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2 items from 2011

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Forgotten Pre-Codes: "Sing and Like It" (1934)

8 December 2011 6:04 AM, PST | MUBI | See recent MUBI news »

Part of a series by David Cairns on forgotten pre-Code films. 

"Crime must not pay" is one of the most debilitating rules the Hays Code imposed on Hollywood. It's relatively easy for a filmmaker to work around crazy bans on words ("pregnant"), body parts (gone, all those extreme-longshot buttocks) or gestures (Frank McHugh raises a finger in Parachute Jumper), but when a philosophical ideal is given the weight of narrative law, cinema is forced back into the nursery. The filmmakers operating under this draconian blue pencil developed devious skills to bypass rulings and imply rather than say the unsayable, and it arguably helped their craft, but at the same time, certain kinds of stories just become impossible to tell honestly.

And certain kinds of fun were ruled out too, like much of what happens in Sing and Like It, directed by the lightly likable William A. Seiter, who clocked up well over a hundred films, »

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7 Faces Of Dr. Lao Review – Tony Randall, Barbara Eden d: George Pal

16 February 2011 11:12 AM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

7 Faces Of Dr. Lao (1964) Direction: George Pal Cast: Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell, John Ericson, Noah Beery Jr, Lee Patrick, Minerva Urecal, John Qualen Screenplay: Charles Beaumont; from Charles G. Finney's The Circus of Dr. Lao Oscar Movies Director George Pal's 7 Faces of Dr. Lao surprises on multiple levels: its witty screenplay by Twilight Zone writer Charles Beaumont, an odd assortment of well-defined characters, a brave performance by Tony Randall, and some of the best special effects of that time. In the film, a strange traveling magician drifts into a small western American town with the announcement that he is bringing with him a "Magic Circus." Calling himself "Dr. Lao," the eccentric Chinese character places his ad in the local newspaper and makes friends with the editor. But things are not as they seem. When the Circus magically appears, Dr. Lao changes appearances and personalities, interfering in »

- Danny Fortune

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2 items from 2011

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