Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975)

Neil Simon's funny and sweet 70s urban-living comedy stars Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft, and.... New York City! A must see for fans of all of them. Empty-nesters Mel and Edna (Lemmon and Bancroft) learn to live with some major life crises - all in a matter of days: Lemmon loses his job, their apartment in the Upper East Side (The Mayflower Apartments on Second and 88th Street) gets burglarized, Lemmon looks for a job, Bancroft goes back to work full time, Lemmon gets robbed by pickpocket on the street (played by Sylvester Stallone - 1 year before "Rocky"), Bancroft loses her job, and Lemmon seeps into a manic depression, and comically lashes out any chance he can get at anyone and everyone. Throughout the entire film he pretty much plays Felix Unger after the meat loaf burns. Ms Bancroft is both very sweet and very manic in this movie - and Lemmon is a perfect neurotic, as always. There is a hilarious scene with Lemmon going completely nuts in the living room, spewing out the most outrageous conspiracy theory about unemployment you've ever heard. Bancroft also has a scene at the end where she flips out. And their banter is quite "Bickersons"-esque. Also starring Gene Saks (from "A Thousand Clowns" - ironically, his role here in "Prisoner" is much like Martin Balsam's in "Clowns") as Lemmon's brother who tries to help him out of his neurosis. Was originally a Broadway hit with Mike Nichols directing (and winning a Tony for Best Director). More Trivia: On the stage, Peter Falk and Lee Grant played the leads, and Vincent Gardenia won a Tony for Best supporting Actor as the brother. Other than the plentiful New York exterior shots, the rest of the movie - mostly apartment scenes - was filmed at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, CA.

Dead End (1937)

Great cast and performances. Based on the play by Lillian Hellman, who also wrote the screenplay. Takes place in a slum neighborhood in New York. First, we're introduced to a gang of hoodlums. This group of actors appeared again in some other pictures, so they were dubbed, "The Dead End Kids". Silvia Sidney plays the sister of one of them; she's struggling to keep food on the table for herself and the kid. Her political activism and her brother's delinquency causes her endless stress. She vents to her friend Joel McCrea, a former gang member who is now a struggling architect, looking for work and waiting for his big break. In comes Humphrey Bogart, also a former "Dead End" kid, now wanted by the law. His character - Baby Face Martin - has plastic surgery and becomes unrecognizable. He hangs around the neighborhood and tries to reconcile with his mother (played by Marjorie Main) - who wants nothing to do with him - and his ex-girlfriend played by Claire Trevor, now a sick and broke prostitute. Ms. Trevor's one 5-minute scene with Bogart was so powerful and memorable with audiences that she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Feeling completely depressed and rejected, Bogart attempts to kidnap of the neighborhood rich kids for ransom, but is shot down at the end, which provides' the film moral lesson, which McCrea explains to one of the kids - stay off the streets. The Dead End Kids steal this movie with every scene they are in. Silvia Sidney is very powerful and moving as well, and also deserving of a nomination. Bogart is perfect as the gangster. Silvia Sidney gets top billing, though. Bogart had not yet made his mark. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by William Wyler. Ward Bond plays one of the cops.

Read More about the Dead End Kids from the blog FilmFiles.

Dawn has written a great review of this movie on her blog.

The Deadly Mantis (1957)

Probably due to global warming, a 200-foot long prehistoric Praying Mantis is unthawed on the North Pole. At first, it flies to and fro terrorizing eskimos and pilots, then makes its way to Washington DC. The insect crawls up the Washington Monument "King-Kong" style. The best part of the movie is the last 10 minutes, when the insect makes its way to the Big Apple and is gassed down by the military in the Holland Tunnel. A well deserving feature on "MST3K" in 1997 (ep #804).

Other reviews of this movie:
Mike's Moviepalace (blog)

Monster on the Campus (1958)

Another Universal monster classic, Our story begins on a 50s college campus of course, when a rare giant fish from Madagascar is delivered to the lab of a biology professor (Arthur Franz, veteran of campy B-movies). Obsessed with endangered species, the doc begins to conduct some studies it, yet doesn't realize that it's filled with a powerful drug that can change any living creature back into its neanderthalic state. So when a dragon fly lands on it, it becomes a huge prehistoric creature. When a dog licks the blood of the fish, it becomes a vicious saber-toothed wolf. And when the good doctor cuts his hand on the fish's jaws, oh brother watch out - because that's when the movie goes Jeckyll-and-Hyde-esque, as the nutty professor instantly transforms into the titular beast. It's most violent part shows the monster throwing an ax into the face of a park ranger, gruesome for 1958. Troy Donohue plays one of his students. Also starring - in her only role as a lead actress - Joanna Moore (mother of Tatum O'Neal) If remade today, I bet the writers would have the savage attack some horny coeds in the bedroom of at some wild frat party. Directed by Jack Arnold ("Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Incredible Shrinking Man"). Interestingly, this film was never featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" - it could have been!

Elia Kazan's America America (1963)

This is a film largely forgotten today, but was acclaimed when it was initially released in 1963.

It was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director - Elia Kazan, who also directed "On the Waterfront" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" and so many other classic films from the 40s-60s.

The film is a coming of age story about a young Greek teenager who leaves his town for America, the country of his dreams.

It's a personal film of Kazan's, who made the film in honor of his family roots and own experiences of traveling to America from eastern Europe.

I first watched this film in 2005 on VHS.

Song of the South (1946)

Producer Walt Disney had a dream project of bringing the American folklore of "Uncle Remus" to the big screen. He wanted animated sequences of his tall tales featuring the mischievous and cunning "Brer Rabbit" character. This movie is the result, but due to its offensive racial stereotypes it has not been showed in theaters since 1986 (when I first saw it as a kid).

The setting is the deep South. Little Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) is traveling from Atlanta to a plantation mansion (he thinks it's a vacation --- his parents have ulterior motives)...he travels along with his mother (Ruth Warrick from "Citizen Kane") and father, as well as their maid played by Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel.

There are a few nice scenes in the movie with McDaniel & Uncle Remus talking together, but not many. The entire movie is told from little Johnny's point of view---he hates having to stay in this big house, owned by his mean old grandmother (Lucille Watson, from "Watch on the Rhine"). He's also suspicious of why his father has to move back to Atlanta without him and mom (he writes un-explained controversial articles for a local newspaper). Further explanation of the father's actions may be too "adult" in nature for a kid's film, though. The parents later reunite.

Johnny runs away first chance he can get (can you blame him?), but meets up with the famous Uncle Remus, who tells him a tale of Brer Rabbit running away from his briar patch but finds nothing but trouble. Basically Uncle Remus is teaching him a lesson in "staying put".

Johnny then meets up with a little girl named Ginny; she gives him a little puppy and then her two mean brothers pick on him.

Remus then tells Johnny a few stories about bullies Brer Fox and Brer Bear. All these stories eventually teaches Johnny valuable life lessons.

The mean white adults don't appreciate Remus, and scold him for keeping Johnny after curfue with his tall tales.

Movie turns very sentimental when Remus, feeling unappreciated, decides to move out and away to Atlanta. Little Johnny races after Remus begging him to come back, but in the process, he gets trampled by a bull and almost dies. Remus tells another tale of Brer Rabbit.

I remember seeing this movie in the the theaters in 1986 when I was 10 years old. All the racist stuff flew over my head, and I was bored with all the drama and scenes with the humans - I just wanted to see more of the cartoon sequences with Brer Rabbit - which are just about 20 minutes in the 90 minute film. Seeing the film again in its entirety again as an adult I am able to appreciate the moral of the story and what Disney was trying to express on the screen. He meant it to be an inspiring film with alot of toe tapping and hummable tunes. A film like this is most definitely a product of it's time.

Read more about this film and its sources from the blog Voyages Extraordinaires (from Jan 2019)

Trivia:
"Zip A Dee Doo Dah" won the Oscar for Best Song of the year.

"The Squaw Man" (1914)

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We Were Strangers (1949)

Jennifer Jones gives one of her best performances as a Cuban woman who joins an underground revolutionary movement to overthrow the ruthless president in 1933. She joins after her brother is shot dead by the governement for opposition. John Garfield co-stars as her love interest. John Huston's pro-freedom labor of love, which includes a quote from Thomas Jefferson ("Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God") in the beginning.

For a few more pictures, visit the Artman's blog post here. He is a big John Garfield fan.

You're A Big Boy Now (1966)

One of Francis Ford Coppola's very first full-length feature films, a coming of age comedy about lonely, virginal, nebbish young Bernard (Peter Kastner) who works in the library (on roller skates!) and has only one thing on his mind: girls! And not just any library, it's the New York Public Library. In fact, the city itself is one of the film's co-stars: lots of scenes in and around the streets of NYC and Central Park. Bernard's dad (Rip Torn) is also his boss in the library, always looking down on him and calling him "big boy". He has a buddy who teaches him about girls, smoking, and getting high. One day he sees a beautiful actress (Elizabeth Hartman) sitting on the "Alice" sculpture in Central Park, only to see her again and again in the days to come. Lonely, he paces the streets of New York and runs into his co-worker (Karen Black) who secretly has a crush on him. She finds him in a private peep show just as he gets his tie stuck in the machine. They walk the streets together and we're treated to scenes of NYC nightlife and movie picture marquee lights: some theaters showing a double feature of "Shenandoah" and "Father Goose", another showing "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming".

The hand-held camera work and quick-edits is done in a style that was not uncommon for its time. Coppola was able to recruit numerous other well-known stars for this film in other supporting roles: Michael Dunn (Ship of Fools) as Elizabeth Hartman's fellow bohemian in the theater scene, Geraldine Page as Bernard's overprotective, manipulative, pushy, controlling mother, legendary Julie Harris as Bernard's landlady, and Dolph Sweet ("Gimmie a Break!") as the landlady's handyman. Bernard rebels at the end, throwing a fit in the library in front his parents which leads to a madcap, screwball-esque chase through the NY Library and the streets, ending up in a department store. Additional info: Songs are by the Loving Spoonfools. Page was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. This was one of just a handful of motion pictures that Canadian-actor Peter Kastner appeared in. He retired from acting for many years, and died in November of 2008. It was rumored that he was being considered for the lead in the "Graduate". He'd be a good choice; you gotta see this film. It's like a "60's" time capsule.

Gregory Peck in The Chairman (1969)

Gregory Peck plays a nobel-prize winning scientist who travels to China to learn about a new medicine for diabetics.

He agrees to allow a recording chip to be implanted in his brain, and refers to himself as a "walking bug". The chip also doubles as a bomb, which heightens tension.

This is not a great movie, but there's some good scenery of China. Another highlight is seeing Peck meet "The Chairman", Mao (played by actor Conrad Yama) and engaging him in a game of ping-pong.

Co-starring Keye Luke.

Treasure of The Sierra Madre (1948)

One of my favorite movies ever. Greed and obsession with gold. A classic starring Humphrey Bogart as a gold digger in the mountains of Tampico, Mexico. The movie starts off explaining how he starts on his mission for gold, and meets up with Tim Holt and Walter Huston who become his partners.

Based on a book by B. Traven, a writer who lived in Mexico. I've heard some great things about some of his other stories and want to read more of his work one day.

Read Ed's review from his blog, Decisions at Sundown: A Blog About Westerns.

Read Rod's review from his blog, This Island Rod.

Read an interesting post from Projections.

Another great post from Confessions of a Film Philistine. 

Outcasts of Poker Flats (1952)

I did not like this film, based on a short story by Bret Harte from 1868 about outcasts. Anne Baxter, in a lifeless performance, is part of an ensemble cast of characters driven from the titular town for various reasons (bank robbery, drunkenness, etc) explained in monologues and long-winded conversations during the film when they all band together in an abandoned wilderness cabin during a snowstorm. With numerous scenes with the group on horses traveling through the woods or passing the time in the cabin playing poker, it's slow moving, 80-minute film. Not recommended.

Frank Tashlin cartoons

On Tuesday nite July 7 '09, the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles screened more than a dozen animated shorts directed by Frank Tashlin, from his involvement in several different animation studios. Tashlin is perhaps best known today for his work directing live-action Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, and Jerry Lewis comedies, where characters and situations are often rather cartoonish. Not surprising that years earlier, he began his career in Hollywood as an animator. The special screening and discussion by animation historian Frank Beck covered the director's early career. First, he worked for the Fleischer Animation Studios in New York as an errand boy and cel-washer. He then moved on to work for Van Beuren, the nearly forgotten animation studio responsible for such series as Aesop's Fables and the original Tom and Jerry, not to be confused with the now-famous cat and mouse duo(see picture at left). He moved on to Warner Brothers and Leon Schlesinget and directed cartoons from 1936-38. Most featured Porky Pig, some with Daffy Duck. Most all of them were in Black and White. Some were very racy and very violent. From 1939-41 he worked for the Disney studios. Then he moved on to Screen Gems in 1941. During the war, he directed a series of cartoons for the miliary ("Private Snafu"). Some of his last short films were stop-motion animation, and we watched one of these gems: Daffy Ditties: Pepito's Serenade from 1946.

Shorts that were screened at the Silent:

"Hook and Ladder Hookim" B/W(Tom and Jerry)
"Porky's Romance" B/W (1946)
"The Fox and the Grapes" (1941)
"A Hollywood Detour" (1942)
Scrap Happy Daffy" (WW2 Theme with Daffy Duck) (1943)
"Swooner Crooner" (Frank Sinatra-esqe Chickens) (1944)
"Censored" (A "Private Snafu" edu-tainment cartoon for soilders) (1944) (uncredited)
"A Tale of Two Mice" (Abbot and Costello-esque mice)(1945)
"Pepito's Serenade" (Stop Motion Animation) (1946)

The Wiz (1979)

This movie I remember seeing many years ago and enjoying, it's a modern update (at least for the 70s) of The Wizard of Oz featuring an all black cast and urban setting, catchy songs and memorable scenes. I will never forget Lena Horne as Glinda the Good Witch. Humorous is Richard Pryor as the wizard.

An impressive adaptation of the hit Broadway musical directed by Sidney Lumet and music by Quincy Jones. Diana Ross is Dorothy, and Michael Jackson is the Scarecrow, in his only film acting role.

MJ could have gone down the route of other singers, and made bad some bad films but he never did, to his credit.

B

Jaws (1975)

My favorite Spielberg film, this is an exciting movie about the hunt for a killer shark off the coast of the fictional town of Amity Island. Told from the point of view of police chief Brody (Roy Schieder) who's torn between the stubborn mayor's decision to keep the beaches open on the fourth of July and his gut reaction to the dangers in the water, where a skinny dipping hippy was chewed alive the night before. It takes two or three more chompings for the idiot mayor to take the threat seriously. In comes gung-ho shark hunter Quint (great character actor Robert Shaw) and collegiate shark expert Richard Dreyfuss. The three go out to sea in the second half on Quint's boat and look for the beast. John William's music is just brilliant; this movie deserves its status as a classic. Robert Shaw, from "Pelham", "Sting" and "Man for All Seasons", passed away much too soon. Such a great actor. This movie was so awesome to watch under the stars in Hollywood Forever Cemetary, where I saw it on July 4th 2009 in LA, proceeded by a tribute to Michael Jackson with some of biggest hits. People dancing and having a great time outdoors. An awesome night. In Los Angeles during the summer, you must check out the outdoor Cinespia screenings.

1776 (1972) seeing on a big screen with Q&A

I saw this today in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theater with my friend Mike. First, it was a Broadway hit, winning the Tony for Best Musical. Then it was made into a film in 1972, produced by one of the original Warner brothers: Jack L. Warner, who loved the Broadway show. Most of the original cast was recruited; most names were unfamiliar to moviegoers, though many had notable screen credits: William Daniels had a small role in 1965's A Thousand Clowns as a social worker, and Howard DeSilva was in The Lost Weekend and Sargent York. Songs are memorable- and it's so wonderful what has been done with this film: expanded sets, beautiful exteriors, lush costumes, impressive cinematography, and great music - grand entertainment. Here's a version of a Broadway show that I think works much better on the screen than on the stage. I've seen the musical performed live twice and I always think back to this movie. William Daniels's performance is brilliant; I think he deserved an Oscar for it. The Academy didn't favor this movie, though. The big musical film of 1972 was Cabaret, and the biggest movie was The Godfather.

The screening was followed by a Q and A with director Peter Stone. At the Q&A at the Egyptian, Peter Stone recalled some fond memories of working on the stage show: how professional the actors were, and how they staged a special showing at the White House for President Nixon.