News

The Beverly Hillbillies was a 1960s sitcom smash, pitting two particularly American stereotypes — the shoeless, aw-shucks hillbilly and the Monopoly Man millionaire — against one another. But its success in the United States doesn’t explain why viewers across the pond found a backwoods family from the Ozarks so hilarious.

“The English see more humor in this show than Americans do,” Buddy Ebsen, who played hillbilly patriarch Jed Clampett, told The Charlotte News in 1965, as reported by MeTV. Ebsen couldn’t figure out exactly why Brits loved his Hillbillies, but his visit to England that year confirmed the show’s popularity. He and his family toured the home of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, where he was treated like royalty.

The reasons why The Beverly Hillbillies was a hit overseas aren’t that hard to understand. At its core, the show featured a classic culture clash, with the seemingly ignorant...

For all its popularity, Sherwood Schwartz's CBS comedy classic "Gilligan's Island" is a very strange waterfowl in the sitcom pond. It combines what's effectively a live-action cartoon with a series of morality plays hidden inside outlandish stories that demand viewers grab disbelief by the neck and hoist it out of their TV room. On top of that, all of this is acted out by characters that were inspired by the seven deadly sins.

From 1964 to 1967, the toil and turmoil of the S.S. Minnow survivors offered viewers a regular dose of Robinson Crusoe antics mixed with a hefty dose of slapstick and a generous spoonful of genuine depth. Despite the series' comparatively short life, this (along with copious reruns) was more than enough to earn it a reputation as one of the best shows of the 1960s.

"Gilligan's Island" ran for three extremely eventful seasons that involved so many...

If you can’t believe the guy who played Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones, who can you trust?

MeTV recently dug up an old episode of The Howard Stern Show in which Robin Quivers passed along some steaming hot Beverly Hillbillies tea. “Buddy Ebsen, he’s leaking information now,” Quivers reported in 2001. “Buddy Ebsen now says that the president, Dwight David Eisenhower, had a thing for (TV daughter) Elly Mae. When he met up with him, Ike kept asking him if he could get Elly Mae’s phone number. (Eisenhower asked Ebsen) what it was like to get to hug her all the time?”

Wasn’t Eisenhower a little old for Donna Douglas, the actress who played Elly Mae? Definitely, considering that The Beverly Hillbillies didn’t begin airing until he was out of office. Irene Ryan, who played Granny, would have been more age-appropriate. “They say he was in his 70s,...

Ted Danson was 34 when Cheers debuted in the fall of 1982, on the younger side for a TV star at the time. That season’s top 10 highest-rated shows included a few other thirtysomething leads in Tom Selleck on Magnum, P.I. and John Ritter in Three’s Company, but for the most part, the hits of the small screen were built around actors in their fifties (Larry Hagman on Dallas, George Peppard on The A-Team) or sixties (John Forsythe in Dynasty, Jane Wyman in Falcon Crest). By the time Cheers ended a dozen years later,...

Quick Links The Original Actor Suffered a Disastrous Accident on Set MGM Was Keen Not to Make the Same Mistake Again The Tin Man Redefined Male Actors in Hollywood

The Wizard of Oz has charmed audiences for generations. L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel transported viewers to an extraordinary world, giving them the chance to really experience what lies over the rainbow. In 1902, the book was adapted into a musical, which gave the story an entirely new lease on life. Most notably, MGM produced the 1939 film, which has stayed with audiences for over 80 years.

Many fans will know that the production of The Wizard of Oz was teeming with hiccups, making it a phenomenon in its own right. But, a lot of audiences aren't aware that the Tin Man was recast partway through filming, placing a huge spanner in the works for MGM. But the circumstances behind the change were surprisingly...

Urban legends surrounding The Wizard of Oz have been alive for decades, but since the dawn of the internet, they have spread like wildfire. Luckily, there’s someone that can clarify all of them once and for all. John Fricke, who could be the most trusted voice in everything regarding the Technicolor marvel, has come out to debunk most of the rumors, and shed light on what really happened during the production of one of Hollywood's most prominent classics.

Directed (mostly) by Victor Fleming, The Wizard of Oz is considered one of the most important films ever made. Nominated for several Academy Awards, the musical went on to become a classic of its time. However, several rumors have always been associated with the film, and they range from the downright hilarious to the incredibly tragic. With time, these rumors became “facts” as everyone capitalized on the popularity of conspiracy theories as the internet grew.

Buddy Ebsen was forced to sign an exclusive contract with MGM for two years after Louis B. Mayer threatened to ruin his career. During this contract period, he was cast in the role of Scarecrow in the musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel, The Wizard of Oz. He was all set to play the character until actor Ray Bolger swooped in and took the role for himself.

Buddy Ebsen in a still from Barnaby Jones | Credits: CBS

The film’s producer Arthur Freed, who cast Ebsen as Scarecrow, told him that he would be Tin Woodman instead of his originally intended character. That decision almost ended his Hollywood career and his life. Ebsen began experiencing body aches and shortness of breath once the filming began and the doctors determined that his makeup caused his health issues.

Buddy Ebsen’s Exit From The Wizard of Oz Role...

Priscilla Montgomery, one of the currently living actors from The Wizard of Oz, recounted the infamous on-set fire that injured Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West. The 1939 fantasy musical follows Dorothy’s journey through the land of Oz as she finds her way back to Kansas with the help of a scarecrow, a tin man, and a cowardly lion. The film's production faced numerous challenges, including hazardous working conditions and technical malfunctions. In Hamilton's case, the fire occurred during her dramatic entrance, where she sustained severe burns.

In an interview with People Magazine, Montgomery recalled the events leading up to the accident, describing Hamilton’s thoughtful gesture of comforting the young performers before filming the scene. The actor then recounted the sirens when she heard the fire incident. Check out what she stated regarding Hamilton's incident:

“One vivid memory that will always stay with me...

From performing in The Gumm Sisters to gaining international stardom for her role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland was one of the most iconic actresses of her time. But the very movie that established her fame also exploited her in many ways. From the Munchkins making her life miserable on set to now the revelation that one element of the movie also put her life in mortal danger.

Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz | Credits: MGM

The snow that was in the movie to make it more cinematically pleasing was actually very harmful and could have had a very harmful effect on the actress.

How The Wizard of Oz Put Judy Garland’s Life in Danger?

The Wizard of Oz was truly a classic that launched actress Judy Garland to international stardom. While her memorable performance gained everyone’s attention, it also had several questionable elements attached to it.

Wicked brings fans back to the magical world of Oz years before Dorothy arrived to tell the story of Elphaba, who would go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West. The film is based on the immensely popular Broadway musical which itself comes from Gregory Maguire which reimagines the lore of the original Wizard of Oz movie from 1939. While not the first film to reimagine the origins of the Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked is particularly exciting in that it hopes to recapture the magic of the original movie, which changed Hollywood forever.

The Wizard of Oz is rightfully regarded as one of the best fantasy movies of all time, marking several major "firsts" for the film industry, most notably being one of the first feature films to be released in Technicolor. The 1939 redefined what cinema could be, paving the way for the Hollywood epics and blockbusters...

Actor, Musician and Philanthropist Jeremy Renner to serve as Grand Marshal for the 92nd Anniversary of The Hollywood Christmas Parade Supporting Marine Toys for Tots.

The live parade presented in association with The City of Los Angeles will take place on the streets of Hollywood, CA on Sunday, December 1, 2024 starting at 6:00 p.m. at Hollywood landmark Tcl Chinese Theatre.

Jeremy Renner is an award-winning actor and dedicated philanthropist whose commitment to giving back is as integral to his identity as his celebrated film roles. In 2023, he founded the RennerVation Foundation, a youth-focused nonprofit dedicated to creating meaningful opportunities for children in foster care and at-risk youth. The foundation’s mission is to foster joy, growth, and a strong sense of belonging, offering these young individuals experiences and resources that allow them to embrace the fullness of childhood. With memorable performances in films including The Hurt Locker and the Avengers series,...

When someone stumbles across a photo of Irene Ryan from the 1960s and then sees her character on The Beverly Hillbillies, one question springs to mind: "How old was Irene Ryan when she played Granny?" As a main character throughout the nine seasons of The Beverly Hillbillies, Daisy May Moses, better known as "Granny", was a fixture of '60s and '70s television. Jed's mother-in-law, Granny, is a shotgun-toting, mountain medicine-applying, short-tempered woman who has little patience for the easy, breezy lifestyles of Beverly Hills, California, and always makes sure to let everyone know she's a country girl at heart.

While The Beverly Hillbillies may be one of those '60s sitcoms lost to time and all the network television that came afterward, in the moment, it was hugely popular. Even with big names like Erika Eleniak as Ellie May and Buddy Ebsen as Jed, it's hard to...

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn are one of Hollywood's most revered celebrity couples, and that point isn't really up for debate; they're two old-school Hollywood movie stars whose kids are also famous. With that said, are their on-screen collaborations any good? Sort of!

Russell and Hawn have been together since 1983, and their family has no shortage of superstars — their son Wyatt Russell is an actor whom you've probably seen in "Black Mirror," "22 Jump Street," and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," and through Hawn Russell is a stepfather to Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson (their father is musician Bill Hudson). Famous shared family aside, Russell and Hawn have also been in a handful of films together; they actually met on the set of the lowest-ranked one on this list. Before you check them out, you might want to consider which Russell-Hawn films are a total skip and which ones you should actually watch,...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

The 1962 sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies" was the first in show creator Paul Henning's unofficial Hooterville Trilogy, a triune that also included 1963's "Petticoat Junction," and 1965's "Green Acres." These three shows were among the most popular of their time and reflected a cultural clash between a growing class of cosmopolitan urbanites and "down home" rural Americans. Working thematically backward, "Green Acres" was about a pair of New Yorkers who move onto a farm, "Petticoat Junction" was about rural hotel owners who often butted heads with a rich railroad executive, and "The Beverly Hillbillies" was about rural characters moving to Beverly Hills. The Hooterville Trilogy was as sure a sign as any that schisms were forming in American society, and Henning was eager to address the injustice of the class divides, often sympathizing with his hillbillies and lambasting the wealthy.

It's well known to fans of "The Wizard of Oz" that actor Ray Bolger was originally cast to play the Tin Man and famed comedian Buddy Ebsen was cast as the Scarecrow. They swapped roles at Bolger's insistence, as Bolger had a personal attachment to the role; he was inspired to become an actor after seeing Vaudevillian Fred Stone play the part on stage when Bolger was a child. Ebsen was fine with changing roles, although he had to drop out of production due to makeup problems. The silvery Tin Man makeup contained powered aluminum and Ebsen breathed in big clouds of it, making him sick. At the time, many merely assumed Ebsen had an allergy. Ebsen was replaced with Jack Haley, and the makeup was altered to be a paste instead of a powder.

With the possible exception of "Star Wars," no film's production has been more meticulously recorded...

"The Beverly Hillbillies" is the platonic ideal of a high-concept sitcom hook. At its essence, it's simply "Poor folks get stinking rich and move to Beverly Hills." That's probably all CBS needed to hear from creator Paul Henning, who, between 1962 and 1971, exploited this simple premise to the tune of nine seasons and 274 episodes. During this span, "The Beverly Hillbillies" was one of the top-rated shows on TV.

How could such a simple premise, which was never really tweaked, sustain a series for nearly a decade? This question perpetually flummoxed the nation's TV critics, who generally loathed the show, but anyone who gorged on "The Beverly Hillbillies" throughout their formative couch potato years (during its initial run or via syndication) knows the answer is obvious: it's the cast, stupid.

Buddy Ebsen was perfect casting as Jed Clampett, a gentleman of the Ozarks who accidentally discovers oil on his Missouri mountain land...

Once upon a time, on a planet without widely accessible internet, people could spread outlandish urban legends without being instantly debunked. Actually, they can still do that, provided the recipient of said ludicrous information has been conditioned by bad-faith actors to doubt what educated people refer to as facts ... but you're here to learn why Bryan Cranston panicked over a stunt on "Malcolm in the Middle," so let's cut to the chase.

Cranston was born in 1956. This means he was eight years old when "Goldfinger" became a global phenomenon. For kids of his era, Bond movies represented the apex of cinema. It was just about all they wanted to talk about. And people found some amusingly inventive ways to talk about them.

I was born in 1973, and by the time I was old enough to get in on the Bond discourse, one of the wildest stories still making the rounds was that actor Shirley Eaton,...

The famed poppy field scene in The Wizard of Oz utilized fake snow made out of asbestos. Asbestos is an incredibly dangerous carcinogen, one which is directly linked to the development of mesothelioma. The production of The Wizard of Oz was additionally plagued with numerous health hazards, including poisoning from aluminum makeup and injuries from pyrotechnic stunts.

The snow in 1939's The Wizard of Oz was made using the toxic mineral asbestos. A lot has changed in the entertainment world since then, but this famous Judy Garland movie still inspires creativity to this day, especially with its numerous practical effects. Unfortunately, some of the tricks that the crew used were more than a little hazardous to everyone involved with the production. This included the use of asbestos.

Updated Dec. 30, 2023: This article has been updated with additional content about the utilization of asbestos in The Wizard of Oz.

The poppy...

Milt Larsen, who wrote for the game show Truth or Consequences for nearly two decades and co-founded The Magic Castle in Hollywood, died Sunday of natural causes in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 92.

Larsen produced TV specials for ABC, CBS and NBC and wrote songs with Richard Sherman, the Oscar winner who partnered with his late brother, Robert, to create tunes for such Disney classics as Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Jungle Book.

He also was the creator and consultant for the $50 million Caesars Magic Empire at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

In 1963, Larsen and his late brother, Bill, founded The Magic Castle in a 1909 French Chateau mansion on Franklin Avenue. With its many stages, labyrinthine corridors and old-fashioned decor, the place would become a renowned private club for magicians.

Larsen wrote five joke books and three books involving The Magic Castle, penned a weekly...

Blake Edwards directed Breakfast at Tiffany´s back in 1961, an iconic film and wardrobe that turned Audrey Hepburn into one of the most memorable figures of the History of Films.

Based on the novel by Truman Capote.

Storyline

A young girl from New York seeking luxury everywhere, falls in love with her neighbor. Together, they live a strange relationship that is a battle from within and from outside.

Movie Review

We cannot (and do not) separate the iconic nature of this film, of the “real” New York, the one (they say) existed. No, today there is nothing left of it. There is nothing left of the elegance, that bittersweet joy of a joyful and bitter portrayal of capitalism.

The novel is by Truman Capote. He wrote this one (which is not so famous) and In Cold Blood. He knew what he was talking about: he loved parties, luxury… and ended...

Television crossovers craft a universe wherein fictional worlds converge. Characters roam to unfamiliar territories, sometimes far away from the fold of their shows. Some crossovers transcend genres or networks, and others stay within more familiar neighborhoods. Crossovers existed for centuries in literature and decades in comic books before entering the world of television.

Beyond technical crossovers, miniature universes are formed simply by one show spinning off from another. Norman Lear's "All in the Family" led to "The Jeffersons" and "Maude," which led to "Good Times," with several more shows tied together in that extended television family. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" birthed the main characters of three spin-offs -- "Rhoda," "Phyllis," and "Lou Grant" -- and is linked to all the other shows produced or distributed by Mtm Enterprises. Without "Perfect Strangers" on ABC's Tgif, we wouldn't have its spin-off, "Family Matters," a show linked to "Full House," "Step by Step,...

Of the many TV-to-movie adaptations, the diciest propositions have always been the films based on series that were tailored to the personality of their stars. Dan Aykroyd made "Dragnet" work (until its lame action finale) because he was doing a dead-on, deadpan parody of Jack Webb's Sergeant Joe Friday, whereas the great Jim Varney struggled as Jed Clampett in 1993's "The Beverly Hillbillies" because, when it came to playing TV rednecks, he was too defined by his Ernest P. Worrell persona to approximate Buddy Ebsen's interpretation and/or add his own flourishes.

It gets dicier when you're adapting a show named after the actual star. Even if creator James L. Brooks went nutzoid and decided to revive "The Mary Tyler Moore" show starring Sydney Sweeney, there would be an audience of exactly zero for it. Fans of the show would be aghast at the notion of anyone trying...

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none

By Hank Reineke

In the early spring of 1961, shortly following the completion of his work on A.I.P.’s Master of the World - and following a series of lectures regarding “The Enjoyment of Great Art” – Renaissance man Vincent Price was to jet off mid-April for two acting assignments in Rome, Italy. The two productions he had signed onto for producer-writer Ottavio Poggi were Gordon, il Pirata Nero and Nefertiti, Regina Del Nile. The former film – arguably the better of the two - was belatedly released in the U.S. in June 1963 under the title Rage of the Buccaneers. The film was distributed regionally in the U.S. with neither fanfare nor critical attention.

Rage of the Buccaneers would first appear on the drive-in circuit as the odd undercard to such films as Broccoli and Saltzman’s Bob Hope/Anita Ekberg comedy Call Me Bwana.

Robert Aldrich promised no-holds barred rough-tough dramas, and his first two Associates & Aldrich productions certainly hit hard. This play adaptation shows its director’s strength (no-flinching full shock impact) and weakness (theatrical overplaying) in full measure, but the unrestrained performances of Jack Palance and Eddie Albert are unforgettable. The main event can’t have pleased the Pentagon: shooting one’s own officer in combat. Plus, Lee Marvin and Richard Jaeckel get in early innings for their future work in Aldrichs’s The Dirty Dozen.

Attack

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1956 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date December 1, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, William Smithers, Buddy Ebsen, Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel, Jon Shepodd, Peter van Eyck, Jimmy Goodwin, Steven Geray, Strother Martin.

Cinematography: Joseph Biroc

Film Editor: Michael Luciano

Original Music: Frank Devol

Written by James Poe from the play Fragile Fox by Norman Brooks...

Since I’m on holidays, let’s look at a mode of transport I won’t be using this year: The Terror at 37,000 Feet (1973), which fits snugly in the ‘70s Disaster Sweepstakes, television division. A star-studded goof fest, it’s a fun destination vacation; or at the very least a pleasant diversion with a solid supernatural bent.

Disaster movies were all the rage; Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (‘72), Earthquake (’74) and many more kept people lined up at the box office. But what about those staring intently at their little boxes at home? TV always reflected what was happening on the big screen, and Terror loads its craft with as many of the tropes as possible.

Originally broadcast on Tuesday, February 13th as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies, Terror’s competition was movies from the other two networks; Tuesday’s were not exactly prime Prime Time.

So, open up...

Burbank, CA, August 22, 2019 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today that 1939’s acclaimed and beloved classic The Wizard of Oz will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on October 29th. Directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind) and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gayle, The Wizard of Oz is widely considered to be one of the most influential films in cinematic history.

Adapted from L. Frank Baum’s timeless children’s tale about a Kansas girl’s journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz officially premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today that 1939's acclaimed and beloved classic The Wizard of Oz will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on October 29th. Directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind) and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gayle, The Wizard of Oz is widely considered to be one of the most influential films in cinematic history.

Adapted from L. Frank Baum's timeless children's tale about a Kansas girl's journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz officially premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman. Frank Morgan was seen in six different roles,...

Technology is never to be trusted; as evolved as it has become, the thought of sentience and ill will striking back at our computer dependent life will never go away – and kids, just because you use Incognito, nothing is ever really gone. (Trust me.) Enter Paper Man (1971), an early entry into the A.I. Paranoia Sweepstakes that is pretty prescient and a damn entertaining thriller to boot.

Originally broadcast as part of The New CBS Friday Night Movies, Paper Man fought it out against ABC’s lineup of Room 222/The Odd Couple/Love, American Style and NBC’s World Premiere Movie, surely losing to the former’s solid roster. The world was just not ready for computer hijinks if it didn’t involve Stanley Kubrick or Kurt Russell.

Let’s open up the old fusty TV Guide and scour the data:

Paper Man

Five college kids find themselves in danger...

Actress Lisa Seagram, who appeared on such TV shows as Batman, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched and Burke's Law in the 1960s, has died. She was 82.

Seagram died Feb. 1 at an assisted care facility in Burbank after a nine-year battle with dementia, her daughter Chela Fiorini told The Hollywood Reporter.

Seagram portrayed Lila, the attractive red-headed accomplice of Milton Berle's villainous Louie the Lilac, on the third season of ABC's Batman. Earlier, she appeared as Edythe Brewster — the bride of Frank Wilcox's oil baron John Brewster, the guy who made Jed (Buddy Ebsen) a millionaire — on CBS' The Beverly ...

Actress Lisa Seagram, who appeared on such TV shows as Batman, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched and Burke's Law in the 1960s, has died. She was 82.

Seagram died Feb. 1 at an assisted care facility in Burbank after a nine-year battle with dementia, her daughter Chela Fiorini told The Hollywood Reporter.

Seagram portrayed Lila, the attractive red-headed accomplice of Milton Berle's villainous Louie the Lilac, on the third season of ABC's Batman. Earlier, she appeared as Edythe Brewster — the bride of Frank Wilcox's oil baron John Brewster, the guy who made Jed (Buddy Ebsen) a millionaire — on CBS' The Beverly ...

Rylee Jean Ebsen, who helped create many of Snapchat's ads, promos and original content - and even some of the technical production processes of vertical video - has left the building after seven years at the social-media platform.

She's not going far, about five miles south of Snap's new headquarters by the Santa Monica, Calif., airport, to the sleek offices for Big Block, a Los Angeles-area creative-services company with decades-long ties in the automotive business. These days, it creates advertising and motion graphics for big clients such as Toyota and ESPN.

Turns out that what Ebsen really wants to do is direct. The new job will free her to do just that after occupying a variety of video- and marketing-related roles with Snapchat.

Now she'll direct and be a creative consultant on a wide range of Big Block TV commercials and other projects, trying like her grandfather to...

Nunnally Johnson hands us a well-written spy & hostage drama set in Cold War Berlin, with plenty of intrigue and good humor to boot. Gregory Peck is the troubled negotiator and Broderick Crawford a Yankee galoot sticking his nose where it isn’t wanted. This one has been out of reach for quite a while — and it works up some fun suspense.

Night People

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date July 25, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Anita Björk, Rita Gam, Walter Abel, Buddy Ebsen, Max Showalter, Jill Esmond, Peter van Eyck, Marianne Koch, Hugh McDermott, Paul Carpenter, Lionel Murton, Ottow Reichow.

Cinematography: Charles G. Clarke

Film Editor: Dorothy Spencer

Original Music: Cyril Mockridge

Story by Jed Harris, Tom Reed

Associate Producer Gerd Oswald

Written, Directed and Produced by Nunnally Johnson

An intelligent cold war thriller about distrust and passive aggression across the East-West divide in Berlin,...

The laid-back, plot challenged non-violent western gets a boost in this folksy comedy about two aging cowboys with less sense than the horses they tame. Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda star together for the first time, leaving behind their older images… they’re too tender-hearted for their own good. If the sex comedy wasn’t quite so dated, Burt Kennedy’s picture might be a classic.

The Rounders

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Joan Freeman, Denver Pyle, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver, Peter Fonda, Peter Ford, Bill Hart, Warren Oates, Chuck Roberson.

Cinematography: Paul Vogel

Film Editor: John McSweeney

Original Music: Jeff Alexander

From the Novel by Max Evans

Produced by Richard E. Lyons

Written and Directed by Burt Kennedy

Producer Richard E. Lyons is...

New York City – Robert Osborne, one of the great film advocates and historians of our era, who hosted on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) with passionate skill from 1994 until recently, has passed away on March 6th, 2017, in New York City. The way that Mr. Osborne inspired film lovers everywhere was deep and influential. He was 84.

I was lucky enough to meet the man, naturally at a Chicago movie theater, back in 2005. Five years later, as I became a film reporter myself, I got to interview Ro via phone. He was the type of film man that you could spend a month with and never come to the end of his knowledge, and the way he shared it as the host on TCM was as if the finest uncle was giving us life lessons. Next to Roger Ebert, Robert Osborne is another reporter legend who galvanized my love for film.

King of the Classics: Robert Osborne,...

A celebration is in order for the Clampett clan. Thirty five years ago today, The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies debuted on CBS.The 1981 TV movie was written by Paul Henning, the creator of the original Beverly Hillbillies series, and featured the Clampetts reuniting a decade after the show ended in 1971. While Buddy Ebsen reprised his iconic role as Jed, the original Jethro (Max Baer Jr.) was replaced by Ray Young.Read More…...

On this day in history at it relates to showbiz...

The Director and I

1787 Mozart competes his chamber piece "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" which has shown up in dozens of films over the years, many of which are classics. Here is but a small sampling of films that have used it in the past 40 years or so: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Alien, Sophie's Choice, The Bride, Hope & Glory, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, GI Jane, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Milk, and April and the Extraordinary World.

1896 Oscar nominated director Walter Lang (The King and I, 1956) is born

1897 Jack Haley is born. Enters screen immortality when he gets the part of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz when Buddy Ebsen has a terrible allergic reaction to the makeup...

Summer is here and that means it’s time for racing in the streets. Or, if you’re not Bruce Springsteen, it’s a time for rest, relaxation, and binge watching. For nostalgia fans from various generations, CBS Home Entertainment is offering up a tasty assortment of television series from country comedy to ripped from the headlines detectives to our favorite science fiction.

The gem of the set may be the complete Blu-ray sets of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation, part of CBS and Paramount’s celebration of Gene Roddenberry’s creation.

Here are the details:

Beverly Hillbillies: The Official First Season

Release Date: April 26, 2016

Synopsis

Join the Clampett family as they move to the most famous zip code in the world when the seven-time Emmy award®-nominated series The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official First Season arrives on DVD April 26 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution.

Did you ever see an actor/actress in a famous role and then hear later that they were not the first, or even the second choice to play the iconic part? Many of the legendary movie characters began as a vehicle for a different star than the one who we know-and-love in the part. Here are a few of the greatest examples of famous "Almosts'.

Christopher Walken As Han Solo: George Lucas had a very hard time finding his Han Solo in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). This character was the last of the lead figures to be cast. Lucas’ leading contender at one point was none other than Christopher Walken. Just think about the possibilities in that performance! However, a chance meeting with Harrison Ford (Who was working as a carpenter at the time) inspired Lucas to cast Ford in the part instead, which launched him into super stardom in the 80s.

Anne Marie is charting Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...

In 1936, 14 year old Judy was selected to perform at Clark Gable's birthday party. Gable, the biggest MGM star at that time, was to have an all out bash. For Judy's performance, Roger Edens wrote an intro lyric to an old MGM property, "You Made Me Love You," which directed the 1917 song specifically at Gable. At the party, Judy jumped out of a cake and sang the star his song, charming not only the birthday boy, but also his boss, Louis B. Mayer.

The Movie: Broadway Melody of 1938 (MGM, 1937)

The Songwriter: James V. Monaco (music), Joseph McCarthy (lyrics), Roger Edens (new title & intro)

The Players: Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor, Judy Garland, Clark Gable's photo, directed by Roy del Ruth

 

The Story: The result of her hit at the birthday party was that Judy Garland was cast...

Donna Douglas, the actress most known for playing the giddy, goofy Elly May Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies," has died at age 81 according to several reports. It cannot be overstated what a phenomenon "The Beverly Hillbillies" was. Not only was the comedy the #1 series in America for its first two seasons, but the episode "The Giant Jackrabbit" remains one of the single most watched half-hours in sitcom history. Douglas was essential to the show's rollicking mix, and she remained friends with "Hillbillies" star Buddy Ebsen until his death. Let's take a look back at some of Douglas' finer contributions to popular culture. First of all: Let us enjoy Elly May's bathing suit issues. They are comical and cute. In this veeeery short clip, you get Elly May's full awesomeness in just a single quip. Never forget that Douglas released a couple of singles during her heyday. Here's the tuneful, catchy "He's So Near.

Donna Douglas, who played Elly May Clampett on the CBS sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies,” died Friday, NBC affiliate Wafb reports. She was 81.

TMZ reports that Douglas died at her home in Louisiana, surrounded by friends and family.

Born Doris Smith in Louisiana in 1933, Douglas appeared on “The Steve Allen Show” and “The Perry Como Show” before rising to notoriety on “The Beverly Hillbillies,” the comedy about a rural family who moved to Beverly Hills after patriarch Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) struck oil.

Douglas’ agent has not yet responded to TheWrap‘s request for comment.

See photos: Hollywood’s Notable Deaths of 2014

The series,...

It's difficult to think of a film that has inspired more urban legends than Victor Fleming's 1939 children's classic The Wizard of Oz. Depending on who you believe, Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon syncs perfectly with the action (not true), the production was cursed with a series of horrendous accidents (true), and the Munchkins were all shag-happy party animals (also untrue, but a favourite talk show gag of star Judy Garland). Perhaps the tall tales have something to do with the hellish shoot, which involved five directors and at least 15 writers, or maybe it's because The Wizard of Oz is watched by a lot of stoned people.

What many don't seem to realise is that The Wizard Of Oz is itself a remake. L Frank Baum's original 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (the first in a series of more than a dozen books) was filmed...

Orion Pictures

Film projects are hubs of not only bags of creativity and innovation but also inordinate amounts of stress and pressure so it should come as no surprise that they give birth to all these amazing stories and factoids which fascinate both cinephiles and casual fans alike.

Lesser known facts and trivia about films – much like movies themselves – have the power to inspire a surprisingly broad range of emotional reactions. Some of the points included in this list are just fascinating in their own right while others will have you splitting your sides with laughter and others could creep you out.

A recent post on Reddit discussing some of the coolest facts and trivia cinema has given us over the years had us desperate to do our own compilation of incredible facts which will hopefully be new to most of you.

Cinema is such a sprawling entity that has...

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes photos from Utero, The Last Halloween, and Phantasmagoria, release details on The Horror at 37,000 Feet starring William Shatner, casting news for The Divine Tragedies, and much more:

First Details on Utero: “Writer/Director Bryan Coyne’s (Harvard Park and Incarnate) new film Utero started production this week in Los Angeles.

Independently financed by Coinopflix, the movie stars Jessica Cameron who is also producing along with her Truth or Dare partner, Jonathan Higgins. Former Platinum Studios Exec (Cowboys and Aliens, Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night) Richard Marincic also serves as a producer on the film.

Utero is about “an agoraphobic unwed mother who finds her psyche unraveling as she becomes convinced that her unborn child is more monster than human.”

Cameron’s latest film Truth or Dare, is playing...

Got word this afternoon that the made for TV movie The Horror At 37,000 Feet will get a DVD release on March 18th. Originally airing in 1973 it stars a who’s who of great actors from the time period. You get William Shatner (Star Trek: The Original Series), Buddy Ebsen (The Beverly Hillbillies) and Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) just to name a few. In classic 70′s style the film tells the tale of “a hapless … Continue reading →

Horrornews.net...

We told you last month that the classic 1970s made-for-tv terror tale The Horror at 37,000 Feet, starring William Shatner, Chuck Connors, Paul Winfield, Russell Johnson, and many others, would be hitting DVD in March. Now we have the official details and more!

Synopsis

Suspense, thrills, and screams take flight in the cult classic The Horror at 37,000 Feet, starring TV icons William Shatner ("Star Trek: The Original Series"), Buddy Ebsen ("The Beverly Hillbillies"), and Chuck Connors ("The Rifleman").

The supernatural horror film centers on a hapless ensemble of airline passengers who are plagued by a mysterious force from within the cargo hold. It’s up to an ex-priest (Shatner) to confront this mystery and drive out the demonic forces hell-bent on terrorizing anything in sight.

Look for it online and in stores March 18th.

Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!

Got news? Click here to submit it!

Get high in the comments section below.

Shirley Temple Black (1928-2014), the most iconic child star of film history who was a box office sensation throughout the 1930s, has died at age 85. Known for her dimples and perfectly-ringleted head of curls (56 ringlets, to be exact), Temple broke into the movies at only three years old, and went on to star in a series of vehicles (many of which were the VHS staples of my childhood) like "Bright Eyes," "Little Miss Marker," "Stand Up and Cheer," "The Little Colonel," "Baby Take a Bow," "Heidi," "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and "The Little Princess," to name only a few. More than just a cute face, Temple had a remarkable ability for song and dance routines, as exemplified particularly in "The Codfish Ball" routine she does with Buddy Ebsen in "Captain January," where she matches the limber-legged Ebsen step for step in a four minute sequence. (Watch it, below.) "The Little Princess...

The 1970’s were a great time for made-for-television horror movies. Some, like Horror at 37,000 Feet, were just great camp. An all-star cast consisting of William Shatner, Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen, Roy Thinnes, Paul Winfield, Russell Johnson, and more...

...try to survive an unholy druid entity that hijacks an international flight.

The 1973 haunted jumbo jet flick Horror at 37,000 Feet had been a staple of late night cable television replays (especially on TBS and TNT) up until the new millennium, when it finally faded off into the realm of obscurity. Paramount is prepared to reintroduce it to a new generation when they release the often unintentionally hilarious made-for-tv fright flick on DVD March 18th.

Synopsis:

Fly the not-so-friendly skies in this frightening tale of survival at 37,000 feet! On a flight from London to Los Angeles, a wealthy architect (Roy Thinnes) and his wife (Jane Merrow) have rented out a jumbo jet's entire...

Arlen Schumer Dec 30, 2018

You have crossed over into a dimension of perfect TV. The annual Twilight Zone New Year's Eve Marathon is here. We look at how it all began.

It's a New Year’s Eve tradition that has outlasted Dick Clark, and like the ball dropping in Times Square, as eagerly anticipated...by Twilight Zone fans, that is!

The New Year’s Eve Twilight Zone Marathon on Syfy (where it has been running the past couple of years after several decades on regional syndicated stations), kicks off on December 31st and runs until January 2nd at 4 am. If you're looking for favorite episodes, the full schedule can be found here.

Twilight Zone fans tend to break down the series’ 156 episodes into “good ones” and “bad ones,” the inevitable wheat/chaff ratio resulting from churning out any weekly television series (and an anthology one at that), a format Serling honed...

The Wizard of Oz is a film that needs no introduction (certainly not since the 70th Anniversary Edition), but the latest release is one that actually gives you a lot to talk about, mainly by way of the 3D aspect.

The hype was pretty impressive for the 3D release of the film in theaters, and if you have a 3D home option, this is probably a key film despite the lack of massive effects, but if you’re in the market at all, you also probably have a copy of this.

Of course, there is some additional bonus content (unless you’re getting the massive Collector’s Edition, and then you’re all set… reviews are unnecessary for you), and it’s actually very cool, but the majority of the special features are on that competing Blu-Ray you already own.

So, there are three big questions for the new Wizard of Oz Blu-Ray 3D.