News

30 years ago Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Sunset Boulevard” opened on Broadway, capping off a tumultuous journey from the West End which included the unceremonious replacement of its lead Patti LuPone with Glenn Close. The bumps along the way paid off, if not financially, then certainly in terms of awards, as it received an impressive 11 Tony Award nominations at the 1995 ceremony, winning seven. It didn’t hurt that there was only one other original musical, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” and two musical revivals in contention that year.

Now three decades later a radically new version of “Sunset Boulevard,” abbreviated to “Sunset Blvd,” has opened on Broadway starring Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond, the silent film star yearning to make a comeback in the age of talkies. Gone is the impressive, massive set of Norma’s mansion at 10086 Sunset Boulevard, as well as her iconic turban and shimmering kaftan. Director Jamie Lloyd...

Oble has picked up international distribution rights for “The Ridge,” a six-part psychological thriller the Paris-based studio and distributor will co-produce with New Zealand’s Great Southern Television (“One Lane Bridge”) and Sinner Films. The project will be presented at this week’s Mia co-production and drama pitch forum.

Created by BAFTA Scotland winner David Murdoch and acclaimed novelist Nora Chassler, co-written by Alan Campbell and Jess Sayer and commissioned by Sky Originals New Zealand and BBC Scotland, “The Ridge” follows a troubled young Scot from Glasgow to rural New Zealand, where she soon becomes enmeshed in a far-reaching plot.

Fleeing addiction and leaving behind a professional life in tatters, the young Mia accepts a wedding invitation from her estranged sister – only to find the would-be-bride dead upon arrival. Caught up in grief, and pulled by a dark attraction to her late-sister’s fiancé, Mia soon uncovers the wider tensions...

Shetland is a gripping Scottish crime drama set in the eponymous Scottish archipelago, known for its darker and more sinister edge. The Shetland cast has seen changes over the years, but the performances continue to impress, with the show remaining a critical darling. The show reinvents the small-town crime genre with each passing year, making it one of the best shows set in Scotland.

Even though the Shetland cast has grown and changed over the course of its near-decade on the air, the featured players never fail to deliver in the gripping Scottish crime drama. Debuting in 2013 on BBC One, Shetland is set on the eponymous Scottish archipelago and follows the men and women of the local police force who investigate crimes that disrupt the sleepy community. With its distinctly Scottish environs and small-town crime aspects, Shetland is a unique specimen among other British crime dramas because of its darker and more sinister edge,...

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“A Rise And A Fall In Technicolor”

By Raymond Benson

A Star is Born has been made many times—as four Hollywood feature films, one television movie, and one Bollywood picture. The 1937 original, produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman, is often forgotten amongst the more recent versions, such as the celebrated 2018 remake starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

For this reviewer’s money, the 1937 A Star is Born is superior to them all. Granted, it is obviously dated and one must place oneself within the context of the period in which the movie was released. It is also not a musical, as all the others are. The first version also deals exclusively with the motion picture industry. The second one, released in 1954 and starring Judy Garland and James Mason, did as well… but following adaptations went more into the...

They’ve hit us with three remakes of this one, one about another actress and two about music stars — maybe the next will be about a TikTok star. Thanks to an unexpected full digital restoration from original Technicolor elements, this 1937 original once again plays like a winner. Silent legend Janet Gaynor is Esther Blodgett, soon to become the famous Vicki Lester. Fredric March gives one of his best performances as a matinee idol running his career into the ground with drink. David O. Selznick’s classy production takes some cynical jabs at The Biz yet characterizes Adolph Menjou’s producer as an all-wise, all-forgiving saint. The Wac adds great extras in full HD — a swing musical short and a sarcastic Merrie Melodie cartoon that spoofs the main feature.

A Star is Born (1937)

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1937 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 111 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date March 29, 2022 / 21.99

Starring: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March,...

Hollywood’s allure, insatiable ambition, and the price of fame are at the center of one of the most oft-told stories in show-biz history: “A Star Is Born.” The latest edition, with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, is the fourth to be made, and the third to be music-centric. Variety has already written many articles about that one, which is released today — read Owen Gleiberman’s review here — but how do the previous renditions stack up?

1937

Producer David O. Selznick’s original rendering won Oscars for its cinematography and its original story. While the story was written by director William A. Wellman and novelist Robert Carson, many of its sharpest and most cutting lines are believed to have been penned by famed writer Dorothy Parker and husband Alan Campbell (who were nominated in a separate Oscar category but didn’t win).

Janet Gaynor played Esther Blodgett-turned-Vicki Lester, a starry-eyed...

Clay Aiken attended a production of Drift last night at The Kennedy Theatre in Raleigh where Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy's production of Drift is playing it's final week. Drift was the first production to grace the new Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell Theatre at Barton College and ran from September 12-20, followed by a current run at The Kennedy Theatre at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh from September 23-27 to close the season.

Writer: Various Director: Various Cast: Alan Campbell, William Conrad, Joe Penny Rating: Not Rated Studio: Paramount Release Date: July 8, 2008 Back in December, I was your guy for reviewing Diagnosis Murder, so I suppose it was only natural that when Jake and the Fatman came out that I should review that, as well. If you’re wondering why that might be [...]Sharethis.addEntry({ title: "DVD Review: Jake and the Fatman: Season One, Vol. 1", url: "http://www.literaryillusions.com/LIreviews/2008/07/05/dvd-review-jake-and-the-fatman-s1v/" });...