SEVEN CHANCES (1925)

The Golden Age of Comedy (Post 1 of 12)

Seven Chances

Robert Youngson isn't a name I've thought about for some time, but looking at some of the silent comedies from the 1001 movie book has made me think back to his theatrical compilations of the greats of comedy (mostly silent) in films like The Golden Age of Comedy, Days of Thrills and Laughter and Four Clowns.

I remember catching a few of Youngson's films on television during the 70's. And yes, there was a time when things like this were shown on television instead of How I Met Your Mother marathons  or endless showings of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days!

Anyway, these films had most of the greats: Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, Charley Chase and Buster Keaton, among others. I believe I first saw the ending of Buster Keaton's classic Seven Chances in Four Clowns.

The plot of Seven Chances is simple. Buster's Uncle dies and his will bequeaths Buster seven million dollars if he marries by 7 o'clock on his twenty-seventh birthday. Of course, he finds out about this the day of his twenty-seventh birthday! The girl he loves won't marry him because she thinks she only wants to do it for the money. After this rejection, Buster tries unsuccessfully to find someone else to marry him. His business partner puts an ad in the paper which explains everything and Buster suddenly has hundreds of women wanting to marry him.

The plot is pretty silly when recounted and is mostly just an excuse for Keaton's sight gags and pratfalls. But the sight gags and pratfalls are, not just funny, but high art. The last half of Seven Chances where the brides to be chase Buster through the streets, through mountains and they all have to contend with falling boulders really defines why many still love silent comedy.

The comedic gags go so fast, I found myself going back and watching scenes again. I loved the scenes where the women ran roughshod over macho football players and construction workers.

But it's really about Buster. And it has been written often how he does it all with his body movement as his facial expression never conveys happiness. His stunts are amazing (I don't use the word amazing often, but I don't mind using it here) and still very funny.

If you've never seen a Keaton movie, this would be a great place to start.

FANTASTIC PLANET (1973, FRANCE)

The year is 1975…and…

 I cut out and pasted movie advertisements in a spiral notebook during that transitional movie year all those many, many movie years ago. Looking at it now, much of the print from the faded pages has yellowed, but yes, I still have it! So I've decided this month to stroll down memory lane and comment on some of the film ads from my movie scrapbook.  I’ll also try to fit in a suitable 1001 movie entry at the end of each post since that is still the point of this blog.

This is the last entry from my old movie scrapbook and I've included those ads for this post that wouldn't neatly fit anywhere else. Thank goodness for that catch-all category called Miscellaneous!

1975 Movie Scrapbook (Post 11: Miscellaneous)

1. Race With the Devil
This is one of those movies that I remember seeing when it came out (In 1975, of course) and haven't seen since. However, I do seem to still have strong memories about what it was about. Two couples (Peter Fonda & Lara Parker and Warren Oates & Loretta Swit) while vacationing in a Winnebago, witness a group of satanists performing a virgin sacrifice. The satanists spot the couples witnessing the crime and spend most of the movie chasing them down. The two couples try to tell the authorities, but everyone seems to be against them and they have no idea who they can trust. At one point, they are at a roadblock where there is a school bus accident and Peter Fonda yells out, "A school bus on a Sunday! I don't think so!" After this proclamation, Fonda wheels the Winnebago around at breakneck speed! The satanists kill Lara Parker's little dog and put a snake in the Winnebago at different times. Loretta Swit also steals a library reference book in the film's most controversial scene (At least to a librarian). The satanists do catch up to them at the end. In retrospect, the film seems like sort of a combination of The Exorcist and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

At least that's the way I remember it.

Additional note on Lara Parker. Lara Parker is best known as the evil witch Angelique from the 60's gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. I was a regular watcher of the show during 70's reruns and I was very pleased to find Lara and her Dark Shadows co-star Katherine Lee Scott at this years DragonCon Scifi convention in Atlanta.

When I got a chance to talk with her, I asked her about Race With the Devil, though I didn't ask her about the controversial "library book theft" scene. She did sign the picture to the left for me.

2. Framed
Before he became better know (at least to me) as having his movies mocked on Mystery Science Theater 3000, there were quite a few Joe Don Baker movies made during the 70’s...Well, maybe for a couple of years, anyway.
The ad for Framed trumpets...“That Walking Tall Man is Back…He was taken By Everyone, For everything he had. All he had left was one obsession. To get even. To pay them back two for one!” The ad has a poorly drawn Joe Don leaping into the middle of the picture, I assume bent on revenge. I confess to never having seen Framed, but I did see Joe Don's movie Mitchell on Mystery Science Theater, which was probably more fun anyway.

3. Shampoo
The ad from Shampoo was a seemingly simple picture of hairdresser Warren Beatty holding a comb against the head of Gloria Hawn as Hawn and Julie Christie stare blankly into the camera. Understated and effective.

But....

...let us not forget the movie ad for Black Shampoo, which was much less subtle..."When he's mad...he's mean...he's a lovin' machine! (Oh, yeah!)

4. The Born Losers
The early seventies was the movie era of Billy Jack. The ad here says it all...BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND “BORN LOSERS” THE ORIGINAL SCREEN APPEARANCE OF TOM LAUGHLIN AS BILLY JACK.

I too, was a Billy Jack fan and had to see this 1967 film when it was  re-released. The ad features the peace loving half-breed equipped with a shotgun and ready to take on the establishment, Nixon supporters, a corrupt city council or whomever else gets in his way!

I admit that I still have affection for the Billy Jack movies, though I didn’t vote for Tom Laughlin during the many times he ran for president.

5. The Three Days of the Condor
Shady CIA spooks under the background of a giant coin where Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway appear to be making out.

Espionage! Romance! And a menacing bird!

His CIA code name is condor. In the next seventy-two hours almost everyone he trusts will try to kill him!

6. Give Em Hell Harry
In 1975, James Whitmore received an Oscar nomination for his one man depiction of Harry Truman. I may have seen it. Or was that the one man show of Will Rogers? Or maybe that was Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain? Anyway, the giant ad is packed with positive reviews. Women’s Wear Daily says “Whitmore has an effect over his listeners that can only be described as hypnotic!” I include this because you may have been wondering what Women’s Wear Daily thought of Give ‘Em Hell Harry in 1975.

7. The Lion in Winter
The critically acclaimed 1968 Oscar Winner. This ad show off the film's three academy awards.

You Get it? This is from a 1975 scrapbook, but in those days, movies that were a few years old were often re-released and actually shown at movie theaters!

Hard to believe there ever was such a day.

8. Fantastic Planet
Ad depicts animation stills and brags about all the film festival prizes it won.

Today’s 70’s Miscellaneous movie experience is...

Fantastic Planet

This animated story of an alien culture called the Traags and their human-like pets who eventually rebel may seem like fairly standard sci-fi when the plot is recounted. What is most special about this film is the cut-out stop animation that is down right hypnotic at times.

I'd also like to point out that the first time I saw this film was on television as part of one of my favorite shows of the 80's called Night Flight. This show aired on the USA Network and showed such cult movie favorites as Eraserhead, Kentucky Fried Movie* as well as Fantastic Planet.

Night Flight also aired cutting edge videos (at least I thought them to be cutting edge videos at the time) from such artists as Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson and Mike Oldfield. I also remember them playing Frank Zappa's claymation classic Inca Roads, a bizarre video called Electric Mummy, which I can't seem to find anywhere on the Internet, and of course, Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes.

On Night Flight, you also could relive the campy 50's sci-fi TV show Space Patrol or the Cold War clip show Atomic Cafe.

The point is you never new what to expect from Night Flight. It was definitely something to channel surf to during the 80's on a Saturday night. So if you ever find yourself channel surfing on a Saturday night during the 80's, give Night Flight a try.

*This is my fourth blog in a row with a reference to Kentucky Fried Movie. I am still mentioning this for no reason in particular.

Well, it's time to put my old movie scrapbook from 1975 back in the filing cabinet. I knew I'd find a use for it someday. 

ENTER THE DRAGON (1972)

The year is 1975…and…

 I cut out and pasted movie advertisements in a spiral notebook during that transitional movie year all those many, many movie years ago. Looking at it now, much of the print from the faded pages has yellowed, but yes, I still have it! So I’ve decided this month to stroll down memory lane and comment on some of the film ads from my movie scrapbook.  I’ll also try to fit in a suitable 1001 movie entry at the end of each post since that is still the point of this blog.

(1975 Movie Scrapbook Post 10: Action Heroes)

1. 1. Russian Roulette-George Segal was a pretty good comedic actor during the 60’s and 70’s in films like Fun With Dick and Jane and dramas like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? But George Segal-action star? The ad for Russian Roulette has George coming out of a six-shooter with a rifle under the heading, George Segal hangs tough ..and plays the game with all the chambers loaded! I don’t think this apparent effort to turn George Segal into Clint Eastwood met with much success.

2. Part 2 Walking Tall-You can’t get more 70’s kick ass action than Joe Don Baker in Part 2 Walking Tall. Wait, I forgot. They got Bo Svenson to play the lead for part 2. I guess Joe Don was too busy making Framed and Mitchell  to appear in the movie that made him semi-famous. The ad cries out, “If anything ever happens to me I want you to be sure you finish telling my story.” Apparently they didn't finish telling the story as there was later a Walking Tall: The Final Chapter.

3. The Human Factor- Clearly when movies from the mid 70’s thought of terrorists, they were thinking of mostly white guys in ski masks. The ad for this one states, Every 24 hours an American Family will be killed by radical assassins…If the CIA, FBI, and Police Can’t Stop It…The Human Factor will!

The cool little ad features a guy in a ski mask with a gun about half the size of the entire ad. Various pictures of people in chains, tied up and explosions set around a rare starring role for disaster movie specialist George Kennedy who this time is apparently not going to take any crap from anybody!

4. The Terrorists- Skyjack! Kidnap! A Time-Bomb of Suspense Has Started Ticking. Two nations are being held for ransom and Sean Connery is the agent who takes on the terrorists! I do not remember this movie at all because I am sure I would remember any 70’s movie with Sean having a both a full head of hair.

5. Bruce Lee and I-I remember after Bruce Lee’s death there were many Kung Fu films featuring a lot of sound alike actors (like Bruce Li). Though this one is listed as being directed by Bruce Lee himself, but I’m skeptical of that claim!

Today’s 70’s Action Hero movie is...

                                                               Enter the Dragon

The one movie that The 1001 book does list with Bruce Lee is Enter the Dragon. I had a little deja vu with this one. I thought that maybe I had seen it before, but soon realized that I only had only watched the parody version from a segment of Kentucky Fried Movie.*

The main reason to watch Enter the Dragon is Bruce Lee and the fight scenes (including some unexpected martial-arts moves from the the ubiquitous John Saxon). The plot does remind me a bit of one of those mid-70's Roger Moore-James Bond movies- (The Man With the Golden Gun in particular, though Enter the Dragon was made first) including the island supervillain Han, a few lovely ladies and the Afro donning Jim Kelly whose main line is “Bullshit Mr. Han-Man! Man, you come right out of a comic book!”

The DVD I watched included the extra documentary Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey, which I actually liked better than Enter the Dragon. It really made me appreciate Lee that much more and included the footage of Lee’s unfinished movie, The Game of Death.

*This makes three straight blogs that I've made a reference to Kentucky Fried Movie. I bring this up for no reason in particular.

DON'T LOOK NOW (1973)

The year is 1975…and…

I cut out and pasted movie advertisements in a spiral notebook during that transitional movie year all those many, many movie years ago. Looking at it now, much of the print from the faded pages has yellowed, but yes, I still have it! So I’ve decided this month to stroll down memory lane and comment on some of the film ads from my movie scrapbook.  I’ll also try to fit in a suitable 1001 movie entry at the end of each post since that is still the point of this blog.

1975 Movie Scrapbook (Post 9: Adults only)

1. The Cheerleaders

The infamous movie often talked about around the schoolyard of my middle school. The poop had it that it was about a cheerleader/cheerleaders who sabotage the opposing team by having sex with them and making them too tired to play! When I saw this at a midnight movie a few years later, this turned out to my surprise to be exactly what this was about! The 1975 ad intones, Come Huddle With the Cheerleaders. Everything You’ve heard about Cheerleaders Comes True! See Them Do It!
From my midnight movie experience I mostly remember a lot of drunk guys yelling Owww during the nude scenes.

2. The Happy Hooker

Another infamous sex movie of the 70’s based on the memoirs of Xaveria Hollander. I may have seen this movie, but I honestly don’t recall. I have read the book, but trust me; it was all in the name of research. The ad, which features just a picture of a shapely leg with a hundred dollar bill in her g-string screams Lynn Redgrave is a Delight! Risqué Fun.

3. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

“1975 will be the year of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud,” said Tower Ticker of the Chicago Tribune. Well, not quite. It was the year of Jaws, actually. It did mark the first movie in which I ever saw a woman topless in a movie (Gotta love Margot Kidder and Cornelia Sharpe!) so it does mark a personal historical cinematic landmark

4. The Groove Tube

Yes, The Groove Tube was definitely a movie to see on the midnight circuit during the 70's. I have a feeling the films bawdy sketch humor that seemed pretty funny at the time may not date all that well, but the great movie poster of the gorilla with a TV on its head (satirizing the all-time great bad film Robot Monster) will stay with me for life.

5. If You Don’t Stop It You’ll Go Blind

The 70’s had a few of these R-rated sketch comedies, the best of which were Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex and Kentucky Fried Movie* and I suppose I will throw The Groove Tube into that category. A Couple of others were Can I Do It Till I Need Glasses and  If You Don’t Stop It You’ll Go Blind.  The ad for this one features a cartoon of a man in a cape clearly exposing himself and then asks, Is it funnier than Blazing Saddles? You Bet Your CENSORED It is! 

I’m guessing probably not.

And today's 70's Adults Only movie experience is...

Don't Look Now

Seeing this for the first time in over twenty-five years, Don't Look Now remains a most intriguing yet reserved psychological thriller. There is a scene toward the end of the movie that made the audience I saw it with (back in the 80's) gasp and I wondered how it would work on me viewing this alone in my living room, fully aware of what was coming. Answer: I gasped again. It's still a great scene.

But today's entry is under Adults only. And staying with that theme, Don't Look Back has a famous erotic sex scene between Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland that is so intense, that there has always been a rumor that the two of them are actually having sex on camera. Sutherland has denied it was real. I tend to believe him, because who would lie about NOT having sex with Julie Christie?

*This is my second blog in a row with a reference to Kentucky Fried Movie. I am still mentioning this for no reason in particular.