Fedora (1978)

Fedora is a 1978 American drama film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on a novella by Tom Tryon included in his collection Crowned Heads, published in 1976.

The film's central character is a reclusive foreign-born actress, one of the greatest movie stars of the century, who inexplicibly has retained her youthful beauty despite her advancing years. In the opening scene she commits suicide by throwing herself in front of a train, and among the mourners at her funeral is aging has-been Hollywood producer Dutch Detweiler, with whom she once had a brief affair and who serves as the film's narrator.

We flashback to a villa on an island near Corfu, where Dutch visited Fedora two weeks earlier, determined to convince her to star in a new screen adaptation of Anna Karenina. She tells him she's a prisoner in her remote retreat, held captive by aged Polish Countess Sobryanski, her overprotective servant Miss Balfour, her chauffer Kritos, and Dr. Vando, who seemingly is responsible for keeping the one-time star looking so young. When he tries to respond to Fedora's plea for help, Dutch is knocked unconscious by Kritos. He awakens nearly a week later, only to learn Fedora has killed herself.

At her funeral, Dutch accuses Vando and the Countess of driving Fedora to her death. The Countess reveals she actually is Fedora, and the woman who died was her daughter Antonia, who had been impersonating the actress for years after she was disfigured by one of the doctor's treatments. Antonia's charade was successful until she fell in love with actor Michael York (playing himself) while making a film with him and decided to tell him the truth. In order to ensure her silence, she was held captive and kept drugged, until she finally killed herself. Dutch bids the real Fedora farewell, and six weeks later, she dies too.

Wilder's previous film, The Front Page, had been released four years earlier and was a critical and commercial failure. Furthermore, two more recent Hollywood-based films, Gable and Lombard and W.C. Fields and Me (both released in 1976), had failed to engender any interest at the box office. As a result, executives at Universal Pictures were hesitant to offer the auteur his usual deal. Instead, they paid Wilder and Diamond to write the screenplay with the understanding the studio would have 45 days following its submission to decide if it wanted to proceed with the project. They ultimately put it in turnaround, and Wilder began shopping it to other studios with no success. An infusion of capital from German investors enabled him to proceed with the film.

Wilder originally envisioned Marlene Dietrich as Fedora and Faye Dunaway as her daughter Antonia, but Dietrich despised the original book and thought the screenplay was no improvement. Sydney Pollack invited Wilder to a pre-release screening of 'Bobby Deerfield, in which former fashion model Marthe Keller had a featured role. Wilder decided to cast her as both mother and daughter in Fedora, but the actress had suffered facial nerve damage in an automobile accident and was unable to endure wearing the heavy makeup required to transform her into the older character, so he cast Hildegard Knef in the role.

After viewing a rough cut of the film, Wilder realized neither Keller nor Knef could be understood easily, nor did they sound very much alike (which was crucial to the film's plot), so he hired German actress Inga Bunsch to dub the dialogue of both women for the film's English-language release. Keller eventually recorded the voices for both characters in the French version, and Knef did likewise for the German release.

Allied Artists dropped its deal to distribute the film after it was screened at a Myasthenia Gravis Foundation benefit in New York City and the audience response was unenthusiastic. The film was picked up by Lorimar Productions, which planned to peddle it to CBS as a television movie. Before the network could agree to the offer, United Artists stepped in. They ultimately released the film in only a handful of select American and European markets with little fanfare, prompting an insulted Wilder to claim the studio spent "about $625 on a marketing campaign."

After cutting twelve minutes of the film based on studio recommendations, Wilder sneak previewed the film in Santa Barbara. Halfway through it the audience began derisively laughing at all the wrong places. Dejected by the response and despondent from all the problems he had encountered up to this point, the director refused to make any more edits. On May 30, 1978, it had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival as part of a retrospective of the director's work.

Both Henry Fonda and Michael York make cameo appearances in the film, Fonda as the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who presents a lifetime achievement award to Fedora, and York as himself.

No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)

No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) is a darkly comic thriller directed by Jack Smight, with a screenplay by John Gay adapted from William Goldman's novel of the same name. The film starred Rod Steiger, Lee Remick and George Segal, the latter of whom was nominated for a BAFTA for his role as Detective Moe Brummel.

New York detective Moe Brummell (George Segal) is assigned to track down a serial killer who has been preying on lonely middle-aged ladies. Each of the bodies is discovered with a lipstick kiss drawn on the forehead. We know (but Brummell doesn't) that the murderer is Christopher Gill (Rod Steiger), a round-the-bend actor whose hatred for his mother has driven him to his killing spree.

Gill is fond of adopting a different personality and costume with each killing (a priest, a homosexual, a plumber etc.), making him doubly difficult to trace. When Brummell comments to the media that he's up against a criminal genius, he finds himself the reluctant recipient of Gill's anonymous phone calls, wherein the killer plants cryptic clues leading to his next crime.

It may not be readily apparent from the previous sentence, but No Way to Treat a Lady is a comedy-albeit a jet-black one. Moe Brummell is hampered with an archetypal Jewish mamma (Eileen Heckart), who in her own way is as deadly as the elusive Christopher Gill. Lee Remick plays Brummell's girl friend, who, as the only person who might be able to identify Gill, is placed in harm's way at the film's climax.

A curious by-product of No Way to Treat a Lady is the fact that Rod Steiger was cast in the lead in the 1976 biopic W.C. Fields and Me on the basis of the third-rate Fields imitation he offers to George Segal during one of his taunting phone calls.

Nowadays, when it seems that a successful film has to be either a big holiday or summer special-effects blockbuster, or a cheap independent circuit success, it makes one long for the days when good films with good stories were made for modest budgets and provided a decent piece of entertainment without overloading the senses. This dying breed of the movies is still around, however, and although often under appreciated, should be sought out. One case in point is No Way to Treat a Lady, a black comedy that combines a crime drama with the often humorous relationships men have with their mothers. In spite of the film being a thriller, we know from the beginning who the bad guy is. It's Rod Steiger, who gets to really stretch and ham it up as a theater manager/serial killer who murders each of his victims in some outlandish disguise to win their trust. George Segal is the cop who must crack the case and, at the same time, fend off his wonderfully annoying mother, Eileen Heckart (whose running gag line, "Who ever heard of a Jewish cop?" gets repeated over and over again throughout).

Steiger's character is one of those vain killers who checks the newspaper for reports of his exploits and who takes to calling Segal when the facts are reported wrong or when he wants to taunt the authorities. Segal is rather bland, although it's not really his fault since the role doesn't give him much to do other than to react to the other characters, particularly his mother, Steiger, and Lee Remick, as his love interest and would-be victim of the murderer. Steiger goes way, way over the top, but it works because the film has set him up to be not only flamboyant, but overreactive to mother issues of his own. His various disguises get odder and odder as the film moves along, and when it shifts from comedy into resolution of the crime mode, his character becomes that much more menacing, not because he's funny but because we learn, as Segal puts the pieces together, that he is honestly and truly deranged. Remick serves as the breath of fresh air, only because her character is the only one who isn't dealing with some sort of emotional crisis. The scene where she meets and charms Heckart is an overlooked comedic gem.

Although murder and mental illness are hardly laughing matters, director Jack Smight squeezes legitimate comedy from the corrosive camaraderie of Steiger and Segal in their hare-and-hound relationship.

Segal gives his best performance since King Rat, and Steiger offers the audience a cornucopia of characters and caricatures. Some are overplayed while others are slighted, but consistency is beside the point: not many other major American actors could have brought off this kind of multifaccted tour de force, which once was the exclusive property of Alec Guinness.

The Killing of Sister George (1968)

Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series Applehurst, a nurse who ministers to the medical needs and personal problems of the local villagers. She is played by June Buckridge, who in real life is a gin-guzzling, cigar-chomping, slightly sadistic masculine woman, the antithesis of the sweet character she plays. June lives with Alice "Childie" McNaught, a younger dim-witted woman she often verbally and sometimes physically abuses. When June discovers her character is scheduled to be killed, she becomes increasingly impossible to work and live with. Mercy Croft, an executive at the radio station, intercedes in her professional and personal lives supposedly to help, but she actually has an agenda of her own.

Lukas Heller wrote the screenplay for the 1968 feature film version directed by Robert Aldrich. Beryl Reid was cast as June. Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury were considered for the role. Susannah York played Alice and Coral Browne as Mercy. In the movie Applehurst became a television soap opera, and the lesbian aspects of the plot are much more explicit.

The film added many characters and shot many scenes on location. The opening sequence has June wandering through the streets and alleyways of Hampstead west of Heath Street. Another is in a real-life London lesbian hangout, the Gateways Club. Alice is portrayed as childishly naive rather than dim-witted, and June is more of an alcoholic. In one scene, while under the influence, she molests two novice nuns in a taxi, behavior that precipitates the beginning of the end for Sister George.

Between the time the movie started filming and ended production, the movie industry instituted the new MPAA ratings system. Largely on the basis of a graphic sex scene involving Alice and Mercy (deleted in some TV screenings) Sister George received an X rating, which limited its exposure in theatres and ability to advertise in mainstream newspapers. Aldrich spent $75,000 battling the rating, but his lawsuit was dismissed, and the film died at the box office.

Beryl Reid was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Drama.

The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

Sometimes, you see a film so splendidly, memorably, unforgettably awful that you begin to wonder why it’s not more well-known. Then you remember the hell you had to go through just to get a chance to see it, and you say, “Oh, that’s why.” The Legend Of Lylah Clare is one such film.

Notorious for being one of the first “dramatic” feature films greeted with outright laughter upon its prémiere, MGM has taken great pains to bury The Legend Of Lylah Clare. It’s never been released on DVD, laserdisc or even videotape. It turns up from time to time on TV, but that’s about it.

Director Robert Aldrich had an odd career. Mainly known for “men’s pictures” such as The Dirty Dozen, he attempted his first “women’s picture” in 1956 with the forgettable Joan Crawford vehicle Autumn Leaves. He eventually hit his stride in 1962 with the legendary Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. Casting famous leading ladies of the past in a Grand Guignol horror situation was a stroke of genius, and became much imitated. It also served to provide a spark to both Bette Davis’ and Joan Crawford’s careers, though they would spend the balance of same struggling to live this particular film down. Lightning struck twice for Aldrich with Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte a couple of years later, one of the first Hollywood features to feature outright gore.

1968 was supposed to be a banner year for Aldrich. Flushed with the success of The Dirty Dozen, he formed his own production company, Aldrich and Associates. The result consisted of merely two films: The Killing of Sister George and The Legend of Lylah Clare.

Both of the films are full-on Aldrich at his most unfettered. Neither was much of a success. Well, the controversial “lesbian” storyline in The Killing of Sister George brought in an audience of the perversely curious, but interest fell off rapidly. But really, as The Killing Of Sister George was at least “artistically” successful, The Legend Of Lylah Clare stands alone. It’s a film that shows flashes of brilliance, but is for the most part ineptly rendered in the worst way. You can tell what Aldrich was going for much of the movie, but the lapses in plausibility in the screenplay, the heavy derivation of other sources and the overripe dialogue really make this hard to take seriously.

Film star Lylah Clare is dead, but her legend lives on. Movie-producer Barney Sheean (Ernest Borgnine) hires Elsa Brinkmann (Kim Novak), the living image of the late Lylah, to star in a film based on Ms. Clare's life. Barney hires director Lewis Zarkan (Peter Finch), Lylah's former husband, to transform the talentless Elsa into a facsimile of the deceased screen queen. Elsa not only learns to imitate Lylah but, at crucial junctures, becomes the dead woman. While restaging the accident that killed Lylah, the obsessed Zarkan deliberately drives Elsa to her doom -- and in so doing reveals his complicity in the death of his wife. The film ends with Lylah's onetime housekeeper (Rosella Falk), gun in hand, lying in wait for Zarkan to return home while her TV blasts forth a grotesque (and possibly symbolic) dog-food commercial.

Say what you will about the rest of the film, the ending is not only apt, but also one of the greatest endings to any film, ever. And it’s just so totally Robert Aldrich. That one scene speaks volumes about the whole film, probably even about Aldrich.

Un Taxi Mauve (1977)

The Purple Taxi (French: Un taxi mauve) is a 1977 French-Irish-Italian film directed by Yves Boisset, based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Michel Déon. It was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.

The film is about a group of emotionally troubled expatriates living in a self-imposed exile in a small village in Ireland. The cast includes Peter Ustinov, Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Noiret, Edward Albert and, somewhat eccentrically cast as a small-town Irish physician, Fred Astaire.

The film's score was performed by The Chieftains.

To heal a private wound, Philippe Marchal, a French writer, moves to the Irish countryside. Here, he makes friends with a young American, Jerry Kean who left his own country after a tragic incident. Philippe succumbs to the charms of Jerry’s sister, Sharon, whilst Jerry is attracted to the mysterious dumb daughter of the reclusive Mr Taubelman, a Russian exile who lives in a run-down castle. Then there is a retired American doctor, Dr Scully, who drives a curious purple taxi…

Un taxi mauve makes a stark contrast to the kind of film that director Yves Boisset was making in the 1970s – tough, slightly cynical thrillers with a keen political edge. This film is much lighter in tone than Boisset’s other work, a pleasing comedy-drama which explores the interactions between a disparate group of characters in a rural setting, and featuring an extraordinary international cast. Fred Astaire makes one of his last film appearances, along side such luminaries as Peter Ustinov, Philippe Noiret and Charlotte Rampling. Whilst the plotting is a little heavy (making the point that this really isn’t Boisset’s genre), the exquisite performances and some stunning location photography make it an attractive cinematic treat.

Last Embrace (1979)

Last Embrace is a 1979 Hitchcockian thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme. Based on the novel The 13th Man by Murray Teigh Bloom it stars Roy Scheider, Janet Margolin and Christopher Walken.

The misic is composed by Miklós Rózsa.

CIA secret agent Harry Hannan (Roy Scheider) has not been the same since his wife's murder. He suffers a nervous breakdown after the tragedy, which lands him in a sanitarium. Once released, he is pushed in front of a train and only narrowly escapes. Then he receives a cryptic letter that foretells his death. Now Harry suspects that he too is in danger and perhaps the target of a larger conspiracy, especially after he meets a graduate student named Ellie who might not be whom she claims to be, and malevolent types such as a homicidal prostitute and a pushy detective begin to crowd his sinister world. Are Harry's mournful anxieties just degenerating into paranoid madness? He has to discern reality from illusion while on the run because the menace is closing in on him fast.

Jonathan Demme directed this elegant homage to Alfred Hitchock that features several sequences that mirror the suspense master's own. A shower curtain pulled quickly back might remind viewers of PSYCHO; a frame filled with people all wearing the same raincoat mimics the famed overhead shot of a crowd of umbrellas in FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT; and the ominous soundtrack was composed by SPELLBOUND scorer Miklós Rózsa.

Last Embrace II

Little Voice (1998)

Little Voice is a 1998 British drama film with music written and directed by Mark Herman. The screenplay is based on the play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright.

Set primarily in a lower-middle-class home where the fuses constantly blow and what little food there is in the refrigerator has turned rancid, the film tells the story of lonely, shy, agoraphobic young Laura, commonly known as Little Voice, who seems to display many of the symptoms of selective mutism, a rare anxiety disorder similar to social phobia. She spends her time obsessively listening to her deceased father's extensive collection of vintage recordings by such all-time singing greats as Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, and Shirley Bassey. Impersonating their performances is her only source of joy, life, and escape from her boozy, abusive mother, Mari.

A hint that Little Voice might be able to have a social life beyond her mother occurs when the family telephone has to be repaired, and meek assistant telephone installer Billy shows interest in her, even returning to the house to deliver information pamphlets. Her life of solitude is turned upside down when Ray Say, a manager of third-rate acts, becomes romantically involved with her mother and, upon recognizing Little Voice's amazing talent, attempts to make her the star she doesn't want to be. He convinces Mr. Boo to showcase her at his seedy nightclub, where the girl, overcoming her fear by imagining her father is in the audience, presents a succession of show-stopping numbers that has the crowd clamoring for more.

Complications ensue when the girl retreats into her private world and refuses to participate in a heavily-hyped second appearance attended by a top London press agent. In the aftermath of Little Voice failing to perform, the family house catches fire destroying the record collection. Little Voice's soulmate, Billy, who is also a pigeon fancier, ultimately saves her both literally and figuratively.

It stars Michael Caine, Brenda Blethyn, Ewan McGregor, Jim Broadbent and Jane Horrocks in the title role.

Dead Ringers (1988)

Dead Ringers is a 1988 psychological horror film starring Jeremy Irons in a dual role as identical twin gynecologists. Director David Cronenberg co-wrote the screenplay with Norman Snider; their script was based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland. The film is very loosely based on the lives of Stewart and Cyril Marcus.

It's the story of twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle (both played, via special effects, by Jeremy Irons) who are so close that their identities are intertwined. Indeed, they take advantage of their identical appearance to swap places with one another at will, taking turns giving public appearances, performing surgeries and research, and even switching off with the women they date. The arrogant, confident Elliot and the shy, sweet Bev are two sides of the same personality, complementing and completing one another, together forming a whole person; neither of them could really exist independently.

Nevertheless, Bev decides that he wants to try severing this intimate bond between the brothers when he falls in love with the movie star Claire (Geneviève Bujold), who starts out as just another of the brothers' mutual conquests. As usual, the more confident Elliot seduces and sleeps with her, then allows Bev to take his place the next night. But when Beverly's bond with the needy, masochistic Claire begins to threaten the connection between the brothers, things start falling apart for all three of them. The film is a nightmarish study of psychological dependency, of unhealthy bonds between people — symbolized by the horrifying dream in which Bev envisions himself and his brother joined together by a meaty umbilical cord, which Claire tries to bite through. The film certainly doesn't lack Cronenberg's signature disturbing imagery, but for the most part its "body horror" is more psychological and internal rather than being inscribed in blood and gore. When Bev, driven mad by isolation and grief, simply unveils his set of tools for operating on "mutant women," it's a visceral chill on par with any of Cronenberg's more grisly set pieces. By locating the film's horror almost entirely in the minds and personae of these twins, Dead Ringers becomes one of Cronenberg's finest, most creepily incisive works.

Cronenberg takes the notion of the divided self beyond mere metaphor in this story (suggested by actual events) of identical twin gynecologists and their descent into madness. The subject matter alone ensures an almost unprecedented level of creepiness, and you can bet Cronenberg makes the most of it; when one of the twins commissions a set of surgical tools for use on "mutant women" (for he is just about at the point where he thinks all women are mutants), it's permanent gooseflesh time. But the picture ultimately goes deeper, plunging us into the desperate, confused loneliness to which we are all prey, whether we're cursed with doppelgängers or not.

Roberto Fonseca Akokan

Two years on from his confident debut, this leading young Cuban pianist has made another wide-ranging and accomplished album. Akokan follows a similar template to Zamazu, and comes across as a slightly more mature and subdued work.

Aside from having had the best possible exposure through working with several Buena Vista Social Club veterans, Fonseca’s success is in no small part down to having had a stable working relationship with the same core group for the last twelve years. The other major reason is the accessibility and eclecticism of his original melodies, which are rooted in Cuban styles, but show that he has his ears wide open to the world of Latin music, jazz and beyond.

He dedicates the dreamy ballad Como En Las Películas (Like In The Movies) to the music of France, and claims that Bulgarian was inspired by that country. Even so, the combination of Fonseca’s piano, the complex time signatures and Javier Zalba’s eastern-inflected clarinet on this piece most obviously suggest Turkey’s wonderful Ayse Tüntüncü Trio.

The pervading influence of South Africa’s Abdullah Ibrahim is apparent on both Lo Que Me Hace Vivir and La Flor Que No Cuidé, while the ghost of Rubén González haunts Cuando Uno Crece. And the contrarily titled Lento Y Despacio (Slow and slowly) is a stop-start percussive jam that could easily have come from Aron Ottignon’s inspired Culture Tunnels album.

As on Zamazu, this album kicks off with a short incantation by Fonseca’s mother, Mercedes Cortes Alfaro. Perhaps the most striking piece is Drume Negrita, which has a cool, relaxed vibe and features some lovely sax work by Zalba.

Fonseca doesn’t seem to scat as much as he used to, but on Siete Potencias (Bu Kantu) he ropes in Cape Verdean singer Mayra Andrade, who provides her own words and acquits herself well. Perhaps more jarring is the arrival of Venezuelan Raul Midón, singing his own composition Everyone Deserves A Second Chance in English. It’s only this and the occasional tendency of drummer Ramsés Rodrigues to over-reach himself that mar an otherwise classy set.

Shutter Island (2009)

Shutter Island is an upcoming American thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. 

The film is based on the 2003 novel Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. 

Production started in March 2008; Shutter Island is slated to be released on October 2, 2009

The story takes place in 1954 on Shutter Island, home to a psychiatric hospital called Ashecliffe. U.S. Deputy Marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule investigate the disappearance of a patient, Rachel Solando, who had committed multiple murders. The deputy marshals search the island for the patient as a hurricane bears down on them, and they find that the hospital has practiced sinister measures during its existence.

With Shutter Island, author Dennis Lehane sought to write a novel that would be a homage to Gothic settings, B movies, and pulp. Lehane described the novel as a hybrid of the works of the Brontë sisters and the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The author wanted to write the main characters in a position where they would lack twentieth-century conventions such as radio communications. He also structured the book to be more taut than his previous book, Mystic River.

Feature film rights to the 2003 novel Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane were first optioned to Columbia Pictures in 2003, but the rights lapsed back to the author. The author's representatives then sold the rights to the production company Phoenix Pictures, who hired screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis to script the novel for a film adaptation. The project was in development for a year. By October 2007, the project had developed into a co-production between the studios Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who had worked together on three films, were both attracted to Shutter Island as their next collaboration. Locations like Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Nova Scotia were scouted.Production began on March 6, 2008.

Production took place in Taunton, Massachusetts to film World War II flashback scenes of DiCaprio's character, who served as an American soldier. Scorsese filmed the scenes in old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex, which replicated the Dachau concentration camp. Extras portraying the Dachau Prisoners were called back to reshoot a scene in July, due to the film of one scene being damaged going through Logan Airport Security. Scenes were filmed at the old Medfield State Hospital in Medfield, Massachusetts. Peddocks Island was used as a setting for the story's island and East Point, in Nahant, Massachusetts for the lighthouse scenes. Filming ended on July 2, 2008.

Bond 23 Writers Confirmed

Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions Ltd and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures have today announced that Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace) will be the screenwriters of the 23rd James Bond adventure.

Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in the film, which will be a MGM release of an EON production.

Bond 23 is the latest installment in the longest-running franchise in motion picture history and will be produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. A date for the start of production is yet to be confirmed.

"Peter, Neal and Robert are extraordinarily talented and we're looking forward to working with the three of them," commented Wilson and Broccoli.

Peter Morgan is the award-winning writer of such films as The Last King of Scotland, The Queen and Frost/Nixon, which was based on his play. He has also scripted the upcoming The Special Relationship for HBO and Hereafter for DreamWorks. He will turn his attention to Bond 23 on completion of these duties. Morgan is represented by UTA (US) and Independent Talent Group (UK).

Since 1991 Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have collaborated on a diverse range of projects including The Italian Job, Johnny English and the past four Bond films. They recently adapted John Le Carre's The Mission Song and are also working on the upcoming sequel The Brazilian Job. Purvis and Wade are represented by Endeavor (US), Casarotto Ramsay & Associates (UK).

MGM, which shared "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace" with Sony, retains full control of the newest edition in the blockbuster franchise. "Solace" grossed $570 million worldwide, "Royale" $588 million.

Will Farrell launches susnscreen line

It's hard to know where to begin with this one. Other than, hooray, a celebrity has launched a beauty product we actually want to purchase (maybe as a Father's Day gift) this very instant? Will Ferrell is launching a sunscreen line called Will Ferrell Sunscreen. The SPF 30s come in Sun Stroke, Sexy Hot Tan, and Forbidden Fruit. We're not sure of the differences between these, other than different tag lines on the bottles like "and the rich cream brought protection and comfort and it was good" (Forbidden Fruit). Each bottle costs $12 and all proceeds benefit Cancer for College’s College Willpowered Scholarship Fund, which grants college scholarships to cancer survivors and amputees. Having supported the charity for a long time, Will explains why he decided to continue his efforts with sunscreen: “I’ve always dreamed of owning a lotion company. And I’ve always hated cancer.” You can buy the lotion on the charity's website, or on eBay or Amazon.

Portrait of Jenny (1948)

Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 fantasy film based on the novella by Robert Nathan.

The film, set in 1934, tells the story of an impoverished painter in New York City, who meets a fey little girl in Central Park wearing old-fashioned clothing. He makes a sketch of her from memory which involves him with an art dealer who is impressed with his work. This inspires him to paint a portrait of her - the "Portrait Of Jennie." Jennie has seemed to age a few years each time Adams meets her. He soon falls in love with her, but is puzzled by the fact that she seems to be experiencing events that took place many years previously as if they had just happened. He sets out to investigate but does not reveal what he discovers to anyone, and is puzzled by what he finds.

The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick.

The book on which the film was based first attracted the attention of David O. Selznick, who immediately purchased it as a vehicle for rising star Jennifer Jones. Filming began in early 1947 in New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, but Selznick was unhappy with the results and scheduled re-shoots as well as hiring and firing five different writers before the film was completed in October 1948. The New York shooting enabled Selznick to use Albert Sharpe and David Wayne who were both appearing on stage in Finian's Rainbow, giving an Irish flair to characters and the painting in the bar that wasn't in Nathan's novel.

As Portrait of Jennie was a fantasy, Selznick insisted on filming on actual Massachusetts (The Graves Light) and New York City locations such as Central Park, The Cloisters, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art as opposed to studio sets that dramatically increased the films production costs. The film's major overhaul came when Selznick added a tinted color sequence for the final scenes. The final shot of the painting, appearing just before the credits, is in full Technicolor.

Portrait of Jennie was highly unusual for its time in that it had no opening credits as such, except for the Selznick Studio logo. All of the other credits appear at the end. Before the film proper begins, the title is announced by the narrator (after delivering a spoken prologue, he says, "And now, 'Portrait of Jennie'").

The portrait of Jennie (Jennifer Jones) was painted by artist Robert Brackman. The painting became one of Selznick's prized possessions, and he displayed it in his home after he and Jones married in 1949.

The film is notable for Joseph H. August's remarkably atmospheric cinematography, capturing the lead character's almost drugged obsession with Jennie, amongst the environs of a wintry New York. August shoots many of the scenes through a canvas making the scenes look like actual paintings. August, who used many lenses from silent film days died shortly after completing the film. He was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Also remarkable is Dimitri Tiomkin's masterful uses of themes by Claude Debussy, including Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, the two Arabesques, 'Nuages' and 'Sirènes' from the suite Nocturnes, and La fille aux cheveux de lin, with the addition of Bernard Herrmann's "Jennie's Theme" to a song featured in Nathan's book ("Where I came from, nobody knows, and where I am going everyone goes"), utilizing a theremin. Herrmann was assigned the original composing duties for the film but left during its extended shooting schedule. August's and Tiomkin's contributions add greatly to the film's ethereal quality.

A certain scene - of Jennie and Adams having a picnic after witnessing the ceremony in the convent - features in the original screenplay. It was filmed but deleted when it looked as if Jennie's hair was blending into the tree next to her. The scene that featured Jennie doing a dance choreographed by Jerome Robbins took over 10 days to film but wasn't used in the completed film.

North by Northwest 50° Anniversary

North by Northwest is a 1959 American suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau. The screenplay was written by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures". 

Author Nick Clooney praised Lehman's original story and sophisticated dialogue, calling the film "certainly Alfred Hitchcock's most stylish thriller, if not his best".

The film is one of several Hitchcock movies with a film score by Bernard Herrmann and features a memorable opening title sequence by graphic designer Saul Bass. This film is generally cited as the first to feature extended use of kinetic typography in its opening credits.

The movie's world premiere took place in the San Sebastian International Film Festival. North by Northwest is a tale of mistaken identity, with an innocent man pursued across America by agents of a mysterious organization who want to stop his interference in their plans to smuggle out some microfilm (a classic MacGuffin).

Hitchcock planned the film as a change of pace after his dark romantic thriller Vertigo a year earlier. In an interview with François Truffaut ("Hitchcock / Truffaut"), Hitchcock said that he wanted to do something fun, light-hearted, and generally free of the symbolism permeating his other movies.

Writer Ernest Lehman has also mocked those who look for symbolism in the film. Despite its popular appeal, however, the movie is considered to be a masterpiece for its themes of deception, mistaken identity, and moral relativism in the Cold War era.

The central theme is that of theatre and play-acting, wherein everyone is playing a part, no one is who they seem, and identity is in flux. This is reflected by Thornhill's line: "The only performance that will satisfy you is when I play dead." Significantly, Thornhill is a successful advertising executive (a man who makes his living by distorting reality and deceiving the public). In the role of Thornhill, Grant was distressed with the way the plot seemed to wander aimlessly, and he actually approached Hitchcock to complain about the script. "I can't make heads or tails of it," he said (unwittingly quoting a line that Thornhill utters in the film).

The title, North by Northwest, is often seen as having been taken from a line in Hamlet, a work also concerned with the shifty nature of reality. Hitchcock noted this in an interview with Peter Bogdanovich in 1963. Lehman however, states that he used a working title for the film of "In a Northwesterly Direction", because the film was to start in New York and end in Alaska.

Then the head of the story department at MGM suggested "North by Northwest", but this was still to be a working title.

Other titles were considered, including "The Man on Lincoln's Nose", but "North by Northwest" was kept because, according to Lehman, "We never did find a [better] title". The Northwest Airlines reference in the film plays on the title. The title is not an actual compass direction, the two closest directions being northwest by north (NWbN) and north-northwest (NNW), with the latter traditionally taken as the title's intended meaning.

The plot of this film is one of the purer versions of Alfred Hitchcock's idea of the "MacGuffin", the physical object that everyone in the film is chasing after but which has no deep relationship to the plot. Late in North by Northwest, it emerges that the spies are attempting to smuggle microfilm containing government secrets out of the country. They have been trying to kill Thornhill, who they believe to be the agent on their trail, "George Kaplan". Indeed, the fictitious Kaplan himself could be the "MacGuffin" of the film as Thornhill, as well as the villains, spend most of the movie vainly trying to track him down.

There are similarities between this movie and Hitchcock's earlier film Saboteur (1942), whose final scene on top of the Statue of Liberty foreshadows the Mount Rushmore scene in the later film. In fact, North by Northwest can be seen as the last in a long line of "wrong man" films that Hitchcock made according to the pattern he established in The 39 Steps (1935).

North by Northwest has been referred to as "the first James Bond film" due to its similarities with the splashily colorful settings and secret agents of the early Bond movies, not to mention the elegantly daring, wisecracking leading man. Based on the strength of North By Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock was seriously considered to direct the first conceived James Bond film by Ivar Bryce (co-owner of Xanadu Productions), Ian Fleming, and Kevin McClory. Hitchcock read the script that would eventually become Thunderball and was interested in directing it. Later the team shared doubts about Hitchcock's involvement because of his minimum salary requirement and the amount of control over the picture they would have to give up. Hitchcock ultimately passed on the Bond film in order to direct Psycho.

The film's last shot — that of the train speeding into a tunnel during a romantic assignation onboard — is a famous bit of self-conscious Freudian symbolism reflecting Hitchcock's mischievous sense of humor.

....sometimes they return....

Death on the Nile (1978)

Death on the Nile is a 1978 Academy Award-winning film based on the Agatha Christie mystery novel of the same title, directed by John Guillermin. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot played by Peter Ustinov. It takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River. Many of the cultural highlights of Egypt are also featured in the film, such as the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and temples at Abu Simbal and Karnak.

Peter Ustinov played Poirot again in Evil Under the Sun (1982) and in Appointment with Death (1988) for the big screen, in Thirteen at Dinner (1985), Dead Man's Folly (1986) and Murder in Three Acts (1987) for the television.

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The film begins with a meeting between wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) and her close friend Jacqueline de Bellefort (Mia Farrow). Jackie wants her fiancé, Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale), to work for Linnet. But he and Linnet have a whirlwind affair and end up marrying. While honeymooning in Egypt, they are continually hounded by a jilted Jackie. In an attempt to get away, the Doyles board a Nile paddle steamer.

The next day, when the passengers venture off-shore to examine a nearby temple, a large boulder is pushed off a pillar and narrowly misses Simon and Linnet. They once again encounter Jackie, who boards the ship and, ignoring Poirot's warnings to stay away, reveals that she carries a small pistol. After a late-night game of cards in the ship's lounge, Jackie confronts Simon. After an argument, she shoots him in a drunken rage and hits him in the leg. Shortly thereafter, Linnet Ridgeway is discovered murdered in her cabin, shot in the head by a similar weapon, with almost everyone aboard the S.S. Karnak having had a reason to want to do away with the heiress. The pistol goes missing.

Her jewels were coveted by elderly Mrs. van Schuyler (Bette Davis). Van Schyler’s nurse, Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), was forced into servitude when Linnet’s father destroyed her family. The maid, Louise Bourget (Jane Birkin), was upset because Linnet refused her a promised dowry. James Ferguson (Jon Finch), a Communist, resented Linnet's life of luxury. Eccentric novelist Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury) was facing a libel suit brought by Linnet. The author's daughter Rosalie (Olivia Hussey) wants to protect her mother. American lawyer Andrew Pennington (George Kennedy) has been embezzling from the Ridgeway family. Dr. Ludwig Bessner (Jack Warden) was upset because Linnet made defamatory remarks about his clinic. Jacqueline de Bellefort was upset with Linnet for obvious reasons. Poirot admits he found out all this by being a "nasty eavesdropper", while Pennington blatantly tried to get Linnet to sign contracts in front of everybody without letting her read them. Now it’s up to Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov), along with his vacationing friend Col. Race (David Niven), to solve the mystery.

Jackie is a natural suspect but has a perfect alibi, having been sedated and observed by Miss Bowers. Simon Doyle was also unable to commit the crime due to his leg wound. Poirot is convinced someone had been walking on deck and overhearing the argument before the shooting, removed the gun and used it to kill Linnet. While Poirot and Race conduct their investigations, the maid Louise is murdered. Her throat had been cut by one of Dr. Bessner's scalpels and a fragment of a banknote was in her hand. Poirot realizes she probably saw the murderer coming out of Linnet's cabin and attempted to extort money in return for her silence. Salome Otterbourne in turn has seen Louise's murderer and is about to tell Poirot when she is shot in the head through an open cabin door with Pennington's revolver, too large to have been used on Linnet.

A bundle had been found in the Nile. The pistol wrapped in Mrs. van Schuyler's stole with a bullet hole in it. The stole was used to muffle sound and scorching, as seen around Linnet's injury. The only witness to Doyle's shooting was Rosalie who confirms that the stole was not used. A handkerchief was also included stained with red ink, some of which was found in Linnet's nail-varnish.

With several suspects eliminated, Poirot reveals the solution.

The film poster is designed by Richard Amsel.

Revisioning 007

Revisioning 007 is a lively collection of new essays on the reinvention of James Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig in his first appearance as Agent 007. Treating Casino Royale as a case study in popular film culture and as a significant turning point in the 007 series, the book offers innovative readings of the film and its interrelations with the Bond franchise, the culture industry and recent developments in cinema, society and world politics. Essay topics range from the analysis of 007's masochism, voyeurism and hyper-mobility, to the examination of the film's testicular torture scene, the links between international politics and high-stakes gambling and the changing role of the secret agent in a post-9/11 world order.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

In Passaic, New Jersey, the declining "Be Kind Rewind" VHS rental store owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) is due to be demolished to make way for high-end development unless he can find the money to renovate his building, despite his claims that jazz pianist Fats Waller was born in that building. (Waller was actually born in Harlem on May 21 1904) Mr. Fletcher leaves on a trip for several days to join friends and memorialize Waller, leaving his only employee, Mike (Mos Def), to tend to the store, cautioning him to keep Mike's paranoid and klutzy friend, Jerry (Jack Black), away. Jerry becomes magnetized after attempting to disable a nearby electrical substation, believing its energy to be melting his brain, and when Jerry enters the store the next day, he inadvertently erases all the VHS tapes. Mike quickly discovers the disaster, and is further pressed when Miss Falewicz (Farrow), Mr. Fletcher's friend, wants to rent Ghostbusters. 

To prevent her from reporting a problem to Mr. Fletcher, Mike comes up with an idea: as Miss Falewicz has never seen the movie, he proposes to recreate the film using himself and Jerry as the actors and cheap special effects hoping to fool her.

They complete the movie just in time when another customer asks for Rush Hour 2. Mike and Jerry repeat their filming, enlisting the help of Alma (Melonie Diaz), a local woman, for some of the parts.

Word of mouth spreads through Miss Falewicz's nephew of the inadvertently hilarious results of Mike and Jerry's filming, and soon the store is seeing more requests for such movies. Mike, Jerry, and Alma quickly pass off the movies as being "sweded", insisting the films came from Sweden and thus able to demand long wait times and higher costs for the rental. Soon, to meet demand, Mike and Jerry enlist the locals to help out in making the movies, using them as starring roles in their films. 

When Mr. Fletcher returns, intent on converting the store to a DVD rental outlet, he quickly recognizes that they are making more money from the sweded films than from normal rentals, and joins in with the process. However, the success is put to a halt when two court bailiffs (Sigourney Weaver and Paul Dinello) arrive, insisting the sweded films are copyright violations, and seize the tapes and the store's assets, crushing the tapes via a steamroller. Without any money to repair the building, Mr. Fletcher gives up hope, and is forced to reveal to Mike that he had lied about the building being Fats Waller's birthplace. Mr. Fletcher is given a week to evacuate the building before it will be razed.

Jerry, with the help of the local townspeople, convinces Mr. Fletcher and Mike to give one last hurrah and put together a movie dedicated to Fats Waller's life, and the two quickly warm up to the idea. On the day the building is scheduled for demolition, Mr. Fletcher invites all the locals to watch the final film. In his eagerness to start the show due to the presence of the demolition crew waiting to start the job, Jerry accidentally breaks the only TV the store has, but a nearby DVD store owner loans them his video projector, allowing them to show the movie on a white cloth placed in the store's window. As their film ends, Mr. Fletcher, Mike and Jerry exit the store to find a crowd has gathered to watch the film through the window, including the city official and wrecking crew, and they are given a rousing applause by the gathered crowd.

Films that were erased and recreated are referred as being sweded. These remakes are unedited with only a single take per scene. The tapes are described as having come from Sweden as an excuse for higher rental fees and longer wait times. Jerry fabricated the word sweded while arguing with a customer.

In light of the theme of sweding, director Michel Gondry sweded a version of the trailer of the film, starring Gondry himself. On the official website, users can engage in sweding, which puts their faces on the VHS cover of a movie. The Be Kind Rewind YouTube minisite also encourages filmmakers to create sweded versions of popular movies.

The movie did not make any direct references to any web-based services, however the act of copy infringement and the country referenced points to online movie sharing or illegal piracy. The term "sweded" references the controversy within the distribution of movies online, through file sharing. The idea of filesharing has been fought by media/movie corporations seeking to protect their copyrights online, thus taking down many forms of file sharing. However, these same rights are protected by Swedish governments, as a form of free speech, rights of the consumer, allowing torrent based websites (i.e.: The Pirate Bay) to continue to operate in Sweden. In the movie, the characters also had problems with authorities in making sweded movies due to copy infringement.

The concept of the original website designed by Tequila reinforces an interest in online copying. Asking users to Swede their favorite websites, making alternate versions of Google's website with that same homemade Sweded "Arts and Crafts" style. This website originally hosted at BeKindMovie.com has been taken off.

Carlito's Way (1993)

Carlito's Way is a 1993 crime film based on the novel After Hours by Judge Edwin Torres. 

The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp and directed by Brian De Palma. It stars Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, Jorge Porcel, Joseph Siravo and Viggo Mortensen. The film's featured song, "You Are So Beautiful", was performed by Joe Cocker.

The film is based on After Hours, but used the title of the first novel to avoid it being confused with Martin Scorsese's 1985 film of the same name, and focuses on Carlito's activities once he is released from prison. Carlito Brigante, a fictional Puerto Rican criminal vows to go straight and to live life as a law-abiding citizen. However, his past will not let him, and he unwittingly ends up being dragged into the same criminal activities that got him imprisoned in the first place.

Carlito's Way received a mixed response from critics, with a similar lukewarm result at the box office, but has subsequently gained a cult following. Both Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller received Golden Globe nominations for their performances.This was when Pacino and Miller experienced their first offscreen romance as well.

Although the film was not considered a success with its initial theatrical run, it gained a growing fan base.

 Carlito's Way's influence can be seen in many subsequent forms of media, be it music, television shows or video games. 

Ken Rosenberg of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and San Andreas video games was based on Sean Penn's portrayal of Kleinfeld. They are both Jewish, have a similar build, have the same clothing style and display similar traits of drug use and increasing paranoia.

 The character Benny Blanco is parodied in the MMORPG World of Warcraft with the Defias thug "Benny Blanco" in Westfall. 

A clip of Pacino (as Carlito) shouting "Here comes the pain!", from around 25 min, 52 sec into the movie, is used in the song (Sic) by Slipknot.

Carlito's opening monologue from the beginning of the film is used in Jay-Z's "Intro/A Million And One Questions/Rhyme No More" track off his sophomore album "In My Lifetime, Vol.1". 

Carlito's dialogue from the pool room sequence, "Okay I'm reloaded!", "Think you big-time?, You gonna die big time!" and "Here comes the pain!" are used in Jay-Z's "Brooklyn's Finest" track from his debut album "Reasonable Doubt", and the Farmer Boys' single Here Comes the Pain. 

Carlito's ending monologue is sampled on Ghostface Killa's album "Ironman", at the end of the song "The Soul Controller". A rendition of the same monologue is also given on the intro to Jay-Z's "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life". WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment, used "Here Comes the Pain" as a catchphrase for former performer and now UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar. 

A WWE video game was also released using the phrase on the PlayStation 2 system. Also, Carlito's line "You think you're big time? You're gonna fucking die big time!" is used (albeit cleaned up) as a map on the Macintosh first person shooter Marathon Infinity.

The Rogues (1964-1965)

The Rogues is an American television series that appeared on NBC from September 13, 1964 to April 18, 1965, starring David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Gig Young as a related trio of former conmen who could, for the right price, be persuaded to trick a very wealthy and very unscrupulous mark. The extremely well-acted show won the 1964 Golden Globe award for Best Television Series. Although fondly remembered, the show was cancelled after one season.

Niven and Boyer were two of the owners of Four Star Television, the show's production company. Although sometimes appearing together, the three leads tended to rotate appearances as their schedules permitted, which meant that Young helmed more shows since he was less busy otherwise than Niven or Boyer; midway through the season Larry Hagman was brought aboard to help fill in for Young, who had been the lead in most episodes.

Also lending continuity was the presences of Gladys Cooper and Robert Coote, who appeared as supporting players in most episodes. Guest villains included Walter Matthau, Everett Sloane, George Sanders, and Telly Savalas.

Now, Voyager (1942)

Now, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty, who borrowed her title from a line in the Walt Whitman poem "The Untold Want," which reads in its entirety, "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted, / Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find." Bette Davis' portrayal garnered her an Academy Award nomination, and the film continues to be popular not only due to its star power but also the "emotional crescendos" engendered in the storyline.

Under a new arrangement with the studio, producer Hal B. Wallis made Now, Voyager his first independent production at Warner. He took an active role in the production, including casting decisions.

The initial choices for Charlotte were Irene Dunne, Norma Shearer and Ginger Rogers When Bette Davis learned about the project, she campaigned for and successfully won the role. More than any other of her previous films, Davis became absorbed in the role, not only reading the original novel but becoming involved in details such as choosing her wardrobe personally. Consulting with Orry-Kelly, she suggested a drab outfit, including an ugly foulard dress for Charlotte initially, to contrast with stylish, "timeless" creations that marked her later appearance on the cruise ship.

The choice of Davis' leading men became important as well, and after the initial costume and makeup tests of Paul Henreid, Bette was aghast at the "slicked back" gigolo appearance of the Austrian actor. Her comment, "He looked just like Valentino" was shared with Henreid who agreed that he was very uncomfortable with that brilliantine image and when she insisted on another screen test with a more natural hairstyle, he was finally accepted as the choice for her screen lover.

In her 1987 memoir This 'N That, Davis also revealed that another co-star on the film, Claude Rains (with whom she shared the screen in Juarez, Mr. Skeffington, and Deception) was her favorite co-star.

Initial production of the Prouty novel had to take into account that European locales would not be possible in the midst of a war, despite the novelist's insistence on using Italy as the main setting. Her quirky demands for vibrant colors and flashbacks shot in black and white with subtitles were similarly disregarded. 

Principal photography was shifted to Warner's sound stage 18 and various locations around California including the San Bernardino National Forest while European scenes were replaced by stock footage of the Caribbean. One of the primary reasons for Davis becoming interested in the original project was that photography would also take place in her hometown, Boston.

The film highlighted Davis' ability to shape her future artistic ventures, as not only did she have a significant role in influencing the decisions over her co-stars, the choice of director was predicated on a need to have a compliant individual at the helm. Davis had previously worked with the writer Irving Rapper on films where he served as a dialogue director, but his gratitude for her support turned into a grudging realization that Davis could control the film.  Although his approach was conciliatory, the to-and-fro with Davis slowed production and "he would go home evenings angry and exhausted." 

The dailies, however showed a "surprisingly effective" Davis, at the top of her form.

For years, Davis and co-star Paul Henreid claimed the scenes in which Jerry puts two cigarettes in his mouth, lights both, then passes one to Charlotte, was developed by them during rehearsals, inspired by a habit Henreid shared with his wife, but drafts of Casey Robinson's script on file at the University of Southern California indicate it was included by the screenwriter in his original script. The scene remained an indelible trademark that Davis later would exploit as 'hers'.

the masters

 bottom : Billy Wilder, George Stevens, Luis Bunuel, Alfred Hitchcock, Ruben Mamoulian.

    top : Robert Mulligan, William Wyler, George Cukor, Robert Wise, Jean-Claude Carriere, Serge Silberman

In Memoriam : David Carradine (1937-2009)

Thy Dawn O Master of the World

Thy dawn, O Master of the World, thy dawn;
For thee the sunlight creeps across the lawn,
For thee the ships are drawn down to the waves,
For thee the markets throng with myriad slaves,
For thee the hammer on the anvil rings,
For thee the poet of beguilement sings.

from The Story of Hassan of Bagdad and How He Came to Make the Golden Journey to Samarkand by James Elroy Flecker
as said by Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service

"THE UNINVITED": THE UNVEILING OF UNIVERSAL'S NEW PRINT OF A CLASSIC GHOST STORY

A studio error turned out to be a blessing in disguise in March when the Loews Theatre in Jersey City, NJ requested a 35mm print of Lewis Allen’s The Uninvited (1944) and instead was erroneously shipped a print of Charles Guard’s 2009 film of the same name (the film bears no relation other than titular to it’s 65 year-old predecessor, but it is rather a remake of the 2003 Asian film A Tale of Two Sisters). It turned out that there were no known 35mm prints of the film, though this scribe swears that the Film Forum in New York City showed it years ago. The mix-up turned out to be fortuitous as Universal created a new print of the film and it was screened Saturday night. Credit must be given to Paul Ginsburg, Vice President of NBC Universal Distribution, for ordering the new print struck (interestingly, the film is a Paramount Picture).

The film was due to begin at 6:00 pm but was delayed for 25 minutes due to the unanticipated and overwhelming number of people in attendance, the main floor filled almost to 70% capacity. This was a revelation to behold, and I overheard more than a few whispered comments on the ticket line remarking how nice it was to see the large turnout of people for this film which was on a double bill with Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940). The lobby sported a table with rare promotional items, such a magazines and lobby cards, used in the original exhibitions of these films. 

Once The Uninvited began, the audience applauded at the quality of the new print which was virtually flawless. Having seen films like this on old 16mm reruns on television over 25 years ago, it is a reminder that films even of this age can look as though they were just made. The Uninvited stars a debonair Reginald Alfred Truscott-Jones, better known to audiences as the less tongue-tie-inducing Ray Milland, in a ghost story about a young woman who is drawn to her deceased mother’s Winward mansion estate.