New Photos Added: Humphrey Bogart, Johnny Depp, David Cronenberg, THE LADIES’ MAN, Jaclyn Smith, Michael Curtiz, Jerry Lewis, etc.
May 4th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Milton Berle - Ad for The Milton Berle Private Archive Collection
Humphrey Bogart - 12 Photos
Celebrity Endorsements
Wilford Brimley for Quaker Oatmeal
Tommy Lasorda for Slim-Fast
Jaclyn Smith for Max Factor 2nd Nail, 1988
Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby & William Holden in The Country Girl
David Cronenberg - 12 Photos
Michael Curtiz - 2 Photos
Johnny Depp - 3 Photos from John Waters Cry-Baby
The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon - 9 Parade Magazine covers and 3 Ads
The Ladies’ Man - Lobby Card Set
Jerry Lewis - 8 Photos
George Lucas, Enemy of Cinema - 1 Photo directing American Graffiti
S.C.T.V - 1 Photo
Tags: Actor, Ad, Ads, Bing Crosby, David Cronenberg, Endorsement, Grace Kelly, Jerry Lewis, John Waters, Johnny Depp, MDA, MDA Telethon, Milton Berle, Photo, Photos, SCTV, THE COUNTRY GIRL, The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, THE LADIES' MAN, Tommy Lasorda, Traci Lords, William Holden
Filed Under Image Blog
Chuck Connors: Baseball’s gift to movies
April 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks
“IN SQUEEZE PLAY — Chuck Connors, Baseball’s gift to the motion picture screen, goes to bat to score with a top featured role in Warner Bros.’ ‘South Sea Woman,’ forth-coming Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo co-starrer. In the romantic comedy Connors plays a marine pal of Lancaster and the impatient fiance of Miss Mayo. Chuck, who last year covered first base for the Los Angeles Angels, has also played for the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers.”
Tags: 8 x 10, Actor, Baseball, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Chuck Connors, Los Angeles Angels, Movies, Photo, Publicity Photo, South Sea Woman, StillFiled Under Image Blog
Wesley Snipes given three years in jail for tax evasion
April 24th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Until he opens his mouth, Wesley Snipes comes across as one imposing dude. Unfortunately for the 45-year-old actor his menacing presence wasn’t enough to frighten Judge William Hodges.
Snipes was convicted earlier today of three misdemeanor charges for not filing his taxes and handed the maximum sentence of 36 months.
When his fellow convicts get a load of his enormous white teeth or a copy of his Playgirl magazine spread he’ll be one Blade running.
WESH in Orlando reports that Snipes did apologize during the sentencing. “I asked this court to show me mercy and the opportunity to set things right,” Snipes said. “This will never happen again. I am very sorry for my mistakes or my errors.”
He added, “being in the spotlight attracts loving fans, and jackals.”
What Snipes failed to apologize for were Demolition Man, The Fan, Blades 2 and 3, and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.
Snipes was acquitted in February on felony tax fraud charges, but his conviction on three lesser counts of evasion still comes with a hefty price: In addition to jail time, the actor was fined up to $5 million.
The IRS says Snipes had not filed taxes at all from 1999-2004. Earlier in the trial Wesley sent a document to the IRS that said he chastised the IRS and prosecutors, claiming their position toward him was “simply false, fraudulent and misrepresenting.” The document also warned the government’s “illegal collection action” would result in “significant personal liability” for those involved. “Warning - pursuit of such a high profile target will open the door for your increased collateral risk,” Snipes wrote. “I certainly don’t believe this is in your best interest and can be avoided.”
Among other things, the letter claimed the IRS deceives people to “terrorize, enslave, rape or pillage” taxpayers.
Snipes went so far as writing the government $5 million in checks — all in an effort to convince the judge that his conviction on tax charges should cost him nothing more than home detention and some public service announcements.
Tags: Actor, Income Tax, Income Tax Evasion, IRS, Jail, Prison, Sentenced, Taxes, Wesley SnipesFiled Under News
Summer Film Preview Guide
April 23rd, 2008 by Scott Marks
Cinematographer Oliver Bokelberg and Richard Jenkins on the set of THE VISITOR
Read ‘em and weep, folks. You thought last summer was bad? This is how we’re going to be spending the next four months at the movies.
APRIL 25, 2008
HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY
If Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle was such a terrible film why do I own a copy? Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who penned the original raunch fest, wrote and directed the sequel. This time the hemp heads are mistaken for chronic terrorists.
DECEPTION
Ewan McGregor visits a mysterious sex club and quickly becomes the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance and a million dollar heist. Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Bruce Altman, Natasha Henstridge, Charlotte Rampling and cinematographer Dante Spinotti co-star in first time director Marcel Langenegger’s action thriller. You had better bring a shovel to help fill in all the plot holes.
BABY MAMA
Another SNL-produced comedy. Next…
THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES
One of the only films on the list I’ve seen and it’s a morbid stinker thoroughly taken by it own brilliance. Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood climb Jacob’s ladder and wind up on Owl Creek Bridge. How’s that for a spoiler? The very important Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog) directed.
THE VISITOR
Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent) directs this dramedy about a widowed professor who finds a young couple squatting in his apartment. The superb Richard Jenkins stars.
MAY 2, 2008
MADE OF HONOR
Brought to us by the same man who directed Leonard Part 6. We know what this is made of.
IRON MAN
Did Elf make so much money that Paramount was willing to hand Jon Favreau $186 million to direct this? Guess so. Let’s hope that Robert Downey can work his magic on yet another comic book adaptation.
MIO FRATELLO E FIGLIO UNICO (MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD)
How did a film with subtitles make it on this list? Daniele “Never heard of him” Luchetti directs this Italian coming of age film.
MAY 9, 2008
SPEED RACER
It still hurts when I think about The Matrix, but on the strength of Bound and their script for V for Vendetta I’m willing to give the Wachowski Bros. another shot. Let’s see if Emile Hirsch can put a stop to his smug posing long enough to play the title role. Christina Ricci also stars, but the most interesting casting is Susan Sarandon and John Goodman as Mom and Pop Speed. I didn’t know they were Asian.
THEN SHE FOUND ME
Helen Hunt stars in and directs this romantic comedy about a New York school teacher having a midlife crisis. Colin Firth, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick co-star.
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
A TV commercial tagline intended to promote tourism becomes the basis for a feature film. Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz play two strangers that awaken together to discover they’ve gotten married following a night of debauchery in Sin City. Laughter ensues when they discover that one of them has won a huge jackpot after playing the other’s quarter. Tom Vaughan directs.
MAY 16, 2008
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN
Part 2 of the Narnia franchise. Have fun!
SON OF RAMBOW
Two little boys make a home movie in this coming of age comedy set in the 80s. Much of it is based on writer/director Garth Jenning’s (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) childhood experiments with a camcorder. The tagline reads: “Make Believe. Not War.” Better bring insulin.
MAY 22, 2008
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Continue reading Summer Film Preview Guide
Tags: Actor, Documentary, Films, Harold_and_Kumar, hell, Lineup, Movie Review, Movie reviews, Movies, Preview, Schedule, Summer, Summer Films, Summer MoviesFiled Under News
Christian Brando died of pneumonia
April 12th, 2008 by Scott Marks
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office released autopsy results on Friday that confirm Christian Brando died of pneumonia.
The eldest son of the late actor Marlon Brando, Christian was admitted into Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on January 11, 2008. At the time, Brando’s attorney, Benjamin Brin, announced he was hospitalized with pneumonia, the prognosis was said to be a complete recovery. Christian died on January 26, 2008. He was 49.
Brando was buried on February 17, 2008 at the Kalama Oddfellows Cemetary in Kalama, Washington. According to Wikipedia, “Christian, who had lived in Kalama for about 14 years was well-liked by locals who remembered him as ‘a regular guy.’ Chaplain Timothy Berg, who performed the service, said, ‘I guess as a society, we’ve made it really hard for people who are famous,’ Berg said. ‘God, he had a hard life, he really did, and I guess that’s really true of a lot of people who are born into fame.’”
Christian Brando’s mother, actress Anna Kashfi, divorced Marlon Brando after a year.
Links:
Christian Brando obit
Marlon Brando photos: On the Waterfront / Mutiny on the Bounty / The Godfather
Tags: Actor, Autopsy Results, Christian Brando, Marlon Brando, Pneumonia, SonFiled Under News
Dig A Hole: Charlton Heston
April 6th, 2008 by Scott Marks
If Charlton Heston never existed, Hollywood surely would have invented one. At a time when studios were countering the small screen invasion with lavish, “cast of thousands” epics, they needed someone to take the lead. Who else but Chuck Heston had the right combination of chiseled features, booming voice, leading man looks and an unwillingness to turn down a beefy paycheck no matter how ludicrous the role?
Heston is to acting what The Monkees are to rock and roll. Both were prefabricated industry creations that arrived on the scene at a precise moment in time to fill a specific void (and make their backers a lot of money).
The legendary movie star died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, at his side. No official cause of death has been named, but the actor revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 84.
Heston, born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois, was the son of Lilla (nee Charlton) and Russell Whitford Carter, a mill operator. His parents divorced when he was ten and soon after his mother married Chester Heston. The new family migrated up the road a piece to Chicago’s well-fixed suburb of Wilmette where Charlton Heston (his new surname) attended New Trier High School.
Heston made his movie debut in a pair of 1940s independent films shot on 16mm by classmate David Bradley, who later became a noted film archivist. While in high school, he played the title role in Peer Gynt (1942). At Northwestern University he starred as Marc Antony in Bradley’s 1949 version of Julius Caesar, in which Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry had a supporting role as ancient Rome.
Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of Wuthering Heights and offered him a contract. When Lydia reminded him that they had decided to pursue careers in theater and television, he replied, “Well, maybe just for one film to see what it’s like.”
His first appearance for the studio was in William Dieterle’s adept film noir Dark City. Two years later Heston got his big break playing the manager of Cecil B. DeMille’s Greatest Show on Earth. It’s as close to the circus as you ever want to get.
Years before Chuck tackled history books and the Bible, he appeared in a pair of exceedingly entertaining genre pictures. King Vidor literally dragged Heston through a swamp all for the love of sadistic Jennifer Jones in his over-the-top melodrama Ruby Gentry and George Pal plunged him neck-deep in ants (and Eleanor Parker) in the solid adventure pic The Naked Jungle.
In 1953 Heston assumed the roles of two historical figures — Andrew Jackson in Henry Levin’s lethal The President’s Lady and Frank ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody in Jerry Hopper’s leaden Pony Express — a move that heralded a career in epics and costume pictures. (He once again assumed the roles of President Jackson in the 1958 remake of The Buccaneer.) As Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s monumental remake of his own The Ten Commandments, Heston added the Old Testament to his repertoire
Admittedly, Heston perched atop Mt. Sinai all dolled up in hair stylist Nellie Manley’s Cottonelle sausage curls gives rise for laughter (as does a majority of the film’s dialog), yet the picture endures mostly through its majestic production design, persuasive matte shots and dazzling Technicolor complexion.
During the filming a dolorous Heston faced the blazing noonday sun weighted down under layers of Hebrew cloth. A pixelated Edward G. Robinson strolled by, noticed the actor’s discomfort and cracked, “It’s tough being a Jew, isn’t it, Chuck?”
As much as I delight in DeMille’s corn, William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) is an epic of a different kind. At three-and-a-half hours (counting intermission) Ben-Hur is an epic bore. It’s a pile of sanctimonious slop that, aside from Miklos Rosza’s tremendous score, has nothing to recommend. Needless to say, the film garnered 11 Academy Awards, one of which went to Heston.
If Charlton Heston did only one thing over the course of his mega career to forever secure a place in the annals of film history, he saw to it that Orson Welles directed Touch of Evil (1958). The contractually obliged Welles reluctantly consented to play the role of corrupt detective Hank Quinlan. Heston signed on thinking that Welles was also going to direct and eventually convinced producer Albert Zugsmith to give the “difficult” filmmaker a shot. In return, Welles directed Heston in his finest role as a (believe it or not) honeymooning Mexican narcotics agent trying to take down a Tijuana dope ring. If you’re allowed one film in hell, I’m packing Touch of Evil.
Throughout his career Heston portrayed numerous historical heroes. In addition to Mose, Judah, Stonewall and Cody, Heston breathed life into John the Baptist (The Greatest Story Ever Told), Michelangelo (The Agony and the Ecstasy), General Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon (Khartoum), Marc Antony (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra), Cardinal Richelieu (The Three Musketeers) and Henry VIII (The Prince and the Pauper).
Of all the figures drawn from history, it’s Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in Anthony Mann’s stunning El Cid that leads the pack. Not that Heston matters much; El Cid is the director’s crowning epic and would have been a masterpiece with or without him, which is probably true of just about any quality picture Heston happened to appear in.
Science fiction fans undoubtedly remember Heston fondly for his trilogy of late 60s, early 70s futuristic films, Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man and Soylent Green. (Beneath the Planet of the Apes doesn’t count!) Apes remains a personal favorite with memories of Heston’s teeth, bigger and yellower than Moses’ tablets, writ large in anamorphic close ups.
Throughout the 70s Heston found work in a string of fashionable disaster films. He piloted ill-fated flights in Skyjacked and Airport ‘77, did little to rock the screen in the Senssurround productions Earthquake and Midway, saved football fans at the Two-Minute Warning and refused to keep the Gray Lady Down.
The rest of Heston’s work on screen consisted of nighttime soaps (Dynasty, The Colbys), made-for-TV adaptations of classics (A Man for All Seasons, Treasure Island, Genghis Khan) and voice for hire (Call from Space, Hercules, Armageddon).
Charlton Heston, James Baldwin, Marlon Brando & Harry Belafonte
Off screen Heston was quite the political activist. He was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1965 to 1971. He campaigned for Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy in addition to accompanying Martin Luther King on a civil rights march in 1963. After Robert Kennedy’s assassination, Heston became a vocal supporter of President Lyndon Johnson’s Gun Control Act of 1968. He also opposed Richard Nixon and the war in Vietnam.
What a difference a couple of decades make. By the 1980s Heston was a staunch advocate of affirmative action, had reversed his feelings on gun control and registered as a Republican. He was the President and cheerleader of the NRA from 1998 until he resigned in 2003. At the 2000 NRA convention, he raised a hand-made Brooks flintlock rifle over his head and declared that presidential candidate Al Gore would take away his Second Amendment rights “from my cold, dead hands.” It was the greatest performance of his career.
His last shining screen moment was self parody, only it’s hard to tell whether or not Heston was in on the joke. Co-starring opposite Warren Beatty in the sadly underrated Town and Country, Heston’s right wing, gun-toting lunatic father-in-law plays more like documentary footage rather than a performance.
As contemptuous as Heston’s political beliefs are, even I felt sorry for the guy when Michael Moore accosted the Alzheimer’s-stricken actor in his home and used the footage in Bowling for Columbine.
Take a moment to look at this clip from Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil. Were it not for Charlton Heston, we might not have the single-greatest shot ever recorded on film.
Photos:
Ben-Hur (+ Souvenir Program)
The Ten Commandments
Touch of Evil
El Cid
Planet of the Apes Tags: Actor, Alzheimers Disease, BEN-HUR, Charleton Heston, Charlton Heston, EL CID, Evanston, Movie Star, NRA, Obituary, Orson Welles, Photos, PLANET OF THE APES, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, Video
Filed Under Obituaries
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Quotes, Quips and Fun Facts
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Bob Hope was a very old, not so funny, violently insane psychopath who spent decades interfering with peoples' thought patterns.
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