Seasons 1-3 were known as the Trapper John and Henry Blake seasons. At the end of season three, LTC Henry Blake left to go home and was killed off-screen. After season three finished filming, Wayne Rogers, who played Trapper John, left the series. He was replaced in the first episode of season four by Mike … More MASH: The Trapper & Henry Years
Hal Ashby and Michael Ritchie were contemporaries and each directed some iconic 1970s films. … More The Directors: Hal Ashby & Michael Ritchie
Note: This is a series on film directors, two at a time. Arthur Hiller and Norman Jewison both had long careers directing feature films. Both started in television directing series and then television movies before moving into feature films. Both directed big hits and cultural bending films, and both men had a style that was … More The Directors: Arthur Hiller & Norman Jewison
Walter Matthau worked steadily in Hollywood but he didn’t become a star until he worked with Billy Wilder and won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. After that, his career shifted in a higher gear. And after he played Oscar Madison on screen, he was a leading man. He was 48 years old. His career up … More Walter Matthau: Mr. Natural
Films in the early 1970s reflected the moods and trends in society. The 1970s were a rebound from the turmoil and fragmentation that started at the end of the previous decade. The early 1970s were marked by distrust in government, conspiracy theories, cities in decline, revolutions in marriage, sexuality, and generations, rise of anti-establishment, feelings … More 1971: A Gritty Year in Film
How many good Westerns have been released since 1976? Fewer than you might things. That’s more than 40 years. Prior to 1970, a dozen or more Westerns were released most every year, after that, the number of Westerns decreased. By the end of the decade, mostly they were large-scale productions with a top star or … More Westerns: The End of the Trail?
Who’d have thunk that a little blues band that broke up after only one charting song would be heading toward the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fifty years later. The Moodies gave up their R&B focus but helped pioneer a new ethereal rock sound coupled with smartly written lyrical journeys and songscapes. The end … More The Moody Blues: 50 Years Later
Inspired by real events, this is a thriller. Director Ridley Scott has his foot on the accelerator but you don’t feel his heavy directorial hand on the film. Scott films are usually known for big special effects, tricky camera work, heavy tonal music and a grand cinematic ride. He uses none of those techniques in … More All the Money in the World: My Review
Suppose the Beatles had not broken up when they did and stayed together at least until 1975. Since we are engaging in fantasy, let’s also say that John Lennon was not murdered in 1980 and lived a long and happy life. If the Beatles had continued to record together, at least occasionally, while each … More The Beatles Next Album
The 1970’s was not Paul Newman’s greatest screen decade but it represented his widest variety of work. From a box office perspective, he had two huge hit films, several successful ones and a series of misses. Critically, his films were all over the map. In the 1970’s, Paul Newman did not play it safe. His … More Paul Newman: A Decade of Taking Chances
