I will not give a synopsis of this MGM promo film, which is done excellently in another review, but suffice to say that this is a very well done piece of work. Excellent use of music and inter-cutting of film clips, which must have really excited exhibitors of the time with it's wealth of up-coming releases. Some blockbusters (such as "2001"), and many, many other excellent films (along with, yes, a few undeniable duds like "The Extraordinary Seaman" and "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter"). My personal favorites included in Lion Power are "The Power" (one of the greatest, if most overlooked, films of all time), "Ice Station Zebra" (perhaps the best cold war thriller of them all), "Where Eagles Dare" (terrific slam, bang war picture), "The Biggest Bundle of Them All" and "The Impossible Years" (two very underrated Sixties comedies), "Dark of the Sun" and "The Comedians". It's a shame many of the featured flicks in Lion Power are rarely seen nowadays, such as "Sol Madrid" and "Jack of Diamonds". Lion Power really shows what movie-making was like in Sensational Sixties, and how utterly lousy movie-making is nowadays. One reviewer noted that Lion Power was perhaps a last gasp from Leo the Lion before the virtual demise of MGM in the Seventies, but that situation was hardly unique to MGM -- virtually every major studio backed big-budget flops in that era, and ended up facing hard financial times. Much has been made of television cutting into profits and destroying the old "studio system" back in the Fifties, but it wasn't until the late 60's that the full effect of TV hit the movie industry. At any rate, definitely catch Lion Power next time TCM shows it -- a real nostalgia trip!
Review of Lionpower from MGM
