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SAVING POP CULTURE HISTORY: Ira H. Gallen is a self-proclaimed “Baby Boomer Guru,” a pioneering fixture on the Manhattan cable TV scene since 1980. Most people know him as the toy-and-gadget guy on network TV shows like THE VIEW, FOX AND FRIENDS and various network news shows, but he’s also established himself as one of the world’s leading archivists, restoring and presenting literally thousands of films, TV shows, documentaries and commercials. His Video Resources archive is in constant use by filmmakers and historians the world over.
“Ira has donated hundreds of hours of television shows, and especially commercials,” says Ron Simon, Curator of the Paley Institute (formally the Museum of Television and Radio). “Without his collection a large part of the birth of television and advertising on TV would be lost forever."
In the late 70s, after working on such movies as THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, DEATH WISH and ROCKY II, Gallen purchased airtime on the new public access channels and hosted a nostalgia show out of his West 71st Street apartment/archive called BIOGRAPH DAYS, BIOGRAPH NIGHTS. For 25 years, six days a week, he highlighted his latest film finds, as well as his burgeoning collection of new and vintage pop culture toys. Gallen remembers: “I first bought up all the 1:30 A.M. time slots Monday through Friday, which basically had me following THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN in the New York market.” With little in the way of programming available other than reruns of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, he found himself with a captive audience. There was such a demand to buy copies of his old commercials, TV shows, and cartoons that he began creating his own line of VHS nostalgia tapes.
Today there are over 400 DVD's available on his www.tvdays.com website representing just a small portion of his collection.
His fans included lots of night owl show biz people, including Letterman's producers, who noticed the old commercials featuring celebrities in their salad days, including Mike Wallace in a Fluffo Cake commercial and as an actor in a Navy Insurance training film. On THE TONIGHT SHOW, Jay Leno surprised Clint Eastwood with a vintage milk spot, Susan Sarandon with a girdle commercial, a twenty-something Dustin Hoffman hawking the new Volkswagen, John Goodman shilling for Alka-Seltzer and more … all from Ira's archive.
Ira's collection is staggering in scope. He's restored such classic kids' shows as ANDY'S GANG, CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT, THE PAUL WINCHELL SHOW, DING DONG SCHOOL, KUKLA FRAN AND OLLIR, CAPTAIN VIDEO, SUPER CIRCUS, and THE ROOTIE KAZOOTIE CLUB, a popular live NBC kids' puppet show created by Steve Carlin (whose film estate Gallen now represents). Gallen remembers: "I was scouting locations for the first DEATH WISH film with Charles Bronson in 1974 and in a empty warehouse I found a 16mm film on top of a garbage heap. I held the first frames up to the light and knew exactly what it was when I saw the image of ROOTIE. Not even the Museum of Television and Broadcasting had a copy. I put it under my coat and left with it." Since then he's transferred most of what was left of the kinescopes Carlin had saved in his own vault, and also saved the original puppets.
Gallen has preserved not just kids' shows, but such popular 50s programs as THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR. THE $64,000 QUESTION, THE RED SKELTON SHOW, THE MORNING SHOW WITH JACK PAAR, ARTHUR GODFREY AND FRIENDS, THE ALL STAR REVUE WITH PERRY COMO, and YOUR HIT PARADE, to name just a few. And he's saved over 10,000 commercials from the 50s through the 80s covering such products as toys, dolls, cereal, cigarettes, coffee, beer, cars, cleaning products, you name it, he's got it.
That's good news, but the really goods news is that he makes all this available to pop culture fans everywhere. Through his website (an entertaining experience in and of itself), he sells nearly 60 volumes of these classic shows and commercials on DVD. And while he's looking to sell his massive collection to the right media buyer, his online library of cartoons, commercials, newsreels, silent and sound features, educational films, travelogues, military training films from Korea through Vietnam, home movies and more is available on his website.
From 1982 to 1992, I worked with Ira on THE DIRECTORS SERIES, a cable show in which I interviewed several hundred filmmakers, including Lee Marvin (to my knowledge the only complete career interview with the legendary tough guy), Dennis Hopper, Sir Richard Attenborough, Sydney Pollack, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Ralph Bakshi, Jim Henson, Anne Francis, James Toback, Robert Downey Sr., Wolfgang Petersen (in his first American interview upon the release of DAS BOOT), Sam Raimi (in his very first video interview, promoting THE EVIL DEAD, and then again for EVIL DEAD II) among many others.
Besides his praiseworthy preservation efforts, Gallen is a leading silent film historian, and executor of the research collection of the late Seymour Stern, who spent nearly 60 years documenting the life and career of the "Father of Film," David Wark Griffith. Ira worked closely over the years with such historians as William K. Everson, Kevin Brownlow and Herman G. Weinberg on many silent film projects, and he stays close to his film roots with a new project, an epic play he has written on Griffith that he hopes to mount in 2008 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the controversial director's first film, THE ADVENTURES OF DOLLIE.
COMIC-CON: The yearly Comic-Con has grown from a gathering of comic book freaks to a major Hollywood launching pad for new genre product. My Angel Baby Entertainment producing partner Gregory Segal was there and filed this report:
“Many of us saw, and enjoyed the carnally humorous THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN. It was sexually raucous and some of the scenes (especially, for me, the waxing man-o-lantern bit) were unforgettable. Judd Apatow cemented his status as one of the current kings of comedy with that piece.
A subplot of the movie has Steve Carell's character, Andy, selling his collectible collection on Ebay. His character has an enormous collection of ephemera from popular TV shows, comic books and other American "culture."
Well, I just visited Comic-Con in San Diego. For those of you who cannot imagine an enormous, Jacob Javits sized-convention center housing 125,000 Andy's in search of their next Steve Austin action figure, let me tell you, it does exist. Its in San Diego, its an enormous collection of collectibles, movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, and the people who love all of the foregoing, and much more. And Hollywood definitely is paying attention, more than ever.
I was down at Comic-Con for the weekend, doing research for the upcoming marketing that will be necessary for the two horror movies I have shooting this fall (including your own John Gallagher's DIGGER). I had heard that horror films had made their presence felt at Comic-Con, and because I wanted to see and understand what a fellow producer labeled the “End Game” in getting a project out in the market, I ventured down to the “Con” to see what it was all about.
And what it’s about is everything that is nerdy. The nerds rule.
You approach the football stadium sized building on waterfront property, overlooking part of the gorgeous San Diego harbor front. The Andys don’t look at the harbor, they are way too focused on getting inside and sampling the goodies. As you approach, hawkers (except they aren’t selling anything) lob T-shirts for upcoming shows in your direction – I got tees for the BIONIC WOMAN show and some show called CHUCK. The masses congregate and cross, in groups, into the convention center where you present your badge (security is very light and there is much badge-sharing going on) and venture inside.
That’s when the smell hits you (one producer termed it “Nerdstink”).
Think back a bit to high school. To the guys and girls who spent a little too much time in the arcade, or playing video games, or drawing skulls on their forearms. And a little less time than average on personal hygiene. This is their domain, and trust me, they do mark their territory.
Add the adrenaline rush and accompanying smell of perspiration from an Andy, maybe in his mid-twenties or mid-thirties or mid-forties, who is for the first time seeing, close up, the IRON MAN artwork, while listening to Robert Downey, Jr., in person, discuss what it was like to strap into Marvel Comics’ favorite super-hero suit. It’s a rush for Andy. And there are perhaps thirty thousand of him and his brethren at any one time inside the convention center. Add the availability of cheap high carb food, caffeine and few visible restrooms. Well, you understand.
Many of the folks who attend come in full costume. Literally, hundreds of storm troopers roam the floor, in full gear, with their laser guns. Only a fraction of them are hired “guns,” most are there freelancing for fun. (An aside – a friend told me that at Con 2006, Mark Hamill attended and as he walked up an aisle he came upon a few dozen storm troopers. They spotted him and began to run towards him, at which point he turned and broke into a full Luke Skywalker sprint in the other direction. Must have been quite a site). There are Vaders and Trekkies, and Heroes and Spider-Men and Wonder Women and all sorts of other dressed up folks, some in outfits which are interesting yet entirely unrecognizable (to me at least).
This is not to take away from the overall grandeur of the event, which can, in limited doses, bring out the Andy in almost anyone. Comic-Con is literally everything for which a genre fan could hope. It goes way beyond the usual suspects from the Studios and major comic book companies (although the studios and major comics companies are in prime position and are the most conspicuous). There are lesser known comics, unknown comics, straight-to-DVD movies, memorabilia and collectibles of every type, including no shortage of weapons fashioned after those found in movies like the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. There is also original artwork, in many variations and much that has a certain, shall we say, Boris Vallejo quality to it. Buxom, scantily clad women seem to be on the mind of your average Andy and a central them in much of the original art and in many comics too. That’s OK. Lucy Lawless was in the house to let everyone know that this artwork has its basis in fact.
As for the horror I was seeking, it was pretty limited. I’d read that Comic-Con had refashioned itself as a family-friendly event (there isn’t much they can do about the scantily clad women walking around all day and evening, whether working to attract attention to a particular booth or just their as guests), and other than Lions Gate and Picturehouse (yes, Picturehouse has a horror film), there were few displays for upcoming horror films. There were posters for a few more, but for the most part, Comic-Con has minimized the horror film element in favor of films like SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES and the dozen or so others trying to be the next Harry Potter.
I don’t mean to say its limited to action-adventure, sorcery and sci-fi (oh, my). As I said, Jenna Jameson was there promoting her bio-pic and comic-book. And plenty of comedies, including Apatow’s upcoming SUPERBAD and the new Dane Cook vehicle GOOD LUCK, CHUCK were both the subject of significant promotions. A shirtless Dane Cook impersonator covered in red lipstick kisses held court next to the Lions Gate booth for most of Saturday.
One change from recent years is that the biggest draws, panel-wise, are some of the TV shows. Apparently the HEROES panel drew the biggest crowds of the Con, with 4000 people jamming a panel room within minutes of it opening. Other shows like “Lost” also drew huge crowds at previous Cons. (Incidentally, I spent most of my time at the Con with Louis Lombardi, who played Edgar the computer programmer on 24 until his character was killed off. Louis also played the FBI agent who flipped Vinny Pastore on the first two seasons of THE SOPRANOS. We didn’t go five minutes without Louis cordially posing for a picture or signing an autograph.)
I don’t know what to take away from the whole Con experience. Some things about it are a little bit, shall we say, strange. The level of detail and investment of people in the minutia of these shows, movies, games and comics is, to me, startling. But it is axiomatic that the audience is never wrong. And this is the Audience. For the studio marketers and the other companies at the Con, it’s the litmus test of fan approval.
William Goldman opined in Adventures in the Screen Trade, a book that he wrote in 1983, that movies were either comic books or not comic books, not literally, but as a metaphor for the type of story that was told. He said that Hollywood mostly only was making comic books (twenty three years ago). He seemed to lament this as a loss.
I wonder if THE PRINCESS BRIDE was a popular panel at Comic-Con.”
GREGORY SEGAL
This is an exceptionally rich season for quality DVD releases:
UNIVERSAL: Director Edgar Wright burst onto the scene with his brilliant hit zombie parody SHAUN OF THE DEAD. His latest film, HOT FUZZ (2007), is now on DVD, and so far, it’s my favorite movie of the year. This is a real “movie movie,” a hybrid action cop mystery comedy with gore, and loving references to martial arts, horror and even spaghetti Westerns. In many ways it’s the ultimate genre film. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost return along with Jim Broadbent and Timothy Dalton, Wright revels in his crash cut whip zoom stylistics, and offers a great soundtrack with artists like Adam Ant and The Kinks; indeed, The Kinks’ “Village Green Preservation Society” is the perfect song for this picture, with Pegg as super-London-cop Nick Angel, exiled from the big city to a picture perfect English country village where nothing is as it seems. There are tons of fantastic extras, including outtakes, deleted scenes, a video log of the Wright-Pegg-Frost promotional tour across the U.S., a Fuzz-O-Meter trivia meter and more. HOT FUZZ is must viewing. It made me re-watch SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and research how these guys started out. Wright, Pegg, Frost and stock company regular Juliet Stevenson had a comedy series in the U.K. called SPACED, unavailable on DVD in the States. Pegg and Stevenson wrote and starred in the show as two people who meet randomly, both searching for an affordable apartment. They find one, with a catch – the landlord will only rent to a married couple, so they pose as man and wife to get the place. All the episodes are posted on (yep) Youtube. Just search for “Spaced” and let the laughs begin.
THE DORIS DAY AND ROCK HUDSON COMEDY COLLECTION features three classic romantic comedies starring the most popular screen team of the early Sixties -- Michael Gordon’s Oscar-winning PILLOW TALK (1959), winner of the Academy Award for original screenplay, with Rock and Doris battling over a telephone party line; Delbert Mann’s LOVER COME BACK (1961), pitting the pair as rival ad execs fighting over hilarious client Jack Oakie; and SEND ME NO FLOWERS (1964), Norman Jewison’s third directorial feature, with Doris married to hypochondriac Rock. All three co-star the wonderful Tony Randall at his best, and are veritable time capsules of Camelot consumerism. They’re still great fun after all these years.
Sam Raimi’s DARKMAN (1990) is a blast, an action-packed sci-fi thriller clearly inspired by the synthetic flesh of Michael Curtiz’ DOCTOR X (1932) and especially the director’s love of comic books. After years of supporting roles in films like EXCALIBUR (1981), THE BOUNTY (1994), THE MISSION (1986), SUSPECT (1987) and THE DEAD POOL (1988), Liam Neeson had the starring role as Peyton Westlake aka Darkman, a scientist victimized by a vicious gang and forced to use his own experimental synthetic skin on himself. Frances McDormand co-stars, fresh from her Oscar-nominated role in MISSISSIPPI BURNING, and already a veteran of Raimi’s CRIMEWAVE (1985) and the Coen Brothers’ BLOOD SIMPLE (1984) and RAISING ARIZONA (1987). DARKMAN looks forward to Sam’s SPIDER-MAN films with its virtuoso movie-making and passion for the genre. There’s a terrific Danny Elfman score, evocative cinematography by Bill Pope, who later shot the SPIDER-MAN series, and the kickass sound design that was a trademark of the EVIL DEAD movies. Sam Raimi is a filmmakers’ filmmaker, from his EVIL DEAD films –THE EVIL DEAD (1981), EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN (1987), ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992) -- to his Leone western homage THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1995), the sublime A SIMPLE PLAN (1998) and the intriguing THE GIFT (2000), and DARKMAN ranks as one of his best.
Universal has packaged the movie in the DARKMAN TRILOGY along with DARKMAN II: THE RETURN OF DURANT (1994) and DARKMAN III: DIE DARKMAN DIE (1996), much lower-budgeted straight-to-video sequels directed and photographed by Bradford May (TV’s HAWAII FIVE-0, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, NASH BRIDGES). They’re both for hardcore fans only and play like TV movies. They’ve both, in fact, become staples on the Sci-Fi Channel.
PARAMOUNT: Three excellent films are newly available from PHE. Francis Coppola’s adaptation of John Grisham’s best-selling THE RAINMAKER (1997) comes in a special collectors edition with commentary from Coppola (he’s always especially instructive to listen to) and Danny DeVito, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, an extended beginning and an alternate ending, and screen tests of the stars. The movie is wonderfully acted, with Matt Damon in a landmark role as the idealistic young attorney who takes on an insurance company and their evil lawyers, headed by a charismatic Jon Voight. Claire Danes, Teresa Wright, Mary Kay Place do stellar work, with DeVito and Mickey Rourke contributing some of the finest work of their careers. The picture also boasts a marvelous Elmer Bernstein jazz score and typically sensational John Toll cinematography. What really struck me about THE RAINMAKER ten years later is the timeliness (sadly) of its indictment of health care in this country. Coppola is one of our greatest directors, and his sure hand makes this a terrific film. His first movie as a director in a decade, YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, will be released in December, and is eagerly awaited. In the meantime, watch THE RAINMAKER if you need to be reminded of the Coppola excellence.
ZODIAC (2007) is one of the best movies of the year, a compelling thriller about the Zodiac serial killer that terrorized San Francisco in the late 60s and early 70s. The movie clocks in at 157 minutes, but director David Fincher (SE7EN) keeps it moving swiftly and suspensefully, with effective use of period tunes like Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” and Santana’s “Soul Sacrifice.” He collaborates with an exceptional cast, including Jake Gyllenhaal as a newspaper cartoonist obsessed with the case, Robert Downey, Jr. in an Oscar-worthy return as a dissipated journalist, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Elias Koteas, Dermot Mulroney, and Donal Logue as law enforcement officials, Chloe Sevigny as Gyllenhaal’s long suffering wife, and Brian Cox as attorney Melvin Belli. ZODIAC is a much less flashy (and less gory) film than SE7EN, but ultimately a richer and more complex picture. There are no extras, a sure sign of a special edition somewhere down the road.
PERFUME (2006) is an exquisitely produced thriller an 18th Century period piece about a young man with an extraordinary sense of smell (Ben Whishaw) that leads him create perfume by capturing the essences of vivacious lovelies … by killing them. Based on the best-seller by Patrick Suskind, the film is stylishly directed by Tom Tykwer (RUN LOLA RUN), and boasts an impressive cast, including Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, and Rachel Hurd-Wood, with narration by John Hurt. The only extra is a featurette.
I was surprised how much I liked DISTURBIA (2007), a teen take on Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW. Troubled kid Shia LaBeouf is sentenced to house arrest for punching out his Spanish teacher, and takes to spying on the neighbors, who include the new hottie next door (Sarah Roemer) and a possible serial killer (David Morse). Director D. J. Caruso creates genuine suspense and terror. The young stars Shia LaBeouf and Roemer have bright futures (he’s starring in the fourth installment of INDIANA JONES right now), and they are ably supported by Morse (TV’s HACK) and Carrie-Ann Moss (THE MATRIX). Special features include commentary by Caruso, LaBeouf and Roemer; deleted scenes; outtakes; a pop-up quiz; and two music videos. Paramount has launched a viral video section on the DISTURBIA DVD website: http://www.disturbia.com/clips/index.html.
WARNER BROS.: I loved 300 (2007), and so did a lot of people. It’s grossed nearly a half billion (yes, billion) dollars worldwide since March of this year. Based on the Frank Miller graphic novel, it’s a highly stylized, mythological re-telling of the true saga of the 300 Spartans who stopped a vastly overwhelming Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Director Zack Snyder (the outstanding DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) is a visceral filmmaker, and you feel every sword thrust and head lop in this picture. He’s also, with Edgar Wright, one of the best of the new generation of big time directors. Snyder was smart to engage a cast of talented mostly unknowns for 300, and their unfamiliarity goes a long way in making us concentrate on the action and thrills, as well as helping sell the period. Gerard Butler (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) and Lena Headey (THE BROTHERS GRIMM) are the best known actors in the film; Butler is a bonafide action star now, inheriting the Sean Connery part in Brian DePalma’s upcoming UNTOUCHABLES prequel and the Kurt Russell role of Snake Plissken in the proposed remake of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. Created largely on a soundstage with extensive cutting edge (no pun intended) technology, 300 is a must for every action fan. The WHV two-disc special edition has lots of cool extras, including Snyder’s audio commentary; deleted scenes; and featurettes on Frank Miller, the unique look of the film, and the real Spartans of history.
William Powell and Myrna Loy are one of the most beloved screen teams in history, by virtue of their THIN MAN series of films. MGM grew a money tree with those pictures, and never missed an opportunity to pair them in other pictures. Now WHV has released the wonderful MYRNA LOY AND WILLIAM POWELL COLLECTION, with five Loy-Powell features from Hollywood’s Golden Age. MANHATTAN MELODRAMA (1934), released one month before the first THIN MAN picture is a true classic, with a storyline that would be imitated dozens of times over the years. Blackie Gallagher (Mickey Rooney) and Jim Wade (Jimmy Butler) are best pals on the Lower East Side of New York during the 1900’s. Blackie’s a born rascal, while Jim hits the books like a good boy. When they are orphaned in the General Slocum steamship fire disaster (the biggest loss of life in NYC pre 9/11), the kids are taken in by kindly George Sidney. Rooney and Butler grow up to be Clark Gable and William Powell, respectively; as Powell advances from lawyer to governor, Gable becomes the city’s top gambler/part-time gangster. Their friendship remains true blue, even when Myrna Loy leaves Gable for Powell. Lots more complications ensue in Arthur Caesar’s Oscar-winning story – Woody Van Dyke makes the movie crackle with his usual breakneck pace, with help from an uncredited George Cukor who directed some scenes when Van Dyke had to leave to begin THE THIN MAN. It’s really Gable’s show; he’s in his prime here, the same year he won Best Actor for Capra’s IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, and it’s easy to see why he was called the “King of Hollywood.” Richard Rodgers and Lorenz wrote the song “The Bad in Every Man” for the picture, sung in a nightclub scene by Shirley Ross. If it sounds familiar it should – it’s “Blue Moon” with the original title and lyrics. MANHATTAN MELODRAMA earned another spot in history when real-life gangster John Dillinger stopped into Chicago’s Biograph Theatre to catch a screening. He was gunned down by police when he left the movie house.
EVELYN PRENTICE (1934) is glossy MGM drama. He’s a busy lawyer, she a neglected wife. Affairs, scandals, courtroom histrionics – all are handled with aplomb by neglected great William K. Howard (THE POWER AND THE GLORY, TRANSATLANTIC). An excellent supporting cast of marvelous characters help, including Una Merkel, Isabel Jewell, Edward Brophy and, in her screen debut, Rosalind Russell. The rest of the collection are all Powell-Loy comedies – Richard Thorpe’s competent DOUBLE WEDDING (1937), with Powell as a bohemian trying to marry Loy’s sister Florence Rice – against Loy’s wishes, of course. Van Dyke’s I LOVE YOU AGAIN (1940) is brilliant screwball comedy, with Powell in particularly top form as a guy married to Loy who becomes an amnesiac and reverts back to his former con man self. Jack Conway’s LOVE CRAZY (1941) is a delightful domestic farce perfectly executed by its facile stars, perfectly handled by one of Metro’s workhorses (Conway’s credits include Harlow’s REDHEADED WOMAN, the Gable-Loy TOO HOT TO HANDLE, the Gable-Tracy-Colbert-Lamarr BOOM TOWN, the Gable-Lana Turner HONKY TONK and the Ronald Colman epic A TALE OF TWO CITIES). The collection comes with the usual abundant WHV extras, including Pete Smith comedy shorts and Metro’s Technicolor Harman-Ising cartoons.
20th CENTURY-FOX/MGM: Let me cut right to chase. The absolute funniest audio commentary I have ever heard is on the BUBBA HO-TEP (2003) Limited Edition DVD, in which Bruce Campbell-as-Elvis Presley watches the movie with us. Funnier than Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal on ANALYZE THIS, funnier than Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church on SIDEWAYS. It is pure comic genius … and oh yeah, the movie is pretty cool too. Don Coscarelli’s comic horror thriller is based on the short story by John R. Lansdale. Set in a Texas nursing home, Campbell plays Elvis, still alive after all these years, spending his old age waiting to die. It seems that it wasn’t The King who died on his bathroom throne in 1977, it was a Presley imitator who switched places with Elvis when he got tired of his rich and famous lifestyle. Down the hall from Elvis lives an elderly African-American gentleman (Ossie Davis) who claims to be John F. Kennedy, victim of a conspiracy in which he was “dyed black.” Still with me? The plot thickens as the home’s aged residents start dying one by one, the victims of a 3,000-year-old mummy, dubbed Bubba Ho-Tep, brought back to life when his truck-borne sarcophagus drove off a bridge into the drink next to the rest home. It’s up to Elvis and JFK to destroy Bubba before he sucks the souls right out of ‘em, leaving them a bag of bones with no afterlife. BUBBA HO-TEP is a unique and original movie, graced by Davis’s totally committed acting, and elevated by the best performance of cult hero Campbell, star of the EVIL DEAD movies, the much loved and lamented ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY TV series, and THE MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN (which he directed and co-wrote with co-producer David “Goody” Goodman), among several dozen other pictures. Coscarelli knows how to create a horrific atmosphere and balance it beautifully with humor; he even elicits great empathy for his pair of loopy and unlikely heroes. The picture also benefits from a superior Elvis-style Brian Tyler score. MGM has put together a must-have Limited Edition – besides the Campbell/Elvis commentary, there’s a track by Coscarelli and Campbell, making-of featurettes covering production, effects, music and Presley wardrobing, and a piece with Lansdale reading from his short story. The whole thing comes wrapped in a glove-like late-Elvis Vegas-era Presley shirt. BUBBA HO-TEP most certainly has its rabid cult fans (of which this writer is one); it deserves to be better known as one of the better genre pictures of this or any decade.
(Speaking of Elvis, there’s a new CD worth picking up – ELVIS: VIVA LAS VEGAS [Sony/BMG], a compilation of 16 Presley songs most identified with Vegas years, including the title song, “Polk Salad Annie,” “Release Me,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” and “The Impossible Dream.” Truly, Elvis was the King of Rock ‘n Roll … uhhh, thangyooverrymuch).
Fox wraps up the Warner Oland-Charlie Chan series with THE CHARLIE CHAN COLLECTION VOLUME 3, featuring four Chans, a reconstruction of a lost film, and a bonus feature. Oland was the most popular Chan; when he died in 1938 he was replaced by Sidney Toler (no doubt Fox will continue the DVD series with the Toler films), but Oland is considered the definitive Charlie. The rights to the Earl Derr Biggers stories about the wise Chinese detective were bought by Fox when talkies came in; played by E.L. Park, he makes a small supporting appearance in BEHIND THAT CURTAIN (1929), starring Warner Baxter (the same year he won Best Actor for IN OLD ARIZONA). This title is included in the set, a creaky early sound picture notable only for the presence of Boris Karloff as Baxter’s Oriental servant, two years before hitting stardom in FRANKENSTEIN. Oland assumed the role in 1931 when Fox decided to star the Chan character. Born in Sweden in 1879, he was in films from 1912, and became a successful character actor in Alan Crosland’s DON JUAN (1926), THE JAZZ SINGER and OLD SAN FRANCISCO (both 1927), William Wellman’s CHINATOWN NIGHTS (1929) and DANGEROUS PARADISE (1930), four Fu Manchu films playing the title role, and later, Josef von Sternberg’s DISHONORED (1931) and SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932) and Richard Boleslawski’s THE PAINTED VEIL (1934), opposite Garbo. His first Chan film, CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON (1931) is a lost film, as are CHARLIE CHAN’S CHANCE (1932), CHARLIE CHAN’S GREATEST CASE (1933) and CHARLIE CHAN’S COURAGE (1934), all believed destroyed in storage fires in New Jersey.
It is all the more reason to treasure the rarely seen THE BLACK CAMEL (1931), Oland’s second in the series, included in this set, the only existing Oland Chan not included in the syndication package for television. It has extra value because of co-star Bela Lugosi and supporting player Dwight Frye, coming off the smash success of DRACULA (1931); Frye, of course, was the original screen Renfield. The other films in the collection are CHARLIE CHAN’S SECRET (1936), CHARLIE CHAN ON BROADWAY (1937), CHARLIE CHAN AT MONTE CARLO (1938, Oland’s last Chan), and a restoration of the lost CHARLIE CHAN’S CHANCE, using stills and the original script. All these are tight, fast-paced (each running just over an hour) whodunits, still enjoyable after all these years, and especially nostalgic for those of who saw them regularly on Saturday TV when we were kids. Fox made the best “B” crime pictures – the Chans, Mr. Moto, and Michael Shayne pictures (though Columbia did well with Boston Blackie) As they’ve done on the previous two collections, Fox fills each disc with featurettes covering all aspects of the Chan series, with commentary on THE BLACK CAMEL and CHARLIE CHAN’S SECRET by Ken Hanke and John Cork.
SONY: DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN/THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006), winner of last year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film is a powerful indictment of artistic oppression in corrupt socialist East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck’s film is driven by four great performances – Sebastian Koch as a famous poet struggling to break his cultural bonds; Martina Gedeck as his actress girlfriend, object of desire of smarmy arts minister Thomas Thieme; and especially Ulrich Muhle as the policeman assigned to surveillance on Koch and Gedeck (sadly, Muhle died last month on July 22, of stomach cancer). Special features include deleted scenes, a making-of documentary, an interview with Von Donnersmarck, and director’s commentary. This is an instant classic, a worthy addition to any serious DVD collection.
So much has been written about Martin Scorsese’s Manhattan masterpiece TAXI DRIVER (1976). It’s essential viewing, one of the greatest American movies of all time, and for cineastes of my generation, the defining motion picture of the 70s, an extraordinary decade for American cinema. TAXI DRIVER owes its distinction to Scorsese, Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle, and screenwriter Paul Schrader; they would continue their triad collaboration on RAGING BULL. It’s hard to think of people not knowing this movie, but if you haven’t seen it, this is the definitive edition. If you know TAXI DRIVER, this DVD is equally a must, with fantastic extras. There’s a new commentary by Schrader; a new commentary by Professor Robert Kolker; featurettes on Scorsese; producing the film; a making-of featurette; a feature on how New York City has changed from 1975 to today; a featurette comparing the film’s locations with the same spots today; a conversation between Schrader and Kolker; a piece with DeNiro, Oliver Stone and Roger Corman, among others, paying tribute to Scorsese; storyboard-to-film comparisons; animated photo galleries; and the original Schrader screenplay.
VACANCY (2007) is a “B” movie on an “A minus” budget, with Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson as a couple whose marriage is on the rocks. When they register at a ramshackle motel in the middle of nowhere (run by the always excellent Frank Whaley), they find they are intended to be the stars of a snuff film. There are mild chills and even milder suspense in this horror movie-for-horror fans only. Extras include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and for those who care to watch, extended versions of the snuff films our hero and heroine find piped through their motel room TV set. On a lighter note, THE MUPPET SHOW: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1977-78) includes 24 digitally remastered and restored episodes of Jim Henson’s popular TV series in a four-disc set. What really made this show so wonderful was the weekly parade of stars who frolicked with Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, Animal, and Beaker in sketches and musical numbers. This season’s guest stars were Don Knotts, Zero Mostel, Milton Berle, Rich Little, Judy Collins, Nancy Walker, Edgar Bergen, Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, George Burns, Dom DeLuise, Bernadette Peters, Rudolph Nuryev, Elton John, Lou Rawls, Cleo Laine, Julie Andrews, Jaye P. Morgan, Petula Clark, Teresa Brewer, Cloris Leachman, Bob Hope, and best of all, Peter Sellers, who among other characters reprises his Dr. Strangelove accent as a physical therapist. There are some fun extras, including the rarely shown Valentine’s Day 1974 Muppets special, interviews with The Muppets themselves, and a new musical feature
Jim Henson’s THE DARK CRYSTAL (1983) has become a cult film since its original, rather disappointing release. Henson brought his puppeteering techniques to the big-screen to create a mystical fantasy about the struggle between good and evil. It’s a stunning looking movie, shot by no less a cinematographer than Oswald Morris (Huston’s MOBY DICK, MOULIN ROUGE, and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, Kubrick’s LOLIITA, Thompson’s THE GUNS OF NAVARONE). THE DARK CRYSTAL 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION is a magnificently produced two-disc DVD featuring an all-new high definition transfer and lots of special features. Brian Froud provides audio commentary; there are deleted scenes, a contemporary making-of featurette, work print scenes, character drawings, two new documentaries with rediscovered footage from the Henson archives, and new interviews with key production personnel.
BROADWAY: LEGALLY BLONDE is the latest in a long line of movies transformed into Broadway shows, especially musicals, and it’s one of the best, just a great, entertaining night of musical theatre. The audience loved it too, and expressed their joy with a standing ovation. The original movie was a delight, with a winning star turn by Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, a Malibu rich girl who follows her ex to Harvard Law School for fish-out-of-water antics that turn her into a legal heroine (Alanna Ubach, one of the stars of my feature BLUE MOON, played one of Reese’s best friends). The songs, though witty, intelligent and seamlessly woven throughout the book, aren’t especially memorable in and of themselves. They work beautifully for the show but there’s no real showstopping number here. What is showstopping are the performances, the direction, choreography, the sets, the sheer energy and drive of the whole cast. Director/Choreographer Jerry Mitchell earned a 2007 nomination for the show, adding to a list of Broadway credits that include HAIRSPRAY, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (revival) and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. Laura Bell Bundy makes a perfect Elle, and she is in great company with Christian Borle as Emmett, Orfeh as Paulette, Michael Rupert as Callahan, Richard H. Blake as Warner Huntington III, and Kate Shindle as Vivienne – Bundy and Borle received 2007 Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League nominations for their work in LEGALLY BLONDE.
A real stand-out in the large cast is Annaleigh Ashford as Margot, one of Elle’s sorority sisters. She creates a full, rich, energetic comedic character dancing around the edges of the show, busting out during her featured moments, always engaging in a can’t-take-my-eyes-off-you performance. My theatre date and I had a wonderful time watching her work. You read it here – Annaleigh Ashford is going to be a big star, and it’s exciting to experience such talent in her official Broadway debut (she previously understudied the role of Glinda in the national tour of WICKED).
You can read an article about Annaleigh Ashford at Broadway.com at http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=549955. THE REAL THEATRE COMPANY, headed by Maggie Levin, is an exciting new group with many members recently graduated from New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse and not wasting any time kick-starting their careers in high gear. With the blessing of James Rado, co-creator of the book and lyrics for HAIR: THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL, RTC mounted a sensational production of the show in June, beautifully directed by Maggie, and have been picked up for another run. HAIR of course became a pop culture phenomenon; premiering on Broadway in April 1968, running for 1,873 performances, followed by a run of 1,998 performances in London (Diane Keaton, also a Neighborhood Playhouse graduate, starred in the original Broadway show). HAIR spawned several Top 40 hits, including “The Age of Aquarius,” “Good Morning Starshine,” and “Easy to Be Hard,” and the 1979 Milos Forman screen version, a fun flick but quite different from the play. The new production runs from August 31st through September 9th at the American Theatre of Actors at 314 West 54th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. Tickets for this Broadway-caliber production are $25, $20 for students; to reserve go to hair2007reservation@gmail.com.
Rado, who is preparing HAIR for a new Broadway revival, wrote, “It is a rare opportunity that has been afforded to me by the Real Theatre Company to get this script up on its feets for appraisal in a way that is nearly impossible to achieve by merely reading the text. I am deeply and most sincerely grateful for this young theatre company's
interest in the project." Also, during the curtain speech made on closing night, Jim took the mike at one point and confessed: "I truly believe in this cast and this company." Heady praise indeed from this legendary artist. I happen to agree a gazillion percent – the new talent here is staggering, and I defy anyone to withstand the goosebumps when Helen Highfield sings “Easy to Be Hard.” I am proud to be on The Real Theatre Company’s Board of Directors, and urge everyone in the New York area to come out and see their wonderful production – you’ll be singing the songs for days. Groovy, baby – peace and love!
BOOKS: Jeffrey Gurian is a well known comedy writer, East Coast producer of National Lampoon Radio Networks, creator of tons of material for the famous Friars Club Roasts. In the spirit of his friend Paul Provenza’s irreverent documentary THE ARISTOCRATS (2005), Gurian and co-author Trip Whitsell have written Filthy, Funny, and Totally Offensive: Jokes So Dirty Comedians and Entertainers Only Tell Them to Each Other (www.kensingtonbooks.com). We’re talking REALLY filthy, offensive and especially funny. I can’t really quote any of the jokes, but take my word, if you liked THE ARISTOCRATS you’ll love this book (Provenza provides the foreword). The authors include the favorite dirty jokes of some of the greatest comic minds in show biz, including Jackie Mason, Drew Carey, Jason Alexander, Richard Belzer, Joan Rivers, Gilbert Gottfriend, Susie Essman. Richard Pryor, Pat Cooper. Colin Quinn, Jeff Garlin, Eddie Brill, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (aka Robert Smigel). There’s also jokes from Oscar-winning producer Marty Richards (CHICAGO), Tom Fontana (OZ, HOMICIDE), Dick Cavett, Ice-T, Elaine Stritch, and SOPRANOS Tony Sirico, Vinny Pastore, Tony Darrow, Arthur Nascarella, Vince Curatola and Johnny Cha Cha Ciarcia (Cha Cha contributes my personal favorite joke; it’s on page 61). “Blue humor” has been a staple of comedy for centuries, and this book is the last word on the subject.
JOHN GALLAGHER
jgmovie@gmail.com
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