Dean Smith, who won a gold medal as a sprinter at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics before becoming a top-notch Hollywood stunt performer who worked on a dozen films starring John Wayne, has died. He was 91.
Smith died Saturday at his home in Breckenridge, Texas, after a battle with cancer, his friend Rob Word told The Hollywood Reporter.
Smith, who got into the business with help from James Garner, appeared in seven Paul Newman films, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), The Sting (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974).
The tough Texan, who loved to say he could “ride, run and jump,” doubled for good friend Dale Robertson on the 1957-62 NBC series Tales of Wells Fargo, the 1964 film Blood on the Arrow and the 1966-68 ABC series Iron Horse.
He also did the dirty work for Ben Johnson...
Smith died Saturday at his home in Breckenridge, Texas, after a battle with cancer, his friend Rob Word told The Hollywood Reporter.
Smith, who got into the business with help from James Garner, appeared in seven Paul Newman films, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), The Sting (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974).
The tough Texan, who loved to say he could “ride, run and jump,” doubled for good friend Dale Robertson on the 1957-62 NBC series Tales of Wells Fargo, the 1964 film Blood on the Arrow and the 1966-68 ABC series Iron Horse.
He also did the dirty work for Ben Johnson...
- 6/25/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chicago – When the envelope was opened, containing the name of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards earlier this month, it was veteran actor Jamie Lee Curtis who won the honor. She brought down the house with her memorable “we just won an Oscar” speech.
She tearfully finished with “ … and my mother [Janet Leigh] and my father [Tony Curtis], who were both nominated in different categories, I just won an Oscar.”
Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com has captured both Jamie Lee Curtis and Tony Curtis in his lens, with the Exclusive Portrait of Jamie Lee from 2004 published for the first time. Tony Curtis was photographed during his last trip to Chicago in 2009. He passed away in 2010.
Jamie Lee Curtis in Chicago, circa 2004
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of Hollywood “It” couple Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis,...
She tearfully finished with “ … and my mother [Janet Leigh] and my father [Tony Curtis], who were both nominated in different categories, I just won an Oscar.”
Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com has captured both Jamie Lee Curtis and Tony Curtis in his lens, with the Exclusive Portrait of Jamie Lee from 2004 published for the first time. Tony Curtis was photographed during his last trip to Chicago in 2009. He passed away in 2010.
Jamie Lee Curtis in Chicago, circa 2004
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of Hollywood “It” couple Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis,...
- 3/27/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The fabulous director, writer, and producer Sam Irvin has released his 4th book I Was a Teenage Monster Hunter!
Best known for his cult classic films Elvira’s Haunted Hills and Guilty as Charged, and co-executive producer of the Oscar-winning film Gods and Monsters, Irvin has made a name for himself as a director in the genre he loves most, horror.
In Irvin’s latest book, which is his most personal, I Was a Teenage Monster Hunter! uniquely combines his exciting cinematic adventures, self-discovery, and documenting horror history through his self-published horror fanzine Bizarre. Though Bizarre only lasted four issues, they are an amazing time capsule filled with interviews with horror royalty, from Vincent Price to Christopher Lee, with the book’s forward from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark aka Cassandra Peterson.
Alongside the complete interviews and reviews of Bizarre, Irvin also includes the surprisingly fascinating behind-the-scenes stories revolving around...
Best known for his cult classic films Elvira’s Haunted Hills and Guilty as Charged, and co-executive producer of the Oscar-winning film Gods and Monsters, Irvin has made a name for himself as a director in the genre he loves most, horror.
In Irvin’s latest book, which is his most personal, I Was a Teenage Monster Hunter! uniquely combines his exciting cinematic adventures, self-discovery, and documenting horror history through his self-published horror fanzine Bizarre. Though Bizarre only lasted four issues, they are an amazing time capsule filled with interviews with horror royalty, from Vincent Price to Christopher Lee, with the book’s forward from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark aka Cassandra Peterson.
Alongside the complete interviews and reviews of Bizarre, Irvin also includes the surprisingly fascinating behind-the-scenes stories revolving around...
- 2/23/2023
- by Justina Bonilla
- DailyDead
Blake Edwards directed Breakfast at Tiffany´s back in 1961, an iconic film and wardrobe that turned Audrey Hepburn into one of the most memorable figures of the History of Films.
Based on the novel by Truman Capote.
Storyline
A young girl from New York seeking luxury everywhere, falls in love with her neighbor. Together, they live a strange relationship that is a battle from within and from outside.
Movie Review
We cannot (and do not) separate the iconic nature of this film, of the “real” New York, the one (they say) existed. No, today there is nothing left of it. There is nothing left of the elegance, that bittersweet joy of a joyful and bitter portrayal of capitalism.
The novel is by Truman Capote. He wrote this one (which is not so famous) and In Cold Blood. He knew what he was talking about: he loved parties, luxury… and ended...
Based on the novel by Truman Capote.
Storyline
A young girl from New York seeking luxury everywhere, falls in love with her neighbor. Together, they live a strange relationship that is a battle from within and from outside.
Movie Review
We cannot (and do not) separate the iconic nature of this film, of the “real” New York, the one (they say) existed. No, today there is nothing left of it. There is nothing left of the elegance, that bittersweet joy of a joyful and bitter portrayal of capitalism.
The novel is by Truman Capote. He wrote this one (which is not so famous) and In Cold Blood. He knew what he was talking about: he loved parties, luxury… and ended...
- 2/5/2023
- by Martin Cid
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky joins Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss his favorite silent sequences from great movies.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Infested (2002)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Apocalypse Now (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – John Badham’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray reviews
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Birds (1963) – Eli Roth’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray reviews
Conan The Barbarian (1982)
Conan The Destroyer (1984)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
The Party (1968) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary
The Pink Panther...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Infested (2002)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Apocalypse Now (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – John Badham’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray reviews
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Birds (1963) – Eli Roth’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray reviews
Conan The Barbarian (1982)
Conan The Destroyer (1984)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
The Party (1968) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary
The Pink Panther...
- 9/13/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Natalie Wood was the former child actress who racked up three Oscar nominations before she was 25, Wood’s life ended in a tragedy that often overshadows her movie career. Yet many of her titles remain classics, so let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1938 in San Francisco, Wood snagged her first starring role when she was just nine years old in the holiday classic “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), playing a precocious girl who tugs on Santa Claus’ beard. She earned her first Oscar nomination when she was 17 for the juvenile delinquent drama “Rebel Without a Cause” (Best Supporting Actress in 1955), which made an icon out of James Dean, who died before its release. Wood added two more Best Actress bids to her resume with the romantic melodramas “Splendor in the Grass” (1961) and “Love with the Proper Stranger” (1963).
Though she never won an Academy Award,...
Born in 1938 in San Francisco, Wood snagged her first starring role when she was just nine years old in the holiday classic “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), playing a precocious girl who tugs on Santa Claus’ beard. She earned her first Oscar nomination when she was 17 for the juvenile delinquent drama “Rebel Without a Cause” (Best Supporting Actress in 1955), which made an icon out of James Dean, who died before its release. Wood added two more Best Actress bids to her resume with the romantic melodramas “Splendor in the Grass” (1961) and “Love with the Proper Stranger” (1963).
Though she never won an Academy Award,...
- 7/14/2022
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Larry Storch, the comedic character actor who also did voiceover work and impressions and was best known for his role as Corporal Randolph Agarn on “F Troop,” has died. He was 99.
His family released a statement on his Facebook page, saying, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share with you the news our beloved Larry passed away in his sleep overnight. We are shocked and at a loss for words at the moment. Please remember he loved each and every one of you and wouldn’t want you to cry over his passing. He is reunited with his wife Norma and his beloved F Troop cast and so many friends and family.”
Storch was a familiar face on TV shows throughout the 1960s and ’70s — he starred in the 1970s children’s show “The Ghost Busters” and appeared on “The Love Boat” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” On “Married…...
His family released a statement on his Facebook page, saying, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share with you the news our beloved Larry passed away in his sleep overnight. We are shocked and at a loss for words at the moment. Please remember he loved each and every one of you and wouldn’t want you to cry over his passing. He is reunited with his wife Norma and his beloved F Troop cast and so many friends and family.”
Storch was a familiar face on TV shows throughout the 1960s and ’70s — he starred in the 1970s children’s show “The Ghost Busters” and appeared on “The Love Boat” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” On “Married…...
- 7/8/2022
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Larry Storch, the manic comic actor who starred as the bumbling sidekick Corporal Randolph Agarn on the 1960s ABC sitcom F Troop, has died. He was 99.
Storch, who got his start as a stand-up comic, did impressions and voiced the all-knowing Phineas J. Whoopee on the classic cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, died early Friday morning of natural causes in his apartment on the Upper West Side of New York, his personal manager, Matt Beckoff, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“If I told you how nice he was, you wouldn’t believe it,” Beckoff said.
Storch was great friends with Tony Curtis — a fellow New Yorker whom he met when they served aboard a submarine tender in the U.S. Navy — and they appeared together in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), Who Was That Lady? (1960), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), Sex...
Larry Storch, the manic comic actor who starred as the bumbling sidekick Corporal Randolph Agarn on the 1960s ABC sitcom F Troop, has died. He was 99.
Storch, who got his start as a stand-up comic, did impressions and voiced the all-knowing Phineas J. Whoopee on the classic cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, died early Friday morning of natural causes in his apartment on the Upper West Side of New York, his personal manager, Matt Beckoff, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“If I told you how nice he was, you wouldn’t believe it,” Beckoff said.
Storch was great friends with Tony Curtis — a fellow New Yorker whom he met when they served aboard a submarine tender in the U.S. Navy — and they appeared together in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), Who Was That Lady? (1960), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), Sex...
- 7/8/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Idw Publishing’s “The Rocketeer: The Great Race” #1, now available, is written by Stephen Mooney and illustrated by Gabriel RodrÃguez, with covers by Gabriel RodrÃguez and Stephen Mooney:
“… stunt pilot ‘Cliff Secord’ has returned from his New York Adventure to a West Coast steeped in paranoia over the looming war in Europe. Having finally had enough of his near-death scrapes as the high-flying ‘Rocketeer’, the only thing in Cliff's crosshairs is ‘The Great Race’: a prestigious, winner-take-all air race that runs from California to France.
“ Maybe it's finally time to smarten up and fly straight . . . by taking his best girl ‘Betty’ to Paris. But other parties want to win the race for their own nefarious ends and Cliff will need to decide which prize is truly the most valuable of all…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
“… stunt pilot ‘Cliff Secord’ has returned from his New York Adventure to a West Coast steeped in paranoia over the looming war in Europe. Having finally had enough of his near-death scrapes as the high-flying ‘Rocketeer’, the only thing in Cliff's crosshairs is ‘The Great Race’: a prestigious, winner-take-all air race that runs from California to France.
“ Maybe it's finally time to smarten up and fly straight . . . by taking his best girl ‘Betty’ to Paris. But other parties want to win the race for their own nefarious ends and Cliff will need to decide which prize is truly the most valuable of all…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 4/6/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Joel Bender, an editor, director, writer and producer who directed “Karla” and “Gas Pump Girls,” died in his sleep due to natural causes on April 24, his wife confirmed to Variety. He was 72.
Throughout his career, Bender directed 11 independent features and numerous episodes of TV shows. He edited over 20 feature films, including “Karla,” “Italian Ties,” “Bad Guys,” “Vlad,” “The Runnin’ Kind” and “The Cursed,” and TV shows such as “The Great Race,” “Survivor” and “Power Rangers.”
Bender was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended the School of the Visual Arts, where he made award-winning short films at the age of 19. He worked as an assistant to film historian William K. Iverson, and when his school sent him to exhibit his films at The Film Theatre in London, Bender met and befriended director Abraham Polonsky.
While in London, Bender connected with November Books to publish a book about notable film directors.
Throughout his career, Bender directed 11 independent features and numerous episodes of TV shows. He edited over 20 feature films, including “Karla,” “Italian Ties,” “Bad Guys,” “Vlad,” “The Runnin’ Kind” and “The Cursed,” and TV shows such as “The Great Race,” “Survivor” and “Power Rangers.”
Bender was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended the School of the Visual Arts, where he made award-winning short films at the age of 19. He worked as an assistant to film historian William K. Iverson, and when his school sent him to exhibit his films at The Film Theatre in London, Bender met and befriended director Abraham Polonsky.
While in London, Bender connected with November Books to publish a book about notable film directors.
- 5/7/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
“Accentuate the positive and camouflage the rest,” were words legendary designer Edith Head lived by. Crafting wardrobes for stars including Grace Kelly, Tippi Hedren, Bette Davis and Elizabeth Taylor, Head was the mastermind for Audrey Hepburn’s iconic look in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” along with dress designer Hubert de Givenchy.
With 35 Academy Award nominations, Head, born on Oct. 28, 1897, remains the most lauded female Oscar contender. Her creativity and use of color and texture continue to resonate with designers today.
Costume designer Avery Plewes, who worked on “The Craft: Legacy,” ranks Head-designed movies “Sweet Charity” and “What a Way to Go!” as some of her all-time favorites for costumes. “There is an irreverence with her use of color that you rarely see,” says Plewes, “There is a fearlessness that I learned from her films. I often question whether my ideas go too far, and her work taught me to always try the crazy idea.
With 35 Academy Award nominations, Head, born on Oct. 28, 1897, remains the most lauded female Oscar contender. Her creativity and use of color and texture continue to resonate with designers today.
Costume designer Avery Plewes, who worked on “The Craft: Legacy,” ranks Head-designed movies “Sweet Charity” and “What a Way to Go!” as some of her all-time favorites for costumes. “There is an irreverence with her use of color that you rarely see,” says Plewes, “There is a fearlessness that I learned from her films. I often question whether my ideas go too far, and her work taught me to always try the crazy idea.
- 10/28/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
by Nathaniel R
Year of the Julies: Andrews and Christie dominated both the Oscars and the box office
The Supporting Actress Smackdown 1965 Episode arrives on October 9th, so you have until October 8th to watch the four movies and vote on them. Let's talk context...
Great Big Box Office Hits: 1)The Sound of Music 2) Doctor Zhivago 3) Thunderball 4) Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 5) The Great Race 6) That Darn Cat 7) Cat Ballou 8) What's New Pussycat? 9) Shenandoah 10) Von Ryan's Express
Oscar's Best Pictures: The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago (10 noms / 5 wins each) led by the two Julies, battled it out at the Oscars The other Best Picture nominees were Ship of Fools (8 noms / 2 wins), Darling (5 noms / 3 wins) another Julie Christie vehicle, and A Thousand Clowns (4 noms / 1 win). But what would have been nominated if the Best Picture race were 10 wide...
Year of the Julies: Andrews and Christie dominated both the Oscars and the box office
The Supporting Actress Smackdown 1965 Episode arrives on October 9th, so you have until October 8th to watch the four movies and vote on them. Let's talk context...
Great Big Box Office Hits: 1)The Sound of Music 2) Doctor Zhivago 3) Thunderball 4) Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 5) The Great Race 6) That Darn Cat 7) Cat Ballou 8) What's New Pussycat? 9) Shenandoah 10) Von Ryan's Express
Oscar's Best Pictures: The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago (10 noms / 5 wins each) led by the two Julies, battled it out at the Oscars The other Best Picture nominees were Ship of Fools (8 noms / 2 wins), Darling (5 noms / 3 wins) another Julie Christie vehicle, and A Thousand Clowns (4 noms / 1 win). But what would have been nominated if the Best Picture race were 10 wide...
- 9/26/2020
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Warner Archive Collection continues its proud tradition of distributing the best of Warner Bros. Animation’s robust library of DC-based productions with the release of Legion of Superheroes: The Complete Series on Blu-rayTM starting July 14, 2020. The timing is fortuitous given the renewed interest on the DC Comics series now being written by superstar Brian Michael Bendis.
Presented in full 16×9 widescreen across three Blu-ray discs, Legion of Superheroes: The Complete Series includes all 26 episodes of the popular show, which aired on The CW from 2006-2008, as well as a pair of bonus features: the involving featurette “We Are Legion”; and an Exclusive Audio Commentary on the series’ heralded two-part finale, “Dark Victory, Parts One and Two,” with producer James Tucker, director Brandon Vietti and the voice of Saturn Girl, Kari Wahlgren.
Also now available for pre-order is Legion of Superheroes: The Complete Second Season on DVD.
One thousand years from now,...
Presented in full 16×9 widescreen across three Blu-ray discs, Legion of Superheroes: The Complete Series includes all 26 episodes of the popular show, which aired on The CW from 2006-2008, as well as a pair of bonus features: the involving featurette “We Are Legion”; and an Exclusive Audio Commentary on the series’ heralded two-part finale, “Dark Victory, Parts One and Two,” with producer James Tucker, director Brandon Vietti and the voice of Saturn Girl, Kari Wahlgren.
Also now available for pre-order is Legion of Superheroes: The Complete Second Season on DVD.
One thousand years from now,...
- 6/17/2020
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
The protracted chill between Moscow and the West might be putting a Cold War-style freeze on diplomatic relations globally, but all signs in recent years point toward a Russian film industry drawing closer to its counterparts across the world, with international co-productions steadily on the rise.
The Russian government’s announcement last year of a cash rebate of up to 40% signaled its intent to woo foreign producers to the country; so did a decision by the culture ministry to support Russian minority co-productions for the first time. “Something has changed, and we’re really happy that it’s changing now,” says producer Anna Gudkova.
Gudkova is the curator of the co-production section of the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, a virtual platform to present Russian projects to international buyers organized by Russian film promotion body Roskino. The event takes place June 8-15.
Not since the early 2010s has the Russian...
The Russian government’s announcement last year of a cash rebate of up to 40% signaled its intent to woo foreign producers to the country; so did a decision by the culture ministry to support Russian minority co-productions for the first time. “Something has changed, and we’re really happy that it’s changing now,” says producer Anna Gudkova.
Gudkova is the curator of the co-production section of the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, a virtual platform to present Russian projects to international buyers organized by Russian film promotion body Roskino. The event takes place June 8-15.
Not since the early 2010s has the Russian...
- 6/7/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
“I feel that this documentary is definitive documentary of her life you know, and my book is the definitive deep dive into our relationship, but I also talk about the night she died and the sheriff’s department reopening the case, I get into that in the book as well, and I just think this narrative of fiction that has been peddled, it’s time for that to stop now.”
Those are the determined words of Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of the late Natalie Wood, in talking to me recently about her new film for which she is not only a producer but also an on-camera guide and interviewer in exploring the career, life and yes death of her famous mother, who died at age 43 while on a weekend boating excursion to Catalina Island in late November 1981. That mysterious death, in which Wood was found floating in the shallow surf,...
Those are the determined words of Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of the late Natalie Wood, in talking to me recently about her new film for which she is not only a producer but also an on-camera guide and interviewer in exploring the career, life and yes death of her famous mother, who died at age 43 while on a weekend boating excursion to Catalina Island in late November 1981. That mysterious death, in which Wood was found floating in the shallow surf,...
- 5/1/2020
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
If you’re a Natalie Wood fan, there is so much to appreciate about her — her flashing eyes, the no-nonsense immediacy of her acting. But if you ask what made her special, I think it had something to do with how she fused sensuality with a kind of sun-dazed warmth. It’s tempting to compare her to Donna Reed or Doris Day: middle-class beauties who enveloped you in their wholesomeness. Yet I also think of Natalie Wood the way I think of Elizabeth Taylor or Ann-Margret — as someone who could set a scene on fire.
I first discovered her, when I was eight years old, in a late-’60s trifle called “Penelope,” in which she played a kleptomaniac who kept changing costumes and identities. I was too young to realize that the movie was a goofy piece of late-studio-system whimsical trash, but I was so captivated by Wood that...
I first discovered her, when I was eight years old, in a late-’60s trifle called “Penelope,” in which she played a kleptomaniac who kept changing costumes and identities. I was too young to realize that the movie was a goofy piece of late-studio-system whimsical trash, but I was so captivated by Wood that...
- 2/1/2020
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
What can one say about a comedy that just limps along, even when an attractive cast does fine work every step of the way? Even the bit parts are creatively cast in this odd romp infected with a really bad case of The Cutes. Natalie Wood is at her best, but in service of dumb gags: let’s blow bubble gum bubbles! The result so upset Natalie that she ditched her studio contract. The roster of engaging talent includes Peter Falk (in suave leading man mode!), Dick Shawn (less grating than usual), Lila Kedrova & Lou Jacobi (showing real style), Jonathan Winters (wasted) and, of all people, Ian Bannen as Natalie Wood’s uncomprehending husband. Bannen is so good, he drags a real laugh or two from the material. The show has been beautifully remastered.
Penelope
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date January 26, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Natalie Wood,...
Penelope
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date January 26, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Natalie Wood,...
- 1/25/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Blake Edwards would’ve celebrated his 97th birthday on July 26, 2019. Though best known for his comedies, the Oscar-nominated director dipped his toes into a number of different genres throughout his career, including thrillers, musicals and westerns. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1922, Edwards got his start as an actor before becoming a writer for movies and television. He rose to prominence after creating the TV show “Peter Gunn,” which starred Craig Stevens as a super-stylish detective. The series brought Edwards Emmy nominations for writing and directing in 1959.
He enjoyed his greatest big screen successes with the “Pink Panther” series, featuring Peter Sellers as bumbling French detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The films established Edwards as a master of physical comedy and sight gags, which his leading man was more than capable of delivering. The two...
Born in 1922, Edwards got his start as an actor before becoming a writer for movies and television. He rose to prominence after creating the TV show “Peter Gunn,” which starred Craig Stevens as a super-stylish detective. The series brought Edwards Emmy nominations for writing and directing in 1959.
He enjoyed his greatest big screen successes with the “Pink Panther” series, featuring Peter Sellers as bumbling French detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The films established Edwards as a master of physical comedy and sight gags, which his leading man was more than capable of delivering. The two...
- 7/26/2019
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Blake Edwards would’ve celebrated his 97th birthday on July 26, 2019. Though best known for his comedies, the Oscar-nominated director dipped his toes into a number of different genres throughout his career, including thrillers, musicals and westerns. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1922, Edwards got his start as an actor before becoming a writer for movies and television. He rose to prominence after creating the TV show “Peter Gunn,” which starred Craig Stevens as a super-stylish detective. The series brought Edwards Emmy nominations for writing and directing in 1959.
SEEJulie Andrews movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best
He enjoyed his greatest big screen successes with the “Pink Panther” series, featuring Peter Sellers as bumbling French detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The films established Edwards as a master of physical comedy and sight gags, which his...
Born in 1922, Edwards got his start as an actor before becoming a writer for movies and television. He rose to prominence after creating the TV show “Peter Gunn,” which starred Craig Stevens as a super-stylish detective. The series brought Edwards Emmy nominations for writing and directing in 1959.
SEEJulie Andrews movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best
He enjoyed his greatest big screen successes with the “Pink Panther” series, featuring Peter Sellers as bumbling French detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The films established Edwards as a master of physical comedy and sight gags, which his...
- 7/26/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Natalie Wood would’ve celebrated her 81st birthday on July 20, 2019. A former child actress who racked up three Oscar nominations before she was 25, Wood’s life ended in a tragedy that often overshadows her movie career. Yet many of her titles remain classics, so in honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1938 in San Francisco, Wood snagged her first starring role when she was just nine years old in the holiday classic “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), playing a precocious girl who tugs on Santa Claus’ beard. She earned her first Oscar nomination when she was 17 for the juvenile delinquent drama “Rebel Without a Cause” (Best Supporting Actress in 1955), which made an icon out of James Dean, who died before its release. Wood added two more Best Actress bids to her resume with the romantic melodramas “Splendor in the Grass...
Born in 1938 in San Francisco, Wood snagged her first starring role when she was just nine years old in the holiday classic “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), playing a precocious girl who tugs on Santa Claus’ beard. She earned her first Oscar nomination when she was 17 for the juvenile delinquent drama “Rebel Without a Cause” (Best Supporting Actress in 1955), which made an icon out of James Dean, who died before its release. Wood added two more Best Actress bids to her resume with the romantic melodramas “Splendor in the Grass...
- 7/20/2019
- by Chris Beachum and Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
This article marks Part 10 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.
The 1965 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:
“The Ballad of Cat Ballou” from “Cat Ballou”
“The Sweetheart Tree” from “The Great Race”
“The Shadow of Your Smile” from “The Sandpiper”
“I Will Wait for You” from “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”
“What’s New, Pussycat” from “What’s New, Pussycat”
Won: “The Shadow of Your Smile” from “The Sandpiper”
Should’ve won: “The Ballad of Cat Ballou” from “Cat Ballou”
On February 15, 1965, at the mere age of 45, Nat King Cole, unimpeachably one of the all-time great vocalists and jazz pianists, died of lung cancer. Cole tunes were nominated on three occasions at the Oscars – in 1950 (for...
The 1965 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:
“The Ballad of Cat Ballou” from “Cat Ballou”
“The Sweetheart Tree” from “The Great Race”
“The Shadow of Your Smile” from “The Sandpiper”
“I Will Wait for You” from “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”
“What’s New, Pussycat” from “What’s New, Pussycat”
Won: “The Shadow of Your Smile” from “The Sandpiper”
Should’ve won: “The Ballad of Cat Ballou” from “Cat Ballou”
On February 15, 1965, at the mere age of 45, Nat King Cole, unimpeachably one of the all-time great vocalists and jazz pianists, died of lung cancer. Cole tunes were nominated on three occasions at the Oscars – in 1950 (for...
- 10/29/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Cars! Cars! Cars! What climate accord, when we’re celebrating the internal combustion engine! One of the best of the breezy ’70s action comedies, this cross-country road race picture gave us early looks at Gary Busey and Raul Julia in the midst of an always-amusing ensemble of car crazies, out to go from Manhattan to the Pacific in less than two days, at speeds up 175 mph! No 55 speed limit, no catalytic converters!
The Gumball Rally
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1976 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Michael Sarrazin, Raul Julia, Norman Burton, Gary Busey, John Durren, Susan Flannery, Harvey Jason, Steven Keats,
Tim McIntire, Joanne Nail, J. Pat O’Malley, Tricia O’Neil, Nicholas Pryor, Vaughn Taylor, Wally Taylor, Colleen Camp, Lazaro Perez, Med Flory, Lauren Simon, .
Cinematography: Richard C. Glouner
Film Editors: Stuart H. Pappé Gordon Scott, Maury Wintrobe
Original Music: Dominic Frontiere
Written by Chuck Bail,...
The Gumball Rally
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1976 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Michael Sarrazin, Raul Julia, Norman Burton, Gary Busey, John Durren, Susan Flannery, Harvey Jason, Steven Keats,
Tim McIntire, Joanne Nail, J. Pat O’Malley, Tricia O’Neil, Nicholas Pryor, Vaughn Taylor, Wally Taylor, Colleen Camp, Lazaro Perez, Med Flory, Lauren Simon, .
Cinematography: Richard C. Glouner
Film Editors: Stuart H. Pappé Gordon Scott, Maury Wintrobe
Original Music: Dominic Frontiere
Written by Chuck Bail,...
- 6/3/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'The Pink Panther' with Peter Sellers: Blake Edwards' 1963 comedy hit and its many sequels revolve around one of the most iconic film characters of the 20th century: clueless, thick-accented Inspector Clouseau – in some quarters surely deemed politically incorrect, or 'insensitive,' despite the lack of brown face make-up à la Sellers' clueless Indian guest in Edwards' 'The Party.' 'The Pink Panther' movies [1] There were a total of eight big-screen Pink Panther movies co-written and directed by Blake Edwards, most of them starring Peter Sellers – even after his death in 1980. Edwards was also one of the producers of every (direct) Pink Panther sequel, from A Shot in the Dark to Curse of the Pink Panther. Despite its iconic lead character, the last three movies in the Pink Panther franchise were box office bombs. Two of these, The Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther, were co-written by Edwards' son,...
- 5/29/2017
- by altfilmguide
- Alt Film Guide
Blake Edwards: Director of the 'Pink Panther' movies – and Julie Andrews' husband for more than four decades – was at his best handling polished comedies and a couple of dead serious dramas. Blake Edwards movies: Best known for slapstick fare, but at his best handling polished comedies and dramas The Pink Panther and its sequels[1] are the movies most closely associated with screenwriter-director-producer Blake Edwards, whose film and television career spanned more than half a century.[2] But unless you're a fan of Keystone Kops-style slapstick, they're the filmmaker's least interesting efforts. In fact, Edwards (born William Blake Crump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on July 26, 1922) was at his best (co-)writing and/or directing polished comedies (e.g., Operation Petticoat, Victor Victoria) and, less frequently, dramas (Days of Wine and Roses, the romantic comedy-drama Breakfast at Tiffany's). The article below and follow-up posts offer a brief look at some of Blake Edwards' non-Pink Panther comedies,...
- 5/29/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A few years ago the editors of Shadowlocked asked me to compile a list of what was initially to be, the ten greatest movie matte paintings of all time. A mere ten selections was too slim by a long shot, so my list stretched considerably to twenty, then thirty and finally a nice round fifty entries. Even with that number I found it wasn’t easy to narrow down a suitably wide ranging showcase of motion picture matte art that best represented the artform. So with that in mind, and due to the surprising popularity of that 2012 Shadowlocked list (which is well worth a visit, here Ed), I’ve assembled a further fifty wonderful examples of this vast, vital and more extensively utilised than you’d imagine – though now sadly ‘dead and buried’ – movie magic.
It would of course be so easy to simply concentrate on the well known, iconic,...
It would of course be so easy to simply concentrate on the well known, iconic,...
- 12/28/2015
- Shadowlocked
Don't Wait! Put on the mask, Now! The legendary 1961 spook-show classic has been restored and adapted to a better 3-D system than used for its original release. A psychiatrist possessed by a Mayan ritual mask is compelled to enter a fantastic hell zone each time he wears the scary thing. Kino packs the deluxe disc with extras, including a 2014 3-D short subject with its own "Let's go to Hell" story concept. We see Hell, all right. But where are the trailers from it? The Mask 3-D Blu-ray Kino Classics 1961 / B&W /1:66 flat Academy / 83 min. / Street Date November 24, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins, Bill Walker, Anne Collings, Martin Lavut, Leo Leyden, Norman Ettlinger. Cinematography Herbert S. Alpert Film Editor Stephen Timar Original Music Myron Schaeffer, Louis Applebaum Written by Frank Taubes, Sandy Haver, Franklin Delessert Produced by Julian Roffman, Nat Taylor Directed by Julian Roffman
Reviewed...
Reviewed...
- 11/9/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
All Our Wrong Todays
Paramount Pictures and Pascal Pictures have scored the film rights to Elan Mastai's debut novel "All Our Wrong Todays". Mastai will write the script for the adaptation while Amy Pascal is attached to produce.
The story follows a man from a utopian alternate universe who, through a time travel malfunction, winds up marooned in the real (and messy) 2015. He must decide if he wants to establish a life in this new world or head back home. [Source: Heat Vision]
Untitled Disney Sled Dog Project
Disney Pictures are developing a live-action film about Togo and Leonhard Seppala, two of the key sledding figures in the 1925 Nome Serum Run (aka. The Great Race of Mercy). Tom Flynn will pen the script.
In the incident, dog sleds played a major role in transporting diphtheria serum through harsh conditions over nearly 700 miles to save the city from an epidemic. The story will...
Paramount Pictures and Pascal Pictures have scored the film rights to Elan Mastai's debut novel "All Our Wrong Todays". Mastai will write the script for the adaptation while Amy Pascal is attached to produce.
The story follows a man from a utopian alternate universe who, through a time travel malfunction, winds up marooned in the real (and messy) 2015. He must decide if he wants to establish a life in this new world or head back home. [Source: Heat Vision]
Untitled Disney Sled Dog Project
Disney Pictures are developing a live-action film about Togo and Leonhard Seppala, two of the key sledding figures in the 1925 Nome Serum Run (aka. The Great Race of Mercy). Tom Flynn will pen the script.
In the incident, dog sleds played a major role in transporting diphtheria serum through harsh conditions over nearly 700 miles to save the city from an epidemic. The story will...
- 10/29/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Marie Dubois, actress in French New Wave films, dead at 77 (image: Marie Dubois in the mammoth blockbuster 'La Grande Vadrouille') Actress Marie Dubois, a popular French New Wave personality of the '60s and the leading lady in one of France's biggest box-office hits in history, died Wednesday, October 15, 2014, at a nursing home in Lescar, a suburb of the southwestern French town of Pau, not far from the Spanish border. Dubois, who had been living in the Pau area since 2010, was 77. For decades she had been battling multiple sclerosis, which later in life had her confined to a wheelchair. Born Claudine Huzé (Claudine Lucie Pauline Huzé according to some online sources) on January 12, 1937, in Paris, the blue-eyed, blonde Marie Dubois began her show business career on stage, being featured in plays such as Molière's The Misanthrope and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. François Truffaut discovery: 'Shoot the...
- 10/17/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
What's It About? Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans) is still getting used to life in the 21st century, but before he gets too comfortable he's enlisted by S.H.I.E.L.D. to help stop another big bad. Captain American partners with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) for a lot of action and awesomeness in their mission to stop the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie co-stars as Falcon.
Why We're In: The "Avengers" series just keeps getting better and better. Plus, "Winter Soldier" gives us even more of Black Widow's bad-assery, proving once again that it's high time we get a stand-alone for this fantastic character.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"The Great Race"
What's It About? Blake Edwards directs Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood in this slapstick comedy about a globe-trotting car race.
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
What's It About? Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans) is still getting used to life in the 21st century, but before he gets too comfortable he's enlisted by S.H.I.E.L.D. to help stop another big bad. Captain American partners with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) for a lot of action and awesomeness in their mission to stop the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie co-stars as Falcon.
Why We're In: The "Avengers" series just keeps getting better and better. Plus, "Winter Soldier" gives us even more of Black Widow's bad-assery, proving once again that it's high time we get a stand-alone for this fantastic character.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"The Great Race"
What's It About? Blake Edwards directs Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood in this slapstick comedy about a globe-trotting car race.
- 9/9/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Bill Hader has come a long way since his stint on Saturday Night Live, creating many popular characters and impersonations such as Stefon, Vincent Price and CNN’s Jack Cafferty. He is one of the highlights in such films as Adventureland, Knocked Up, Superbad and Pineapple Express, and so it is easy to see why author Mike Sacks interviewed him for his new book Poking A Dead Frog. In it, Hader talks about his career and he also lists 200 essential movies every comedy writer should see. Xo Jane recently published the list for those of us who haven’t had a chance to read the book yet. There are a ton of great recommendations and plenty I haven’t yet seen, but sadly my favourite comedy of all time isn’t mentioned. That would be Some Like It Hot. Still, it really is a great list with a mix of old and new.
- 8/28/2014
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
It is not too shabby in what the Northeast (New England) part of the United States has produced in terms of past and present actors/actresses making their show business dreams come true. Film careers can be a lot like ice cubes–they start out solid and cool but if you sit around in stagnation your efforts and hard work can melt away before one’s very eyes. Certainly no one can accuse this talented crop of thespians of being one-hit wonders on the big screen. After all, one does not become a recipient of an Academy Award by just sheer luck and charitable fortune.
As a native Bostonian and life long New Englander, I felt compelled to spotlight those Massachusetts-born and bred actors from the same region that had ultimate success on the big screen in winning the Oscar for their acting achievement and contribution to the motion picture industry.
As a native Bostonian and life long New Englander, I felt compelled to spotlight those Massachusetts-born and bred actors from the same region that had ultimate success on the big screen in winning the Oscar for their acting achievement and contribution to the motion picture industry.
- 7/11/2014
- by Frank Ochieng
- SoundOnSight
Some of the international movie posters presented in Cinema Retro issue #28, which features in-depth coverage of the making of Zulu.
By Brian Hannan
The 50th anniversary showing of Zulu in Britain next month is unlikely to be repeated in the U.S. where the film flopped. But even the poorest box-office performer has an afterlife. So in 1965 Zulu was pushed out again anywhere that would have it. That meant it supported some odd, not to say ugly, bedfellows – exploitationer Taboos of the World in Kansas City, The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming in Phoenix, B western Stage To Thunder Rock in Long Beach, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini in Des Moines and Rhino in Abilene. They liked it in Long Beach where it supported both Circus World and That Man from Rio. It was the second feature to None But the Brave in Provo, Utah, and to two more successful Joe E.
By Brian Hannan
The 50th anniversary showing of Zulu in Britain next month is unlikely to be repeated in the U.S. where the film flopped. But even the poorest box-office performer has an afterlife. So in 1965 Zulu was pushed out again anywhere that would have it. That meant it supported some odd, not to say ugly, bedfellows – exploitationer Taboos of the World in Kansas City, The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming in Phoenix, B western Stage To Thunder Rock in Long Beach, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini in Des Moines and Rhino in Abilene. They liked it in Long Beach where it supported both Circus World and That Man from Rio. It was the second feature to None But the Brave in Provo, Utah, and to two more successful Joe E.
- 5/19/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Stuntman and Burt Reynolds director Hal Needham dead at 82: Received Honorary Oscar in November 2012 Veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator Hal Needham, whose stunt-work movie credits ranged from John Ford Westerns to Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, and who directed a handful of popular action comedies starring Burt Reynolds, died today, October 25, 2013, in Los Angeles. Needham, who had been suffering from cancer, was 82. (See also: "Stunt Worker Hal Needham: Honorary Oscar 2012".) Born in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 6, 1931, Hal Needham began his long Hollywood stuntman career in the mid-’50s. A former tree trimmer and paratrooper, and a motorcycle and car racer, Needham performed stunts in both big-screen and small-screen Westerns, such as John Ford’s 1962 classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, starring John Wayne and James Stewart; the all-star 1963 Best Picture Academy Award nominee How the West Was Won; and the television series Have Gun - Will Travel, doubling for star Richard Boone.
- 10/26/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
This week’s costume biggies.
The Great Race
Karen Noske analyses the exceptional work of Edith Head for Natalie Wood.
Breaking Bad
Emma Fraser looks at Lydia’s blue coat (and her influence on Todd’s clothing) in recent episodes.
Downton Abbey
Caroline McCall keeps the Downton ladies covered up.
Kristin M. Burke
The veteran costume designer tackles the increasing problem of internet haters critiquing work they do not understand.
Cinema and Clothes
By Dal Chodha, with a teeny contribution by yours truly.
Rush
Much better interview with costume designer Julian Day than the last one we linked to.
Masters of Sex
Ane Crabtree on her late 1950s designs for the Showtime drama.
And a bit more from THR…
© 2013, Christopher Laverty.
The Great Race
Karen Noske analyses the exceptional work of Edith Head for Natalie Wood.
Breaking Bad
Emma Fraser looks at Lydia’s blue coat (and her influence on Todd’s clothing) in recent episodes.
Downton Abbey
Caroline McCall keeps the Downton ladies covered up.
Kristin M. Burke
The veteran costume designer tackles the increasing problem of internet haters critiquing work they do not understand.
Cinema and Clothes
By Dal Chodha, with a teeny contribution by yours truly.
Rush
Much better interview with costume designer Julian Day than the last one we linked to.
Masters of Sex
Ane Crabtree on her late 1950s designs for the Showtime drama.
And a bit more from THR…
© 2013, Christopher Laverty.
- 9/28/2013
- by Christopher Laverty
- Clothes on Film
Natalie Wood: Hot Hollywood star in the ’60s - TCM schedule on August 18, 2013 See previous post: “Natalie Wood Movies: From loving Warren Beatty to stripping like Gypsy Rose Lee.” 3:00 Am The Star (1952). Director: Stuart Heisler. Cast: Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood, Warner Anderson, Minor Watson, June Travis, Paul Frees, Robert Warrick, Barbara Lawrence, Fay Baker, Herb Vigran, Marie Blake, Sam Harris, Marcia Mae Jones. Bw-90 mins. 4:30 Am A Cry In The Night (1956). Director: Frank Tuttle. Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Brian Donlevy, Natalie Wood. Bw-75 mins. 6:00 Am West Side Story (1961). Director: Robert Wise. Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, Tucker Smith, Tony Mordente, David Winters, Eliot Feld, John Bert Michaels, David Bean, Robert Banas, Anthony ‘Scooter’ Teague, Harvey Evans aka Harvey Hohnecker, Tommy Abbott, Susan Oakes, Gina Trikonis, Carole D’Andrea, Jose De Vega, Jay Norman,...
- 8/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Natalie Wood movies: From loving Warren Beatty to stripping like Gypsy Rose Lee Three-time Academy Award nominee Natalie Wood, one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the ’60s, is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" performer today, August 18, 2013. TCM is currently showing Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass (1961), a romantic drama written for the screen by playwright William Inge (Picnic, Bus Stop). Wood is fine as a young woman who loses her emotional balance after she’s seduced and abandoned by the son (Warren Beatty) of a wealthy family in Kansas shortly before the Great Depression. For her efforts, she received a Best Actress Oscar nomination. (Sophia Loren was that year’s winner, for the Italian-made Two Women.) (See “TCM movie schedule: Natalie Wood Hot Hollywood Star.” Next in line is Richard Quine’s feeble attempt at screwball comedy, Sex and the Single Girl (1964), a movie that promises much more than it delivers,...
- 8/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) ultimate movie star showcase – Summer Under the Stars – returns this August for its 11th year as TCM pays tribute to 31 different stars in 31 days.
Sixteen of this year’s stars are being celebrated for the first time duringSummer Under the Stars, including Oscar® winners Joan Fontaine (Aug. 6), Mickey Rooney (Aug. 13), Wallace Beery (Aug. 17), Hattie McDaniel (Aug. 20), Downton Abbey star Maggie Smith (Aug. 22), Charles Coburn (Aug. 24), Martin Balsam(Aug. 27), Shirley Jones (Aug. 28) and Rex Harrison (Aug. 31). Also featured for the first time will be silent heartthrob Ramón Novarro (Aug. 8); legendary French actressCatherine Deneuve (Aug. 12), whose day features six films making their TCM debuts; Ann Blyth (Aug. 16), whose marathon will air on her 85th birthday; and Mary Boland (Aug. 4) and Glenda Farrell (Aug. 29), two outstanding character actresses who never received the recognition they deserved. They will join 15 returning favorites, including Humphrey Bogart (Aug. 1), Doris Day (Aug. 2), Charlton Heston (Aug.
Sixteen of this year’s stars are being celebrated for the first time duringSummer Under the Stars, including Oscar® winners Joan Fontaine (Aug. 6), Mickey Rooney (Aug. 13), Wallace Beery (Aug. 17), Hattie McDaniel (Aug. 20), Downton Abbey star Maggie Smith (Aug. 22), Charles Coburn (Aug. 24), Martin Balsam(Aug. 27), Shirley Jones (Aug. 28) and Rex Harrison (Aug. 31). Also featured for the first time will be silent heartthrob Ramón Novarro (Aug. 8); legendary French actressCatherine Deneuve (Aug. 12), whose day features six films making their TCM debuts; Ann Blyth (Aug. 16), whose marathon will air on her 85th birthday; and Mary Boland (Aug. 4) and Glenda Farrell (Aug. 29), two outstanding character actresses who never received the recognition they deserved. They will join 15 returning favorites, including Humphrey Bogart (Aug. 1), Doris Day (Aug. 2), Charlton Heston (Aug.
- 7/11/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – The “Best of Warner Bros.” series of DVD box sets increased by one last week with the 4th edition (following Best Pictures, Musicals, and Romance) of the 20 Film Collection versions of this series (one can also buy a massive 100 Film Collection set on DVD and a 50 Film Collection on Blu-ray). The new release centers on comedies released by the legendary studio from 1935 (“A Night at the Opera”) to 2009 (“The Hangover”).
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Sold at most for $100 (and some outlets mark it down significantly from that), these 20 Film Collection releases work out to less than $5 a film. So, yes, they’re little more than repackagings given that they literally contain just the DVDs from the standalone releases of each of these films (with all special features intact) but they’re remarkably cheap repackagings, thematically arranged, and space-saving. Few studios have the history to produce box sets like this, ones that really...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Sold at most for $100 (and some outlets mark it down significantly from that), these 20 Film Collection releases work out to less than $5 a film. So, yes, they’re little more than repackagings given that they literally contain just the DVDs from the standalone releases of each of these films (with all special features intact) but they’re remarkably cheap repackagings, thematically arranged, and space-saving. Few studios have the history to produce box sets like this, ones that really...
- 7/6/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Welcome back to This Week In Discs! As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Best of WB: 20 Film Collection – Comedy A Night at the Opera, Stage Door, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Long Long Trailer, The Great Race, Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Risky Business, The Goonies, Spies Like Us, Beetlejuice, Grumpy Old Men, Ace Venture: Pet Detective, Analyze This, Wedding Crashers, The Hangover Warner Bros. has been releasing various box sets to celebrate various anniversaries, genres and talents (including musicals, gangsters and Clint Eastwood), and as is often the case with collections there’s inevitably a mix of good and bad. Their comedy collection manages a coup of sorts though by featuring almost nothing but fantastically funny films. (Sorry Analyze This.) The discs are in sleeved pages along with brief info on each movie, and...
- 7/2/2013
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Natalie Wood death: From "accidental drowning" to "drowning and other undetermined factors" Natalie Wood died on November 29, 1981. Her body was found floating about one mile from Catalina Island, located just south of Los Angeles County. According to a County coroner’s report publicly released today — though officially revised in June 2012 — at the time of her death Natalie Wood, a three-time Academy Award nominee and the star of the multiple Oscar-winning musical West Side Story, had several bruises on her body that might have been the result of injuries suffered before she entered the water. (See also: "Natalie Wood Death: Sensational Rumors Continue.") [Photo: Natalie Wood ca. 1970.] "With the presence of fresh bruises in the upper extremities in the right forearm/left wrist area and a small scratch in the anterior neck, this examiner is unable to exclude non-accidental mechanism causing these injuries," wrote chief medical examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran. "The location of the bruises,...
- 1/14/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Dinah Sheridan, who played the mother in the 1970 version of The Railway Children, has died. We take a look at her life in film
Before the second world war, a teenage Sheridan played the fresh-faced ingenue in a string of British features, including a snobbish daughter in Father Steps Out (1937) and a theatrical type in the murder mystery Landslide (also 1937) – the latter film co-starring her future husband Jimmy Hanley. Clips are hard to find for these cheap and cheerful pictures – it's not until cult caper Calling Paul Temple (1948) that we can get a look at Sheridan, then in her late 20s, in action. She played Steve, the vivacious wife of the suave crime novelist of the title, played by John Bentley.
And you can catch a glimpse of Sheridan doing some knitting while a precocious Petula Clark twangs her guitar in The Huggetts Abroad, one of the series of Huggetts movies in the late 40s.
Before the second world war, a teenage Sheridan played the fresh-faced ingenue in a string of British features, including a snobbish daughter in Father Steps Out (1937) and a theatrical type in the murder mystery Landslide (also 1937) – the latter film co-starring her future husband Jimmy Hanley. Clips are hard to find for these cheap and cheerful pictures – it's not until cult caper Calling Paul Temple (1948) that we can get a look at Sheridan, then in her late 20s, in action. She played Steve, the vivacious wife of the suave crime novelist of the title, played by John Bentley.
And you can catch a glimpse of Sheridan doing some knitting while a precocious Petula Clark twangs her guitar in The Huggetts Abroad, one of the series of Huggetts movies in the late 40s.
- 11/26/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
"TCM Remembers 2011" is out. Remembered by Turner Classic Movies are many of those in the film world who left us this past year. As always, this latest "TCM Remembers" entry is a classy, immensely moving compilation. The haunting background song is "Before You Go," by Ok Sweetheart.
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
- 12/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
He was America's most famous TV detective Columbo… but he was also so much more, recalls Gena Rowlands
I first met Peter Falk in 1969 on the set of a film called Gli Intoccabili, which, for some reason, was released in America as Machine Gun McCain. It was what I call a "kind of good movie" and it was a lot of fun to make. We hit it off and became good friends, Peter, John [Cassavetes, Rowland's husband] and I. That was the beginning of a long, close and very creative friendship. A very special friendship.
Then John wrote for Peter, Ben Gazzara and himself. That led to A Woman Under the Influence, which came out in 1974. Peter was my husband and I was the woman having a breakdown. His character was under a lot of pressure, too, and he played that out so well. He was a mixed-up guy but a loving husband.
I first met Peter Falk in 1969 on the set of a film called Gli Intoccabili, which, for some reason, was released in America as Machine Gun McCain. It was what I call a "kind of good movie" and it was a lot of fun to make. We hit it off and became good friends, Peter, John [Cassavetes, Rowland's husband] and I. That was the beginning of a long, close and very creative friendship. A very special friendship.
Then John wrote for Peter, Ben Gazzara and himself. That led to A Woman Under the Influence, which came out in 1974. Peter was my husband and I was the woman having a breakdown. His character was under a lot of pressure, too, and he played that out so well. He was a mixed-up guy but a loving husband.
- 12/11/2011
- by Gena Rowlands
- The Guardian - Film News
Melancholia, The Artist, Le Havre and the other nominations for the 2011 European Film Awards have been announced. The 24th Annual European Film Awards are presented “by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in over ten categories of which the most important is the Film of the year. They are restricted to European cinema and European producers, directors, and actors.” This year’s European Film Awards “ceremony will be held on December 3, 2011 in Berlin’s Tempodrom near Potsdamer Platz.”
The full listing of the 2011 European Film Awards nominations is below.
European Film 2011
The Artist, France
Written and Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius; Produced by: Thomas Langmann & Emmanuel Montamat
Le Gamin au Velo (The Kid with a Bike), Belgium/France/Italy
Written and Directed by: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne; Produced by: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd & Andrea Occhipinti
Hævnen (In a Better World), Denmark...
The full listing of the 2011 European Film Awards nominations is below.
European Film 2011
The Artist, France
Written and Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius; Produced by: Thomas Langmann & Emmanuel Montamat
Le Gamin au Velo (The Kid with a Bike), Belgium/France/Italy
Written and Directed by: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne; Produced by: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd & Andrea Occhipinti
Hævnen (In a Better World), Denmark...
- 11/6/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
Stay off the streets and stay in with a movie…that takes to the streets.
Los Angelenos are aflutter with impending chaos. And, if you don’t live in Los Angeles, you probably don’t understand. (I live here and I’m not sure I fully understand.) But this weekend (July 15-17), the City of Los Angeles has gotten it in its mind to shut down the 405 Freeway, one of the central lifelines for the (frankly absurd) amount of traffic that hits Los Angeles on a daily basis. This means that, functionally, no one’s going anywhere this weekend and the entire West side of Los Angeles is going to be choked off by the cold, unrelenting hands of the Los Angeles Dot.
Naturally, this has become a bit of a cultural meme (surely confusing anyone who doesn’t live in Los Angeles) dubbed by internet pun genii as “Carmageddon.
Los Angelenos are aflutter with impending chaos. And, if you don’t live in Los Angeles, you probably don’t understand. (I live here and I’m not sure I fully understand.) But this weekend (July 15-17), the City of Los Angeles has gotten it in its mind to shut down the 405 Freeway, one of the central lifelines for the (frankly absurd) amount of traffic that hits Los Angeles on a daily basis. This means that, functionally, no one’s going anywhere this weekend and the entire West side of Los Angeles is going to be choked off by the cold, unrelenting hands of the Los Angeles Dot.
Naturally, this has become a bit of a cultural meme (surely confusing anyone who doesn’t live in Los Angeles) dubbed by internet pun genii as “Carmageddon.
- 7/14/2011
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
It is to be expected that the obituaries and commemorations for Peter Falk, who passed away last Thursday, would center on his four-time Emmy-winning starring role in the long-running series Columbo (the character was first introduced in a 1968 TV movie, it was turned into an NBC series running 1971-1977, then ABC revived the brand in 1989 for 24 TV movies, the last airing in 2003). His role as the perennially rumpled, misleadingly bumbling, “Ahhh, just one more thing…” homicide detective was not only his most famous and memorable character, but one which achieved that rarified altitude of “iconic.” Think Falk; think Columbo.
And as deserving as the tributes are, as laudatory as the valedictories have been, they still don’t do justice to the range and power Falk demonstrated throughout his career as an actor on both large and small screen.
Even the laurels thrown on his work in Columbo focus on the visible elements,...
And as deserving as the tributes are, as laudatory as the valedictories have been, they still don’t do justice to the range and power Falk demonstrated throughout his career as an actor on both large and small screen.
Even the laurels thrown on his work in Columbo focus on the visible elements,...
- 6/27/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Us actor whose success as the scruffy TV detective Columbo was complemented by a wide range of stage and screen roles
Show-business history records that the American actor Peter Falk, who has died aged 83, made his stage debut the year before he left high school, presciently cast as a detective. Despite the 17-year-old's fleeting success, he had no thoughts of pursuing acting as a career – if only because tough kids from the Bronx considered it an unsuitable job for a man. Just 24 years later, Falk made his first television appearance as the scruffy detective, Columbo, not only becoming the highest paid actor on television – commanding $500,000 an episode during the 1970s – but also the most famous.
Inevitably the lieutenant dedicated to unravelling the villainy of the wealthy and glamorous dominated his career, although – unlike some actors – he escaped the straitjacket, or in his case shabby raincoat, of typecasting. In addition to stage work,...
Show-business history records that the American actor Peter Falk, who has died aged 83, made his stage debut the year before he left high school, presciently cast as a detective. Despite the 17-year-old's fleeting success, he had no thoughts of pursuing acting as a career – if only because tough kids from the Bronx considered it an unsuitable job for a man. Just 24 years later, Falk made his first television appearance as the scruffy detective, Columbo, not only becoming the highest paid actor on television – commanding $500,000 an episode during the 1970s – but also the most famous.
Inevitably the lieutenant dedicated to unravelling the villainy of the wealthy and glamorous dominated his career, although – unlike some actors – he escaped the straitjacket, or in his case shabby raincoat, of typecasting. In addition to stage work,...
- 6/26/2011
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
Updated through 6/26.
"Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in Columbo, which spanned 30 years in primetime television and established one of the most iconic characters in police work, has died. He was 83." Anthony McCartney for the AP: "Falk made his film debut in 1958 with Wind Across the Everglades and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in Murder, Inc. Among his other movies: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Robin and the Seven Hoods, The Great Race, Luv, Castle Keep, The Cheap Detective, The Brinks Job, The In-Laws, The Princess Bride. Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence, directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire, in which he played himself."
Last November,...
"Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in Columbo, which spanned 30 years in primetime television and established one of the most iconic characters in police work, has died. He was 83." Anthony McCartney for the AP: "Falk made his film debut in 1958 with Wind Across the Everglades and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in Murder, Inc. Among his other movies: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Robin and the Seven Hoods, The Great Race, Luv, Castle Keep, The Cheap Detective, The Brinks Job, The In-Laws, The Princess Bride. Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence, directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire, in which he played himself."
Last November,...
- 6/26/2011
- MUBI
The legendary raspy voiced Peter Falk has passed away at his home in Beverly Hills according to a family statement. He was 83 and had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Despite a rumpled appearance, a glass right eye and a quiet voice - Falk was also a fiercely compelling actor who handled dark drama and comedic farce with equal skill. Starting out on stage, he first got noticed for his work as a gangster in "Murder, Inc" and followed that with Frank Capra's last film "Pocketful of Miracles" - scoring Oscar nominations for both performances.
He also worked with John Cassavetes on both "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence", played a closeted Raymond Chandler-inspired detective in the mystery spoof "Murder by Death", and had roles in "The Great Race," "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Vibes," "The In-Laws," "The Princess Bride,...
Despite a rumpled appearance, a glass right eye and a quiet voice - Falk was also a fiercely compelling actor who handled dark drama and comedic farce with equal skill. Starting out on stage, he first got noticed for his work as a gangster in "Murder, Inc" and followed that with Frank Capra's last film "Pocketful of Miracles" - scoring Oscar nominations for both performances.
He also worked with John Cassavetes on both "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence", played a closeted Raymond Chandler-inspired detective in the mystery spoof "Murder by Death", and had roles in "The Great Race," "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Vibes," "The In-Laws," "The Princess Bride,...
- 6/25/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
By Lee Pfeiffer
Peter Falk, the iconic actor of stage, screen and television, died yesterday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 83 years old and had been battling Alzheimer's Disease. Falk created a legendary persona that served him well: that of the inarticulate street guy. He also had a physical abnormality that he made work to his advantage: since the age of 3, he had a glass eye. Despite the fact that he rode to success playing rough, street-wise characters, he was actually highly educated. He earned a master's degree and did not enter acting until the relatively late age of 29. He found almost immediate success and appeared in acclaimed New York stage productions of classic plays by Arthur Miller and Paddy Chayefsky, among others. Falk also found a welcome reception in Hollywood, often playing gangsters. He scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination of Murder, Inc in 1960 and would be...
Peter Falk, the iconic actor of stage, screen and television, died yesterday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 83 years old and had been battling Alzheimer's Disease. Falk created a legendary persona that served him well: that of the inarticulate street guy. He also had a physical abnormality that he made work to his advantage: since the age of 3, he had a glass eye. Despite the fact that he rode to success playing rough, street-wise characters, he was actually highly educated. He earned a master's degree and did not enter acting until the relatively late age of 29. He found almost immediate success and appeared in acclaimed New York stage productions of classic plays by Arthur Miller and Paddy Chayefsky, among others. Falk also found a welcome reception in Hollywood, often playing gangsters. He scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination of Murder, Inc in 1960 and would be...
- 6/25/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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