Fred M. Wilcox's 1956 sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" was a notably opulent affair, at least as sci-fi films go. Its budget at the time was only $1.96 million (which shakes out to about $22 million today) comparatively small to the historical epics Hollywood was overspending on at the time; "The Ten Commandments," for instance, cost a whopping $13 million, while 1956's Best Picture winner, "Around the World in 80 Days" cost about $6 million. "Forbidden Planet" was a production on par with 1953's "War of the Worlds," a colorful, large-scale production infused with fantastical spacecraft and weird robots. Robby (voiced by Marvin Miller), the robot featured in "Forbidden Planet," reportedly cost $125,000 to make — about a million in today's dollars.
The production designer on the film was Arthur Lonergan, the Oscar winner behind "The Oscar." Prior to "Forbidden Planet," Lonergan had an extensive career working on shows like "Mr. & Mrs. North," and on low-profile films like "Black Beauty,...
The production designer on the film was Arthur Lonergan, the Oscar winner behind "The Oscar." Prior to "Forbidden Planet," Lonergan had an extensive career working on shows like "Mr. & Mrs. North," and on low-profile films like "Black Beauty,...
- 5/22/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
On Sunday night, for the 96th time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hand out Academy Award statuettes, which many have referred to since the early 1930s, and the Academy itself has described since 1939, as “Oscars.”
The Academy has long asserted that these shiny gold figurines — which are now the world’s most iconic prizes, even more recognizable than the Nobel or Pulitzer variety — depict a knight standing erect and holding, right hand over left, a crusader’s sword (in order to defend the film industry), which pierces beneath him a reel of film with five spokes (representing the original branches of the organization, producers, actors, directors, writers and technicians).
The nickname “Oscar,” meanwhile, has been variously attributed, without convincing evidence, to the Academy’s early executive director Margaret Herrick (who supposedly said it reminded her of an uncle named Oscar), actress Bette Davis (who claimed it...
The Academy has long asserted that these shiny gold figurines — which are now the world’s most iconic prizes, even more recognizable than the Nobel or Pulitzer variety — depict a knight standing erect and holding, right hand over left, a crusader’s sword (in order to defend the film industry), which pierces beneath him a reel of film with five spokes (representing the original branches of the organization, producers, actors, directors, writers and technicians).
The nickname “Oscar,” meanwhile, has been variously attributed, without convincing evidence, to the Academy’s early executive director Margaret Herrick (who supposedly said it reminded her of an uncle named Oscar), actress Bette Davis (who claimed it...
- 3/10/2024
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Pageantry. Screw ups. Touching tributes. Private beefs made public. There are plenty of reasons to watch the Oscars. But they all amount to partaking in, witnessing, movie history in its many forms — the high art, the gossip, the record-breaking moments when an arthouse director becomes a household name.
However, there are a lot of ways to set a record. There are big moments like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King tying the record with 11 trophies or Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite becoming the first film not in English (or silent) to win Best Picture. And then, beyond those sit the oddities and records that are nearly impossible to break. Give me records like Walter Brennan winning three Best Supporting Actor awards because, as a former extra, he was popular with the Union of Film Extras, who were allowed to vote. At least, the story goes, they were allowed...
However, there are a lot of ways to set a record. There are big moments like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King tying the record with 11 trophies or Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite becoming the first film not in English (or silent) to win Best Picture. And then, beyond those sit the oddities and records that are nearly impossible to break. Give me records like Walter Brennan winning three Best Supporting Actor awards because, as a former extra, he was popular with the Union of Film Extras, who were allowed to vote. At least, the story goes, they were allowed...
- 3/10/2024
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
The Academy Awards, more popularly known as the Oscars, are one of the most prestigious awards an artist can win during their career. The statuette makes for a fine addition to one’s collection since it represents the pinnacle of cinema, and artists vie to get their hands on one.
Given its rich history, the trophy is truly priceless. However, it might shock readers to know that the statuette does indeed come with a baffling price tag of just $1.
How did the Oscar statuette come to be?
In 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was established. One of the major goals of the then-fledgling body was to acknowledge and honor excellence in all aspects of filmmaking. The Oscars were first held in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Since then, it has become one of the most highly regarded awards worldwide.
The first Oscar presentation banquet was held in...
Given its rich history, the trophy is truly priceless. However, it might shock readers to know that the statuette does indeed come with a baffling price tag of just $1.
How did the Oscar statuette come to be?
In 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was established. One of the major goals of the then-fledgling body was to acknowledge and honor excellence in all aspects of filmmaking. The Oscars were first held in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Since then, it has become one of the most highly regarded awards worldwide.
The first Oscar presentation banquet was held in...
- 3/9/2024
- by Sreshtha Roychowdhury
- FandomWire
James Sanders in Celluloid Skyline: New York And The Movies quotes Deborah Kerr with Cary Grant in Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember: “It’s the nearest thing to heaven we have in New York.”
In the first instalment with architect, author, and filmmaker James Sanders, we discuss his timeless and profound book, Celluloid Skyline: New York And The Movies, in which he explores how deeply one informs the other. From Joan Didion’s wisdom to Cedric Gibbons’s dream sets in the sky, we touch on George Stevens’s Swing Time (starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) and Robert Z Leonard’s Susan Lenox (with Greta Garbo and Clark Gable); East River running with Jill Clayburgh and Michael Murphy in Paul Mazursky’s An Unmarried Woman.
James Sanders with Anne-Katrin Titze: “One of the aspects of a mythic city is that it can go anywhere ”
The mansion...
In the first instalment with architect, author, and filmmaker James Sanders, we discuss his timeless and profound book, Celluloid Skyline: New York And The Movies, in which he explores how deeply one informs the other. From Joan Didion’s wisdom to Cedric Gibbons’s dream sets in the sky, we touch on George Stevens’s Swing Time (starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) and Robert Z Leonard’s Susan Lenox (with Greta Garbo and Clark Gable); East River running with Jill Clayburgh and Michael Murphy in Paul Mazursky’s An Unmarried Woman.
James Sanders with Anne-Katrin Titze: “One of the aspects of a mythic city is that it can go anywhere ”
The mansion...
- 11/2/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Oscar is 95 this year, meaning he’s been around longer than most of us. And many people assume the look of the award, his nickname and the structure of the annual voting … just kinda happened.
However, Bruce Davis details the thought and innovations behind these things in his authoritative new book, “The Academy and the Award: The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” (Brandeis University Press).
Davis, who was AMPAS’ executive director for 20 years, dispels a lot of Oscar lore. No, neither Bette Davis nor the Academy’s Margaret Herrick came up with the nickname Oscar. No, Mexican actor Emilio Fernandez was not the model. Cedric Gibbons didn’t sketch out the design on the tablecloth at the Biltmore.
Davis also points out, “Contrary to widespread opinion, the Academy’s knight is neither naked nor bald.” Oscar is wearing a thong-like strap and has close-cropped hair.
However, Bruce Davis details the thought and innovations behind these things in his authoritative new book, “The Academy and the Award: The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” (Brandeis University Press).
Davis, who was AMPAS’ executive director for 20 years, dispels a lot of Oscar lore. No, neither Bette Davis nor the Academy’s Margaret Herrick came up with the nickname Oscar. No, Mexican actor Emilio Fernandez was not the model. Cedric Gibbons didn’t sketch out the design on the tablecloth at the Biltmore.
Davis also points out, “Contrary to widespread opinion, the Academy’s knight is neither naked nor bald.” Oscar is wearing a thong-like strap and has close-cropped hair.
- 2/11/2023
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Mark of the Vampire
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1935 / 1.33: 1 / 60 Min.
Starring Lionel Barrymore, Bela Lugosi
Written by Guy Endore, Bernard Schubert
Directed by Tod Browning
Tod Browning died in 1962, living long enough to see his work enjoy a resurgence on late night’s Shock Theater, a syndicated TV package featuring Universal’s classic horror films. Browning’s Dracula was one of the crown jewels of that series but if you wanted to see more of the director’s work it probably wouldn’t be on television—his most infamous films were too lurid even for the midnight hour: potboilers populated by deformed and deranged circus performers, bloodthirsty magicians, and cross-dressing ventriloquists.
1932’s Freaks was the ne plus ultra of the Browning shockers, a sawdust soap opera pitting a beautiful prima donna against unorthodox carny performers—”unorthodox” because these folks were, on the surface, strange figures whose physical abberations made them outcasts everywhere except the circus.
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1935 / 1.33: 1 / 60 Min.
Starring Lionel Barrymore, Bela Lugosi
Written by Guy Endore, Bernard Schubert
Directed by Tod Browning
Tod Browning died in 1962, living long enough to see his work enjoy a resurgence on late night’s Shock Theater, a syndicated TV package featuring Universal’s classic horror films. Browning’s Dracula was one of the crown jewels of that series but if you wanted to see more of the director’s work it probably wouldn’t be on television—his most infamous films were too lurid even for the midnight hour: potboilers populated by deformed and deranged circus performers, bloodthirsty magicians, and cross-dressing ventriloquists.
1932’s Freaks was the ne plus ultra of the Browning shockers, a sawdust soap opera pitting a beautiful prima donna against unorthodox carny performers—”unorthodox” because these folks were, on the surface, strange figures whose physical abberations made them outcasts everywhere except the circus.
- 10/11/2022
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Team Experience is revisiting a dozen Judy Garland movies for her Centennial. Here’s Baby Clyde on her most infamous picture...
Get Judy and Gene at the peak of their movie star appeal, allow Vincente Minnelli to go as ‘Vincente Minelli’ as he pleases, hire the world’s greatest songwriter to provide the tunes, script by the same team behind The Thin Man and It’s A Wonderful Life, sets by Cedric Gibbons, costumes by Irene, all presided over by the fabled Freed Unit. What could possibly go wrong?
The Pirate, that’s what. A great big glorious, Technicolor mess. And I love it...
Get Judy and Gene at the peak of their movie star appeal, allow Vincente Minnelli to go as ‘Vincente Minelli’ as he pleases, hire the world’s greatest songwriter to provide the tunes, script by the same team behind The Thin Man and It’s A Wonderful Life, sets by Cedric Gibbons, costumes by Irene, all presided over by the fabled Freed Unit. What could possibly go wrong?
The Pirate, that’s what. A great big glorious, Technicolor mess. And I love it...
- 6/6/2022
- by Baby Clyde
- FilmExperience
Vincente Minnelli took a break from musicals to feature Judy Garland in the first movie to show her dramatic acting range, a charming and thoughtful wartime tale in New York: a whirlwind romance goes from nothing to marriage in 48 hours. She’s a working woman and he’s a soldier shipping out for combat; the miracle is that the whole thing is believable, and resolutely unglamorized. The illusion of ‘ordinary life’ in NYC is remarkable for 1945; star Robert Walker leaves behind the gangling bumpkin character he’d been playing. The Warner Archive’s Blu-ray is a welcome addition to the Minnelli disc library.
The Clock
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 90 min. / Available at Amazon.com / General site Wac-Amazon / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, Lucile Gleason, Ruth Brady.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Art Director: William Ferrari
Film Editor: George White...
The Clock
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 90 min. / Available at Amazon.com / General site Wac-Amazon / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, Lucile Gleason, Ruth Brady.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Art Director: William Ferrari
Film Editor: George White...
- 6/4/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, creators of the new Showtime series The Man Who Fell to Earth, talk to hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante about the movies that inspired them.
Show Notes:
Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary
Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
Amistad (1997)
Love Actually (2003)
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Blazing Saddles (1974) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s Blazing Saddles Thanksgiving
Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
The Bad News Bears (1976) – Jessica Bendinger’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
Airplane! (1980) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Bambi (1942)
Singin’ In The Rain (1952) – John Landis trailer commentary
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
The Boy Friend (1971) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Yellow Submarine (1968) – George Hickenlooper...
Show Notes:
Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary
Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
Amistad (1997)
Love Actually (2003)
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Blazing Saddles (1974) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s Blazing Saddles Thanksgiving
Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
The Bad News Bears (1976) – Jessica Bendinger’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
Airplane! (1980) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Bambi (1942)
Singin’ In The Rain (1952) – John Landis trailer commentary
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
The Boy Friend (1971) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Yellow Submarine (1968) – George Hickenlooper...
- 5/24/2022
- by Alex Kirschenbaum
- Trailers from Hell
In just her fourth American movie the Swedish import Ingrid Bergman proves herself the most sensual creature in Hollywood, running away with Spencer Tracy and Victor Fleming’s remake of Mamoulian’s pre-Code classic. The morals are cleaned up and the sex angle tamed down (except for Fröken Bergman) and the acting is less stylized — overall it’s a fine show. Ingrid learned quickly how things were done at MGM — she swiped the film’s plum role from Lana Turner.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 113 min. / Available at Amazon.com / General site Wac-Amazon / Street Date May 17, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Barton MacLane, Sara Allgood.
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor: Harold F. Kress
Original Music: Franz Waxman
Written by John Lee Mahin from a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson
Produced and Directed...
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 113 min. / Available at Amazon.com / General site Wac-Amazon / Street Date May 17, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Barton MacLane, Sara Allgood.
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor: Harold F. Kress
Original Music: Franz Waxman
Written by John Lee Mahin from a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson
Produced and Directed...
- 5/14/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why are Academy Awards called Oscars?” It’s a common question that has been given some murky answers throughout the years. The famous trophy’s official name is the Academy Award of Merit, which is pretty unsexy and a little too formal for the fun, glamorous Hollywood elite. Nobody wants to throw back a martini and hug their merit award. So, it’s no surprise that the Oscar nickname was officially adopted in 1939.
The most popular origin story credits Margaret Herrick for the famous moniker. Herrick was an academy librarian who later became the executive director of AMPAS. Upon seeing the statuette for the first time, she allegedly remarked that it looked like her Uncle Oscar. MGM art director Cedric Gibbons designed that original trophy and sculptor George Stanley then brought that design into three dimensions: a 13 1/2 inch bronze man plated in 24-Karat gold that...
The most popular origin story credits Margaret Herrick for the famous moniker. Herrick was an academy librarian who later became the executive director of AMPAS. Upon seeing the statuette for the first time, she allegedly remarked that it looked like her Uncle Oscar. MGM art director Cedric Gibbons designed that original trophy and sculptor George Stanley then brought that design into three dimensions: a 13 1/2 inch bronze man plated in 24-Karat gold that...
- 3/9/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: Oscar-winning production designer William A. Horning and Oscar-nominated production designer, costume designer and producer Polly Platt will be inducted into the Art Directors Guild’s Hall of Fame this year for their “extraordinary contributions to the art of visual storytelling.”
The guild’s 26th annual awards will be held in-person March 5 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.
“The creative and professional standards set by the 2022 Adg Awards Hall of Fame recipients Polly Platt and William A. Horning are nonpareil,” said Nelson Coates, the guild’s president. “The breadth of the narrative design achievement and depth of storytelling excellence of both legendary designers has served as a benchmark for production design and collaboration and will continue to inspire for generations to come.”
2022 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, SAG, BAFTAs & More
Horning, who died in 1959, won Oscars for Ben-Hur and Gigi and was Oscar-nominated for The Wizard of Oz,...
The guild’s 26th annual awards will be held in-person March 5 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.
“The creative and professional standards set by the 2022 Adg Awards Hall of Fame recipients Polly Platt and William A. Horning are nonpareil,” said Nelson Coates, the guild’s president. “The breadth of the narrative design achievement and depth of storytelling excellence of both legendary designers has served as a benchmark for production design and collaboration and will continue to inspire for generations to come.”
2022 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, SAG, BAFTAs & More
Horning, who died in 1959, won Oscars for Ben-Hur and Gigi and was Oscar-nominated for The Wizard of Oz,...
- 2/15/2022
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
MGM sends James Stewart and Anthony Mann to Colorado high country locations for their third big-ticket western, a tight & tense psychological drama with a select cast: Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker and Millard Mitchell. Stewart’s anguished bounty hunter is a sick man on a mission he knows is self-destructive and just plain wrong; it’s the actor’s most fraught western performance. The landscape itself is psychological, with treacherous rocky outcroppings and a dangerous river. Even more impressive is the new restoration from Technicolor elements: this is one of the most beautiful westerns yet out on disc.
The Naked Spur
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 91 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown
Film Editor: George White
Production Illustrator: Mentor Heubner
Stunt Performers: Virginia Bougas, Ted Mapes,...
The Naked Spur
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 91 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown
Film Editor: George White
Production Illustrator: Mentor Heubner
Stunt Performers: Virginia Bougas, Ted Mapes,...
- 11/6/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
What a Halloween treat! Karl Freund stopped directing after this classic, which is a shame — it’s German expressionism’s most exciting foray into classic Hollywood horror of the ’30s. Peter Lorre is incredible as Dr. Gogol, making himself as creepy and repulsive as possible while retaining a giddy audience sympathy. It’s Grand Guignol all the way — macabre, funny and irresistible. The screenplay toys with uncomfortable Body Horror and psychological weirdness; Colin Clive must contend with becoming the recipient of murderous hands. Frances Drake is the beauty that drives Dr. Gogol mad, and comedian Edward Brophy is a highlight in a non-comedic scene. “I have conquered science. Why can I not conquer love?!”
Mad Love
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 68 (86) min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy, Sara Haden, Edward Brophy, Henry Kolker, Keye Luke, May Beatty, Billy Gilbert,...
Mad Love
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 68 (86) min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy, Sara Haden, Edward Brophy, Henry Kolker, Keye Luke, May Beatty, Billy Gilbert,...
- 10/26/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A Night at the Opera
Blu ray
Warner Archive
1935/ 1.33:1
Starring The Marx Brothers, Allan Jones, Kitty Carlisle
Directed by Sam Wood
When the Marx Brothers bolted the scrappy but frugal Paramount for the gilded halls of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, fans of the comedians feared the worst—would the anarchic trio maintain their punk rock cred or had they sold out for the Top 40? The answer was revealed in their first go-round with the studio, 1935’s A Night at the Opera. And it was a standoff—though the Brothers remained world class provocateurs, MGM survived with its reputation intact and a big hit on their hands.
Opera‘s basic plot stays close to the Marxian blueprint; three agents of chaos, a fast-talking con man, a pun-happy piano player, and a tongue-tied hedonist, infiltrate a revered if musty institution, upend said institution, and go on their merry way. Though that premise...
Blu ray
Warner Archive
1935/ 1.33:1
Starring The Marx Brothers, Allan Jones, Kitty Carlisle
Directed by Sam Wood
When the Marx Brothers bolted the scrappy but frugal Paramount for the gilded halls of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, fans of the comedians feared the worst—would the anarchic trio maintain their punk rock cred or had they sold out for the Top 40? The answer was revealed in their first go-round with the studio, 1935’s A Night at the Opera. And it was a standoff—though the Brothers remained world class provocateurs, MGM survived with its reputation intact and a big hit on their hands.
Opera‘s basic plot stays close to the Marxian blueprint; three agents of chaos, a fast-talking con man, a pun-happy piano player, and a tongue-tied hedonist, infiltrate a revered if musty institution, upend said institution, and go on their merry way. Though that premise...
- 10/12/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Years in the making! The glory of MGM on parade! Enough studio resources to film twenty pictures were expended on this paean to showman Florenz Ziegfeld. It’s really Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s Technicolor valentine to itself, showing off the studio’s enormous stable of musical talent, along with various of its comic performers. Arthur Freed and Louis B. Mayer’s notion of ‘something for everyone’ results in weird stack of grandiose musical numbers and mostly weak comedy. The biggest draw is the incredible color cinematography that peeks through in three or four jaw-droppingly elaborate musical spectacles. The picture is a workout to find the artistic limits of the Technicolor system.
Ziegfeld Follies
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 117 110 min. / Street Date June 15, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: (alphabetically): Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams. Also...
Ziegfeld Follies
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 117 110 min. / Street Date June 15, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: (alphabetically): Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams. Also...
- 7/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
For his first re-teaming sans Ginger, Fred Astaire hot-foots it to MGM and the waiting tap & sweep partner Eleanor Powell, already a terrific box office draw in her own right. These were the days when the caliber of talent in Hollywood justified the exalted, glamorous aura of star status. The story is a backstage mixup with sidebar singing and joke acts, decent dialogue and not much else. But when these two alight on a dance floor — not just ‘a’ dance floor but an enormous expanse of glittering glass — Hollywood hits a too-glamorous-to-be-real peak. The music by Cole Porter includes Begin the Beguine. Just-okay George Murphy is the third wheel on this musical bicycle, with Frank Morgan serving as fuddy-duddy comic relief.
Broadway Melody of 1940
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1940 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date April 13, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy, Frank Morgan, Ian Hunter, Florence Rice, Trixie Firschke,...
Broadway Melody of 1940
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1940 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date April 13, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy, Frank Morgan, Ian Hunter, Florence Rice, Trixie Firschke,...
- 5/1/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
MGM’s old-fashioned Irving Berlin musical has superior songs and powerful performances, especially that of Betty Hutton. She gets plenty loud and rambunctious, but it fits the ‘big’ Annie Oakley character. And the talented, under-appreciated Howard Keel really fires up the screen with her in songs like ‘Anything You Can Do.’ The Wac disc contains plenty of George Feltenstein- rescued unused audio material, plus footage … depressing footage … of Judy Garland’s attempt in the leading role. Yep, the show may be PC minefield begging for a Cancel Culture intervention, but if it goes we’ll have to put most of Hollywood film history in a landfill.
Annie Get Your Gun
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 107 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 10, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Benay Venuta, Clinton Sundberg, Mae Clarke, John Mylong, Chief Yowlachie, Evelyn Beresford.
Annie Get Your Gun
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 107 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 10, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Benay Venuta, Clinton Sundberg, Mae Clarke, John Mylong, Chief Yowlachie, Evelyn Beresford.
- 4/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
At the 2021 Academy Awards on April 25, “Nomadland” filmmaker Chloe Zhao could make history with the most individual Oscar wins since Walt Disney. With nominations in Best Picture (Zhao is a producer of her film), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing, Zhao is already the most recognized female filmmaker in the history of the Academy Awards with four nominations. But if she manages a clean sweep of the categories, it would allow her to match Disney’s incredible 1954 performance, where he won a record four Oscars from a record six nominations.
But even if she’s able to match the legendary mogul, Disney will remain in the record books for his cumulative Oscars history. Ahead, a look at who has the most Academy Awards in history.
Who has the most Oscars?
The four Oscars that Disney won in 1954 represent only a fraction of his career total. Disney received 22 competitive...
But even if she’s able to match the legendary mogul, Disney will remain in the record books for his cumulative Oscars history. Ahead, a look at who has the most Academy Awards in history.
Who has the most Oscars?
The four Oscars that Disney won in 1954 represent only a fraction of his career total. Disney received 22 competitive...
- 3/25/2021
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Now for a real treat for musical fans, a core MGM dazzler with top stars, fully restored and looking incredibly good. Vincente Minnelli’s snappy, funny 1948 show isn’t ranked among producer Arthur Freed’s best but it ought to be. Silly farce gets a high-toned, technically amazing workout as Judy Garland’s demure señorita secretly lusts after the ruthless corsair of the title, Mack the Black! Gene Kelly’s slippery carny womanizer impersonates her piratical fantasy sex object, and it all ends in clowning and killer musical numbers. Cole Porter’s smart songs attest to the great orchestrators and arrangers in MGM’s world-class music department; the new full digital restoration makes the movie look and sound better than I’ve certainly ever seen it.
The Pirate
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date November 24, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Walter Slezak,...
The Pirate
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date November 24, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Walter Slezak,...
- 11/24/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Fu Manchu Cycle—1965-1969
Blu ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1965 – 1969 / 96, 93, 91, 94, 92 min. / 2:33:1, 1:85, 1:66
Starring Christoper Lee, Tsai Chin
Cinematography by Ernest Steward, John Von Kotze, Manuel Merino
Directed by Don Sharp, Jeremy Summers, Jesús Franco
Arthur Henry Ward was born in Birmingham in 1883—at the age of 20 he adopted the pen name of Sax Rohmer, specializing in standard issue crime fiction and otherworldly tales of terror. In 1912 he folded both genres into one sinister figure from the East, a so-called “devil doctor” named Fu Manchu. The book covers alone were xenophobic horror shows and if there was any doubt the stories themselves were wildly racist, the author confirmed it in the description of his star villain: “the Yellow Peril incarnate in one man.”
An authority on philosophy, medicine, and idiosyncratic torture devices, Manchu made his debut in The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu which was quickly followed by The Return of Dr.
Blu ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1965 – 1969 / 96, 93, 91, 94, 92 min. / 2:33:1, 1:85, 1:66
Starring Christoper Lee, Tsai Chin
Cinematography by Ernest Steward, John Von Kotze, Manuel Merino
Directed by Don Sharp, Jeremy Summers, Jesús Franco
Arthur Henry Ward was born in Birmingham in 1883—at the age of 20 he adopted the pen name of Sax Rohmer, specializing in standard issue crime fiction and otherworldly tales of terror. In 1912 he folded both genres into one sinister figure from the East, a so-called “devil doctor” named Fu Manchu. The book covers alone were xenophobic horror shows and if there was any doubt the stories themselves were wildly racist, the author confirmed it in the description of his star villain: “the Yellow Peril incarnate in one man.”
An authority on philosophy, medicine, and idiosyncratic torture devices, Manchu made his debut in The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu which was quickly followed by The Return of Dr.
- 10/31/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The original “Aladdin” (1992) brought Alan Menken two of his eight Oscars — for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “A Whole New World”) — and now the 2019 version can help him break some longstanding records.
Menken, who returned to compose new music for the live-action remake, could add a ninth Oscar to his collection for the new Jasmine anthem “Speechless,” which he co-wrote with fellow Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. That would give him the solo record for the most victories for Best Original Song at five, tie him for the most Oscars in the music categories, and extend his own record for the most Oscars won by a living person.
Menken is in a four-way tie with four wins in Best Original Song with Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer and Jimmy Van Heusen. The prolific composer and songwriter garnered all of his awards during the Disney Renaissance for...
Menken, who returned to compose new music for the live-action remake, could add a ninth Oscar to his collection for the new Jasmine anthem “Speechless,” which he co-wrote with fellow Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. That would give him the solo record for the most victories for Best Original Song at five, tie him for the most Oscars in the music categories, and extend his own record for the most Oscars won by a living person.
Menken is in a four-way tie with four wins in Best Original Song with Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer and Jimmy Van Heusen. The prolific composer and songwriter garnered all of his awards during the Disney Renaissance for...
- 12/29/2019
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
“Don’t worry. Some of the best movies are made by people working together who hate each other’s guts.”
Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas in The Bad And The Beautiful (1952) is available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives. It can be ordered Here
Appearances are everything in Hollywood. So when conniving moviemaker Jonathan Shields realizes few mourners will show up for the funeral of his equally conniving father, he knows what to do: hire extras. Kirk Douglas gives a magnetic, Oscar®-nominated performance as Shields, who turns talent, charisma and ruthlessness into film success, stomping on careers and creating enemies along the way. Vincente Minnelli directs this winner of five Academy Awards® that’s more than a compelling insider’s look at Tinseltown: It’s an opportunity for buffs to guess which real-life stars and moguls inspired the roles played by Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Best Supporting Actress Gloria Grahame and more.
Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas in The Bad And The Beautiful (1952) is available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives. It can be ordered Here
Appearances are everything in Hollywood. So when conniving moviemaker Jonathan Shields realizes few mourners will show up for the funeral of his equally conniving father, he knows what to do: hire extras. Kirk Douglas gives a magnetic, Oscar®-nominated performance as Shields, who turns talent, charisma and ruthlessness into film success, stomping on careers and creating enemies along the way. Vincente Minnelli directs this winner of five Academy Awards® that’s more than a compelling insider’s look at Tinseltown: It’s an opportunity for buffs to guess which real-life stars and moguls inspired the roles played by Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Best Supporting Actress Gloria Grahame and more.
- 11/27/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Shane Valentino on Gaslight, Little Women, The Wizard Of Oz, An American In Paris, Kismet, Brigadoon set designer Cedric Gibbons: “If you looked at some of his sets you could see how in static positions you can create movement with the curves.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
At the press preview for The Costume Institute’s In Pursuit Of Fashion exhibition The Sandy Schreier Collection, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I introduced myself to production designer Shane Valentino. We discussed the architecture of space for the show, his BAFTA nominated (with Meg Everist) work on Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, the influence of Cecil Beaton and Cedric Gibbons, and Aaron Sorkin's 2020 film The Trial Of The Chicago 7.
Jessica Regan, Andrew Bolton and Sandy Schreier with The Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Max Hollein Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
After our conversation inside the Anna Wintour Costume Center, Shane introduced me...
At the press preview for The Costume Institute’s In Pursuit Of Fashion exhibition The Sandy Schreier Collection, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I introduced myself to production designer Shane Valentino. We discussed the architecture of space for the show, his BAFTA nominated (with Meg Everist) work on Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, the influence of Cecil Beaton and Cedric Gibbons, and Aaron Sorkin's 2020 film The Trial Of The Chicago 7.
Jessica Regan, Andrew Bolton and Sandy Schreier with The Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Max Hollein Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
After our conversation inside the Anna Wintour Costume Center, Shane introduced me...
- 11/26/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Why Are The Oscars Called “Oscars”?
Ever wonder why the Academy Awards are called the Oscars? Like most narratives in Hollywood, it’s a story lost to lore. The name credit primarily has been given to three assignors: Academy librarian Margaret Herrick, journalist Sidney Skolsky, and actress Bette Davis. The Academy officially adopted the nickname in 1939 making Oscar part of history.
Oscar was originally called the much more formal “The Academy Award of Merit,” which doesn’t quite have the personality that “Oscar” does. One of the academy’s founding members, MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, designed the original statuette: a sword-wielding crusader for the arts, standing on a film reel. He would go on to garner twenty-eight nominations and take home eleven awards. His collaborator, sculptor George Stanley reportedly modeled the statue after a Mexican model and actor Emilio “El Indio” Fernández.
Upon seeing the bronze and gold image...
Ever wonder why the Academy Awards are called the Oscars? Like most narratives in Hollywood, it’s a story lost to lore. The name credit primarily has been given to three assignors: Academy librarian Margaret Herrick, journalist Sidney Skolsky, and actress Bette Davis. The Academy officially adopted the nickname in 1939 making Oscar part of history.
Oscar was originally called the much more formal “The Academy Award of Merit,” which doesn’t quite have the personality that “Oscar” does. One of the academy’s founding members, MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, designed the original statuette: a sword-wielding crusader for the arts, standing on a film reel. He would go on to garner twenty-eight nominations and take home eleven awards. His collaborator, sculptor George Stanley reportedly modeled the statue after a Mexican model and actor Emilio “El Indio” Fernández.
Upon seeing the bronze and gold image...
- 10/9/2019
- by John Matsuya
- Gold Derby
Red Skelton Whistling Collection
DVD
Warner Archive
1941, 42, 43 / 1:33:1 / 78, 74, 87 Min.
Starring Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford
Written by Robert MacGunigle, Nat Perrin
Cinematography by Sidney Wagner, Clyde De Vinnam, Lester White
Directed by S. Sylvan Simon
One night in 1950 during an especially frenetic episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour, Jerry Lewis stepped away from Dean Martin to address the camera point blank – “You get the idea – I’m supposed to be a 9-year-old kid.” Hardly a revelation – especially to Red Skelton, the reigning king of prepubescent horseplay.
That reign was begun in 1923 and fueled by broadly played gags that were both leering and infantile – like a burlesque version of The Bad Seed. One of Skelton’s most grating characters was a wisecracking brat called the “mean widdle kid” – wearing short pants and lace collar while delivering grown-up one-liners in baby talk he was a less feral version of Joe Besser’s...
DVD
Warner Archive
1941, 42, 43 / 1:33:1 / 78, 74, 87 Min.
Starring Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford
Written by Robert MacGunigle, Nat Perrin
Cinematography by Sidney Wagner, Clyde De Vinnam, Lester White
Directed by S. Sylvan Simon
One night in 1950 during an especially frenetic episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour, Jerry Lewis stepped away from Dean Martin to address the camera point blank – “You get the idea – I’m supposed to be a 9-year-old kid.” Hardly a revelation – especially to Red Skelton, the reigning king of prepubescent horseplay.
That reign was begun in 1923 and fueled by broadly played gags that were both leering and infantile – like a burlesque version of The Bad Seed. One of Skelton’s most grating characters was a wisecracking brat called the “mean widdle kid” – wearing short pants and lace collar while delivering grown-up one-liners in baby talk he was a less feral version of Joe Besser’s...
- 4/27/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Generally regarded as the pinnacle of MGM’s Tarzan series, this pre-code entry is the second in the 12-picture Weissmuller series, spectacularly produced and unexpectedly violent considering the kid-friendly tone of later episodes. Though credited to veteran art director Cedric Gibbons, most of the film was directed by Jack Conway and James C. McKay.
The post Tarzan and His Mate appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Tarzan and His Mate appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 4/24/2019
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
“Back home everyone said I didn’t have any talent. They might be saying the same thing over here but it sounds better in French.”
Winner of six Academy Awards including Best Picture, and celebrated as one of the most popular musicals of all time, An American In Paris comes to life on the big screen May 12th and 13th at Powell Hall in St. Louis (718 N Grand Blvd). Join the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as they perform the film’s score live!
Performances are Saturday, May 12th, 2018 7:00Pm and Sunday May 13th at 3:00Pm. Tickets can be purchased Here
One of the American Film Institute’s Top 10 Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time, An American In Paris, stars Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly and features the timeless original music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. Celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with the musical film on the big screen while the St.
Winner of six Academy Awards including Best Picture, and celebrated as one of the most popular musicals of all time, An American In Paris comes to life on the big screen May 12th and 13th at Powell Hall in St. Louis (718 N Grand Blvd). Join the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as they perform the film’s score live!
Performances are Saturday, May 12th, 2018 7:00Pm and Sunday May 13th at 3:00Pm. Tickets can be purchased Here
One of the American Film Institute’s Top 10 Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time, An American In Paris, stars Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly and features the timeless original music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. Celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with the musical film on the big screen while the St.
- 4/3/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Balletic, stylized and rather aloof, MGM’s biggest musical for 1954 still has what musical lovers crave — good dancing, beautiful melodies and unabashed romantic sentiments. Savant has a bad tendency to fixate on the inconsistencies of its fantasy concept — in which God places an ideal Scottish village outside the limits of Time itself.
Brigadoon
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1954 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date September 26, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart, Barry Jones, Albert Sharpe, Virginia Bosler, Jimmy Thompson.
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Art Direction: Preston Ames, Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor: Albert Akst
Original Music: Frederick Loewe
Screenplay, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Produced by Arthur Freed
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
MGM underwent some severe cutbacks in 1953; most of its contract players were dropped including the majority of its proud roster of stars. The studio would have to survive in a new kind of Hollywood,...
Brigadoon
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1954 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date September 26, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart, Barry Jones, Albert Sharpe, Virginia Bosler, Jimmy Thompson.
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Art Direction: Preston Ames, Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor: Albert Akst
Original Music: Frederick Loewe
Screenplay, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Produced by Arthur Freed
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
MGM underwent some severe cutbacks in 1953; most of its contract players were dropped including the majority of its proud roster of stars. The studio would have to survive in a new kind of Hollywood,...
- 9/23/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. On July 27, Ronald Colman can be seen in five films from his later years: A Double Life, Random Harvest (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), The Late George Apley (1947), and The Story of Mankind (1957). The first three titles are among the most important in Colman's long film career. George Cukor's A Double Life earned him his one and only Best Actor Oscar; Mervyn LeRoy's Random Harvest earned him his second Best Actor Oscar nomination; George Stevens' The Talk of the Town was shortlisted for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. All three feature Ronald Colman at his very best. The early 21st century motto of international trendsetters, from Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and Turkey's Recep Erdogan to Russia's Vladimir Putin and the United States' Donald Trump, seems to be, The world is reality TV and reality TV...
- 7/28/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Battleground
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 118 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Don Taylor, James Whitmore, Douglas Fowley, Leon Ames, Guy Anderson, Denise Darcel, Richard Jaeckel, James Arness
Cinematography: Paul Vogel
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters
Film Editor: John D. Dunning
Original Music: Lennie Hayton
Written by: Robert Pirosh
Produced by: Dore Schary
Directed by William A. Wellman
“The Guts, Gags and Glory of a Lot of Wonderful Guys!”
— say, what kind of movie is this, anyway?
Action movies about combat are now mostly about soldiers that fight like killing machines, or stories of battle with a strong political axe to grind. WW2 changed perceptions completely, when a mostly civilian army did the fighting. With the cessation of hostilities combat pictures tapered off quickly, and Hollywood gave the subject a break for several years.
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 118 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Don Taylor, James Whitmore, Douglas Fowley, Leon Ames, Guy Anderson, Denise Darcel, Richard Jaeckel, James Arness
Cinematography: Paul Vogel
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters
Film Editor: John D. Dunning
Original Music: Lennie Hayton
Written by: Robert Pirosh
Produced by: Dore Schary
Directed by William A. Wellman
“The Guts, Gags and Glory of a Lot of Wonderful Guys!”
— say, what kind of movie is this, anyway?
Action movies about combat are now mostly about soldiers that fight like killing machines, or stories of battle with a strong political axe to grind. WW2 changed perceptions completely, when a mostly civilian army did the fighting. With the cessation of hostilities combat pictures tapered off quickly, and Hollywood gave the subject a break for several years.
- 1/6/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
"The Furniture" is our weekly series on Production Design. Here's Daniel Walber...
Kirk Douglas nearly drove himself over the edge while filming Lust for Life, inhabiting the character of Vincent van Gogh with a tenacity akin to the Method. The result was an Oscar nomination, likely the closest he ever came to a win. His emotionally volatile performance lends real weight to the oft-sensationalized biography of history’s most famously mad artist.
But the success of Lust for Life isn’t owed entirely to Douglas. Director Vincente Minnelli was a perfect match for the material, which necessitates a balance between the beauty that Van Gogh saw in the world and the feverish passion that drove him away from it. The Oscar-nominated production design team, led by frequent Minnelli collaborator Cedric Gibbons, offer a rich vision of the French countryside that serves as an essential counterpoint to Douglas’s madness.
Kirk Douglas nearly drove himself over the edge while filming Lust for Life, inhabiting the character of Vincent van Gogh with a tenacity akin to the Method. The result was an Oscar nomination, likely the closest he ever came to a win. His emotionally volatile performance lends real weight to the oft-sensationalized biography of history’s most famously mad artist.
But the success of Lust for Life isn’t owed entirely to Douglas. Director Vincente Minnelli was a perfect match for the material, which necessitates a balance between the beauty that Van Gogh saw in the world and the feverish passion that drove him away from it. The Oscar-nominated production design team, led by frequent Minnelli collaborator Cedric Gibbons, offer a rich vision of the French countryside that serves as an essential counterpoint to Douglas’s madness.
- 12/5/2016
- by Daniel Walber
- FilmExperience
John Huston’s primal heist film is an almost perfect movie, with a score of unforgettable characterizations. A solid crime noir, it concerns itself with the human ironies in the ‘left handed form of human endeavor.’
The Asphalt Jungle
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 847
1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 13, 2016 /
Starring Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, Jean Hagen, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Dexter.
Cinematography Harold Rosson
Art Direction Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor George Boemler
Original Music Miklos Rosza
Written by Ben Maddow and John Huston from the novel by W.R. Burnett
Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Directed by John Huston
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Talk about a film that becomes only more enjoyable with each viewing… John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle is the Singin’ in the Rain of noir masterpieces.
The Asphalt Jungle
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 847
1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 13, 2016 /
Starring Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, Jean Hagen, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Dexter.
Cinematography Harold Rosson
Art Direction Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor George Boemler
Original Music Miklos Rosza
Written by Ben Maddow and John Huston from the novel by W.R. Burnett
Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Directed by John Huston
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Talk about a film that becomes only more enjoyable with each viewing… John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle is the Singin’ in the Rain of noir masterpieces.
- 11/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
When MGM was almost a ghost town, the Arthur Freed unit hit one last 'special' factory musical out of the park with this strangely melancholy ode to faded ambitions. Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd put in great, memorable work, while the glorious Dolores Gray is practically a living Tex Avery cartoon. And it's designed in wide, wide CinemaScope. It's Always Fair Weather Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date November, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, Michael Kidd Cinematography Robert Bronner Art Direction Cedric Gibbons, Arthur Lonergan Film Editor Adrienne Fazan Original Music André Previn Written by Betty Comden & Adolph Green Produced by Arthur Freed, Roger Edens Directed & Choreographed by Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Back in the late 1980s, I first became aware of the future of home video when Criterion introduced...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Back in the late 1980s, I first became aware of the future of home video when Criterion introduced...
- 11/7/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
MGM's show is a surprising powerhouse musical bio about the personality clash between an ambitious singer and the powerful enabler who wants her in his bed. Doris Day and James Cagney are at their best in an only slightly compromised telling of the real-life showbiz relationship of 'twenties star Ruth Etting and the domineering mobster Martin Snyder. Love Me or Leave Me Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Doris Day, James Cagney, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Keith, Tom Tully, Harry Bellaver, Richard Gaines, Peter Leeds, Claude Stroud, Audrey Wilder, John Harding. Cinematography Arthur E. Arling Art Direction Urie McCleary, Cedric Gibbons Film Editor Ralph Winters Original Music Nicholas Brodszky, Percy Faith, George E. Stoll Written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart Produced by Joe Pasternak Directed by Charles Vidor
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
MGM's early CinemaScope musical bio holds up extremely well,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
MGM's early CinemaScope musical bio holds up extremely well,...
- 8/20/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Todd Garbarini
The Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Los Angeles will be presenting a fun-filled weekend of six science fiction classics from Friday, April 15th to Sunday, April 17th. Several cast members from the films are scheduled to appear in person at respective screenings, so read on for more information:
From the press release:
Anniversary Classics Sci-Fi Weekend
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: www.laemmle.com/ac.
Re-visit the Golden Age of the Science Fiction Film as Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series presents Sci-fi Weekend, a festival of six classic films April 15-17 at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.
It was dawn of the Atomic Age and the Cold War, as Communist and nuclear war paranoia swept onto the nation’s movie screens to both terrify and entertain the American public. All the favorite icons are here: Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet,...
The Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Los Angeles will be presenting a fun-filled weekend of six science fiction classics from Friday, April 15th to Sunday, April 17th. Several cast members from the films are scheduled to appear in person at respective screenings, so read on for more information:
From the press release:
Anniversary Classics Sci-Fi Weekend
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: www.laemmle.com/ac.
Re-visit the Golden Age of the Science Fiction Film as Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series presents Sci-fi Weekend, a festival of six classic films April 15-17 at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.
It was dawn of the Atomic Age and the Cold War, as Communist and nuclear war paranoia swept onto the nation’s movie screens to both terrify and entertain the American public. All the favorite icons are here: Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet,...
- 4/7/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...
Freed, Garland, & Edens c. 1930s
After the whirlwind that was The Wizard of Oz, it may seem like a letdown for Judy to return to the Mickey & Judy musicals of before. However, she returned with two things she hadn’t had before: A-level star status, and the Freed Unit. The former made her a major box office draw, which meant that her movies had bigger budgets and better material. The latter meant that Arthur Freed - a writer turned producer who’d flitted in and out of Judy’s career since she started at MGM - could use those budgets and material to put on shows unlike any MGM had produced.
The Movie: Babes in Arms (MGM, 1939)
The Songwriters: Nacio Herb Brown (Music), Arthur Freed (Lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, directed by Busby...
Freed, Garland, & Edens c. 1930s
After the whirlwind that was The Wizard of Oz, it may seem like a letdown for Judy to return to the Mickey & Judy musicals of before. However, she returned with two things she hadn’t had before: A-level star status, and the Freed Unit. The former made her a major box office draw, which meant that her movies had bigger budgets and better material. The latter meant that Arthur Freed - a writer turned producer who’d flitted in and out of Judy’s career since she started at MGM - could use those budgets and material to put on shows unlike any MGM had produced.
The Movie: Babes in Arms (MGM, 1939)
The Songwriters: Nacio Herb Brown (Music), Arthur Freed (Lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, directed by Busby...
- 3/9/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
The countdown is on to the Oscars and preps are continuing. The red carpet is covered in plastic as crews add more bling before all the glitz and glamour on Oscar Sunday.
The Oscar statues that will line the red carpet also made their first appearance on Thursday at the Dolby Theatre, while their smaller counterparts are safely tucked away until February 28th.
There have been 3,001 Oscar statuettes presented since the first Oscars (that includes the 3 Oscars presented at the Governors Awards event on November 14, 2015)
The Academy recently announced that Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, based in Rock Tavern, New York, will exclusively create its iconic Oscar statuettes, starting with the 88th Academy Awards. In a process that returns to the Oscar’s fine art roots, the statuettes will now be hand-cast in bronze before receiving its 24-karat gold finish.
Using a cast bronze Oscar from 1929, Polich Tallix artisans have...
The Oscar statues that will line the red carpet also made their first appearance on Thursday at the Dolby Theatre, while their smaller counterparts are safely tucked away until February 28th.
There have been 3,001 Oscar statuettes presented since the first Oscars (that includes the 3 Oscars presented at the Governors Awards event on November 14, 2015)
The Academy recently announced that Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, based in Rock Tavern, New York, will exclusively create its iconic Oscar statuettes, starting with the 88th Academy Awards. In a process that returns to the Oscar’s fine art roots, the statuettes will now be hand-cast in bronze before receiving its 24-karat gold finish.
Using a cast bronze Oscar from 1929, Polich Tallix artisans have...
- 2/26/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I'm beginning to have butterflies. You? Just for fun some random trivia surrounding the number 11 today. Links go to previous articles here at Tfe on these films or performers
• Pictures with exactly 11 Oscar nominations
Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Rebecca (1940), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Sunset Blvd (1950), West Side Story (1961), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Oliver! (1968), The Godfather Pt II (1974), Chinatown (1974), The Turning Point (1977), Gandhi (1982), Terms of Endearment (1983), Amadeus (1984), A Passage to India (1984), Out of Africa (1985), The Color Purple (1985), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Hugo (2011), and Life of Pi (2012)
• Movies that won exactly 11 Oscars
That's the most any movie has ever won and it's a three way tie: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Ring: Return of the King (2003). Currently Ben-Hur is being remade and is supposedly opening this very summer... wish them good luck because living up to such a...
• Pictures with exactly 11 Oscar nominations
Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Rebecca (1940), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Sunset Blvd (1950), West Side Story (1961), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Oliver! (1968), The Godfather Pt II (1974), Chinatown (1974), The Turning Point (1977), Gandhi (1982), Terms of Endearment (1983), Amadeus (1984), A Passage to India (1984), Out of Africa (1985), The Color Purple (1985), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Hugo (2011), and Life of Pi (2012)
• Movies that won exactly 11 Oscars
That's the most any movie has ever won and it's a three way tie: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Ring: Return of the King (2003). Currently Ben-Hur is being remade and is supposedly opening this very summer... wish them good luck because living up to such a...
- 2/17/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The Academy has announced that Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, based in Rock Tavern, New York, will exclusively create its iconic Oscar statuettes, starting with the 88th Academy Awards. In a process that returns to the Oscar’s fine art roots, the statuettes will now be hand-cast in bronze before receiving its 24-karat gold finish.
“With the help of some 21st century technology, we’re able to honor the Oscar’s proud beginnings,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “The new statuette exemplifies impeccable craftsmanship and the enduring nature of art.”
Using a cast bronze Oscar from 1929, Polich Tallix artisans have restored subtle features of George Stanley’s original sculpture, which was based on sketches by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons. The overall size of the statuette remains the same.
“With this project, we’ve been entrusted with continuing a great tradition,” said Dick Polich, Polich Tallix founder and CEO.
“With the help of some 21st century technology, we’re able to honor the Oscar’s proud beginnings,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “The new statuette exemplifies impeccable craftsmanship and the enduring nature of art.”
Using a cast bronze Oscar from 1929, Polich Tallix artisans have restored subtle features of George Stanley’s original sculpture, which was based on sketches by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons. The overall size of the statuette remains the same.
“With this project, we’ve been entrusted with continuing a great tradition,” said Dick Polich, Polich Tallix founder and CEO.
- 2/17/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Oscar statuette is the most iconic trophy in entertainment, and its classic look will soon get a (minor) makeover: The Academy announced this week that it will use a new manufacturer for the award starting this year, its first switch since 1982.
The coveted title of Oscar creator has now been bestowed upon Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, a company based in Rock Tavern, New York. Former manufacturer R.S. Owens & Company will continue to service and restore older statuettes, as well as create other awards and for The Academy (including the plaques handed out for the Scientific and Technical Awards).
According to The Academy, Polich Tallix based its slightly-updated design on the very first Oscar statuettes, using a bronze Oscar cast from 1929. The new trophy now boasts "restored subtle features of George Stanley's original sculpture, which was based on sketches by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, " per The Academy,...
The coveted title of Oscar creator has now been bestowed upon Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, a company based in Rock Tavern, New York. Former manufacturer R.S. Owens & Company will continue to service and restore older statuettes, as well as create other awards and for The Academy (including the plaques handed out for the Scientific and Technical Awards).
According to The Academy, Polich Tallix based its slightly-updated design on the very first Oscar statuettes, using a bronze Oscar cast from 1929. The new trophy now boasts "restored subtle features of George Stanley's original sculpture, which was based on sketches by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, " per The Academy,...
- 2/16/2016
- by Katie Roberts
- Moviefone
'The Merry Widow' with Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald and Minna Gombell under the direction of Ernst Lubitsch. Ernst Lubitsch movies: 'The Merry Widow,' 'Ninotchka' (See previous post: “Ernst Lubitsch Best Films: Passé Subtle 'Touch' in Age of Sledgehammer Filmmaking.”) Initially a project for Ramon Novarro – who for quite some time aspired to become an opera singer and who had a pleasant singing voice – The Merry Widow ultimately starred Maurice Chevalier, the hammiest film performer this side of Bob Hope, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler – the list goes on and on. Generally speaking, “hammy” isn't my idea of effective film acting. For that reason, I usually find Chevalier a major handicap to his movies, especially during the early talkie era; he upsets their dramatic (or comedic) balance much like Jack Nicholson in Martin Scorsese's The Departed or Jerry Lewis in anything (excepting Scorsese's The King of Comedy...
- 1/31/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
William Cameron Menzies. William Cameron Menzies movies on TCM: Murderous Joan Fontaine, deadly Nazi Communists Best known as an art director/production designer, William Cameron Menzies was a jack-of-all-trades. It seems like the only things Menzies didn't do was act and tap dance in front of the camera. He designed and/or wrote, directed, produced, etc., dozens of films – titles ranged from The Thief of Bagdad to Invaders from Mars – from the late 1910s all the way to the mid-1950s. Among Menzies' most notable efforts as an art director/production designer are: Ernst Lubitsch's first Hollywood movie, the Mary Pickford star vehicle Rosita (1923). Herbert Brenon's British-set father-son drama Sorrell and Son (1927). David O. Selznick's mammoth production of Gone with the Wind, which earned Menzies an Honorary Oscar. The Sam Wood movies Our Town (1940), Kings Row (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). H.C. Potter's Mr. Lucky...
- 1/28/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A few years ago the editors of Shadowlocked asked me to compile a list of what was initially to be, the ten greatest movie matte paintings of all time. A mere ten selections was too slim by a long shot, so my list stretched considerably to twenty, then thirty and finally a nice round fifty entries. Even with that number I found it wasn’t easy to narrow down a suitably wide ranging showcase of motion picture matte art that best represented the artform. So with that in mind, and due to the surprising popularity of that 2012 Shadowlocked list (which is well worth a visit, here Ed), I’ve assembled a further fifty wonderful examples of this vast, vital and more extensively utilised than you’d imagine – though now sadly ‘dead and buried’ – movie magic.
It would of course be so easy to simply concentrate on the well known, iconic,...
It would of course be so easy to simply concentrate on the well known, iconic,...
- 12/28/2015
- Shadowlocked
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Art Directors Guild Adg Film Society and American Cinematheque will present a screening of the Academy Award-winning classic musical An American in Paris 1951, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron and showcasing Oscar-winning concept artistcostume designer Irene Sharaff, Art Director E. Preston Ames and MGM's Supervising Art Director Cedric Gibbons, on Sunday, May 31 at 530 Pm at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
- 5/27/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Hedy Lamarr: 'Invention' and inventor on Turner Classic Movies (photo: Hedy Lamarr publicity shot ca. early '40s) Two Hedy Lamarr movies released during her heyday in the early '40s — Victor Fleming's Tortilla Flat (1942), co-starring Spencer Tracy and John Garfield, and King Vidor's H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), co-starring Robert Young and Ruth Hussey — will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Pt, respectively. Best known as a glamorous Hollywood star (Ziegfeld Girl, White Cargo, Samson and Delilah), the Viennese-born Lamarr (née Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler), who would have turned 100 on November 9, was also an inventor: she co-developed and patented with composer George Antheil the concept of frequency hopping, currently known as spread-spectrum communications (or "spread-spectrum broadcasting"), which ultimately led to the evolution of wireless technology. (More on the George Antheil and Hedy Lamarr invention further below.) Somewhat ironically,...
- 11/2/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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