This Week's Poll Goes to the Dogs--the Disney Dogs!

Yes, an obvious pun—and a bad one—but it had to be said. Yet, no one can deny that Walt Disney Productions made some of the cinema’s most memorable dog films. Your challenge this week is to vote on your favorite one. The canine candidates are:

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) – The very scary Cruella De Vil has Dalmatian puppies kidnapped so she can use them for a Dalmatian fur coat! Highlights: the “twilight bark”; the human/canine double wedding; the TV show parodies “What’s My Crime” (a favorite of the kidnappers) and the Kanine Krunchies jingle; and Dalmatians rolling in soot to disguise themselves as black Labrador Retrievers.

Lady and the Tramp (1955) – Opposites attract when Lady, a sheltered, pampered Cocker Spaniel, meets Tramp, a scrappy mixed breed that lives in the streets. Highlights: Lady and the Tramp sharing a candlelight spaghetti dinner as they’re serenaded with the pretty “Bella Notte”; the sneaky Siamese cats singing their signature tune (“We are Siamese if you please; we are Siamese if you don't please”); and the marvelous dog’s eye view of the world throughout the film (ever notice that one rarely sees the humans’ faces?).

Old Yeller (1957) – A large, stray “yeller dog” adopts a frontier family. The oldest of the two sons (Tommy Kirk) rejects the dog at first, but grows to love the loyal, courageous animal. Highlights: Yeller’s refusal to eat a tempting slab of meat hung in front of him all night long as a test; Yeller sneaking onto the bed of the younger boy; the tears-inducing climax; and Yeller’s pups…which look like Golden Retrievers even though Yeller was mostly a Lab. The sequel, Savage Sam, isn’t nearly as good.
 
Greyfriars Bobby (1961) – This is the amazing true story of a loyal Skye Terrier who slept on his master’s grave in an Edinburgh cemetery every night for 14 years. Given that laws required an ownerless dog to be destroyed, the City of Edinburgh adopted Bobby. One of Disney’s least known dog films is definitely worth a rental. Highlights: Bobby’s first day alone in the city; the children in the orphanage watching for Bobby; and Bobby gradually endearing himself to the crusty cemetery caretaker (Donald Crisp). The same story was the basis for the earlier Challenge to Lassie (1949).

The Incredible Journey (1963) – A Labrador Retriever, a Bull Terrier, and a Siamese cat (a nice one) are separated from their family and must trek 200 dangerous miles back home. There are no talking animals here (unlike in the 1993 remake in which we “hear” the animals’ thoughts). Instead, there’s some narration (which makes it seem like a documentary at times), a trio of impressive canine and feline thespians, beautiful landscapes, and a porcupine.

Those are your candidates! Confer with your pup, if you have one. I’m not sure feline advice would be unbiased in this case (I imagine they’d favor 101 Dalmatians and Incredible Journey, which feature nice kitties…as opposed the conniving Siamese twins in Lady and Tramp).

Triva Time Part Nine: The Answers

Looks like this week I stumped most of you. Rick and Gilby got half of the questions right. I think Rick misses his "Free Pass". You guys did OK. These were pretty hard questions. Becky, no booby prize for you this week, maybe this week. Here is what you missed.

#5. The song "School's Out" is from the show Richie Brockelman Private Eye. It was the first Rockford "spin off " series and was shown as a "summer replacement".

#6. The star was Dennis Dugan, He was also Captain Freedom on Hill Street Blues. He is now a director (Saving Silverman ).

#7.  Brain Buster #1. Mike revised Hunter 7 times .

#8.  Brain Buster #2.  Mike wrote "The Silver Fox" the theme for Phil Donahue.

#9.  Brain Buster #3 The show was F Troop on ABC.

#10. Brain Buster #4  Bob Steele was the actor. He played Trooper Duffy.

Underrated Performer of the Week: Florence Bates

Florence Bates, probably best known as Mrs. Van Hopper in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, played overbearing grande dames and obtuse social-climbers to perfection. She delivered withering looks and dismissive jibes with a delicious panache.

Bates began her film career in her later years...but she'd already led quite a life before she found success in Hollywood.

Born Florence Rabe in San Antonio, Texas, in 1888, she graduated from the University of Texas and pursued teaching and social work prior to marriage. As most women did in those days, she stopped working to raise a family. But her marriage failed and following her divorce she took up legal studies under the auspices of a friend who was also a judge. She passed the state bar within six months and became one of the first women attorneys in Texas. When her parents died she switched gears again and left the law to help her sister run the family antiques business. Antiques dealing provided her the opportunity to travel the world and make use of her proficiency in foreign languages. During this period she also hosted a biglingual radio program meant to foster relations between the U.S. and Mexico. In 1929, following the stock market crash and the death of her sister, she sold the antiques business. That same year she married Texas oil tycoon, William F. Jacoby. The pair initially lived in Mexico and El Paso, but when Jacoby lost his fortune they moved to Los Angeles and opened a bakery. The bakery was a success and remained so until the couple sold it in the 1940's.

Bates caught the acting bug in middle age. Not long after moving to California, she and a friend took part in an open audition at the Pasadena Playhouse. She won the role of Miss Bates in a production of Jane Austen's Emma and, because she felt the role had brought her luck, she took the character's name as her own stage name. She joined the Playhouse's acting troupe and continued with local theater work through the late 1930s.

In 1939, Bates' destiny changed once more; she met and made a screen test for Alfred Hitchcock. The director was surprised to learn that she hadn't trained on the London or New York stage and, impressed with her talent, cast her as the insufferable dowager Edythe Van Hopper in his American directorial debut, Rebecca. Her turn as Van Hopper was brief but memorable. In one scene, in a typically Hitchcockian bit of character-revealing business, she crushes out her cigarette in a near-full jar of cold cream. While the Van Hopper character was unsympathetic, it was also nuanced; she is as laughable as she is obnoxious. Rebecca was released just a few days after Bates' 52nd birthday.

Florence Bates now became a very busy character actress, playing a variety of supporting roles and making more than 60 films from 1940 - 1953. While she portrayed another patronizing snob in one of her signature roles, Mrs. Manleigh, in A Letter to Three Wives (1949), she was equally believable as the celebrated and kindly author, Florence Dana Moorhead, in I Remember Mama (1948). Over the span of her career Bates played socialites, landladies, maids, a murderer, a mother-in-law, a gypsy, a writer and more. Whether her part was villainous or comic, she brought color and distinction to each role. Some of her other notable films include Kitty Foyle, The Moon and Sixpence, Mr. Lucky, Kismet, Saratoga Trunk, Cluny Brown, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Portrait of Jennie and On the Town. Bates was featured on some of the top TV sitcoms of the early 1950s: Burns and Allen, Our Miss Brooks, My Little Margie and I Love Lucy. She also appeared on Four Star Playhouse, an anthology series.

Bates kept her ties with the Pasadena Playhouse, attending its productions and endowing scholarships. After her husband passed away in 1951, her health began to decline and she died of a heart attack in 1954 at the age of 65.

Bates' great-granddaughter, Rachel Hamilton, is an actress/comedienne who has appeared in films and on TV, most notably "30 Rock."

Dial H for Hitchcock: Rebecca

Welcome to Dial H for Hitchcock, a monthly online gathering where we discuss the work of "the Master" (of suspense and quite a bit more). Alfred Hitchcock's first American film, Rebecca (1940), is the featured film this month.

By the late 1930's, Hitchcock's reputation was riding high based on several suspense films he'd made in Britain. He came to Hollywood under contract to producer David O. Selznick. Selznick intended Rebecca to rival his previous film, the award-laden Gone With the Wind (1939). The two men had a contentious collaboration on Rebecca but ultimately produced a critical and commercial success that was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. It won two: Best Picture and Best B&W Cinematography.

Rebecca is a favorite of mine, and here are a few reasons why...

A strong sense of atmosphere that underscores the story's gothic quality and mood of vague but insistent foreboding. Manderley, where much of the action occurs, conveys a cavernous and chilly ambiance of inhospitable elegance.

Multi-layered characters, evocative performances. Joan Fontaine is palpably anxious and apprehensive as the second Mrs. de Winter. She doesn't miss a beat and, late in the film, smoothly portrays the young woman's transition as she gains poise and confidence. Laurence Olivier's Maxim de Winter is guilt-riddled, highly strung and volatile...with aristocratic charm. Judith Anderson creates one of Hitchcock's and the screen's great villains as the unbalanced and eventually dangerous Mrs. Danvers. George Sanders as Jack Favell and Florence Bates as Mrs. Van Hopper both play unsavory types, but with comic overtones. Favell is an oily bounder, but a witty one. Van Hopper is insufferably demanding and grandiose - and more than slightly ridiculous.

A final note...Hitchcock reportedly edited "in camera" to prevent Selznick from re-editing his work. Rebecca strikes me as classic Hitchcock with the Selznick treatment: top-notch cast, the finest writers and technicians - and a big budget that shows.

Those are some of my thoughts...but what do you think? What are your opinions, observations and comments...and, if you've read Daphne du Maurier's novel, how would you compare the film to the book?

Five Best Science Fiction TV Series of the 1960s

1. Star Trek (1966-69) – Gene Roddenberry’s brainchild is certainly the most successful series in the history of sci fi television, spawning five spin-off TV shows (don’t forget the animated one) and three film series…thus far. That’s pretty good for a TV show that wasn’t a big hit when it first aired. But Trek earns its spot at No. 1 because of the rich futuristic world created by Roddenberry. He may not have originated some of the innovative concepts (e.g., teleportation, a federation of planets), but he wove them together to create a believable future of hope and humanity. And, despite William Shatner’s occasional forays into the hammy side of acting, the cast helped create immensely likable characters that carried some of the weaker episodes.

2. The Outer Limits (1963-65) – Leslie Stevens and Joseph Stefano (who wrote the screenplay for Psycho) were the creative talents behind the best sci fi anthology of the 1960s (maybe of all time). The concept was that each show would stay within the confines of the science fiction genre and feature a “bear”—Stefano’s nickname for a scary monster. The scripts weren’t as consistently strong as The Twilight Zone and the show’s budget often worked against some of the high-end concepts. But when The Outer Limits was good, it was very good—with several classic episodes like “Demon With a Glass Hand”, “Soldier” (both penned by Harlan Ellison), “The Inheritors”, “The Zanti Misfits”, “The Architects of Fear”, and “Z-z-z-z-z”.

3. The Invaders (1966-67) – Larry Cohen (It’s Alive) is credited for creating this series, but it bears a strong resemblance to executive producer Quinn Martin’s earlier hit The Fugitive. The premise of The Invaders is simple: architect David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) learns that aliens are planning to take over the Earth, but no one will believe him. He travels from place to place trying to thwart the aliens and convince people to believe him. It doesn’t help that the aliens glow orange and disappear when they die, thus destroying all evidence (in some episodes, aliens commit suicide to avoid capture). The first season of 17 episodes contains most of the series’ high points. In season 2, Vincent linked up with a group of other alien fighters called “The Believers” and the show faltered a little. But at the top of its game in episodes like “The Mutant” and “The Organization”, The Invaders was quite good.

4. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-68) – Television critics harped on Irwin Allen’s series for its “monster of the week” approach, but that criticism actually applies only to the last two years of the show. During its first two years, Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) and the crew of the submarine Seaview battled enemy spies and natural disasters as well as outer space aliens and monstrous denizens of the deep. Even when things got a little silly (e.g., an evil puppeteer), the always reliable Basehart was on hand to lend credibility to the proceedings.

5. Doctor Who (1963-1989, 2005- ) – The longest-running sci fi series in the history of television has evolved from a low-budget serial directed at kids to a sophisticated series aimed at a broad audience. The Doctor is a Time Lord, who travels through time in a machine called the TARDIS (an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space). When William Hartnell, the actor who originated the role of Doctor Who, decided in leave in 1966, the writers came up with an ingenious revelation: as a time lord, Doctor Who could “regenerate” himself when near death…thus paving the way for the character to be played by another actor. As of 2009, there have been ten Doctor Who’s, with another regeneration scheduled for 2010. (Note: Peter Cushing played Who in two theatrical films.)

Honorable mentions: The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, My Favorite Martian, Lost in Space, and Stingray.

The Classic Film & TV Cafe Presents the Top 25 TV Themes of All Time!

The votes have been tallied. The results have certified by the official Cafe accountants. And now (drum roll, please)...after three weeking of polling...it's time to unveil the Cafe's Top 25 TV Themes of All Time! Remember, these are TV themes only (no lyrics). To build suspense, we'll start with #25 and count our way down to #1:

25. The Untouchables
24. Dragnet
23. Magnum, P.I.
22. Alfred Hitchcock Presents
21. The X Files
20. The Andy Griffith Show
19. The Dick Van Dyke Show
18. The Thorn Birds
17. Taxi
16. Dark Shadows
15. Perry Mason
14. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
13. Miami Vice
12. Hill Street Blues
11. Mannix
10. Route 66
  9. The Rockford Files
  8. Star Trek
  7. The Wild Wild West
  6. M*A*S*H
  5. The Twilight Zone
  4. Mission: Impossible
  3. The Avengers
  2. Hawaii Five-O
  1. Peter Gunn

It's a pretty impressive list and Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn theme is certainly worthy of the prestigious #1 spot--so my hat's off to those individuals who stopped by the Cafe to vote. If you're interested in learning about these classic TV themes, Paul2 will be profiling each of them at the Corner in the Cafe over the next few weeks. Click here to go there and listen to the original versions of the Magnum theme--and learn what famous film composer has his theme rejected for the The Wild Wild West.

Thanks for participating in the creation of this entertaining and informative list!

Name the Movie Game (November 3 - 7 edition)

It's game time! Time to dig into the inner recesses of your film fact-filled brains. Time to dust off those movie reference books. Time to brush up on your Internet film research skills. Time to call in all those favors from film-smart family and friends. (That's my pep talk...hope you're really inspired now!)

I published the "Name the Movie Game" rules last night, so I won't repeat them here. I'll just remind everyone that you can only ask five yes/no questions daily--and, yes, guessing the answer (e.g., "Is it The Adventures of Robin Hood?) counts as one of the five guesses. Also, I can only respond to questions in the early morning and evenings. So don't get frustrated if you ask some burning questions at noon and don't get a response until seven hours later. Finally, if no one guesses my movie, this edition of the game will end on Saturday at 10 p.m. Central Time. But, hey, this film might be way too easy. (If so, we may need to tweak our rules!)

Here goes: I'm thinking of a movie that was made in the 1950s and features three Academy Award winners...though none of them won for this film.

Good luck!

Dave: Ivan Reitman’s optimistic view of the American political system

This Election Day special was written by Gilby37.

A good friend of mine is a huge fan of Kevin Kline. If she wasn’t, I'm not sure I would have gone to see Dave in 1993. It was a clever comedy directed by Ivan Reitman, the director of Ghostbusters. The movie’s premise was very interesting. What would happen if the President of the United States was incapacitated and his chief of staff decided to seize power using a lookalike?

This improbable scenario was played out quite believably in Dave. In the movie, President Bill Mitchell is making an appearance at a political dinner and decides he will have “dessert” upstairs with a young female staff member. His chief of staff hires Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline), the owner of a small employment agency, to be the President’s double so he will be seen exiting the event. Meanwhile, the real President Mitchell is otherwise occupied with his lady friend. Then it happens, President Mitchell has a stroke while having sex with his female companion. His conniving chief of staff, Bob Alexander (Frank Langella), seizes the opportunity to become President of the United States. He brings Dave back to the White House where he and Alan Reed (Kevin Dunne), the Director of Public Relations for the White House, convince him to “play” President Mitchell for the good of the country. When Dave inquires about the Vice President (Ben Kingsley), he is told that the man is mentally unbalanced. Therefore, it will be better for the country if Dave simply does what Bob tells him to do. Reluctantly, Dave agrees and tells his friends and co-workers he is finally taking a much needed vacation. Meanwhile, the Vice President is sent away on some diplomatic missions.

What happens next is truly inspiring. As “President Mitchell”, Dave brings enthusiasm to the office. He makes public appearances and connects with people in a way the real President never did. In fact, the press assumes he is a new man after his “minor stroke.” In addition, Dave winds up winning the friendship and admiration of the First Lady (Sigourney Weaver). Initially, Dave is not worried about pretending to be her husband. That’s because Ellen Mitchell hates her real husband. Their marriage is one of convenience. She has no use for the fact that he has the libido of Bill Clinton and the ethics of Richard Nixon. The couple does not even share a bedroom. However, Ellen realizes out this man is too decent to be her real husband. After Dave starts initiating some great policies and ignoring Bob Alexander, Ellen decides to play along with the charade.

Unfortunately, Bob Alexander is determined to take Dave down. He is angry that this ordinary man has won the respect and support of every one he meets. Dave even wins over the President’s bodyguard, Duane Stevenson (Ving Rhames), who resents being assigned to guard an impostor. Duane later tells Dave that he’d take a bullet for him. Even Alan Reed, Bob’s original co-conspirator, begins to stand up to Bob and side with Dave. This leads to Alexander playing the ultimate “dirty politics.”

Bob Alexander has been planting stories about Vice President Nance being corrupt so that he can get rid of him. Dave learns of this smear campaign and the fact that the “real” Bill Mitchell is in fact the one who’s corrupt. It leads Dave to fire Alexander. Bob Alexander decides that “President Mitchell” is going down too. Alexander then leaks Mitchell’s wrongdoings to the press. At the same time, Bob Alexander plans to announce he will be running for President of the United States.

How does this all end? Well, I don’t want to give away the truly uplifting ending. Suffice it to say that Dave finds a way to clear the Vice President’s name and make sure that Bob Alexander gets what is coming to him. The movie leaves the viewer believing that one man truly can make a difference in our political system. The fact that Dave, the “every man”, can propose a national jobs creation initiative and win support for this cause illustrates the ideal scenario for how our government could work.

The film is filled with some great performances and “guest stars.” Look for numerous cameos by famous politicians, celebrities, and White House reporters from that era. You will see Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, Senator Alan Simpson, Larry King, Helen Thomas, and Arnold Schwarzenegger playing themselves. Perhaps the best cameo was by Oliver Stone. There is a scene where he is trying to convince Larry King that there is a conspiracy and that the President is not the same man he was before. It was a wonderful touch as Stone has been accused so often of promoting conspiracy theories in his films. Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver are in top comedic form as the “sort-of” first couple. However, it is Frank Langella who nearly steals the movie as the corrupt Bob Alexander. Langella is arguably one of the best stage actors of his generation, but rarely gets a movie part worthy of his talent. Luckily, Langella was given the chance to shine in this great part.

Every so often Hollywood gives us that glimpse into the U.S. government at its best. In 1939, Frank Capra gave us Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It gave us James Stewart as a young senator fighting for the common man’s integrity. In 1993, Ivan Reitman gave us Kevin Kline advocating for common sense in our nation’s highest office. One of these days, the people in Washington D.C. might catch up.

Bv Popular Demand - Forever Knight - 90s Cult TV Vampire Series

With all the current fervor over vampire tales on TV and in films, even the prestigious Paley Media Center in New York City has not only scheduled a vampire festival weekend in November, it is also conducting an online poll to select the top TV vampire of all-time! The original selection of nominees included such icons as Angel, Spike, Barnabas Collins, and Count Chocula, as well as current favorites from television's increasing roster of vampire oriented drama, Moonlight and True Blood. Voters were encouraged to write in their favorites if they had been excluded from the list. Apparently there were so many comments regarding the omission of Forever Knight, a series ranked by TV Guide as one of the 25 best cult TV shows of all time, that Nick Knight, the 800-year-old vampire turned Toronto cop, was added by popular demand. Having been an avid fan of the series I was alternately appalled by his absence and pleased by his eventual inclusion. I'm not sure if he will eventually win the poll, but he certainly should be a contender.


The character of Nick Knight first appeared in a 1989 CBS pilot starring Rick Springfield in the title role; however due to lukewarm audience reaction plans were abandoned for a series. Then in 1992 CBS dusted off the shelved pilot and transformed it into a two-part episode called Dark Knight 1 and Dark Knight 2 which evolved into the series Forever Knight airing in CBS's late night lineup Crimetime After Primetime. The series broadcast history is rather convoluted and involves several fan letter writing campaigns to save it, but episodes were shown from 1992 to 1996 although in a somewhat erratic manner.

Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire, seeks redemption for all the evil he has done over the centuries by becoming a night shift Toronto cop, where he can use his considerable powers to track down and punish Toronto's criminal population. At the same time he seeks a medical treatment that will make him human once again. Although the cast changed over the course of its run, several characters remained constant, each having a significant role in Nick's efforts to become mortal. LaCroix the powerful vampire who brought Nick over to the dark side, now a nighttime radio show host catering to a vampire audience, unwilling to allow Nick to abandon immortality and doing everything in his power to stop him. Dr. Natalie Lambert the medical examiner, who first meets Nick in a body bag and eventually joins him in his efforts to find a way back. Nick's partner Detective Schanke, always questioning Nick's unorthodox tactics and confounded by his apparent supernatural powers; still becoming a loyal and dependable friend. And Janette, a sultry vampire always willing to give Nick what he needed in his moments of despair.







Forever Knight became an instant cult favorite when it debuted in May 1992, adding new dimensions to previous depictions of vampires in film and television. Nick was portrayed as a tragic romantic who fought courageously against his bloodlust; but the audience was continually reminded of his bloody and murderous past. Through the use of extremely effective flashbacks, most often taking place in earlier centuries, viewers became familiar with the horror of Nick's existence and came to understand his tortured path back to humanity. Those who accompanied him on this journey were there at the end, a thoroughly unsatisfactory cliffhanger which left many issues unresolved and thousands of fans disappointed and angry.

Forever Knight enthusiasts have found their niche on the internet, websites filled with photos, bios, episode guides, reviews, articles, merchandise, and opinions. Many believe without Forever Knight, there would be no Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood or Vampire Diaries. More than a decade after its last episode was broadcast, stalwart fans still cry foul at the unceremonious cancellation and denigrate CBS's lame attempt to remake the series as the short-lived Moonlight. More than likely, we will not see a resurrection of the original, but the collective voice of its fans was strong enough to convince the Paley Center to add Nick Knight to its list of nominees for best television vampire. The established fan-base is satisfied, and the uninitiated may take the opportunity to learn more about this guy, Nick Knight, who was included by popular demand.

Game Time: Name the Movie!

Some of us at the Café thought it might be fun to try a movie-guessing game. So we’ve devised this slight variation of a game played at several film blogs (and during long trips in my family). Basically, it’s a thinly-disguised version of 20 Questions—but, hey, some remakes are pretty good!

The game will start each Tuesday in November and end the following Saturday. Here are the rules:

1. A Café patron—whom we’ll call the “Film Selector”-- will choose a movie made between 1920 and 1985. His or her selection must be a feature-length, English-language film that’s pretty well-known (no obscure titles like The Snorkel). It cannot be a documentary. The Film Selector must know the chosen movie well, so he or she can answer detailed questions.

2. The Film Selector will start the game on Tuesday by providing: (1) a clue about the film (an actor, an award, a song, a plot point, etc.); (2) the decade the film was released originally (e.g., the 1940s).

3. Each Café patron may then ask up to five “yes or no” questions about the film each day. Phrase your questions wisely. Instead of asking “Is Cary Grant in this movie?”, it may be better to pose “Is Cary Grant, James Stewart, or Clark Gable in this movie?” (Keep in mind, though, that your questions and their answers may help other players, too.)

4. Number your questions when you ask them. For example: “1. Does this film take place in the 20th century?” That will make it easier for the Film Selector to answer your questions.

5. The Film Selector must answer all questions by the end of the day in which they were asked.

6. The first player who guesses the film correctly wins the game and gets to pick the film for the next week. Since all comments have a date/time stamp, that will be used to determine the winner if two or more people guess the film correctly on the same day.

7. If no one guesses the film correctly, the game ends on Saturday night and the Film Selector picks someone to assume his or her role for the next week.

8. If the Film Selector inadvertently answers a question incorrectly, then, well, that’s just the way it goes! We want to minimize that naturally, but there will be no filing of complaints if it happens. Remember, we’re a Café…not a court.

If you have any questions about the rules, please leave a comment. I'll kick the game off with an easy movie tomorrow evening.

A Rebel Takes to the Dance Floor in "Strictly Ballroom"

Scott Hastings is a first-rate ballroom dancer with a problem: He’s a rebel with a cause—and his cause is to expand the boundaries of traditional dancing. Unfortunately, Scott’s goal doesn’t sit well with the Australian Dance Federation nor his dancing partner Liz.

When he gets “boxed in” during a competition, Scott lets loose with some energetic, flashy moves…and promptly gets disqualified. Even worse, Liz walks out on him just weeks before the most important dancing competition of the year—the Pan Pacifics—stating adamantly: “I won’t dance with you until you dance like you’re supposed to.”

Scott’s mother, who operates a small dance studio, is temporarily crushed. She immediately sets out to find a new partner for his son. Unknown to her, the ideal partner is one of her students, a shy inexperienced dancer named Fran. After class one night, Fran approaches Scott about dancing with him. Initially, he brushes her off, but Fran impresses him when she confides: “I want to dance with you—your way—at the Pan Pacifics.”

There is much to enjoy in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom (1992), which works as a quirky comedy, an unlikely romance, and a Cinderella story. At the heart of the film is the marvelous chemistry between leads Paul Mercurio (as Scott) and Tara Morice (as Fran). Ballroom should have done for the charismatic Mercurio what Dirty Dancing did for Patrick Swayze…but, alas, it didn’t. Still, he impresses in Strictly Ballroom, both on the dance floor and in the tender scenes with Morice. She shines , too, and offers a nice vocal on a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”

Indeed, Lauper’s song provides the background for one of my favorite scenes: a practice montage between Scott and Fran that has them dancing on the studio’s rooftop next to a glittering Coca-Cola sign. But then, fine scenes abound in Strictly Ballroom, as evidenced by a Pasodoble duel between Scott and another character—and a closing scene set to Paul Young’s “Love Is in the Air” that always leaves me with a smile.

There are few surprises in Strictly Ballroom, but that’s all right. It’s one of those movies where you can see where it’s headed and you look forward to getting there. And when it ends just the way you imagined, then you have that satisfying feeling inside. That, my film friends, is what a “feel good” movie is all about.

Room 222 (1969-1974)

Classic TV show Room 222 (1969-1974) started out as a comedy which I loved. Then after the first year, it turned into a drama, which I did not care for as much. It is about the life at integrated Walt Whitman High School in Los Angeles, as seen through the eyes of Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes), a black American history teacher whose classes are held in room 222. (The basic plot reminds me of the movie To Sir With Love, starring Sidney Poitier.) Pete used American history class to teach real-life lessons in understanding and tolerance. I thought it was interesting how they used comedy to explore these issues.

The cast of students and teachers were: Pete's girlfriend, the school counselor Liz McIntyre (Denise Nicholas), student-teacher and later English teacher Alice Johnson (Karen Valentine), and principal Seymour Kaufman ( Michael Constantine). Among the students were Helen Loomis (Judy Strangis), Bernie with the wild hair (played by David Jolliffe), Jason Allen ( Heshimu Cumbuka), and genius Richie Lane, ( Howard Rice.)

The show also featured early appearances by Teri Garr, Rob Reiner, and Bob Balaban, along with William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show), Ann Morgan Guilbert (Millie on The Dick Van Dyke Show), and Bernie Koppell (Get Smart, The Love Boat).

Karen Valentine became a fan-favorite worldwide. She was in all of the teen magazines. The series theme song was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

Writer and producer of Room 222 was James Brooks, who has written and produced many popular shows/movies. Just to name a few:

The Simpsons- 445 episodes
Taxi - 111- episodes
Lou Grant -114 episodes
Mary Tyler Moore- 114 episodes
Rhoda -16 episodes

Movies:
As Good As It Gets
Terms of Endearment
Broadcast News

Triva Time Part Nine

Rick, just a reminder your Free Pass is over! So here are this week's questions:

#1. Who played Thomas Magnum's mom?

#2. What position did Magnum play on the US Navel Academy's Football Team?

#3. What was Magnum's favorite "feel good" movie?

#4. What two Mike Post theme Songs did Joey Scarbury sing?

#5. The Mike Post song "School's Out" was from what TV Show? What was special about the show?

#6. Who was the show's star?

#7. Brain Buster #1: How many times did Mike Post revise the Hunter theme?

#8. Brain Buster #2: What "talk show" theme did Mike Post compose?

#9. Brain Buster #3: What 60's show started out with a singing theme in the first season, and then went to a non-singing theme in season two. What network was it on?

#10. Brain Buster #4: What famous Western and film noir actor was part of the supporting cast of this show?

Underrated Performer of the Week: Versatility, Thy Name is Richard Basehart

A nice guy who’s really a homicidal psycho? A soft-hearted clown who consoles the mistreated? An iron-willed, but compassionate, submarine commander? If you needed an actor for any of these roles, you had only to turn to Richard Basehart. During his 37 years in film and television, Basehart quietly displayed his acting versatility—a virtue that attracted acclaimed directors from Samuel Fuller to John Huston to Federico Fellini to Joseph Losey.

Born in 1914, John Richard Basehart grew up in Zanesville, OH, spending some of his childhood in an orphanage because his widowed father was unable to care for all four children (a fifth child died as a baby). Basehart was attracted to acting at an early age, but planned to follow in his father’s footsteps as a newspaper reporter. After a short career in journalism, he realized he couldn’t shake the acting bug. He moved to Philadelphia and then New York, appearing in numerous stage plays. His performance as a dying—but stubborn—Scottish soldier in The Hasty Heart earned him the New York Critics Award for “Most Promising Actor of the Year.” Warner Bros. took notice and signed him to a film contract.

Basehart’s first three films got his screen career off to a fine start. He played a melancholy poet in Repeat Performance (1947), the cult classic about a woman who relives a year over again trying to avert a tragedy the second time around. Basehart next appeared opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Errol Flynn in the entertaining Cry Wolf (though he doesn’t appear until near the climax). His third film earned him his best notices yet as the cold-hearted killer in He Walked By Night (1948), one of the first U.S. films to employ a documentary style to increase realism.

Basehart continued to deliver stellar performances throughout the 1950s. He played a suicidal young man standing on the ledge of a skyscraper in Fourteen Hours (1951). In Tension (1950), he had a rare starring role as a henpecked pharmacist who plots to murder his wife (things don’t work out according to plan…not at all). He got to play the villain again in House on Telegraph Hill (one of my favorite Basehart performances), managing to make an offer of a bedtime glass of orange juice menacing.

Basehart also appeared in his two most famous roles in the 1950s: Ishmael, the “hero” of Moby Dick, in John Huston’s 1956 screen adaptation, and Il Matto (“The Fool”), the clown in Federico Fellini’s classic La Strada (1954)¸ which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film. When Fellini was asked why he cast Basehart in the pivotal role of the clown, the great director said it was because of Basehart’s compelling performance in Fourteen Hours.

Basehart gravitated toward television in the early 1960s and, in 1964, signed on to star as Admiral Harriman Nelson in Irwin Allen’s science-fiction TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Of his role as the stalwart Admiral Nelson, Basehart famously said: “With Shakespeare, there’s more character than an actor can ever plumb. But there’s no greater challenge than making something out of nothing.” (On a personal note: I first became a Basehart fan as a kid watching Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; in fact, I still have my autographed photo with him as the submarine Seaview’s commander).

When Voyage ended its four-year run, Basehart appeared frequently as a TV series guest star, in made-for-TV movies, and in the occasional theatrical film during the 1970s and early 1980s. Shortly before he died following a series of strokes in 1984, he narrated the closing ceremony of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Basehart was married three times. His first wife, Stephanie, died of a brain tumor in 1950. He married Valentina Cortese, his House on Telegraph Hill co-star, in 1951; they divorced in 1960. He married Diane Lotery in 1962 and they were together until his death.

(Program note: Fourteen Hours starring Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Grace Kelly, and Barbara Bel Geddes airs on TCM this Thursday at 8:00 EST.)

The Christmas TV Companion by Joanna Wilson -- A Stocking Full of Christmas Treats (and some tasty lumps of coal)

And now for something completely different -- The Christmas TV Companion: A Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities by Joanna Wilson. The author diligently viewed and researched hundreds of TV episodes, motion pictures, and animated features and shorts, to create a compendium of the charming, offbeat, bizarre, irreverent, offensive and crude interpretations of Christmas and its popular icons, including Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and the Nativity Story. Her entries run the gamut from amazing to thoroughly tasteless; however, they are never dull and often fascinating.

The book is divided into five major chapters, Macabre , Sci-Fi, Variety, Animation, and Dark. Each section includes three subcategories, Kids' Christmas, Hidden Gems, and Make Your Own Marathon, which highlight additional material not previously covered and deserving of a special mention. Some of the well-known Christmas staples are omitted in favor of presenting a worthy list of esoteric, rarely seen, and difficult-to-find holiday fare. The author made sure that the majority of the titles were available for public viewing, either on DVD, VHS or online. The details of each selected title are summarized in paragraphs, ranging in length from one devoted to the Academy award nominated 1993 short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life to an in-depth analysis of the 1978 debacle The Star Wars Holiday Special. She also provides occasional margin notes as further comment on the current topic. Other entries in this eclectic compilation include Mad TV's send-up of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as a Martin Scorsese-directed mobster film, Raging Rudolph; Hard Nut, a revisionist version of The Nutcracker Suite by the highly-regarded Mark Morris Dance Company; a 1958 Christmas episode of the Western TV series Wanted Dead or Alive entitled "8 Cent Reward"; and Carol for Another Christmas, a 1964 made-for-television movie retelling of the Dickens Christmas classic, written by Rod Serling as a film with a political message. It boasted a star-studded cast including Sterling Hayden, Ben Gazzara, Peter Sellars, and Eva Marie Saint.

The above-mentioned titles are merely a micro sample of the wealth of information found in this unique guide. Television enthusiasts searching for unusual Christmas TV and film topics, presented in an informal and entertaining format, should seek out The Christmas TV Companion: A Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities. The extensive index provides references and cross-references to all material contained in the book, the good, the bad, and the ugly of holiday entertainment, offering myriad possibilities for creating personalized Christmas viewing schedules based on family traditions, childhood memories and genre preferences.

This is the first book by Joanna Wilson, a bona fide TV junkie from childhood, who earned a college degree in film and an advanced degree in philosophy. She draws upon these two areas of expertise to provide cogent analysis of the film and television elements which comprise the content of her initial effort as a published writer.

The Christmas TV Companion: A Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials & Outrageous Oddities will be published by 1701 Press on November 10, 2009. This 160-page book retails for $22.00 and can be ordered through Amazon.com and booksellers everywhere.

Trivia Time Part Eight : The Answers.

Another good week at the old trivia contest.

Good work Rick(see I can admit it) ShariLee, and Gilby. Here are the answers to those you missed.

#3. The station was KABC Channel 7 in LA.
#4. Soupy's Network show was on Friday night on ABC.
#7. Brain Buster #3 Composers who have had their work "removed" a short list includes: Elmer Bernstein, Randy Newman, Thomas Newman, John Barry, George Delerue , Hanns Zimmer, Maurice Jarre, James Horner, and Jerry Goldsmith

Rick just remember your free pass is NOW OVER. Good Luck this month.

31 Days of Halloween: The Good Doctors Get Their Just Desserts in The Abominable Dr. Phibes

For the majority of his career, Vincent Price was not taken seriously as an actor and was most often associated with the horror genre. But just watch him in a small role like Laura (1944), which he plays straight, and you’ll witness a fine actor at work. Or have a look at Champagne for Caesar (1950), a rare comedic opportunity for the man, which he pulls off with the greatest of ease.

The lanky gent always brought a touch of class to his pictures. Many of the horror films in which he starred had an otherworldly quality (e.g., 1958's The Fly or 1953's House of Wax), and his acting style grounded these stories. Some critics considered his acting too theatrical, but his particular method made it easy to embrace his characters, men who could rise above the viciously fanatical odds -– like being the only one left to battle a world ripe with vampires in The Last Man on Earth (1964).

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) is Vincent Price at his absolute best. Dr. Anton Phibes is presumed dead from a car crash, but the doctor has survived and is hideously disfigured. He had been speeding to the hospital to see to his sickly wife, Virginia. Unfortunately, Virginia dies, and Phibes blames the doctors and nurse present during the failed operation. He consequently unleashes his vengeance in the form of murders inspired by the Biblical Plagues, such as frogs, locusts, blood, etc. This leads to a number of highly creative death sequences, particularly the one to signify "frogs" (hint: don't accept masks from strangers, even if you've forgotten to wear one to a costume ball).

Price is smashingly good as the determined and crazed titular character. His plan is absurd and unbelievable, but he executes it with such gusto that you cannot help but to completely sympathize with him. One such example of the audience's empathy for Dr. Phibes is a humorous bit when the doctor is leaving a room and returns to offer Dr. Longstreet a look of aversion concerning a relatively brazen painting hanging on the wall. It is difficult as a viewer to not concur with the doctor's apparent distaste for the painting. It is likewise easy to forget that sitting directly under the picture are eight bottles filled with Longstreet's blood, which has been meticulously drained by Dr. Phibes.

Virginia North plays Dr. Phibes' seemingly emotionless and never-speaking assistant, and despite the fact that she has not a single line of dialogue, she is remarkable. Director Robert Fuest offers a stylish interpretation of Dr. Phibes' bloodthirsty setpieces. The only notable shortcoming for the film is a rather bland performance from Joseph Cotton, playing one of the doctor's potential victims. The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a film that can turn a Vincent Price novice into a fan.

A sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, followed the next year and was just as good as the first. Although not an additional sequel, Theatre of Blood (1973) was very similar in terms of plot and style, the story of a former Shakespearean actor targeting his critics with murders based on Shakespeare’s plays. The two Phibes movies and Theatre of Blood would make a first-rate triple feature!

31 Days of Halloween: What Lies in the Shadows in The 7th Victim?

Mary Gibson, attending a Catholic school, is informed that her sister, Jacqueline, has not paid her tuition in six months. Concerned for her sister, who is apparently missing, Mary travels to New York and discovers that Jacqueline has sold her business to a partner. Additionally, she rented a room above an Italian restaurant, changed the lock on the door and left, returning a few times only to dine and pay a monthly rent. Mary pleads with the restaurant owners to open Jacqueline's apartment, Room 7, where they see a single chair sitting underneath a hanging noose. Irving August, a private investigator, wants to help Mary find her sister (mostly because he was told to stay off the case), but things take a turn for the worse when someone is murdered.

Well known producer Val Lewton was hired by RKO Pictures to produce low budget horror films with titles provided by the studio. When the first film, Cat People (1942), proved a hit, Lewton was allowed much control over the pictures. He insisted that the directors cover many scenes in shadows and imply the impending horror, like the attacks in Jacques Tourneur's Leopard Man (1943). But whether or not there was a monster or a physical evil, Lewton's movies all contained a somber ambience and a sense of doom lurking in the dark.

In The 7th Victim (1943), there is a feeling of dread throughout the movie. In the opening scene, Mary learns that her sister, her only living relative, is missing. Jacqueline's room represents the way in which she wants to live, as if she could control her life by knowing when and how she would die. She does not want to be unaware of her time of death, but would rather decide for herself. In a terrific sequence, Mary and the P.I. break into the building housing Jacqueline's company. A long hallway leads to a door (which is the only locked room in the building, according to August), and the hallway is hidden mostly in shadow. Without having a clear reason for being frightened, the two debate on who should be the one to continue down the dark corridor. Another great scene is when Mary is threatened while taking a shower. Predating Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), a silhouette of the character appears on the shower curtain as Mary is harshly told to stop looking for Jacqueline.

Mary does learn about what has happened to her sister, but it is best to watch the film knowing as little as possible. It is a movie which thrives on fear of the unknown, and Mark Robson handles the directing reins wonderfully. With Lewton as producer, he also directed The Ghost Ship (1943), Isle of the Dead (1945) and Bedlam (1946), the latter two starring Boris Karloff. Kim Hunter, in her film debut, gives a strong showing as Mary. Hunter would later earn an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

31 Days of Halloween: Gargoyles Take Flight in an Offbeat 1972 Made-for-TV Film

A rare network TV-movie excursion into visual horror, Gargoyles opens with a prologue that explains the ancient creatures are the devil's offspring and are reborn every 600 years. They exist to “battle against man to gain dominion of the earth.” This theme closely parallels horror writer H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, in which creatures known as The Old Ones lurk in a parallel world, waiting to regain control of this world from mankind.

Set in Mexico, Gargoyles gets off to a slow start, with anthropologist Dr. Mercer Boley (Cornel Wilde) and his daughter Diana (Jennifer Salt from Sisters) visiting an isolated, rundown tourist trap called Uncle Willie's Desert Museum. The skeptical Boley thinks it's a trick when Uncle Willie (Woody Chambliss) shows him the skeleton of a gargoyle, but he's intrigued enough to listen to the old man. Willie tells Boley and Diana about the folklore surrounding Devil's Crossing, an area of mountain caves where strange creatures were believed to live. As night falls and the winds howl, the three humans hear the sound of flapping wings. Something lands on the roof of Willie's shack and a claw tears through the thin aluminum. The shack suddenly caves in on Willie and catches fire. Boley and Diana abandon the old-timer and escape with a gargoyle skull.

Jennifer Salt as Diana.

After another winged creature attacks them on the road, the father and daughter seek safety in a nearby town where they check into the Cactus Motel. The following night, the gargoyles steal the skull, but during their escape, one of the them is struck by a speeding truck. Boley takes the gargoyle corpse back to his motel room and makes immediate plans to transport it to Los Angeles. However, a short time later, the gargoyles return with reinforcements. They knock Boley unconscious, recover the dead gargoyle—and kidnap Diana. Boley’s attempt to rescue his daughter results in an offbeat ending for broadcast television of that era (but I'll leave it at that).

Bernie Casey gives an intelligent performance as the head gargoyle. He exudes menace and generates a surprising amount of sexual tension, especially in a scene in which he kneels over an unconscious Diana and fondles her face and hair. The Emmy-winning Stan Winston make-up is marvelous, complete with wings, horns, a pointy chin, white eyes, and vampiric fangs. Sadly, the supporting gargoyles don't look as good as their leader, undoubtedly the result of a low budget.

Cornel Wilde and Jennifer Salt.

The scenes inside the gargoyles’ lair add some depth to the film. The gargoyles look very human-like as they cuddle their newly-hatched babies. Except for their leader, they don't look or act evil. For a brief part of the film, these lizard-like creatures come across as misunderstood victims. It's only when the head gargoyle threatens Boley that we realize these creatures are mankind's enemies.

I first saw Gargoyles on the CBS Tuesday Night Movie in 1972. It struck me as refreshingly different from the majority of made-for-TV movies. That distinction has only increased over the years—and so has my affection for the film (despite its obvious flaws). I fear, though, that I may be in the minority. That said, I am lucky enough to have family members (especially my wife) who willingly watch it with me because they know I enjoy it. A Gargoyles fan couldn't ask for more!

31 Days of Halloween: Rosemary's Baby

A landmark film of the horror genre, Rosemary's Baby (1968) also marked Roman Polanski's U.S directorial debut. The film, a runaway hit on release, was the prototype that inspired the onslaught of big-budget "A" horror films that followed: The Exorcist, The Omen, etc.

In the tradition of Hitchcock, Polanski achieves his effects with little overt violence and gore but much finesse. Like Hitchcock, Polanski masterfully commandeers the emotions of his audience. Drawn into Rosemary's point of view and her growing alarm, the viewer becomes increasingly aware that something is very wrong but, like Rosemary, doesn't grasp exactly what has happened until the final scenes.

This suspense is propelled by a deliberate ambiguity that implies Rosemary's fright may have a rational explanation (women do have difficult pregnancies), that her fears may be paranoia-based (though related to an infamous Satanist, her neighbors could just be a pair of elderly oddballs). On the other hand, the storyline and action are such that the viewer has difficulty simply writing off Rosemary's anguish to imagination and coincidence. Equally ambiguous throughout much of the film are the majority of the characters. While Rosemary remains constant as the naive young wife, those around her are more enigmatic - from her ambitious actor husband and her intrusive neighbors to her wise and kindly old doctor. Cleverly, several of the most villainous characters are also the most comically eccentric.

The subtle intermingling of suspense with irony and humor is one of the film's distinctive qualities. A few unforgettable scenes: Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and her husband Guy (John Cassavetes) are having dinner with her friend Hutch (Maurice Evans) who describes the Bramford building's ghoulish history (including a pair of sisters who devoured children) as he carves lamb at the dinner table...a graphic and shocking suicide scene in front of the Bramford simultaneously introduces the Castevets: Minnie (Ruth Gordon), dressed and made up in the manner of an over-the-top Christmas tree, and Roman (Sidney Blackmer), clad as though vaudeville was still alive and well...and finally, when Rosemary sees her baby for the first time she, uncomprehending, shrieks, "What have you done to its eyes?" Roman Castevet adroitly responds, "He has his father's eyes"...

Another of the film's delights is its painstaking recreation of the time in which it was set, late 1965 to mid-1966. Costume designer Anthea Sylbert precisely captured that timeframe's contemporary look with Rosemary's short shift dresses (some with peter pan collars), a long and luxurious plaid skirt, red chiffon lounging pajamas. Rosemary has her blunt-cut pageboy snipped short by Vidal Sassoon, she relaxes at home reading Sammy Davis, Jr.'s book Yes, I Can, the Pope's visit to New York is glimpsed on TV, and Time Magazine's famous "Is God Dead?" cover is shown on a waiting room table.

The hand-picked supporting cast includes especially solid performances by Patsy Kelly and Ralph Bellamy. Uncredited but in an acknowledged key role is The Dakota, a famed gothic confection at 72nd and Central Park West. The Dakota starred as the Bramford, and exteriors were shot there. Because filming was not allowed inside, its interiors were recreated at Paramount. Significantly, the film begins and ends with aerial views of the building.

Roman Polanski deftly combined the trademark elements of his style (atmospheric location, psychological distress, irony, dark humor, an endangered and isolated protagonist), his penchant for meticulous craftsmanship and the high gloss afforded by Hollywood to create a masterpiece that has developed a legend all its own over the years...