Tag: comedy

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Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980) Favorite Modern Movies (post-1980)

Celebrate the Drive-In Blogathon–Memories, Drive-In List Game, and The Facts of Life (1960)

This blog entry is going to have three parts: 1) My memory of the Drive-In; 2) My answers to the Drive-In Movie List Game; and 3) My highlight of a very funny scene in The Facts of Life (1960) that takes place at a Drive-In.

1. My Memory of the Drive-In

Site of the former North Salem Drive-In, now the Highway Fuel Co. Note that the site has the cone Drive-In shape.

Having been born in 1984, I missed the heyday of the Drive-In. By the time I was old enough to be out watching movies in a theater, or even at the Drive-In, most of the Drive-Ins in my hometown (Salem, OR) were long gone. I performed some research at cinematreasures.org and discovered that Salem had the following Drive-Ins:

  • North Salem Drive-In, Opened 1954. Closed 1982.
  • South Salem Drive-In #1, Opened 1953. Closed 1961.
  • South Salem Drive-In #2, Opened 1970. Closed 1993.

The South Salem Drive-In #2, is the one that I visited when I was in the third grade in 1992. From reading about the history of South Salem Drive-In #1, it sounds like the Drive-In closed in 1961, then was finished off for good by a fire in 1964. The South Salem Drive-In #2 opened in 1970 a few miles away. Interestingly, the original site of the South Salem Drive-In has never been developed and it still has the classic cone shaped plot that Drive-Ins often had. From this bird’s-eye view, it is easy to make out the layout of the Drive-In.

Current bird’s-eye view of the former site of the South Salem Drive-In. It closed in 1961.

As for the South Salem Drive-In #2, I remember the last film I saw was Wayne’s World (1992). I cannot recall any specifics about the experience, and I have to think that we saw another film too since Drive-Ins often show double features. I have vague memories of my dad setting the radio station to pick up the movie, and our snacks that we brought from home. I remember also being able to look around and see glimpses of the other movies being screened.

The site of the old South Salem Drive-In. The building with the pin is the current Regal multiplex. The rectangle on the left still shows the berms from one of the old screens. Another access road is seen on the left.
The old derelict South Salem Drive-In sign that stood for 13 years past the Drive-In’s 1994 closure, finally being torn down in 2007.
The electrical components of the South Salem Drive-In marquee. This is what they looked like after 13 years of sitting unused, out in the elements.

The South Salem Drive-In ended up closing in 1993. In 1994, there was a “mysterious fire” in the projection booth and concession stand. It was officially ruled to be arson, but the community was very skeptical. Later, the same year, another fire all but put an end to any remaining structures at the Drive-In. One would think that the Drive-In closing, and the actual building of the multiplex Santiam 11 Regal Cinemas (the first in Salem with stadium seating!) in 1999, that the South Salem Drive-In marquee sign would be torn down. Nope! Not only did the South Salem Drive-In sign continue to stand for 13 years after its closure, until it was finally torn down in 2007, Regal Cinemas STILL hasn’t built an entrance sign for the theater. The Drive-In sign became something of a Salem landmark. It was only torn down when it was deemed a Safety hazard.

2. My Answers to the Drive-In Movie List Game

1. What is your favorite science fiction movie featuring aliens?

Science fiction and movies with aliens aren’t typically my cup of tea. Occasionally aliens will be fun, like Alf, the Neutrinos in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Jeff Goldblum and Jim Carrey in Earth Girls Are Easy. I also like the alien cast of Third Rock From the Sun. However, to answer this question, I do enjoy the original The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), with Michael Rennie as the alien Klaatu and The Blob (1958) starring the alien, The Blob.

The Blob, star of “The Blob.”

2. What is your favorite science fiction movie that has no aliens?

Again, science fiction isn’t really my thing, but in researching what films were considered science fiction that don’t have aliens, I found that I did enjoy a lot of films on the list. Most of the films I like involved time travel. I love Back to the Future (1985) with Michael J Fox traveling back to 1955 from 1985 and inadvertently preventing his parents from meeting. Time is of the essence as he pretends to be high school student “Calvin Klein” and tries to get his future parents to go to the dance together. The dance is where they met.

3. What is Your Favorite Movie Featuring Action Heroes or Superheroes?

I love Frank Drebin, played to perfection by Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun trilogy. He is the perfect spoof of the 1980s/1990s action hero with car crashes, intense student driving lessons, fun Bond-like gadgets, and high stakes missions, like preventing the assassination of Queen Elizabeth II at an Anaheim Angels baseball game. Frank memorably goes undercover as Enrico Pallazo and umpires the baseball game as he looks for which player has been set-up to kill the queen. Aside from the Naked Gun films, I also love the 1980s/1990s Batman films, with Batman Returns (1992) being my favorite. Michelle Pfeiffer is the quintessential Catwoman. I saw this movie in the theater in the third grade and had all the commemorative cups from McDonalds.

Enrico Pallazo showing off his moves in “The Naked Gun.”

4. What is Your Favorite Movie Featuring Outcasts or Antiheroes?

I love The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996) featuring the iconic Brady family living in 1990s Los Angeles. The world around them has become grungier and less squeaky clean, but the Bradys remain firmly entrenched in the 1970s. The entire Brady family, dressed to the hilt in 1970s leisure suits and polyester, are ridiculed to their faces and behind their backs, with the family members oblivious to the insults. Marcia is hilariously still popular (despite her dated clothing) but is ridiculed by Doug Simpson “the big man on campus,” and neighbor Eric who says “she’s harder to get into than a Pearl Jam concert.” They think Marcia is such a goody goody because she won’t let a boy put his hand on her shoulder on a first date (that’s third base), let alone sleep with them. Marcia doesn’t even give them a second thought though as her biggest drama is having two dates for the same evening. The Brady family stick out like a sore thumb in the 90s, but you can’t help but root for Marcia to brush her hair 100 times, get Davy Jones to appear at the high school prom and win $20,000 in the talent show to pay their tax bill and prevent losing their home.

5. What is Your Favorite Horror Movie Featuring Monsters?

I love Little Shop of Horrors (1986) with Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, and of course, Audrey II. I love that Audrey II is sassy and vulgar and sings the banger, “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space.” The music in this film is fantastic. I love Steve Martin’s “Dentist” song and Audrey’s “Somewhere That’s Green” where she dreams about watching I Love Lucy on the 12″ screen. The Henson Company’s puppetry is fantastic. The puppet itself is also very impressive. The cast is also great. Who knew Rick Moranis was such a good singer?

Audrey II in “The Little Shop of Horrors.” I love the little plants.

6. What is Your Favorite Horror Movie with No Monster?

I am not a big horror fan either, but I do like thrillers or really cheesy slashers like the original Friday the 13th. However, I am willing to give any genre a chance if the film intrigues me. One of my favorite monster-less horror movies is the original version of The Stepford Wives (1975) starring Katharine Ross. Ross plays Joanna and moves from New York City to the idyllic community of Stepford, Connecticut. She befriends the local wives, including Paula Prentiss and Tina Louise. Soon she starts noticing that some of the other wives seem to be robotic, incredibly submissive, and devoid of any distinct personality. Then she witnesses one of the women repeating herself over and over–almost like she’s a broken record. I love this movie. It’s so delightfully beautiful and creepy.

7. What’s Your Favorite Movie Featuring Motorcycles or Cars?

I love Smokey and the Bandit (1977). I’ve seen this movie at least a dozen times, but a few years ago, my sister and I saw it in the theater and it was amazing. This movie is perfection with the cool and somewhat reckless Burt Reynolds as the titular Bandit, and Sally Field as the gorgeous, yet sassy and bitter “Frog.” Paul Williams plays Little Enos. Then Jerry Reed plays not only Bandit’s BFF “The Snowman” who travels with his basset hound, Fred, he also sings the catchy and fantastic theme song of the movie, “Eastbound and Down.” As great as Reynolds’ black Trans Am is and as fun as the car scenes are, this film’s greatest asset is Jackie Gleason as Buford T Justice, aka “Smokey Bear.” Every single thing that Buford T Justice says is hilarious. Some day, I’d love to go into Carl’s Jr that has a Diablo burger and say “Get me a Diablo sandwich and a Dr Pepper and make it quick because I’m in a goddamned hurry!” However, I don’t want a Diablo burger and I also think the staff would have no idea what I’m saying, so I’d just look like a jerk.

Jr. tries to keep Papa Buford’s hat on his head in “Smokey and the Bandit”

8. What is Your Favorite Movie Featuring Gangs or Criminals?

I love film noir, so there are a million films that I love that fit this criteria. One of my favorites is White Heat (1949) starring James Cagney as gangster Cody Jarrett who has a mommy complex and reoccurring debilitating migraines. He is being tailed by FBI agent Fallon (Edmond O’Brien) who manages to get inside Cody’s gang. Cody has an explosive temper and ending. Virginia Mayo who plays Cody’s girlfriend has one of my all-time favorite lines, “Money’s just paper if you don’t spend it.” Other gang or criminal movies I love are The Killing (1956), Gun Crazy (1950), and Double Indemnity (1944).

9. What is Your Favorite Movie Featuring War or a War Setting?

I am not a big war person. However, I love movies about the World War II home front, or if it prominently features war, I’d rather the war have something else like a romance or some other story intertwined and not focus solely on the battle and maneuvers. The actual scenes of war with battles and maneuvers and such don’t usually excite me. One of my favorite war movies is From Here to Eternity (1953) that takes place in the days leading up to December 7, 1941. This movie only really has war at the end, but the audience knows that it’s coming while the soldiers are practicing mundane drills and such. There are also two romances and drama that I enjoy. Another war movie I love is Cry Havoc (1943) about a group of volunteer women (mostly civilians, some nurses) who live together and administer aid and care to the wounded soldiers.

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in that iconic beach scene from “From Here to Eternity”

10. What is Your Favorite Movie Featuring a Mystery?

I love film noir, Hitchcock, the mystery-comedy movies like The Thin Man series, but my favorite is probably Mildred Pierce (1945) where the mystery of who murdered playboy Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott) is revealed. Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford), wife to Monte, is brought in for questioning. The entire action of the film is unveiled via flashback. We learn about Mildred’s divorce from husband Bert (Bruce Bennett) and her children, especially her horribly spoiled daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth). Jack Carson and Eve Arden are the buddy comedy that we never knew we wanted as they provide support to Mildred throughout the film. This movie is fantastic and I love Veda. Veda is my queen.

11. What is Your Favorite Movie Western?

I haven’t seen a ton of Westerns, but I am trying to watch more. I love Shane (1953) starring Alan Ladd as the titular Shane. This is one of those typical stranger arrives in town type films. Shane comes to the aid of the local Starrett family, led by Van Heflin and Jean Arthur, whose land is at risk of being taken over by a wealthy cattle baron. Ladd is fantastic in this film as are Heflin and Arthur. Shane is known as a great gunslinger and his presence in town threatens the cattle baron. He in turn hires Jack Palance, another great gunslinger to take on Shane. This film is gorgeous to look at and exciting to watch.

Alan Ladd in “Shane”

12. What is Your Favorite Adventure Film?

I love The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with my favorite, Errol Flynn. Despite Flynn not being particularly excited by the role, he was born to play Robin Hood. He is sheer perfection in this film as are Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian and Claude Rains as Prince John. The Adventures of Robin Hood is as close to a perfect film as one can get. The Technicolor is gorgeous. The costumes are gorgeous. The scenery is beautiful. The action scenes are exciting. The score is fantastic. Everything about this film is perfection.

13. What is Your Favorite Movie Featuring a Female Lead?

My #1 favorite movie of all time is The Long, Long Trailer (1954) starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Made in the middle of I Love Lucy, this film plays more or less like a 90 minute long episode, sans the Mertzes. The Long, Long Trailer is hilarious. I have seen this movie at least 100 times (no exaggeration). I wore out two VHS, two DVD, and now I have a blu ray. I’ve seen it on the big screen twice. My favorite part of this film is when Lucy falls out of the trailer, on her back, into a giant mud puddle. The scream she lets out is hysterical.

Lucy tries to cook dinner in the back of a moving trailer in “The Long, Long Trailer.” It does not go well.

14. What is Your Favorite Movie Featuring Beaches and Rock and Roll?

If there’s another type of film I love besides film noir, women in prison, and The Long Long Trailer, it’s teen beach movies–especially 1950s and 1960s teen beach movies. My favorite of the teen beach movies is the OG, Gidget (1959), starring Sandra Dee as everyone’s favorite girl surfer, and teen idol James Darren as Moondoggie. Cliff Robertson plays The Big Kahuna. Gidget features another teen beach movie trope, the luau. James Darren croons two songs, including the title track “Gidget” and “The Next Best Thing to Love.” I also love the sequel, Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) with Deborah Walley as a redheaded Gidget and Darren again as Moondoggie. Carl Reiner and Jeff Donnell play Gidget’s parents.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Beach Party movies. I love Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Linda Evans shows up as “Sugar Kane” a singer with whom Frankie is instantly smitten, much to Annette’s chagrin. Like in all Beach Party movies, Frankie says/does something dumb and Annette is mad at him. Then there’s the world’s oldest teen gang member, Eric Von Zipper, who gets involved. Joel McCrea’s son, Jody, meets a mermaid. And Buster Keaton spends the entire movie chasing a bikini girl. Then there’s my girl, Deborah Walley, playing a skydiving instructor. This movie makes absolutely no sense, but I love it.

For a more serious teen beach movie with rock and roll, I love Where the Boys Are (1960) starring Dolores Hope, Paula Prentiss, Yvette Mimieux, and Connie Francis. The four women play college students who decide to leave their snowy college town for a week long, warm spring break in Florida. Each girl hopes to meet a boy, but each have different goals and personalities. Their beaus end up being George Hamilton, Jim Hutton, a disgusting creep named Dill, and Frank Gorshin. Yvette Mimieux probably gets the saddest, but juiciest part. In between the drama however, are a lot of hilarious scenes and a fantastic title song sung by Connie Francis.

Honorable Mentions for favorite beach rock and roll movies: Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) with Vincent Price; Beach Party (1963) with Frankie and Annette; Muscle Beach Party (1964) with Frankie and Annette; It’s a Bikini World (1967) with Deborah Walley; For Those Who Think Young (1964) with James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, Nancy Sinatra, Bob Denver, Tina Louise, Paul Lynde (!) and Ellen Burstyn!; Girl Happy (1965); and Clambake (1967) both starring Elvis and Shelley Fabares.

For those who love horror and teen beach movies and would love to see the two combined, I recommend Psycho Beach Party (2000) which follows the Gidget storyline almost exactly, but in this film, Gidget acts more like Michael Myers.

Moondoggie teaches Gidget how to surf in “Gidget”

3. Movie Featuring the Drive-In–“The Facts of Life” (1960)

An interesting movie poster for this film

After I Love Lucy and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour ended in 1960, and her divorce from Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball signed on to co-star with longtime friend, Bob Hope. The Facts of Life (not to be confused with the 1979-1988 television show of the same name) featured Ball and Hope as Kitty and Larry, a pair of friends who embark on an extra-marital affair. Both have issues in their respective marriages that drive them into each other’s arms. Kitty’s husband is always working or gambling. Larry’s wife is so preoccupied with the children, not paying any attention to him unless it has to do with the kids. Every year, Kitty and her husband, Larry and his wife, and another couple all take the same vacation to Acapulco. However, this year, after a series of illnesses and events, Kitty and Larry find themselves on the vacation alone. Eventually, we know it will come to a point where they’ll need to decide whether their relationship is worth breaking up two marriages.

Scene of the Drive-In in “The Facts of Life” (1960)

Despite The Facts of Life being a rather mature film for 1960 and for Lucille Ball and Bob Hope, two actors primarily known for comedy, there is a very comedic scene in this film that takes place at, you guessed it, a Drive-In! Before Kitty and Larry deliberate about whether to divorce their respective spouses for each other, they try to carry on their affair discreetly, under everyone’s noses. One evening, Kitty and Larry arrange to rendezvous at the local Drive-In. However, Larry is detained when his wife, Mary, asks him to go to their son’s scout meeting.

Lucy and Bob Hope rendezvous at the Olympic Drive-In in LA. According to the internet, it is long gone and is now a car dealership.

Larry finally arrives at the Drive-In and climbs into Kitty’s car. They embrace and kiss. However, while they’re kissing, Kitty sees Thompson, the dry cleaner, who makes regular house calls to all her friends’ homes (including Larry’s) in the neighboring car. Thompson of course, recognizes her. Kitty warns Larry about Thompson. Knowing that Thompson can see Kitty, Larry must keep his back to him to hide their affair. After accidentally hitting the horn, causing it to be stuck, and annoying all the neighboring moviegoers, Kitty and Larry decide that they need to leave. To keep Larry’s identity secret, he and Kitty continue to kiss while they attempt to drive a car together with Larry’s foot on one pedal and Kitty’s on the other. Thompson is none the wiser, all he knows is that Kitty was making out at the Drive-In.

Lucille Ball and Bob Hope kiss at the Drive-In before they have to co-drive a car together
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Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980) Favorite Performers

Marilyn Monroe 100th Birthday Blogathon–“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953)

Today (June 1, 2026), marks the 100th anniversary of Norma Jeane Mortensen’s birth. Norma Jeane, of course, would be christened “Marilyn Monroe” in 1946. For the sake of clarity, I will refer to her as “Marilyn” from here on out. To say that Marilyn’s childhood was tumultuous and difficult would be an understatement. In 1942, at the age of 16, Marilyn married James Doughtery. They would be married for 4 years, until divorcing in 1946. Marilyn signed an acting contract in June of 1946. Husband Doughtery was against her having a career, and her contract stated that she needed to be unmarried, because they couldn’t risk her becoming pregnant. Marilyn filed for divorce, stating that the marriage didn’t make her unhappy, but it didn’t make her happy either. She was bored.

A young Marilyn Monroe before she was “Marilyn Monroe”

While the divorce sucked for James Dougherty, it was great for us as the audience, because it paved the way for Marilyn to become “Marilyn Monroe.” After toiling away in bit parts for a few years, memorably in 1950’s All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle, Marilyn finally landed her star-making role in my favorite of her films, Howard Hawks’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953. This film would cement the iconic Marilyn Monroe look and persona–the platinum blonde hair, figure hugging costumes, breathy voice, and sex appeal up the wazoo. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes also features what is perhaps one of the most iconic Marilyn Monroe moments of all time, perhaps only second to the subway grate scene in The Seven Year Itch, the “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” number featuring Marilyn in the bright pink strapless gown.

LORELAI: Don’t you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn’t marry a girl just because she’s pretty, but my goodness, doesn’t it help?

Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn plays Lorelai Lee, a singer who travels from New York to Paris with her best friend, Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell), via ocean liner. Lorelai and Dorothy are singers who are traveling to Paris for Lorelai’s upcoming wedding. She is engaged to the hilariously nerdy and wimpy, but wealthy, Gus Esmond Jr (Tommy Noonan). The senior Esmond, Gus’ father (Taylor Holmes), does not like or trust Lorelai (despite never having met her), as he thinks she’s a gold digger. Esmond Sr would be correct, as Lorelai is laser-focused on finding a wealthy husband who can keep her supplied in diamonds. Dorothy on the other hand, is more interested in finding someone she’s physically attracted to, regardless of his wealth.

Marilyn in the iconic “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” number. Future Oscar-winner, George Chakiris, is in the background on the right, mouth obscured.

Determined to prove that his dislike of Lorelai is warranted, Esmond Sr hires private detective, Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid), to spy on Lorelai and Dorothy and obtain evidence that Lorelai isn’t worthy of marrying his son. Esmond Jr asks Dorothy to keep an eye on Lorelai and keep her from doing anything that could break up their engagement. Also onboard the ocean liner are the wealthy Beakmans, “Piggy” (Charles Coburn) and his wife Lady Beakman (Norma Varden). Piggy owns a diamond mine and Lady Beakman has her diamond jewelry onboard, including a diamond tiara. Mr. Henry Spofford III and his valet are also onboard, leading to a hilarious scene where Lorelai discovers that he’s a child. Later Henry helps Marilyn out of a tight spot, literally, when she finds herself stuck inside a porthole window. Henry has a very funny voice for a child, it reminds me of Charlie Brown’s. Finally, the entire US Men’s Olympics Team is on the ship–which brings a lot of joy for Dorothy.

MR. ESMOND SR: Have you got the nerve to tell me you don’t want to marry my son for his money?

LORELAI: It’s true!

MR. ESMOND SR: Then what do you want to marry him for?

LORELAI: I want to marry him for your money!

Taylor Holmes and Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Lorelai and Dorothy try to pass the time onboard, with Ernie tagging along trying to keep watch of them. One very funny scene has Dorothy and Lorelai trying to recover a roll of incriminating film from Ernie. In another scene, Piggy and Lorelai reenact a scene he saw while traveling in Africa: a python wrapping itself around a goat’s neck and strangling it until it dies. Piggy was the python and Lorelai was the goat. My favorite part of the movie actually doesn’t involve Lorelai, but it involves Dorothy watching the US Men’s Olympic Team work out (the men dressed to give the illusion of nudity) while she sings “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?”

DOROTHY: (singing) …I like big muscles and red corpuscles…

Jane Russell singing “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?” in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Jane Russell checking out the scenery in the ship’s gymnasium during the greatest musical number of all time, “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?”

Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” number comes towards the end of the film after Lorelai and Dorothy have arrived in Paris. By now, Ernie’s report on Lorelai and Dorothy’s onboard shenanigans has made it back to Esmond Sr, who has canceled Lorelai and Dorothy’s line of credit that his son had promised them. Having spent all of their cash on clothes and other trinkets, Lorelai and Dorothy are broke. They are forced to find work at a local revue.

DOROTHY: Now let’s get this straight, Gus. The chaperone’s job is to see that nobody else has any fun. Nobody chaperones the chaperone. That’s why I’m so right for this job.

Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Lorelai goes on stage in her bright pink, strapless gown to sing about not wanting rhinestones, only diamonds. This is a very striking musical number. It was a bold choice to juxtapose Marilyn’s bright pink dress against a bright red background–two colors that traditionally clash. The male background dancers, including a young George Chakiris, are made up to look like dignified ambassadors (with greying temples). The women in the number’s faces are covered with a black mesh, as they appear as part of the chandelier, as well as in pink dresses in a lighter tone than Marilyn’s.

Jane Russell imitates Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn’s performance in “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” is firmly cemented in pop culture, not just American, but dare I say, internationally. There are countless homages and imitations of Marilyn’s performance. In 1985, Madonna famously imitated Marilyn in her music video for “Material Girl.” At the 2024 Oscars, Ryan Gosling performed “I’m Just Ken” from my favorite 2023 film, Barbie. In 2001’s Moulin Rouge! Nicole Kidman’s Satine would memorably hang from a trapeze bar while crooning “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Kidman is good, but she’s no Marilyn Monroe. Actually, I think I’d rather have heard her Moulin Rouge! co-star, Ewan McGregor, belt out the song. He would have killed it.

DOROTHY: Honey, did it ever occur to you that some people just don’t care about money?

LORELAI: Please, we’re talking serious here.

Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Marilyn regrets being “the goat” to Charles Coburn’s python

William Travilla’s costumes in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are fantastic. Aside from Marilyn’s hot pink dress, there are a lot of other great outfits. I love Jane Russell’s outfit she wears in my favorite number “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?” She wears a very chic black jumpsuit with a black buffalo plaid coat with yellow lapels, and some fantastic turquoise earrings. The opening musical number outfits, the matching red sequined gowns with the deep V-neck that Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell wear are amazing. The fit is perfection. My husband and I saw these dresses at the Academy Museum a few years ago, and they were just as fantastic in person as they are in the film. I also loved the outfit Marilyn wears when she and Piggy are reenacting the python and goat bit. She dons a long sleeved teal top with a deep V-neck portrait neckline with sapphire blue slacks and a purple sash around the waist. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is truly a feast for the eyes.

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in the fantastic opening number, “Two Little Girls From Little Rock.”

I love Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I have seen it many many times. I’ve seen it in the theater. I never tire of it. It’s such a fun movie. Marilyn and Jane are both fantastic. The songs are fantastic. The performances are fantastic. The costumes are fantastic. Everything is perfection.

Marilyn Monroe finds herself stuck in a porthole as George Winslow attempts to help. I Love Lucy would recreate this scene (sub Ricky and Ethel for George) in an episode of “I Love Lucy.”

HENRY SPOFFORD III: Alright I’ll help you. I’ll help you for two reasons.

LORELAI: Never mind the reasons. Just help me.

HENRY SPOFFORD III: The first reason is I’m too young to be sent to jail. The second reason is you’ve got a lot of animal magnetism.

George Winslow and Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is the ultimate buddy comedy and perhaps romance (without the “romance”). Lorelai and Dorothy are so devoted to one another, with Dorothy even impersonating Lorelai at one point to get her out of a spot. I’ve read some other interpretations of the ending of this film, featuring the dual wedding of Lorelai and Dorothy, that the two women are actually marrying each other; but had to have the men in the scene due to the production code. While I don’t think there’s any romantic interest between Lorelai and Dorothy, these two women have a bond and a friendship. I also love that the ending features a chorus singing the “Diamond’s Are a Girl’s Best Friend” song. It reminds me of the ending of a Disney princess movie, just like the wedding ending. I’d like to think that Dorothy and Lorelai live happily ever after–regardless of how their respective marriages turn out.

Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe in the final scene

Along with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn would also make How to Marry a Millionaire and Niagara in 1953. If she had only made one of those films, she would have been an instant star; but she made all three. Aside from these films, Marilyn would also make an iconic appearance in The Seven Year Itch, a film that I don’t particularly enjoy, but there’s no doubt that Marilyn is fantastic in it and in my opinion, the only reason to watch it. Marilyn standing over the subway grate as her iconic pleated white halter dress flies up around her cemented her legacy as a Hollywood legend (much to husband Joe DiMaggio’s chagrin, but whatever). She would also appear in other films like Some Like it Hot and The Prince and the Showgirl.

DOROTHY: He looks like he’s going to explode.

ERNIE MALONE: What was that?

LORELAI: Just equal parts of Scotch, Vodka, Brandy, and Gin!

Jane Russell, Elliott Reid, and Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

By 1961, Marilyn had tired of her sexpot image and wanted to do drama. Sadly, her last completed film, The Misfits, proved that Marilyn could have asserted herself as a good dramatic actress. She was not just a lightweight blonde bombshell. She was an actress. Unfortunately, her life was cut short, perhaps mysteriously, perhaps not, but I don’t want to speculate here. Had she been able to go on, I think Marilyn would have shocked everyone as the 1960s wore on, and she’d aged out of her “Marilyn Monroe” image, and turned into a gritty, dramatic actress. However, because she wasn’t given the opportunity, and passed away at the age of 36 in 1962, Marilyn Monroe will forever be remembered as the ultimate blond bombshell. People still try to emulate her, but they’ll never be her–there’s only one Marilyn Monroe.

Lucy Ricardo does her best Marilyn Monroe impression to prove she looks more like her than Ethel does. Fred Mertz thinks he looks more like Marilyn than either Lucy or Ethel!

MARILYN MONROE: I’ve never liked the name ‘Marilyn.’ I’ve often wished that I held out that day for ‘Jean Monroe.’ But I guess it’s too late to do anything about it now.

Happy 100th Birthday, Marilyn!

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

Spring CMBA Blogathon– “Make ‘Em Laugh,” The More the Merrier (1943)

I’m not a big fan of war movies, however, what I do love are movies set against the backdrop of war, where a different story unfolds, something that isn’t just one battle scene after another. While there are films set during pretty much every war (some major, some minor), perhaps no other war inspired as many war films as World War II (1939-1945). While there were many films that focused on the individual WWII military campaigns, battles, prominent figures, etc. there were just as many films focused on the homefront in the United States after December 8, 1941, the day that the United States officially entered the war–the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is these homefront films that I find more compelling and interesting than the films that just depict the military.

World War II was an era of great patriotism in the United States, citizens were encouraged to do their part to support the war effort. Hollywood stars used their celebrity to sell war bonds which helped to finance the United States’ military efforts. Star Carole Lombard was one of the war’s first American casualities when she died in January 1942 in a Nevada plane crash on her way home to Los Angeles from selling war bonds in her home state of Indiana. Other stars like Bette Davis and John Garfield formed the Hollywood Canteen to provide food, drinks and entertainment to the troops.

Ordinary citizens were issued ration stamps for both food and fuel to manage shortages of essential goods and supplies. Victory gardens were grown by countless families across the country as a way to reduce the strain on public food supplies. Women drew lines on the backs of their legs to simulate the seams of their stockings, because all nylon production was devoted to manufacturing parachutes and other war-related objects. Another way that citizens were asked to help the war effort was by offering up extra rooms in their homes to help alleviate the housing shortage. After the United States’ entry into World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the government halted all non-essential construction projects, citing that all building materials were needed for the military effort. The subsequent housing shortage is the subject covered in one of my favorite comedies, Director George Stevens’ The More the Merrier, from 1943.

Jean Arthur keeps Charles Coburn on schedule.

In The More the Merrier, Jean Arthur plays Constance “Connie” Milligan who lives in a 2-bedroom apartment in Washington DC. To do her part for the war effort, she sublets out half of her apartment for $12/week ($229 in 2026) and puts out an ad. Retired millionaire Benjamin Dingle (Charles Coburn), who has arrived in DC two days early to discuss plans with a government bureaucrat to alleviate the housing shortage, answers Connie’s ad. Mr. Dingle lives by the mantra, “Damn the torpedos! Full speed ahead!” where he’s just going to go for “it” regardless of the potential consequences. It’s a great mantra, because frankly, sometimes you just have to take a risk (provided what you want to do isn’t illegal or harmful). Connie is reluctant to sublet half her apartment to a man, but relents after Mr. Dingle tells her a fictitious scenario where she rents her apartment to a dumpy looking roommate who is always dirty and insists on borrowing all her things. The next day, Mr. Dingle meets Sergeant Joe Carter (Joel McCrea) who needs somewhere to stay for a week while he waits to be shipped overseas. To help out Joe, Mr. Dingle sublets him half of his half for $6 ($114/week). Connie is not pleased.

MR. DINGLE: Well, any woman, no matter who, would insist upon borrowing that dress you got on right now. Because it’s so pretty.
CONNIE: I made it myself.
MR. DINGLE: And how would you like it if she spilled a cocktail all over it…at a party you couldn’t go with her to because she borrowed it to go to it in.
CONNIE: She might have something I could wear.
MR. DINGLE: Not her.
CONNIE: Why not?
MR. DINGLE: Because she’s so dumpy looking. Never has anything clean. That’s why she’s always borrowing your dresses.

Charles Coburn and Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier.

JOE: What do you do?
MR. DINGLE: I’m a well-to-do retired millionaire. How about you?
JOE: Same.

Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier.

MR. DINGLE: What’s your name?
JOE: Carter.
MR. DINGLE: Bill Carter?
JOE: Joe Carter.
MR. DINGLE: I used to know a party named Bill Carter.
JOE: Wasn’t me.
MR. DINGLE: Don’t you suppose I know that?
JOE: What’d you ask for then?
MR. DINGLE: Get you to know I know what Bill Carter looked like.
JOE: Not like me.
MR. DINGLE: Then you know Bill Carter?
JOE: No I don’t. But he sounds like a great guy.

Charles Coburn and Joel McCrea in The More the Merrier.

MR. DINGLE: Oh. Maybe you think it is none of my business.
JOE: Maybe I do.
MR. DINGLE: Probably your name isn’t even Bill Carter.
JOE: Probably not. It’s probably Joe Carter.

Charles Coburn and Joel McCrea in The More the Merrier.

Charles Coburn struggles to keep up with Jean Arthur’s extremely tight morning routine

The entire scene where Connie gives Mr. Dingle the lowdown on her schedule is hysterical and one of my favorite parts. First of all, Mr. Dingle is retired, why does he need to follow her schedule? Connie should just do her thing and leave him to do his. Second, Connie is an extremely efficient and organized woman. Here is the schedule that she gives to Mr. Dingle:

7:00am Connie’s alarm goes off, she and Mr. Dingle get up.
7:01am Connie goes into the bathroom. Mr. Dingle goes out to the hall to get the milk.
7:05am Mr. Dingle starts the coffee.
7:06am Connie leaves the bathroom.
7:07am Mr. Dingle enters the bathroom.
7:08am Connie starts to get dressed for the day.
7:11am Connie drinks her coffee.
7:12am Mr. Dingle leaves the bathroom.
7:13am Connie puts her eggs on the stove and finishes dressing while the eggs cook. Mr. Dingle puts on his shoes.
7:16am Connie takes her eggs off the stove.
7:17am Mr. Dingle starts shaving.
7:18am Connie eats her eggs.
7:21am Connie is in the bathroom fixing her hair.
7:24am Mr. Dingle is in the kitchen putting his eggs on the stove.
7:25am Mr. Dingle makes his bed.
7:26am Connie makes her bed.
7:27am Mr. Dingle eats his eggs, while Connie takes out the papers and cans.
7:29am Mr. Dingle washes the dishes.
7:30am Connie and Mr. Dingle are all finished, ready for the day.
7:32am Connie’s carpool comes to take her to work.

Jean Arthur meets Joel McCrea as matchmaker Charles Coburn looks on.

This woman does not leave herself much wiggle room in her schedule. 32 mins total from wake-up to carpool and in between she gets ready for work, has time to put on some sort of bed jacket while she eats her eggs, then puts on her actual work clothes, puts out her trash, and does the dishes! Mr. Dingle cannot keep up and has a hilarious scene where he accidentally brings the coffee into the shower with him.

Mr. Dingle quickly realizes that Connie and Joe are very compatible and should be together. The only person who stands in their way is Connie’s fiance of 22 months, Charles J. Pendergast (Richard Gaines), a 42-year old businessman who wears a terrible toupee and makes $8600/year ($164k in 2026), not too shabby. One of my favorite quotes in this movie comes in the scene where Joe and Mr. Dingle razz Connie about her relationship with Pendergast.

CONNIE: You look messy. Don’t you ever brush your hair?
JOE: I s’pose Mr. Pendergast combs his hair every hour, on the hour.
CONNIE: Mr. Pendergast has NO hair!

Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea in The More the Merrier.

Joel McCrea and Jean Arthur’s sexy scene on the stoop

Eventually, we know that the relationship between Connie and Mr. Pendergast is going to fizzle out. It has to! He is NO hunky Joel McCrea. We especially know that Connie and Joe will end up together after they share a very romantic scene on the front stoop of the apartment building. The scene between Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea on the stoop is one of the sexiest scenes in Classic Hollywood. Apparently, Arthur’s stage fright made her extremely nervous and anxious and she was having trouble with the scene. McCrea decided to ad-lib and distract her by nuzzling and touching her hands, shoulders and arms. Arthur’s nervousness is present, but it comes across as her character obviously becoming somewhat aroused by Joe’s actions, versus an actress nervous about shooting a scene.

CONNIE: What happened? Nothing. I’m not the kind of person anything happens to.

Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier.

There is also a scene with Morton (Stanley Clements) who may be the most annoying character ever committed to film. I hate this character. He’s too old to join the Scouts so who cares whether he’s the camp craft-type or not? I don’t want to talk about him any more because I hate him so much. However, his character does serve as the plot device that brings about the third act of the film–where Mr. Dingle is able to finish his scheme to bring Joe and Connie together.

Boo! The “L” must be for “loser.”

Charles Coburn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, which I think his deserved, because he’s hilarious in this movie. Except when I see he beat Claude Rains for Casablanca, it’s hard to accept whether Coburn deserved the award instead of Rains. If only there’d been a tie. Coburn gets to do a lot of physical comedy in this film, one of my favorite bits being his reoccuring schtick with his suspendered-pants repeatedly getting caught on something and flying out the window.

Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea make for a great pairing. They appeared together in two other films aside from The More the Merrier, The Silver Horde (1930), and Adventure in Manhattan (1936). They have amazing chemistry together and McCrea was one of the few actors that could relax the notoriously anxious Arthur and calm her nerves. Arthur also has fun chemistry (thankfully not romantic) with Coburn, having memorably appeared with him earlier in 1941’s The Devil and Miss Jones. It also helps that Arthur and McCrea are very attractive people and make for an even more attractive couple.

Joel McCrea is fawned over by a bunch of women, including Ann Savage on his left.

There is a very funny scene where Connie and Joe dance together at a nightclub. They were just introduced by Mr. Pendergast after he is introduced to Joe courtesy of Mr. Dingle. Mr. Pendergast just happens to be the bureaucrat with whom Mr Dingle was planning to meet to discuss the housing shortage. After their dance, a group of Connie’s acquaintances (including an uncredited Ann Savage!) show up and fawn over Joe, and Connie is only too happy to show that he’s with her. I guarantee that they don’t fawn over Mr. Pendergast.

I would highly recommend this film as it features everything that I want in a film. It’s hilarious, it’s romantic, and it captures a unique moment in United States history. Why doesn’t this movie have a Blu Ray?! The More the Merrier also has great dialogue with Joel McCrea getting in a lot of funny sarcastic lines. The only blights on this film are McCrea’s comment about “being a Jap” to scare Morton away, and every single scene involving Morton. I loathe him.

Damn the torpedos! Full speed ahead!

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

The 7th Golden Boy Blogathon, A William Holden Celebration: The Moon is Blue (1953)

I do love “Picnic” and who doesn’t want some beefcake on their page?

Director Otto Preminger’s The Moon is Blue (1953) is memorable for being featured in a 1982 episode of M*A*S*H, “The Moon is Not Blue.” M*A*S*H took place during the Korean War (1950-1953) and during this particular episode, Hawkeye and BJ try to obtain a copy of the newly released film, The Moon is Blue, having heard about its scandalous content. Upon finally viewing the film, the two men are dismayed about how innocent and non-salacious it was. One of the other characters states that a character did say “virgin,” and Hawkeye replies with “that’s because everyone was!”

This movie has a great poster!

The Moon is Blue, debuted on my birthday June 22, 1953, albeit 31 years before I was born. It was memorable for being the first film to be released into theaters nationwide, without PCA (Production Code Administration) approval. This was a landmark decision by United Artists (who distributed The Moon is Blue) and was the beginning of the end for the production code. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak would follow suit a couple years later and also be released without PCA approval. The modern ratings system would come into play in 1968 and put an end to the production code once and for all.

Now why was The Moon is Blue so controversial? This film, based on the 1951 play of the same name, depicted the modern and progressive attitudes about sex exhibited by 22-year old Patty O’Neill (Maggie McNamara in her film debut). The Moon is Blue starts with a kicky (and corny) theme song and opening credits and then segues into a scene taking place inside the Empire State Building. We spot Patty, then we spot architect Don Gresham (William Holden) spotting Patty too. Immediately smitten, Don follows Patty up to the fabeled observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building.

William Holden, Maggie McNamara, David Niven

It’s immediately obvious to the audience that Don is putting on the charm and trying to pick up Patty and she allows him to try and pick her up. She’s not oblivious. He tells her that he paid for her ticket, he gets her to try and sew a button on his jacket, he gives her a dime for the telescope so she can get a closer look at New York… Don does everything. Eventually, he lowers the boom and invites Patty over to his apartment for dinner and drinks. This seems wildly dangerous to meet a stranger at his home, but it’s 1953, and Patty takes him up on it.

William Holden is knocked out by Maggie McNamara’s overprotective father, Tom Tully.

Throughout their conversation, Patty shares that she’s a virgin, but not because she’s pious or self-righteous or anything. She just hasn’t made the choice to have sex yet. Patty asks Don point blank if he’s trying to seduce her, to which he’s taken aback. However, it’s obvious that that was his intent. Patty’s frank talk about sex intrigues Don. When she discovers a photo of Cynthia (Dawn Addams), Don’s ex-fiancee, Patty asks him if Cynthia is his mistress. In 1953, a mistress was a sexual partner, not “the other woman.” Again, Don is somewhat shocked by Patty’s frankness and apparent lack of decorum when it comes to asking personal questions. Despite this however, Don finds Patty charming and interesting, and continues trying to seduce her.

Adding to the tension in the film is Don’s neighbor, David Slater (David Niven), who also happens to be Cynthia’s father. I do have to say that Niven’s casting is odd. In the film, he states that he’s 41, but Cynthia is stated to be older than Patty, who is 22. This means that David I guess was a teen father. This is the only weakness in the film, imo, I think Niven’s character should have been made older, or perhaps Cynthia maybe should have been another neighbor in the building. But I digress. David is presented as a bit of a playboy, who is always on the prowl. David discovers Patty’s attitudes re: sex and also makes it a mission to try and seduce her.

Cynthia, Don’s ex-fiancee, just can’t accept that the relationship is over.

Don eventually becomes frustrated with Patty. He more or less finds her a tease, and that she seems to have made her virginity her entire personality—it’s all she talks about. Patty tells Don that she won’t lose her virginity without marriage. She tells Don that men find virgins boring and prefer a life without monogamy. Patty expends a lot of effort informing Don that women are also sexual beings, to the point that Don asks her why she’s preoccupied with sex. Patty responds with a glib, “Don’t you think it’s better for a girl to be preoccupied with sex, than occupied?” Finally, Don has had enough and accuses Patty of being a “professional virgin.” This criticism is on the nose, maybe too on the nose, and Patty is offended. Don rubs salt in the wound by stating that someone who talks about their experience all the time probably doesn’t have any. This scene reminded me of Where the Boys Are (1960) where Merritt spends much of the film expelling various progressive philosophies about sex, only for us to discover that she’s all talk.

David Niven’s character, David, is an odd one. He’s not a particularly good character. He’s always trying to get Patty to “sin” by drinking or smoking–behaviors that she likens to high school, saying that it’s immature to do these things without having a craving. David is also always trying to seduce Patty, in fact, he proposes marriage to her within hours of meeting. Obviously, this was his desperate attempt to bed her by appealing to her virgin status. He is a lech throughout the film, and tells this horrible story about his ex-wife and hitting her with a hot muffin pan. However, he’s weirdly entertaining as well.

William Holden puts the moves on Maggie McNamara.

William Holden plays his usual type, however, he is very good and it’s easy to see why Patty would be so smitten. His character, Don, is handsome, has a good job, a nice apartment, and is charming. Don would obviously be a much better partner than David, since he’d probably be loyal. David would drop Patty the second someone else came along. Don also finds Patty’s attitudes about sex somewhat funny, even if he’s somewhat taken aback and shocked by them. There is also a funny scene where Don is watching TV and sees the “sophisticated actress” Patty, appearing in a “Chloro-foam Beer” commercial. Terrible beer title. “Chloro-foam, more like Boro-foam!” (to paraphrase Billy Madison).

Patty McNamara was United Artists’ attempt at finding their own Audrey Hepburn. McNamara had the pixie, gamine type quality of Hepburn, but she lacks the European sophistication, stature, and glamour of Hepburn. McNamara’s Patty was very young and sweet, but also naive despite her progressive views on sex. Patty reminded me very much of Debbie Reynolds’ character, Julie, in The Tender Trap (1955). In the film, Julie is also old-fashioned (or seems old-fashioned) and informs Frank Sinatra, David Wayne, and Celeste Holm, of her exact plan for her life–marriage, 3 children, life in the country, kids attending school in Scarsdale, NY. Both Patty and Julie seem to believe they’re mature when it comes to sex and marriage; but when conversing with older adults who have lived more life than they have, it’s obvious how immature they are.

David Niven and Maggie McNamara

The Moon is Blue is tame by today’s standards, even tame by 1982 standards when Hawkeye and BJ watched it in M*A*S*H. But it caused quite the scandal in 1953. Nice society just didn’t talk about seduction, mistresses, or virginity. Even in 1952, I Love Lucy was not allowed to say the word “pregnant,” despite Lucy Ricardo (and Lucille Ball!) being a married, pregnant, woman. Instead, she was ‘spectin. However, The Moon is Blue is an interesting time capsule of the early-to-mid 1950s and shows just how much the world was changing after World War II. Stars like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Elvis Presley burst onto the scene in the 1950s and all of them shocked the country with their blatant shows of sexuality and sensuality–things that wouldn’t have been on the screen even just ten years prior. While The Moon is Blue is not a household name in the movie world, it is an important film as it was the first film to challenge the puritanical production code, and weaken its interference in filmmaking.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

The 12th Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon–“The General” at the Hollywood Theatre, PDX 2.28.26

For this event, I decided to be a little unorthodox and write specifically about my experience seeing a screening of The General at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR. Like The General, the Hollywood Theatre is also turning 100 years old this year. I am also a member of the Hollywood Theatre, and am able to attend many screenings for free or at a discount (it’s not entirely “free” I do pay monthly dues). I have already written about The General and its filming in Cottage Grove, OR. Read my article here.

I planned on getting a shot of The General on the Hollywood Theatre’s marquee after the screening, but discovered that they switch it out during the screening! Here’s a photo from my screening of “The Cameraman.”

The General has had multiple screenings at the Hollywood Theatre. I would have to imagine that it also screened at the theatre back in late 1926 or early 1927 when it originally came out. The Hollywood Theatre officially opened its doors on July 17, 1926. The General would start filming in Cottage Grove (about 125 miles south of Portland) about a month prior to the Hollywood Theatre’s grand opening. In the 100 years since The General‘s debut, the film has returned to the theater many times to celebrate special anniversaries for both the theater and the film–each time a sellout. I have to imagine that the film’s connection to Oregon is just one reason for it being a repeat screening–aside from just being a great movie! For the screening I attended on February 28th, The General was being screened as part of the Hollywood Theatre’s year-long celebration of its centennial.

The General was screened as part of the Hollywood Theatre’s regular series, “Pipe Organ Pictures.” Pipe Organ Pictures is put on as part of a collaboration with the Columbia River Theatre Organ Society (CRTOS). This group, made up of donors and volunteers, is devoted to restoring and promoting the theatre organ. the Hollywood Theatre happens to own a 1926 Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ–the only working theatre pipe organ in Oregon. It is quite a beautiful and unusual instrument. If you have the opportunity to attend a silent film screening with an accompanist playing a theater organ, I highly recommend it.

While I have seen The General at the Hollywood Theatre before (which was also put on by the CRTOS), this screening was particularly special–I was watching a 100-year old film, while sitting in a 100-year old theater, listening to a 100-year old theatre organ.

Buster Keaton mural on the Cottage Grove Hotel in Cottage Grove, OR

The Pipe Organ Picture screenings often start with organist Dean Lemire’s rendition of “Hooray for Hollywood!” and then a cartoon. I have to imagine that is done to add some runtime since silent films are often on the shorter side. Plus, who doesn’t want to see a 1919 Felix the Cat cartoon? However, for this particular screening, we were treated to a 1929 silent film, “John Makes Whoopee.”

Lemire explained that he selected this short because it was filmed in Oregon and depicts a young man who leaves his small rural home in Scappoose and heads to the big city of Portland. Scappoose is a small town on Highway 30 (connects Portland to Astoria, located where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean) located about 20 miles northwest of Portland. Even today, the town only has a population of 8200. John goes to Portland on foot. We can only imagine how long that took. When John arrives in Portland, he is seen downtown and later at an amusement park in Jantzen Beach (North Portland, located across the Columbia from Vancouver, Washington). This film was the cliche tale of the naive small town hick moving to the big bad city full of “wicked city women” (to borrow a line from an episode of I Love Lucy). John, of course, is quickly fleeced out of all his money by a woman and has to return home to Scappoose. Undetered however, he vows to return.

The 100 year old Wurlitzer Organ at the Hollywood Theatre

Next, it was time for the main feature, The General. Organist Dean Lemire performed his original score while the packed house (384 seats) watched intently, as Buster Keaton took on the Union soldiers in his train engine, “The General.” Cottage Grove, OR stood in for the small Confederate town of Marietta, Georgia. Usually I have to deal with some annoying talkers, people who can’t sit still, or people who eat popcorn so loudly they sound like they’re inhaling the bag. However, during this screening, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop (to borrow a cliche), except when it was time to laugh at Buster’s stunts, facial expressions, and comedy.

One particular stunt of Buster’s gained spontaneous applause–the scene where he rides on the front of the engine while trying to get loose railroad ties off the track before his engine hits them and risks derailing. That scene was apparently very dangerous to film and it looks dangerous. Another scene that people loved was the famous bridge collapse.

Buster Keaton clearing the way for “The General.”

I have attended multiple Buster Keaton screenings at the Hollywood and they’re always a hit. In fact, a month after The General screening, I saw The Cameraman which was also a packed house and received very well. I’ve also seen Our Hospitality, One Week, Sherlock Jr, and The Navigator and all of them were hits. While I’m not the biggest silent film person (nothing against them, I just haven’t seen a ton), I do love the silent film comedians–especially Keaton. It is exciting to see that even 100 years later, Keaton still sells out the house and still captivates moviegoers of all ages–even children who famously have touble being quiet and staying still. Kids can’t keep their eyes off Buster Keaton. I often see conversations about introducing children (and adults) to silent and classic film, and what makes a good gateway film. I’d like to recommend The General.

The famous train collapse in “The General.”
Categories
Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980) Favorite Modern Movies (post-1980)

Rain in the Movies

Satsuke and sister Mei take shelter from the rain at a bus stop with Totoro keeping watch in My Neighbor Totoro (1988).

As a native of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon specifically, I have seen my share of rain. In fact, NW Oregon (where I’ve lived my entire life) is in the middle of yet another “atmospheric river” event. Basically, we’re getting rain and a lot of it–at least 3″ between yesterday through tomorrow. Personally, I like the rain. It’s relaxing and makes the outside smell nice. Plus, it makes for excellent movie watching weather. As long as the rain stays out of my basement, I am good.

During the last major rain event, just a couple weeks ago, I watched a bunch of excellent rainy film noir and Clue because I love it and it has rain. That rain marathon and this week’s downpour inspired me to write a post about rain in the movies as well as allows me to highlight some of my favorite movies. Right now, I haven’t returned to watching any rainy films, because I’ve been obsessed with playing Pokopia on Switch 2.

Movies have been using rain since almost the beginning to put forth a certain emotion, add suspense, express a metaphor, or even just to add some atmosphere. A rainstorm is often used as a reason for characters to be forced to stay confined in one space, such as in Key Largo (1948). Rain can be used as a setting for romance, such as the famous kiss in the rain between Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). To add atmosphere, rain will often be included such as in Clue (1985), where the characters are summoned to Mr. Boddy’s mansion during a dark, rainy night, and end up caught up in a murder mystery. In this blog entry, I want to focus on some of my favorite rain scenes in films.

Rain is often used to lend suspense to a scene, and where else would you want a lot of suspense and drama? A scene in which someone is driving. Driving in the rain can already be fairly treacherous. Add in a driver who is nervous, angry, distraught, or any other distracting emotion and it’s almost always a recipe for danger, or at least great melodrama.

BEST DRIVING IN RAIN SCENES

Lana Turner has a meltdown in “The Bad and the Beautiful.”
  1. The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). Lana Turner’s Georgia is distraught after discovering that her boyfriend and producer, Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) has been cheating on her with a starlet. She expresses her indignation over his betrayal and he more or less tells her that he can do whatever he wants. He doesn’t owe her any loyalty, because he gave her stardom. Distraught, Georgia gets into her car and takes off on a high-speed race home, through a pouring rainstorm. Anyone who thinks Lana couldn’t act should watch her performance in this scene. She enters the car sobbing, but soon collapses into pure hysteria as the reality of Jonathan’s betrayal and callousness sets in. Juxtaposed against the frenzy of rain and flashes of lights, Georgia’s emotional collapse reaches its apex when she screams and slams on the brakes.
  2. Dead Reckoning (1947). Humphrey Bogart’s character, Rip Murdock, is investigating the death of his friend, Johnny. During his investigation, he falls in love with Coral Chandler (Lizabeth Scott). Unfortunately, he learns that Coral isn’t all she seems and was involved in his friend’s death. Coral and Rip end up in a car together after she accidentally shoots her accomplice instead of him. While Rip drives through heavy rain, he and Coral argue over her intending to kill him. She then pulls out a gun and he hits the gas pedal to floor it. Anyone who has watched a lot of old movies knows that whenever it’s raining and someone is driving recklessly, something bad is going to happen. In this film, Rip ends up crashing head-on into a tree, mortally injuring Coral.
  3. Psycho (1960). This is a classic and for good reason. In this film, Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane leaves Phoenix and heads to California with $40,000 in stolen money in hand. She wants to marry her boyfriend, Sam (John Gavin), but he refuses to do so due to lack of funds. When Marion’s employer asks her to deliver a $40,000 deposit to the bank, the temptation is too strong to resist. This money would solve all of her and Sam’s financial woes. While she originally plans to drive through the night, a rainstorm forces her to seek refuge at the Bates Motel, operated by the young and nervous Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Unfortunately for Marion, this is the end of the line.

Rain can also be used to add romance to the scene, because what is more romantic than a classic kiss in the rain type scene. Rain also seems to bring people together–often because they’re forced to seek shelter and each other for warmth.

FAVORITE ROMANTIC RAIN SCENES

Lucy and Desi kiss and make-up in “The Long Long Trailer.”
  1. The Long, Long Trailer (1954). My favorite film of all time features a romantic, albeit cliched (now) romantic kiss in the rain. Tacy (Lucille Ball) and Nicky (Desi Arnaz) spend the entirety of the film more or less on the honeymoon road trip from hell, with one catastrophe after another. The tension and frustration reaches its end when Nicky discovers that Tacy has not only lied to him, but has also put their lives at risk. The couple needs to drive over a high elevation (8000 feet) peak in Colorado. Because of the steep incline and possibility that extra weight could pull the trailer down (and possibly off) the mountain, Nicky tells Tacy that she needs to get rid of all the extra weight she’s added to the trailer in the form of rocks and preserves. Tacy’s idea was that they could collect large rocks from different places they visit and use them to decorate their patio when they reach their new home in Colorado. As a cost-saving measure (to justify the purchase of the trailer), Tacy stars canning fruits and vegetables.

    Instead of removing the material from the trailer, she instead distributes it evenly around the trailer, thinking it would solve the weight issue. It does not. Everything comes out. Nicky discovers it. The couple fight and separate. In the pouring down rain, Nicky finally tracks down Tacy (and the trailer) at a trailer park where she’s in the middle of planning to sell the trailer. He opens the trailer door, finds Tacy, but can’t bring himself to apologize. Nicky drives away and suddenly Tacy realizes that she doesn’t want him to leave. She runs out into the rain, in front of Nicky’s car. He stops and gets out. Nicky and Tacy embrace, having made up and reconciled. They run up the steps into their home (the trailer) and kiss.
  2. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). While a lot can be said about this film, ::cough:: Mickey Rooney ::cough:: there are some fun parts as well. The ending of ‘Tiffany’s’ is much like the end of The Long, Long Trailer, with Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly and George Peppard’s Paul (or “Fred Baby” as I like to call him) reconciling and kissing in the rain drenched streets of New York City. However, this scene has extra poignancy beyond the classic kiss in the rain. In a previous scene, Holly very cruelly abandons “Cat” her pet, out in the rain, saying that nobody belongs to anyone–even animals. Her whole mantra throughout the film is that she’s a free spirit, she doesn’t belong to (or with anyone). Paul is the only person her circle to actually care about her and want to help her. Everyone else in her orbit is someone she makes money off of (via trips to the powder room), or someone who takes advantage of her naivete (e.g., Sally Tomato providing her with the “weather report” to pass on to one of his associates).

    However, Holly is no better in that she only associates herself with people she believes can do something for her. She’s a phony, her agent says. Paul bitterly tells Holly off by stating that in her efforts to prevent herself from being put into a “cage” she’s put herself into one, because she’s unwilling to share herself or part of her life with anyone. He then gets out of the car, throws the ring (that they’d had engraved at Tiffany’s during their fun day in New York City together) at her. The ring is a symbol of a time where Holly was probably being closer to her true self and not putting on airs. Holly grabs the ring, places it over the ever important (and symbolic) left ring finger and realizes that she (and Cat) belong with Paul. Their kiss in the rain (plus keeping Cat warm) symbolizes their new life together. Holly found where she belongs.
  3. Top Hat (1935) Another one of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films that features Astaire as a character who initially annoys Rogers’ character until a dance brings them together. In this film, Astaire’s Jerry Travers, a tap dance star, arrives in London to appear in a show for producer Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Late at night, he decides to practice his number (on hard floors!) and wakes up and annoys Dale Tremont (Rogers). She comes up to his room to complain and he is smitten. She is less so. Then there’s a case of mistaken identity, with Dale thinking that Jerry is Horace, the husband of her friend Madge (Helen Broderick).

    Jerry pursues Dale throughout the film and she continues to be repulsed by him because she thinks her friend’s husband is coming onto her. A rainstorm at the park forces Jerry and Dale to seek refuge under a gazebo, where they dance to “It’s a Lovely Day (to be Caught in the Rain).” As with many of their films, Rogers’ annoyed attitude towards Astaire lessens, as they start to fall in love through song and dance.

Finally, rain can also be utilized to add a certain atmosphere to a film, or to evoke a specific feeling.

FAVORITE ATMOSPHERIC RAIN SCENES

Gene Kelly in what is probably the most famous rain scene of all time in Singin’ in the Rain.
  1. Singin’ in the Rain (1952). This film contains the most iconic rain scene of all and I would be remiss to not mention it. Gene Kelly’s classic dance in the rain to the title song, is perhaps the greatest dance number ever captured and the most joyous. I dare anyone to watch this scene and not feel better at the end. What is happier than a dance in the rain, splashing in puddles, without a single care in the world? The “Singin’ in the Rain” number happens after Kelly’s character, silent screen star Don Lockwood, returns from a disastrous screening of his first “talkie,” The Dueling Cavalier. It co-stars his on-screen partner, the incredibly untalented Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who is oblivious to the movie’s awfulness and delivers one of my favorite lines, “I liked it!” Don figures that his career is over until friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor) and new love, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) convince him to re-tool the film to be the musical, The Dancing Cavalier, with Kathy providing behind the scenes support to cover up Lina’s inadequacies. Overcome with joy and his new lease on life, Don happily sings, dances and splashes his way down the Hollywood streets, until he’s stopped by a befuddled cop. What a buzzkill.
  2. Clue (1985). This film opens with the six main characters arriving at the mansion of Mr. Boddy, in their color-coded vehicles. The house is tall and ominous, as is the torrential downpour. Inside the mansion, both Mr. Boddy and the chef are killed, leaving the six guests, plus butler Wadsworth (Tim Curry) and maid Yvette (Colleen Camp), to wonder who was responsible. The rain forces other unsuspecting visitors to enter the mansion, like a motorist breaking down in the rain and wanting to use the phone, and a cop investigating the motorist’s abandoned car. It rains the entire time throughout the film, lending a sort of spookiness to the classic mystery of “Who Killed Mr. Boddy?”
  3. Thunder on the Hill (1951). This film takes place almost entirely at a convent. Sister Mary Bonaventure (Claudette Colbert) is in charge of the hospital ward of the convent. A horrific rainstorm closes nearby roads, keeping everyone inside and others out. A woman, Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth), is brought to the convent to wait out the storm due to the closed roads. She is supposed to be delivered to the prison to await her execution for the murder of her brother. However, the washed out road delays the inevitable and she is forced to stay at the convent. As one can imagine, Valerie is not particularly amiable or even polite. Sister Mary does her best to be gracious and empathetic to Valerie, eventually softening her up a little. Through talking to Valerie, Sister Mary realizes that she may be innocent and decides to investigate Valerie’s brother’s death before the rain lets up and the roads re-open.

    In this film, the rain adds a harshness and uneasiness to the events in the film. As soon as the rain lets up and the road is passable, Ann Blyth’s character is headed to Death Row for a crime that she may not have committed. Other refugees are unhappy with her presence. The head doctor’s wife, Isabel, is a patient at the hospital and is unhappy with Sister Mary. Lending to the tension is that this same doctor also testified against Valerie in the case against her brother–more or less sealing her conviction. The Mother Superior (Gladys Cooper) is upset that Sister Mary refuses to follow her orders that she not intervene between Valerie and the police. Sister Mary is also holding onto her own baggage–the recent suicide of her sister. The relentless rain, the only thing keeping these people cooped up at the convent, increases the tension and drama.

HONORABLE RAIN SCENE MENTIONS:

Dorothy Malone watches, longingly, as Bogart departs her bookstore in “The Big Sleep.”
  1. The Big Sleep (1946). It rains constantly in this film and only lends to the overall darkness and spookiness of the proceedings. The plot is also a mess, the weather might as well be too.
  2. My Neighbor Totoro (1988). In this film, sisters Satsuke and Mei discover Totoro, a forest spirit, living near their new home. The sisters are living near a local hospital where their mother is convalescing. Totoro and his fellow spirits watch over the girls and intervene when Mei goes missing.
  3. Casablanca (1942). Humphrey Bogart’s Rick stands in the rain, eagerly awaiting Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa’s arrival, only to be handed a “Dear John” letter. As Rick’s heart breaks, the rain washes Ilsa’s words off the page. His life is over as he knows it.
  4. Red Dust (1932). Getting caught in a monsoon forces Mary Astor’s stuffy Barbara into the home of the rugged Dennis Carson (Clark Gable). Also staying with Dennis? Vantine (Jean Harlow), a prostitute who is none too happy or impressed with Barbara’s presence. Vantine has her eye on Dennis too and does not want to share. However, upon spotting a rain soaked Barbara, Dennis is overwhelmed and seduces her. The rain in this film lends an intensity, further making an already stifling film feel even more stuffy than it did before. This isn’t a cold rain. This is a hot, humid, rain.
  5. The Old Dark House (1932). A common trope in horror or mystery films, this is another movie that uses rain to force people inside. Horror often has people seeking shelter from strangers, and they’re always unusual strangers. In this movie, Phillip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart) are driving in a heavy storm with their friend, Penderel (Melvyn Douglas). They end up seeking refuge from the Femm siblings, Horace and Rebecca. The Femms are very weird. They warn their visitors about their butler Morgan (Boris Karloff), who is mute, alcoholic, and extremely dangerous. Eventually, two more people arrive at the Femms seeking shelter, Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and Gladys DuCane (Lillian Bond). As the group stays at the home longer, they start to discover more and more unusual people and continue to be terrorized by Morgan. This is not only suspenseful, it is also very funny. “Please pass the po-tay-toes,” is my favorite line in the film.

Categories
Blogathon

The 8th “So Bad, It’s Good” Blogathon–Batman & Robin (1997)

This is from “The Apple” (1980). This film is terrible and I could not find any entertainment in it. It was just stupid, and not in a good way.

What makes a good bad movie? For me, it’s simple. An objectively bad movie has to be entertaining. A lot of my favorite good bad movies are extremely campy. Campy films often contain a lot of theatrics and over the top aesthetics. One of my favorite campy films is Valley of the Dolls (1967). Everything in that film is over the top: the sets, the production, the melodrama, and the performances. Patty Duke snarling “Sparkle, Neely, Sparkle” is everything to me. Another of my favorite over the top camp classics is Barbarella (1968) where Jane Fonda travels through space in her ship, complete with floor to ceiling shag carpeting. The production design is out of this world (pardon the pun) as are Fonda’s costumes.

While Valley of the Dolls and Barbarella were “camping up” the theaters in the mid-late 1960s, a camp classic was airing on television–Batman starring Adam West as the Caped Crusader, along with Burt Ward as the “Holy Boy Wonder, Batman” and the ever rotating roster of villains: the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Catwoman (Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt), and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), to name a few. Appearing as a villain on Batman was a hot commodity in the 1960s–every star wanted the job. The Batman television show is incredibly cheesy with Robin’s constant “Holy [insert thing here] Batman,” all the Bat-gadgets, the slanted photography for the villain scenes, the onomatopoeia Pow! Kapow! type phrases populating the screen during fight scenes…the list goes on. Batman did have a fantastic theme song (Na na na na na na BATMAN!)

Alicia Silverstone, George Clooney, and Chris O’Donnell

In the late 1980s, director Tim Burton brought Batman back to the movie screens–except he didn’t want to follow in the campy footsteps of the 1960s Batman. His version starred Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson as Batman and the Joker, respectively. The film has a decidedly darker tone than the 1960s television show, albeit Nicholson is given some wacky scenes to play after he is disfigured and becomes the Joker. Burton and Keaton were back in 1992 with Batman Returns, this time bringing Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer in as the Penguin and Catwoman. The darker tone remained.

After Batman Returns failed to turn as large of a profit as Batman due to it being deemed too dark and scary for children (though I saw it in the theater in 1992 at the age of 8), Warner Brothers decided they wanted the series to move in a different direction. This “different direction” saw the removal of Burton and the entrance of Joel Schumacher. Michael Keaton also declined to return as he was not interested in appearing in this new interpretation of Batman. Schumacher used the 1960s Batman as one of his main influences for the reimagining of the series.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman

Batman Forever was released in 1995 with Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Dick Grayson/Robin was introduced in this installment with Chris O’Donnell in the role. Nicole Kidman played Batman’s love interest, Dr. Chase Meridian. The villains were Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face and Jim Carrey as Edward Nigma/The Riddler. I also saw Batman Forever in the theater and I just saw it again in the theater last year for the film’s 30th anniversary. I have to say that this film is so over the top, but Carrey is incredibly entertaining. I actually really like this movie. Batman Forever was a huge hit, so obviously a sequel was coming.

It took me too long to get to this point, but here we go. The fourth film in the series, Batman & Robin, was released in 1997. This installment in the series is famously known as the one featuring the Batsuit with nipples. The film starred George Clooney (then a star on ER and was looking to make his transition to film) as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Chris O’Donnell returns as Dick Grayson/Robin. Clueless star, Alicia Silverstone plays Barbara Wilson/Batgirl. The villains are Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy. I also saw Batman & Robin in the theater and hadn’t watched it since–until last night when I watched it again. Oof. This film is terrible, but also incredibly funny and entertaining because it’s so bad. Going into the film, the only thing I could remember from my original watch was that at one point, Robin was wearing fake lips. Then I started questioning myself: Am I hallucinating? Did that really happen? It seems so stupid. But then, the film started and I realized that this film is just stupid enough that Robin wearing fake lips seems like the most realistic thing that could happen in this film.

Poison Ivy is easily the best part of this film.

Right off the “bat” (pardon the pun as there are a lot of them in Batman & Robin), the opening sequence is already making the audience laugh. Close-ups of Batman’s butt and crotch are shown repeatedly as he suits up to fight crime in Gotham City. In Batman Forever, there was a shot of Val Kilmer’s butt in the Batman costume, but for some reason in the context of that film, it was funny. In Batman & Robin however, it seems almost gratuitous and unnecessary. Even worse, we have to endure the same shots with Robin’s butt and later Batgirl’s. Enough already, Schumacher.

Within minutes of the film’s start, it becomes glaringly obvious that the Batman & Robin script is terrible. I can’t believe that stars of Clooney or Thurman’s stature would read this and think “this sounds great.” Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy only speak in one-liner ice or plant puns. The opening action sequence with Batman and Robin starts with Robin repeating Batman’s funny line from Batman Forever when he says “Chicks dig the car.” Robin, it was funny when Kilmer’s Batman said it. It was not funny when you said it, because you are annoying.

Here are some hilariously awful Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy quotes:

(Do your best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression when imagining Mr. Freeze saying these things. It makes it even funnier)

MR. FREEZE: What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age!

MR. FREEZE: Let’s kick some ice!

MR. FREEZE: Allow me to break the ice. My name is Freeze. Learn it well, for it’s the chilling sound of your doom.

MR. FREEZE: Mercy? I’m afraid my condition has left me cold to your pleas of mercy.

MR. FREEZE: Freeze in hell, Batman!

POISON IVY: ‘Cause it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature (because when they’re not speaking in one-liner puns, they’re using commercial slogans)

POISON IVY: There’s just something about an anatomically correct rubber suit that puts fire in a girl’s lips.

POISON IVY: Come join me. My garden needs tending.

POISON IVY: Some lucky boy’s about to hit the honey pot.

Honorable Mention to this exchange between ROBIN and POISON IVY:

ROBIN: Is your thumb the only part of you that’s green?

POISON IVY: You will just have to find out!

ROBIN: I want us to be together but, I also wanna make sure you’re serious about turning over a new leaf… I need a sign.

POISON IVY: How about “Slippery When Wet” ?

To their credit, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman seem to be having fun with their roles, especially Thurman. Their scenes, complete with the terrible pun-laden dialogue are the reason to watch this film. I can’t say the same for the heroes of the film. Clooney looks like he’s regretting every moment of his life leading to his participation in the film. He is a good actor, but that’s not apparent in this film. Chris O’Donnell is incredibly irritating as Robin. Robin will just not quit whining to Batman about not being allowed to do things on his own and being seen as an equal partner. It’s obvious why the planned Robin/Nightwing sequel with O’Donnell was never made. There are some hackneyed scenes that seem to repeat over and over throughout the film with Batman trying to offer some sort of wisdom and lessons to Robin, but they just seem lame and contrived.

“Let’s kick some ice!” is easily my favorite of Mr. Freeze’s ice puns.

The scenes with Batgirl are even worse. I love Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Blast From the Past, but she is out of her element in an action film. The scene with Batgirl trying to intimidate Poison Ivy with trash talk is laughable and absurd. Batgirl’s trash talk scene would have been the perfect place in the script to insert some plant puns. Batgirl could have said something like “Time to weed the garden” or “I’ll give you a ‘Round-Up’ kick to the face” or something. In Clueless, Silverstone showed that she could deliver sass or trash talk to Paul Rudd, but that’s because she has a good script. Batman & Robin has an awful script, so she’s left with lame trash talk accusing Poison Ivy of setting back feminism. Batgirl and Poison Ivy’s fight scene looks like it was done in slow motion. I would have loved to have seen Poison Ivy fight Mr. Freeze. The film also inexplicably changes Batgirl’s character from Commissioner Gordon’s daughter to Alfred’s niece! I’m sure this was done out of convenience so it would explain why Batgirl is staying at Wayne Manor.

Making matters even worse is that Batgirl is more or less a copy of Robin from Batman Forever. She even has the same tragic orphan storyline that both Batman and Robin have. She randomly likes to steal Robin’s motorcycle at night to enter races against rough characters in the city. Nothing about Batgirl even hints at her being a “bad girl.” Even worse is that the film tries to make the claim that Batgirl is a computer genius. However, the only attempt that the film makes to show her computer genius is a scene of her trying to guess Alfred’s computer password by looking around his room for ideas. That is not the sign of a computer genius. They should have shown her creating some hacking device, entering a DOS command to bypass the password screen, or inserting some sort of disk to download data, something more clever. The film also uses some poor CGI to project the computer screen onto Batgirl’s face, which would not happen. The film also tries to make Robin and Batgirl seem like they’re going to become romantically involved, but the two seem to hate each other–maybe because they’re too much alike. There really is no point to the Batgirl character in this film.

However, I don’t want to completely dump all over Alicia Silverstone in this film. It’s not her fault that the script is so bad. I remember the magazines and tabloids being so cruel to Silverstone during the film’s production and theatrical release. There were countless horrible headlines dubbing her “Fatgirl” which is so off the mark it’s laughable. There is not a single moment in Batman & Robin where Silverstone is even remotely close to looking fat. No wonder “heroin chic” was a popular look in the 90s.

A laughably terrible fight sequence between Ivy and Batgirl.

Despite my article completely ragging on Batman & Robin for being so awful, it is also entertaining because it’s so awful. The script is horrendous. It might be the worst script ever produced. If it’s not *the* worst, it’s up there. The film’s special effects are also terrible, even for the 90s. Mr. Freeze’s blue freeze rays reminded me of Vincent Price and Boris Karloff’s magic fight in the 1963 version of The Raven. Mr. Freeze also has an amazing moment where I empathized with him when he freezes a guy for talking during a movie. I loved when Batgirl “wins” the fight against Poison Ivy by knocking her into a large, carnivorous plant. This film is entertaining for the bad script full of plant and ice puns and commercial slogans, as well as the weak attempts at trash talking and for Robin’s fake mouth. Did I mention that the script sucks?

A consistent motif throughout the film.
Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

The Eleventh Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon—“The Navigator” (1924)

I had to travel to California again for work and am trying to write this entry from my hotel room using my iPad and a $14 Bluetooth keyboard with a $6 mouse. I am hoping to get the actual iPad keyboard some day—it’s my birthday next month, maybe I’ll get lucky. Anyway, you definitely get what you pay for with the $14 Bluetooth keyboard. It doesn’t seem to respond to the Ctrl functions very well and sometimes the space bar acts like a “Tab” button. But I digress.

I watched The Navigator (1924) again last night in preparation for this article. I saw this movie at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland awhile back and it was hilarious. This film is mentioned as one of Buster Keaton’s “10 Best Films” in the 2018 documentary, The Great Buster, narrated by director Peter Bogdanovich. The Navigator features Buster as Rollo Treadway, a wealthy young man who impetuously decides to propose to Betsy O’Brien (Kathryn McGuire), his young neighbor across the street.

Before even waiting to find out if Betsy will accept his proposal, Rollo sends his servant to book passage on a ship to Honolulu for the honeymoon. The title card even razzes Rollo, saying “He had completed all the arrangements, except to notify the girl.” Betsy, of course, turns Rollo’s proposal down. She doesn’t even know him. Undeterred, Rollo decides to go on his honeymoon anyway, even if he doesn’t have a bride. He shows up at the shipyard and due to a covered up pier number, Rollo ends up boarding “The Navigator,” an old battleship. Meanwhile, Betsy’s father has just sold “The Navigator” to a small country.

ROLLO: Will you marry me?
BETSY: Certainly not!

Buster Keaton as “Rollo” and Kathryn McGuire as “Betsy.”

Betsy’s father ends up being captured by saboteurs when he visits “The Navigator” to check it out before selling it. Betsy boards the ship looking for her father. This sets up a hilarious scene where both Rollo and Betsy are living on “The Navigator” without the other knowing. Both Rollo and Betsy experience strange events on the ship inadvertently caused by the other. Eventually they meet and are forced to try and survive when “The Navigator” drifts out to sea and the chance of rescue looks slight.

Becuase they grew up rich, both Rollo and Betsy struggle to perform even the most basic tasks. Rollo tries to make coffee but uses like five beans. He then tries to open a can using a machete, an enormous meat cleaver, and later a large corkscrew—failing miserably with every attempt. However, mother is the necessity of invention and eventually Rollo and Betsy are able to rig up a variety of different machines to perform the aforementioned tasks using items found around the ship. One of Buster Keaton’s favorite gags, having items strung up on ropes attached to a pulley system is used in this film to expert effect.

The highlight of The Navigator, and probably its most famous scene, is Buster Keaton’s underwater scene where he tries to fix the ship which has sustained a large amount of damage. On the verge of sinking, “The Navigator” must be fixed. Betsy finds scuba diving gear onboard and convinces Rollo to put it on, go underwater, and fix the hole. Rollo agrees and heads underwater. He brings a variety of different objects with him, including a hilarious “Men at Work” sign which he sets up while he’s repairing the ship. He also uses a swordfish to fence another swordfish. Apparently in this scene, Buster wanted to don a starfish to look like a badge and direct traffic for schools of fish, but the scene was cut. That’s a shame because the schtick involving literal interpretations of fish-involved themes would be hilarious.

Buster Keaton was very good in his scenes, per usual. He does quite a few dangerous stunts, most memorably the underwater scenes, of which he could only film about ten minutes at a time due to the extremely cold temperatures off the waters off Catalina Island where The Navigator was filmed. He also has to perform a pretty high dive off the top of “The Navigator” ship when Betsy starts to drown. Kathryn McGuire was very good as Betsy as well. I was relieved that she actually got to don the cute 1920s era Flapper bob, versus the ratty looking sausage curls that so many of the 1920s women seem to wear. And why are they always dressed like oversized preschoolers? Betsy actually looked very chic in her sailor outfit.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

Favorite Stars in ‘B’ Movies Blogathon–“The Comedy of Terrors” (1963)

A ‘B’ movie is typically a low-budget film, often sharing half of a double bill with the ‘A’ movie. The ‘B’ movie would be screened first, assuming that the audience would sit through it to get to the ‘A’ movie. ‘A’ movies starred the A-list actors, like Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, to name a few. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, Westerns, Science Fiction, and Horror were popular ‘B’ movie genres. One of the biggest stars of the 1950s-1970s wave of ‘B’ horror movies was Vincent Price.

Price was an A-list actor during the 1940s appearing in such films as Laura (1944), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), and Dragonwyck (1946), all co-starring Gene Tierney. Price also appeared in other A-list films like The Three Musketeers (1948) with Gene Kelly and Lana Turner, and Song of Bernadette (1943) with Jennifer Jones. During the late 1950s, Price segued into the B horror movie part of his career with films like The Fly (1958) and House on Haunted Hill (1959).

Vincent Price during the 1940s

What I love about Vincent Price’s B movie career is that he looks like he’s having so much fun in his roles. In interviews he made it clear that he appeared in these films to fund his main hobby and interest, which was collecting art. During his lifetime, Price was a world-renowned art collector and commissioned custom works from artists such as Salvador Dali. Price didn’t particularly set out to be an A-list, highly respected actor. He used his acting talents to fund the other pursuits in his life. I am confident that this is why Price appeared to be having fun in his films, because he didn’t care whether the film was seen as “good.” He knew the film would make him money, which was his goal. This isn’t to say that Price phoned in is performances. His natural charisma, screen presence, and fantastic voice made him an entertaining actor to watch on screen.

Many of Vincent Price’s most memorable 1950s-1970s horror films were made with producer Roger Corman, who produced dozens of memorable films at American International Pictures (AIP). Corman and Price collaborated on a series of films based on Edgar Allan Poe films including House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), my personal favorite, The Raven (1963), and The Tales of Terror (1962).

Peter Lorre and Vincent Price

The stars of The Tales of Terror, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone, reunited in 1963 for The Comedy of Terrors. Boris Karloff, a major star in his own right, joined the trio. Lorre, Rathbone, and Karloff all regularly appeared in A-list productions and were stars in their own right. The Comedy of Terrors is so zany, it had to be a fun production for all four of the actors. 1930s comedian Joe E. Brown has a cameo as a graveyard employee. The cherry on top is director Jacques Tourneur, who had experience directing horror films such as the Val Lewton-produced films, Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and The Leopard Man (1943). He also directed the moody film noir Out of the Past (1947) and the snow-covered Nightfall (1956).

In The Comedy of Terrors, Vincent Price and Peter Lorre play Waldo Trumbull and Felix Gillie, respectively. Trumbull and Gillie are a pair of undertakers who run the funeral parlor, Trumbull and Gillie. Their operating funds are limited, so limited in fact, that they only have one coffin. When someone dies, Trumbull and Gillie show up with their coffin. The decedent’s burial ceremony takes place and their coffin is lowered into the ground. At night, Trumbull and Gillie return to dig up the grave, dump out the body, and take back the coffin to reuse on a future customer. However, “future customers” are comprised of people killed by Trumbull.

Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Vincent Price

Boris Karloff plays Amos Hinchley, the elderly and senile former owner of Trumbull and Gillie’s funeral parlor. Trumbull is also Hinchley’s son-in-law as he is unhappily married to Hinchley’s daughter, Amaryllis (Joyce Jameson). A running gag throughout the film is Trumbull’s attempts to poison Hinchley via some “medicine” dumped into his drink. Trumbull’s medicine bottle is clearly labeled with the word “poison.” He eagerly wants to inherit Hinchley’s fortune, but needs him out of the way.

Eventually, Trumbull and Gillie discover that their rent is in arrears and their landlord, John Black (Basil Rathbone), is demanding payment, otherwise they’ll be evicted. To kill two birds with one stone (so to speak), Trumbull and Gillie come up with a plan to kill Black. By killing him, they’ll solve their eviction issue as well as their money issue. However, there’s a problem–Black just won’t die.

The Comedy of Terrors is hysterical. Between Basil Rathbone’s refusal to die and Trumbull and Gillie’s constant attempts to kill him, the story is just non-stop insanity and nonsense. Adding to the comedy is Trumbull’s constant drunkenness. The story is definitely on the macabre side; however Vincent Price’s dry delivery of his lines and Peter Lorre’s constant disbelief at what is happening, makes the film. Adding to the hilarity is just how unscrupulous Price’s character is. He drums up business by murdering wealthy people so that he can apply for the job as undertaker and conduct his coffin scam. He then receives the payment, spends it all on booze, then drinks all of it without sharing.

Buddy the Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure was not a fan of Joyce Jameson’s operatic singing!

I recognized Joyce Jameson as one of the “Fun Girls” on The Andy Griffith Show. In The Comedy of Terrors, her character, Amaryllis, is an aspiring opera singer. She practices her operatic singing throughout the film–much to Trumbull’s chagrin. Also, much to my bird’s chagrin as well. He kept screaming in anger every time she sang. Boris Karloff as Amaryllis’ father is hilarious. His character’s senility lends to humorous moments, such as when he delivers the eulogy at Mr. Black’s funeral. His eulogy is long-winded, stammering, and completely all over the place. Later, he delivers Trumbull’s comeuppance in a very funny scene.

The Comedy of Terrors is a bit of a misnomer, as there is no terror in this film. There is nothing scary whatsoever about this film. However, it is full of comedy and a fun late career film for the four leads. Three of the film’s stars, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Basil Rathbone, would pass away within six years of the film’s release. Vincent Price would continue making films for almost the next 30 years, until his passing in 1993.

Rhubarb the cat, who also played “Cat” in Breakfast at Tiffanys has a memorable role in The Comedy of Terrors

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Television

11th Annual Favorite TV Show Episode Blogathon–Mama’s Family, “The Big Nap”

The character of Thelma “Mama” Harper originated as a reoccurring skit, “The Family,” on The Carol Burnett Show. Mama and “The Family” made their debut in 1974 in the skit entitled, “Phillip’s Visit.” The original iteration of Mama featured her as a ill-tempered, somewhat senile, and very quick to insult anyone, even members of her family. Vicki Lawrence, then in her 20s (!) played Mama, with Carol Burnett as Eunice and Harvey Korman as Eunice’s husband, Ed.

The 1983-1984 cast of “Mama’s Family.”

In 1983, “The Family” sketch was spun-off into a television sitcom, Mama’s Family, starring Vicki Lawrence, now in her 30s, playing the 60-something Mama. Korman appeared at the beginning of each episode as “Alistair Quince,” to introduce the next installment of Mama’s Family. Korman and Burnett would appear sporadically as Eunice and Ed. New family members were added, including Mama’s son, Vinton aka “Vint” (Ken Berry), neighbor and soon-to-be Vint’s new wife, Naomi (Dorothy Lyman), and Vint’s teenaged children, Buzz (Eric Brown) and Sonja (Karin Argoud). Future stars of The Golden Girls, Betty White and Rue McClanahan, played Mama’s daughter Ellen and Mama’s sister Fran, respectively.

The 1986-1990 cast of “Mama’s Family.”

This iteration of Mama’s Family ran for two seasons until it was canceled. The first two seasons were put into reruns and unexpectedly performed well. A couple years later, in 1986, show producer Joe Hamilton (also Carol Burnett’s ex-husband) revived the series for first-run syndication. Hamilton retooled the series. The character of Mama was softened to be less mean and more caring towards her family. However, she was still quick with a smart and witty retort. Vint’s children were removed from the series and never mentioned again. In the original series, Vint was more intelligent and more apt to stand up to his mother. In the new version, Vint is a bit of a dope; but is more loveable. The Naomi character was changed from being sassy and also willing to stand up to Thelma to being a bit of a bimbo and more shrill.

By now, Betty White and Rue McClanahan were busy on The Golden Girls, so their characters did not make an appearance in the new version of the series. Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence were somewhat estranged during this time, so Burnett’s character, Eunice, was only mentioned by name. White’s character, Ellen, was also only mentioned by name. McClanahan’s character, Fran, was killed off in the first episode of the new series, with the group arriving home from her funeral. Fran died after choking on a toothpick at the local watering hole, The Bigger Jigger. New characters were added to the series, neighbor Iola (Beverly Archer) and Mama’s grandson (Eunice’s son), Bubba (Allan Kayser). In my opinion, the second version of the series is the best version of the series.

Naomi, Vint, and Mama in “The Big Nap.”

Now onto the episode of Mama’s Family I wanted to discuss, “The Big Nap.” This episode originally aired on January 20, 1990. Throughout the second iteration of the series, Mama is established to be a big fan of classic film. She and Iola watch Bette Davis in “Now Voyager” in an episode on Valentine’s Day and in another episode, Mama falls asleep in the middle of a Deanna Durbin marathon. In “The Big Nap,” Mama is ready to settle in for another evening of the “Private Eye Film Festival,” featuring a triple feature of private eye films. Mama says that she’s planning to watch “Danger My Lovely,” “Murder My Pretty,” and “Kiss Me, Vicious.” The previous night she watched “Kiss of Danger,” “Murder My Vicious,” and “Kill Me, My Lovely.” These films are obviously all fictitious titles, but are similar to well-known film noir titles (“Murder My Sweet,” “Kiss Me Deadly,” “Kiss of Death,” etc.).

Detective T. Harper in “The Big Nap.”

Before Mama starts watching her films, neighbor Iola shows up with some startling news: her notoriously large and reclusive mother is missing. While Vint, Naomi, Bubba and Iola are out looking for her, Mama settles in her her movie marathon. Soon, we hear some stereotypical film noir music and typical private eye type narration. It’s obviously fake audio made for the episode, but it sets the tone for the type of film Mama is watching. Mama then starts to feel guilty for not spending her time looking for Iola’s mother. She is then reminded of another private eye film she watched. This then segues into Mama daydreaming about being a private eye.

The scene transitions into sepia tone. Mama provides the narration for the story. She is “T. Harper,” Private Eye. She dons a fedora and trench coat and begins investigating her new case. She works from her home, aka her “showplace,” because she prefers it. Mama’s narration is very funny and uses a lot of the common film noir tropes: slang, metaphors, a jaded tone, her personal thoughts as to what’s going on, a feeling of weariness, etc.

“Things got so bad, I took up hitting the sauce. Just my luck, it needed oregano and I was out.”

Mama then says this funny line:

“This was a job for my girl Friday. Her name was Tuesday. She started on a Monday, and by Wednesday, she’d asked for Thursday off.”

Miss Neighborly

Very cleverly, all the other family members and Iola are seen as characters in Mama’s dream, sporting their familiar character traits. Naomi is Tuesday, Mama’s Girl Friday. She speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent and is a complete bimbo. She’s seen perched at a typewriter, which is what she was doing in the episode prior to Mama’s daydream. Tuesday’s boyfriend, is Vint aka “Johnny Deadbolt,” a take-off of Vint’s job as a locksmith. Johnny is a typical dimwitted gangster. Mama’s neighbor, Iola, shows up in the femme fatale role, as “Miss Neighborly,” a take-off of Mary Astor’s “Miss Wonderley” from The Maltese Falcon. Miss Neighborly has hired Mama to find her mother. Iola’s tendency to whip up meals on the fly is spoofed with her randomly making an eggplant parmigiana in Mama’s kitchen. Throughout Mama’s dream, Miss Neighborly keeps making random meals. She also pays Mama for her work on the case in coupons. Finally, Bubba is Miss Neighborly’s brute of a “chauffeur,” a local hood named Lucky. He also uses a New York-esque accent. All the characters are suspects in Mama’s eyes.

“Coupons. More coupons than I’d ever seen in my whole life. Thirty-cents off cornflakes. Fifty cents off ground chuck. Why, there was even a two-for-one on oregano?”

Mama’s dream ends with her identifying Miss Neighborly as the culprit. She also figures out that Miss Neighborly’s mother wasn’t missing–in fact, she had no mother. Tapping into Iola’s homemaker traits, Miss Neighborly is revealed to have invented a mother who developed fantastic recipes that were shared with the world. Her mother was a sensation, and Miss Neighborly became tired of not getting any credit, so she concocted this story to get rid of her mother.

“I wanted to be more than an orphan. I wanted to be the finest cook in America and make a fortune on my recipes…I was tired. Tired of her getting all the glory. They were my recipes. It was my book. She didn’t create caramel crab cake surprise. I did. Me, the daughter. But mother said, ‘The daughter had to stay in the background.’ But I am the mother. And the daughter. Mother, daughter. Mother, daughter…”

The episode ends with Naomi, Vint, Bubba, and Iola returning, stating that they’d located Iola’s mother. It seems that she heard the ice cream truck and had followed it, until realizing she was three blocks away. Tired, she stopped in the Donut Hut, seated on the first three stools. Mama decides that she’d be better off watching a Shirley Temple Film Festival, instead of a Private Eye Film Festival.