There’s a lot to digest in Damien Chazelle’s overstuffed Hollywood epic, “Babylon.” The story of three disparate movie denziens trying to survive the transition between the silent era and the talkies boasts some stellar performances, but what people might remember after the credits roll is just how wild Chazelle’s hedonistic world is. As he sees it, the silent era of Hollywood is packed to bursting with orgies, dancing, booze, woozy elephants, and a lot of nudity. Oh, and a ton of cocaine.
To many modern-day viewers, cocaine is likely more synonymous with ’80s excess than the supposed glamour of the ’20s. Movies like “Goodfellas” and “Less Than Zero” present cocaine as a party drug of a more contemporary era, so it’s understandable that it would show up in Chazelle’s film, particularly its raucous opening party sequence, as the filmmaker threads historical accuracies with his own special skew.
To many modern-day viewers, cocaine is likely more synonymous with ’80s excess than the supposed glamour of the ’20s. Movies like “Goodfellas” and “Less Than Zero” present cocaine as a party drug of a more contemporary era, so it’s understandable that it would show up in Chazelle’s film, particularly its raucous opening party sequence, as the filmmaker threads historical accuracies with his own special skew.
- 12/22/2022
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
Kino reaches into the Universal Vault for vintage Paramount and Universal thrillers. This ‘noir’ collection surprises us — it contains one terrific example of the style, newly-hatched and looking very different for its year. The other two titles are in B&w (check), and revolve around murders (check). But if there were a TV quiz show called ‘Noir or Not Noir’ they’d shape up as third-tier also-rans. The talent on view is impressive, especially the leading ladies: Claire Trevor, Louise Platt, Merle Oberon, Ella Raines, and Gale Sondergaard. Kino appoints the film with good commentators: Jason A. Ney, Anthony Slide, Kelly Robinson.
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema VIII
Street of Chance, Enter Arsene Lupin, Temptation
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1942-1946 / 1:37 Academy / 266 minutes / Street Date July 19, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor; Charles Korvin, Ella Raines; Merle Oberon, George Brent.
Directed by Jack Hively, Ford Beebe,...
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema VIII
Street of Chance, Enter Arsene Lupin, Temptation
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1942-1946 / 1:37 Academy / 266 minutes / Street Date July 19, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor; Charles Korvin, Ella Raines; Merle Oberon, George Brent.
Directed by Jack Hively, Ford Beebe,...
- 7/19/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s that time of year again. While some directors annually share their favorite films of the year, Steven Soderbergh lists everything he consumed, media-wise. For 2021––another year in which he not only released a new film, but shot another (and produced the Oscars)––he still got plenty of watching in.
Along with catching up on 2021’s new releases, he took in plenty of classics, including Jaws, Citizen Kane, Metropolis, The French Connection, and Lubitsch’s Ninotchka and Design For Living. Early last year, he also saw a cut of Channing Tatum’s Dog, which doesn’t arrive until next month. He also, of course, screened his latest movies while in post-production, with three viewings of No Sudden Move and three viewings of Kimi, which arrives on February 10 on HBO Max and the first look of which can be seen below.
Check out the list below via his official site.
Along with catching up on 2021’s new releases, he took in plenty of classics, including Jaws, Citizen Kane, Metropolis, The French Connection, and Lubitsch’s Ninotchka and Design For Living. Early last year, he also saw a cut of Channing Tatum’s Dog, which doesn’t arrive until next month. He also, of course, screened his latest movies while in post-production, with three viewings of No Sudden Move and three viewings of Kimi, which arrives on February 10 on HBO Max and the first look of which can be seen below.
Check out the list below via his official site.
- 1/5/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Kino Classics:
Groundbreaking Adaptation of the Jules Verne Classic Novel and "The First Submarine Photoplay Ever Filmed"
Available on Blu-ray and DVD July 28, 2020
Includes audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide and musical score by Orlando Perez Rosso
"Fans of the Silent Era will appreciate this impressive 4K restoration via the Kino Blu-ray. I loved stepping back and time over 100-years to enjoy this adventure. I hope you get the same pleasure." -- Gary Tooze, DVDBeaver
New York, NY -- July 6, 2020 -- Kino Classics proudly announces the Blu-ray and DVD release of the landmark 1916 silent version of Jules Verne's classic novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in a stunning new 4K restoration conducted by Universal Pictures, with restoration from the 35mm nitrate print provided by UCLA Film & Television Archive and restoration services provided by NBCUniversal StudioPost.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Kino Classics:
Groundbreaking Adaptation of the Jules Verne Classic Novel and "The First Submarine Photoplay Ever Filmed"
Available on Blu-ray and DVD July 28, 2020
Includes audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide and musical score by Orlando Perez Rosso
"Fans of the Silent Era will appreciate this impressive 4K restoration via the Kino Blu-ray. I loved stepping back and time over 100-years to enjoy this adventure. I hope you get the same pleasure." -- Gary Tooze, DVDBeaver
New York, NY -- July 6, 2020 -- Kino Classics proudly announces the Blu-ray and DVD release of the landmark 1916 silent version of Jules Verne's classic novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in a stunning new 4K restoration conducted by Universal Pictures, with restoration from the 35mm nitrate print provided by UCLA Film & Television Archive and restoration services provided by NBCUniversal StudioPost.
- 7/21/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
A near-spotless restoration on the 104 year-old adaptation of the Jules Verne classic finally presents it in a form where we can judge its merits. The screenplay is an erratic jumble, imposing serial thrill elements onto an undigested amalgam of Vingt mille lieues sous les mers with its sequel L’Ile mystérieuse. But the physical production is state of the art for 1916, with an impressive live action submarine mockup and even more impressive scenes filmed underwater, reportedly a feature film first. Even better than the vivid restoration is a fact-filled commentary by film expert Anthony Slide. It’s no casual conversational chat track, but a wealth of good information about every aspect of the film, all delivered in good humor.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1916 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap / 86 105 min. / Street Date July 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Dan Hanlon, Edna Pendleton, Curtis Benton, Allen Holubar, Matt Moore,...
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1916 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap / 86 105 min. / Street Date July 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Dan Hanlon, Edna Pendleton, Curtis Benton, Allen Holubar, Matt Moore,...
- 7/21/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
One of cinema's early comediennes, Dorothy Devore: between 1918 and 1930, the Ft. Worth-born actress was seen in nearly 100 movies, both features and shorts. Among them were 'Salvation Sue,' 'Naughty Mary Brown' and 'Saving Sister Susie,' all with frequent partner Earle Rodney. 'Comediennes of the Silent Era' & film historian Anthony Slide at the American Cinematheque Film historian and author Anthony Slide, once described by Lillian Gish as “our preeminent historian of the silent film,” will attend the American Cinematheque's 2017 Retroformat program “Comediennes of the Silent Era” on Sat., May 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the Spielberg Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Slide will be signing copies of his book She Could Be Chaplin!: The Comedic Brilliance of Alice Howell (University Press of Mississippi), about the largely forgotten pioneering comedy actress of the 1910s and early 1920s. The book signing will take place at 6:30 p.
- 5/5/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
See previous post: “Comedy Actress Rediscovered: 'She Could Be Chaplin!' Q&A with Film Historian Anthony Slide.” Could forgotten comedy actress really have been Chaplin? The title of your Alice Howell book is She Could Be Chaplin! Could she really have been that big and influential? If so, why didn't that happen? Perhaps I am guilty of a certain amount of hyperbole. The publisher and I were trying to come up with a good title for the book. We selected that title in part out of a belief that Chaplin's name on the cover would sell the book. But equally because throughout her career Alice Howell was described as a female Chaplin. Consistently film reviewers and writers compared her work to that of Chaplin. Personally I don't believe she was in any way influenced by Chaplin, but there is definitely a similarity during the early years of both their...
- 4/20/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Comedy actress Alice Howell on the cover of film historian Anthony Slide's latest book: Pioneering funky-haired performer 'could have been Chaplin' – or at the very least another Louise Fazenda. Rediscovering comedy actress Alice Howell: Female performer in movie field dominated by men Early comedy actress Alice Howell is an obscure entity even for silent film aficionados. With luck, only a handful of them will be able to name one of her more than 100 movies, mostly shorts – among them Sin on the Sabbath, A Busted Honeymoon, How Stars Are Made – released between 1914 and 1920. Yet Alice Howell holds (what should be) an important – or at the very least an interesting – place in film history. After all, she was one of the American cinema's relatively few pioneering “funny actresses,” along with the likes of the better-known Flora Finch, Louise Fazenda, and, a top star in her day, Mabel Normand.[1] Also of note,...
- 4/20/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, and Ingrid Bergman: The 'Notorious' British (Hitchcock, Grant) and Swedish (Bergman) talent. British actors and directors in Hollywood; Hollywood actors and directors in Britain: Anthony Slide's 'A Special Relationship.' 'A Special Relationship' Q&A: Britain in Hollywood and Hollywood in Britain First of all, what made you think of a book on “the special relationship” between the American and British film industries – particularly on the British side? I was aware of a couple of books on the British in Hollywood, but I wanted to move beyond that somewhat limited discussion and document the whole British/American relationship as it applied to filmmaking. Growing up in England, I had always been interested in the history of the British cinema, but generally my writing on film history has been concentrated on America. I suppose to a certain extent I wanted to go back into my archives,...
- 1/5/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Kitty Gordon: Actress in silent movies and on the musical comedy stage. Rediscovering a long-forgotten silent film star: Kitty Gordon It seems almost unthinkable that there are still silent stars who have not been resurrected, their lives and films subject to detailed, if not always reliable, examination. Yet I am reminded by Michael Levenston, a Canadian who has compiled what is best described as a “scrapbook” of her life and career, that there is one such individual – and not just a “name” in silent films, but also from 1901 onwards famed as a singer/actress in musical comedy and on the vaudeville stage in both her native England and the United States. And she is Kitty Gordon (1878-1974). 'The Enchantress' and her $50,000 backside Kitty Gordon was a talented lady, so much so that Victor Herbert wrote the 1911 operetta The Enchantress for her; one who also had a “gimmick,” in that...
- 12/12/2015
- by Anthony Slide
- Alt Film Guide
Constance Cummings: Stage and film actress ca. early 1940s. Constance Cummings on stage: From Sacha Guitry to Clifford Odets (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Flawless 'Blithe Spirit,' Supporter of Political Refugees.”) In the post-World War II years, Constance Cummings' stage reputation continued to grow on the English stage, in plays as diverse as: Stephen Powys (pseudonym for P.G. Wodehouse) and Guy Bolton's English-language adaptation of Sacha Guitry's Don't Listen, Ladies! (1948), with Cummings as one of shop clerk Denholm Elliott's mistresses (the other one was Betty Marsden). “Miss Cummings and Miss Marsden act as fetchingly as they look,” commented The Spectator. Rodney Ackland's Before the Party (1949), delivering “a superb performance of controlled hysteria” according to theater director and Michael Redgrave biographer Alan Strachan, writing for The Independent at the time of Cummings' death. Clifford Odets' Winter Journey / The Country Girl (1952), as...
- 11/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Saint Joan': Constance Cummings as the George Bernard Shaw heroine. Constance Cummings on stage: From sex-change farce and Emma Bovary to Juliet and 'Saint Joan' (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Frank Capra, Mae West and Columbia Lawsuit.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband Benn W. Levy's stage adaptations: Levy and Hubert Griffith's Young Madame Conti (1936), starring Cummings as a demimondaine who falls in love with a villainous character. She ends up killing him – or does she? Adapted from Bruno Frank's German-language original, Young Madame Conti was presented on both sides of the Atlantic; on Broadway, it had a brief run in spring 1937 at the Music Box Theatre. Based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, the Theatre Guild-produced Madame Bovary (1937) was staged in late fall at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Referring to the London production of Young Madame Conti, The...
- 11/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Constance Cummings in 'Night After Night.' Constance Cummings: Working with Frank Capra and Mae West (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Actress Went from Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill.”) Back at Columbia, Harry Cohn didn't do a very good job at making Constance Cummings feel important. By the end of 1932, Columbia and its sweet ingenue found themselves in court, fighting bitterly over stipulations in her contract. According to the actress and lawyer's daughter, Columbia had failed to notify her that they were picking up her option. Therefore, she was a free agent, able to offer her services wherever she pleased. Harry Cohn felt otherwise, claiming that his contract player had waived such a notice. The battle would spill over into 1933. On the positive side, in addition to Movie Crazy 1932 provided Cummings with three other notable Hollywood movies: Washington Merry-Go-Round, American Madness, and Night After Night. 'Washington Merry-Go-Round...
- 11/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Sorrell and Son' with H.B. Warner and Alice Joyce. 'Sorrell and Son' 1927 movie: Long thought lost, surprisingly effective father-love melodrama stars a superlative H.B. Warner Partially shot on location in England and produced independently by director Herbert Brenon at Joseph M. Schenck's United Artists, the 1927 Sorrell and Son is a skillful melodrama about paternal devotion in the face of both personal and social adversity. This long-thought-lost version of Warwick Deeping's 1925 bestseller benefits greatly from the veteran Brenon's assured direction, deservedly shortlisted in the first year of the Academy Awards.* Crucial to the film's effectiveness, however, is the portrayal of its central character, a war-scarred Englishman who sacrifices it all for the happiness of his son. Luckily, the London-born H.B. Warner, best remembered for playing Jesus Christ in another 1927 release, Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings, is the embodiment of honesty, selflessness, and devotion. Less is...
- 10/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Sunset Blvd.': Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond. The Charles Brackett Diaries: Gay Rumors quashed, troubled Billy Wilder partnership discussed in Q&A with Anthony Slide See previous post: “Charles Brackett Diaries: Politics and Gossip During the Studio Era.” First of all, how did you become involved in this Charles Brackett project? And what did your editorial job entail? I discovered the diaries about six years ago when I was asked by Brackett's grandson, Jim Moore, to place a financial value on them during the process of his donating them to the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It was clear to me that these diaries had not only considerable financial worth, but also, and perhaps more importantly, they were primary resources in the study of Hollywood history. Happily, Charles Brackett's family (who own the copyright) gave permission for me to edit the diaries,...
- 9/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Charles Brackett ca. 1945: Hollywood diarist and Billy Wilder's co-screenwriter (1936–1949) and producer (1945–1949). Q&A with 'Charles Brackett Diaries' editor Anthony Slide: Billy Wilder's screenwriter-producer partner in his own words Six-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder is a film legend. He is renowned for classics such as The Major and the Minor, Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment. The fact that Wilder was not the sole creator of these movies is all but irrelevant to graduates from the Auteur School of Film History. Wilder directed, co-wrote, and at times produced his films. That should suffice. For auteurists, perhaps. But not for those interested in the whole story. That's one key reason why the Charles Brackett diaries are such a great read. Through Brackett's vantage point, they offer a welcome – and unique – glimpse into the collaborative efforts that resulted in...
- 9/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Billy Wilder directed Sunset Blvd. with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett movies Below is a list of movies on which Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder worked together as screenwriters, including efforts for which they did not receive screen credit. The Wilder-Brackett screenwriting partnership lasted from 1938 to 1949. During that time, they shared two Academy Awards for their work on The Lost Weekend (1945) and, with D.M. Marshman Jr., Sunset Blvd. (1950). More detailed information further below. Post-split years Billy Wilder would later join forces with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond in movies such as the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), the Best Picture Oscar winner The Apartment (1960), and One Two Three (1961), notable as James Cagney's last film (until a brief comeback in Milos Forman's Ragtime two decades later). Although some of these movies were quite well received, Wilder's later efforts – which also included The Seven Year Itch...
- 9/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'To Each His Own' movie with Olivia de Havilland and John Lund 'To Each His Own' movie review: Best Actress Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland stars in Mother Love tearjerker Olivia de Havilland, who had starred in the 1941 melodrama Hold Back the Dawn, returns to the wartime milieu in To Each His Own (1946), once again under the direction of Mitchell Leisen, who guides the proceedings with his characteristic sincerity while cleverly skirting the Production Code's restrictive guidelines. In To Each His Own, de Havilland plays Jody Norris, a small-town woman who falls quickly in love – much like her character in Hold Back the Dawn – but this time during World War I, when Jody's brief liaison with daredevil flying ace Captain Cosgrove (John Lund) results in an out-of-wedlock child. When Cosgrove is killed in battle, the young mother anonymously gives up her baby to a childless couple in her hometown, remaining...
- 5/7/2015
- by Doug Johnson
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt': Alfred Hitchcock heroine (image: Joseph Cotten about to strangle Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt') (See preceding article: "Teresa Wright Movies: Actress Made Oscar History.") After scoring with The Little Foxes, Mrs. Miniver, and The Pride of the Yankees, Teresa Wright was loaned to Universal – once initial choices Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland became unavailable – to play the small-town heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. (Check out video below: Teresa Wright reminiscing about the making of Shadow of a Doubt.) Co-written by Thornton Wilder, whose Our Town had provided Wright with her first chance on Broadway and who had suggested her to Hitchcock; Meet Me in St. Louis and Junior Miss author Sally Benson; and Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, Shadow of a Doubt was based on "Uncle Charlie," a story outline by Gordon McDonell – itself based on actual events.
- 3/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Book review: “It’s the Pictures That Got Small”: Charles Brackett on Billy Wilder and Hollywood’s Golden Age edited by Anthony Slide; foreword by Jim Moore (Columbia University Press) It might seem odd to call the man who co-wrote Ball of Fire, Ninotchka, Midnight, The Lost Weekend, and Sunset Blvd. an unsung hero, but Charles Brackett has always lived in the shadow of his high-profile writing partner, Billy Wilder. This valuable compendium of diary entries from 1933 to 1950, painstakingly edited by Anthony Slide, not only sheds light on that renowned collaboration but evokes the reality of daily life in the heyday of the Hollywood studio system. Anyone with...
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- 12/22/2014
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the TCM Festival in Hollywood. I had a full weekend and got to enjoy the true movie experience---great movies projected on big screens with enthusiastic and appreciative audiences. Between films we'd emerge onto Hollywood Boulevard with its own movie being created live and in the moment. As comedian Dana Gould said in his introduction to Freaks "the Boulevard was the only place you are likely to stand next to Cher at the urinal in the men's room. Take a look at the schedule, Here
Among the celebrities I saw on the red carpet and clicked photos of were Maureen O'Hara (still gorgeous), Kim Novak, Shirley Jones and Margaret O'Brien---and in the background were Chaplins, Marilyns, Elvis, Michael Jackson and multiple copies of Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Star Wars characters, Transformers, Pirates (I heard one woman excitedly say, "Oh my god...it's Johnny Depp."), Mickey and Minnies and Elmo. In the parking lot elevator one night I stood next to a tall African American male, his Elmo head ticked under his arm next to his furry red body. I asked if he had a long and hot day. He told me that he comes around 4pm when it isn't so warm and works until midnight. "Do you do ok?"
"An average weekend brings in $700-800 and it is fun." I asked him what he does the rest of the week and he told me he created movie money props for films and sells copies on ebay.
I saw 17 films and three special events. What a pleasure to see classics projected on the big screen (a mix of 35mm and Dcp) to packed houses of appreciative fans. Once again I was impressed with the diversity of the audiences. Couples, young people and people of color far out-numbered the stereotype of middle aged white film geek guys. And they knew their movies.
I saw a few classics I had never seen --- Mary Poppins (when it came out in 1964 a left-leaning high school kid would not be caught dead seeing that) and The Best Years of Our Lives (I just never saw it--no excuses). Both were great for different reasons.
There were rare discoveries such as the pre-code Hat Check Girl (racy Ginger Rogers) and the powerful and all but forgotten The Stranger's Return directed by King Vidor withLionel Barrymore and Miriam Hopkins (when will someone do a major tribute?)
But the true revelation was the 1944 British comedy of mannersOn Approval . This was a joy of witty banter, great acting and certainly one of the most bizarre finales I have ever experienced with stuffed animal heads coming to life among other visions you have never seen. The first show sold out so an extra screening was scheduled and it too was full. Lucky or me I got in after being turned away from the first one. The film was restored by that hero of lost cinema, David Shepard.
I just got an email from Jessica Rosner that she will have a 35mm print available. There is also a BluRay and if there is enough demand the owners might consider making a Dcp.
She wrote:
“It is about two couples in Victorian England ( and Scotland) who try a shocking experiment in living together to see if they are "compatible" before marriage. The magnificent foursome is led by Clive Brook who also directed and adapted the famous play upon which it is based. The extraordinary Beatrice Lillie co-stars in one of her very few film appearances and she is aided by the lovely if oddly named Googie Withers and the always fine Roland Culver.
This Brand New print is from a negative made from a nitrate fine grain at the BFI. It is not flawless but it looks excellent.
Below is a link to the write up on the fest site about On Approval and audience reaction to it. I urge you to read it as it really captures the film much better than my write up.
http://filmfestival.tcm.com/on-approval-sparkles-with-wit/
This second link is for local news station festival write up highlighting On Approval as fest fave
(scroll down till you see the still) http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/apr/14/rants-and-raves-tcm-film-festival/
===========
Thanks Jessica. After the screening I wanted to know how the film could be shown in cinemas and you have answered my question.
And here are some good articles about the movie.
http://www.examiner.com/article/clive-brook-adapts-directs-and-stars-on-approval-1944
http://www.examiner.com/article/classic-films-focus-on-approval-1944
Anthony Slide writes: http://books.google.com/books?id=Rf5CCA7_Lv4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false...
Among the celebrities I saw on the red carpet and clicked photos of were Maureen O'Hara (still gorgeous), Kim Novak, Shirley Jones and Margaret O'Brien---and in the background were Chaplins, Marilyns, Elvis, Michael Jackson and multiple copies of Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Star Wars characters, Transformers, Pirates (I heard one woman excitedly say, "Oh my god...it's Johnny Depp."), Mickey and Minnies and Elmo. In the parking lot elevator one night I stood next to a tall African American male, his Elmo head ticked under his arm next to his furry red body. I asked if he had a long and hot day. He told me that he comes around 4pm when it isn't so warm and works until midnight. "Do you do ok?"
"An average weekend brings in $700-800 and it is fun." I asked him what he does the rest of the week and he told me he created movie money props for films and sells copies on ebay.
I saw 17 films and three special events. What a pleasure to see classics projected on the big screen (a mix of 35mm and Dcp) to packed houses of appreciative fans. Once again I was impressed with the diversity of the audiences. Couples, young people and people of color far out-numbered the stereotype of middle aged white film geek guys. And they knew their movies.
I saw a few classics I had never seen --- Mary Poppins (when it came out in 1964 a left-leaning high school kid would not be caught dead seeing that) and The Best Years of Our Lives (I just never saw it--no excuses). Both were great for different reasons.
There were rare discoveries such as the pre-code Hat Check Girl (racy Ginger Rogers) and the powerful and all but forgotten The Stranger's Return directed by King Vidor withLionel Barrymore and Miriam Hopkins (when will someone do a major tribute?)
But the true revelation was the 1944 British comedy of mannersOn Approval . This was a joy of witty banter, great acting and certainly one of the most bizarre finales I have ever experienced with stuffed animal heads coming to life among other visions you have never seen. The first show sold out so an extra screening was scheduled and it too was full. Lucky or me I got in after being turned away from the first one. The film was restored by that hero of lost cinema, David Shepard.
I just got an email from Jessica Rosner that she will have a 35mm print available. There is also a BluRay and if there is enough demand the owners might consider making a Dcp.
She wrote:
“It is about two couples in Victorian England ( and Scotland) who try a shocking experiment in living together to see if they are "compatible" before marriage. The magnificent foursome is led by Clive Brook who also directed and adapted the famous play upon which it is based. The extraordinary Beatrice Lillie co-stars in one of her very few film appearances and she is aided by the lovely if oddly named Googie Withers and the always fine Roland Culver.
This Brand New print is from a negative made from a nitrate fine grain at the BFI. It is not flawless but it looks excellent.
Below is a link to the write up on the fest site about On Approval and audience reaction to it. I urge you to read it as it really captures the film much better than my write up.
http://filmfestival.tcm.com/on-approval-sparkles-with-wit/
This second link is for local news station festival write up highlighting On Approval as fest fave
(scroll down till you see the still) http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/apr/14/rants-and-raves-tcm-film-festival/
===========
Thanks Jessica. After the screening I wanted to know how the film could be shown in cinemas and you have answered my question.
And here are some good articles about the movie.
http://www.examiner.com/article/clive-brook-adapts-directs-and-stars-on-approval-1944
http://www.examiner.com/article/classic-films-focus-on-approval-1944
Anthony Slide writes: http://books.google.com/books?id=Rf5CCA7_Lv4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false...
- 4/20/2014
- by Gary Meyer
- Sydney's Buzz
‘Hollywood Hero’ John Dewar remembered (photo: Anthony Slide wearing Tom Mix’s hat in 1976) Perhaps I have been around too long, but as I grow older I grow despondent that those who contributed so much to film history in the past are forgotten, with others often coming along and taking claim for their achievements. One such Hollywood hero is John Dewar, whom I met when I first came to Los Angeles in 1971. He was a curator in the history department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and introduced me to the museum’s treasures relating to film history, acquired before the creation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art — at a time when both institutions were housed together simply as the Los Angeles County Museum. Back in the mid-1930s, it was Ransom Matthews, head of industrial technology at the Museum, who had started collecting such materials.
- 8/29/2013
- by Anthony Slide
- Alt Film Guide
Randolph Scott and Cary Grant: Gay lovers or good friends and roommates? (See previous post: “Randolph Scott Movies: From Westerns to Cary Grant Comedy.”) Now, one suggestion: Do not believe those rumors about Randolph Scott and Cary Grant having been gay lovers. Anything is possible, of course, but there’s no credible evidence indicating that the two actors were more than good friends / roommates who had first met on the set of the Nancy Carroll star vehicle Hot Saturday in 1932. (See also: “TCM Movie Lineup: Randolph Scott Westerns.”) (Image: Shirtless Randolph Scott and Cary Grant in publicity photo ca. 1933.) But what about all those pictures showing Randolph Scott and Cary Grant cozying up at the house they shared in the posh Los Feliz Hills? Well, those were publicity photos, taken at a time when both actors were up-and-coming Paramount contract players. Rooming up likely gave them a chance to...
- 8/19/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Deanna Durbin: Ephemeral fame (photo: Deanna Durbin in 1981) [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin: 'Sweet Monster.'"] Unlike Greta Garbo, whose mystique remained basically intact following her retirement in 1941, Deanna Durbin’s popularity faded away much like that of the vast majority of celebrities who were removed — or who chose to remove themselves — from public view. Despite the advent of home video and classic-movie cable channels, Durbin remains virtually unknown to the vast majority of those who weren’t around in her heyday in the ’30s and ’40s. Yet, although relatively few in number, she continues to have her ardent fans. There are a handful of websites devoted to Deanna Durbin and her film and recording careers, chiefly among them the appropriately titled "Deanna Durbin Devotees." Fade Out Charles David, Deanna Durbin’s husband of 48 years, died in March 1999, at the age of 92; Institut Pasteur medical researcher Peter H. David is their only son. Durbin also had a daughter,...
- 5/7/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Deanna Durbin assesses her own movie stardom: Private individual vs. public persona [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin: Less-Than-Rosy Hollywood Memories."] While researching Deanna Durbin for this article, what impressed me the most — besides her beatific singing voice — was her clear-headed appraisal of her own popularity, and by extension, of fame in general. Much to her credit, she apparently never believed her own publicity. In fact, Durbin’s is probably the most incisive, bluntly honest assessment of the appeal of any celebrity who, like her, at an early age became associated with a public persona — from Betty Bronson and Jackie Coogan in the ’20s, Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney in the ’30s, Margaret O’Brien and Jane Powell in the ’40s, and Debbie Reynolds and Sandra Dee in the ’50s to Macauley Culkin, Daniel Radcliffe, Zac Efron, Kristen Stewart, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Lautner in the last two decades. As illustrations of the sort of publicity enveloping Deanna Durbin in her heyday,...
- 5/6/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Deanna Durbin in the 1940s: From wholesome musicals to film noir sex worker (photo: Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin cast against type in the un-Christmas-y Christmas Holiday) [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin Without Joe Pasternak: Adrift at Universal."] The Deanna Durbin vs. Universal dispute was settled in early 1942, when the actress was supposedly granted director and story approval. But things didn’t go all that smoothly from then on. There would be no loan-outs to the more opulent MGM, and Durbin would later complain that Universal refused to abide by her requests. Also, for the first time since her career skyrocketed in 1936, Durbin was absent from the screen for a whole year. The key reason there were no 1942 Deanna Durbin movies was the troubled production of her next star vehicle, The Amazing Mrs. Holliday, in which Durbin tries to smuggle Chinese orphans into the U.S., and which underwent not only various title changes, but also various directors and various script...
- 5/5/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
As always, there are more new film books than I have time to digest, but it’s been a while since I posted a survey, so here we go. As usual, these notices are based on skimming, rather than careful reading, these recent publications…but I feel confident enough to recommend them and didn’t want to wait any longer to spread the word. Hollywood Unknowns: A History Of Extras, Bit Players, And Stand-ins by Anthony Slide (University Press of Mississippi) Tony Slide has been documenting film history for decades, and has now turned his attention to the least-chronicled participants of Hollywood’s golden age: extras, bit players, and stand-ins. In the silent era, before studio...
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- 4/11/2013
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Author Slide to discuss the history of Hollywood extras at historical Lasky-DeMille Barn Film historian Anthony Slide, author of dozens of books on Hollywood history, will be discussing his most recent work, Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players and Stand-Ins, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, located at a Hollywood historical landmark: the Lasky-DeMille Barn, right across the street from the Hollywood Bowl. (Check out: "The History of Hollywood Extras, Bit Players and Stand-Ins: Interview with Author and Film Historian Anthony Slide.") Pictured Above are Olivia de Havilland and her The Charge of the Light Brigade stand-in, Ann Robinson, circa 1936. As per the Barn's press release, "Mr. Slide will discuss the lives and work of extras, including the harsh conditions, sexual harassment, scandals and tragedies." Besides, he'll also talk about Central Casting and the Hollywood Studio Club, the residence of a number of up-and-coming actresses,...
- 4/4/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In the book Hollywood Unknowns, author Anthony Slide tackles a little-known side of Hollywood moviemaking: the aspirations and travails of the movie extras and bit players (in addition to "side" chapters on actors' stand-ins and stunt doubles). [Image: Book cover featuring -- possibly -- short filmmaker Pete Smith.] Slide's Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players and Stand-Ins covers the history of the movie extras from the very dawn of cinema -- when, say, someone like future "star" Florence Lawrence could be the focus of one film and mere "atmosphere" in another -- to the current crop of movie extras. Among the sujects discussed in Anthony Slide's highly entertaining tome are the history of Central Casting; union battles involving the Screen Actors Guild, the Screen Extras Guild, and splinter groups; and a look at former silent-era performers, including Clara Kimball Young, King Baggott, and William Farnum, who finished their days as Hollywood extras. So, next time you watch Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist,...
- 2/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
D.W. Griffith Interviews: Q&A with Film Historian Anthony Slide. [See previous post: "D.W. Griffith Father of Film." Photo: Anthony Slide at D.W. Griffith's burial site at Mt. Tabor Cemetery, just outside of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1975, the 100th anniversary of Griffith's birth.] D. W. Griffith Interviews is supposed to include nearly every Griffith interview from 1914 to 1948. How did you find those? In large part, I was already familiar with many of them. Don’t forget that my enthusiasm for D.W. Griffith goes back decades. My second book was The Griffith Actresses, published in 1973, and, in 1975, Edward Wagenknecht and I published The [...]...
- 8/3/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Vaudeville history: George Burns and Gracie Allen, The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville Vaudeville history in Anthony Slide’s The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Vaudeville is now extinct — at least officially. But about a century ago and well into the ’30s, vaudeville (under various names, e.g., musical hall, revues, variety shows) was a vibrant medium that attracted countless patrons each week in the United States and much of the world. Author and film historian Anthony Slide’s The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, which focuses on American vaudeville, has recently been reprinted via the University Press of Mississippi. With more than 500 entries, Slide’s tome discusses the lives and careers [...]...
- 7/5/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Clara Bow, Mantrap What do Andrei Tarkovsky, Edward G. Robinson, Clara Bow, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Audrey Hepburn have in common? Easy. They'll all be featured in some form or other at the Library of Congress' Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, in May. [Packard Campus screening schedule.] Andrei Tarkovsky will be represented by the classic sci-fier Solaris (1971), billed as the Soviet Union's answer to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and by the classic period drama Andrei Rublev (1969), a meditation on art, religion, spirituality, and human brutality and stupidity. A technicality: Solaris will actually be screened on April 27. Edward G. Robinson stars in The Little Giant (1933), a pre-Code crime comedy featuring Mary Astor. The (at the time) energetic Roy Del Ruth (The Maltese Falcon, Taxi!, Employees' Entrance) directed. Clara Bow is the star of Mantrap (1926), a fluffy romantic comedy of interest chiefly because of Bow and because neither of her two leading...
- 4/21/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Myrna Loy biography: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood Many believe that Myrna Loy is the best American actress never to have been nominated for an Academy Award. Despite having played leads and supporting roles in more than 100 movies (in addition to a few dozen bit parts during the silent era), Loy was invariably bypassed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But that's the Oscar and the Academy's loss. For starters, Loy was a delightful light comedienne in movies such as W.S. Van Dyke's The Thin Man and Jack Conway's Libeled Lady. One of the greatest — and most beautifully politically incorrect — dialogue exchanges in movies can be heard in Rouben Mamoulian's 1932 musical Love Me Tonight: Jeanette MacDonald: "Don't you think of anything but men, dear?" Myrna Loy: "Oh yes, schoolboys." Loy could be a remarkable dramatic actress as well, as can...
- 3/12/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Crawford, Cliff Robertson, Autumn Leaves Betty Barker (photo), Joan Crawford's longtime personal assistant, died last January 27 in Los Angeles. Barker was 95 years old. According to a paid obituary published in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles-born (Sept. 30, 1916) Barker grew up in the L.A. suburb of Alhambra. Following a stint in Washington, D.C., in 1944 Barker returned to Los Angeles, where she began her secretarial career at Rko. Later, she was to become a personal secretary to Howard Hughes, who gained control of the studio in 1948. When Rko officially moved to Las Vegas in 1955, Barker opted to remain in Los Angeles. That's when she began her professional association with Joan Crawford, whom, as per the Times obit, she had known since the early 1930s. By then a Hollywood star for nearly three decades, Crawford was still busy, appearing in movies such as Ranald MacDougall's Queen Bee,...
- 2/16/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Author and film historian Anthony Slide will be present at Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Hollywood to introduce and sign copies of his new book, Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers. The book-signing will take place at 1 p.m. on May 16. The actress on the cover of Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine is Joan Crawford, who was always very friendly with the press. That may well have helped Crawford to keep on going for nearly five decades. Slide has just taken part in a q&a for Alt Film Guide, in which he discusses the sociocultural role of movie fan magazines, and their importance to studios and stars. The intro to the q&a can be [...]...
- 5/5/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Silent film vamp Nita Naldi (The Ten Commandments), Picture-Play magazine Anthony Slide Interview Part II: Hollywood Fan Magazines, Scandals, and Innuendos The decline of the film studios — in terms of box-office revenues — in the mid-50s coincided with the appearance of several tabloids, most notoriously Confidential Magazine. Why did that happen since the studios seem to have been so powerful and all-controlling in previous decades? In the 1950s, the studio system came to an end. Fan magazines, and others, no longer had to go to the studios for access to the stars. With stars no longer under contract, fan magazines could approach them directly — but at the same time, stars had an opportunity to say "No" to [...]...
- 5/5/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Claudette Colbert drawing by James Montgomery Flagg on Photoplay; two-time Oscar winner Luise Rainer, whose “tempestuous life” is described in the magazine, turned 100 last January Inside The Hollywood Fan Magazine: Interview with Anthony Slide Part I I recall reading a quite negative and personal story in The New Movie Magazine written by columnist Herbert Howe about MGM star Ramon Novarro. How could something like that have been allowed, especially since it involved a star at the all-powerful MGM? Any other glaring instances of such negative stories taking place from the mid-20s to the early ’50s, during the height of the studio era? The New Movie Magazine was one of the best fan magazines to emerge in the late 1920s/early 1930s. [...]...
- 5/5/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Wholesome silent-era superstars Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks drawn by Vargas (perhaps best known for his drawings of naked and semi-naked women in Playboy), Motion Picture Long before Robert Pattinson, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, Kristen Stewart, Zac Efron, and Will Smith, there were Tyrone Power, Claudette Colbert, Rita Hayworth, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe. And before them, Norma Talmadge, Rudolph Valentino, Charles Chaplin, Florence Lawrence, and Lillian Gish. Just like long before Entertainment Weekly and PopSugar.com, there were Photoplay, Motion Picture, Modern Screen, Picture-Play, and The New Movie Magazine. Film historian Anthony Slide’s recently published Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers (University of Mi [...]...
- 5/5/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The exhibition "Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers" will be held from April 29 to July 30 at USC’s Doheny Memorial Library’s David L. Wolper Center south of downtown Los Angeles. According to the USC Libraries’ press release, "on display will be hundreds of fan magazines and motion picture memorabilia dating back to the early years of Hollywood when movie buffs would read such publications as Movie Picture Classic, Photoplay, or Screenland to learn the latest information on the biggest stars of the day." Among the archives represented in the exhibition are those from the Anthony Slide, Norma Shearer, Irene Dunne, Frank Sinatra, Louella Parsons, Constance McCormick, and George Burns and Gracie [...]...
- 5/3/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Amy Dawes reports on the lost art of the classic Hollywood fan magazine. There it was behind glass: “Why Can’t Stars Stay Married?” was the madly up-to-date headline on a 1924 issue of Screenland magazine, beneath an illustrated portrait of dreamboat Rudolph Valentino. Clearly, little has changed in the world of celebrity culture save the presentation – and that was the point of an event Thursday night at USC’s Cinematic Arts Library to launch the book “Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators and Gossip Mongers” by Anthony Slide. High and low culture is my favorite combination, and this shindig had it in spades; the classily curated exhibit runs through July 30, and the book brings the highest scholarly standards to preserving ...
- 4/30/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
It’s fascinating to learn that the first movie fan magazines were created in the mid-teens, when the movies were still quite young. They flourished in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, and evolved into gossipy journals in the 1950s and 60s. Today’s pop culture blogs and tabloid TV shows can trace their roots directly to those early publications, yet few people have ever taken them seriously…until now. Prolific film historian Anthony Slide has written a definitive history and reference guide called Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators and Gossip Mongers (University Press of Mississippi). I read…...
- 4/19/2010
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Pauline Frederick in Madame X Frank Lloyd: Q&A with Anthony Slide – Part I Frank Lloyd’s greatest strengths as a filmmaker? His greatest weaknesses? I have partly answered this question above. And I suppose, in a way, one might argue that his greatest strength — as a studio director — is also his greatest weakness. He put the studio first. He seldom went over-budget. He brought his films in on schedule. He worked well with actors and actresses, some of whom were known to be temperamental. Frank Lloyd directed numerous melodramas of various subgenres, but do his films — or at least a majority of them — share any sort of directorial or thematic element(s), e.g., the way male or female [...]...
- 1/6/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Like many other Hollywood filmmakers of the studio era, Frank Lloyd (1886-1960) is hardly remembered today despite his numerous box-office successes — e.g., The Sea Hawk (1924), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Wells Fargo (1937) — and no less than two Best Director Academy Awards, for The Divine Lady (1929) and Cavalcade (1933). With Frank Lloyd: Master of Screen Melodrama (BearManor Media, 2009), author and film historian Anthony Slide rectifies that matter. In his book, which focuses on Lloyd’s most important screen efforts, Tony (we’ve been friends for years) makes it clear that by disregarding Frank Lloyd’s body of work film historians are doing a disservice to Hollywood’s past. In addition to his two Best Director wins, Lloyd directed two [...]...
- 1/6/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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