Seeing one’s favorite actor performing in a way you’ve never expected is a treat for viewers, and undoubtedly a welcome departure for the artist himself. Whether it’s a normally affable star in a twisted turn or a glamorous performer reduced to pathetic or hideous creature, here are some of our favorite role reversals.
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Author's Note: For a look at pre-1939 film versions of The Wizard of Oz and Baum's other books, see http://www.moviefanfare.com/staff-notes/before-the-rainbow-the-wizard-of-oz-in-film-prior-to-1939/.
After nearly 16 months of pre-production and shooting, MGM's musical/fantasy The Wizard of Oz--based on L. Frank Baum's beloved novel and starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr--opened nationwide on August 25, 1939, and was a instant critical and financial success...right? Wrong.
Reviews were generally, but by no means exclusively, favorable. And while it was popular at the box office, the predominance of children's tickets--combined with a loss of foreign revenue due to the start of World War II--meant that the film actually finished its initial theatrical run about $700,000 in the ruby-slipper red. It wasn't until a 1949 re-release that Wizard showed a profit, and its status as one of America's most beloved movies was ultimately due to its nearly-annual TV broadcasts, which began in 1956 on CBS. With these factors in mind, it's not surprising that MGM's very tentative plans for a sequel in the early 1940s were shelved. That hasn't deterred other filmmakers and TV producers, though, from paying a visit to the Emerald City over the past seven decades.
Jerry Frebowitz | New Releases This Week
New DVD Releases for this week include the animated hit "Monsters vs. Aliens" and other theatrical newcomers, along with TV series, a very unusal film from Hong Kong and some obscure vintage favorites including a British musical starring Jessie Matthews.
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Irv Slifkin | In the Director's Chair, Movie Buzz
We have Fuel and Dirt and Earth Days and An Inconvenient Truth and The Cove and Food Inc., documentaries alerting us to the trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into fooling around with Mother Nature.
And now there’s No Impact Man: The Documentary, a “family feud” version of ecological disharmony, and how one New York City-based clan tried to do something about it.
In this feud, you’ll meet Colin Beavan, writer of historical non-fiction, who joins forces with wife/BusinessWeek staffer Michelle Conlin and their cute 2-year-old daughter Isabella to fight the temptations of modern living and become environmentally correct. So, after a year in the Big Apple of no electricity, no new clothes, no meat, no car transportation and all organic food and cleaning supplies, the Beavan-Conlins believe they’ve become politically correct in the process as well.
Colin chronicles his adventures on a blog that becomes a book, while filmmakers Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein captured Colin and company’s bold experiment in their new film No Impact Man: The Documentary.
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George D. Allen, Irv Slifkin and John Tartaglia | Movie Buzz, Movie Buzz Podcast
Don’t miss a minute of this month’s Movie Buzz podcast, as Movie Irv gives you three recommendations for entertaining movies that flew under the radar; answers your questions about The Road and other upcoming theatrical and home video releases; offers some strong opinions about Hollywood’s love affair with remakes; and meets up with “Groovy Irv” to talk about the Woodstock anniversary sets and other far-out DVDs.
Jason Marcewicz | Create-A-Caption
You know the drill. Below is a classic movie photo with Jason’s caption. You’re encouraged to leave your own suggestion in the comment section!
Susan and Goldie had a grand old time comparing the “shortcomings” of Tim and Kurt.
Dr. Strangefilm | From the Files of Dr. Strangefilm...
Edward D. Wood, Jr. Ah, dear Ed. Where would we mavens of movie mediocrity be without the works of our favorite angora-fetishist filmmaker to dissect and ridicule? Everyone from the Medved brothers to Tim Burton to the Best Brains at Mystery Science Theatre 3000 have had their say on Wood's rather unique ouevre.
Most times, however, the focus has been on his egregious entries in the horror (Bride of the Monster), science-fiction (Plan 9 from Outer Space) and...er, autobiographical (Glen or Glenda) genres. Sure, Ed may have been out of his depths there, but what if the cross-dressing director tried his hand at crime drama, with a gritty, noir-flavored thriller featuring just a touch of "Dragnet's" police procedural technique? Well, it so happens that Wood did just that in 1954 with a little ditty called Jail Bait, and it turned out every bit as amateurish as his more talked-about turkeys.
Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
There was no better experience in the 1940s than the Saturday matinee. When I was a young boy, movie theaters only cost ten cents for children under twelve. I’m not positive, but I'm pretty sure that adults were twenty-six cents, but to put into perspective, a candy bar was a nickel and a bag of popcorn, a dime.
Logan Theater circa 1940, photo: Irvin Glazer
Philadelphia had hundreds of local movie theaters. Because a bus, a trolley and a subway were so close to my house, I had a wide variety of choices but the one I went to most often and the one that has given me my fondest memories was the Logan Theater on Broad Street (pictured). Just about every neighborhood in the area had a movie theater and sometimes two or three. Matinees usually started at noon and you could stay until 5 or 6 o'clock, which is about how long it took if you stayed to see it all. In our neighborhood, we had three movie theaters located within one block of each other. Remember, it could all be supported at that time because TV wasn't yet a factor.
They were the most popular children's books around, with kids eagerly awaiting the release of each new title in the series. Dismissed by many educators and critics as "junk literature" and catching the ire of religious leaders for fostering an interest in magic and fantasy, the writer behind them was nonetheless adored by fans of all ages around the globe. With all this popularity, it was inevitable that some enterprising producer would consider shooting a live-action film version.
Think I'm talking about Harry Potter? (If so, you didn't read the headline too closely.) No, this all happened about a century ago, and the author in question was L. Frank Baum, creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, who would eventually go J.K. Rowling one better and make his own silent Oz movies. With next week's 70th anniversary video re-release of MGM's The Wizard of Oz in mind, let's take a look at the cinematic history of Oz, one that began long before Judy Garland donned a pair of ruby slippers--which, by the way, were silver in Baum's novel. MGM thought red would look better in Technicolor.
Jerry Frebowitz | New Releases This Week
New DVD Releases for this week include Seth Rogen in "Observe And Report" and other theatrical newcomers, along with TV series and some very obscure vintage favorites including a rare biopic, "The Trials of Oscar Wilde" starring Peter Finch.
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The legend is gone. Patrick Swayze sadly passed away on September 14, due to complications from pancreatic cancer, but he left behind a plethora of entertaining releases in his filmography. Sure, everyone knows about his big hits Dirty Dancing and Ghost, but there are plenty of other either somewhat or incredibly lesser-known films that Swayze made that will be the focus here, and while no one will put these productions on the same level as Gone with the Wind or Citizen Kane, the fact remains that they’re still quite enjoyable regardless of the caliber of filmmaking. Besides, fun is usually what the movie business is supposed to be about, so it’s time to pay tribute to some of Swayze’s finer work.
It's a rare accomplishment for an actor or actress to receive an Academy Award nomination for their very first film appearance. It's even more rare for that first appearance to come at the rather advanced (for Hollywood) age of 61! But that's just what happened to Sydney Greenstreet, whose, shall we say, imposing presence and air of sophisticated menace served him well in a relatively brief nine-year career packed with memorable characters.