ON THIS DAY in 1894, French artillery officer Alfred Dreyfus was arrested on charges of disclosing military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. The event was dramatized in the 1937 film, THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA, starring Paul Muni.
ON THIS DAY in 1947, U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager, piloting the Glamorous Glennis X-1 rocket-powered experimental aircraft, became the first person to break the sound barrier during level flight. This event was depicted in the 1983 film, THE RIGHT STUFF, with Sam Shepard as Yeagar, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, and Fred Ward.
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1932; starring Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins; directed by Rouben Mamoulian)
This classic “tampering in God’s domain” movie was one of several cinematic explorations of the Robert Louis Stevenson story. This, the first sound version, stars Fredric March in the title roles. March plays Jekyll, the wealthy, compassionate doctor with a dark side. The brainy but overly curious doc decides to expand his practice into areas where he has no expertise, areas that were better left unexplored. As a result of a chemical concoction he self-prescribes, his winning personality spins-off into a second entity that is brutal and lecherous, and without any bedside manners: the depraved Mr. Hyde. Where Jekyll is kind and thoughtful, Hyde is aggressive and relentless, pursuing his prey with joyful abandon. That prey is primarily a young and beautiful woman, Miss Champagne Ivy Pearson (the coquettish Miriam Hopkins). Jekyll’s fascinating transformation is accompanied by the sound of a heartbeat–that of the director himself, Rouben Mamoulian. And so the personality battle rages on, Jekyll to Hyde, Hyde to Jekyll, and back again. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t.
Who wants to wait until the 31st to wallow in Halloween indulgences and scary movies?! Home Projectionist doesn’t! And so we’ll have pairings of 31 Frights and 31 Bites every one of October’s 31 nights: a scary, snack size movie “trick”, and a delicious “treat” to go along with it.
We’re not only celebrating 50 years of bad boy James Bond this year, but it’s also the 50th year of rock ‘n roll bad boys, the Rolling Stones. These may be old guys, but they’re still fascinating to watch.
To recognize the Stones’ impressive milestone, on November 15, HBO is showing its new documentary, CROSSFIRE HURRICANE.
About the film, director Brett Morgan says, “This is not an academic history lesson,” but an opportunity to “experience firsthand the Stones’ nearly mythical journey from outsiders to rock & roll royalty.”
The band also debuted a tour documentary THE ROLLING STONES: CHARLIE IS MY DARLING — IRELAND 1965 as part of the New York Film Festival on September 29.
With these kinds of films available, along with all the archival clips being rolled out on the official Rolling Stones YouTube channel, it’s time to plan your own at-home Stones party. After watching old friends Mick, Keith, and the gang go from fresh faced to craggy, still legends, still appealing, everyone will want to get up and dance when you start playing “Satisfaction.”
ON THIS DAY in 54 A.D., the Roman Emperor, Claudius, was fatally poisoned. Claudius’ death was depicted in the 1976 BBC series, I, CLAUDIUS, starring Derek Jacobi.
THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951; starring James Arness, Kenneth Tobey; directed by Howard Hawks)
Near a cold and very remote Arctic research station, a large, unidentifiable flying object has apparently crashed. Scientists rush to the location and discover that the spacecraft is buried in ice. In the course of setting off thermal devices to free the craft, they’ve destroyed it. However, there’s a body–what appears to be the ship’s pilot. Cutting the body away within its slab of ice, they transport it back to the lab for safekeeping. Scientists being human, after all, they make mistakes. These scientists are, as we can see, no exception to the rule, as they allow a space heater to thaw the ice, uncovering a very large, very unhappy alien being (Gunsmoke’s James Arness), who, it’s soon apparent, dogs don’t like. Is it a letter carrier from another world? As it turns out, it’s more like a vegetable–a sort of carrot, to be precise. This carrot, like most carrots, keeps well in the fridge, and–like most monsters–it runs amok. And this being a 50s sci-fi film (and a very good one), there’s the requisite humanitarian, who begs we refrain from our animal urges and reason with the monster–er, carrot. Thus, he’s an expendable character. But meanwhile an ingenious plan to dispose of this veggie has been devised and implemented, and soon, it’s The End. Or is it? “Keep watching the skies!”, we are warned. Here’s another warning: beware of unwrapping “things”. Like your Zero bar, for instance. You just don’t really know what’s in it.
Who wants to wait until the 31st to wallow in Halloween indulgences and scary movies?! Home Projectionist doesn’t! And so we’ll have pairings of 31 Frights and 31 Bites every one of October’s 31 nights: a scary, snack size movie “trick”, and a delicious “treat” to go along with it.
Good evening. If a director is going to tell a story that will interest the audience, it’s good to have structure. Oh, structure to the plot is good, too, of course. But we’re talking about actual structures. To be more precise, buildings, statues, and monuments. Important ones, impressive ones. Did these monuments, each of which appeared in a Hitchcock film, make an impression on you? Find out by taking this little quiz.
(*The quiz title was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest:“Something wrong with your eyes?” “Yes”, says the sunglass-clad Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant), “They’re sensitive to questions”. As Roger and Eve attempt to escape from Vandamm’s clutches, Roger suddenly realizes where the two of them are: “This is no good, we’re on top of the monument!”)
ON THIS DAY in 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ three ships, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, made landfall on the Bahama Islands. The event was documented in the 1992 Ridley Scott film, 1492:CONQUEST OF PARADISE, starring Gérard Depardieu.
THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932; starring Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart; directed by James Whale)
This group should have checked with Travelocity’s “roaming gnome” before setting out on a nighttime drive through the English countryside. Just in case they were to find themselves on a lonely road in the middle of nowhere during a raging thunderstorm. Murphy’s Law being what it is, that’s exactly what happens to these folks, and as they run into trouble there is nary a Holiday Inn in sight. Luckily (or unluckily, as luck would have it), there’s shelter nearby, in the form of an old, dark… well, you know the rest. And so, what we have here in this terrific, classic film, is a variety of individuals much like those in later movies such as GRAND HOTEL. Except this group’s overnight stay turns out to be much less than grand. The guests include stuffy Raymond Massey, war vet Melvyn Douglas, delicate Gloria Stuart (the elderly Rose in James Cameron’s TITANIC), and the rich, repulsive Charles Laughton. Director James Whale (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN) assembles them in the title location, where they come to realize that the permanent residents of the house (who include an alcoholic Boris Karloff and a pyromaniac) have some unfortunate and disturbing “issues” that will require much more than chocolate therapy–Hershey’s Special Dark or otherwise–to work out.
Who wants to wait until the 31st to wallow in Halloween indulgences and scary movies?! Home Projectionist doesn’t! And so we’ll have pairings of 31 Frights and 31 Bites every one of October’s 31 nights: a scary, snack size movie “trick”, and a delicious “treat” to go along with it.
GODZILLA (1972; with Raymond Burr; directed by Ishiro Honda)
“A bull in a china shop” might be an apt but understated description of this classic and genuinely frightening monster movie. Released in Japan in 1954 as Gojira, the great-grandfather of all Asian giant lizard films came out two years later in the U.S. with the Americanized addition of Raymond Burr. Burr is reporter Steve Martin, broadcasting the story not of King Tut but of the newly-crowned “King of the Monsters”–the 40-story, fire-breathing, upright-walking and ungraceful Godzilla himself. The big-footed, oversized reptile–a victim of post-war a-bomb testing–emits a horrifying growl as he runs amok on his periodic strolls through Tokyo, seeking revenge on whatever person, place or thing strikes his fancy at the moment. The huge success of the film sent Toho Studios on a relentless Godzilla rampage over the years, as countless sequels stomped their way through movie theaters. In each of them, you can count on at least a few of Godzilla’s patented, crispy rice crunches, as he tours, and tears, his way through his beloved Japan. Get in the spirit of things, and imagine yourself to be King of the Monsters as your powerful jaws bite that helpless Crunch bar.
Who wants to wait until the 31st to wallow in Halloween indulgences and scary movies?! Home Projectionist doesn’t! And so we’ll have pairings of 31 Frights and 31 Bites every one of October’s 31 nights: a scary, snack size movie “trick”, and a delicious “treat” to go along with it.
ON THIS DAY in 1985, U.S. Navy jets intercepted the Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers, forcing it to land in Sicily. The 1990 made-for-TV film, VOYAGE OF TERROR: THE ACHILLE LAURO AFFAIR, with Burt Lancaster and Eva Marie Saint, documented the incident.
THE GORE GORE GIRLS (1972; with Henny Youngman; directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis)
Suzie Cream Puff. It’s not the original name for the Goo Goo Cluster. No, Suzie was a stripper. “Was”, ‘cuz now Suzie’s career has been cut short, seeing as how she’s been brutally murdered. The savage killer is on the loose, but a determined and spunky Chicago newspaper reporter has hired a private investigator, albeit a very obnoxious one. Meanwhile, stripper Candy Cane becomes victim number two. This prompts the P.I. to suspect the strip club’s somewhat unstable bartender. His instability is evidenced by the fact that he draws faces on vegetables that he then proceeds to smash with his bare hands. But before you know it, there’s another ghastly murder of yet another stripper. Expanding the investigation, the P.I. questions the Donald Trump of strip clubs, a Mr. Mobilie (played incongruously by Borscht Belt-type comedian Henny Youngman). Nothing more about the story need be revealed (although plenty of other things do get revealed during the course of the film, if you know what we mean). Eventually, the actors face the camera and ask you to leave them alone. You may have already done so by that time. The gooey combo of marshmallow and caramel within a Goo Goo Cluster isn’t to everyone’s taste. The same goes for the gore and guts of this downright trashy, early 70s slasher film.
Who wants to wait until the 31st to wallow in Halloween indulgences and scary movies?! Home Projectionist doesn’t! And so we’ll have pairings of 31 Frights and 31 Bites every one of October’s 31 nights: a scary, snack size movie “trick”, and a delicious “treat” to go along with it.
ON THIS DAY in 1940, John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England. The 2009 film, NOWHERE BOY, with Aaron Johnson and Kristin Scott Thomas, documented the early days of Lennon’s life.
ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968; Mia Farrow, John Cassavettes, Ruth Gordon; directed by Roman Polanski)
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Am I paranoid… or are they all in it together?!?”, this unnerving film will most likely not help your condition. It begins when Mrs. Rosemary Woodhouse (Farrow) and her aspiring, talented stage actor husband, Guy (Cassavetes) sign a lease at Manhattan’s vintage Bramford Apartments (in reality the Dakota). In short order, the bright, young couple are greeted by their elderly neighbors, the eccentric Castevets, Minnie (Ruth Gordon) and Roman. Minnie’s a busy body, but seems harmless enough. Roman’s jolly but a bit stuffy. At first, Rosemary and Guy are amused. Soon though, Guy is spending more time with the ritualistic Roman and less with his now pregnant wife. The expectant Rosemary accepts the gift of a peculiar necklace from the intrusive Minnie, who sends Rosemary to an unusual sort of baby doctor (Ralph Bellamy). Strange (and deadly) things happen. Now very isolated and increasingly worried, Rosemary loses weight and begins to wonder whether she’s lost her mind. Chocolate mousse, as you will see, would be the devilish choice here. But since that’d be difficult to handle, we instead recommend R. Crumb’s Devil Girl Choco-Bar. “It’s BAD for you!”, says the label. If only Rosemary had gotten the same advice about socializing with Minnie and Roman.
Who wants to wait until the 31st to wallow in Halloween indulgences and scary movies?! Home Projectionist doesn’t! And so we’ll have pairings of 31 Frights and 31 Bites every one of October’s 31 nights: a scary, snack size movie “trick”, and a delicious “treat” to go along with it.
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