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The first film adaptation of an Agatha Christie story was Leslie H. Hiscott's and Julius Hagen's "The Passing of Mr. Quin," released in 1928. This was only eight years after her first work, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," was published, so she was still quite active when movie versions of her stories began to appear. Starting in 1930, Christie also began penning works for the stage (starting with "Black Coffee"), so she was already a media empire unto herself, years before such a thing had become de rigueur. As of this writing, there have been about 50 official cinema adaptations of Agatha Christie's novels and short stories, close to 40 TV movies, not to mention the long-running TV shows "Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989 -- 2013) and "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" (2004 -- 2014), plus a whole host of projects where she is a character herself, including...
The first film adaptation of an Agatha Christie story was Leslie H. Hiscott's and Julius Hagen's "The Passing of Mr. Quin," released in 1928. This was only eight years after her first work, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," was published, so she was still quite active when movie versions of her stories began to appear. Starting in 1930, Christie also began penning works for the stage (starting with "Black Coffee"), so she was already a media empire unto herself, years before such a thing had become de rigueur. As of this writing, there have been about 50 official cinema adaptations of Agatha Christie's novels and short stories, close to 40 TV movies, not to mention the long-running TV shows "Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989 -- 2013) and "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" (2004 -- 2014), plus a whole host of projects where she is a character herself, including...
- 4/12/2025
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Richard Kind really has been in everything: Spin City, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Argo, countless Pixar films, and, of course, Sharknado 2, to name just a very few of his very many roles (more than 300 in all).
Along the way, he’s made a name for himself not only as an actor, but as an incredible showbiz storyteller. Whether it’s stories about pranks with his best friend George Clooney or working with legends like Carol Burnett, Kind always has a yarn to spin — so much so that he’s decided to make a whole production out of it.
How Not to Be Famous: A Conversation with Richard Kind is his new stage show in which he tells some of his best behind-the-scenes tales and fields questions from the audience that inevitably turn into more stories. The show begins its run on January 24th at the Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania,...
Along the way, he’s made a name for himself not only as an actor, but as an incredible showbiz storyteller. Whether it’s stories about pranks with his best friend George Clooney or working with legends like Carol Burnett, Kind always has a yarn to spin — so much so that he’s decided to make a whole production out of it.
How Not to Be Famous: A Conversation with Richard Kind is his new stage show in which he tells some of his best behind-the-scenes tales and fields questions from the audience that inevitably turn into more stories. The show begins its run on January 24th at the Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania,...
- 1/22/2025
- Cracked
A band of rabbits must leave their warren to find safety in a film that, even in a digital age, still has the bloody force to scare young minds
‘The field … it’s covered in blood!” This is the young visionary rabbit Fiver, voiced by Richard Briers, in the British animation from 1978 by Martin Rosen, based on Richard Adams’s classic children’s book. The rabbits’ warren, quite as important as Tolkien’s shire, is about to be destroyed by a property development, announced by the humans’ heartless wooden sign, which of course none of the rabbits can read, but twitchy, squirming Fiver can sense the disaster it represents.
So his brother Hazel (voiced by John Hurt) leads Fiver and a breakaway gang on a quest for safety to far-off Watership Down, a rumoured place of sanctuary foreseen by Fiver; they include hot-headed Bigwig (Michael Graham Cox) and later the...
‘The field … it’s covered in blood!” This is the young visionary rabbit Fiver, voiced by Richard Briers, in the British animation from 1978 by Martin Rosen, based on Richard Adams’s classic children’s book. The rabbits’ warren, quite as important as Tolkien’s shire, is about to be destroyed by a property development, announced by the humans’ heartless wooden sign, which of course none of the rabbits can read, but twitchy, squirming Fiver can sense the disaster it represents.
So his brother Hazel (voiced by John Hurt) leads Fiver and a breakaway gang on a quest for safety to far-off Watership Down, a rumoured place of sanctuary foreseen by Fiver; they include hot-headed Bigwig (Michael Graham Cox) and later the...
- 10/23/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Ian Nathan guides viewers through Mel Brooks’ 1968 comedy, The Producers, in the latest episode of Classic Movies: The Story of… airing on Sky Arts on Thursday, 22 August 2024, at 8:00 p.m. The film stars Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder as two men with a unique plan to produce a Broadway flop. This episode […]
Classic Movies: The Story of… The Producers...
Classic Movies: The Story of… The Producers...
- 8/21/2024
- by Izzy Jacobs
- MemorableTV
After a one-week theatrical window, Doug Liman’s recent reteaming with “Bourne Identity” collaborator Matt Damon, “The Instigators,” which was also co-written by and co-stars Casey Affleck, is set to debut on Apple TV+ this Friday, August 9. In addition to Damon and Affleck, the film also features performances from Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, Jack Harlow, Ron Perlman, Toby Jones, and Paul Walter Hauser, a cast that will no doubt earn at least a few streams despite middling to negative reviews, including IndieWire’s, which calls the film, “Flimsy in most respects but fun enough in its fumbling.”
No matter what you think of “The Instigators,” it is obvious the intention behind the film is to tell a heist story more focused on human flaw than it is on claiming any riches. Simply put, if you’re coming in expecting “Heat” or “Ocean’s 11,” expect to be disappointed.
No matter what you think of “The Instigators,” it is obvious the intention behind the film is to tell a heist story more focused on human flaw than it is on claiming any riches. Simply put, if you’re coming in expecting “Heat” or “Ocean’s 11,” expect to be disappointed.
- 8/8/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Gene Wilder's real name was Jerome Silberman, but he chose "Wilder" for Thornton Wilder & "Gene" from Thomas Wolfe's book. Zero Mostel had the final say on Gene Wilder being cast in The Producers, a decision that paid off immensely. Gene Wilder wasn't close friends with Richard Pryor and battled Alzheimer's in his final years but remained young at heart.
The Remembering Gene Wilder documentary was an insightful look at an extraordinary actor's life in front of and away from the camera that revealed many details viewers might not have been aware of. Wilders incredible career was cataloged, and the documentary featured several appearances from those he was closest to, had worked with, and who admired him. From his earliest days growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to his struggles with Alzheimer's disease later in life, Wilder maintained his jovial nature throughout his entire life.
While Wilder's greatest performances included...
The Remembering Gene Wilder documentary was an insightful look at an extraordinary actor's life in front of and away from the camera that revealed many details viewers might not have been aware of. Wilders incredible career was cataloged, and the documentary featured several appearances from those he was closest to, had worked with, and who admired him. From his earliest days growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to his struggles with Alzheimer's disease later in life, Wilder maintained his jovial nature throughout his entire life.
While Wilder's greatest performances included...
- 6/18/2024
- by Stephen Holland
- ScreenRant
Film historians, critics and cineastes have heralded 1939 as the greatest year for Hollywood films. It was the year that saw the release of such classics as “Gone with the Wind,” “Stagecoach,” “Love Affair,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Young Mr. Lincoln” and “Wuthering Heights.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg
But what about Broadway? A case can be made for 1964, which saw the debuts of three musicals that became classics: “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Funny Girl” and “Hello, Dolly!”
Broadway was changing in the 1960s. Oscar Hammerstein II died in 1960; Irving Berlin’s last show was the disappointing 1962 “Mr. President”; and Cole Porter, who died in 1964, hadn’t had a musical on Broadway since the 1950s. Sixty years ago, a group of young talented composers and lyricists were the toast of the Great White Way.
Like Jerry Herman. He was all of 30 when “Milk...
But what about Broadway? A case can be made for 1964, which saw the debuts of three musicals that became classics: “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Funny Girl” and “Hello, Dolly!”
Broadway was changing in the 1960s. Oscar Hammerstein II died in 1960; Irving Berlin’s last show was the disappointing 1962 “Mr. President”; and Cole Porter, who died in 1964, hadn’t had a musical on Broadway since the 1950s. Sixty years ago, a group of young talented composers and lyricists were the toast of the Great White Way.
Like Jerry Herman. He was all of 30 when “Milk...
- 2/1/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Joanna Merlin, whose acting career stretched from Broadway (she was the original Tzeitel in Fiddler On The Roof), film (she played the dance teacher Miss Berg in Alan Parker’s 1980 film Fame) and TV (Law & Order: SVU‘s Judge Lena Petrovsky on dozens of episodes) has died. She was 92.
Her death was announced on the Instagram page of the New York University Tisch Graduate Acting Program, where Merlin had been on the faculty since 1998.
“Joanna was an actress, master Chekhov teacher, and former casting director for Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Bernardo Bertolucci, and James Ivory,” the NYU message said, adding, “Joanna will be deeply missed at Grad Acting, by the Chekhov community, and by the many people she touched through her artistry.”
As a casting director, Merlin was involved in numerous landmark Broadway productions written by Stephen Sondheim. She was, for many years, Harold Prince’s go-to casting director.
A...
Her death was announced on the Instagram page of the New York University Tisch Graduate Acting Program, where Merlin had been on the faculty since 1998.
“Joanna was an actress, master Chekhov teacher, and former casting director for Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Bernardo Bertolucci, and James Ivory,” the NYU message said, adding, “Joanna will be deeply missed at Grad Acting, by the Chekhov community, and by the many people she touched through her artistry.”
As a casting director, Merlin was involved in numerous landmark Broadway productions written by Stephen Sondheim. She was, for many years, Harold Prince’s go-to casting director.
A...
- 10/16/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Stephen Sondheim has almost never been more popular than in the two years since his passing in November 2021. In that time, celebrated revivals of “Company,” “Into the Woods,” and “Sweeney Todd” have come to Broadway, and successful remounting of “Assassins” and “Merrily We Roll Along” have played Off-Broadway, which is a testament to the enduring appeal of his works.
This fall will once again spotlight Sondheim. The tremendously successful Off-Broadway run of “Merrily” starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe opens on Broadway on October 10, which will mark the first remounting since its original, unsuccessful run in 1981. In addition, his final musical “Here We Are,” which is based on two Luis Buñuel films—“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “The Exterminating Angel”—will have its highly-anticipated world premiere Off-Broadway, opening on October 22.
In honor of another “season of Sondheim,” take a look back at every single Tony...
This fall will once again spotlight Sondheim. The tremendously successful Off-Broadway run of “Merrily” starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe opens on Broadway on October 10, which will mark the first remounting since its original, unsuccessful run in 1981. In addition, his final musical “Here We Are,” which is based on two Luis Buñuel films—“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “The Exterminating Angel”—will have its highly-anticipated world premiere Off-Broadway, opening on October 22.
In honor of another “season of Sondheim,” take a look back at every single Tony...
- 9/29/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
"Only Murders in the Building" season 3 has a few songs in its heart. A musical theatre aficionado will have a ball with season 3 of "Only Murders in the Building," thanks to Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) converting his outlandish murder-mystery play "Death Rattle" into a musical.
While the trio are solving yet another murder, this season is brimming with musical references. In season 3, episode 2, a recuperating Putnam hallucinates his loved ones performing a pastiche of "There'll Be Some Changes Made" from the Bob Fosse-directed "All That Jazz." It's a cutting reference because said musical film, especially this particular number, metatextually tackles the director's heart attack. It deals with mortal self-flagellation, both for Fosse and in-universe for Fosse's fictional avatar.
In contrast, the show also applies a more lighthearted reference to "The Producers" that complements Oliver's pursuits. After a falling out with his friend Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver needs a replacement for the Investigator.
While the trio are solving yet another murder, this season is brimming with musical references. In season 3, episode 2, a recuperating Putnam hallucinates his loved ones performing a pastiche of "There'll Be Some Changes Made" from the Bob Fosse-directed "All That Jazz." It's a cutting reference because said musical film, especially this particular number, metatextually tackles the director's heart attack. It deals with mortal self-flagellation, both for Fosse and in-universe for Fosse's fictional avatar.
In contrast, the show also applies a more lighthearted reference to "The Producers" that complements Oliver's pursuits. After a falling out with his friend Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver needs a replacement for the Investigator.
- 9/12/2023
- by Caroline Cao
- Slash Film
When you consider the evidence, the 1970s was the greatest crime movie period since the 1930s. Maybe it’s because of the grim film stock, but those 10 years were so filled with the criminal element even a highly-rated political journalism feature like All the President’s Men (1976) is really an investigation into indictable acts. The decade is defined by Francis Ford Coppola’s first two The Godfather movies, but those tell the story of the dons who live in compounds on Long Island. Most illicit infractions are committed on the street, and so many fall between the cracks.
Crime and gangster movies historically and consistently break boundaries in motion picture art. This is especially true when independent filmmakers muscle their way in packing something heavy. The 1970s was an experimental decade for motion pictures with wildly varied visions behind the lens. Some of these films were considered old-fashioned, others have proven...
Crime and gangster movies historically and consistently break boundaries in motion picture art. This is especially true when independent filmmakers muscle their way in packing something heavy. The 1970s was an experimental decade for motion pictures with wildly varied visions behind the lens. Some of these films were considered old-fashioned, others have proven...
- 8/12/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Julian Barry, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the 1974 Lenny Bruce biopic “Lenny” starring Dustin Hoffman, has died at the age of 92, his daughter announced to The New York Times.
Born in the Bronx and a graduate of Syracuse, Barry got his start in showbiz on Broadway as an actor and stage manager, most notably in Orson Welles’ 1955 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
In 1969, Columbia Pictures approached Barry about writing a biopic about the life of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, who had died of a morphine overdose three years prior. Bruce accepted, but the project fell through as Columbia fast-tracked other projects.
Not wanting to give up on the script, Barry repurposed it as a stage play and brought it to Broadway in 1971 with “Hair” director Tom O’Horgan and with Cliff Gorman as Lenny Bruce. The play “Lenny” was a success, with Gorman winning a Tony Award for for his performance.
With “Lenny” now on the map,...
Born in the Bronx and a graduate of Syracuse, Barry got his start in showbiz on Broadway as an actor and stage manager, most notably in Orson Welles’ 1955 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
In 1969, Columbia Pictures approached Barry about writing a biopic about the life of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, who had died of a morphine overdose three years prior. Bruce accepted, but the project fell through as Columbia fast-tracked other projects.
Not wanting to give up on the script, Barry repurposed it as a stage play and brought it to Broadway in 1971 with “Hair” director Tom O’Horgan and with Cliff Gorman as Lenny Bruce. The play “Lenny” was a success, with Gorman winning a Tony Award for for his performance.
With “Lenny” now on the map,...
- 7/27/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Julian Barry, whose 1971 Broadway play and 1974 movie, both titled Lenny and telling the story of legendary comic Lenny Bruce, died Tuesday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 92.
His death was reported to The New York Times by his daughter Julia Barry, who said he died in his sleep and had been under medical care for congestive heart failure and late-stage kidney disease.
Although most widely known for his highly influential Bruce projects, which earned considerable acclaim for the writer and his title stars — Cliff Gorman on stage, Dustin Hoffman on screen — Barry’s career extended to other projects that caught the public’s attention in their day. He wrote Rhinoceros, the 1974 film adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s play starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, a movie that has grown somewhat in esteem since its initial critical dismissal, and the 1978 Faye Dunaway vehicle Eyes of Laura Mars, which has not.
His death was reported to The New York Times by his daughter Julia Barry, who said he died in his sleep and had been under medical care for congestive heart failure and late-stage kidney disease.
Although most widely known for his highly influential Bruce projects, which earned considerable acclaim for the writer and his title stars — Cliff Gorman on stage, Dustin Hoffman on screen — Barry’s career extended to other projects that caught the public’s attention in their day. He wrote Rhinoceros, the 1974 film adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s play starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, a movie that has grown somewhat in esteem since its initial critical dismissal, and the 1978 Faye Dunaway vehicle Eyes of Laura Mars, which has not.
- 7/27/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
One look at an iconic, fictional TV home can instantly evoke nostalgia for viewers of a beloved series, and 10 of them, like the Rosenheim Mansion from American Horror Story, still exist for anyone who wants to see them in real life. TV homes are one of many elements that make a show memorable for audiences and are celebrated alongside the theme music, characters, dialogue, story, and wardrobe. The exterior shot of a home is often shown at the beginning of an episode and occasionally during transition scenes as a way to make a good first impression and to welcome viewers into a new fictional world.
Most productions opt to re-create a show's central gathering place in a studio with digital technology, theater sets and camera angle tricks. However, there are TV projects, old and new, that continue to film episodes on location and in existing homes. Several of these iconic...
Most productions opt to re-create a show's central gathering place in a studio with digital technology, theater sets and camera angle tricks. However, there are TV projects, old and new, that continue to film episodes on location and in existing homes. Several of these iconic...
- 6/4/2023
- by Andy Acton
- ScreenRant
What do the 76th annual Tonys have in common with the 17th annual awards?
Stephen Sondheim.
The late, great influential composer is represented in this year’s Tonys with the acclaimed, popular revivals of his 1979 classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Street” earning eight nominations and 1987’s “Into the Woods” receiving six.
Sixty years ago, it was Sondheim’s musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which dominated the Tony Awards with six wins: best musical, best producer for Harold Prince, best director for George Abbott, best author for Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, leading actor for Zero Mostel and featured actor for David Burns. Ironically, Sondheim failed to earn a nomination for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater. He would not win for his tunes until “Company” in 1971. Vying in that category were “Stop the World I Wanted...
Stephen Sondheim.
The late, great influential composer is represented in this year’s Tonys with the acclaimed, popular revivals of his 1979 classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Street” earning eight nominations and 1987’s “Into the Woods” receiving six.
Sixty years ago, it was Sondheim’s musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which dominated the Tony Awards with six wins: best musical, best producer for Harold Prince, best director for George Abbott, best author for Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, leading actor for Zero Mostel and featured actor for David Burns. Ironically, Sondheim failed to earn a nomination for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater. He would not win for his tunes until “Company” in 1971. Vying in that category were “Stop the World I Wanted...
- 5/8/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Chaim Topol, the Israeli-born actor who starred in Fiddler on the Roof on both stage and screen, has died at the age of 87.
Known simply to audiences worldwide as Topol, the actor’s death was announced Thursday by Israeli president Isaac Herzog. “From Fiddler on the Roof to the roof of the world, Haim Topol, who has passed away from us, was one of the most outstanding Israeli stage artists, a gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and above...
Known simply to audiences worldwide as Topol, the actor’s death was announced Thursday by Israeli president Isaac Herzog. “From Fiddler on the Roof to the roof of the world, Haim Topol, who has passed away from us, was one of the most outstanding Israeli stage artists, a gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and above...
- 3/9/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Chaim Topol, the Israeli actor who achieved international stardom for his portrayal of Tevye in several stage productions of “Fiddler on the Roof” as well as the 1971 stage adaptation, died Wednesday following a years-long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 87.
Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, announced the news, saying in a statement that Topol was a “gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts.”
Though Topal was best known for “Fiddler,” over his decades-long career he also starred in a range of films that have become recognized as classics. Among them, he portrayed mad scientist Hans Zarkov in director Mike Hodges’ “Flash Gordon” (1980), and the smuggler-turned-hero Milos Columbo in the 1981 James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only.”
Topal was born in Tel Aviv, then part of British Mandate Palestine, in 1935. He first developed...
Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, announced the news, saying in a statement that Topol was a “gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and especially entered deep into our hearts.”
Though Topal was best known for “Fiddler,” over his decades-long career he also starred in a range of films that have become recognized as classics. Among them, he portrayed mad scientist Hans Zarkov in director Mike Hodges’ “Flash Gordon” (1980), and the smuggler-turned-hero Milos Columbo in the 1981 James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only.”
Topal was born in Tel Aviv, then part of British Mandate Palestine, in 1935. He first developed...
- 3/9/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder have collaborated several 'unique' comedies ever made, but some of those movies were better than others. Wilder’s zany acting style has always worked well with Brooks’ chaotic, anything-goes comedic sensibility. Whatever absurdist scenario Brooks threw at Wilder, the actor could find the truth and humanity in it. Brooks developed strong, long-running working relationships with a number of his actors – including Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman – but there was something special about his dynamic with Wilder. Comedically, they were always on the same page; they even wrote together.
From Willy Wonka to various Richard Pryor sidekicks to the doctor who falls in love with a sheep in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Wilder played many hilarious roles throughout his career. But Wilder’s talents never shined brighter than when he was playing three-dimensionally ludicrous characters like nervous accountant Leo Bloom and conceited scientist Dr.
From Willy Wonka to various Richard Pryor sidekicks to the doctor who falls in love with a sheep in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Wilder played many hilarious roles throughout his career. But Wilder’s talents never shined brighter than when he was playing three-dimensionally ludicrous characters like nervous accountant Leo Bloom and conceited scientist Dr.
- 3/6/2023
- by Ben Sherlock
- ScreenRant
Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short have returned to New York City’s Belnord apartment complex this month as work begins on Season 3 of Hulu’s Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated comedy “Only Murders in the Building” (with some exciting new additions to the cast), where exteriors for the show’s “Arconia” building are shot.
Yes, the Arconia is a real building in New York City. And it’s grown massively in popularity since the TV show debuted.
Built on farmland in 1908, the Belnord is one of the grandest apartment-style homes on the Upper West Side. The landmark building, which earned a spot in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, has housed notable residents like actors Zero Mostel and Walter Matthau, author Isaac Bashevis Singer and the father of method acting Lee Strasberg, who was often visited by actress Marilyn Monroe.
Today, the Belnord’s apartment units range...
Yes, the Arconia is a real building in New York City. And it’s grown massively in popularity since the TV show debuted.
Built on farmland in 1908, the Belnord is one of the grandest apartment-style homes on the Upper West Side. The landmark building, which earned a spot in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, has housed notable residents like actors Zero Mostel and Walter Matthau, author Isaac Bashevis Singer and the father of method acting Lee Strasberg, who was often visited by actress Marilyn Monroe.
Today, the Belnord’s apartment units range...
- 1/19/2023
- by Lucas Manfredi
- The Wrap
Bertrand Blier’s edgy romp about a pair of ne’er-do-well petty-crooks will go too far for many viewers — they’re antisocially chauvinistic in some really outrageous ways. Are they jolly adventurers or just terminally obnoxious? The twisted social comedy really needs its talented cast: Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Fossey, and a very young Isabelle Huppert. The new presentation includes a commentary by Richard Peña.
Going Places
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection / Kino Lorber
1974 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 118 min. / Les valseuses / Street Date October 11, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Fossey, Jacques Chailleux, Isabelle Huppert, Thierry Lhermitte.
Cinematography: Bruno Nuytten
Production Designers: Jean-Jacques Caziot, Françoise Hardy
Film Editor: Kénout Peltier
Original Music:
Written by Bertrand Blier and Philippe Dumarçay from the novel by Bertrand Blier <smaStéphane Grappellill>
Produced by Paul Claudon
Directed by Bertrand Blier
The freedom of the screen that came with...
Going Places
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection / Kino Lorber
1974 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 118 min. / Les valseuses / Street Date October 11, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Fossey, Jacques Chailleux, Isabelle Huppert, Thierry Lhermitte.
Cinematography: Bruno Nuytten
Production Designers: Jean-Jacques Caziot, Françoise Hardy
Film Editor: Kénout Peltier
Original Music:
Written by Bertrand Blier and Philippe Dumarçay from the novel by Bertrand Blier <smaStéphane Grappellill>
Produced by Paul Claudon
Directed by Bertrand Blier
The freedom of the screen that came with...
- 11/12/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Actor Gene Wilder and writer/director Mel Brooks had a blessed relationship, and the two of them collaborated on three of the funniest comedies of all time. In "The Producers" (1967), Wilder plays the nebbish Leo Bloom, a fearful, meticulous, and very shy accountant who is convinced by con man Max Bialystock to come out of his shell. In so doing, he is also convinced to cook the books for a flop Broadway show and embezzle the earnings. In "Blazing Saddles," Wilder plays Jim, a.k.a. The Waco Kid, a once-legendary gunfighter who has fallen into alcoholism. In "Young Frankenstein," Wilder finally took the lead, playing the embarrassed grandson of horror's famed corpse-reanimator who returns to an inherited castle to pick up the family line. Had Brooks and Wilder never made any additional films, they would still be considered invaluable cinematic geniuses for those movies alone.
As it so happens,...
As it so happens,...
- 11/5/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Susan L. Schulman, a longtime Broadway publicist whose five-decade career included such theater milestones as Applause starring Lauren Bacall, Death of a Salesman with George C. Scott and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, died Wednesday, October 18, at Mt. Sinai West Hospital in New York City following a brief illness.
Her death was announced by friends Leslie Krakowe, actor Kathleen Chalfant and Roy Bernstein. Her age was not immediately available.
A member of the theatrical union Atpam (Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers) since 1973, Schulman, a New York native, opened her own theatrical Times Square press office in 1978, with early clients including Jack Gilford, Manhattan Theatre Club, Joffrey Ballet, and Garrison Keillor.
Over the years she would take on clients from Broadway, Off Broadway, dance, film, TV and books. A small Broadway sampling: Requiem For A Heavyweight (with John Lithgow and George Segal), City Of Angels, Death And The Maiden with Glenn Close,...
Her death was announced by friends Leslie Krakowe, actor Kathleen Chalfant and Roy Bernstein. Her age was not immediately available.
A member of the theatrical union Atpam (Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers) since 1973, Schulman, a New York native, opened her own theatrical Times Square press office in 1978, with early clients including Jack Gilford, Manhattan Theatre Club, Joffrey Ballet, and Garrison Keillor.
Over the years she would take on clients from Broadway, Off Broadway, dance, film, TV and books. A small Broadway sampling: Requiem For A Heavyweight (with John Lithgow and George Segal), City Of Angels, Death And The Maiden with Glenn Close,...
- 10/20/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Director Richard Lester, prior to his work on "Superman II" (1980) and "Superman III" (1983), was better known as a director of musical films. His first feature, 1962's "It's Trad, Dad!" was a youthsploitation picture about hip British teens getting into the underground Dixieland jazz scene and featured 27 songs. He followed that with a sequel to the Peter Sellers comedy "The Mouse That Roared" (about the world's smallest nation unwittingly conquering the United States in war), a space race farce called "The Mouse on the Moon." This led directly to two film collaborations with The Beatles, including "A Hard Day's Night," one of the best films ever made, and "Help!," which is quite silly but rather enjoyable. Lester also directed the utterly hilarious film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" with Zero Mostel, before moving into a series of frothy swashbuckling blockbusters like...
- 10/20/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
One of the more unlikely stage-and-screen box office smashes in musical history, “Fiddler on the Roof” — based on stories of shtetl life in Tsarist Russia by Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem, and turned by writer Joseph Stein, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and composer Jerry Bock into a song-filled saga about a poor milkman with five unmarried daughters and an aversion to change — defied conventional wisdom about whose stories could be universal.
It helps, of course, when your score is a treasure trove: “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “To Life,” and “Sunrise, Sunset” are all-timers.
We’ve already gotten one adoring film about the original Broadway show’s legacy, 2019’s “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles,” and now we have a second: Daniel Raim’s warm, engaging “Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen.” As its title makes clear, the documentary is about the beloved movie version directed by Norman Jewison,...
It helps, of course, when your score is a treasure trove: “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “To Life,” and “Sunrise, Sunset” are all-timers.
We’ve already gotten one adoring film about the original Broadway show’s legacy, 2019’s “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles,” and now we have a second: Daniel Raim’s warm, engaging “Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen.” As its title makes clear, the documentary is about the beloved movie version directed by Norman Jewison,...
- 4/29/2022
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen director Daniel Raim on the casting of Tevye for Norman Jewison’s Fiddler on the Roof: “Until I talked with Norman I didn’t know that Frank Sinatra’s manager had called Norman. And Danny Kaye, what a great story!”
Daniel Raim’s Fiddler’s Journey To The Big Screen, co-written with Michael Sragow, produced by Sasha Berman, executive produced by Matthew H. Bernstein and narrated by Jeff Goldblum, takes us on the remarkable odyssey of Norman Jewison and how he became the director of the multiple Oscar-winning Fiddler On The Roof.
Daniel Raim with Anne-Katrin Titze on Robert F Boyle: “He was my professor and I knew he loved Edward Hopper, so for Christmas I got him, when I was a student, a book on Hopper paintings.”
On-camera interviews with Topol, Rosalind Harris (Tzeitel), Michele Marsh (Hodel), Neva Small (Chava), composer John Williams,...
Daniel Raim’s Fiddler’s Journey To The Big Screen, co-written with Michael Sragow, produced by Sasha Berman, executive produced by Matthew H. Bernstein and narrated by Jeff Goldblum, takes us on the remarkable odyssey of Norman Jewison and how he became the director of the multiple Oscar-winning Fiddler On The Roof.
Daniel Raim with Anne-Katrin Titze on Robert F Boyle: “He was my professor and I knew he loved Edward Hopper, so for Christmas I got him, when I was a student, a book on Hopper paintings.”
On-camera interviews with Topol, Rosalind Harris (Tzeitel), Michele Marsh (Hodel), Neva Small (Chava), composer John Williams,...
- 4/28/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Tony and Emmy winner Robert Morse died April 20 at the age of 90.
Morse’s son Charlie confirmed his passing to Los Angeles’ ABC affiliate via Deadline, and Morse’s death was announced on Twitter by writer/producer Larry Karaszewski, a vice president on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“My good pal Bobby Morse has passed away at age 90,” Karaszewski tweeted. “A huge talent and a beautiful spirit. Sending love to his son Charlie & daughter Allyn. Had so much fun hanging with Bobby over the years – filming ‘People v Oj’ and hosting so many screenings.”
Morse starred in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” on Broadway in 1961, winning a Tony Award. He reprised his role of ambitious window washer J. Pierrepont Finch for the 1967 film adaptation of the musical.
Morse later starred in the 1989 Truman Capote one-man stage show “Tru,” for...
Morse’s son Charlie confirmed his passing to Los Angeles’ ABC affiliate via Deadline, and Morse’s death was announced on Twitter by writer/producer Larry Karaszewski, a vice president on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“My good pal Bobby Morse has passed away at age 90,” Karaszewski tweeted. “A huge talent and a beautiful spirit. Sending love to his son Charlie & daughter Allyn. Had so much fun hanging with Bobby over the years – filming ‘People v Oj’ and hosting so many screenings.”
Morse starred in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” on Broadway in 1961, winning a Tony Award. He reprised his role of ambitious window washer J. Pierrepont Finch for the 1967 film adaptation of the musical.
Morse later starred in the 1989 Truman Capote one-man stage show “Tru,” for...
- 4/21/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Actress Yvette Mimieux, who starred in movies including “Where the Boys Are,” “The Time Machine,” “Light in the Piazza,” “Toys in the Attic,” “Dark of the Sun” and “The Picasso Summer,” died Tuesday. She was 80.
The beautiful blonde Mimieux made most of her films in the 1960s, but she was also among the stars of Disney’s 1979 sci-fi film “The Black Hole.”
Among the films Mimieux made in 1960 were MGM’s glossy teen movie “Where the Boys Are,” in which four coeds including Mimieux’s Melanie head to Fort Lauderdale for spring break in search of fun and the “right” boy, and George Pal’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine,” starring Rod Taylor and with Mimieux third billed as Weena, Taylor’s romantic interest, who lives among the Eloi, a peaceful race living in the year 802,701.
In 1962 she appeared in four films, including the big-budget critical and...
The beautiful blonde Mimieux made most of her films in the 1960s, but she was also among the stars of Disney’s 1979 sci-fi film “The Black Hole.”
Among the films Mimieux made in 1960 were MGM’s glossy teen movie “Where the Boys Are,” in which four coeds including Mimieux’s Melanie head to Fort Lauderdale for spring break in search of fun and the “right” boy, and George Pal’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine,” starring Rod Taylor and with Mimieux third billed as Weena, Taylor’s romantic interest, who lives among the Eloi, a peaceful race living in the year 802,701.
In 1962 she appeared in four films, including the big-budget critical and...
- 1/19/2022
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Sam Adams, a literary agent whose career began in the postwar years at Warner Bros. and ended with the deal to bring The Handmaid’s Tale to the big screen, has died, according to multiple reports. He was 94.
Adams’ client list included Handmaid’s author Margaret Atwood, the recently-deceased Peter Bogdanovich, Saturday Night Fever director John Badham, TV giant Stephen J. Cannell, Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent, Casablanca star Paul Henreid and Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Adams got his start in Hollywood delivering messages at Warner Bros. while he was still at Beverly Hills High School. At Warners, he met the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis and Edgar G. Robinson. His stint at the studio was interrupted by 18 months of active duty in the army.
After the war he turned to journalism, serving stints at the William Randolph Hearst-owned Los Angeles Examiner, the Armed Forces Radio Services,...
Adams’ client list included Handmaid’s author Margaret Atwood, the recently-deceased Peter Bogdanovich, Saturday Night Fever director John Badham, TV giant Stephen J. Cannell, Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent, Casablanca star Paul Henreid and Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Adams got his start in Hollywood delivering messages at Warner Bros. while he was still at Beverly Hills High School. At Warners, he met the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis and Edgar G. Robinson. His stint at the studio was interrupted by 18 months of active duty in the army.
After the war he turned to journalism, serving stints at the William Randolph Hearst-owned Los Angeles Examiner, the Armed Forces Radio Services,...
- 1/14/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
The former head of the ACLU discusses some of the movies – and sports legends – that made him.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Mighty Ira (2020)
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
42 (2013)
Shane (1953)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Last Year At Marienbad (1962)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
La Strada (1954)
Wild Strawberries (1957) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
The Virgin Spring (1960) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Last House On The Left (1972) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary
A Walk In The Sun (1945) – Glenn Erickson’s review
Paths Of Glory (1957) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, John Landis’s trailer commentary
All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
Lonely Are The Brave (1962)
Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
On The Waterfront (1954) – John Badham’s trailer commentary
12 Angry Men (1957)
Inherit The Wind (1960)
Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
Witness For The Prosecution (1957)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Verdict (1982)
Twelve Angry Men teleplay (1954)
The Front (1976)
Judgment At Nuremberg teleplay...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Mighty Ira (2020)
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
42 (2013)
Shane (1953)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Last Year At Marienbad (1962)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
La Strada (1954)
Wild Strawberries (1957) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
The Virgin Spring (1960) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Last House On The Left (1972) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary
A Walk In The Sun (1945) – Glenn Erickson’s review
Paths Of Glory (1957) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, John Landis’s trailer commentary
All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
Lonely Are The Brave (1962)
Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
On The Waterfront (1954) – John Badham’s trailer commentary
12 Angry Men (1957)
Inherit The Wind (1960)
Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
Witness For The Prosecution (1957)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Verdict (1982)
Twelve Angry Men teleplay (1954)
The Front (1976)
Judgment At Nuremberg teleplay...
- 10/19/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
The first James Bond film, ‘Dr. No,” starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord and Joseph Wiseman, opened in England on Oct. 2, 1962. But the 007 classic didn’t open in New York and Los Angeles until May 29, 1963. Let’s travel back almost six decades to look at the top events, movie, TV series, books and other cultural events of that year in James Bond history, which was punctuated by the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22.
35th Annual Academy Awards
Best Picture: “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Director: David Lean, “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Actor: Gregory Peck, “To Kill a Mockingbird
Best Actress: Anne Bancroft, “The Miracle Worker”
Best Supporting Actor: Ed Begley, “Sweet Bird of Youth”
Best Supporting Actress: Patty Duke, “The Miracle Worker”
Top 10 highest grossing films
“Cleopatra”
“How the West Was Won”
“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”
“Tom Jones”
“Irma La Douce...
35th Annual Academy Awards
Best Picture: “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Director: David Lean, “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Actor: Gregory Peck, “To Kill a Mockingbird
Best Actress: Anne Bancroft, “The Miracle Worker”
Best Supporting Actor: Ed Begley, “Sweet Bird of Youth”
Best Supporting Actress: Patty Duke, “The Miracle Worker”
Top 10 highest grossing films
“Cleopatra”
“How the West Was Won”
“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”
“Tom Jones”
“Irma La Douce...
- 10/8/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Bones star Emily Deschanel discusses a few of her favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Dumb And Dumber (1994)
Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Crusoe (1988)
Watership Down (1978)
Gandhi (1982)
Small Soldiers (1998)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Best In Show (2000) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review,
Marnie (1964) – Dan Irleand’s trailer commentary, Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
La Femme Nikita (1991)
Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
Psycho (1998) – Ti West’s trailer commentary
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Rear Window (1954) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Topaz (1969)
Foreign Correspondent (1940) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
North By Northwest (1959)
Notorious (1946) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Dumb And Dumber (1994)
Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Crusoe (1988)
Watership Down (1978)
Gandhi (1982)
Small Soldiers (1998)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Best In Show (2000) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review,
Marnie (1964) – Dan Irleand’s trailer commentary, Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
La Femme Nikita (1991)
Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
Psycho (1998) – Ti West’s trailer commentary
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Rear Window (1954) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Topaz (1969)
Foreign Correspondent (1940) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
North By Northwest (1959)
Notorious (1946) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,...
- 7/20/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
The Producers
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1967 / 1.85:1 / 88 min.
Starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder
Cinematography by Joseph Coffey
Directed by Mel Brooks
At his most unrestrained, Mel Brooks would have made Voltaire blush. Would such uninhibited comedy survive under the gaze of today’s self-appointed blacklisters? The answer can be found in the success of that very uninhibited Amazon darling—not to mention Academy-approved—Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, the film documents the latest diplomatic outreach of Kazakhstan’s most enthusiastic xenophobe, Borat Sagdiyev. For the past twenty five years Cohen has sicced this deeply racist, anti-Semitic, and somehow weirdly lovable doofus on civilization’s bad actors up to and including bottom-feeder extraordinaire, Donald Trump. Cohen infiltrated much of Maga-world for Borat’s latest adventure which was highlighted by a full-body impersonation of Trump (in a Coppertone-colored skin suit), and a hotel room encounter with the slimy Rudolph Giuliani at his most slithery.
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1967 / 1.85:1 / 88 min.
Starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder
Cinematography by Joseph Coffey
Directed by Mel Brooks
At his most unrestrained, Mel Brooks would have made Voltaire blush. Would such uninhibited comedy survive under the gaze of today’s self-appointed blacklisters? The answer can be found in the success of that very uninhibited Amazon darling—not to mention Academy-approved—Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, the film documents the latest diplomatic outreach of Kazakhstan’s most enthusiastic xenophobe, Borat Sagdiyev. For the past twenty five years Cohen has sicced this deeply racist, anti-Semitic, and somehow weirdly lovable doofus on civilization’s bad actors up to and including bottom-feeder extraordinaire, Donald Trump. Cohen infiltrated much of Maga-world for Borat’s latest adventure which was highlighted by a full-body impersonation of Trump (in a Coppertone-colored skin suit), and a hotel room encounter with the slimy Rudolph Giuliani at his most slithery.
- 5/18/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
On March 26 1969, on a quiet country road outside Biloxi, Mississippi, John Kennedy Toole took his own life. Aged just 31, the literary professor and author left behind two unpublished novels. Over the course of the next decade, Toole’s grieving mother Thelma dedicated her life to ensuring the second of these, “A Confederacy Of Dunces,” found publication. Eventually, she succeeded, and the New Orleans-set picaresque tale of slovenly philosopher and medievalist Ignatius J. Reilly went on to sell over two million copies and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, making Toole one of only three writers to win the prize posthumously.
Almost as much as the book itself, readers were intrigued by the unique journey the novel took to publication, with a flamboyant yet grief-stricken mother dedicating what remained of her life to ensuring her son’s genius was recognized by the world.
Inevitably, with such a successful novel and such a compelling lead character,...
Almost as much as the book itself, readers were intrigued by the unique journey the novel took to publication, with a flamboyant yet grief-stricken mother dedicating what remained of her life to ensuring her son’s genius was recognized by the world.
Inevitably, with such a successful novel and such a compelling lead character,...
- 3/25/2021
- by Nathan O'Hagan
- The Wrap
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The Flop That Wasn't
By Raymond Benson
Most folks today may be familiar with The Producers, the Broadway musical comedy that ran for years, toured around the globe, and elicited laughter and joy for audiences of all ages. There are likely less people today who have experienced the original 1967 film upon which the successful musical is based. For decades, though, the movie was all we had.
In the mid-sixties, Mel Brooks was a successful television writer, having worked on hilarious comedies with Sid Caesar, among other works, and later the co-creator of Get Smart. Brooks then came up with what was first intended to be a novel, then a play, and finally a screenplay called Springtime for Hitler—an outrageous satire lampooning the Nazis. The Hollywood producers to whom Brooks pitched the piece were appalled. No audience would accept a “comedyâ€. about Hitler.
The Flop That Wasn't
By Raymond Benson
Most folks today may be familiar with The Producers, the Broadway musical comedy that ran for years, toured around the globe, and elicited laughter and joy for audiences of all ages. There are likely less people today who have experienced the original 1967 film upon which the successful musical is based. For decades, though, the movie was all we had.
In the mid-sixties, Mel Brooks was a successful television writer, having worked on hilarious comedies with Sid Caesar, among other works, and later the co-creator of Get Smart. Brooks then came up with what was first intended to be a novel, then a play, and finally a screenplay called Springtime for Hitler—an outrageous satire lampooning the Nazis. The Hollywood producers to whom Brooks pitched the piece were appalled. No audience would accept a “comedyâ€. about Hitler.
- 3/10/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Screenwriter blacklisted in Hollywood for leftwing sympathies who based The Front on his own experiences
In Martin Ritt’s 1976 film The Front, Woody Allen plays an unassuming dolt who agrees to pose as the author of scripts written by blacklisted victims of the anti-communist McCarthy witch-hunts, which resulted in the hearings of the Huac (House Un-American Activities committee). Ritt himself was a survivor of the blacklist, as were several of his cast members, including the actor Zero Mostel and the film’s writer, Walter Bernstein, who based the Oscar-nominated screenplay on his own experiences.
Bernstein, who has died aged 101, joined the Young Communist League at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, in 1937 and the Communist party shortly after the second world war. His membership lasted until the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. The initial blacklist, of the so-called Hollywood Ten, occurred in 1947 when his screenwriting career was just starting. “I never thought...
In Martin Ritt’s 1976 film The Front, Woody Allen plays an unassuming dolt who agrees to pose as the author of scripts written by blacklisted victims of the anti-communist McCarthy witch-hunts, which resulted in the hearings of the Huac (House Un-American Activities committee). Ritt himself was a survivor of the blacklist, as were several of his cast members, including the actor Zero Mostel and the film’s writer, Walter Bernstein, who based the Oscar-nominated screenplay on his own experiences.
Bernstein, who has died aged 101, joined the Young Communist League at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, in 1937 and the Communist party shortly after the second world war. His membership lasted until the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. The initial blacklist, of the so-called Hollywood Ten, occurred in 1947 when his screenwriting career was just starting. “I never thought...
- 2/9/2021
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
The comedian, actor, and father to Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller, has sadly passed away from natural causes at the age of 92. His death was announced today via social media by Ben Stiller, who described him as "a great dad and grandfather."
"I'm sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad."
Jerry Stiller was born in Brooklyn in 1927 and attended Seward Park high school, whose alumni included Tony Curtis and Zero Mostel. He graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in speech and drama, and he also studied drama at Hb Studio in Greenwich Village.
Jerry Stiller had enjoyed a long career on both the stage and screen and was often accompanied by his wife, Anne Meara, with whom he formed a popular comedy act.
"I'm sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad."
Jerry Stiller was born in Brooklyn in 1927 and attended Seward Park high school, whose alumni included Tony Curtis and Zero Mostel. He graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in speech and drama, and he also studied drama at Hb Studio in Greenwich Village.
Jerry Stiller had enjoyed a long career on both the stage and screen and was often accompanied by his wife, Anne Meara, with whom he formed a popular comedy act.
- 5/11/2020
- by Jon Fuge
- MovieWeb
BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge says, 'That this episode of Broadway Rewind features something Toxic, something Royal and something Academic.' We drop by New World Stages for a look at the David Bryan and Joe DePietro musical, The Toxic Avenger.We also visit with two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and the cast of Roundabout's production of The Philanthropist, but we kick it off at the opening night of director Neil Armfield's production of Eugene Ionesco's Exit The King, which starred Academy Award winners Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon, Tony Award winner Andrea Martin and Lauren Ambrose. Geoffrey Rush told Ridge, 'I just phoned my wife and said, 'Darling I just made my Broadway debut and it's a marker. It's not what I aimed for. I had never really, seriously ever thought about it... I used to listen to a lot of Broadway musical theatre back in the mid 60's...
- 4/12/2020
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Chicago – In 1973, director Norman Jewison fashioned a radical film version of the rock opera/Broadway show “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and the cinematic innovations plus stellar cast equaled a timeless movie musical classic. Josh Mostel portrayed King Herod and Barry Dennen was Pontius Pilate in the iconic film.
Jesus Christ Superstar (Jcs) began it’s life as a rock opera, a concept record released in 1969 with Ian Gillan of the rock group Deep Purple singing the part of Jesus. Two key members of the album’s cast went on to do the film … Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene and Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate. The Broadway show adaptation opened two years later, and the 1973 film followed with Ted Neeley as Jesus.
Josh Mostel as King Herod and Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
Photo credit: Universal Studios Home Video
In 2013, Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com got the opportunity...
Jesus Christ Superstar (Jcs) began it’s life as a rock opera, a concept record released in 1969 with Ian Gillan of the rock group Deep Purple singing the part of Jesus. Two key members of the album’s cast went on to do the film … Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene and Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate. The Broadway show adaptation opened two years later, and the 1973 film followed with Ted Neeley as Jesus.
Josh Mostel as King Herod and Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
Photo credit: Universal Studios Home Video
In 2013, Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com got the opportunity...
- 4/11/2020
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Surprising revelations and praise from famous fans add to the appeal of this documentary about the world-conquering Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof
Director Max Lewkowicz’s richly detailed documentary celebrates the illustrious Broadway show Fiddler on the Roof, the evergreen shtetl-set musical first staged in 1964 with choreography and direction by Jerome Robbins and starring Zero Mostel as Teyve, the milkman.
Contributions from a range of interviewees – including people attached to the original production, such as producer Hal Prince and lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and famous fans of the show, including Fran Lebowitz and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda – help to structure the history lesson about how Fiddler became a massive international hit. That account is filled out with footage of recent productions from around the world, including one in Japanese and one by some African American high-school kids in Brooklyn, as well as the 1971 film version, starring Chaim Topol and directed by Norman Jewison.
Director Max Lewkowicz’s richly detailed documentary celebrates the illustrious Broadway show Fiddler on the Roof, the evergreen shtetl-set musical first staged in 1964 with choreography and direction by Jerome Robbins and starring Zero Mostel as Teyve, the milkman.
Contributions from a range of interviewees – including people attached to the original production, such as producer Hal Prince and lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and famous fans of the show, including Fran Lebowitz and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda – help to structure the history lesson about how Fiddler became a massive international hit. That account is filled out with footage of recent productions from around the world, including one in Japanese and one by some African American high-school kids in Brooklyn, as well as the 1971 film version, starring Chaim Topol and directed by Norman Jewison.
- 12/12/2019
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Josip Elic, remembered for his performance as the confused, constantly tired asylum inmate Bancini who carries Jack Nicholson’s rebellious, basketball-dunking McMurphy on his shoulders in 1975’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, died Monday at a rehabilitation facility in New Jersey. He was 98.
His death was announced by his friend, manager Matt Beckoff, in a Facebook post. Elic had been in failing health since suffering a fall at his New York residence several years ago; he lived with friend and caretaker, the actress Lee Meredith, and her husband at their home in River Edge, New Jersey, before transferring to a nearby assisted-living residence, according to a 2018 North Record newspaper profile.
After early TV roles in 1950s series such as Kraft Theatre, The Phil Silvers Show, Peter Gunn and The Asphalt Jungle, Elic made appearances in two Twilight Zone episodes. Soon came roles in the 1964 camp classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a 1966 TV adaptation of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory, and, in 1967, Mel Brooks’ The Producers. In the latter, he was featured in a memorable scene as the violinist who gets a bottle of champagne dumped down his pants by Zero Mostel.
He’ll best be remembered for his role as Cuckoo‘s befuddled Bancini, a near-catatonic patient who repeatedly mutters an exhausted “I”m tired,” only once rising in anger during a group therapy session shouting “I’m tired! And it’s a lot of baloney!” His major moment, though, was an improvised basketball court scene in which Nicholson’s McMurphy climbs atop the towering Bancini’s shoulders to teach the other asylum inmates how to dunk a basketball – all under the watchful, scornful eye of Louise Fletcher’s sadistic Nurse Ratched.
In the North Jersey Record interview last year, Elic and Meredith spoke of their long friendship and Elic’s recent health problems.
“He was living in New York all by himself,” Meredith said. “He had these steep stairs he was going up and down. His doctors said, ‘You can’t be alone any more.’ So Joe came here, and things worked out pretty well. We’re kind of his family now.”
Said Elic, “They were wonderful to me. Took care of me right and left. Changed my sheets, wouldn’t let me go into the kitchen to wash my cup or anything.”
His friend and caretaker survives him, as does a sister.
His death was announced by his friend, manager Matt Beckoff, in a Facebook post. Elic had been in failing health since suffering a fall at his New York residence several years ago; he lived with friend and caretaker, the actress Lee Meredith, and her husband at their home in River Edge, New Jersey, before transferring to a nearby assisted-living residence, according to a 2018 North Record newspaper profile.
After early TV roles in 1950s series such as Kraft Theatre, The Phil Silvers Show, Peter Gunn and The Asphalt Jungle, Elic made appearances in two Twilight Zone episodes. Soon came roles in the 1964 camp classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a 1966 TV adaptation of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory, and, in 1967, Mel Brooks’ The Producers. In the latter, he was featured in a memorable scene as the violinist who gets a bottle of champagne dumped down his pants by Zero Mostel.
He’ll best be remembered for his role as Cuckoo‘s befuddled Bancini, a near-catatonic patient who repeatedly mutters an exhausted “I”m tired,” only once rising in anger during a group therapy session shouting “I’m tired! And it’s a lot of baloney!” His major moment, though, was an improvised basketball court scene in which Nicholson’s McMurphy climbs atop the towering Bancini’s shoulders to teach the other asylum inmates how to dunk a basketball – all under the watchful, scornful eye of Louise Fletcher’s sadistic Nurse Ratched.
In the North Jersey Record interview last year, Elic and Meredith spoke of their long friendship and Elic’s recent health problems.
“He was living in New York all by himself,” Meredith said. “He had these steep stairs he was going up and down. His doctors said, ‘You can’t be alone any more.’ So Joe came here, and things worked out pretty well. We’re kind of his family now.”
Said Elic, “They were wonderful to me. Took care of me right and left. Changed my sheets, wouldn’t let me go into the kitchen to wash my cup or anything.”
His friend and caretaker survives him, as does a sister.
- 10/25/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Josip Elic, the familiar character actor who carried Jack Nicholson on his shoulders in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, has died. He was 98.
Elic died Monday in River Edge, New Jersey, of complications from a fall, producer and manager Matt Beckoff told The Hollywood Reporter.
A burly 6-foot-3 native of Montana, Elic also played a restaurant violinist who gets a bottle of champagne poured down his pants by Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967) and appeared in Pocketful of Miracles (1961), starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford.
On The Twilight Zone, he portrayed an officer in a future totalitarian state ...
Elic died Monday in River Edge, New Jersey, of complications from a fall, producer and manager Matt Beckoff told The Hollywood Reporter.
A burly 6-foot-3 native of Montana, Elic also played a restaurant violinist who gets a bottle of champagne poured down his pants by Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967) and appeared in Pocketful of Miracles (1961), starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford.
On The Twilight Zone, he portrayed an officer in a future totalitarian state ...
- 10/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Josip Elic, the familiar character actor who carried Jack Nicholson on his shoulders in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, has died. He was 98.
Elic died Monday in River Edge, New Jersey, of complications from a fall, producer and manager Matt Beckoff told The Hollywood Reporter.
A burly 6-foot-3 native of Montana, Elic also played a restaurant violinist who gets a bottle of champagne poured down his pants by Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967) and appeared in Pocketful of Miracles (1961), starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford.
On The Twilight Zone, he portrayed an officer in a future totalitarian state ...
Elic died Monday in River Edge, New Jersey, of complications from a fall, producer and manager Matt Beckoff told The Hollywood Reporter.
A burly 6-foot-3 native of Montana, Elic also played a restaurant violinist who gets a bottle of champagne poured down his pants by Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967) and appeared in Pocketful of Miracles (1961), starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford.
On The Twilight Zone, he portrayed an officer in a future totalitarian state ...
- 10/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Still beloved and routinely revived 55 years after its Broadway debut — including a Yiddish-language version now playing in New York — “Fiddler on the Roof” is a popular phenomenon that shows no sign of subsiding. Max Lewkowicz’s “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles” provides an entertaining if hardly exhaustive overview of how the unlikely success came to be. The story it tells might easily have filled an engrossing documentary twice the length of this competent, not-particularly-inspired one.
Someday, doubtless, we’ll get that deeper dive. Meanwhile, “Miracle” opens on multiple screens Aug. 23 in New York and Los Angeles, expanding to more U.S. cities the following week, and with a high likelihood of finding a readymade audience nearly everywhere it goes.
Dedicated to recently deceased producer Hal Prince, “Miracle” benefits from the fact that so many of the show’s original prime movers were still alive to be interviewed: not director Jerome Robbins or star Zero Mostel,...
Someday, doubtless, we’ll get that deeper dive. Meanwhile, “Miracle” opens on multiple screens Aug. 23 in New York and Los Angeles, expanding to more U.S. cities the following week, and with a high likelihood of finding a readymade audience nearly everywhere it goes.
Dedicated to recently deceased producer Hal Prince, “Miracle” benefits from the fact that so many of the show’s original prime movers were still alive to be interviewed: not director Jerome Robbins or star Zero Mostel,...
- 8/23/2019
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
How exactly does a 1964 musical, based on the impoverished and persecuted Jewish shtetl community in 1905 Imperial Russia, still connect to audiences around the world? That’s the question director Max Lewkowicz seeks to uncover in his documentary “Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles.”
Rather than exploring the 55-year-long success of “Fiddler on the Roof” and serving something akin to a highlight reel, Lewkowicz wisely chooses to take us on the journey of the show’s complicated and dramatic beginnings. He instead focuses on the key players of the original production through interviews with lyricist Sheldon Harnick as well as previously recorded interviews with composer Jerry Bock and librettist Joseph Stein, both of whom passed in 2010.
The story the three key players weave regarding the creation of the musical really touches on how the show pays homage to its source material, the original short stories of Russian-Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem. Each interview is wisely placed and timed,...
Rather than exploring the 55-year-long success of “Fiddler on the Roof” and serving something akin to a highlight reel, Lewkowicz wisely chooses to take us on the journey of the show’s complicated and dramatic beginnings. He instead focuses on the key players of the original production through interviews with lyricist Sheldon Harnick as well as previously recorded interviews with composer Jerry Bock and librettist Joseph Stein, both of whom passed in 2010.
The story the three key players weave regarding the creation of the musical really touches on how the show pays homage to its source material, the original short stories of Russian-Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem. Each interview is wisely placed and timed,...
- 8/22/2019
- by Yolanda Machado
- The Wrap
A documentary about a 55-year-old musical sounds like a quaint and nostalgic cinematic scrap book. But Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles turns out be an exhilarating, expansive, warts-and-all look into 1964 Broadway phenomenon Fiddler on the Roof. Director Max Lewkowicz delivers an emotional powerhouse in which none of the compromises, growing pains and ego wars of Fiddler’s creation are left out in the name of tribute. The film is dedicated to the memory of Hal Prince, who produced the original show and died last month, and truly documents what goes into the creation of a masterpiece.
- 8/21/2019
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
Robert “Bob” Ullman, a longtime Broadway and Off Broadway press agent whose career spanned Ethel Merman, A Chorus Line, Curse of the Starving Class and many others, died of cardiac arrest on July 31 in Bayshore, Long Island, New York. He was 97.
His death was announced by longtime friend (and former Broadway press agent) Rev. Joshua Ellis.
Among the many Broadway productions on which Ullman worked were Ethel Merman and Mary Martin: Together on Broadway, A Chorus Line (from workshop to Public Theater to Broadway), Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Visit, Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower, The Dining Room, Driving Miss Daisy, Sunday in the Park with George, and over 150 additional Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals.
Actors and theater greats with whom Ullman worked include Tallulah Bankhead, Luise Rainer, James Dean, Dame Edith Evans, Geraldine Page, Phil Silvers, Bert Lahr, Rosemary Harris, James Earl Jones, Sam Waterston, Colleen Dewhurst,...
His death was announced by longtime friend (and former Broadway press agent) Rev. Joshua Ellis.
Among the many Broadway productions on which Ullman worked were Ethel Merman and Mary Martin: Together on Broadway, A Chorus Line (from workshop to Public Theater to Broadway), Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Visit, Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower, The Dining Room, Driving Miss Daisy, Sunday in the Park with George, and over 150 additional Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals.
Actors and theater greats with whom Ullman worked include Tallulah Bankhead, Luise Rainer, James Dean, Dame Edith Evans, Geraldine Page, Phil Silvers, Bert Lahr, Rosemary Harris, James Earl Jones, Sam Waterston, Colleen Dewhurst,...
- 8/8/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Blue Velvet
Blu ray
Criterion
1986 / 2.35 : 1 / 120 Min.
Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern
Cinematography by Frederick Elmes
Directed by David Lynch
Voyeurs come in all shapes and sizes, from wallflowers like Russ Meyer’s Immoral Mr. Teas to the handsome but lethal pin-up artist of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom – all of them slackers compared to Jeff Jeffries, the sleepless shutterbug played by James Stewart in Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
A house-bound photo-journalist obsessed with the strange behavior of his reclusive neighbor, Jeffries stops at nothing in his compulsive pursuit. This being a Hitchcock film, what drives Jeff’s curiosity is a mix of fear and desire that in the end implicates everyone, including the audience.
Jeffries’s boyish smile disguised his darker inclinations – a notion Mel Brooks had in mind when he christened David Lynch “Jimmy Stewart from Mars” – an apt characterization of the director as...
Blu ray
Criterion
1986 / 2.35 : 1 / 120 Min.
Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern
Cinematography by Frederick Elmes
Directed by David Lynch
Voyeurs come in all shapes and sizes, from wallflowers like Russ Meyer’s Immoral Mr. Teas to the handsome but lethal pin-up artist of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom – all of them slackers compared to Jeff Jeffries, the sleepless shutterbug played by James Stewart in Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
A house-bound photo-journalist obsessed with the strange behavior of his reclusive neighbor, Jeffries stops at nothing in his compulsive pursuit. This being a Hitchcock film, what drives Jeff’s curiosity is a mix of fear and desire that in the end implicates everyone, including the audience.
Jeffries’s boyish smile disguised his darker inclinations – a notion Mel Brooks had in mind when he christened David Lynch “Jimmy Stewart from Mars” – an apt characterization of the director as...
- 6/8/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Harvey Sabinson, one of Broadway’s legendary press agents and a former long-time executive director of The Broadway League, died on April 18 of natural causes at his residence in Sarasota, Florida. He was 94 years old. Sabinson capped a 50-year career in the theater when he was honored with a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1995. That year he stepped down as executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers, (now known as the Broadway League) a national trade association of theatrical producers, presenters and theatre operators. Sabinson joined the organization early in 1976, when it was known as the League of New York Theatres and Producers, as director of special projects. Prior to this appointment, he spent 30 years as a theatrical publicist, beginning shortly after his discharge from Army service during World War II, during which time he received a Purple Heart. He became executive director in 1982. In...
- 4/21/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Let's cut to the chase. The Prom is a great musical comedy on the same level as How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and The Producers. Brooks Ashmanskas, the flamboyantly-styled song and dance man with a razor-sharp comic flair who has spent over twenty years on Broadway stealing scenes in supporting roles, is now giving a great musical comedy star performance that should rank up there with the classic turns given by Robert Morse, Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane in those smash hits.
- 11/16/2018
- by Michael Dale
- BroadwayWorld.com
After playing the role of the weatherman on NBC's Today for so many years, Al Roker has decided to stretch his wings and has soared to Broadway for the role of Old Joe, owner of the pie diner, in the critically acclaimed musical, Waitress, replacing Bill Nolte until Nov. 11. "It's kind of like what we do on the Today show, in that it's an ensemble. It's a family," Al, 64, pointed out to Playbill. "And this is me trying something new for the first time, so you don't know what to expect. I guess that's what I'm most looking forward to: finding out what this is going to be like. Because right now, I don't know." View this post on Instagram Last night is still a blur, but a wonderful experience appearing in @waitressmusical thinking about my Mom and how tickled she would’ve been, loving #broadway #musicals the way...
- 10/8/2018
- by Ed Gross
- Closer Weekly
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