Here is one of the all time great newspaper movies. With Bogey, Ethel Barrymore and Kim Hunter. Written and Directed by Richard Brooks, based on the demise of The New York Sun, a paper that folded in 1931. I think it’s very relevant these days with all the attacks on the press and newspapers shutting down. We need newspapers and reporters to keep letting us know about all the crimes and corruption that infects our cities and government. And now you can watch it on YouTube.
Here’s a film of Chaplin’s Hollywood Studio being built then used by C.C. to make films. Also we get to see Charlie in his editing room, very interesting, the shots are rolled up and put on a shelf for him to choose from, this is how we edited on upright moviolas.
The dailies woud be broken down into single takes, rolled up so the editor could get them quickly and feed them into the Moviola. Anyway a fascinating glimpse into the world of a genius filmmaker and a time warp rolled into one.
p.s. This version has voice over by Charlie, obviously added much later.
Here’s a great futuristic TV show I loved as a kid, Planet Patrol. Incredible sets, amazing music, and kind of ultra violent stories. Check it out. Th e sets at the end of Highway of Tomorrow reminded me of the futuristic city in Planet Patrol. The Amazing Roberta Leigh, creator of Space Patrol
I am going to this show, it looks amazing. Tickets are still available. Check it out.
This reminds me of a scene in a cool Italian film Grazie Zia, check that out too.Read all about it here. It also reminds me of a play I saw at the Public Theater in NYC. The Mabou Mines production of a Samuel Beckett Radio Play The Lost Ones. Man it was cool, more about that later.
Sorry for the late writeup but GO to ReCat and see Cineastas this weekend before it’s gone. An amazing cast of very talented actors put on a complex cycle of tales that spin at the vortex of Film and Life. Creative, Moving and very funny, this show will give you a lot to think about long after it’s 1 hour 45 minute existence. Staged on a double decker set the virtuoso cast slips in and out of roles effortlessly, sharing Voice Over status and moving from real person to figment of one of the real persons imaginations, from character in a filmmakers work to filmmaker or character in the filmmakers life. A snapshot of a creative moment in Argentina that will resonate around the globe. Check it out!
OK here’s a weird one for you fans of Film Forno. Charlie Chan At Treasure Island, actually a pretty cool movie, directed by the super genius of genre filmmaking Norman Foster. Foster directed the amazing Mr. Moto films with Peter Lorre, also Zorro Tv show for Disney, episodes of Batman, and was greatly admired by boy genius Orson Welles , who brought him to RKO to work on some projects. Anyway it turns out that this film was a favorite of the infamous Zodiac killer of San Francisco. According to a book on Zodiac by Robert Graysmith, Leigh Allen (Graysmith has pegged him as Zodiac) loved this film as a boy. It takes place in San Francisco, it features a villan named Dr. Zodiac, who answers the phone ” This is Zodiac speaking.”
Dr. Zodiac
Zodiac Killer
And Chan says of him” is not ordinary criminal. He is a man of great ego. Criminal egoist find pleasure in laughing at police.” Words that fit the later Zodiac exactly! The Treasure Island in the title was a man made island north of Yerba Buena Island, constructed for the 1939 S.F. World’s Fair.
A lot of the action takes place there. Later it was converted into a naval barracks and base. Leigh Aleen spent time there as a youth as his father was an officer.
But even without the strange Zodiac connection the film is worth checking out. Very atmospheric and featuring Ceasar Romero who would later play the Joker on TV’s Batman, maybe re-uniting with Norman Foster as well.
Watch it for yourself and see courtesy of YouTube.
I just heard from someone that knew Lowell Grant that he sculpted the original Bob’s Big Boy character that stands in front of their restaurants. Crazy! Lowell really got around! Thanks to Hutton Wilkinson for the information.
