DIANE (1956) *** January 19, 2008

Diane (1956)
Starring: Lana Turner, Pedro Armendáriz Director: David Miller .

At Castro theatre A couple week a go I had a chance to see one of Lana Turner least well-known MGM movie DIANE . It’ not suppose to be on schedule . But the Print of Elisabeth Taylor “the VIP” has a technical problem . So they replace DIANE instead .

Lana Play Diane de Poitiers who was a noblewoman and a fixture at the courts of Francis I and Henri II of France. She became notorious as the latter’s favorite courtesan, though she was 18 years his senior.

Also in the movie Roger Moore (one of his pre James Bond ) was a good choice of Henry II . I have to admit that the movie is a lot better than I thought . It show that My girl Lana can really act. Notable mention was a beautiful score by Miklos Rozsa and a wonderful costume by Walter Plunkett (Gone with the wind , Raintree Contree ) I mean just only costume is already worth the ticket.

DID YOU KNOW??

• DIANE was Lana Turner’s last film on her MGM contract.
• DIANE was a property that MGM had been holding since the 1930’s, when they had purchased it for Greta Garbo

DID YOU KNOW??? :From Here to Eternity January 8, 2008

• Burt Lancaster was nervous when he started the film. Most of his previous pictures had been fairly lightweight productions, and this was his first “serious” role. He was especially intimidated by Montgomery Clift’s skill and intensity.

• Joan Crawford refused a role because she abhorred the costumes.

• Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn wanted Aldo Ray to play Prewitt and Joan Crawford for the Karen Holmes role. Director Fred Zinnemann had his own ideas.

• The scene in which Maggio meets Prew and Lorene in the bar after he walks off guard duty, was actually Frank Sinatra’s screen test for the part of Maggio. To impress director Fred Zinnemann, he did an ad-lib using olives as dice and pretending to shoot craps. The entire sequence was kept as is and used in the picture.

• In the scene where Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift play drunk sitting on the street, Clift actually was drunk, but Lancaster was not..
• Joan Fontaine was offered the role of Karen Holmes but had to decline due to family problems. She now regrets it and blames the failure of her late career to turning down the offer.
• The now classic scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the rushing water on the beach was not written to take place there. The idea to film with the waves hitting them was a last minute inspiration from the director.
• Harry Cohn was so convinced that Deborah Kerr could not be “sexy” enough to play the lead in this film that he almost did not cast her.
• Shot in a mere 41 days and for only $1 million.
• Frank Sinatra had to campaign especially hard to get this part as his career had hit a low point by this time
• Shelley Winters turned down the role of Alma, as she had just given birth to her daughter Vittoria.

• If Columbia head Harry Cohn had gotten his way, the film would have starred Aldo Ray as Prewitt, Edmond O’Brien as Warden, Joan Crawford as Karen, Julie Harris as Lorene and Eli Wallach as Maggio.
• An urban myth regarding the casting of Frank Sinatra was that the Mafia made Columbia Pictures an offer they couldn’t refuse. This of course was fictionalized in Mario Puzo’s novel “The Godfather” and its subsequent film adaptation. The real reason for Sinatra’s casting was mainly his then-wife Ava Gardner, who was shooting a film for Columbia head Harry Cohn and suggested to him that he use Sinatra. Although initially reluctant, Cohn eventually saw this as being a good idea, as Sinatra’s stock was so low at the time that he would sign for a very low salary. Sinatra had been lobbying hard for the role,even suggesting he would do it for nothing, but he was eventually hired for the token amount of $8,000.

• Harry Cohn resisted the idea of casting Montgomery Clift as Prewitt as “he was no soldier, no boxer and probably a homosexual”. Fred Zinnemann refused to make the film without him.
• The film went on to gross $18 million, the tenth highest grossing film of the 1950s.

• Fred Zinnemann insisted on filming in black and white, as he felt that “color would have made it look trivial”. He also eschewed the use of any of the popular new widescreen ratios.

• Montgomery Clift threw himself into the character of Prewitt, learning to play the bugle (even though he knew he’d be dubbed) and taking boxing lessons. Fred Zinnemann said, “Clift forced the other actors to be much better than they really were. That’s the only way I can put it. He got performances from the other actors, he got reactions from the other actors that were totally genuine.”
• Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and author James Jones were very close during the filming, frequently embarking on monumental drinking binges. Clift coached Sinatra on how to play Maggio during their more sober moments, for which Sinatra was eternally grateful.
• As scripted, Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster’s classic clinch on the beach was to be filmed standing up. It was Lancaster’s idea to do it horizontally in the surf. The scene was filmed at Halona Cove on the eastern side of Oahu, near Koko Head Crater and Sandy Beach, and the location became a major tourist attraction for years after.
• The MPAA banned photos of the famous Burt Lancaster-Deborah Kerr passionate kiss on the beach for being too erotic. Many prints had shortened versions of the scene because projectionists would cut out frames to keep as souvenirs.
• The censors demanded that Deborah Kerr’s swimsuit should feature a skirt in its design so as to not be too sexually provocative.

• The film helped to popularize Aloha shirts.

Did you know?? November 2, 2007

The Former first Lady Nancy Davis (Regan) when she was arrived Hollywood, according to Peter Lawford * “Nancy Davis (Regan) was known for giving the best head in Hollywood”

There a story once Peter Lawford driving to Phoenix with Nancy and Robert Walker . Nancy would visit her parents Dr. and Mrs Loyal Davis, while Peter and Walker pick her up at Arizona State University. He Claimed that she entertain them orally on those trip, apparently playing whichever man was not driving at the moment. *

The Peter Lawford Story (Patricia Seaton Lawford)

Day on chart October 18, 2007

Doris Day was arguably the most popular actress . She was in top ten money maker for 10 years ( only Elizabeth Taylor and Betty Grable can achieved that status BUT Doris Day is the only one who spend NO. 1 for for 4 years). Such a popularity people may overlooked her career as a singer. In term of charts success as a singer . She had 5 No.1 single and 56 top 40 hits .Here is her US. #1

” sentimental Journey” (9 weeks)
“My dreams are getting better all the time” (7 weeks)
“love somebody” (5 weeks)
“Secret Love” (4 weeks)
“A Guy Is A Guy” (1 week)

Surprisingly, two of Day’s most popular song did hit the top spot “it’s Magic” peak #2 . 1956 “What ever will be (Que’ Sera ,Sera)” held No.2 for three weeks and spend more than a couple month on top 5 . It was kept from top spot from by that year’s most popular hit , Elvis Presley ” Don’t be Cruel / Hound Dog”

Did You Know?? October 11, 2007

1963 was the worst year for US film production in fifty years (there were only 121 feature releases). And the largest number of foreign films released in the US in any one year was in 1964 (there were 361 foreign releases in the US vs. 141 US releases).

1.Cleopatra (Fox) $26.000 m2.How the West Was Won (Cinerama/MGM) $20.933 m3.It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (UA) $20.850 m4.Tom Jones (UA/Goldwyn) $17.070 m5.Irma La Douce (UA)$11.922 m6.The Sword in the Stone (Disney)* $10.475 m7.Son of Flubber (Disney)$10.450 m8.Dr. No (UA)$6.435 m9.Charade (Univ.)$6.363 m10.Bye Bye Birdie (Colu.) $6.200 m

Did You Know?? October 11, 2007

1963 was the worst year for US film production in fifty years (there were only 121 feature releases). And the largest number of foreign films released in the US in any one year was in 1964 (there were 361 foreign releases in the US vs. 141 US releases).

1.Cleopatra (Fox) $26.000 m2.How the West Was Won (Cinerama/MGM) $20.933 m3.It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (UA) $20.850 m4.Tom Jones (UA/Goldwyn) $17.070 m5.Irma La Douce (UA)$11.922 m6.The Sword in the Stone (Disney)* $10.475 m7.Son of Flubber (Disney)$10.450 m8.Dr. No (UA)$6.435 m9.Charade (Univ.)$6.363 m10.Bye Bye Birdie (Colu.) $6.200 m 

"box-office poison" June 17, 2007

1938, There’s are a group of unfortunate stars to be labeled “box-office poison”, Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West and Fred Astaire, although all but Garbo and West rebounded.

Did you know? June 10, 2007

There is eleven actors to win the Academy Award for playing a real person who was still alive . Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards for playing Benjamin Bradlee in All the President’s Men (1976), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996),Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001/I) and most recently Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006).

The Famous COCONUT GROVE at the Ambassador Hotel April 23, 2007

When it opened in 1921, the Coconut Grove instantly became a mecca for movie stars and star-gazers. The famous artificial palm trees which decorated the club’s interior were left over from Rudolph Valentino’s 1921 movie “The Sheik.” The Grove was virtually synonymous with Hollywood glamour – actresses such as Joan Crawford (”Mildred Pierce“), Carole Lombard (”My Man Godfrey“), and Loretta Young (”The Bishop’s Wife“) were reportedly discovered while dancing at the popular nightclub.

The Coconut Grove was also the site of many of the early Academy Award ceremonies. Oscar statuettes were handed out here on several occasions during the 1930’s and early 1940’s.

With its Mediterranean styling, tile floors, Italian stone fireplaces and semi-tropical courtyard, the Ambassador enchanted guests for over six decades. Long time residents at the hotel included Howard Hughes, Jean Harlow, John Barrymore and Gloria Swanson, and every U.S. President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon stayed there, as did British royalty. Nixon wrote his Checkers speech here in 1952.

But the hotel had its dark moments as well. It was in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel that Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, following Kennedy’s victory speech following the California primary election of 1968. We will never know what might have been…

In a movie Bobby (2007) A few scenes were filmed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the real-life location of the Robert Kennedy assassination, during its demolition. The wing of the hotel they were using hadn’t been touched by the demolition crew yet, in order to preserve items from the pantry where Kennedy was shot.

In February 2006, the Ambassador Hotel was torn down after the film crew shot on the property

Source @ http://www.seeing-stars.com/

It was a very good year February 27, 2007

1939 is undoubtedly the most celebrated year in American film history – the year produced more outstanding films than any other 12-month period. It was bound to be difficult for the Academy to nominate or honor all the rich, outstanding films of the year.

All the Best Picture nominated films were exceptional and unforgettable:

• director Edmund Goulding’s Dark Victory (with three nominations and no wins) about a young heiress who is slowly dying of a brain tumor and ultimately accepts her death in noble fashion
• director Sam Wood’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips (with seven nominations and one win – Best Actor), a version of James Hilton’s novel about a beloved Latin teacher/schoolmaster at an English public school (the Brookfield School for Boys)
• director Leo McCarey’s tearjerker Love Affair (with five nominations and no wins) – that he later remade as An Affair to Remember (1957) – about two lovers who promise to meet atop the Empire State Building
• director Ernst Lubitsch’s delightful romantic comedy Ninotchka (with four nominations and no wins) about a cold Soviet official sent to Paris
• director Lewis Milestone’s adaptation of the classic John Steinbeck tragedy Of Mice and Men (with five nominations and no wins)
• director John Ford’s version of Ernest Haycox’s story Stage to Lordsburg, Stagecoach (with seven nominations and two wins – Best Supporting Actor and Best Score) – the director’s first film with star John Wayne – about a stagecoach journey by a varied group of characters
• director Victor Fleming’s perennial favorite – the beloved fantasy film about a Kansas farm girl who journeys to a brightly colored world in The Wizard of Oz (with six nominations and only two wins – Best Song Over the Rainbow (almost cut from the film by MGM executives) and Best Original Score)
• director William Wyler’s best film version of Emily Bronte’s romantic novel about doomed lovers in Wuthering Heights (with eight nominations and only one win – Best Black and White Cinematography by Gregg Toland)
• director Frank Capra’s film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (with eleven nominations and only one win – Best Original story) of Lewis Foster’s story about a naive and innocent junior Senator

Did you Know?? February 25, 2007

In 1946, although an Oscar nominee for Best Actress (Mildred Pierce), Joan was not present at the ceremony. She was at home in bed with the flu and a bottle of Jack Daniels bourbon. She listened to the show over the radio. When she was announced the winner, she exhaled with a scream that alerted the newsmen on the lawn below her window that she had won. Jumping out of bed, the ailing star then called for her hairdresser and makeup man, on call in the next room.

Did you know??? February 23, 2007

• Meryl Streep forgot her trophy in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion bathroom after her first win for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for “Kramer vs. Kramer” in 1980.

• Charlie Chaplin’s “Limelight,” made in 1952, wasn’t eligible for an Oscar until it was released in Los Angeles in 1972. Chaplin won a statue for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score in 1973.
• Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen received a carved wooden Oscar, presented in honor of his dummy, Charlie McCarthy.
• George Bernard Shaw is the only person to win an Oscar and a Nobel Prize.

The rains Came (1939) February 10, 2007

It’s been raining here in San Francisco for a couple days. I can’t help but thinking about a movie that I really like. The rains Came (1939) Staring Tyrone Power , Myrna Loy and George Brent. Indian aristocrat Tyrone Power returns to his home province after studying medicine in America to help the needy and sick, and becomes romantically involved with married English socialite Myrna Loy. The couple finds their love and courage tested when an earthquake and flood devastate the area and a subsequent malaria epidemic threatens all,

Set at the beginning of monsoon season in the fictitious state of Ranchipur, India, The Rains Came is filled with sahibs, memsahibs, Indian royalty, servants in turbans, high-caste Indians in saris and tuxedos, elephants, monkeys, British Empire dignitaries, and American missionaries.

The Rains Came released during one of the richest years in cinematic history (ten 1939 films got Best Picture nominations), is best-remembered for its spectacular special effects, Nominated for five academy award including Best Cinematography (Black and White), Best Art Direction–Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Original Score, Best Editing and won f0r Best Special Effects ( beat out both Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz for the Oscar.)

Take a look at the earthquake clip here and see how special effect still impressive .

Did you know??

• Initially budgeted at $2,500,000, an additional $100,000 was added to film a new ending. $500,000 was allotted for the sets, and $500,000 for the flood and earthquake scenes. 350 grips, carpenters and laborers worked for more than a month on those scenes.

• To create the flood effects, a 50,000-gallon tank of water was built on a studio sound stage.

• Bert Glennon started the movie as director of photography, but became ill and was replaced by Arthur C. Miller, who received the onscreen credit.

• Modern sources list Harry Revel as co-writer of the title song; however, he is not listed on the published sheet music or in the ASCAP database for the song.

• This movie was a monumental undertaking for the studio. Of the 100 shooting days, almost half were spent filming the man-made rain and floods, for which 33 million gallons of water were used.

• The Ranchipur of novelist Louis Bromfield was built on 18 acres of the back lot. The maharajah’s palace, which was wrecked room by room in the earthquake, cost $75,000. The breaking of the dam was shot in two nights using 14 cameras.

• The studio had difficulty finding enough light-gray, black-faced monkeys for the shoot, so the makeup artists actually made up more common-looking monkeys to “fit the part”.

• The first movie to win an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

The culture of fashion 101: February 2, 2007

“Listen, Mary, just because you’re wearing those Joan Crawford Come Fuck Me Pumps, you still ain’t no movie star!”

What is “Joan Crawford Come Fuck Me Pumps”???????

• high heeled, ankle strapped woman’s shoes circa 1940s causing one to walk in a pronounced, seductive, strutting motion, made popular by actress Joan Crawford

• high-heeled pumps with a three inch or higher stilleto heel. Usually some really bright colour to get your attention. Maybe shiny vinyl or glittery.Accentuates the leg.Not usually removed during sex.

cat fight January 25, 2007

Old Acquaintance (1943) Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins were schoolgirl chums. With former leaving home town to carve literary career, while latter settles to happy marriage .Davis returns for lecture and, as guest of former pal, finds her with child and writer of hot sexy novels which she agrees to read and submit to publishers.

To their surprise, Millie’s book becomes a bestseller, and a decade later she’s one of the most successful authors in America, easily eclipsing Kitty’s more highbrow work.

At Goulding’s urging, Davis had agreed to cast screen newcomer Gig Young as the naval officer Kit loses to her rival’s adult daughter. Although both were married, and Young was five years younger, he and Davis carried their on-screen relationship into their private lives with a series of late-night trysts in her dressing room.

Did You Know??

Bette Davis personally requested the casting of Norma Shearer in the role of Mildred Drake. Shearer refused the role and the part went to Miriam Hopkins.

Later remade as Rich and Famous (1981) with Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset.