Passages

[colinr0380]

Leonard Maltin tribute to Art Gilmore, narrator of many trailers (he can be heard on Trapeze, The Swan, Around the World In 80 Days, Fahrenheit 451, The Killing etc); a voice on the radio in Rear Window and Saboteur; and in the Jerry Lewis Nutty Professor; in a small role in When Worlds Collide; the voice of FDR in Yankee Doodle Dandy (and Action In The North Atlantic); and narrator of the Joe McDoakes "So You Want To..." shorts.

[domino harvey]

narrator of the Joe McDoakes "So You Want To..." shorts.

Oh man, those narrations MAKE the films.

And Tony Curtis, man, he looked awful alive and spry not too long ago when he was doing those crazy PR rounds for his Monroe claims/book

[MyNameCriterionForum]

I always assumed Curtis would pull a Borgnine, at least he lived fully though.

Meaning... that he'd spend his golden years in an RV touring beer factories all over America? YES!

[Feego]

Wow, five Oscar nominees gone in one week. Is that a record?

[perkizitore]

Five? I've lost count it seems...

[Napoleon]

Curtis was such a great actor. It's a shame that he didn't get/go after much work in the last 20-30 (ok 40) years. Oddly enough the first thing that comes to mind about him was his little pre-fame cameo in Criss Cross. But Sweet Smell is easily my favourite of his films. Can't imagine anyone else nailing that part the way he did.

[Feego]

Five? I've lost count it seems...

Yep. Gloria Stuart, Arthur Penn, Sally Menke, Joe Mantell, and Tony Curtis. That is an astounding lineup of talent to lose in just a few days.

[dad1153]

Stephen J. Cannell. Emmy's time to grive I guess.

TV/radio/movie announcer Art Gilmore.

[MichaelB]

Norman Wisdom.

[colinr0380]

Very sad - I love his series of films where his bumbling, endearing, goofy persona was thrown into a series of escalating disastrous situations. The period between Trouble In Store from 1953 and Press For Time in 1966 constitutes his 'golden age', sort of taking over where George Formby left off (and from where Frank Spencer would follow for a while in the 70s).

Here's a section from A Stitch In Time.

[colinr0380]

Here's a nice news piece about the popularity of Norman Wisdom in Albania.

[Antares]

Andy Albeck

[fiddlesticks]

Documentary filmmaker Marshall Flaum, 85.

[dadaistnun]

I can't seem to find an online obit at the moment, but Roy Ward Baker has died.

[zedz]

Brief Baker obit here. A Night to Remember is among the most underrated Criterions. Now's a great time to watch it if you haven't already. I might put on Quatermass and the Pit, myself.

[petevoelker]

I can't seem to find an online obit at the moment, but Roy Ward Baker has died.

Bit of trivia: I believe he was the last living director of a Marilyn Monroe picture.

[Dr Amicus]

I wrote about Baker briefly for my thesis on Amicus. I would argue his later career for Hammer and particularly Amicus is grossly underrated (except, as Zedz notes, for the wonderful Quatermass and the Pit). Unlike the more grounded Fisher, there are moments of genuine fantasy in his films - although in some cases Fantastic (as per Tzvetan Todorov) might be more accurate. In ~~And Now The Screaming Starts, one of the most underrated British horror films of the period, there is a genuinely remarkable sequence involving a painting (and Amicus's trademark severed hand) which uses a single long take for narrative purposes rather than simply stylistic excess.

His autobiography, Director's Cut, is a charming read as well.

[jbeall]

NY Times obit on Baker

[HarryLong]

I wrote about Baker briefly for my thesis on Amicus. I would argue his later career for Hammer and particularly Amicus is grossly underrated (except, as Zedz notes, for the wonderful Quatermass and the Pit). Unlike the more grounded Fisher, there are moments of genuine fantasy in his films - although in some cases Fantastic (as per Tzvetan Todorov) might be more accurate. In ~~And Now The Screaming Starts, one of the most underrated British horror films of the period, there is a genuinely remarkable sequence involving a painting (and Amicus's trademark severed hand) which uses a single long take for narrative purposes rather than simply stylistic excess.

The problem with most of his work for Hammer and Amicus is that the scripts were crap. If for any reason I ever again watch --AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS, I'll do so with the sound muted. His use of the set for that film (which I think he had to fight a little bit for, if I'm remembering correctly) and some extravagent camerawork within it is about all the film has to recommend it aside from some fine performances. It's a pity he came to Hammer at the point he did, when the scripts were starting to suffer badly. I think his best work for the studio is actually THE ANNIVERSARY. QUATERMASS suffers from an insufficient budget for its effects (which really damages the ending) and a script that only barely scratches the surface of its intriguing ideas (my guess is that the TV serial - which I've never seen - is able to probe a bit more deeply).

[antnield]

Solomon Burke.

[fiddlesticks]

La Stupenda, Joan Sutherland.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Ryo Ikebe

[Fiery Angel]

La Stupenda, Joan Sutherland.

[colinr0380]

Brief Baker obit here. A Night to Remember is among the most underrated Criterions. Now's a great time to watch it if you haven't already. I might put on Quatermass and the Pit, myself.

Both of those films are classics but I would also add the best of the Amicus anthology films, Asylum, to the list, also directed by Roy Ward Baker. Charlotte Rampling going crazy, dismembered spouse's body parts wrapped in brown paper and tied with string coming back to life, Robert Powell getting involved in a 'guess which inmmate was the former head of the Mental Institution?' mystery, and Herbert Lom's small homicidal mechanical man driven by the power of mental telepathy - what more could you ask for from an anthology film?

[zedz]

I thought I was the only fan of Asylum!

dismembered spouse's body parts wrapped in brown paper and tied with string coming back to life

This bit so terrified my babysitter when I saw it on TV as a kid that she had to turn off the TV set, and I didn't get to see the rest of that episode and the movie until nearly thirty years later. I was pretty freaked out too, but I would have happily lasted the distance. Still, with that back-story I can't help but feel the film peaks too early.