With the massive success of Laurel and Hardy, who producer Hal Roach had paired together after signing them separately in 1926 (they would remain with his studio until 1940), the man had the bright idea of creating a female counterpart duo, bringing together Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd. The team would make seventeen popular shorts from 1931-33, their first two, Let’s Do Things and Catch-As Catch-Can, looked at here today. Like all good comedy teams, you have two very different character types. Zasu comes across as the slightly depressed, nervous and fretful brunette, while Thelma is a much more vibrant and colourful blonde dame. . . the former’s desperation often dragging her more put together friend into rather unorthodox situations. In Let’s Do Things, they find themselves as employees selling music for a giant department store... while looking for a way out of their dead-end jobs.
It Happened One Night. . . what, you must be wondering? Well, on February 27th, 1935, at the 7th Academy Awards, the aforementioned film became the first ever to win the so-called ‘Big Five’ – Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra – his first of three wins for this category in the decade), Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert), and Best Screenplay – in this case, Adapted (Robert Riskin – based on the short story “Night Bus”). . . a rare feat that has only been replicated twice more (with 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and 1991's The Silence of the Lambs). Often referred to as the first great romantic comedy as well as the first screwball comedy, all of this success and glory was not guaranteed. Capra, a director at Columbia Studios. . . a name that, at the time, equated to ‘Poverty Row’, was not known as a major studio.
Often considered the best year for westerns (which is saying something), 1969 brought forth a wide array of spectacular and dynamic films (ranging from traditional to more modern style fare) – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, True Grit, The Wild Bunch, The Undefeated, Paint Your Wagon, Mackenna’s Gold, Support Your Local Sheriff!. . . the list goes on and on. Also add 100 Rifles, co-adapted and directed by Tom Gries (from the 1966 novel The Californio), to that illustrious list. Set in 1912, the narrative brings together three intersecting storylines in a rather engaging way: a beautiful young woman, Sarita (Raquel Welch), is forced to hang from her father’s legs as he is being hung (helping him die a little bit quicker); a half-Yaqui, half Alabaman robber, Joe Herrera (Burt Reynolds), hides out somewhere in Mexico (after having just stolen six thousand dollars from an American bank), while an African American officer, Lyedecker (Jim Brown), is on the hunt for this slippery fellow.
Let me start by saying that every James Bond film, be it ‘good’ or ‘bad’ (for lack of a better term), is special. Since 1962's Dr. No, Ian Fleming’s famed spy has lit up the silver screen, not only awing and entertaining (for even the most frustrating of Bond films still have those wow moments of action, or those most entertaining one liners), but also holding a magnifying glass up to the then present day – analysing current issues (such as The Cold War, The Space Race, North Korea. . . the list goes on and on). . . understanding when to be more jokey or serious, it is a measuring stick of an historical document that speaks to what was on people’s minds in that specific year. Now, you might be wondering – why oh why review Roger Spottiswoode’s 1998 film Tomorrow Never Dies – for it is arguably one of the less magical efforts in the franchise. Being a fan of all things Bond, I recently read the film’s novelization, written by Raymond Benson (who wrote three novelizations during the Pierce Brosnan era, as well as six original novels, and three short stories). . . and was quite impressed by how entertaining it was (which didn’t exactly compute with my memories of the film).
Sequels are a fickle matter. Nearly impossible to match the original’s magic in a bottle, they tend to become a greatest hits of the previous effort. . . less story and more about outdoing the first film’s visual antics – attempted appeasement for fans and more fodder for its detractors. This is no different for 1982's Death Wish II (coming to theatres a lengthy eight years later), director Michael Winner and star Charles Bronson coming together for another vile look at the seedy side of big city America. Set two years after the original, Paul Kersey (Bronson) has uprooted from New York to Los Angeles. . . the architect finding love once more, this time in the arms of reporter Geri Nichols (Jill Ireland – Bronson’s wife and frequent collaborator – a whopping 16 times). His daughter Carol (Robin Sherwood), after the heinous acts seen in the first film, is slowly making progress with her doctors – at least uttering a few quiet sentences each week.
To bring you back to a Star Pick interview I posted a few months ago, actor James Phelps revealed his favourite film to me as his brother prodded him playfully – here is the entertaining retelling: a self professed history buff, as James spoke of his love of the film The Lives of Others (its engrossing story, fascinating characters and intriguing visuals immediately catching his cinematic eye), Oliver chimed in, with a rascally smile – “It’s also because he is a secret Communist”. . . James firing back, “I wouldn’t go that far” – his own face featuring an impish grin. Capturing the same dynamic found in their most famous roles, the pair are like a vaudeville act, finely tuned, James playing the straight man to Oliver’s more overt comedic personality. The famed Weasley twins from the Harry Potter franchise, the pair are known the world over as the scampish older brothers of Ron – roles that provided them with many of the best laughs found throughout the eight movies. Having left you hanging a bit longer than you might have liked, I am sure that many of you have probably been wondering just what Oliver chose as his favourite film.
Every once in a while, a scene, or to break it down even further, a moment, forever captures the zeitgeist of the cinema world. . . more long lasting and memorable than the movie ever could be. By now, you may have already guessed that I am talking about the breezy subway grate blowing up Marilyn Monroe’s flowy white dress (cooling her down on a hot summer’s night) in The Seven Year Itch (1955). Funnily enough, the press generated from the scene’s filming in New York City (the excitement of over five thousand fans watching them shoot and then spreading the word. . .along with the risqué-for-the-time photographs that circulated around the world) brought people into theatres to experience a moment that could never truly match up with what was broadcast. . . for the Hays code would never allow the revealing extent shown before the release to be seen on screen – though that is not to say that it is still not a fabulous clip. . . and I’m here to also say, so is the film.