Where are they now? Missing 1960s movies .....

THE FIGHTING PRINCE OF DONEGAL - I saw this when a teenager back in 1966, maybe as a supporting feature. One of those Walt Disney adventures, made in England, like his Fifties films on ROB ROY and THE TUDOR ROSE, and the early 60s ones like GREYFRIARS BOBBY, THE THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA, IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS and THE MOONSPINNERS. 

This one has Peter McEnery as Hugh O'Donnell, an Irish rebel fighting the English back then (that might have been a hot potato durng the "Troubles" years of the 1970s, hence it not being in circulation then) - and Susan Hampshire, plus a host of Irish players, including Marie Kean. It would be fun to see again at this remove, but does not seem available at all now.

OH DAD, POOR DAD, MAMA'S HUNG YOU IN THE CLOSET, AND I'M FEELING SO SAD .... was an oddball Sixties play, we never got a chance to see the movie, perhaps one of Roz Russell's over the top roles - we may never know now. 

Another McEnery title I saw at the time has finally resurfaced: Jerzy Skolimowski's 1970 caper THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD, with Claudia Cardinale plus Jack Hawkins and Eli Wallach, it was a fun romp, as I recall, so more on that when the dvd arrives ...

Jane and Lily hit primetime (Netflix)

This amusing poster for the new Netflix series GRACE & FRANKIE (or was it FRANKIE & GRACE?) caught my eye. This the one where Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin (30 years plus after their 9 TO 5) play the wives and 'frenemies' who are floored when their respective husbands Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen reveal they have been a gay couple for 20 years and now want to get married, to each other. 
How do the women cope, re-invent their lives and get over this ? - do they all remain friends? Grace (Jane) thinks she and husband Sheen were "happy enough" like other couples their age - now she feels the marriage was a sham and it would have been better if he had died. A comedy series for the moment then focusing on older women? I signed up for Netflix to see this, but it may be on dvd before too long, like that other Netflix hit series, the Kevin Spacey HOUSE OF CARDS reboot. Who says television is not seizing the moment these days .....  It is good to see Jane back in a meaty role (and looking her age occasionally) and Lily is super here too, the roles (uptight bitch and ageing hippie) give them a lot to play with. They have a good stoned scene coming up too.

Right -  Jane Fonda at one of the press junkets for the series. How does she do it ? - but as Sophia Loren has demonstrated 80 is the new 70. Good to see Tomlin back in circulation again too. I got Netflix on a month's free trial, so have just seen the first episode. Now for some other stuff to put on 'My List'. 

Ingrid at Cannes ...

After the Awards Season, the Film Festival circuit gets underway... I like the new Cannes Film Festival poster for this year, following their previous years' tributes to Monica Vitti in L'AVVENTURA, Faye Dunaway in PUZZLE OF A DOWNFALL CHILD, Marilyn Monroe, and Marcello Mastroianni in FELLINI 8½ last year (see them at the labels on them), its Ingrid Bergman this year, a radiant shot from her Rossellini years, which seems entirely appropriate. 

Lets hope the festival throws up some more unmissables like AMOUR or BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR or UNCLE BOONMEE ... 
Gaspar Noe's LOVE may be this year's sensation ....?  Todd Haynes's CAROL finally sees the light of day, from Patricia Highsmith, featuring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara,, and Catherine Denueve, busier than ever, features in the opening film, a gritty drama LA TETE HAUTE (STANDING TALL) by Emmanuelle Bercot - a change from last year's farce GRACE OF MONACO then! ("Deneuve adds punch to delinquent drama" says today's "Times").,Last year's Olivier Assayas's CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA with Juliette Binoche, should be a must-see too, it is finally just opening here in UK this week!. A good year for actresses at Cannes then .. there is also that new MACBETH with Fassbender and Cotillard,and that new Tom Hardy MAD MAX reboot which is getting rave notices; and we will be interested in Sorrentino's latest (after THE GREAT BEAUTY), YOUTH (even if it does feature Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel).

Posters - an occasional series

Today's choice: LA NOTTE BRAVA, that 1959 Mauro Bolognini discovery I liked so much the other year. From a script by Pasolini featuring lowlife layabouts and prostitutes but glamorised by Bolognini by casting attractive people like Brialy, Terzieff, Milian, Demongeot, Schiaffino, Martinelli etc. The various posters give a taster.  I like that "The moral bankruptcy of desperate youth ... " Reviews at Bolognini, Brialy labels.
 It is on YouTube too: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5kjDFVL_Us&index=65&list=PLoiWwTmzdQ_8V3J9hQZ47wU19Q00DilnG

Next: the more wholesome Troy Donahue in PARRISH!

Some eye-catching posters - an occasional series

Summer movie posters

Some enjoyable summer romps - or Trash Movie Heaven. 
You can find more about these at the labels .....

 

Glynis & Ty in THE CHAPMAN REPORT

Franco in A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY

Forgotten movie posters ....

..... an occasional series

Robert Altman's 1972 IMAGES seems under-regarded and seldom seen now, and not regarded as one of the key Altmans. It was quite intriguing back then, with Susannah York as the writer in Ireland imagining all kinds of things ....Like Polanski's heroine in REPULSION, York's character is one that is seemingly haunted by memories of undisclosed magnitude - or is just another unbalanced woman coming apart at the seams . It also utilises a children's story about a unicorn written by York, but after the key Altman movies like MASH and MCCABE & MRS MILLER this was wilfully arthouse stuff .... followed by a return to form for Altman with THE LONG GOODBYE, THIEVES LIKE US, NASHVILLE etc.

Very Altman then, Susannah too was another of those actresses that Altman got out of her clothes ....(I see from the magazine ad IMAGES was having a premiere run at the Curzon Mayfair in London, where I saw that special screening of THE SERVANT the other week ...)

Even Delon and Schneider couldn't make Losey's THE ASSASSINATION OF TROTSKY, also 1972, a hit or even an interesting movie ....

Gay icons ?

Something amusing for the weekend:

Brighton Pride, the annual gay festival on England's south coast - has just released the poster for their 2013 event in August. The theme this year is Gay Icons .... it is always amusing/interesting to see a new variation on that Peter Blake cover for The Beatles SGT PEPPER album, and this one has a nice collection of gay icons, with Boy George in centre place, flanked by Marilyn and Jane Russell, with Madonna and all the usual suspects around them. It seems more tuned to a younger person's view of gay icons though. Lady Gaga and George Michael, but where is Elizabeth Taylor or Bette as Margo Channing or Joan as Mildred Pierce ?  
I have been to a few of these Brighton events in my time, its a great day in the park which it seems the whole city turn up for with lots of families, and with amusements, disco tents, bars etc there is something for everyone. One to put in the calender for this summer then ...

Click to enlarge: local heroes/icons like Adele, Joe Orton, Kenny Everett, Dame Edna, Diana, Dick Emery, Kenneth Williams, Kylie, Divine, Alan Turing, Alexander McQueen, Ian McKellen, Liza, Shirley Bassey, Cher, Diana Dors and David Bowie, are in evidence - who else of note has been omitted ?

Divine !

A new documentary I AM DIVINE opens the new London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (on 14 March), directed by Jeffrey Schwarz it celebrates the life and career of Divine, that entertainer extraordinaire (1945-1988), and his journey from being Harris Glenn Milstead in Baltimore to wowing the movies and record business as the outrageous, shocking, challenging and unique Divine. The films speak for themselves: FEMALE TROUBLE as Dawn Davenport - thanks Jerry for that the other week. I love every minute of course of the original HAIRSPRAY and every quotable line of it (particuarly the one about her (Edna Turnblad) diet pill wearing off...). John Waters of course crafted these masterworks (we also dig his later ones like CRY BABY and SERIAL MOM, and of course he gives great interview).

Divine also of course had pop hits during that Hi-Energy era of the early 80s, and I had my own evening with him in either 1986 or early '87 when he appeared at the (straight) club Coasters, then part of the Kingswest Odeon complex on Brighton seafront, in Sussex here in the UK. I was down there every weekend then with their disk jockey Rory. The night Divine was booked Rory's dressing room was given over to Divine and we watched the quiet Glenn in his kaftan settle in, with the buffet arranged for him. He emerged as Divine at midnight - the place was full, with kids hanging from the rafters, and he brought down the house.

Divine by Hockney

I can still see him in the leopardskin outfit, with sweat pouring off him as he belted out those hits like "Jungle Jezebel" - he also caused a sensation of course on the weekly tv show "Top of the Pops", where I had managed to videotape his appearance.  In Brighton, I was on the stage with Rory at the back as Divine prowled the stage, he chatted afterwards and gave us these signed cards (above).   He also of course starred with Tab Hunter (see below) in POLYESTER as Francine Fishpaw, and LUST IN THE DUST, great fun both. Like that other disco icon of the era, Sylvester, Divine left us far too early, but this documentary should spark off a revival? I must look out for him in Alan Rudolph's TROUBLE IN MIND in 1985.

1960 !

A thread on The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) on 1960 unleashed a torrent of memories:

1960 - what a year to have been 14 and "deeper into movies". Looking at it retrospectively now I am firmly in the PSYCHO and L'AVVENTURA camp (though I did not see the latter until years later) as the two most important films of the year, ushering in the new modern world (both of course feature a woman who goes missing and the people searching for her....)



So the major ones that year for me are: The 10 Big Ones:

PSYCHO
L'AVVENTURA
LA DOLCE VITA
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS
PLEIN SOLEIL [I was entranced by that cool European style, and Delon and Laforet]
WILD RIVER [ditto Lee Remick]
THE APARTMENT
SPARTACUS
A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (BREATHLESS)
PEEPING TOM.

Lots of solid middlebrow entertainment:

SONS AND LOVERS
TWO WOMEN [Sophia at her peak]
NEVER ON SUNDAY
ELMER GANTRY
LETS MAKE LOVE
THE UNFORGIVEN
EXODUS
NORTH TO ALASKA [a favourite!]
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
WHERE THE BOYS ARE
THE CROWDED SKY
THE TIME MACHINE
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON [great fun]
POLLYANNA [how we loved that in Ireland!]
BUTTERFIELD 8
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
BRIDES OF DRACULA
SINK THE BISMARCK
THE ENTERTAINER
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING
TUNES OF GLORY
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN
THE SUNDOWNERS [Mitch and Kerr were so ideally perfect here, again]
THE GRASS IS GREENER
CIMARRON
THE LOST WORLD.

I suppose THE ALAMO should be included too among the year's hits, and I also liked Blake Edwards' HIGH TIME where rich Bing Crosby goes back to college, and rooms with Fabian, Richard Beymer and Tuesday Weld!

It was certainly the year for call girls - apart from Elizabeth and Melina (NEVER ON SUNDAY) there were also

Gina Lollobrigida - GO NAKED IN THE WORLD (high class call girl falls for Tony Franciosa but his powerful father - Ernest Borgnine, an ex-client of hers, has other ideas...)

Nancy Kwan - THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG

Anne Francis - GIRL OF THE NIGHT (downbeat indie film)

and award-winning Shirley Jones in ELMER GANTRY.

Adultery in suburbia was covered in Quine's STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET, with Kim Novak at her zenith.

It may have been Sophia Loren's best year: apart from the success of TWO WOMEN, she was also in Cukor's charming western HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS, plus THE MILLIONAIRESS with Peter Sellers' Indian doctor, with Gable in his second last film IT STARTED IN NAPLES which is still a charmer, and the under-rated A BREATH OF SCANDAL which I liked a lot.

Brigitte Bardot acted in LA VERITE, and Ingmar Bergman provided the austere THE VIRGIN SPRING, while Stanley Kramer inflicted the ponderous INHERIT THE WIND on us, and John Ford provided a good late western SERGEANT RUTLEDGE.

Donen's ONCE MORE WITH FEELING showcased Kay Kendall in her last role, she had died in 1959.

There were 2 Minnelli's: another hothouse melodrama HOME FROM THE HILL, and the under-rated musical BELLS ARE RINGING, Judy Holliday's last appearance.

Elvis was back from the army in GI BLUES and FLAMING STAR.

For those who like that kind of thing: Jerry Lewis as THE BELLBOY.

Some ghastly musicals were Fox's CAN-CAN and Columbia's all-star PEPE, and the Rat Pack played around in OCEAN'S 11.

One that did not work at all was Lumet's too highbrow THE FUGITIVE KIND, though Brando, Magnani and Woodward should have generated some box office .... despite playing what seemed like caricatures of themselves.

and for Trash you can't beat MGM and Arthur Freed for THE SUBTERRANEANS, their sanitised version of Jack Kerouac and the beat generation as depicted by Leslie Caron, George Peppard and Roddy McDowell - followed by the star quartet of Natalie, RJ Wagner, Susan Kohner and George Hamilton tearing each other apart in ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS, plus the afore-mentioned GO NAKED IN THE WORLD. Lurid melodrama doesn't get much better... though there were also two Burton starrers: THE BRAMBLE BUSH and ICE PALACE; while THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS and FROM THE TERRACE were also contenders.

Some other delirious treats - not Trash, but Guilty Pleasures - were two Ross Hunter extravaganzas: Lana, Sandra and Quinn in PORTRAIT IN BLACK and Doris and Rex in MIDNIGHT LACE, and Dirk Bogarde as Lizst in SONG WITHOUT END, plus Fox's biblical: THE STORY OF RUTH, while Gordon Scott was Tarzan and Belinda Lee and Steve Reeves headed the Italian sword-and-sandal movies.

Lots of these are covered at the Trash label.

My Voyage to Italy - Martin Scorsese

The perfect documentary for me is Martin Scorsese's MY VOYAGE TO ITALY, I missed this whenever it played on television - did it ever play here in the UK? - but at least the dvd is now avalable. Scorsese of course as an Italian-American is the ideal guide through Italian cinema, he grew up watching these films and they have inluenced his work. It is a given that he would have loved Fellini's I VITELLONI (which I raved about here a while back), it is a major influence on his MEAN STREETS.

This four hour documentary charts the landmark films and directors of the post-war era, including Vittorio de Sica, Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Roberto Rosselini and Michelangelo Antonioni, good to see the usually neglected Rossellini given his due here. Given Marty's wealth of knowledge and infectious passion, just watching this DVD is like attending the best film class. He knows what he’s talking about and gives precise, eloquent descriptions of each movie, using his years of experience in front of a screen as well as behind the camera. Most of all this is 246 minutes of one of the great US directors imparting his passion about some of the most important films of the 20th century. It makes one want to go back to the movies and experience them all over again, particularly Visconti's great SENSO, De Sica's UMBERTO D, and those Fellini and Antonioni masterworks. I VITELLONI for instance remains a timeless pleasure and makes me want to see those other early Fellini films.



If you care about the medium, then it is an essential purchase. Scorsese introduces various segments and through judicious use of clips and an informed, eloquent voiceover takes us on a journey of the following films:

• Paisà (1946))
• Rome, Open City (1945)
• Stromboli (1950)
• Europa ’51 (1952)
• Shoeshine (1946)
• Bicycle Thieves (1948)
• Umberto D (1952)
• The Gold of Naples (1954)
• Ossessione (1943)
• La Terra trema (1950)
• Senso (1954)
• I Vitelloni (1953)
• La Dolce Vita (1960)
• Voyage to Italy (1954)
• L’avventura (1960)
• L’eclisse (1962)
• 8½ (1963)

His focus of course is on classic Italian cinema, but a broader view would encompass the sword-and-sandal peplum films popular in the late 50s/early 60s (like GIANT OF MARATHON, Leone's rather good THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII and the Steve Reeves spectaculars, APHRODITE, MESSALINA (see Belinda Lee label), and the giallo thrillers by the likes of Mario Bava and Dario Argento (Jean Sorel label), as well as the popular Loren-Mastroianni films and the delicious comedy films of Monica Vitti, Alberto Sordi et al (BOCCACCIO 70, LE BAMBOLE, LE FATE etc); and those films from the works of Alberto Moravia (TIME OF INDIFFERENCE (Claudia Cardinale label), TWO WOMEN), Georgio Bassani (THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI CONTINI'S) and those intriguing novels by Natalia Ginzburg (DEAR MICHAEL (CARO MICHELE), FAMIGLIA etc). Other strands of Italian cinema I liked are those Lina Wertmuller films like SEVEN BEAUTIES, the Taviani's PADRE PADRONE and new comedies like LOOSE CANNONS (review at Italian label), and the lesser known films by Alberto Lattuada (THE TEMPEST, DOLCI IGNANNI), Mauro Bolognini (LA NOTTE BRAVA, SENILITA, CORRUZIONE, GRAN BOLLITO, METELLO), Monicelli etc; Visconti's 1952 BELLISSIMA and 1965 operatic melodrama SANDRA (VAGHE STELLE D'ORSA) being my recent re-dioscoveries. I will have to comment separately on the polarising works of Bertolucci and Pasolini!

I have written about these in more detail at Italian, De Sica, Antonioni, Fellini labels ....plus at labels for Loren, Vitti, Valli, Cardinale, Magnani, Mangano, Mastroianni. We sure love those Italians!