#Esther Rathbone

[ghoulpepperv]

I need more time and money to make another show because I miss Bunty and Esther lol

I love these two so much and I have no idea when I can properly introduce them to the world. They're also due for a character design redo.

As much as I love these designs, their characters and story have changed so much, they don't 100% fit anymore.

Esther's sisters are now a much bigger part of the story as well.

Art by Delaney Januzzi

[alexlacquemanne]

Février MMXXIII

Films

Danger : Diabolik ! (Diabolik) (1968) de Mario Bava avec John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Claudio Gora, Terry-Thomas et Adolfo Celi

L'Horloger de Saint-Paul (1974) de Bertrand Tavernier avec Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Denis, Yves Afonso, Julien Bertheau et Jacques Hilling

Les Grandes Familles (1958) de Denys de La Patellière avec Jean Gabin, Jean Desailly, Pierre Brasseur, Bernard Blier, Françoise Christophe, Annie Ducaux et Louis Seigner

Les Ambitieux (The Carpetbaggers) (1964) de Edward Dmytryk avec George Peppard, Carroll Baker, Alan Ladd, Bob Cummings, Martha Hyer et Elizabeth Ashley

Bathing Beauty (1944) de George Sidney avec Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone, Bill Goodwin, Jean Porter, Nana Bryant, Carlos Ramírez et Ethel Smith

Que les gros salaires lèvent le doigt ! (1982) de Denys Granier-Deferre avec Jean Poiret, Michel Piccoli, Daniel Auteuil, François Perrot, Tchéky Karyo, Nadia Barentin, François Lalande, Florence Pernel, Jeanne Lallemand et Marie Laforet

Pain, Amour et Fantaisie (Pane, amore e fantasia) (1953) de Luigi Comencini avec Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, Marisa Merlini, Virgilio Riento, Tina Pica et Maria-Pia Casilio

Les Ripoux (1984) de Claude Zidi avec Philippe Noiret, Thierry Lhermitte, Régine, Grace de Capitani, Julien Guiomar, Albert Simono et Claude Brosset

Scoop (2006) de Woody Allen avec Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, Woody Allen, Ian McShane, Romola Garai et Julian Glover

Sous le signe de Monte-Cristo (1968) d'André Hunebelle avec Paul Barge, Claude Jade, Anny Duperey, Pierre Brasseur, Michel Auclair, Raymond Pellegrin et Paul Le Person

Une femme sous influence (A Woman Under the Influence) (1974) de John Cassavetes avec Gena Rowlands, Peter falk, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetes, Matthew Laborteaux et Matthew Cassel

L'Enquête corse (2004) d'Alain Berberian avec Christian Clavier, Jean Reno, Caterina Murino, Didier Flamand, Juliette Poissonnier, Pierre Salasca, Éric Fraticelli et Alain Maratrat

Didier (1997) d'Alain Chabat avec Jean-Pierre Bacri, Alain Chabat, Isabelle Gélinas, Lionel Abelanski, Michel Bompoil, Jean-Marie Frin, Zinedine Soualem et Elliot

Les Aventuriers de l'arche perdue (Raiders of the Lost Ark) (1981) de Steven Spielberg avec Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Molina et Wolf Kahler

M. Hobbs prend des vacances (Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation) (1962) de Henry Koster avec James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Fabian, John Saxon, Marie Wilson et Reginald Gardiner

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) d'Alfred Hitchcock avec Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond, Jack Carson, Philip Merivale et Lucile Watson

Ulysse (Ulisse) (1954) de Mario Camerinia avec Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano, Anthony Quinn, Rossana Podestà, Jacques Dumesnil, Sylvie et Daniel Ivernel

Séries

Inspecteur Barnaby Saison 4, 5

Le Jardin de la mort - L'ange destructeur - Vendetta - Qui a tué Cock Robin ? - Sombre automne - Le Fruit du péché - Un village très coté - Le Ver dans le fruit - Les Sonneries de la mort - Meurtre dans un collège anglais

L'agence tous risques Saison 1, 2

Détournement - Le candidat - Un si jolie petite ville - Immigration clandestine - Poussière de diamants - Otages à l'orphelinat - Les mustangs : première partie - Les mustangs : deuxième partie - Histoire d'eau - Pression amicale - Le pain quotidien - La pêche miraculeuse - Agitateurs - Acier - La guerre des taxis - Le Scorpion du désert - Tirez sur le Cheik - Eclipse - Les marchands de poison - Dites-le avec du plomb - La vache maltaise - Pas si facile que ça

Affaires sensibles

10 mai 1981 : l’arrivée de la gauche au pouvoir - Ali contre Foreman : choc des titans à Kinshasa - Le 6 février 1973. L'incendie du collège Pailleron - Sharon Tate : l’Ange et le Démon - Voici l’histoire de Hurricane - Harlem, 21 février 1965 : Malcolm X est mort

Friends Saison 5, 6

Celui qui embrassait - Celui qui a des triplés - Celui qui accepte l'inacceptable - Celui qui rate son week-end - Celui qui a du mal à se taire - Celui qui emménage - Celui qui avait des souvenirs difficiles à avaler - Celui qui s'était fait piquer son sandwich - Celui qui avait une sœur un peu spéciale - Celui qui prenait de bonnes résolutions - Celui qui riait différemment - Celui qui avait un sac - Celui qui découvre tout - Celui qui prenait des coups - Celui qui enviait ses amis - Celui qui ne savait pas se repérer - Celui qui se sacrifiait - Celui qui ne savait pas flirter - Celui qui sauvait des vies - Celui qui jouait à la balle - Celui qui devait casser la baraque - Celui qui était à Las Vegas : 1re partie - Celui qui était à Las Vegas : 2e partie - Ceux qui revenaient de Las Vegas - Celui qui console Rachel - Celui qui était de mauvaise foi - Celui qui perdait sa belle assurance - Celui qui avait une belle bagnole - Ceux qui passaient leur dernière nuit

Coffre à Catch

#101 : Une belle petite pause dans un torrent de merde ! - #102 : Hornswoggle, Evan Bourne : le renouveau à la ECW ! - #103 : WWE Draft : la fin du Mercato d'été à la ECW ! - #104 : CM Punk et Mark Henry champions du monde !

Top Gear Saison 18, 17, 19

Spécial Journée Circuit - Made in China - Une course comme sur un green - La Vallée de la Mort - Une Lamborghini à la mer - Les pires voitures de l'histoire - Spécial Afrique : Première partie - Spécial Afrique : Deuxième partie - 1500 km à fond de 5ème

Spectacles

Un Chalet à Gstaad (2021) de Josiane Balasko avec Josiane Balasko, Armelle, Philippe Uchan, Stéphan Wojtowicz, Justine Le Pottier et George Aguilar

Livres

Friends, mes amours et cette chose terrible de Matthew Perry

Undertaker : Rise Of The Deadman de Rodrigo Lorenzo, Edu Menna, Serg Acuna et Chad Dundas

La renaissance des héros Marvel, Tome 7 : Phénix de Greg Pak, Greg Land et Kirkham

Catch : L'âge d'or, 1920-1975, l'épopée du catch français et les "Michel-Ange" du ring de Christian-Louis Eclimont

[vintage-every-day]

“Bathing Beauty” is a 1944 musical film starring Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone, and Esther Williams, and directed by George Sidney.

[cuddyclothes]

“After The Ball”, 1930, a lost Basil Rathbone/Esther Ralston romantic drama

[newmanspaul]

OLD HOLLYWOOD STARS & THEIR ZODIAC SIGNS

Aries: Gregory Peck, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, William Holden, Doris Day, Anthony Perkins, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller, Billie Holiday, Karl Malden, Warren Beatty, Marlon Brando, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Lon Chaney, Steve McQueen, Ed Begley, Melvyn Douglas, Alec Guinness, Leslie Howard, Jayne Mansfield

Taurus: Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Don Rickles, Orson Welles, Tyrone Power, Rudolph Valentino, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Shirley MacLaine, Shirley Temple, Anthony Quinn, James Mason, Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Barrymore, Phil Silvers, Jack Klugman, Harold Lloyd, Mary Astor, Simone Simon, Margaret Sullavan, Eve Arden

Gemini: Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Errol Flynn, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Tony Curtis, Rosemary Clooney, Douglas Fairbanks, Burl Ives, Al Jolson, Stan Laurel, Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, Rosalind Russell, Hattie McDaniel, Priscilla Lane, Josephine Baker, Jeanette MacDonald, Peggy Lee

Cancer: Ginger Rogers, Eva Marie Saint, Natalie Wood, Olivia de Havilland, Barbara Stanwyck, Lena Horne, Jimmy Cagney, Milton Berle, Yul Brynner, Peter Lorre, Red Skelton, Jane Russell, Gina Lollobrigida, Leslie Caron, Farley Granger

Leo: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Mae West, Clara Bow, Norma Shearer, Esther Williams, Walter Brennan, Robert Mitchum, Louis Armstrong, Peter O’Toole, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Alfred Hitchcock, Maureen O’Hara, Lucille Ball, Shelley Winters, Dolores del Rio

Virgo: Lauren Bacall, Gene Kelly, Sophia Loren, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo, Donald O’Connor, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lawford, Fredric March, James Coburn, Fred MacMurray, Peter Sellers, Raquel Welch, George Chakiris, Vera Miles

Libra: Jean Arthur, Carole Lombard, Montgomery Clift, Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Lillian Gish, Groucho Marx, Buster Keaton, Bela Lugosi, George C. Scott, Lenny Bruce, Walter Pidgeon, Greer Garson, Joan Fontaine, Brigitte Bardot, June Allyson, Julie London

Scorpio: Richard Burton, Rock Hudson, Vivien Leigh, Burt Lancaster, Gene Tierney, Grace Kelly, Claude Rains, Joel McCrea, Johnny Carson, Burgess Meredith, Hedy Lamarr, Eleanor Powell, Veronica Lake

Sagittarius: Frank Sinatra, Kirk Douglas, Sammy Davis Jr, Edward G. Robinson, Rita Moreno, Lee Remick, Boris Karloff, Lee J. Cobb, Ricardo Montalban, Irene Dunne, Agnes Moorehead, Gloria Grahame, Betty Grable, Julie Harris

Capricorn: Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, Loretta Young, Ethel Merman, Eartha Kitt, Janet Leigh, Lew Ayres, Ray Bolger, Sal Mineo, Danny Kaye, Oliver Hardy, Oscar Levant, Ray Milland, Elvis Presley, Jane Wyman, Kay Francis, Barbara Rush

Aquarius: Kathryn Grayson, James Dean, Paul Newman, Clark Gable, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Lana Turner, Kim Novak, Ronald Colman, Ernest Borgnine, Randolph Scott, Vera-Ellen, Donna Reed, Jack Lemmon, John Barrymore, George Burns, Arthur Kennedy, Cesar Romero, Jean Simmons, Zsa Zsa Gabor

Pisces: Jerry Lewis, Elizabeth Taylor, Jean Harlow, Nat King Cole, Sidney Poitier, Cyd Charisse, Lee Marvin, Jackie Gleason, Edward Everett Horton, David Niven

[simplylove101]

Musical Film Challenge: [7/?]

↳ “But he doesn't like pools!” “Wait till you see what's in it!”

“Don't tell me it's a woman - he'd never fall for a bathing suit.” “Wait till you see what's in it!” Bathing Beauty (1944) dir. George Sidney

Starring: Red Skelton, Esther Williams & Basil Rathbone

Plot: A songwriter enrolls in an all-girl school to court a pretty gym teacher.

Another one I meant to watch before Brigadoon. lol So this one wasn’t anything too special, but it’s Esther William’s first starring vehicle so it’s notable for that. The plot revolves more around Red Skelton though. Which isn’t the worst thing cuz he was a generally funny leading man, but again this wasn’t one of his better movies so, yeah. There were some funny bits though. Basil Rathbone didn’t get to do much tbh. Really the best thing about it was Esther Williams imo, because she’s a breeze to watch. Not to mention, she was also very beautiful. She became a star, because she knew how to be charming and also gave quite a show when she was in the water. The iconic finale is pretty amazing. Overall, the movie’s silly, but worth a watch for her.

[hellostarrynightblr]

highlights of January

There will be two sections this time: the new films and the re-watched ones as I have seen a lot of films for the second time this month. This actually brought me to choose the theme of this year’s challenge (albeit a bit too late): second chances. Turns out I enjoy most of the films I used to hate. Go figure.

New in 2022

1. Favourite movies: Good News (1947), 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956), Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

2. Decent films I liked / appreciated but not loved: Nightmare Alley (2021), Sitting Pretty (1948)

3. Best scenes: eavesdropping in Sitting Pretty (1948); the cafeteria number and the library flirting / song (Good News, 1947); Benedick vs the chair / the ‘balcony’ confession / the chapel confession (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993).

4. Favourite genres: romance, comedy, noir, musical.

5. Favourite directors: Kenneth Branagh (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); Guillermo del Toro (Nightmare Alley, 2021); Walter Lang (Sitting Pretty, 1948); Henry Hathaway (23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); Charles Walters (Good News, 1947).

6. Favourite actors: this is a lot.

Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Michael Keaton, Denzel Washington (Much Ado About Nothing, 1933); Willem Dafoe (Nightmare Alley, 2021); Basil Rathbone (The Woman in Green, 1945); Minnie Dupree / Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (The Young in Heart, 1938); Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty, 1948); Van Johnson (Easy to Love, 1953 / 23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); Joan McCracken, June Allyson, Peter Lawford (Good News, 1947).

7. Least favourite performances: I couldn’t warm up to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in The Music Box (1932) but maybe I just don’t like this kind of humour. But also, Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing (1993). That’s it. I have nothing else to say. What a trainwreck.

8. The most wasted cast: Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, Charles Coburn (George Washington Slept Here, 1942). I attribute it to slow, practically comatose direction. There were a few moments but overall it was just a drag.

9. The best premise: Sitting Pretty (1948). Lynn Belvedere is my new hero.

9. The best wasted premise: The Woman in Green (1945). Did you have to make it about hypnosis?? Really?

11. Favourite cast: Kate Beckinsale, Imelda Staunton, Jimmy Yuill, Brian Blessed, Phyllida Law, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Patrick Doyle, Michael Keaton, Ben Elton (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993). I’m excluding Keanu Reeves from the list because that was excruciating. I still like the guy but man was that bad!

Also, just look at Nightmare Alley’s cast! What a powerhouse: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Tim Blake Nelson.

12. Favourite on-screen duos: Kenneth Branagh + Emma Thompson (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); Maureen O'Hara + Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty, 1948); Claudette Colbert + Fredric March (Honor Among Lovers, 1931) (I’m choosing to ignore how absolutely disturbing the plot is and just enjoy the rapport between the characters); Esther Williams + Van Johnson (Easy to Love, 1953) (another idiot male but still an enjoyable film); Van Johnson + Vera Miles (23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); June Allyson + Peter Lawford (Good News, 1947).

13. Favourite on-screen relationships: Connie Lane + Tommy Marlowe (Good News, 1947); Benedick + Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993).

14. Favourite characters: Connie Lane / Tommy Marlowe / Babe Doolittle (Good News, 1947); Benedick / Beatrice / Don Pedro (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); Phillip Hannon (23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); Lynn Belvedere (Sitting Pretty, 1948).

15. Favourite quote: If it proves so, then loving goes by haps; some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps (William Shakespeare curtesy of Much Ado About Nothing, 1993).

16. Favourite fact discovered in 2022: Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson used to be married. I love this fact so much, it gives me so much life! But I hate that he cheated on her with Helena Bonham Carter. That breaks my heart... But at least I understand why their chemistry is so palpable in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

17. The most overrated film: The Music Box (1932). 8.0 imdb rating is a bit much.

18. The most disappointing film: The Woman in Green (1945) disappointed me because I loved pretty much all the films from Basil’s Sherlock collection up to this point and this one turned out to be really underwhelming. George Washington Slept Here (1942) is another one, but I already mentioned why I dislike this film above. It’s not worth repeating myself.

19. The most overrated / overlooked film: Good News (1947) is too pure for this world!

20. The biggest surprise: Much Ado About Nothing (1993). It’s so stupid and cheesy and hilarious! I adore this film!

As far as the actors go, Van Johnson is a revelation. I’ve liked him before but watching him now is like stepping into a bubble, nothing else matters and it’s just so very comforting.

I was also smitten by Minnie Dupree in The Young in Heart (1938). What a sweet, sweet lady…

21. Best cinematography: Dan Laustsen (Nightmare Alley, 2021). No competition whatsoever.

But also, a guick shoutot to the gloomy, mysterious and attractive 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) curtesy Milton R. Krasner.

22. Best set design: Nightmare Alley (2021). It’s unsurpassable as far as I’m concerned.

24. Best costume design: I have no idea who to personally credit, so I’ll just credit the film overall: Nightmare Alley (2021).

24. Best music: Good News (1947)

25. Best production choice: casting Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty (1948).

26. Worst production choice: casting Keanu Reeves (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); glorifying workplace harassment (Honor Among Lovers, 1931); the hypnosis scenes (The Woman in Green, 1945).

27. The film of the month: overall quality-wise, Good News (1947). Enjoyment-wise, Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

[meanstreetspodcasts]

Episode 423 – Nigel the Bruce (Sherlock Holmes & Screen Guild Theatre)

In 14 films and hundreds of radio episodes, Nigel Bruce personified Dr. Watson for generations of Sherlock Holmes fans. The actor created a companion for Sherlock Holmes who was avuncular, fiercely loyal, and awestruck at his friend's deductive powers. We'll hear Bruce opposite Basil Rathbone in "The Telltale Pigeon Feathers" (originally aired on Mutual on January 21, 1946) and with Tom Conway in "The Adventure of the Elusive Emerald" (originally aired on ABC on December 14, 1946). Plus, Bruce recreates his role from Suspicion in a production of The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1946).

Check out this episode!

[citizenscreen]

George Sidney's BATHING BEAUTY, starring Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone, and Bill Goodwin , enjoyed its New York City premiere on June 27, 1944 #OnThisDay

[dweemeister]

2017 Movie Odyssey for-fun awards

The 2017 Movie Odyssey Awards are being posted sometime soon, but, as is tradition on this blog, here are some for-fun honors and dishonors based on a year of watching 200+ films that were new to me this calendar year.

Actor I wanted to smack most in the face: Mark Wahlberg, The Happening (2008)

Good lord, he was AWFUL. “Planning on murdering me in my sleep?” “WHAT, NO!” Here’s Wahlberg talking to a plastic tree.

Attempted political messaging, but says less than it wants: State of the Union (1948)

Frank Capra, you are better than this!

Attempted religious messaging, but says less than it wants: Conflagration (1958, Japan)

Best Film Title: What Dreams May Come (1998)

Best individual cue from an original score: “End Titles” from Independence Day (1996), composed by David Arnold

Best lyrics passage from an original song: From “No Wrong Way Home” from Pearl (2016 short)

One blue-green world, round as a pearl, doesn’t matter which road you take, you’ll wind up in the same place. That’s not philosophy, it’s geometry, and if things don’t look the same, well it’s only you who’ve changed.

There’s some interesting messaging and rhyming going on here. Damn.

Best Moment: An act of sportsmanship, followed by a grandstand finish, Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

If you have kids and they haven’t seen this movie, find this movie. If you haven’t seen this movie, find this movie.

Best Montage: Body-switching and “Zenzenzense”, Your Name (2016, Japan)

Best Movie Dad: Raymond from My Life as a Zucchini (2016, Switzerland)

The first non-biological father to win here, I think. It matters not, though. He is wonderful here.

Best Movie Family Member, non-parent: Aunt Mattie (Clara Blandick), A Star Is Born (1937)

For supporting Esther’s dreams of going to Hollywood without fail. You go, Aunt Mattie. She really is not in this movie long enough.

Best Movie Mom(s): All of the Boatwrights (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo) and Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

Again, a first in that these are adopted parents. Thanks to a good friend of mine for introducing to me the book.

Best on-screen friendship: The friendship between all the orphans in My Life as as Zucchini

Best use of non-original music (and best musical callback to a past movie): The many uses of “You’ll Never Know” from Hello Frisco Hello (1943) appearing in The Shape of Water (2017)

Hello Frisco Hello remains on my watchlist… we’ll get there someday!

Best dance segment (for two): Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire in “I’m Old Fashioned”, You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

Best dance segment (solo): Donald O’Connor in “A Man Chases a Girl (Until She Catches Him)”, There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954)

Best sword fight: Errol Flynn v. Basil Rathbone, Captain Blood (1935)

Yeah, sorry folks who expected Rey and Kylo Ren v. Praetorian Guards or Kylo Ren v. Luke here.

Bestiality: The Red Turtle (2016, France/Belgium/Japan)

SPOILERS!!!

Biggest Disappointment: Marnie (1964)

Oh god, this may be the first Hitchcock movie I truly loathed (nor do I think it will be the last… I’ve basically seen all the greats by now).

Biggest (pleasant) surprise: Pear Cider and Cigarettes (2016 short)

I was worried about the explicit content for this Oscar-nominated short film, and that it might meander around its topic a bit. But no it didn’t. Well done, well deserved nomination.

Biggest (unpleasant) surprise: Detroit (2017)

It becomes torture porn in the final third. The black victims are not nearly developed enough here as they should be.

Bloodbath: Logan (2017)

Is it the movie with the highest body count? Maybe not, considering I saw both Independence Day movies this year. But it was certainly bloody!

Bravest: Parvana, The Breadwinner (2017)

Going full-out Mulan to help her family survive in pre-American invasion Afghanistan? I was astounded by Parvana’s resilience.

Don’t take opiates, kids: Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982)

Greatest Discovery (Actor): Pierre Étaix, Yoyo (1965, France)

Greatest Discovery (Actress): Brooklynn Prince, The Florida Project (2017)

Greatest Discovery (Director): D.A. Pennebaker, Don’t Look Back (1967) and Monterey Pop (1968)

Hardest ending to watch: The Coward (1965, India)

Satyajit Ray pulling no punches here.

Hypnotic: Notes on a Triangle (1966 short)

A beautiful experimental animated short film. Someone’s going to connect it to the Illuminati or some vast Canadian conspiracy somehow.

Kept me on the edge of my seat: Seven Days to Noon (1950)

A Cold War thriller at the very beginning of the Cold War has so much going for it than so many modern thrillers can never hope to achieve.

Kick-ass moment: This riding scene from The Man from Snowy River (1982)

I’d like to see a chimpanzee with dual-wielding machine guns do that! Make it happen, 20th Century Fox!

Laziest (not worst) film title: Summer Magic (1963)

I mean, the songs are decent and Hayley Mills is, too. But come on, Disney!

Least funny comedy: That Funny Feeling (1965)

Least likely to deserve my negative review 10 years from now: Justice League (2017)

Because you know Zack Snyder will find a way to screw the DCEU up even more.

Least likely to deserve my positive review 10 years from now: I have a hunch it’s gonna be Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)… but I don’t want that to be official here.

Line I will repeat the most down the years: “Apes. Together. Strong.”, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Made fashion designers compelling: Funny Face (1957)

Most Inspiring: Swim Team (2016)

A documentary that follows three members of a New Jersey Special Olympics swim team. All those kids have autism, and it is fantastic to see them learn, grow, and live over time. It isn’t a Hoop Dreams, but it doesn’t need to be.

Made me laugh the most: Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)

And I’m not ashamed to say that. It’s not the best comedy by any means, but I got more laughter and mileage out of this one than anything else.

Most Memorable Use of an Icepick: Scarlet Street (1945)

Don’t spoil if you know!

Most Overrated Picture: Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Casey Affleck had no business winning that Academy Award.

Most Underappreciated: The Great Man (1956)

In our world of “fake news”, this movie - which also comments on how we idealize our heroes - has many echoes on today. It’s a good journalism/news media movie, even if it’s concentrated on early TV and especially radio.

Most Underseen: Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)

A good, entertaining adventure-romance silent film with John Gilbert and Eleanor Boardman. The reason why it’s underseen was because it was considered a lost film until recently, when a near-complete print turned up in France.

Movie I most wished to write on, but wasn’t able to (because I ran out of October to do it): A retrospective on Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and regular reviews for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Movie that I’m most eager to rewatch: Castle in the Sky (1986, Japan)

There was so much going on, and so many departures from Nausicaa that I need time to do a Retrospective review on this some day. It’s a gorgeous film.

Nearly resulted in someone killing me in a theater: In This Corner of the World (2016, Japan)

Yeah, if the main character had gone to Hiroshima, I would have been a goner (and it wouldn’t have been by my own hand).

Raunchiest: Destry Rides Again (1939)

Holy hell. There are so many entendres in here, and Marlene Dietrich is going all out on the sexuality! How did this get pass the Hays Code?

Sorry, I didn’t get it, and I still don’t get all the love for David Lynch (even though Mulholland was great): Eraserhead (1977)

Sounds most like a porno (other than Octopussy because that’s too easy): Peeping Tom (1960)

With apologies to Michael Powell.

Star Trek alumni award: Patrick Stewart, Logan (2017)

Surprisingly relevant political commentary: They Won’t Forget (1937)

Northern-Southern attitudes in the United States? Even a touch of racial relations? Now if only Warner Bros. kept the defendant in the movie Jewish, as he was in real life.

Underrated: Lonely Are the Brave (1962)

One of the best neo-Westerns you are likely to see.

Worst film title: The Hound That Thought He Was a Raccoon (1960)

For chrissakes, Disney.

Worst Moment: All the rapey-ness of Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

It reminded me why the 1980s is in contention for my least favorite decade of filmmaking.

Stay tuned, the 2017 Movie Odyssey Awards will be up shortly! Thank you all for following. Thank you all for being here for as long as you have. Thank you for supporting all this blog does.

[bathingbeauty44]

Full Movie

[denizlihaberim]

23 Şubat 2018 haftasında 3’ü yerli 8 yeni film izleyicilerle buluştu.

All the Money in the World (Dünyanın Tüm Parası)

Hollywood’daki cinsel taciz skandalının ortasında sıkıntılı bir çekim süreci yaşayan filmin yönetmenliğini Ridley Scott üstleniyor. Taciz suçlamaları nedeniyle filmden çıkartılan Kevin Spacey’nin yerine Christopher Plummer rol aldı. Diğer oyuncular ise Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg ve Romain Duris. 1973’te dünyanın en varlıklı adamlarından biri olan petrol milyarderi Jean Paul Getty’nin öz torunu John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) Roma’da kaçırılmıştır. Çocuğun hayatı karşılığında 17 milyon dolar isteyen fidyecilerin isteğini yerine getirmekten diğer çare değil gibi görünmektedir. Annesi Gail (Michelle Williams), eski kayınpederi Getty’den bu miktarı ödemesi konusunda takviye ister ama reddedilir. Getty’nin en yakınındaki birey olan, bununla beraber eski CIA ajanı Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg) ile Gail, parayı bir şekilde bulup gencin hayatını kurtarmak için zamana aleyhinde bir yarışa girerler.

Florida Project (Florida Projesi)

Bir Altın Küre ve Oscar adaylığı bulunan dram türündeki filmin yönetmenliğini Sean Baker üstleniyor. Oyuncu kadrosunda Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto ve Christopher Rivera bulunuyor. 6 yaşındaki Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) annesi Halley (Bria Vinaite) ile birlikte Orlando’daki Disneyland yakınlarında bulunan Magic Castle Oteli’nde yaşamaktadır. Uyumlu bir işi olmayan Halley, günübirlik işlerde çalışarak hayatta kalmaya çalışırken, otelin şefkatli müdürü Bobby (Willem Dafoe), otel kurallarına aykırı olmasına rağmen onların işletmede kalmasına müsade vermekte, Moonee ve arkadaşlarının yaramazlıklarına müşterileri aşırı rahatsız etmedikleri sürece ses çıkarmamaktadır. Çünkü Moonee ve annesinin gidebilecek diğer bir yerleri olmadığını bilmektedir.

Call Me by Your Name (Beni Adınla Çağır)

3 dalda Oscar adayı olan İtalya – Fransa iki taraflı yapımı dram türündeki filmin yönetmenlik koltuğuna Luca Guadagnino oturuyor. Kadroda Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar ve Esther Garrel isimleri öne çıkıyor. Hikaye 1983’ün yaz aylarında geçiyor. Kuzey İtalya’da ailesiyle kırsal bir bölgede tatilde olan Elio (Timothée Chalamet) günlerini kitap okuyarak ve kız arkadaşı Marzia’ya (Esther Garrel) süre ayırarak geçirmektedir. Arkeoloji profesörü babasına çalışmalarında yardımcı olmak üzere bölgeye Amerikalı doktora öğrencisi Oliver (Armie Hammer), Elio’nun hayata bakışını iyice değiştirir. 1983 yazı Elio’nun hiçbir vakit unutmayacağı bir yaz olacaktır. 

Görevimiz Tatil

Yönetmenlik koltuğuna Murat Şeker’in oturduğu yerli komedi filminin zengin oyuncu kadrosunda Demet Akbağ, Zafer Algöz, Deniz Altan, Ali Keçeli ve Sarp Akkaya bulunuyor. Konusuna gelecek olursak; tipik bir ev hanımı olan Türkan Mutlu (Demet Akbağ), eşi Sıtkı Mutlu (Başarı Algöz) ve iki çocuğuyla yaşamaktadır. Basmakalıp hayatından bıkan Türkan’ın zorlamasıyla daima beraber bir aile terapistine giderler. Onun yönlendirmesiyle de bir karavana atlayıp Antalya’ya tatile gitmek üzere yola çıkarlar. Fakat Yavaşlar köyü yakınlarında bir kaza yapınca buradaki köylülere bir zaman davetli olmaları gerekecektir. 

Kırlangıçlar Susamışsa

Haftanın diğer yerli filmi, yönetmenliğini ve senaryosunu Muhammet Çakıral’ın üstlendiği dram ve belgeli türlerindeki Kırlangıçlar Susamışsa. Filmde Hamit Demir, Murat Sarı ve Elif Canbolat rol alıyor. Karadeniz’in bir dağ köyünde yaşayan Murat (Murat Sarı), resim ve belgeseller üstüne çalışmalar yapmaktadır. Yeğeni Burak’la müthiş bir doğanın ortasında süre geçiren Murat, gerçi köyden gitmeyi önemli bir şekilde düşünmektedir. Bu sırada köye gelen acayip görünüşlü Harun’u tüm köylü gibi Murat da sever. Hayatında her şey yolunda gibi gözükürken bu defa hidroelektrik santrali yerine getirmek isteyen bir şirket, jandarma korumasında vadiye kazanç. HES’çileri çıkarabilmek için bir defa daha bütün köylünün birlikte direnişe geçmesi gerekecektir.

Alem-i Cin

Sinema salonlarında yerini alan nefret türündeki yerli filmin yönetmeni Hür Bakar, yapımcısı ise Hasan Çobanoğlu. Oyuncu kadrosunda Ayçin Tuyun, Kadriye Çetinkaya, Zeynep Turpçu, Süleyman Kabaali ve Cihangir Köse bulunuyor. Yeliz (Ayçin Tuyun) 25 yaşına girdikten sonra korkunç kabuslar görmeye başlar. Kabusların şiddeti arttıkça Yeliz’in ailesiyle ilgili bilmediği sırlar ortaya çıkmaya başlar. Kabuslardan kurtulabilmek için bir aile dostunun da desteğini alan genç bayan, tanıdık dünyadan olmayan bir güçle, cinler alemiyle yüzyüze geldiğini anlayacaktır.

Samson

1949 yapımı Samson ve Delilah’ın bitmiş çekimi niteliğindeki dram, tarih ve aksiyon filminin yönetmenlik koltuğunda Bruce Macdonald ile Gabriel Sabloff oturuyor. Filmde Taylor James, Jackson Rathbone, Billy Zane, Rutger Hauer ve Caitlin Leahy rol alıyor. Eski Ahit’in akıllara kazınan kahramanı Samson, insanüstü güçlere sahip olan bir adamdır. Silah olarak kullandığı oyma bir kemik doğruca düşmanlarını darmaduman etmekte ve kimse onu durduramamaktadır. Olağandışı bu Tanrı vergisi armağanı, halkını köleleştirilmekten kurtarmak için kullanması gereken Samson’ın gençlik hırsı sonucu yaşadığı trajik bir evlilik, onu intikam amacıyla Filistin ordusu ile aleyhinde karşıya getirir. Kardeşi bir ayaklanma hazırlığındayken, sadece Samson’un Filistinli Delilah’a, Tanrı’ya ve Filistin’e boyun eğmesi, hapis ve körlüğü nihai zafere dönüştürecektir.

Tavşan Peter

Haftanın animasyon – komedi filmi olarak salonlardaki yerini bölge Tavşan Peter’ın yönetmenliğini, senaryosunu ve yapımcılığını Will Gluck üstleniyor. Oyuncu kadrosunda Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Sam Neill, Bernardo Santos ve Deborah Rock yer alırken tavşanları seslendirenler aralarında James Corden, Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley, Elizabeth Debicki ve Matt Lucas gibi meşhur isimler de bulunuyor. Senelerdir özgürce yaşadıkları doğal ortamlarına kurduğu bahçeyi bölgedeki başka canlılara kapatan Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) hayvanları fazla kızdırmıştır. Özellikle Tavşan Peter, öteki hayvanları da örgütleyerek McGregor’la müthiş bir rekabete girişecektir.

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Seven (Surprising) Discoveries at the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival

My eyes are still recovering from watching back-to-back movies from 9 am to midnight for days on end at the eighth annual TCM Classic Film Festival last week in Hollywood. But, eye strain aside, it is an exciting, joyous event for the thousands of classic movie lovers who come to town from all over the world for the festivities. I can’t even tell you how much I look forward to this four-day festival. Taking place in two historic 1920s movie palaces, Sid Grauman’s stunning Chinese and Egyptian theaters on Hollywood Boulevard, as well as the neighboring TCL Chinese Multiplex and a few presentations at the nearby Cinerama Dome, there are up to five concurrent presentations taking place in every time slot (totaling more than 100 films) over the course of the festival. Choosing what to see when there are so many great options is part of the agonizing fun.

I’ve attended every TCM Festival since it began in 2010 and this year’s was especially poignant following the death last month of the beloved TCM host and father figure Robert Osborne at the age of 84. Getting a chance to meet Osborne at the festival and hear him introduce films and interview the actors and filmmakers he knew so well was every bit as exciting as meeting our favorite stars. This year, the entire festival was dedicated to Robert Osborne and there were many tears at various remembrances. Also many laughs, as this year’s overall theme was comedy in the movies. Sadly, many of the people who attended the festival in years past are no longer with us. I have so many wonderful memories of hearing stars such as Debbie Reynolds, Tony Curtis, Maureen O’Hara, Luise Rainer, Mickey Rooney, Betty Garrett, Esther Williams, and so many others talk to us about their work. This year’s special guests included incredibly talented folks such as Carl and Rob Reiner (who became the first father and son to get their footprints immortalized in cement in the famous Grauman’s Chinese forecourt), Sidney Poitier, Genevieve Bujold, Michael Douglas, Peter Bognonavich, Lee Grant, Buck Henry, Keir Dullea, Richard Dreyfuss, Dick Cavett, Ruta Lee, and Mel Brooks. Taking up hosting duties in Robert Osborne’s absence were movie experts and TCM family members Ben Mankiewicz, Illeana Douglas, Cari Beauchamp, and Leonard Maltin, among others.

In addition to seeing great movies the way that should be seen and meeting some of the people who made them, one of the best parts of the festival is getting a chance to hang out with fellow movie lovers of all ages and from all walks of life. I have made many friendships at the festival which continue online throughout the year as we share notes and gab about our hopes for the next year’s offerings. The night before the festival, the online TCM group I am a part of gets together at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (site of the very first Academy Awards and the festival headquarters) and we often bring in a special guest. This year I interviewed the glamorous and talented Barbara Rush who regaled us for over an hour with stories of her amazing films and co-stars including Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, James Mason, Montgomery Clift, Richard Burton, Kirk Douglas, and many others. Barbara, who turned 90 in January, was so full of energy she was still going strong hours later across the street at Musso & Frank’s, holding court with an adoring crowd over dinner and sharing poignant stories of her close longtime friendship with Robert Osborne. I also got the chance to spend some time at our gathering with Cora Sue Collins, renowned child star of the 1930s who was handpicked by Greta Garbo to play Garbo as a child in Queen Christina (1933) and also appeared with the great Swedish star in Anna Karenina (1935). As a young girl, Cora Sue acted in many other well-known films such as Treasure Island (1934) with Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper and  Evelyn Prentice (1934) in which she played the daughter of Myrna Loy and William Powell. She so enjoyed visiting with us two years ago that she came back to see us this year and had a mini-reunion with Barbara Rush (Cora Sue had appeared in the 1935 version of Magnificent Obsession with Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor while Barbara was in the 1954 Douglas Sirk version of the story with Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson).

Sitting in movies from early morning until midnight for several days in a row is a thrilling treat that requires stamina and an understanding family, but I wish I could do it all over again just to see some of the films I missed at this year’s festival. Films such as Jezebel (1938), Born Yesterday (1950), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1967), Broadcast News (1987), Laura (1944), Twentieth Century (1934), The China Syndrome (1979), The Last Picture Show (1971), David and Lisa (1962), The Great Dictator (1940), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Theodora Goes Wild (1936), King of Hearts (1966), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Postcards from the Edge (1990), Casablanca (1942), and so many others. Oh, the pain! And yet I don’t regret ANY of my choices, from the films I’ve seen dozens of time to the new discoveries. Despite being a classic movie fanatic, there are some surprising holes in my movie repertoire — I can’t tell you how many times I heard my TCM friends exclaim, “You’ve NEVER seen The Awful Truth or The Palm Beach Story? What the hell is wrong with you?!” I can’t explain why I’ve missed some of the classics, especially when I’ve seen so many other films such as The Philadelphia Story, Meet Me in St. Louis, and All About Eve at least 50 times each. Here’s a rundown of seven films I saw at the festival this year for very first time (in alphabetical order so I don’t play favorites):

1. The Awful Truth (Columbia, 1937). Such utter joy with Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, and Ralph Bellamy at their screwball best. Leo McCarey won his first of three Oscars for this film (although he personally felt that he deserved it more for his drama that came out earlier that year, Make Way for Tomorrow, that screened at the 2014 festival). I have no idea how I missed The Awful Truth all these years but seeing it with a big audience on a huge screen was a great introduction and we all laughed ourselves silly at the story of Jerry and Lucy Warriner — a loving couple that splits up early in the film and then keep sabotaging each other’s relationships before their final divorce kicks in. Grant was reportedly very unhappy with McCarey’s directing style during this film, which included a fair amount of improvisation (rare for the 1930s), and tried to get off the film. Thank goodness he didn’t succeed since his performance set the stage for many of his best comedies to come including three more films (The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, and My Favorite Wife) that featured divorced couples who rediscover each other and fall back in love. The best screwball comedies always include a bunch of perfectly played smaller roles and here I’d like to call out Egyptian actor Alexander D’Arcy as Irene Dunne’s questionable companion, Armand Duvalle, and Joyce Compton as Cary Grant’s showgirl squeeze, Dixie Belle Lee. My favorite part of The Awful Truth may be when Irene Dunne crashes a party at the home of Grant’s new fiancée, heiress Barbara Vance, and poses as his gum-chewing sister, performing one of Dixie Lee’s risqué nightclub numbers we saw earlier. The film also features Nick and Nora Charles’ dog Asta in the key role of the Warriners’ pooch, Mr. Smith. Grant and Dunne would go on to co-star in two more great movies, My Favorite Wife (1940), and Penny Serenade (1941).

2. The Court Jester (Paramount, 1955). Danny Kaye seems to be an acquired taste, I’ve spoken to many classic movie fans who are lukewarm on Kaye and his films. As a young kid I loved Kaye’s TV variety show, and I remember enjoying him in perennial broadcasts of White Christmas and Hans Christian Anderson. But I approached this film with a fair amount of trepidation myself, I really didn’t know what to expect, and have to admit I was flabbergasted by how much I loved it. Seeing a glorious Technicolor restoration on the huge Grauman’s Chinese screen didn’t hurt, nor did the fascinating discussion of the film and Danny Kaye’s work between Illeana Douglas and actor Fred Willard (a huge Danny Kaye fan) before the screening. Kaye is just brilliant in the triple role (sorta) of Hubert Hawkins and his masquerade as Giacomo the Jester in order to gain entry into the royal palace so that he and his friends can reinstall the rightful heir to the throne, a baby with a telling birthmark on his butt, the “purple pimpernel.” Confused? Don’t worry, it’ll all make sense when you watch the crazy fun, including Kaye’s “third” role as a much more menacing Giacomo after he’s hypnotized by Griselda (Mildred Natwick). With beautiful Glynis Johns as Kaye’s fellow rebel and eventual love interest, Maid Jean, and a young and gorgeous Angela Lansbury as the recalcitrant Princess Gwendolyn who falls in love with the hypnotized Kaye, the film provides lots of color, music, and howls from beginning to end, especially with great actors such as Basil Rathbone, Cecil Parker, and John Carradine playing it completely straight during the nonsense. Danny Kaye’s particular style of wordplay is at its peak here: “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!”

3. Lady in the Dark (Paramount, 1944). Introduced by actress Rose McGowan, the final film I saw at the festival on Sunday night was a rare screening of the nitrate Technicolor print of Mitchell Leisen’s Lady in the Dark starring Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, Warner Baxter, and Jon Hall. To say that this is one CRAZY-ASS film is an understatement. Loosely based on the successful Moss Hart-directed Broadway musical of the same name with songs by Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill, the film stars Ginger Rogers as the no-nonsense editor-in-chief of Allure, a successful fashion magazine. The repressed Ginger is dating her older publisher (Baxter) despite the fact that his wife won’t give him a divorce and she is constantly battling with one of her top editors (Milland) in such an irritated way that you KNOW they will ultimately end up together. But poor overworked Ginger is plagued by strange nightmares (which we see in all their bizarre Technicolor glory) and is finally persuaded to visit a shrink (Barry Sullivan) who convinces her that something traumatic from her past is responsible for her decision to eschew all glamour and femininity (a ridiculous assertion given Ginger’s beauty and her allegedly “plain” clothes that any woman I know would kill for). Enter visiting hunky movie star Randy Curtis (Hall) who everyone in the magazine’s office (except for Ginger, of course) goes GAGA for, including the openly gay photographer (Mischa Auer in the part that made Danny Kaye a star on Broadway) and the male assistants at the magazine (I guess in 1944 it was okay to show male-to-male attraction in the context of employees at a fashion magazine). But Curtis only has eyes for Ginger, and her dreams take an even odder turn. The costumes in this film (by Edith Head, Raoul Pene du Bois, and Barbara Karinska) are miles over-the-top, including a bejeweled mink-lined number (now in the Smithsonian) that was so heavy Ginger needed a second, lighter version of it made for the dance sequence. What this movie says about psychotherapy, femininity, and relationships is so outrageous and politically incorrect that one friend of mine at the screening immediately pronounced the film “monstrous.” But it is fascinating time capsule of another time and place, and definitely worth seeing even though it’s so weird I now feel like I may need a visit with Rogers’ psychiatrist.

4. Love Crazy (MGM, 1941). This was the first film I saw at this year’s festival, introduced by the wonderful actress Dana Delany who is a classic movie lover and has appeared with Robert Osborne on TCM. And what’s a comedy-themed film festival without William Powell and Myrna Loy? This was the tenth of fourteen films the two made together (including the six Thin Man films) and one of the few I’d never seen. In true screwball style, Powell and Loy play the married Steve and Susan Ireland, a deliriously happy couple celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary until Susan’s overbearing mother (Florence Bates) arrives to mess up everything. Next thing we know, Powell runs into his old girlfriend (the beautiful and snide Gail Patrick, a favorite of mine in Stage Door and My Man Godfrey) who has just moved into their swanky apartment building. Alas, a series of zany misunderstandings involving Patrick, her husband, and a random neighbor who is a world champion archer (Jack Carson) lead to Powell and Loy’s impending divorce. After a few additional escapades, the hapless Steve ends up being committed to a sanitarium by the City Lunacy Commission who mistakenly believe he is a homicidal maniac. We even get to see Powell in drag when, hiding from the police, he disguises himself as his own sister (which forced the actor to temporarily shave off his signature mustache). I know I don’t need to tell you that Powell and Loy eventually come to their senses and continue on in wedded bliss. The film, directed by underrated MGM director Jack Conway, includes some funny inside jokes such as a drunken William Powell singing “It’s Delightful to Be Married” at the beginning of the film,  a song sung by his on-screen wife Luise Rainer several years earlier in The Great Ziegfeld.

5. The Palm Beach Story (Paramount, 1942). Of all of my discoveries at this year’s festival, it’s especially hard to believe that I had never seen this film, given my love of Preston Sturges and every single member of the glittering cast. I’m happy to say that the movie surpassed my high expectations and immediately leapfrogged to my list of all-time favorites. Preceded by a discussion between film scholar Cari Beauchamp and Wyatt McCrea, star Joel McCrea’s oldest grandchild, we were also introduced to several of Mary Astor’s great-grandchildren who were present at the screening, including Andrew Yang who wrote the foreword to the fascinating book I just finished reading, The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s by Joseph Egan. In the brilliant comedy, McCrea and Claudette Colbert play Tom and Gerry Jeffers, a married couple in New York that is down on their luck financially — way down. I don’t even want to explain the rest of the plot because if you’ve never seen the film it will be fun to come to it fresh as I did, but let’s just call out a few of the crazy folks that McCrea and Colbert come into contact with during their adventures, from the Wienie King (Robert Dudley) to clueless zillionaire John D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee) who wants to shower Colbert with riches, to Hackensacker’s eccentric sister, The Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor) who wants to do the same to McCrea. Carole Lombard was originally slated for this film before her tragic death in a plane crash that year, but Colbert does a brilliant job in the role. Astor was apparently insecure about her comedy chops and terrified that she wasn’t giving Sturges what he wanted, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s one of the best things in the film. The Palm Beach Story is a delightful antidote to Palm Beach’s current place in our consciousness as the home of Mar-a-Lago.

6. Rafter Romance (RKO, 1933). It’s always great fun to see pre-code films at the festival, those films that were made in the early 1930s before the Motion Picture Production Code put an end to many of the risqué plot lines that were once commonplace in the movies. The rarely seen Rafter Romance starring a young Ginger Rogers (just before she was first teamed with Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio) was a wonderful example of all that pre-codes have to offer. Caught up in a copyright battle for decades, our host Leonard Maltin explained that this was one of the first public screenings of the film since its release in 1933. Ginger plays a young woman who moves to New York to find a job but is having a terrible time making ends meet. Her landlord, Max Eckbaum (George Sidney, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary who was the uncle of the younger George Sidney, a director of many musicals including another of this year’s festival offerings, Bye Bye Birdie), suggests a solution. Ginger can share an apartment with another tenant in his building, a man she doesn’t know who is an artist but works as a night watchman so they will never be around at the same time. But that doesn’t keep the two from endlessly fighting via sharply worded notes left around the apartment. Of course confusion and hijinks ensue when the two meet, unaware that they are each other’s hated co-tenant. Added to the mix are Robert Benchley as Ginger’s lecherous boss and Laura Hope Crews (years before she appeared in Gone With the Wind as Scarlett’s Aunt Pittypat) as Foster’s sex-starved art patron. One interesting thing that Maltin pointed out to us was how, in addition to changes in language and depictions of sex, the dreaded Production Code also curtailed the existence of ethnic characters in mainstream movies to a large extent, such as the character of Ginger’s Jewish landlord and his Yiddish-speaking wife (played by Ferike Boros who nevertheless appeared in small parts in several subsequent Ginger Rogers films including Bachelor Mother, Fifth Avenue Girl, and Once Upon a Honeymoon).

7. Red-Headed Woman (MGM, 1932). Historian and author Cari Beauchamp introduced us to another delicious pre-code that I’d never seen, the fabulous Jean Harlow vehicle, Red-Headed Woman, directed by Love Crazy’s Jack Conway. This one is so out there and provocative it makes Rafter Romance look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. With a sizzling screenplay by Anita Loos (Gentleman Prefer Blondes), Jean Harlow plays “Lil” Andrews, a woman who will do anything to get ahead — and I mean anything. She seduces her married boss (Chester Morris), causing him to divorce his devoted wife (Leila Hymans) who he really loves only to eventually throw him over for one of her new husband’s even richer clients (Henry Stephenson). The beloved character actress Una Merkel (whose opening credit elicited as much applause as Harlow’s in our classic movie-obsessed crowd) stands by Jean throughout the film, even during Lil’s dangerous affair with her poor but sexy French chauffeur (a young and almost unrecognizable Charles Boyer). Only someone with the incredible warmth, charm, beauty, and screen presence of 21-year-old Jean Harlow could make us root for a character that, when you think about it, is completely devoid of any human decency. Once the Production Code took full effect, someone who caused such destruction to so many lives would never be allowed to get away with it. But in 1932, she does, and I found myself cheering the surprising happy ending for the unrepentant but hugely charismatic Harlow. So tragic that the actress would die just five years later at the age of 26. Considering she’s been gone for a whopping 80 years, her impact on audiences, even today, is pretty remarkable.

Lots more great films this year, I could go on indefinitely. Is it too soon to start obsessing about next year’s festival? Being the total movie geek that I am, one of my proudest moments this year was realizing the close family connection between actors in two wildly different films that were made decades apart. Remember the Jewish landlords in 1933’s Rafter Romance? Their son, Julius Eckbaum, was played by young actor Sidney Miller. Sidney is the father of actor Barry Miller who I saw as Bobby C. in the screening of 1977’s Saturday Night Fever (with director John Badham and actress Donna Pescow in attendance). Can you believe the close resemblance between father and son? See you next year at the movies!

[citizenscreen]

Welcome to 2017!

I approach this year with more than a little trepidation, but that doesn’t stop me from looking forward to delicious distractions and exciting new experiences. For instance, the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival is fast approaching, which means I’ll be reunited with film friends from across the globe. There are exciting movie-related sites to visit and Rob, Annmarie and I have some fun stuff in store at Classic Movies and More. Of course – and thankfully – there are old movies to discover as well.

As the new year opens I’m purposefully looking for reasons to celebrate – perhaps to distract me from the endless stream of bad news – so I thought I’d start things off with galleries of movies that were released 100, 75 and 50 years ago. I hope you enjoy perusing the images and noting which of the movies you’d like to be introduced to this year. I have my fingers crossed that we get the opportunity to see some on the big screen. We already know the TCM/Fathom Big Screen Classics Series has a terrific lot scheduled for 2017, but keep your eyes and ears peeled for other local screenings as the year progresses. If you’re in the NYC area I suggest you visit Nitrate Stock wherein you can find a comprehensive calendar of classic film screenings in the metropolitan area.

Anyway – enjoy the galleries of notable films celebrating milestone anniversaries this year and accept my best wishes for a wonderful year and the hope that we all remain forever classic.

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Celebrating 100 Years (notable 1917 releases)

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Directed by J. Gordon Edwards and presented by William Fox it was Cleopatra starring Theda Barra that held the top spot at the box office for 1917.

Check out 1917 in Film by Marsha at A Person in the Dark for more box office winners as well as the happenings of 100 years ago. Then visit Cliff at Immortal Ephemera who offers the results of Motion Picture Weekly’s poll, Who’s Your Favorite Movie Star? of 1917. Also, in a few days I’ll be posting the first Friday Foto Follies of 2017, which will be dedicated to movie notables celebrating centennials this year.

  Celebrating 75 Years (notable 1942 releases)

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Mrs. Miniver topped the box office in 1942.

Since I adore the 1940s a complete post dedicated to 1942 is in order, but I want to mention at least a few of the people we lost and gained that year. Among those we lost are Carole Lombard, John Barrymore, May Robson, George M. Cohan and Edna May Oliver. Some of the notables who made their film debuts in 1942 are David Lean (first directorial credit), Richard Attenborough, Anne Jeffreys, Gene Kelly, Harry Morgan, Simon Signoret, Elizabeth Taylor and Esther Williams.

  Celebrating 50 Years (notable 1967 releases)

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Also check out this list at Classic Sci-Fi Movies for the 1967 releases in that genre.

We lost several significant greats in 1967. Among them are Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Spencer Tracy, Paula Muni, Basil Rathbone and Jayne Mansfield.

I don’t want to leave you on a sad note though so here are a few tidbits certain to give you a hearty laugh and set you on your path to a terrific year:

In 1967…

The average cost of a new house was $14,250.00 – the average yearly income was $7,300.00 – the average monthly rent was $125.00 – gas cost 33 cents per gallon – a new car averaged $2,750.00  – a movie ticket cost $1.25.

Actually…maybe that’s not so funny.

Welcome 2017 with Movies Celebrating 100th, 75th and 50th Anniversaries Welcome to 2017! I approach this year with more than a little trepidation, but that doesn't stop me from looking forward to delicious distractions and exciting new experiences.