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Scott Marks talks about “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Lemon Drop Kid”

December 24th, 2007 by Scott Marks

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Les…

(Dolores Hope’s version of Silver Bells plays softly underneath)

It’s not often that I step out of character, but what the hell? It’s Christmas. You know ladies and gentlemen, no website is a failure that has friends. And I mean it. When I see the look on the faces of those kids who visit Emulsion Compulsion every day to study my reviews, read my rants and know the true meaning of 2 Girls 1 Kup, I tell ya’ it gets me right here. You have my utmost fondness and appreciation.

And to the man behind the curtain, my buddy Charles who called me up one day and said, “I read your crappy AOL blog. I’d like to build you a website that people will actually come to.” For a Republican who lives as far north of Chicago as possible while still being in Illinois and hasn’t been inside a movie theater since we saw 54 together in ‘98 you see things in me that confound your average aesthete. Your advice on how to make this site tick has been invaluable. Beyond all else, you are one of the most loyal people on the planet. Who needs Scorsese when I can talk to you everyday? You’re a great man, Charles, and one that I both value and love. Thanks!

And now before we all start vomiting blood from the sugar overkill, this is a piece that I did for KPBS -Radio’s These Days that I am particularly proud of. For a guy who never had a tree in his living room, I sure do have good taste in Christmas pictures!

Leave it to a Jew to point up the cynicism inherent in Frank Capra’s beloved holiday chestnut and leave it to a die hard Frank Tashlin devotee to champion a Bob Hope obscurity over the more familiar holiday DVD stuffers.

And speaking of people that I value, I pretty much owe my life on San Diego radio to Angela Carone. Like Charles, she not only gets me, but Angela unleashes me over the public airwaves. Listen to how brilliantly this piece is put together. She’s my personal Thelma.

Take it away Tom…

Tom Fudge: When the 1946 movie It’s A Wonderful Life entered the public domain in the 1970’s, practically every television station began broadcasting the film during the holiday season. The story is a familiar one. Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, who looks back on a lifetime of dashed dreams and personal sacrifices. One day, after a string of bad luck, he decides he wants to end it all. But before he can, a bumbling angel named Clarence shows him what life would be like without him. And he convinces George that he really does have “a wonderful life.”

Some argue that Frank Capra’s film is sentimental and even a little cheesy. But our Film Club of the Air’s Scott Marks has a different take on it. He stopped by the studio to give us his impression of It’s a Wonderful Life and to tell us about one of his favorite holiday movies starring Bob Hope.

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Hollywood’s Finest Christmas Musical Number: Bob Hope & Marilyn Maxwell sing “Silver Bells”

December 19th, 2007 by Scott Marks



Nobody talks about The Lemon Drop Kid at Christmas and they should because there isn’t a better holiday musical number than “Silver Bells.” It was one of the first live-action films that Frank Tashlin had a hand in directing, albeit uncredited. Sidney Lanfield received the billing, but it was Tash who directed the majority of the film.

2oth Century Fox was not happy with Lanfield’s dalies so they brought in Tashlin to direct approimately a third of the picture, including the Silver Bells number. The production design, by Franz Bachelin and Hal Pereira, is a triumph. What a set - a stunning backlot Paramount mock-up of bustling New York City sidewalks crammed with last minute Christmas shoppers. And as much as I hate the real stuff, there is nothing more magical that watching it snow in 35mm. Through it all stroll Bob and Marilyn (and Daniel Fapp’s camera) creating what would amount to song #2, behind Thanks for the Memories, as the tune most often associated with Old Ski Nose.

I’ll have more to say about The Lemon Drop Kid on Christmas Day. Until then, enjoy this glorious piece of holiday movie magic.

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