Classic Movie Legend Tribute: Robert Wise

Posted on September 10, 2012 by minooallen

 

Happy Birthday to Classic Movie Legend, Robert Wise, born on September 10, 1914!

Some directors become legends by carving a cinematic niche for themselves. Alfred Hitchcock is known as the master of suspense. Frank Capra has a tendency to champion the everyday man. George Cukor is synonyms with melodrama. And then there are the directors at the opposite end of the spectrum. They are the directors who defy genre, working in any and all modes of storytelling. Although they may lack the public acclaim that the before-mentioned niche directors  have, many of them have directed beloved films that hold a special place in the collective minds of movie goers. Robert Wise is one of those directors. Starting out as an editor for Orson Welles, Wise would go on to direct some of classic Hollywood’s greatest crowd-pleasers. So, to pay tribute to this multi-faceted director, let’s look at some of his greatest accomplishments. A best of, if you will.

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Robert Wise, the sci-fi director for The Day the Earth Stood Still. (1951)

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Robert Wise, the musical director for The West Side Story. (1961)

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Robert Wise, the horror director for the haunting. (1963)

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Minoo Allen for Classic Movie Hub

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DVD Giveaway: Gregory Peck His Own Man

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Hollywood Collection DVD Giveaway Week Two: Gregory Peck His Own Man

For Week Two of this very special month-long promotion (courtesy of Janson Media) CMH is giving away FIVE copies of the Hollywood Collection DVD: Gregory Peck His Own Man!

All you have to do is be one of the 1st five fans to rate 12 posts on CMH’s BlogHub. Simple as that! CMH has 14 BlogHub Member Blogs now — and I’m hoping that, as you browse and rate posts from these really terrific Classic Movie Bloggers, you’ll discover some new and exciting blogs to follow!

Gregory Peck His Own Man DVDAnd if you don’t win this week, you can enter again next week to win yet another Hollywood Collection DVD (Grace Kelly, The American Princess). And there will be even more prizes to follow!

About the Gregory Peck His Own Man DVD:
One of Hollywood’s most enduring and popular stars draws on his memories to tell the amusing and touching story of how it was when the studios ruled supreme, and how a shy and inarticulate boy from a broken family could rise to super stardom to become one of the most handsome, attractive and respected of movie leading men. This entertainment special includes clips from Peck’s most important movies including The Yearling, To Kill a Mockingbird, Spellbound, Moby Dick, Roman Holiday, Duel in the Sun, The Guns of Navarone, MacArthur, Captain Hornblower, The Boys From Brazil – and features interviews with Jane Fonda, Audrey Hepburn, Liza Minnelli, Anthony Quinn, Jack Lemmon, Lauren Bacall, directors Robert Mulligan and J. Lee Thompson, and Peck’s son Stephen. LENGTH: 54 Minutes – Total Content: 90 Minutes

Contest Information

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Mini Tribute: Character Actor Roscoe Karns

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Born September 7, 1891, Character Actor Roscoe Karns!

Roscoe Karns appeared in over 145 roles, many times as a street-wise, wisecracking fellow. My favorite Roscoe Karns role??? Well, that would have to be Shapely in It Happened One Night!

Roscoe Karns as Shapely in It Happened One NightYou know, there’s nothing I like better than to meet a high-class mama that can snap ’em back at ya. ‘Cause the colder they are, the hotter they get. That’s what I always say. Yes, sir, when a cold mama gets hot, boy, how she sizzles.
–Roscoe Karns (as Shapeley) to poor Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) in Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night

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Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Mini Tribute: Max Schreck

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Born September 6, 1879 Max Schreck!

One word: Nosferatu!!!

Max Schreck NosferatuIs this your wife? What a lovely throat.
-Max Schreck as Graf Orlok in Nosferatu

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Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Mini Tribute: Director Michael Gordon

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Born September 6, 1909 Director Michael Gordon!

Michael Gordon directed over 20 films, including I Can Get It For You Wholesale, Cyrano de Bergerac, Move Over Darling and my personal favorite Pillow Talk!

Pillow Talk Doris Day Rock HudsonYou are my inspiration (insert name here). A perfect combination (insert name here). Your eyes, your hair, are beyond compare so is it any wonder — you’ve captured me and now I’m under your spell (insert name here). – Rock Hudson (as Brad Allen) in Pillow Talk

And here is a fabulous Vintage Newsreel youtube clip of the 1959 Pillow Talk Premier!

Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

 

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Mini Tribute: Harry Myers

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Born September 5, 1882, Harry Myers!

Harry Myers appeared in over 275 roles (some uncredited) — and is probably best remembered as the Eccentric Millionaire in Charlie Chaplin‘s City Lights!

The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin): Be careful how you’re driving.
Eccentric Millionaire (Harry Myers): Am I driving?
-Harry Myers as the Eccentric Millionaire in City Lights

Harry Myers and Charlie Chaplin in City Lights (1931)Harry Myers and Charlie Chaplin in City Lights…..

Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Mini Tribute: Character Actor Howard Morris

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Born September 4, 1919, Character Actor Howard Morris!

Howard Morris appeared in over 120 film & TV roles, including Mr. Elmer Kelp in The Nutty Professor (1963), Julius in 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) & of course — most famously — as ‘mountain man’ Ernest T Bass on The Andy Griffith Show! What a voice!

Howard Morris Ernest T Bass Andy Griffith ShowErnest T. Bass

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Howard Morris was also the voice of Mr. Peebles (The Magilla Gorilla Show) & Breezly Bruin (The Peter Potamus Show) among others!

Howard Morris Mr Peebles Magilla Gorilla ShowMagilla Gorilla and Mr. Peebles (Howard Morris)

Howard Morris breezly bruin peter potamus showBreezly (Howard Morris) & Sneezy

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Lastly Howard Morris directed lots of TV Shows including the pilot for Get Smart, plus the films Who’s Minding the Mint & With Six You Get Eggroll.

Get Smart starring Don Adams and Barbara FeldonDon Adams and Barbara Feldon from TV’s Get Smart (Howard Morris directed the pilot called “Mr. Big” which aired on  Sept 18, 1965)

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

Visit CMH’s BlogHub for more posts about Howard Morris by Veteran and Emerging Classic Movie Bloggers.

 

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DVD Giveaway: Audrey Hepburn Remembered

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Hollywood Collection DVD Giveaway Week One: Audrey Hepburn Remembered

I am very happy and excited to say that CMH is giving away FIVE copies of the Hollywood Collection DVD: Audrey Hepburn Remembered this week, courtesy of Janson Media!

All you have to do is be one of the 1st five fans to rate 12 posts on CMH’s BlogHub. Simple as that! And I’m hoping that, as you browse and rate posts from these really interesting and informative Classic Movie Bloggers, you’ll discover some new and exciting blogs to follow!

Audrey Hepburn Remembered DVDAnd if you don’t win this week, you can enter again next week to win yet another Hollywood Collection DVD (Gregory Peck, His Own Man). And there will be even more prizes to follow!

About the Audrey Hepburn Remembered DVD:
From the star herself we learn of her career, and the family and friendships that were her priority. Directors Billy Wilder, Blake Edwards and Stanley Donen, composer Henry Mancini, actors Gregory Peck, Mel Ferrer, George Peppard and Roger Moore, fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy and others, join Rob Wolders and Sean Ferrer to help complete this loving portrait. With clips from Roman Holiday, Sabrina, War and Peace, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Charade, My Fair Lady, Two for the Road, Robin and Marian and more.  LENGTH: 66 Minutes – Total Content: 103 Minutes

Contest Information

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Mini Tribute: Victor Spinetti

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Annmarie Gatti

Born September 2, 1929, Victor Spinetti!

Yes, I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for The Beatles! And with that being said, here’s a mini ‘celebration’ of the hilarious (and quite melodramatic!) Victor Spinetti in two of my favorite Beatles’ movies…

Victor Spinetti, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, A Hard Day's NightT.V. Director: I won an award.
John Lennon: A likely story.
T.V. Director: It’s on the wall in my office.
–Victor Spinetti (as the TV Director) in A Hard Day’s Night

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Victor Spinetti Dr Foot Help The BeatlesWith a ring like that I could – dare I say it? – rule the world.
–Victor Spinetti (as Professor Foot) in Help!

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Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Classic Movie Legend Tribute: Fred MacMurray

Posted on August 30, 2012 by minooallen

 

Happy Birthday to Classic Movie Legend, Fred MacMurray, born on August 29, 1908! 

Fred MacMurray is remembered mostly as the affable, good-natured father figure in the lexicon of  Classic Hollywood. So clean-cut, so moralistic – one can almost say that he was something of a ‘Mister Rogers’ of Americana Cinema. Almost. See, what makes MacMurray so important, to me, is not his career as the perfect dad or the ideal husband – instead, it’s the roles that allowed him to flex his acting muscle and flip that image on its head.

To see a person like, say, Robert Mitchum play the anti-hero is fun, comfortable, expected.  Not to say that ‘expected’ is always a bad thing, but when the unexpected happens, when the comfortability of the norm is shattered, when you’re forced to ruminate about what’s happening on the screen in front of your face, something happens. You become more attentive to the actions of those on screen. I mean, by having an actor remove himself so far from his carefully manipulated onscreen persona, how can you not? To me, this is the importance of MacMurray.

He was so good at playing good you almost couldn’t believe it when he played bad. As an audience member, you sit there and wait for the morality to shine through, for “goodness” to win. And when it doesn’t, there is a slight devastation, and bitter disappointment. That is the importance of MacMurray. He offered something in the world of Classic film not often seen from our onscreen idols: the skillful disillusionment of the crafted persona. And in a way, that makes this father figure of a bygone era more contemporary then most of his Classic Hollywood peers. So, let us pay tribute to this man by looking at a career built on disillusionment.

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Fred MacMurray upholding his traditional image of perfect on screen father on the television show My Three Sons.

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Fred MacMurray as the moral man manipulated into darkness in Double Indemnity (1944, Billy Wilder director)

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Fred MacMurray upholding the image of perfect dad and husband while cheating on his wife, manipulating and using his subordinates – all with a smile on his face in The Apartment (1960, Billy Wilder director)

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Minoo Allen for Classic Movie Hub

Visit CMH’s BlogHub for more posts about Fred MacMurray by Veteran and Emerging Classic Movie Bloggers.

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