Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies ~ The Bride and I got to see this one on one of our Disney Cruises a year or so back, a sneak preview the night we saw it, but I've been busy, haven't had time to post it, and quite frankly after a while forgot I had written it. Bridge of Spies is the story, based on true events, of the spy exchange of Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers in 1960, as told from the point of view of James B. Donovan, the attorney who brokered the deal. At the height of the Cold War and during the building of the Berlin Wall, this was no easy trick.

There are good solid performances here, and there should definitely have been more Oscar wins for this one than just Supporting Actor for Mark Rylance's Abel. He was stunning, and Tom Hanks has matured some and gives us his best whimsical and serious at once.

I was surprised to see the Coen brothers as screenwriters, while most of the writing and dialogue is brilliant, there's a fair amount that is equally weak and sloppy. And that 'inspired by true events' tag, that always gets me. I am always suspect of that phrase. If you know your history, this may be boring and monotonous like Titanic or Apollo 13, because let's face it, you already know how it ends. There's no suspense, nevertheless Bridge of Spies a good movie.

An amusing side note, I could not sit through the first showing, so finished watching the flick at an early morning viewing. There were a handful of patrons, along with a grandfather and several grade school age boys. He was overheard saying to them before the film started that there might be some bad words in it and they shouldn't tell their parents.

Bridge of Spies had some bad language, mostly B words, and every time one popped up the boys would all chime "oooo" and count them. Soon everyone in the audience was counting and oooo-ing as well. It was a hoot. I wonder if they told their parents…

Rediscovering Dick Cavett

Recently, one of the nostalgia channels we get started showing old Dick Cavett shows, and when I say old shows, I mean all of them. Not every episode, to be clear, but selected episodes from each of Dick Cavett's talk and interview shows, as he's had one or more in several decades, from the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. I myself recall seeing Dick on TV before I could read.

Dick Cavett had also recently started a radio tour pushing his two latest books and was telling great stories on the air, and he was booked on the most recent TCM Classic Cruise. So the man has come back into my life in a big way. I bought the books and was reading them, watching the shows (which were unfortunately minus live musical performances per rights), and anticipating his appearance on the Cruise. I was buried in Cavett.

On the Cruise, he introduced several movies including The Third Man, a couple Marx Brothers flicks, where he discussed his friendship with Groucho Marx, and he sat down with TCM interviewers a few times during the trip to answer questions from them and the audience, always telling the most wonderful stories. The Bride even rode an elevator with him one day on the ship.

One of the highlights of the Cruise however was the showing of a few episodes of his original 1960s show, specifically one where Dick interviewed Orson Welles. In this 1970 interview with the man who rarely gave interviews, Welles turns the tables on Cavett, interviewing him and casting some not so nice aspersions on Jerry Lewis, also a guest on that Cruise. Welles was amazing, owning the show, having fun, and making Cavett good naturedly squirm.  Good stuff. 

I have a newborn interest and respect in Dick Cavett - the man and his career. I can't recommend his shows or his books enough, check them out.

Remembering Adam West

This one hit me hard, folks, and I learned about it much the same way I had heard that John Lennon was dead. I awoke the next morning to my radio playing Beatles song after Beatles song, thinking what a great way to start the morning, with Beatles music.

For Adam West, it was similar, happy to sad. I had just spent a terrific day with The Bride at EPCOT, we were getting on the bus, and I checked my phone, hitting Facebook. I saw a really cool picture I'd seen before - my good friend Andy Burns, our friend JP Fallavollita, and Andy's daughter (in fierce Wonder Woman cosplay) standing in front of the Batmobile (the real Batmobile) with, you guessed it, Adam West and Burt Ward. I was jealous the first time I saw the picture, and jealous this time, so I posted as much. I was in a good mood, and then I saw other Facebook posts on my feed… Adam West had passed away at the age of 88. I was crushed. It was if my childhood had dropped out from under me. I was staggered by this for a couple days. It couldn't be true.

My earliest memory regards an incident in my family first house.  I was around two and stepped on a heating grate burning my foot.  I don't remember any of that, but what I vividly do recall is my brother giving me a toy Batmobile to get me to stop crying.  At our second house shortly after that the room I shared with my big brother had only two things on the walls: a Detroit Lions pennant and a picture of Batman.  I have talked before about the 1966-69 "Batman" TV series starring Adam West being the gateway drug to comics for not only myself, but for an entire generation.  In many ways, my childhood has taken a hell of a hit. 

Adam West as Batman affects me to this day.  This past weekend I thought of him on three different occasions before learning of his passing.  Andy's photo on Facebook was one.  I saw Return of the Caped Crusaders on Blu-Ray in a store and I thought I needed to own it sooner or later.  And at EPCOT on the Test Track ride, I deliberately tried to design a car just like the Batmobile. 

Other than his wild global success as Batman, Adam West had a pretty rough life, battling depression, alcoholism, and typecasting.  It wasn't until he came to terms with always being remembered as Batman that things turned around for him. Gone were the days of getting shot out of a cannon and doing terrible pilots like "The Precinct."  Batman could overcome anything.  His unique deadpan camp humor even found a home on "Family Guy," conquering a whole new television generation. I even met him once, great guy.

Adam got the Batman gig after producers saw him playing a James Bond parody for Nestle Quik commercials.  Ironically he would be considered for the role of the real Bond years later.  He beat Lyle Waggoner for the title role on "Batman," who probably would not have been able to pull it off.  Batman would take over the world – Adam West himself has been quoted as saying that the sixties were all about the three Bs - Beatles, Bond, and Batman - and it's true.  And "Batman" would not have worked without West.  He was the only choice. 

West had done other things, movies like Mara of the Wilderness, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, and Poor Devil all of which I loved, and are recommended, but he always returned to Batman, whether it was on "Superfriends," the 1970s Filmation "Batman," as the Grey Ghost, Back to the Batcave, or the aforementioned Return of the Caped Crusaders. 

Adam West passed away on Saturday after a short battle with leukemia, he was 88.  In my mind and in my heart, he will live forever as the only Batman that counts.  We have lost a true legend, and the Bat-Signal burns for you, my friend. 

Sonny and Cher on Television

There was a time back in the 1970s when variety shows were all the rage.  The closest thing we have these days are the contests like "America's Got Talent" or the late night talk shows, or the current godfather of them all "Saturday Night Live," but there was a time when they ruled prime time television.  There was Carol Burnett, Donny and Marie Osmond, the Captain and Tennille, Shields and Yarnell, Flip Wilson, even the Brady Bunch, there were dozens, and then there was Sonny and Cher. 

Cher, and her older mentor husband Sonny Bono came to prominence in the 1960s as the pop duo Sonny and Cher.  With their hits "The Beat Goes On" and "I Got You Babe" (each would later become their theme songs on TV), they were an odd coupling.  The hippies thought they were straights, and the straights thought they were hippies, giving them an almost universal appeal by default.  They began playing Las Vegas, where they developed the banter and chemistry that would make them TV stars. 

Their variety show ran for three seasons before their divorce ended it.  The next season featured two new shows, one for Sonny and one for Cher, followed in the next season by a new show featuring them both.  No longer married, but still friends and working partners, the jokes were a bit meaner and subtextual.  Audiences loved it in all its incarnations.  And while the pair were no longer making hits, Cher had several of her solo hits featured on the shows.

Recently a nostalgia network new to us in Florida, GetTV, has acquired the programs and have been running them.  I haven't seen any of them since they aired, and it was quite a surprise.  Less dated and more risqué than I imagined, I can only guess that puberty had not kicked in yet regarding Cher's scandalous outfits by Bob Mackie. 

The wardrobe, glam rock style aside, notwithstanding, wasn't the only thing that was edgy.  The humor is something that like Cher's dresses (or lack thereof, how did she get away with them?) was also a bit risqué.  I'm really not sure a lot of this would have gotten through censors today.  Not just dated jokes, but a lot racial humor and sexual innuendo, so in that way, these shows are an intriguing time capsule. 

Catch them if you can for a bit of nostalgia, a bit of social evolution, and a laugh or two.  And for those who did not live through the 1970s, don't laugh at us too hard. 

X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes ~ This is one of those films, much talked about and rarely seen (at least by me). As a longtime listener to Mr. Movie Steve Friedman, I had heard about this movie on an almost weekly basis, and especially the ending. I was very pleased to finally have the chance to see X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, especially on the TCM Classic Cruise, and introduced by Ben Mankiewicz and producer Roger Corman himself.

Corman is 89 years old, and after his cancellation on last year's cruise, and seeing him at the port in a wheelchair before boarding, understandably there were some health concerns. There needn't have been. Though with a cane, he walked out onto the stage of the Buena Vista Theatre to a thunderous standing ovation.

Roger and Ben talked mainly about X, as the film's actual title card reads, and how it was made. In typical Corman fashion it was made in three weeks for $300,000. The mad acting skills of star Ray Milland and first timer Don Rickles were also up for discussion, and well deserved. Milland has always been one of the good ones, and I've always thought Rickles was a pretty amazing, if underrated, actor myself. The cast was rounded out by Diana Van der Vlis, an almost dead ringer for Elizabeth Mongomery, and a young Dick Miller.

The existence of another ending was discussed, and that had me both confused, and sitting through to the end of the credits like it was a Marvel Cinematic Universe flick. There's no alternate ending. Much like the urban legend of two different endings to King Kong Vs. Godzilla, it just does not exist. Corman states that the much-talked-about scary ending was made up by Stephen King, but that doesn't sound right either. Sounds like a job for Snopes.

Here, on stage, Corman claimed that the ending was the sole construction of Stephen King, in his book Danse Macabre, but according to Wikipedia (always the worst source on such things, but Snopes had no listing) Corman has in the past said that an ending was shot where Milland, after having torn his own eyes out, screams, "I can still see!" I guess we'll never know for sure.

The movie centers on Milland, an obsessed scientist working to improve human vision. So obsessed is he that he tests a new formula on himself, gaining an approximation of x-ray vision. The more formula he puts in his eyes, the more extensive his vision becomes, and of course the more insane he becomes. He wanders through the film, through a carnival, a scam, Las Vegas, and a tent revival, before taking a step into the still-horrific ending.

This was a fun watch, but not much beyond the typical early 1960s scifi fare, but decidedly ahead of its time all the same. Not as cool as I thought it would be, but that said, it just doesn't get any better when it's on the big screen and introduced by the director, a living legend himself.

Dr. Who and the Daleks

First things first, and those who know will just have to bear with me, but there is a very important lesson to be learned in the title of this film. It's all in the spelling. Dr. Who is an eccentric inventor played by Peter Cushing in two movies about the Daleks in the 1960s. Doctor Who is a Gallifreyan Time Lord played by over a dozen actors in the BBC television series for over fifty years. Two different things, however similar, got it? And Dr. Who from King Kong Escapes and the Rankin-Bass "Kong" animated series has nothing to do with either.

When "Doctor Who" first featured what would become his primary nemeses, the Daleks, the UK was caught up in a hysteria nearly as mad as Beatlemania. Daleks and Who were everywhere. Seeking to cash in, the BBC rushed into production this movie Dr. Who and the Daleks, and a year later, its sequel Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. It is a re-imagining of the "Doctor Who" TV series, to use the modern vernacular, and the first time we see any version of these characters either in color or widescreen. This was a treat for the times, despite the differences.

In the television series, while it has been presented as a pun on occasion, The Doctor is never referred to as Doctor Who. In the movies however, this is his name. He is a kind old man (as opposed to William Hartnell, the then current and first Doctor, being gruff and unpleasant at times) played with charming eccentricity by Peter Cushing. He is at times childlike and the source of thoroughly British dry wit, but in this fan's eyes, still very much a possible Doctor.

The rest of the TARDIS crew are essentially the same albeit recast for the movies. While Susan is still his granddaughter, changes had been made with the characters of Barbara and Ian. Barbara here is also a granddaughter and Ian is her suitor. In the series, there may have been some romantic chemistry between the two but it wasn't shown until years later when it was revealed that they had married.

We're launched into the story rather quickly, which is nice, no long secret origins or unnecessary exposition, just into the time machine and onto another planet, boom. The story, by the way, is based on the second serialized episode of the TV series, "The Daleks," written, as many later Dalek episodes would be, by Terry Nation. The crew arrives on the planet Skaro (though unnamed until the sequel) which has been ravaged by a nuclear war between the Thals and the Daleks.

What follows is a typical Daleks adventure, but in color and widescreen. The sets and backgrounds are slightly better than that of the TV series, but again kinda cool in color. The Daleks themselves are a little bigger than their TV counterparts, and so much more intimidating. The Thals, on the other hand, are very groovy, therefore dated, and somehow suited more to say Barbarella than "Doctor Who."

Dr. Who and the Daleks is a fun romp, if in some places a bit boring and corny. And if you catch it on TCM, you get to hear Ben Mankiewicz mangle the pronunciation of 'Daleks' multiple times in his intro and outro. I love ya, Ben, but come on! Every Who fan should see this at least once.

Cooley High

On the surface, Cooley High is chiefly remembered as the 'black American Graffiti' or the loose basis for the TV series "What's Happening!!," but it was far more than that. Set in 1964 in Chicago's infamous Cabrini-Green, Cooley High was a realistic, sometimes brutal, slice of life about growing up in those projects, but through all that it was also funny, poignant, and hopeful.

The film was written by Eric Monte who had grown up in Cabrini-Green and like Preach's character, had always wanted to be a writer. He moved to LA and hooked up with Mike Evans, then playing Lionel Jefferson on "All in the Family." Evans encouraged Monte to write leading to scripting jobs. Together, Evans and Monte would go on to develop both "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times," with the latter TV family actually living in Cabrini-Green.

Television proved too controlled and sanitized for Eric Monte however, so after recording hours of his growing up experiences in Chicago on tape, he wrote the screenplay to Cooley High. Glynn Turman, the fantastic actor from "The Wire," and currently "House of Lies," played the sixteen year old Preach at twenty-seven, and his best friend Cochise was portrayed by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, best known as Washington on "Welcome Back Kotter." Pre-SNL Garrett Morris played a teacher, but predominantly the rest of the cast was residents of Cabrini-Green where Cooley High was filmed.

That boost of reality from the people and locations of Chicago brought the childhood of Eric Monte alive. The cast was having fun, and living the story on screen. Nothing beats the zoo scene with the gorilla throwing feces, mostly because it was unscripted and really happened. And as a kaiju eiga fan, I absolutely love the sequence in the movie theater where Godzilla Vs. The Thing is playing. It is a perfect blending of action in the theater and on the screen.

Cooley High with its comedy, tragedy, good times and bad was set to a sixties Motown soundtrack, some of the best music ever made. Unlike the somewhat comparable American Graffiti, these songs are still relevant and have meaning, resonance. Amazing soundtrack. It's real, and that's what sets Cooley High apart, this isn't just a coming of age story - this is Eric Monte's coming of age story, his life, his real world.

ABC adapted the film to a pilot that audiences did not love, so later they retooled it with new characters to become "What's Happening!!" with lead character Raj bearing only the slightest resemblance to Preach. Later Eric Monte would sue for more money

regarding his various contributions to television, after which he was pretty much blacklisted from the industry. Bouts with drugs, bankruptcy, and homelessness have not made his life easy since.

Cooley High remains a classic, not just of black cinema, but cinema period. Definitely worth watching, must see, if you haven't already.

The Interview

In a week when cheaters can still play in the Super Bowl and major cities braced for winter superstorms that never came, what better time to review The Interview?

Originally intended to be just another bad stoner flick from James Franco and Seth Rogan, The Interview gained frightening national and international infamy by reputedly being the target of a cyber attack on Sony supposedly by North Korea. While the facts of who did what may be in question, it seems that making a film about what a monster the leader of North Korea is and how a couple of idiots attempt to assassinate him could actually lead to an act of war. Sounds silly, doesn't it? But apparently it happened.

I didn't plan on seeing this movie, but now that it is quickly available on Netflix, I thought, what the heck I might take a peek. And it's not a matter of wanting to see it as much as it's a matter of wanting to see what all the fuss is about. In The Interview, James Franco is an idiot talk show host and Seth Rogan his long suffering producer who longs to do serious journalism. In an attempt to remedy the latter, they land an exclusive interview with Kim Jong-un. The CIA intervenes and hopes to get them to stealthily assassinate the dictator.

The opening scene with Eminem is hilarious. There are sweet moments like Franco bonding with Kim Jong-un and Seth Rogan mooning over his North Korean counterpart but for the most part this is another Franco/Rogan dick and fart joke stoner movie, nothing new and nothing should be expected to be new. And when it takes a serious turn in the middle of its childish humor, I didn't know how to feel. Really, this film has a moral lesson and political agenda now? Way out of left field.

This is still a terrible movie, but it's better than it has any right to be. And I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. I certainly didn't hate it like I did This Is The End. I really didn't think I could hate James Franco more than I already did, and then I saw The Interview. The man is now on my do-not-watch list. Yeah, he's that bad. He makes Adam Sandler look like Cary Grant. Seth Rogan isn't bad, and Lizzy Caplan does her best with what she has to work with.

These movies seem to be quite popular and I don't like them much. A friend threw an idea my way that has been weighing on me, so I thought I'd throw it out to you. She compared the Franco/Rogan films to some of the sillier comedies of the 1960s, and suggested that they were just this generation's version of that type of humor. She mentioned two names in particular, and I'll pass them along - are these the type of movies that Jerry Lewis or Don Knotts be making if they were in their prime today? Thoughts?

Otherwise, I would say to wait to see The Interview for free, if at all. This flick is only a curiosity because of the controversy around it, not because of anything special in it.

Panic in Year Zero!

Panic in the Year Zero! ~ When you read the TCM description for Panic in Year Zero! - "A California family try to survive looters, armed vigilantes and doped-up motorcycle punks as they flee a nuclear disaster in Los Angeles and head to their remote vacation spot." - it conjures visions of The Road Warrior or The Hills Have Eyes, right? But then there's the kicker, Panic in Year Zero! was made and released in 1962.

Panic was shot in black and white and directed by star Ray Milland, his debut as a director, and with themes close to his heart. The movie was written by John Morton and Jay Simms, yet bears a remarkable resemblance to the "Lot" and "Lot's Daughter" short stories by Ward Moore, for which he has never received official credit. The parallels are however obvious.

The jazzy upbeat score was equally iffy, by the controversial Les Baxter, which means it may really have been done by Nelson Riddle or someone else. The rumor was that Baxter couldn't read or write music and that many of his scores were ghost written. This one has that Riddle flavor, reminiscent of the "Batman" TV series, either way, the soundtrack is very good.

As in the description, Milland and his family are headed to a nice vacation when they hear on the radio that LA has been nuked. Milland plays a man obsessed with survival and every man for himself. To quote his character, the incredibly resourceful yet obsessed Harry Baldwin, "When civilization gets civilized again, I'll rejoin it." This movie, especially the shopping sequence, probably makes the survivalists very happy.

Frankie Avalon, in a studio bid for a different audience, is his son. He doesn't do much at first other than "Yes, Dad" but he comes along to be just as nuts as Dad. Avalon does get a little acting in when a girl he's not related to shows up. A young version of character actor Richard Bakalyan plays one of the thugs that terrorize the family. The women in the flick unfortunately are victims of its time, and thought of as helpless or possessions.

The movie does fall apart a little bit when coincidence brings most of the cast, good and bad, all to the same place. And we never do quite reach the madness or brutality of Road Warrior or Hills, but certainly the potential and possibility are here. All in all, this is not only a more than average entry from American International, but an excellent look at what it really might be like in this situation. Definitely worth a look.

Lady in a Cage

Lady in a Cage ~ There was a time in the sixties when some of the queens of old Hollywood tried to make minor comebacks by appearing in low budget Hitchcock wannabe thrillers. There was Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Trog, and the classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. One might even throw Jane Russell in Born Losers into the mix as well. 1964's Lady in a Cage was Olivia de Havilland's turn.

The premise is simple. De Havilland is a rich white lady recovering from a broken hip. In the days before motorized stair climbers, she has a cage elevator installed. When a power failure stops her midway between floors, she is terrorized by young punks in her own home. She is the Lady in a Cage.

The leader of the tough juvenile delinquents is a very young James Caan, and his savagery is terrifying, reminding me of the similar performances by Martin Sheen and Tony Musante in one of my favorite films, The Incident. Caan is cool cruelty in this role. Also in the cast are Ann Southern, Jeff Corey, Scatman Crothers, and the recently deceased Richard Kiel.

Olivia de Havilland both gives a great performance alone and equally frustrates viewers who might put themselves in the same situation. As mad as one might get at her for not just jumping from the elevator, the rest of the characters are much more hate-able. The film quickly turns to a parable about what monsters people are, and then quickly into a generation gap horror story. There's more here than meets the eye.

What might at first seem silly and dated, is at times a true terror. Not great, but if you're into camp horror in the William Castle vein, you might just dig it.

Joe Cocker Dead at 70

Singer/songwriter Joe Cocker has passed away after a prolonged battle with lung cancer. He was 70.

This is embarrassing but I knew of the man for a long time before I ever saw or heard him. In the comics of my youth there were those Columbia Record Club ads which always included Mad Dogs and Englishmen, and I experienced John Belushi doing Joe on "Saturday Night Live" long before I ever saw the real thing. And the real thing was unique, powerful, and wonderful.

Joe Cocker had his own style, was his own man, and although he only had a handful of hits, they were amazing epic musical triumphs. His cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from my Friends" may well be one of those rare covers better than the original. He's worked with some of the best in the business over his forty-plus year career and will be missed. We've lost one of the legends.

Houdini on History

The big new television event this last Labor Day weekend was the two-part Houdini mini-series on The History Channel. I love Houdini. I love movies and documentaries and books about Houdini. I even love the surviving fragments of his movie serials. The man was awesome. This mini-series was... a great illusion.

Adrien Brody is in the title role and it's one that fits him well. Not only does he look like Harry Houdini both facially and in body type, he has that mysterious air about him. Despite his miscasting in Peter Jackson's King Kong, he's perfect here. Kristen Connolly is pretty fair in the role of Bess, and even though it's a cameo, it is always good to see Barry from "EastEnders."

The soundtrack, a lively rocking score by John Debney, is one of the best I've heard in some time. I'm looking forward to finding it somewhere soon. This score fits the quick cut flashy MTV way this was filmed. It's not a complaint, but a compliment. Stylistically this is an amazing piece of work, style it has, it's the other areas where it lacks.

The mini-series takes us from the magician's childhood to Harry and Bess Houdini's days on the road before he became famous to his death on stage in 1926. There is both truth and fiction here as with all Houdini stories. This version even takes into account Houdini's supposed service to the US government as a spy. And then there's a lot more iffy stuff here for a program that aired on The History Channel.

History's Houdini was keen on showing us how many stunts and tricks were done, but what it wasn't good at was telling the truth. The facts elude the movie event like the real Houdini escaping chains and cages. The Wild About Harry website had a lot to say about how far from the truth this mini-series strayed, and it's not pretty.

Now the 1960s Tony Curtis film and the 1970s Paul Michael Glaser telemovie weren't that great on the facts either, and I loved them. And I admit to liking this one as well, but in its four hours it lacks the heart the other two had in half the time. Recommended for those who aren't depending on facts or looking for more than a story that barely touches the surface.

Gay Purr-ee

Gay Purr-ee ~ At a time when most animated features were made by Disney, this non-Disney entry is largely forgotten. Written by Chuck Jones and his wife, who was moonlighting on his regular gig with Warner Bros., Gay Pur-ee is the rather simple tale of a country cat who comes to the big city, Paris in 1890.

An animated musical, it stars Robert Goulet in his big screen debut and Judy Garland during one of her final comebacks. Uninspired songs, complex fine art inspired backgrounds, and failure to capture the imagination of either adults or children led to its unfortunate sweeping under the rug.

As a kid I remember being bored by it, but even then recognizing the later Chuck Jones style, and that I disliked it. As an adult, I do appreciate the backgrounds a bit more, but they do little to enhance the subpar Jones characters, mannerisms, gimmicks, and inadequate pacing. Red Buttons is annoying here, and the talents of Hermione Gingold are sadly wasted.

Judy Garland had moderate success with "Paris Is A Lonely Town," but truth be told, she could sing the phone book on her worst day and make it sound wonderful. The music here is not good, and none of the songs memorable. As opposed to today, the characters didn't even resemble the actors. Gay Purr-ee is nice to see maybe once, but perhaps otherwise best forgotten.

Pop Gear

Pop Gear ~ Known in the United States as Go Go Mania, Pop Gear was an attempt to fill the yearning for British Invasion acts on the big screen in early 1965. Released between A Hard Day's Night and Help!, this flick presented a plethora of Brit bands and performers, and even opened with the Beatles performing "She Loves You" (there's one for the trivia buffs, the Fab Four's second filmwasn't really Help!).

Also on tap for performances were the Animals, the Spencer Davis Group, the Nashville Teens, Peter and Gordon, Billie Davis, and Herman's Hermits, among others too obscure to mention. The whole shindig was emceed by the now notorious Jimmy Savile, deejay and then host of "Top of the Pops." Years later, after his death, hundreds of charges of child sexual abuse and rape would emerge, soiling his reputation for the ages.

Pop Gear was what was known as a revue film, simply a series of performances by different acts, introduced by Sir Jimmy. Highlights included Eric Burdon and the Animals doing "House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits doing "I'm Into Something Good," the Nashville Teens doing "Tobacco Road," and watching little Stevie Winwood rock and roll with the Spencer Davis Group.

Throw in some odd dance numbers, out of place crooner Matt Munro, and more newsreel footage of the Beatles, and that's the movie. Worth watching for nostalgia and some of the great bits mentioned above.

A Hard Day's Night

A Hard Day's Night ~ Confession time. Up until very recently, I had never seen A Hard Day's Night in its entirety. It came out in theaters again during my senior year of high school, and I'd asked a girl I liked (and who liked the Beatles as well) to go, and she turned me down. I never got to see it, then or later. See, what rejection will do to a guy, girls? It will stunt one's cinematic and musical growth.

Over and above the wonderful Beatles soundtrack, it's really quite a good film. Director Richard Lester allows the individual Beatles' personality shine through past the script of Alun Owen, and the charisma of the boys overpowers easily. The film supposedly depicts a day in the life of the Beatles, and feels very unscripted despite the facts. The charm of the boys, along with the music, rules the screen.

Quick cuts, unusual for the time, great songs, and Marx Brothers-like gags and dialogue acrobatics make this a terrific film. Worth seeing if only to see the Beatles smoke and Ringo dance, but those aren't even the best parts. I wish I'd seen it decades ago.

And don't forget, if you'd like to see this one on the big screen, this summer it will be re-released to theaters to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Bring a date!

Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley

Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley ~ I know I must have seen her or heard her at some point, growing up in the late 1960s and 1970s, but the truth is I didn't really become aware of Moms Mabley until I was in college.

At the Community Center where the radio station was at Camden County College there was a very large but friendly security guard named Don. He was a good guy, but understand me, he did not need his uniform to intimidate someone. Don could have made an excellent living as a bodyguard or a professional wrestler. As far as the Center went, and the radio station, being a security guard, he came and went as he pleased.

I came in for a radio shift one night and found Don in the production studio laughing heartily at a record he was playing in there. He'd found it in the record library and had to hear it, rushing right in there to put it on the turntable. It was Moms Mabley, specifically Moms Mabley Live at Sing Sing, and Don told me as we listened for a bit that she was the funniest woman in the world.

I believed him. She was damned funny, and more than that, she was real - she was telling it like it is. As for Don, I had never heard a man laugh so hard and happily before, and rarely since. That was my introduction to Moms Mabley.

Now, some thirty years later I find this documentary on HBO Go called Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley. Whoopi, who for a time impersonated Moms in her act, puts together a nice biography of the lady. Meshing her life story with actual footage and interviews with contemporaries and those influenced by her, we're given a fair depiction of Jackie 'Moms' Mabley.

Despite (or some might say because of) her race, her age, and her sexuality, Moms Mabley made her way in a world against her, breaking down barriers that barred many in her time. She did it with humor and truth, a role model and inspiration for us all.

If I had any complaint about this doc, it's that it needed more footage and/or recordings of Moms. I'm going to go find some now, you should to, whether you see this terrific documentary or not. Recommended.