Film Forno

Here’s a great interview with Orson Welles from 1960. A lot of great insights, check it out!

Check this crazy pilot Orson did in the 50’s , it is insane but definetly a precursor to his film F is For Fake.

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

Drop some acid and check this out.

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.

Here’s a trailer for an insane Shaw Brothers Horror film, Enjoy!

In these paranoid times of U.S./Soviet conflict take a monment to reflect on this remnant of Cold War fantasy. See what can be done with manipulated stock footage and way out storytelling. I remember a friend of mine telling me he saw this on late nite TV many years ago. I was flabbergasted I had never heard of this insane film and I prided myself on being up on the weirdest, outcasts of Cinema. Well now thatnks to the marvels of YouTube and some intrepid film poster you can see the rare, much sought after INVASION U.S.A.

BTW a strange fact, IUSA features both actresses that played Lois Lane on the George Reeves Superman TV show, Noel Neil and Phyllis Coates!

Thanks to K the mysterious person who sent this to me, we can see a Lowell Grant sculpture in the home of Ozzie and Harriet stalwart, actor Don DeFore. You can jump ahead to 4 minutes 15 seconds in and see the sculpture. DeFore mentions Lowell and his stand at the Farmers Market.