Category: Celebs

16 Epic Facts About “Spartacus”

Posted on by

Roger Cormier and the Mental_Floss present 16 Epic Facts About Spartacus.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. YUL BRYNNER TRIED TO MAKE HIS OWN SPARTACUS MOVIE FIRST.

A Spartacus film starring Brynner and Anthony Quinn was on the slate for United Artists, with the titles Spartacus and The Gladiators already trademarked. UA even paid for a full-page ad to be published in Variety in February 1958 for The Gladiators. However, Douglas and his film company owned the movie rights to Howard Fast’s novel, Spartacus, and when Universal Pictures backed Douglas—along with Ustinov, Olivier, and Laughton all preferring Trumbo’s script over the script for Brynner’s project—Douglas had won. Brynner’s film was never made.

3. STANLEY KUBRICK WAS NOT THE FIRST DIRECTOR.

David Lean (1957’s The Bridge on the River Kwai) turned down an offer to direct, and Laurence Olivier was asked but declined because he thought both acting and directing would be too much. Douglas believed that the original director, Anthony Mann, was scared of the large scope of the movie, and he also didn’t like how close he was to the British actors, so he fired him after two weeks of filming. Douglas turned to Kubrick, his director on Paths of Glory (1957), who agreed for a salary of $150,000.

8. KUBRICK TOLD THE HIRED CINEMATOGRAPHER TO TAKE A SEAT.

Because Kubrick was a cinematographer himself and very exacting in what he wanted, he eventually told Russell Metty, the man hired by Anthony Mann, to do nothing and let Kubrick do all the work for him. Metty would win his first and only Oscar for Best Cinematography for “his” work on Spartacus.

13 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About “Arsenic and Old Lace”

Posted on by

Lou Lumenick and the New York Post present 13 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Arsenic and Old Lace.  Here are three of my favorites…

The Broadway version was too good for his own good

The main draw on Broadway was Boris Karloff as the critic’s homicidal brother, who is described as looking “like Boris Karloff’’ because of botched plastic surgery.

Much to Karloff’s chagrin, the producers insisted that he remain on Broadway while Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, as the aunts, and John Alexander, as their brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, reprised their roles in the movie.

Grant almost didn’t have the part

Grant wasn’t the first choice for the film, but Bob Hope wasn’t available because of a schedule conflict (Capra needed to shoot the film just before reporting for World War II military duty).

Grant, who donated his entire $100,000 salary to wartime charities, insisted, “Jimmy Stewart would have been much better [than me] in the film.’’ Stewart later starred opposite Josephine Hull in “Harvey’’ — for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

 

An auteur filled Karloff’s shoes

When Karloff left to head up a road company of “Arsenic and Old Lace,’’ he was replaced on Broadway by Erich von Stroheim. Karloff’s rival Bela Lugosi played the part for five weeks onstage in Los Angeles.

Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)

Posted on by

Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)

Director: Don Siegel

Screenplay: Richard Collins

Stars: Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon, Robert Osterloh, Paul Frees, Don Keefer, Alvy Moore, Dabbs Greer and Whit Bissell.

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a dramatic expose on prison life.”

Tagline: YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE SCORCHING CENTER OF A PRISON RIOT! YOU feel the savage frenzy of 4000 caged humans! YOU see the horror of the wolf pack on a vengeance kick! YOU sweat out every second with tortured hostages! YOU rock with the impact of brute force against bullets!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

James Dunn (Brand) leads a prison riot intended to bring about better conditions for all prisoners.  Unfortunately, Dunn’s partner in the uprising is Crazy Mike Carnie (Gordon) who sees this as his chance to get back at guards and maybe more.

Leo Gordon is a force of nature in this.

Rating:

13 Surprising Facts About “Carlito’s Way”

Posted on by

Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 13 Surprising Facts About Carlito’s Way.  Here are three of my favorites…

6. JOHN LEGUIZAMO TURNED DE PALMA DOWN FOUR TIMES.
Leguizamo played the memorable (to most) Bronx native Benny Blanco only after De Palma let him create his own character. He told The A.V. Club that he turned the director down four times because he “just felt that it wasn’t enough of a part. Luckily, [Brian] De Palma and I had worked together on Casualties Of War (1989), so he let me improvise my ass off. I totally went off. I created this character, you know, all the bizarre back story, that he’s a go-getter who can’t wait to meet Pacino. I think that was the first time I really felt like I had found myself in movies. That was a great time… I’ll always love De Palma, because Carlito’s Way was where I found myself in film.”

 

9. PENN AND DE PALMA DID NOT ALWAYS GET ALONG.
“He’s an operatic moviemaker, so the reality level is somewhere off in De Palma-ville, and to get hold of it is impossible,” Penn claimed in 1996. “How to serve him is hard to get a grasp on, so it can become confrontational. And it did, to a degree, on Carlito’s Way.” He also said that working with Pacino was something he loved. “Working with him balanced that whole experience out.”

“I remember when I was shooting Carlito’s Way,” De Palma said, after he was asked if any of his actors took things too far. “There’s this scene where Sean is all coked up, and he’s trying to get [Al Pacino] to go on the boat trip with him. Because of where the sun was, I was shooting Sean over Al’s back for the beginning. I shot ten, fifteen takes, and I thought it looked pretty good. But Sean said, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’ I said ‘What?!’ He said, ‘We don’t have it.’ I said, ‘I think we do.’ He said, ‘I need a few more takes.’ He said, ‘Twenty.’ I said, ‘Twenty?? Ok…’ I shot ten more, I think, and then I said, ‘Sean, I have to shoot this two-shot, then I gotta go over and shoot Al. He’s been playing to you all morning.’ But Sean was never happy with the scene. And I came around, and shot a two-shoot, and an over-the-shoulder.”

 

11. A PLANNED WORLD TRADE CENTER SHOOTOUT HAD TO BE CHANGED AT THE LAST MINUTE.

“I had elaborate storyboards of this whole shootout on the escalators that were in the World Trade Center,” De Palma said. “I spent weeks and weeks photographing it … and a couple of days before we were about to shoot, they blew it up.” The epic shootout took place in Grand Central Station instead.

11 Bam! Pow! Things You Might Not Know About Batman

Posted on by

Me-TV presents 11 Bam! Pow! Things You Might Not Know About Batman.  Here are three of my favorites…

LYLE WAGGONER ALMOST LANDED THE ROLE OF BATMAN
Two screen tests were filmed to decide on the casting of Batman and Robin. One, obviously, featured West and Burt Ward. The other starred Lyle Waggoner and Peter R.J. Deyell, as you can see in the image. While Waggoner would ultimately lose the role to West, he would end up as another prominent DC Comics hero, playing Steve Trevor on Wonder Woman.

BRUCE LEE, SANTA CLAUS AND A CARPET MAGNATE WERE JUST SOME OF THE WACKY WINDOW CAMEOS.
In the reoccurring Bat-climb gimmick, a celebrity would pop his or her head out of a window as Batman and Robin were scaling the side of a building in Gotham. Jerry Lewis was the first, proclaiming, “Holy human flies!” After the comedian, there were window cameos from Dick Clark (pictured), the Green Hornet and Kato, Sammy Davis Jr., Bill “Jose Jimenez” Dana, Sergeant Sam Stone from the series Felony Squad, Colonel Klink from Hogan’s Heroes, Lurch from The Addams Family, Don Ho, Santa Claus, Art Linkletter, Edward G. Robinson, Suzy Knickerbocker, and “The Carpet King.” The latter was a carpet salesman named Cyril Lord with a series of TV ads, who traded Dozier some carpet for the cameo.

 

JERRY “BEAVER” MATHERS HAS AN UNCREDITED ROLE IN “THE GREAT ESCAPE.”
“I’m Pop, the stage doorman!” he proclaims. A grown-up Mathers works the back entrance to the Gotham Opera House in this season three episode. “Pop? You ain’t old enough to drink,” the villain Calamity Jan snorts. “Well, I’m 17,” he replies. At the time, the actor was actually 20.

11 Top Secret Facts About “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”

Posted on by

Me-TV presents 11 Top Secret Facts About The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  Here are three of my favorites…

LIKE JAMES BOND, NAPOLEON SOLO AND APRIL DANCER WERE THE BRAINCHILDREN OF IAN FLEMING.

The show’s creator, Norman Felton, enlisted erstwhile Navel Intelligence officer and novelist Fleming to come up with characters and premises for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The Bond author dreamt up Napoleon Solo and April Dancer (The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.). The working title for the series was Ian Fleming’s Solo.

IT IS TECHNICALLY SET IN THE SHERLOCK HOLMES UNIVERSE.

On the show, the U.N.C.L.E. organization’s nemesis, T.H.R.U.S.H., was founded by the Sherlock Holmes villain Col. Sebastian Moran. In the backstory, Moran created the evil organization after his boss, Moriarity, went over the Reichenbach Falls. So, in a way, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a sequel to Sherlock — it is set in the same world. The modern Sherlock Holmes films and the recent Man from U.N.C.L.E. flick were all directed by Guy Ritchie, who has quietly developed his own cinematic shared universe.

IT WAS THREE DRAMATICALLY (AND COMEDICALLY) DIFFERENT SHOWS ROLLED INTO ONE.

The first season was filmed in black & white. Befitting that shadowy look, it took a more serious tone. In 1965, Napoleon Solo, like Dorothy, leapt into a world of bright color. In its four year run, the series had different showrunners each season, and each boss brought a different style to a table. The show went from noir spy thriller to bright and light adventures to outright spoof. By the end, it was emulating the mod, camp vibe of the hugely popular Batman.

 

“The Wild, Wild West” (TV Series) – 3 Trivia Items You Might Not Know!

Posted on by

The Wild, Wild West  was/is one of my all-time favorite shows.  Here are three pieces of trivia about the show you may not know…

ROBERT CONRAD LOVED DOING HIS OWN STUNTS.

The star was always ready for a fake fight. In the book A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers, series stuntman and stunt coordinator Whitey Hughes fondly recalls Conrad’s zeal for fisticuffs: “Bob’s favorite expression was, ‘Get ’em up, Whitey, get ’em up! Put the needle in ’em!’—meaning ‘Get the [stuntmen’s] adrenaline going.”

CONRAD WAS ALMOST THE STAR OF ‘I DREAM OF JEANNINE’ AND ‘THE A-TEAM.’

The Wild Wild West was just one of many leading roles for Conrad, who also headlined series such as Black Sheep Squadron and the aforementioned Hawaiian Eye. However, his resume could have been drastically different. He was one of the finalists up for the role of astronaut Captain Tony Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie (which eventually went to Larry Hagman) and he reportedly turned down the role of Hannibal on The A-Team.

RICHARD PRYOR’S FIRST SCREEN CREDIT IS PLAYING A VENTRILOQUIST ON THE SHOW.

The groundbreaking stand-up comic appears in “The Night of the Eccentrics,” the season two premiere and first episode broadcast in color. Pryor plays Villar, a creepy ventriloquist. However, it was Ross Martin who provided the voice of the dummy, Giulio.

***These bits of trivia came from a Me-TV article that is no longer available.  I had linked to it in my original post.***

Should Movies Use CGI to Bring Actors Back from the Dead?

Posted on by

Can you imagine what the cast of The Expendables would have looked like if it had been made in the 1970s?

What if Sly decided to do a movie where a young Barney Ross and Stonebanks [Mel Gibson] brought the team together?  CGI could be used to de-age older actors or “bring back” dead actors for a role.

The technology is there.  In fact it was Sarah Moran’s Should Movies Use CGI to Bring Actors Back from the Dead? (at Screenrant) that got me thinking about this again.  (The article is worth a read even if you’re not a Star Wars fan.)

While I’d love to see a movie with some of my favorite departed movie stars in their prime co-starring together, there are other considerations.  How would the departed star have felt? Does it matter? Is it morally or ethically right to use a person’s likeness for a role he/she may have not approved of?  (I’m thinking advertisements mostly here.)   Would you be interested in seeing old stars “revived” for new roles.

What are your thoughts.  I’d love to see your comments.

12 Lively Facts About Corpse Bride

Posted on by

Mark Mancini and Mental_Floss present 12 Lively Facts About Corpse Bride.  Here are three of my favorites…

4. THE CHARACTER DESIGNS WERE ADAPTED FROM TIM BURTON’S ROUGH SKETCHES.

In 2003, Burton approached Spanish artist Carlos Grangel with a copy of the Corpse Bride script and some illustrations of the main characters that the director himself had drawn. “Here are my sketches,” Burton told Grangel. “I want you to push them and explore every character.” The final designs Grangel came up with did not depart significantly from Burton’s original drawings.

By the way, you might have noticed that Victor—Corpse Bride’s protagonist—looks an awful lot like the actor who voiced him: Johnny Depp. Burton swears this was coincidental. Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005, the director said that the characters were all designed “long before” any of the voice actors were cast. In Burton’s words, when Depp signed on, “We felt like it was such good karma because [Victor] did resemble Johnny.”

9. THERE’S A NOD TO RAY HARRYHAUSEN.

Arguably the patron saint of stop motion animation, Ray Harryhausen used the art form to breathe life into all manner of movie monsters. From 1959 to 1981, his rampaging dinosaurs, hissing hydras, and sword-fighting skeletons invaded cinemas all over the world. He also inspired an entire generation of artists and filmmakers—including Burton, who credits Harryhausen with kindling his lifelong passion for stop motion. At one point, the world-famous animator paid a visit to the set of Corpse Bride, where he received a hero’s welcome. “The day he came by, production sort of ground to a halt,” Johnson recalled. “Everyone had a chance to talk to him. It was amazing for all the animators.” The crew gave their idol an on-screen shout-out in the film; when Victor plays some light piano music right before he first meets Victoria, you can see Harryhausen’s last name engraved upon the instrument.

10. DANNY ELFMAN WAS ASKED TO PLAY BONEJANGLES AFTER NOBODY POPPED OUT AT THE AUDITIONS.

Without question, the jazziest song in Corpse Bride is an exposition number called “Remains of the Day.” Singing the ballad is Bonejangles, a one-eyed, big-jawed skeleton with a flair for the theatrical. As Elfman was writing the tune, he did so under the assumption that the character would have a rich, raspy voice. “We auditioned 25, 26, [or] 27 people at least,” Elfman said in the promotional video above, “and I recorded three different singers.” In the end, none of them sounded satisfactory to the creative team. Burton therefore gave the role of Bonejangles to Elfman himself. Because the character needed a gravelly voice, this job took a toll on the musician’s vocal cords. “Every time I did Bonejangles, I was hoarse for the rest of the day … it was really brutal,” Elfman recalled.

“Escape from L.A.” (1996) / Z-View

Posted on by

Escape from L.A. (1996)

Director: John Carpenter

Screenplay: John Carpenter & Debra Hill & Kurt Russell

Stars: Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, Peter Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Valeria Golino, Stacy Keach, Pam Grier and Bruce Campbell

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s reteam Carpenter and Russell for a new Snake Plissken yarn.”

Tagline: Snake Is Back.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Snake Plissken (Russell) is sent to the island of LA to retrieve a government device that can shut down all electronics worldwide.  Snake has ten hours to get in, get the weapon and get out before he dies due to an injection of a lethal virus.

Sounds just like Escape from New York, right?  It is… almost every beat is the same only not as good.

Escape from LA suffers from bad special effects and scenes that don’t play as well as the original.  Remember when Snake had to fight Ox Baker with spiked baseball bats?  In Escape from LA he has to make 5 baskets in 10 seconds playing full court.  Remember in EFNY when Snake had to fight and escape from cannibals?  In EFLA he has to fight and escape from a doctor who overuses plastic surgery.  And don’t get me started about the surfing scene.

If you’re a fan of Snake Plissken and love EFNY, you might find Escape from LA tolerable.  I liked it… but I loved Escape from New York.

Escape from LA rates 3 of 5 stars.

Rating:

15 Intriguing Facts About Walt Disney

Posted on by

Stacy Condradt and Mental_Floss present 15 Intriguing Facts About Walt Disney.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. HE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT.
Walt was just 16 when he left school to join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps, wanting to do his part in World War I—but because he was just shy of the minimum age requirement of 17, he forged a different date on his birth certificate. Disney didn’t see much action, however. He was sent to France in late 1918, not long after the armistice was signed that ended the fighting. He still helped where he could, driving Red Cross officials and performing other tasks, before he was discharged in 1919.

12. HIS HOUSEKEEPER WAS A VERY WEALTHY WOMAN.
Thelma Howard was the Disney family’s live-in housekeeper and cook for three decades. She was hired in 1951 and quickly became part of the family, even making sure the fridge was well-stocked with hot dogs—Walt liked to eat them cold as a snack when he got home from work. As part of her annual Christmas gift, the Disneys gave her stock in the company. She never did anything with them—and by the time she died in 1994, the woman was a multimillionaire because of them. She left nearly $4.5 million to poor and disabled children, and roughly the same amount to her disabled son.

14. ONE OF HIS LAST WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS WAS RATHER MYSTERIOUS—AND INVOLVED KURT RUSSELL.
Shortly before his death, Disney wrote “Kurt Russell” on a piece of paper. It was later found on his desk, and, according to Disney historian Dave Smith, the notes were among Disney’s last few written words. At the time of Disney’s death, Russell was a largely unknown child actor working for the studio. No one has any idea what Disney was referring to with his note—including Kurt Russell.

George Michael – R.I.P.

Posted on by

George Michael died yesterday.  He was 53.

Like most folks, I first became aware of George Michael when “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” hit the charts back in the 1980s.  At the time Michael was part of the duo Wham.  The song was an upbeat, fun tune and featured Michael dancing as he sang giving us no insight into the artist we were viewing.

It wasn’t until Michael left Wham and began recording on his own that we would see his true talents emerge.  Michael sold more than 100 million records worldwide, had seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Billboard ranks him the 40th-most successful artist to ever live.

Michael was a generous man performing in many concerts with the proceeds designated for charities,  donating all of the proceeds from the single “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” among ten different charities for children, AIDS and education. Michael also supported the Elton John AIDS Foundation and gave to other charities anonymously.

George Michael always seemed to me the perfect example of a troubled artist.  A good looking guy, who wanted to be seen as more than just another handsome face.  A man who appeared to have it all but struggled with private issues.  A generous man with talent and financial resources that he shared with the world.

Rest in Peace, George Michael.  Your music and memory will live on.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to George Michael’s family, friends and fans.

The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Posted on by

The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Director: Terrence Fisher

Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster & Peter Bryan & Edward Percy and Anthony Hinds (uncredited)

Stars: Peter Cushing, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur and David Peel.


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a Dracula movie without Dracula…”

Tagline: The most evil Dracula of all!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

If you come to this movie looking for Dracula or even a focus on the Brides of Dracula you’re in for a let down.

Instead you get…

  • A vampire who is kept chained up by his mother.  Yes, his mother.
  • A vampire hunter who always arrives right before the vampire is to rise for the evening — even though he knows vampires are powerless during the day.
  • A vampire who isn’t smart enough or cunning enough or strong enough to escape from the chain around his ankle put there by his mother.  Yes, his mother.
  • A supposedly intelligent woman who releases the vampire (not knowing he’s a vampire — Hey! But maybe he’s chained up by his mother for a reason) and falls in love with him after one meeting.
  • A vampire hunter bitten by a vampire who takes a hot metal branding iron and places it on the bites on his neck and then pours Holy water on the wound… and fully recovers! [Who knew he had that cure in his back pocket.]
  • A vampire who has blonde hair and is supposed to be good-looking and scary but isn’t much of either.
  • A vampire hunter who kills vampires with a shadow.
  • A movie that only die hard vampire or Peter Cushing fans should seek out.

 

 

Rating:

15 Hardboiled Facts About “Cool Hand Luke”

Posted on by

Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Hardboiled Facts About Cool Hand Luke.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. IT WAS WRITTEN BY AN EX-CON.

While in the Merchant Marine, Donn Pearce was caught counterfeiting money and thrown in a French prison. He escaped, returned to the U.S., and became a safe-cracker. A waitress ratted him out and he spent two years on a prison road gang where he heard about a Luke Jackson—someone who was an excellent poker player, a banjo expert, and who had once eaten 50 boiled eggs for a bet. He wrote about him in his book Cool Hand Luke, which was published in 1965. Pearce sold the movie rights to Warner Bros. for $80,000, and got an additional $15,000 to write the screenplay.

But it was his first time trying to write a screenplay, and Frank Pierson was later hired to rework the draft. Pearce appeared in the movie as the convict Sailor and was the production’s technical adviser. He punched someone out on the final day on set and was not invited to the film premiere.

2. JACK LEMMON OR TELLY SAVALAS COULD HAVE PLAYED LUKE.

Jack Lemmon’s production company, Jalem Productions, produced the movie, so Lemmon had first dibs on playing the lead, but he recognized that he wasn’t right for the part. Telly Savalas was then cast as Luke, but he was in Europe filming The Dirty Dozen, and since he refused to fly, the production had to look elsewhere for the starring role to get started on time.

7. BETTE DAVIS WAS THE ORIGINAL CHOICE TO PLAY LUKE’S MOTHER.

Bette Davis turned down the chance to play Luke’s mother, Arletta, which was a one-scene role. It went to Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden) instead, even though she was only 11 years older than Newman. For her single day of shooting, Van Fleet sat on a tree stump, 200 yards from everyone else, looking over her lines. Harry Dean Stanton recalled that Van Fleet asked him to sing to her before her take, and it made her cry.