It’s been more than 30 years since the first Beetlejuice terrified and tickled audiences. Now, Michael Keaton is back as the iconic bio-exorcist in the much-anticipated sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara are coming back to play Lydia and Delia Deetz again. Plus, fans will get to see some new faces in the movie. Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, and Monica Bellucci are joining the cast to play brand new characters.
A still from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
But fans will notice the void of two main characters: Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin, who played the Maitlands (Barbara and Adam) in the original movie. However, Davis has an explanation for her and her co-star’s absence.
The Reason Behind Geena Davis’ Absence from the Beetlejuice Sequel Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin in a still from Beetlejuice
Geena Davis explained to Et Online why she’s not in the Beetlejuice sequel.
Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara are coming back to play Lydia and Delia Deetz again. Plus, fans will get to see some new faces in the movie. Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, and Monica Bellucci are joining the cast to play brand new characters.
A still from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
But fans will notice the void of two main characters: Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin, who played the Maitlands (Barbara and Adam) in the original movie. However, Davis has an explanation for her and her co-star’s absence.
The Reason Behind Geena Davis’ Absence from the Beetlejuice Sequel Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin in a still from Beetlejuice
Geena Davis explained to Et Online why she’s not in the Beetlejuice sequel.
- 4/13/2024
- by Shreya Jha
- FandomWire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSUntil Branches Bend.Amidst a widespread debate on the merit of U.S. state financial incentives for film and television productions, a Georgia bill that would have limited the sale of tax credits was rejected by the Senate Finance Committee. In recent years, those credits have exceeded $1 billion despite findings that the state makes back only 19¢ on the dollar. Four of the thirteen labor guilds bargaining with IATSE have now reached tentative agreements with the AMPTP: Locals 600 (cinematographers), 729 (set painters), 800 (art directors), and 695. IATSE president Matthew Loeb has threatened to strike if a new contract is not in place when the current one expires on July 31.Due to financial constraints, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be...
- 3/28/2024
- MUBI
Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman: Tim Burton to direct a reimagining of the 1958 sci-fi horror classic
Welcome to the Burtonaissance, friends! After blowing up Netflix charts with the delightfully binge-able Addams Family series Wednesday and debuting the title and release date for the long-anticipated Beetlejuice sequel, Tim Burton is ready to announce another project! According to Deadline, Tim Burton is teaming up with Warner Bros. Pictures to reimagine the sci-fi horror classic Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman!
Former Entertainment Weekly reporter and novelist Gillian Flynn is penning the script, with Tim Burton lined up to direct. In the 1958 Nathan Juran-directed classic, an abused socialite, Nancy Fowler Archer (Allison Hayes), grows to gigantic size because of an alien encounter and a scrapped murder attempt. After rising to an alarming height, Nancy pursues her cheating husband with revenge coursing through her veins. Prepare yourselves for death and desire! A rampage of destruction and a new high in terror!
Tim Burton returns to the ’50s for this...
Former Entertainment Weekly reporter and novelist Gillian Flynn is penning the script, with Tim Burton lined up to direct. In the 1958 Nathan Juran-directed classic, an abused socialite, Nancy Fowler Archer (Allison Hayes), grows to gigantic size because of an alien encounter and a scrapped murder attempt. After rising to an alarming height, Nancy pursues her cheating husband with revenge coursing through her veins. Prepare yourselves for death and desire! A rampage of destruction and a new high in terror!
Tim Burton returns to the ’50s for this...
- 2/1/2024
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
(Welcome to Did They Get It Right?, a series where we look at Oscars categories from yesteryear and examine whether the Academy's winners stand the test of time.)
If you were to guess who the most nominated director was in the history of the Academy Awards, who would you guess? Maybe you'd say Steven Spielberg, who has made films for a half-century that have been beloved by millions. Or maybe you're inclination was to guess Martin Scorsese, given his level of simultaneous mainstream acclaim and critical adoration. Or maybe you'd go back to the golden age of Hollywood and guess someone like Frank Capra or John Ford, filmmakers fundamental to establishing what popular American cinema was and directed many films still revered today. In reality, it's not any of these people.
It may come as a surprise to learn that the most nominated director of all time is William Wyler.
If you were to guess who the most nominated director was in the history of the Academy Awards, who would you guess? Maybe you'd say Steven Spielberg, who has made films for a half-century that have been beloved by millions. Or maybe you're inclination was to guess Martin Scorsese, given his level of simultaneous mainstream acclaim and critical adoration. Or maybe you'd go back to the golden age of Hollywood and guess someone like Frank Capra or John Ford, filmmakers fundamental to establishing what popular American cinema was and directed many films still revered today. In reality, it's not any of these people.
It may come as a surprise to learn that the most nominated director of all time is William Wyler.
- 10/15/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Anyone who loved Mary Tyler Moore as Laurie Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” as the thoroughly modern career woman Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and as the brittle, distant Beth in her Oscar-nominated turn in 1980’s ‘Ordinary People,” will love the new Max documentary “Being Mary Tyler Moore.” Moore, who died in 2017 at the age of 80, narrates the story of her life which had incredible triumphs but also great tragedy. But one aspect of her storied career it doesn’t really delve in as her work in telefilms, miniseries and even an “PBS Hollywood Presents” that reunited her with Dick Van Dyke.
Did you know that two years before she went to Broadway winning a special Tony for her performance in “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” and did “Ordinary People,” she unveiled her dramatic chops in the 1978 CBS TV movie “First, You Cry.” Based on...
Did you know that two years before she went to Broadway winning a special Tony for her performance in “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” and did “Ordinary People,” she unveiled her dramatic chops in the 1978 CBS TV movie “First, You Cry.” Based on...
- 6/2/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Bee–ah, that was a close one! A massive success upon release, Beetlejuice went through a strange and unusual production that saw multiple rewrites and firings, not to mention the dodging of some seriously questionable casting choices. But through the terrific performances by its cast and creative skirting around a small budget, the movie became one of the best horror-comedies ever, worthy of a sequel that has been in development hell for over three decades.
So let’s open up the handbook for the recently deceased and shake, shake, shake senora because it’s showtime! Let’s to find out…Wtf Happened to this movie?!
Following the massive success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which pulled in $40 million on a $7 million budget, Tim Burton had his pick of what his next project would be. One thing he knew, it wouldn’t be talking horse movie Hot to Trot.
So let’s open up the handbook for the recently deceased and shake, shake, shake senora because it’s showtime! Let’s to find out…Wtf Happened to this movie?!
Following the massive success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which pulled in $40 million on a $7 million budget, Tim Burton had his pick of what his next project would be. One thing he knew, it wouldn’t be talking horse movie Hot to Trot.
- 5/10/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
I’ve loved gangster movies since I was four years old and saw Humphrey Bogart and Sylvia Sidney in Dead End (1937) on TV, and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) at the movies (My dad pinched a lobby card for me). Every Friday night, a local NYC station ran old crime flicks on a slot called “Tough Guys.” Bogart, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and George Raft were the faces over the title. Today that might be Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, and James Gandolfini.
The gangster and crime genre produced some of the most influential films in cinema history. Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar (1931), William A. Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931), and Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932), get a lot of credit for breaking ground in topics beyond criminality, shattering sexual taboos as well as the boundaries of acceptable visual violence. High Sierra (1941) and White Heat...
The gangster and crime genre produced some of the most influential films in cinema history. Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar (1931), William A. Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931), and Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932), get a lot of credit for breaking ground in topics beyond criminality, shattering sexual taboos as well as the boundaries of acceptable visual violence. High Sierra (1941) and White Heat...
- 5/6/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
The following article includes discussions of graphic sexual assault.
Horror is all about pushing boundaries. As a means to refract contemporary fears, anxieties, and pressures, the horror genre, almost by design, must resist censoring or constraining the terror on screen. Some of the most iconic horror sequences, such as Janet Leigh's death in "Psycho" and the chestburster in "Alien," were boundary-pushing triumphs. Richly textured and gorgeously composed shocks with purpose, they have endured as hallmarks of the genre.
Of course, horror can go too far. Savagery and gruesome violence can have the opposite effect by blunting the efficacy of any given scare. It's why several filmmakers, such as Damien Leone, director of 2002's indie sensation "Terrifier 2," opted to scrap some material, worried the brutality would hurt rather than elevate. And it's not just horror. Some of the most disturbing movie scenes imaginable exist firmly in other genres. Sometimes,...
Horror is all about pushing boundaries. As a means to refract contemporary fears, anxieties, and pressures, the horror genre, almost by design, must resist censoring or constraining the terror on screen. Some of the most iconic horror sequences, such as Janet Leigh's death in "Psycho" and the chestburster in "Alien," were boundary-pushing triumphs. Richly textured and gorgeously composed shocks with purpose, they have endured as hallmarks of the genre.
Of course, horror can go too far. Savagery and gruesome violence can have the opposite effect by blunting the efficacy of any given scare. It's why several filmmakers, such as Damien Leone, director of 2002's indie sensation "Terrifier 2," opted to scrap some material, worried the brutality would hurt rather than elevate. And it's not just horror. Some of the most disturbing movie scenes imaginable exist firmly in other genres. Sometimes,...
- 3/19/2023
- by Chad Collins
- Slash Film
Awards season always turns up note-worthy moments: showstopping outfits, witty speeches or egregious faux-pas are instantly turned into memes and circulated endlessly on social media.
In 2021, one moment in particular captivated viewers worldwide, and that was watching eight-year-old actor Alan Kim – dressed in a tuxedo – tear up while accepting a Critics Choice Award for his scene-stealing part in the critically acclaimed film Minari.
After a successful season, however, which included a Bafta nod, the young star was eventually shut out of the Oscars. It was a shame – in a year of history-making nominations for the Academy Awards, seeing Kim recognised would have been the cherry on top.
But it was always a long shot. Child actors are a welcome but infrequent inclusion at the Oscars – their rarity though, does make every instance especially memorable.
In the run-up to next month’s ceremony, here is a list of the 13 youngest stars...
In 2021, one moment in particular captivated viewers worldwide, and that was watching eight-year-old actor Alan Kim – dressed in a tuxedo – tear up while accepting a Critics Choice Award for his scene-stealing part in the critically acclaimed film Minari.
After a successful season, however, which included a Bafta nod, the young star was eventually shut out of the Oscars. It was a shame – in a year of history-making nominations for the Academy Awards, seeing Kim recognised would have been the cherry on top.
But it was always a long shot. Child actors are a welcome but infrequent inclusion at the Oscars – their rarity though, does make every instance especially memorable.
In the run-up to next month’s ceremony, here is a list of the 13 youngest stars...
- 2/7/2023
- by Annabel Nugent
- The Independent - Film
Arnold Schulman, Screenwriter on ‘Goodbye, Columbus’ and ‘Love With the Proper Stranger,’ Dies at 97
Arnold Schulman, who landed Oscar nominations for his screenplays for Love With the Proper Stranger and Goodbye, Columbus and found success with several incarnations of his Broadway hit A Hole in the Head, has died. He was 97.
Schulman died Saturday of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son, Peter Schulman, told The Hollywood Reporter.
In two late-career triumphs, Schulman was recruited by Francis Ford Coppola to write the biopic Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and he scored an Emmy nomination and a Humanitas Prize in 1994 for his teleplay for HBO’s And the Band Played On, an adaptation of Randy Shilts’ nonfiction book about the onset of AIDS.
An original member of the Actors Studio, Schulman in the 1950s worked alongside the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman on live television. In 1962, he quit as the original screenwriter on the never-completed Marilyn Monroe movie Something’s Got to Give,...
Schulman died Saturday of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son, Peter Schulman, told The Hollywood Reporter.
In two late-career triumphs, Schulman was recruited by Francis Ford Coppola to write the biopic Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and he scored an Emmy nomination and a Humanitas Prize in 1994 for his teleplay for HBO’s And the Band Played On, an adaptation of Randy Shilts’ nonfiction book about the onset of AIDS.
An original member of the Actors Studio, Schulman in the 1950s worked alongside the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman on live television. In 1962, he quit as the original screenwriter on the never-completed Marilyn Monroe movie Something’s Got to Give,...
- 2/6/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
William Wyler’s Dead End made its screen debut on Aug. 27, 1937. The film adaptation of Sidney Kingsley’s Broadway play starred Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea, and featured Humphrey Bogart in third billing. But the movie was stolen from them all by a gang of upstart juvenile delinquents, who nicked audience attention like a fancy watch mugged off a clueless rich brat.
Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabe Dell, Bobby Jordan, Bernard Punsly, and Leo Gorcey were the original teen menaces who terrorized theatergoers when the play opened on Oct. 28, 1935. Directed by the playwright, Dead End ran for 684 performances, and is still the longest-running play in the Belasco Theater’s history. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt saw it three times.
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, Dead End isn’t the greatest gangster movie of all time. It followed the classic era of the genre; it was produced by Samuel Goldwyn for MGM studios,...
Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabe Dell, Bobby Jordan, Bernard Punsly, and Leo Gorcey were the original teen menaces who terrorized theatergoers when the play opened on Oct. 28, 1935. Directed by the playwright, Dead End ran for 684 performances, and is still the longest-running play in the Belasco Theater’s history. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt saw it three times.
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, Dead End isn’t the greatest gangster movie of all time. It followed the classic era of the genre; it was produced by Samuel Goldwyn for MGM studios,...
- 12/28/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Here’s a film documentary that feels like a time-travel machine. But we’re not escaping into the past — the past is coming to us.
In “My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock,” film-besotted documentarian Mark Cousins hopscotches through the Master of Suspense’s body of work based on ideas and images, not your typical film-by-film chronological approach. He’s made hyperlinked connections throughout Hitchcock’s whole filmography (clips from almost every one of his films appear) to show that these works are not of the past: They remain eternally present tense.
To do that, Cousins presents us with a magnificent trick: making it seem as if Hitchcock is narrating the documentary and guiding you through his work and through the themes you might not otherwise notice. Impressionist Alistair McGowan portrays Hitch in the voiceover and has him down completely, from the sharp intake of breath to the almost-snort that precedes him...
In “My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock,” film-besotted documentarian Mark Cousins hopscotches through the Master of Suspense’s body of work based on ideas and images, not your typical film-by-film chronological approach. He’s made hyperlinked connections throughout Hitchcock’s whole filmography (clips from almost every one of his films appear) to show that these works are not of the past: They remain eternally present tense.
To do that, Cousins presents us with a magnificent trick: making it seem as if Hitchcock is narrating the documentary and guiding you through his work and through the themes you might not otherwise notice. Impressionist Alistair McGowan portrays Hitch in the voiceover and has him down completely, from the sharp intake of breath to the almost-snort that precedes him...
- 9/5/2022
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Lisa Hurwitz with Anne-Katrin Titze on Mel Brooks’s original song with composer Hummie Mann for The Automat: “He composed Mel’s films Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Dracula: Dead and Loving it, and so it was all kind of perfect.”
In the second instalment with The Automat director Lisa Hurwitz we discuss her work with writer and editor Michael Levine, the interview with Colin Powell, Mel Brooks and composer Hummie Mann’s collaborations, the well-chosen clips in her film, including Sylvia Sidney and Peter Lawford, Jean Simmons and Victor Mature, a Jack Benny party, Tweety Bird and The Flintstones at the Automat, an Edward Hopper painting, and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman’s childhood fondness for the baked beans at the Automat.
Lisa will participate in three in-person post-screening Q&As this weekend for the theatrical opening at Film Forum in New York of The Automat.
Mel Brooks recording...
In the second instalment with The Automat director Lisa Hurwitz we discuss her work with writer and editor Michael Levine, the interview with Colin Powell, Mel Brooks and composer Hummie Mann’s collaborations, the well-chosen clips in her film, including Sylvia Sidney and Peter Lawford, Jean Simmons and Victor Mature, a Jack Benny party, Tweety Bird and The Flintstones at the Automat, an Edward Hopper painting, and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman’s childhood fondness for the baked beans at the Automat.
Lisa will participate in three in-person post-screening Q&As this weekend for the theatrical opening at Film Forum in New York of The Automat.
Mel Brooks recording...
- 2/18/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Retro-active: The Best From The Cinema Retro Archives
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
- 11/28/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Fritz Lang’s first American picture is a searing social statement out of message-averse Hollywood. It’s also a cinematic landmark, packed with innovative visual concepts. Sylvia Sidney and Spencer Tracy have great appeal as lovers torn apart by vigilante violence, and Tracy’s very Langian hero pulls off a ‘return from the dead’ to serve as an avenging angel. It’s one of the talkies’ earliest direct attacks on America’s plague of lynching, a liberal assault that even the Production Code couldn’t stop — the show took the ‘social issue drama’ to new heights, even as Fritz Lang didn’t find favor with the Hollywood studio system. Also starring Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot and Walter Brennan. CineSavant presents the evidence of MGM tampering at the conclusion, that changes the film’s message and meaning.
Fury
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date November 9, 2021 / 21.99
Starring Sylvia Sidney,...
Fury
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date November 9, 2021 / 21.99
Starring Sylvia Sidney,...
- 11/21/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“The mob doesn’t think. It has no mind of its own.”
Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sidney in Fritz Lang’s Fury (1936) will be available on Blu-ray November 9th from Warner Archive
Joe Wilson, a wrongly jailed man thought to have died in a blaze started by a bloodthirsty lynch mob, is somehow alive. And dead to all he ever stood for and perhaps ever will. Because Joe aims to ensure his would-be executioners meet the fate Joe miraculously escaped. Spencer Tracy is Joe, Sylvia Sidney is his bride-to-be, and Fury lives up to its volatile name with its searing indictment of mob justice and lynching. In his first American film, director Fritz Lang combines a passion for justice and a sharp visual style into a landmark of social-conscience filmmaking. In the 49 years before this movie’s release, some 6,000 people in the U.S. were victims of lynch mobs. The Fury...
Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sidney in Fritz Lang’s Fury (1936) will be available on Blu-ray November 9th from Warner Archive
Joe Wilson, a wrongly jailed man thought to have died in a blaze started by a bloodthirsty lynch mob, is somehow alive. And dead to all he ever stood for and perhaps ever will. Because Joe aims to ensure his would-be executioners meet the fate Joe miraculously escaped. Spencer Tracy is Joe, Sylvia Sidney is his bride-to-be, and Fury lives up to its volatile name with its searing indictment of mob justice and lynching. In his first American film, director Fritz Lang combines a passion for justice and a sharp visual style into a landmark of social-conscience filmmaking. In the 49 years before this movie’s release, some 6,000 people in the U.S. were victims of lynch mobs. The Fury...
- 10/29/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Renée Dorléac, the French actress and mother of actresses Catherine Deneuve, Francoise Dorléac and Sylvie Dorléac, has died aged 109 in Paris, her family has confirmed to Le Figaro.
Known professionally as Renée-Jeanne Simonot, Dorléac was married to actor Maurice Dorléac and was grandmother to actors Christian Vadim and Chiara Mastroianni.
Born in northern France in 1911, she debuted at the Odéon Theatre in Paris at the age of seven. Primarily a stage actress, she remained there for 28 years, holding the post of “leading lady.”
Simonot was one of the first French actresses to begin the dubbing of American films in France from the beginning of the talkies in 1929 through the 1930s. She was the voice of Olivia de Havilland (in most of her films), Sylvia Sidney, Judy Garland, Donna Reed and Esther Williams, among others.
While dubbing for MGM, she met Maurice Dorléac and they married in 1940.
In an interview conducted...
Known professionally as Renée-Jeanne Simonot, Dorléac was married to actor Maurice Dorléac and was grandmother to actors Christian Vadim and Chiara Mastroianni.
Born in northern France in 1911, she debuted at the Odéon Theatre in Paris at the age of seven. Primarily a stage actress, she remained there for 28 years, holding the post of “leading lady.”
Simonot was one of the first French actresses to begin the dubbing of American films in France from the beginning of the talkies in 1929 through the 1930s. She was the voice of Olivia de Havilland (in most of her films), Sylvia Sidney, Judy Garland, Donna Reed and Esther Williams, among others.
While dubbing for MGM, she met Maurice Dorléac and they married in 1940.
In an interview conducted...
- 7/15/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Marriage, social pressure, professional disappointment — and if you want to be really unhappy, add alcohol to that mix. Fredric March and Sylvia Sidney are convincing sophisticates but also vulnerable people negotiating fragile lives. What can be done when one’s mate is dissolving in booze and drawn to the arms of another? Dorothy Arzner’s best picture shows us a woman who won’t give up on her marriage, for the right reasons. It’s a serious and adult pre-Code drama, the kind that sounds more salacious than it is. Sylvia Sydney crafts a portrait of a fine woman under pressure, who maintains her dignity even in an attempt at an ‘open marriage.’ The unusual title is a light-hearted toast reflecting inner despair. The disc comes with excellent extras on director Dorothy Arzner.
Merrily We Go to Hell
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1076
1932 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / available through...
Merrily We Go to Hell
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1076
1932 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / available through...
- 6/15/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Awards season always turns up note-worthy moments: showstopping outfits, witty speeches or egregious faux-pas are instantly turned into memes and circulated endlessly on social media.
But so far this year, one moment in particular has captivated viewers worldwide and that was watching eight-year-old actor Alan Kim – dressed in a tuxedo – tear up while accepting a Critics Choice Award for his scene-stealing part in the critically acclaimed film Minari.
After a successful season, however, which included a Bafta nod, the young star was eventually shut out of the Oscars. It is a shame – in a year of history-making nominations for the Academy Awards, seeing Kim recognised would have been the cherry on top. But it was always a long shot. Child actors are a welcome but infrequent inclusion at the Oscars – their rarity though, does make every instance especially memorable.
In the run-up to next month’s ceremony, here is a...
But so far this year, one moment in particular has captivated viewers worldwide and that was watching eight-year-old actor Alan Kim – dressed in a tuxedo – tear up while accepting a Critics Choice Award for his scene-stealing part in the critically acclaimed film Minari.
After a successful season, however, which included a Bafta nod, the young star was eventually shut out of the Oscars. It is a shame – in a year of history-making nominations for the Academy Awards, seeing Kim recognised would have been the cherry on top. But it was always a long shot. Child actors are a welcome but infrequent inclusion at the Oscars – their rarity though, does make every instance especially memorable.
In the run-up to next month’s ceremony, here is a...
- 4/8/2021
- by Annabel Nugent
- The Independent - Film
LGBT TV movies, series and specials are part of our cultural landscape. They are frequently awarded with Emmys, Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG Awards. But this acceptance was a long time coming. Here’s a look back at the landmark telefilms that paved the way.
Do you know the first TV movie that featured a gay character? No, it wasn’t 1972’s “That Certain Summer.”
It was a drama called “South” that was produced by England’s ITV and aired on that network on Nov. 24, 1959. Set in the Antebellum South, the drama revolved around a handsome Polish army lieutenant living in the South who is torn between his love for a plantation owner’s niece or a hunky blond officer. “South” was incredibly daring for its time, especially since it would be eight years before homosexuality was legalized in England and Wales with the passing of the Sexual Offences...
Do you know the first TV movie that featured a gay character? No, it wasn’t 1972’s “That Certain Summer.”
It was a drama called “South” that was produced by England’s ITV and aired on that network on Nov. 24, 1959. Set in the Antebellum South, the drama revolved around a handsome Polish army lieutenant living in the South who is torn between his love for a plantation owner’s niece or a hunky blond officer. “South” was incredibly daring for its time, especially since it would be eight years before homosexuality was legalized in England and Wales with the passing of the Sexual Offences...
- 7/16/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
1975: Ryan's Hope's Jack visited Sister Mary Joel.
1984: Santa Barbara's Jade ran into David Hasselhoff.
1986: Another World's Reginald had a fire started to stop a story.
2003: The Young and the Restless' John punched Victor."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1941: On radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful, "Chichi" Conrad (Alice Reinheart) coped with heartbreaking news.
1967: CBS aired the first color broadcast of The Secret Storm.
1972: The Edge of Night began airing at 2:30 p.m. Et, moving from its usual 3:30 p.
1984: Santa Barbara's Jade ran into David Hasselhoff.
1986: Another World's Reginald had a fire started to stop a story.
2003: The Young and the Restless' John punched Victor."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1941: On radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful, "Chichi" Conrad (Alice Reinheart) coped with heartbreaking news.
1967: CBS aired the first color broadcast of The Secret Storm.
1972: The Edge of Night began airing at 2:30 p.m. Et, moving from its usual 3:30 p.
- 9/12/2019
- by Unknown
- We Love Soaps
Anyone familiar with this column knows my deep-rooted affection for Ms. Kate Jackson; I espoused her many virtues when I covered Satan’s School for Girls (you can ponder my musings here), and I promise (warn?) you I will do so again as I discuss the couple-in-a-house-is-met-with-animosity-from-a-possible-ghost telefilm, Death at Love House (1976), aka How Much Is That Dead Actress In the Window?
Originally broadcast as The ABC Friday Night Movie on Friday, September 3rd, Love House was up against The CBS Friday Night Movies and NBC trotted out The Rockford Files/Quincy M.E. for folks like mine. So who won out? We all did! I loved Rockford and Quincy. Okay, CBS probably lost. But if you were looking for some charming stars doing charming things in a charming manor with a hint of danger, look no further than ABC.
Let’s open up our battered faux TV Guide and see...
Originally broadcast as The ABC Friday Night Movie on Friday, September 3rd, Love House was up against The CBS Friday Night Movies and NBC trotted out The Rockford Files/Quincy M.E. for folks like mine. So who won out? We all did! I loved Rockford and Quincy. Okay, CBS probably lost. But if you were looking for some charming stars doing charming things in a charming manor with a hint of danger, look no further than ABC.
Let’s open up our battered faux TV Guide and see...
- 3/24/2019
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
1951: Radio soap opera The Archers premiered. It continues to run to this day.
1968: Dark Shadows' Jeremiah tried to bury Angelique alive.
1981: Knots Landing's Diana and Karen "Put on a Happy Face".
1982: Miss Ellie received tragic news on Dallas."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1951: British radio soap opera The Archers premiered. The show was created by Godfrey Baseley, and originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk."
The opening line was by Dan Archer who said: "And a happy New Year to all!
1968: Dark Shadows' Jeremiah tried to bury Angelique alive.
1981: Knots Landing's Diana and Karen "Put on a Happy Face".
1982: Miss Ellie received tragic news on Dallas."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1951: British radio soap opera The Archers premiered. The show was created by Godfrey Baseley, and originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk."
The opening line was by Dan Archer who said: "And a happy New Year to all!
- 1/2/2019
- by Kevin Mulcahy Jr.
- We Love Soaps
Every Friday, we’re recommending an older movie that’s available to stream or download and worth seeing again through the lens of our current moment. We’re calling the series “Revisiting Hours” — consider this Rolling Stone’s unofficial film club. This week, a.k.a. the Halloween edition: Noel Murray on one of the greatest, most unnerving B movies of the Seventies, God Told Me To.
What if you stared straight into the face of evil, and it looked just like your next-door neighbor?
In writer-director Larry Cohen’s...
What if you stared straight into the face of evil, and it looked just like your next-door neighbor?
In writer-director Larry Cohen’s...
- 10/26/2018
- by Noel Murray
- Rollingstone.com
1975: Ryan's Hope's Jack visited Sister Mary Joel.
1984: Santa Barbara's Jade ran into David Hasselhoff.
1986: Another World's Reginald had a fire started to stop a story.
2003: The Young and the Restless' John punched Victor."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1941: On radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful, "Chichi" Conrad (Alice Reinheart) coped with heartbreaking news.
1967: CBS aired the first color broadcast of The Secret Storm.
1972: The Edge of Night began airing at 2:30 p.m. Et, moving from its usual 3:30 p.m. timeslot where it had been performing well in the ratings.
1984: Santa Barbara's Jade ran into David Hasselhoff.
1986: Another World's Reginald had a fire started to stop a story.
2003: The Young and the Restless' John punched Victor."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1941: On radio soap opera Life Can Be Beautiful, "Chichi" Conrad (Alice Reinheart) coped with heartbreaking news.
1967: CBS aired the first color broadcast of The Secret Storm.
1972: The Edge of Night began airing at 2:30 p.m. Et, moving from its usual 3:30 p.m. timeslot where it had been performing well in the ratings.
- 9/11/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
On March 24, 1933, Paramount and producer B. P. Schulberg unveiled the George Raft and Sylvia Sidney starrer Pick-Up in theaters. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below.
Pick-Up is a program picture so far above the average that your cash-registers should click a merry tune, even in these sorry times. The picture is packed with down-to-earth speech and sentiment and is of the human interest variety that has been plenty scarce for a long time.
The charm of the film lies for the most part in its simple, straightforward story and the utterly natural and sincere performances of...
Pick-Up is a program picture so far above the average that your cash-registers should click a merry tune, even in these sorry times. The picture is packed with down-to-earth speech and sentiment and is of the human interest variety that has been plenty scarce for a long time.
The charm of the film lies for the most part in its simple, straightforward story and the utterly natural and sincere performances of...
- 3/9/2018
- by THR Staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
1951: The Archers premiered.
1968: Dark Shadows' Jeremiah tried to bury Angelique alive.
1981: Knots Landing's Diana and Karen "Put on a Happy Face".
1982: Dallas' Miss Ellie received tragic news."History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1951: British radio soap opera The Archers premiered. The show was created by Godfrey Baseley, and originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk."
The opening line was by Dan Archer who said: "And a happy New Year to all!" His wife Doris responded with: "A very happy New Year, Dan." During the episode, Dan’s son Philip shared a kiss with a nearby farmer’s daughter,...
1968: Dark Shadows' Jeremiah tried to bury Angelique alive.
1981: Knots Landing's Diana and Karen "Put on a Happy Face".
1982: Dallas' Miss Ellie received tragic news."History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1951: British radio soap opera The Archers premiered. The show was created by Godfrey Baseley, and originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk."
The opening line was by Dan Archer who said: "And a happy New Year to all!" His wife Doris responded with: "A very happy New Year, Dan." During the episode, Dan’s son Philip shared a kiss with a nearby farmer’s daughter,...
- 1/2/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
Fritz Lang continues his take-no-prisoners indictment of America’s curious relationship with crime; this time he presents the thesis that an innocent man can be a pawn in cosmic game of injustice. Three-time loser Henry Fonda, the glummest actor in ’30s films, doesn’t mean to rob or kill, but gosh darn it, They Made Him a Criminal. Those considerations aside, it’s a wonderful cinematic achievement, made all the better by a decent digital restoration.
You Only Live Once
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1937 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 86 min. / Street Date July 25, 2017 / 29.98
Starring: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon,
William Gargan, Jerome Cowan, Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, Margaret Hamilton, Warren Hymer,
Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Ward Bond, Jack Carson, Jonathan Hale
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: Alexander Toluboff
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Hugo Friedhofer
Written by Graham Baker and Gene Towne
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Fritz Lang...
You Only Live Once
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1937 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 86 min. / Street Date July 25, 2017 / 29.98
Starring: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon,
William Gargan, Jerome Cowan, Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, Margaret Hamilton, Warren Hymer,
Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Ward Bond, Jack Carson, Jonathan Hale
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: Alexander Toluboff
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Hugo Friedhofer
Written by Graham Baker and Gene Towne
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Fritz Lang...
- 7/31/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Don’t look to this noir for hardboiled cynicism – for his first feature Nicholas Ray instead gives us a dose of fatalist romance. Transposed from the previous decade, a pair of fugitives takes what happiness they can find, always aware that a grim fate waits ahead. The show is a career-making triumph and a real classic from Rko — which shelved it for more than a year.
They Live by Night
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 880
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 13, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen, Helen Craig, Will Wright, William Phipps, Ian Wolfe, Harry Harvey, Marie Bryant, Byron Foulger, Erskine Sanford .
Cinematography: George E. Diskant
Film Editor: Sherman Todd
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Charles Schnee, Nicholas Ray from the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
Produced by John Houseman
Directed by Nicholas Ray...
They Live by Night
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 880
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 13, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen, Helen Craig, Will Wright, William Phipps, Ian Wolfe, Harry Harvey, Marie Bryant, Byron Foulger, Erskine Sanford .
Cinematography: George E. Diskant
Film Editor: Sherman Todd
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Charles Schnee, Nicholas Ray from the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
Produced by John Houseman
Directed by Nicholas Ray...
- 6/23/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hitchcock’s first self-professed ‘Hitch’ picture is still a winner. Many of his recurring themes are present, and some of his visual fluidity – in this finely tuned commercial ‘shock’ movie with witty visual tricks from Hitchcock’s own background as an art director. And hey, he secured a real box office name to star as the mysterious maybe-slayer, ‘The Avenger.’
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 885
1927 / B&W + Color tints / 1:33 Silent Ap / 91 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 27, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Ivor Novello, June Tripp, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, Malcolm Keen.
Cinematography: Gaetano di Ventimiglia
Film Editor + titles: Ivor Montagu
Assistant director: Alma Reville
Written by Eliot Stannard from the book by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Produced by Michael Balcon and Carlyle Blackwell
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock became the most notable English film director for all the right reasons — he was talented and creative,...
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 885
1927 / B&W + Color tints / 1:33 Silent Ap / 91 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 27, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Ivor Novello, June Tripp, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, Malcolm Keen.
Cinematography: Gaetano di Ventimiglia
Film Editor + titles: Ivor Montagu
Assistant director: Alma Reville
Written by Eliot Stannard from the book by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Produced by Michael Balcon and Carlyle Blackwell
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock became the most notable English film director for all the right reasons — he was talented and creative,...
- 6/13/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Turner Classic Movies continues with its Gay Hollywood presentations tonight and tomorrow morning, June 8–9. Seven movies will be shown about, featuring, directed, or produced by the following: Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Edmund Goulding, W. Somerset Maughan, Clifton Webb, Montgomery Clift, Raymond Burr, Charles Walters, DeWitt Bodeen, and Harriet Parsons. (One assumes that it's a mere coincidence that gay rumor subjects Cary Grant and Tyrone Power are also featured.) Night and Day (1946), which could also be considered part of TCM's homage to birthday girl Alexis Smith, who would have turned 96 today, is a Cole Porter biopic starring Cary Grant as a posh, heterosexualized version of Porter. As the warning goes, any similaries to real-life people and/or events found in Night and Day are a mere coincidence. The same goes for Words and Music (1948), a highly fictionalized version of the Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musical partnership.
- 6/9/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Frances Dee movies: From 'An American Tragedy' to 'Four Faces West' Frances Dee began her film career at the dawn of the sound era, going from extra to leading lady within a matter of months. Her rapid ascencion came about thanks to Maurice Chevalier, who got her as his romantic interested in Ludwig Berger's 1930 romantic comedy Playboy of Paris. Despite her dark(-haired) good looks and pleasant personality, Dee's Hollywood career never quite progressed to major – or even moderate – stardom. But she was to remain a busy leading lady for about 15 years. Tonight, Turner Classic Movies is showing seven Frances Dee films, ranging from heavy dramas to Westerns. Unfortunately missing is one of Dee's most curious efforts, the raunchy pre-Coder Blood Money, which possibly features her most unusual – and most effective – performance. Having said that, William A. Wellman's Love Is a Racket is a worthwhile subsitute, though the...
- 5/18/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The 1930s – more films about women, more films about working life. And often the two overlapped. You watch a film made today, it’s brutally clear that the people who made it rarely have to be anywhere In the ‘30s, at the height of the studio system, the entire creative force behind a picture worked 9-5 on the studio lot, just like anyone else. They had a workplace. And while many made a great deal more money than the characters they were depicting, they knew what it was to hold a job. That mindset, that constant awareness of money and office work and routine, bleeds into the pictures of the period.
Take a film like Rafter Romance, which played at TCM Classic Film Festival Friday morning. Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster star as two broke strangers living in the same apartment building (and they say people knew their neighbors back...
Take a film like Rafter Romance, which played at TCM Classic Film Festival Friday morning. Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster star as two broke strangers living in the same apartment building (and they say people knew their neighbors back...
- 4/12/2017
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
A lengthy talk-fest interview of the underrated filmmaker, who takes us through his life story as a personal journey, not a string of movie assignments. Sidney Lumet seems to attract a lot of criticism, and so did this docu for not challenging his opinions or rubbing his nose in his less admirable movie efforts. The docu is just Lumet’s thoughts, and the words of a man of integrity are always inspiring.
By Sidney Lumet
Blu-ray
FilmRise
2015 / Color /1:78 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date January 9, 2017 / 24.95
Starring Sidney Lumet
Cinematography Tom Hurwitz
Film Editor Anthony Ripoli
Produced by Scott Berrie, Nancy Buirski, Chris Donnelly, Joshua A. Green, Thane Rosenbaum, Robin Yigit Smith
Directed by Nancy Buirski
This ought to be a good year for documentary filmmaker Nancy Buirski. I first caught up with her excellent feature docu Afternoon of a Faun, about the ill-fated ballerina Tanaquil Le Clerc, and she’s had other successes as well.
By Sidney Lumet
Blu-ray
FilmRise
2015 / Color /1:78 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date January 9, 2017 / 24.95
Starring Sidney Lumet
Cinematography Tom Hurwitz
Film Editor Anthony Ripoli
Produced by Scott Berrie, Nancy Buirski, Chris Donnelly, Joshua A. Green, Thane Rosenbaum, Robin Yigit Smith
Directed by Nancy Buirski
This ought to be a good year for documentary filmmaker Nancy Buirski. I first caught up with her excellent feature docu Afternoon of a Faun, about the ill-fated ballerina Tanaquil Le Clerc, and she’s had other successes as well.
- 2/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Savant uncovers the true, hidden ending to this Fritz Lang masterpiece. The moral outrage of Lang's searing attack on lynch terror hasn't dimmed a bit -- with his first American picture the director nails one of our primary social evils. MGM imposed some re-cutting and re-shooting, but it's still the most emotionally powerful film on the subject. Fury DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1936 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 92 min. / Street Date August 2, 2016, 2016 / available through the WB Shop / 17.99 Starring Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot, Edward Ellis, Walter Brennan, Frank Albertson, George Walcott, Arthur Stone, Morgan Wallace, George Chandler, Roger Gray, Edwin Maxwell, Howard C. Hickman, Jonathan Hale, Leila Bennett, Esther Dale, Helen Flint. Cinematography Joseph Ruttenberg Film Editor Frank Sullivan Original Music Franz Waxman Written by Bartlett Cormack, Fritz Lang story by Norman Krasna Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Directed by Fritz Lang
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Just...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Just...
- 10/1/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Merle Oberon movies: Mysterious star of British and American cinema. Merle Oberon on TCM: Donning men's clothes in 'A Song to Remember,' fighting hiccups in 'That Uncertain Feeling' Merle Oberon is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month of March 2016. The good news: the exquisite (and mysterious) Oberon, whose ancestry has been a matter of conjecture for decades, makes any movie worth a look. The bad news: TCM isn't offering any Oberon premieres despite the fact that a number of the actress' films – e.g., Temptation, Night in Paradise, Pardon My French, Interval – can be tough to find. This evening, March 18, TCM will be showing six Merle Oberon movies released during the first half of the 1940s. Never a top box office draw in the United States, Oberon was an important international star all the same, having worked with many of the top actors and filmmakers of the studio era.
- 3/19/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Saint Joan': Constance Cummings as the George Bernard Shaw heroine. Constance Cummings on stage: From sex-change farce and Emma Bovary to Juliet and 'Saint Joan' (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Frank Capra, Mae West and Columbia Lawsuit.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband Benn W. Levy's stage adaptations: Levy and Hubert Griffith's Young Madame Conti (1936), starring Cummings as a demimondaine who falls in love with a villainous character. She ends up killing him – or does she? Adapted from Bruno Frank's German-language original, Young Madame Conti was presented on both sides of the Atlantic; on Broadway, it had a brief run in spring 1937 at the Music Box Theatre. Based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, the Theatre Guild-produced Madame Bovary (1937) was staged in late fall at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Referring to the London production of Young Madame Conti, The...
- 11/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.
- 11/4/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
I'll trade you two RKOs for two Warners', an even swap! This quartet of movie-magic wonderments offer a full course on old-school film effects wizardry at its best. Willis O'Brien passes the baton to disciple Ray Harryhausen, who dazzles us with his own effects magic for the first '50s giant monster epic. And the best monster thriller of the decade is offered at its original widescreen aspect ratio. It's all special enough to merit a mid-week review. Special Effects Collection Blu-ray The Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Them! Warner Home Video 1933-1954 / B&W / 1:37 Academy - 1:85 widescreen / 335 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / 54.96 or 19.98 separately Starring Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack,, Frank Reicher, Victor Wong; Robert Armstrong, Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Frank McHugh; Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Donald Woods, Lee Van Cleef; James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, Onslow Stevens,...
- 10/23/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Jim Knipfel Jun 25, 2019
We look at how The Omen became one of the most important "devil movies" of its era.
The early ’70s were a wild and confounding time for American culture, and it was a wonderful time to be a weird kid. Along with all the other grim crap that was coming down, the growing New Age movement brought with it an explosion in a secular interest in the otherwise otherworldly and mysterious, what Jack Webb referred to in his opening narration to Project UFO as “High Strangeness.”
Suddenly the mainstream was flooded with books, magazines, movies and TV shows about reincarnation, life after death experiences, flying saucers, bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, Esp, Easter Island, the Bermuda Triangle, ancient astronauts, apocalyptic prophecies, and all sorts of other weirdness.
As an adjunct to all that, the unholy success of The Exorcist (both the book and the film) led...
We look at how The Omen became one of the most important "devil movies" of its era.
The early ’70s were a wild and confounding time for American culture, and it was a wonderful time to be a weird kid. Along with all the other grim crap that was coming down, the growing New Age movement brought with it an explosion in a secular interest in the otherwise otherworldly and mysterious, what Jack Webb referred to in his opening narration to Project UFO as “High Strangeness.”
Suddenly the mainstream was flooded with books, magazines, movies and TV shows about reincarnation, life after death experiences, flying saucers, bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, Esp, Easter Island, the Bermuda Triangle, ancient astronauts, apocalyptic prophecies, and all sorts of other weirdness.
As an adjunct to all that, the unholy success of The Exorcist (both the book and the film) led...
- 10/3/2015
- Den of Geek
Plans are afoot for a sequel to Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. But what made the original so special, and where might the sequel go?
Last week, an extremely cautious Winona Ryder confirmed on Late Night With Seth Myers that a sequel to Tim Burton's beloved 1988 haunted house comedy Beetlejuice was finally in the works. Ryder will be reprising her role as Lydia Deetz, with Burton back behind the megaphone and Michael Keaton, fresh from a career-resurrecting turn in Birdman (2014), again starring as 'the ghost with the most'.
Ryder's announcement was met with the inevitable woops and cheers from Myers' studio audience, but fans of Burton's breakthrough feature will be seeking reassurances that the forthcoming follow-up will remain true to the spirit of its predecessor.
For those who've never seen it, Beetlejuice tells the story of Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis), a happily married couple living...
Last week, an extremely cautious Winona Ryder confirmed on Late Night With Seth Myers that a sequel to Tim Burton's beloved 1988 haunted house comedy Beetlejuice was finally in the works. Ryder will be reprising her role as Lydia Deetz, with Burton back behind the megaphone and Michael Keaton, fresh from a career-resurrecting turn in Birdman (2014), again starring as 'the ghost with the most'.
Ryder's announcement was met with the inevitable woops and cheers from Myers' studio audience, but fans of Burton's breakthrough feature will be seeking reassurances that the forthcoming follow-up will remain true to the spirit of its predecessor.
For those who've never seen it, Beetlejuice tells the story of Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis), a happily married couple living...
- 8/18/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
A clip from Alfred Hitchcock's dark thriller from 1936, adapted from Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent. By coincidence, Hitchcock's previous film, released earlier in the same year, was called Secret Agent. Austrian actor Oscar Homolka plays Verloc, who is plotting a terrorist outrage in London, with Sylvia Sidney as his wife. In this scene, Verloc blames Scotland Yard for the death of his wife's hapless brother, blown up accidentally as he carries a bomb intended for Piccadilly Circus tube station
• Sabotage is released on Blu-Ray on 1 June courtesy of Network Distributing Continue reading...
• Sabotage is released on Blu-Ray on 1 June courtesy of Network Distributing Continue reading...
- 6/1/2015
- by Guardian Staff
- The Guardian - Film News
During the Great Depression a number of rich New Yorkers gentrified parts of the East River, displacing several slums in the name of a waterway vista in their high-rises. Sidney Kingsley’s original 1935 play of Dead End mashed the actual dead end community of Manhattan’s East 53rd Street with the luxury River House of East 52nd to bring to light the human tensions in advanced capitalism. After a private street exit closes (likely due to the sort of construction that comes with neighborhood renovation), the dressy rich must walk through immigrant-heavy back streets when traveling. With the distance between these communities closing, internal aggravation among the play’s riverside ruffians, the Dead End Kids (later bought by Samuel Goldwyn and eventually renamed the Bowery Boys), turns into physical violence.It’s material that could be ripe for Marxist interpretation, but Kingsley’s play acts as more noblesse oblige social concern more than flip-the-system call-to-action.
- 4/28/2015
- by Zach Lewis
- MUBI
Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter at the Academy Awards Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter on the Oscars' Red Carpet Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter sported matching hairdos upon their arrival at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Tim Burton's global blockbuster Alice in Wonderland, in which Helena Bonham Carter is one of the featured players (as the Red Queen), won Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction. Bonham Carter was a Best Supporting Actress nominee for Tom Hooper's The King's Speech (as another queen, Elizabeth). Helena Bonham Carter: Career boosted by Oscar nomination Helena Bonham Carter's film career began in earnest in James Ivory's 1986 Best Picture Oscar nominee A Room with a View, in which she romanced Julian Sands. She kept on working without creating too much of a stir – e.g., Lady Jane,...
- 4/25/2015
- by D. Zhea
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright: Later years (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon.") Teresa Wright and Robert Anderson were divorced in 1978. They would remain friends in the ensuing years.[1] Wright spent most of the last decade of her life in Connecticut, making only sporadic public appearances. In 1998, she could be seen with her grandson, film producer Jonah Smith, at New York's Yankee Stadium, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch.[2] Wright also became involved in the Greater New York chapter of the Als Association. (The Pride of the Yankees subject, Lou Gehrig, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1941.) The week she turned 82 in October 2000, Wright attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Somewhere in Time, where she posed for pictures with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In March 2003, she was a guest at the 75th Academy Awards, in the segment showcasing Oscar-winning actors of the past. Two years later,...
- 3/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright-Samuel Goldwyn association comes to a nasty end (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt': Alfred Hitchcock Heroine in His Favorite Film.") Whether or not because she was aware that Enchantment wasn't going to be the hit she needed – or perhaps some other disagreement with Samuel Goldwyn or personal issue with husband Niven Busch – Teresa Wright, claiming illness, refused to go to New York City to promote the film. (Top image: Teresa Wright in a publicity shot for The Men.) Goldwyn had previously announced that Wright, whose contract still had another four and half years to run, was to star in a film version of J.D. Salinger's 1948 short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut." Instead, he unceremoniously – and quite publicly – fired her.[1] The Goldwyn organization issued a statement, explaining that besides refusing the assignment to travel to New York to help generate pre-opening publicity for Enchantment,...
- 3/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
“….God told me to!”
God Told Me To screens midnights this Friday and Saturday (March 6th and 7th) at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117)
In the Fall of 1976, my father dropped me off at the Hi-Pointe Theater after church one Sunday because I’d been bugging him about seeing the new horror film Rabid by David Cronenberg, a director who would soon become a favorite. Rabid was the first half of a double feature that afternoon, paired with something called Demon, which I knew nothing about except that it was rated R and was called Demon. While I loved the gory Rabid (and still do), my 14-year old mind was mostly just bewildered by the deranged religious madness and paranormal confusion on display in the less-gruesome Demon. About a dozen years later, I rented the VHS of Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To, and was surprised...
God Told Me To screens midnights this Friday and Saturday (March 6th and 7th) at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117)
In the Fall of 1976, my father dropped me off at the Hi-Pointe Theater after church one Sunday because I’d been bugging him about seeing the new horror film Rabid by David Cronenberg, a director who would soon become a favorite. Rabid was the first half of a double feature that afternoon, paired with something called Demon, which I knew nothing about except that it was rated R and was called Demon. While I loved the gory Rabid (and still do), my 14-year old mind was mostly just bewildered by the deranged religious madness and paranormal confusion on display in the less-gruesome Demon. About a dozen years later, I rented the VHS of Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To, and was surprised...
- 3/2/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I am super psyched that we were able to grab the 4K restoration of Larry Cohen’s masterpiece, God Told Me To for our March Late Nite Grindhouse show. Come see what Time Out New York claims is one of the 100 best horror films.
“God Told Me To is without question one of darkest, sharpest, oddest films on this list, a tale of serial murder, religious mania and alien abduction shot on some of mid-’70s New York’s least salubrious streets. Cohen deserves to be mentioned alongside Carpenter and Craven in the horror canon – this might be Cohen’s masterpiece!”
- Time Out New York God Told Me To
1975 / dir. Larry Cohen / 4K Digital
A rooftop sniper guns down 14 pedestrians on the streets of New York City. A mild-mannered dad takes a shotgun and blows away his wife and children. A cop goes on a sudden shooting spree at the St.
“God Told Me To is without question one of darkest, sharpest, oddest films on this list, a tale of serial murder, religious mania and alien abduction shot on some of mid-’70s New York’s least salubrious streets. Cohen deserves to be mentioned alongside Carpenter and Craven in the horror canon – this might be Cohen’s masterpiece!”
- Time Out New York God Told Me To
1975 / dir. Larry Cohen / 4K Digital
A rooftop sniper guns down 14 pedestrians on the streets of New York City. A mild-mannered dad takes a shotgun and blows away his wife and children. A cop goes on a sudden shooting spree at the St.
- 2/24/2015
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Welcome to another horror round-up! This time around we’re focusing on Blue Underground’s theatrical re-release of Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To, a Scream Queens casting update, and Arrow Video’s upcoming Blu-ray/DVD releases of Society and Island of Death.
God Told Me To: Press Release – “One of the most disturbing and thought-provoking horror films of our time, God Told Me To was written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen (It’S Alive, Q- The Winged Serpent) and stars Tony Lo Bianco (The French Connection, The Honeymoon Killers)
Co-starring Deborah Raffin (Death Wish 3), Academy Award® winner Sandy Dennis (Who’S Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?), Academy Award® nominee Sylvia Sidney (Beetlejuice), Sam Levene (Brute Force), Robert Drivas (Cool Hand Luke), Mike Kellin (Sleepaway Camp), Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams), and Andy Kaufman (Taxi)
Confirmed theaters and dates, with additional cities coming soon.
Special Q&A’s with Larry Cohen Tba!
God Told Me To: Press Release – “One of the most disturbing and thought-provoking horror films of our time, God Told Me To was written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen (It’S Alive, Q- The Winged Serpent) and stars Tony Lo Bianco (The French Connection, The Honeymoon Killers)
Co-starring Deborah Raffin (Death Wish 3), Academy Award® winner Sandy Dennis (Who’S Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?), Academy Award® nominee Sylvia Sidney (Beetlejuice), Sam Levene (Brute Force), Robert Drivas (Cool Hand Luke), Mike Kellin (Sleepaway Camp), Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams), and Andy Kaufman (Taxi)
Confirmed theaters and dates, with additional cities coming soon.
Special Q&A’s with Larry Cohen Tba!
- 2/12/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Reviewed by Kevin Scott
MoreHorror.com
God Told Me Too (1976)
Written by: Larry Cohen
Directed by: Larry Cohen
Cast: Tony Lo Bianco (Peter J. Nicholas), Deborah Raffin (Casey Forster), Sandy Dennis (Martha Nicholas), Sylvia Sydney (Elizabeth Mullin), Richard Lynch (Bernard Phillips), Andy Kaufman (Police Officer).
This film is unquestionably one of the most unique films that I have watched or reviewed. I don’t just throw that statement nonchalantly out here. It was written by Larry Cohen, who horror fans will primarily know from the “It’s Alive” films and the really eclectic sequel to “Salem’s Lot”. He’s done everything, and is a prolific writer and director. One of my all-time favorites of his is “The Stuff” about some killer yogurt, and I don’t mean “killer” as in it just tastes good. I’ve seen a lot of his work, and “God Told Me To” has to be the most complex.
MoreHorror.com
God Told Me Too (1976)
Written by: Larry Cohen
Directed by: Larry Cohen
Cast: Tony Lo Bianco (Peter J. Nicholas), Deborah Raffin (Casey Forster), Sandy Dennis (Martha Nicholas), Sylvia Sydney (Elizabeth Mullin), Richard Lynch (Bernard Phillips), Andy Kaufman (Police Officer).
This film is unquestionably one of the most unique films that I have watched or reviewed. I don’t just throw that statement nonchalantly out here. It was written by Larry Cohen, who horror fans will primarily know from the “It’s Alive” films and the really eclectic sequel to “Salem’s Lot”. He’s done everything, and is a prolific writer and director. One of my all-time favorites of his is “The Stuff” about some killer yogurt, and I don’t mean “killer” as in it just tastes good. I’ve seen a lot of his work, and “God Told Me To” has to be the most complex.
- 1/4/2015
- by admin
- MoreHorror
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