But I also saw Once Upon a Time in the West and that was incredible: A thousand times better than the last movie and that may of been the greatest western movie I ever saw. Just yesterday I got my WinDVD going again as I paid by subscription and the reason I bring this up is that it comes with a feature in which you can take images for any DVD movie and make them into a screenshot. I am going to try to do that, as I will post some screenshots from my 60's movies on DVD and especially some of the opening credit sequences that were done by Saul Bass, Maurice Binder, and Pablo Ferro. Also, on the video options you can change the tint of the color like for example, you change the color that would normally be seen on a TV and changed it to what it looks on a HDTV (LCD). So that is the lowdown of what is happening. Merry Christmas to everyone that has read this.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Have a Nice Christmas
So it is Christmas Eve and I hope everyone will have a nice holiday. I recently watched that movie Cactus Flower and I hated it so much that I stopped the movie 30 minutes into it.
But I also saw Once Upon a Time in the West and that was incredible: A thousand times better than the last movie and that may of been the greatest western movie I ever saw. Just yesterday I got my WinDVD going again as I paid by subscription and the reason I bring this up is that it comes with a feature in which you can take images for any DVD movie and make them into a screenshot. I am going to try to do that, as I will post some screenshots from my 60's movies on DVD and especially some of the opening credit sequences that were done by Saul Bass, Maurice Binder, and Pablo Ferro. Also, on the video options you can change the tint of the color like for example, you change the color that would normally be seen on a TV and changed it to what it looks on a HDTV (LCD). So that is the lowdown of what is happening. Merry Christmas to everyone that has read this.
But I also saw Once Upon a Time in the West and that was incredible: A thousand times better than the last movie and that may of been the greatest western movie I ever saw. Just yesterday I got my WinDVD going again as I paid by subscription and the reason I bring this up is that it comes with a feature in which you can take images for any DVD movie and make them into a screenshot. I am going to try to do that, as I will post some screenshots from my 60's movies on DVD and especially some of the opening credit sequences that were done by Saul Bass, Maurice Binder, and Pablo Ferro. Also, on the video options you can change the tint of the color like for example, you change the color that would normally be seen on a TV and changed it to what it looks on a HDTV (LCD). So that is the lowdown of what is happening. Merry Christmas to everyone that has read this.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Sorry It's Been So Long
It has been over a month since I last wrote. Sorry about that since they have been lots of things going on including watching more 60's movies. I will try to come up with more subjects.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Breaking News: Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonionni Die
Been looking all through the Web and I was saddened to hear that Swedish director Ingmar Bergman has died today at the age of 89. And to add more gasoline to the fire, Italian director Michelangelo Antonionni has also died yesterday at the age of 95. According to Roger Ebert in today's tribute, Antonionni died shortly after Bergman did. Very sad. Just when society couldn't get much worse.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Remembering 1967
It is a shock to believe that the sixties are four decades old. It's memories, some bad, are keeping it fresh. Not to mention that it's been 40 years have passed of the crucial year of 1967. Not only in society, but for movies. In this posting, I share with you the best, worst, most contraversial, and forgotten classics. For me the best year in that decade of film was actually the previous year of 1966. But in 1967 everything and the old ways of film were falling apart. In the coming postings I'll take a close look at these films.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Swedish Actresses (And One Male Actor!) of the 60's
In a follow up to my previous post "Forgotten British Actresses of the 60's" I've decided on doing another one. This time we head east to the upper tier of Europe and to the country with the most blonde hair people (including men) in the world: Sweden. No surprise to cinema the country produced two great actresses: Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman. As well as a director that would put a stamp on the 60's: Ingmar Bergman. That leads us to our profiles which include:
Bibi Andersson
Ewa Aulin
Anita Ekberg
Brit Ekland
Lena Nyman
Ann-Margaret (Olsson)
Camilla Sparv
Inger Stevens
It also includes a profile of Max Von Sydow; who broke through in the decade.
Bibi Andersson
Born Elisabeth Andersson in Stockholm in 1935, Bibi Andersson studied acting at the Terserus Drama School and then at the Royal Dramatic Theater school in Stockholm. After she went to school Andersson went to the actual Royal Dramatic School; where she stayed there for 30 years. In 1951, the 16 year-old Andersson met a Swedish director named Ingmar Bergman. As the 1950's ended she was in his first two acclaimed films-The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.
Then in 1966, she played Alma-a nurse who cares Liv Ullman's character in what has been arguably Bergman's greatest film: Persona.
That opened the door to more movies that included Duel at Diablo, The Kremlin Letter, and the Robert Altman film Quintet. In 1973, she did her first play in the U.S. with "Full Circle". In 1990, she became a theater director in Stockholm. In the late-80's she continued to work along side Ingmar Bergman and in 1996, she published her autobiography "A Moment".
Andersson has been married three times and is currently married to Gabirel Mora Baeza.
Ewa Aulin
Born in Landskrona in the providence of Skane Ian on February 13, 1950 Ewa Aulin was a charming blonde, and much like what Goldie Hawn would become in America and Susan George and Judy Geeson in Britain during the era. She was named Miss Teen Sweden and cashed in by becoming an actress. She did small roles in America and Italy that included
With Heart in Mouth and Death Laid an Egg. Then in 1968, she played the title character in the adaptation of Terry Southern's notorious Candy.
It was a film that she co-stared Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, James Coburn, Walter Matthau, director John Huston, Ringo Starr, and John Astin. In 1970, she co-stared with Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland in the period comedy Start the Revolution Without Me.
Aulin appeared in more movies(Death Smiled at Murder, Blood Castle) before she stopped acting after 1973.
Anita Ekberg
Anita Ekberg became the decade's first sex bomb. Born Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg in 1931 in the city and area of Malmo, Skane Anita Ekberg was the sixth of eight children and the oldest girl. When she was a teen, she began modeling and in 1950, she was told by her mother to enter the Miss Malmo competition which would lead to the Miss Sweden contest. Not surprisingly, she won both awards and headed to America for the Miss Universe pageant. She didn't win but executives at Universal Pictures were there and they gave her a film contract. She then meet filmmaker/aviator Howard Hughes. He wanted to change her name but she refused because as she pointed out, if she wanted to be famous, the people had to learn how to say her last name. While at Universal, she was taught how to act. It was here that she caught the attention of director Russ Meyer who said that he never seen any woman as beautiful as her (her bust was 40D!). Ekberg became a popular pin up during the 1950's. Then she was moved to Paramount where she did the movies Artists and Models and Hollywood or Bust; which it just happened to be the last two movies with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Then she was given a small part in the John Wayne film Blood Alley with Lauren Bacall in 1955 (she would win a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer). Then the next year, she went to Rome, Italy to film the epic War and Peace with Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda; while the producer and director was Dino DeLauentis and King Vidor. More film roles follow and then in 1960, Italian director Federico Fellini gave Ekberg the role of a American actress in his groundbreaking foreign film La Dolce Vita. This was the movie in which she tempts Marcello Mastroianni and then the signature moment in which she walks in the Trevi Fountain while wearing her black strapless gown. She went to do three more movies with him: Boccaccio '70 in 1962, I Clowns a decade later, and Intervista in 1987. In 1963, she co-stared again with Dean Martin, along with Frank Sinatra and Ursula Andress in the western-comedy 4 For Texas. She had been twice and that included actor Rick Van Nutter. She continues to act and has made a request to be buried in her home country even though she hasn't live there all the time since the early-1950's.
Britt Ekland
Born Brittany Marie Ekland in 1942, Britt Ekland was a stuggling actress in Sweden when she moved to England in the early-1960's. Then she began a relationship with actor-comedian Peter Sellers shortly after he got divorced. The two married in 1964. They had a daughter named Victoria and did two movies: After the Fox in 1966 and The Bobo the next year. But the relationship was a disater as Ekland found out the hard way of just how complicated Sellers' life was, and it came to a head when they divorced in 1968 and Sellers had his first heart attack after the divorce became final (both movies were flops by the way). She returned to acting in movies including The Night They Raided Minskys in 1968. In 1971, she co-stared with Michael Caine in the action film Get Carter. She played Anna, in which during one scene she gives phone sex to Caine's title character and then dubious film history occurs when Ekland masterbates with her breasts. In 1973, she co-stared in the original horror movie The Wicker Man (her voice was dubbed in English). The next year, she played the Bond Girl Mary Goodnight in the 007 film The Man With the Golden Gun. During the 1970's Ekland became the most viewed actresses in the world and it included a merry-go-round of relationships that included music producer Lou Alder; in which she had a son named Nicholas in 1973 but never married. In 1975, she met singer Rod Stewart after her friend-actress Joan Collins introduced him. She did the background vocals to his 1976 hit song "Tonight's the Night" and yet, they broke up the next year. Then more relationships followed that included Simon Turner, John Waite, and Les McKeown. As the 80's dawned Ekland continue to go to men like chewing gum. It included being engaged to rocker Phil Lewis before they broke up in 1981 then married and divorced another rocker-Slim Jim Phantom in which they had a son named Tom. In 1980, she published her autobiography "True Britt" and in 1984, she followed in Jane Fonda's footsteps by writing a fitness book. In recent years, Ekland has become friends to Ozzy Osborne and his wife/manager Sharon and also has continued to do stage work in England.
Lena Nyman
Born in 1944 Lena Nyman, like Ewa Aulin was another young Swedish actress with striking looks. She begin acting in Swedish films when she was just 11. In 1964, new Swedish director Vilgot Sjoman gave the 20 year-old actress a role in his movie 491. Impressed by how it went, Sjoman wrote her a role for his next movie that would become the cinema outrage of the decade: I Am Curious (Yellow) in 1967. She plays Anna-a Swede girl who realizes that the country and the world is falling apart and she loves her boyfriend Borje (Borje Ahlstedt) so much, they experiement having sex (where the outrage comes in since the director shows them nude with their private parts, as well as intercourse and brief oral sex). It would be followed by I Am Curious (Blue) the next year. Then in the 1970's she did a number of plays in Sweden for Hans Alfredson and Tage Danielsson. In 1978, she co-stared with Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann in Autumn Sonata-directed by Ingmar Bergman.
Ann-Margaret
Born Ann Margaret Olsson in 1941 in the town of Valsjobyn, Jamtland Ann-Margaret was by far the best actress to ever come out of the country during the 60's. She grew up in an area of lumberjacks and farmers. When she was a toddler, the Olssons moved to America and then peramnently in 1946 since her family had a job to work in the U.S. The family moved to a suburb in Chicago when Margaret became a U.S. citizen at the age of eight. She briefly took classes at Northwestern Universary before she wanted to go into show bizness. Her big break came when she appeared on "Ted Mack's Original Amatuar Hour" in 1960. Then she appeared on Jack Benny's TV show the next year and opened with George Burns in Las Vegas. That same year she appeared in her first film Pockful of Miracles; which turned out to be Frank Capra's last film as director. In 1962, she co-stared with Bobby Darin and Pat Boone in the remake of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical State Fair. Then she became a huge star when she appeared in the musical Bye Bye Birdle. And in 1964, she co-stared with Elvis Presley in the musical Viva Las Vegas. A serious relationship followed before they broke up and it was because "The King" feared that had he married her they would fight over who had the bigger ego. More movie roles followed including Kitten With a Whip in 1964, The Cincinnati Kid the next year, Stagecoach and Murderer's Row in 1966 (she even was animated on "The Flintstones" as Ann-Margrock in 1963). The defining A.M. moment occurred in The Swinger that same year in which she rolled around in paint! The next year, she married actor Roger Smith (and after 40 years they're still married!) and that same year, she did her first concert show in Las Vegas. Her film career began to dry up a bit as the 60's ended but in 1971 she came back in a big way when she co-stared in the drama Carnal Knowledge. She received her first Oscar nomination but the next year, she was in Lake Tahoe, NV when she got into a nasty accident in which she fell 22 feet from the stage and was badly injured. Eventually, she recovered and continue to perform. In 1975, she reteamed with Carnal Knowledge co-star Jack Nicholson for the Rock opera Tommy directed by Ken Russell. She was nominated again for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a musical/comedy. In 1994, she published her autobiography "Ann Margret: My Story" and recently, she did the movie Mem-o-re with Billy Zane and Dennis Hopper.
Camilla Sparv
Born in Stockholm in 1943 Camilla Sparv was a stunning blonde who went to Hollywood in the 1960's. She was then sign to Columbia and not to mention, married producer Robert Evans that became a big bust. In 1966, she made her first film by co-starring with Rosalind Russell and Stella Stevens in the comedy The Trouble With Angels. That same year she played French femme fatale Coco Duquette in the Matt Helm film Murderer's Row with Dean Martin and then co-stared with James Coburn in Columbia's black comedy Dead Heat On a Merry-Go-Round. In 1968, she co-stared in Assignment K and The High Commissioner. The next year she was in MacKenna's Gold with Gregory Peck and Downhill Racer with Robert Redford before she went back to Sweden. In the mid-70's she returned to acting and onto a bunch of TV roles including the televison remake of "Valley of the Dolls" (which also had James Coburn).
Inger Stevens
Born Inger Stensland in 1934 and also in Stockholm, Inger Stevens was a talented actress. But her life was filled with trouble from the beginning as she was ill many times as a child and her parents divorced and she moved to the U.S. with her father when she was child. She went to high school in Manhattan, Kansas before going to New York (the other Manhattan) where she worked as a cabaret dancer. Then Stevens began to work in commericals, plays, and TV before she got her first movie role with Bing Crosby Man On Fire. More movie roles followed and in 1961, she stared in the TV sitcom "The Farmer's Daughter" where it stayed on until 1966. Stevens turned this into more bigger movie roles that included A Guide For the Married Man with Walter Matthau in 1967, Madigan with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark in 1968, and the westerns Five Card Stud, Firecreek (again with Fonda), and Hang 'Em High that same year. Then in April 1970, the unthinkable happened: Inger Stevens was found dead in her bad after overdosing on sleeping pills. It came around the time she was dating actor Burt Reynolds (it was one of many bricks in a wall for his unreal life). Just like say Carol White, she bascially faded away.
Bonus Profile: Max von Sydow
Born Max Carl Adolf von Sydow in Lund, Skane in 1929 Max von Sydow was raised to a tidy family. He went to Catholic school in Lund as a child and before he was twenty, Sydow went to The Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm start acting. Then he began his film career in small roles in 1949. Two years later, he married actress Kerstin Olin. Then in 1955, Von Sydow moved to Malmo where he meet director Ingmar Bergman. His first role with him would take place on stage at the Malmo Municipal Theatre. Then he appeared in his movies The Seventh Seal in 1957, Wild Strawberries the same year and The Virgin Spring in 1960. It was with these roles that set the pattern for his film career. Then in the mid-60's Von Sydow made the crossover to Hollywood and in 1965, he played Jesus in director George Stevens' mammath epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (he later played the Devil in the adaptation of the Stephen King novel Needful Things). He then moved to Los Angeles with his family and the next year, he played a preacher alongside Julie Andrews in another epic: Hawaii. That same year, he played the villain Oktober in the Cold War drama The Quiller Memorandum. More movie roles followed in America and Sweden. Then in 1973, he played the title character in the movie The Exorcist-one of the greatest horror movies of all time and one of the best movies of the 70's. He would play it again in the sequal Exorcist II-The Herotic. The 80's saw him in the sci-fi movie Dune in 1984, the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986, and even in the SCTV comedy Strange Brew with Rick Morantis and Dave Thomas. In 1996, he divorced from his wife Kerstin and later married French filmmaker Catherine Brelet (they have two sons). That same year, he stared in the play written by Bergman alumn Liv Ullmann "Private Confessions". He continues to act today.
Well, that is it. I will stop here.
Bibi Andersson
Ewa Aulin
Anita Ekberg
Brit Ekland
Lena Nyman
Ann-Margaret (Olsson)
Camilla Sparv
Inger Stevens
It also includes a profile of Max Von Sydow; who broke through in the decade.
Bibi Andersson
Born Elisabeth Andersson in Stockholm in 1935, Bibi Andersson studied acting at the Terserus Drama School and then at the Royal Dramatic Theater school in Stockholm. After she went to school Andersson went to the actual Royal Dramatic School; where she stayed there for 30 years. In 1951, the 16 year-old Andersson met a Swedish director named Ingmar Bergman. As the 1950's ended she was in his first two acclaimed films-The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.
Then in 1966, she played Alma-a nurse who cares Liv Ullman's character in what has been arguably Bergman's greatest film: Persona.
That opened the door to more movies that included Duel at Diablo, The Kremlin Letter, and the Robert Altman film Quintet. In 1973, she did her first play in the U.S. with "Full Circle". In 1990, she became a theater director in Stockholm. In the late-80's she continued to work along side Ingmar Bergman and in 1996, she published her autobiography "A Moment".
Andersson has been married three times and is currently married to Gabirel Mora Baeza.
Ewa Aulin
Born in Landskrona in the providence of Skane Ian on February 13, 1950 Ewa Aulin was a charming blonde, and much like what Goldie Hawn would become in America and Susan George and Judy Geeson in Britain during the era. She was named Miss Teen Sweden and cashed in by becoming an actress. She did small roles in America and Italy that included
With Heart in Mouth and Death Laid an Egg. Then in 1968, she played the title character in the adaptation of Terry Southern's notorious Candy.
It was a film that she co-stared Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, James Coburn, Walter Matthau, director John Huston, Ringo Starr, and John Astin. In 1970, she co-stared with Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland in the period comedy Start the Revolution Without Me.
Aulin appeared in more movies(Death Smiled at Murder, Blood Castle) before she stopped acting after 1973.
Anita Ekberg
Anita Ekberg became the decade's first sex bomb. Born Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg in 1931 in the city and area of Malmo, Skane Anita Ekberg was the sixth of eight children and the oldest girl. When she was a teen, she began modeling and in 1950, she was told by her mother to enter the Miss Malmo competition which would lead to the Miss Sweden contest. Not surprisingly, she won both awards and headed to America for the Miss Universe pageant. She didn't win but executives at Universal Pictures were there and they gave her a film contract. She then meet filmmaker/aviator Howard Hughes. He wanted to change her name but she refused because as she pointed out, if she wanted to be famous, the people had to learn how to say her last name. While at Universal, she was taught how to act. It was here that she caught the attention of director Russ Meyer who said that he never seen any woman as beautiful as her (her bust was 40D!). Ekberg became a popular pin up during the 1950's. Then she was moved to Paramount where she did the movies Artists and Models and Hollywood or Bust; which it just happened to be the last two movies with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Then she was given a small part in the John Wayne film Blood Alley with Lauren Bacall in 1955 (she would win a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer). Then the next year, she went to Rome, Italy to film the epic War and Peace with Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda; while the producer and director was Dino DeLauentis and King Vidor. More film roles follow and then in 1960, Italian director Federico Fellini gave Ekberg the role of a American actress in his groundbreaking foreign film La Dolce Vita. This was the movie in which she tempts Marcello Mastroianni and then the signature moment in which she walks in the Trevi Fountain while wearing her black strapless gown. She went to do three more movies with him: Boccaccio '70 in 1962, I Clowns a decade later, and Intervista in 1987. In 1963, she co-stared again with Dean Martin, along with Frank Sinatra and Ursula Andress in the western-comedy 4 For Texas. She had been twice and that included actor Rick Van Nutter. She continues to act and has made a request to be buried in her home country even though she hasn't live there all the time since the early-1950's.
Britt Ekland
Born Brittany Marie Ekland in 1942, Britt Ekland was a stuggling actress in Sweden when she moved to England in the early-1960's. Then she began a relationship with actor-comedian Peter Sellers shortly after he got divorced. The two married in 1964. They had a daughter named Victoria and did two movies: After the Fox in 1966 and The Bobo the next year. But the relationship was a disater as Ekland found out the hard way of just how complicated Sellers' life was, and it came to a head when they divorced in 1968 and Sellers had his first heart attack after the divorce became final (both movies were flops by the way). She returned to acting in movies including The Night They Raided Minskys in 1968. In 1971, she co-stared with Michael Caine in the action film Get Carter. She played Anna, in which during one scene she gives phone sex to Caine's title character and then dubious film history occurs when Ekland masterbates with her breasts. In 1973, she co-stared in the original horror movie The Wicker Man (her voice was dubbed in English). The next year, she played the Bond Girl Mary Goodnight in the 007 film The Man With the Golden Gun. During the 1970's Ekland became the most viewed actresses in the world and it included a merry-go-round of relationships that included music producer Lou Alder; in which she had a son named Nicholas in 1973 but never married. In 1975, she met singer Rod Stewart after her friend-actress Joan Collins introduced him. She did the background vocals to his 1976 hit song "Tonight's the Night" and yet, they broke up the next year. Then more relationships followed that included Simon Turner, John Waite, and Les McKeown. As the 80's dawned Ekland continue to go to men like chewing gum. It included being engaged to rocker Phil Lewis before they broke up in 1981 then married and divorced another rocker-Slim Jim Phantom in which they had a son named Tom. In 1980, she published her autobiography "True Britt" and in 1984, she followed in Jane Fonda's footsteps by writing a fitness book. In recent years, Ekland has become friends to Ozzy Osborne and his wife/manager Sharon and also has continued to do stage work in England.
Lena Nyman
Born in 1944 Lena Nyman, like Ewa Aulin was another young Swedish actress with striking looks. She begin acting in Swedish films when she was just 11. In 1964, new Swedish director Vilgot Sjoman gave the 20 year-old actress a role in his movie 491. Impressed by how it went, Sjoman wrote her a role for his next movie that would become the cinema outrage of the decade: I Am Curious (Yellow) in 1967. She plays Anna-a Swede girl who realizes that the country and the world is falling apart and she loves her boyfriend Borje (Borje Ahlstedt) so much, they experiement having sex (where the outrage comes in since the director shows them nude with their private parts, as well as intercourse and brief oral sex). It would be followed by I Am Curious (Blue) the next year. Then in the 1970's she did a number of plays in Sweden for Hans Alfredson and Tage Danielsson. In 1978, she co-stared with Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann in Autumn Sonata-directed by Ingmar Bergman.
Ann-Margaret
Born Ann Margaret Olsson in 1941 in the town of Valsjobyn, Jamtland Ann-Margaret was by far the best actress to ever come out of the country during the 60's. She grew up in an area of lumberjacks and farmers. When she was a toddler, the Olssons moved to America and then peramnently in 1946 since her family had a job to work in the U.S. The family moved to a suburb in Chicago when Margaret became a U.S. citizen at the age of eight. She briefly took classes at Northwestern Universary before she wanted to go into show bizness. Her big break came when she appeared on "Ted Mack's Original Amatuar Hour" in 1960. Then she appeared on Jack Benny's TV show the next year and opened with George Burns in Las Vegas. That same year she appeared in her first film Pockful of Miracles; which turned out to be Frank Capra's last film as director. In 1962, she co-stared with Bobby Darin and Pat Boone in the remake of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical State Fair. Then she became a huge star when she appeared in the musical Bye Bye Birdle. And in 1964, she co-stared with Elvis Presley in the musical Viva Las Vegas. A serious relationship followed before they broke up and it was because "The King" feared that had he married her they would fight over who had the bigger ego. More movie roles followed including Kitten With a Whip in 1964, The Cincinnati Kid the next year, Stagecoach and Murderer's Row in 1966 (she even was animated on "The Flintstones" as Ann-Margrock in 1963). The defining A.M. moment occurred in The Swinger that same year in which she rolled around in paint! The next year, she married actor Roger Smith (and after 40 years they're still married!) and that same year, she did her first concert show in Las Vegas. Her film career began to dry up a bit as the 60's ended but in 1971 she came back in a big way when she co-stared in the drama Carnal Knowledge. She received her first Oscar nomination but the next year, she was in Lake Tahoe, NV when she got into a nasty accident in which she fell 22 feet from the stage and was badly injured. Eventually, she recovered and continue to perform. In 1975, she reteamed with Carnal Knowledge co-star Jack Nicholson for the Rock opera Tommy directed by Ken Russell. She was nominated again for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a musical/comedy. In 1994, she published her autobiography "Ann Margret: My Story" and recently, she did the movie Mem-o-re with Billy Zane and Dennis Hopper.
Camilla Sparv
Born in Stockholm in 1943 Camilla Sparv was a stunning blonde who went to Hollywood in the 1960's. She was then sign to Columbia and not to mention, married producer Robert Evans that became a big bust. In 1966, she made her first film by co-starring with Rosalind Russell and Stella Stevens in the comedy The Trouble With Angels. That same year she played French femme fatale Coco Duquette in the Matt Helm film Murderer's Row with Dean Martin and then co-stared with James Coburn in Columbia's black comedy Dead Heat On a Merry-Go-Round. In 1968, she co-stared in Assignment K and The High Commissioner. The next year she was in MacKenna's Gold with Gregory Peck and Downhill Racer with Robert Redford before she went back to Sweden. In the mid-70's she returned to acting and onto a bunch of TV roles including the televison remake of "Valley of the Dolls" (which also had James Coburn).
Inger Stevens
Born Inger Stensland in 1934 and also in Stockholm, Inger Stevens was a talented actress. But her life was filled with trouble from the beginning as she was ill many times as a child and her parents divorced and she moved to the U.S. with her father when she was child. She went to high school in Manhattan, Kansas before going to New York (the other Manhattan) where she worked as a cabaret dancer. Then Stevens began to work in commericals, plays, and TV before she got her first movie role with Bing Crosby Man On Fire. More movie roles followed and in 1961, she stared in the TV sitcom "The Farmer's Daughter" where it stayed on until 1966. Stevens turned this into more bigger movie roles that included A Guide For the Married Man with Walter Matthau in 1967, Madigan with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark in 1968, and the westerns Five Card Stud, Firecreek (again with Fonda), and Hang 'Em High that same year. Then in April 1970, the unthinkable happened: Inger Stevens was found dead in her bad after overdosing on sleeping pills. It came around the time she was dating actor Burt Reynolds (it was one of many bricks in a wall for his unreal life). Just like say Carol White, she bascially faded away.
Bonus Profile: Max von Sydow
Born Max Carl Adolf von Sydow in Lund, Skane in 1929 Max von Sydow was raised to a tidy family. He went to Catholic school in Lund as a child and before he was twenty, Sydow went to The Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm start acting. Then he began his film career in small roles in 1949. Two years later, he married actress Kerstin Olin. Then in 1955, Von Sydow moved to Malmo where he meet director Ingmar Bergman. His first role with him would take place on stage at the Malmo Municipal Theatre. Then he appeared in his movies The Seventh Seal in 1957, Wild Strawberries the same year and The Virgin Spring in 1960. It was with these roles that set the pattern for his film career. Then in the mid-60's Von Sydow made the crossover to Hollywood and in 1965, he played Jesus in director George Stevens' mammath epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (he later played the Devil in the adaptation of the Stephen King novel Needful Things). He then moved to Los Angeles with his family and the next year, he played a preacher alongside Julie Andrews in another epic: Hawaii. That same year, he played the villain Oktober in the Cold War drama The Quiller Memorandum. More movie roles followed in America and Sweden. Then in 1973, he played the title character in the movie The Exorcist-one of the greatest horror movies of all time and one of the best movies of the 70's. He would play it again in the sequal Exorcist II-The Herotic. The 80's saw him in the sci-fi movie Dune in 1984, the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986, and even in the SCTV comedy Strange Brew with Rick Morantis and Dave Thomas. In 1996, he divorced from his wife Kerstin and later married French filmmaker Catherine Brelet (they have two sons). That same year, he stared in the play written by Bergman alumn Liv Ullmann "Private Confessions". He continues to act today.
Well, that is it. I will stop here.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Westerns of the 60's: McClintock!
By the early 1960's John Wayne had been in almost 150 movies (most of them were cheap westerns). But after when his 1960 western-comedy North to Alaska was a hit, "The Duke" was looking for a movie that could capitalize its success. With help from his oldest son Michael, Wayne wanted to make a western-comedy based on the William Shakespere play "The Taming of the Shrew". The result would turn out to be McClintock! I really enjoyed it. Best thing about it was the antics that Maureen O'Hara gets into.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Good News
Well, I am happy to tell you that after three weeks I am returning to write more blogs. I will begin tomorrow, so tell your friends.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Going on Summer Break
As it becomes accustomed to all who write blogs here on Blogger, I am going on vacation and putting this on hold. I feel that after four months I've really pumped a lot of stories related to movies in the 60's. I'll write my next posting in about two weeks so that I can catch up on watching the actually 60's movies that I have. So see you later.
("Don't bother me. I am taking a rest for summer.")
("I'm going on vacation. Do you have a problem with 'dat?")
("Don't bother me. I am taking a rest for summer.")
("I'm going on vacation. Do you have a problem with 'dat?")
Friday, June 22, 2007
England Swings: Gambit
By the mid-60's comedy (as I said earlier) was on the decline and it took a brilliant idea to revive it: Combined the genre with mystery. One of those movies was Gambit. Released by Universal in 1966 the film was directed by Ronald Neame. Ironically, this is probably the only British movie in the 60's that was filmed in Hollywood (it was shot at the Universal sound stage in Universal City). The story begins with Harry Dean (Michael Caine) a British thief who wants to steal a very priceless sculpture and he needs someone to help him. He then chooses Nicole(Shirley MacLaine) a European girl who dresses in Asian clothing.
Harry thinks she is the right person but looks can be deceiving.
Herbert Lom plays Ahmad Shahbander-a Middle Eastern oilman who doesn't know he is being robbed by Dean. In case you are wondering the item that Caine's character wants to steal is a bust of Shahbander's dead wife which as he what Lom's character explains, she barred a close resemblence of Nicole.
I saw the movie last fall and it was good.
I heard that MacLaine chose Caine because after she saw him in The Ipcress File and not only she wanted him but the film's director Sidney Furie but he wasn't available.
In Caine's autobiography he explained in detail of coming to Hollywood for the first time to film this movie and that included many stories like meeting John Wayne and going to Las Vegas with Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy (around the time as he explained, he was to marry Mia Farrow). Fast fact: MacLaine's character doesn't say a line of dialogue until 25 minutes into the movie!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Musicals of the 60's: The Sound of Music
There is still debate over what was the best movie of the 60's. Some will say The Graduate, others will say Bonnie and Clyde, others will say Midnight Cowboy, Lawrence of Arabia, Easy Rider, or Blow Up. But for me this is an open and shut case: The best movie of the 1960's was The Sound of Music.
I'll give you my reasons why a bit later on. Based on the Broadway musical from Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein (sadly, it would be their last as Hammerstein would die in 1960 just one year after the play opened), the movie version was produced and directed by Robert Wise and written by Ernest Lehman (the two were coming off filming the musical West Side Story; which won two Oscars for Wise and sadly, both men died recently in a two month span). They took the project to 20th Century Fox because they knew that the studio was in deep trouble after Cleopatra put them behind the eight ball. Fox president Darryl Zanuck along with his son Richard (who was vice-president) knew that The Sound of Music had to be the hit to get the studio back on track.
Based on the true story of the Von Trapp family-in which in 1938 they were besieged by the Nazis in Austria, the film stars Julie Andrews as Maria-a nun who becomes caretaker to the Von Trapp's.
Christopher Plummer plays the widowed father while Eleanor Parker (probably the most underrated actress of her time) plays his baroness and Charmain Carr plays the eldest Von Trapp sibling (Mia Farrow was first considered for the role).
There are two scenes that I like the most: The first was the puppet show and the other was of course the ending in which Maria (who marries Plummer's character) and the children escape Austria. That almost made me cry and you are aware that did happen as the real Von Trapp family left for Italy and then realizing that it was ruled by Benito Mussolini they set sail for America.
When The Sound of Music was released in March of 1965 it would go on to first set the record as the highest grossing American movie and became the first to make $100 million worldwide. In some cities in America it played for two years! David Brown, who was an executive at Fox joked about the movie as being "The Sound of Money" and the studio finally had the hit they needed to stay at an even keel. In the end, the movie won five Oscars including Best Picture. But one problem persisted: How could the Academy passed up Julie Andrews for Best Actress?
(Especially the opening scene in which they should of just thrown the Oscar at her) Just because she had won the award the previous year for Mary Poppins and since that she was taking over a role that she didn't perform originally (Mary Martin was the original Maria on Broadway). This applies the same for Best Actor of that year when Lee Marvin won when some were shouting it should of been Richard Burton for The Spy Who Came In From the Cold and Rod Steiger for The Pawnbroker.
There is one good reason why I pick this film as the movie of the 60's: It saved 20th Century Fox and although there would be more flops the studio would suffer in the next several years (Doctor Doolittle, Star! also with Julie Andrews, Myra Breckenridge) it was this movie that kept them from going underwater.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Singers in 60's Movies
The movies in the 60's were filled not only with the usual stars, but some were coming from the music business. In this posting, we'll look at some of the artists that appeared in movies. This will exclude Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and (god willing) Elvis Presley. To do this I will give you a sampling and ranked it from 1 to 10:
Fabian in North to Alaska: 6
Does a good job as Billy-who plays John Wayne's sidekick. He also gets a chance to sing a song.
Frankie Avalon in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: 7
He gives an okay performance but Avalon performing the title song is why he gets a seven.
Bobby Darin in Come September: 8
Darin not only made his acting debut he just about stole the entire movie. As you know it was the movie that he met Sandra Dee. Darin performing "Mulipication" creates a Sinatra/Martin moment.
Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence: 9
Tommy Steele was a popular singer from Great Britain during the 1950's and 60's. He recreated the role of Arthur Kips (that he played in London and New York) in the big screen adaptation of the musical comedy Half a Sixpence. Thanks to his presence the movie is an enjoyable one.
Glen Campbell in True Grit: 7
During the late-60's no singer was more hotter than Glen Campbell. In 1969 he made his first film in the Western with John Wayne True Grit. Did a good job if I remember. Campbell also sang the title song.
David Bowie in The Virgin Soldiers: 4
Released in 1969 and in the same year he had his first hit song "Space Oddity" David Bowie made his first film in a small role in the drama The Virgin Soldiers. This would be the beginning of more bigger roles for Bowie.
Well, that is it. See you soon.
Fabian in North to Alaska: 6
Does a good job as Billy-who plays John Wayne's sidekick. He also gets a chance to sing a song.
Frankie Avalon in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: 7
He gives an okay performance but Avalon performing the title song is why he gets a seven.
Bobby Darin in Come September: 8
Darin not only made his acting debut he just about stole the entire movie. As you know it was the movie that he met Sandra Dee. Darin performing "Mulipication" creates a Sinatra/Martin moment.
Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence: 9
Tommy Steele was a popular singer from Great Britain during the 1950's and 60's. He recreated the role of Arthur Kips (that he played in London and New York) in the big screen adaptation of the musical comedy Half a Sixpence. Thanks to his presence the movie is an enjoyable one.
Glen Campbell in True Grit: 7
During the late-60's no singer was more hotter than Glen Campbell. In 1969 he made his first film in the Western with John Wayne True Grit. Did a good job if I remember. Campbell also sang the title song.
David Bowie in The Virgin Soldiers: 4
Released in 1969 and in the same year he had his first hit song "Space Oddity" David Bowie made his first film in a small role in the drama The Virgin Soldiers. This would be the beginning of more bigger roles for Bowie.
Well, that is it. See you soon.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Suspense Movies of the 60's: Deadfall
This month in June Turner Classic Movies is doing a special feature called "Screened Out" in which they look at the history of gays and lesbians on film. I looked through the stack of movies that they are showing and yet, they're missing one movie. And that leads to our next movie which is Deadfall. Released as the bitter summer of 1968 was ending, the film was based on a novel from Desmond Cory and written by Bryan Forbes; who also was the director. Michael Caine (in his first movie after finishing up his character of Harry Palmer in that era) plays Henry Clark-a jewel theif who loves to drink alcohol. As a result he's in rehab to kick his addiction. Then one day just as he is about to be released he meets a mysterious young girl in which she calls herself Fei Moreau (Giavonni Ralli). She comes up to Henry with a deal ("Deal. Or No Deal" as what Howie Mandel would say): Rob and steal possesions from her older husband Richard (Eric Portman) because he may be in Henry's league. He agrees and suddenly the three plan the robbery. Once the job is done they head to Richard's house in Spain. But it is here that the film turn to its ugly head: Not do they know it, but Henry and Fei start to love each other and then suddenly they see Richard come home with his "friend" Antonio. As the movie goes along Henry discovers the real truth and that is Richard is really a gay man who killed people for the Nazis and using Fei to hide his real idenity; who is also bisexual. Nanette Newman, who was the director's wife, co-stars.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
England Swings: Harold Pinter
In our next installment of the British movies of the 60's we're once again focusing on another individual instead of the movies themselves. This time we focus in on screenwriter Harold Pinter.
Born in London on October 10, 1930 Pinter was the son of immigrants from eastern Europe, most likely Poland. When he was a teenager after World War II Pinter began writing at Downs Grammer School by first taking poetry; which he continues to do to this day. While still in class Pinter appeared in the Shakesphere plays "Romeo and Juliet" and "MacBeth". Then in 1948 Pinter was called to serve for the British military but he refused and was later fined. Pinter left Downs Grammer School the next year. During the 1950's Pinter began in a string of acting school that took him not only in London but in Ireland. In 1956 twenty-six old Pinter married British actress Vivien Merchant and although they would have a son named Daniel the relationship was a rocky one especially after when Merchant's career began to take off in the mid-1960's (they would divorce in 1980 and in a bizarre twist Pinter married Antonia Fraser; who he had been seeing instead of Merchant and Merchant died just three years later from heart failure from alcohol). One year later, Pinter debuted his first play "The Room" in which Pinter wrote the play in just three days after it popped into his head. His next play "The Birthday Party" was a flop when it premiered in London that year but when it came to New York a decade later, it was a gigantic hit and Pinter won the Tony for Best Play. As the 60's dawned Pinter entered his next phase: Movies. In 1963 Pinter his first screenplay-which was The Caretaker which featured Donald Pleasence and in his first role Alan Bates.
That same year Pinter collaborated with exiled American director Joseph Losey (exiled because he was blacklisted) to write the adaptation of the Robin Maugham short novel The Servant.
The movie was a big hit when released that same year and it made the film's lead actor Dirk Bogarde a big star
and so did co-stars Sarah Miles (who like Merchant was also married to a writer-Robert Bolt) and James Fox. The next year in 1964 Pinter wrote the screenplay to The Pumpkin Eater; based on another novel and this time from Penelope Morimer. The movie was directed by Jack Clayton and it starred Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch, and James Mason.
In 1966 he wrote the screenplay to the spy drama The Quiller Memorandum, based on the novel from Adam Hall.
George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max Von Sydow, and Senta Berger co-star. The next year Pinter re-teamed with director Losey and Dirk Bogarde to write the screenplay to Accident.
The film was an even bigger hit than The Servant when released in 1967 and it co-stared Jacqueline Sassard and in his first movie-Michael York. Then Pinter closed out the decade by writing the screenplay to his own play The Birthday Party which stared Robert Shaw and Patrick Magee (John Steed in "The Avengers"). Since the 1970's Pinter has continued to write in plays and movies. In the early-1980's he received two Oscar nominations for writing the adaptations of The French Lieutenant's Woman and Betrayal (which was based on another of his plays). He even continues in his first love of acting as he played the father of Vivian Bearing in the HBO TV movie "Wit". In 2005 Pinter received the Nobel Prize for lifetime in writing. That same year Pinter, in a interview to Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4's "Front Row" said that he was seriously thinking about retiring to focus on his political activism because he felt it was time to get the world back on track. Who knows what will happen next for him but Pinter really carved a small piece on British cinema in the 1960's.
Born in London on October 10, 1930 Pinter was the son of immigrants from eastern Europe, most likely Poland. When he was a teenager after World War II Pinter began writing at Downs Grammer School by first taking poetry; which he continues to do to this day. While still in class Pinter appeared in the Shakesphere plays "Romeo and Juliet" and "MacBeth". Then in 1948 Pinter was called to serve for the British military but he refused and was later fined. Pinter left Downs Grammer School the next year. During the 1950's Pinter began in a string of acting school that took him not only in London but in Ireland. In 1956 twenty-six old Pinter married British actress Vivien Merchant and although they would have a son named Daniel the relationship was a rocky one especially after when Merchant's career began to take off in the mid-1960's (they would divorce in 1980 and in a bizarre twist Pinter married Antonia Fraser; who he had been seeing instead of Merchant and Merchant died just three years later from heart failure from alcohol). One year later, Pinter debuted his first play "The Room" in which Pinter wrote the play in just three days after it popped into his head. His next play "The Birthday Party" was a flop when it premiered in London that year but when it came to New York a decade later, it was a gigantic hit and Pinter won the Tony for Best Play. As the 60's dawned Pinter entered his next phase: Movies. In 1963 Pinter his first screenplay-which was The Caretaker which featured Donald Pleasence and in his first role Alan Bates.
That same year Pinter collaborated with exiled American director Joseph Losey (exiled because he was blacklisted) to write the adaptation of the Robin Maugham short novel The Servant.
The movie was a big hit when released that same year and it made the film's lead actor Dirk Bogarde a big star
and so did co-stars Sarah Miles (who like Merchant was also married to a writer-Robert Bolt) and James Fox. The next year in 1964 Pinter wrote the screenplay to The Pumpkin Eater; based on another novel and this time from Penelope Morimer. The movie was directed by Jack Clayton and it starred Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch, and James Mason.
In 1966 he wrote the screenplay to the spy drama The Quiller Memorandum, based on the novel from Adam Hall.
George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max Von Sydow, and Senta Berger co-star. The next year Pinter re-teamed with director Losey and Dirk Bogarde to write the screenplay to Accident.
The film was an even bigger hit than The Servant when released in 1967 and it co-stared Jacqueline Sassard and in his first movie-Michael York. Then Pinter closed out the decade by writing the screenplay to his own play The Birthday Party which stared Robert Shaw and Patrick Magee (John Steed in "The Avengers"). Since the 1970's Pinter has continued to write in plays and movies. In the early-1980's he received two Oscar nominations for writing the adaptations of The French Lieutenant's Woman and Betrayal (which was based on another of his plays). He even continues in his first love of acting as he played the father of Vivian Bearing in the HBO TV movie "Wit". In 2005 Pinter received the Nobel Prize for lifetime in writing. That same year Pinter, in a interview to Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4's "Front Row" said that he was seriously thinking about retiring to focus on his political activism because he felt it was time to get the world back on track. Who knows what will happen next for him but Pinter really carved a small piece on British cinema in the 1960's.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sci-Fi Movies of the 60's: The 10th Victim
The 10th Victim was a sci-fi movie combined with comedy and based on the Robert Sheckley novel "The Seventh Victim", it came at a time when the Italian film industry (1965) was a living-on-the-edge group. Directed by Elio Petri and produced by Carlo Ponti, the movie begins in New York with a armed man chasing a woman.
The woman is Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress)
and the armed man is Asian. It is then followed by a middle-aged man telling the viewer about the TV show "The Big Hunt" in which a certain person kills someone for money. If they survive without being killed after ten attempts, they win one million dollars. The hunter and Caroline head to a private club where the man sits down. He thinks he can take a break but he can't when one of the strippers is Caroline and she kills him with her gun bra.
Then Caroline is approached by a tea company and they want to film her for a commerical since that she is one away from ten. Meanwhile, in Rome another big hunt is taking place as Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni {!}) is also racking up the number that he's killed.
He has become famous but it is hurting his finances with his bitter wife. Then the story really turns when Caroline is assigned to kill Marcello for the one million.
Instead of killing him Caroline actually loves him. I have seen this movie and I somewhat liked it. Elsa Martinelli also co-stars.
And oh yes, the movie features hands down the worst 60's costume and that is Andress wearing a deep pink jumpsuit in which she is wearing a jacket backwards and with no bra!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Director of Intelligence
There are some that have said the 1960's was a cutting decade for movie directors. Yet one of them was a half-bald man from Philadelphia, PA named Richard Lester.
Early this year he turned 75 and yet he hasn't filmed a major movie in almost two decades. He has become something of a myth. Born in Philly in 1932 Lester's parents were immigrants from Ireland. Before he was a teen, Lester became interested for music and wanted to become a musician. Within a couple of years Lester began to grow interested for movies instead. He then took a job as assistant director and then director at the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. By the time he was 23 Lester (who was already balding) traveling the world in the search to find a boost for filmmaking or music. When he came to Great Britain, he saw his chance. He employed at the BBC and it was there that he created the radio show titled "The Goon Show" in 1958. The next year he and Sellers collaborated on a movie short entitled "The Running, Jumping, and Standing Still Film". That too was another success. Lester made his first featured film Ring-a-Ding Rhythm in 1962.
That was followed the next year with The Mouse on the Moon; a sequel to The Mouse That Roared (that starred Lester's former partner Peter Sellers) with Terry Thomas.
The movie was a hit
and so with his next movie he teammed up with the music group The Beatles to direct what some say is the first watershed movie of the decade: A Hard Day's Night.
The producer(s) of that movie didn't not have any time to prepare so Lester came up with the idea of using three cameras for every scene as a way of telling the story of how The Fab Four prepare for a concert while going through distractions including Paul's grandfather (Winfield Brambell) and Ringo being late.
Not surprisingly, the film was a huge hit in both England and America and Lester follow that movie with Help! in which he again uses The Beatles in humorous situations-time time centered around Ringo losing one of his rings.
When released in 1965 Help! was a success but that same year Lester had his first critical success when he directed the adaptation of the London stage comedy "The Knack" as it was titled The Knack...And How to Get It". The film would win the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival that year.
I don't know if I told you this but that scene in which Colin (Michael Crawford) chases Nancy (Rita Tushingham) around the floor on all fours with a bag on his head and then smashing into the wall after Tolen backs her away has to be one of the most funny scenes I ever saw because it is so unpredictable. The next year Lester used Crawford again for the adaptation of another stage comedy: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.
Lester also casted Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers. In 1967 Lester teamed with Crawford and Beatles co-lead singer John Lennon again to direct the war satire How I Won the War.
The film was a success. Then, that spring Lester traveling back to America and went to San Francisco to direct his first American feature: Petulia.
When released in 1968 the relationship comedy-drama was a critical success but ii seemed that it couldn't find an audience. Today movie fans think the movie was a watershed for its time. Lester then closed out the decade by returning to England and filming the comedy The Bed Sitting Room with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
After this movie Lester would not direct another movie until 1974 but he would return with a vengeance as he would direct six movies in just three years. Yet his work in the 1960's remains a reminder of how far the movies went in the decade.
Early this year he turned 75 and yet he hasn't filmed a major movie in almost two decades. He has become something of a myth. Born in Philly in 1932 Lester's parents were immigrants from Ireland. Before he was a teen, Lester became interested for music and wanted to become a musician. Within a couple of years Lester began to grow interested for movies instead. He then took a job as assistant director and then director at the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. By the time he was 23 Lester (who was already balding) traveling the world in the search to find a boost for filmmaking or music. When he came to Great Britain, he saw his chance. He employed at the BBC and it was there that he created the radio show titled "The Goon Show" in 1958. The next year he and Sellers collaborated on a movie short entitled "The Running, Jumping, and Standing Still Film". That too was another success. Lester made his first featured film Ring-a-Ding Rhythm in 1962.
That was followed the next year with The Mouse on the Moon; a sequel to The Mouse That Roared (that starred Lester's former partner Peter Sellers) with Terry Thomas.
The movie was a hit
and so with his next movie he teammed up with the music group The Beatles to direct what some say is the first watershed movie of the decade: A Hard Day's Night.
The producer(s) of that movie didn't not have any time to prepare so Lester came up with the idea of using three cameras for every scene as a way of telling the story of how The Fab Four prepare for a concert while going through distractions including Paul's grandfather (Winfield Brambell) and Ringo being late.
Not surprisingly, the film was a huge hit in both England and America and Lester follow that movie with Help! in which he again uses The Beatles in humorous situations-time time centered around Ringo losing one of his rings.
When released in 1965 Help! was a success but that same year Lester had his first critical success when he directed the adaptation of the London stage comedy "The Knack" as it was titled The Knack...And How to Get It". The film would win the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival that year.
I don't know if I told you this but that scene in which Colin (Michael Crawford) chases Nancy (Rita Tushingham) around the floor on all fours with a bag on his head and then smashing into the wall after Tolen backs her away has to be one of the most funny scenes I ever saw because it is so unpredictable. The next year Lester used Crawford again for the adaptation of another stage comedy: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.
Lester also casted Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers. In 1967 Lester teamed with Crawford and Beatles co-lead singer John Lennon again to direct the war satire How I Won the War.
The film was a success. Then, that spring Lester traveling back to America and went to San Francisco to direct his first American feature: Petulia.
When released in 1968 the relationship comedy-drama was a critical success but ii seemed that it couldn't find an audience. Today movie fans think the movie was a watershed for its time. Lester then closed out the decade by returning to England and filming the comedy The Bed Sitting Room with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
After this movie Lester would not direct another movie until 1974 but he would return with a vengeance as he would direct six movies in just three years. Yet his work in the 1960's remains a reminder of how far the movies went in the decade.
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