the dark stairway ( 1953 film )
the film is said to be inspired by 1953 british short film, the dark stairway .
fun fact: in 1953, dark victory was adapted for tv on “broadway television theatre” starring sylvia sidney and christopher plummer. a decade later the film was remade as stolen hours starring susan hayward, and ten years after that it was turned into another tv movie starring elizabeth montgomery and anthony hopkins in 1973 .
variety excerpts: “dark victory. ” weekly variety. 15 mar 1939. 16. 134: 1 .
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there had always been a spark between davis and brent, but it had never graduated to an actual affair until their work on dark victory .
( revue studios / universal, 1955 - 65). lustgarten’s delivery is authoritative and somewhat comforting, slightly mitigating the dark and brutal nature of some of the crimes detailed in the episodes .
the film opened to excellent reviews. in addition to winning the academy award for best picture of the year ,
fantasy films are most likely to overlap with the film genres of science fiction and horror. when the narrative of a fantasy film tends to emphasize advanced technology in a fantastic world, it may be considered predominantly a science fiction film. or when the supernatural, fantasy forces are specifically intended to frighten the audience, a fantasy film falls more within the horror genre .
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dark victory was based on a play that opened on broadway in 1934. tallulah bankhead starred, but it wasn’t very successful and closed after only 51 performances. despite that, the play caught the attention of hollywood, and producer david o. selznick snapped up the film rights .
fun fact: there’s definitely something going on with staircases in this film. recall that judy fell down the one in long island, then waited on the stairs for ann’s return. and she trudged slowly up the stairs after kissing michael. then she pause to say goodbye to her husband and then her dogs on the vermont staircase before climbing upstairs to die. stairway to heaven, perhaps ?
jackson, russell. the cambridge companion to shakespeare on film. cambridge university press, 2007 .
max steiner’s score received an oscar nomination, and dark victory was up for best picture. it lost to gone with the wind (1939) in that most magical of movie years .
fun fact: judy’s transformation from fiercely independent, wild, and happily single to proper wife happily engaged in a quiet home life has attracted attention from feminist film scholars. it’s not an uncommon trajectory in these melodramas, but the swing is especially pronounced in dark victory .
. the film also won a golden globe as
best hollywood picture produced
in 1951 and was variously listed in hollywood trade publications as either the first or third highest box office film of the year .
), followed the format of telecrimes: dramatised re - enactments of noteworthy cases, introduced by a figure of authority, and focusing on specific aspects of police procedure. originally produced for cinema exhibition (as ‘b’ features) and distributed in cinemas by anglo - amalgamated film distributors between 1953 and 1961, the 39 stories included in this collection found a wider audience when shown on television under the
both george pal and ray harryhausen created and designed some of the best stop - motion animation and special effects in many great fantasy films that combined animation with live action. producer george pal won his first special effects academy award for his work on the sci - fi fantasy / adventure film destination moon (1950). he also won best visual (special) effects oscars for the exciting, low - budget sci - fi disaster film when worlds collide (1951) and the alien - invasion film the war of the worlds (1953). finally, pal succeeded with mgm' s musical fantasy of the grimm' s fairy tale tom thumb (1958), his first directed film, winning his fourth effects oscar .
in addition to the american in paris ballet, several other musical numbers were highly praised by critics and have been included in documentaries on american motion pictures :
dance in the mirror ,
a montage of lise appearing in different costumes and dancing in different styles to represent aspects of her personality as described by henri, appears in early in the picture. in the
i got rhythm
number, kelly, dressed in casual clothes and a baseball cap, uses the song to give some parisian children an english lesson. at various points throughout the song, children call out the words
i got
when kelly points to them, after which he completes the lyrics. according to modern sources, this number was reshot by hal rosson following the film' s initial preview. in
stairway to paradise ,
as guetary sings the number, stairs appear behind a curtain. as he ascends the stairway, individual stairs light up, then go dark and light up again later .
chibnall, steve & mcfarlane, brian. the british' b' film. palgrave macmillan, 2009 .
so davis got down to work. dark victory opens very early in the morning in a large mansion on long island. it’s about 5am, but the phone is ringing obnoxiously. the call is funneled through the staff to the mistress of the house, who is awfully hungover after a huge party the night before .
she’d won the previous year for jezebel (1938), and she would receive nominations the next three years after dark victory, making it five consecutive nominations between 1938 - 1942. she was nominated a total of ten times in her long career .
on january 13, 1989 announced that a broadway adaptation of the film was being planned; however, a stage version was not produced. on september 4, 1992, m - g - m and turner entertainment released a restored version of the film that opened at the nuart theatre in west los angeles and subsequently played in about thirty theaters nationwide. the new print was a restoration following a 1978 fire at the george eastman house film archive in rochester, ny, which destroyed two reels of the original 35mm print of the film. according to articles in
murphy, robert, 2007: ‘british film noir’. in: spicer, andrew (ed), 2007 :
the film was made at merton park studios by anglo - amalgamated. along with little red monkey, released the same year, the film was an international hit and led to the company producing films with a higher production quality than they had previously, often importing american stars to give the films more international appeal .
this scene makes me appreciate davis’ skill as an actress. she has to deliver lines like this monstrosity: “nothing can hurt us now. what we have can’t be destroyed. that’s our victory, our victory over the dark. ” and she does it so believably !
but before she can confront ann, dr. steele arrives. and they play a love scene. dr. steele has decided to marry judy, try to make her as happy as possible, and keep her in the dark about her impending doom. you can watch the scene here .
authors listed were born or lived in nebraska for some period of time. links are to the internet movie database, which includes writers of published books or stories, feature film or tv movie screenplays, and tv series episodes. entries for each author include film title, date released, note if it was made for television, source type, and title if different from film title .
mcdonnell, brian, 2007: ‘film noir style’. in: mayer, geoff & mcdonnell, brian (eds) 2007 :
unless otherwise noted. all rights reserved worldwide. the brattle film foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non - profit, supported in part by a grant from the
, played by charles gray in jim sharman’s 1976 film adaptation – who introduced brad and janet’s story from a similarly quaint setting. (
dark victory is a melodrama par excellence, a three - hanky weepie starring one of the masters of the genre, bette davis. variety noted that the “picture is studded with several intense sequences that are tear - jerkers of the highest caliber, ” and the new york times reviewer agreed, writing that that “the mascara was running freely at the music hall yesterday. for essentially the picture is simply a protracted death scene in which the heroine’s doom is sealed almost in the first sequence. ”
wide boy is a 1952 british crime film directed by ken hughes and starring susan shaw, sydney tafler and ronald howard. [ 2 ]
in a october 4, 1949 letter in the arthur freed collection, maurice chevalier' s representative, agent irving
swifty
lazar, wrote to freed, mentioning that chevalier was being considered for a role in the film. at that time, chevalier had not made a film in the u. s. since 1934 (see entry for
eventually, bette davis heard about the project. she wanted the part, so she lobbied director edmund goulding, and warner bros. producer hal wallis to make the movie. warner bros. bought the rights, and the film swung into production .
jayaraman (mohanlal) is a lift operator working in an affluent society. he is blind, but he can see better than most of the seeing people and is very intuitive. he is close to one of the residents, justice krishnamoorthy (nedumudi venu), who harbours a dark secret, that also involves a little girl nandini (baby meenakshi). this dark secret gets him killed one day, and jayaraman is the sole witness as to who was the perpetrator. the only issue is thanks to his visual deficiency, the police have trouble believing him, even making him an accused in the case. the killer also wants him out of his way, and so jayaraman, despite his physical limitations, has to play some smart moves to get himself and the little girl out of harm’s way .
an opening montage, some longshots of parisian landmarks, a tracking shot of milo' s car driving up to her hotel and atmospheric backgrounds were the only parisian footage retained in the released film. although modern sources have indicated that kelly and minnelli originally wanted to shoot the entire ballet sequence in paris, there is no indication in the m - g - m files that this was a serious consideration once pre - production began on the film. other memos in the files indicate that the studio had been in negotiations with the owners of la moulin de la galette in paris to use exteriors and possibly interiors for the film, but negotiations fell through .
: m - g - m announced that it had acquired the film rights to late composer george gershwin' s musical suite
an american in paris
on june 1, 1949. the suite had its premiere on december 13, 1928 at carnegie hall in new york. at that time, the studio also contracted with gershwin' s brother and lyricist ira for rights to use their songs. additionally the studio hired ira gershwin to write new lyrics for
certain unpublished george gershwin music .
the first script for the film was submitted by alan jay lerner on june 12, 1950. while several revisions were made over the next few months, the completed film was very much the same as the first script .
indicated that grahame johnson, a leading male dancer in the los angeles negro ballet was signed for a role in the production, but his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. pre - production memos in the m - g - m collection indicate that james basevi was initially to be the film' s art director with m - g - m art department head cedric gibbons and that conductor andre kostelanetz was at one time being considered to work on the production .
a friendly career (or the story of the training and life of the new zealand school dental nurse) was a promotional film made by the national film unit for the department of health. the plot waltzes through the idyll of one doe - eyed careerist' s sugar - coated journey to a respectable job in the' murder house', caring for the teeth of the dominion' s children. focusing on the hard work and 50s fun times of hostel life, with its friendships, matrons, tooth - pulling and en masse doing - of - the - hokey pokey, the end of this careerist road is pitched as one of great satisfaction .
film events: fuller set for movie, tv series los angeles times (1923 - current file) [ los angeles, calif ] 05 mar 1957: a9 .
british director michael powell' s and writer / producer emeric pressburger' s romantic fantasy stairway to heaven (1946) (aka a matter of life and death) with david niven as a aviation casualty in debate with heavenly and earthly powers. jean cocteau' s lyrical and romantic french film la belle et la bete (1946) (aka beauty and the beast), adapted from an 18th century fairy tale, featured a repellent beast and a beautiful woman. in frank capra' s it' s a wonderful life (1946), suicide - threatening james stewart is aided by an endearing angel named clarence (henry travers). the whimsical, comical film harvey (1950) also starred james stewart as an inebriated man who has an imaginary over - six - foot - tall rabbit as his companion. and vincente minnelli' s lyrical musical fantasy brigadoon (1954) told the fanciful legendary tale of a scottish village of the same name where the inhabitants awakened only once every 100 years .
the reviewer is right about the protracted death scene. you know exactly what is coming early on, and the movie is packed with those familiar cliches of impending death (sudden headaches, falling down stairs, brusque dismissals that anything might be wrong, and an unequivocal diagnosis). looking back on the film, i can calmly reflect on the emotional manipulation and scoff at the soap - opera dialogue, but when i watch it i am right there with the 1939 audience, mascara running freely as i cry like a baby at the end. that is this film’s genius .
frank whitbeck produced and narrated the trailer for the picture. at a september 25, 1951 special screening of the picture at the academy award theatre on melrose avenue, ronald reagan, who was then head of the screen actors guild, was the moderator for a forum discussion on the picture. a gala premiere was held for the film in los angeles on november 9, 1951 and broadcast overseas by the armed forces radio services .
fun fact: the movie ends when judy dies, but that wasn’t the original plan. a scene where michael breaks down in tears after challenger wins the grand national after judy’s death was the final scene in the preview version of the movie. but preview audiences thought it was anti - climactic and unnecessary, so it was cut. when the film was released, the final scene was judith’s death .
title, these episodes also benefit from being shot on 35mm film, at a time when much television programming was increasingly being shot on videotape. film can handle contrast much more efficiently than videotape, and as noted above quite a few of these episodes feature a film noir - esque aesthetic dominated by high contrast photography and chiaroscuro lighting. consequently, many of these episodes have an aesthetic that compares favourably with the visual style of american films noirs made for cinema exhibition. the presentation of the episodes on this dvd set is also commendable: although wear and tear is evident here and there, the instalments are in remarkably good shape – and the set includes the episode ‘wall of death’, which collectors of the series have previously struggled to obtain .
“the mood is too poignant, the performances too honest, the craftsmanship too expert. miss davis, naturally, has dominated—and quite properly—her film, but miss fitzgerald has added a sentient and touching portrayal of the friend, and george brent, as the surgeon, is—dare we say? —surprisingly self - contained and mature. ”
ann isn’t sure how dr. steele feels about judy, so she rushes to his office to ask him what to do. fun fact: fitzgerald was born in ireland, became a star in england, and came to hollywood in 1938. this was her first hollywood movie. she was nominated for best supporting actress for her role as isabella linton in wuthering heights the same year that dark victory was released .
fun fact: in april 1936, oberon filed suit against selznick, claiming that he’d planned to star her in a florence nightingale biopic. after that project was cancelled, oberon said that selznick had promised her the lead in the garden of allah (1936). but when oberon showed up for work, she learned that marlene dietrich had been cast in the part. so she sued selznick for breach of contract, though she would eventually drop the charges in 1940. but that took her out of the running for dark victory .
this 1963 film looks at how the development of high country aviation is taking on the challenges presented by the south island’s rugged geography. piloted by war veterans, small aircraft parachute supplies into remote locations for forest service hut building and service lighthouses. meanwhile helicopters and airlines open up opportunities for industry (venison, tourism, forestry, topdressing) and recreation (fishing, hunting). good keen men, smokos and swannies abound in this classically - filmed national film unit documentary .
although m - g - m records indicate that the film was in production without interruption from august 1, 1950 through january 8, 1951, filming stopped at various intervals to allow for preparation of the
american in paris ballet
sequence. according to
this 1960 tourism film, produced by the national film unit, is aimed at a particular market niche: hunter holidaymakers. it follows a visitor from omaha, usa, ‘jd’, who flies down to the “land of countless deer”: dart valley in the southern alps. a folk song extols the joys of answering the call of the wild — “the very best thing for a man: to hunt and fish and sleep out of doors, eat his tucker where he can” — as jd and his guide climb via bird - filled beech forest onto scree slopes to nab a 14 - point stag; before a ciggie on the ridge and a squiz at the scenery .
with jim henson, frank oz directed the dark crystal (1982), a delightful children' s fantasy tale with muppets. henson also directed the george lucas - produced labyrinth (1986) starring teenaged babysitter jennifer connelly in an enchanted land inhabited by henson' s muppets (as monsters), trying to solve a fantastic, challenging maze in order to rescue her baby brother from the evil goblin king (david bowie). the last film produced by jim henson was british director nicolas roeg' s adventure - fantasy the witches (1990) - adapted from roald dahl' s novel of the same name, with trademark special effects through animatronics, and anjelica huston as a frightening grand high witch that threatens to turn two young boys into mice at a seaside hotel convention of witches .
in the one channel days of the early 1970s, the survey slot was the place to find local documentaries. topics ranged across the board, from social issues (alcoholism, runaway children) to the potentially humdrum (an agm meeting) to the surprisingly experimental (music film the unbelievable glory of the human voice). after extended campaigning by producer john o’shea, emerging independent filmmakers, including tony williams and roger donaldson, joined the party — bringing fresh creativity and new techniques to the traditional gentle, narration - heavy doco format .
in addition to the main songs used in the film, a number of other gershwin tunes were used as background, among them
how long has this been going on? ,
someone to watch over me ,
liza
and
lady be good .
numbers initially planned for the film but not included were
love walked in ,
which was performed by guetary but cut from the picture and
i' ve got a crush on you ,
which was planned for kelly but not filmed .
canadian - born cinematographer and director bob lapresle had two careers in new zealand filmmaking. firstly, with the government' s national film unit as a director; secondly after his' retirement', as a producer and consultant passing on his experience to the private sector .
back to the film! after the match hallucination, dr. steele begins to examine judy more intensely. something isn’t quite right with judy’s eyes, and she’s having a terrible time recalling what she did yesterday. she peevishly admits that she’s been struggling with her short term memory for months .
priyadarshan joins hands with his best friend and one of india’s best actors, mohanlal, in one of 2016’s onam releases. oppam is a thriller where mohanlal plays a blind man in a full length role for the first time. the film is produced by his dear friend, antony perumbavoor .
’, ‘passenger to tokyo’, ‘night plane to amsterdam’, ‘the stateless man’, ‘the mysterious bullet’, ‘murder anonymous’, ‘destination death’, ‘person unknown’, ‘the lonely house’, ‘bullet from the past’, ‘inside information’, ‘the case of the smiling widow’, ‘the mail van murder’, ‘the tyburn case’, ‘the white cliffs mystery’, ‘night crossing’, ‘print of death’, ‘the cross road gallows’, ‘the unseeing eye’, ‘the ghost train murder’, ‘the dover road mystery’, ‘the last train’, ‘evidence in concrete’, ‘the silent weapon’, ‘the grand junction case’, ‘the never never murder’, ‘wings of death’ and ‘the square mile murder’ .
fun fact: the character of ann wasn’t in the original play on which this film is based. davis said that it was director edmund goulding’s idea to add the best friend character so that judy wouldn’t have to complain or weep at her fate. instead, ann takes over the complaining / mourning duties. it certainly does help make judy a more noble character .
news item, artist saul steinberg met with producer arthur freed, possibly to discuss the film, possibly to create the paintings for jerry, but he was not hired for the production and jerry' s paintings were created by artist gene grant. memos in the m - g - m files reveal that kelly had requested copies of two films to use as background for
variety forecast a healthy take at the box office for this film, especially from female audiences: “subject is a cinch to bring out the femme trade that delights in long and lusty weeps. it’s an exposition of feminine fortitude, courage, and determination that is always relished by the women. ” oh, those women and their weeping !
the biggest draw of oppam is, of course, the mohanlal and priyadarshan combo. after the disappointment fans endured in their last couple of films, oppam is definitely a welcome relief for the viewers. it is not as memorable or classic as some of their earlier collaborations like kilukkam and chitram, but much better than their last film, that travesty called geethanjali. after a strictly average first half, the proceedings catch pace in the second half, as jayaraman engages in a cat and mouse game with the killer. there are a couple of thrilling scenes here, especially the lift scene when jayaraman find him alone with the killer in the confined space. the climax, although fairly prolonged and nothing novel, has enough tension to keep an average viewer tethered to the edge of his / her seat. of course, the film would have fallen flat if it was not for the presence of the acting stalwart they call mohanlal. it is after a long time that i saw mohanlal in a role that demands his immense skills, and he delivers big time here. the man has immersed himself so much in the skin of the character, with his every nuance and expression as the blind man so spot on. samuthirakani as the villain is terrific, though his character is not fully developed .
although most of the film was shot on m - g - m' s culver city, ca lot, some location filming was done in paris, france. according to memos an initial estimate of the film' s location shooting schedule was for several days of atmospheric backgrounds and establishing shots, with two days of shooting in paris featuring kelly and leslie caron. actual second unit work began on september 2, 1950, but memos in the files indicate that rainy weather caused considerable delays and reshoots. filming in paris ended on 22 sep; montage sequence director peter ballbusch, who was in london, gave final approval for the parisian footage on 26 september 1950 .
of course, the greatest children' s fantasy / musical of all time was the wizard of oz (1939), a journey down the yellow - brick road to the colorful land of oz. producer alexander korda' s dazzling technicolor, costume fantasy adventure, the multi - oscar winning the thief of bagdad (1940, uk) - masterfully retold the arabian nights tale (of the land of magic carpets) featuring a giant genie and an evil vizier. the frightening story of a man who wished for eternal youth, another type of fantasy film, was the picture of dorian gray (1945) - a stylishly - sophisticated twist to the dr. jekyll and mr. hyde tale .
article by director of photography alfred gilks, the
our love is here to stay
number set on the quai along the seine near notre dame, was accomplished through use of a one - hundred - foot cyclorama set up on an m - g - m sound stage. the final scene of the film, which captures kelly and caron running toward each other on the multiple flights of stairs below sacre couer in the montmarte section of paris, was actually made by gilks shooting one staircase built on the studio backlot that was enhanced by warren newcombe and his special effects unit .
challenger and judy crash into the side of the jump, sending horse and rider to the ground in a grisly fall .
george brent was cast opposite davis, making this their eighth of eleven films together. their first movie came way back in 1932 when both actors were rising stars at warner bros. they would make movies for the next decade, with their final film, in this our life, premiering in 1942 .
and the end is so heart wrenching that it ought to be included as one of those personality tests where scientists search for any sign of empathy in a potential sociopath. i can see it now: right after the yawn test, a subject has to sit through this film. if he doesn’t get a little choked up, there might be something wrong…
: 143). the half hour format ensures that the instalments move along at a snappy pace, and as noted above the episodes take a variety of approaches to their subject matter – although, it has to be said, the majority of the episodes take the form of a police procedural, with instalments such as the criminal - focused ‘blazing caravan’ being the exception rather than the rule. the structure of the procedural episodes will be familiar to viewers of modern police procedurals, and some of the crimes are still firmly lodged in the public’s subconscious .
fantasy films: unlike science fiction films that base their content upon some degree of scientific truth, take the audience to netherworld, fairy - tale places where events are unlikely to occur in real life. in mythological or legendary times, they transcend the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. fantasy films are often in the context of the imagination, dreams, or hallucinations of a character or within the projected vision of the storyteller. fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. they may appeal to both children and adults, depending upon the particular film .
landscape was made by ex - national film unit producer bob lapresle (six episodes were made in 1968 and six the following year). the focus of each half - hour programme was on people and personalities rather than on scenery, which was then being covered by the nzbc’s popular looking at new zealand. beginning with ‘friday in a country town’, the landscape series went on to cover such varied topics as a family shearing gang, muttonbirders exercising their customary rights, the day to day life of a policeman, and the growing awareness of new zealanders towards the arts .
this quality was apparent immediately upon the film’s release in 1939. that same review notes: “a completely cynical appraisal would dismiss it all as emotional flim - flam, a heartless play upon tender hearts by a playwright and company well versed in the dramatic uses of going blind and improvising on camille. but it is impossible to be that cynical about it. ”
judy and dr. steele get re - engaged, and judy is excited at the thought of having a real wedding with orange blossoms. that’s something she had been upset about missing. it’s a nice sentiment, but it doesn’t really ring true, especially since earlier in the film, judy told the doctor that she loved her life of minimal responsibilities. she told him that she would “probably marry someday, ” but she seemed more excited about her horses and where she would build her house than about a wedding dress and flowers. judy seemed like the type of person to elope or give a crazy party after getting married at city hall, so the “princess” wedding seems out of character. but beware, the rest of the film gives us a very domesticated judy. this movie’s version of “peace” evidently includes a husband, home, and a garden far from the life judy led before .
shot on monochrome 35mm film, the stories are presented in their original aspect ratios. the episodes on the first five discs are presented in the traditional 4: 3 screen ratio, whilst the episodes on discs six and seven (from ‘the ghost train murder’ onwards) are presented in an aspect ratio of 1. 66: 1, with anamorphic enhancement (on these episodes, the image is slightly pillarboxed). each episode is preceded by the studiocanal logo (28s) and, if you immediately rewind each title as it starts, you will find a hidden ‘easter egg’ in the form of each instalment’s original bbfc certificate (all of which are onscreen for roughly 10s) .
if you are under the belief that oppam is a murder mystery, then you would be sorely disappointed as there is no suspense at all. however, as a thriller, oppam is fairly engaging and makes for a decent one time watch. above all, this is certainly mohanlal’s best performance in recent times. watch the film only for this brilliant actor’s stellar performance .
news items include jeane romaine, mary gleason, judie landon, mary jane french, marilyn rodgers, ann brennan, beverly thompson, marietta elliott, pat hall, joan barton, beverly baldy, lorraine crawford, madge joureay, ann robin, angela wilson, lola kendrick and marlene todd in the cast, but their appearance in the released film has not been confirmed .
then judy runs off in her magnificent fur coat and hat. here’s a publicity still in the costume. film scholar jane gaines noted that this costume, particularly the hat, seems reminiscent of eyelashes, which draws attention to judy’s eyes. the hat lies lower on her forehead than her other hats, and it even casts a shadow over her eyes. this is a particularly loaded site, as blindness will be the first and only warning of judy’s death .
it will enhance any encyclopedic page you visit with the magic of the wiki 2 technology .
in this 1956 reel, sir edmund hillary and colleagues describe their mission to set up bases in advance of the commonwealth trans - antarctic expedition. ed meets everest mate george lowe in uruguay to board the theron, and they smash and use explosives to blast their way through ice, then unload supplies (including the soon - to - be - famous ferguson tractors). sections of the footage were shot on 16mm film by hillary himself. lt commander bill smith and dr trevor hatherton narrate pathfinding with sledges in mcmurdo sound, on the other side of the continent .
joe macbeth is a 1955 british–american crime drama, directed by ken hughes and starring paul douglas, ruth roman and bonar colleano. [ 1 ] it is a modern retelling of shakespeare' s macbeth, set in a 1930s american criminal underworld. the film' s plot closely follows that of shakespeare' s original play. [ 2 ]
opening credits prologue: scotland yard a dramatised adaptation of one of the many crimes investigated by the most celebrated police centre in the world .
this national film unit doco illustrates the early days of the royal new zealand ballet. performances from the company’s touring program include bournonville’s napoli, kiwi arthur turnbull’s do - wack - a - do, a quirky 1930s flapper themed production (also with a nz composer, dorothea franchi) and the tulle and poise of fokine’s les sylphides. prismatic variations, choreographed by ballet company founder poul gnatt, and produced by another dance icon russell kerr, is the finale for this tribute to those who have made new zealanders “ballet conscious. ”
heartbreaking documentary about the large - scale illegal logging in the carpathians and the thrive of forest mafia that enriches the austrian timber company holzindustrie schweighofer. clear cut crimes is a 42 - minute documentary that has been filmed over a period of one year in the heart of the carpathian mountains, mainly in the northern romanian district of maramures and across the border, in ukraine. the occrp documentary stars a couple of key characters :
( despite the poster, the heroine is not doomed because a crazed scientist attempts to attach her head to the winged victory of samothrace. )
in fact, she was so emotionally fragile that a few days into production she asked to be released from the film that she had begged warner bros. to make. but edmund goulding and hal wallis convinced her to keep going. fun fact: when she told wallis that she was sick and couldn’t possibly continue, he reportedly told her, “bette, i’ve seen the rushes – stay sick! ”
more harryhausen films in the mid - 60s included another h. g. wells adaptation the first men in the moon (1964), about a space trip to the lunar surface (with an alien civilization) and back, the fantasy the valley of gwangi (1969) - with a giant prehistoric monster unearthed by an archaeologist, the second and third films in the sinbad series with more fantastic creatures: the golden voyage of sinbad (1974) and sinbad and the eye of the tiger (1979), and the more recent mythological fantasy clash of the titans (1981) - with a memorable snake - haired gorgon - medusa, a cyclops, and the winged horse pegasus .
fun fact: unlike most movies, this film was shot in sequence, so davis “lived” the ups and downs of judy’s life in order. it’s safe to assume that by the time brent and davis shot this scene, they were in love in real life, too. their romance would last for another year after they finished this movie, and davis wanted to marry brent. but he didn’t think it would work, though the two remained good friends after they parted. davis said later that “of the men i didn’t marry, the dearest was george brent. ”
this article is issued from wikipedia - version of the 5 / 9 / 2016. the text is available under the creative commons attribution / share alike but additional terms may apply for the media files .
this article is issued from wikipedia - version of the 10 / 16 / 2016. the text is available under the creative commons attribution / share alike but additional terms may apply for the media files .
although bette davis would eventually “dominate” the film in a grand performance, she almost missed out on the role. selznick originally hoped to star greta garbo, but garbo passed in order to play another tragic heroine in anna karenina (1935). selznick then turned to merle oberon. there were notices in the trade papers announcing her casting, but it was not to be. oberon was actually waiting on a different project, plus she was not happy with mr. selznick .
costume appreciation break. orry - kelly designed the costumes for this film. this number with its fur - trimmed sleeves and skirt just bristles; it’s perfect for this tense scene. it’s a great contrast to ann’s simpler suit, and it provides a somber reminder: judy might be rich and stylish and dripping in fur, but none of that will help her, now .
adore this film and davis’s work in it, how does she do it? i must say a word in defence of geraldine fitzgerald’s ann, a tremendously warm and sympathetic character. not only does she show all of the tears and suffering that judith is denied, but her unwavering friendship makes it more difficult for viewers to write off judith as a spoiled, selfish brat .
story of the greek street murder. an old woman discovers a body with a blind man bending over it. the man stumbles out into the night .
judy stops by dr. steele’s office on her way to meet him for lunch. he’s out, and his nurse is finishing up the packing before the move to vermont after the wedding. judy chats with the nurse while she wanders through the office and settles at the desk. and then she sees it :
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in the american in paris ballet, a story is told through various settings in which the characters jerry and lise intermittently dance. although in his autobiography, minnelli, who was an artist himself, described coming up with the idea for the dance, outlines and other memos in the m - g - m files were submitted jointly by minnelli and kelly from the earliest stages. the final outline and description of the dance, co - signed by kelly and minnelli, was submitted to freed on september 6, 1950. introductory remarks to the outline, describe the vision of the ballet as follows :
the decor of the ballet will be its most distinguishing feature as to uniqueness and originality, for each individual scene will be done in the styles of different painters which we will denote in the synopsis of the libretto... the ballet visually should reflect an artist' s viewpoint and both the scenery and the costumes should be done as they painted... . in essence, the entire ballet is a representation of a painter thinking about paris .
( cbs, 2000 -). for example, ‘the candlelight murder’ focuses on the death of an elderly man in a sussex village during the late - 1930s. the police note that the man’s face has been deliberately mutilated ‘to make identification difficult’. much of the episode is taken up with detailed examination of the forensic techniques used to solve the crime, including a reconstruction of the man’s face and the use of a cast of a footprint found at the scene to identify a potential suspect. cynicism towards using these new methods of forensic science to solve crimes is expressed through the character of a cobbler to whom a policeman takes the cast with the hope of identifying the type of shoe worn by the killer. it is a snappy, procedure - laden episode that contains detailed montages of forensic techniques which will be familiar to any viewer of modern forensic dramas .
over the years, the subject of fantasy has thoroughly entertained us. the earliest fantasy films combined science fiction with visions of the future. some of the earliest were georges melies' fantasy silent film about a trip to the moon, voyage dans la lune (1902), fritz lang' s expressionistic metropolis (1927, german) with a nightmarish view of toiling urban workers, and producer alexander korda' s things to come (1936). director merian c. cooper' s great prehistoric fantasy film king kong (1933) took viewers to skull island with a fearsome hairy beast created by willis h. o' brien' s marvelous stop - motion animation. frank capra' s wonderful philosophical romantic fantasy lost horizon (1937) brought a group of plane crash survivors to the fabled and idyllic shangri - la hidden within a snowy tibetan mountain pass. comic strip hero flash gordon (buster crabbe), with his love interest dale arden (jean rogers), was the subject of many serialized, multi - part films, including flash gordon: flash gordon' s trip to mars (1938) .
( 1948). the documentary - style approach of american post - war films noirs are said to have been shaped by the conventions of both italian neo - realism and wartime newsreels: brian mcdonnell has stated that one of the ‘effect [ s of wartime social developments was to encourage a general move toward greater realism in film and in particular to foster the use of documentary techniques in fictional feature films. americans had become used, during the war, to watching extended newsreels and documentaries made in support of the war effort. they were both accustomed to the strident voice - overs of these nonfiction films and had become more inured to the brutality of war violence. all these developments led to what has been labeled the semidocumentary subgenre of classical noir’ (2007: 79). although mcdonnell’s comments are focused specifically on american films noirs, they are equally applicable to british series such as
the lit match bobs in front of her face, and he realizes that judy is seeing multiple matches and can’t quite bring the real flame to the tip of her cigarette… .
other episodes offer a slightly different perspective on the crimes they depict. ‘blazing caravan’ is heavily focalised through the perspective of the criminal, with lustgarten’s narration offering insight into the murderer’s thinking. the narration in this episode is slightly chatty and informal, sometimes addressing the viewer in the second person as if s / he was the criminal: revealing that the victim was a taxidermist, lustgarten intones, ‘fancy living in that house with all those stuffed animals - enough to give you the creeps. still, he was always amiable enough. he was amiable that day you called. in fact, amiable’s hardly the word. delirious would be more like it’ .
a vicious gang of crooks plan to steal the wages of a local factory, but their carefully laid plans go wrong, when the factory employs an armoured van to carry the cash. the gang still go... see full summary »
the source code for the wiki 2 extension is being checked by specialists of the mozilla foundation, google, and apple. you could also do it yourself at any point in time .
the files indicate that musician benny carter and his group were to perform on the
our love is here to stay
number, but their participation in the completed soundtrack has not been confirmed .
despite the early hour, judy and her secretary / best friend ann (geraldine fitzgerald) rouse themselves and head to the stables .
buzzing comedies such as the spy who dumped me await you in our summer movie guide. check in for all the info you need .
we learn that michael disagrees with judy about one of her horses, challenger. judy is convinced he is a champion steeplechaser, but michael (played by bogart with a thick but inconsistent irish accent) thinks the horse lacks the drive. they argue while judy speeds to the course with michael perched precariously on the running board. the rear projection is hilariously obvious behind him. you can watch the scene here .
geoff murphy (goodbye pork pie, utu) directs this freewheeling adaptation of the māori legend of uenuku and his affair with the mist maiden hinepūkohurangi. the story of love, betrayal, and rainbow redemption was the first māori myth adapted for tv, and the first tv drama to be entirely performed in te reo (the listener softened viewers by providing a translation prior to screening). filmed at the waimarama base of murphy and cinematographer alun bollinger, uenuku was produced by peach wemyss astor for the nzbc — a then - rare independently produced drama .
dr. steele and dr. parsons decide to keep the prognosis to themselves because that is kinder than the truth, or so they think .
the last artist represented is henri de toulouse - lautrec (1864 - 1901). kelly appears in costume as the black dancer in toulouse - lautrec' s
chocolat dansant dans un bar .
caron appears dressed as moulin rouge dancer jane avril, who was featured in various toulouse - lautrec paintings. the final sequence, a dance featuring many of the characters who had appeared earlier in the ballet, is set around a fountain reminiscent of the fountain in the place de la concorde in paris .
i’m like you–every time, i swear it’s ridiculous and i’m not going to cry, but i always do. davis hits you where it hurts! i’m usually not a fan of george brent’s (he’s way too bland for me), but i was surprised how much i liked him in this film, especially his last scene with bette. ann has always annoyed me, though. she doesn’t seem to have her own life, and her emotions are so over the top, which is saying something for a melodrama. great post again !
it’s awfully careless of the dr. steele to leave that lying around. judy opens the file, naturally, and is horrified by what’s inside .
the story was adapted for australian tv in the tv play bodgie (1959), where it was relocated to an australian setting. [ 6 ]
this landscape doco looks at the muttonbirding culture of the deep south, as rakiura (stewart island) māori exercise their customary right to harvest the birds for food, oil and feather down. the hunt begins with a rugged trip to the islands where hundreds of thousands of tītī (or sooty shearwater) arrive annually to breed. the kinship of birding is evident as families (and a poodle) set up camp. soon the salty kai is plucked from burrows and sent by wire downhill to the ‘pluckhole’. this was an early gig for director bruce morrison (heartland, shaker run).
the dark stairway is a 1953 british short film . it was one of a series of shorts made for british cinemas as second features in the 1950s by merton park studios about scotland yard , called scotland yard . they were narrated by crime writer edgar lustgarten , and subsequently broadcast as tv episodes . the film was also known as the greek street murder . 
the dark stairway is a 1953 british short film. it was one of a series of shorts made for british cinemas as second features in the 1950s by merton park studios about scotland yard, called scotland yard. they were narrated by crime writer edgar lustgarten, and subsequently broadcast as tv episodes. the film was also known as the greek street murder.
the dark stairway is a 1953 british short film. it was one of a series of shorts made for british cinemas as second features in the 1950s by merton park studios about scotland yard, called scotland yard. they were narrated by crime writer edgar lustgarten, and subsequently broadcast as tv episodes. the film was also known as the greek street murder.