“If you hear a fire alarm, take it seriously,” the woman at the podium announced. “Proceed calmly, but exit swiftly.
This was a step beyond the standard “put away your cell phones” introduction, but this was no ordinary movie––we were seated to watch an original nitrate print of George Sidney’s rousing 1950 musical Annie Get Your Gun. Thankfully, Netflix––in their three-year, gorgeous renovation of the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood––retained its ability to screen nitrate, but if Inglourious Basterds taught us anything, it’s that you can trap and kill a hell of a lot of people with ultra-flammable nitrate stock if things go wrong.
It was the most danger I’ve ever been in while watching Howard Keel romance a woman under disreputable circumstances, and he did that often enough. The risk was plenty worthwhile to see the colors of this ostentatious, gaudy, not-a-little-bit-wacky musical really pop...
This was a step beyond the standard “put away your cell phones” introduction, but this was no ordinary movie––we were seated to watch an original nitrate print of George Sidney’s rousing 1950 musical Annie Get Your Gun. Thankfully, Netflix––in their three-year, gorgeous renovation of the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood––retained its ability to screen nitrate, but if Inglourious Basterds taught us anything, it’s that you can trap and kill a hell of a lot of people with ultra-flammable nitrate stock if things go wrong.
It was the most danger I’ve ever been in while watching Howard Keel romance a woman under disreputable circumstances, and he did that often enough. The risk was plenty worthwhile to see the colors of this ostentatious, gaudy, not-a-little-bit-wacky musical really pop...
- 4/23/2024
- by Scott Nye
- The Film Stage
James Fitzgerald, a Hollywood publicist and manager who represented his wives Jane Powell and Erin O’Brien as well as Rock Hudson, Louella Parsons, Chuck Connors and Howard Keel, has died. He was 91.
Fitzgerald died Sunday of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Canoga Park, his son Greg Fitzgerald told The Hollywood Reporter.
Fitzgerald also assisted the careers of John Raitt, Engelbert Humperdinck, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Jimmy Van Heusen and The Burgundy Street Singers, among others. And when he was promoting the Sammy Cahn song “High Hopes” — a big hit for Frank Sinatra that won an Oscar in 1960 — he got to meet Eleanor Roosevelt, who performed the lyrics during an interview with him, as she did here.
Fitzgerald was married to singer-actress O’Brien (77 Sunset Strip, Onionhead) from 1951 until their 1963 divorce and to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers standout Powell from 1965 until their 1975 divorce (he was the third...
Fitzgerald died Sunday of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Canoga Park, his son Greg Fitzgerald told The Hollywood Reporter.
Fitzgerald also assisted the careers of John Raitt, Engelbert Humperdinck, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Jimmy Van Heusen and The Burgundy Street Singers, among others. And when he was promoting the Sammy Cahn song “High Hopes” — a big hit for Frank Sinatra that won an Oscar in 1960 — he got to meet Eleanor Roosevelt, who performed the lyrics during an interview with him, as she did here.
Fitzgerald was married to singer-actress O’Brien (77 Sunset Strip, Onionhead) from 1951 until their 1963 divorce and to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers standout Powell from 1965 until their 1975 divorce (he was the third...
- 8/21/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
SAG-AFTRA has bought an office building in the San Fernando Valley for $46.6 million that will serve as its new national headquarters. Located at 12020 Chandler Blvd. in North Hollywood, the property features more than 118,000 square feet of commercial office space and includes the building on 1.22 acres and a nearby 0.71-acre vacant lot.
Up until now, SAG-AFTRA has been the only major Hollywood union that didn’t own its own headquarters. The old Screen Actors Guild – and now SAG-AFTRA – hadn’t owned their own national offices for 37 years and have been leasing at two different locations since 1986.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said that “As National President, I began to investigate ways to diversify our investment portfolio and was surprised to learn we were the only entertainment industry union to not own our own headquarters versus paying large rents. After multiple sessions with my Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and CFO Arianna Ozzanto, it...
Up until now, SAG-AFTRA has been the only major Hollywood union that didn’t own its own headquarters. The old Screen Actors Guild – and now SAG-AFTRA – hadn’t owned their own national offices for 37 years and have been leasing at two different locations since 1986.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said that “As National President, I began to investigate ways to diversify our investment portfolio and was surprised to learn we were the only entertainment industry union to not own our own headquarters versus paying large rents. After multiple sessions with my Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and CFO Arianna Ozzanto, it...
- 4/11/2023
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
A TV series adaptation of John Wyndham’s sci-fi classic The Day Of the Triffids has been put into fast-track development by Amazon Studios. According to sources, Johan Renick, Emmy winner for HBO’s Chernobyl, is attached to direct and executive produce. Don Murphy and Susan Montford executive produce for Angry Films.
With its post-apocalyptic setting and plot, Wyndham’s 1951 novel draws parallels to HBO’s breakout hit The Last Of Us. In The Day Of the Triffids, after most people in the world are blinded by a meteor shower, triffids — tall venomous, carnivorous plants — start killing the rest. The story centers on Bill Masen, a biologist who specializes in triffids. He leads survivors in their fight against the killer plants and at some point rescues a young sighted girls and travels with her for several days.
The English book has had three UK radio adaptations and a 1962 feature starring Howard Keel.
With its post-apocalyptic setting and plot, Wyndham’s 1951 novel draws parallels to HBO’s breakout hit The Last Of Us. In The Day Of the Triffids, after most people in the world are blinded by a meteor shower, triffids — tall venomous, carnivorous plants — start killing the rest. The story centers on Bill Masen, a biologist who specializes in triffids. He leads survivors in their fight against the killer plants and at some point rescues a young sighted girls and travels with her for several days.
The English book has had three UK radio adaptations and a 1962 feature starring Howard Keel.
- 3/1/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Royal fans are remembering Queen Elizabeth II’s musical taste following her death at 96.
Tributes have been pouring in from around the world after Her Majesty passed away in Balmoral on Thursday.
The days after her death have seen well-wishers look at some of the things in life that brought her great joy - and music was among them.
The Queen was a big musical theatre fan and, perhaps surprisingly, she even enjoyed some Gary Barlow.
In 2016, the Queen’s cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson said that the monarch was “a fantastic dancer” with “great rhythm”.
Speaking on BBC Radio documentary Our Queen: 90 Musical Years, she explained: “The Queen loves the theatre and musicals like Showboat, Oklahoma! and Annie Get Your Gun.
“These were the tunes that remained in one’s head and were very danceable to.”
Others told the documentary that her taste was “mainstream”, with “no airs and graces...
Tributes have been pouring in from around the world after Her Majesty passed away in Balmoral on Thursday.
The days after her death have seen well-wishers look at some of the things in life that brought her great joy - and music was among them.
The Queen was a big musical theatre fan and, perhaps surprisingly, she even enjoyed some Gary Barlow.
In 2016, the Queen’s cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson said that the monarch was “a fantastic dancer” with “great rhythm”.
Speaking on BBC Radio documentary Our Queen: 90 Musical Years, she explained: “The Queen loves the theatre and musicals like Showboat, Oklahoma! and Annie Get Your Gun.
“These were the tunes that remained in one’s head and were very danceable to.”
Others told the documentary that her taste was “mainstream”, with “no airs and graces...
- 9/11/2022
- by Isobel Lewis
- The Independent - Music
It might have opened to muted applause, but the Gene Kelly-Stanley Donen dream team turned a 1952 also-ran into a classic
Singin’ in the Rain was not exactly conceived as a masterpiece. Arthur Freed, head of the musicals unit at MGM, had a back catalogue of songs – not all of them classics – that he’d co-written for various films at the studio between 1929 and 1939, and had the idea of stringing them together as a song score for a single new musical. Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green were hired to cobble a story around the disparate tunes; Howard Keel, a stolid bass-baritone in the MGM stable who had acquitted himself respectably in Annie Get Your Gun, was pencilled in as the lead.
As a producer, Freed tended to alternate artistically ambitious prestige musicals – just one week before Singin’ in the Rain premiered, he picked up a best picture Oscar for Vincente Minnelli’s ravishing,...
Singin’ in the Rain was not exactly conceived as a masterpiece. Arthur Freed, head of the musicals unit at MGM, had a back catalogue of songs – not all of them classics – that he’d co-written for various films at the studio between 1929 and 1939, and had the idea of stringing them together as a song score for a single new musical. Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green were hired to cobble a story around the disparate tunes; Howard Keel, a stolid bass-baritone in the MGM stable who had acquitted himself respectably in Annie Get Your Gun, was pencilled in as the lead.
As a producer, Freed tended to alternate artistically ambitious prestige musicals – just one week before Singin’ in the Rain premiered, he picked up a best picture Oscar for Vincente Minnelli’s ravishing,...
- 4/11/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
The movie awards’ season is in full flower with such films as Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog”; Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story”; Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Guillermo Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” and Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” among the favorites for top prizes. But one thing we know for certain is that there is no sure thing when it comes to the Oscars. Consider the case of seventy years ago. Not only were there surprises among the nominees, but there were also some shocks when it came to the winners of the 1952 Oscars.
Let’s revisit the 24th Academy Awards, which took place March 20, 1952 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and were hosted by Danny Kaye. This was the last time the ceremony was presented on radio. The show moved to television the following year. Among the presenters that evening were Lucille Ball,...
Let’s revisit the 24th Academy Awards, which took place March 20, 1952 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and were hosted by Danny Kaye. This was the last time the ceremony was presented on radio. The show moved to television the following year. Among the presenters that evening were Lucille Ball,...
- 12/6/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
American singer and dancer who played Milly in the classic 1954 film musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Jane Powell, who has died aged 92, was a singing star at MGM during the heyday of the studio’s musicals, from the mid-1940s to the mid-50s. She had a creamy coloratura soprano voice and appeared in several glossy, gossamer entertainments, playing a love-sick teenager before graduating to adulthood at the age of 25 with her best role as Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).
In Stanley Donen’s exuberant film, the diminutive Powell is wooed by the baritone Howard Keel (singing Bless Your Beautiful Hide), and despite the disparity in their heights they made a good match. Powell attempts to civilise her six unruly brothers-in-law, teaching them to dance politely in the number Goin’ Courtin’. She was never again to play such a mature and well-rounded character. It was the peak of her career.
Jane Powell, who has died aged 92, was a singing star at MGM during the heyday of the studio’s musicals, from the mid-1940s to the mid-50s. She had a creamy coloratura soprano voice and appeared in several glossy, gossamer entertainments, playing a love-sick teenager before graduating to adulthood at the age of 25 with her best role as Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).
In Stanley Donen’s exuberant film, the diminutive Powell is wooed by the baritone Howard Keel (singing Bless Your Beautiful Hide), and despite the disparity in their heights they made a good match. Powell attempts to civilise her six unruly brothers-in-law, teaching them to dance politely in the number Goin’ Courtin’. She was never again to play such a mature and well-rounded character. It was the peak of her career.
- 9/21/2021
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Jane Powell, who starred as an angelically visaged young actress in a number of MGM musicals including “Royal Wedding” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” during the 1940s and 1950s, has died of natural causes. She was 92 years old.
The blonde, blue-eyed Powell usually played characters with a gentle mischievous streak in her musical comedies, but she would shatter the light-hearted atmosphere of her films when she sang: A surprisingly powerful coloratura would emerge from the diminutive (5-feet-1) thesp.
Her producer and mentor was MGM’s Joe Pasternak, who had earlier developed the talents of Deanna Durbin at Universal.
Auditioning for Louis B. Mayer and for David O. Selznick, she quickly drew a seven-year contract with MGM in 1943. Her first film, on loan-out, was 1944 musical “Song of the Open Road,” in which the actress played a child film star who runs away. She took her character’s name, Jane Powell,...
The blonde, blue-eyed Powell usually played characters with a gentle mischievous streak in her musical comedies, but she would shatter the light-hearted atmosphere of her films when she sang: A surprisingly powerful coloratura would emerge from the diminutive (5-feet-1) thesp.
Her producer and mentor was MGM’s Joe Pasternak, who had earlier developed the talents of Deanna Durbin at Universal.
Auditioning for Louis B. Mayer and for David O. Selznick, she quickly drew a seven-year contract with MGM in 1943. Her first film, on loan-out, was 1944 musical “Song of the Open Road,” in which the actress played a child film star who runs away. She took her character’s name, Jane Powell,...
- 9/16/2021
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Jane Powell, who made her screen debut with W.C. Fields, danced with Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding, was one of seven brides for seven brothers in the classic 1954 film musical, sang “Buttons and Bows” at President Harry S. Truman’s Inaugural Ball and was a bridesmaid at the first of Elizabeth Taylor’s weddings, died of natural causes today at her home in Wilton, Connecticut. She was 92.
Susan Granger, a friend of the actress and spokesperson for her family, told Deadline that Powell died peacefully at the house she shared for many years with her husband, the actor and publicist Dick Moore, who died in 2015.
Powell, one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, continued to appear on stage well into the 21st Century, making her career among her generation’s sturdiest.
Born Suzanne Lorraine Burce in Portland, Oregon, Powell was already a locally successful singer – she...
Susan Granger, a friend of the actress and spokesperson for her family, told Deadline that Powell died peacefully at the house she shared for many years with her husband, the actor and publicist Dick Moore, who died in 2015.
Powell, one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, continued to appear on stage well into the 21st Century, making her career among her generation’s sturdiest.
Born Suzanne Lorraine Burce in Portland, Oregon, Powell was already a locally successful singer – she...
- 9/16/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
SAG-AFTRA is the only major Hollywood union that doesn’t own its own headquarters, and that’s become a topic of heated debate between its warring factions in the union’s ongoing election of national and local officers. SAG – and now SAG-AFTRA – hasn’t owned its own national offices for 35 years, leasing at two different locations since 1986.
Both sides think they should buy one sooner or later. The opposition MembershipFirst candidates, led by Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher, want to do it sooner, and blast the current leadership for recently signing a new long term lease for the union’s headquarters on the Miracle Mile.
“For years, a staggering $6 million per year has been spent on renting our SAG-AFTRA offices in Los Angeles,” MembershipFirst says in its campaign platform. “Many more millions of dollars are squandered annually on office rents around the country. In fact, money has even been wasted...
Both sides think they should buy one sooner or later. The opposition MembershipFirst candidates, led by Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher, want to do it sooner, and blast the current leadership for recently signing a new long term lease for the union’s headquarters on the Miracle Mile.
“For years, a staggering $6 million per year has been spent on renting our SAG-AFTRA offices in Los Angeles,” MembershipFirst says in its campaign platform. “Many more millions of dollars are squandered annually on office rents around the country. In fact, money has even been wasted...
- 8/13/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
As a genre, musicals are up there with the Western: You either love them or hate them. They’re also genres that are easy to mock and/or subvert. Thus is the case with the new Apple TV+ series, “Schmigadoon,” an ambitious show that hopes to both modernize the musical while humorously poking fun at some of the more obvious narrative flaws of the genre. With hummable songs and a stellar cast of Broadway and comedy veterans, it’s almost enough to make you forget how surface-level the conceit comes across.
Melissa and Josh have been together for several years but are in a rut. Melissa sees their relationship in extremes of utter perfection or complete failure, while Josh puts in the bare minimum of effort and remains closed off. In a last ditch effort they go on a couples retreat only to get lost in the woods.
The couple...
Melissa and Josh have been together for several years but are in a rut. Melissa sees their relationship in extremes of utter perfection or complete failure, while Josh puts in the bare minimum of effort and remains closed off. In a last ditch effort they go on a couples retreat only to get lost in the woods.
The couple...
- 7/16/2021
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
On the surface, Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco) is a very successful airline stewardess. The protagonist of HBO Max’s juicy, fun comedy series “The Flight Attendant” lives in New York City and has the primo routes in Europe and in Asia. But she’s also a drunk and quite frankly, a slut. And when she wakes up in bed in her hotel room in Bangkok, she discovers the man she spent the night with who had been her flight is dead with his throat slashed. It’s a delicious eight-season flight with Cuoco and the series earning nominations for the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Critics Choice honors. And it’s expected to be a shoo-in for multiple Emmy nominations.
Over the decades, flight attendants have been depicted in movies and on TV from a Madonna to a whore and everything in between. Of course, the most...
Over the decades, flight attendants have been depicted in movies and on TV from a Madonna to a whore and everything in between. Of course, the most...
- 6/14/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
By Lee Pfeiffer
In days of old, there were precious few opportunities to see documentaries about the making of specific films. In 1960, John Wayne hosted "The Spirit of the Alamo", a one-hour publicity special for his epic film. In 1965, the James Bond film "Thunderball" was promoted with a one hour prime time TV special, a strategy that was repeated in 1967 for "You Only Live Twice". However, these were the exceptions. In most cases, "making of" documentaries were short featurettes lasting between five and ten minutes on average. Movie fans would only encounter them by accident. American viewers might catch one of them if a network needed something to fill some time gap, such as a rain delay in a live baseball game. The only way die-hard movie buffs could watch such films on demand required access to a 16mm film projector and the ability to know where to purchase them on the collector's circuit.
In days of old, there were precious few opportunities to see documentaries about the making of specific films. In 1960, John Wayne hosted "The Spirit of the Alamo", a one-hour publicity special for his epic film. In 1965, the James Bond film "Thunderball" was promoted with a one hour prime time TV special, a strategy that was repeated in 1967 for "You Only Live Twice". However, these were the exceptions. In most cases, "making of" documentaries were short featurettes lasting between five and ten minutes on average. Movie fans would only encounter them by accident. American viewers might catch one of them if a network needed something to fill some time gap, such as a rain delay in a live baseball game. The only way die-hard movie buffs could watch such films on demand required access to a 16mm film projector and the ability to know where to purchase them on the collector's circuit.
- 4/29/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
MGM’s old-fashioned Irving Berlin musical has superior songs and powerful performances, especially that of Betty Hutton. She gets plenty loud and rambunctious, but it fits the ‘big’ Annie Oakley character. And the talented, under-appreciated Howard Keel really fires up the screen with her in songs like ‘Anything You Can Do.’ The Wac disc contains plenty of George Feltenstein- rescued unused audio material, plus footage … depressing footage … of Judy Garland’s attempt in the leading role. Yep, the show may be PC minefield begging for a Cancel Culture intervention, but if it goes we’ll have to put most of Hollywood film history in a landfill.
Annie Get Your Gun
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 107 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 10, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Benay Venuta, Clinton Sundberg, Mae Clarke, John Mylong, Chief Yowlachie, Evelyn Beresford.
Annie Get Your Gun
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 107 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 10, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Benay Venuta, Clinton Sundberg, Mae Clarke, John Mylong, Chief Yowlachie, Evelyn Beresford.
- 4/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Tim McGlynn
“What does he care if the land ain’t free?”
The Warner Archive has done itself proud with their new release of MGM’s splendid 1951 production of Showboat. This Technicolor spectacular is actually the third film version of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein classic, which is based on a novel by Edna Ferber. The Freed unit at MGM pulled out all the stops for this effort and cast Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead, Marge and Gower Champion and William Warfield in this turn- of -the last century story set in the deep South.
Cap’n Andy and his wife Parthy use their paddle Wheeler, the Cotton Blossom, to put on shows up and down the Mississippi River. Their daughter, Magnolia, dreams of playing a part but is discouraged by her strict mother. One day a charming, but down and out gambler...
“What does he care if the land ain’t free?”
The Warner Archive has done itself proud with their new release of MGM’s splendid 1951 production of Showboat. This Technicolor spectacular is actually the third film version of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein classic, which is based on a novel by Edna Ferber. The Freed unit at MGM pulled out all the stops for this effort and cast Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead, Marge and Gower Champion and William Warfield in this turn- of -the last century story set in the deep South.
Cap’n Andy and his wife Parthy use their paddle Wheeler, the Cotton Blossom, to put on shows up and down the Mississippi River. Their daughter, Magnolia, dreams of playing a part but is discouraged by her strict mother. One day a charming, but down and out gambler...
- 3/9/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
By Tim McGlynn
“What does he care if the land ain’t free?”
The Warner Archive has done itself proud with their new release of MGM’s splendid 1951 production of Showboat. This Technicolor spectacular is actually the third film version of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein classic, which is based on a novel by Edna Ferber. The Freed unit at MGM pulled out all the stops for this effort and cast Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead, Marge and Gower Champion and William Warfield in this turn- of -the last century story set in the deep South.
Cap’n Andy and his wife Parthy use their paddle Wheeler, the Cotton Blossom, to put on shows up and down the Mississippi River. Their daughter, Magnolia, dreams of playing a part but is discouraged by her strict mother. One day a charming, but down and out gambler...
“What does he care if the land ain’t free?”
The Warner Archive has done itself proud with their new release of MGM’s splendid 1951 production of Showboat. This Technicolor spectacular is actually the third film version of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein classic, which is based on a novel by Edna Ferber. The Freed unit at MGM pulled out all the stops for this effort and cast Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead, Marge and Gower Champion and William Warfield in this turn- of -the last century story set in the deep South.
Cap’n Andy and his wife Parthy use their paddle Wheeler, the Cotton Blossom, to put on shows up and down the Mississippi River. Their daughter, Magnolia, dreams of playing a part but is discouraged by her strict mother. One day a charming, but down and out gambler...
- 3/9/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
Show Boat
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ava Gardner and Howard Keel in Show Boat (1951) will be available on Blu-ray February 23rd from Warner Archive. Oredring info can be found Here
From novel (by Edna Ferber) to Broadway smash (by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) to three film versions to stage revivals. Like Ol’ Man River, Show Boat just keeps rollin’ along. Produced by Arthur Freed and directed by George Sidney, this 1951 version of the saga of riverboat lives and loves has glorious stars in Technicolor® radiance, a made-from-scratch 170-foot paddle wheeler, timeless songs and an equally timeless outcry against racial bigotry. “This was music that would outlast Kern’s day and mine,” Ferber said in recalling her first reaction to hearing “Ol’ Man River.” She was right as rain.
Special Features: Commentary by Director George Sidney; “Till the Clouds Roll By – Show Boat” (1946) Sequence; “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Bill” Ava Gardner Audio-only...
From novel (by Edna Ferber) to Broadway smash (by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) to three film versions to stage revivals. Like Ol’ Man River, Show Boat just keeps rollin’ along. Produced by Arthur Freed and directed by George Sidney, this 1951 version of the saga of riverboat lives and loves has glorious stars in Technicolor® radiance, a made-from-scratch 170-foot paddle wheeler, timeless songs and an equally timeless outcry against racial bigotry. “This was music that would outlast Kern’s day and mine,” Ferber said in recalling her first reaction to hearing “Ol’ Man River.” She was right as rain.
Special Features: Commentary by Director George Sidney; “Till the Clouds Roll By – Show Boat” (1946) Sequence; “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Bill” Ava Gardner Audio-only...
- 2/5/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Marge Champion, a dancer and actor who served as the real-life model for Disney’s 1937 animated classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” died on Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to The New York Times. She was 101.
Champion and her husband, Gower Champion, also had great success as dance partners and choreographers for Broadway musicals, films and television shows. Champion won an Emmy award in 1975 for choreographing the television movie “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.”
Marge and Gower Champion most notably danced together in multiple MGM musicals, including the 1951 remake of “Show Boat” starring Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner.
In addition to “Snow White,” Champion’s elegant dance moves served as the inspiration for the Blue Fairy in “Pinocchio” and the tutu-wearing hippo ballerinas in the “Dance of the Hours” number in “Fantasia.”
The Champions danced across television screens in the late 1940s and 1950s, first appearing in...
Champion and her husband, Gower Champion, also had great success as dance partners and choreographers for Broadway musicals, films and television shows. Champion won an Emmy award in 1975 for choreographing the television movie “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.”
Marge and Gower Champion most notably danced together in multiple MGM musicals, including the 1951 remake of “Show Boat” starring Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner.
In addition to “Snow White,” Champion’s elegant dance moves served as the inspiration for the Blue Fairy in “Pinocchio” and the tutu-wearing hippo ballerinas in the “Dance of the Hours” number in “Fantasia.”
The Champions danced across television screens in the late 1940s and 1950s, first appearing in...
- 10/22/2020
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Marge Champion, who served as the real-life model for Snow White, then teamed with her husband and dance partner, Gower Champion, for Broadway musicals, television shows and movies, has died. She was 101.
Champion, who won an Emmy for choreographing the acclaimed 1975 telefilm Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, dance instructor Pierre Dulaine told The Hollywood Reporter.
Survivors include a step-daughter, actress Katey Sagal, and her son, producer-director Gregg Champion.
Marge and Gower Champion danced together in several MGM musicals, perhaps most memorably in George Sidney’s 1951 remake of Show Boat, which starred Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner. Their ...
Champion, who won an Emmy for choreographing the acclaimed 1975 telefilm Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, dance instructor Pierre Dulaine told The Hollywood Reporter.
Survivors include a step-daughter, actress Katey Sagal, and her son, producer-director Gregg Champion.
Marge and Gower Champion danced together in several MGM musicals, perhaps most memorably in George Sidney’s 1951 remake of Show Boat, which starred Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner. Their ...
- 10/22/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Marge Champion, who served as the real-life model for Snow White, then teamed with her husband and dance partner, Gower Champion, for Broadway musicals, television shows and movies, has died. She was 101.
Champion, who won an Emmy for choreographing the acclaimed 1975 telefilm Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, dance instructor Pierre Dulaine told The Hollywood Reporter.
Survivors include a step-daughter, actress Katey Sagal, and her son, producer-director Gregg Champion.
Marge and Gower Champion danced together in several MGM musicals, perhaps most memorably in George Sidney’s 1951 remake of Show Boat, which starred Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner. Their ...
Champion, who won an Emmy for choreographing the acclaimed 1975 telefilm Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, dance instructor Pierre Dulaine told The Hollywood Reporter.
Survivors include a step-daughter, actress Katey Sagal, and her son, producer-director Gregg Champion.
Marge and Gower Champion danced together in several MGM musicals, perhaps most memorably in George Sidney’s 1951 remake of Show Boat, which starred Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner. Their ...
- 10/22/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
One of the best and most melodic of filmic transpositions from Broadway, James Whale’s beautifully directed movie showcases all-time great performances by Irene Dunne, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Hattie McDaniel, and Charles Winninger. If you didn’t grow up with an awareness of this 1936 show, it’s because it was tossed in a vault and kept from view for more than forty years. Criterion’s new disc is a wonderful surprise that does the movie justice.
Show Boat
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1021
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 31, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley, Queenie Smith, Sammy White, Donald Cook, Hattie McDaniel, Arthur Hohl, Charles B. Middleton, J. Farrell MacDonald, Clarence Muse, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson.
Cinematography: John J. Mescall
Original Music: Jerome Kern and Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II from the...
Show Boat
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1021
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 31, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley, Queenie Smith, Sammy White, Donald Cook, Hattie McDaniel, Arthur Hohl, Charles B. Middleton, J. Farrell MacDonald, Clarence Muse, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson.
Cinematography: John J. Mescall
Original Music: Jerome Kern and Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II from the...
- 3/21/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
One of the best and most melodic of filmic transpositions from Broadway, James Whale’s beautifully directed movie showcases all-time great performances by Irene Dunne, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Hattie McDaniel, and Charles Winninger. If you didn’t grow up with an awareness of this 1936 show, it’s because it was tossed in a vault and kept from view for more than forty years. Criterion’s new disc is a wonderful surprise that does the movie justice.
Show Boat
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1021
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 31, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley, Queenie Smith, Sammy White, Donald Cook, Hattie McDaniel, Arthur Hohl, Charles B. Middleton, J. Farrell MacDonald, Clarence Muse, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson.
Cinematography: John J. Mescall
Original Music: Jerome Kern and Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II from the...
Show Boat
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1021
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 31, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley, Queenie Smith, Sammy White, Donald Cook, Hattie McDaniel, Arthur Hohl, Charles B. Middleton, J. Farrell MacDonald, Clarence Muse, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson.
Cinematography: John J. Mescall
Original Music: Jerome Kern and Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II from the...
- 3/21/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Actress Joyce Gordon, the first woman to serve as President of a branch of the Screen Actors Guild, has died. She was 90. As an actor, she was best known as a pioneering performer in early TV commercials and network promos. But her true calling was as a union leader and supporter of her fellow actors.
In the 1950s, she became the first woman to do network promos, and the first woman announcer for a political convention on network television. In 1959, during Howard Keel’s SAG presidency, she was part of the first dozen branch members to serve on the guild’s national board – the sole woman in that group of 12. In 1966, she was elected president of SAG’s New York branch, a first for a woman in any branch of the guild.
In all, she served the union for more than four decades, was a trustee of the SAG-aftra Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund,...
In the 1950s, she became the first woman to do network promos, and the first woman announcer for a political convention on network television. In 1959, during Howard Keel’s SAG presidency, she was part of the first dozen branch members to serve on the guild’s national board – the sole woman in that group of 12. In 1966, she was elected president of SAG’s New York branch, a first for a woman in any branch of the guild.
In all, she served the union for more than four decades, was a trustee of the SAG-aftra Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund,...
- 2/29/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Yes, Doris Day, who died on May 13 at age 97 after a bout with pneumonia, was the all-American girl next door — but she was so much more. The funny, sunny blonde with the perky disposition, a sprinkle of freckles and a dazzling smile started off as a big band singer whose first hit was 1945’s “Sentimental Journey” with Les Brown & his Band of Renown. She would record more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967, making her one of the biggest-selling recording artists of the 20th century, and was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 20008.
But the former Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff would make an even bigger splash as a star on the silver screen in a series of romantic comedies opposite Rock Hudson — who would become a lifelong friend — starting with 1959’s “Pillow Talk,” the source of her only Oscar nomination, along with 1961’s “Lover Come Back” and 1964’s “Send Me No Flowers.
But the former Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff would make an even bigger splash as a star on the silver screen in a series of romantic comedies opposite Rock Hudson — who would become a lifelong friend — starting with 1959’s “Pillow Talk,” the source of her only Oscar nomination, along with 1961’s “Lover Come Back” and 1964’s “Send Me No Flowers.
- 5/14/2019
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
April tends to be a slow month here at Tfe but we'll hopefully pick back up now for summer movie season which is also Emmy nominating season so expect more Game of Thrones and Fosse/Verdon shortly. If you're just rejoining us here are a dozen highlights from the month...
Donna Lynne Champlin in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019)
Best of April
• Complete West Side Story Casting - Meet the new Sharks and new Jets
• Serial Mom 25th Anniversary - Salim looked back at the John Waters classic
• Smackdown of 1972 -Donna Lynne Champlin and more special guests joined us to talk The Poseidon Adventure, stage to screen acting, and the difficulty of playing drunk scenes
• Farewell Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Dan says goodbye to TV's genius musical comedy
• Oscar Rule Changes - Makeup and Hair and Foreign Film get minor adjustments
• Howard Keel Centennial - Lynn, Tim, Deborah, and Nathaniel looked back at...
Donna Lynne Champlin in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019)
Best of April
• Complete West Side Story Casting - Meet the new Sharks and new Jets
• Serial Mom 25th Anniversary - Salim looked back at the John Waters classic
• Smackdown of 1972 -Donna Lynne Champlin and more special guests joined us to talk The Poseidon Adventure, stage to screen acting, and the difficulty of playing drunk scenes
• Farewell Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Dan says goodbye to TV's genius musical comedy
• Oscar Rule Changes - Makeup and Hair and Foreign Film get minor adjustments
• Howard Keel Centennial - Lynn, Tim, Deborah, and Nathaniel looked back at...
- 4/30/2019
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
We conclude (probably) our Howard Keel Centennial celebration with one of the actors last pictures before retirement (though he returned in the 1980s via "Dallas" stardom). Here's Deborah Lipp...
When Nathaniel announced a celebration of Howard Keel’s centennial, I had my pick of Keel movies. Perhaps counter-intuitively, I lept at the chance to write about my beloved The Day of the Triffids (1963). Once committed, I had a moment of fear. Here is a movie I have loved almost my entire life; a movie played over and over on local television in the pre-cable days of my youth. I have probably not seen Triffids since graduating from high school—what if it doesn’t hold up?
I need not have worried but if you want to argue that Triffids is a terrible movie, there is plenty of evidence...
When Nathaniel announced a celebration of Howard Keel’s centennial, I had my pick of Keel movies. Perhaps counter-intuitively, I lept at the chance to write about my beloved The Day of the Triffids (1963). Once committed, I had a moment of fear. Here is a movie I have loved almost my entire life; a movie played over and over on local television in the pre-cable days of my youth. I have probably not seen Triffids since graduating from high school—what if it doesn’t hold up?
I need not have worried but if you want to argue that Triffids is a terrible movie, there is plenty of evidence...
- 4/13/2019
- by Deborah Lipp
- FilmExperience
We're celebrating music man Howard Keel's centennial this week. Here's Lynn Lee...
In many ways, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) marked the peak of Keel’s MGM career, coming after his breakout role in Annie, Get Your Gun and his star turns in Showboat and the less-successful but still-classic Kiss Me, Kate! Keel’s film career would fade in the years that followed, although he continued to enjoy success on the stage and in later life would find TV fame with his role on “Dallas.” It was Seven Brides, though, that captured Keel in his screen prime as an appealing and charismatic musical actor who managed to make a problematic character (to say the least) surprisingly compelling.
Full disclosure: Seven Brides was one of my favorite movies growing up, and remains one of my all-time favorite musicals. As a young child I loved it even more than West Side Story...
In many ways, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) marked the peak of Keel’s MGM career, coming after his breakout role in Annie, Get Your Gun and his star turns in Showboat and the less-successful but still-classic Kiss Me, Kate! Keel’s film career would fade in the years that followed, although he continued to enjoy success on the stage and in later life would find TV fame with his role on “Dallas.” It was Seven Brides, though, that captured Keel in his screen prime as an appealing and charismatic musical actor who managed to make a problematic character (to say the least) surprisingly compelling.
Full disclosure: Seven Brides was one of my favorite movies growing up, and remains one of my all-time favorite musicals. As a young child I loved it even more than West Side Story...
- 4/12/2019
- by Lynn Lee
- FilmExperience
We're celebrating musical star Howard Keel's Centennial this week. Here's Tim Brayton...
Presenting a musical in which Howard Keel plays the obnoxious gunslinger love interest to a famous woman from the Wild West. My apologies if you feel a little bit of déjà vu from that logline: Nathaniel did, after all, just write about Keel's breakout performance in 1950's Annie Get Your Gun, about which every word of that sentence equally applies. And that's absolutely no accident. Warner Bros. had fought to get the rights to that stage musical as a vehicle for its up-and-coming singing star Doris Day, but lost out to MGM. When that film proved to be a hit, Warner's responded by developing an original Western musical based - oh so very loosely - on the life of Calamity Jane, famous frontierswoman and scout.
So eager was the studio to recreate that Annie magic that they...
Presenting a musical in which Howard Keel plays the obnoxious gunslinger love interest to a famous woman from the Wild West. My apologies if you feel a little bit of déjà vu from that logline: Nathaniel did, after all, just write about Keel's breakout performance in 1950's Annie Get Your Gun, about which every word of that sentence equally applies. And that's absolutely no accident. Warner Bros. had fought to get the rights to that stage musical as a vehicle for its up-and-coming singing star Doris Day, but lost out to MGM. When that film proved to be a hit, Warner's responded by developing an original Western musical based - oh so very loosely - on the life of Calamity Jane, famous frontierswoman and scout.
So eager was the studio to recreate that Annie magic that they...
- 4/11/2019
- by Tim Brayton
- FilmExperience
Our Howard Keel Centennial celebration begins. Here's Nathaniel R...
What is the lasting legacy of Hollywood's biggest musical of 1950, Annie Get Your Gun? The best remembered thing about it may well be its place in Judy Garland's storied career; she was infamously fired well into production, marking in some ways the nadir of her career, and fueling the mythology of that comeback of all comebacks with A Star is Born (1954) after a four year absence from the big screen. But that's not the movie as it exists today, only what could have been. And "could have beens" are many with this troubled production which lost its original star (Judy), its first two directors (Busby Berkeley and Charles Walters) and one key supporting cast member on its way to its final cut.
The first shot of Howard Keel in "Annie Get Your Gun"
Though "Annie Get Your Gun" has had...
What is the lasting legacy of Hollywood's biggest musical of 1950, Annie Get Your Gun? The best remembered thing about it may well be its place in Judy Garland's storied career; she was infamously fired well into production, marking in some ways the nadir of her career, and fueling the mythology of that comeback of all comebacks with A Star is Born (1954) after a four year absence from the big screen. But that's not the movie as it exists today, only what could have been. And "could have beens" are many with this troubled production which lost its original star (Judy), its first two directors (Busby Berkeley and Charles Walters) and one key supporting cast member on its way to its final cut.
The first shot of Howard Keel in "Annie Get Your Gun"
Though "Annie Get Your Gun" has had...
- 4/11/2019
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
David Crow Feb 23, 2019
Stanley Donen, legendary director of Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Charade, has passed away.
Stanley Donen, one of the filmmakers most associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood movie musicals out of the MGM Freed unit, has passed away at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy that includes Singin’ in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, On the Town, Funny Face, and non-musical Audrey Hepburn classics like Charade and Two for the Road.
The news was confirmed by one of Donen’s sons to The Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips. The journalist tweeted Saturday morning, “Confirmed by one of his sons this morning: Director Stanley Donen has died at 94… A huge, often neglected talent.”
Born in South Carolina in April 1924, Donen said later in life that he was inspired by the likes of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals of the ‘30s,...
Stanley Donen, legendary director of Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Charade, has passed away.
Stanley Donen, one of the filmmakers most associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood movie musicals out of the MGM Freed unit, has passed away at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy that includes Singin’ in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, On the Town, Funny Face, and non-musical Audrey Hepburn classics like Charade and Two for the Road.
The news was confirmed by one of Donen’s sons to The Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips. The journalist tweeted Saturday morning, “Confirmed by one of his sons this morning: Director Stanley Donen has died at 94… A huge, often neglected talent.”
Born in South Carolina in April 1924, Donen said later in life that he was inspired by the likes of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals of the ‘30s,...
- 2/23/2019
- Den of Geek
1972: Jingles the clown scared Andrea on Somerset.
1986: Robert S. Woods debuted as Paul on Days of our Lives.
1986: James Stenbeck returned from the dead with, "Hello, Barbara"
1995: All My Children's Julia found a surprise in her closet."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1957: On The Edge of Night, Roger (Allen Nourse) worried about Mary.
1972: On Somerset, Andrea Moore (Harriet Hall) was terrified when she was woken up in her bedroom by Jingles the Clown. When Carter Matson (Jay Gregory) ran into the room after hearing her screams, he didn't see anything and told...
1986: Robert S. Woods debuted as Paul on Days of our Lives.
1986: James Stenbeck returned from the dead with, "Hello, Barbara"
1995: All My Children's Julia found a surprise in her closet."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1957: On The Edge of Night, Roger (Allen Nourse) worried about Mary.
1972: On Somerset, Andrea Moore (Harriet Hall) was terrified when she was woken up in her bedroom by Jingles the Clown. When Carter Matson (Jay Gregory) ran into the room after hearing her screams, he didn't see anything and told...
- 11/7/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
In today’s film news roundup, “The Hummingbird Project” will kick off the Vancouver Film Festival, SAG-aftra honors John Carter Brown, and Belva Davis and Gregg Sulkin has joined the cast of “This is the Year.”
Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival will kick off its 16-day run on Sept. 27 with “The Hummingbird Project,” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard.
The duo are playing cousins intent on creating a 1,000-mile-long fibre-optic cable that will shave a critical millisecond off of stock transactions. Kim Nguyen directed “The Hummingbird Project,” which also stars Salma Hayek as their former boss. The film premieres Sept. 8 at the Toronto Film Festival.
The Vancouver Festival will holds its BC Spotlight Gala on Oct. 6 with the world premiere of Robin Hays’ “Anthem of a Teenage Prophet,” starring Cameron Monaghan (“Shameless”) as a teenager that predicted the death of his best friend and spirals into more macabre premonitions.
Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival will kick off its 16-day run on Sept. 27 with “The Hummingbird Project,” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard.
The duo are playing cousins intent on creating a 1,000-mile-long fibre-optic cable that will shave a critical millisecond off of stock transactions. Kim Nguyen directed “The Hummingbird Project,” which also stars Salma Hayek as their former boss. The film premieres Sept. 8 at the Toronto Film Festival.
The Vancouver Festival will holds its BC Spotlight Gala on Oct. 6 with the world premiere of Robin Hays’ “Anthem of a Teenage Prophet,” starring Cameron Monaghan (“Shameless”) as a teenager that predicted the death of his best friend and spirals into more macabre premonitions.
- 9/6/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the Warner Archive:
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Burbank, Calif., Get ready for one of the liveliest, leaping-est, sassiest and happiest musicals ever, as Warner Archive Collection proudly unveils its Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray™ release of the Oscar-winning 1954 MGM classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain), and starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was nominated for four Academy Awards® and won for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. This Western musical is distinguished by a wonderful score of original songs by composer Gene de Paul and lyricist by Johnny Mercer (Li’l Abner) along with brilliant, acrobatic dancing scenes choreographed by Michael Kidd.
Presented for the first time on Blu-ray, featuring a new 1080p HD master from a 2018 2K scan in its original 2.55 CinemaScope aspect ratio,...
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Burbank, Calif., Get ready for one of the liveliest, leaping-est, sassiest and happiest musicals ever, as Warner Archive Collection proudly unveils its Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray™ release of the Oscar-winning 1954 MGM classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain), and starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was nominated for four Academy Awards® and won for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. This Western musical is distinguished by a wonderful score of original songs by composer Gene de Paul and lyricist by Johnny Mercer (Li’l Abner) along with brilliant, acrobatic dancing scenes choreographed by Michael Kidd.
Presented for the first time on Blu-ray, featuring a new 1080p HD master from a 2018 2K scan in its original 2.55 CinemaScope aspect ratio,...
- 6/8/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Little Song ‘n’ Dance Show that Could, this over-achieving Jack Cummings production is a bright exception to the dull waning days of the MGM musical, due to many factors but especially Michael Kidd’s athletic choreography. And it’s been restored in both of its simultaneously-filmed versions, flat-widescreen and CinemaScope.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Two- disc Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1954 / Color / 1:77 widescreen + 2:55 anamorphic 16:9 (separate versions) /
102 min. / Street Date June 5, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Marc Platt, Matt Mattox, Jacques d’Amboise, Julie Newmeyer (Newmar), Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Kilmonis (Lee), Norma Doggett.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Choreography: Michael Kidd
Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters
Original Music: Gene de Paul, Johnny Mercer
Written by Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich, Dorothy Kingsley from the story The Sobbin’ Women by Stephen Vincent Benet
Produced by Jack Cummings...
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Two- disc Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1954 / Color / 1:77 widescreen + 2:55 anamorphic 16:9 (separate versions) /
102 min. / Street Date June 5, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Marc Platt, Matt Mattox, Jacques d’Amboise, Julie Newmeyer (Newmar), Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Kilmonis (Lee), Norma Doggett.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Choreography: Michael Kidd
Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters
Original Music: Gene de Paul, Johnny Mercer
Written by Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich, Dorothy Kingsley from the story The Sobbin’ Women by Stephen Vincent Benet
Produced by Jack Cummings...
- 5/29/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
(See previous post: Fourth of July Movies: Escapism During a Weird Year.) On the evening of the Fourth of July, besides fireworks, fire hazards, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, if you're watching TCM in the U.S. and Canada, there's the following: Peter H. Hunt's 1776 (1972), a largely forgotten film musical based on the Broadway hit with music by Sherman Edwards. William Daniels, who was recently on TCM talking about 1776 and a couple of other movies (A Thousand Clowns, Dodsworth), has one of the key roles as John Adams. Howard Da Silva, blacklisted for over a decade after being named a communist during the House Un-American Committee hearings of the early 1950s (Robert Taylor was one who mentioned him in his testimony), plays Benjamin Franklin. Ken Howard is Thomas Jefferson, a role he would reprise in John Huston's 1976 short Independence. (In the short, Pat Hingle was cast as John Adams; Eli Wallach was Benjamin Franklin.) Warner...
- 7/5/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Fourth of July movies: A few recommended titles that should help you temporarily escape current global madness Two thousand and seventeen has been a weirder-than-usual year on the already pretty weird Planet Earth. Unsurprisingly, this Fourth of July, the day the United States celebrates its Declaration of Independence from the British Empire, has been an unusual one as well. Instead of fireworks, (at least some) people's attention has been turned to missiles – more specifically, a carefully timed North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test indicating that Kim Jong-un could theoretically gain (or could already have?) the capacity to strike North America with nuclear weapons. Then there were right-wing trolls & history-deficient Twitter users berating National Public Radio for tweeting the Declaration of Independence, 140 characters at a time. Besides, a few days ago the current U.S. president retweeted a video of himself body-slamming and choking a representation of CNN – courtesy of a gif originally created by a far-right Internet...
- 7/5/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Coen brothers' recent Hail Caesar! may have seemed pretty bold in featuring both a Roman sword-and-sandal epic and a water ballet musical in its story of old Hollywood chicanery, but in 1955 MGM went several steps further in producing Jupiter's Darling, which is simultaneously a Roman epic and a water ballet musical, starring the queen (and sole proponent) of the latter genre, Esther Williams.One of the perplexing things about the genius of the system, whereby a studio apparatus geared to make crowd-pleasing entertainment also produced, on a fairly regular basis, great cinematic art as a kind of incidental by-product (incidental except to the artists employed) is that often the mass audience, which was the ultimate arbiter of taste, would get things badly wrong. Thus Keaton's The General, his bravest and best film, was a commercial flop, and thus the climax of the Williams water-and-song cycle proved to be an...
- 1/12/2017
- MUBI
“There’s still not enough room on this boat for the two of us!”
Show Boat (1951) is one of Hollywood’s most beloved musicals and you’ll have a chance to see it on the big screen at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, May 14th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. Admission is only $5.
Show Boat (1951) a colorful version of the Edna Ferber novel may not be held in as high regard as the 1936 adaption directed by James Whale and starring Irene Dunn and Paul Robeson, but is a big, fun musical nonetheless.
The songs by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein are considered some of the best either ever composed and are sung by those talented performers Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel. Both do excellent work both musically and dramatically even...
Show Boat (1951) is one of Hollywood’s most beloved musicals and you’ll have a chance to see it on the big screen at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, May 14th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. Admission is only $5.
Show Boat (1951) a colorful version of the Edna Ferber novel may not be held in as high regard as the 1936 adaption directed by James Whale and starring Irene Dunn and Paul Robeson, but is a big, fun musical nonetheless.
The songs by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein are considered some of the best either ever composed and are sung by those talented performers Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel. Both do excellent work both musically and dramatically even...
- 5/9/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 50s western romp gets a new lease of life with a new digital print, singalong subtitles and a place in the queer cinema canon
Doris Day stars in a witty 1953 western romp celebrated as one of the queerest items in the Hollywood musical canon – which is why this new digital print, with added subtitles for singalongs, was a highlight in last month’s BFI’s Lgbt Flare festival. Day’s Calamity might seem ready to ditch her buckskins for pretty ginghams to win the heart of Wild Bill Hickok (a distractingly toothy Howard Keel). But the true object of her affections is surely gauche chanteuse Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) – and it’s presumably not just flower arranging they’re singing about in their duo A Woman’s Touch. It’s heteronormativity that’s gettin’ a whuppin’ with that there whiplash, yes siree ma’am. Boisterous fun, with Day...
Doris Day stars in a witty 1953 western romp celebrated as one of the queerest items in the Hollywood musical canon – which is why this new digital print, with added subtitles for singalongs, was a highlight in last month’s BFI’s Lgbt Flare festival. Day’s Calamity might seem ready to ditch her buckskins for pretty ginghams to win the heart of Wild Bill Hickok (a distractingly toothy Howard Keel). But the true object of her affections is surely gauche chanteuse Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) – and it’s presumably not just flower arranging they’re singing about in their duo A Woman’s Touch. It’s heteronormativity that’s gettin’ a whuppin’ with that there whiplash, yes siree ma’am. Boisterous fun, with Day...
- 4/10/2016
- by Jonathan Romney
- The Guardian - Film News
The 50s western romp gets a new lease of life with a new digital print, singalong subtitles and a place in the queer cinema canon
Doris Day stars in a witty 1953 western romp celebrated as one of the queerest items in the Hollywood musical canon – which is why this new digital print, with added subtitles for singalongs, was a highlight in last month’s BFI’s Lgbt Flare festival. Day’s Calamity might seem ready to ditch her buckskins for pretty ginghams to win the heart of Wild Bill Hickok (a distractingly toothy Howard Keel). But the true object of her affections is surely gauche chanteuse Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) – and it’s presumably not just flower arranging they’re singing about in their duo A Woman’s Touch. It’s heteronormativity that’s gettin’ a whuppin’ with that there whiplash, yes siree ma’am. Boisterous fun, with Day...
Doris Day stars in a witty 1953 western romp celebrated as one of the queerest items in the Hollywood musical canon – which is why this new digital print, with added subtitles for singalongs, was a highlight in last month’s BFI’s Lgbt Flare festival. Day’s Calamity might seem ready to ditch her buckskins for pretty ginghams to win the heart of Wild Bill Hickok (a distractingly toothy Howard Keel). But the true object of her affections is surely gauche chanteuse Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) – and it’s presumably not just flower arranging they’re singing about in their duo A Woman’s Touch. It’s heteronormativity that’s gettin’ a whuppin’ with that there whiplash, yes siree ma’am. Boisterous fun, with Day...
- 4/10/2016
- by Jonathan Romney
- The Guardian - Film News
The 1953 musical features Doris Day on whip-crackin’ form and golden tunes, but it can’t be completely reclaimed for progressive politics
Whip-crackin’, gun-totin’, suede outfit-rockin’ Doris Day is back in this hugely enjoyable 1953 musical now on rerelease, playing “Calamity” Jane Cannary (loosely based on the real-life frontierswoman): a gunslinger riding shotgun on the Deadwood stage in wild west Dakota, bringing in the mail and the fancy goods, while spraying the injuns with bullets and flirting with local legend “Wild Bill” Hickok, played by honey-voiced Howard Keel. She journeys to Chicago to persuade a famous singing star to come perform at the local theatre, but instead returns with an impostor, the star’s ambitious maid, Katie Brown (Allyn McLerie). Jane’s tomboyish style, plus the fact that she sets up home with Katie in her shack (with “Calam and Katie” on the front door), recently earned this revival a place...
Whip-crackin’, gun-totin’, suede outfit-rockin’ Doris Day is back in this hugely enjoyable 1953 musical now on rerelease, playing “Calamity” Jane Cannary (loosely based on the real-life frontierswoman): a gunslinger riding shotgun on the Deadwood stage in wild west Dakota, bringing in the mail and the fancy goods, while spraying the injuns with bullets and flirting with local legend “Wild Bill” Hickok, played by honey-voiced Howard Keel. She journeys to Chicago to persuade a famous singing star to come perform at the local theatre, but instead returns with an impostor, the star’s ambitious maid, Katie Brown (Allyn McLerie). Jane’s tomboyish style, plus the fact that she sets up home with Katie in her shack (with “Calam and Katie” on the front door), recently earned this revival a place...
- 4/7/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Merle Oberon films: From empress to duchess in 'Hotel.' Merle Oberon films: From starring to supporting roles Turner Classic Movies' Merle Oberon month comes to an end tonight, March 25, '16, with six movies: Désirée, Hotel, Deep in My Heart, Affectionately Yours, Berlin Express, and Night Song. Oberon's presence alone would have sufficed to make them all worth a look, but they have other qualities to recommend them as well. 'Désirée': First supporting role in two decades Directed by Henry Koster, best remembered for his Deanna Durbin musicals and the 1947 fantasy comedy The Bishop's Wife, Désirée (1954) is a sumptuous production that, thanks to its big-name cast, became a major box office hit upon its release. Marlon Brando is laughably miscast as Napoleon Bonaparte, while Jean Simmons plays the title role, the Corsican Conqueror's one-time fiancée Désirée Clary (later Queen of Sweden and Norway). In a supporting role – her...
- 3/26/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Ben-Hur' 1959 with Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston: TCM's '31 Days of Oscar.' '31 Days of Oscar': 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Ben-Hur' are in, Paramount stars are out Today, Feb. 1, '16, Turner Classic Movies is kicking off the 21st edition of its “31 Days of Oscar.” While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is being vociferously reviled for its “lack of diversity” – more on that appallingly myopic, self-serving, and double-standard-embracing furore in an upcoming post – TCM is celebrating nearly nine decades of the Academy Awards. That's the good news. The disappointing news is that if you're expecting to find rare Paramount, Universal, or Fox/20th Century Fox entries in the mix, you're out of luck. So, missing from the TCM schedule are, among others: Best Actress nominees Ruth Chatterton in Sarah and Son, Nancy Carroll in The Devil's Holiday, Claudette Colbert in Private Worlds. Unofficial Best Actor...
- 2/2/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
or, Savant picks The Most Impressive Discs of 2015
This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.
What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...
This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.
What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...
- 12/15/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The gaudy MGM musical bio gets one last go-round, gathering an all-star cast to illustrate the songbook of composer Sigmund Romberg. Gene Kelly dances with his brother Fred, and Cyd Charisse does a hot number with James Mitchell, while star José Ferrer goes on stage to perform with his wife Rosemary Clooney. Deep in My Heart Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1954 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 132 min. / Street Date November 10, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 17.95 Starring José Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Helen Traubel, Doe Avedon, Walter Pidgeon, Jim Backus, Rosemary Clooney, Gene Kelly, Fred Kelly, Jane Powell, Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse, Howard Keel, Vic Damone, Tony Martin, Joan Weldon, Fred Kelly, Russ Tamblyn. Susan Luckey, Robert Easton, Barrie Chase, Douglas Fowley. Cinematography George J. Folsey Film Editor Adrienne Fazan Original Music Alexander Courage, Adolph Deutsch Written by Leonard Spigelgass from a book by Elliott Arnold Produced by Roger Edens Directed by Stanley Donen
Reviewed...
Reviewed...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Child actor Dickie Moore: 'Our Gang' member. Former child actor Dickie Moore dead at 89: Film career ranged from 'Our Gang' shorts to features opposite Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper 1930s child actor Dickie Moore, whose 100+ movie career ranged from Our Gang shorts to playing opposite the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, and Gary Cooper, died in Connecticut on Sept. 7, '15 – five days before his 90th birthday. So far, news reports haven't specified the cause of death. According to a 2013 Boston Phoenix article about Moore's wife, MGM musical star Jane Powell, he had been “suffering from arthritis and bouts of dementia.” Dickie Moore movies At the behest of a persistent family friend, combined with the fact that his father was out of a job, Dickie Moore (born on Sept. 12, 1925, in Los Angeles) made his film debut as an infant in Alan Crosland's 1927 costume drama The Beloved Rogue,...
- 9/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Lee Pfeiffer
The Warner Archive has released the 1951 comedy Callaway Went Thataway. The film is a low-key but delightful tale that has more than a wisp of Frank Capra in its story line. The movie opens with a montage of scenes showing young boys and girls glued to their television sets as they watch the adventures of singing cowboy Smoky Callaway (Howard Keel). They don't realize they are actually viewing old "B" movies from the 1930s. Not that it matters. Callaway has found a new audience with a younger generation and they have made him America's favorite TV hero in these early days of the medium.(Since so many households did not have televisions in 1951, the film shows a common sight during this era: people crowded around department store windows to watch TV broadcasts). Network brass and sponsors immediately want to keep the gold train rolling by initiating more new films starring Smoky.
The Warner Archive has released the 1951 comedy Callaway Went Thataway. The film is a low-key but delightful tale that has more than a wisp of Frank Capra in its story line. The movie opens with a montage of scenes showing young boys and girls glued to their television sets as they watch the adventures of singing cowboy Smoky Callaway (Howard Keel). They don't realize they are actually viewing old "B" movies from the 1930s. Not that it matters. Callaway has found a new audience with a younger generation and they have made him America's favorite TV hero in these early days of the medium.(Since so many households did not have televisions in 1951, the film shows a common sight during this era: people crowded around department store windows to watch TV broadcasts). Network brass and sponsors immediately want to keep the gold train rolling by initiating more new films starring Smoky.
- 8/1/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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