13 Surprising Facts About “Carlito’s Way”

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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.

Rope (1948)directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Jimmy Stewart / Z-View

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Rope (1948)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Hume Cronyn adapted from the play by  Patrick Hamilton

Stars: John Dall, Farley Granger, Edith Evanson, Douglas Dick, Joan Chandler, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Dick Hogan and James Stewart

The Pitch: “Hey, turn Rope into a movie!”

Tagline: Nothing ever held you like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Shortly before a dinner party they’re hosting, two college intellectuals strangle a man and hide his body in a trunk in their apartment.  They then decide to serve their dinner party on the trunk.  Invited to the dinner party are the man’s parents, his girlfriend, her former boyfriend and one of their past professors.

Because one of the murder’s thinks he is so intellectually superior he continues to taunt and tease his crime partner… only thing is, someone at the dinner party is picking up the clues.

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

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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.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

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Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Director: Frank Capra

Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein based on the play by Joseph Kesselring

Stars: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, James Gleason, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander and Charles Lane.

The Pitch: “Hey, turn Arsenic and Old Lace into a movie!”

Tagline: She Passed Out On Cary! No Wonder . . . She’s just discovered his favorite aunts have poisoned their 13th gentleman friend!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

As he’s about to leave on his honeymoon, Mortimer Brewster discovers that his dear old Aunts have been poisoning old, lonely men who are without friends or family.  The Aunts have their crazy brother (who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt) bury them in the basement.  “Teddy” thinks that they’re victims of malaria and he’s digging the Suez canal.

To complicate maters, Mortimer’s violent criminal brother, Jonathon,  returns after 20 years away.  Jonathon is more than willing to kill Mortimer, the Aunts or anyone who gets in his way.

Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my all-time favorite comedies.  Yes, the comedy is broad and there are double takes and it is all wonderful.

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Ken Meyer Jr.’s Ink Stains 23: Steranko!

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If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 23, Ken took a look at Fantastic Fanzine 11 from 1970.  Edited and published by Gary Groth [who went on to become the editor and publisher of The Comics Journal].

I’d never seen an issue of Fantastic Fanzine prior to reading Ken’s article about FF 11.  What an issue #11 is!  Starting with a Steranko cover, plus 3 additional Steranko pieces, an interview with Steranko, and a Steranko checklist alone would have made this a stellar issue, but there’s more.  A Dave Cockrum double page splash of THUNDER Agents, Cockrum spot illos, plus tons of fan art.  Fantastic Fanzine 11 is a keeper.

Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!

Re-Kill (2015)

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Re-Kill (2015)

Director: Valeri Milev

Screenplay: Michael Hurst

Stars: Bruce Payne, Daniella Alonso, Roger Cross

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a zombie movie!”

Tagline: We are the endangered species.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

 

It’s five years after the zombie apocalypse and life inside gated communities with security goes on.  Watching Re-Kill is like watching a tv station that is all-zombie kills all the time.  Maybe like watching Cops but the criminals are now zombies.  There are commercials and public service ads insterspliced within the “Re-Kill” programming.

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Before killing Bogue, Chisholm reveals that Bogue and his men had raped and killed his mother and sisters years earlier.  They had even hung Chisholm and left him for dead.

While this gives additional justification for Chisholm wanting to take on Bogue and his men, it makes him a little less heroic.  Up to the point of the reveal, it appeared that Chisholm and the others recruited were going against impossible odds because it was the “right” thing to do… not because one of them wanted revenge.

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

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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 Magnificent Seven (2016)

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The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Screenplay: Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto based on the original The Magnificent 7 which was based on the movie The Seven Samurai.

Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio,
Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett
and Peter Sarsgaard.

The Pitch: “Hey, Denzel wants to make a western.”

Tagline: Justice has a number.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When the town folk of Rose Creek reject Bartholomew Bogue’s pittance offering for their land he brings in hired killers to run them off.  The widow (Bennett) of one of the men killed hires Chisholm (Washington) to help the town fight.

Chisholm recruits other gunfighters to the cause.  Chisholm ends up with seven fighting men and a town full of farmers and store owners… but he has a plan.

The Magnificent 7 is well cast and directed but falls short of the original.  There’s a twist at the end that is supposed to be shocking and provide additional reasoning for Chisolm taking the impossible job but I didn’t like it.  I’ll explain after the rating in case you don’t want the secret spoiled.

 

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Before killing Bogue, Chisholm reveals that Bogue and his men had raped and killed his mother and sisters years earlier.  They had even hung Chisholm and left him for dead.

While this gives additional justification for Chisholm wanting to take on Bogue and his men, it makes him a little less heroic.  Up to the point of the reveal, it appeared that Chisholm and the others recruited were going against impossible odds because it was the “right” thing to do… not because one of them wanted revenge.

North by Northwest (1959)

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North by Northwest (1959)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Ernest Lehman

Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau, and Edward Platt


The Pitch: “Hey, Hitchcock wants to make a new movie.”

Tagline: Alfred Hitchcock takes you…. North by Northwest!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Roger Thornhill (Grant) is mistaken as a U.S. spy by foreign agents.  Thornhill is kidnapped and brought to  Philip Vandamm (Mason) for questioning.  Thornhill is totally at a loss since he isn’t a spy.  Thinking that he just won’t speak, Vandamm orders his agents to kill Thornhill.

Thornhill escapes and goes to the authorities who don’t believe his story.  Vandamm is a rich, respected man who is scheduled to speak at the United Nations.  Thornhill goes to the U.N. to speak to Thornhill and ends up framed for his murder.  Now on the run from foreign agents and the police, Thornhill led on a cross-country chase to prove his innocence.

North by Northwest has it all: drama, suspense, humor and romance.  A true classic!

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

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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.***

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

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The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Director: John Huston

Screenplay: John Huston based on the novel by Dashiell Hammet

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond and Elisha Cook Jr.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make The Maltese Falcon with Bogart in the lead.”

Tagline: A guy without a conscience! A dame without a heart!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A woman (Astor) shows up unexpectedly at the office of private detectives Sam Spade (Bogart) and Miles Archer.  She needs help and because she’s a looker, Miles jumps at the chance to take lead on the case.  Within hours Archer is found dead and Spade is drawn into a very different case — involving the acquisition of a priceless statute… The Maltese Falcon.

The woman hopes to get her hands on the Falcon before Kasper Gutman (Greenstreet) and his two gunmen (Lorre and Cook) find it.  To do this she will need Spade’s help.  Spade is up to the challenge but with the cops breathing down his neck for the murder of his partner (who DID kill him?) and more murders to come, Spade may be in over his head.

The Maltese Falcon is a classic.

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

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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.

Pandemic (2016)

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Pandemic (2016)

Director: John Suits

Screenplay: Dustin T. Benson

Stars: Rachel Nichols, Alfie Allen, Missi Pyle and Paul Guilfoyle.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a zombie movie that looks like a video game.”

Tagline: You Are Humanity’s Last Stand.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

You know the drill.  A virus has swept the world turning people into crazy fast zombies.  Survivors are either trying to live on the big city streets or worse yet the suburbs.  If you’re lucky you’re safe behind the walls of a military complex where doctors are working on a cure.

Lauren is a doctor who was separated from her family.  Not allowed to attempt to check on them, (the suburbs are way too dangerous), instead she is sent with three others (a driver, a gunner and a scientist) on a rescue mission into the city.

When things go bad, Lauren decides to head to the suburbs to check on her family.

Most Pandemic is shot as a first person shooter game.  And it feels like one at times.  Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on if you prefer watching games or movies.

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