Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Waldorf Declaration, which on November 25, 1947, officially launched the Hollywood Blacklist. On that day, the heads of the major studios, with a few notable exceptions, agreed after a contentious two-day conference at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City to ban the Hollywood Ten and to not “knowingly” employ Communists.
And so began one of the darkest chapters in Hollywood’s history.
Related Story Hollywood Blacklist: 75th Anniversary Of The Waldorf Declaration – Photo Gallery Related Story Donald Anthony St. Claire Dies: 'The Amazing Race' Oldest Competitor Was 87 Related Story Irene Cara Remembered By Colleagues, Friends And Fans
Just a few weeks earlier, the Hollywood Ten had denounced and refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and later were sent to federal prison for contempt of Congress.
“We will forthwith discharge or suspend without compensation those in our employ,” the Waldorf Declaration stated,...
And so began one of the darkest chapters in Hollywood’s history.
Related Story Hollywood Blacklist: 75th Anniversary Of The Waldorf Declaration – Photo Gallery Related Story Donald Anthony St. Claire Dies: 'The Amazing Race' Oldest Competitor Was 87 Related Story Irene Cara Remembered By Colleagues, Friends And Fans
Just a few weeks earlier, the Hollywood Ten had denounced and refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and later were sent to federal prison for contempt of Congress.
“We will forthwith discharge or suspend without compensation those in our employ,” the Waldorf Declaration stated,...
- 11/25/2022
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Apple TV +’s “Causeway” revolves around a U.S. soldier (Jennifer Lawrence) who suffers a traumatic brain injury while surviving in Afghanistan. Returning home, Lawrence’s Lynsey has a difficult time recovering physically, mentally, and emotionally. She finds a kindred spirit when she meets James (Brian Tyree Henry) who lost his leg in a car crash and is fighting his own demons
The well-received “Causeway” (Henry is nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award for outstanding supporting performance) is the latest in the movie genre exploring the problems veterans have once they return from the battlefield.
The best and most beloved of these films is 1946’s “The Best Years of Our Lives,” directed by William Wyler which won seven Oscars. The haunting drama looks at three World War II vets — all dealing with trauma and severe injuries — who return home to discover they and their families have forever changed.
Conversely...
The well-received “Causeway” (Henry is nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award for outstanding supporting performance) is the latest in the movie genre exploring the problems veterans have once they return from the battlefield.
The best and most beloved of these films is 1946’s “The Best Years of Our Lives,” directed by William Wyler which won seven Oscars. The haunting drama looks at three World War II vets — all dealing with trauma and severe injuries — who return home to discover they and their families have forever changed.
Conversely...
- 11/10/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Hollywood talent agents are famously competitive with one another. Whether big or boutique, agencies parry and joust in wooing talent and sealing deals.
But some issues transcend money and ego. Hate speech is one of them.
Bob Gersh, longtime leader of the agency founded by his father in the 1960s, has watched Kanye West’s abhorrent outbursts of antisemitism over the past two weeks with dismay. On Saturday, the Gersh Agency chief reached out to Variety to express support for Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s call for businesses to condemn and cut ties with West. That list includes Apple, Spotify and Adidas. West has already had accounts restricted on Twitter and Instagram because of the nature of his comments about Jewish people.
“This is as low as it can get,” Gersh told Variety of West’s recent comments. “This is the most blatant form of hatred and antisemitism one could imagine.
But some issues transcend money and ego. Hate speech is one of them.
Bob Gersh, longtime leader of the agency founded by his father in the 1960s, has watched Kanye West’s abhorrent outbursts of antisemitism over the past two weeks with dismay. On Saturday, the Gersh Agency chief reached out to Variety to express support for Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s call for businesses to condemn and cut ties with West. That list includes Apple, Spotify and Adidas. West has already had accounts restricted on Twitter and Instagram because of the nature of his comments about Jewish people.
“This is as low as it can get,” Gersh told Variety of West’s recent comments. “This is the most blatant form of hatred and antisemitism one could imagine.
- 10/23/2022
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Seventy-five years ago, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (Huac for purposes of pronunciation) launched the first of its series of postwar investigations into alleged communist subversion in Hollywood.
The show trial was staged from Oct. 20 to 30, 1947, and you can probably rewind the newsreel images in your mind’s eye: the unhinged committee chairman, J. Parnell Thomas (D-n.J.), yelling over witnesses and furiously pounding his gavel; the compliant straight men accusing former colleagues of the most unpatriotic heresies in Cold War America; and the backtalking recalcitrants being hauled away from the witness table mid-harangue.
In countless documentaries and fictional reenactments, the confrontations are cast as a morality play pitting the craven Friendlies (as those who named names and sucked up to the committee are called) against the defiant Unfriendlies, who refused to cower before their inquisitors and would soon to be immortalized...
Seventy-five years ago, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (Huac for purposes of pronunciation) launched the first of its series of postwar investigations into alleged communist subversion in Hollywood.
The show trial was staged from Oct. 20 to 30, 1947, and you can probably rewind the newsreel images in your mind’s eye: the unhinged committee chairman, J. Parnell Thomas (D-n.J.), yelling over witnesses and furiously pounding his gavel; the compliant straight men accusing former colleagues of the most unpatriotic heresies in Cold War America; and the backtalking recalcitrants being hauled away from the witness table mid-harangue.
In countless documentaries and fictional reenactments, the confrontations are cast as a morality play pitting the craven Friendlies (as those who named names and sucked up to the committee are called) against the defiant Unfriendlies, who refused to cower before their inquisitors and would soon to be immortalized...
- 10/20/2022
- by Thomas Doherty
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jules Dassin’s most popular pre-exile crime thriller is many things: a cracking good police tale, a drama of human struggle and weakness, and an amazing cinematic time machine of New York’s distinctive hustle and bustle circa 1948. Mark Hellinger’s final production bristles with a ‘these are the facts’ narration, a voiceover personifying a city ‘with eight million stories.’ The filmed-on-location classic always looked okay, but this new restoration sources better elements for picture and sound, improving the show substantially.
The Naked City
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 380
1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 8, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor, Ted de Corsia, House Jameson, Anne Sargent, Adelaide Klein, Tom Pedi, Enid Markey.
Cinematography: William Daniels
Film Editor: Paul Weatherwax
Original Music: Miklos Rozsa, Frank Skinner
Written by Albert Maltz, Malvin Wald
Produced by Mark Hellinger
Directed by Jules Dassin...
The Naked City
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 380
1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 8, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor, Ted de Corsia, House Jameson, Anne Sargent, Adelaide Klein, Tom Pedi, Enid Markey.
Cinematography: William Daniels
Film Editor: Paul Weatherwax
Original Music: Miklos Rozsa, Frank Skinner
Written by Albert Maltz, Malvin Wald
Produced by Mark Hellinger
Directed by Jules Dassin...
- 9/8/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'In the Fade' with Diane Kruger: Fatih Akin's German-language Avenging Woman drama may give its star the chance to become next awards season Isabelle Huppert. Diane Kruger: 2017–2018 awards season's Isabelle Huppert? The 2003 Cannes Film Festival's Female Revelation Chopard Trophy winner, Diane Kruger was Cannes' 2017 Best Actress winner for Fatih Akin's In the Fade / Aus dem Nichts. If Akin's German drama finds a U.S. distributor before the end of the year, Kruger could theoretically become the Isabelle Huppert of the 2017–2018 awards season – that is, in case the former does become a U.S. critics favorite while we stretch things a bit regarding the Kruger-Huppert commonalities. Just a bit, as both are European-born Best Actress Cannes winners who have been around for a while (in Huppert's case, for quite a while). Perhaps most importantly, like Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's Elle, Kruger plays a woman out for revenge in In the Fade. Diane Kruger-Isabelle Huppert 'differences' There is, however, one key difference between the two characters: in Elle, Huppert wants to avenge her own rape; in In the Fade, Kruger wants to avenge the death of her Turkish husband (Numan Acar) and their son (Rafael Santana) at the hands of white supremacist terrorists. Another key difference, this time about the Kruger-Huppert Cannes Film Festival connection: although Isabelle Huppert became a U.S. critics favorite – and later a Best Actress Oscar nominee – for her performance in Elle, her (unanimous) Best Actress Cannes win was for another movie, Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher / La pianiste back in 2001. At that time, Huppert also became a U.S. critics favorite (winning Best Actress honors in San Diego and San Francisco; a runner-up in Los Angeles and New York), but, perhaps because of the psychological drama's sexually charged nature, she failed to receive a matching Oscar nod. Last year's Cannes Best Actress, by the way, was Jaclyn Jose for Brillante Mendoza's Philippine drama Ma' Rosa. Huppert had been in contention as well, as Elle was in the running for the Palme d'Or. Diane Kruger Best Actress Oscar nomination chances? A Best Actress nomination for Diane Kruger at the German Academy Awards (a.k.a. Lolas) – for her first German-language starring role – is all but guaranteed. Curiously, that would be her first. As for a Best Actress Oscar nod, that's less certain. For starters, unlike the mostly well-reviewed Elle, In the Fade has sharply divided critics. The Hollywood Reporter, for one, summarized Akin's film as a “thriller made riveting by an emotional performance from Diane Kruger,” while The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called it a “mediocre revenge drama” with “a not particularly good” star turn. Besides, since the year 2000 just one “individual” Best Actress Cannes winner has gone on to receive an Oscar nomination for the same performance: Rooney Mara*, who, though one of the two leads in Todd Haynes' Carol (2011), was shortlisted in the Oscars' Best Supporting Actress category so as not to compete with her co-star and eventual Best Actress nominee Cate Blanchett. Then there's the special case of Penélope Cruz; the 2006 Best Actress Oscar nominee – for Pedro Almodóvar's Volver – was a Cannes winner as part of that family comedy-drama ensemble†. And finally, despite their Cannes Best Actress win for performances in (at least partly) English-language films, no less than seven other actresses have failed to be shortlisted for the Academy Awards this century. Björk, Dancer in the Dark (2000). Maggie Cheung, Clean (2004). Hanna Laslo, Free Zone (2005). Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist (2009). Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy (2010). Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia (2011). Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars (2014). Coincidentally, that same year Moore starred in Still Alice, which eventually earned her the Best Actress Oscar. Warner Bros. will be distributing In the Fade in Germany later this year. Regarding the Oscars, whether late in 2017 or late in 2018, seems like it would be helpful if Diane Kruger got a hold of Isabelle Huppert's – and/or Marion Cotillard's and Jean Dujardin's – U.S.-based awards season publicists. * Rooney Mara shared the 2011 Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award with Emmanuelle Bercot for My King / Mon roi. † Also in the Cannes-winning Volver ensemble: Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Chus Lampreave, and Yohana Cobo. 'The Beguiled' trailer: Colin Farrell cast in the old Clint Eastwood role in Sofia Coppola's readaptation of Civil War-set, lust & circumstance drama. Sofia Coppola ends Cannes female drought About 13 years ago, Sofia Coppola became the first American woman to be shortlisted for the Best Director Academy Award – for the Tokyo-set drama Lost in Translation, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Coppola eventually lost in that category to Peter Jackson for the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but she did take home that year's Best Original Screenplay Oscar statuette. There haven't been any other Oscar nominations since, but her father-daughter drama Somewhere, toplining Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, was the controversial Golden Lion winner at the 2010 Venice Film Festival. This year, Coppola has become only the second woman to win the Cannes Film Festival's Best Director Award – for The Beguiled, an American Civil War-set drama based on Thomas P. Cullinan's 1966 novel of the same name (originally published as A Painted Devil). With shades of Rumer Godden's Black Narcissus, The Beguiled follows a wounded Union soldier as he finds refuge at a girls' boarding school in Virginia. Sexual tension and assorted forms of pathological behavior ensue. Tenuous Cannes-Oscar Best Director connection From 2000 to 2016, 20 filmmakers† have taken home the Cannes Film Festival's Best Director Award. Of these, only four have gone on to receive matching Best Director Oscar nominations – but no wins: David Lynch, Mulholland Dr. (2001). Alejandro González Iñárritu, Babel (2006). Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007). Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher (2014). Four other Cannes Best Director winners were bypassed by the Academy even though their movies featured – at least a sizable chunk of – English-language dialogue: Joel Coen, The Man Who Wasn't There§ (2001). Paul Thomas Anderson, Punch-Drunk Love (2002). Gus Van Sant, Elephant (2004). Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive (2011). In other words, a Best Director Cannes Film Festival win is no guarantee of a Best Director Academy Award nomination. Ultimately, Sofia Coppola's chances of an Oscar nod in the Best Director category depend on how well The Beguiled is received among Los Angeles and New York film circles, and how commercially successful – for an “arthouse movie” – it turns out to be. † During that period, there were three Cannes Film Festival Best Director ties: 2001: Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There§ & David Lynch for Mulholland Dr. 2002: Im Kwon-taek for Painted Fire & Paul Thomas Anderson for Punch-Drunk Love. 2016: Cristian Mungiu for Graduation & Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper. Both films opened in the U.S. in spring 2017 and may thus be eligible for the upcoming awards season. § Ethan Coen co-directed The Man Who Wasn't There, but didn't receive credit in that capacity. 'The Beguiled' with Nicole Kidman. The Best Actress Oscar winner ('The Hours,' 2002) had two movies in the Cannes Film Festival's Official Competition; the other one was 'The Killing of the Secret Deer,' also with Colin Farrell. Moreover, Kidman was the recipient of Cannes' special 70th Anniversary Prize. 'Sly' & 'elegant' Also adapted by Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled will be distributed in the U.S. by Oscar veteran Focus Features (Brokeback Mountain, The Danish Girl). The film has generally received positive notices – e.g., “sly” and “elegant” in the words of Time magazine's Stephanie Zacharek – and could well become a strong awards season contender in various categories. The cast includes The Killing of a Sacred Deer actors Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell, in addition to Kirsten Dunst (the star of Coppola's Marie Antoinette), Somewhere actress Elle Fanning, Oona Laurence, Addison Riecke, Angourie Rice, and Emma Howard. As an aside, Cullinan's novel also served as the basis for Don Siegel's The Beguiled (1971), a Southern Gothic effort adapted by Irene Kamp and former Hollywood Ten member Albert Maltz. In the cast of what turned out to be a major box office flop: Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman, and Jo Ann Harris. Women directors at Cannes & the Oscars For the record, Soviet filmmaker Yuliya Solntseva was the Cannes Film Festival's first Best Director winner, for The Story of the Flaming Years back in 1961. The only woman to have directed a Palme d'Or winner is Jane Campion, for The Piano (1993). Early in 1994, Campion became the second woman to be shortlisted for an Academy Award in the Best Director category. The first one was Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties (1976). 'A Gentle Night' & 'Montparnasse Bienvenue' Qiu Yang's short film Palme d'Or winner A Gentle Night should be automatically eligible for the 2018 Academy Awards. But competition, as usual, will be fierce. In the last decade, the only short film Palme d'Or winner to have received an Oscar nomination is Juanjo Giménez Peña's Timecode (2016), in the Best Live Action Short Film category. This article was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/).
- 6/21/2017
- by Steph Mont.
- Alt Film Guide
The Beguiled Focus Features Director: Sofia Coppola Written by: Sofia Coppola based on Thomas Cullinan’s novel and Albert Maltz and Grimes Grice’s screenplay Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning Screened at: Dolby88, NYC, 6/19/17 Opens: June 23, 2017 Given the way the U.S. is divided today, politicians from red states clashing with […]
The post The Beguiled Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Beguiled Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/20/2017
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Submarine movie evening: Underwater war waged in TCM's Memorial Day films In the U.S., Turner Classic Movies has gone all red, white, and blue this 2017 Memorial Day weekend, presenting a few dozen Hollywood movies set during some of the numerous wars in which the U.S. has been involved around the globe during the last century or so. On Memorial Day proper, TCM is offering a submarine movie evening. More on that further below. But first it's good to remember that although war has, to put it mildly, serious consequences for all involved, it can be particularly brutal on civilians – whether male or female; young or old; saintly or devilish; no matter the nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other label used in order to, figuratively or literally, split apart human beings. Just this past Sunday, the Pentagon chief announced that civilian deaths should be anticipated as “a...
- 5/30/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Sofia Coppola's new version of The Beguiled will debut at the Cannes Film Festival next week, ahead of its theatrical release in the U.S. on June 23, which makes this is an opportune time to consider Don Siegel's 1971 version starring Clint Eastwood. Both movies are based on a novel by Thomas Cullinan, first published in 1966, that follows a badly wounded Union soldier who is given refuge in a Southern girls' academy, where "his presence sets in motion a tragedy of jealousy, hate and lust." (At least, according to Goodreads). As adapted by Albert Maltz and Irene Kamp (writing under their pseudonyms John B. Sherry and Grimes Grice), the film dramatizes that premise. Clint Eastwood portrays John McBurney, the aforementioned Union soldier who is...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 5/18/2017
- Screen Anarchy
The Loved One
Blu-ray
Warner Archives
1965 / B&W / 1:85 / / 122 min. / Street Date May 9, 2017
Starring: Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer.
Cinematography: Haskell Wexler
Film Editor: Hal Ashby, Brian Smedley-Aston
Written by Terry Southern, Christopher Isherwood
Produced by Martin Ransohoff (uncredited), John Calley, Haskell Wexler
Directed by Tony Richardson
Funeral Director: Before you go, I was just wondering… would you be interested in some extras for the loved one?
Next Of Kin: What kind of extras?
Funeral Director: Well, how about a casket?
Mike Nichols and Elaine May – The $65 Dollar Funeral
That routine, a classic example of what was known in the early 60’s as “sick humor”, was nevertheless ubiquitous across mainstream variety shows like Ed Sullivan and Jack Paar. It also popularized the notion of a new boutique industry, the vanity funeral. The novelist Evelyn Waugh, decidedly less mainstream, documented the beginning of that phenomenon over a decade earlier with The Loved One,...
Blu-ray
Warner Archives
1965 / B&W / 1:85 / / 122 min. / Street Date May 9, 2017
Starring: Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer.
Cinematography: Haskell Wexler
Film Editor: Hal Ashby, Brian Smedley-Aston
Written by Terry Southern, Christopher Isherwood
Produced by Martin Ransohoff (uncredited), John Calley, Haskell Wexler
Directed by Tony Richardson
Funeral Director: Before you go, I was just wondering… would you be interested in some extras for the loved one?
Next Of Kin: What kind of extras?
Funeral Director: Well, how about a casket?
Mike Nichols and Elaine May – The $65 Dollar Funeral
That routine, a classic example of what was known in the early 60’s as “sick humor”, was nevertheless ubiquitous across mainstream variety shows like Ed Sullivan and Jack Paar. It also popularized the notion of a new boutique industry, the vanity funeral. The novelist Evelyn Waugh, decidedly less mainstream, documented the beginning of that phenomenon over a decade earlier with The Loved One,...
- 5/8/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
When it comes to potential Hollywood film projects, there are unsubstantiated rumours, and then there are rumours that increasingly look to be likelihoods. The Beguiled is becoming one such likelihood, as Indiewire report that the rumours surrounding the potential project are being supported by comments from people such as Kirsten Dunst. It seems that Academy Award winner Sofia Coppola could well be lining up a fresh version of The Beguiled, with Nicole Kidman, Dunst and Elle Fanning set to star.
First and foremost, The Beguiled is a 1966 novel by Thomas Cullinan, which was previously adapted for cinema in 1971, starring Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman and Jo Ann Harris. That version was directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry), and written by Albert Maltz, Irene Kamp and Claude Traverse. If it actually comes together, this new version by Sofia Coppola is expected to present a new adaptation of the source novel,...
First and foremost, The Beguiled is a 1966 novel by Thomas Cullinan, which was previously adapted for cinema in 1971, starring Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman and Jo Ann Harris. That version was directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry), and written by Albert Maltz, Irene Kamp and Claude Traverse. If it actually comes together, this new version by Sofia Coppola is expected to present a new adaptation of the source novel,...
- 3/30/2016
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
Frank Sinatra shines in a story of police corruption that tries to say it like it is -- or like it was in 1968, just before the ratings system came in. The well-intentioned, suspenseful story is burdened by odd censor choices, Sinatra's conservative self-image, and rudely retrograde attitudes toward gays. In a sparkling new transfer with Jerry Goldsmith's jazzy score isolated on its own track. The Detective Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 114 min. / Ship Date December 8, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, Jacqueline Bisset, William Windom, Al Freeman Jr., Tony Musante, Lloyd Bochner, Robert Duvall, Horace McMahon Cinematography Joseph F. Biroc Art Direction William J. Creber, Jack Martin Smith Film Editor Robert L. Simpson Original Music Jerry Goldsmith Written by Abby Mann from a novel by Roderick Thorpe Produced by Aaron Rosenberg Directed by Gordon Douglas
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 12/30/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Joan Crawford in 'Mildred Pierce.' 'Mildred Pierce' review: Very entertaining soap opera Time has a way of making some films seem grander than they really are. A good example is Mildred Pierce, the 1945 black-and-white melodrama directed by Casablanca's Michael Curtiz, and that won star Joan Crawford a Best Actress Oscar. Mildred Pierce is in no way, shape, or form great art, even though it's certainly not a bad film. In fact, as a soap opera it's quite entertaining – no, make that very entertaining; and entertainment is a quality that can stand on its own. (The problem in recent decades is that cinema has become nothing but entertainment.) In the case of Mildred Pierce, the entertainment is formulaic and rather predictable – but in an enjoyable, campy sort of way. Unbridled Hollywood melodrama Now, what makes Mildred Pierce a melodrama is something known as the Dumbest Possible Action – Dpa for short.
- 12/12/2015
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
'Trumbo' movie: Bryan Cranston as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and Helen Mirren as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. 'Trumbo' movie review: Highly entertaining 'history lesson' Full disclosure: on the wall in my study hangs a poster – the iconic photograph of blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, with black-horned rim glasses, handlebar mustache, a smoke dangling from the end of a dramatic cigarette holder. He's sitting – stark naked – in a tub surrounded by his particular writing apparatus. He's looking directly into the camera of the photographer, his daughter Mitzi. Dalton Trumbo's son, Christopher Trumbo, gave me the poster after my interview with him for the release of Peter Askin's 2007 documentary also titled Trumbo. That film combines archival footage, including family movies and photographs, with performances of the senior Trumbo's letters to his family during their many years of turmoil before and through the blacklist, including his time in prison. The letters are read by,...
- 11/7/2015
- by Tim Cogshell
- Alt Film Guide
Veterans Day movies on TCM: From 'The Sullivans' to 'Patton' (photo: George C. Scott in 'Patton') This evening, Turner Classic Movies is presenting five war or war-related films in celebration of Veterans Day. For those outside the United States, Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day, which takes place in late May. (Scroll down to check out TCM's Veterans Day movie schedule.) It's good to be aware that in the last century alone, the U.S. has been involved in more than a dozen armed conflicts, from World War I to the invasion of Iraq, not including direct or indirect military interventions in countries as disparate as Iran, Guatemala, and Chile. As to be expected in a society that reveres people in uniform, American war movies have almost invariably glorified American soldiers even in those rare instances when they have dared to criticize the military establishment.
- 11/12/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Eleanor Parker dead at 91: ‘The Sound of Music’ actress, three-time Best Actress Oscar nominee (photo: Eleanor Parker ca. 1945) Eleanor Parker, one of the best and most beautiful actresses of the studio era, a three-time Best Actress Academy Award nominee, and one of the stars of the 1965 blockbuster and Best Picture Oscar winner The Sound of Music, died today, December 9, 2013, of complications from pneumonia at a medical facility near her home in the Southern Californian desert town of Palm Springs. Eleanor Parker was 91. “I’m primarily a character actress,” Parker told the Toronto Star in 1988. “I’ve portrayed so many diverse individuals on the screen that my own personality never emerged.” At one point, wildly imaginative publicists called her The Woman of a Thousand Faces — an absurd label, when you think of Man of a Thousand Faces Lon Chaney. Eleanor Parker never altered her appearance the way Chaney did — her...
- 12/10/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
This Gun for Hire
Written by Albert Maltz and W.R. Burnett
Directed by Frank Tuttle
U.S.A, 1942
The great American actor Alan Ladd died at the unfairly young age of 50. With a series of leading roles in some timeless classics during the 1940s and 1950s he carved himself a firm place in Hollywood lore. His quality work in such films as The Blue Dahlia, Two Years Before the Mast and Shane earned him critical acclaim as well as a bevy of movie fans. He could play cool and he could play tough as nails, yet was also clearly capable of demonstrating a subtle humane side to even his most hardened characters. One of the early films of his career that helped pave his way into stardom was the 1942, Frank Tuttle directed This Gun for Hire, a multi-genre mashing of WWII, spy and noir themes.
An alarm clock wakes up...
Written by Albert Maltz and W.R. Burnett
Directed by Frank Tuttle
U.S.A, 1942
The great American actor Alan Ladd died at the unfairly young age of 50. With a series of leading roles in some timeless classics during the 1940s and 1950s he carved himself a firm place in Hollywood lore. His quality work in such films as The Blue Dahlia, Two Years Before the Mast and Shane earned him critical acclaim as well as a bevy of movie fans. He could play cool and he could play tough as nails, yet was also clearly capable of demonstrating a subtle humane side to even his most hardened characters. One of the early films of his career that helped pave his way into stardom was the 1942, Frank Tuttle directed This Gun for Hire, a multi-genre mashing of WWII, spy and noir themes.
An alarm clock wakes up...
- 7/19/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
(Lamont Johnson, 1974, Transition, 12)
In January 1945, Private Eddie Slovik was executed in France, the only American soldier shot for desertion since the civil war. General Eisenhower refused to commute the sentence (as he later, when president, refused to reprieve the Rosenbergs).
The Pentagon attempted unsuccessfully to repress William Bradford Huie's 1954 book on the subject. In 1960, Frank Sinatra cancelled his proposed film version (scripted by blacklisted writer Albert Maltz) under pressure from Joseph Kennedy, who thought Sinatra's involvement in such a controversial project would damage JFK's presidential prospects. In formerly blacklisted Carl Foreman's The Victors (1963), a wintry firing squad scene inspired by the Slovik affair is accompanied by Sinatra's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
The movie was finally made for TV by the reliable Lamont Johnson. It attracted a record audience for a one-off TV drama and is a sombre, sober, unsentimental work about chance fate, the arbitrary...
In January 1945, Private Eddie Slovik was executed in France, the only American soldier shot for desertion since the civil war. General Eisenhower refused to commute the sentence (as he later, when president, refused to reprieve the Rosenbergs).
The Pentagon attempted unsuccessfully to repress William Bradford Huie's 1954 book on the subject. In 1960, Frank Sinatra cancelled his proposed film version (scripted by blacklisted writer Albert Maltz) under pressure from Joseph Kennedy, who thought Sinatra's involvement in such a controversial project would damage JFK's presidential prospects. In formerly blacklisted Carl Foreman's The Victors (1963), a wintry firing squad scene inspired by the Slovik affair is accompanied by Sinatra's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
The movie was finally made for TV by the reliable Lamont Johnson. It attracted a record audience for a one-off TV drama and is a sombre, sober, unsentimental work about chance fate, the arbitrary...
- 5/26/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Part of a series by David Cairns on forgotten pre-Code films.
Edward L. Cahn—how shall I sing your praises? Perhaps before seeing this film I wouldn't have bothered, though It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) is a genuinely exciting sci-fi horror, and a clear precursor to Alien. Apart from that, Cahn seems to resemble W. Lee Wilder (Billy Wilder's idiot brother), in that he was capable of semi-decent Z-grade noirs, but concentrated much of his attention on science fiction, a genre he seemed to have no understanding of and nothing but contempt for. Cahn's Invisible Invaders (1959) may safely be recommended to anybody who likes really, really stupid movies. Movies so stupid they forget to breath.
Above: The chain gang chorus line—a surprisingly uncommon trope.
But decades earlier, things were different. Cahn was already churning out several quickies a year, with snap-brimmed titles like Homicide Squad (1931) and Radio Patrol (1932). The difference was,...
Edward L. Cahn—how shall I sing your praises? Perhaps before seeing this film I wouldn't have bothered, though It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) is a genuinely exciting sci-fi horror, and a clear precursor to Alien. Apart from that, Cahn seems to resemble W. Lee Wilder (Billy Wilder's idiot brother), in that he was capable of semi-decent Z-grade noirs, but concentrated much of his attention on science fiction, a genre he seemed to have no understanding of and nothing but contempt for. Cahn's Invisible Invaders (1959) may safely be recommended to anybody who likes really, really stupid movies. Movies so stupid they forget to breath.
Above: The chain gang chorus line—a surprisingly uncommon trope.
But decades earlier, things were different. Cahn was already churning out several quickies a year, with snap-brimmed titles like Homicide Squad (1931) and Radio Patrol (1932). The difference was,...
- 12/15/2011
- MUBI
Looking for something to do in Manhattan over the next month? MoMA has announced the slate for its 9th annual International Festival of Film Preservation, in which the museum presents preserved and restored films from archives, studios and distributors around the world. This year’s festival runs from October 14 through November 19, and the lineup looks like a pretty stellar way to spend an evening (or twenty).
One of the highlights is the focus on ’70s genre-enthusiast and frequent Spielberg collaborator Joe Dante (Gremlins, Piranha). The festival opens this Friday with a digital preservation of the original celluloid print of Dante’s rarely screened 1968 debut, The Movie Orgy, a 4-hour barrage of B-movie trailers, ’60s commercials and bizarre found footage. A trashy spectacle that more than lives up to its ever-growing cult status.
Then, on Saturday, Dante’s Twilight Zone: The Movie segment, “It’s a Good Life” (the one with...
One of the highlights is the focus on ’70s genre-enthusiast and frequent Spielberg collaborator Joe Dante (Gremlins, Piranha). The festival opens this Friday with a digital preservation of the original celluloid print of Dante’s rarely screened 1968 debut, The Movie Orgy, a 4-hour barrage of B-movie trailers, ’60s commercials and bizarre found footage. A trashy spectacle that more than lives up to its ever-growing cult status.
Then, on Saturday, Dante’s Twilight Zone: The Movie segment, “It’s a Good Life” (the one with...
- 10/12/2011
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Variety is reporting Martin Scorsese has agreed to direct the biopic Sinatra for Universal Pictures and Mandalay Pictures with Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) writing the script based on the life of the iconic entertainer. Universal and Mandalay have acquired the Frank Sinatra life rights and music rights from Frank Sinatra Enterprises, but there is no word on what exactly will serve as material for the screenplay. Sinatra was an American singer and actor who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his part in From Here to Eternity and was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 1945 The House I Live In, which he shared with Frank Ross, Mervyn LeRoy, Albert Maltz and Earl Robinson. For more on his career check out his Wikipedia entry.
- 5/13/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Oscar nominated screenwriter Malvin Wald has died from age-related causes. He was 90.
Wald, who received an Academy Award nod for his script for 1948 movie The Naked City, passed away at Sherman Oaks Hospital in California on Thursday.
He is best known for writing the story for The Naked City and then co-writing its screenplay alongside Albert Maltz. The New York-set movie ended with the famous line: "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."
Wald also penned dozens of screenplays for TV shows including Perry Mason, Peter Gunn and Daktari.
Wald, who received an Academy Award nod for his script for 1948 movie The Naked City, passed away at Sherman Oaks Hospital in California on Thursday.
He is best known for writing the story for The Naked City and then co-writing its screenplay alongside Albert Maltz. The New York-set movie ended with the famous line: "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."
Wald also penned dozens of screenplays for TV shows including Perry Mason, Peter Gunn and Daktari.
- 3/10/2008
- WENN
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