The Wild, Untold Story of “The Good Life”

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Illustration by Simon Hayes

Christopher McKittrick’s The Wild, Untold Story of The Good Life at Little White Lies is an interesting profile of a “lost” Sylvester Stallone film.  Most Stallone fans have heard of (although never seen) The Good Life, a film starring Frank Stallone, Burt Young, Andrew Dice Clay, David Carradine, Beverly D’Angelo, Frank Vincent, Tony Sirico and former middleweight boxing champ Vinny Pazienza.  It even featured a cameo by Frank’s brother Sly.

Because the film was low-budget and for the opportunity to work with Frank, Sly agreed to his cameo in The Good Life for some golf clubs and the understanding that he wouldn’t be featured prominently in advertisements for the film.  Unfortunately, the film was promoted making it look as if Sly had a much larger, if not starring role in the film.  And that’s when things went off the rails.  Before it was over several lawsuits were filed, an agreement was reached and The Good Life was shelved.

Years ago, I asked Frank Stallone if he thought the film would ever be released.  He said it was highly unlikely.

Maybe someday enough time will have passed and a new agreement could be worked out so that The Good Life gets released.

If you’ve read this far, you’ll definitely want to click over to McKittrick’s  The Wild, Untold Story of The Good Life.

Thanks to Chris Heathcoat for finding and sharing the article.

12 Things to Know About Crazy Horse

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Lucas Reilly and Mental Floss present 12 Things to Know About Crazy Horse.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. “CRAZY HORSE” WAS NOT HIS FIRST GIVEN NAME.
Born around 1840 to Lakota parents, Crazy Horse was originally named Cha-O-Ha, or Among the Trees. (His mother, however, insisted on calling him “Curly.”) When Cha-O-Ha reached maturity, he was given the name held by his father and grandfather—Ta-Sunko-Witko, or Crazy Horse.

9. HIS PERFORMANCE AT THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN WAS LEGENDARY.
And we mean legendary—nobody is sure what, exactly, Crazy Horse did. But there are rumors. An Arapaho warrior named Water Man said Crazy Horse “was the bravest man I ever saw. He rode closest to the soldiers, yelling to his warriors. All the soldiers were shooting at him, but he was never hit.” Another Native American soldier said, “The greatest fighter in the whole battle was Crazy Horse.”

12. IF COMPLETED, THE CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL COULD BE THE WORLD’S LARGEST SCULPTURE.
Under construction since 1948, the Crazy Horse Memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, the Oglala Lakota chief in the late 1930s, as a response to Mount Rushmore. Today, the memorial—built by a non-profit that refuses government funding—is still incomplete. When it is finished, the monument carved into the side of South Dakota’s Thunderhead Mountain will stand 563 feet high.

Jon Pinto’s Marlon Brando as Superman!

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Remember when Jon Pinto and some of his friends were riffing on Aquaman and decided that Paul Newman would be the ideal lead for a movie made back in the day.  Then Pinto went on to create a poster with Newman as Aquaman and Sidney Poitier and Ann Margaret as co-stars?

If not, then click here or  you can see an ocean-sized version of Pinto’s poster by clicking over.

Pinto is back with Brando as Superman!  You can see a bigger version at Pinto’s site (and even more of his art)!

10 Things You May Not Know About Harry S. Truman

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Jake Rossen and Mental Floss present 10 Things You May Not Know About Harry S. Truman.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. THE “S” DOESN’T REALLY STAND FOR ANYTHING.
Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri on May 8, 1884 to mule trader and farmer John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Truman. After some deliberation, John and Martha realized they couldn’t decide on a middle name for their first child, so they settled on “S.” His maternal grandfather was named Solomon, while his paternal grandfather had a middle name of Shipp. “S” was his parents’ compromise. (And, since his S is a name of sorts rather than an initial, it can stand alone without a period, though stylistically, it’s most often seen with one.)

5. HE PUSHED FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE.
Truman anticipated much of the contemporary debates over health care spending. Just seven months into office, he began advocating for care facilities in underrepresented rural areas and more public health services. He wanted Americans to pay monthly fees that would go toward health care that would cover costs if and when they fell ill. It would not be “socialized medicine,” he argued, since the doctors weren’t government employees. But the American Medical Association resisted, instead promoting private insurance. With Democrats losing power in the Senate and the House, Truman’s plans withered. He later referred to his failed attempt for national health insurance to be one of the biggest defeats of his presidency.

7. TWO ASSASSINS TRIED TO KILL HIM OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE.
The morning of November 1, 1950 could have been the last of Truman’s life. Two members of the Puerto Rican National Party, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, traveled from the Bronx to Washington with plans to assassinate the president. They believed the move would bring attention to Puerto Rico’s struggle for independence. Both wielding guns, the two idled outside Blair House, the residence across the street from the White House where Truman and his family were staying during renovations. A gun fight ensued—a guard killed Torresola but later died of gunshot wounds himself. Collazo was shot but survived and later had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment by Truman (President Carter would later commute that sentence, too, and Collazo was released in 1979). Truman was napping upstairs at the beginning of the altercation; he woke up, went to the window, and was shouted at to get down.

10 Things You Might Not Know About Columbo

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Kara Kovalchik and Mental Floss present 10 Things You Might Not Know About Columbo.  Here are three of my favorites…

9. THE SERIES DIDN’T FOLLOW A STANDARD MYSTERY FORMAT.
The premise of Columbo was the “inverted mystery,” or a “HowCatchEm” instead of a “WhoDunIt.” Every episode began with the actual crime being played out in full view of the audience, meaning viewers already knew “WhodunIt.” What they wanted to know is how Lt. Columbo would slowly zero in on the perpetrator. This sort of story was particularly challenging for the series’s writers, and they sometimes found inspiration in the most unlikely places. Like the Yellow Pages, for example. One of Peter Falk’s personal favorite episodes, “Now You See Him,” had its genesis when the writers were flipping through the telephone book looking for a possible profession for a Columbo murderer (keep in mind that all of Columbo’s victims and perps were of the Beverly Hills elite variety, not your typical Starsky and Hutch-type thug).

A page listing professional magicians caught their eye, and that led to a classic episode featuring the ever-suave Jack Cassidy playing the role of the former SS Nazi officer who worked as a nightclub magician. When the Jewish nightclub owner recognized him and threatened to expose him, well, you can guess what happened. But the challenge is to guess how Lt. Columbo ultimately caught him.

7. STEVEN SPIELBERG GOT AN EARLY BREAK ON COLUMBO.
“Murder by the Book” was the second Columbo episode filmed, but it was the first one to air after the show was picked up as a series. Filming was delayed for a month, though, when Falk refused to sign off on this “kid”—a 25-year-old named Steven Spielberg—to direct the episode. Finally he watched a few of Spielberg’s previous credits (all of them TV episodes) and was impressed by his work on the short-lived NBC series called The Psychiatrist. Once filming was underway, Falk was impressed by many of the techniques employed by the young director, such as filming a street scene with a long lens from a building across the road. “That wasn’t common 20 years ago,” Falk said. He went on to tell producers Link and Levinson that “this guy is too good for Columbo.”

6. THE CHARACTER’S TRADEMARK RAINCOAT CAME FROM FALK’S CLOSET.
The initial wardrobe proposed for Columbo struck Peter Falk as completely wrong for the character. To get closer to what he wanted for Columbo, the actor went into his closet and found a beat-up coat he had bought years earlier when caught in a rainstorm on 57th Street. And he ordered one of the blue suits chosen for him to be dyed brown. The drab outfit would become one of the trademarks of the character for decades.

Jason Copland Goes “Full Tilt”

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The tough looking mug above is Massimo Miller.  I guess you already picked up on that though, right?  Well here’s the lowdown on Massimo…

Massimo is the Consigliere for the Chessa Family, a position bestowed upon him by the syndicate’s boss, Russo Chessa. As Consigliere, Massimo acts as advisor and liaison in all matters that pertain to the family business giving him meaningful influence over syndicate affairs. Holding this position of power is all the more remarkable due to the fact that most of Massimo’s life was spent as a slave of a rival crime organization. Chosen for his loyalty and integrity, Massimo is no yes man. He is a heavy smoker, however, much to Russo’s chagrin. Massimo’s preferred brand is Marlboro XXV Kings.

Massimo is just one of the characters from Jason Copland’s Full Tilt.  Want to know more?  Then may I suggest you follow Jason on Twitter or for even more info get on board Jason’s Newsletter.

10 Things That Will Shock You About King Henry VIII

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Rob Hunter and Listverse present 10 Things That Will Shock You About King Henry VIII.  Here are three of my favorites…

8.  Henry Ate A Shocking 5,000 Calories Every Day Before He Died
While we know that Henry VIII was overweight in his later years, it’s hard to imagine just how big he was. However, a quick look at his daily diet makes it easy to see just why the king was so big. Every single day, he would eat about 13 different courses, mainly made up of meats like chicken, lamb, pork, rabbit, swans, peacocks, and venison. Not only did he eat excessively, but he also drank as many as 70 pints of ale every week, together with sweetened red wine. The total amounts to about 5,000 calories per day, twice today’s recommended allowance for an active man.[3] It’s no wonder that one of his surviving suits of armor, which is displayed at the Tower of London, has a waist size of 132 centimeters (52 in)!

6.  Henry Was The Very First English Monarch To Write A Book
There is no doubt whatsoever that Henry VIII was an extremely intelligent and well-educated man. The fact that he was fluent in at least three languages is well-known, and he had an impressive knowledge that spanned everything from theology to medicine. Yet most people are completely unaware that he was the first king of England to write and publish his own book. In 1521, Henry VIII published the rather confusingly titled Defense of the Seven Sacraments, or, to give it its Latin title, Assertio Septem Sacramentorum, as a response to Martin Luther’s challenge to the pope’s authority in publishing the Ninety-five Theses. At 30,000 words long, Henry’s book became a top seller in its day, and he was actually awarded the title of “Defender of the Faith” by the pope as a reward for his efforts.[5]

1.   Henry Turned Beards Into A Status Symbol
Portraits of England’s best-known monarch usually depict him wearing an impressive set of whiskers. However, it isn’t widely known that Henry introduced a tax which was levied on the wearing of beards and which turned facial hair into a status symbol overnight.[10] There have been some seriously bizarre taxes over the years, but Henry’s beard tax has to be one of the strangest. In 1535, the king demanded that taxes be paid by any man who chose to wear a beard, and the amount charged varied depending on the social status of its wearer, meaning that every man who wanted to be viewed as high-status immediately decided to grow their facial hair.So, there you have it—ten amazing things that you never knew about England’s not-so merry monarch. The next time you see a movie or TV show featuring this Tudor king, you’ll know a little more about what made him tick!

“Kept” by Jaime D. González

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“Kept” by Jaime D. González

Scientists have discovered a way to record dreams, and those with ulterior motives waste no time exploiting those whose dreams are the most powerful.

I could easily see this developed into a full-length feature!