Distinguished and debonair, James Mason was a leading man for many years, but gravitated toward more daring and character roles for some of his best films. I don’t do impressions, but Mason was one of the few that i accomplished. From Gen. Rommel to to Capt. Nemo to Lolita to Hitchcock, Mason took risks: he … More James Mason (actor) Remembered
I never had the opportunity to eat at an automat, but they were a fascinating part of our American urban culture. The closest I ever got was the cafeteria, which is a rarity in America now. After the pandemic, try to even find a buffet. Lisa Hurwitz is the originator and director of The Automat … More The Automat (film review)
Can you believe it, I had never seen this film (in it’s entirety) until this week. Sure, I knew what it was about and the final scene of Joey calling after his hero is etched in cinematic history. Somehow the film had escaped my viewing. The story point of a mysterious stranger appearing at an … More Shane (1953)
A funny thing happened. Not funny, ha-ha, funny as in ironic. I’ve been watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime, about a divorced female stand-up comedian in the late 1950s-early 1960s, and just stumbled onto a book called In On the Joke: The Original Queens of Stand-Up Comedy. The karmameter siren sounded, dive into this … More Female Stand-Up Comics (Back When It Was A Male Profession)
In 1980, the Clash released a song called “Ivan Meets G.I. Joe” on their stunning Sandinista album. At the time, U.S. – Soviet relations were at a low point. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan and the U.S. was sending arms to Afghan fighters, particularly Stinger surface to air missiles that fell many Soviet helicopters … More Ivan Meets G.I. Joe
I am a fan of film credits/opening sequences. In film history, they served to give the audience information and set the story, often in a very creative way. Three of my favorite opening sequence designers are Saul Bass (Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger), Maurice Binder (James Bond) and Pablo Ferro (Stanley Kubrick, Steve McQueen). Film title … More Film Titles: Classics
A sizable number of Americans want to fire up the wayback machine and go back to the 1950s. Not just visit, but take up residence there. This is more than nostalgia, that warm and technicolor memory when you think of a family holiday or think about your favorite TV show or birthday dinner. This is … More Turn Back the Clock
I just finished a three-session film class on Alfred Hitchcock. Over six hours, we tried to digest his remarkable career. Of course, it helps to have seen most of his films and much of his television anthology series. Hitchcock is a lot of things, personality, auteur, mystery and macabre storyteller, and great observer of life. … More Hitchcock by the Decade
Many people remember the film as the one where Marilyn Monroe‘s dress is blown up to reveal her legs and undergarments. That was a big deal in the Eisenhower 50s. Well, the effect had hundreds of spectators gawking and husband Joe DiMaggio fuming to the point Monroe ended the marriage. And they weren’t even married … More The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Name a musician or band in the 20th Century, and Tom Dowd likely worked with them. From jazz to blues to R&B to rock to pop, he covered all the bases. Dowd was a member of a very select crowd of engineers/producers who piloted the greatest recorded music. There is a terrific documentary about him, … More Tom Dowd: Engineer/Producer
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