Shecky Greene, the legendary Las Vegas headliner and stand-up comedian who entertained audiences for years while battling demons that included stage fright, alcoholism, prescription-drug abuse and gambling, died Sunday. He was 97.
Greene died on New Year’s Eve of natural causes at his home in Las Vegas, his wife of 41 years, Marie Musso Greene, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
He also was known for his dozens of appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he served as an occasional guest host.
Greene’s garrulous act in the 1950s and ‘60s helped transform the hotel lounge into another place for patrons to be entertained, turning Vegas into a 24-hour party town. His specialty was improvisation, and he could take virtually any situation and make it funny.
The stocky Chicago native sang, did impressions, told stories and often went off on wild tangents, and his brand of comedy was quite...
Greene died on New Year’s Eve of natural causes at his home in Las Vegas, his wife of 41 years, Marie Musso Greene, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
He also was known for his dozens of appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he served as an occasional guest host.
Greene’s garrulous act in the 1950s and ‘60s helped transform the hotel lounge into another place for patrons to be entertained, turning Vegas into a 24-hour party town. His specialty was improvisation, and he could take virtually any situation and make it funny.
The stocky Chicago native sang, did impressions, told stories and often went off on wild tangents, and his brand of comedy was quite...
- 12/31/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cementing their place as auteurs of the absurd, Spanish writer-directors Juan González and Nando Martínez, of creative outfit Burnin Percebes, presented their latest feature “The Fantastic Golem Affairs,” to audiences at the Malaga Film Festival.
A sci-fi caper that embodies the duo’s freeform, standalone filmmaking style, it competed alongside further buzz titles “20.000 Species Of Bees,” from Spanish director Estíbaliz Urresola, and Gerardo Herrero’s,“Under Therapy.”
Selected for Canada’s Fantasia Film Festival, it begins after a night of heavy drinking, with quintessential bachelor Juan and his friend David playing a game of charades on the roof. During a highly-animated round, David falls from the ledge and shatters into a million ceramic pieces. The event sets off a fiendishly ludicrous odyssey through Juan’s daily affairs as he seeks to uncover the truth behind his ruptured relationship.
With a keen eye on the absurd, the film ponders death,...
A sci-fi caper that embodies the duo’s freeform, standalone filmmaking style, it competed alongside further buzz titles “20.000 Species Of Bees,” from Spanish director Estíbaliz Urresola, and Gerardo Herrero’s,“Under Therapy.”
Selected for Canada’s Fantasia Film Festival, it begins after a night of heavy drinking, with quintessential bachelor Juan and his friend David playing a game of charades on the roof. During a highly-animated round, David falls from the ledge and shatters into a million ceramic pieces. The event sets off a fiendishly ludicrous odyssey through Juan’s daily affairs as he seeks to uncover the truth behind his ruptured relationship.
With a keen eye on the absurd, the film ponders death,...
- 3/16/2023
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Is it a classic? Well, not exactly, but it’s also not a typical disappointing ’40s Z-picture. Screenwriter Leigh Brackett pens a nice twist on the Dracula motif, and actor John Abbott is genuinely impressive as what is surely the most low-key vampire on the books. Plus a sexy dance from Adele Mara!
The Vampire’s Ghost
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 59 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: John Abbott, Charles Gordon, Peggy Stewart, Grant Withers, Emmett Vogan, Adele Mara, Roy Barcroft, Martin Wilkins, Zack Williams.
Cinematography: Robert Pittack, Ellis Thackery
Special Effects: Howard and Theodore Lydecker
Written by John K. Butler, Leigh Brackett, story by Brackett
Associate Producer: Rudolph E. Abel
Directed by Lesley Selander
When Republic dabbled in genre work away from their serials and westerns, the result was often embarrassing. One horror title due for an upward bump in...
The Vampire’s Ghost
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 59 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: John Abbott, Charles Gordon, Peggy Stewart, Grant Withers, Emmett Vogan, Adele Mara, Roy Barcroft, Martin Wilkins, Zack Williams.
Cinematography: Robert Pittack, Ellis Thackery
Special Effects: Howard and Theodore Lydecker
Written by John K. Butler, Leigh Brackett, story by Brackett
Associate Producer: Rudolph E. Abel
Directed by Lesley Selander
When Republic dabbled in genre work away from their serials and westerns, the result was often embarrassing. One horror title due for an upward bump in...
- 10/31/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Good neighbor policy? Wartime exigencies inspired an intra-hemisphere cultural exchange, with the movies seizing on the new popularity of Latin music. Republic’s contribution gives us the great songs of Ady Barroso and a full soundtrack of his compositions — in a featherweight musical romance, of course.
Brazil
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1944 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Street Date December 6, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring Tito Guízar, Virginia Bruce, Edward Everett Horton, Robert Livingston, Veloz and Yolanda, Fortunio Bonanova, Richard Lane, Frank Puglia, Aurora Miranda, Billy Daniel, Dan Seymour, Roy Rogers.
Cinematography Jack A. Marta
Film Editor Fred Allen
Songs Ary Barroso, Hoagy Carmichael
Written by Frank Gill Jr., Laura Kerr, Richard English
Produced by Robert North
Directed by Joseph Santley
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The wartime ‘Good Neighbor Policy’ was a P.R. blitz intended to steer South America toward the U.S. and away from the Axis.
Brazil
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1944 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Street Date December 6, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring Tito Guízar, Virginia Bruce, Edward Everett Horton, Robert Livingston, Veloz and Yolanda, Fortunio Bonanova, Richard Lane, Frank Puglia, Aurora Miranda, Billy Daniel, Dan Seymour, Roy Rogers.
Cinematography Jack A. Marta
Film Editor Fred Allen
Songs Ary Barroso, Hoagy Carmichael
Written by Frank Gill Jr., Laura Kerr, Richard English
Produced by Robert North
Directed by Joseph Santley
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The wartime ‘Good Neighbor Policy’ was a P.R. blitz intended to steer South America toward the U.S. and away from the Axis.
- 12/10/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Fred Astaire ca. 1935. Fred Astaire movies: Dancing in the dark, on the ceiling on TCM Aug. 5, '15, is Fred Astaire Day on Turner Classic Movies, as TCM continues with its “Summer Under the Stars” series. Just don't expect any rare Astaire movies, as the actor-singer-dancer's star vehicles – mostly Rko or MGM productions – have been TCM staples since the early days of the cable channel in the mid-'90s. True, Fred Astaire was also featured in smaller, lesser-known fare like Byron Chudnow's The Amazing Dobermans (1976) and Yves Boisset's The Purple Taxi / Un taxi mauve (1977), but neither one can be found on the TCM schedule. (See TCM's Fred Astaire movie schedule further below.) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Some fans never tire of watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing together. With these particular fans in mind, TCM is showing – for the nth time – nine Astaire-Rogers musicals of the '30s,...
- 8/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Wallace Beery from Pancho Villa to Long John Silver: TCM schedule (Pt) on August 17, 2013 (photo: Fay Wray, Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa in ‘Viva Villa!’) See previous post: “Wallace Beery: Best Actor Oscar Winner — and Runner-Up.” 3:00 Am The Last Of The Mohicans (1920). Director: Maurice Tourneur. Cast: Barbara Bedford, Albert Roscoe, Wallace Beery, Lillian Hall, Henry Woodward, James Gordon, George Hackathorne, Nelson McDowell, Harry Lorraine, Theodore Lorch, Jack McDonald, Sydney Deane, Boris Karloff. Bw-76 mins. 4:30 Am The Big House (1930). Director: George W. Hill. Cast: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams, George F. Marion, J.C. Nugent, DeWitt Jennings, Matthew Betz, Claire McDowell, Robert Emmett O’Connor, Tom Wilson, Eddie Foyer, Roscoe Ates, Fletcher Norton, Noah Beery Jr, Chris-Pin Martin, Eddie Lambert, Harry Wilson. Bw-87 mins. 6:00 Am Bad Man Of Brimstone (1937). Director: J. Walter Ruben. Cast: Wallace Beery, Virginia Bruce, Dennis O’Keefe. Bw-89 mins.
- 8/17/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Lina Romay, whose role as a lead singer with Xavier Cugat's orchestra in the early 1940s led to a career in the movies and a stint decades later as a Spanish-language radio announcer for Hollywood Park, has died. She was 91. La Times reports that Romay died December 17 of natural causes at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, said her son, Jay Gould IV. Dubbed James Franco's muse, Romay, burst onto the genre scene with 1972's The Erotic Rights of Frankenstein and is best known for films such as Female Vampire, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff, The Mystery of the Red Castle, Erotic Kill, and many, many more. In the Eighties Romay moved from the front of the screen to behind-the-camera as a director of a dozen different films.
- 2/24/2012
- bloody-disgusting.com
I first discovered the captivating allure of Lina Romay 30 years ago in the early days of VHS when I rented a tape called The Loves Of Irena on the old Private Screenings label. It was Spanish director Jess Franco’s erotic 1973 twist on the vampire legend also known as (among other titles) Female Vampire, The Bare Breasted Countess, and Erotikill. Romay spends most of her screen time almost completely nude, strolling about in the fog wearing nothing but a cape and big wide black boots and I was immediately smitten. I sought out more films with the actress and found out she was Franco’s common-law wife and would perform in over 100 films from the prolific cult director including such gems as Barbed Wire Dolls, Jack The Ripper, and Wanda The Wicked Warden (with Dyanne Thorne, it was later retitled and sold as an Ilsa sequel). Romay and Franco had...
- 2/24/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Actress Lina Romay, Jess Franco's life partner and muse, who enlivened many of the Spanish director's exploitation films -- including Female Vampire, a.k.a. The Bare Breasted Countess (pictured above), and Barbed Wire Dolls -- with her particular brand of sensuality, has passed away at the age of 57. Details after the jump. According to the Alt Film Guide, Romay "died of cancer on February 15. She was 57... Born Rosa María Almirall Martínez in Barcelona on June 25, 1954, Romay began her film career while in her late teens. The source for her artistic name was another Lina Romay, a singer with Xavier Cugat's band who had featured roles in movies such as Love Laughs at Andy Hardy and Joe Palooka...
- 2/24/2012
- FEARnet
Lina Romay, a pretty brunette who starred in numerous risqué features for longtime companion Jesus Franco, has died. According to online reports, Romay died of cancer on February 15. She was 57. Born Rosa María Almirall Martínez in Barcelona on June 25, 1954, Romay began her film career while in her late teens. The source for her artistic name was another Lina Romay, a singer with Xavier Cugat's band who had featured roles in movies such as Love Laughs at Andy Hardy and Joe Palooka in the Big Fight. (This Lina Romay died at age 91 in December 2010 in the L.A. suburb of Pasadena.) The Spanish Lina Romay's movies, however, were anything but G-rated fare. Her gialli and erotica efforts had titles such as Tender and Perverse Emanuelle (1973), Justine and the Whip (1979), The White Slave (1985), and Alone Against Terror (1987). From the early '70s to 2005, she was featured in more than 100 productions.
- 2/23/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
"Dancing with the Stars" week 8 continued with five remaining contestants doing two dances: one in the normal fashion and one choreographed "instantly" to music they learn during the broadcast. Ralph Macchio, who gave a scare prior to the performance due to his knee injury, held back his pain and got through the show on Monday night, May 9.
Chelsea Kane (aka Chelsea Staub) was the first who came out for the normal individual dance. She danced the waltz which was deemed "dancing of the highest quality" and "fabulous" by Bruno Toli. Carrie Ann Inaba said she "earned perfection tonight," but Len Goodman thought "occasionally you put too much emphasis on the story, not on the dance." Chelsea got 29 out of 30.
Current frontrunner Hines Ward danced the foxtrot which "was beaming with a blissful look of happiness," Bruno gushed. Carrie Ann and Len loved his cheesy performance with the former saying, "A little bit of cheesy Hines.
Chelsea Kane (aka Chelsea Staub) was the first who came out for the normal individual dance. She danced the waltz which was deemed "dancing of the highest quality" and "fabulous" by Bruno Toli. Carrie Ann Inaba said she "earned perfection tonight," but Len Goodman thought "occasionally you put too much emphasis on the story, not on the dance." Chelsea got 29 out of 30.
Current frontrunner Hines Ward danced the foxtrot which "was beaming with a blissful look of happiness," Bruno gushed. Carrie Ann and Len loved his cheesy performance with the former saying, "A little bit of cheesy Hines.
- 5/10/2011
- by celebrity-mania.com
- Celebrity Mania
"Dancing with the Stars" week 8 continued with five remaining contestants doing two dances: one in the normal fashion and one choreographed "instantly" to music they learn during the broadcast. Ralph Macchio, who gave a scare prior to the performance due to his knee injury, held back his pain and got through the show on Monday night, May 9.
Chelsea Kane (aka Chelsea Staub) was the first who came out for the normal individual dance. She danced the waltz which was deemed "dancing of the highest quality" and "fabulous" by Bruno Toli. Carrie Ann Inaba said she "earned perfection tonight," but Len Goodman thought "occasionally you put too much emphasis on the story, not on the dance." Chelsea got 29 out of 30.
Current frontrunner Hines Ward danced the foxtrot which "was beaming with a blissful look of happiness," Bruno gushed. Carrie Ann and Len loved his cheesy performance with the former saying, "A little bit of cheesy Hines.
Chelsea Kane (aka Chelsea Staub) was the first who came out for the normal individual dance. She danced the waltz which was deemed "dancing of the highest quality" and "fabulous" by Bruno Toli. Carrie Ann Inaba said she "earned perfection tonight," but Len Goodman thought "occasionally you put too much emphasis on the story, not on the dance." Chelsea got 29 out of 30.
Current frontrunner Hines Ward danced the foxtrot which "was beaming with a blissful look of happiness," Bruno gushed. Carrie Ann and Len loved his cheesy performance with the former saying, "A little bit of cheesy Hines.
- 5/10/2011
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
By Harris Lentz, III
Adele Mara was an actress in films in the 1940s and 1950s, and was John Wayne’s leading lady in the films Wake of the Red Witch and Sands of Iwo Jima. She also starred in the 1945 Republic horror film The Vampire’s Ghost with John Abbott and Peggy Stewart, and The Catman of Paris (1946) with Carl Esmond.
She was born Adelaide Delgado in Highland Park, Michigan, on April 28, 1923. She began her career in her teens as a singer and dancer with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra in Detroit. She traveled to New York with Cugat, where she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942. She appeared in a handful of films over the next several years including Alias Boston Blackie (1942) with Chester Morris, Vengeance of the West (1942) with Tex Ritter, and Crime Doctor (1943) with Warner Baxter. She subsequently signed with Republic Studios, and continued her...
Adele Mara was an actress in films in the 1940s and 1950s, and was John Wayne’s leading lady in the films Wake of the Red Witch and Sands of Iwo Jima. She also starred in the 1945 Republic horror film The Vampire’s Ghost with John Abbott and Peggy Stewart, and The Catman of Paris (1946) with Carl Esmond.
She was born Adelaide Delgado in Highland Park, Michigan, on April 28, 1923. She began her career in her teens as a singer and dancer with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra in Detroit. She traveled to New York with Cugat, where she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942. She appeared in a handful of films over the next several years including Alias Boston Blackie (1942) with Chester Morris, Vengeance of the West (1942) with Tex Ritter, and Crime Doctor (1943) with Warner Baxter. She subsequently signed with Republic Studios, and continued her...
- 5/20/2010
- by Harris Lentz
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Adele Mara, a film and TV actress who played opposite John Wayne in 1949's "Sands of Iwo Jima," died May 7 of natural causes at her home in Pacific Palisades. She was 87.
Mara, a dancer with Xavier Cugat and his orchestra in Detroit by the age of 15, was spotted by a Columbia talent scout in New York and signed in 1942.
The brown-eyed Spanish-American brunette went on to play brisk leading ladies in such 1942 B-movies as "Vengeance of the West" with Tex Ritter and "Alias Boston Blackie" starring Chester Morris.
A few years later, Mara was transformed into a sexy platinum blonde pin-up after signing up with Republic Studios and appeared as senoritas opposite Roy Rogers in "Bells of Rosarita" (1945) and Gene Autry in "Twilight on the Rio Grande" (1947).
She also appeared in crime dramas including 1947 pics "Blackmail" and "Web of Danger" and in adventures "Wake of the Red Witch" (1948) with Wayne...
Mara, a dancer with Xavier Cugat and his orchestra in Detroit by the age of 15, was spotted by a Columbia talent scout in New York and signed in 1942.
The brown-eyed Spanish-American brunette went on to play brisk leading ladies in such 1942 B-movies as "Vengeance of the West" with Tex Ritter and "Alias Boston Blackie" starring Chester Morris.
A few years later, Mara was transformed into a sexy platinum blonde pin-up after signing up with Republic Studios and appeared as senoritas opposite Roy Rogers in "Bells of Rosarita" (1945) and Gene Autry in "Twilight on the Rio Grande" (1947).
She also appeared in crime dramas including 1947 pics "Blackmail" and "Web of Danger" and in adventures "Wake of the Red Witch" (1948) with Wayne...
- 5/17/2010
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Adele Mara, John Wayne's leading lady in war movie classic Sands Of Iwo Jima has died, aged 87.
The actress died of natural causes at her home in Pacific Palisades, California on Friday.
Born in Michigan, she started out as a dancer and was discovered by bandleader Xavier Cugat and toured with him.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles at the beginning of the 1940s, Mara quickly became a regular face on the big and small screen.
As well as John Wayne's 1949 movie, her credits include Angel in Exile and her late husband Roy Huggins' TV shows 77 Sunset Strip and Maverick.
The actress died of natural causes at her home in Pacific Palisades, California on Friday.
Born in Michigan, she started out as a dancer and was discovered by bandleader Xavier Cugat and toured with him.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles at the beginning of the 1940s, Mara quickly became a regular face on the big and small screen.
As well as John Wayne's 1949 movie, her credits include Angel in Exile and her late husband Roy Huggins' TV shows 77 Sunset Strip and Maverick.
- 5/12/2010
- WENN
Adele Mara, a 1940s Hollywood actress best known for the John Wayne war melodrama Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and for playing one of Rita Hayworth’s sisters in You Were Never Lovelier (1942), died Friday, May 7, of natural causes at her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades. She was 87. Mara (born Adelaide Delgado on April 28, 1923, in Highland Park, Mich.) was discovered by bandleader Xavier Cugat (who played himself in You Were Never Lovelier). She began her Hollywood career at Columbia in the early 1940s, but shortly thereafter moved over to the third-rank Republic Pictures. Despite her sixty or so film appearances throughout the ’40s, Mara never became a star. Instead, she [...]...
- 5/11/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Aside from maybe those who would pay to see a preshorn Keri Russell, there isn't much in the way of an audience for "Mad About Mambo", a cloyingly artificial romantic comedy set in Northern Ireland that features the "Felicity" star in all her former follicular glory.
Serving as a feature filmmaking bow for screenwriter-director John Forte, the Gramercy Pictures remnant is a lazy retread of "Dirty Dancing", "Strictly Ballroom", "The Full Monty" and just about whatever else could be cribbed to boost theoretical commercial potential.
But the uninspired result comes across more like "Focus Group: The Movie" rather than any sort of greatest-hits package, despite the bonus Dublin-doubling-for-Belfast backdrop.
Actually produced pre-"Felicity", the film initially focuses on 18-year-old Danny Mitchell (William Ash), a student at St. Joseph's, a Catholic boys' school in working-class West Belfast. An avid soccer player who dreams of playing professionally for Belfast United, which recently imported star Brazilian player Carlos Rega (Daniel Caltagirone), Danny decides his style could benefit from a little Latin rhythmic infusion.
When his self-taught approach fails to generate the desired results, Danny enrolls at a dance studio, where he spots Lucy McLaughlin (Russell), a fair but somewhat chilly lass who's preparing for the Regional Latin Dance Finals with her pompous, possessive dance partner/boyfriend, Oliver (Theo Fraser Steele).
Thanks to some particularly lame plotting that conveniently puts Oliver out of the picture for a while, Danny hooks up with privileged, private-school-attending Lucy, and you just know their differences and initial hostilities will eventually melt into something warm and wonderful.
While Russell can certainly look the part, the only thing more tentative than her Irish brogue is her on-screen chemistry with British actor Ash. Their imposed romance feels as choreographed as their fancy dance moves, and even those -- for the most part tellingly shot above the waist -- are suspect.
Busy character actor Brian Cox, on the other hand, does his best Albert Finney as Sidney McLaughlin, Lucy's colorful local entrepreneur dad.
But despite a buoyant soundtrack that works overtime to fill the voids of energy and passion with selections by the likes of Xavier Cugat, Astrud Gilberto, Sergio Mendes and even a Spice Girls cover band, it's not enough to make up for Forte's slapped-together hodgepodge of recycled movie moments.
MAD ABOUT MAMBO
USA Films
Gramercy Pictures presents
in association with Phoenix Pictures
a First City production
in association with Plurabelle Films
Director-screenwriter: John Forte
Producer: David P. Kelly
Executive producers: Gabriel Byrne,
Martin Bruce-Clayton
Director of photography: Ashley Rowe
Production designer: Fiona Daly
Editor: David Martin
Costume designer: Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh
Music: Richard Hartley
Color/stereo
Cast:
Danny Mitchell: William Ash
Lucy McLaughlin: Keri Russell
Sidney McLaughlin: Brian Cox
Oliver Parr: Theo Fraser Steele
Mickey: Paul McLean
Gary: Russell Smith
Spike: Joe Rea
Carlos Rega: Daniel Caltagirone
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Serving as a feature filmmaking bow for screenwriter-director John Forte, the Gramercy Pictures remnant is a lazy retread of "Dirty Dancing", "Strictly Ballroom", "The Full Monty" and just about whatever else could be cribbed to boost theoretical commercial potential.
But the uninspired result comes across more like "Focus Group: The Movie" rather than any sort of greatest-hits package, despite the bonus Dublin-doubling-for-Belfast backdrop.
Actually produced pre-"Felicity", the film initially focuses on 18-year-old Danny Mitchell (William Ash), a student at St. Joseph's, a Catholic boys' school in working-class West Belfast. An avid soccer player who dreams of playing professionally for Belfast United, which recently imported star Brazilian player Carlos Rega (Daniel Caltagirone), Danny decides his style could benefit from a little Latin rhythmic infusion.
When his self-taught approach fails to generate the desired results, Danny enrolls at a dance studio, where he spots Lucy McLaughlin (Russell), a fair but somewhat chilly lass who's preparing for the Regional Latin Dance Finals with her pompous, possessive dance partner/boyfriend, Oliver (Theo Fraser Steele).
Thanks to some particularly lame plotting that conveniently puts Oliver out of the picture for a while, Danny hooks up with privileged, private-school-attending Lucy, and you just know their differences and initial hostilities will eventually melt into something warm and wonderful.
While Russell can certainly look the part, the only thing more tentative than her Irish brogue is her on-screen chemistry with British actor Ash. Their imposed romance feels as choreographed as their fancy dance moves, and even those -- for the most part tellingly shot above the waist -- are suspect.
Busy character actor Brian Cox, on the other hand, does his best Albert Finney as Sidney McLaughlin, Lucy's colorful local entrepreneur dad.
But despite a buoyant soundtrack that works overtime to fill the voids of energy and passion with selections by the likes of Xavier Cugat, Astrud Gilberto, Sergio Mendes and even a Spice Girls cover band, it's not enough to make up for Forte's slapped-together hodgepodge of recycled movie moments.
MAD ABOUT MAMBO
USA Films
Gramercy Pictures presents
in association with Phoenix Pictures
a First City production
in association with Plurabelle Films
Director-screenwriter: John Forte
Producer: David P. Kelly
Executive producers: Gabriel Byrne,
Martin Bruce-Clayton
Director of photography: Ashley Rowe
Production designer: Fiona Daly
Editor: David Martin
Costume designer: Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh
Music: Richard Hartley
Color/stereo
Cast:
Danny Mitchell: William Ash
Lucy McLaughlin: Keri Russell
Sidney McLaughlin: Brian Cox
Oliver Parr: Theo Fraser Steele
Mickey: Paul McLean
Gary: Russell Smith
Spike: Joe Rea
Carlos Rega: Daniel Caltagirone
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
He is dedicated as ever to certain indecencies and shall we say reversible brain damage. . . …he was among the first of the Sucking Chest Wound Singers to sleep on the yellow line . . .this throwback altarboy of Mobile, Alabama, brings spacey up-country tunes strewn with forgotten crabtraps, Confederate memories, chemical daydreams, Ipana vulgarity, ukulele madness and, yes Larry, a certain sweetness. But there is a good deal to admire in Buffett’s inspired evocations from this queerly amalgamated past most Americans now share. What Jimmy Buffett knows is that our personal...
- 10/4/1979
- by Chet Flippo
- Rollingstone.com
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