Next to Universal, few studios have had such a big impact on horror than Rko Radio Pictures. Started in 1927, Rko was the first studio founded to make exclusively sound films, a then-brand-new invention that served as a major draw for the studio. Rko’s life was relatively short (it was killed just 30 years after forming), but during their time, they put out a seriously impressive number of classics, including Top Hat, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Informer, and most notably, Citizen Kane.
Of course, Rko didn’t shy away from horror. While their output wasn’t nearly as prolific as, say, Universal’s, it was still quite impressive, boasting some of the most formative and important horror films of old Hollywood. Rko saw the release of a few all-time classics, including I Walked With a Zombie, The Thing From Another World, King Kong, and the topic of today’s Crypt,...
Of course, Rko didn’t shy away from horror. While their output wasn’t nearly as prolific as, say, Universal’s, it was still quite impressive, boasting some of the most formative and important horror films of old Hollywood. Rko saw the release of a few all-time classics, including I Walked With a Zombie, The Thing From Another World, King Kong, and the topic of today’s Crypt,...
- 11/17/2017
- by Perry Ruhland
- DailyDead
This kitty needs no introduction: Simone Simon is the purring-sweet immigrant with a dark atavistic secret. It's Val Lewton's debut smash hit. The real hero is director Jacques Tourneur, who conveys a feeling of real life being lived that won over audiences of 1942 and drew them into his web of fantasy. Cat People Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 833 1942 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 73 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 20, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt, Elizabeth Russell, Theresa Harris. Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca Art Direction Albert S. D'Agostino, Walter E. Keller Film Editor Mark Robson Original Music Roy Webb Written by De Witt Bodeen Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Val Lewton never had to be 'discovered,' actually. Life magazine awarded him his own photo layout and the critics praised him as the maker of a new brand of psychologically based horror films.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Val Lewton never had to be 'discovered,' actually. Life magazine awarded him his own photo layout and the critics praised him as the maker of a new brand of psychologically based horror films.
- 9/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Jennifer Jason Leigh: "I sent my mom [Barbara Turner] a picture of me the first day of shooting …"
New BAFTA nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh, at the Monkey Bar brunch for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight with Walton Goggins and Samuel L Jackson, hosted by Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, told me her favorite western is Howard Hawks and Arthur Rosson's Red River, starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. Her favorite bad guy is Oliver Reed in Carol Reed's Oliver! and Robert Richardson knows how to light up Heba Thorisdottir's makeup artistry. Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Wim Wenders' Until The End Of The World did not influence Jennifer's relationship to handcuffs.
Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh): On cinematographer Bob Richardson "It's just his lighting is so gorgeous.
Her Daisy Domergue is a peculiar flower, planted in cuffs and linked to...
New BAFTA nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh, at the Monkey Bar brunch for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight with Walton Goggins and Samuel L Jackson, hosted by Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, told me her favorite western is Howard Hawks and Arthur Rosson's Red River, starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. Her favorite bad guy is Oliver Reed in Carol Reed's Oliver! and Robert Richardson knows how to light up Heba Thorisdottir's makeup artistry. Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Wim Wenders' Until The End Of The World did not influence Jennifer's relationship to handcuffs.
Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh): On cinematographer Bob Richardson "It's just his lighting is so gorgeous.
Her Daisy Domergue is a peculiar flower, planted in cuffs and linked to...
- 1/9/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
After The Seventh Victim‘s disappointing returns, Val Lewton and Rko clashed over their next project. Lewton wanted a comedy, provisionally titled The Amorous Ghost, as a change of pace; studio boss Sid Rogell, Lewton’s bete noir, insisted on a sequel to Cat People, which Lewton resisted. Then Rko suggested a Universal-style monster rally, They Creep By Night, reuniting villains from past Lewton pictures. Charles Koerner rescued Lewton from this absurd prospect by pitching a maritime thriller. “Call it The Ghost Ship,” Koerner ordered. Lewton also scored a big, though past-his-prime star in Richard Dix, an Oscar nominee for Cimarron (1931).
The result is equal parts The Sea Wolf and M, with a dash of Edgar Allan Poe. Tom Miriam signs on as third officer on the ill-starred freighter Altair, ruled by Captain Stone (Richard Dix). At first Stone merely seems strict, but his homilies about authority take on a...
The result is equal parts The Sea Wolf and M, with a dash of Edgar Allan Poe. Tom Miriam signs on as third officer on the ill-starred freighter Altair, ruled by Captain Stone (Richard Dix). At first Stone merely seems strict, but his homilies about authority take on a...
- 10/29/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
Val Lewton, Russian émigré turned horror master, was a reporter, pulp novelist and MGM publicity writer before moving into film. He spent the 1930s as David O. Selznick’s story editor, directing second unit work on A Tale of Two Cities (1935) and script doctoring Gone With the Wind (1939), warning Selznick it would be “the mistake of his life.” While not Hollywood’s most prescient man, Lewton’s professionalism earned Selznick’s respect, and their collaboration led to Rko offering Lewton a producing job in 1942.
Rko was reeling from Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, an expensive flop forcing a refocus on low budget films. Charles Koerner headed the studio’s B Unit, envisioning a horror series inspired by Universal Studio’s successful franchises. Where Universal culled from established literature (Dracula, Frankenstein), Rko worked from Koerner’s whim: he created a title and left the filmmakers to handle trivia like plot and characters.
Rko was reeling from Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, an expensive flop forcing a refocus on low budget films. Charles Koerner headed the studio’s B Unit, envisioning a horror series inspired by Universal Studio’s successful franchises. Where Universal culled from established literature (Dracula, Frankenstein), Rko worked from Koerner’s whim: he created a title and left the filmmakers to handle trivia like plot and characters.
- 10/6/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
Ron Moody in Mel Brooks' 'The Twelve Chairs.' The 'Doctor Who' that never was. Ron Moody: 'Doctor Who' was biggest professional regret (See previous post: "Ron Moody: From Charles Dickens to Walt Disney – But No Harry Potter.") Ron Moody was featured in about 50 television productions, both in the U.K. and the U.S., from the late 1950s to 2012. These included guest roles in the series The Avengers, Gunsmoke, Starsky and Hutch, Hart to Hart, and Murder She Wrote, in addition to leads in the short-lived U.S. sitcom Nobody's Perfect (1980), starring Moody as a Scotland Yard detective transferred to the San Francisco Police Department, and in the British fantasy Into the Labyrinth (1981), with Moody as the noble sorcerer Rothgo. Throughout the decades, he could also be spotted in several TV movies, among them:[1] David Copperfield (1969). As Uriah Heep in this disappointing all-star showcase distributed theatrically in some countries.
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It's Tim. September marks the centennial of famed director Robert Wise, winner of Oscars for the musicals West Side Story and The Sound of Music among several other classic films, and the members of Team Experience are going to spend the next several days revisiting work from the entire range of his career. And what better place to start than at the very beginning: 1944's The Curse of the Cat People, which was Wise's directorial debut, taking over from Gunther V. Fritsch, when the project fell behind schedule. It's part of the legendary run of movies produced by Val Lewton's horror-oriented B-unit at Rko, a studio where Wise had already logged time as an editor (cutting both Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, no less). But it's not, itself, a horror movie, despite being the sequel to Cat People, one of the canonically great horror films in history. And...
- 9/5/2014
- by Tim Brayton
- FilmExperience
As we continue on, I need to once again clarify that if this list was “Joshua Gaul’s 50 Favorite Movie Musicals,” it’d be a quite a different list. But, if my tastes determined what is definitive, I’d be asking you all to consider Aladdin as a brilliant piece of filmmaking and wax nostalgic about my love for Batteries Not Included and Flight of the Navigator (not for the musicals list, of course). Much to my dismay, my tastes are not universal. I’d like to think my research methods are.
courtesy of themoviescene.co.uk
30. Annie (1982)
Directed by John Huston
Signature Song: “Tomorrow” (http://youtu.be/Yop62wQH498)
Originally a 1924 comic strip, the beloved stage musical about a red-haired orphan girl was brought to the big screen in 1982 and directed by John Huston (yes, that John Huston – director of The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen, not to...
courtesy of themoviescene.co.uk
30. Annie (1982)
Directed by John Huston
Signature Song: “Tomorrow” (http://youtu.be/Yop62wQH498)
Originally a 1924 comic strip, the beloved stage musical about a red-haired orphan girl was brought to the big screen in 1982 and directed by John Huston (yes, that John Huston – director of The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen, not to...
- 5/12/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Here is a list of May's additions to Warner Archive Instant's streaming video service. If you aren't a subscriber, you can sign up for a free two week trial at instant.WarnerArchive.com.
Man From Atlantis (1976-78)
It all begins with a storm and a man washed up on shore. A man with gills... Before he shot to superstardom in Dallas playing Bobby Ewing, Patrick Duffy donned swim trunks for a super-heroic turn as Mark Harris, Man from Atlantis. Debuting in a series of Sci-Fi movies-of-the-week, the adventures of the amnesiac Atlantean so captivated audiences that the movies spawned a weekly TV series. Eschewing the TV movies' more cerebral approach for more light-hearted action fare, the series took a more campy turn only to sink into the depths of TV history (but not before becoming the first American TV import to Communist China!). Now's your chance to explore below the...
Man From Atlantis (1976-78)
It all begins with a storm and a man washed up on shore. A man with gills... Before he shot to superstardom in Dallas playing Bobby Ewing, Patrick Duffy donned swim trunks for a super-heroic turn as Mark Harris, Man from Atlantis. Debuting in a series of Sci-Fi movies-of-the-week, the adventures of the amnesiac Atlantean so captivated audiences that the movies spawned a weekly TV series. Eschewing the TV movies' more cerebral approach for more light-hearted action fare, the series took a more campy turn only to sink into the depths of TV history (but not before becoming the first American TV import to Communist China!). Now's your chance to explore below the...
- 5/3/2014
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Victor Medina)
- Cinelinx
Musicals have been tap dancing their way into moviegoers' hearts since the invention of cinema sound itself. From Oliver! to Singin' in the Rain, here are the Guardian and Observer critics' picks of the 10 best
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• Top 10 silent movies
• Top 10 sports movies
• Top 10 film noir
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Oliver!
Historically, the British musical has been intertwined with British music, drawing on music hall in the 1940s and the pop charts in the 50s – low-budget films of provincial interest and nothing to trouble the bosses at MGM. In the late 60s, however, the genre enjoyed a brief, high-profile heyday, and between Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence (1967) and Richard Attenborough's star-studded Oh! What A Lovely War (1969) came the biggest of them all: Oliver! (1968), Carol Reed's adaptation of Lionel Bart's 1960 stage hit and the recipient of six Academy awards.
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• Top 10 silent movies
• Top 10 sports movies
• Top 10 film noir
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Oliver!
Historically, the British musical has been intertwined with British music, drawing on music hall in the 1940s and the pop charts in the 50s – low-budget films of provincial interest and nothing to trouble the bosses at MGM. In the late 60s, however, the genre enjoyed a brief, high-profile heyday, and between Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence (1967) and Richard Attenborough's star-studded Oh! What A Lovely War (1969) came the biggest of them all: Oliver! (1968), Carol Reed's adaptation of Lionel Bart's 1960 stage hit and the recipient of six Academy awards.
- 12/3/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
By Lee Pfeiffer
The magnificent Oscar-winning best picture of the year for 1968, Oliver!, has been released as a Blu-ray special limited edition (3,000 units) by Twilight Time. This adaptation of the smash stage hit was a dream project for director Lewis Gilbert but, much to his dismay, the director's seat was given to Sir Carol Reed. How Gilbert's version of the film would have differed will never be known but suffice it to say, it's hard to imagine he could have improved on Reed's vision. There had been numerous previous screen versions of Dickens' classic novel Oliver Twist, with the most notable being David Lean's 1948 movie with a star-making turn by Alec Guinness as Fagin. The 1963 stage musical by Lionel Bart was a sensation and it stood to reason that the screen rights were quickly scooped up. The film went against the tide when considering other major musicals of the period.
The magnificent Oscar-winning best picture of the year for 1968, Oliver!, has been released as a Blu-ray special limited edition (3,000 units) by Twilight Time. This adaptation of the smash stage hit was a dream project for director Lewis Gilbert but, much to his dismay, the director's seat was given to Sir Carol Reed. How Gilbert's version of the film would have differed will never be known but suffice it to say, it's hard to imagine he could have improved on Reed's vision. There had been numerous previous screen versions of Dickens' classic novel Oliver Twist, with the most notable being David Lean's 1948 movie with a star-making turn by Alec Guinness as Fagin. The 1963 stage musical by Lionel Bart was a sensation and it stood to reason that the screen rights were quickly scooped up. The film went against the tide when considering other major musicals of the period.
- 11/26/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Blu-ray Release Date: Nov. 12, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $Tba
Studio: Twilight Time
Mark Lester (l.) and Jack Wild consider themselves at home in Oliver!
Oliver!, the 1968 film screen adaptation of Lionel Bart’s smash-hit musical, is directed by the great British filmmaker Carol Reed (The Third Man).
The film tells the charming yet dark tale of a runaway orphan (Mark Lester in the title role) who travels to London to seek his fortune, only to become ensnared in a den of child-thieves run by the unforgettable Fagin (Ron Moody).
Featuring Oliver Reed (Tommy) as the brutal Bill Sikes, Shani Wallis as the endearing Nancy, and Jack Wild as the impudent Artful Dodger, Oliver! won six Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture.
As supplier Twilight Time prints up only 3,000 copies of each title, be ready to pre-order your Blu-ray discs directly from distributor Screen Archives or TCM Shop (http://shop.tcm.
Price: Blu-ray $Tba
Studio: Twilight Time
Mark Lester (l.) and Jack Wild consider themselves at home in Oliver!
Oliver!, the 1968 film screen adaptation of Lionel Bart’s smash-hit musical, is directed by the great British filmmaker Carol Reed (The Third Man).
The film tells the charming yet dark tale of a runaway orphan (Mark Lester in the title role) who travels to London to seek his fortune, only to become ensnared in a den of child-thieves run by the unforgettable Fagin (Ron Moody).
Featuring Oliver Reed (Tommy) as the brutal Bill Sikes, Shani Wallis as the endearing Nancy, and Jack Wild as the impudent Artful Dodger, Oliver! won six Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture.
As supplier Twilight Time prints up only 3,000 copies of each title, be ready to pre-order your Blu-ray discs directly from distributor Screen Archives or TCM Shop (http://shop.tcm.
- 9/18/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
For the fans of this wonderful man, which I proudly count myself as one; 26 May 2013 marks the centenary of horror legend Peter Cushing. One of the most versatile actors to grace the big screen, Cushing never gave a single bad performance throughout his 50-year career. A dedicated perfectionist, who believed in giving nothing less than his best effort, Cushing’s 100% commitment always lifted a bad film. The movie may fail him but he would never fail his public.
Cushing began his acting career in repertory theatre and with his legendary one-way ticket to Hollywood, made his film debut in 1939. After a couple of productive years in the States, he worked his way back to England following the outbreak of World War 2. Marrying actress Helen Beck, he worked on stage but struggled to find good roles until he became a member of the RSC under Laurence Oliver. As British TV’s first big star,...
Cushing began his acting career in repertory theatre and with his legendary one-way ticket to Hollywood, made his film debut in 1939. After a couple of productive years in the States, he worked his way back to England following the outbreak of World War 2. Marrying actress Helen Beck, he worked on stage but struggled to find good roles until he became a member of the RSC under Laurence Oliver. As British TV’s first big star,...
- 5/28/2013
- Shadowlocked
Ken Marino (Burning Love, Party Down) stars in the SXSW-screening horror-comedy Milo as a man with a homicidal monster living in his butt.
That’s right: In. His. Butt.
“Milo came out of professional jealousy,” recalls writer-director Jacob Vaughan. “I was talking to a friend of mine who ended up being the cowriter, Benjamin Hayes. We were complaining about an acquaintance who had gotten money to make a horror film. We had read the script and we didn’t think it was very good. I started talking about early Cronenberg movies and how his horror was so much more interesting because it was about something.
That’s right: In. His. Butt.
“Milo came out of professional jealousy,” recalls writer-director Jacob Vaughan. “I was talking to a friend of mine who ended up being the cowriter, Benjamin Hayes. We were complaining about an acquaintance who had gotten money to make a horror film. We had read the script and we didn’t think it was very good. I started talking about early Cronenberg movies and how his horror was so much more interesting because it was about something.
- 3/8/2013
- by Clark Collis
- EW - Inside Movies
'Playing Fagin was one of the happiest times of my life. I loved the boys' mischievous minds – I wanted to make them laugh'
Mark Lester, actor (Oliver Twist)
The auditions had narrowed down to two other boys and me. We were put in a room in a London hotel and Carol Reed, the director, ordered the dismayed hotel barber to cut our hair badly to resemble a workhouse style. Then he just looked and looked at us, and we were sent home with this awful hair. When I heard I'd got the part, my reaction was that it was a chance to miss a lot of school. Actually, I spent most of the time in my dressing room reading Sherlock Holmes.
Ron Moody, who played Fagin, was very jolly and used to play cards with us boys between shoots. But we were all terrified of Oliver Reed. He was one...
Mark Lester, actor (Oliver Twist)
The auditions had narrowed down to two other boys and me. We were put in a room in a London hotel and Carol Reed, the director, ordered the dismayed hotel barber to cut our hair badly to resemble a workhouse style. Then he just looked and looked at us, and we were sent home with this awful hair. When I heard I'd got the part, my reaction was that it was a chance to miss a lot of school. Actually, I spent most of the time in my dressing room reading Sherlock Holmes.
Ron Moody, who played Fagin, was very jolly and used to play cards with us boys between shoots. But we were all terrified of Oliver Reed. He was one...
- 12/4/2012
- by Anna Tims
- The Guardian - Film News
British moviemaker Ken Russell has died at the age of 84.
Russell directed several classic British films during his 55-year career, including spy thriller Billion Dollar Brain, The Who's rock opera Tommy, and Oscar-winning 1969 movie Women in Love.
He also notched up a range of acting and writing credits, and was working in front of the cameras as recently as 2010, when he played a university lecturer in crime drama Mr. Nice. He even has a role in upcoming horror movie Invasion of the Not Quite Dead.
Actress-turned-politician Glenda Jackson, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Women in Love, paid tribute to Russell after news of his death was announced on Monday.
She told the BBC, "(It was) just wonderful to work with him and to work with him as often as I did. He created the kind of climate in which actors could do their job and I loved him dearly."
Jackson insisted it's "a great shame" Russell was not more widely recognised in the movie industry, adding: "It was almost as if he never existed - I find it utterly scandalous for someone who was so innovative and a film director of international stature."
Joely Richardson, who starred in Russell's BBC TV series Lady Chatterley, adds, "I will forever feel privileged and honoured to have worked with the great Ken Russell. More than that, I was extremely fond of the man himself."
Russell's fellow British filmmaker Michael Winner told the Daily Mirror, "I've known Ken since 1968. He was the most innovative director. I persuaded Oliver Reed to work with him even though Oliver said, 'I'm not a TV star, I'm a movie star.'
"His television was in a field of its own, it was absolutely extraordinary. Then he graduated to movies... He was also a very nice person. He was very cheerful and very well-meaning. He had a very good run even though his style of picture-making became obsolete, but that happened to everyone, Billy Wilder and (Alfred) Hitchcock."
Russell passed away in a hospital on Sunday after a series of strokes. He is survived by his wife Elize.
Russell directed several classic British films during his 55-year career, including spy thriller Billion Dollar Brain, The Who's rock opera Tommy, and Oscar-winning 1969 movie Women in Love.
He also notched up a range of acting and writing credits, and was working in front of the cameras as recently as 2010, when he played a university lecturer in crime drama Mr. Nice. He even has a role in upcoming horror movie Invasion of the Not Quite Dead.
Actress-turned-politician Glenda Jackson, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Women in Love, paid tribute to Russell after news of his death was announced on Monday.
She told the BBC, "(It was) just wonderful to work with him and to work with him as often as I did. He created the kind of climate in which actors could do their job and I loved him dearly."
Jackson insisted it's "a great shame" Russell was not more widely recognised in the movie industry, adding: "It was almost as if he never existed - I find it utterly scandalous for someone who was so innovative and a film director of international stature."
Joely Richardson, who starred in Russell's BBC TV series Lady Chatterley, adds, "I will forever feel privileged and honoured to have worked with the great Ken Russell. More than that, I was extremely fond of the man himself."
Russell's fellow British filmmaker Michael Winner told the Daily Mirror, "I've known Ken since 1968. He was the most innovative director. I persuaded Oliver Reed to work with him even though Oliver said, 'I'm not a TV star, I'm a movie star.'
"His television was in a field of its own, it was absolutely extraordinary. Then he graduated to movies... He was also a very nice person. He was very cheerful and very well-meaning. He had a very good run even though his style of picture-making became obsolete, but that happened to everyone, Billy Wilder and (Alfred) Hitchcock."
Russell passed away in a hospital on Sunday after a series of strokes. He is survived by his wife Elize.
- 11/28/2011
- WENN
British moviemaker Ken Russell has died at the age of 84.
Russell directed several classic British films during his 55-year career, including spy thriller Billion Dollar Brain, The Who's rock opera Tommy, and Oscar-winning 1969 movie Women in Love.
He also notched up a range of acting and writing credits, and was working in front of the cameras as recently as 2010, when he played a university lecturer in crime drama Mr. Nice. He even has a role in upcoming horror movie Invasion of the Not Quite Dead.
Fellow British filmmaker Michael Winner paid tribute to Russell after news of his death was announced on Monday, telling the Daily Mirror, "I've known Ken since 1968. He was the most innovative director. I persuaded Oliver Reed to work with him even though Oliver said, 'I'm not a TV star, I'm a movie star.'
"His television was in a field of its own, it was absolutely extraordinary. Then he graduated to movies... He was also a very nice person. He was very cheerful and very well-meaning. He had a very good run even though his style of picture-making became obsolete, but that happened to everyone, Billy Wilder and (Alfred) Hitchcock."
Russell, who Winner insists had been "terribly ill for some time", passed away in a hospital on Sunday. No further details were available as WENN went to press.
Russell directed several classic British films during his 55-year career, including spy thriller Billion Dollar Brain, The Who's rock opera Tommy, and Oscar-winning 1969 movie Women in Love.
He also notched up a range of acting and writing credits, and was working in front of the cameras as recently as 2010, when he played a university lecturer in crime drama Mr. Nice. He even has a role in upcoming horror movie Invasion of the Not Quite Dead.
Fellow British filmmaker Michael Winner paid tribute to Russell after news of his death was announced on Monday, telling the Daily Mirror, "I've known Ken since 1968. He was the most innovative director. I persuaded Oliver Reed to work with him even though Oliver said, 'I'm not a TV star, I'm a movie star.'
"His television was in a field of its own, it was absolutely extraordinary. Then he graduated to movies... He was also a very nice person. He was very cheerful and very well-meaning. He had a very good run even though his style of picture-making became obsolete, but that happened to everyone, Billy Wilder and (Alfred) Hitchcock."
Russell, who Winner insists had been "terribly ill for some time", passed away in a hospital on Sunday. No further details were available as WENN went to press.
- 11/28/2011
- WENN
Directed by: Al Adamson
Written by: Mark Weston and Bob Levine, from an original story by Elvin Feltner
Cast: Don Stewart, Jennifer Houlton, Howard Segal, Kegina Carrol, Joe Cirillo, Mark Weston.
Hurry, hurry, step right up! The carnival is back and now at a video store near you!!
Considered lost for years, a clean print of the family film Carnival Magic was discovered in 2009. Restored and re-mastered in 2010, the film was shown Turner Movie Classic and screened by The Alamo Drafthouse during the Cinemapocalypse Tour. The exposure generated a minor cult following for the film, and a DVD/Blu Ray combo pack of this so-called rediscovered classic. But such praise feels a little far reaching, as the film suffers from a lazy script and pacing problems.
The film takes place at a traveling carnival down south. The owner, Stoney, is barely paying the bills and feels certain he'll close down...
Written by: Mark Weston and Bob Levine, from an original story by Elvin Feltner
Cast: Don Stewart, Jennifer Houlton, Howard Segal, Kegina Carrol, Joe Cirillo, Mark Weston.
Hurry, hurry, step right up! The carnival is back and now at a video store near you!!
Considered lost for years, a clean print of the family film Carnival Magic was discovered in 2009. Restored and re-mastered in 2010, the film was shown Turner Movie Classic and screened by The Alamo Drafthouse during the Cinemapocalypse Tour. The exposure generated a minor cult following for the film, and a DVD/Blu Ray combo pack of this so-called rediscovered classic. But such praise feels a little far reaching, as the film suffers from a lazy script and pacing problems.
The film takes place at a traveling carnival down south. The owner, Stoney, is barely paying the bills and feels certain he'll close down...
- 7/7/2011
- by Chris McMillan
- Planet Fury
Veteran actor Ron Moody returned to his roots on Wednesday night by joining the cast of West End musical Oliver! exactly 50 years after he first took to the stage as Fagin.
Moody was the first actor play the villainous pick-pocket boss in the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale Oliver Twist, which premiered in London on 30 June, 1960.
The 86 year old went on to reprise the character in the 1968 film version alongside Oliver Reed, which earned Moody an Academy Award nomination.
He stepped on stage in the West End once again on Wednesday, joining the cast of the musical at the British capital's Theatre Royal Drury Lane to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary.
The actor read a speech at the end of the production and even treated the audience to a rendition of Fagin's famous tune Pick A Pocket Or Two, prompting a standing ovation from the delighted crowd.
Moody was last seen as Fagin in a brief five-week run in London in 1983.
Moody was the first actor play the villainous pick-pocket boss in the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale Oliver Twist, which premiered in London on 30 June, 1960.
The 86 year old went on to reprise the character in the 1968 film version alongside Oliver Reed, which earned Moody an Academy Award nomination.
He stepped on stage in the West End once again on Wednesday, joining the cast of the musical at the British capital's Theatre Royal Drury Lane to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary.
The actor read a speech at the end of the production and even treated the audience to a rendition of Fagin's famous tune Pick A Pocket Or Two, prompting a standing ovation from the delighted crowd.
Moody was last seen as Fagin in a brief five-week run in London in 1983.
- 7/1/2010
- WENN
Russell Crowe has lashed out at his late "Gladiator" co-star Oliver Reed - insisting he never had a "pleasant conversation" with the actor, who "drank himself to death". British hellraiser Reed was famed for his heavy boozing, which finally prompted a fatal heart attack halfway through shooting the "Ridley Scott" epic in Malta in 1999.
And Crowe admits he has very few happy memories of his time with Reed - recalling one occasion when the intoxicated actor took to fighting with strangers in the street. Crowe tells Britain's GQ magazine, "I never got on with Ollie. He has visited me in dreams and asked me to talk kindly of him. So I should... but we never had a pleasant conversation."
"I have seen him walk down the street in Malta drunk as a lord and just hit anybody he got near to - even a man walking with his children. I...
And Crowe admits he has very few happy memories of his time with Reed - recalling one occasion when the intoxicated actor took to fighting with strangers in the street. Crowe tells Britain's GQ magazine, "I never got on with Ollie. He has visited me in dreams and asked me to talk kindly of him. So I should... but we never had a pleasant conversation."
"I have seen him walk down the street in Malta drunk as a lord and just hit anybody he got near to - even a man walking with his children. I...
- 5/8/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Russell Crowe has lashed out at his late Gladiator co-star Oliver Reed - insisting he never had a "pleasant conversation" with the actor, who "drank himself to death".
British hellraiser Reed was famed for his heavy boozing, which finally prompted a fatal heart attack halfway through shooting the Ridley Scott epic in Malta in 1999.
And Crowe admits he has very few happy memories of his time with Reed - recalling one occasion when the intoxicated actor took to fighting with strangers in the street.
Crowe tells Britain's GQ magazine, "I never got on with Ollie. He has visited me in dreams and asked me to talk kindly of him. So I should... but we never had a pleasant conversation.
"I have seen him walk down the street in Malta drunk as a lord and just hit anybody he got near to - even a man walking with his children. I just found that to be - not impressive."
And the Aussie actor insists he had little time for the Oliver! star at the end of his life - because Reed had a "weird energy".
Crowe adds, "He drank himself to death. He sat on a bar stool until he fell off it and carried on drinking... lying in his own p**s and vomit he continued to drink till he passed out. What did the tabloids say he drank on the day he died? Something like 30 beers, eight or ten dark rums and half a bottle of whiskey. In the end, he created such a weird energy around him that no one drinking with him cared."...
British hellraiser Reed was famed for his heavy boozing, which finally prompted a fatal heart attack halfway through shooting the Ridley Scott epic in Malta in 1999.
And Crowe admits he has very few happy memories of his time with Reed - recalling one occasion when the intoxicated actor took to fighting with strangers in the street.
Crowe tells Britain's GQ magazine, "I never got on with Ollie. He has visited me in dreams and asked me to talk kindly of him. So I should... but we never had a pleasant conversation.
"I have seen him walk down the street in Malta drunk as a lord and just hit anybody he got near to - even a man walking with his children. I just found that to be - not impressive."
And the Aussie actor insists he had little time for the Oliver! star at the end of his life - because Reed had a "weird energy".
Crowe adds, "He drank himself to death. He sat on a bar stool until he fell off it and carried on drinking... lying in his own p**s and vomit he continued to drink till he passed out. What did the tabloids say he drank on the day he died? Something like 30 beers, eight or ten dark rums and half a bottle of whiskey. In the end, he created such a weird energy around him that no one drinking with him cared."...
- 5/7/2010
- WENN
It's time for the Monday Monologue.
I don't think we've ever discussed Oliver! (1968) in all the years of The Film Experience. Weird. Today it's often disparaged as a typical example of the bloat of 1960s musicals. It's six Oscar haul (including Best Picture) is to blame for much of the critical animosity it engenders. Oscar enthusiasts know that winning the big prize isn't always good for your place in film history.
When I was a child I couldn't get enough of this musicalized telling of Oliver Twist. And it probably won't surprise you to hear that literally every one of my favorite scenes was focused on Nancy, the prostitute with the heart of gold (Shani Wallis). It may well have been the first movie to unlock my actressexuality. I was obsessed with Nancy's sadness, her maternal instincts, her slightly forced joy, her ginger hair, her heaving bosom. Okay, yeah, and...
I don't think we've ever discussed Oliver! (1968) in all the years of The Film Experience. Weird. Today it's often disparaged as a typical example of the bloat of 1960s musicals. It's six Oscar haul (including Best Picture) is to blame for much of the critical animosity it engenders. Oscar enthusiasts know that winning the big prize isn't always good for your place in film history.
When I was a child I couldn't get enough of this musicalized telling of Oliver Twist. And it probably won't surprise you to hear that literally every one of my favorite scenes was focused on Nancy, the prostitute with the heart of gold (Shani Wallis). It may well have been the first movie to unlock my actressexuality. I was obsessed with Nancy's sadness, her maternal instincts, her slightly forced joy, her ginger hair, her heaving bosom. Okay, yeah, and...
- 3/23/2010
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
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