It's well known to fans of "The Wizard of Oz" that actor Ray Bolger was originally cast to play the Tin Man and famed comedian Buddy Ebsen was cast as the Scarecrow. They swapped roles at Bolger's insistence, as Bolger had a personal attachment to the role; he was inspired to become an actor after seeing Vaudevillian Fred Stone play the part on stage when Bolger was a child. Ebsen was fine with changing roles, although he had to drop out of production due to makeup problems. The silvery Tin Man makeup contained powered aluminum and Ebsen breathed in big clouds of it, making him sick. At the time, many merely assumed Ebsen had an allergy. Ebsen was replaced with Jack Haley, and the makeup was altered to be a paste instead of a powder.
With the possible exception of "Star Wars," no film's production has been more meticulously recorded...
With the possible exception of "Star Wars," no film's production has been more meticulously recorded...
- 3/10/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Although he has personally competed for the Best Picture Oscar as a qualifying producer of just four films, Martin Scorsese is responsible for directing 10 of the top Academy Award category’s nominees, including 2024 contender “Killers of the Flower Moon.” This recent improvement upon his total makes him only the third filmmaker in Oscars history to helm a double-digit amount of Best Picture nominees. Including him, six people who were already credited with directing at least one nominee rose higher in the ranks this year.
The previous Scorsese films that vied for Best Picture are 2007 winner “The Departed” (for which he earned his sole directing trophy) and nominees “Taxi Driver” (1977), “Raging Bull” (1981), “Goodfellas” (1991), “Gangs of New York” (2003), “The Aviator” (2005), “Hugo” (2012), “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2014), and “The Irishman” (2020). Of the 10, he received producing notices for the most recent four and directing bids for all but “Taxi Driver.” The only ones who...
The previous Scorsese films that vied for Best Picture are 2007 winner “The Departed” (for which he earned his sole directing trophy) and nominees “Taxi Driver” (1977), “Raging Bull” (1981), “Goodfellas” (1991), “Gangs of New York” (2003), “The Aviator” (2005), “Hugo” (2012), “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2014), and “The Irishman” (2020). Of the 10, he received producing notices for the most recent four and directing bids for all but “Taxi Driver.” The only ones who...
- 2/9/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Those who fought in World War II are considered the Greatest Generation. And executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman paid homage to these young men who risked life and limb during the global conflict in their award-winning 2001 HBO series “Band of Brothers” and 2010’s “The Pacific.” And now they’ve taken to the not-so-friendly skies in their latest World War II series, Apple TV +’s “Masters of the Air.”
Created by John Shiban and John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” is based on the 2007 book: “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the War Against Nazi Germany,” the series starring Austin Butler focuses on the 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group stationed in England. It was known as the “Bloody Hundredth” because of the high causalty rate.
Watching the series, one can’t help but remember the numerous bombardier films produced by Hollywood...
Created by John Shiban and John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” is based on the 2007 book: “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the War Against Nazi Germany,” the series starring Austin Butler focuses on the 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group stationed in England. It was known as the “Bloody Hundredth” because of the high causalty rate.
Watching the series, one can’t help but remember the numerous bombardier films produced by Hollywood...
- 2/5/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Before Martin Scorsese decided to end "Killers of the Flower Moon" with a profound coda set amidst the melodrama of a classic true crime radio show, the filmmaker considered taking inspiration from a controversial, FBI-influenced 1959 movie. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Scorsese opened up about the making of the film's somber surprise ending, and explained that the Jimmy Stewart-led film "The FBI Story," directed by Mervyn LeRoy, was almost the basis for the final sequence.
"It's a series of the greatest hits of the FBI," Scorsese told the outlet, but he didn't exactly offer a glowing review for the movie. He's not alone: it's often been labeled as overt copaganda in retrospect. "It's in beautiful Technicolor and actually has some very well-done scenes, but there is a section on the Osage murders that is reviled by the Native American community," the filmmaker explained, concluding simply, "It's a travesty.
"It's a series of the greatest hits of the FBI," Scorsese told the outlet, but he didn't exactly offer a glowing review for the movie. He's not alone: it's often been labeled as overt copaganda in retrospect. "It's in beautiful Technicolor and actually has some very well-done scenes, but there is a section on the Osage murders that is reviled by the Native American community," the filmmaker explained, concluding simply, "It's a travesty.
- 11/24/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Among the myriad reasons we could call the Criterion Channel the single greatest streaming service is its leveling of cinematic snobbery. Where a new World Cinema Project restoration plays, so too does Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight. I think about this looking at November’s lineup and being happiest about two new additions: a nine-film Robert Bresson retro including L’argent and The Devil, Probably; and a one-film Hype Williams retro including Belly and only Belly, but bringing as a bonus the direct-to-video Belly 2: Millionaire Boyz Club. Until recently such curation seemed impossible.
November will also feature a 20-film noir series boasting the obvious and the not. Maybe the single tightest collection is “Women of the West,” with Johnny Guitar and The Beguiled and Rancho Notorious and The Furies only half of it. Lynch/Oz, Irradiated, and My Two Voices make streaming premieres; Drylongso gets a Criterion Edition; and joining...
November will also feature a 20-film noir series boasting the obvious and the not. Maybe the single tightest collection is “Women of the West,” with Johnny Guitar and The Beguiled and Rancho Notorious and The Furies only half of it. Lynch/Oz, Irradiated, and My Two Voices make streaming premieres; Drylongso gets a Criterion Edition; and joining...
- 10/24/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Betty Ann Bruno, who as a child played a munchkin in the 1939 classic The Wizard Of Oz and went on to become a TV producer and longtime reporter in the San Francisco Bay area, died Sunday in Sonoma, CA, her family said. She was 91. No cause of death was given.
Born Betty Ann Ka’ihilani in 1931 in Chicago, Bruno was 7 when she was cast with about a dozen other children of average height as Munchkins opposite the 100-plus adult little people who played the denizens of Munchkinland. Victor Fleming’s beloved film starring Judy Garland was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture and won for Best Song (“Over the Rainbow”) and Best Score.
Among only a handful of surviving Munchkin actors, Bruno published a book called The Munchkin Diaries: My Personal Yellow Brick Road in 2020.
”The Wizard of Oz’ producer Mervyn LeRoy, star Judy Garland and director Victor Fleming...
Born Betty Ann Ka’ihilani in 1931 in Chicago, Bruno was 7 when she was cast with about a dozen other children of average height as Munchkins opposite the 100-plus adult little people who played the denizens of Munchkinland. Victor Fleming’s beloved film starring Judy Garland was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture and won for Best Song (“Over the Rainbow”) and Best Score.
Among only a handful of surviving Munchkin actors, Bruno published a book called The Munchkin Diaries: My Personal Yellow Brick Road in 2020.
”The Wizard of Oz’ producer Mervyn LeRoy, star Judy Garland and director Victor Fleming...
- 7/31/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Cary Grant’s timeless good looks and extensive filmography have made him an enduring topic of fascination for Hollywood scholars and casual moviegoers alike. While his collaborations with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks remain some of the most popular films in the American canon, his personal life continues to inspire as much fascination as his work.
For years, rumors about Grant being sexually involved with other men — including his co-star and roommate Randolph Scott — have swirled from sources of varying credibility. Grant was married to five different women throughout his life, but his sexuality remained a topic of speculation until his death in 1986.
It’s unlikely that questions about Grant’s orientation will ever be fully answered, as neither Grant nor his alleged sexual partners are alive to speak about it. But one of his daughters doubts he was hiding a secret from the world.
In a new interview with The Guardian,...
For years, rumors about Grant being sexually involved with other men — including his co-star and roommate Randolph Scott — have swirled from sources of varying credibility. Grant was married to five different women throughout his life, but his sexuality remained a topic of speculation until his death in 1986.
It’s unlikely that questions about Grant’s orientation will ever be fully answered, as neither Grant nor his alleged sexual partners are alive to speak about it. But one of his daughters doubts he was hiding a secret from the world.
In a new interview with The Guardian,...
- 7/9/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
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
Warner Bros. has already celebrated its centennial with a segment during the Academy Awards, the publication of a studio-supported book (Warner Bros.: 100 Years of Storytelling) and, most recently, a barrage of festivities emanating from Turner Classic Movies. TCM’s programming for all of April is being devoted to Warners films, and at the 14th annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, running April 13-16, many studio masterpieces, some recently restored and remastered, will be shown on big screens around town. Here are 10 that this THR Hollywood history buff highly recommends.
Footlight Parade (1933)
Ninety years ago, during the depths of the Great Depression, Americans sought escape from their troubles with light movies like this backstage musical. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler and highlighted by some of choreographer Busby Berkeley’s most kaleidoscopic dance numbers, it was a giant hit at the box office.
Footlight Parade (1933)
Ninety years ago, during the depths of the Great Depression, Americans sought escape from their troubles with light movies like this backstage musical. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler and highlighted by some of choreographer Busby Berkeley’s most kaleidoscopic dance numbers, it was a giant hit at the box office.
- 4/12/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Turner Classic Movies has some of the best film programming when it comes to delivering both famous and lesser-known titles. April 7 until 9 has a diverse group of movies playing over the weekend that provides a little bit of something for all audiences who enjoy the channel. Here’s a look at the five best movies airing on TCM.
‘I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang’ (1932) L-r: Paul Muni as James Allen and Noel Francis as Linda | FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
James Allen (Paul Muni) reenters civilian life after serving in World War I, finding his calling as a construction engineer. He attends a dinner with an acquaintance, only to be forced to commit a robbery at gunpoint. James serves in a Southern chain gang, with inhumane conditions haunting him in the time to follow.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang earned three Oscar nominations for Best Picture,...
‘I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang’ (1932) L-r: Paul Muni as James Allen and Noel Francis as Linda | FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
James Allen (Paul Muni) reenters civilian life after serving in World War I, finding his calling as a construction engineer. He attends a dinner with an acquaintance, only to be forced to commit a robbery at gunpoint. James serves in a Southern chain gang, with inhumane conditions haunting him in the time to follow.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang earned three Oscar nominations for Best Picture,...
- 4/6/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
On 4 March 1943, Greer Garson stepped behind a lectern at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub inside the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Garson, 38, was accepting the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work inMrs Miniver, a romantic war drama directed by William Wyle. She was only the 15th actor in the history of Hollywood to take home the trophy. That was an achievement in itself, but Garson made history in another, more unexpected way that night.
Her acceptance speech remains, to this day, the longest in the history of the Academy Awards. While today’s winners are asked to keep to 45 seconds, Garson spoke for a comparatively generous seven minutes.
The speech, sadly, wasn’t preserved in full. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which organises the Oscars each year, says it has newsreel footage of “only portions” of Garson’s address – for a total of three minutes and 56 seconds.
Her acceptance speech remains, to this day, the longest in the history of the Academy Awards. While today’s winners are asked to keep to 45 seconds, Garson spoke for a comparatively generous seven minutes.
The speech, sadly, wasn’t preserved in full. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which organises the Oscars each year, says it has newsreel footage of “only portions” of Garson’s address – for a total of three minutes and 56 seconds.
- 2/14/2023
- by Clémence Michallon
- The Independent - Film
On 4 March 1943, Greer Garson stepped behind a lectern at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub inside the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Garson, 38, was accepting the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work inMrs Miniver, a romantic war drama directed by William Wyle. She was only the 15th actor in the history of Hollywood to take home the trophy. That was an achievement in itself, but Garson made history in another, more unexpected way that night.
Her acceptance speech remains, to this day, the longest in the history of the Academy Awards. While today’s winners are asked to keep to 45 seconds, Garson spoke for a comparatively generous seven minutes.
The speech, sadly, wasn’t preserved in full. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which organises the Oscars each year, says it has newsreel footage of “only portions” of Garson’s address – for a total of three minutes and 56 seconds.
Her acceptance speech remains, to this day, the longest in the history of the Academy Awards. While today’s winners are asked to keep to 45 seconds, Garson spoke for a comparatively generous seven minutes.
The speech, sadly, wasn’t preserved in full. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which organises the Oscars each year, says it has newsreel footage of “only portions” of Garson’s address – for a total of three minutes and 56 seconds.
- 2/14/2023
- by Clémence Michallon
- The Independent - Film
As Billy Wilder prepared to make "Some Like It Hot," his classic comedy about two jazz musicians forced to go on the run as women after they witness a gangland massacre, he found himself in a bit of a casting quandary. His first choices for the roles of the casanova saxophone player Joe and nervy bassist Jerry were, respectively, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Though he eventually cast the stars he wanted, getting United Artists to accede to his demands was a circuitous process.
The primary stumbling block was Lemmon. The then 34-year-old actor was very much in demand after winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ensign Pulver in John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy's blockbuster "Mister Roberts," but he was under contract to Columbia Pictures at the time, and considered unbankable as a leading man. Though Lemmon had given Wilder a verbal commitment to star alongside the already signed Tony Curtis,...
The primary stumbling block was Lemmon. The then 34-year-old actor was very much in demand after winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ensign Pulver in John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy's blockbuster "Mister Roberts," but he was under contract to Columbia Pictures at the time, and considered unbankable as a leading man. Though Lemmon had given Wilder a verbal commitment to star alongside the already signed Tony Curtis,...
- 1/22/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
Based on New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s account of their harpooning of the powerhouse producer and loathsome sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, Maria Schrader’s She Said had a lot going for it: two congenial performers (Carey Mulligan as Twohey and Zoe Kazan as Kantor); a narrative fixation on the target of opportunity; and the cathartic satisfactions of justice served, eventually.
Yet She Said was also — not to bury the lede — a bit pedantic and procedural. Journalism here is serious business — akin to a sacred vocation, actually — and its practitioners are straitlaced and earnest.
This is not the way Hollywood traditionally portrayed members of the Fourth Estate. The ink-stained progenitors of today’s digital crusaders were crude, irreverent, and often inebriated. They didn’t want to change the world or give voice to the voiceless; they wanted to crush the competition by any sneaky,...
Based on New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s account of their harpooning of the powerhouse producer and loathsome sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, Maria Schrader’s She Said had a lot going for it: two congenial performers (Carey Mulligan as Twohey and Zoe Kazan as Kantor); a narrative fixation on the target of opportunity; and the cathartic satisfactions of justice served, eventually.
Yet She Said was also — not to bury the lede — a bit pedantic and procedural. Journalism here is serious business — akin to a sacred vocation, actually — and its practitioners are straitlaced and earnest.
This is not the way Hollywood traditionally portrayed members of the Fourth Estate. The ink-stained progenitors of today’s digital crusaders were crude, irreverent, and often inebriated. They didn’t want to change the world or give voice to the voiceless; they wanted to crush the competition by any sneaky,...
- 12/17/2022
- by Thomas Doherty
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
L.Q. Jones, a veteran character actor whose career spanned seven decades, died Saturday of natural causes at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 94 years old.
Jones’ death was confirmed by his grandson, Erté deGarces. DeGarces shared that Jones died surrounded by his family.
Born Justice Ellis McQueen on Aug. 19, 1927 in Beaumont, Texas, Jones attended the University of Texas at Austin where he met Sue Lewis, his wife of 23 years. The two divorced in the 1970s.
McQueen took on his stage name, L.Q. Jones, with his first film role in the 1955 Raoul Walsh film “Battle Cry.” Jones would wear the name through his entire screen acting career. His most recent turn came in 2006 with Robert Altman’s final film “A Prairie Home Companion.”
Jones collaborated with several of the most established directors of mid-20th century Hollywood, including Walsh, Don Siegel for “An Annapolis Story” and Mervyn LeRoy for “Toward the Unknown.
Jones’ death was confirmed by his grandson, Erté deGarces. DeGarces shared that Jones died surrounded by his family.
Born Justice Ellis McQueen on Aug. 19, 1927 in Beaumont, Texas, Jones attended the University of Texas at Austin where he met Sue Lewis, his wife of 23 years. The two divorced in the 1970s.
McQueen took on his stage name, L.Q. Jones, with his first film role in the 1955 Raoul Walsh film “Battle Cry.” Jones would wear the name through his entire screen acting career. His most recent turn came in 2006 with Robert Altman’s final film “A Prairie Home Companion.”
Jones collaborated with several of the most established directors of mid-20th century Hollywood, including Walsh, Don Siegel for “An Annapolis Story” and Mervyn LeRoy for “Toward the Unknown.
- 7/9/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Gangster icons aren’t always determined by top billing. Sometimes it’s decided by a flip of a coin. Director Howard Hawks’ 1932 gangster classic Scarface recently celebrated its 90th anniversary. Producer Howard Hughes was so committed to presenting a realistic depiction of mob violence that the film pushed the Motion Picture Production Code to its limit. Paul Muni puts in a gritty, animalistic performance in the title role of Antonio “Tony” Carmonte, modeled after Al Capone, but the actor with the gangland bona fides was the co-star, George Raft.
Hired for his dark and menacing presence, Raft doesn’t have many lines in Scarface. To give the inexperienced actor something to do, Hawks directed him to flip a nickel. Raft practiced the toss to perfection, setting the film up for one of the most memorable mob movie moments: a coin rolling across a floor to a dead stop.
Raft would...
Hired for his dark and menacing presence, Raft doesn’t have many lines in Scarface. To give the inexperienced actor something to do, Hawks directed him to flip a nickel. Raft practiced the toss to perfection, setting the film up for one of the most memorable mob movie moments: a coin rolling across a floor to a dead stop.
Raft would...
- 5/8/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Conrad Nagel, the handsome matinee idol and co-founder of the Academy Motion Picture Arts & Sciences was the host of the fifth annual Academy Awards on Nov. 18, 1932. The evening marked Nagel’s second stint at Oscars host; the then-academy prez had hosted the festivities two years earlier. He turned on the charm in his sophomore outing at the glamorous banquet at the Fiesta Room of the Ambassador Hotel honoring films released between Aug. 1, 1931 and July 31, 1932. (Nagel would later co-host the first televised Oscars with Bob Hope in 1953.)
Eight films vied for Best Picture: John Ford’s medical drama “Arrowsmith”; Frank Borzage’s marital drama “Bad Girl”; Mervyn LeRoy’s examination of tabloid journalism “Five Star Final,” Edmund Goulding’s stylish drama “Grand Hotel”; Ernst Lubitsch’s pre-Code musical comedies “One Hour with You” and “The Smiling Lieutenant”; and Josef von Sternberg’s luscious pre-Code melodrama “Shanghai Express,” starring his muse Marlene Dietrich.
Eight films vied for Best Picture: John Ford’s medical drama “Arrowsmith”; Frank Borzage’s marital drama “Bad Girl”; Mervyn LeRoy’s examination of tabloid journalism “Five Star Final,” Edmund Goulding’s stylish drama “Grand Hotel”; Ernst Lubitsch’s pre-Code musical comedies “One Hour with You” and “The Smiling Lieutenant”; and Josef von Sternberg’s luscious pre-Code melodrama “Shanghai Express,” starring his muse Marlene Dietrich.
- 2/23/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Organized crime has always made for good entertainment.
Our cultural obsession with movie mobsters goes all the way back to the 1920s and 1930s. The first mob movie was Josef von Sternberg's "Underworld" in 1927, and was quickly followed up by a number of pre-code crime flicks like Howard Hawks' "Scarface" and Mervyn LeRoy's "Little Caesar." By the 1980s and early '90s, mafia movies were huge crowd-pleasers. Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather," Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas," and Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" have all become revered film classics, and helped reignite interest in these stories.
In 1999, the HBO series "The Sopranos" took television by...
The post The Real Mob Couldn't Stop Talking About The Sopranos – Here's Why appeared first on /Film.
Our cultural obsession with movie mobsters goes all the way back to the 1920s and 1930s. The first mob movie was Josef von Sternberg's "Underworld" in 1927, and was quickly followed up by a number of pre-code crime flicks like Howard Hawks' "Scarface" and Mervyn LeRoy's "Little Caesar." By the 1980s and early '90s, mafia movies were huge crowd-pleasers. Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather," Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas," and Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" have all become revered film classics, and helped reignite interest in these stories.
In 1999, the HBO series "The Sopranos" took television by...
The post The Real Mob Couldn't Stop Talking About The Sopranos – Here's Why appeared first on /Film.
- 2/11/2022
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Busby Berkeley’s musical comedy extravaganza not only gets away with a social message, it makes one of the best cultural statements ever about the Great Depression. Social upheaval suddenly being a real thing these days, we understand. The story is a romantic backstage musical but The Wolf at the Door is present in the dialogue, the lyrics, everywhere. This might be the sexiest of Berkeley’s musicals, with even star Joan Blondell teasing the nudity; but audiences were floored when the gala curtain number ‘Remember My Forgotten Man’ shouted out a cry for social justice. Warren William, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell & Guy Kibbee star; and this is Ned Sparks’ best role, with additional gold-digging by pert ‘n’ perky Ginger Rogers.
Gold Diggers of 1933
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date February 8, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell,...
Gold Diggers of 1933
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date February 8, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell,...
- 2/8/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Continuing our series of writers picking out lesser-known gems available to stream is an ode to a murderous Jodie Foster thriller
Cinema’s murderous children are legion, but Jodie Foster’s Rynn Jacobs in 1976’s The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane often falls among the forgotten. It was understandable given the especially prolific year she was having: memorable performances in Bugsy Malone, Freaky Friday, Echoes of a Summer and, of course, the behemoth of child star breakthroughs Taxi Driver. In fact, Rynn, more than any other character, emerges in the shadow of the child prostitute Iris Steensma (the role that landed Foster her first Oscar nomination) and becomes as much a casualty as a rather complicated double, no less worth seeking out.
While there had already been Mervyn Leroy’s supremely successful The Bad Seed, The Innocents obviously, and even Mario Bava’s Kill, Baby … Kill! in the decades before,...
Cinema’s murderous children are legion, but Jodie Foster’s Rynn Jacobs in 1976’s The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane often falls among the forgotten. It was understandable given the especially prolific year she was having: memorable performances in Bugsy Malone, Freaky Friday, Echoes of a Summer and, of course, the behemoth of child star breakthroughs Taxi Driver. In fact, Rynn, more than any other character, emerges in the shadow of the child prostitute Iris Steensma (the role that landed Foster her first Oscar nomination) and becomes as much a casualty as a rather complicated double, no less worth seeking out.
While there had already been Mervyn Leroy’s supremely successful The Bad Seed, The Innocents obviously, and even Mario Bava’s Kill, Baby … Kill! in the decades before,...
- 2/7/2022
- by Kelli Weston
- The Guardian - Film News
As 2021 mercifully winds down, the Criterion Channel have a (November) lineup that marks one of their most diverse selections in some time—films by the new masters Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Garrett Bradley, Dan Sallitt’s Fourteen (one of 2020’s best films) couched in a fantastic retrospective, and Criterion editions of old favorites.
Fourteen is featured in “Between Us Girls: Bonds Between Women,” which also includes Céline and Julie, The Virgin Suicides, and Yvonne Rainer’s Privilege. Of equal note are Criterion editions for Ghost World, Night of the Hunter, and (just in time for del Toro’s spin) Nightmare Alley—all stacked releases in their own right.
See the full list of October titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
300 Nassau, Marina Lameiro, 2015
5 Card Stud, Henry Hathaway, 1968
Alone, Garrett Bradley, 2017
Álvaro, Daniel Wilson, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandra Lazarowich, and Chloe Zimmerman, 2015
America, Garrett Bradley, 2019
Angel Face, Otto Preminger, 1953
Angels Wear White,...
Fourteen is featured in “Between Us Girls: Bonds Between Women,” which also includes Céline and Julie, The Virgin Suicides, and Yvonne Rainer’s Privilege. Of equal note are Criterion editions for Ghost World, Night of the Hunter, and (just in time for del Toro’s spin) Nightmare Alley—all stacked releases in their own right.
See the full list of October titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
300 Nassau, Marina Lameiro, 2015
5 Card Stud, Henry Hathaway, 1968
Alone, Garrett Bradley, 2017
Álvaro, Daniel Wilson, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandra Lazarowich, and Chloe Zimmerman, 2015
America, Garrett Bradley, 2019
Angel Face, Otto Preminger, 1953
Angels Wear White,...
- 10/25/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
“In Their World, Adults Are Not Allowed… To Live.” So runs the chilling tagline for the 1984 cult classic horror Children of the Corn, based on the short story by horror maestro Stephen King. Set in an agricultural town in Nebraska, the film tells the story of 12-year-old Isaac, a real little charmer who indoctrinates the local children into a religious cult that slaughters anyone over 18! The film, which cost under $1million to make, was a smash hit and spawned a horror franchise. To celebrate the release of a lavish Arrow Limited Edition box set of the trilogy, including the original film in Ultra High Definition, here’s a round-up of some other horror films featuring problematic pint-sizers which you won’t want to turn your back on for a moment…
Village of the Damned (1960)
Based on the famous sci-fi novel by John Wyndham, The Midwich Cuckoos, this is the mother of all killer kids films,...
Village of the Damned (1960)
Based on the famous sci-fi novel by John Wyndham, The Midwich Cuckoos, this is the mother of all killer kids films,...
- 9/24/2021
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
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Wes Craven was a master of horror movies. The Cleveland native, who made his directorial debut with 1972’s “The Last House on the Left,” gave us spine-chilling classics “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Swamp Thing” before introducing fans to “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and the “Scream” franchise. Craven’s other credits include “The People Under the Stairs,” “Vampire in Brooklyn,” and, taking his oeuvre in a slightly different direction, the drama “Music of the Heart” starring Meryl Streep.
From Freddy Kruger to Ghostface, Craven’s most iconic characters have been scaring audiences for years, but what about the movies that scared him? Because Craven loved watching movies (maybe even more than making...
Wes Craven was a master of horror movies. The Cleveland native, who made his directorial debut with 1972’s “The Last House on the Left,” gave us spine-chilling classics “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Swamp Thing” before introducing fans to “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and the “Scream” franchise. Craven’s other credits include “The People Under the Stairs,” “Vampire in Brooklyn,” and, taking his oeuvre in a slightly different direction, the drama “Music of the Heart” starring Meryl Streep.
From Freddy Kruger to Ghostface, Craven’s most iconic characters have been scaring audiences for years, but what about the movies that scared him? Because Craven loved watching movies (maybe even more than making...
- 8/2/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
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By Todd Garbarini
I originally saw the Brian De Palma/Al Pacino version of Scarface (1983) on laserdisc in 1994 and again in a 20th anniversary theatrical screening in New York, but not since. Recently, I decided to have revisit it on Netflix and was amazed that I recalled very little of it. The constant use of profanity and the intensity of some of the violent set pieces, in particular the notorious chainsaw scene, are tamer than the language and the most violent moments of HBO’s The Sopranos (1999 – 2007) and Showtime’s Brotherhood (2006 – 2008). However, in 1983 Universal Pictures was prompted to release the film with the following caveat in the newspaper ads when the film was released in December: “Caution – Scarface is an intense film both in its use of language and depiction of violence. We suggest mature audiences.” While one might think this was a...
By Todd Garbarini
I originally saw the Brian De Palma/Al Pacino version of Scarface (1983) on laserdisc in 1994 and again in a 20th anniversary theatrical screening in New York, but not since. Recently, I decided to have revisit it on Netflix and was amazed that I recalled very little of it. The constant use of profanity and the intensity of some of the violent set pieces, in particular the notorious chainsaw scene, are tamer than the language and the most violent moments of HBO’s The Sopranos (1999 – 2007) and Showtime’s Brotherhood (2006 – 2008). However, in 1983 Universal Pictures was prompted to release the film with the following caveat in the newspaper ads when the film was released in December: “Caution – Scarface is an intense film both in its use of language and depiction of violence. We suggest mature audiences.” While one might think this was a...
- 7/28/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Criterion Channel’s July 2021 Lineup Includes Wong Kar Wai, Neo-Noir, Art-House Animation & More
The July lineup at The Criterion Channel has been revealed, most notably featuring the new Wong Kar Wai restorations from the recent box set release, including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his shorts Hua yang de nian hua and The Hand.
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
William Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931) turns 90 this weekend. When the film first came out, a theater in Times Square showed it nonstop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The movie marks the true beginning of gangster movies as a genre. Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar may have hit theaters first, but The Public Enemy set the pattern, and James Cagney nailed the patter. Not just the street talk either; he also understood its machine gun delivery. His Tommy Powers is just a hoodlum, never a boss. He is a button man at best, even if he insisted his suits have six buttons.
The Public Enemy character wasn’t even as high up the ladder as Paul Sorvino’s caporegime Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. But Cagney secured the turf Edward G. Robinson’s Rico Bandello took a bullet to claim in Little Caesar, and for the...
The Public Enemy character wasn’t even as high up the ladder as Paul Sorvino’s caporegime Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. But Cagney secured the turf Edward G. Robinson’s Rico Bandello took a bullet to claim in Little Caesar, and for the...
- 4/23/2021
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Despite the proliferation of streaming services, it’s becoming increasingly clear that any cinephile only needs subscriptions to a few to survive. Among the top of our list are The Criterion Channel and Mubi and now they’ve each unveiled their stellar April line-ups.
Over at The Criterion Channel, highlights include spotlights on Ennio Morricone, the Marx Brothers, Isabel Sandoval, and Ramin Bahrani, plus Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, Frank Borzage’s Moonrise, the brand-new restoration of Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk, and one of last year’s best films, David Osit’s Mayor.
At Mubi (where we’re offering a 30-day trial), they’ll have the exclusive streaming premiere of two of the finest festival films from last year’s circuit, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Labyrinth of Cinema, plus Philippe Garrel’s latest The Salt of Tears, along with films from Terry Gilliam, George A. Romero,...
Over at The Criterion Channel, highlights include spotlights on Ennio Morricone, the Marx Brothers, Isabel Sandoval, and Ramin Bahrani, plus Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, Frank Borzage’s Moonrise, the brand-new restoration of Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk, and one of last year’s best films, David Osit’s Mayor.
At Mubi (where we’re offering a 30-day trial), they’ll have the exclusive streaming premiere of two of the finest festival films from last year’s circuit, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Labyrinth of Cinema, plus Philippe Garrel’s latest The Salt of Tears, along with films from Terry Gilliam, George A. Romero,...
- 3/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Joan Weldon, stage actress and a Warner Bros. contract player in the 1950s who achieved lasting sci-fi fame in the creature feature giant ant classic Them!, died Feb. 11 at her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was 90.
Her death was only recently announced by her family. A cause was not specified, but the family notes that she “passed away peacefully” at home.
“A talented and successful opera singer and actress of theatre, film, musicals and television, she was simply known to many as Joanie,” the family writes, “whose love for light-hearted pranks and practical jokes spread joy wherever she went.”
Born in San Francisco, Weldon began her professional career at age 16 when she became the San Francisco Opera’s youngest contract singer. She would return to the live stage often, appearing on Broadway opposite Alfred Drake in the 1961 musical Kean.
In 1958 she played Marian the Librarian in the national touring...
Her death was only recently announced by her family. A cause was not specified, but the family notes that she “passed away peacefully” at home.
“A talented and successful opera singer and actress of theatre, film, musicals and television, she was simply known to many as Joanie,” the family writes, “whose love for light-hearted pranks and practical jokes spread joy wherever she went.”
Born in San Francisco, Weldon began her professional career at age 16 when she became the San Francisco Opera’s youngest contract singer. She would return to the live stage often, appearing on Broadway opposite Alfred Drake in the 1961 musical Kean.
In 1958 she played Marian the Librarian in the national touring...
- 3/4/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
For decades, cinema has presented the bureau as the best of America. Now a new drama starring Daniel Kaluuya finally dispels that myth
New drama Judas and the Black Messiah harkens back to the late 60s, when the FBI labelled the Black Panthers as “the greatest threat to internal security of the country”. It sought to neutralise them by any means available: infiltration, surveillance and, ultimately, the assassination of Fred Hampton, the “black messiah” of the title, forcefully played by Daniel Kaluuya. In J Edgar Hoover’s mind, the FBI was protecting “our way of life”; to many in the African-American community and beyond, the FBI was the threat.
For decades, Hollywood has presented the FBI as the best of American policing, upholder – as per its motto – of “fidelity, bravery and integrity”, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Hoover was the master of controlling the message. There...
New drama Judas and the Black Messiah harkens back to the late 60s, when the FBI labelled the Black Panthers as “the greatest threat to internal security of the country”. It sought to neutralise them by any means available: infiltration, surveillance and, ultimately, the assassination of Fred Hampton, the “black messiah” of the title, forcefully played by Daniel Kaluuya. In J Edgar Hoover’s mind, the FBI was protecting “our way of life”; to many in the African-American community and beyond, the FBI was the threat.
For decades, Hollywood has presented the FBI as the best of American policing, upholder – as per its motto – of “fidelity, bravery and integrity”, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Hoover was the master of controlling the message. There...
- 2/22/2021
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
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“Male Egos On A Boat”
By Raymond Benson
The extremely popular 1955 movie Mister Roberts began as a 1946 novel by Thomas Heggen. It was then a Broadway play written by Heggen and Joshua Logan, directed by Logan, and produced by Leland Hayward. Henry Fonda played the title role of Lieutenant Doug Roberts on Broadway and won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance. It then made sense for Fonda to reprise the role in the motion picture, which was also produced by Hayward and co-scripted by Logan and Frank S. Nugent. Sounds like a Hollywood no-brainer in the making, right?
The direction of the film is where things got dicey. John Ford was hired to direct, but according to Hollywood scuttlebutt accounts, Ford and James Cagney did not get along. Then, during filming Ford and his old friend Henry Fonda got into a fight.
“Male Egos On A Boat”
By Raymond Benson
The extremely popular 1955 movie Mister Roberts began as a 1946 novel by Thomas Heggen. It was then a Broadway play written by Heggen and Joshua Logan, directed by Logan, and produced by Leland Hayward. Henry Fonda played the title role of Lieutenant Doug Roberts on Broadway and won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance. It then made sense for Fonda to reprise the role in the motion picture, which was also produced by Hayward and co-scripted by Logan and Frank S. Nugent. Sounds like a Hollywood no-brainer in the making, right?
The direction of the film is where things got dicey. John Ford was hired to direct, but according to Hollywood scuttlebutt accounts, Ford and James Cagney did not get along. Then, during filming Ford and his old friend Henry Fonda got into a fight.
- 12/21/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
This adapted Broadway play may be considered minor John Ford moviemaking, and some sources say he had to drop out before he could film very much of it. But what’s on the screen pleased audiences primed for the first wave of WW2 nostalgia. The story of cargo officer Henry Fonda’s one-man war against his Bligh-like Captain James Cagney had all of us ’50s kids asking dad if the war really was like that. James Cagney steals the show while stars William Powell, Betsy Palmer and Ward Bond make their marks. Young Jack Lemmon came out swinging with his bright personality and won an Oscar for his trouble.
Mister Roberts
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date December 8, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Philip Carey, Nick Adams, Perry Lopez, Ken Curtis, Robert Roark, Harry Carey Jr.,...
Mister Roberts
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date December 8, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Philip Carey, Nick Adams, Perry Lopez, Ken Curtis, Robert Roark, Harry Carey Jr.,...
- 12/12/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The November 2020 lineup for The Criterion Channel has been unveiled, toplined by a Claire Denis retrospective, including the brand-new restoration of Beau travail, along with Chocolat, No Fear, No Die, Nenette and Boni, Towards Mathilde, 35 Shots of Rum, and White Material.
There will also be a series celebrating 30 years of The Film Foundation, featuring a new interview with Martin Scorsese by Ari Aster, as well as a number of their most essential restorations, including films by Jia Zhangke, Ritwik Ghatak, Luchino Visconti, Shirley Clarke, Med Hondo, and more.
There’s also David Lynch’s new restoration of The Elephant Man, retrospectives dedicated to Ngozi Onwurah, Nadav Lapid, and Terence Nance, a new edition of the series Queersighted titled Queer Fear, featuring a new conversation between series programmer Michael Koresky and filmmaker and critic Farihah Zaman, and much more.
See the lineup below and learn more on the official site.
There will also be a series celebrating 30 years of The Film Foundation, featuring a new interview with Martin Scorsese by Ari Aster, as well as a number of their most essential restorations, including films by Jia Zhangke, Ritwik Ghatak, Luchino Visconti, Shirley Clarke, Med Hondo, and more.
There’s also David Lynch’s new restoration of The Elephant Man, retrospectives dedicated to Ngozi Onwurah, Nadav Lapid, and Terence Nance, a new edition of the series Queersighted titled Queer Fear, featuring a new conversation between series programmer Michael Koresky and filmmaker and critic Farihah Zaman, and much more.
See the lineup below and learn more on the official site.
- 10/27/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The Criterion Channel’s September 2020 Lineup Includes Sátántangó, Agnès Varda, Albert Brooks & More
As the coronavirus pandemic still rages on, precious few remain skeptical about going to the movies. But while your AMCs and others claim some godlike safety from Covid, there remains a chunk of people still uncomfortable hitting up theaters. To them, we bring you the September 2020 Criterion Channel lineup.
It starts off with quite the swath of content too. Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó hits the service on September 1, and its seven-plus hours should take up a large chunk of your day. Coming soon after is a collection of more than a dozen Joan Blondell starrers from the pre-Code era, including Howard Hawks’ The Crowd Roars, three collaborations with Mervyn LeRoy, and Ray Enright & Busby Berkeley’s Dames.
For some stuff released almost a century later, the service also sees the addition of documentary bender Robert Greene. His Actress, Kate Plays Christine, and Bisbee ’17 join soon after. Janicza Bravo, director of Lemon,...
It starts off with quite the swath of content too. Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó hits the service on September 1, and its seven-plus hours should take up a large chunk of your day. Coming soon after is a collection of more than a dozen Joan Blondell starrers from the pre-Code era, including Howard Hawks’ The Crowd Roars, three collaborations with Mervyn LeRoy, and Ray Enright & Busby Berkeley’s Dames.
For some stuff released almost a century later, the service also sees the addition of documentary bender Robert Greene. His Actress, Kate Plays Christine, and Bisbee ’17 join soon after. Janicza Bravo, director of Lemon,...
- 8/25/2020
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
Olivia de Havilland, one of the last remaining actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age, two-time Academy Award winner and star of “Gone With the Wind,” has died. She was 104.
Her publicist Lisa Goldberg confirmed the news to Variety, saying de Havilland died from natural causes on Sunday at her residence in Paris.
De Havilland’s former lawyer Suzelle M. Smith said, “Last night, the world lost an international treasure, and I lost a dear friend and beloved client. She died peacefully in Paris.”
Numerous Hollywood figures paid tribute to de Havilland upon the news of her death. SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris extended her sympathies, saying, “Olivia de Havilland was not only beautiful and talented, she was a courageous visionary and an inspiration to generations. She was a marvel and a legend. Rest in peace.”
The striking brunette won best actress Oscars for “The Heiress” and “To Each His Own” in the late 1940s,...
Her publicist Lisa Goldberg confirmed the news to Variety, saying de Havilland died from natural causes on Sunday at her residence in Paris.
De Havilland’s former lawyer Suzelle M. Smith said, “Last night, the world lost an international treasure, and I lost a dear friend and beloved client. She died peacefully in Paris.”
Numerous Hollywood figures paid tribute to de Havilland upon the news of her death. SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris extended her sympathies, saying, “Olivia de Havilland was not only beautiful and talented, she was a courageous visionary and an inspiration to generations. She was a marvel and a legend. Rest in peace.”
The striking brunette won best actress Oscars for “The Heiress” and “To Each His Own” in the late 1940s,...
- 7/26/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
“Just try and stay out of my way. Just try! I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!”
The Wizard Of Oz screens this Friday and Saturday nights (June 5th and 6th) at the Sky View Drive-in in Lichtfield, Il. (1500 Historic Old Route 66) Admission is only $7 (free for kids under 5). The movie starts at 8:45. Costumes are encouraged! The Wizard Of Oz. The Sky View’s site can be found Here.
I certainly can’t remember the first time I saw The Wizard Of Oz. I just seem to have always known what it was, how the songs go, and each and every character. It rightfully ranks on the list of most folks’ most beloved (if not best) of all time. I grew up with it on annual re-runs that were a big deal every Easter. The Wizard Of Oz is full of ironies. It was released...
The Wizard Of Oz screens this Friday and Saturday nights (June 5th and 6th) at the Sky View Drive-in in Lichtfield, Il. (1500 Historic Old Route 66) Admission is only $7 (free for kids under 5). The movie starts at 8:45. Costumes are encouraged! The Wizard Of Oz. The Sky View’s site can be found Here.
I certainly can’t remember the first time I saw The Wizard Of Oz. I just seem to have always known what it was, how the songs go, and each and every character. It rightfully ranks on the list of most folks’ most beloved (if not best) of all time. I grew up with it on annual re-runs that were a big deal every Easter. The Wizard Of Oz is full of ironies. It was released...
- 6/4/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Mother of mercy, did the movies mark the beginning of Rico? The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act was named after the character Rico Bandello in what is largely considered to be the first gangster movie, Little Caesar. While Edward G. Robinson’s Rico wasn’t specifically Al Capone in that film, the real-life gangster’s signature cigar fumes are all over it. Josh Trank replaced the Cuban Corona with a carrot in the recent Vertical Entertainment film Capone, which stars Tom Hardy as the title character in his twilight years, suffering from a premature burial. The aging mobster’s memories were buried by the syphilis microbe, and along with it went the clues to his buried treasure.
That speculative biopic also depicts Capone as a film aficionado. He sings along with Bert Lahr’s incomparable “If I Were King of the Forest,” from The Wizard of Oz, and educates...
That speculative biopic also depicts Capone as a film aficionado. He sings along with Bert Lahr’s incomparable “If I Were King of the Forest,” from The Wizard of Oz, and educates...
- 5/15/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Else Blangsted, a Holocaust survivor and film music editor who worked on classic films such as “The Goonies” and “The Color Purple,” died May 1. She was 99.
Blangsted died from natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, according to her cousin Deborah Oppenheimer, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and producer. Blangsted was three weeks short of her 100th birthday.
Born May 22, 1920, Blangsted’s career as a film music editor spanned four decades, leading her to work with some of the most well known filmmakers and composers in the industry, including Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Tony Richardson, Sydney Pollack, Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Stanley Kramer, Richard Donner and many more.
Oppenheimer told Variety, “You know the music, you know the movies and you know the stars who were in the movies. You know the directors who made the movies. But her music is what provoked the emotions and made audiences laugh and cry.
Blangsted died from natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, according to her cousin Deborah Oppenheimer, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and producer. Blangsted was three weeks short of her 100th birthday.
Born May 22, 1920, Blangsted’s career as a film music editor spanned four decades, leading her to work with some of the most well known filmmakers and composers in the industry, including Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Tony Richardson, Sydney Pollack, Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Stanley Kramer, Richard Donner and many more.
Oppenheimer told Variety, “You know the music, you know the movies and you know the stars who were in the movies. You know the directors who made the movies. But her music is what provoked the emotions and made audiences laugh and cry.
- 5/5/2020
- by Klaritza Rico
- Variety Film + TV
Else Blangsted, a Holocaust survivor who went on to a 35-year career as a film music editor who worked with some of the industry’s most successful directors, producers and composers – Robert Redford, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, Sydney Pollack, among others – died Friday, May 1, from natural causes at her home in Los Angeles. She was 99.
Blangsted’s death, which occurred just three weeks short of her 100th birthday, was confirmed by her cousin, the Oscar–winning filmmaker and producer Deborah Oppenheimer.
Though she occasionally worked in TV throughout the years – Hazel, Dennis the Menace, Apple’s Way and the 1976 miniseries Helter Skelter, among others – it was in film that Blangsted left her most indelible professional mark. A partial roster of her film credits, spanning 1955’s Picnic to 1990’s The Bonfire of the Vanities, includes On Golden Pond, The Great Santini, Ordinary People, The Color Purple, The Goonies, In Cold Blood,...
Blangsted’s death, which occurred just three weeks short of her 100th birthday, was confirmed by her cousin, the Oscar–winning filmmaker and producer Deborah Oppenheimer.
Though she occasionally worked in TV throughout the years – Hazel, Dennis the Menace, Apple’s Way and the 1976 miniseries Helter Skelter, among others – it was in film that Blangsted left her most indelible professional mark. A partial roster of her film credits, spanning 1955’s Picnic to 1990’s The Bonfire of the Vanities, includes On Golden Pond, The Great Santini, Ordinary People, The Color Purple, The Goonies, In Cold Blood,...
- 5/5/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
This article contains major Hollywood spoilers. You can find our easter egg guide for the previous episode here.
Don’t you just love a happy ending? Ryan Murphy clearly did with regards to Hollywood, and while we had mixed ideas of our own about that conclusion, there is no denying how gratifying it is to see representation shared with those whom society marginalized for years and centuries. There is a real sugar rush of “what if” good cheer about the series’ version of Oscar night 1948. Here are some of the facts the series changed, and some other shout-outs it enjoyed in its closing moments.
Hollywood Episode 7
-The Meg editor admits he didn’t shtup Gloria Swanson. He only got to third base while she was on the rebound after Joe Kennedy dumped her. This would’ve placed the screening room action around 1928 or ’29—an affair Swanson denied until she finally admitted it in her 1980 autobiography.
Don’t you just love a happy ending? Ryan Murphy clearly did with regards to Hollywood, and while we had mixed ideas of our own about that conclusion, there is no denying how gratifying it is to see representation shared with those whom society marginalized for years and centuries. There is a real sugar rush of “what if” good cheer about the series’ version of Oscar night 1948. Here are some of the facts the series changed, and some other shout-outs it enjoyed in its closing moments.
Hollywood Episode 7
-The Meg editor admits he didn’t shtup Gloria Swanson. He only got to third base while she was on the rebound after Joe Kennedy dumped her. This would’ve placed the screening room action around 1928 or ’29—an affair Swanson denied until she finally admitted it in her 1980 autobiography.
- 5/3/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Disney opens ‘Spies In Disguise’ as ‘Star Wars’, ‘Cats’ roll on.
This weekend sees the latest version of Louisa May Alcott’s classic 19th-century novel Little Women hit UK cinemas through Sony, looking to capitalise on the seasonal setting of the story.
Adapted and directed by Greta Gerwig, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen and Screen Star of Tomorrow 2016 Florence Pugh as the four March sisters, each navigating life and exploring themselves in Massachusetts.
The supporting cast includes Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Screen Star of Tomorrow 2013 James Norton.
This weekend sees the latest version of Louisa May Alcott’s classic 19th-century novel Little Women hit UK cinemas through Sony, looking to capitalise on the seasonal setting of the story.
Adapted and directed by Greta Gerwig, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen and Screen Star of Tomorrow 2016 Florence Pugh as the four March sisters, each navigating life and exploring themselves in Massachusetts.
The supporting cast includes Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Screen Star of Tomorrow 2013 James Norton.
- 12/27/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
For a novel written in 1868, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women has had an exceptionally good run at the Oscars. George Cukor's 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn was nominated for best picture and director and won for adapted screenplay.
Mervyn LeRoy's 1949 adaptation starring June Allyson won for best art director/set decoration and was nominated for color cinematography. And Gillian Armstrong's 1994 version received nominations for costume design and original score and brought Winona Ryder, then 23, a best actress nom for playing Jo March, the young woman who yearns to break away from family constraints and become ...
Mervyn LeRoy's 1949 adaptation starring June Allyson won for best art director/set decoration and was nominated for color cinematography. And Gillian Armstrong's 1994 version received nominations for costume design and original score and brought Winona Ryder, then 23, a best actress nom for playing Jo March, the young woman who yearns to break away from family constraints and become ...
- 11/28/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
For a novel written in 1868, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women has had an exceptionally good run at the Oscars. George Cukor's 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn was nominated for best picture and director and won for adapted screenplay.
Mervyn LeRoy's 1949 adaptation starring June Allyson won for best art director/set decoration and was nominated for color cinematography. And Gillian Armstrong's 1994 version received nominations for costume design and original score and brought Winona Ryder, then 23, a best actress nom for playing Jo March, the young woman who yearns to break away from family constraints and become ...
Mervyn LeRoy's 1949 adaptation starring June Allyson won for best art director/set decoration and was nominated for color cinematography. And Gillian Armstrong's 1994 version received nominations for costume design and original score and brought Winona Ryder, then 23, a best actress nom for playing Jo March, the young woman who yearns to break away from family constraints and become ...
- 11/28/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We have all, by this point in history, seen multiple adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” but we have never seen one quite like writer-director Greta Gerwig’s moving and meaningful 2019 version.
This isn’t a radical rethinking of the “Hamlet”-staged-on-Mars school, but Gerwig makes decisions throughout that enhance the story, from juggling the timeline and giving certain characters more presence in the spotlight to the thoughtful craftsmanship employed throughout. From the uniformly excellent performances of a talented ensemble to the just-right choices in scoring, art direction, costuming and editing, this is a stunning interpretation.
I still revere the 1994 adaptation (directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Winona Ryder as Jo), and I have great fondness for the 1933 (George Cukor-Katharine Hepburn) and 1949 (Mervyn LeRoy-June Allyson) versions as well, but Gerwig takes a gamble here that pays off brilliantly.
Watch Video: Greta Gerwig's 'Little Women:' See Saoirse Ronan,...
This isn’t a radical rethinking of the “Hamlet”-staged-on-Mars school, but Gerwig makes decisions throughout that enhance the story, from juggling the timeline and giving certain characters more presence in the spotlight to the thoughtful craftsmanship employed throughout. From the uniformly excellent performances of a talented ensemble to the just-right choices in scoring, art direction, costuming and editing, this is a stunning interpretation.
I still revere the 1994 adaptation (directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Winona Ryder as Jo), and I have great fondness for the 1933 (George Cukor-Katharine Hepburn) and 1949 (Mervyn LeRoy-June Allyson) versions as well, but Gerwig takes a gamble here that pays off brilliantly.
Watch Video: Greta Gerwig's 'Little Women:' See Saoirse Ronan,...
- 11/25/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
If there’s one thing I know about real-world little women, it’s that they will read “Little Women” no matter the era. That’s the timeless quality of certain literary classics, and Louisa May Alcott’s Civil War tale of four close-knit sisters continues to delight, feeling every bit as alive today as it must have 150 years ago. In that span, the novel has never gone out of print, and its popularity seems unlikely to fade in the centuries to come.
Movies, however, are another matter. Young people seem far less interested in watching films made before their birth, and for that reason, there will always be good reason to remake “Little Women.” After all, every generation deserves its own version. It’s been 25 years since Winona Ryder played Jo March, and 61 more since Katharine Hepburn tackled the role for George Cukor (the previous screen versions had been silent). Now,...
Movies, however, are another matter. Young people seem far less interested in watching films made before their birth, and for that reason, there will always be good reason to remake “Little Women.” After all, every generation deserves its own version. It’s been 25 years since Winona Ryder played Jo March, and 61 more since Katharine Hepburn tackled the role for George Cukor (the previous screen versions had been silent). Now,...
- 11/25/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Burbank, CA, August 22, 2019 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today that 1939’s acclaimed and beloved classic The Wizard of Oz will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on October 29th. Directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind) and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gayle, The Wizard of Oz is widely considered to be one of the most influential films in cinematic history.
Adapted from L. Frank Baum’s timeless children’s tale about a Kansas girl’s journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz officially premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman.
Adapted from L. Frank Baum’s timeless children’s tale about a Kansas girl’s journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz officially premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman.
- 8/24/2019
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig’s take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her own terms — is both timeless and timely.
Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.
There have been other adaptations of the book. Most famously Little Women (1933) – Directed by George Cukor, stars Katharine Hepburn (Jo), Joan Bennett (Amy), Jean Parker (Beth), and Frances Dee (Meg). Little Women (1949) – Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, stars June Allyson (Jo), Elizabeth Taylor (Amy), Margaret O...
Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.
There have been other adaptations of the book. Most famously Little Women (1933) – Directed by George Cukor, stars Katharine Hepburn (Jo), Joan Bennett (Amy), Jean Parker (Beth), and Frances Dee (Meg). Little Women (1949) – Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, stars June Allyson (Jo), Elizabeth Taylor (Amy), Margaret O...
- 8/13/2019
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Vivien Leigh would’ve celebrated her 105th birthday on November 5, 2018. The two-time Oscar inner made only a handful of films before her untimely death in 1967 at the age of 53. Yet several of those titles remain classics. In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in British India, Leigh appeared in a number of roles on both the stage and screen in England, including a production of “Hamlet” opposite her husband, Laurence Olivier.
She came to international attention after landing the coveted role of Scarlet O’Hara in David O. Selznick’s massive adaptation of Margaret Mitchell‘s bestseller “Gone with the Wind” (1939). Leigh was far from the first choice to embody the headstrong Southern belle who pines after a married man (Leslie Howard) while wedding another (Clark Gable) against the backdrop of the Civil War. Yet the...
Born in British India, Leigh appeared in a number of roles on both the stage and screen in England, including a production of “Hamlet” opposite her husband, Laurence Olivier.
She came to international attention after landing the coveted role of Scarlet O’Hara in David O. Selznick’s massive adaptation of Margaret Mitchell‘s bestseller “Gone with the Wind” (1939). Leigh was far from the first choice to embody the headstrong Southern belle who pines after a married man (Leslie Howard) while wedding another (Clark Gable) against the backdrop of the Civil War. Yet the...
- 11/5/2018
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from Lifetime’s remake of “The Bad Seed.” For a non-spoilers take, check out IndieWire’s review.]
In 1956, “The Bad Seed” set the standard for cute kids gone bad on the big screen, tapping into the fear that maybe sweet little Jenny isn’t so innocent after all — that evil is born, not made. It was the antidote to the Patty Dukes and Shirley Temples that had dotted the media, and paved the way for future movies of its kind like “The Good Son” and “Orphan.”
Lifetime’s remake of Mervyn LeRoy’s classic follows the general structure of the original film but gender-flips the single parent, casting Rob Lowe as dad David Grossman, who begins to have uneasy suspicions about his perfect little girl Emma (Mckenna Grace) after an unforeseen tragedy occurs. The film also changes out the gardener/caretaker, who in the original film saw through the little girl’s facade,...
In 1956, “The Bad Seed” set the standard for cute kids gone bad on the big screen, tapping into the fear that maybe sweet little Jenny isn’t so innocent after all — that evil is born, not made. It was the antidote to the Patty Dukes and Shirley Temples that had dotted the media, and paved the way for future movies of its kind like “The Good Son” and “Orphan.”
Lifetime’s remake of Mervyn LeRoy’s classic follows the general structure of the original film but gender-flips the single parent, casting Rob Lowe as dad David Grossman, who begins to have uneasy suspicions about his perfect little girl Emma (Mckenna Grace) after an unforeseen tragedy occurs. The film also changes out the gardener/caretaker, who in the original film saw through the little girl’s facade,...
- 9/10/2018
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
“Basket of kisses! Basket of kisses! Basket of kisses!”
This saccharine phrase heard in Lifetime’s “The Bad Seed” remake is a haunting holdover from Mervyn LeRoy’s classic 1956 psychological thriller. Delivered with just the right amount of false cheer by the titular murderous child Emma Grossman (McKenna Grace), the line is made even creepier because she’s actually practicing saying it in front of a mirror, followed by a calculated smile.
It’s frightening, it’s silly, and it’s exactly the type of camp that’s expected — nay, craved — from the Lifetime remake machine. Sadly, that’s the best part of the entire movie, and it was already blown in the teaser trailer
Rob Lowe executive produces and directs this update of “The Bad Seed,” in which he also stars as the gender-flipped single parent David Grossman who suspects his overachieving “honey bear” is a little off following a tragedy.
This saccharine phrase heard in Lifetime’s “The Bad Seed” remake is a haunting holdover from Mervyn LeRoy’s classic 1956 psychological thriller. Delivered with just the right amount of false cheer by the titular murderous child Emma Grossman (McKenna Grace), the line is made even creepier because she’s actually practicing saying it in front of a mirror, followed by a calculated smile.
It’s frightening, it’s silly, and it’s exactly the type of camp that’s expected — nay, craved — from the Lifetime remake machine. Sadly, that’s the best part of the entire movie, and it was already blown in the teaser trailer
Rob Lowe executive produces and directs this update of “The Bad Seed,” in which he also stars as the gender-flipped single parent David Grossman who suspects his overachieving “honey bear” is a little off following a tragedy.
- 9/9/2018
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
If you’re a baseball fan, particularly if you’re a Dodgers, Astros, Cubs or Yankees fan, the real baseball season started this past Friday with the inauguration of the American and National League Championship Series. I’m a Dodgers fan, which means I’m among that group who, arguably, have gone the longest without the satisfaction/excitement/nail-biting terror of seeing their team in the World Series, the next step for whoever wins in the Nlcs. The Dodgers last appeared in the World Series in 1988, capping a memorable run with a championship by beating the Oakland A’s. That was 29 years ago. The Cubs are the reigning Mlb champions, having won last year’s World Series after a 107-year drought. And the Yankees, a mainstay of the World Series around the turn of this century, last appeared in an October championship series in 2009.
The only team to come close...
The only team to come close...
- 10/14/2017
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
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