It’s a nearly perfect tale of identity swaps and royal intrigues: Ronald Colman’s voice is velvet smooth as the poet-rogue François Villon, who uses his wits when dealing with Basil Rathbone’s (very strangely played) Louis XI. The real charm comes with lady-in-waiting Frances Dee (swoon) and the peasant firebrand Ellen Drew (double swoon). And don’t forget the sophisticated, semi-satirical screenplay by Preston Sturges. The refreshing Blu-ray discovery comes with a commentary by Julie Kirgo.
If I Were King
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1938 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 101 min. / Street Date February 7, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew, C.V. France, Henry Wilcoxon, Heather Thatcher, Stanley Ridges, Alma Lloyd, Sidney Toler, John Miljan, Montagu Love, May Beatty, Henry Brandon, Darryl Hickman.
Cinematography: Theodore Sparkuhl
Costumer: Edith Head
Art Directors: Hans Drier, John Goodman
Film Editor: Hugh Bennett
Visual Effects: Gordon Jennings
Original Music:...
If I Were King
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1938 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 101 min. / Street Date February 7, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew, C.V. France, Henry Wilcoxon, Heather Thatcher, Stanley Ridges, Alma Lloyd, Sidney Toler, John Miljan, Montagu Love, May Beatty, Henry Brandon, Darryl Hickman.
Cinematography: Theodore Sparkuhl
Costumer: Edith Head
Art Directors: Hans Drier, John Goodman
Film Editor: Hugh Bennett
Visual Effects: Gordon Jennings
Original Music:...
- 2/18/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
I first watched Mantan Moreland when I was a teenager. My father (born in 1941) grew up on the Charlie Chan series in which Moreland played a Black, nervous, jumpy, and bulging eye assistant to the fortune-cookie accented “Asian” detective. I didn’t know why at the time, but Moreland’s performance for some reason hurt me—and I couldn’t understand how my father could be watching these tasteless low-budget films.
Continue reading ‘Bamboozled’ Is Spike Lee’s Regrettably Timeless Masterpiece at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Bamboozled’ Is Spike Lee’s Regrettably Timeless Masterpiece at The Playlist.
- 4/20/2020
- by Robert Daniels
- The Playlist
In the market for a vacation getaway with some real Hollywood history behind it? Why not rent the sprawling Hollywood Hills estate where Orson Welles not only lived but also reportedly wrote “Citizen Kane”? A curious new listing on home rental website HomeAway is playing up the apparent bonafides of the “Orson Welles Hollywood Hills Estate,” a four-bedroom, three-bathroom mansion that sleeps eight comfortably and can be yours for the relatively affordable asking price of about eight hundred bucks per night.
This 3,000 square foot “old Hollywood gem” was owned by Welles, and then went on to be owned and inhabited by a long list of other Hollywood luminaries, including Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and David Bowie. If nothing else, it sounds like a hell of a joint to try to crank out your own script.
Per the house’s listing, the “Cape Cod-style estate was originally built in...
This 3,000 square foot “old Hollywood gem” was owned by Welles, and then went on to be owned and inhabited by a long list of other Hollywood luminaries, including Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and David Bowie. If nothing else, it sounds like a hell of a joint to try to crank out your own script.
Per the house’s listing, the “Cape Cod-style estate was originally built in...
- 8/15/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.
- 11/4/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Olivia de Havilland picture U.S. labor history-making 'Gone with the Wind' star and two-time Best Actress winner Olivia de Havilland turns 99 (This Olivia de Havilland article is currently being revised and expanded.) Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Olivia de Havilland, the only surviving major Gone with the Wind cast member and oldest surviving Oscar winner, is turning 99 years old today, July 1.[1] Also known for her widely publicized feud with sister Joan Fontaine and for her eight movies with Errol Flynn, de Havilland should be remembered as well for having made Hollywood labor history. This particular history has nothing to do with de Havilland's films, her two Oscars, Gone with the Wind, Joan Fontaine, or Errol Flynn. Instead, history was made as a result of a legal fight: after winning a lawsuit against Warner Bros. in the mid-'40s, Olivia de Havilland put an end to treacherous...
- 7/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Charlie Chan was the literary creation of Earl Derr Biggers, but he also starred in a popular film series. Political correctness be damned as the films, though stilted, are still entertaining. This set nearly completes the series but alas not yet. The short history of Charlie Chan: author Earl Derr Biggers created the Chinese-American sleuth in 1923. It wouldn’t take long till Chan made the jump to the silver screen, but it wouldn’t be until Warner Oland took the role in 1931. His death in 1938 passed the role to Sidney Toler but Fox tired of the series and the bargain basement studio Monogram took the series and Toler. Toler’s death would find Roland Winters taking over the...
- 8/16/2013
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Warner Bros/courtesy Everett C Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows, from left: Noomi Rapace, Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”
The next new “Sherlock Holmes” movie is out, and if you loved the first film, it’s more of what you loved — more slam-bang Victorian action, more whimsically anachronistic dialogue, more sly homoerotic innuendo and of course, more Robert Downey Jr. doing what he does best, which is to say, upend every convention...
The next new “Sherlock Holmes” movie is out, and if you loved the first film, it’s more of what you loved — more slam-bang Victorian action, more whimsically anachronistic dialogue, more sly homoerotic innuendo and of course, more Robert Downey Jr. doing what he does best, which is to say, upend every convention...
- 12/19/2011
- by Jeff Yang
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Charlie Chan is one of the few super sleuths who haven't gotten much press recently. New television and film treatments, even going back several years, feature a lot of the greats, but Chan isn't among them. Though Hollywood is leaving the master of wise one-liners to fade into obscurity, you can now relive some of the classic moments of the Chinese-American detective with the release of the Charlie Chan Collection, part of the TCM Spotlight series. It would be tough to choose among the dozens of Chan films when putting together a set, but the four we have here make for a nice collection, even if they are overly close to each other in terms of release date for a true sampling of the variety. Sidney Toler gave the film series its legs, and we get three of his latest films, including the last he starred in. You've also got...
- 6/15/2010
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)
You wouldn’t think a comedy like Caddyshack (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.98 Srp) would benefit so much from high definition, but the new Blu-Ray benefits from a crystal clear picture that looks better than it ever has previously. To add even more incentive, there’s a new feature-length 30th anniversary documentary featuring most of the principals (sans Bill Murray and Chevy Chase) reminiscing, as well...
(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)
You wouldn’t think a comedy like Caddyshack (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.98 Srp) would benefit so much from high definition, but the new Blu-Ray benefits from a crystal clear picture that looks better than it ever has previously. To add even more incentive, there’s a new feature-length 30th anniversary documentary featuring most of the principals (sans Bill Murray and Chevy Chase) reminiscing, as well...
- 6/11/2010
- by UncaScroogeMcD
Charlie Chan definitely has a place among the pantheon of famous fictional detectives. He is certainly one of the more controversial ones. Although Chan is undoubtedly a hero, many Asians resent the character as an ethnic stereotype. Chan is polite and soft spoken, never lacking an appropriate old Chinese proverb to suit the occasion.
The character of Charlie Chan was created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1923 as a rebuttal to the “Yellow Peril” stereotypes so common in literature of the day, such as Fu Manchu. Biggers lived in Hawaii and resented the unflattering Asian clichés so he invented a benign Chinese Investigator working for the Honolulu Police Force. He wrote several Chan novels. The honorable Chinese Detective became so popular that he was soon adapted into film. There were many Chan films, starting in the silent film era. Early films actually starred Chinese actors but the Audience didn’t respond to Asian Leading men.
The character of Charlie Chan was created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1923 as a rebuttal to the “Yellow Peril” stereotypes so common in literature of the day, such as Fu Manchu. Biggers lived in Hawaii and resented the unflattering Asian clichés so he invented a benign Chinese Investigator working for the Honolulu Police Force. He wrote several Chan novels. The honorable Chinese Detective became so popular that he was soon adapted into film. There were many Chan films, starting in the silent film era. Early films actually starred Chinese actors but the Audience didn’t respond to Asian Leading men.
- 6/5/2010
- by Rob Young
- JustPressPlay.net
Paul Muni, Luise Rainer in The Good Earth The ethnic controversy surrounding the casting of Gérard Depardieu as Alexandre Dumas in Safy Nebbou’s The Other Dumas reminded me of Arthur Dong’s 2007 documentary Hollywood Chinese, which discusses how Caucasian actors usually played major Chinese roles in American movies up to the not-too-distant past. Among those featured in Hollywood Chinese, whether in clips or as talking heads or both, are Paul Muni, Peter Sellers, Nancy Kwan, Luise Rainer, Katharine Hepburn, Turhan Bey, Joan Chen, Ang Lee, Christopher Lee, Sidney Toler, and, inevitably, Warner Oland, the most famous Dr. Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan (for those who know their film history). At a panel discussion held after the Los Angeles’ [...]...
- 2/20/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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