1957 was a big year for David McCallum, the respected Glasgow-born actor known for “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Great Escape” and his 20-year run on “NCIS” as quirky pathologist Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard.
From the Oct. 23, 1957, edition of weekly Variety
The actor, who died Sept. 25 at the age of 90, logged six mentions in Variety that year, starting with a review in the March 20 edition of weekly that listed him in the cast of the British “crime meller” (aka crime melodrama) “The Secret Place.” From then on, McCallum was a staple in our pages, boarding movies, TV shows and legit stages in the U.S. and U.K. He never stopped working.
Wedding announcement for David McCallum and Jill Ireland from the May 22, 1957, edition of weekly Variety
1957 was also the year McCallum married actor Jill Ireland in London, an event commemorated with a wedding announcement in the May 22, 1957, edition of weekly.
From the Oct. 23, 1957, edition of weekly Variety
The actor, who died Sept. 25 at the age of 90, logged six mentions in Variety that year, starting with a review in the March 20 edition of weekly that listed him in the cast of the British “crime meller” (aka crime melodrama) “The Secret Place.” From then on, McCallum was a staple in our pages, boarding movies, TV shows and legit stages in the U.S. and U.K. He never stopped working.
Wedding announcement for David McCallum and Jill Ireland from the May 22, 1957, edition of weekly Variety
1957 was also the year McCallum married actor Jill Ireland in London, an event commemorated with a wedding announcement in the May 22, 1957, edition of weekly.
- 9/29/2023
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Bewitched fans watched Samantha Stephens figure out how to live her life as a witch while married to a mortal named Darrin Stephens for eight seasons. They fell in love with the pretty blonde whose nose twitched furiously, but they almost didn’t watch a witch named Samantha. The network initially wanted to name the main character Cassandra. Elizabeth Montgomery forced the network to change the character’s name.
Endora and Samantha Stephens | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Related
‘Bewitched’: There Was a Real-Life Affair on the Set of the Show
Elizabeth Montgomery was responsible for naming her ‘Bewitched’ Character Samantha
Elizabeth Montgomery was not the first choice for the starring role in Bewitched, nor was Samantha Stephens the intended name of the lead character. According to the New York Times, when Sol Saks penned the pilot script for Bewitched, the witch marrying a mortal was named Cassandra.
Endora and Samantha Stephens | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Related
‘Bewitched’: There Was a Real-Life Affair on the Set of the Show
Elizabeth Montgomery was responsible for naming her ‘Bewitched’ Character Samantha
Elizabeth Montgomery was not the first choice for the starring role in Bewitched, nor was Samantha Stephens the intended name of the lead character. According to the New York Times, when Sol Saks penned the pilot script for Bewitched, the witch marrying a mortal was named Cassandra.
- 5/21/2023
- by Andrea Francese
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
There are certain films I saw growing up that left me forever scarred: "The Neverending Story," "Watership Down," and "The Last Unicorn," to name the most memorable. However, I loved "The Last Unicorn" so much that it didn't matter that I felt inexplicably saddened by watching it. Much like "Watership Down" — also not meant for children — the 1982 film was watched by a generation of kids because it was animated. Naturally, that meant it was safe for children, right? Interestingly, the film, which just turned 40, wasn't originally intended for kids at all.
For one thing, the movie is scary. Not just obvious terrors like the monstrous Red Bull, but something even more frightening to children: being smothered by the ample bosom of a living tree — if you know, you know. The film was gorgeously animated by Rankin/Bass, the team that brought us the 1977 version of "The Hobbit." The screenplay was penned by Peter S. Beagle,...
For one thing, the movie is scary. Not just obvious terrors like the monstrous Red Bull, but something even more frightening to children: being smothered by the ample bosom of a living tree — if you know, you know. The film was gorgeously animated by Rankin/Bass, the team that brought us the 1977 version of "The Hobbit." The screenplay was penned by Peter S. Beagle,...
- 11/19/2022
- by Jamie Gerber
- Slash Film
"The Last Unicorn" was my favorite movie as a kid. I watched it over and over, never tiring of that gorgeous animation, the America soundtrack, or the strange sense of sadness I couldn't seem to shake after the credits rolled. It was weird, wonderful, and unlike anything else I had ever seen. How often I watch it may have diminished over time, but I never actually stopped. In fact, I'd say I put it on at least once every couple of years. The movie turns 40 this month and honestly, it still holds up.
Based on Peter S. Beagle's novel of the same name -- he also wrote the screenplay -- "The Last Unicorn" tells the story of the titular creature, who goes off in search of what happened to the rest of her kind. Along the way, she encounters friends, foes, and everything in between.
When people talk about movie masterpieces,...
Based on Peter S. Beagle's novel of the same name -- he also wrote the screenplay -- "The Last Unicorn" tells the story of the titular creature, who goes off in search of what happened to the rest of her kind. Along the way, she encounters friends, foes, and everything in between.
When people talk about movie masterpieces,...
- 11/19/2022
- by Jamie Gerber
- Slash Film
A new episode of the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw video series has just been released through the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel, and in this one we’re taking a look back at writer/director Larry Cohen’s 1985 film The Stuff (watch it Here), about a delicious dessert that has a strange effect on the people who consume it. We’ve previously talked about how Cohen made the concept of a killer baby work in It’s Alive, now find out how he made the idea of deadly dessert work by checking out the video embedded above!
The Stuff has the following synopsis:
It’s smooth and creamy! It’s delicious! It isn’t filling! It’s taken the country by storm… and it kills! It’s The Stuff! The newest taste sensation is outselling ice cream two-to-one and merchants can’t keep up with the voracious demand. In...
The Stuff has the following synopsis:
It’s smooth and creamy! It’s delicious! It isn’t filling! It’s taken the country by storm… and it kills! It’s The Stuff! The newest taste sensation is outselling ice cream two-to-one and merchants can’t keep up with the voracious demand. In...
- 9/6/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
"The Last Unicorn" was my favorite film as a child and honestly, remains in my top five even as an adult. The 1982 underrated animated classic is unlike anything that has come before or since. Based on Peter S. Beagle's 1968 novel of the same name (he also wrote the screenplay), the story follows the titular unicorn (voiced by Mia Farrow) as she searches the world for others like her, after hearing she is the last. Along the way, she is kidnapped by the villainous Mommy Fortuna (Angela Lansbury), befriends Schmendrick the magician (Alan Arkin) and Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), and must contend with the terrifying...
The post Turns Out The Last Unicorn Is A Secret Studio Ghibli Film appeared first on /Film.
The post Turns Out The Last Unicorn Is A Secret Studio Ghibli Film appeared first on /Film.
- 1/30/2022
- by Jamie Gerber
- Slash Film
Star passed away peacefully at home in Connecticut.
Canadian actor Christopher Plummer has died aged 91. His family confirmed that he passed away peacefully at home in Connecticut with his wife of 53 years, Elaine Taylor, by his side.
Perhaps most famous for playing Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound Of Music, Plummer’s other film roles included The Fall of The Roman Empire, The Man Who Would Be King, The Last Station, All the Money In The World and Beginners, for which he won an Academy Award for best supporting actor in 2012 at the age of 82, making him the oldest actor to win an Oscar.
Canadian actor Christopher Plummer has died aged 91. His family confirmed that he passed away peacefully at home in Connecticut with his wife of 53 years, Elaine Taylor, by his side.
Perhaps most famous for playing Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound Of Music, Plummer’s other film roles included The Fall of The Roman Empire, The Man Who Would Be King, The Last Station, All the Money In The World and Beginners, for which he won an Academy Award for best supporting actor in 2012 at the age of 82, making him the oldest actor to win an Oscar.
- 2/5/2021
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
John Mahon, an actor, director and writer who played a police chief in 1997’s L.A. Confidential and, as a language lab director in one of the creepiest moments of The Exorcist revealed that recorded demon gibberish was in fact backwards English, died of natural causes at his Los Angeles home on May 3. He was 82.
The death was announced by his son Joseph Mahon.
Having appeared in a short-lived 1971 Off Broadway production of playwright/actor Jason Miller’s Nobody Hears A Broken Drum, Mahon landed a small but pivotal role in his friend Miller’s breakthrough film The Exorcist. In the movie, Miller’s Father Karas, who has tape-recorded the possessed girl speaking what sounds like random nonsense syllables, is stunned when Mahon’s lab director recognized the sounds as backwards English.
Later, in the late 1970s, Mahon directed actor Broderick Crawford That Championship Season. He also directed a production...
The death was announced by his son Joseph Mahon.
Having appeared in a short-lived 1971 Off Broadway production of playwright/actor Jason Miller’s Nobody Hears A Broken Drum, Mahon landed a small but pivotal role in his friend Miller’s breakthrough film The Exorcist. In the movie, Miller’s Father Karas, who has tape-recorded the possessed girl speaking what sounds like random nonsense syllables, is stunned when Mahon’s lab director recognized the sounds as backwards English.
Later, in the late 1970s, Mahon directed actor Broderick Crawford That Championship Season. He also directed a production...
- 5/20/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Love Fraud promoted to Day One screening.
In a programming addition, Sundance Film Festival 2020 has slotted in the world premiere of Jeff Orlowski’s documentary The Social Dilemma, and added Born Into Brothels and High Art to its From The Collection strand.
The Social Dilemma explores how tech giants like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are “reprogramming civilisation”.
Sundance brass have also promote previously announced Special Event Love Fraud to a Day One screening at the festival, set to run in Park City, Utah, from January 23–February 2, 2020.
Focus Features/Universal Pictures will present a new Dcp of Lisa Cholodenko...
In a programming addition, Sundance Film Festival 2020 has slotted in the world premiere of Jeff Orlowski’s documentary The Social Dilemma, and added Born Into Brothels and High Art to its From The Collection strand.
The Social Dilemma explores how tech giants like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are “reprogramming civilisation”.
Sundance brass have also promote previously announced Special Event Love Fraud to a Day One screening at the festival, set to run in Park City, Utah, from January 23–February 2, 2020.
Focus Features/Universal Pictures will present a new Dcp of Lisa Cholodenko...
- 12/18/2019
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Since I’m on holidays, let’s look at a mode of transport I won’t be using this year: The Terror at 37,000 Feet (1973), which fits snugly in the ‘70s Disaster Sweepstakes, television division. A star-studded goof fest, it’s a fun destination vacation; or at the very least a pleasant diversion with a solid supernatural bent.
Disaster movies were all the rage; Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (‘72), Earthquake (’74) and many more kept people lined up at the box office. But what about those staring intently at their little boxes at home? TV always reflected what was happening on the big screen, and Terror loads its craft with as many of the tropes as possible.
Originally broadcast on Tuesday, February 13th as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies, Terror’s competition was movies from the other two networks; Tuesday’s were not exactly prime Prime Time.
So, open up...
Disaster movies were all the rage; Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (‘72), Earthquake (’74) and many more kept people lined up at the box office. But what about those staring intently at their little boxes at home? TV always reflected what was happening on the big screen, and Terror loads its craft with as many of the tropes as possible.
Originally broadcast on Tuesday, February 13th as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies, Terror’s competition was movies from the other two networks; Tuesday’s were not exactly prime Prime Time.
So, open up...
- 9/22/2019
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Neil Simon, the creator of such Pulitzer and Tony award-winning plays as The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park and Lost in Yonkers, has died at 91. He died last night at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City from complications from pneumonia.
Simon was a giant of popular content creation, the playwright behind works that were performed worldwide by high schools, local theater groups and Broadway, where he was dominant in the last half of the 20th century. Simon’s unparalleled career in the theater included more than thirty plays and musicals that opened on Broadway over a span of four decades.
He made his playwriting debut in 1961, with Come Blow Your Horn and concluded his Broadway run with 45 Seconds From Broadway in 2001.
“No playwright in Broadway’s long and raucous history has so dominated the boulevard as the softly astringent Simon,” wrote John Lahr in The New Yorker in 2010. “For almost half a century,...
Simon was a giant of popular content creation, the playwright behind works that were performed worldwide by high schools, local theater groups and Broadway, where he was dominant in the last half of the 20th century. Simon’s unparalleled career in the theater included more than thirty plays and musicals that opened on Broadway over a span of four decades.
He made his playwriting debut in 1961, with Come Blow Your Horn and concluded his Broadway run with 45 Seconds From Broadway in 2001.
“No playwright in Broadway’s long and raucous history has so dominated the boulevard as the softly astringent Simon,” wrote John Lahr in The New Yorker in 2010. “For almost half a century,...
- 8/26/2018
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Comics Alliance The Flash movie, starring Ezra Miller, loses its Dope director
Mnpp Matthias Schoenaerts and Jane Fonda on set together!
The New York on The Handmaiden and lesbian historical fiction
EW will give us an extensive first look at Beauty and the Beast in the new issue
The Film Doctor on Woody Allen's Cafe Society - have you caught up with this on dvd?
i09 because once you are all about being on-brand, like Johnny Depp, you can't ever leave franchise-verse, he'll be joining the Potterverse for a Fantastic Beasts sequel
/Film speaking of Ezra Miller is giving a history of the Potterverse to promote Fantastic Beasts
Time Out Two time Tony winner Tammy Grimes (mother of Amanda Plummer) dies at 92
D List after a brief internet freakout Idris Elba denies that he's dating Madonna
Superhero Hype set photos from The Defenders (Netflix's answer to The Avengers) though...
Mnpp Matthias Schoenaerts and Jane Fonda on set together!
The New York on The Handmaiden and lesbian historical fiction
EW will give us an extensive first look at Beauty and the Beast in the new issue
The Film Doctor on Woody Allen's Cafe Society - have you caught up with this on dvd?
i09 because once you are all about being on-brand, like Johnny Depp, you can't ever leave franchise-verse, he'll be joining the Potterverse for a Fantastic Beasts sequel
/Film speaking of Ezra Miller is giving a history of the Potterverse to promote Fantastic Beasts
Time Out Two time Tony winner Tammy Grimes (mother of Amanda Plummer) dies at 92
D List after a brief internet freakout Idris Elba denies that he's dating Madonna
Superhero Hype set photos from The Defenders (Netflix's answer to The Avengers) though...
- 11/2/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Forget Caltiki and forget The Blob: 'The Stuff' doesn't eat you, you eat it! Larry Cohen takes a page from Professor Quatermass for this satirical slap at blind consumerism and unregulated commerce, in a thriller packed with ooky glob-monsters and people hollowed out like Halloween pumpkins. It's the smart side of '80s sci-fi: Cohen knows how to make the genre sustain his anti-establishment themes. The Stuff Blu-ray Arrow Video (Us) 1985 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 87 min. / Street Date April 19, 2016 / Available from Amazon / 39.95 Starring Michael Moriarty, Andrea Marcovicci, Garrett Morris, Paul Sorvino, Scott Bloom, Danny Aiello, Patrick O'Neal, Alexander Scourby, Harry Bellaver, Rutanya Alda, Brooke Adams, Laurene Landon, Tammy Grimes, Abe Vigoda, Clara Peller, Patrick Dempsey, Mira Sorvino, Eric Bogosian. Cinematography Paul Glickman Makeup Effects Ed French, Michael Maddi, Steve Neill, Kim Robinson, Rick Stratton, Craig Lyman Editor Armond Lebowitz Original Music Anthony Guefen Produced by Paul Kurta Written and...
- 4/5/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The two-time Tony Award-winning actress Tammy Grimes Private Lives, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and composer David Amram scores for the films Splendor In The Grass and The Manchurian Candidate were just honored at Theater for the New City's 12th annual Love 'N Courage evening. An annual event that benefits Tnc's Emerging Playwrights Program, this year's Love 'N Courage event was hosted by Phoebe Legere and Matt Morillo and featured performances by Ms. Grimes, Mr. Amram, Vinie Burrows, Judy Gorman, Yip Harburg Foundation's Rainbow Troupe, Luba Mason, Human Kinetics Movement Arts, and The Love Show, along with select excerpts from plays by Andrea Fulton, Georges Bizet, Daniel Catan and Seymour Barab.BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the performances below...
- 3/3/2015
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
The two-time Tony Award-winning actress Tammy Grimes Private Lives, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and composer David Amram scores for the films Splendor In The Grass and The Manchurian Candidate were just honored at Theater for the New City's 12th annual Love 'N Courage evening. An annual event that benefits Tnc's Emerging Playwrights Program, this year's Love 'N Courage event was hosted by Phoebe Legere and Matt Morillo and featured performances by Ms. Grimes, Mr. Amram, Vinie Burrows, Judy Gorman, Yip Harburg Foundation's Rainbow Troupe, Luba Mason, Human Kinetics Movement Arts, and The Love Show, along with select excerpts from plays by Andrea Fulton, Georges Bizet, Daniel Catan and Seymour Barab.
- 3/3/2015
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
Just last night, Theater for the New City paid tribute to the playwright and theater critic Mario Fratti whose adaptation of the Federico Fellini film 8 became the Broadway musical Nine at the 11th annual Love 'N Courage benefit at the National Arts Club 15 Gramercy Park South in New York City. An annual evening to benefit Tnc's Emerging Playwrights Program, this year's Love 'N Courage event featured appearances by Liliane Montevecchi, Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham, two-time Tony winner Tammy Grimes accompanied by Alex Rybeck, singer Anna Bergman accompanied by William Hicks, Austin Pendleton, Katharine Cullison, cabaret star KT Sullivan, Inma Heredia, Human Kinetics Movement Arts, Rachel Klein Dance Company, Jocab Merrick Storms, the Yip Harburg Foundation Rainbow Troupe, and Michael-David Gordon and Tnc's Street Theater Company.BroadwayWorld was there for the special night and you can check out photo coverage below...
- 2/25/2014
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
Blu-ray Release Date: June 11, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Twilight Time
Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty become uneasy lovers in The Only Game in Town.
Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra) and Warren Beatty (Ishtar) star in filmmaker George Stevens’ final movie, the 1970 drama-romance film The Only Game in Town.
Taylor stars as an aging and exhausted showgirl fed up with waiting for her married lover (Charles Braswell) to divorce his wife, while Beatty portrays a piano-playing gambling addict who keeps compulsively losing the stake he needs to high-tail it to New York. Together, they parlay an instant attraction into a mutual effort to get their lives together—no strings attached.
Written by Frank D. Gilroy, who adapted his own Las Vegas-set stage play, The Only Game in Town was gorgeously shot by French New Wave stalwart Henri Decaë (known for his work with Jean-Pierre Melville and Claude Chabrol) and scored by the great Maurice Jarre...
Price: Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Twilight Time
Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty become uneasy lovers in The Only Game in Town.
Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra) and Warren Beatty (Ishtar) star in filmmaker George Stevens’ final movie, the 1970 drama-romance film The Only Game in Town.
Taylor stars as an aging and exhausted showgirl fed up with waiting for her married lover (Charles Braswell) to divorce his wife, while Beatty portrays a piano-playing gambling addict who keeps compulsively losing the stake he needs to high-tail it to New York. Together, they parlay an instant attraction into a mutual effort to get their lives together—no strings attached.
Written by Frank D. Gilroy, who adapted his own Las Vegas-set stage play, The Only Game in Town was gorgeously shot by French New Wave stalwart Henri Decaë (known for his work with Jean-Pierre Melville and Claude Chabrol) and scored by the great Maurice Jarre...
- 5/28/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
The Pulitzer Prize and Obie Award-winning Theatre for the New City Tnc held its 10th Annual Love 'N' Courage benefit gala last night, February 25, 2013 at the National Arts Club 15 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan, this year honoring award-winning actor and playwright Charles Busch. Hosts for Love 'N' Courage were composer and singer Phoebe Legere and playwrightfilmmaker Matt Morillo 'Maid of Honor'. The performers at this year's show included Mr. Busch, The Love Show, dancerchoreographer Kitty Lunn and Infinity Dance, juggler supreme John Grimaldi, Carol Freeman, Luba Mason, KT Sullivan, Tammy Grimes, Drew Pulver, Mark Marcante and Crystal Field.BroadwayWorld was there for the celebration and you can check out full photo coverage below...
- 2/26/2013
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
‘Twas The Night Before Christmas: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition (1974)
Synopsis: For some unexplained reason, letters to Santa Claus are being returned to the children of Junctionville. It seems some resident has angered St. Nick by calling him “a fraudulent myth!” Skeptical Albert Mouse has to be brought to his senses “and let up a little on the wonder why.” How Albert is persuaded to change his tune paves the way for Santa’s jolly return to town – and the joyous finale of the animated fable inspired by Clement Moore’s poem and produced by the merrymaking conjures of Rankin/bass studios. The voice talents of Joel grey, Tammy Grimes, John McGiver and George Gobel make this festive fable even more fun. (highdefdigest.com)
Special Features:
Tba
The 12 Dogs Of Christmas (2005)
Synopsis: A girl who uses dogs to...
‘Twas The Night Before Christmas: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition (1974)
Synopsis: For some unexplained reason, letters to Santa Claus are being returned to the children of Junctionville. It seems some resident has angered St. Nick by calling him “a fraudulent myth!” Skeptical Albert Mouse has to be brought to his senses “and let up a little on the wonder why.” How Albert is persuaded to change his tune paves the way for Santa’s jolly return to town – and the joyous finale of the animated fable inspired by Clement Moore’s poem and produced by the merrymaking conjures of Rankin/bass studios. The voice talents of Joel grey, Tammy Grimes, John McGiver and George Gobel make this festive fable even more fun. (highdefdigest.com)
Special Features:
Tba
The 12 Dogs Of Christmas (2005)
Synopsis: A girl who uses dogs to...
- 10/3/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Like many children's films of its era, The Last Unicorn has spawned a fan-base that straddles the line between the cult and the nostalgic, occupying the center of a Venn diagram probably inseparable from either. Also like many of those films, it’s technically dodgy, filled with creepy images, and defined as a children's film only by the fact that its subject matter is either too illogical or nonsensical for adults. Unicorn was produced during the only period in our history when something like this could be produced (it also gave us Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and Legend), which explains, in a way, the affection that people have for it, as it seems to preserve not merely childhood memories, but an entirely mortal period of time when Hollywood placed its hope in fantasy film in a way that it really hasn’t before or since (Lord of the Rings is an arguable case,...
- 3/16/2011
- by Anders Nelson
- JustPressPlay.net
It's important for me to keep things in perspective when writing about Tammy Grimes, who's just finishing up a week-long engagement at Manhattan's Metropolitan Room. (She does one more or less annually.) After all, she's 76 now (born January 30, 1934) and not the performer she was when she first came to New York and, thanks to friend Roddy McDowell's Noel Coward introduction, was picked by the master for his upcoming Look After Lulu production and subsequently was tapped for the star-making title role in Meredith Willson's Unsinkable Molly Brown. That was then. This is now, 2010. Grimes's once irresistibly plummy voice is frayed like a not particularly well-cared-for Aubusson rug. The sustained notes wobble. The high notes are frequently bleats. She reads her patter from a script, apparently...
- 6/29/2010
- by David Finkle
- Huffington Post
42nd Street Moon proudly presents High Spirits, the musical version of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, opening March 21 and running through April 12 at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street in San Francisco. As previously announced, it replaces The Baker's Wife, which will be presented next season. High Spirits, with a book, lyrics and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, adheres closely to Coward's original text, which was about a man who is haunted by the mischievous spirit of his dead wife. The playwright was delighted with the adaptation, and agreed to direct the Broadway show, which starred Edward Woodward, Louise Troy, Tammy Grimes and Beatrice Lillie. The show garnered eight Tony nominations in 1964, and proved to be Ms. Lillie's final Broadway appearance.
- 2/12/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
George C. Scott created some of the 20th century's most memorable performances on stage and screen-the cunning prosecutor in Anatomy of a Murder, the manipulative gambler in The Hustler, the buffoonishly warmongering chief of staff in Dr. Strangelove, and, of course, the brilliant and rebellious Patton. He also played Willy Loman, Richard III, Mussolini, Scrooge, Fagin, and countless others. But his offstage life was as filled with drama and controversy as any of the lives he portrayed with such intensity. He refused the Oscar for Patton, battled with TV networks to include realistic elements in his series "East Side/West Side," invested (and lost) his own money on Broadway and in the scandalous film The Savage Is Loose, married five times (twice to Colleen Dewhurst) and had a tempestuous affair with Ava Gardner, traveled to Vietnam at the height of the war to write an article for Esquire, and weathered a damaging sexual harassment suit.
- 1/31/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The jury may still be out on Alan Madison's filmmaking abilities, but the writer-director demonstrates one undeniable talent in his extremely low-budget debut feature -- the knack for attracting some of the best actors on the indie scene for a film that probably paid them next-to-nothing.
The star of this effort about an increasingly disturbed psychologist is Tony Goldwyn (who is also going nuts in Paramount's "Kiss the Girls"), and the supporting cast includes -- count 'em -- Giancarlo Esposito, Joe Morton, Debi Mazar, Anna Thomson and Edie Falco, as well as New York theater stalwarts Charles Busch, Tammy Grimes and Roger Rees, among others. The film was recently on display at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival.
Unfortunately, this stellar group is more likely than not to regret its generosity, since "Trouble on the Corner" fails to live up to its admirable goal of being a New York-based, paranoid, black-comic thriller. The filmmaker displays a definite imagination and flashes of wit, but this first effort simply doesn't have the style it needs to get its ambitious goals across.
Goldwyn plays Jeff, a therapist who works in his run-down apartment building. Many of his patients, whom he charges a quite-reasonable $35 an hour, are his friends and neighbors, and his specialty is sexual problems. His patients include a compulsive child molester (Bruce MacVittie), the neighborhood butcher's sexually frustrated wife (Thomson) and a gorgeous hand model (Mazar) who keeps her prized assets permanently hidden beneath gloves.
Other assorted, weird characters who Jeff keeps running into include a busybody neighbor (Grimes) who hasn't thrown out a newspaper since her husband died, a drag-queen tarot-card reader (Busch) and a lawyer (Rees) who seems to be perpetually walking his dogs.
Jeff isn't exactly in a happy marriage, since his bath-obsessed wife does little more than grumble and complain when she gets home from a hard day's work as a nurse. She's certainly not interested in sex, but will grudgingly get Jeff off manually if he's feeling particularly frustrated ("Oh, my, what a mess", she comments after his cry of relief). Is it any wonder that, when a hole in his bathroom ceiling offers tantalizing glimpses of his hand-model patient, Jeff begins to develop an erotic fixation on her?
The film intends to chronicle Jeff's gradual descent into madness, which manifests itself by his suddenly raising his fees and advising patients to try murder as a therapeutic technique. The problems are that clumsy filmmaking and Goldwyn's extremely recessive performance fail to clue us in sufficiently, with the result that the character seems to snap suddenly. Not helping matters are the film's lackadaisical pacing, often-awkward dialogue and general lack of structure. These factors could have been overlooked if the individual vignettes or characterizations were more interesting, but they are more bizarre than entertaining.
The performers clearly enjoy their opportunities to play some colorful characters, but their efforts are undermined by the film's overreliance on shtick. When Goldwyn finally does go on his killing spree, he seems less disturbed than just really, really cranky, and the film concludes with an over-the-top, silly denouement in which the patients join forces to get revenge on their shrink.
Tech credits, including photography and sound, reflect the film's meager budget.
TROUBLE ON THE CORNER
Trouble on the Corner Llc.
Director-screenwriter: Alan Madison
Producers: Alan Madison, Diane Kolyer
Executive producers: Henry Eisenberg, Glenn Krevlin, Lee Schalop, Dan Stern
Cinematography: Phil Abraham
Editor: Ray Hubley
Music: Robert Een
Color/mono
Cast:
Jeff Stewart: Tony Goldwyn
Vivian Stewart: Edie Falco
Ericca Ricce: Debi Mazar
Detective Bill: Joe Morton
Mr. McMurtry: Roger Rees
Butcher's Wife: Anna Thomson
Sandy: Bruce MacVittie
Daryl: Giancarlo Esposito
Running time -- 114 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The star of this effort about an increasingly disturbed psychologist is Tony Goldwyn (who is also going nuts in Paramount's "Kiss the Girls"), and the supporting cast includes -- count 'em -- Giancarlo Esposito, Joe Morton, Debi Mazar, Anna Thomson and Edie Falco, as well as New York theater stalwarts Charles Busch, Tammy Grimes and Roger Rees, among others. The film was recently on display at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival.
Unfortunately, this stellar group is more likely than not to regret its generosity, since "Trouble on the Corner" fails to live up to its admirable goal of being a New York-based, paranoid, black-comic thriller. The filmmaker displays a definite imagination and flashes of wit, but this first effort simply doesn't have the style it needs to get its ambitious goals across.
Goldwyn plays Jeff, a therapist who works in his run-down apartment building. Many of his patients, whom he charges a quite-reasonable $35 an hour, are his friends and neighbors, and his specialty is sexual problems. His patients include a compulsive child molester (Bruce MacVittie), the neighborhood butcher's sexually frustrated wife (Thomson) and a gorgeous hand model (Mazar) who keeps her prized assets permanently hidden beneath gloves.
Other assorted, weird characters who Jeff keeps running into include a busybody neighbor (Grimes) who hasn't thrown out a newspaper since her husband died, a drag-queen tarot-card reader (Busch) and a lawyer (Rees) who seems to be perpetually walking his dogs.
Jeff isn't exactly in a happy marriage, since his bath-obsessed wife does little more than grumble and complain when she gets home from a hard day's work as a nurse. She's certainly not interested in sex, but will grudgingly get Jeff off manually if he's feeling particularly frustrated ("Oh, my, what a mess", she comments after his cry of relief). Is it any wonder that, when a hole in his bathroom ceiling offers tantalizing glimpses of his hand-model patient, Jeff begins to develop an erotic fixation on her?
The film intends to chronicle Jeff's gradual descent into madness, which manifests itself by his suddenly raising his fees and advising patients to try murder as a therapeutic technique. The problems are that clumsy filmmaking and Goldwyn's extremely recessive performance fail to clue us in sufficiently, with the result that the character seems to snap suddenly. Not helping matters are the film's lackadaisical pacing, often-awkward dialogue and general lack of structure. These factors could have been overlooked if the individual vignettes or characterizations were more interesting, but they are more bizarre than entertaining.
The performers clearly enjoy their opportunities to play some colorful characters, but their efforts are undermined by the film's overreliance on shtick. When Goldwyn finally does go on his killing spree, he seems less disturbed than just really, really cranky, and the film concludes with an over-the-top, silly denouement in which the patients join forces to get revenge on their shrink.
Tech credits, including photography and sound, reflect the film's meager budget.
TROUBLE ON THE CORNER
Trouble on the Corner Llc.
Director-screenwriter: Alan Madison
Producers: Alan Madison, Diane Kolyer
Executive producers: Henry Eisenberg, Glenn Krevlin, Lee Schalop, Dan Stern
Cinematography: Phil Abraham
Editor: Ray Hubley
Music: Robert Een
Color/mono
Cast:
Jeff Stewart: Tony Goldwyn
Vivian Stewart: Edie Falco
Ericca Ricce: Debi Mazar
Detective Bill: Joe Morton
Mr. McMurtry: Roger Rees
Butcher's Wife: Anna Thomson
Sandy: Bruce MacVittie
Daryl: Giancarlo Esposito
Running time -- 114 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 11/17/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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