The Oscar (1966)

This is a terrible movie. Bad with a capital b. But it's notable for featuring two legendary stars who rarely appeared on the big screen - TV pioneer and comedian Milton Berle and legendary jazz singer Tony Bennett. The lead actor is Steven Boyd (of "Ben-Hur"), who plays a Hollywood actor named Frank who'd like to be nominated for an Oscar his recent screen role.

Berle plays Boyd's agent; his performance is just OK; according to some Oscar history books I've read, Berle was campaigning for an Oscar himself for Best Supporting Actor that year - but he wasn't nominated.

Bennett plays one of Boyd's friends. He's not that good in the role. I think this was one of his first  --- and last --- movie roles.

After about 2 hours of dull melodrama and subplots, we finally get to the last scene, the Oscar ceremony. Bob Hope has a cameo as the emcee, and there's some tension when the presenter reads the names for Best Actor.

I'm going to spoil the ending right here so don't read if you really don't want to know.

But this is the best part of the whole movie, my favorite part:

"And the winner is...Frank......(Boyd thinks he's going to win and starts to get up).... Sinatra!"

A link to a recent review of this bad film from Bobby Rivers TV here.

Blog post: The Magnificent 60s on The Oscar

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) One of my least-favorite movies

That's right. This is one of my least-favorite movies of all time. It's mean. Manipulative. Depressing. Sad. Ugh. I've never been a fan of it, even though I have seen it several times, own a copy on DVD (!) and have seen the play at least two times. I really don't understand its appeal. This is regarded as a film classic, and even the AFI hailed it as one of the Top 100 of all time (strange choice I feel). Now I like all the actors in it - including real life husband-and-wife (at the time) Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. They play married college professors who have a passion for drinking and are constantly playing mind games with each other.

The story takes place in one night: Geroge and Martha entertain guests: new professor Geroge Segal and his wife Honey (Sandy Dennis, who won Best Supporting Actress). The guests are insulted and ridiculed, and George and Martha drink to their heart's content, slurring insults at each other.

One thing I never understood is how this movie could win an Oscar for Best Costume Design. There are only 5 costumes in the entire movie. Burton wears a cardigan sweater and a black tie. This has got to be one of the strangest Oscar wins ever. In one of my rants about this (in another post), one of my readers brought a good point in that the costume designers succeeded in making the characters look pathetic.

The film is a nearly word-for-word adaptation, and there's some great camera angles and a decent set design (the cinematography and art direction won Oscars - more deservedly than Best Costumes).  Directed by Mike Nichols, known for his comedy, this film is a 180-degree switch.

The Apple (1980)

A very bizarre flashy musical released the same year as "Xanadu" and "Fame" and two years after "Grease" and "Hair". Lots of flash and glitter, and also thought-provoking: the Biblical symbolism - including the end-of-the-world ideas - was interesting. Around this time (late 70s/early 80s) there was alot of hysteria about the end of the world, and the apocalyptic book "The Late Great Planet Earth" was on the best seller chart; I imagine these themes would have been familiar to people at the time, certainly the filmmakers to some degree. After all, the year before, a movie version of "Earth" was released and featured Orson Welles. The doomsday/mark-of-the-beast themes are all clearly there in the film: the "BIM mark", the "rapture" scene at the end, etc. I saw Mr. Boogalow as Satan "personified", and Mr Topps as the God-like character bringing the resisters of the mark up to heaven.

Strangest quotes from the film:

Mr Booglaow (referring to Bibi): "She's already married...to the BIM"

Cop (to Alphie): You're not wearing the BIM mark..you know it's obligatory from now on"

Landlady (referring to Alphie's room): "What happened here last night, a pogrom?"

Landlady (to Alphie): "I need the money, this government's crazy!"

2nd Cop (to Alphie): "You're not wearing the BIM mark; here's a ticket"

Loudspeaker in a public park: "Time to stop ordinary activities and prepare for the national BIM tour...all citizens must participate"

Alphie (to the hippies): " 'Peace'...I haven't heard that word in a long time".

Fanny (1961)

Though has beautiful seashore scenery of Marseilles, I found this to be a somewhat depressing romantic drama (with a few lighthearted moments). Directed by Joshua Logan, it reteams Maurice Chevalier with Leslie Caron, but it doesn't have the heart of Gigi. The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Charles Boyer. Boyer and Horst Bucholz co-star as father and son in Fanny's life. Horst, who works in his father's cafe, is endlessly pursued by Fanny (Caron), who loves him, but he doesn't want to be tied down; he wants to be a sail the world. Yet fate - and her pregnancy - complicates things. Fanny eventually marries Maurice who is also in love with her also....but then things gets more complicated. I recommend only for the scenery of Marseilles, the costumes, and cinematography by Jack Cardiff. Though this film has no songs, it was based on a 1954 Broadway musical "Fanny" by S. N. Behrman, Joshua Logan, and Harold Rome, which in turn had been adapted from the triology of 1930s plays "Fanny", "Marius" and "César" by Marcel Pagnol. I prefer Gigi instead.

Sarah of ...And Scene has written a good review of this movie and included some nice screen caps. View the post here.

Marty (1955) Starring Ernest Borgnine

This is one of my favorite movies; set in New York, it's about two single adults who don't feel like they fit but find a connection with each other. Ernest Borgnine is a lonely butcher.  He's in his 30s and still lives at home with his Italian mother.

At the butcher shop, everyone asks Marty when he's gonna get married. He and his buddy Angelo/"Angie" (Joe Mantell) hang out at bars and then ultimately end up watching TV at home.

He meets Betsy Blair at a dance. She's called a nasty name by her date, who leaves without her. The two end up talking for the rest of the night.  The original production was a TV film, one of the first ever, and starred Rod Stieger in the lead role. In 1955 the film was remade and released in theaters produced by Burt Lancaster.

Ernest Borgnine, previously known for From Here To Eternity, stars as Marty, a single butcher in.

It's a great film with great characters and dialogue focusing on self esteem and body acceptance, rarely talked about in films at that time. It won Best Picture at the Oscars, and Ernest Borgnine won Best Actor. Betsy Blair and Joe Mantell were also nominated for their roles.