rh8Xr7i1Jgzmolw722qzsA5KVmXFGf62E-07ynNbpaYXj6m_D73qqgNR-mJdWeKDQqzj3Gh3HuxkEPbmXT5Z85Gd2Vhq88NNRPb2V5XhA2uCtiZhopCcODXPAH4ViqK/s604/cinderella02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="604" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27qvtD-ndwSsR-Rh8Xr7i1Jgzmolw722qzsA5KVmXFGf62E-07ynNbpaYXj6m_D73qqgNR-mJdWeKDQqzj3Gh3HuxkEPbmXT5Z85Gd2Vhq88NNRPb2V5XhA2uCtiZhopCcODXPAH4ViqK/s320/cinderella02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The problem here isn't the basic story or dialogue, it's pretty much everything else. Mostly, the songs here are pre-existing pop songs, and while I enjoy seeing familiar music pop up in unusual settings, here the songs seem to be shoehorned in, sometimes to make up for lack of plot or character development. It's kind of thrilling to see Janet Jackson’s "Rhythm Nation" as a village-wide dance number, but sadly, the lyrics mean absolutely nothing in context. These townsfolk are not fighting injustice or trying to improve their society, or joining together in any way. They're just doing a nicely choreographed production number--that is, by the way, poorly and unimaginatively shot, as are most of the big numbers in the movie. I could pick apart every other production number, but you get the drift. There are a couple of new songs written for the movie, but they aren't especially memorable.</p><p>As for the performances, there’s not a lot to say. Most everyone is OK and not much more. Camila Cabello is a popular singer, but her rough voice didn't fit the songs here. For me, her acting was better than her singing, but she fails to make the character much different from any other Cinderella figure of film or TV. Nicholas Galitzine is pleasant looking at the prince, but not especially hunky, despite the horde of women who sing the Salt-N-Pepa song "Whatta Man" at him. Better are the adults: Idina Menzel gets to sing "Material Girl" and makes the wicked stepmother a bit more than the usual stereotype. Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver are quite good as the King and Queen. Most of the singing sounds overly processed, but I guess that’s the trend these days. Overall, a nice idea for an update, but not one I can recommend.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0_pDYqGz5yGGDXgnmjmcfWs3WSkcTZuGLsP1Fna5LucvTbl_pcjkxc_0xkxmXZpN2N51hrdjMjikacxeVCw1Y6Nm9he48C3SXDoIhYQih-iG8aLKwWo_4r4YGVv_g9cYr4DA92jJn9j9/s610/cinderella03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="610" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0_pDYqGz5yGGDXgnmjmcfWs3WSkcTZuGLsP1Fna5LucvTbl_pcjkxc_0xkxmXZpN2N51hrdjMjikacxeVCw1Y6Nm9he48C3SXDoIhYQih-iG8aLKwWo_4r4YGVv_g9cYr4DA92jJn9j9/s320/cinderella03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-44325276635512485892021-09-15T11:04:00.001-04:002021-09-15T11:04:08.752-04:00Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzKdSFsEQx0RZQRoxwMEJN64Sv9gXT4lT3jlITu_D_HbWCwNMK2ew4Osfx7nObcZSN3DHrWXRwft8kB1rL4mwxM0KnxPCfYt705PTW7Gis0OqvUBzaojUmQBW-slFZUGEKvWvNm9EeyB_/s830/barb+star01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="830" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzKdSFsEQx0RZQRoxwMEJN64Sv9gXT4lT3jlITu_D_HbWCwNMK2ew4Osfx7nObcZSN3DHrWXRwft8kB1rL4mwxM0KnxPCfYt705PTW7Gis0OqvUBzaojUmQBW-slFZUGEKvWvNm9EeyB_/s320/barb+star01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>This delightful movie was a Covid orphan, eventually seeing the light of day on Hulu. Imagine a long Saturday Night Live sketch that's a cross between Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and Austin Powers. Two lifelong friends (Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) go on a resort vacation in Florida and have wildly improbable comic adventures. A friend noted that, as in the Pee-Wee movie, Barb and Star live in the real world, but it's a world where surreal things happen and no one blinks an eye. For example, when they arrive at the resort at Vista Del Mar, the entire staff (of seemingly hundreds) drops what they're doing and welcomes them with a huge production number--think "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast. Our two average-looking 40-something women end up in a 3-way with hunky Jamie Dornan. And a mythical water goddess named Trish saves the day. The Austin Powers influence has to do with the movie's over-the-top villain, also played by Wiig in Dr. Evil mode.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqtDBKTScHw5T6kjbL5PWlgdVrDi6qrkNS0rPYyo-uz7j40kGu20DBcyOq1EHndFS_QX8cKfEnw680viqO2myMSiZQ1wOp1VXZ4zXsGbBSGJlJFuLBNxqSZEowuh-k2recRPhGB3LLQIC/s619/barb+star02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="619" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqtDBKTScHw5T6kjbL5PWlgdVrDi6qrkNS0rPYyo-uz7j40kGu20DBcyOq1EHndFS_QX8cKfEnw680viqO2myMSiZQ1wOp1VXZ4zXsGbBSGJlJFuLBNxqSZEowuh-k2recRPhGB3LLQIC/s320/barb+star02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's kind of a musical; in addition to the Disney-like welcome song, and a lounge pianist singing "I Love Boobies," Jamie Dornan (pictured above) has a great beachside number. It's colorful, sexy, surreal, and makes very litle sense, so it's quite likable if you're in the mood for total silliness. The one flaw is that the movie's high point of delirious silliness comes right off the bat, with a 12-year-old paperboy riding a bike and singing along with Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb. Nothing else in the movie made me laugh quite as hard as this. Still, highly recommended.</p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-38630268165951373672021-08-03T12:49:00.000-04:002021-08-03T12:49:21.397-04:00Surreal history<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtrpDeDLi1_Az0ivjFBPb3sZZNCVTb8Tkh-M6BWrQ1rCDIE1OB_z_xg7uuqjmMSIHyStf_D7WprZ7joR4ggk8ZWJG-4Y-nM1QK2YD3yiMCG7LBQw_W-9_reONwi3totaWvDSeoIsOPYUn/s745/20th+century03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="745" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtrpDeDLi1_Az0ivjFBPb3sZZNCVTb8Tkh-M6BWrQ1rCDIE1OB_z_xg7uuqjmMSIHyStf_D7WprZ7joR4ggk8ZWJG-4Y-nM1QK2YD3yiMCG7LBQw_W-9_reONwi3totaWvDSeoIsOPYUn/s320/20th+century03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>The cinema of Canadian director Guy Maddin is practically a genre unto itself. He uses silent film techniques (including making the image look scratched and splicy like an old movie) in the service of telling offbeat surreal stories of misfits. I appreciate his style more than I actually like it. This movie, The Twentieth Century (2019) is the best movie that Maddin didn't make. It's written and directed by Matthew Rankin, a Canadian acolyte of Maddin's, and though it remains, generally, in the avant-garde realm, it's also quite enjoyable, with a straight-forward narrative, a polished (though still surreal) visual style, and characters who act in relatively rational ways (unlike in most of Maddin's movies).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7gjrb7BMqM8_HBL8_MAL4Id0AEpogEicMEsdxrZQUW82vOUR2Qut24nXD5Y8IT2APPKUvoQottidvArRzKI1C2Tkjgcss_jhp1Q8v2FhN7kya3nEpwE-E7rqtUmHcHNbAVJQk4_QUlny/s1031/20th+century02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="1031" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7gjrb7BMqM8_HBL8_MAL4Id0AEpogEicMEsdxrZQUW82vOUR2Qut24nXD5Y8IT2APPKUvoQottidvArRzKI1C2Tkjgcss_jhp1Q8v2FhN7kya3nEpwE-E7rqtUmHcHNbAVJQk4_QUlny/s320/20th+century02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>In theory, this is a film about the early life of 1920's Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, but really it uses his personage as a taking-off point into flights of fancy about unrequited love, ambition, and the Canadian national identity. The plot, though easy to follow, is not one that lends itself to summary. Suffice to say that it's concerned with King's early years as he get involved in politics, suffers through a long unrequited love interest, and deals with his bizarre, bedridden mother. Rankin says in the audio commentary that he consulted the diaries of Rankin to write the movie, but I wouldn't be surprised if that comment is mostly a prank as there is virtually no biographical detail here that I find believable--maybe his shoe fetish and his love/hate relationship with a political rival. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7W2SXRH-UFj4-Rby25Y0Keigtip3YqEtbMTrjJZj8i7kSV2AaCXG3R-gsi6yinP0D5GZZnRHXGM-ovLvXDoW4PumDen0B_9pEJ7ahEhR_svdLTO7ssCbDeJf254A6zgSw_SlT2KIWEJUi/s705/20th+century01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="705" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7W2SXRH-UFj4-Rby25Y0Keigtip3YqEtbMTrjJZj8i7kSV2AaCXG3R-gsi6yinP0D5GZZnRHXGM-ovLvXDoW4PumDen0B_9pEJ7ahEhR_svdLTO7ssCbDeJf254A6zgSw_SlT2KIWEJUi/s320/20th+century01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Visually, however, almost every shot is a joy to behold. Shot in limited space, the sets, with some help from old-fashioned visual effects, manage to feel a bit claustrophobic and still fully formed. The fact that the actors all seem to know what they're doing and what's expected of them helps get us past even the strangest details: a giant puppet bird, a seal-clubbing contest to determine fitness for public office, an anti-masturbation machine. Dan Beirne (as King, pictured sniffing a shoe) remains deadpan and sympathetic through every oddity that Rankin puts him through; Brent Skagford's character (King's rival who occasionally seems attracted to King) is not fleshed out but Skagford (pictured with his tongue out, mocking and flirting with King at the same time) makes him fun to be around. Sarianne Cormier (as a nurse with a crush on King), Catherine St-Laurent (as the woman King desires) and Louis Negin (as the monstrous mother) are also quite good. If you're looking for something different, this is it.</div></div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-7897901944335753362021-07-23T12:43:00.003-04:002021-07-23T12:43:32.277-04:00Whatever happened to Encyclopedia Brown?<p>The Kid Detective (2020): I think Evan Morgan, the director and screenwriter here, had a nice idea--what happens to Encyclopedia Brown when he grows up?--but it seems he wasn't sure how to approach the material. What probably should have been mostly comic (or maybe even incorporated some fantasy elements) becomes a mostly serious mystery, but writing-wise, Morgan doesn't have good mystery chops, so it's mostly the story of the main character (well played by Adam Brody, pictured below), kid genius detective turned adult loser, but sadly we don't get to delve too deeply into his psychological depths (or even shallows).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDWhsbqIcYBAYsq_lId_dhhOqD8fKlIDcTRzPOzU8Glza4qaA2YvlAqtJ6CqVRxiglxg2zvZ2Cn_g7DbfJAMCcCrSo2hc2niZUDZ-W464rakZtjcr5OkWxoKBtsBgz84GHcCuyxcjsgKn/s876/adam+brody01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="876" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDWhsbqIcYBAYsq_lId_dhhOqD8fKlIDcTRzPOzU8Glza4qaA2YvlAqtJ6CqVRxiglxg2zvZ2Cn_g7DbfJAMCcCrSo2hc2niZUDZ-W464rakZtjcr5OkWxoKBtsBgz84GHcCuyxcjsgKn/s320/adam+brody01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The films opens in the past with a young girl accepting a ride from someone that it seems she knows, then vanishing. The kid detective (well played in his youth by Jesse Noah Gruman), who had dazzled his small town with his sleuthing abilities, fails to find her. Though he keeps his occupation over the next twenty years or so, his reputation is tarnished--though I love the detail that an ice cream shop owner keeps, somewhat reluctanly, giving him free ice cream even though he is now 32. Things change when a high school student (Sophie Nelisse) stops by to ask him to solve the brutal murder of her boyfriend. As any thoughtful viewer will figure out early on, this case will eventually cross paths with the missing girl case of the past. The details of the mystery story are a bit sloppy and not terribly involving, so the pleasures here are mostly in the acting. Brody is very good, being both sympathetic and being someone you'd like to give a swift kick to. Nelisse is charming, Wendy Crewson as Brody's mom is fine, and the lesser-known Canadian actors fill out their roles well. It does have a satisfying ending, even if some of the details along the way remain murky.<p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-83277792392029657502021-07-20T10:04:00.000-04:002021-07-20T10:04:04.117-04:00A columnist's revenge<p>Whoa, I'm back, safe and sound and vaccinated and ready to review some media and post some more historical movie posters, and whatever else crosses my mind. THE COLUMNIST is a satirical horror movie from the Netherlands. Katja Herbers (pictured) plays an online columnist who becomes obsessed with a form of doomscrolling, constantly checking her Twitter and Facebooks feeds for trolls who insult her for expressing her liberal ideas--it's not completely clear what triggers the initial outpouring, but it seems to involved her critiquing, on racial grounds, the continuing existence of the myth of Black Peter, a mythic associate of St. Nicholas, often portrayed as a white man in blackface. The men, mostly arrogant incel-types, call her foul names, call for her vilification and issue violent death threats.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UbqAmig51r-RQ97ZXxicV975nYEL0uiRCIzPuKlvDzJCtOg41LyH4ALTDMObuXCOAZAPgDSl6lM9_5hwxuqsNvQlTC5ooLez45GQjw14A-4s2F8kff9L3-48KJ1n7LxgQvPyjINhmJPo/s733/columnist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="733" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UbqAmig51r-RQ97ZXxicV975nYEL0uiRCIzPuKlvDzJCtOg41LyH4ALTDMObuXCOAZAPgDSl6lM9_5hwxuqsNvQlTC5ooLez45GQjw14A-4s2F8kff9L3-48KJ1n7LxgQvPyjINhmJPo/s320/columnist.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Haven't we all wanted to murder social media trolls? This character does. From online clues, she starts hunting down these guys, explains her mission, and kills them. Afterward, she snips off one of their fingers as a souvenir. Morally, a queasy situation develops in which we are actually on the side of the killer for a while, living out a cathartic revenge that we never actually would. We listen to the voice of morality, her boyfriend, a horror novelist (whose public persona is a hollow-eyed weirdo, but who actually is a sweet snuggler) but I'm not sure how we're ultimately supposed to feel by the bloody but cathartic ending. It's fun, the last couple of minutes in particular, but it doesn't let society or the audience off the hook. Even the asshole trolls are more or less humanized. Herbers plays her descent into enjoyment of her revenge very well. You'll laugh, you'll cringe, and maybe you'll think twice about posting that nasty misanthropic dig.</p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-4278412024049649762020-05-25T13:12:00.002-04:002020-05-25T13:12:43.132-04:0050 years ago in Columbus, Downtown vs. the suburbsTwo bills playing in Columbus in May 1970, downtown vs. the suburbs, murderers vs. gay men.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxWf47jHSi6cOZ6lGFYKfNctYYeiBKWGUGlgclAFTWjT9DrTLCMrRJmjLtb_YSjSF3gejJFuuEQMg8WCx_7KTvEhyphenhypheneNthlbzdenprR_iLvbFvWcHJLYWmXZqeib3Iizm-iKc9l3kSigp0/s1600/aunt+alice+5-15-70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="263" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxWf47jHSi6cOZ6lGFYKfNctYYeiBKWGUGlgclAFTWjT9DrTLCMrRJmjLtb_YSjSF3gejJFuuEQMg8WCx_7KTvEhyphenhypheneNthlbzdenprR_iLvbFvWcHJLYWmXZqeib3Iizm-iKc9l3kSigp0/s400/aunt+alice+5-15-70.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
By 1970, the RKO Palace, one of the grand old-fashioned movie palaces, had fallen on hard times what with the number of screens opening in the suburbs. It was now basically a grindhouse (albeit a huge and fancy one) showing horror movies, marital arts thrillers, and blaxploitation flicks. The Honeymoon Killers is actually pretty good, though with a low-budget look and feel. I haven't seen What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? but it's pushing the "hagsploitation" buttons by comparing itself to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and featuring two older actresses (Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon). Page wasn't even 50 yet, but in Hollywood terms, she might as well have been over 70, as Ruth Gordon was.<br />
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In the tony suburb of Upper Arlington, The Boys in the Band was playing, I suspect, to fairly specialized groups of gay men. It was one of the first major movies to center on the lives of gay men, albeit sad and stereotyped gay men. Still, it was a breakthrough and if its worldview is no longer relevant, its humor still works and the acting is fine.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-79598594174977544752020-05-17T11:17:00.000-04:002020-05-17T11:17:05.990-04:00Friday the 13th, 60 years agoIn mid-May of 1960, the 13th fell on a Friday, back in the heyday of ballyhoo-type programs at theaters aimed at the younger crowd, from kiddies to mid-20s. I was pleased to run across several ads around the country for some Friday the 13th-themed shows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKFqm6woml7ViG1X9RRtcs5cqI9bJ67Gw6jEiB5nDm1EkAseFVdAxK7KVZ7tTPps9ckiaR0Z5jLPgevn9a8Kt7s7hJm-NHLk7ZfoGT62VREmRQksfiJFdQpeFc9r2CaiIYQkorDHNTwek/s1600/sacramento+friday+5-13-60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="372" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKFqm6woml7ViG1X9RRtcs5cqI9bJ67Gw6jEiB5nDm1EkAseFVdAxK7KVZ7tTPps9ckiaR0Z5jLPgevn9a8Kt7s7hJm-NHLk7ZfoGT62VREmRQksfiJFdQpeFc9r2CaiIYQkorDHNTwek/s400/sacramento+friday+5-13-60.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>
The above bill from Sacramento featured two second-run films, The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), which was the second of the Hammer revival Frankensteins (to be followed by at least four more) and the cut-rate monster movie The Giant Claw (1957)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXPLLvSeVCStjtdLVlwHEAjzo_gC8hZaRVngAVRT3F6NBejRgfvxhlzsK4OS9_qvm2kf2HG42SO4ZgJinItU_Mv2sTpUPTI0UfjnnMeSb16Od8OHxyZZp6HkW37-HPonYF-UI3_d56C05/s1600/sacramento+friday+5-13-60c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="367" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXPLLvSeVCStjtdLVlwHEAjzo_gC8hZaRVngAVRT3F6NBejRgfvxhlzsK4OS9_qvm2kf2HG42SO4ZgJinItU_Mv2sTpUPTI0UfjnnMeSb16Od8OHxyZZp6HkW37-HPonYF-UI3_d56C05/s400/sacramento+friday+5-13-60c.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
The above 4-movie drive-in bill from Sacramento was not advertised as a Friday the 13th show, but the two films chosen for the ad focus (both 1959 releases which were probably at the end of their first-run engagements) are appropriate: Hammer's The Mummy with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and the sci-fi thiller The Angry Red Planet. The other two movies (Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much and the Civil War-era melodrama Three Violent People) were four years old at this point<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-miS1n-q1sSQfbYINV0_rA0SpAoYqYcr9YEtbSXDMaYcBpKBUHQupBT067z4tml0kRWR3ueZx6ytAMhDb_exmkQjsFSmYrB8wAV8J79d7A0NBk0Mx442QPXoCBjlveBcq_rcqre6m4Kj/s1600/butte+friday+5-13-60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="444" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-miS1n-q1sSQfbYINV0_rA0SpAoYqYcr9YEtbSXDMaYcBpKBUHQupBT067z4tml0kRWR3ueZx6ytAMhDb_exmkQjsFSmYrB8wAV8J79d7A0NBk0Mx442QPXoCBjlveBcq_rcqre6m4Kj/s320/butte+friday+5-13-60.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
This theater in Butte, Montana was just running one film for their late show, The Werewolf (1956)<br />
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Tarantula (1955) was brought back after five years for a spook show in Sandusky, Ohio, but it's a good one. Blood of the Vampire, despite being called "all new" in the ad, had been in release for a year and a half at this point. Still, if I had a choice of any of the above theaters to visit, it would be the one in Sandusky.<br />
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In Reno, the first-run Circus of Horrors would provide the "thrills" and "chills" promised in the ad, while the second feature, The Screaming Skull (1958) might have provided some "laffs" from bored kids. Below is a color ad for The Giant Claw, promising way more that it could deliver on.<br />
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Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-39559056355809836972020-05-03T10:03:00.001-04:002020-05-03T10:03:25.452-04:00The X Movies of May 1970Fifty years ago this week, it's obvious from the movie ads running that the "New" grown-up Hollywood was in full swing. Back then the "X" rating didn't necessarily mean pornography, it meant movies for adults. True, the X was usually applied for sexual material, but the movies weren't explicit in the way we would come to think of X movies just a few years later. All of the following ads are for movies that were playing fifty years ago, on May 1, 1970, though some of these are 1969 movies playing in second-run or at "popular price" houses. Most of the X's here weren't given for one particular scene or image, but for a general tone of decadence or eroticism.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx99ifEHRXKhzpRZ2k-hMF7XuFlPcEpnimTzWNLwWWiu4MgEDOSfxLoRQi7Cf4RynKo-0VpX65ufnr6oaEqUKYGfyeHBcWsS1JYMbHtC2ntZj4lPMLZ65u9OGu8aVUAnOtTqybsIPb2i6i/s1600/midnight+cowboy+tuc+5-1-70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx99ifEHRXKhzpRZ2k-hMF7XuFlPcEpnimTzWNLwWWiu4MgEDOSfxLoRQi7Cf4RynKo-0VpX65ufnr6oaEqUKYGfyeHBcWsS1JYMbHtC2ntZj4lPMLZ65u9OGu8aVUAnOtTqybsIPb2i6i/s320/midnight+cowboy+tuc+5-1-70.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
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Midnight Cowboy was the first (and so far, only) Best Picture winner to be rated X. It's kind of a buddy movie with an inexperienced Midwest boy turned gigolo in New York City being taken in by a sickly, crippled con man. But with scenes of gay oral sex and a orgy (neither one explicit), it got an X and still managed to win awards and make money. This ad is from a Tucson engagement.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_g_K9m9fETBQk02NjQGbLrLY42AS2UvmZcWWYcXjRTrqNLGwtu69MsHICnkOC_nQBh_tjmTRTXUObRRPqe74z1fTR3TKn1eA7pP9_OVOvhqqGgNSzfqzsHburpm76NZvvGE28AncyOcC/s1600/damned+tuc+5-1-70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_g_K9m9fETBQk02NjQGbLrLY42AS2UvmZcWWYcXjRTrqNLGwtu69MsHICnkOC_nQBh_tjmTRTXUObRRPqe74z1fTR3TKn1eA7pP9_OVOvhqqGgNSzfqzsHburpm76NZvvGE28AncyOcC/s320/damned+tuc+5-1-70.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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The Damned (also a Tucson ad) has Nazis, Helmut Berger in drag, and Third Reich moral rot. It was later shown on late-night network television; though heavily trimmed, it still caused controversy. It was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7jhxUtTJF6t7AfyMR6JGceKdYWxtlwTMw9AAKqxYTuGszHcSzLIpAjhsLotVejk-TlRcwnf4qsHAvuwzD7vBvyEFlLcZi_4Ys6aord4qjZUJje8OvOXSP0GK8Llverj2TBLzWXRrNBnh/s1600/desade+marion+5-1-70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7jhxUtTJF6t7AfyMR6JGceKdYWxtlwTMw9AAKqxYTuGszHcSzLIpAjhsLotVejk-TlRcwnf4qsHAvuwzD7vBvyEFlLcZi_4Ys6aord4qjZUJje8OvOXSP0GK8Llverj2TBLzWXRrNBnh/s320/desade+marion+5-1-70.jpg" width="169" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygkqiPMDJpGnGvDL1b8HKcpt5fp4HSzHHmjMfjuDT960DBrlJ72JexbV1jW-RPRYBJg-hzkKfJ2hdNtZ2uefCVn06zKztnAxyfkOKFmXWaS2-K0jguGLdzWt7P-zuDWDAB6bagPOTf8K0/s1600/de+sade+ny+9-26-69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygkqiPMDJpGnGvDL1b8HKcpt5fp4HSzHHmjMfjuDT960DBrlJ72JexbV1jW-RPRYBJg-hzkKfJ2hdNtZ2uefCVn06zKztnAxyfkOKFmXWaS2-K0jguGLdzWt7P-zuDWDAB6bagPOTf8K0/s320/de+sade+ny+9-26-69.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
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From Columbus, De Sade, billed with the R-rated Chastity, was actually a pretty artsy movie which tip-toed around Sade's actual life and works. Still, the title was probably enough to freak out the ratings board. It's very stagy, and Dullea does not suggest Sade in the least. The second ad is from its New York opening in the fall of '69<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifV2qxPpWe9yEVOiGO_uwQdX1_DrZX3Tt4TTMGivBwB25UIWE14_D5wTIu6oymv1qNknL5TpIio_2-_IsnARbMCqujyGaY1PlWaQet3JJVjNhTvUr6_ZZcAMtT5U-GZUw05zrbyHZZf85S/s1600/end+of+road+ny+2-10-70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="561" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifV2qxPpWe9yEVOiGO_uwQdX1_DrZX3Tt4TTMGivBwB25UIWE14_D5wTIu6oymv1qNknL5TpIio_2-_IsnARbMCqujyGaY1PlWaQet3JJVjNhTvUr6_ZZcAMtT5U-GZUw05zrbyHZZf85S/s400/end+of+road+ny+2-10-70.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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End of the Road, based on a book by John Barth, is about a disturbed academic, and the rating here seems to be due to an abortion scene. It's an interesting and intense movie but does not invite repeat viewings. It was given a wider release on New York in May, but the ad below is from its initial run in February.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-90307322701562657202020-04-19T12:32:00.003-04:002020-04-19T12:41:57.048-04:00DeMille's KingYes, Easter was a week ago, but I just got around to looking for ads for the silent Cecil DeMille classic King of Kings which I watched Easter morning. As with many ads of the silent era, these are word-heavy advertisements with limited use of images, though the ads typically became less wordy as the movies spread from the East and West coasts inward.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPg1d8NB_KcO8qKwXc3cPSbch1E1fjiwncsmlTqW2ZF-gMjntmEJOLJNu91aJMGc0AYQtv3Qb7fWObf5ituZNi7dQ-_kYXXh4AAXA5efFXPBT6U26mpHYId6HNnOKoLhiU6tyqDci076v/s1600/king+kings+la+5-18-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="503" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPg1d8NB_KcO8qKwXc3cPSbch1E1fjiwncsmlTqW2ZF-gMjntmEJOLJNu91aJMGc0AYQtv3Qb7fWObf5ituZNi7dQ-_kYXXh4AAXA5efFXPBT6U26mpHYId6HNnOKoLhiU6tyqDci076v/s400/king+kings+la+5-18-27.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
This ad from the Los Angeles Times (5/18/27) is for the Hollywood premiere of King of Kings, and also for the opening of the legendary Grauman's Chinese Theatre, with D.W. Griffith and Mary Pickford in attendance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8r7zSj_wD_lgulCG8YvoTGC6Ykg_WT8hYPULiwk8-LqmY0cNBzQvN8sbriVGjUFd2COTkmnO-PwzGbpSqC3jHJd5v90obRkOHWA97VYaAxLpW51E34uxR7tfdzM18u8dlxHkwKGK2nmnA/s1600/king+kings+cincy+10-16-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8r7zSj_wD_lgulCG8YvoTGC6Ykg_WT8hYPULiwk8-LqmY0cNBzQvN8sbriVGjUFd2COTkmnO-PwzGbpSqC3jHJd5v90obRkOHWA97VYaAxLpW51E34uxR7tfdzM18u8dlxHkwKGK2nmnA/s400/king+kings+cincy+10-16-27.jpg" width="342" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">In Cincinnati, the film opened in October of '27 accompanied by a live orchestra, and being heralded as "not a movie release," i.e., not likely to show up in the smaller neighborhood movie houses anytime soon, all the more reason to head downtown for it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLXoOzgWqM-53KW2nsADbqeJNv36tc1VDNlJZOKWgUj9nqD8KHnNx-xzLYEWHezzegLd5ZlNZE1FxmgjRS9Uvz5g1VrcizetPThkmJElcZLCf2HZBY33lianDUX8I0CyGcN89Kr6_erVt/s1600/king+kings+phoenix+10-7-28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="453" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLXoOzgWqM-53KW2nsADbqeJNv36tc1VDNlJZOKWgUj9nqD8KHnNx-xzLYEWHezzegLd5ZlNZE1FxmgjRS9Uvz5g1VrcizetPThkmJElcZLCf2HZBY33lianDUX8I0CyGcN89Kr6_erVt/s400/king+kings+phoenix+10-7-28.jpg" width="290" /></a></div>
A year later, it shows up in Phoenix, Arizona, with some photos this time. This was most likely the shorter version which DeMille prepared for wide release, 30 minutes shorter than the big city version.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-61192795053727799552020-04-05T17:11:00.000-04:002020-04-05T17:11:08.147-04:00Held over!50 years ago this week (first weekend of April, 1970) in Oklahoma City, this ad with an interesting hook ran: These movies have been held over (presumably by what they used to call "popular demand") so they must be good!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktUAXdGfiAbbisnuSeg3WItnaJERtH7eJbz7npgDHUEa5NTsrugD9PI_UIH40MpzzxQy8VBomYZQRHsG04lD1BxWj2Efy1hu_REbZIjPl3iJ4lnjQpKTsMug3Ndal-RpxgWegvWUMoH6d/s1600/okla+apr+70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="511" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktUAXdGfiAbbisnuSeg3WItnaJERtH7eJbz7npgDHUEa5NTsrugD9PI_UIH40MpzzxQy8VBomYZQRHsG04lD1BxWj2Efy1hu_REbZIjPl3iJ4lnjQpKTsMug3Ndal-RpxgWegvWUMoH6d/s400/okla+apr+70.jpg" width="337" /></a></div>
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Of the four, only MASH was a critical and commercial hit. Anne of the Thousand Days was a prestige hit, up for 10 Oscars (winning one) and winning several Golden Globes including best drama, but it was not a big box office draw. Marooned took in a fair amount of money but doesn't appear to have made back its production cost. The Adventurers, the only one of these I haven't seen, was a huge stink bomb. None of the others are particular favorites of mine--I didn't see the MASH movie until a few years after the MASH TV series premiered, and to me, the movie suffered.</div>
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Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-49730078649466455322020-04-04T10:56:00.001-04:002020-04-04T10:56:34.031-04:00Pandemic nostalgia beginsAs the coronavirus continues and the country is on lockdown, I'm feeling more nostalgic than ever--and I usually feel pretty nostalgic. So I'm going to try and make one post a day: some of random movie ads, some of pop culture artifacts that mean something to me, photos from movies I've been watching at home, and anything else that helps me escape the current apocalyptic situation, which is so far both frightening (everything closed, jobs lost) and boring (no shuffling zombies in the streets yet). I will undoubtedly post several flashbacks to the summer of 1969 when I discovered top 40 radio. More about those circumstances in later posts. But first, a record from a little earlier.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zga6fUGIrSSfW8gJFTT9kWk9QSW7_a928vvU7ro-NpLG0MSLAvhnvWXH5MJzx0TuZjFD0rpkmxsvSpzGHJqZQgIyOMjxW1JVm-6_JPKoVvoa0U57qd2Fn_JaSPiQoDEfb6UrdvzTNdzf/s1600/alice+long.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="595" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zga6fUGIrSSfW8gJFTT9kWk9QSW7_a928vvU7ro-NpLG0MSLAvhnvWXH5MJzx0TuZjFD0rpkmxsvSpzGHJqZQgIyOMjxW1JVm-6_JPKoVvoa0U57qd2Fn_JaSPiQoDEfb6UrdvzTNdzf/s320/alice+long.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We were visiting my grandmother in Cleveland in the summer of 1968 and one afternoon, I stumbled on what must have been an episode of American Bandstand which featured Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart performing "Alice Long (You're Still My Favorite Girlfriend)," a song which I discovered later was a follow-up to their previous top 10 hit "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight." The two songs sound similar but at the time (I was 11 and wasn't into much music beyond the Beatles and the Monkees) I had never heard "Tonight." But I loved "Alice Long," and when I got back to Columbus, I bought the single. I'm pretty sure it's the first 45 I bought that had a picture sleeve. I don't have much else to say about it--when I mentioned it in a blog post <a href="https://michaels-mixedmedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-ipod-top-40-part-1.html" target="_blank">here</a> back in 2010, I said it was "wonderful bubbly 60s bubblegum" and any listener who had heard "Tonight" first would probably prefer that song. But Alice will always have a place in my bubblegum heart. The video below looks to have been stretched for widescreen presentation, but the song is intact.<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HdGPrkQfP2M" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-23640692234263710992020-02-28T11:54:00.000-05:002020-02-28T11:54:40.778-05:00Cycles in '70I don't know for sure when the motorcycle gang movie genre peaked, but they still seemed hot in 1970. Fifty years ago this week, a triple bill of cycle movies was playing at the Cactus Drive-In in Tucson, Arizona, though all three were second- or third-run movies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKkI2gyj72F8vI_wnidSI7HDo8IFjCEB7XgQ1rR0mFQQiRKJCEtHYnyQ2OhzRvew3Ku-canaa6lB4GolFTRjv-E6ZWdrEeE0LAbr1ttyBy-O7PlBPFR1HNcmu1AM9XTU4HqOU1OF99OeF/s1600/hell+riders+tuc+2-26-70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="287" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKkI2gyj72F8vI_wnidSI7HDo8IFjCEB7XgQ1rR0mFQQiRKJCEtHYnyQ2OhzRvew3Ku-canaa6lB4GolFTRjv-E6ZWdrEeE0LAbr1ttyBy-O7PlBPFR1HNcmu1AM9XTU4HqOU1OF99OeF/s400/hell+riders+tuc+2-26-70.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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Wild Wheels (1969) was cycles vs. dune buggies and featured Casey Kasem, though it seems to be a lost movie now.<br />
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Devil's Angels (1967) was produced by Roger Corman and starred John Cassavettes just before he began directing his string of indie films that would make him a 70s cult figure.<br />
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Angels from Hell (1968) appears to combine cycles, a Vietnam vet, and police brutality.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMuCMOVCDispagD_bfOfzHtiy3EP_WSQK92YJKAL7h2M0MqZfGEz3cz0bbNytvlLFj0P5aFINhY6AW4nIVdgQpD2hu8gjfkODL9GrvkGEPKjiuzXv1PG6YyTueNTpbY06dK8A_TGF0BXt/s1600/angels+hell+la+8-30-68.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="555" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMuCMOVCDispagD_bfOfzHtiy3EP_WSQK92YJKAL7h2M0MqZfGEz3cz0bbNytvlLFj0P5aFINhY6AW4nIVdgQpD2hu8gjfkODL9GrvkGEPKjiuzXv1PG6YyTueNTpbY06dK8A_TGF0BXt/s320/angels+hell+la+8-30-68.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-75513016246008355542020-02-24T10:50:00.001-05:002020-02-24T10:50:25.629-05:00Sin and salvation, 60 years ago<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">These were the two biggest ads in the Tucson newspaper movie section (paired with full-color ads from elsewhere) the week of February 10th, 1960. 1) Solomon and Sheba, a Biblical epic with big stars like Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida, with lots of people in leather and togas and helmets.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WyUuUL_toSSbSl1L00t_sTNdQT0MKpdn5vey9DPbUE3PGibL-cZ9j9kYi0WT3rDzMhd4PKwtmBczrQVea0A4gFDPfS27bMhbkrSiXilUHFpsI2toVblFHUwm6CG62xfw4waFHuJ6XtOV/s1600/x+solomon+tuc+2-5-60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="568" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WyUuUL_toSSbSl1L00t_sTNdQT0MKpdn5vey9DPbUE3PGibL-cZ9j9kYi0WT3rDzMhd4PKwtmBczrQVea0A4gFDPfS27bMhbkrSiXilUHFpsI2toVblFHUwm6CG62xfw4waFHuJ6XtOV/s320/x+solomon+tuc+2-5-60.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">2) Nature's Paradise, a British nudist flick for adults only with lots of people standing around with no clothes on at all. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiNnrZIOA8DKcmxd4OXqhgUbdDBP0inKcWyDxJrq2APpC0mWxKo5AyWwMsNxf0S1T-KqS3-HdK5Tu83W6r62lS8E2XAiVDPwvyXfy2UO2BxkqPWvxXDdGg9OZU8vTw97X-nW7Gl1bK8MS/s1600/x+natures+paradise+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="582" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiNnrZIOA8DKcmxd4OXqhgUbdDBP0inKcWyDxJrq2APpC0mWxKo5AyWwMsNxf0S1T-KqS3-HdK5Tu83W6r62lS8E2XAiVDPwvyXfy2UO2BxkqPWvxXDdGg9OZU8vTw97X-nW7Gl1bK8MS/s320/x+natures+paradise+color.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHXbPlSMFgLmOnNsjBcrmJ5GCnix5IkjZuRM3YYNr_WCzPnCltQ2XEiXAbuKwjvSWO3qd-ePGngpQMCWsZeju56h_6Fp4SZ3CFdx10VddUHXvrTy2c-AAIcNDWJsKRrjiqLjC_gEiLvDh/s1600/x+natures+paradise+tuc+2-10-60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="572" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHXbPlSMFgLmOnNsjBcrmJ5GCnix5IkjZuRM3YYNr_WCzPnCltQ2XEiXAbuKwjvSWO3qd-ePGngpQMCWsZeju56h_6Fp4SZ3CFdx10VddUHXvrTy2c-AAIcNDWJsKRrjiqLjC_gEiLvDh/s320/x+natures+paradise+tuc+2-10-60.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Notice that in Tucson, it was paired with a legit Hollywood drama, Carnival Story with Anne Baxter and Steve Cochran, which played in Tucson in June of 1954.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpYeqewccxPPefa4ATzYFfOyx7GJTWxerdVwMHAZYGiGkGbHEFLoJ_lxKuzDi-8c_BoAk3IiJtiRaP8rkW4CD2WZqOf6bakLjoNEN3JFYUcVI94tzGP8Cd9srbu5YP23Rm7LPhfgXZx-o/s1600/carnival+story+tuc+6-18-54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="291" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpYeqewccxPPefa4ATzYFfOyx7GJTWxerdVwMHAZYGiGkGbHEFLoJ_lxKuzDi-8c_BoAk3IiJtiRaP8rkW4CD2WZqOf6bakLjoNEN3JFYUcVI94tzGP8Cd9srbu5YP23Rm7LPhfgXZx-o/s400/carnival+story+tuc+6-18-54.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-8405462358131660722020-01-30T13:44:00.002-05:002020-01-30T13:44:44.658-05:0090 years ago: jazz and murder and William HainesThat subject line sounds like the title of a post about a scandal (even more so when you know that William Haines was a more-or-less closeted movie star of the silent era), but it's really just another post of movies playing in 1930.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwMrYgQh4zw1876C_Xjop1hXRw9cFhzJQCN5gqyNQypiRiPlk_Ro0WsE3C7HEky8nGL-mB1Iuw4pLRX54lFZLu644F155RnbD0m94ChCq0ughTsgkIADW2yfF3efZMid4VtmWZ9g1wYGf/s1600/wild+company+color+1930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="257" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwMrYgQh4zw1876C_Xjop1hXRw9cFhzJQCN5gqyNQypiRiPlk_Ro0WsE3C7HEky8nGL-mB1Iuw4pLRX54lFZLu644F155RnbD0m94ChCq0ughTsgkIADW2yfF3efZMid4VtmWZ9g1wYGf/s320/wild+company+color+1930.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0DZ9rkrusG9Xu03XTi7isT1Jrtongz1_8wsSWMEHOc47TQah0EzpZ26HXxQBvsoIsWUqao88KtY2uB2A4-We085_5K94nZpd6oPROqvSoZnB33vgDxLENUJXeKJLtwaPrRGAHE5YMjfe/s1600/wild+company+reading+pa+7-25-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="420" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0DZ9rkrusG9Xu03XTi7isT1Jrtongz1_8wsSWMEHOc47TQah0EzpZ26HXxQBvsoIsWUqao88KtY2uB2A4-We085_5K94nZpd6oPROqvSoZnB33vgDxLENUJXeKJLtwaPrRGAHE5YMjfe/s320/wild+company+reading+pa+7-25-30.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
Wild Company may not be a lost movie, but there is no current commentary about it out there--though it sounds like a Reefer Madness movie about the jazz lifestyle. Fox has not been the best caretaker of its early films, so it might exist somewhere. Years later, Frank Albertson and H.B.Warner were both in It's a Wonderful Life, Albertson as Sam "Hee-Haw" Wainwright and Warner as Old Man Gower, the druggist.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LKVOq1CKPeq4cERTIrV8s8a2tOjTZmCDBHZirMLsLDrFeN0qRLD2ycplBZVBNd0zBZ-0G9jRe5-8CLAwSZuuwb6PoQNGfyaH5qr7UmAUSGQiBoNLKPYQ8F20Dg7YxMIGbSacR5qD9aEe/s1600/midnight+mystery+cincy+8-3-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="399" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LKVOq1CKPeq4cERTIrV8s8a2tOjTZmCDBHZirMLsLDrFeN0qRLD2ycplBZVBNd0zBZ-0G9jRe5-8CLAwSZuuwb6PoQNGfyaH5qr7UmAUSGQiBoNLKPYQ8F20Dg7YxMIGbSacR5qD9aEe/s320/midnight+mystery+cincy+8-3-30.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
Midnight Mystery sounds good--a man living in an island castle in Maine tries to teach his mystery-writing girlfriend a lesson but winds up with a real murder on his hands that she has to solve--but it also appears to be lost. However, the author of the Mystery File blog<a href="http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=5486" target="_blank"> reviewed it</a> based on a tape he had made from a TV showing some years ago, so it may still be floating around out there in the cinema ether.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLybzpHVf591jycTl47IaMD-kIGZh6jXRk-UBz44wl00qmrO8vvL_v6WD0OZwgp4K1EwVQ_YxWJeDOKRYCzltJvwkXC6M7q4mt8UI-w02GKfSDhOXa7RTIwG1pNp_231tSpyxkM8-gikk/s1600/rko+month+cincy+8-3-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLybzpHVf591jycTl47IaMD-kIGZh6jXRk-UBz44wl00qmrO8vvL_v6WD0OZwgp4K1EwVQ_YxWJeDOKRYCzltJvwkXC6M7q4mt8UI-w02GKfSDhOXa7RTIwG1pNp_231tSpyxkM8-gikk/s320/rko+month+cincy+8-3-30.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>
August of 1930 was apparently "RKO Month" in Cincinnati, as in the theater chain, because neither of these movies came from RKO Radio Pictures. Both movies are still in existence. All Quiet is a classic, and Way Out West was near end of Haines's career. He retired in 1934, reportedly pushed out of his MGM contract because of his sexuality, but he was getting a bit too long in the tooth for the cocky juvenile parts MGM kept putting him in. This came from an August 1930 Cincy paper, so I can't explain the "Midwinter" wording in the ad.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-59970602387911484912020-01-23T10:46:00.000-05:002020-01-23T10:46:03.051-05:00From 90 years ago, 2 lost filmsI thought it might be fun to start the year by going back to 1930, in the early days of talkies, as movie ads were getting a little more artwork and becoming more interesting to look at. Looking at ads from 90 years ago this month, the first two I ran across were for movies that now considered lost. Often, rare copies of lost films do crop up, but these two don't seem important enough for anyone to be conducting specific searches for them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9A-qaj0Im8V1A7cUyNQ9x-hh-XLgLR_wSGQvOZOY-2WidZFXWrm8HY-nAlxtH7W_GqC4F93VZVzRARJlct_hqOHocrq39wITmkCn91HZKXT7HBAztKvpyA5_ncM2h_ELuk4a4b9GvN44/s1600/gold+diggers+sandusky+1-17-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9A-qaj0Im8V1A7cUyNQ9x-hh-XLgLR_wSGQvOZOY-2WidZFXWrm8HY-nAlxtH7W_GqC4F93VZVzRARJlct_hqOHocrq39wITmkCn91HZKXT7HBAztKvpyA5_ncM2h_ELuk4a4b9GvN44/s400/gold+diggers+sandusky+1-17-30.jpg" width="152" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeklNsXQA-7tHRUzv157eI8CoC_IaWTV3-l6S-XbPqG1OF12S8z5vwTaPRSyVaTx6dkBBo4VrKsFyd8KmAx9xZRMSsf5zlAfP_pE7kABS6-UtnB5bGijpp_n5dOIRjVLwxI-99ZLo2nY7/s1600/gold+diggers+nyc+8-30-29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="380" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeklNsXQA-7tHRUzv157eI8CoC_IaWTV3-l6S-XbPqG1OF12S8z5vwTaPRSyVaTx6dkBBo4VrKsFyd8KmAx9xZRMSsf5zlAfP_pE7kABS6-UtnB5bGijpp_n5dOIRjVLwxI-99ZLo2nY7/s400/gold+diggers+nyc+8-30-29.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
Above are two ads for Gold Diggers of Broadway, one of the better-known lost films, as it was the first of the classic Gold Diggers series of the 30s which featured the stunning choreography of Busby Berkeley. He was not involved in this first film, but the plot, with "gold digging" chorus girls getting the better of their rich sugar daddies, set the template for the later films. The top ad, from a Sandusky Ohio bill, stands in contrast the classier looking but very wordy ad from the New York Times in August of 1929.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFK1FcG95CeRObsWtXY_Tw8RqydOi4EgjziSOFJ7GCA0tiahugHVWtLHvARu_KHKDvod9BfINb-fDsLn8vJ_pOC5_t92s7-HfbrRyhsAeoz26FvkcV_MGAq9zSPRCDPZnSxhlTp4tAbzkt/s1600/forward+pass+tuc+1-17-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="230" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFK1FcG95CeRObsWtXY_Tw8RqydOi4EgjziSOFJ7GCA0tiahugHVWtLHvARu_KHKDvod9BfINb-fDsLn8vJ_pOC5_t92s7-HfbrRyhsAeoz26FvkcV_MGAq9zSPRCDPZnSxhlTp4tAbzkt/s400/forward+pass+tuc+1-17-30.jpg" width="168" /></a></div>
Based on contemporary reviews, The Forward Pass was a run-of-the-mill sports romance (the Times review made note of its predictable plot) but enjoyable for the chemistry between the two co-stars, Loretta Young and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. It's not a musical but, as the ad above from a Tucson paper in January of 1930 notes, Young does sing at least one song.<br />
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Finally, an ad from Edmonton, Alberta featuring both films in the last week of 1929, not to mention prize giveaways!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-31712751397063950972019-12-31T14:42:00.002-05:002019-12-31T14:43:17.437-05:00Christmastime at the movie houses, part 2A selection of movies playing in Columbus during Christmas week 60 years ago (1959).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw3Ne83NBz553o28OEGqea0piyruhyphenhyphenHd-_yoy_r42T0TAdeLgddkV5GBJHr1ab4REC-xKCIoUjvbZgk_cbqYq1VHCSAGIc89Lo8eIUz19d5aV09S7c6fTo4FDWjbEAg0uZJtmam2h7SP1/s1600/christmas+1959-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="426" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw3Ne83NBz553o28OEGqea0piyruhyphenhyphenHd-_yoy_r42T0TAdeLgddkV5GBJHr1ab4REC-xKCIoUjvbZgk_cbqYq1VHCSAGIc89Lo8eIUz19d5aV09S7c6fTo4FDWjbEAg0uZJtmam2h7SP1/s320/christmas+1959-01.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
The Ohio Theater downtown was showing the animated Mr. Magoo movie 1001
Arabian Nights and a circus drama, The Flying Fontaines, which seems to
have dropped out of sight.<br />
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Two ads for Disney's Third Man on the Mountain--one beefcakier than the other. James MacArthur tries to conquer a dangerous Swiss mountain, The Citadel. It's Disney adventure but it's got some good effects.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNj2o0rX00vEeN70tf1U_9f03K9YLGvTO4RNs4BgWFWoj3uQ6Gjh7r0ROhA7JS36a8fczNNYHaA2t6XRAxTlQ8D0Fx1AoLLb_Bgqt5QfkAI6oXE7W15jFuOq703UmM0eUI0WAYraGLq6vf/s1600/christmas+1959-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="519" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNj2o0rX00vEeN70tf1U_9f03K9YLGvTO4RNs4BgWFWoj3uQ6Gjh7r0ROhA7JS36a8fczNNYHaA2t6XRAxTlQ8D0Fx1AoLLb_Bgqt5QfkAI6oXE7W15jFuOq703UmM0eUI0WAYraGLq6vf/s320/christmas+1959-03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Another downtown house had a double bill of the family-friendly Journey to the Center of the Earth and the somewhat less wholesome war thriller Blood and Steel.<br />
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Porgy and Bess, playing a downtown roadshow engagement in Columbus on Christmas day. Supposedly this is a very good film, but legal problems have kept it mostly unseen for many years.<br />
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Below, movies that were playing 50 years ago (1969):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibevxd2pxkqZubIuUeSJ3M1-uVGYzXrT4wvyNWu4Md4SCzahTRHopQDvELNB7_sU3qe7ZPtGVasrtNDgfi9q2-dl0_wcqfhDiKO7CfpFTByuKRmNAwUuLgtf46MzyzNMCGrrfmfCr-lOhW/s1600/christmas+chips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="513" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibevxd2pxkqZubIuUeSJ3M1-uVGYzXrT4wvyNWu4Md4SCzahTRHopQDvELNB7_sU3qe7ZPtGVasrtNDgfi9q2-dl0_wcqfhDiKO7CfpFTByuKRmNAwUuLgtf46MzyzNMCGrrfmfCr-lOhW/s320/christmas+chips.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
Two of the movies that were trying to keep the big movie musicals alive. Hello, Dolly was miscast and too lumbering, but even though it lost money, it did play for several weeks in Columbus. The musical version of Goodbye Mr. Chips lost even more money that Dolly. I can't quite bring myself to watch a musical with Peter O'Toole after the debacle of Man of La Mancha.<br />
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James Bond at Christmas! But not Sean Connery. George Lazenby was a one-and-done Bond, but both he and the movie are better than their reputations.<br />
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An art house Christmas consisted of 2 second-run cult films, Goodbye Columbus (based on Philip Roth) and Barbarella (with an almost nude Jane Fonda). Neither movie is a masterpiece, but it's interesting counter-programming during the holidays.<br />
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The Disney reissue that season was 101 Dalmatians from 1961. This was one of the first movies I saw in a theater (I would have been 5 in 1961) and I loved it, but I don't know how I'd feel about it now.<br />
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<br />Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-86976066276200297722019-12-26T09:41:00.001-05:002019-12-26T09:41:40.078-05:00Christmastime at the movie houses, part 1I had planned to spend much of December posting movie ads from various Christmas weeks between the 40s and the 70s but life got in the way. Not even anything sad or happy or weird, just everyday living around the holidays. So I'll post a handful over the next few days.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQSpXcaiqW0WbwUmeznjRXHA5nOlfOqZ0P1EwTnbzbiNiXZJ1TYMXZqrRP_992ufRHJRREQ9odzaHx_Xlvw5NDPPBTSdXyOdThMKOdCX8feuCv4cXLP9t0iXuLqKEG3Cj2AyT6KrpfD3v/s1600/gangs+all+here+ny+12-22-43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="604" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQSpXcaiqW0WbwUmeznjRXHA5nOlfOqZ0P1EwTnbzbiNiXZJ1TYMXZqrRP_992ufRHJRREQ9odzaHx_Xlvw5NDPPBTSdXyOdThMKOdCX8feuCv4cXLP9t0iXuLqKEG3Cj2AyT6KrpfD3v/s320/gangs+all+here+ny+12-22-43.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
Christmas of 1943 saw the fabulous Technicolor musical The Gang's All Here playing in New York City. The movie is really nothing special in terms or story or acting, but the production numbers are fun, and the opening number with Carmen Miranda and her Phallic Bananas is justly famous.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfUQzf4tx_jTIZft5LmdLW74gEe6vO8K722ySh5b83YO1TqRhpzLA3svwx_1BPQP_WXOxvt_TPzDwdZHDMjxlzz7zLTADjRJWci66W0qtMvnGye6rzHuVPs59tGWoyzzxriHDee821b2d/s1600/son+and+bride+of+frank+la+12-26-47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="228" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfUQzf4tx_jTIZft5LmdLW74gEe6vO8K722ySh5b83YO1TqRhpzLA3svwx_1BPQP_WXOxvt_TPzDwdZHDMjxlzz7zLTADjRJWci66W0qtMvnGye6rzHuVPs59tGWoyzzxriHDee821b2d/s400/son+and+bride+of+frank+la+12-26-47.jpg" width="172" /></a></div>
In 1947 Los Angeles, this cool double feature was playing, a throwback to the first classic horror era of the 30s--Son of Frankenstein ('39) and Bride of Frankenstein ('35).<br />
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A forgotten live-action Disney movie, Westward Ho, the Wagons, was probably relying on the fame of Fess Parker as Davy Crockett on TV to grab Christmas audiences in Atlanta in 1956.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNR2hh6zsJBCJJ_9VSoyiJllGKYHqx7GrD89sLEJv48n1fYHkeGV1l23GxwTzJyqeNmMjpehLf3fdfd03MKXhFNeFXZDjApoKomz2bHtAU5mnhEeCGLtBTB2V5Qsh7g_q0MOfnF4SR9co/s1600/7th+voyage+la+12-17-58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="416" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNR2hh6zsJBCJJ_9VSoyiJllGKYHqx7GrD89sLEJv48n1fYHkeGV1l23GxwTzJyqeNmMjpehLf3fdfd03MKXhFNeFXZDjApoKomz2bHtAU5mnhEeCGLtBTB2V5Qsh7g_q0MOfnF4SR9co/s400/7th+voyage+la+12-17-58.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
The release of Ray Harryhausen's fantasy The 7th Voyage of Sinbad seems more attuned to holiday family audiences at Christmas of 1958. Seen today, it's a little old-fashioned storywise but the effects are still awfully fun.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-10625153940237877802019-11-30T13:50:00.003-05:002019-11-30T13:51:17.026-05:00Thanksgiving cornucopia, part 2: 1969Following is a selection of movies playing in Columbus over Thanksgiving 50 years ago, in November of 1969. As befit the times, of a Hollywood undergoing big changes in a "youthquake" era, it's a bag of oddities.<br />
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Paint Your Wagon was another nail in the coffin of the big Hollywood musical. I've never seen it but that odd trio of stars (Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg) would seem to spell disaster for a musical.</div>
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Liza Minnelli's first leading role--and it's not a musical or comedy, but a gloomy coming-of-age melodrama. She's good but it doesn't feel like holiday viewing.</div>
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The Undefeated, a western with John Wayne and Rock Hudson.</div>
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Two big zeitgeist movies from the year, Alice's Restaurant and Midnight Cowboy.</div>
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And at the drive-ins (with electric car warmers), Change of Habit and Eye of the Cat (not a bad little thriller)<br />
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Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-77846684840294217862019-11-26T07:55:00.000-05:002019-11-26T07:57:06.436-05:00Thanksgiving cornucopia, part 1: 1933Here's a few days worth of movies that were playing on or around Thanksgiving over the years. Unlike at Christmastime, these are mostly not films with holiday themes, but they are often family movies or films getting an early shot at holiday traffic.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9xAffLmtOr9tNNkuxpVcq8aj1kkocMbyfZfvyEtFK5Awuv8OLmMaf73zt8Ky88FVZo3G8TLZr3kLnDRN-RnocdE2V6uChRYpap3trp0DnNkFxv7CWV3Rud-Ii2GCQRMZZs1bpEiLYJws/s1600/design+for+living+nyc+11-19-33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="538" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9xAffLmtOr9tNNkuxpVcq8aj1kkocMbyfZfvyEtFK5Awuv8OLmMaf73zt8Ky88FVZo3G8TLZr3kLnDRN-RnocdE2V6uChRYpap3trp0DnNkFxv7CWV3Rud-Ii2GCQRMZZs1bpEiLYJws/s320/design+for+living+nyc+11-19-33.jpg" width="278" /></a></div>
Opening in time for Thanksgiving viewing in New York in 1933 was Design for Living, a witty and sophisticated romp based on a play by Noel Coward. He complained that the screenplay was a complete rewrite of his story of an attempt at a long-term threesome, but it still has its moments. It was playing at the Criterion, and coincidentally, the movie was released on DVD as part of the Criterion Collection.<br />
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For less high-class comedy, you could see Duck Soup, the Marx Brothers classic, over Thanksgiving. The top ad is from New York, the bottom from Atlanta the week after Thanksgiving. At the time, the movie was not a box office hit like their earlier ones were, but it is now considered their funniest. I like Animal Crackers more, but this one will do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzQOWvftl22rtg8enhEvHqwrCtZyLlz5rZgLR7M7W2u61kqwOdyvdJWDzLO15GiTsE9vfWf4VDyT4rdKKen2cr7VjIAZvt5TDY6YlXAG2AcRBWRkKHH_OwP6jRER_WLCZ_moiqqGA5iyB/s1600/footlight+parade+11-24-33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="381" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzQOWvftl22rtg8enhEvHqwrCtZyLlz5rZgLR7M7W2u61kqwOdyvdJWDzLO15GiTsE9vfWf4VDyT4rdKKen2cr7VjIAZvt5TDY6YlXAG2AcRBWRkKHH_OwP6jRER_WLCZ_moiqqGA5iyB/s400/footlight+parade+11-24-33.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
A Busby Berkeley musical spectacle, Footlight Parade, also opened in Manhattan for Thanksgiving, complete with live vaudeville acts, though I suspect none of the live performers could outdo the production numbers that Berkeley put on the screen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil98ZZFiO2c0H-8XcLeZ6GFiOZ73L-zIswHPqqQPOOv3gvqrMAtjbEGUw6V83tfNpEJIUCBuTsktIxLKBRt8HuS-7eUAtbNrdlYbt-SagbABlqHdBy2kxW7-q8Z8fHLp4f8FweUEan0cnM/s1600/im+no+angel+nyc+11-19-33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil98ZZFiO2c0H-8XcLeZ6GFiOZ73L-zIswHPqqQPOOv3gvqrMAtjbEGUw6V83tfNpEJIUCBuTsktIxLKBRt8HuS-7eUAtbNrdlYbt-SagbABlqHdBy2kxW7-q8Z8fHLp4f8FweUEan0cnM/s320/im+no+angel+nyc+11-19-33.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
Finally, the legendary Mae West, in one of her last hit movies before the Production Code came into effect next year and tamed her ribaldry.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-64652053159767292262019-10-31T13:11:00.001-04:002019-10-31T13:11:35.478-04:00Horror-rama 2I didn't get around to posting as many horror ads for October as I would have liked--work and vacation got in the way. But here are a couple more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYiQ81G2Ji53RCtDuZCWSOWyuGEpt6tUvzFR9BJ0lyDFRtfEh5mATs-NIFqYIYMqx0fdPvwM6XZtPEl4-wERO6KTSgw2O5XOg0QBsNNzEunuGhOTCNQopX0J38FV_fmleDBl7_ZrlAkz5/s1600/devil%2527s+bride+sioux+city+4-25-69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="414" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYiQ81G2Ji53RCtDuZCWSOWyuGEpt6tUvzFR9BJ0lyDFRtfEh5mATs-NIFqYIYMqx0fdPvwM6XZtPEl4-wERO6KTSgw2O5XOg0QBsNNzEunuGhOTCNQopX0J38FV_fmleDBl7_ZrlAkz5/s400/devil%2527s+bride+sioux+city+4-25-69.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
A Sioux City, Iowa "dusk to dawn" horror bill from 1969 anchored by The Devil's Bride (aka The Devil Rides Out), one of my favorite Hammer horror films. The story of a small band of intrepid do-gooders out to save two people from being baptized into a Satanic cult is interesting, and based on a pretty good pulp horror novel by Dennis Wheatley; the budget is too low for most of the shocks to really be effective, but it's still fun, and Christopher Lee gets to play a hero. Also playing: The Vengeance of She, The Power (sci-fi thriller), and the Roman Polanski comedy The Fearles Vampire Killers. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEbAaIEafOL2173uOZQle8seDjYydHmafbgvFwbqtemPI1HhpwhAc4RFzfkqTwBNIBbvEHuKx_tWaC_iP_I32WWh0hlRIS-jIQfBHO954q4IR_xP1Zgx8a-GhlqPVonsRAQfHF_2XnfpX/s1600/witchmaker+akron+11-1-69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="282" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEbAaIEafOL2173uOZQle8seDjYydHmafbgvFwbqtemPI1HhpwhAc4RFzfkqTwBNIBbvEHuKx_tWaC_iP_I32WWh0hlRIS-jIQfBHO954q4IR_xP1Zgx8a-GhlqPVonsRAQfHF_2XnfpX/s400/witchmaker+akron+11-1-69.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
Also from 1969, The Witchmaker, a B-horror film that is surprisingly good, set in a swamp and involving graduate students who run, as in The Devil Rides Out, into some murderous devil worshipers. Playing in Akron, Ohio in November of 1969.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvllpf0c-Jtxn2k6I1iWTeLjYYTxhEacVZ1a7QbjBnG6udnhC3fU3dw5L2LV_MqqCvyRw6OquyG8e9uWfZSD84WN8TF-kWXXbxDZGR-1ZTG_A_XLhi1_JGRQ2GgwO3Yy4unIxNMLJGvDY/s1600/crawling+eye+calgary+6-15-59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="406" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvllpf0c-Jtxn2k6I1iWTeLjYYTxhEacVZ1a7QbjBnG6udnhC3fU3dw5L2LV_MqqCvyRw6OquyG8e9uWfZSD84WN8TF-kWXXbxDZGR-1ZTG_A_XLhi1_JGRQ2GgwO3Yy4unIxNMLJGvDY/s400/crawling+eye+calgary+6-15-59.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
Finally. The Crawling Eye (1959), one of the first horror movies I saw, as a child of 7. Seen as an adult, the effects are not terribly impressive, but as a kid, it gave me frights. Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-28586525416315858692019-10-17T09:31:00.000-04:002019-10-17T09:31:48.239-04:00Horror-rama!The multi-movie horror fest had a long tradition, especially during the heyday of the drive-in theater.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghf7E0l-6qDvuuqNONKZLZ8QzbeFDocsKAe8_jYeEZMj7b2vncPUvgPWkVE3gEDNzEO9HsmQuMGylSBg0dx83gCFLFnEz5tHehqaKVTjm0DsEf_kxSDjqJoUlfdrphoEZO6lgtFKmRdQ0T/s1600/screaming+1973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="470" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghf7E0l-6qDvuuqNONKZLZ8QzbeFDocsKAe8_jYeEZMj7b2vncPUvgPWkVE3gEDNzEO9HsmQuMGylSBg0dx83gCFLFnEz5tHehqaKVTjm0DsEf_kxSDjqJoUlfdrphoEZO6lgtFKmRdQ0T/s400/screaming+1973.JPG" width="342" /></a></div>
And Now the Screaming Starts (1973)--Terror in the Wax Museum (1973;
with Ray Milland and Elsa Lanchester)--Ben (1972; sequel to Willard).
Columbus Ohio triple bill at a couple of drive-ins in September 1973. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwn70p9Ck7en3erWFD0irL00ozFpmbg7nj24IOURp7juQy_ASIofCK-IBwwbYBfLzgeKwsNf6TAuUsu0JW4BYKtmgHnvXix5yRfpsNG45sGZp1_AxObf0ZVhhRqJQuDWoINIP5meNhTGLr/s1600/dont+go+6-4-82.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwn70p9Ck7en3erWFD0irL00ozFpmbg7nj24IOURp7juQy_ASIofCK-IBwwbYBfLzgeKwsNf6TAuUsu0JW4BYKtmgHnvXix5yRfpsNG45sGZp1_AxObf0ZVhhRqJQuDWoINIP5meNhTGLr/s400/dont+go+6-4-82.jpg" width="357" /></a></div>
Don't Go Near the Park (1979; with Aldo Ray and Barbara Bain)--Don't Go
in the Basement (aka Don't Look in the Basement, 1973)--Don't Answer the
Phone (1980). Playing at a Columbus drive-in in the summer of 1982.
Never heard of any of these movies, but the "don't go" theme is clever. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvo6ajGwsS3R4qhzrBonf1VJWDrTidbTTdetZjJKdabFke8BM3fA0aTt0u-7V5yCyZXg2O7jGBDeNv1LOjboLQZx6so-C0HazqnpRzG_mz7I6SK_rP5iapXabH2hWbI74gFGIHgZ-Vd4Z4/s1600/horror-rama+9-4-70.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="444" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvo6ajGwsS3R4qhzrBonf1VJWDrTidbTTdetZjJKdabFke8BM3fA0aTt0u-7V5yCyZXg2O7jGBDeNv1LOjboLQZx6so-C0HazqnpRzG_mz7I6SK_rP5iapXabH2hWbI74gFGIHgZ-Vd4Z4/s400/horror-rama+9-4-70.jpg" width="351" /></a></div>
Nightmare in Wax (1969)--Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969)--Blood and
Black Lace (1964). Triple horror bill at Columbus drive-ins in September
1970. Dracula's Castle is the only movie I've seen by the notorious Al
Adamson, and it's cheap but not bad. Blood and Black Lace is beautifully
photographed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGb6T5sOJ0rx2TEo7IRUXgvGhJjFWGZlGpZ0C5tW7GEx4vxGQf0sAFxGAfv_vHwbZXmIhSgLD7Qbgnb3BAYZZI4q-zyzAtQf-uePlh2n1fbbbpfCn5s-FtWG9o_WSjRLB_z1qrrAobeNy/s1600/halloween+dracula+10-27-72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="232" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGb6T5sOJ0rx2TEo7IRUXgvGhJjFWGZlGpZ0C5tW7GEx4vxGQf0sAFxGAfv_vHwbZXmIhSgLD7Qbgnb3BAYZZI4q-zyzAtQf-uePlh2n1fbbbpfCn5s-FtWG9o_WSjRLB_z1qrrAobeNy/s400/halloween+dracula+10-27-72.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
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Another Al Adamson cheapie, Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), and two classier horror pix from Hammer, Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Horror of Dracula (1958), the movies that revived the horror fad into the 1960s. This bill was playing in Columbus during Halloween week, 1972.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6413687134646221055.post-43092236691180403192019-10-15T13:38:00.000-04:002019-10-15T13:38:24.244-04:00October is horror monthI'm a little late getting started, but it's time to post some horror movie ads from my collection.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgouWfjsVTOYCCfgZM7ozY951wWHJJPUyv06taHkgAyhTXaLzmaPxgBf7VRFYyhF5SvVHjmfrCWjZc4X89geEQNfx0vrtmX-V2Bo44WYua4P98CyFLo4sdZfhyphenhyphen4EVwnuyI4o7sSavxfRU/s1600/3+horror+akron+10-31-69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="349" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgouWfjsVTOYCCfgZM7ozY951wWHJJPUyv06taHkgAyhTXaLzmaPxgBf7VRFYyhF5SvVHjmfrCWjZc4X89geEQNfx0vrtmX-V2Bo44WYua4P98CyFLo4sdZfhyphenhyphen4EVwnuyI4o7sSavxfRU/s400/3+horror+akron+10-31-69.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
A Halloween night triple feature from Akron, OH in 1969. Teenage
Psycho is better known as the grade-Z classic "The Incredibly Strange
Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies" which you may know from Mystery Science Theater 3000. Also Hammer's Curse of
Frankenstein (1957) and Castle of Evil (1964) with Barbara Steele. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRSgJbPQYASq5jQWmOWtuJTDwM6jZj34_Hft-AD_HPIOnB9_5FKF1knLoyzgd43YAJMjsvubBw_VyRpX-dGSugGKYGJ3OmTCnfpv3TYDvYb-LZaJw9qyydCxdYGozcf0f3EuFKUV5xwXm/s1600/black+sunday+tuc+4-4-61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRSgJbPQYASq5jQWmOWtuJTDwM6jZj34_Hft-AD_HPIOnB9_5FKF1knLoyzgd43YAJMjsvubBw_VyRpX-dGSugGKYGJ3OmTCnfpv3TYDvYb-LZaJw9qyydCxdYGozcf0f3EuFKUV5xwXm/s400/black+sunday+tuc+4-4-61.jpg" width="186" /></a></div>
Black Sunday, another Barbara Steele movie, in Tucson in 1961. A witch is brought back to life to wreck vengeful havoc. This is the movie whose opening freaked me out so much, I had to leave
the theater when I first saw it in the mid-60s (I was 9, and it was the iron maiden scene) and I didn't see the whole thing until I was in
college.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I3wc_aqs1PcVGJzQBgRI_wVF7jrlpmINwbsu1Zi4iHHFci3xscopY1WriBHcBPIS8e1fN3lPtiUqg5Y6yF3YSDYwJUMr8Zqxx-Ari3w8v0ZIDgyNmXFjbuyMnbKsZZx31B_2m1UeVXdl/s1600/x+horror+party+dayton+5-9-64b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="552" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I3wc_aqs1PcVGJzQBgRI_wVF7jrlpmINwbsu1Zi4iHHFci3xscopY1WriBHcBPIS8e1fN3lPtiUqg5Y6yF3YSDYwJUMr8Zqxx-Ari3w8v0ZIDgyNmXFjbuyMnbKsZZx31B_2m1UeVXdl/s400/x+horror+party+dayton+5-9-64b.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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The Horror of Party Beach, a B-movie which tried to combine the appeal of the monster movies and the Frankie & Annette beach movies. It did not succeed. I owned a photo-comic of this movie in the 60s and didn't see the actual movie until sometime in the 80s. It did not live up to the magazine, but again, it made good fodder for MSR3K. Ad from Dayton, 5/9/64.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpE7-d8cVOywhZW08_vPiMxtPBnHrw_j4zN4kb6M0HwkxoDUlvU_O_AJtwfGDZI0feE1EG0sPtFNeV0_fehoS1fvjVsvzpekeCq9R3BgTjNoZWQb_erw0tFv9E_UixaINiFtnKbJulcFb/s1600/x+mole+people+altanta+12-21-56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="427" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpE7-d8cVOywhZW08_vPiMxtPBnHrw_j4zN4kb6M0HwkxoDUlvU_O_AJtwfGDZI0feE1EG0sPtFNeV0_fehoS1fvjVsvzpekeCq9R3BgTjNoZWQb_erw0tFv9E_UixaINiFtnKbJulcFb/s400/x+mole+people+altanta+12-21-56.jpg" width="295" /></a></div>
As I seem to be on a Mystery Science Theater kick, here's The Mole People, on a double bill with Curucu, Beast of the Amzaon, showing in Atlanta in December of 1956. My first experience with Mole People, as with the above Party Beach, was owning a photo-comic book. The movie itself is deadly dull. I'm sure I saw Curucu at some point in the 60s on Chiller Theater; I'm trying to track it down again but it seems to be in hiding.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05577274295584935366noreply@blogger.com0