Years in the making! The glory of MGM on parade! Enough studio resources to film twenty pictures were expended on this paean to showman Florenz Ziegfeld. It’s really Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s Technicolor valentine to itself, showing off the studio’s enormous stable of musical talent, along with various of its comic performers. Arthur Freed and Louis B. Mayer’s notion of ‘something for everyone’ results in weird stack of grandiose musical numbers and mostly weak comedy. The biggest draw is the incredible color cinematography that peeks through in three or four jaw-droppingly elaborate musical spectacles. The picture is a workout to find the artistic limits of the Technicolor system.
Ziegfeld Follies
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 117 110 min. / Street Date June 15, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: (alphabetically): Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams. Also...
Ziegfeld Follies
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 117 110 min. / Street Date June 15, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: (alphabetically): Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams. Also...
- 7/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Carl Reiner, the writer, producer, director and actor who was part of Sid Caesar’s legendary team and went on to create “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and direct several hit films, has died. He was 98.
He died of natural causes on Monday night at his home in Beverly Hills, his assistant Judy Nagy confirmed to Variety.
Reiner, the father of filmmaker and activist Rob Reiner, was the winner of nine Emmy awards, including five for “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” His most popular films as a director included “Oh God,” starring George Burns, in 1977; “The Jerk,” with Steve Martin, in 1979; and “All of Me,” with Martin and Lily Tomlin, in 1984.
In his later years, Reiner was an elder statesman of comedy, revered and respected for his versatility as a performer and multi-hyphenate. He was also adept at social media. He maintained a lively presence on Twitter up until the last day of his life.
He died of natural causes on Monday night at his home in Beverly Hills, his assistant Judy Nagy confirmed to Variety.
Reiner, the father of filmmaker and activist Rob Reiner, was the winner of nine Emmy awards, including five for “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” His most popular films as a director included “Oh God,” starring George Burns, in 1977; “The Jerk,” with Steve Martin, in 1979; and “All of Me,” with Martin and Lily Tomlin, in 1984.
In his later years, Reiner was an elder statesman of comedy, revered and respected for his versatility as a performer and multi-hyphenate. He was also adept at social media. He maintained a lively presence on Twitter up until the last day of his life.
- 6/30/2020
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Eddy and Sid after a Master Class at Nyu, 2003. (Photo: Michael Doft)
Sid Caesar’s funeral service was held on Sunday afternoon, February 16 at a private ceremony in Los Angeles. Among the family and friends paying tribute was Sid’s biographer and friend, Cinema Retro’s Eddy Friedfeld, who co-authored Sid’s creative biography, Caesar’s Hours, published by Public Affairs in 2003.
What follows is the eulogy Eddy delivered before Sid's family, friends and colleagues.
Sid said that, like Isaac Newton, he stood on the shoulders of giants, his inspirations- Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy and W.C. Fields, who helped him develop his career and craft. Today, Sid, we stand on your shoulders- and celebrate your life, your art, your warmth, character, and friendship. You did things no one else could do and you inspired many others, including people in this room, to take the same artistic risks.
Sid Caesar’s funeral service was held on Sunday afternoon, February 16 at a private ceremony in Los Angeles. Among the family and friends paying tribute was Sid’s biographer and friend, Cinema Retro’s Eddy Friedfeld, who co-authored Sid’s creative biography, Caesar’s Hours, published by Public Affairs in 2003.
What follows is the eulogy Eddy delivered before Sid's family, friends and colleagues.
Sid said that, like Isaac Newton, he stood on the shoulders of giants, his inspirations- Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy and W.C. Fields, who helped him develop his career and craft. Today, Sid, we stand on your shoulders- and celebrate your life, your art, your warmth, character, and friendship. You did things no one else could do and you inspired many others, including people in this room, to take the same artistic risks.
- 2/23/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Los Angeles – It’s a pioneering TV show practically lost to history. Sid Caesar hosted and performed in “Your Show of Shows,” a 90 minute live 1950s sketch comedy program, and also helped to launch a who’s who of 20th Century comedy. Coming out of his writer’s rooms were such comic greats as Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner and Woody Allen. Sid Caesar died February 12th at his home near Los Angeles, according to a newsfeed from Larry King on Twitter.
Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca in ‘Your Show of Shows’
Photo credit: New Video
Sid Caesar emerged as one of televisions first big stars – along with his show partner Imogene Coca – after he was launched in “Your Show of Shows” in 1950, and the series lasted four legendary seasons with a mix of vaudeville style comedy and TV/movie satires. Brooks, Simon (and his brother Danny...
Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca in ‘Your Show of Shows’
Photo credit: New Video
Sid Caesar emerged as one of televisions first big stars – along with his show partner Imogene Coca – after he was launched in “Your Show of Shows” in 1950, and the series lasted four legendary seasons with a mix of vaudeville style comedy and TV/movie satires. Brooks, Simon (and his brother Danny...
- 2/13/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Emmy-winning comedy legend Sid Caesar, best known for his weekly live TV broadcast Your Show of Shows in the '50s and such films as Grease and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, has died. He was 91.
Emmy-winning comedy legend Sid Caesar, best known for his weekly live TV broadcast Your Show of Shows in the '50s and such films as Grease and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, has died. He was 91.
Pics: Actors Who Almost Got the Part
Born September 8, 1922 in Yonkers, NY, Caesar pioneered sketch comedy with partner Imogene Coca on the 90-minute Your Show of Shows (with the help of comedy writers that eventually made names for themselves, including Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen), later renamed Caesar's Hour, and then with his own special, The Sid Caesar Show. The next 20 years of his career were unfortunately marred by alcoholism and pills, a "20-year...
Emmy-winning comedy legend Sid Caesar, best known for his weekly live TV broadcast Your Show of Shows in the '50s and such films as Grease and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, has died. He was 91.
Pics: Actors Who Almost Got the Part
Born September 8, 1922 in Yonkers, NY, Caesar pioneered sketch comedy with partner Imogene Coca on the 90-minute Your Show of Shows (with the help of comedy writers that eventually made names for themselves, including Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen), later renamed Caesar's Hour, and then with his own special, The Sid Caesar Show. The next 20 years of his career were unfortunately marred by alcoholism and pills, a "20-year...
- 2/12/2014
- Entertainment Tonight
Sid Caesar, the deft side-splitter who helped establish the new medium of television as he also established himself as a comedy legend, has died. He was 91. "He had not been well for a while. He was getting weak," family spokesman Eddy Friedfeld told the Associated Press. With a deceptively simple philosophy of humor - "I don't take myself too seriously," he told People in 1989. "I just laugh at myself a lot and call myself a dummy" - Isaac Sidney Caesar had been eliciting laughs since the Great Depression, when he mimicked the accents of customers who came into his Russian-Jewish...
- 2/12/2014
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
Here's a sample line from writer/actor/director/comedian Woody Allen's 1965 resume, per Showbiz Imagery and Chicanery: "My hobbies are not drinking and avoiding sex."
Supposedly hailing from the files of his former press agent, Max Liebman, the witty 1965 typewritten document details 30-year-old Allen's impressive career thus far, which at the time already included numerous TV writing gigs, stand-up performances, and one movie script: the 1965 comedy "What's New Pussycat."
It also expresses his determination to write, direct, and star in his own work: "I am not interested in writing any movies that I would not be in heavily (star or co-star in, is what I mean) and would not do adaptations for anyone in any medium because I am only interested in writing originals under any conditions," he states. The following year, Allen would co-direct his first movie, "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" -- and as we all know, he never looked back.
Supposedly hailing from the files of his former press agent, Max Liebman, the witty 1965 typewritten document details 30-year-old Allen's impressive career thus far, which at the time already included numerous TV writing gigs, stand-up performances, and one movie script: the 1965 comedy "What's New Pussycat."
It also expresses his determination to write, direct, and star in his own work: "I am not interested in writing any movies that I would not be in heavily (star or co-star in, is what I mean) and would not do adaptations for anyone in any medium because I am only interested in writing originals under any conditions," he states. The following year, Allen would co-direct his first movie, "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" -- and as we all know, he never looked back.
- 8/17/2013
- by Laura Larson
- Moviefone
The Sopranos was named the best-written show in television history by the Writers Guild of America, edging out an eclectic collection of some of the most beloved and admired series. Members of the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) voted online for the 101 Best Written TV Series, with David Chase’s iconic “family” drama topping Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H*.
“At their core, all of these wonderful series began with the words of the writers who created them and were sustained by the writers...
“At their core, all of these wonderful series began with the words of the writers who created them and were sustained by the writers...
- 6/3/2013
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside TV
Mel Brooks: Comedy As The Currency Of Friendship
By Eddy Friedfeld
(Photo copyright Steven R. Stack)
Mel Brooks is profiled in a superb American Masters documentary entitled Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, which premieres nationally on PBS stations on May 20th. One of 14 Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winners, he has earned more major awards than any other living entertainer, and shows few signs of slowing down. With new interviews with Brooks, his friends and colleagues, including Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman, Joan Rivers, Tracey Ullman, Rob Reiner, and his close friend, with whom he created The 2000 Year Old Man, Carl Reiner. A DVD with bonus material will be available Tuesday, May 21 from Shout Factory.
"When they called me to say I had been chosen as the next 'American Master,' I thought they said I was chosen to be the next Dutch Master. So I figured what the hell,...
By Eddy Friedfeld
(Photo copyright Steven R. Stack)
Mel Brooks is profiled in a superb American Masters documentary entitled Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, which premieres nationally on PBS stations on May 20th. One of 14 Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winners, he has earned more major awards than any other living entertainer, and shows few signs of slowing down. With new interviews with Brooks, his friends and colleagues, including Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman, Joan Rivers, Tracey Ullman, Rob Reiner, and his close friend, with whom he created The 2000 Year Old Man, Carl Reiner. A DVD with bonus material will be available Tuesday, May 21 from Shout Factory.
"When they called me to say I had been chosen as the next 'American Master,' I thought they said I was chosen to be the next Dutch Master. So I figured what the hell,...
- 5/17/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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