Jean-Paul Vignon, the romantic French vocalist and actor who impressed audiences on both sides of the Atlantic during an eight-decade career, died March 22 of liver cancer in Beverly Hills, his family announced. He was 89.
Performing a repertoire of contemporary pop and American standards, Vignon debuted in the U.S. in 1963 at the famed New York supper club The Blue Angel, where he opened for stand-up comic Woody Allen.
Ed Sullivan would soon showcase him on his Sunday night CBS variety show in eight appearances — including one in which he sang a duet with young Liza Minnelli — and he became a regular guest on Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin’s programs.
Signed to Columbia Records, Vignon released his first U.S. album, Because I Love You, in 1964. Three years later, he had a supporting role opposite William Holden and Cliff Robertson in the World War II film The Devil’s Brigade.
In...
Performing a repertoire of contemporary pop and American standards, Vignon debuted in the U.S. in 1963 at the famed New York supper club The Blue Angel, where he opened for stand-up comic Woody Allen.
Ed Sullivan would soon showcase him on his Sunday night CBS variety show in eight appearances — including one in which he sang a duet with young Liza Minnelli — and he became a regular guest on Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin’s programs.
Signed to Columbia Records, Vignon released his first U.S. album, Because I Love You, in 1964. Three years later, he had a supporting role opposite William Holden and Cliff Robertson in the World War II film The Devil’s Brigade.
In...
- 4/3/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writer-director Billy Wilder’s favorite and perhaps best movie takes the leap to 4K, revealing even more beauty in the images of Joseph Lashelle and the designs of Alexandre Trauner . . . we all feel like we’ve lived in C.C. Baxter’s New York flat. Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ‘dirty fairy tale’ best expresses the difficulty of keeping both a job and one’s self-respect — fitting in a love life seems altogether too much to ask. It all comes down to Shirley MacLaine’s sweet smile and Jack Lemmon’s eagerness to be a ‘mensch’ — when he’s discovering that a moral compromise is like selling one’s soul.
The Apartment 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens,...
The Apartment 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens,...
- 4/2/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Exclusive: The last thing we needed to hear as the box office and exhibition are rebounding from the pandemic was a piece of bad news, but word spread like wildfire in distribution and exhibition circles Monday that the Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres won’t be reopening. The chain, owned by Decurion, has issued a statement — read it below.
Last week, I was hearing that the chain was shooting for a Memorial Day weekend reopening with A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella. Now those hopes look dashed, and at an unfortunate time because it’s expected that Los Angeles County could have movie theaters operating at 100% capacity by then — well before California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s June 15 wide-open order.
Decurion’s crown jewel is the Hollywood Arclight multiplex on Sunset Boulevard and its 58-year old Cinerama Dome, which made a big cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a...
Last week, I was hearing that the chain was shooting for a Memorial Day weekend reopening with A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella. Now those hopes look dashed, and at an unfortunate time because it’s expected that Los Angeles County could have movie theaters operating at 100% capacity by then — well before California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s June 15 wide-open order.
Decurion’s crown jewel is the Hollywood Arclight multiplex on Sunset Boulevard and its 58-year old Cinerama Dome, which made a big cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a...
- 4/13/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The taglines for the 1966 overstuffed turkey “The Oscar give viewers a preview of the machinations of this camp delight- “The Dreams and the Schemers… the Hustlers and the Hopefuls…All Fight for the Highest Award!”
And you thought there was a lot of campaigning now for the Academy Award!
Kino Lorber has unleashed “The Oscar” just in time for the Academy Awards Sunday on Blu-ray with a brand new 4K restoration and two audio commentaries- one with film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson and a much more funny and caustic one with comic/actor Patton Oswalt, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson (“A History of Violence”) and producer/writer/director Erik Nelson.
“The Oscar” was penned by Harlan Ellison, yes Harlan Ellison of “A Boy and His Dog,” “The Outer Limits” and “The Twilight Zone” fame and the team of Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene, who penned the 1949 classic noir “D.O.A.,...
And you thought there was a lot of campaigning now for the Academy Award!
Kino Lorber has unleashed “The Oscar” just in time for the Academy Awards Sunday on Blu-ray with a brand new 4K restoration and two audio commentaries- one with film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson and a much more funny and caustic one with comic/actor Patton Oswalt, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson (“A History of Violence”) and producer/writer/director Erik Nelson.
“The Oscar” was penned by Harlan Ellison, yes Harlan Ellison of “A Boy and His Dog,” “The Outer Limits” and “The Twilight Zone” fame and the team of Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene, who penned the 1949 classic noir “D.O.A.,...
- 2/6/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
He’s been gone a long time, but one of television’s most original talents is having a renaissance month. Ernie Kovacs is celebrating his 100th birthday year with the release today of The Ernie Kovacs Album: Centennial Edition by Omnivore Recordings, a prelude to the grand opening of the Ernie Kovacs Centennial Exhibit at the National Comedy Center on August 7.
The Ernie Kovacs Album Centennial Edition, Grammy nominated in 1977, was long-out-of-print. It’s now been remastered from the original sources and will be reissued on CD and digital formats for the first time. The new collection has been expanded to feature six never-heard-since-broadcast bonus tracks, liner notes, new photos and the original album artwork. One is previewed below:
The National Comedy Center will celebrate the centennial year of Kovacs with the acquisition and display of never-before-seen material and rare artifacts courtesy of the comedian’s estate.
Laura Laplaca, director...
The Ernie Kovacs Album Centennial Edition, Grammy nominated in 1977, was long-out-of-print. It’s now been remastered from the original sources and will be reissued on CD and digital formats for the first time. The new collection has been expanded to feature six never-heard-since-broadcast bonus tracks, liner notes, new photos and the original album artwork. One is previewed below:
The National Comedy Center will celebrate the centennial year of Kovacs with the acquisition and display of never-before-seen material and rare artifacts courtesy of the comedian’s estate.
Laura Laplaca, director...
- 7/19/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Release Details for The Outer Limits Season 2 Blu-ray Box Set, Coming November 20th from Kino Lorber
Earlier this year, Kino Lorber released The Outer Limits Season 1 on Blu-ray, and if you've been eagerly looking forward to their second season Blu-ray, then your wait is nearly over, as they'll release the remaining 17 episodes of the series on a four-disc set on November 20th, and we have a look at the full list of special features, including audio commentaries and a new booklet essay by David J. Schow.
The Outer Limits Season Two Blu-ray: "Newly Re-Mastered in HD! The entire first season – 17 Episodes. A four-disc set that controls over 15 hours of transmission from the 1964-1965 series. Guest stars include William Shatner, Adam West, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Duvall, Robert Culp, Eddie Albert, Patrick O’Neal, Dabney Coleman and Robert Webber.
Special Features:
• 17 Episodes and 2 Alternates Episodes - All Newly Mastered in HD
• The Unknown – the alternate cut of “The Forms of Things Unknown” intended a pilot for a show...
The Outer Limits Season Two Blu-ray: "Newly Re-Mastered in HD! The entire first season – 17 Episodes. A four-disc set that controls over 15 hours of transmission from the 1964-1965 series. Guest stars include William Shatner, Adam West, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Duvall, Robert Culp, Eddie Albert, Patrick O’Neal, Dabney Coleman and Robert Webber.
Special Features:
• 17 Episodes and 2 Alternates Episodes - All Newly Mastered in HD
• The Unknown – the alternate cut of “The Forms of Things Unknown” intended a pilot for a show...
- 11/16/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Lively stars, good music and Bob Fosse-grade dancing favor Columbia’s forgotten-yet-rediscovered original musical remake, which turns the adventures of two sisters in Manhattan into an all-romantic gambol. Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon are young and fresh, but MGM alumnus Betty Garrett steals the show.
My Sister Eileen
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date June 19, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Betty Garrett, Bob Fosse, Kurt Kasznar, Dick York, Lucy Marlow, Tommy Rall, Richard Deacon, Kathryn Grant, Queenie Smith.
Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr.
Film Editor: Charles Nelson
Choreographer: Robert Fosse
Songs: Jule Styne, Leo Robin
Original Music: George Duning
Written by Blake Edwards, Richard Quine from the play by Joseph Fields, Jerome Chodorov, from stories by Ruth McKenney
Produced by Fred Kohlmar
Directed by Richard Quine
The making of a fun movie musical was rarely as easy as jumping up and shouting,...
My Sister Eileen
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date June 19, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Betty Garrett, Bob Fosse, Kurt Kasznar, Dick York, Lucy Marlow, Tommy Rall, Richard Deacon, Kathryn Grant, Queenie Smith.
Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr.
Film Editor: Charles Nelson
Choreographer: Robert Fosse
Songs: Jule Styne, Leo Robin
Original Music: George Duning
Written by Blake Edwards, Richard Quine from the play by Joseph Fields, Jerome Chodorov, from stories by Ruth McKenney
Produced by Fred Kohlmar
Directed by Richard Quine
The making of a fun movie musical was rarely as easy as jumping up and shouting,...
- 6/26/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Savant’s vote for the best romantic comedy ever goes to a sordid fable about problems in the big city Rat Race: keeping both a job and one’s self-respect. Picking up where 1930s pre-Code movies left off, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ‘how to succeed’ thesis divides people into two groups, Takers and those that Get Took. And yet the message it delivers is life & love- affirming.
The Apartment
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1960 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date December 12 (29?) (?), 2017 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Edie Adams, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Adolph Deutsch
Written by I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
… and it’s also the all-time champion New Years’ movie.
The Apartment
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1960 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date December 12 (29?) (?), 2017 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Edie Adams, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Adolph Deutsch
Written by I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
… and it’s also the all-time champion New Years’ movie.
- 12/30/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
What does a working girl have to do to get ahead, when all she has in her favor is an incredible face, a lavish wardrobe, and a pair of legs to make any executive wolf howl? Loretta Young juggles two egotistical swains, while Joan Blondell shines as an enticing all-pro homewrecker.
Big Business Girl
DVD-r
The Warner Archive Collection
1931 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 74 min. / Street Date September 14, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Loretta Young, Frank Albertson, Ricardo Cortez, Joan Blondell, Frank Darien, Dorothy Christy, Oscar Apfel, Judith Barrett, Mickey Bennett, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Virginia Sale.
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Film Editor: Pete Fritch
Written by Robert Lord, story by Patricia Reilly & H.N. Swanson
Produced and Directed by William A. Seiter
Let’s hear it for the Warner Archive Collection’s voluminous vault of early ’30s Warners, MGM and Rko entertainments, which has given us a real education about this era of filmmaking.
Big Business Girl
DVD-r
The Warner Archive Collection
1931 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 74 min. / Street Date September 14, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Loretta Young, Frank Albertson, Ricardo Cortez, Joan Blondell, Frank Darien, Dorothy Christy, Oscar Apfel, Judith Barrett, Mickey Bennett, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Virginia Sale.
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Film Editor: Pete Fritch
Written by Robert Lord, story by Patricia Reilly & H.N. Swanson
Produced and Directed by William A. Seiter
Let’s hear it for the Warner Archive Collection’s voluminous vault of early ’30s Warners, MGM and Rko entertainments, which has given us a real education about this era of filmmaking.
- 10/7/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
What are two individualistic, highly motivated movie stars supposed to do when faced with an unimaginative studio system eager to misuse their talents? Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen collaborate with a great writer, director and producer for an urban romance with an eye on the sexual double standard. It’s a hybrid production: a gritty drama that’s also a calculated career move.
Love with the Proper Stranger
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen, Edie Adams, Tom Bosley, Herschel Bernardi, Harvey Lembeck, Agusta Ciolli, Nina Varela, Marilyn Chris, Richard Dysart, Arlene Golonka, Tony Mordente, Nobu McCarthy, Richard Mulligan, Vic Tayback, Dyanne Thorne, Val Avery.
Cinematography: Milton Krasner
Film Editor: Aaron Stell
Original Music: Elmer Bernstein
Written by Arnold Schulman
Produced by Alan J. Pakula
Directed by Robert Mulligan
1963’s Love with the Proper Stranger is...
Love with the Proper Stranger
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen, Edie Adams, Tom Bosley, Herschel Bernardi, Harvey Lembeck, Agusta Ciolli, Nina Varela, Marilyn Chris, Richard Dysart, Arlene Golonka, Tony Mordente, Nobu McCarthy, Richard Mulligan, Vic Tayback, Dyanne Thorne, Val Avery.
Cinematography: Milton Krasner
Film Editor: Aaron Stell
Original Music: Elmer Bernstein
Written by Arnold Schulman
Produced by Alan J. Pakula
Directed by Robert Mulligan
1963’s Love with the Proper Stranger is...
- 9/9/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The NoHo 7, the Playhouse 7, and the Royal in Los Angeles will all be showing a double feature of two of Doris Day’s best-known films on Monday, August 29, 2016. At 7:00 pm The Man Who Knew Too Much, the classic 1956 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, will be screened as part of its 60th anniversary. At 4:30 pm and again at 9:30 pm, 1961’s Lover Come Back, directed by Delbert Mann, will be screened as part of its 55th anniversary.
From the press release:
Doris Day Double Feature
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.
Click here to buy tickets to the 4:30Pm Lover Come Back (includes admission to the 7Pm The Man Who Knew Too Much).
Click here to buy tickets to the 7Pm The Man Who Knew Too Much (includes admission to the 9:30Pm Lover Come Back).
Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics presents a tribute to Doris Day,...
From the press release:
Doris Day Double Feature
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.
Click here to buy tickets to the 4:30Pm Lover Come Back (includes admission to the 7Pm The Man Who Knew Too Much).
Click here to buy tickets to the 7Pm The Man Who Knew Too Much (includes admission to the 9:30Pm Lover Come Back).
Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics presents a tribute to Doris Day,...
- 8/25/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Dean Jones: Actor in Disney movies. Dean Jones dead at 84: Actor in Disney movies 'The Love Bug,' 'That Darn Cat!' Dean Jones, best known for playing befuddled heroes in 1960s Walt Disney movies such as That Darn Cat! and The Love Bug, died of complications from Parkinson's disease on Tue., Sept. 1, '15, in Los Angeles. Jones (born on Jan. 25, 1931, in Decatur, Alabama) was 84. Dean Jones movies Dean Jones began his Hollywood career in the mid-'50s, when he was featured in bit parts – at times uncredited – in a handful of films at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer In 2009 interview for Christianity Today, Jones recalled playing his first scene (in These Wilder Years) with veteran James Cagney, who told him “Walk to your mark and remember your lines” – supposedly a lesson he would take to heart. At MGM, bit player Jones would also be featured in Robert Wise's...
- 9/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Cast
Captain T. G. Culpeper Spencer Tracy J. Russell Finch Milton Berle Melville Crump Sid Caesar Benjy Benjamin Buddy Hackett Mrs. Marcus Ethel Merman Ding Bell Mickey Rooney Sylvester Marcus Dick Shawn Otto Meyer Phil Silvers J. Algernon Hawthorne Terry-Thomas Lennie Pike Jonathan Winters Monica Crump Edie Adams Emeline Finch Dorothy Provine Cabdriver Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Tyler Fitzgerald Jim Backus Man driving in the desert Jack Benny Union official Joe E. Brown Biplane pilot Ben Blue Police sergeant Alan Carney Detective Chick Chandler Mrs. Halliburton Barrie Chase Mayor Lloyd Corrigan Police chief William Demarest Sheriff of Crocket County Andy Devine Ginger Culpeper (voice) Selma Diamond Cabdriver Peter Falk Detective Normal Fell Colonel Wilberforce Paul Ford Deputy sheriff Stan Freberg Billie Sue Culpeper (voice) Louise Glenn Cabdriver Leo Gorcey Fire chief Sterling Holloway Mr. Dinckler Edward Everett Horton Irwin Marvin Kaplan Jimmy the Cook Buster Keaton Nervous motorist Don Knotts Airport...
Captain T. G. Culpeper Spencer Tracy J. Russell Finch Milton Berle Melville Crump Sid Caesar Benjy Benjamin Buddy Hackett Mrs. Marcus Ethel Merman Ding Bell Mickey Rooney Sylvester Marcus Dick Shawn Otto Meyer Phil Silvers J. Algernon Hawthorne Terry-Thomas Lennie Pike Jonathan Winters Monica Crump Edie Adams Emeline Finch Dorothy Provine Cabdriver Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Tyler Fitzgerald Jim Backus Man driving in the desert Jack Benny Union official Joe E. Brown Biplane pilot Ben Blue Police sergeant Alan Carney Detective Chick Chandler Mrs. Halliburton Barrie Chase Mayor Lloyd Corrigan Police chief William Demarest Sheriff of Crocket County Andy Devine Ginger Culpeper (voice) Selma Diamond Cabdriver Peter Falk Detective Normal Fell Colonel Wilberforce Paul Ford Deputy sheriff Stan Freberg Billie Sue Culpeper (voice) Louise Glenn Cabdriver Leo Gorcey Fire chief Sterling Holloway Mr. Dinckler Edward Everett Horton Irwin Marvin Kaplan Jimmy the Cook Buster Keaton Nervous motorist Don Knotts Airport...
- 1/22/2015
- by Sam Moffitt
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The late career of Joseph L. Mankiewicz—who is getting a sidebar retrospective, The Essential Iconoclast, at the New York Film Festival—is fascinating. While many of his contemporaries floundered as the rules of filmmaking changed, formally and in every other aspect, he found ways, for a while at least, to carry on telling the kind of stories he liked, with the kind of people he liked, in the way he liked. Sleuth (1972) could probably have been made earlier—the amorality and venality of the characters might well have passed the censor, since vice can be said to be punished. The filmmaking is a little less sure-footed than we expect from Mankiewicz, though: he should have been the perfect director for a two-hander full of arch talk in elegant surroundings, but his attempts to keep the visuals lively sometimes seem forced.
There Was a Crooked Man (1970), is more problematic, illustrating...
There Was a Crooked Man (1970), is more problematic, illustrating...
- 10/2/2014
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
Article by Sam Moffitt
It’s tough to say goodbye to Sid Caesar. I’ve been pondering what I can possibly say about a comedy legend who has been around as long as I can remember and contributed so much to comedy, mostly on television but also many times in motion pictures.
Firstly Sid Caesar was in on the ground floor of television, his earliest programs done live in 1949 before the video switch board had even been invented. In those earliest shows the director was on the stage telling the floor managers which cameras and mikes to hook or unhook to the coax and audio cables! Consider that just for a moment!
Caesar’s wonderful book Caesar’s Hours: My Life in Comedy, with Love and Laughter, co written with Eddie Friedfeld tells all about Sid Caesar’s years in show business and the legendary live variety shows; Your Show of Shows...
It’s tough to say goodbye to Sid Caesar. I’ve been pondering what I can possibly say about a comedy legend who has been around as long as I can remember and contributed so much to comedy, mostly on television but also many times in motion pictures.
Firstly Sid Caesar was in on the ground floor of television, his earliest programs done live in 1949 before the video switch board had even been invented. In those earliest shows the director was on the stage telling the floor managers which cameras and mikes to hook or unhook to the coax and audio cables! Consider that just for a moment!
Caesar’s wonderful book Caesar’s Hours: My Life in Comedy, with Love and Laughter, co written with Eddie Friedfeld tells all about Sid Caesar’s years in show business and the legendary live variety shows; Your Show of Shows...
- 3/31/2014
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Hollywood Goes "Mad"
By Raymond Benson
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the 1963 classic epic comedy directed by Stanley Kramer, is one of those Hollywood train wrecks that you can’t help but like. It’s a one-of-a-kind all-star extravaganza featuring some of the biggest names of mostly 1950s and early 1960s comedy (and a good number of them were known primarily as television actor/comics rather than big screen performers). The United Artists release was one of a current trend of movie star ensemble film in which the producers attempt to throw in as many big names as possible (e.g. Exodus, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Longest Day). As Kramer himself states in a reunion extra that appears on Criterion’s new Blu-ray/DVD combo set, “It would be impossible to make today,” due to the salaries stars demand now.
Hollywood Goes "Mad"
By Raymond Benson
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the 1963 classic epic comedy directed by Stanley Kramer, is one of those Hollywood train wrecks that you can’t help but like. It’s a one-of-a-kind all-star extravaganza featuring some of the biggest names of mostly 1950s and early 1960s comedy (and a good number of them were known primarily as television actor/comics rather than big screen performers). The United Artists release was one of a current trend of movie star ensemble film in which the producers attempt to throw in as many big names as possible (e.g. Exodus, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Longest Day). As Kramer himself states in a reunion extra that appears on Criterion’s new Blu-ray/DVD combo set, “It would be impossible to make today,” due to the salaries stars demand now.
- 1/18/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Produced and distributed by Mvd Entertainment Group, in association with Ediad Productions,"Here's Edie: The Edie Adams Television Collection", available November 19, 2013, is a new four DVD box set, featuring 12 Hours of the early 1960's TV series "Here's Edie" and "The Edie Adams Show".
Performances include classic Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Andre Previn, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis, Nancy Wilson, Buddy Hackett, Bob Hope, Dick Shawn, Rowan & Martin, Peter Falk, Sir Michael Redgrave, Zsa Zsa Gabor and a whole lot more :
"...more than 50 years after it premiered on the ABC network, the variety shows 'Here's Edie' and 'The Edie Adams Show' are set for release on DVD and digital formats, the first time either series has been seen in any format since its original broadcast more than a half century ago.
"The 'wow' factor of this box set resides in the eclectic guest stars Edie Adams...
Performances include classic Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Andre Previn, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis, Nancy Wilson, Buddy Hackett, Bob Hope, Dick Shawn, Rowan & Martin, Peter Falk, Sir Michael Redgrave, Zsa Zsa Gabor and a whole lot more :
"...more than 50 years after it premiered on the ABC network, the variety shows 'Here's Edie' and 'The Edie Adams Show' are set for release on DVD and digital formats, the first time either series has been seen in any format since its original broadcast more than a half century ago.
"The 'wow' factor of this box set resides in the eclectic guest stars Edie Adams...
- 8/6/2013
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Eleanor Parker 2013 movie series continues today (photo: Eleanor Parker in Detective Story) Palm Springs resident Eleanor Parker is Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of June 2013. Thus, eight more Eleanor Parker movies will be shown this evening on TCM. Parker turns 91 on Wednesday, June 26. (See also: “Eleanor Parker Today.”) Eleanor Parker received her second Best Actress Academy Award nomination for William Wyler’s crime drama Detective Story (1951). The movie itself feels dated, partly because of several melodramatic plot developments, and partly because of Kirk Douglas’ excessive theatricality as the detective whose story is told. Parker, however, is excellent as Douglas’ wife, though her role is subordinate to his. Just about as good is Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Lee Grant, whose career would be derailed by the anti-Red hysteria of the ’50s. Grant would make her comeback in the ’70s, eventually winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her...
- 6/25/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival continues to expand, with newly added appearances by legendary stars at screenings of some of their most memorable films, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan, Barrie Chase, Polly Bergen,Coleen Gray, Theodore Bikel and Norman Lloyd, as well as producer Stanley Rubin, Clara Bow biographer David Stenn, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) film collections manager Katie Trainor and director Nicholas Ray’s widow, Susan Ray. In addition, TCM’s Essentials Jr. host and Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader will present screenings of Shane (1953) and The Ladykillers(1955).
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
- 3/13/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
On these warm summer days, what better way to escape the heat than with a visit to a movie theater. Sure, you can catch one of the many new films, but instead why not revisit or introduce yourself to a classic. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is running a 70mm series of films beginning Monday in Beverly Hills. It kicks off the inaugural event with the uproarious It’S A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I agree, it’s usually one that we all watch during the holidays but if you’re fortunate enough to see it on the big screen then you need to make a trip to The Academy.
This week I had the chance to speak with the wife of the film’s late director Stanley Kramer over the phone where she nostalgically talked about one of the funniest comedies in film history. Mrs.
This week I had the chance to speak with the wife of the film’s late director Stanley Kramer over the phone where she nostalgically talked about one of the funniest comedies in film history. Mrs.
- 7/6/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ernie Kovacs, the funniest guy you've never heard of, was just shy of his 43rd birthday when he died in a 1962 car accident in Los Angeles. Over the course of his tragically short career, he logged hundreds of hours of live TV on things like "Take a Good Look" (1959-61) and the various incarnations of "The Ernie Kovacs Show" (1953, 1954-55, 1955-56, 1956, 1957), displaying an undeniable fourth wall-breaking genius and pioneering a unique comedic voice that would go on to influence everyone from David Letterman to Captain Kangaroo -- everyone who was lucky enough to have seen him, that is, as a lot of his work was erased, discarded or never recorded in the first place, surviving only in videotape and kinescopes snippets. A talent ahead of his time, Kovacs, who often worked with his collaborator and wife Edie Adams, has gotten more recognition posthumously, his growing repution meriting a new box...
- 5/2/2012
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
It was a magical evening at the New York Times Center last night for those lucky enough to be in attendance, for at long last, Jason Reitman brought his “Live Read” Series to NYC. The series began about six months ago when the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) asked Reitman if he had any ideas for programs. His idea was a simple one: to stage readings of classic screenplays live on stage, one time only for an audience of a few hundred people. As he told the NY Times recently, “I’d done table reads for my own screenplays, and I always thought they were so much fun. [So I thought], ‘Why couldn’t we do these for other classic screenplays and bring them to life?’ You can experience live theater, where you get to see plays produced by different directors and different casts, but there’s really nothing like that for movie scripts.
- 4/28/2012
- by Cory Everett
- The Playlist
DVD Playhouse—February 2012
By Allen Gardner
To Kill A Mockingbird 50th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Robert Mulligan’s film of Harper Lee’s landmark novel pits a liberal-minded lawyer (Gregory Peck) against a small Southern town’s racism when defending a black man (Brock Peters) on trumped-up rape charges. One of the 1960s’ first landmark films, a truly stirring human drama that hits all the right notes and isn’t dated a bit. Robert Duvall makes his screen debut (sans dialogue) as the enigmatic Boo Radley. DVD and Blu-ray double edition. Bonuses: Two feature-length documentaries: Fearful Symmetry and A Conversation with Gregory Peck; Featurettes; Excerpts and film clips from Gregory Peck’s Oscar acceptance speech and AFI Lifetime Achievement Award; Commentary by Mulligan and producer Alan J. Pakula; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 2.0 mono.
Outrage: Way Of The Yakuza (Magnolia) After a brief hiatus from his signature oeuvre of Japanese gangster flicks,...
By Allen Gardner
To Kill A Mockingbird 50th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Robert Mulligan’s film of Harper Lee’s landmark novel pits a liberal-minded lawyer (Gregory Peck) against a small Southern town’s racism when defending a black man (Brock Peters) on trumped-up rape charges. One of the 1960s’ first landmark films, a truly stirring human drama that hits all the right notes and isn’t dated a bit. Robert Duvall makes his screen debut (sans dialogue) as the enigmatic Boo Radley. DVD and Blu-ray double edition. Bonuses: Two feature-length documentaries: Fearful Symmetry and A Conversation with Gregory Peck; Featurettes; Excerpts and film clips from Gregory Peck’s Oscar acceptance speech and AFI Lifetime Achievement Award; Commentary by Mulligan and producer Alan J. Pakula; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 2.0 mono.
Outrage: Way Of The Yakuza (Magnolia) After a brief hiatus from his signature oeuvre of Japanese gangster flicks,...
- 2/26/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Producers Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Infinity Stages announced today that Tony Award nominee Kerry Butler Xanadu has joined the cast of the 2012 Broadway revival of Gore Vidals The Best Man in the role of Mabel Cantwell, a role that Edie Adams played in the film adaptation and later by Christine Ebersole in the 2000 Broadway revival. The addition of Butler marks the completion of principal casting for this star-studded theatrical event.
- 1/5/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Tonight, Jason Reitman will direct a live table-read of Billy Wilder’s classic 1960 film, The Apartment, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to benefit Film Independent. Last month, Reitman kicked off his series with a celeb-studded performance of The Breakfast Club. Reitman had been announcing tonight’s cast via his Twitter feed — yesterday, he revealed that Natalie Portman will read the Shirley MacLaine role — but the role of C.C. Baxter, originated by Jack Lemmon, remained a secret. Until now. I’ll give you a hint: He once ate a big red candle. Your Baxter for a night is…...
- 11/17/2011
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Westwood - The master of sensual European cinema golden years have a tint of blue. UCLA just hosted retrospective of Radley Metzger’s films. His most important films are being released on Blu-ray. He’s about to take the director’s chair as he approaches 83.
His masterwork Camille 2000 was just released Blu-ray with an extended version from Cult Epics. The 1969 update of Dumas’ The Lady of the Camellias takes place in an esoteric Italy. The restored high definition transfer gives a detailed look at that magical time. The Party Favors had a chance to chat with Radley Metzger about the release.
Trailer provided by Video Detective
Radley is a true independent filmmaker. He owns the rights to his films instead of selling them off to distributor. He’s not at the mercy of an indifferent studio executive to keep his cinematic legacy available. The first question had to be...
His masterwork Camille 2000 was just released Blu-ray with an extended version from Cult Epics. The 1969 update of Dumas’ The Lady of the Camellias takes place in an esoteric Italy. The restored high definition transfer gives a detailed look at that magical time. The Party Favors had a chance to chat with Radley Metzger about the release.
Trailer provided by Video Detective
Radley is a true independent filmmaker. He owns the rights to his films instead of selling them off to distributor. He’s not at the mercy of an indifferent studio executive to keep his cinematic legacy available. The first question had to be...
- 8/5/2011
- by UncaScroogeMcD
Retro-active: The Best From Cinema Retro's Arcives
As someone who has written extensively about the spy craze of the 1960s, I'm ashamed to admit I'd never seen an episode of Honey West. The series premiered in 1965 but lasted a mere one season, a casualty of high ratings from its time slot rival Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Thus, I had no preconceived notions when Vci's complete series arrived for review. The 4 DVD set consists of all thirty episodes. I have not watched all of them, but I've seen enough to get a general taste of the show- and I love it. It's been said that Honey West was the first kick-ass female action hero on TV, but in fact, that honor probably goes to the character of Cathy Gale on The Avengers. Nevertheless, Honey had great influence despite the brevity of her series. In fact, its amazing how loyal...
As someone who has written extensively about the spy craze of the 1960s, I'm ashamed to admit I'd never seen an episode of Honey West. The series premiered in 1965 but lasted a mere one season, a casualty of high ratings from its time slot rival Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Thus, I had no preconceived notions when Vci's complete series arrived for review. The 4 DVD set consists of all thirty episodes. I have not watched all of them, but I've seen enough to get a general taste of the show- and I love it. It's been said that Honey West was the first kick-ass female action hero on TV, but in fact, that honor probably goes to the character of Cathy Gale on The Avengers. Nevertheless, Honey had great influence despite the brevity of her series. In fact, its amazing how loyal...
- 7/13/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Yonkers - Ernie Kovacs is the patron saint of innovative TV comedies. His impact can be felt on everything from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In to Monty Python’s Flying Circus to Saturday Night Live. Shout! Factory’s The Ernie Kovacs Collection gives a survey of his short yet stellar career that ended in 1962 with his death. Over the course of six DVDs, you realize this guy truly revolutionized what you could do on TV.
The boxset doesn’t have any of the episodes from his original Three to Get Ready show that aired on Philly TV. But we get a healthy helping of his other shows that allowed him to bounce between NBC, CBS, ABC and even the legendary DuMont. Along with creating comedy shows, he hosted talkshows, gameshows and even variety shows. He even contributed to Mad Magazine. His famous mustache and cigar popped up all over the dial.
The boxset doesn’t have any of the episodes from his original Three to Get Ready show that aired on Philly TV. But we get a healthy helping of his other shows that allowed him to bounce between NBC, CBS, ABC and even the legendary DuMont. Along with creating comedy shows, he hosted talkshows, gameshows and even variety shows. He even contributed to Mad Magazine. His famous mustache and cigar popped up all over the dial.
- 4/28/2011
- by UncaScroogeMcD
Shout! Factory is a DVD company that puts out some absolutely great stuff (they're recently responsible for the release of Dark Skies). Here's the press release for their latest endeavor:
Celebrating the Unsung Hero of Television Comedy…At Last
The Ernie Kovacs Collection
featuring more than 13 hours of Kovacs’ original classic television content,
unforgettable characters and a treasure trove of genuine rarities
all collected in a lavishly packaged 6-dvd box set!
Vast Majority Of This Content Has Not Been Seen In Over 50 Years
Own It On DVD April 19, 2011 From Shout! Factory
Los Angeles, CA (January 10, 2011) With a gift for inventive comedy that was alternately cerebral, goofy and just plain absurd, Ernie Kovacs (www.erniekovacs.com) transformed television’s early era into his own personal playground---and invited viewers to enjoy every sight gag and loony character.
Produced and distributed by Shout! Factory in association with Ediad Productions, Inc., the long-awaited The...
Celebrating the Unsung Hero of Television Comedy…At Last
The Ernie Kovacs Collection
featuring more than 13 hours of Kovacs’ original classic television content,
unforgettable characters and a treasure trove of genuine rarities
all collected in a lavishly packaged 6-dvd box set!
Vast Majority Of This Content Has Not Been Seen In Over 50 Years
Own It On DVD April 19, 2011 From Shout! Factory
Los Angeles, CA (January 10, 2011) With a gift for inventive comedy that was alternately cerebral, goofy and just plain absurd, Ernie Kovacs (www.erniekovacs.com) transformed television’s early era into his own personal playground---and invited viewers to enjoy every sight gag and loony character.
Produced and distributed by Shout! Factory in association with Ediad Productions, Inc., the long-awaited The...
- 1/10/2011
- by Sam McPherson
- TVovermind.com
“You finally made it, Frankie! Oscar night! And here you sit, on top of a glass mountain called success. You’re one of the chosen five, and the whole town’s holding its breath to see who won it! It’s been quite a climb, hasn’t it, Frankie? Down at the bottom, scuffling for dimes in those smokers, all the way to the top. Magic Hollywood!” This ripe narration opens the 1966 movie The Oscar, a cynical look at how an Oscar nomination goes to the head of its nominee and the lengths an unscrupulous man will go to win the coveted gold statuette. With an undeserved reputation as one of the lousiest Show-biz soap operas from the 60’s, The Oscar portrays Hollywood as a cesspool where you sell your soul and it’s certainly amusing for its campy dialog and sleazy situations. Sure, The Oscar is brainless tinseltown trash full of shameless clichés,...
- 12/9/2009
- by Tom
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Funny movies make us laugh, that’s a no-brainer. But, what happens when you get a movie with Lots of funny people in it? Chances are, if it’s done well, you get an exponentially funnier movie. It’s like asking someone if they’d like a scoop of ice cream, or if they’d like three scoops of ice cream with hot fudge, caramel, whipped topping, nuts, sprinkles (gotta have sprinkles) and a cherry on top… it’s an easy decision. That’s sort of like asking someone if they want to see Mike Judge’s new comedy Extract, which opens nationwide in theaters this Friday. This should be an easy decision as well. So, we Movie Geeks decided to reflect on these movies and “extract” a list of our Top Ten Best Ensemble Comedies.
10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
One of the most quotable, most intelligently ridiculous films of all time,...
10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
One of the most quotable, most intelligently ridiculous films of all time,...
- 9/1/2009
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Actress/singer Edie Adams has died of pneumonia and cancer, according to her son Josh Mills.
Adams passed away on Wednesday in Los Angeles, aged 81.
She is best-known as the face of Muriel cigars - starring in a series of commercials that ran over 19 years - although her career spanned across the stage, nightclubs, movie screens and television.
A graduate of New York's prestigious Juilliard school, Adams got her start in entertainment in 1950 as the winner of the Miss U.S. Television beauty pageant, which shot her to TV-stardom with an appearance on comedian Milton Berle's television show.
Her TV roles, including a 1963 appearance with Sammy Davis Jr., received five Emmy nominations.
She also sang on classic comedy series The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour in 1960, marking the show's final episode with a rendition of That's All.
Adams later became a Broadway star with roles in 1953 musical Wonderful Town, and 1956s Li'l Abner.
In the 1960s, she took to the silver screen, appearing in films including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Apartment, Under the Yum Yum Tree and Lover Come Back - opposite Doris Day and Rock Hudson.
Adams later returned to TV in the 1970s and 80s with roles in The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, and Designing Women.
She is survived by her son Mills.
Adams passed away on Wednesday in Los Angeles, aged 81.
She is best-known as the face of Muriel cigars - starring in a series of commercials that ran over 19 years - although her career spanned across the stage, nightclubs, movie screens and television.
A graduate of New York's prestigious Juilliard school, Adams got her start in entertainment in 1950 as the winner of the Miss U.S. Television beauty pageant, which shot her to TV-stardom with an appearance on comedian Milton Berle's television show.
Her TV roles, including a 1963 appearance with Sammy Davis Jr., received five Emmy nominations.
She also sang on classic comedy series The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour in 1960, marking the show's final episode with a rendition of That's All.
Adams later became a Broadway star with roles in 1953 musical Wonderful Town, and 1956s Li'l Abner.
In the 1960s, she took to the silver screen, appearing in films including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Apartment, Under the Yum Yum Tree and Lover Come Back - opposite Doris Day and Rock Hudson.
Adams later returned to TV in the 1970s and 80s with roles in The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, and Designing Women.
She is survived by her son Mills.
- 10/16/2008
- WENN
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