How much is a word worth? In the case of "It", the answer is $50,000, and that in 1920s dollars! That's how much Paramount Studios paid to "Madame" Elinor Glyn, to use her clever idea of giving polite society a way to talk about sex appeal: By assigning it an innocuous name!
Glyn, described in the Film Historian's Commentary track as, "A hack writer for Cosmopolitan Magazine", also got a cameo appearance out of the deal; portraying herself in the film. Cosmo also got some "product placement" in the film -- before that concept had even been invented!
Read moreIn the early 20s, Carl Laemmle, Senior's, Universal Pictures was a DISTINCTLY 2nd tier studio. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" would change all that, but not without a struggle!
It was Lon Chaney, himself, who pushed for the picture to be made; only to run into road blocks and indifference. The general consensus was, Hollywood Studios of the time were incapable of producing such a massively staged, period piece.
Read moreHere's a film so hilariously bad, it's a wonder it has not made it to shiny disc before! Seriously, it must be RIGHT up there on ANYONE's list of the Worst Films Ever Made. Olive Films saw their chance, and released it on both SD-DVD and Blu-ray.
This cheesy, British, sci-fi outing was Written, Produced, and Directed by American Cy Roth, has American Anthony Dexter as its star, and goes to great pains to try to feature American accents throughout in the dialog. Indeed, it's very much as if the Brits were ALREADY trying to distance themselves from it!
Read moreIn the midst of the Great Depression, the hugely successful team of George and Ira Gershwin set out to do something absolutely new: New both for them AND for music. They contracted with the Theater Guild to create the first, "folk opera"; to be based on the 1925 novel and 1927 stage play, "Porgy", by DuBose Heyward. George Gershwin composed the music. The Libretto was produced by Heyward. And the Lyrics by Heyward and Ira Gershwin.
It would take 50 years for it to come to be!
Read moreGeorge Axelrod's 1952 play was a major, Broadway success, and pretty much all of Hollywood was eager to cash in on it. So much interest was expressed, the Hays Office took the unusual step of announcing, even BEFORE anyone secured the rights, that THIS material could NEVER ever be made into a film!
The problem was, the play is about a middle-aged everyman who has an adulterous fling while his wife and child are away on summer vacation, and then feels very very guilty about it in very very humorous ways. But one of the fundamental provisions of the Production Code was that adultery could NEVER be treated as a subject for comedy or laughs!
Read moreYOU GO JIRA!! YOU GO JIRA!!
Yes, it's 2014 and Godzilla is Living Life Large! He is definitely the king of the plus-sized monsters. Isn't it fascinating how fat monsters can still be so nimble on their feet?
Read moreWhat is widely considered the first ever "screwball comedy" -- and still one of the best -- was made by Frank Capra for Harry Cohn's "Poverty Row" studio, Columbia Pictures.
MGM had loaned Clark Gable for the film -- pocketing a neat $500/week profit over his contract salary of $2,000/week. When several actresses turned down the female lead (partly due to the script at the time making the character less sympathetic), Cohn suggested Claudette Colbert. Colbert had made a previous film with Capra which turned out poorly. And besides she had a long planned vacation scheduled to start -- just weeks away. So she told Cohn and Capra she'd only take the part if they paid DOUBLE her normal salary *AND* could complete her shooting in just 4 weeks . NOT a 4 week shoot beginning some time in the future, but 4 weeks from THAT VERY DAY! Keep in mind this was at a point when costumes and sets had yet to be created!
Read moreThere have ALWAYS been "independent" films of course. But with the gradual breakdown of the Hollywood Studio System in the 50s and early 60s, independent filmmaking really came into its own. Shooting for just 14 days, and with only $400K to spend, Director Ralph Nelson ended up Producing THIS flick all on his own, when no major studio wanted to take on the project!
The result (Distributed by United Artists) garnered an Oscar Nomination for Best Picture (losing out to "Tom Jones"). It also got Oscar Nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Lilia Skala), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Black & White Cinematography. But of course what everyone remembers is that this is the film that got Sidney Poitier his only acting Oscar.
Read moreSometimes it's truly weird how Hollywood cranks out a hit. Howard Hawks' film adaptation of the notoriously convoluted and confusing Raymond Chandler novel was actually completed, and in the can in 1945. But then Warner suddenly realized, with the war coming to an end, they had to rush all their WAR themed movies out the door RIGHT NOW while there was still a market for them! So "The Big Sleep" was put on the shelf.
And THAT gave Lauren Bacall's agent a chance to lobby with Jack Warner. To wit: The film should be reshot and reedited to give Bacall more screen time with Bogart, along with new dialog geared at reprising their fiery chemistry from, "To Have and Have Not" (1944). The result is truly amazing of course; even iconic. It probably helped that the Bacall/Bogart affair going on during the 1945 shoot had turned into the Bacall/Bogart marriage by 1946!
Read moreWriter/Director Christopher Nolan has called his blockbuster an "experimental" film; and that is both its genius and its problem. This shortish film (only 106 minutes) *IS* an experiential masterpiece. But that is accomplished at the expense of traditional story-telling and character development. It will not appeal to everyone, particularly if you come to it thinking you are about to see a typical, Hollywood-mytholgized, period history film. Ya know, with big name stars the audience can root for!
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