Noir Bar and The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) Cocktail

After Kevin, Carlos and I saw The Lusty Men (1952) at the Harvard Film Archive, we headed off to Noir bar at the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square. They were going to have a Mad Men Season 4 premiere event the following night which Carlos and I would have to miss but I had always been meaning to check out the place so off we went.

Noir bar is a classic film lover's dream come true. The bar has a cool, dark ambiance which makes it's name apropos. There is always a classic film playing on the wall. When we visited a Dick Tracy film was being shown (the waitress couldn't tell us which one). The film is shown on mute and against a wall with slats. It's not meant to watch, just to add to the mystique. Best of all, the Noir bar's menu has a selection of cocktails named after films.

To my surprise and utter delight, they had a drink named after one of my favorite films: The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938). What a random film to chose! The cocktail consists of Bombay dry gin, Green Chartreuse, Grapefruit Juice, Basil and Champagne. I almost didn't get the drink because I have an aversion to basil. However, where else in the entire world would I get a drink named after this movie? Probably no where. So that's what I ordered.

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) stars Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart. Here is the trailer:

This film is a running joke because the name Clitterhouse suggests "clitoris". In fact, Humphrey Bogart was known to have pointed out the similarity between the surname of the character and the part of the female genitalia. 

As I suspected, the basil overpowered the otherwise delicious drink. I fished some of it out to make it more palatable for me. Kevin had a Black Dahlia cocktail which was delicious. 

Here we are at Noir bar!

I highly recommend The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse. In fact, I've personally to several people including Kevin who is currently holding my VHS copy hostage. The film is available on DVD as part of Warner Gangsters Collection Vol. 4. It's shown on TCM on a semi-regular basis. Also, it's going to be part of the super sexy Humphrey Bogart set that's due out in the Fall.

The Lusty Men (1952) at the Harvard Film Archive

The Harvard Film Archive is currently doing a retrospective on the work of director Nicholas Ray. Lucky for me, one of the films they happen to be showing was The Lusty Men (1952) which stars my beloved Robert Mitchum. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to get a chance to see many of the films in the series, I made this one high priority. Kevin and Carlos came with me to the HFA to see it last week. 

Robert Mitchum plays Jeff McCloud, a rodeo star who suffers an injury that hurts him more emotionally than physically. He retires to ranch life and seeks out his old childhood home. The home is sought after by a couple, Wes Merritt (Arthur Kennedy) and Leslie Merritt (Susan Hayward) who want to start a ranch. Wes gets Jeff a job but soon gets enamored by the idea of being a big rodeo star like Jeff. Wes is tired of working for someone else and decides that playing the rodeo circuit will earn him quick cash  to buy and run his own ranch. Wes convinces Jeff to teach him all he knows about rodeo. Jeff becomes Wes' manager earning a percentage of Wes's earnings and off they go, much to the chagrin of Leslie whose tumultuous past has made her yearn for the stability that rodeo life doesn't have to offer. Wes gets more and more dazzled by the false glamour of rodeo life: the quick cash, the instant fame, the parties full of booze and dames. He quickly gives up the idea of going back to ranch life. Leslie fights against Jeff who got Wes into this situation in the first place but Jeff is falling in love with Leslie. This is where things get complicated.

Watching the film, I couldn't help drawing comparisons to The Misfits (1961) which is also about the rodeo scene but focuses more on various wayward characters and the dirty business of mustang hunting. The Lusty Men is a much quieter film, less focused on a message or showcasing a cast of big stars and more interested in telling a very linear story. The film is filled with lots of rodeo scenes. Calf-roping, bronc riding, steer wrestling, bull riding, etc. A good chunk of the film consists of these scenes but I don't feel like they overwhelmed the movie. Instead, I felt like a spectator watching both the stories of the people on screen and watching rodeo life circa 1950s. It added to the experience.

The programmer who introduced the film to us mentioned that Robert Mitchum was reported to have stolen the original last reel of the film and gave it to his secretary to burn. He hated the original ending so much he went to those lengths so that a new ending would have to be filmed. Many people don't realize how much Mitchum influenced movies he made. He gave a lot of input in acting, dialogue, script, directing and production whether it was wanted or not. In my opinion, a film was always better for having Robert Mitchum in it.

The Salon article which I linked to on the heckyeahrobertmitchum Tumblr (a heads up from KC of Classic Movie Blog) has the following anecdote about The Lusty Men:

On the rodeo film "The Lusty Men": "(Producers) Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna -- one or the other -- would call me at the office and ask for ideas. So I gave them one -- a modern Western. They reached into a drawer and came up with a title. They had titles to fit just about any type of movie. They were quite a team. One would walk up and down and cry while the other sat down to talk to you. Then they'd reverse. I always thought that the producer was The Producer. I didn't know I was makin' more money than they were and that if I sneak-talked to the boss (Howard Hughes), they'd be out. I didn't know that, no shit. So Howard called me one day and said, 'Bob, for God's sake tell me you don't want to do this picture so I can get this son-of-a-bitch Wald off my back.' But I told him I wanted to do the picture. He asked, 'Is the script that good?' I told him we didn't even have a script, but we'd whip one up. And I wanted Nick Ray to direct it. 

"The next day Wald called me to tell me in hushed tones that 'Howard's OK'd the story and guess who we have as director? Nick Ray.' Then he hired Niven Busch and the guy who wrote 'They Shoot Horses,' Horace McCoy, to do the writing. They were at opposite ends of the lot and they kept passing each other by. Finally they passed each other and went right out the gate. Nick and I , both stoned, worked out the script.

"So we get the picture finished and Wald had insisted on this ending that was impossible. We snuck into the editing room, made off with the end sequence and burned it. The production number was still active, so we went out and shot another ending, bang-bang-bang, like that. And Jerry Wald traveled to colleges around the county lecturing on the art of filmmaking."

Unfortunately, The Lusty Men isn't available on DVD. If you get a chance to see it, please do. It's a wonderful little film. And it doesn't hurt that Mitchum looked amazing in a cowboy hat and tight jeans that hugged him in all the right places (::biting finger coyly::).

If you have TCM, it's showing on September 28th at 6:00 am!

This is me outside of the HFA and in front of some posters of Nicholas Ray movies. I love having my photo taken here.

If you are in the Boston area, make sure you check out the series. It goes on until August 9th. Or just check out the listing on the HFA site. A lot of the films are on DVD. In fact, I'm hoping to do a short Nicholas Ray series here on the blog. Stay tuned.

Breathless (1960) 50th Anniversary Restoration at the Kendall

Rialto Pictures has been touring a 50th Anniversary Restoration of the classic French New Wave film Breathless (1960) across the United States. I managed to catch the very last showing that took place in the Boston area on Thursday evening. Good friends Kevin and Lisa as well as my beau Carlos came with me to a 9:40 pm showing of the film. A few weeks ago, Kevin had sent me a postcard (that boasted the illustration Yoko Kuomura on it. See above.) invited me to go see the film with him. For some unexplained reason, it passed my notice that two of my favorite theaters, The Brattle and The Coolidge Corner Theater, had both shown the film. Luckily, good ole standby Kendall Square Cinema (a local cinema known for showing Indie and Foreign films as well as the occassional classic) was the last Boston-based cinema to be showing Breathless. We got in just at the nick of time!

The entrance of the Kendall.

Any of you lucky bastards that got to see the US premiere of the restoration at the TCM Classic Film Festival back in April will be familiar with it. However, those of you who missed it have a chance to see the restoration as it tours the US. Rialto has a new 35mm print of the film which has been restored and newly revised English subtitles were added.

Visually, I couldn't tell much of a difference between the restored print I saw on the big screen and the Criterion Collection DVD that I watched with Kevin a while back (I never did do a post about that). Also, I didn't much care for the new subtitles. They were still a very loose translation of the French being spoken in the film. My friend Lisa, who knows some French, pointed out that in one scene Jean Paul Belmondo is actually cursing in French yet the English curse equivalent was not put into the subtitles. Was there perhaps some toning down of the language? Censorship of a film like Breathless is not a matter to be taken lightly. Also, the film was shown with very little fanfare. Not that it should have had an introduction, but I think information about the restoration or something to jazz it up would have been nice.

Still it was great to see Breathless on the big screen. From the little bits of information on the net that I've read, theatrical showings of Breathless have been limited in the past but now Rialto has US theatrical rights to the film. So this truly was a treat!

Kevin and I both love this film and it was Lisa's first time watching it. Carlos, who had seen it before some years ago, was not terribly impressed. In fact, he tried to take a nap during the movie and I threatened him with my classic "don't you dare". He told me afterwards that he couldn't see the genius of the film. I've found that he's not really been able to enjoy the avant-garde French films I've shown him. My recent attempts to get him to appreciate some quirky French fare such as 8 Women (2002) and Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000) failed miserably. I tried to explain to Carlos why Breathless was genius but I don't think he got it. Oh well. No more French films for him!

The genius of Breathless (1960):

• openness of sexuality, including discussion of the past sexual partners of a single female
• jump cuts, which we take for granted today but were radically new back in 1960
• inaugural French New Wave film that has come to be a symbol that represents that genre
• gritty, in-your-face cinematography. Filming happened on the streets with a hand held camera.
• extras in the film are real-life bystandards
• no special lighting was used except for natural light, street lights and the lamps from a model shoot scene.
• spontaneity of the script development, the shooting and the acting
• homage to classic film stars and directors, especially Michel's (Jean Paul Belmondo) fascination with Humphrey Bogart

If you are interested in seeing the Restoration for yourself, check out the Rialto website for more information and to see if the print is coming to a city near you. http://www.rialtopictures.com/breathless.html

If you can't see the Restoration for whatever reason, watch it at home with the Criterion Collection set (I still need to buy this!).

DVD Boxed Set Review: Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 5

Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 5 (Cornered / Desperate / The Phenix City Story / Deadline at Dawn / Armored Car Robbery / Crime in the Streets / Dial 1119 / Backfire)

The tagline should read:

Scraping the bottom of the film noir barrel: the worst of the worst all in one boxed set.

This boxed set came out on July 13th. It's part of the Warner Home Video collection of Film Noir sets of which I have Vol. 1. These are all new to DVD and it's available on Blu-Ray for those of you who have such a device.

I'm going to be brutally honest because I believe in the necessity of honest product reviews. This boxed set sucked. BIG TIME. As I went through all 8 of the movies the same phrase came popping into my head: "scraping the bottom of the film noir barrel".  Now film noirs are very popular and so many of them are now available on DVD. Considering there were already 4 other volumes in this set and that the noir genre was not exclusive to one movie studio, I'm sure Warner Bros. really did have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with 8 new-to-DVD noirs to put in this set. I'm not blaming them especially since Warner Bros. does so much to put out a lot of great quality classic films on the market for hungry classic film fanatics like myself.

It's just the films weren't all that great. In fact, they were pretty bad. Now I love low-budget B films. I eat them up like candy. Especially Noirs. Anyone who knows me knows I love Noirs. Heck, I even named this blog after my favorite Noir Out of the Past (1947). But these films were not interesting. In fact, I found them so boring that I easily forgot the titles and the plots while watching the films! I know I'm scatter-brained on a good day, but that is a sign of my brain rejecting these crappy noirs.

I do recommend this boxed set to enthusiasts who must own every film noir known to man. For everyone else I highly suggest these alternatives:


















Cornered (1945) - Starring Dick Powell - Good grief this was horrible. Some convoluted drama involving Nazis and a wild goose chase around Europe for some dude named Marcel Jarnac. It was crap. That's all I have to say about it. The Professor over at Where Danger Lives thinks it's of some worth. Go check out his post about it.

Desperate (1947) - Starring Audrey Long and Raymond Burr. Not too bad. (Help me here I'm trying!). Raymond Burr's brother got caught and he wants to frame another man for the crime. The man and his pregnant wife go on the lam trying to escape Burr, find a safe place to hide and to tell the police the details. Burr doesn't want that to happen. Burr makes this film pretty decent. I wanted to smack Audrey Long's character for being so silly and stupid. There is a minor Czechoslovakian theme to the story that makes it interesting.

The Phenix City Story (1955) - You have to work through about 12 minutes of blatant propaganda (with the documentary opening featuring a journalist asking leading questions) and about 30-40 minutes of a slow moving start until you get to real meat of this story. By the end it gets really good and really interesting. The bad start puts a damper on the whole experience though. It is a very gritty noir about Phenix City, Alabama which was a hotbed of sin, crime and violence.

Dial 1119 (1950) - This one was pretty interesting. A crazy man, who just escaped a mental institution, randomly kills a bus driver and the cops are after him. He barricades himself in a bar with some hostages and threatens to kill people (his hostages and any cops that try to nab him) unless he can speak to the shrink who treated him. Probably the most watchable of the bunch.

Armored Car Robbery (1950) - Skip this one. If you want a heist noir, watch The Asphalt Jungle (1950) or The Killing (1956) instead.

Crime in the Streets (1956) - Starring John Cassavates, Sal Mineo and James Whitmore - This may be the film that saves the boxed set. Great cast. John Cassavates plays an 18-year old thug who finds pleasure in crime. With two goons under his wing, he plots to murder a meddling neighbor. Whitmore (and his outrageous eyebrows) stars as the social worker who tries to get Cassavates to go straight.

Deadline At Dawn (1946) Starring Susan Hayward and Paul Lukas - One of two Susan Hayward films I've seen recently. She's starting to grow on me. The stars make this film watchable and the plot is pretty decent. It does tug on the heartstrings a bit. It's comparable in plot to The Glass Wall (1953) which I think is a far better film.

Backfire (1950) - Starring Edmond O'Brien - Had promise but just didn't deliver. Plus I was terribly distracted by Virginia Mayo's sensual softness (don't you find that distracting?). Plot: Two friends. One has a smashed spine, was hospitalized and released only to find out his friend had HIS spine smashed and is now being framed for murder. Oy vey.


Before you take my word as Gospel, make sure you take a moment and check out the boxed set and watch the clips below. Who knows. This set might pique your interest.

Full Disclosure: Thank you to Warner Bros. for sending me this DVD boxed set to review.

More Robert Mitchum Video goodness

Here is another Mitchum skit from Saturday Night Live with Dana Carvey and Phil Hartmann called "The Beggar". It's not particularly good. Death Be Not Deadly is much better.

Now all I need to find is "Out of Gas", the skit with Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum written by Mitchum's daughter Trina. From what I understand, it also features Mitchum's grandson Bentley Mitchum. If you find it anywhere, let me know!

And here is a funny clip of the show which written backwards is Ylimaf Yug (please don't comment back with the real name of the show because this could get pulled. I'll delete your comment. Warning!). In it, a cartoonized Mitchum is the Out of Shape in Shape Guy from the 1950s. I guess some people just don't appreciate big manly chests. I, however, am not one of those people. The world needs more big manly chests!

Who are you calling "out of shape"?!

Now a video that I was supposed to post a while back but never did. Millie from ClassicForever is a fellow Bobby Darin fan. I pleaded with her recently about a clip of Bobby Darin doing an impersonation of Robert Mitchum. I thought it was one of the most hilarious things I had ever seen. In fact it was so funny that Darin himself cracked up at his own joke and couldn't even finish the impersonation! Millie came to my rescue and found the clip of Darin doing a host of impersonations (including the Mitchum one) and posted it on her YouTube channel: ILoveRayMilland. Here it is! Thank you so much Millie.

The Mitchum impersonation starts at 5:58:

Is it me or did Bobby Darin and Robert Mitchum look oddly alike?

Robert Mitchum on Saturday Night Live

Jackpot! I've been searching for a clip (any clip) of Robert Mitchum hosting Saturday Night Live back in 1987. Thanks to the wonder of Twitter searches (and Tumblr ones too), I found a link to a clip recently posted on YouTube. It's of the skit "Death Be Not Deadly" in which Mitchum and Kevin Nealon spoof the Film Noir genre and that classic Noiresque voiceover that is so characteristic of the genre (yet found is so few of them oddly enough). It's an okay skit, funny but mostly enjoyable because of it's novelty. I think it's great that Mitchum was on a TV show which is still going strong today. Enjoy.

It's Ginger Rogers' birthday too. Move over Barbara Stanwyck!

Ginger is so upset at being overlooked by Stanwyck fans that she is threatening to clonk you all over the head with her trusty wrench!

Thank you to Jonas for the picture.

Vertigo (1958) at the Capitol Theatre

The Capitol Theatre is my local movie house. It is literally a few blocks away from my apartment building, yet I almost never go. It's proximity to my home makes me take it for granted because I know it's convenient and that's its always there for me. The last time I went to the Capitol was also the first time I went and that in October of 2008 when I saw the remake of The Women (1939) with Kevin.

A return visit has been long overdue.

 

Walking home one day, I saw this signage on the door of the Capitol. Hitchcock? On the big screen? Just a few blocks from my apartment? And I don't even have to worry about parking? Huzzah!

It's been years since I've seen Vertigo (1958) and while visually it's stunning, at that time I didn't much care for the story. I thought I'd give it another try. Initially, I had planned to go by myself but Carlos begged me to take him with me. He loves Hitchcock as much as I do, so date night was set. We had dinner then walked to the Capitol. We were a bit early so we stopped in on there ice cream shop and had a few pre-movie treats. While we were indulging in Maine Black Bear (raspberry ice cream with chocolate pieces) and Purple Cow (blackberry ice cream with white chocolate chips), Carlos asked me a question completely out of the blue...

What if Alfred Hitchcock directed Dr. Strangelove (1964)?

At first I brushed off the question but then I took a moment to think about it. Hitchcock would have never directed Dr. Strangelove because there are no no prominent female characters in it. Hitchcock REALLY loved his women. And he had a particular appetite for blondes.

 

In Hitchcock films, the camera is constantly making love to the female lead. Our eye is drawn to her instinctively. It's as though we are borrowing Hitchcocks POV for a few moments. However, it's always the female lead and never the other actresses. For example, in Rear Window (1954), the viewer is in a state of constant adoration for Grace Kelly but our eyes do not rest for very long on Thelma Ritter.

So when we watched Vertigo on the big screen, I kept an eye out for this detail (tee hee). And sure enough, Kim Novak is lovingly adored by Hitchcock's camera.

I must not have paid much attention the first couple of times I had watched the movie because there were a lot of great plot points I was missing. Watching it on the big screen, forced me to pay closer attention. Vertigo has everything. Great actors, stunning visuals, a plot that keeps you guessing, action, drama and romance. Plus a Jimmy Stewart with an excessive amount of make-up on.

I love how Hitchcock uses structures to represent different things. Brassieres and bridges hold things up and represent stability. Windows and door frame paint idyllic pictures but are often misleading. Ledges, rooftops and towers (heights) mean danger. The museum, cemetery, church and hotel are all purgatories for people in the present who are stuck in the past. There is enough meat in this film for an English major like me to feast on.

Watching Vertigo this once on the big screen is not enough. I need to own this film, watch it several times at home, take notes and break it apart. I need to watch it to analyze and watch it for fun.

Have you watched a Hitchcock film on the big screen? If so, which one? Did it change the way you watched the film or what you thought of it? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Charlie Chan's Chance

Bob over at the excellent blog Allure, sent me this advertisement for the lost Charlie Chan film Charlie Chan's Chance. It's one of the Fox/Warner Oland Chans. Bob tells me that the film is lost but the script and a few stills from the film still exist.

With just a quick Google search, I found an illustrated script for Charlie Chan's Chance (1932) (script and those few stills) online on The Charlie Chan Family website. They have the scripts of a few other lost Fox/Warner Oland Charlie Chans including Charlie Chan's Courage (1934),  Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933) and Charlie Chan Carries On (1931).

Here are is a review of the film when it was first released: Variety January 1st, 1932


The story of Charlie Chan's Chance was based off Earl Derr Brigger's novel Behind That Curtain which also inspired Behind That Curtain (1929) with E.L. Park and Murder Over New York (1940) with Roland Winters. The novel was published serially in The Saturday Evening Post between March 31st to May 5, of 1928. It's still in print today thanks to the good folks at Academy Chicago Publishers.

It's also interesting to note that this film is the only one in which the author and creator of Charlie Chan, Earl Derr Briggers, was involved. He edited some of the script.

Several Charlie Chans were considered lost at one time but were then discovered so there is still hope for this film. So if you have a moment, please check your attic or basement. Who knows, maybe you have the only surviving copy of Charlie Chan's Case!

The Night of the Hunter - A Biography of a Film

The Night of the Hunter: A Biography of a Film
by Jeffrey Couchman
02/2009
9780810125421
Northwestern University Press

Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1954), an adaptation of Davis Grubb's 1953 novel, is many things: a fractured fairy tale, an American gothic story, a twisted song, an homage to silent films, a 20th century re-envisioning of William Blake's Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence and a pseudo-noir.

Couchman's book is not just a love letter to the film and its creators, nor is it a personal perspective on the film. However, if you think NOTH is a masterpiece, the book will only justify your thoughts by laying out the many reasons why it is so. Couchman's book is a soup-to-nuts look at all of the elements that went into creating this classic. He takes us through every phase of the process including the writing of the novel, Laughton's vision of the movie, Grubb's drawings and James Agee's screen adaptation.

Grubb's novel, the source of the story, is spoken about constantly throughout the text  but you don't have to be familiar with the novel to follow along. A general understanding of the film is all you really need.

I'm sure this book is better suited to the serious film student but what a treat it would be to a classic movie lover too? The rich information provided by the book makes the movie experience into a four-course meal instead of just a dessert. I would recommend this book to three different kinds of people. 1) A Film Student 2) Fan of The Night of the Hunter 3) Serious Classic Film Buff who wants to advance his or her knowledge of film.

Couchman delivers wonderful observations and this book is chockful of great information. Here are a few tidbits I'd like to share:

On the infamous scene of Willa (Shelley Winters or at least a wax dummy of her), floating underwater, with her throat slit. "The cinematic fakery resulted in images that no one who has seen the film is likely to froget. A slow pan along waving reeds picks up Willa, bound in the car, her hair flowing as though with a life of its own. In many ways, the scene defines The Night of the Hunter. It is at once realistic and surreal, grim and poetic. Everything about it is a contradiction. The car alone is a shocking, industrial intrusion in a natural realm. The greater intrustion, though, is Willa's body, a serene picture of violent death, a floating apparition weighted to the river bottom." pg 111

Novel versus Film: "[Grubb's novel] satisfies readers expectations. The film thwarts expectations at every turn." - pg 206

On the differing acting styles of Mitchum and Gish: "The choices Laughton made reveal how consciously he sought a stylized, exaggerated performance from Mitchum and a naturalistic unadorned performance from Gish. Each style of acting becomes a code in itself" Mitchum's affected manner signals Preacher's deceitful nature, and Gish's straightforward approach identifies Rachel as direct and honest" - pg 174

If you are a wimpy classic film fan who just likes to watch movies but not use your preicous brain cells to actually think about the films you've seen, then you are not tough enough to handle this book. For all other classic movie buffs, I throw down the gauntlet and challenge you to read this. What will separate the weak from the strong is the desire and ability amongst classic film fans to acquire knowledge, to analyze and think and to earnestly put this knowledge to good use. Are you up for it?
-----------------
Thank you to Northwestern University Press for sending me this book to review! And so sorry it took me so long to get to it. :-)

A Third, a Second and a First

A Third

June 15th, 2010 marked the Third Blogiversary for Out of the Past ~ A Classic Film Blog. I really wanted to do something big. A giveaway, a contest, a competition, blogathon, something, but life got in the way and so the blogiversary quietly passed me by. However, I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for reading my blog, whether you just started or if you've been on board for the long haul. Thank you.

A Second

Yesterday, the winners for the Best Classic Film Blog LAMMY award were announced. She Blogs by Night (she also blogs for TCM's Movie Morlocks) won by a landslide. However, I didn't do to shabby and ended up getting 15 votes (plus some extra votes from newbies, sorry I forgot there were rules about that). Woohoo! Those 15 votes got me second place. I think this is probably the pinnacle of my LAMMY award career. I don't think I'll ever win, especially now that there are so many great classic film blogs on the LAMB. So I'll take 2nd place, happily!

Thank you so so so much to everyone who voted for me. You guys are wonderful.

A First

Cliff from Immortal Ephemera, Warren-William.com, etc. just announced the launch of the First ever Classic Movie Search! You'll never want to use plain old Google ever again. This customized search engine weeds out the irrelevant sites and focuses on classic film related sites and blogs for keyword searches. Brilliant. Cliff is still developing it and if you have a blog or site that you think should be added to the growing list, make sure you reccommend it with the form available in the 'Featured Sites' section.

Press Release: Jane Russell at Hollywood Heritage Museum

If you live in the Hollywood area, you are a lucky SOB because you have an opportunity to see Jane Russell in person! Here is the press release:

Jane Russell To Appear June 23 at Hollywood Heritage Museum

Iconic Hollywood sex symbol Jane Russell, who starred in “The Outlaw,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “The Revolt of Mamie Stover,” will make a rare personal appearance June 23 at the Hollywood Heritage Museum in the Lasky-DeMille Barn.

The “Evening with Jane Russell” program will begin at 7:30 p.m. with a 45-minute motion picture summary of Ms. Russell’s life and career and close with a conversation with the multi- talented performer/activist.

The deeply-religious entertainer, an adoptive mother of three, founded the World Adoption International Fund (WAIF) in 1952, which placed an estimated 51,000 orphaned children. The next year she championed passage of the Federal Orphan Adoption Amendment, which allowed children of American servicemen born overseas to be placed for adoption in the U.S. And in 1980 she was at the forefront of the lobbying effort for the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, which provides reimbursement for eligible foster and adoptive parents, and financial assistance for the additional cost incurred with adopting handicapped children.

The Lasky-DeMille Barn (birthplace of Paramount Pictures) is located at 2100 N. Highland Avenue, across from the Hollywood Bowl. Parking is free (in Lot D). General admission is $10 ($5 for Hollywood Heritage members) and refreshments are available.

The museum auditorium has seating for only 110 guests, and ticket-seekers are advised to arrive early. For additional information visit: hollywoodheritage.com

Charlie Chan teaches us about Classic Film distribution

Hasty conclusion like gunpowder. Easy to explode. - Charlie Chan

Do you ever wonder why TCM won't show a particular movie? Do you ever think to yourself,"How did they pick the movies for that boxed set"? Do you find that your head starts to spin whenever you try to keep all the movie studio names straight?

The world of contemporary classic film distribution is complicated. Before I start, let me just clarify that  when I say "classic film distribution", I mean the system in which current movie studios distribute classic films on DVD and license those same films to be shown on television channels such as TCM, AMC and Fox Movie Channel. Trying to figure out who owns what rights, who can show what, who can sell what and what studios have merged together is no easy task. Having tried to figure it out myself, I have come to the conclusion that it's pretty impossible to understand the whole system. However, a basic understanding of some key facts can help you understand the availability of certain films and the unavailability of others as well as how the system works.

It's like the saying goes, in order to eat an elephant you have to go at it one bite at a time. Let's start understanding the classic film distribution by understanding how one particular boxed set came together.

The Charlie Chan Collection is a boxed set I recently reviewed. Note the language on the box indicates that it's part of the TCM Spotlight collection and it's presented by Warner Home Video.

A few things to know...

• Time Warner merged with Turner Broadcasting System.
• Time Warner owns both TCM and Warner Bros.
• The pre-1986 library of MGM films is controlled by Warner Bros.  MGM is currently owned and controlled by Sony Pictures.
• Monogram films, post-1936, are controlled by Warner Bros (classified under the MGM library). Pre-1936 films are owned by Paramount which is controlled by Viacom.
• Fox Entertainment Group owns all the various Fox studios (20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, etc.) and has full control over the distribution of all of their films. They will sometimes allow channels like TCM to show films in their library.
• Universal Studios is owned by NBC and they control the distribution of their library of films with some notable exceptions. They also own distribution rights to films by other studios, including 5 out of the 6 Hitchcock films that Paramount released.
• Pathe Studios merged with RKO. The library of Pathe and RKO films is owned by Time Warner and thus distributed by Warner Bros.

Now here is a time line for the Charlie Chan films...

• 1926 - Pathe releases the first Charlie Chan film The House without a Key. The film is considered lost.
• 1927- Universal Studios releases the second Charlie Chan film The Chinese Parrot. This film is also considered lost.
• 1929 - Fox acquires the rights to the Charlie Chan character.
• 1929-1937 - Fox releases 17 Charlie Chan films. 1 with E.L. Park, 1 in Spanish, Eran Trece, and 15 with Warner Oland.
• 1938 - Warner Oland dies.
• 1939 - Fox hires Sidney Toler to play Charlie Chan
• 1939-1942 - Fox releases 11 Charlie Chan films with Sidney Toler but then decide to abandon the franchise.
• 1942 - Sidney Toler buys the rights to the Charlie Chan character and starts making pictures with Monogram Studios.
• 1942-1946 - Monogram releases 11 Charlie Chan films with Sidney Toler.
• 1947 - Sidney Toler dies.
• 1947 - Monogram hires Roland Winters to play Charlie Chan
• 1947-1949 - Monogram releases 6 Charlie Chan films with Roland Winters

To put the Charlie Chan franchise in perspective:

• TCM and Warner Bros. can distribute one lost Pathe film (if it's ever found) and all of the Monogram films (half Sidney Toler and all of Roland Winters).
• Fox can distribute all of the Warner Oland Charlie Chans and the first 11 of the Sidney Toler Charlie Chans.
• Universal Studios can only distribute The Chinese Parrot, if they ever find it.

Warner Bros. had already released some of their Charlie Chan films. They could not put any Warner Oland Charlie Chans in the set because those are owned by Fox. They put a "new to DVD" spin on the set which would exclude the following films:

The Secret Service (1944)

The Chinese Cat (1944)

Meeting at Midnight (1944)

The Jade Mask (1945)

The Scarlet Clue (1945)

The Shanghai Cobra (1945)

With only a few films left, TCM and Warner Bros. chose to create a boxed set with 3 Sidney Toler Charlie Chans and 1 Roland Winters Charlie Chan. And thus we get the TCM Spotlight: Charlie Chan Collection!

So next time you find yourself daydreaming about the perfect DVD boxed set and wondering why it isn't available, just know that putting a boxed set together is much more difficult than you think.

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Quelle Note: I tried to be as accurate as possible in the post above. If you find any errors or want me to include additional information, please e-mail me at Quellelove at gmail dot com.

Metropolis (1927) is...

... many things.

I had the absolute pleasure seeing Kino's newly restored Metropolis (1927) with the 25 minutes of lost footage that was recovered from Buenos Aires, Argentina. What a delight! Carlos took me to the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA and we got to see the most complete version of the film on the big screen. This is not the complete version just the most complete. There are still a few missing scenes. However, a lot of missing footage clipped from existing scenes and entire whole scenes were recovered and woven into the film. In hopes of getting this longer version of the movie out to audiences quicker, the lost scenes that were added were not digitally remastered so it's very easy to tell what was missing. One lost scene I was happy to see was with Georgy worker 11811, who switches outfits and lives with Freder, goes off galavanting in the world of the upper class. A pivotal scene which I'm sure for political reasons was removed from various versions. Having it back in the movie helps the plot line and demonstrates the great contrast between the lives of the workers and the lives of the wealthy in Metropolis.

Kino is showcasing this new version in select cities across the US this summer and it will soon be on DVD. If you get an opportunity, please watch it. I had seen this film many times (including once before on the big screen) but watching this new version was like experiencing the film for the very first time.

After I left the theater, I thought about what Metropolis (1927) is, because let's face it, it's more than a movie. So I came up with a list. If you have seen the newest version of Metropolis, please share your thoughts. And if you have anything you'd like to add to this list, feel free to let me know and I will add it here and credit you.

Metropolis (1927) is...

• an allegory
• steampunk 
• retrofuturism
• Art Deco p-rn
• one Hitler's favorite film
• epic
• the film that almost sent UFA into bankruptcy
• fractured
• influential
• referenced in many films years after it came out
• Biblical
• science fiction
• Marxist
• visually stunning
• German Expressionism
• a dystopian tale
• ahead of its time
• misunderstood
• an original screenplay written by Fritz Lang and wife Thea von Harbou
• socially conscious
• in the public domain
• just begging for literary analysis and therefore...
• an English major's dream
• unlike any other film ever made
• Raygun Gothic
• the original Gotham
• iconic
• historically important

One Girl's Confession (1953) and Joran van der Sloot

image from Film Noir Photos

I've been working my way through the various films in the Bad Girls of Noir collections (Vol. 1 and Vol 
2) when I came across this little gem: One Girl's Confession (1953).  This film is pretty unusual for a noir in one respect: the story focuses on a female protagonist. If you look at the history of major film noirs, Out of the Past (1947),  The Killing (1956),  Double Indemnity (1944), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), etc. they all have female characters who play significant roles in the story, but everything revolves around the male lead. So to watch a film noir about a woman was very refreshing.

One Girl's Confession is a story about Mary Adams (Cleo Moore), a hardworking girl who seems down on her luck even though her outrageously good looks seem to hypnotize men. She works at a restaurant owned by the same sleazy scumbag that ruined her own father financially years ago. When she sees the scumbag hoarding money, she decides to take revenge and steals the dough and hides it. Fully knowing the extent of what she's done, she happily confesses and is willing to serve out a jail sentence. The only hitch is that she won't reveal where the cash is stashed. It's waiting for her once she gets out of the clink. However, when Mary is put on probation and is released earlier than she thought, the life she was plotting out for herself doesn't quite work out the way she planned.

After I watched the film, I headed off to the gym to work off some tension and get some cardio. While on the elliptical, I caught a glimpse of the king of major sleazy scumbags, Joran van der Sloot on one of the gym's televisions. My ire towards that poor excuse for a human being helped me burn off some extra calories. Now you may be asking, so what does that have to do with One Girl's Confession?

Here is the asshole in question.

Joran van der Sloot has been tied to missing American teenager Natalie Holloway since she disappeared in Aruba on May 30th, 2005. On May 30th, 2010, exactly five years later, he's now tied to the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez, who was found dead in Sloot's hotel room in Peru. This piece of s**t who is pretending to be a man was tried several times for the Holloway murder but couldn't be convicted. Even though undercover agent Patrick van der Eem got van der Sloot to reveal that he dumped Holloway's body into the ocean, Sloot still got away with his crime.  So off he went to the Netherlands to get high and traffic prostitutes. The story of Joran van der Scumbag is a long and complicated one that I won't go into here but at least you get the jist.

Now let's compare van der Sloot with Mary Adams:

Mary Adams - Committed a crime (theft), confessed and gave herself in, served her sentence, at several times was willing to give away the fruits of her crime ($$$) to help others, faced hardship but learned her lesson.

Joran van der Sloot - Committed a crime (murder), kept quiet about certain details and got help from his daddy, never served a sentence, tried to extort money, never learned his lesson and killed again.

I came away from One Girl's Confession with a good feeling inside. I came away from all the news coverage of Joran van der Sloot with incredible anger. Mary Adams is poor trying to make ends meet, van der Sloot comes from privilege. Mary tries to be kind while Sloot thinks other people are beneath him. 

I was so affected by these two stories that I just had to write this post. It's so interesting how both of these stories, of two polar opposite characters (one fictional and one unfortunately real), intersected. It just goes to show how easy it is to relate classic films to every day life.

TCM Spotlight: Charlie Chan Collection DVD Set

Charlie Chan = Awesome

I simply adore Charlie Chan movies. They are easy mysteries that are fun to watch. So when Warner Bros. contacted me about reviewing the new TCM Spotlight Charlie Chan Collection, I was very excited because it was a good opportunity for me to watch more films in the series, especially ones I haven't seen. This set includes 4 new-to-DVD Charlie Chans. Three Sidney Toler Chan's Dark Alibi (1946), Dangerous Money (1946) and The Trap (1946). The fourth film, The Chinese Ring (1947), features Roland Winters as Charlie Chan.

From what I can tell from the folks I spoke to on Facebook, many classic film fans love Charlie Chan and are well-versed in all things related to this series. Nevertheless here is a little background on the films. 

The Charlie Chan mysteries were a series of 6 novels written by Earl Derr Briggers. The character in the novels works for the Honolulu police but in the movie franchise, Charlie Chan, the witty and clever Chinese detective, travels all over the world solving crimes as he goes. At first the films were done with a Chinese actor in the part of Charlie Chan but those proved unpopular. Later, popular Swedish actor Warner Oland (from Old San Francisco fame) took on the role of Chan. You may be asking yourself, what's a Swedish dude doing playing the part of a Chinaman? Although Oland was born in Sweden, he had Mongolian ancestry which made him look exotic. So for the movie studio Fox, he was Asian enough. Oland did the series and it became wildly popular. He died suddenly in 1938 and to keep the series going, they hired Scottish actor Sidney Toler to replace Oland. Toler made about 22 Chan films (some for Fox who then abandoned them and Toler bought the rights and made the rest with Monogram Pictures) until he passed away in 1947. To milk the last out of the money teat that was the Chan franchise, they hired American actor Roland Winters to film the last 6 pictures.

In my honest opinion, Oland was the best Chan, Toler was good but not great and Winters was a disaster. Who is your favorite Chan?

If you are brand new to the Charlie Chan series, you may want to start out with one of the feature-length Oland films first such as Charlie Chan in Shangai (1935). If you love the series and want some more, than this set would be a nice addition to your film collection. Here are some of my thoughts on the set:

DVD Set: It's DVD not DVD-R which is excellent and the packaging is superb. Don't expect any extras though!

Dark Alibi: Ex-cons gone straight are being framed for various bank robberies. Charlie Chan, his son Jimmy Chan and assistant Birmingham Brown are on the case. This is an enjoyable mystery with a lot of humorous moments. Great watching for a rainy day.

Dangerous Money: A murder on a cruise ship? Charlie Chan is on the case! Along with Jimmy Chan and Chattanooga Brown. This is the best film out of the set. Really enjoyable, great plot, lots of kooky characters and you'll keep changing your mind about who-dun-it.

The Trap: A girl's been murdered on Malibu Beach, another one is missing and a whole bunch of others are in danger. Jimmy Chan is called onto the case but Charlie Chan takes over and is followed by Birmingham Brown. This is by far the worst film out of the set. The gaggle of gals are simply annoying and it's difficult to care about the characters or the story.

The Chinese Ring: The princess of China has been murdered and someone is stealing money from her bank account. Charlie Chan (Roland Winters), Jimmy Chan and Birmingham Brown are on the case. Winters is simply awful as Chan but the story is good and it makes up for his shortfall [minor spoiler alert] This one is pretty dark especially since a child is murdered in the story.

This boxed set goes on sale tomorrow, June 8th. This would make a great gift for a die-hard classic film buff or someone who likes short, easy mysteries. It's not for everyone though.

Oh and something about it being on Blu-Ray too. ::smirk::

Here are a couple of videos from YouTube that Warner Bros. sent me. They'll give you a good sense of the three main characters (Charlie Chan, Jimmy Chan and the exchangeable Browns) and of the style of these movies. Enjoy!

Doctor Zhivago (1965) 45th Anniversary Edition on DVD and BluRay

Lucky for us, they didn't wait for the 50th anniversary to release this!

If I enjoyed David Lean's greatest flop, Ryan's Daughter (1970), chances are I would thoroughly enjoy one his major successes. Doctor Zhivago (1965) is truly an epic. It's one of those films that has transcended it's own medium to become an icon. One of the things I love so very much about stories like Doctor Zhivago is that is demonstrates how love can blossom in the most dire of circumstances. Even the social and political turbulence of Russia during the Revolution could not stop the romance between Lara (Julie Christie) and Yuri (Omar Sharif). If this film hasn't broken your heart it's because it's made out of stone. It's really touching, and why I still don't understand completely why Yuri loves Lara, I was still swept away by the romance and the tragedy of the story.

This DVD set is quite divine. I like how they update the look of the cover by choosing a promotional photograph instead of the dated movie poster (which in my opinion has been over used). The first disc includes Part 1 and 2 of the film complete with Overture, Intermission and Exit Music. Even though it's quite a feat to get through, it's worth watching the entire length of the film with the commentary. There intermittent commentary from Sandra Lean (David Lean's partner) and Omar Sharif along side snippets from a commentary by the late Rod Steiger who played Komarovsky. I got a wealth of information from these commentaries and I learned to appreciate the film more for its genius. It would have been nice to have Julie Christie on here, and I'm sure they tried, but alas, no Christie. Here are a few highlights from the commentaries:

1. When Yuri and Lara first cross paths it's in a trolley. They don't see each other but when they touch accidentally the electric line above the trolley gives off a spark which symbolizes the emotional spark between those two characters.
2. David Lean's favorite color was yellow and he used yellow flowers, especially sunflowers to represent beauty and hope in the film. In the scene where Yuri and Lara part for the first time, sunflower petals fall mimicking tears.
3. Julie Christie was stunning, let's face it. Lean knew that her beauty lied in her amazing face. He really wanted to focus on her eyes but felt that Christie's soft pillowy lips took away from them. So throughout the film you see that shadows cover the lips or that the light specifically highlights the eyes versus the lips.
4. Carlos Ponti bought the movie rights to the novel and wanted his wife Sophia Loren to play Lara. David Lean said that there was no way that Loren could pull of playing a 17 year old virgin and the part went to Julie Christie.
5. Lean saw a photograph of Geraldine Chaplin (daughter of Charlie Chaplin) and knew immediately he wanted her for the role of Tonya.
6. Because the book was so controversial in Russia, they had to film in another country. Spain was chosen. It wasn't really plausible to film further north because of the restricted daylight hours.
7. David Lean felt that it wasn't necessary to show violence that reaction shots were more important and added more to the drama. (Since I hate violence on screen, this is another reason why I heart Lean!).

This film is truly an English major's wet dream. There is so much detail and so much symbolism that it begs for repeated viewings, dissection and analysis. This boxed set proves to be the perfect companion for that purpose.

Also on the first DVD is a 2-part retrospective called Doctor Zhivago: A Celebration. This is so-so mostly because the people being interviewed are not that interesting. But as an analysis of the film it works fairly well.

And that's not it. There's a whole bunch more. It took me quite a long time to make it through the entire set! The second DVD is all extras and in a time in which DVD-R and stripped down DVDs reign, extras are a luxury to be fully appreciated.

The 1995 documentary Doctor Zhivago: The Making of a Russian Epic  was utterly fascinating. Tons of great information, it's hosted by Omar Sharif and there are interviews with Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Robert Bolt, Maurice Jarr, etc. Here are some interesting tidbits from the documentary:

1. The woman with the dead baby that gets pulled up onto the moving train by Yuri, the actress actually fell under the train and her legs were seriously injured. They used the actual shot of her being pulled under the train. Eek!
2. To make Egyptian Omar Sharif more Russian, they made him wax his forehead, wear a wig and pull his eyes back. He got scars from the process because he had to do it repeatedly for a year.
3. Author Pasternak's love affair with his mistress Olga is the basis of the love story of Yuri and Lara.
4. For the scene with the town of Yuriatan burning in the background, Lean had a crew burn 2 tons of rubber tires! A lot of the filming process was bad for the environment (marble dust, beeswax, painting leaves, etc.).
5. Maurice Jarre had a difficult time finding a theme Lean would like. Lean encouraged Jarre and Jarre's girlfriend to go on a romantic trip so that Jarre could be inspired to write romantic music. Thus Lara's Theme was born.

Various other documentaries and promotional videos round out the second DVD including Zhivago: Behind the Camera with David Lean, David Lean's Film Doctor Zhivhago (promo video), Moscow in Madrid (promo video), Pasternak (bio/promo), archival interviews with Sharif and Christie, Geraldine Chaplin's Screen Test, "This is" for Christie, Chaplin and Sharif, Chaplin in New York, etc. It's an exhaustive list of extras to say the least.

For a single film DVD, this is one sexy set. So I highly recommend checking it out if you are interested in a full movie experience. 

Special thanks to Warner Bros. for sending me this set to review!

LAMMY Nomination for Best Classic Movie Blog

The LAMBs have spoken. Out of the Past is one of the 7 blogs nominated for Best Classic Movie Blog. Last year this blog was nominated for Best Theme and the Classic Movie Blog is brand new. Now the LAMBs are not terribly Classic film blogger friendly. They have shuffled us into that "other" category holding us at an arms length. They treat the Horror Film bloggers even worse. But hey at least they are trying and are acknowledging us in our very own category.

If you are a LAMB and haven't voted yet, please vote for my little ole blog Out of the Past for Best Classic Movie Blog.

You may be asking yourself "Why should I vote for you?". Here are 10 good reasons why:

1.  I bake. A lot. And I'm willing to bribe people with baked goods.
2. I devote as much of my free time to this blog as possible. It's really a second job but it's also a passion. There is not a day that passes by that I don't try to think of what I should write next.
3. I read other classic film blogs religiously. Thank goodness for Google Reader!
4. A lot of work goes into each post. I try to make each post as interesting and humorous as possible and try to incorporate images and video when I can.
5. I'm friendly. I've made friends with several other film bloggers. It's a great community and I like to think I help foster that.
6. Did I mention that I bake?
7. This blog is everywhere. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Stumble Upon, MovieBlips, All Consuming, Ravelry (yes my blog feeds on a Knitting/Crocheting site!), BlogBurst, BlogHer, Latina Bloggers, Decades I Love, Golden Age of Hollywood Ning, etc.
8. This blog isn't going anywhere. As long as I'm alive and I'm watching classic films, I'll be posting on here.
9. My name Raquelle comes from the Hebrew name Rahel which means "ewe" (a female lamb). Rachel in the Old Testament was a Shepardess. So I have a sheep connection to the LAMBs. That must mean I'm perfect for winning this award? Right?!
10. Last but not least, I have the best readers any classic film blogging gal could wish for.

Even if I don't win, I'm glad to have been recognized. So thanks to everyone who voted and if you can spare a moment please vote for me again? Thank you. xoxo