MOVIES – PT27 – ‘The Sand Pebbles’ & ‘The Asphalt Jungle’.
THE SAND PEBBLES (1966) The Sand Pebbles is a fine movie, one that enabled its star Steve McQueen to reach the peak of his career. In fact, he received his one and only Oscar […]
steve mcqueen
LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT19.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD (2019) This Quentin Tarantino film can best be described as a revisionist-fictional tale of a created Hollywood star and his best friend/stuntman/ gopher; a tale that culminates in a thoroughly preposterous, concocted climax that takes place right next door to a residence that, in […]
MOVIE TRIVIA – PT153.
Marilyn Monroe Sir Laurence Olivier once gave his opinion to Michael Parkinson on Marilyn Monroe, his co-star in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). Olivier said she was unhappy throughout the shoot and very difficult to work with, discomforted and forlorn in front of a movie camera. But then the […]
‘THE GREAT ESCAPE’ (1963)
The Great Escape (1963) is often talked about as Steve McQueen’s movie but there are a number of fine performances in this fine film, particularly those of James Garner, James Donald, Hannes Messemer and Donald Pleasence. Of course, McQueen was given the showiest part and he squeezed every drop out […]
THE GOOD OLD SIXTIES
I was a ‘baby-boomer’, born in 1947, and grew up in Fremantle, Western Australia, in an era when drive-in movies were the big thing during the 1960s. My mates and my brothers and I would zoom off to the drive-in, two or three times a week during the summer […]
MOVIE TRIVIA – PT113.
The war in Europe was underway in 1940 and causing the loss of the European market. President Roosevelt’s ‘Good Neighbour Policy’ of fostering friendship towards Latin American countries inspired Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century Fox to look towards Mexico and South America as alternative markets for his studio’s films. […]
WAR MOVIES WORTH WATCHING – PT7.
Cliff Robertson as Commander Kennedy in PT 109 (1963) PT Commander John F Kennedy during the war PT 109 (1963) President John F Kennedy was asked who he would like to see portray him in this film about his wartime exploits. He chose Cliff Robertson who duly landed the role. Interestingly, […]
MOVIE TRIVIA – PT84
Marlon Brando & Karl Malden in One-Eyed Jacks (1961) One-Eyed Jacks (1961) was to have been directed by Stanley Kubrick at a budgeted cost of $1.8 million, but then Kubrick left and the picture’s star, Marlon Brando, took over as director. Day one, ominously, saw him throw away the script […]
MOVIE TRIVIA – PT57.
The Audie Murphy Memorial in Holtzwir, France To Hell and Back (1955) is a biopic about Audie L. Murphy, America’s most decorated soldier of World War Two. Thirty year-old Murphy plays himself. He dreaded re-enacting one particular scene in which his closest friend (Brandon) stands up while the company is […]
MOVIE TRIVIA – PT43
Fairbanks and his famous sail stunt in The Black Pirate The 1926 silent feature The Black Pirate starred Douglas Fairbanks in arguably his most famous role. It certainly contained his most memorable stunt, one that saw him slide down the mainsail using his rapier to slow his descent! In 1952 Errol […]