Premiered on the Date: Dark Victory (1939)

Based on a play by George Brewer and Bertram Bloch, Dark Victory originally starred Tallulah Bankhead on Broadway and had a successful run until Bankhead had to leave the production due to illness. The rights to the play were bought by David O. Selznick and MGM who originally wanted Greta Garbo to play Judith Traherne, and then later Merle Oberon when Garbo chose to do another project. Oberon eventually left the project as well when there was a contractual dispute. When Selznick became wrapped up in filming Gone With the Wind, he sold the story rights to Warner Brothers, who then put Bette Davis in the lead role after years of her begging Jack Warner to by the project for her. 

Dark Victory was nominated for the Academy award for best picture of 1939 and Bette Davis was nominated for her second consecutive best actress Oscar, but 1939 proved to be a stiff year of competition with Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz leading the Academy Awards in nominations and wins. While not on the same scope and scale as the winners of 1939, Dark Victory has become known as one of the great classics from that golden year of cinema and is considered one of the ten best of 1939.

Premiered on this Date: Soylent Green (1973)

What's the secret of Soylent Green?  IT'S PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

2016 TCM Film Fest Survival Kit

I As the TCM Film Fest approaches next week, I began to think about the long days I'll be spending out and about with little time to rest between events, and I realized "I'm going to need a bigger bag." Hopefully, you get that reference. So for all of you in the same boat, here's a helpful list of items you might want to consider carrying on those long, event-filled days.

1. A collapsible water bottle. You can fill it up at any water fountain, clip it onto your bag strap, and fold it down when empty. It's better for the environment and it's better than paying overpriced amounts for a bottle of water.

2. Some kind of snack. You might end up in a position where you have back to back events that you want to attend and you won't have much of a chance to eat, other than popcorn at the concession stand. I like to carry around Kind bars, just in case I need a quick energy boost to keep me going.

3. Sunglasses, obviously. On the topic of the sun, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a small tube of sunblock too. You never know how long you'll be standing outside in line.

4. Cell phone and portable charger. You're most likely going to have very little time or opportunity to recharge your phone with all of the events going on, so be sure to carry a portable charger that you charged over night along with the charging cord so you can recharge at your seat during a film.
5. Comfortable shoes! Not only will you be standing in line waiting to get in to the venues, but you may also end up standing for some events, especially at Club TCM. Seating in the club is limited, the events are popular, and a good number of people usually end up standing through the events, which can sometimes last over an hour.

6. Camera. If you have a phone that takes incredible photos, great, otherwise I always carry a separate camera. The problem with a camera phone is that they usually don't have great zoom and don't take very good pictures in low light. Considering you never know if you'll be able to get close to get a good shot or if the lighting will be good, I want to make sure I have something I can take good pictures with.

7. Notebook and pen. I have this Moleskine Film Journal that I carry to keep track of what I see at the festival, and I've been lucky to get some autographs that I have in the back of the book. 

8. Of course, the TCM app! The app is back this year and, in addition to the schedule and other basic info, it has a great new feature to allow festival attendees to connect socially through Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Google+ so they can meet up during the fest and hopefully maintain their friendships beyond the festival.

Trivia Tuesday: Orson Welles

Born on this date in 1915

Wanted, and was considered for the role of Don Vito Corleone, but Marlon Brando was already cast

Founded The Mercury Theatre in 1937 with John Houseman; their first production was a modernized version of Julius Caesar

Was the voice of Lamont Cranston in the radio version of The Shadow 

Nominated for an Oscar for his first screen performance, Citizen Kane

Interviewed with Merv Griffin and died just a few hours later

A body double was used for several long shots of Welles in The Third Man because he arrived two weeks late for filming

Considered John Ford the greatest American director

Used most of his own money to finance his projects

Once ate 18 hot dogs in one sitting at Pink's Hot Dogs in Los Angeles

Trivia Tuesday: Lionel Atwill

Died on this day in 1946 from pneumonia

Known for having wild sex parties, he was sentenced to five years probation in 1943 for perjury in the investigation of alleged orgies at his home. He later applied for and was granted termination of his sentence and it was expunged from his record.

Appeared in five of the eight "Frankenstein" films produced by Universal studios from 1931 to 1948.

Famous form playing Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939). His portrayal was later spoofed by Kenneth Mars in Young Frankenstein (1974).

Died while filming Lost City of the Jungle. A double was used to help complete his remaining scenes.

Starred in two early two-strip Technicolor films: Doctor X and Mystery at the Wax Museum, both with Fay Wray.

His third wife, Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brook MacArthur, was previously married to Douglas MacArthur.

His first son, John Arthur Atwill, was killed in action during WWII.

Studied architecture before becoming an actor.

Nickname was "Pinky" because of the reddish coloring of his hair. 

Trivia Tuesday: Gone With The Wind

Gary Cooper was considered for the role of Rhett Butler but turned it down, believing it would be a huge flop! Others considered for the role were Basil Rathbone, Ronald Coleman, and Errol Flynn.

Billie Burke was considered for the role of Aunt Pittypat, but was thought to be too thin. Instead she played the iconic role of Glinda in The Wizard of Oz, released that same year.

For a time, Vincent Price was considered for the role of Ashley Wilkes. Others considered were Melvyn Douglas, Randolph Scott, and Tyrone Power.

One of the sets used for the burning of Atlanta was the "great wall" from King Kong.

The bulk of the film was directed by Victor Fleming, who replaced George Cukor. Fleming also directed the another big hit of 1939, The Wizard of Oz, and had been the replacement for Cukor on that film as well!

This was the first color film to win the Best Picture Oscar and also the longest running film to win the honor.

The first posthumous Oscar was awarded to Sidney Howard for this film for best adapted screenplay.

A few titles Margaret Mitchell first considered for her novel were Tomorrow Is Another Day, Bugles Sang True, Tote The Weary Load, and Ba! Ba! Black Sheep.

31 Days of Horror: Freaks

The original cult classic, Freaks

31 Days of Horror: Dead of Night

I just discovered this film and it's already one of my favorites! Dead of Night can best be described as a circular anthology; meaning that it ends up back where it started and it also contains different stories told by the visitors at a country house. There are five different stories, separate from the main story, and each one gets creepier as you go along. However, when you get to the fourth story it's a little more lighthearted, which sort of lulls the viewer into a false sense of security before the final tale involving a ventriloquist (played by Michael Redgrave) and his dummy, which is by far the creepiest and most memorable. Whenever this film is mentioned, the final tale is the most talked about and with good reason; Michael Redgrave's performance is quite honestly terrifying, and anytime you have a story involving a ventriloquist's dummy you just can't help but be creeped out!. And even when that story is over, the terror continues once we resume the main story, which ends up revisiting each of the separate stories that had been told. Dead of Night might not be one of the best known horror films, but it's a masterful tale of terror, expertly told, and should be on everyone's Halloween viewing list!

31 Days of Horror: White Zombie

My favorite Bela Lugosi film next to Dracula! White Zombie is widely considered to be the first zombie movie, with Lugosi playing a charmingly evil voodoo master who creates his zombies from living victims. This is much more fascinating to watch compared to the recent run of contemporary zombie films that brings the dead back to slow-moving life. To me, the best part of this film is, of course, Lugosi. With his character Murder Legendre, Lugosi plays a Dracula type of character, commanding his helpless victims to do his bidding and enslaving a beautiful young woman, much as he did in Dracula. In White Zombie, Lugosi is at his evil best in the scene where he's talking with Beaumont, who he is slowly turning into a zombie, so that he's aware of what is happening to him. Even by today's standards, it's a frightening scene to watch!

You can catch this classic on TCM on October 26th at 12:30 AM eastern

31 Days of Horror: The Raven (1963)

One of eight Roger Corman films that's an interpretation on an Edgar Allan Poe story, The Raven is a great comedic take on horror films starring three notable horror actors: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff. Like most films with Poe titles, the story really has very little to do with his writings. Price, Lorre, and Karloff play a trio of sorcerers competing to outdo each other, all in a very fun and lighthearted way. A great bonus is getting to see a very young Jack Nicholson before he became famous, playing Peter Lorre's son!

You can catch this classic on TCM on October 25th at 8:15 AM eastern

31 Days of Horror: House of Wax (1953)

A remake of Mystery of the Wax Museum from 1933, House of Wax is most notable for being the first color 3D release by a major studio (Warner Bros.), and for being one of the most successful films of 1953. House of Wax is the story of a wax sculptor who becomes disfigured in a fire that destroys his original wax museum. Unable to properly sculpt anymore, he starts to kill people and cover them in wax in order to create new figures to start a new museum. I've always loved watching Vincent Price and always thought that he brought a unique charisma to his roles. Price could easily be gentle one moment and menacing the next. I've only seen House of Wax in 2D, but the 3D effects are another thing I've always loved about this film. There are instances where it's clear a certain shot was for the 3D filming: the barker bouncing the paddle ball at the camera, or the wine bottle that comes flying at the screen during a fight scene help give you the feeling of 3D even if you're not actually watching it in 3D. Of course, with the recent 3D Blu-ray release just a few days ago to celebrate the film's 60th anniversary, people can now enjoy Price's macabre performance and the 3D effects in the comfort of their own home.

You can catch this classic on TCM on October 24th at 8:00 PM eastern

31 Days of Horror: The Bride of Frankenstein

Four years after the success of Frankenstein, Universal released one of the rare sequels which has been said to be just as good if not better than the original: The Bride of Frankenstein. Like the original, this was also directed by James Whale, but with the sequel he had complete artistic control over the entire production and added a great deal of humor, a full musical score, and by having the monster speak we're also given a deeper look into the character and growth of the monster. Artistically and story-wise, this is a fantastic example of how to correctly do a sequel to a film that was already an established classic.

You can catch this classic on TCM on October 26th at 8:00 PM eastern

31 Days of Horror: Frankenstein (1931)

To follow the definitive vampire, Dracula, 31 days of horror continues with the definitive portrayal of Frankenstein's monster by Boris Karloff. Starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, and Edward Van Sloan, Frankenstein was Universal's follow up to their enormously successful version of Dracula. Frankenstein was to have originally been directed by Robert Florey and starred Bela Lugosi with a script that was very different from the one eventually used. Due to the rather one dimensional, robotic portrayal of the monster in the original drafts, Lugosi eventually quit the picture, and Flory was soon replaced by James Whale. Once Whale came on to the production, he greatly revised the script and cast Boris Karloff as the monster. Whale's new vision of the picture, combined with Jack Pierce's makeup and Karloff's sympathetic portrayal of the monster, gives us the image of what will always be first to come to mind whenever someone says "Frankenstein".

Recommended Biographies

Most women love a bad boy, and here are four of the best!

A book that focuses on four different people naturally can't go into enormously great detail on any one of its subjects, but Hellraisers still gives a fine biographical narrative on Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed, four men known not only for their acting but also for their wild partying ways. 

As I moved my way through this book, I found the parallels between Burton, Harris, and O'Toole's lives fascinating; all from working class backgrounds, who mainly seemed to start drinking as a means to bond with their respective fathers. Oliver Reed is the exception, having grown up in a relative world of privilege, he seemed to be a devil from the word "go". 

Like being at a party with someone who is drunk, their antics at first are humorous, outrageous, and entertaining, but as you go on it becomes difficult to read at times as you see the toll that is taken on their careers, health, and personal lives. Then again, if they didn't live as wildly as they did, would they have the notoriety that they now do? Would they hold the fascination of the public the same way? Probably not. It is an excellent look into the lives of four very gifted actors and how their wild ways shaped them, for better or worse.

I loved this book! A great deal of this is based on recordings the author made with Hepburn and George Cukor while visiting at his house so you get more of an intimate feeling about it. Naturally, it's not possible to do this with most biographies, but I find it so much more interesting and personal than the usual form of biography where it feels as if the author is narrating the subject's life. With this book, you can almost feel that Katharine Hepburn is in the room with you telling you these stories, as she told them to the author.

A number of topics are covered; how she got her start in acting at Bryn Mawr, her affair with Howard Hughes, how she dealt with the studio system, and her decades long relationship with Spencer Tracy. The recurring topic however, is the deep bond she had with her brother Tom, who died when she was fourteen while apparently practicing a hanging trick. Her relationship with her brother and his subsequent death affected her and her character more than anything else in her life, making her feel that she was not only living her life, but that she also needed to live life for him as well. It's haunting at times to see how that connection and depth of feeling for him never left her. 

If you're interested in reading about this remarkable woman, you won't be able to put this book down.

I will be listing more recommendations every now and then, so this is by no means my entire list! I hope you check these two out and enjoy them as much as I did..

Casablanca 70th Anniversary Screening

This past Thursday, I was lucky enough to attend an encore screening of Casablanca on the big screen. Even though I've seen it several times on TV, I realized a few things about it while seeing it this time. What impressed me most about it is, more than anything, it's a human drama that anyone can relate to. I don't care who you are, at some point in your life you've lost someone you love perhaps more than anything, and although the memories may be happy the thought of that love can be very painful and can change you. In Rick's case, the loss of that love causes him to become a hard-hearted cynic towards the world. Of course, believing that the love of your life has left you for no seemingly good reason can understandably leave a person questioning a lot of things. For Ilsa, it's not so much a visible change as it is a deep pain that you can see she carries. The look on her face and how she reacts when Sam first plays "As Time Goes By" says it all. Once Ilsa finally reveals to Rick the reason she left, you can see him soften and you begin to realize that the redemption of their love is what the film is all about. Once redeemed, Rick is able to make the same self-sacrificing gesture that Ilsa once made, showing that they both truly love each other. 


There really is no other way that this could have ended and have it still be a classic, although I still wish deep down that Rick and Ilsa could have ended up together in some way. But perhaps that's what makes it a classic. The film is a wonderful, emotional journey with these characters that's tied up in the end, but you're still left feeling very deeply for them long after it's over.