The Poseidon Adventure (1972) New Year's Eve Celebration

Last night I celebrated New Years Eve at special screening of the original 1972 classic at Chicago's historic golden-age movie palace, The Music Box. But this was no ordinary viewing of the the film - this was a Rocky Horror-esque experience, complete with hats and party favors, champagne, and a pre-show hosted by a group of local performers that included a costume contest (see picture below - the woman dressed as Mrs. Rosen won the grand prize), an audience sing-along to "The Morning After", and a few quirky performances of songs from the locally-produced Poseidon: An Upside Down Musical.



Everyone got an audience interactive/participation guide (when/what to shout out at what times) and there was even a "running commentary" provided by a goofball comedian with a microphone. The coolest part was that the screening was timed so that everyone - off AND onscreen - celebrated midnight at the exactly the same time.

VIDEO CLIPS FROM LAST NIGHT

1. (90 seconds) Ringing in 2010 with the passengers of the SS Poseidon!



2. (20-seconds) Outside of the Music Box, built in 1929.

BONUS!

I love this clip! Someone edited together the capsizing scene with Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding. Check this out!


Click here for my capsule review of the film itself.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Capsule Review

Seen as campy today by some, this exciting 1972 film is one of my favorites, an inspiring story of courage and survival. If you haven't seen it before, all you really need to know is that once the ship capsizes, the "adventure" begins. Actually, its more of a quest for survival than an "adventure", I'd say. Unlike some so-called "disaster" films from this era such as the inferior Aiport sequels from this same era, this film - 1972's biggest box office hit after The Godfather - has brave characters you actually care about, such as Gene Hackman's Rev. Scott and Shelly Winters' Mrs Rosen, both sacrificing their lives for the others in the small group of survivors.



Not long ago, I watched this movie on the big screen in its entirety for the first time, and on a big screen - the way it was meant to be seen. Nothing like it. I broke down during Ms Winter's final scenes in the movie; she's so wonderful in this. Jack Albertson and Winters are so memorably endearing as Mr. and Mrs. Rosen. You can easily fall in love with their characters, and even feel like they are part of your own family. Ernest Borgnine is great as the impatient cop skeptical of Rev. Scott throughout - until the end. What happens to his wife, played by Stella Stevens, I did not expect. This is one of Gene Hackman's greatest performances. It really is thrilling. Don't miss it!

BONUS #1

On his blog, Mr. Jeffery posted a photo of a Mrs. Rosen action figure that came out in the 70s! I had no idea they came out with this line of figures back then. Pretty cool!

BONUS #2

I love this clip! Someone edited together the capsizing scene with Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding. A version of this was shown on the Oscars a number of years back, right before they gave out the Best Film Editing award. Check this out!

Movie Reviews 557 – The Poseidon Adventure (1972) | Lazarus' Lair (wordpress.com)

A Patch of Blue (1965)

This film is memorable for being one of the first films to tackle the subject of interracial couples (Sidney Poitier and Elizabeth Hartman). 

A touching element of the story is that Hartman is blind, and loves Sidney regardless of the color of his skin.

Shelley Winters plays her racist mother. She's so mean in this film that I didn't like her for a long time. Not until I saw her in The Diary of Anne Frank and The Poseidon Adventure. 

The performances are brilliant, as is the direction. I also enjoy the location shots on real city streets and in a real grocery store where you can see how low prices were back then. 

It is also a film that I think many can relate to, even in our modern times, because the characters are so familiar to real people that we likely know or have heard about. 

Every time I re-watch this movie, it just keeps getting better and better, and is one of those movies that really holds up well after so many years.