There are 8 images total in this series, these are the first two to be released from Acme as Limited Edition Fine Art Prints. The remaining 6 will be released 2 at a time over the next few months.
This 1910 version of Frankenstein was made by Edison Studios, written and directed by J. Searle Dawley. It was the first motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The unbilled cast included Augustus Phillips as Dr. Frankenstein, Charles Ogle as the Monster, and Mary Fuller as the doctor's fiancée.
Shot in three days, it was filmed at the Edison Studios in the Bronx, New York City. Although some sources credit Thomas Edison as the producer, he in fact played no direct part in the activities of the motion picture company that bore his name.
For many years, this film was believed to be a lost film. In 1963, a plot description and some stills were discovered published in the March 15, 1910 issue of an old Edison film catalog, The Edison Kinetogram.
In the early 1950s, a print of this film was purchased by a Wisconsin film collector, Alois F. Dettlaff, from his mother-in-law, who also collected films. He did not realize its rarity until many years later. Its existence was first revealed in the mid-1970s. Although somewhat deteriorated, the film was in viewable condition, complete with titles and tints as seen in 1910. Dettlaff had a 35 mm preservation copy made in the late 1970s. He also issued a DVD release of 1,000 copies.
In 2003, this particular film version of Frankenstein was adapted as a 40-page graphic novel, written by Chris Yambar and drawn by Robb Bihun. Called Edison's Frankenstein 1910, in the spirit of the film it is drawn in black-and-white and told through narration only, without dialogue.
BearManor Media released the public domain film in a restored edition on March 18, 2010, alongside with the novel Edison's Frankenstein, which was written by Frederick C. Wiebel, Jr.
On 14th October 2010, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the film, English writer and director Dave Mitchell released an online re-boot of the original film called "Frankenstein 1910 2010", with new title-cards based more on Mary Shelley's original novel, as well as re-tinting of the frames, and the use of Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre" as the new soundtrack. The new version title cards focus on the concept of the rejected creation's words to his creator, who he perceives as his friend.
The Power is a 1968 film based on the same titled science fiction novel by Frank M. Robinson. Its protagonist, a researcher named Tanner, discovers evidence of a person with psychic abilities among his coworkers. As he tries to uncover the superhuman, his existence is erased and his associates murdered, until he faces a showdown with an apparently undefeatable opponent.
Produced by George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin, it was substantially changed in the John Gay screenplay, moving the location to San Marino, California, changing most of the characters' names (although retaining the surnames of Tanner, Nordlund, and department head Professor Van Zandt), and eliminating several subplots and characters, presumably to fit the story into a 108-minute film.
George Hamilton starred as Professor Jim Tanner, Suzanne Pleshette as his teammate and romantic interest Margery Lansing (Marge Hanson in the novel), and Michael Rennie (famous among science fiction movie fans as Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still) as new government liaison Mr. Nordlund. Otherwise, the story proceeds in a fashion similar to the novel, except for a somewhat different twist to the conclusion.
This somewhat obscure movie is memorable for a number of intriguing scenes, including murder by centrifuge, a seemingly possessed "Walk / Don't Walk" sign, toy soldiers firing with real gunpowder, and winking inanimate objects (the last two also in the novel). The soundtrack also memorably features a beating heart to signal the mind-control attempts and eerie music from a cymbalum (a hammered dulcimer-like instrument) accompanying the more suspenseful moments. The music, written by Oscar-winning composer Miklós Rózsa, actually contributes an amusing fourth wall-breaking moment when Tanner, hearing the haunting tune, seems to expect a new disaster, only to be visibly relieved when he finds a cymbalum-violin duet being performed in the hotel lobby. The score for this film was Rózsa's final score for a film produced by MGM, for whom he had scored numerous films throughout his career.
One of special effects animation wizard George Pal's least-known films is also one of his most impressive.
Unlike most George Pal productions which emphasize special effects, The Power is a literate, down-to-earth thriller with only a modicum of stop-animation work.
The impressive supporting cast features a wealth of familiar faces, all giving impressive performances: apart Michael Rennie, Arthur O'Connell, Aldo Ray, Earl Holliman, Ken Murray, Barbara Nichols, Nehemiah Persoff and Yvonne De Carlo. The movie has an increasingly eerie tone that at times suggests the atmosphere of both John Frankenheimer's Seven Days in May and Basil Dearden's The Man Who Haunted Himself. Hamilton, who was all-too-often cast as a pretty boy, does well playing a man suffering from both physical and psychological torture in his quest to clear his name. There's also plenty of retro-chic sex appeal from a wealth of glamor girls cast in supporting roles (including a bizarre screen credit that reads "Miss Beverly Hills"!).
Deathtrap is a 1982 thriller film based on Ira Levin's play of the same name.
The cast includes Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth and Henry Jones. Real-life movie and theatre critics Stewart Klein, Jeffrey Lyons and Joel Siegel have cameo appearances as themselves.
Sidney Bruhl is a formerly successful writer of Broadway thrillers who is trying to recover from the failure of his latest play. When Sidney returns to his wife Myra, a rich woman with a heart problem who is prone to hysterics, he tells her of his jealousy and humiliation upon the receipt of the first play of a former student. The play is called Deathtrap, and it is brilliant. Sidney's wife is horrified when he decides to lure the young writer to their East Hampton home in order to murder him and pretend that the play is his own work. But this is just the beginning of an intense game of twists and secrets.
The kissing scene between Sidney and Clifford is not in the original play. In his book The Celluloid Closet, gay film historian Vito Russo reports Reeve as saying that the kiss was booed by preview audiences in Denver, Colorado and estimating that a Time magazine report on the incident (which spoiled a key plot element) cost the film $10 million in ticket sales.
The controversy over the kiss inspired the Tom Smith song "Two Guys Kissin' (Ruined My Life)."
Eye of the Devil is a 1967 film with occult and supernatural themes.
David Niven plays the owner of a vineyard, who is called back to the estate when it falls on hard times. Accompanied by his wife (Deborah Kerr), the couple are confronted by a beautiful witch (Sharon Tate), who also lives on the estate with her brother (David Hemmings).
When Philippe de Montfaucon (the Marquis de Bellac) is informed that for the 3d successive year his vineyards near Bordeaux have failed to produce, he instructs his wife, Catherine, to remain in Paris and then leaves for his ancestral chateau. But Catherine, disturbed by his behavior, follows a few days later with their two children.
Upon arriving at the chateau, she is greeted coldly by Countess Estelle (Flora Robson), Philippe's aunt, diffidently by Père Dominic (Donald Pleasence), the local priest, and disdainfully by the menacing Christian de Caray and his equally hostile sister, Odile. Informed that her husband has gone to a nearby town for the day, Catherine wanders into a chamber in the chateau and accidentally spies Philippe and 12 other men engaged in a mystic ceremonial rite.
She is soon afterward terrorized in the Bellac woods by 12 hooded men, and later she learns that Philippe's father, believed dead, is actually living in a turret of the chateau. From him she hears of the dreadful fate her husband has set for himself: tradition decrees that whenever the vines fail for 3 years the head of the Montfaucon family must offer his life's blood as a sacrifice to the barren earth. Horrified, Catherine races from the chateau to summon help. But she is stopped by Père Dominic and taken back to Bellac, while Philippe and the 12 hooded horsemen ride through the village. She escapes but is too late to prevent the death ritual as Christian shoots an arrow into her husband's heart.
The next day Catherine leaves with her children, vowing never to return. But she is unaware of the significant glances exchanged between Père Dominic and her young son, Jacques. The new Marquis de Bellac already knows that the ancient tradition must be carried on.
Filmed in 1965, it featured the first film performance of Tate, who was cast by Filmways executive Martin Ransohoff who hailed her as his great discovery. Finally released two years later it attracted little attention, however The New York Times wrote of Tate's "chillingly beautiful but expressionless" performance. Although it was not a commercial success in the United States when first released, it was popular in Europe, and it has acquired a degree of cult status, largely due to its surreal themes, and the 1969 murder of Tate.
The film is also known by the titles Thirteen and 13.
Directed by J. Lee Thompson, Eye of the Devil is one of the last major B&W studio releases. The film had a troubled production history. The female lead had been Kim Novak, but when she was injured during filming, Deborah Kerr took over and had to reshoot all of her scenes - a costly and troublesome process. However, this meant that Kerr was reunited with her Separate Tables co-star David Niven (the pair would be seen on screen again the following year in Casino Royale).
The film is disturbing from minute one, largely because it is devoid of any humor whatsoever. Every minute exudes a sense of menace. The cinematography adds greatly to the tension and the cast is highly watchable, even if no one attempts to hide their full-throated British accents while playing French characters. (The exteriors were shot in France, the interiors were filmed at MGM's Borehamwood Studios). The movie is consistently engrossing, even if it never reaches the level one might expect, given the sterling cast. Tate makes a significant visual impression, but it should be noted that her immaculate British accent was dubbed.
Seven (stylized as Se7en) is a 1995 American crime film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey and Kevin Spacey. It was distributed by New Line Cinema.
David Mills (Pitt) and William Somerset (Freeman) are police detectives working in a crime-filled city, who become deeply involved in a case involving a series of sadistic murders. The murders are all in correspondence to each of the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Envy, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Greed and Wrath.
The credit sequence is designed by Kyle Cooper.
The primary influence for the film's screenplay came from Andrew Kevin Walker's time spent in New York City while trying to make it as a screenwriter. "I didn't like my time in New York, but it's true that if I hadn't lived there I probably wouldn't have written Seven." While writing the screenplay, he envisioned actor William Hurt as Somerset and named the character after his favorite author, W. Somerset Maugham.
During pre-production, Al Pacino was considered for the Somerset role, but he decided to do City Hall. Jeremiah Chechik was attached to direct at one point. After the frustrating experience of making Alien 3, Fincher did not read a script for a year and a half. He said, "I thought I'd rather die of colon cancer than do another movie". Fincher eventually agreed to direct because he was drawn to the script, which he found to be a "connect-the-dots movie that delivers about inhumanity. It's psychologically violent. It implies so much, not about why you did but how you did it".
Fincher approached making Seven like a "tiny genre movie, the kind of movie Friedkin might have made after The Exorcist." He worked with cinematographer Darius Khondji and adopted a simple approach to the camerawork, which was influenced by the television show Cops, "how the camera is in the backseat peering over people's shoulder". Fincher allowed Walker on the set while filming for on-the-set rewrites. According to the director, "Seven is the first time I got to carry through certain things about the camera - and about what movies are or can be".
The urban streets filled with crowded, noisy denizens and an oppressive rain that always seems to fall without respite was an integral part of the film, as Fincher wanted to show a city that was "dirty, violent, polluted, often depressing. Visually and stylistically, that's how we wanted to portray this world. Everything needed to be as authentic and raw as possible." To this end, Fincher turned to production designer Arthur Max to create a dismal world that often eerily mirrors its inhabitants. "We created a setting that reflects the moral decay of the people in it," says Max. "Everything is falling apart, and nothing is working properly." The film's brooding, dark look was also created through a chemical process called bleach bypass, whereby the silver in the film stock is not removed, which in turn deepened the dark, shadowy images in the film and increased its overall tonal quality.
The special edition of the DVD and the recent blue ray make clear that other endings were considered for the film.
Planned scripted ending
In an earlier draft for the film, Walker wrote a different finale for the film, in which Doe does not kill Tracy but leads the detectives on a chase. Upon approaching an abandoned warehouse where he claims two bodies are hidden, he drops through a manhole into the sewer system, and Mills gives chase. However, he is subdued by Doe and taken to an old church, but Somerset arrives to save him. When Mills tries to fight back, Doe shoots and kills him, which prompts Somerset to shoot the killer and leave him to die in the now-burning church. After Mills is given a hero's funeral, Tracy decides to move back to Philadelphia, and Somerset promises to keep in touch with her following his retirement. It ends with him returning to the police station, making it clear that he is not finished with his job.
The studio initially wanted to go with this ending, but they dropped it after Pitt refused to promote the film unless the final ending Fincher had planned was used.
Storyboarded ending
An unfilmed but alternate ending made up of storyboards features Somerset shooting John Doe in an act of self-sacrifice to save Mills and prevent Doe from winning. The buildup to the climax is played out as it was in the final product, albeit with some minor differences. Upon learning of the death of Tracy and his unborn child, Mills tries to convince Somerset to let him kill Doe, explaining that they could claim he was trying to escape. After Somerset pleads with him to give up his gun, he asks "Who will take my place?" and then shoots Doe. When a shocked Mills yells "What are you doing?" Somerset simply says, "I'm retiring", implying that he will take responsibility and cover up what Mills planned to do.
On the DVD commentary, Fincher states that once the desired resolution to the Doe/Mills/Somerset confrontation was settled upon, the film was then to end immediately after Mills shot Doe — the final camera shots being the scene of the crime viewed from the helicopter. Nevertheless, the additional scene was added with Mills being driven off to get help and Somerset indicating that he would not yet retire.
MGM plans to spend as much as $125 million on operations in the next 15 weeks. MGM said it’s has already spent $20 million to fund production of films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel… New James Bond films may be released every second year starting in November 2012, MGM said. It aims to own 50 percent of Bond 23, due out that year, with an equal partner paying all of the production costs, it said. Later Bond movies would be wholly owned and funded by MGM, the company said.
Ministry of Fear is a 1944 film noir directed by Fritz Lang based on the novel The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene. The film tells the story of a man just released from a mental asylum who finds himself caught up in an international spy ring in London during the Blitz. After guessing the weight of a cake at a fair, he is pursued by foreign agents and incriminated for murder. The original music for the film was composed by Miklós Rózsa and Victor Young.
Fritz Lang's adaptation of Graham Greene's novel is filled with unusual touches, beginning with the fact that protagonist Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) has just been released from a mental asylum. To celebrate his return to the real world, he visits a local carnival, only to accidentally receive a "prize" meant for a Nazi agent. When he discovers the error, he turns for help to a detective, whose investigations only make the matter more complicated. Neale soon winds up on the run from both the Nazis and the police, who mistakenly believe him guilty of murder. Lang's famous expressionistic style is somewhat muted here, but Henry Sharp's crisp black-and-white cinematography sets a suitably unsettling mood, and the twists and double-crosses of Greene's story unfold at an appropriately quick pace. While it does not reach the same level of timeless classic as Carol Reed's adaptation of Greene's The Third Man four years later, Ministry of Fear stands as a well-made, thoroughly gripping and intelligent example of film noir.
Lang creates a lingering sense of dread throughout, as Neale moves alone through the foggy, bombed-out streets of London, uncovering a secret enemy network hidden beneath the veneer of respectable society. He can’t approach the police, because of his criminal record, and everyone he meets is a potential enemy - even the beautiful and resourceful Carla Hilfe (Marjorie Reynolds), who becomes his chief ally.
An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of arguably the greatest and most cherished of all the Star Wars films, the most important motion picture sequel of all-time, and a movie that changed pop culture forever: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. J.W. Rinzler, author of the acclaimed The Making of Star Wars, once again uses his unprecedented access to the Lucasfilm archives, and their treasure trove of never-before-published photos, design sketches, paintings, production notes, interviews, anecdotes, and scripts, to take us back thirty years to relive the entire production process for one of the most anticipated movies ever produced - along the way unveiling stories as entertaining, enthralling and mind-boggling as the film itself. As a long-standing member of the Lucasfilm staff, J.W. Rinzler has enjoyed unparalleled co-operation and support from the original moviemakers, including both George Lucas and veteran director Irvin Kershner. The result is a truly definitive account that is destined to become a must-have for all true Star Wars fans and serious cinephiles. Jonathan Rinzler is a New York Times bestselling author and longtime editor at Lucasfilm Publishing.
Death on the Nile is a 1978 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 plus an all-star cast. 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 Simbel and Karnak.
The film shot seven weeks on location in Egypt, four on the steamer Karnak and the rest at places such as Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor, and Cairo. Desert filming required makeup call at 4 a.m. and shooting at 6 a.m. to accommodate a two-hour delay around noon when temperatures hovered near 130 degrees. Bette Davis wryly commented, "In the older days, they'd have built the Nile for you. Nowadays, films have become travelogues and actors stuntmen."
During the shoot, troubles arose as no hotel reservations had been made for the crew. They were subsequently shifted from hotel to hotel, sometimes on a daily basis. Director Guillermin was never allowed to see the rushes. On order of the producers, footage was sent directly to the producers in London. A lighter moment occurred during a love scene between Chiles and MacCorkindale, when a hostile desert fly landed on Chiles's teeth. The actors carried on as best they could, but the crew burst out laughing when Guillermin thankfully called "cut" and ordered another take.
Costume designer Anthony Powell paid impressive attention to detail, eventually winning an Oscar for Best Costume design. Among his touches were shoes for Chiles that featured diamond studded heels that came from a millionaire's collection and shoes worn by Davis made from the scales of twenty-six pythons.
In order to tie in with 1974's successful adaption of Murder on the Orient Express, the film was initially titled Murder on the Nile before it reverted to the novel's original title. Artist Richard Amsel was commissioned to redesign the poster art from an image of the Karnak steamer to an image suggesting King Tutankhamun with ceremonial knife (and modern revolver), surrounded by the cast, which again recalled the earlier film.
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 S.S. Karnak.
When the passengers venture off-shore to examine a nearby temple, a large stone is pushed off a pillar and narrowly misses Simon and Linnet. They again encounter Jackie, who boards the ship and ignores the warnings of detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) to stay away, revealing that she carries a small pistol. After a late-night game of cards in the ship's lounge, Jackie confronts Simon. She shoots him in a drunken rage and hits him in the leg. The next morning, 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 has meanwhile gone missing.
Linnet's jewels were coveted by elderly Mrs. van Schuyler (Bette Davis). Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), was forced into a life of 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) faced a libel suit brought by Linnet (the dead cannot be libeled). The author's daughter Rosalie (Olivia Hussey) wanted to protect her mother. American lawyer Andrew Pennington (George Kennedy) had embezzled 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." Now it’s up to the Belgian sleuth, along with his vacationing friend Colonel 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 all night. Simon Doyle was also unable to commit the crime due to his leg wound. Poirot is convinced someone on deck overheard the argument, removed the gun and used it to kill Linnet.
A bundle had been found in the Nile. The missing pistol is wrapped in Mrs. van Schuyler's stole, which was apparently used to muffle the sound of a gunshot and prevent scorching, as seen around Linnet's injury. A handkerchief was also included, stained with red ink, some of which was found in Linnet's pearl nail-varnish bottle.
While Poirot and Race conduct their investigation, the maid Louise is murdered. Her throat has been cut with one of Dr. Bessner's scalpels and a fragment of a banknote is found 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 claims to have 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.
With several suspects eliminated, Poirot gathers everyone in the saloon, where he reveals the solution — Simon Doyle murdered his wife, with Jacqueline as his accomplice. Poirot reveals that Simon and Jackie were still lovers, and his marriage to Linnet had been cleverly plotted in order to gain her money. They faked Simon's shooting, leaving him free to murder Linnet while the doctor was being fetched by Ferguson and as Jacqueline was attended to by Miss Bowers. Simon was left alone long enough to run to Linnet's room, shoot her in the head, return to the lounge and shoot himself in the leg through the stole - a third shot of which no one was aware. Jackie covered up. She stole the knife and revolver, then killed the maid and Salome Otterbourne, who were witnesses to the murders. Simon and Jackie point out that Poirot has no proof, so Poirot convinces Simon that his hands could be tested for grains of gunpowder removed with wax. When they realize that they have been found out, they confess, and in a final love embrace, Jackie covertly takes back her pistol and shoots Simon, then herself.
Later Poirot says goodbye to the remaining guests, reveals that the test was made-up, and Rosalie and Ferguson announce that they are engaged
British actor Simon MacCorkindale has lost his fight against cancer at the age of 58 at a London clinic on Thursday night with his wife, actress Susan George, by his side.
MacCorkindale went public with his cancer battle last year, revealing doctors had discovered a tumour in his bowel in 2006. He learned the cancer was terminal after it spread to his lungs in 2007.
The actor began his career in the theatre and made his West End debut in a production of Pygmalion.
He shot to fame after starring in Agatha Christie murder mystery Death on the Nile in 1978.
Paying tribute to her husband, actress George says, "No-one could have fought this disease any harder than he did since being diagnosed four years ago.
"He fought it with such strength, courage and belief. Last night, he lost this battle, and he died peacefully in my arms.
"To me, he was simply the best of everything, and I loved him with all my heart. He will live on in me forever."
After the success of The Poseidon Adventure, producer Irwin Allen gained a reputation of being the "Master of Disaster". I remember back in Boston, many years ago, one of the UHF channels featured a "Disaster Week" film series, and almost all of the films were Allen's. Ans after The Poseidon Adventure came The Towering Inferno. A mega-production in countless ways, it featured an all star cast and ran a hearty 2-hours and 45-minutes in length. It exploited every major phobia, from drowning, to falling to your death, to suffocation, to being crushed, and in the end garnered eight Academy Award Nominations, winning three of them. The score by John Williams was one of those nominated, and would serve as a hint of things to come in his career both musically, and successfully. Recently, Film Score Monthly released the score to The Towering Inferno as part of their Silver Age Classics series of releases.
The main theme to The Towering Inferno is heard right off the bat in "Main Title" - a dramatic four-note motif (known as the "rescue motif") quickly builds up with the orchestra as the more accepted modern "John Williams sound" comes to life. Heavy on the brass and strings, it's a fanfare that is reminiscent of work he would do in the future. Some of the cues are jazzy and relaxing ("Something for Susan", "Lisolette and Harlee", "More for Susan", "Harlee Dressing"), while others are a little more tense ("The Flame Ignites", "Not a Cigarette", "Down The Pipes / The Door Opens") as the building catches fire. Maureen McGovern's performance of "We May Never Love Like This Again" is wonderful and stylistically similar to "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure.
The last half of the score is more dramatic fare, as the people trapped in the building try to make their way to safety. Ominous flute and strings underscore "Down the Pipes / The Door Opens". "Helicopter Rescue" is a more optimistic cue that interestingly enough wasn't used in the final film. The tension really begins to rise in "Planting the Charges", a nine-minute cue that showcases Williams' scoring abilites, and can clearly be pointed to as one of the "ancestor" cues that eventually led to the style of scoring he used in Jaws and Star Wars.
Live and Become or Va, Vis et Deviens is a 2005 film about an Ethiopian Christian boy who disguises himself as an Ethiopian Jew in order to escape famine and emigrates to Israel. It was directed by Romanian-born Radu Mihăileanu. It won Most Popular International Film at the 2005 Vancouver International Film Festival.
In 1980 the black Falashas in Ethiopia are recognised as genuine Jews. In turn they are secretly carried to Israel. The day before the transport the son of a Jewish mother dies. In his place and with his name (Schlomo) she takes a Christian 9-year-old boy. Upon arrival this second mother dies. Schlomo is adopted by a good family but remains depressed until he secretly sends a letter to his real mother. From the beginning he experiences large and small racist difficulties. In his teens he and Sarah fall in love. Her father is an extreme racist. Schlomo tries to gain "real Jewishness" by winning a competition in Bible interpretation. No change of Sarah's father's attitude. Disappointed he goes to the police and reports himself as not being a Jew. But the police officer just gives him a scolding. "The newspapers are full of that stuff, the Falashas are no Jews. Now they begin to believe it themselves." His adoptive parents send him to France to study medicine. When he afterwards marries Sarah she loses her family and her status as a "white Jew". But he dares not tell her the truth until she becomes pregnant. She leaves him, but only because he had not trusted that she would love him as much anyway. His adoptive mother reconciles them. Sarah's first line when she returns: "Unbelievable what three mothers would do for you." But she makes a condition for returning: Schlomo must meet his real mother again. As a doctor he takes a job in the Ethiopian fugitive camp where she is still alive.
Pal Joey is a 1957 film distributed by Columbia. It is loosely adapted from the musical play of the same name; it stars Rita Hayworth (top billed), Frank Sinatra, and Kim Novak. Kim Novak's singing voice was dubbed by Trudy Erwin. The director is George Sidney and the choreographer is Hermes Pan.
Considered by many critics as the definitive Frank Sinatra vehicle, Sinatra won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role as the wise-cracking, hard-bitten Joey Evans. As to be expected the musical arrangements are particularly fine, with some near-perfect Nelson Riddle charts for the Rodgers and Hart standards "The Lady is a Tramp", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," "I Could Write a Book" and "There's A Small Hotel."
Pal Joey is also one of Frank Sinatra's few post-From Here to Eternity movies in which he did not receive top-billing, Sinatra deciding himself to allow Rita Hayworth this honor stating, with regards to being billed "between" Hayworth and Novak, "That's a sandwich I don't mind being stuck in the middle of."
Along with being a strong box office success, Pal Joey also earned four Academy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.
The setting is San Francisco; Joey Evans is a second-rate singer, a heel known for his womanizing ways, but charming and funny. When Joey meets Linda English, a naive chorus girl, he has stirrings of real feelings. However, that does not stop him from romancing a wealthy, willful, and lonely widow Vera Simpson, in order to convince her to finance his dream, "Chez Joey", a night club of his own. Soon Joey is involved with Vera, each using the other for his/her own somewhat selfish purposes. But Joey's feelings for Linda are growing. Ultimately, Vera jealously demands that Joey fire Linda. When Joey refuses ("Nobody owns Joey but Joey"), Vera closes down Chez Joey. Linda visits Vera and agrees to quit in an attempt to keep the club open. Vera then agrees to open the club, and even offers to marry Joey, but Joey rejects Vera. As Joey is leaving, Linda runs after him, offering to go wherever he is headed. After half-hearted refusals, Joey gives in and they walk away together, united.
First born in the pages of The New Yorker, then translated into a hit Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical, the title character of Pal Joey had undergone quite a transformation by the time he hit the movies in 1957. He was a singer, rather than a dancer, but more importantly he'd had his rough edges sweetly softened; the callous heel dreamed up by novelist John O'Hara was more of a naughty scamp in the film version.
However, Pal Joey remains delightfully watchable for two very good reasons: a terrific song score and a surplus of glittering star power. Frank Sinatra, at the zenith of his cocky, world-on-a-string popularity, glides through the film with breezy nonchalance, romancing showgirl Kim Novak (Columbia Pictures' new sex symbol) and wealthy widow Rita Hayworth (Columbia Pictures' former sex symbol). The film also benefits from location shooting in San Francisco, caught in the moonlight-and-supper-club glow of the late '50s. Sinatra does beautifully with the Rodgers and Hart classics "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "I Could Write a Book," and his performance of "The Lady Is a Tramp" (evocatively shot by director George Sidney) is flat-out genius. Sinatra's ease with hep-cat lingo nearly outdoes Bing Crosby at his best, and included in the DVD is a trailer in which Sinatra instructs the audience in "Joey's Jargon," a collection of hip slang words such as "gasser" and "mouse." If not one of Sinatra's very best movies, Pal Joey is nevertheless a classy vehicle that fits like a glove.
This little-known Technicolour 1952 drama has the perennial supporting actor Claude Rains in the lead of a story based on a novel by the creator of Maigret the detective, Georges Simenon.
His female co-star is Marta Toren, the excellent Swedish actress who sadly died a few years after making this.
The film is well above average, not just because of the quality of the people involved - the cast are uniformly convincing and the direction is deft throughout - but because it is not better known. The story is unusual and suspenseful, the dialogue intelligent and natural, and the key plot point - a policeman trying to stop a would-be criminal condemn himself - nicely turned. Anyone who has admired Claude Rains in big name pictures, down the billing, will see confirmation of his great abilities as a character actor in this performance, given in the latter years of his fine career.
The film is also known as The Paris Express and was directed by Harold French. It's based on one of Simenon’s greatest romans durs. It’s an incredible novel and contains one of Simenon’s favorite themes--a bourgeois mild-mannered protagonist who through some fluke, some twist of fate, derails from his respectable life. Once cast adrift from respectability and the treadmill of duty, responsibility and employment, Simenon’s characters typically escape into an entirely new life, usually in the grimy underbelly of the crime world. For these characters, criminality becomes a liberating event as they shed old habits and routines.
The Man Who Laughs (1928) is an American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the blind Dea. The film is known for the grim Carnival freak-like grin on the character Gwynplaine's face which often leads the film to be credited to the horror film genre.
Instead, The Man Who Laughs is part of a genre of Romantic melodrama, similar to films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame or The Phantom of the Opera. The film was one of the early Universal Pictures productions that made the transition from silent films to sound films, using the Movietone sound system introduced by William Fox. The film was completed in April 1927 but was held for release in April 1928 with sound effects and a music score that included the song "When Love Comes Stealing" by Walter Hirsch, Lew Pollack, and Erno Rapee.
Taking place in England in the year 1690, The Man Who Laughs features Gwynplaine, the son of an English nobleman who has offended King James II. The monarch sentences the nobleman to death in an iron maiden, after calling upon a surgeon, Dr. Hardquannone, to disfigure the boy's face into a permanent rictus grin. As a title card states, the King condemned him "to laugh forever at his fool of a father."
The homeless Gwynplaine is seen wandering through a snowstorm and discovers an abandoned baby girl, the blind Dea. The two children are eventually taken in by Ursus, a mountebank. Years pass and Gwynplaine falls in love with Dea, but refuses to marry her because he feels his hideous face makes him unworthy. The three earn their living through plays highlighting the public's fascination with Gwynplaine's disfigurement. Their travels bring them before the deceased King's successor, Queen Anne. That is when Queen Anne's jester, Barkilphedro, discovers records which reveal Gwynplaine's lineage and his rightful inheritance of his father's position in the court.
Gwynplaine's deceased father's estate is currently owned by the Duchess Josiana and Queen Anne decrees that the royal duchess must marry Gwynplaine, as its rightful heir, to make things right. Josiana, who knows who Gwynplaine is, arranges a rendezvous and is sexually attracted to, but also repelled by the "Laughing Man" image. Gwynplaine, made a Peer in the House of Lords, refuses the Queen's order of marriage and escapes, chased by guards. He finds Ursus and Dea at the docks, sailing from England under banishment, and joins them on the boat.
The film follows the tragic ending of Hugo's original novel, in which Dea dies while at sea and Gwynplaine drowns himself.
Veidt's character is considered as the main inspiration for Batman's archnemesis The Joker.
S.O.B. is a 1981 American film written and directed by Blake Edwards starring Richard Mulligan and Julie Andrews. Also appearing are Robert Preston, Robert Vaughn, Larry Hagman, Shelley Winters, Loretta Swit, Robert Webber and William Holden (in his last performance).
The story is a satire of the film industry and Hollywood society. The main character, Felix Farmer, is a phenomenally successful producer-director who has just made the first flop of his career, to the dismay of the studio and the loss of his own sanity. Felix attempts suicide several times, the first being when he tries to die of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, only to have it slip into gear and drive through the side of his beach house. Thereafter he spends most of the time heavily sedated while his friends and hangers-on occupy his beach house. The occupation leads to a party which degenerates into an orgy. Felix steals a gun from a police officer member of the party and tries to shoot himself in the middle of the party, at which point he is embraced (fellatio) by a topless woman and suddenly realizes what was missing from his movie.
Newly energized, Felix resolves to save both the film and his reputation. With great difficulty he persuades the studio and his wife Sally Miles, a movie star with a goody-goody image, to allow him to revise the film into a soft-core pornographic musical in which she must appear topless. He liquidates most of his wealth to buy the existing footage and bankroll further production. If he fails, both he and Sally will be impoverished, at least by Hollywood standards.
At first the studio are keen to unload the film onto Felix and move on, but as it becomes apparent that it will be a success, they plot to regain control. Using California's community property laws, they get the distribution and final-cut rights by persuading Sally to sign them over. Felix then tries to get the movie negatives from a bank vault, armed with a water pistol, and is shot by police who think it is a real pistol.
Felix's untimely and violent death creates yet another crisis, particularly for his cronies Culley, Coogan and Dr. Finegarten, who plan to give him a burial at sea. They kidnap his corpse, substituting the body of a well-known but underrated character actor who died in the first scene of the movie, having a heart attack while jogging on the beach in front of Felix's home. Felix gets a Viking funeral, being sent out to sea in a burning dinghy, while the actor finally gets the Hollywood burial many thought he deserved.
Little is seen of the movie which is the focus of the plot, except for an extended dream sequence and a brief shot taking place close to the end. The title is "Night Wind", which provokes the headline "Critics break Wind" seen on a copy of Variety at the start of S.O.B. after the initial flop. The opening sequence of S.O.B. is the first version of the dream where Julie Andrews wanders through a room full of giant toys, reliving in sublimated form some dark episode from her character's childhood. Several of the toys come to life, including a group of toy soldiers, while the tune of Polly Wolly Doodle plays in the background.
Later Felix, having decided to rewrite the movie as soft-porn, reveals his plan to the studio heads on the set of the toy room, hiding at first while the executives wander around wondering where he is. Then in the re-shoot, the same set is used but the toys, including the soldiers, are dressed in various erotic costumes, and the "dream" features a mysterious man who tries to tempt Andrews' character.
"S.O.B." (in the film) stands for "Standard Operational Bullshit" and refers to misinformation being the norm. The acronym also means "sexually oriented business" (if pertaining to strip clubs) and more generally "son of a bitch" (a ruthless person).
A Spanish dub of the film keeps the acronym S.O.B., claiming that it stands for "Sois hOnrados Bandidos" (You Are Honest Crooks). Notice that the second word begins with a mute H, not with an O. The Argentine title for the movie was changed to Se acabó el mundo (The World is Ended), having no relation to the original title.
Three years later, when Edwards had his name removed from the writing credits of 1984's City Heat, he was billed under the pseudonym Sam O. Brown. (S.O.B.)
When writing the screenplay Edwards drew upon several of his own experiences. The character of Felix Farmer is a person not unlike Edwards, while actress Sally Miles bears certain similarities to Julie Andrews (who plays her), Edwards' wife in real life.
The story of S.O.B. parallels the experiences of Edwards and Andrews in their infamous, but Academy Award-nominated failure, Darling Lili. Intended to reveal Andrews' heretofore unseen wicked and sexy side, that film had a troubled shoot, went significantly over budget, and was subjected to post-production studio interference.
In S.O.B., Andrews's character agrees (with some pharmaceutical persuasion) to "show her boobies" in a scene in the film-within-the-film. For this scene, comedian Johnny Carson thanked Andrews on his The Tonight Show for "showing us that the hills were still alive," alluding to a famous line from The Sound of Music opening sequence.
On the same day that MGM officially announced their plan with Spyglass, IGN spoke to David G. Wilson of EON Productions (son of producer Michael G. Wilson) about the forthcoming videogames, but also asked about the current state of the 23rd James Bond film.
We're in a holding pattern to see what happens with the studio", Wilson said. "We support them - we've had a long relationship for a long time and it's really important for us to get going again. They just have to sort out their financial issues."
When pressed for a start date, Wilson revealed "They have a plan going forward, and hopefully everything will go to plan and we hope to be in a position next year to start the film again."
And as for a script, it seems that the story has gone untouched for a while, with the producer admitting "The script's been in development for some time. We often start the scripts about a year before pre-production has begun. So the script has been in development but it's been halted for the time being."
Finally, Wilson put to bed recent speculation about director Sam Mendes' participation, adding "Yes, he's very excited to do this film - and it's a matter of timing too. He's a hot director, and there's a danger he would have to go and work on something else so we have to be patient and optimistic."
Steve McQueen, Robert Wagner, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Jennifer Jones, Fred Astaire, Paul Newman, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughn, O.J. Simpson
In my case, self-absorption is completely justified. I have never discovered any other subject quite so worthy of my attention.
(Waldo Lydecker - Laura 1944)
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