The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

The Old Mixer · Dec 29, 2023

50th Anniversary Cinematic Special

American Graffiti
Directed by George Lucas
Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ronny Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charlie Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Cindy Williams, and Wolfman Jack
Premiered August 1, 1973
1974 Academy Award nominee for Best Picture; Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Candy Clark); Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced; Best Film Editing

Wiki said:
American Graffiti is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas....Set in Modesto, California, in 1962, the film is a study of the cruising and early rock 'n' roll cultures popular among Lucas's age group at that time. Through a series of vignettes, it tells the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of a night.

The film opens with the breakout hit of the genre, 1955's "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets...which will derivatively be used as the opening theme of Happy Days for its first two seasons. The film is so loaded with great classics from the mid-'50s to the early '60s that I won't attempt to cover them all here...perhaps I'll do a separate post about the double-LP soundtrack, which has been doing well on the album chart in 50th Anniversaryland. I have to question whether material from the mid-to-late '50s would have still been so active on the radio in '62, at the expense of more immediately period-authentic material (like Spector-produced girl groups, which are completely absent). I'm willing to suspend my disbelief because (a) first and foremost, it's a great soundtrack in its own right, covering highlights of the rock and roll era up to the point that the film takes place; (b) the film is probably informed by Lucas's teenage experiences in general, rather than attempting to recreate that specific moment; and (c) the cat spinning the platters is Wolfman Jack, and the Wolfman gonna do his own thing, ya dig? Awwwoooooooooo!

Wiki said:
On their last evening of summer vacation in 1962, high school graduates Curt Henderson [Dreyfuss] and Steve Bolander [Howard] meet two other friends, confident drag-racing king John Milner [Le Mat] and unpopular but well-meaning Terry "The Toad" Fields [Smith] in the parking lot of Mel's Drive-In in Modesto, California. Steve and Curt are to travel "Back East" in the morning and start college but the latter has second thoughts about leaving. Laurie [Williams], Steve's girlfriend and Curt's sister, arrives moments later, Steve suggesting to her that they see other people while he is away at college to "strengthen" their relationship. Though not openly upset, it affects her interactions with him through the night.

Curt, Steve and Laurie attend the high-school sock hop. En route, Curt sees a beautiful blonde woman driving a white Ford Thunderbird next to them [Suzanne Somers], who mouths "I love you" before turning a right. The interaction causes Curt to desperately search for her throughout the night.

In an attempt to get cruising company for the evening, John inadvertently picks up Carol [Phillips], a precocious 12-year-old who manipulates him into driving her around all night.

At the hop, Herby & the Heartbeats (Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids) play..."At the Hop". Curt--the story's obvious Lucas stand-in, who's not eager to leave the old hometown--wanders the school halls in nostalgia. Out on the streets, John gets into an argument with Carol about that new group the Beach Boys as "Surfin' Safari" plays; John feeling that rock 'n' roll's gone downhill since Buddy Holly died.

With Steve allowing Terry to take care of his car while he's studying at college, Terry cruises around the strip and picks up rebellious Debbie [Clark]. Now calling himself "Terry The Tiger", he attempts all night to impress her by lying about the car being his and purchasing alcohol with no ID.

This happens after Terry has an encounter with Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), who's looking to drag with John based on his reputation for having the hottest wheels on the strip. More on Falfa later.

Back at the hop...

The band subsequently performs "Louie, Louie"; and Laurie's spirits lift after Steve, who's already graduated, takes an opportunity to tell off what I assume is the principal. Outside, Curt continues his quest to find the blonde by getting a ride with his old girlfriend, Wendy (Deby Celiz), and her Beetle-driving friend Bobbie (Lynne Marie Stewart), making out with Wendy a little in the backseat.

Lying to suspicious friends that she's a cousin and he's stuck with babysitting duty, [John and Carol] have a series of petty arguments until another car's occupants verbally harass her as she attempts to walk home alone, John then deciding to protect her.

This Is My Cousin, Carol
Water Balloon Prank

After leaving the hop, [Curt] is coerced into joining a group of greasers called "The Pharaohs" [including Joe (Bo Hopkins) and Carlos (Manuel Padilla Jr.)], who force him into several tasks including stealing coins from arcade machines and hooking a chain to a police car, ripping out its back axle.

Curt covers for the Pharaohs when they're ripping off the machines at a miniature golf place by chatting up the proprietor, Mr. Gordon (Scott Beach), a member of the lodge that granted him a scholarship.

Pharaohs and the Cop Car

During a tense ride, the Pharaoh leader tells Curt that "The Blonde" is a prostitute, which he does not believe.

While [Terry] and Debbie leave Steve's car in a rural spot in order to share a romantic interlude,

Toad Gets Lucky

thieves steal the car.

Terry then has a run-in with Steve--who's just split up with Laurie--at the local canal makeout spot, and has to lie about the car's absence.

Meanwhile, skilled racer Bob Falfa is searching out John to challenge him to the defining race for John's drag-racing crown.

Ladies and gentlemen...

During his night of goading anyone he comes across for a challenge, he picks up an emotional Laurie after the argument with Steve that was brewing all night.

This is after Laurie returned to the drive-in to see a car hop, Budda (Jana Bellan), hitting on Steve. After Laurie gets in Falfa's car, a scene ensues of Harrison serenading Cindy with "Some Enchanted Evening" in a mock singing voice that (looking it up) appears to be an imitation of Ezio Pinza's hit 1949 recording.

Later, after the alcohol has made Terry violently sick, he sees Steve's car and attempts to steal it back. The car thieves appear and beat him up until John intervenes.

Debbie: Wow, you're just like the Lone Ranger.

Terry eventually admits to Debbie that he's been lying about the car all along and he actually drives a scooter; she suggests it is "almost a motorcycle" and says she had fun with him, agreeing to meet up with him again.

After leaving the Pharaohs,

...and seeming a little more motivated to go through with leaving town after his bridge-burning misadventures with them...

Curt drives to the radio station to ask omnipotent disc jockey "Wolfman Jack" to read a message out on air for the blonde in the White Thunderbird. He encounters an employee who tells him the Wolfman does not work there and that the shows are pre-taped for replay, claiming the Wolfman "is everywhere" but promises to have the Wolfman air the request. As Curt leaves, he notices the employee talking into the microphone and realizes he is in fact the Wolfman, who reads the message for the blonde asking her to call Curt on the pay phone at Mel's Drive-In.

I assume that the Wiki writer meant to say "omnipresent," which is what Wolfman is up to this point in the film, on the radios of the cruising cars.

After taking Carol home,

...having tricked her into divulging her address by pretending to come on to her...

John is found by Bob Falfa, successfully goading him into the definitive race along Paradise Road outside the city, with some spectators appearing to watch. As Terry starts the drag race, John takes the lead but Bob's tire blows out, swerving into a ditch and rolling over before bursting into flames. Steve, aware that Laurie was Bob's passenger, rushes to the wreck as she and Bob crawl out and stagger away before the car explodes. While John helps his rival to safety, Laurie begs Steve not to leave her, he assures her that he will stay with her in Modesto.

Exhausted, Curt is awakened by the pay phone. He finally speaks to the blonde, who does not reveal her identity but hints at the possibility of meeting that night. Curt replies that he is leaving town. Later at the airfield, he says goodbye to his parents and friends before boarding the plane. After takeoff, he looks down at the ground from the window and sees the white Thunderbird driving along the road below. Curt thoughtfully gazes into the sky.

This is all a reversal of the situation set up at the beginning of the film, of Steve being the one eager to blow town while Curt is reluctant to leave.

Postscript: In 1964, John was killed by a drunk driver; in 1965, Terry was reported missing in action near An Lộc, South Viet Nam. Steve is an insurance agent in Modesto and Curt is a writer living in Canada.

The implicit draft dodger does scripts for Ironside.

The credits roll to a musical peek slightly ahead, 1964's "All Summer Long" by the Beach Boys.

The film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Produced on a $777,000 budget (equivalent to approximately $5,122,142 in 2022 dollars), it has become one of the most profitable films ever. Since its initial release, American Graffiti has earned an estimated return well over $200 million in box-office gross and home video sales, not including merchandising. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Overall this was a fun romp and well worth catching for its cast chock full of largely emerging '70s stars, soundtrack, and beautifully shot location work of vintage cars cruising a California strip.

Notes relating to recent bits of 50th Anniversary Viewing business:

Seeing the movie is informative to the subsequent LAS segment "Love and the Time Machine," which starred Charlie Martin Smith and Cindy Williams (who didn't share much screen time in the film).
This is the first IMDb credit of Kathleen Quinlan, who plays Laurie's friend Peg in the sock hop scenes; her recently covered Emergency! appearance is her second credit.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
I love these things. I think the guy who played Quisp is in this one. And I think he was also in the Bullwinkle show.

Yep, and lots more!
Daws Butler - Wikipedia
I assume he was in the Christmas parody record as well, as it used the same voice cast.

I find it amusing that the original Dragnet parody record, the follow-up holiday parody record, and the actual Dragnet holiday episode all came up in the same quarter! Also, there's an interesting connection in the Dragnet episode with the AITF holiday installment from 20 years later--Joe Friday's also conflating holiday mailings from businesses with actual Christmas cards, going through the trouble of sending them cards every year in return!

Because of a lawsuit by DC. This was a total miscarriage of justice.

The end of an era...but interestingly, the Two-Gun Kid bit of business reminds us that this was about the same time that Atlas (as Marvel was known at the time) was engaging in its brief 1950s attempt at reviving its superhero line.

I wonder why. It must have been chilly. Pun intended.

Brrrrr...

A good thirty years before Lady Gaga was even born.

This phase of Tony's career ties in with the tragically young death of my ex's father...an aspiring singer who recorded himself performing, among other numbers of the time, "Rags to Riches" and "Stranger in Paradise," prior to his death in 1954, when she was only a year old. She first heard the tapes when she was in her 40s. And uncannily, he opened one of the recordings directly addressing his children..."Do you wanna hear Daddy sing?"

Dude just spreads happiness and cheer wherever his feet touch the Earth.

Kind of a nifty parallel that he currently holds executive office in both eras.

I don't get it either. That video isn't even in color.

They seem to be saying that the episode was filmed in color, though the source of the YouTube clips is B&W. This episode was remade for the 1960s series, and that version was reaired in subsequent seasons. An artifact of this is that, IIRC, though the remade episode originally aired in the Dragnet 1968 season, in syndication it bears a Dragnet 1970 opening title card and a Dragnet 1969 closing title card!

Kind of funny to think of people buying color TVs in 1953. It must have been like owning a C64 in the 80s.

They would have some viewing options for their investment...Adventures of Superman filmed part of its run in color.

I think the kind that causes red tide is poisonous.

I thought it was the opposite. Okay, I'm going to break down and check Wiki. Hold on. Hm hmmm. Yeah, it looks like they're caused by increased nutrients, either from human activities or ocean upwelling. It also confirms that some of them are toxic (or can use up all the oxygen in the area).

So red tides are an actual thing? I thought they were just pulling it out of their collective ass.

Johnny's not taking a date to that restaurant.

True!

Kind of low-hanging fruit for All In The Family. They must have been going easy on the audience for Christmas.

And as noted, completely disconnected from the main plot about Edith. They could have plugged any other material into that segment. The main side-gag at the house was an early sequence about how both Mike and Archie came home from a sale at a novelty store with glasses with fake noses and mustaches, which itself didn't seem particularly Christmas-specific.

Yeah, I suppose so.

Proportionally, they were the equivalent of smaller portable storage cases that you'd use to keep cassettes or CDs in your car.

That sounds about right.

Looking it up, it was actually the eighth-aired episode, "Goodbye Island," and the adhesive was made by Gilligan from tree sap.

RJDiogenes · Dec 30, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
I have to question whether material from the mid-to-late '50s would have still been so active on the radio in '62, at the expense of more immediately period-authentic material (like Spector-produced girl groups, which are completely absent).

Maybe he was trying to emphasize the nostalgia, since it was really only ten years in the past at that point.

I'm willing to suspend my disbelief because (a) first and foremost, it's a great soundtrack in its own right, covering highlights of the rock and roll era up to the point that the film takes place; (b) the film is probably informed by Lucas's teenage experiences in general, rather than attempting to recreate that specific moment; and (c) the cat spinning the platters is Wolfman Jack, and the Wolfman gonna do his own thing, ya dig? Awwwoooooooooo!

Also, it probably depended on which radio station you listened to.

John gets into an argument with Carol about that new group the Beach Boys as "Surfin' Safari" plays; John feeling that rock 'n' roll's gone downhill since Buddy Holly died.

Just wait'll next year. :rommie:

Curt continues his quest to find the blonde

She's heading for Santa Monica, my friend. :rommie:

Pharaohs and the Cop Car

Now there's a shot you've got to get in one take. :rommie:

I assume that the Wiki writer meant to say "omnipresent," which is what Wolfman is up to this point in the film, on the radios of the cruising cars.

I dunno, maybe the Wolfman is to American Graffiti what Chuck was to Supernatural. :rommie:

That was a cute scene where he pretended to be nobody and gave the kid advice.

The implicit draft dodger does scripts for Ironside.

I wonder if this is the first example of those little where-are-they-now epilogues that appeared, and were eventually parodied, in other movies.

and beautifully shot location work of vintage cars cruising a California strip.

Those shots were pretty amazing. I was thinking about the logistics of setting all that up on such a low budget. These days it would be mostly CGI.

Yep, and lots more!
Daws Butler - Wikipedia
I assume he was in the Christmas parody record as well, as it used the same voice cast.

He was, and I recognized the voice, but it finally dawned on me where I was remembering him from. That's quite an itinerary of classic characters to his credit.

Joe Friday's also conflating holiday mailings from businesses with actual Christmas cards, going through the trouble of sending them cards every year in return!

That seems a little naive for Joe, who's usually up on every scam in the multiverse.

Brrrrr...

This phase of Tony's career ties in with the tragically young death of my ex's father...an aspiring singer who recorded himself performing, among other numbers of the time, "Rags to Riches" and "Stranger in Paradise," prior to his death in 1954, when she was only a year old. She first heard the tapes when she was in her 40s. And uncannily, he opened one of the recordings directly addressing his children..."Do you wanna hear Daddy sing?"

Wow, that must have been amazing and heartbreaking for her. Was she able to digitize the recordings to preserve them?

Kind of a nifty parallel that he currently holds executive office in both eras.

Speaking of those where-are-they-now epilogues. "After a couple of setbacks, Dick became president of the United States...."

They seem to be saying that the episode was filmed in color, though the source of the YouTube clips is B&W. This episode was remade for the 1960s series, and that version was reaired in subsequent seasons. An artifact of this is that, IIRC, though the remade episode originally aired in the Dragnet 1968 season, in syndication it bears a Dragnet 1970 opening title card and a Dragnet 1969 closing title card!

What a mess for historians. :rommie:

They would have some viewing options for their investment...Adventures of Superman filmed part of its run in color.

But not much else. There weren't even many color movies in those days, and I'm not sure if they even aired them on TV.

So red tides are an actual thing? I thought they were just pulling it out of their collective ass.

Oh, yeah, we get them around here. Some of them are pretty bad.

Proportionally, they were the equivalent of smaller portable storage cases that you'd use to keep cassettes or CDs in your car.

That makes sense.

Looking it up, it was actually the eighth-aired episode, "Goodbye Island," and the adhesive was made by Gilligan from tree sap.

Oh, yes, it comes back to me now. He was actually trying to make syrup for their pancakes. :rommie:

The Old Mixer · Dec 30, 2023

50 Years Ago This Week

December 30

The Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins won the NFC and AFC championships, respectively, by the same score, putting both into Super Bowl VIII, scheduled for January 13, 1974, in Houston. Minnesota beat Dallas, 27 to 10, and Miami defeated Oakland, 27 to 10.

December 31

In the United Kingdom, as a result of coal shortages caused by industrial action, the Three-Day Week electricity consumption reduction measure came into force at midnight. The three-day restriction, allowing manufacturers to use electricity on only three out of seven days in a week, would continue in effect until February 21.
In a rare postseason meeting of two of the unbeaten and untied college football teams in the U.S., No. 1-ranked Alabama (11-0-0) met No. 4 Notre Dame (10-0-0) in the Sugar Bowl game in New Orleans. Notre Dame defeated Alabama, which had been named national champion by UPI on December 4, by a single point, 24–23.
In Sydney, Australia, the heavy metal group AC/DC performed their first major concert, a New Year's Eve gala at the Bondi Lifesaver Club at Bondi Beach.

1974!

January 1

New Year's Day was celebrated as a public holiday in the United Kingdom for the first time nationwide, as England and Wales joined in making the first day of the year a paid legal holiday. Scotland had celebrated New Year's Day as a public holiday for years, and the order was applied to all of Britain by an October 8 amendment to existing wage laws.
In the U.S. college football bowl games, the #4-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the #7 USC Trojans 42 to 21 to win the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California; the #6 Penn State Nittany Lions beat the #13 LSU Tigers 16 to 9 to win the 1974 Orange Bowl in Miami; and the #12 Nebraska Cornhuskers upset the #8 Texas Longhorns 19 to 3 to win the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Due to the oil crisis, large numbers of gas stations throughout the United States were closed on New Year's Day. Mrs. Judith Kathleen Bovard of Lake Jackson, Texas, was killed when her car crashed and burned while she was carrying a can of gasoline.

January 2

The maximum speed limit on U.S. highways was lowered to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), a limit that would remain in effect for the next 13 years, in order to conserve gasoline during the OPEC embargo. The decrease in the speed limit (which had been 70 miles per hour (110 km/h)) was made as U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the National Maximum Speed Law. The result was a 23 percent decrease in fatalities on American highways with 853 fewer deaths in January 1974 compared to January 1973.
On their 48th day of spaceflight, the Skylab 4 crew held a televised news conference while in Earth orbit, during which astronaut William Pogue said that he tried too hard to do a good job in the early phases of the mission, but then "finally came to the realization that I'm a fallible human being". Mission commander Gerald Carr said that he missed drinking cold beer while watching football. Astronaut Edward Gibson said that he was pleased to be contributing to science.

January 3

With the NCAA recognizing the unofficial champion of college football as the team that finished in first place in the Associated Press poll of sportswriters (as well as United Press International's poll of coaches), the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame finished in first place in the AP poll. Notre Dame, which finished 10-0-0 in regular play and defeated 11-0-0 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, received 33 first place votes and 1,128 points overall to finish at number one, while Ohio State (10-0-1) had 11 first place votes and 1,002 points. The UPI poll, taken before the 1973 bowl games, had declared Alabama the national champion in December.

January 4

Citing executive privilege, U.S. President Richard Nixon refused to surrender over 500 tape recordings that had been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
American serial killer Ted Bundy attacked his first victim, University of Washington student Karen Sparks, by invading her apartment, then bludgeoning her with a medal rod and assaulting her. Sparks survived the attack but was left permanently disabled.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Time in a Bottle," Jim Croce
2. "The Joker," Steve Miller Band
3. "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)," Helen Reddy
4. "The Most Beautiful Girl," Charlie Rich
5. "Show and Tell," Al Wilson
6. "Smokin' in the Boys Room," Brownsville Station
7. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," Elton John
8. "Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up," Barry White
9. "Living for the City," Stevie Wonder
10. "I've Got to Use My Imagination," Gladys Knight & The Pips
11. "Top of the World," Carpenters
12. "Helen Wheels," Paul McCartney & Wings
13. "Let Me Be There," Olivia Newton-John
14. "Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren
15. "The Way We Were," Barbra Streisand
16. "You're Sixteen," Ringo Starr
17. "Love's Theme," Love Unlimited Orchestra
18. "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)," Aretha Franklin
19. "When I Fall in Love" / "Are You Lonesome Tonight", Donny Osmond
20. "Me and Baby Brother," War
21. "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)," The Staple Singers
22. "Rockin' Roll Baby," The Stylistics
23. "Just You 'n' Me," Chicago
24. "Livin' for You," Al Green
25. "Mind Games," John Lennon
26. "D'yer Mak'er," Led Zeppelin
27. "The Love I Lost (Pt. 1)," Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
28. "My Music," Loggins & Messina
29. "Sister Mary Elephant (Shudd-Up!)," Cheech & Chong
30. "Spiders & Snakes," Jim Stafford
31. "Walk Like a Man (You Can Call Me Your Man)," Grand Funk
32. "Photograph," Ringo Starr

34. "Come Get to This," Marvin Gaye
35. "Space Race," Billy Preston

37. "Jungle Boogie," Kool & The Gang
38. "I Got a Name," Jim Croce
39. "American Tune," Paul Simon

43. "Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips
44. "Joy, Pt. 1," Isaac Hayes

46. "Let Your Hair Down," The Temptations
47. "I Love," Tom T. Hall
48. "Rock On," David Essex
49. "Let Me Serenade You," Three Dog Night
50. "Put Your Hands Together," The O'Jays
51. "Baby Come Close," Smokey Robinson

55. "Midnight Rider," Gregg Allman

60. "Love Song," Anne Murray

64. "I Like to Live the Love," B.B. King
65. "Americans," Byron MacGregor

70. "Last Time I Saw Him," Diana Ross

76. "Boogie Down," Eddie Kendricks

83. "Raised on Robbery," Joni Mitchell

87. "My Sweet Lady," Cliff DeYoung
88. "Trying to Hold On to My Woman," Lamont Dozier

93. "Last Kiss," J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers

Leaving the chart:

"Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat," The DeFranco Family feat. Tony DeFranco (17 weeks)
"Keep On Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks (19 weeks)
"Love Reign O'er Me," The Who (5 weeks)
"Paper Roses," Marie Osmond (16 weeks)

Recent and new on the chart:

"When I Fall in Love" / "Are You Lonesome Tonight", Donny Osmond
(Nov. 24; #14 US; #31 AC; #4 UK; I picked this side because some sources indicate that it hit #14, while "When I Fall in Love" only got to #55; and yes, Donny, my heart is filled with pain)

"Last Time I Saw Him," Diana Ross
(#14 US; #1 AC; #15 R&B; #35 UK)

"Americans," Byron MacGregor
(#4 US; #26 AC; #59 Country)

"Boogie Down," Eddie Kendricks
(#2 US; #1 R&B; #39 UK)

And new on the boob tube:

Hawaii Five-O, "The Banzai Pipeline"
Kung Fu, "The Gunman"
Ironside, "Friend or Foe"
The Brady Bunch, "Kelly's Kids"
The Odd Couple, "The Moonlighter"
Love, American Style, "Love and the Extra Job / Love and the Flying Finletters / Love and the Golden Worm / Love and the Itchy Condition / Love and the Patrolperson"
Star Trek, "The Eye of the Beholder"
All in the Family, "Mike and Gloria Mix it Up"
M*A*S*H, "Henry in Love"
Emergency!, "Inferno"
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "WJM Tries Harder"
The Bob Newhart Show, "Oh, Brother"

_______

Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki page for the month.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
Also, it probably depended on which radio station you listened to.

I'm also floating the theory that Wolfman Jack actually traveled back in time and influenced history...

Just wait'll next year.

A little more than that.

She's heading for Santa Monica, my friend.

Home of the Regal Beagle!

I wonder if this is the first example of those little where-are-they-now epilogues that appeared, and were eventually parodied, in other movies.

That is an excellent question that hadn't occurred to me, and it seems that you've hit the jackpot, my friend!
what was the first movie with a where are they now epilogue - Search (bing.com)

Those shots were pretty amazing. I was thinking about the logistics of setting all that up on such a low budget. These days it would be mostly CGI.

Also, I read that the town where they shot the cruising scenes cut their shooting time short. You couldn't tell from the final product.

He was, and I recognized the voice, but it finally dawned on me where I was remembering him from. That's quite an itinerary of classic characters to his credit.

Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound!

That seems a little naive for Joe, who's usually up on every scam in the multiverse.

Maybe he was trolling them...

Wow, that must have been amazing and heartbreaking for her. Was she able to digitize the recordings to preserve them?

I think that they were recently digitized...possibly by the ex-brother-in-law who put them on cassette in the '90s.

Speaking of those where-are-they-now epilogues. "After a couple of setbacks, Dick became president of the United States...."

But wait, there's more...!

Danja · Dec 31, 2023

An I Dream of Jeannie banner I made ages ago.

Jeannie through the years:

RJDiogenes · Dec 31, 2023

The Old Mixer said:
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1974!

Happy Old New Year! That clip doesn't ring any bells, but there's a 99% chance I was watching.

The result was a 23 percent decrease in fatalities on American highways with 853 fewer deaths in January 1974 compared to January 1973.

Thank goodness they repealed that terrible law.

astronaut William Pogue said that he tried too hard to do a good job in the early phases of the mission, but then "finally came to the realization that I'm a fallible human being".

I hope he wasn't in charge of life support.

Gerald Carr said that he missed drinking cold beer while watching football.

I hope he wasn't in charge of life support.

Astronaut Edward Gibson said that he was pleased to be contributing to science.

I hope he was in charge of life support.

"When I Fall in Love" / "Are You Lonesome Tonight", Donny Osmond

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(Nov. 24; #14 US; #31 AC; #4 UK; I picked this side because some sources indicate that it hit #14, while "When I Fall in Love" only got to #55; and yes, Donny, my heart is filled with pain)

My ears are filled with pain. :rommie:

"Last Time I Saw Him," Diana Ross

This is a goodie. Of course!

"Americans," Byron MacGregor

Imagine the outrage on social media! :rommie:

"Boogie Down," Eddie Kendricks

Sounds like the 70s, all right.

I'm also floating the theory that Wolfman Jack actually traveled back in time and influenced history...

Wolfman Jack is a Leaper! I like that! :rommie:

A little more than that.

Isn't Beatlemania about to erupt?

Home of the Regal Beagle!

That is an excellent question that hadn't occurred to me, and it seems that you've hit the jackpot, my friend!
what was the first movie with a where are they now epilogue - Search (bing.com)

Good on me. They even call it the same thing. :rommie:

Also, I read that the town where they shot the cruising scenes cut their shooting time short. You couldn't tell from the final product.

No, it looked pretty amazing.

Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound!

It finally clicked for me that it was the Quisp voice. Quisp was my favorite cereal back in the day. Until fairly recently, it was available again through Amazon. Alas, it seems to have disappeared from there and the Quaker Oats website....

Maybe he was trolling them...

He included a ten-page dissertation on the true meaning of the holiday. :rommie:

I think that they were recently digitized...possibly by the ex-brother-in-law who put them on cassette in the '90s.

That's good. Stuff like that should be saved and preserved.

But wait, there's more...!

So much more.... :rommie:

Danja said:
An I Dream of Jeannie banner I made ages ago.

Jeannie through the years:

She was a great beauty, all right. One of my favorites.

The Old Mixer · Dec 31, 2023

_______

50th Anniversary Viewing

_______

Love, American Style
"Love and Carmen Lopez / Love and the Cover / Love and the Cryin' Cowboy"
Originally aired December 28, 1973

"Love and Carmen Lopez" features the titular character (Carmen Zapata) intermittently narrating to the camera about how she's been the housekeeper for the Muncie family for 23 years. The Muncies includes toy company owner Louis (William Schallert), wife Marie (Barbara Baxley), and teenage son Bobby (Vincent Van Patten). Carmen has two children of her own in the household, Alicia (Mina Vasquez) and Carlos Jr. (Fabian Gregory Cordova). The latter is about the same age as Bobby, while Alicia is the same age as the elder Muncie son, Brian (George McCallister), who's coming home from school after not having seen Alicia in two years. At dinner, Brian and Alicia are focused only on each other, and Carmen later catches them making out. After they approach her to bring up the subject of marriage, she's listing the reasons why it's a bad idea--including that the couple had lived as brother and sister most of their lives--when she's interrupted by the latest in a series of visits from the new gardener, Alejandro Sanchez (Vito Scotti), who's interested in her. This time he succeeds in getting through her defenses and the two of them start seeing each other; even as Brian and Alicia accept that they're satisfied with the fact that they're already effectively living together.

Mr. and Mrs. Muncie take Carmen aside to inform her that they're planning to replace Alejandro with a landscaping service. Carmen subsequently announces to them that she has to resign as she's planning to marry Alejandro and move with him as he pursues an opportunity for his part-time band. None of the Muncies want to lose Carmen, so Mr. Muncie offers a compromise--that Carmen and Alejandro remain at the house, with Alejandro taking on new duties...which Carmen had previously suggested. Cut to the newlyweds cutting their wedding cake in the Muncie home. Muncie's present is a new doll being made by his company that's named after Carmen; and Alicia catches the bouquet.

"Love and the Cover" opens with Rollo and Freida (Doc Severinsen and Beth Howland) spending their fifth anniversary playing charades with neighbors Fred and Charlotte (Danny Wells and Phoebe Noel). After their guests leave, Rollo whips out a miniature transmitter and reports intelligence about the neighbors, which is a surprise to Freida. Rollo reveals that he's a spy; that he's confirmed that their neighbors are a pair of foreign saboteurs, Olga and Yuri Crackover; that their marriage and his job as a dentist were just a cover for him; and that he's now planning to move on to a new job and a new cover marriage. He dispassionately presents his distraught wife with a large series of forms she has to sign to dissolve their union and set her up with a new identity, while a pair of agents arrive to clean out their house. When she's alone in the house empty of everything but forms spread out all over the floor, Freida is approached by a man from the diplomatic service (Ben Hammer), who offers to reconcile her with Rollo so she can spy on him, as they suspect him of being a double agent. She agrees, and he presents her with a new series of forms to be filled out.

In "Love and the Cryin' Cowboy," Earlane (Lisa Todd) walks out on her longtime beau, country singer Cleyon Potts (Mel Tillis), and he immediately sits down to write a hit single about his failed relationship with the former waitress, "Crying in My Beer". Cleyon's agent, Alvin (Joseph Sirola), isn't comfortable with the price of his client's success, but Cleyon's manager, Homer (Lonnie Schorr), is happy with the winning formula. Cleyon--who, like Tillis, stutters when talking but not when singing--introduces them to his new girlfriend, April Ann (Diana Trask), for whom he performs an earlier hit inspired by another failed relationship, "Footprints 'Cross My Heart". Then Cleyon horrifies his agent and manager by unveiling a pair of new, sappy songs about how happy he is with April Ann--"10 Tingles," about the sensation that she evokes in his toes, and another about how she's an angel who came down from Heaven. By the couple's six-month anniversary, April Ann seems disenchanted with their relationship, but Cleyon is still on his streak of bad songs about her. Then, when Cleyon's not around, Alvin and Homer overhear her performing a downbeat ballad in the next room about how she longs for her man to take her off her pedestal and let her be a woman...and the agent and manager realize that they've found a new star with the same formula that Cleyon formerly used. Cut to April Ann's smash hit playing on the radio, while her implicitly ex-husband has become a has-been.

_______

RJDiogenes said:
Happy Old New Year! That clip doesn't ring any bells, but there's a 99% chance I was watching.

I may have been, too. I can recall Dick Clark's show being the new alternative to whatever Grandma watched...probably Guy Lombardo.

My ears are filled with pain.

For me, the ears were just the entry point. Maybe Wolfman Jack's mission was to stop the Osmonds from becoming a thing...

This is a goodie. Of course!

Not one of her more memorable numbers.

Imagine the outrage on social media!

Seems like it's been a while since we had a conservative spoken-word hit. I'm torn between swelling with patriotic pride and not wanting to be seen with this record...

Sounds like the 70s, all right.

Another oddly obscure high-charter by Kendricks.

Isn't Beatlemania about to erupt?

Well, that barely started by the end of '63...it's more of a '64 thing.

He included a ten-page dissertation on the true meaning of the holiday.

That's more like Friday--the written equivalent of a monotone lecture.

Happy New Year!

The Old Mixer · Jan 1, 2024

50th Anniversary Cinematic Special

Enter the Dragon
Directed by Robert Clouse
Starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Shih Kien, Bob Wall, and introducing Jim Kelly
Premiered July 26, 1973 (Hong Kong); August 17, 1973 (New York)

Wiki said:
Enter the Dragon (Chinese: 龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse from a story written by Michael Allin. It stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death on 20 July 1973 at the age of 32. An American-Hong Kong co-production, it premiered in Los Angeles on 19 August 1973, one month after Lee's death.

And now a look at how far Bruce Lee had come between when we were watching him as Kato and his tragically young death...a period in which he developed his own hybrid martial art. Lee is an icon in the true, classic sense of the word (before it got watered down to a synonym for "celebrity"). He is to martial arts what Elvis is to rock 'n' roll.

The film's music is by Lalo Schifrin.

Wiki said:
Lee [also his name in the film], a highly proficient martial artist and instructor from Hong Kong, is approached by Braithwaite [Geoffrey Weeks], a British intelligence agent investigating a suspected crime lord named Han [Kien, voice dubbed by Keye Luke]. Lee is persuaded to attend a high-profile martial arts tournament on Han's private island to gather evidence that will prove Han's involvement in drug trafficking and prostitution.

We meet the character of Lee as he spars with and instructs pupils at a Shaolin Temple. The temple's abbot (uncredited Roy Chiao) preps Lee for the meeting with Braithwaite by informing him of how Han is a former student gone bad, which makes Lee's mission more of a duty for the temple. In the briefing, Braithwaite notes that his unnamed agency gathers and shares intelligence but doesn't enforce; establishes that guns aren't to be used, as the island is in disputed waters and Han is known not to have any; and reveals that he has an operative on the island, Mei Ling (Betty Chung).

Shortly before his departure, Lee also learns that the man responsible for his sister's death, O'Hara [Wall], is working as Han's bodyguard on the island.

This is conveyed via a flashback during Lee's journey in which an old man at the temple (Ho Lee Yan, who also sounds like he's voiced by Luke) tells a story in the form of an extensive flashback-within-a-flashback, which depicts Su Lin (Angela Mao) in a running battle against her assailants, ending with her taking her own life via a shard of glass rather than fall into the clutches of Oharra (as the credits themselves spell his name). This sequence also gives us the origin of Oharra's facial scar, when the old man tries to hold off the assailants with a knife to give Su Lin a chance to escape.

Also fighting in the competition are Roper [Saxon], an indebted gambling addict, and [Roper's old Vietnam War buddy] Williams [Kelly].

These characters are introduced with their own flashbacks while they approach the boat. Roper's is of fighting off the enforcers of a debtor at a golf course. Williams recalls fighting back when harassed by racist cops in the States, ultimately commandeering their squad car for his getaway! (That part could have been the basis of its own film.) The two reacquaint on the boat and scope out the other participants heading for the island, including Parsons (Peter Archer) from New Zealand; and Lee, whom neither is familiar with, as they were in 'Nam when The Green Hornet was airing. Roper loses a bet to Lee over a praying mantis fight on the boat. Parsons proves to be a bully who tries to size Lee up by provoking him into a fight, but Lee tricks him into getting on a launch tethered to the boat, which is pulled along at a distance.

Arriving at the island, the participants see a large contingent of martial artists in training and find that Han otherwise keeps a substantial court with a variety of entertainment, including dancers, musicians, and sumo wrestlers. Roper expresses his appreciation for Han's lifestyle but shares with Williams that he feels they're being fattened up for the kill; while Williams doesn't find the cuisine appealing. Han makes his entrance to give a short speech and a demonstration of his accompanying ladies' dart-throwing skills.

After the banquet, Han's secretary Tania (Ahna Capri) comes around to the men's rooms to offer them their choices of companionship from among her harem of girls. Williams picks several, apologizing that he's a bit tired from the day's activities; Roper picks Tania; and Lee expresses an interest in the dart-thrower whom he recognized as Mei Ling, who's sent to him and fills him in about how the girls mysteriously disappear.

For the next morning's tournament opening, Lee eschews the required uniform in favor of his own attire; Williams takes down Parsons; and Roper bets on the action, which includes holding back in his own first fight to stack the odds for Williams's bet on him.

At the end of the first day, Han gives strict orders to the competitors not to leave their rooms. Lee...sneaks into Han's underground compound, looking for evidence.

Among the island's earlier visitors were a pair of Americans working for the Treasury Department.

He is discovered by several guards, but manages to escape.

His escape is witnessed by Williams, who also slipped out to get in some moonlight exercises.

The next morning, Han orders his giant enforcer Bolo [Yang Sze] to kill the guards in public for failing in their duties.

He's actually a bit shorter than Lee, but he's built like Ferrigno!

After the execution, the competition resumes with Lee facing O'Hara.

There's a brief flash toward the beginning of the clip above of Su Lin killing herself.

During the fight, Han warns O'Hara to step down as Lee beats him in humiliating fashion. Lee then kills him after he attacks Lee with a pair of broken bottles, getting justice for his sister's murder. Embarrassed, Han abruptly ends the day's competition after stating that O'Hara's treachery has disgraced them.

Lee apparently breaks Oharra's spine by jumping onto his prone body with both feet. The painedd expression on Lee's face echoes how he'd earlier apologized over the graves of his mother and sister for what he intended to do.

Han confronts Williams, who had also left his room the previous night to exercise. Han believes Williams to have knowledge of the intruder and after a destructive brawl,

Han first refuses to allow Williams to leave the island...

Williams: Bull-shit, Mr. Han-Man!

...following which Han summons his guards...

Williams: Man, you come right out of a comic book!

beats Williams to death with his iron prosthetic hand.

I was disappointed that we didn't get any of the three-man team action implied in the film's trailer. There's a cruel twist as the climactic portion of the fight occurs in the brothel, with some of the drugged-up girls whom Williams had previously enjoyed the company of laughing as Han beats him down and delivers the killing blow.

Han then reveals his drug operation to Roper, hoping that he will join his organisation.

A sequence in which Han goes overboard with the Bond villain schtick by stroking a white cat...though he adds his own angle of threatening to kill it with a guillotine to test Roper's ruthlessness. After Roper saves the cat, Han proceeds with his pitch, and Roper surmises that the whole tournament is a set-up to recruit new talent.

Han also implicitly threatens to imprison Roper, along with all the other martial artists who joined Han's tournaments in the past, if Roper will not join his operation. Despite being initially intrigued, Roper reluctantly accepts after learning of Williams's fate.

Han shows Roper Williams's hanging body, which he then has dropped into his underground drink.

Now in case you've forgotten that this is a Bruce Lee flick...

Lee sneaks out again that night

...getting back into the OUL after calmly bagging a cobra left on the concealed entrance; which he then uses to evacuate Han's radio room...

and manages to send a message to Braithwaite, but he is captured after a prolonged battle with the guards.

This clip cuts in right after Lee implicitly kills a guard played by an uncredited Jackie Chan! Lee is eventually stymied by non-human opposition...being trapped in a small chamber by sliding metal doors.

The next morning, Han arranges for Roper to fight Lee, but Roper refuses. As a punishment, Roper has to fight Bolo instead, whom he manages to overpower and beat after a grueling battle.

The finishing blow being a kick to the groin.

Enraged by the unexpected failure, Han commands his remaining men to kill Lee and Roper. Facing insurmountable odds, they are soon aided by the island's prisoners and the other invited martial artists, who had been freed by Mei-ling.

Before anyone asks, it's unclear why Han has a dungeon packed with captive martial artists.

Han escapes and is pursued by Lee, who finally corners him in his museum.

In the general melee outside, Han had swapped out his rigid metal hand for a bear claw attachment, which he then lost in an initial skirmish with Lee. I have to wonder if this sequence with the second attachment, consisting of four long, straight metal claws, may have played any role in inspiring Wolverine...

After a brutal fight, Han runs away into a hidden mirror room. The mirrors initially give Han an advantage, but Lee smashes all the room's mirrors to reveal Han's location and eventually kills him.

This is a particularly striking sequence, as much of the action is seen primarily via multiple reflections, rather than occurring directly in camera. A bit of wisdom that the abbot offered early in the film, about breaking the enemy by destroying the images and illusions that he hides behind, inspires Lee to shatter the mirrors. He ultimately kicks Han into a spear jutting through the chamber's rotating wall panel, which Han had thrust at Lee outside the chamber immediately following the clip above.

Lee returns outside to the main battle, which is now over. Han's surviving men are arrested, his girls are killed and Tania, who had become Roper's lover, is killed during the battle too.

It's also unclear how the girls died. Han did have some female guards (said to be his daughters), but the brothel girls shouldn't have been priority targets during the mass martial arts melee. Maybe they tried to join the fight.

Bruised and bloodied, Lee and Roper exchange a weary thumbs-up as the military finally arrives to take control of the island.

The end credits roll over a close-up of Han's bear claw attachment.

Enter the Dragon was estimated to have grossed over US$400 million worldwide (estimated to be the equivalent of over $2 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2022), against a budget of $850,000. It is one of the most successful martial arts films ever and is widely regarded as one of the greatest martial arts films of all time. In 2004, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Among the first films to combine martial arts action with spy film elements and the emerging blaxploitation genre, its success led to a series of similar productions combining the martial arts and blaxploitation genres. Its themes generated scholarly debate about the changes taking place within post-colonial Asian societies following the end of World War II.

Enter the Dragon is also considered one of the most influential action films of all time, with its success contributing to mainstream worldwide interest in the martial arts as well as inspiring numerous fictional works, including action films, television shows, action games, comic books, manga and anime.

The spy-fi elements did give this movie something extra over the next martial arts flick, going by my limited exposure. Lee also brings an enjoyable snarkiness as a lead action hero...there were several laugh-evoking moments of verbal sarcasm and nonverbal reactions/expressions throughout the film.

publiusr · Jan 1, 2024

The Old Mixer said:
_______

50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

_______

Hawaii Five-O
"The $100,000 Nickel"
Originally aired December 11, 1973

Super Friends
"The Planet Splitter"
Originally aired December 15, 1973
and on the yacht of Howard Small.

Star Trek
"The Slaver Weapon"
Originally aired December 15, 1973

This episode was written by Larry Niven as an adaptation of his story "The Soft Weapon". A notable side-effect is that this is the only TOS-era installment without Kirk (not counting a pilot that would only be released as a standalone episode over a decade later and well after the production of the series that it was made for).

First officer's log, stardate 4187.3: The Enterprise shuttlecraft Copernicus is en route to Starbase 25 with an important cargo--a Slaver statis box, discovered by archaeologists on the planet Kzin. These stasis boxes are the most remarkable thing the Slavers ever produced. Time stands still inside a stasis box. A billion years means nothing in there.

The interior of the TAS shuttle looks noticeably larger here than that of its live action predecessor. As Uhura's asking Spock for a brief infodump about the history of the Slavers, the box glows as they pass Beta Lyrae, indicating the presence of another box. Spock redirects the shuttle to investigate...

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Spock narration sans log entry: I must take full responsibility for this event. Instead of being warned by the highly unlikely coincidence of a second stasis box, I allowed its possible value to influence my judgment. The Kzinti now possess our stasis box. Its contents will determine how much damage my error has done the Federation and its people.

The trio find themselves confined via a "police web" on a privateer vessel called the Traitor's Claw. Spock notes that the Kzinti are breaking the Treaty of Sirius by possessing phasers; and we learn that the Kzinti have fought four wars with humankind, the last one having been 200 years prior. The Kzinti have used their empty stasis box to lure the Starfleet shuttle and its box into a trap. Sulu has to do the talking, as Kzinti consider vegetarians and females to be inferior. Spock also lays out the limitations of the Kzinti telepath present. The Chuft Captain opens the box to find a photo of a reptilian species that may be a Slaver; a piece of fresh, raw meat; and a device that the Kzinti captain takes to be a weapon.

First officer's log, supplemental: The Kzinti now possess a weapon potentially deadly to the entire galaxy. The extent of its power remains to be seen.

The captain has the humans and police web moved onto the planetoid to test the weapon on them. It's taken in stride that the device transforms into various potential weapons, its initial forms proving unremarkable--a telescope, a laser, and a rocket propellor that causes a bit of mishap. The next setting proves of use to the prisoners...an energy absorber that frees them from the effects of the web without the Kzinti realizing. The Starfleet officers make a break for it, with Spock making up for Kirk's absence by performing a flying drop kick on the Chuft Captain to nab the weapon.

Uhura is recaptured, but Spock exposits to Sulu how his attack forces the Chuft Captain into a duel of honor. Spock and Sulu negotiate with the captain to trade Uhura for the duel; while Sulu theorizes that the multifunctionality of the device might make it a spy fi weapon; tries to find a hypothetical self-destruct setting; and ends up discovering its most impressive function--a long-range blast that sends the terrain on the horizon up into a mushroom cloud. Knocked out by the aftershock, Spock and Sulu are recaptured.

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In the coda, Spock reflects on how an ancient war may have endangered the peace between the Federation and the Kzinti.

This one was everything I'd heard it was--

I wonder if the 5-0 episodes may have been an influence for BeBop’s introduction to Faye….They used a car wreck sequence for explosions a lot.

In Super Friends…Howard Small is likely based on Howard Hughes (?)…and TAS…that was the best episode.

There was an animated EMERGENCY program that featured a car that had two engines (used to cheat in a race)—and an episode about a tornado…fitting now that it is 2024–for the Super Outbreak occurred 50 years ago this coming April.

RJDiogenes · Jan 1, 2024

The Old Mixer said:
toy company owner Louis (William Schallert)

That space station guy, plus a billion other things.

Alejandro Sanchez (Vito Scotti)

Dr Boris Balinkoff, among a billion other things.

Cut to the newlyweds cutting their wedding cake in the Muncie home. Muncie's present is a new doll being made by his company that's named after Carmen; and Alicia catches the bouquet.

An interesting and atypical little family drama. Must have been a backdoor pilot, like Happy Days. Probably would have made a good show.

Rollo and Freida (Doc Severinsen and Beth Howland)

I never knew Doc Severinsen to work as an actor. Beth Howland was the ditzy girl in Alice.

She agrees, and he presents her with a new series of forms to be filled out.

Now this was more like the LAS madness I go for. :rommie:

Cleyon Potts (Mel Tillis)

Two musicians turned actor in one episode. Weird.

"10 Tingles," about the sensation that she evokes in his toes

Wow.

Cut to April Ann's smash hit playing on the radio, while her implicitly ex-husband has become a has-been.

Another good one, with the added dimension of being a good-natured parody of Country music.

I may have been, too. I can recall Dick Clark's show being the new alternative to whatever Grandma watched...probably Guy Lombardo.

Oh, yeah, Guy Lombardo. That triggers memories of going upstairs and downstairs during the show-- my Grandmother lived in the rooms on the first floor and I lived upstairs, so I would spend a few minutes with her periodically and then go back up to what I really wanted to watch. :rommie:

For me, the ears were just the entry point. Maybe Wolfman Jack's mission was to stop the Osmonds from becoming a thing...

This is getting good. I wonder if Netflix would be interested. :rommie:

Not one of her more memorable numbers.

Probably not, but it hits the sweet spot of nostalgia for me.

Seems like it's been a while since we had a conservative spoken-word hit. I'm torn between swelling with patriotic pride and not wanting to be seen with this record...

Patriotism is the opposite of conservative. In fact, patriotism is the opposite of Right Wing and Left Wing. :rommie:

I also like the fact that it's written by a more-or-less objective outsider and not just somebody thumping his own chest. I would have preferred a better soundtrack, though....

Well, that barely started by the end of '63...it's more of a '64 thing.

Well, I said wait'll next year, so I was pretty on target.

That's more like Friday--the written equivalent of a monotone lecture.

He typed it all out, double spaced. With a " -30- " at the end.

Happy New Year!

And a big Happy New Year to you too!

The Old Mixer said:
Lee is an icon in the true, classic sense of the word (before it got watered down to a synonym for "celebrity"). He is to martial arts what Elvis is to rock 'n' roll.

Donny Osmond's not an icon?

We meet the character of Lee as he spars with and instructs pupils at a Shaolin Temple.

I'm intrigued from the start, although this one seems a bit different from Caine's.

Han is a former student gone bad, which makes Lee's mission more of a duty for the temple.

Very interesting. There was a similar aspect to Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. I can't remember if they ever resolved that particular plotline.

In the briefing, Braithwaite notes that his unnamed agency gathers and shares intelligence but doesn't enforce; establishes that guns aren't to be used, as the island is in disputed waters and Han is known not to have any

Also very interesting. I knew next to nothing about this movie before reading your summary and there's a bunch of intriguing elements to it right off the bat.

This is conveyed via a flashback during Lee's journey

One thing all Shaolin temples have in common is teaching the art of the flashback. :rommie:

Williams recalls fighting back when harassed by racist cops in the States, ultimately commandeering their squad car for his getaway! (That part could have been the basis of its own film.)

I'm picturing the guy from Live and Let Die, but I'm sure I'll be disappointed. :rommie:

whom neither is familiar with, as they were in 'Nam when The Green Hornet was airing.

The toll of war.

Roper loses a bet to Lee over a praying mantis fight on the boat.

Okay, that guy has a serious problem. But it would have been funny if Lee called him "Mantis" from then on.

Lee tricks him into getting on a launch tethered to the boat, which is pulled along at a distance.

Nice.

Han makes his entrance to give a short speech and a demonstration of his accompanying ladies' dart-throwing skills.

We're definitely in the Bond-verse.

Lee apparently breaks Oharra's spine by jumping onto his prone body with both feet. The painedd expression on Lee's face echoes how he'd earlier apologized over the graves of his mother and sister for what he intended to do.

Ouch.

Williams: Man, you come right out of a comic book!

Comic book, Bond movie-- pretty cool, either way. :rommie:

There's a cruel twist as the climactic portion of the fight occurs in the brothel, with some of the drugged-up girls whom Williams had previously enjoyed the company of laughing as Han beats him down and delivers the killing blow.

A cruel twist indeed-- not just the mockery, but a lonely, unseen, and unavenged death, unlike Lee's sister.

A sequence in which Han goes overboard with the Bond villain schtick by stroking a white cat...

A deliberate homage, maybe?

This clip cuts in right after Lee implicitly kills a guard played by an uncredited Jackie Chan!

That's pretty cool. Must be a nice memory for Jackie Chan.

Before anyone asks, it's unclear why Han has a dungeon packed with captive martial artists.

Anyone has been wondering that for a while. :rommie:

I have to wonder if this sequence with the second attachment, consisting of four long, straight metal claws, may have played any role in inspiring Wolverine...

Good point. I'll bet it did.

A bit of wisdom that the abbot offered early in the film, about breaking the enemy by destroying the images and illusions that he hides behind, inspires Lee to shatter the mirrors.

Nice little Shaolin touch there.

Maybe they tried to join the fight.

Or cause a distraction.

The spy-fi elements did give this movie something extra over the next martial arts flick, going by my limited exposure. Lee also brings an enjoyable snarkiness as a lead action hero...there were several laugh-evoking moments of verbal sarcasm and nonverbal reactions/expressions throughout the film.

This actually sounds great, on par with any of the best Bond films. I wonder if fictional Lee would have become an ongoing Bondian franchise character if real Lee had survived. I was also relived that John Saxon turned out to be an ally-- I was afraid he would turn on Lee in the climactic sequence.

publiusr said:
In Super Friends…Howard Small is likely based on Howard Hughes (?)…

Howard Small versus Howard... Huge? :rommie:

Nerys Myk · Jan 1, 2024

The Old Mixer said:
The film opens with the breakout hit of the genre, 1955's "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets...which will derivatively be used as the opening theme of Happy Days for its first two seasons. The film is so loaded with great classics from the mid-'50s to the early '60s that I won't attempt to cover them all here...perhaps I'll do a separate post about the double-LP soundtrack, which has been doing well on the album chart in 50th Anniversaryland. I have to question whether material from the mid-to-late '50s would have still been so active on the radio in '62, at the expense of more immediately period-authentic material (like Spector-produced girl groups, which are completely absent). I'm willing to suspend my disbelief because (a) first and foremost, it's a great soundtrack in its own right, covering highlights of the rock and roll era up to the point that the film takes place; (b) the film is probably informed by Lucas's teenage experiences in general, rather than attempting to recreate that specific moment; and (c) the cat spinning the platters is Wolfman Jack, and the Wolfman gonna do his own thing, ya dig? Awwwoooooooooo!

This reminded me of a song from 1961 "Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind me of you)"
Nostalgia for the 50s starting in the early 60s. :lol:

DarrenTR1970 · Jan 2, 2024

Good Evening - Happy New Year Everyone. I'd thought I would start out the New Year with a couple of performances from 'The Midnight Special', both taped back in December, but airing 25th-January-1974.

First up - Genesis promoting with a pair of songs from the albums 'Foxtrot' and 'Nursery Cryme'.

Here's 'The Musical Box' from 'Foxtrot'.

Next is 'Watcher of the Skies' from 'Selling England by the Pound'.

Then, from the same episode - Steve Miller with a pair of songs.

First the title track from the album 'The Joker'.

Finally, a song that Steve was performing in concert, but hadn't gotten around to recording - 'Fly Like An Eagle' from the album of the same name.

Note the slightly different lyrics and arrangement and the 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' intro.

The Old Mixer · Jan 2, 2024

50th Anniversary Cinematic Special

The Paper Chase
Directed by James Bridges
Starring Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, and John Houseman
Premiered September 7, 1973 (Atlanta International Film Festival)
Released October 16, 1973
1974 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John Houseman)
Nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (James Bridges); Best Sound

Wiki said:
The Paper Chase is a 1973 American comedy-drama film....Based on John Jay Osborn Jr.'s 1971 novel The Paper Chase, it tells the story of James Hart, a first-year law student at Harvard Law School, his experiences with Professor Charles Kingsfield, a brilliant and demanding contract law instructor, and Hart's relationship with Kingsfield's daughter. Houseman earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the professor. Houseman later reprised the role in a TV series of the same name that lasted four seasons, following Hart, played by James Stephens, through his three years of law school.

I first caught this on TV during my own college years and found myself captivated by it. The film is driven by Houseman's award-winning performance...which is actually his breakout role as an actor, having been a producer for most of his show business career up to this point.

Wiki said:
James T. Hart [Bottoms] starts his first year at Harvard Law School in a contract law course with Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. [Houseman]. When Kingsfield immediately delves into the material using the Socratic method and asks Hart the first question, Hart is totally unprepared and feels so humiliated that, after class, he throws up in the bathroom.

[Cinematographer Gordon Willis noted] that the composition of the scenes with Houseman and Bottoms "related to who had command of the situation. We used huge close-ups of John, and demeaning shots of Timothy. Then as the movie goes along and Timothy begins to get on top of it, you'll notice the shot sizes begin to diminish on John and begin to get a little bit bigger on Timothy—until finally they are equal partners shooting back and forth."

Hart is invited to join a study group with five others:

[Franklin] Ford [III (Graham Beckel)], the fifth generation of Fords at Harvard Law School

Kevin Brooks [James Naughton], a married man with a photographic memory but lacking in analytical skills

[Thomas Craig] Anderson [Edward Herrmann]

[Willis] Bell [Craig Richard Nelson], who is devoted to property law

O'Connor [Robert Lydiard]

Each member of the group agrees to focus on a specific course and write a synopsis of their notes to share with each other before the final exams. Hart chooses contract law.

Kingsfield explains his use of the Socratic method.

While out getting pizza, Hart is asked by a woman, Susan Fields [pre-bionic Wagner], to walk her home, as she says she feels uncomfortable about a man who has been following her. Hart returns to her house soon after and asks her on a date, after which they begin a complicated relationship: she resents the time he devotes to his studies and his fascination with Kingsfield, while he expects her to provide him with considerable attention and wants a firm commitment.

Before all of that develops, we cut from Hart coming to her door to the post-coital couple in bed, where James shares the following with Susan:

Hart categorizes his classmates into three groups: those who have given up; those who are trying, but fear being called upon in class to respond to Kingsfield's questions; and the "upper echelon" who actively volunteer to answer. Hart strives to move from the second classification to the third, and succeeds as time goes on.

Hart's first step toward his goal:
Miss Farranti is played by Blair Brown. Hart exits the hall triumphantly afterward, semi-dancing down the campus to meet up with Susan. In a subsequent dorm shower scene that shows us way too deep below Edward Hermann's navel, cutting the frame just a hair above his junk, Anderson advises Hart against getting in a relationship while in law school. This is going to come back to haunt me when I'm watching old History Channel documentaries. Anyway, Hart quickly comes to see Anderson's point when he oversleeps with Susan and attends class unprepared. He further makes the mistake of announcing his finding to her afterward, initiating the above-described issues; and subsequently oversleeps again, missing a study group meeting.

When Hart and a select few of his classmates are invited to a cocktail party hosted by Kingsfield,

The entire class is invited, and it's on what we now refer to as Black Friday. Kevin brings his wife, Asheley (Regina Baff). And would you believe that closed captioning Xed out the first syllable of "cocktails"?

he is stunned to discover that Susan is Kingsfield's married daughter. She is, however, separated from her husband.

Susan has just returned from Europe because her mother's in a mental institution (which isn't delved into any further, though it may be in the novel), and explains how she has issues seeing another of her father's students, as her ex was one who dropped out of law school. James becomes pleased with this development as it gives him an angle on Kingsfield that the professor doesn't know about.

After another session with Susan, this time in Kingsfield's house, James is amused to walk around in Kingsfield's study--which is adorned with pictures of notable figures he's known, including FDR, Eisenhower, Hemingway, and Helen Keller--while in his underwear and drinking. Then he has to quickly slip out into the cold in his underwear when Kingsfield comes home unexpectedly early. Susan brings his clothes out and drives off with him, her father being aware that she was with a man but not who it was. James becomes paranoid at the next class when Kingsfield seems to make a point of questioning everyone around him, but not him.

She and Hart break up and get back together several times.

Meanwhile, Brooks's shortcomings become evident in class and Ford comes to his rescue by diverting Kingsfield from chewing him out over the worthlessness of his photographic memory. Brooks's need to lean on the others comes to cause tension in the study group. Hart accompanies him to see a confident student tutor named William Moss (Lenny Baker), which gives us the perspective of seeing better-adjusted upperclassmen.

Hart eventually learns of the existence of the "Red Set", the archived and sealed personal notes that Harvard professors wrote when they were students, which are stored in a locked room of the library. Late one night, Hart and Ford break into the library to read Kingsfield's notes.

From 1927! Hart is amused to see that Kingsfield wrote notes with doodles in them like any other student, and finds insight into his thoughts, which he thinks gives him an advantage. He and Susan get back together, though tensions over his fixation with her father continue as she shows him the Harvard Stadium. (A striking element of the film not represented in the series of clips here are location-shot vignettes of downtime around the Harvard campus, which reflect the changing of seasons during the semester.) After she gets him to agree to a weekend getaway at the Cape, James shows off his knowledge of Kingsfield's old papers in class, which earns him an opportunity to do some extracurricular work...
...and Susan clearly isn't pleased when he has to break their plans. The extra work consumes Hart's weekend, he has to ask for more time to finish it, and Kingsfield informs him that he's gotten somebody else to do the work. Devastated, James tries to lean on Susan for support, and she breaks up with him again.

The mounting pressure gets to everyone as the course nears its end....The study group is torn apart by personal bickering,

O'Connor is the first one out. Next Bell--who's coldly insulting, outspokenly full of himself in a way that clearly masks esteem issues, and has the habit of referring to everyone on his bad side as "pimps"--is kicked out of the group by Ford. Brooks becomes increasingly concerned about needing the outlines of the students who've left the group. Hart visits the Brooks home to offer his support and learns that Asheley's pregnant, which doesn't alleviate the tension that's clearly affecting the couple. Kevin expresses his pessimism about his ability to pass and starts to break down from the pressure. As James is leaving, Asheley asks for his help in putting together a surprise birthday party for Kevin.

Meanwhile, James has seen Susan with her husband, Philip (Bill Moher), who's back from Europe as they're pursuing the divorce, which her father is handling. Hart wanders the lecture hall by night, eyeing his own seat from Kingsfield's podium, and is caught by the janitor.

Brooks is called upon in class and caught with his figurative pants down. James later realizes that he's forgotten Kevin's party and tries unsuccessfully to gather the gang at the last minute. He goes to the Brooks house to apologize and is met by Asheley holding a rifle by the barrel. She informs him that Kevin tried to commit suicide, and takes him to her husband, who doesn't want to talk to him.

The delayed weekend at the Cape follows, with Susan trying to convince a disenchanted James that no matter how hard he tries, he'll never be allowed to be more than another student to her father. (The very idiotic closed captioning censor also Xes out the second syllable in "manipulating".)

The Wiki summary doesn't mention an important beat in Hart's relationship with Kingsfield:

With final exams looming,

the study group is down to three members, Kevin having dropped out while turning in a meager fragment of an outline.

On the last day of class, Hart and his classmates give Kingsfield a standing ovation.

Hart and Ford hole up in a hotel room for three days and study feverishly.

An amusing sequence. Note that the film's music is by John Williams.

Exam day, with the final Hart/Kingsfield beat:
Afterward, we see Kingsfield dispassionately grading Hart's exam, giving him a 93, A.

Later, as Susan brings Hart his mail at the beach. Hart climbs to the highest rock, makes a paper airplane out of the unopened envelope containing his grades and sends it flying into the water.

She also informs James that her divorce is final.

This one maybe resonated with me more when I first saw it, and kinda gives me college PTSD now, but it's still a pretty good watch. I don't know where the TV series took things, but I have to wonder if James and Susan stayed together, and if so, when did Kingsfield find out? "You'll remember my name now, Dad!"

_______

RJDiogenes said:
An interesting and atypical little family drama. Must have been a backdoor pilot, like Happy Days.

Possibly...I hadn't thought of that.

Two musicians turned actor in one episode. Weird.

Three--Diana Trask was also a real-life country singer.

Oh, yeah, Guy Lombardo. That triggers memories of going upstairs and downstairs during the show-- my Grandmother lived in the rooms on the first floor and I lived upstairs, so I would spend a few minutes with her periodically and then go back up to what I really wanted to watch.

Good grandson.

This is getting good. I wonder if Netflix would be interested.

I also like the fact that it's written by a more-or-less objective outsider and not just somebody thumping his own chest.

That does weigh in its favor.

And a big Happy New Year to you too!

My holiday time off has certainly been better than it was last year...!

Donny Osmond's not an icon?

If he is, it's not necessarily for something good...

I'm intrigued from the start, although this one seems a bit different from Caine's.

Well, it has been a century.

Also very interesting. I knew next to nothing about this movie before reading your summary and there's a bunch of intriguing elements to it right off the bat.

It's worth checking out. I should note that I ended up buying this and American Graffiti on iTunes, after I realized that the purchase price was only a buck more than the rental price.

One thing all Shaolin temples have in common is teaching the art of the flashback.

I'm picturing the guy from Live and Let Die, but I'm sure I'll be disappointed.

You mean Sheriff Pepper?

A cruel twist indeed-- not just the mockery, but a lonely, unseen, and unavenged death, unlike Lee's sister.

I'm sure that it motivated Roper's actions afterward...though Lee was the one who ultimately dealt with Williams's killer.

That's pretty cool. Must be a nice memory for Jackie Chan.

He'd previously worked as an extra and stunt double in 1972's Fist of Fury.

Anyone has been wondering that for a while.

Nice little Shaolin touch there.

Though the piece of wisdom seemed shoehorned in just to be recalled in the climax.

This actually sounds great, on par with any of the best Bond films.

It's at least better than the weaker-tier Bond films.

I wonder if fictional Lee would have become an ongoing Bondian franchise character if real Lee had survived.

I was thinking along the same lines. It seems likely that they intended to bring back Roper as well.

Santa Kang said:
This reminded me of a song from 1961 "Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind me of you)"
Nostalgia for the 50s starting in the early 60s.

This caused me to further think about an element of the film that seemed a little forced to me. Curt, as Lucas's stand-in, is actively/outspokenly nostalgic about his own recent past--pining for high school and the old home town before he's had the opportunity to miss them. Some apprehension about leaving that life behind is understandable, but some of the beats play so heavy-handedly that one gets the impression that Curt is the time traveler, who's come back from the present of 1973 to remember the good ol' days.

DarrenTR1970 · Jan 2, 2024

The Paper Chase recently aired on MoviesTV Network and it sucked me in; but I didn't like it nor did I hate it. Not having gone to law school, I can't say if what I watched was an accurate description of college classes and exams.
It was interesting to see a few familiar faces in early roles before they became famous. Edit to add: I just realized that the actor who played Toombs, the dorm monitor, played Windows in John Carpenter's The Thing.
I can't remember if I caught an episode or two when it aired on CBS during its one and only season on network television, maybe as a lead in to another show my family would watch, or when it was rebroadcast on PBS, but I do remember John Houseman
This movie, along with "Rollerball" (1975) staring James Caan, brought John Houseman back into the public eye.
Interestingly enough, "You, Me and the Movies" on YouTube recently watched and reacted to the 1977 movie "Rollercoaster" (1977) with the late George Segal. Much to my surprise, Timothy Bottoms was the terrorist. He looked almost unrecognizable without his mustache and short hair.

The Old Mixer · Jan 2, 2024

DarrenTR1970 said:
but I do remember John Houseman

RJDiogenes · Jan 2, 2024

DarrenTR1970 said:
First up - Genesis promoting with a pair of songs from the albums 'Foxtrot' and 'Nursery Cryme'.

Glam Theater Rock, or something.

Then, from the same episode - Steve Miller with a pair of songs.

He's apparently better in the studio than he is live.

The Old Mixer said:
The film is driven by Houseman's award-winning performance...which is actually his breakout role as an actor, having been a producer for most of his show business career up to this point.

I didn't know about his career as a producer, but he does have quite an onscreen presence.

Kingsfield explains his use of the Socratic method.

That's great. Kinda makes me want to debate him about something. :rommie:

And would you believe that closed captioning Xed out the first syllable of "cocktails"?

Maybe it was traumatized by the shower scene.

Susan has just returned from Europe because her mother's in a mental institution (which isn't delved into any further, though it may be in the novel)

Perhaps this was meant as a character insight for Kingsfield-- either to underscore his assholery or help explain it.

Kingsfield's study--which is adorned with pictures of notable figures he's known, including FDR, Eisenhower, Hemingway, and Helen Keller

This is definitely an insight into Kingsfield-- not so much that he knew these people, but that he adorns his study with pictures of them.

From 1927! Hart is amused to see that Kingsfield wrote notes with doodles in them like any other student

Once he was a human being.... :rommie:

Meanwhile, James has seen Susan with her husband, Philip (Bill Moher), who's back from Europe as they're pursuing the divorce, which her father is handling.

What exactly does Susan do with her life? Clearly not follow in her father's footsteps.

She informs him that Kevin tried to commit suicide, and takes him to her husband, who doesn't want to talk to him.

Damn. And we have no where-are-they-now epilogue to know what became of him.

(The very idiotic closed captioning censor also Xes out the second syllable in "manipulating".)

Perhaps it foresaw Lindsay's tee shirts in Bionic Woman.

The Wiki summary doesn't mention an important beat in Hart's relationship with Kingsfield:

Nice. Reminds me of Patton. :rommie:

An amusing sequence. Note that the film's music is by John Williams.

Interesting. They could have easily explained themselves politely. Are they telling us that Kingsfield has created another couple of sons of bitches?

Exam day, with the final Hart/Kingsfield beat:

I love it. :rommie:

So the question is, are Kingsfield's students really complete non-entities to him, or is he really a son of a bitch? And if so, is it in the service of unrelentingly preparing them for the harsh realities ahead?

I don't know where the TV series took things, but I have to wonder if James and Susan stayed together, and if so, when did Kingsfield find out? "You'll remember my name now, Dad!"

I vaguely remember watching it a few times, which is where I get my knowledge of John Houseman's screen presence, but I have no clear memories of it.

Three--Diana Trask was also a real-life country singer.

Ah, I don't know her.

Good grandson.

In retrospect, perhaps not so bad. :rommie:

My holiday time off has certainly been better than it was last year...!

Hopefully the year will continue in that vein.

If he is, it's not necessarily for something good...

Well, it has been a century.

True.

It's worth checking out. I should note that I ended up buying this and American Graffiti on iTunes, after I realized that the purchase price was only a buck more than the rental price.

I'm thinking of getting Enter The Dragon, and maybe both films, with my Christmas gift cards.

You mean Sheriff Pepper?

Yep, my least favorite part of Live and Let Die-- not to mention Man With the Golden Gun.

He'd previously worked as an extra and stunt double in 1972's Fist of Fury.

I wonder how well they knew each other.

Though the piece of wisdom seemed shoehorned in just to be recalled in the climax.

Still pretty good for a film of this type.

I was thinking along the same lines. It seems likely that they intended to bring back Roper as well.

It's a real tragedy that he died so young.

some of the beats play so heavy-handedly that one gets the impression that Curt is the time traveler, who's come back from the present of 1973 to remember the good ol' days.

The timeline is so messed up at this point that it makes me want to become a time traveler so that I can make things even worse.

The Old Mixer · Jan 2, 2024

DarrenTR1970 said:
The Paper Chase recently aired on MoviesTV Network

That's where I recorded it from.

Not having gone to law school, I can't say if what I watched was an accurate description of college classes and exams.

I read that there were some critiques of Kingsfield's teaching methods from actual law professors.

The above-posted gig was my primary exposure to Houseman...apparently he did that series of commercials until late in his life (d. 1988). When I caught The Paper Chase in the '90s, I learned what he was famous for. I'd heard of the TV series, but didn't know anything about it.

RJDiogenes said:
That's great. Kinda makes me want to debate him about something.

Or he could teach you how to roll your Rs.

Maybe it was traumatized by the shower scene.

Could be...I mean, if I posted a screen cap, I could get us in trouble with our Google overlords.

Perhaps this was meant as a character insight for Kingsfield-- either to underscore his assholery or help explain it.

I'd tend to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's just likeable and admirable enough a character...a magnificent asshole.

This is definitely an insight into Kingsfield-- not so much that he knew these people, but that he adorns his study with pictures of them.

At least some of them were signed with messages, and one looked like it was supposed to be a picture of him with whichever figure (though I couldn't see it too well). If FDR gives you signed photo, you'd better damn well hang it on your wall!

What exactly does Susan do with her life? Clearly not follow in her father's footsteps.

That is a very good question, and possibly another thing that the novel went into more detail about. She was living in the neighborhood of the campus, and her husband was said to have been backpacking in Europe, so she probably didn't stand to gain much in the divorce. I imagine that her father was supporting her at least for the time being, though she may have had a job, possibly at the school.

Damn. And we have no where-are-they-now epilogue to know what became of him.

Part of what was pressuring him were expectations for his future...Asheley's father had a job lined up for him when he got out of law school.

Nice. Reminds me of Patton.

Refresh my memory, which part?

Interesting. They could have easily explained themselves politely.

Yeah, I can't think that the hotel staff would have been that upset over seeing paper strewn all over, provided the students agreed to clean it up before they left.

I love it. So the question is, are Kingsfield's students really complete non-entities to him, or is he really a son of a bitch? And if so, is it in the service of unrelentingly preparing them for the harsh realities ahead?

There was a line from Susan that was confirmed by this scene...about how her father would never allow himself to become close to a student. I get the impression that he was deliberately maintaining boundaries; though it's possible he might be someone who's so compartmentalized that he doesn't recognize somebody outside of the context in which he's used to seeing them. I think we were meant to wonder.

Ah, I don't know her.

Nor did I, but I looked her up when she started singing. You could tell that it was her day job.

I'm thinking of getting Enter The Dragon, and maybe both films, with my Christmas gift cards.

Yep, my least favorite part of Live and Let Die-- not to mention Man With the Golden Gun.

He was more likeable than the two in EtD.

Still pretty good for a film of this type.

In terms of how it plugged into the spy fi formula, remembering that nugget of wisdom was roughly the equivalent of Bond whipping out a gadget that we last saw being introduced by Q.

DarrenTR1970 · Jan 3, 2024

The Old Mixer said:
The above-posted gig was my primary exposure to Houseman...apparently he did that series of commercials until late in his life (d. 1988). When I caught The Paper Chase in the '90s, I learned what he was famous for. I'd heard of the TV series, but didn't know anything about it.

If I really had to think about it - I think my first real exposure to Houseman was his recurring role as Ricky Schroder's grandfather on 'Silver Spoons'.

While we're on the subject - Here's John Houseman's last film appearance.

I was there opening night and you should have heard the cheer that came up from the audience when Houseman appeared.

RJDiogenes · Jan 3, 2024

The Old Mixer said:
I read that there were some critiques of Kingsfield's teaching methods from actual law professors.

I can imagine. :rommie:

Or he could teach you how to roll your Rs.

That would at least make me sound smarter.

Could be...I mean, if I posted a screen cap, I could get us in trouble with our Google overlords.

I'll take your word for it on that one. :rommie:

I'd tend to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's just likeable and admirable enough a character...a magnificent asshole.

Indeed. And a Darwinian mechanism.

At least some of them were signed with messages, and one looked like it was supposed to be a picture of him with whichever figure (though I couldn't see it too well). If FDR gives you signed photo, you'd better damn well hang it on your wall!

I'd also have a tee shirt made, but Kingsfield's not quite the tee shirt type.

Refresh my memory, which part?

The part where Patton says to the sleepy soldier, "Go back to sleep-- you're the only one around here who knows what the hell he's doing."

Yeah, I can't think that the hotel staff would have been that upset over seeing paper strewn all over, provided the students agreed to clean it up before they left.

At first I thought the joke would be about the staff thinking they were Gay, but then they were just obnoxious. Which was not only unnecessary, but also compromised precious studying time.

There was a line from Susan that was confirmed by this scene...about how her father would never allow himself to become close to a student. I get the impression that he was deliberately maintaining boundaries; though it's possible he might be someone who's so compartmentalized that he doesn't recognize somebody outside of the context in which he's used to seeing them. I think we were meant to wonder.

Definitely open to interpretation. My take is that he knew very well who he was talking to. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that brain held the name of every student he ever had. :rommie:

He was more likeable than the two in EtD.

Bloody Hell, now I'm afraid to watch it. :rommie:

In terms of how it plugged into the spy fi formula, remembering that nugget of wisdom was roughly the equivalent of Bond whipping out a gadget that we last saw being introduced by Q.

I kind of like that parallel.

DarrenTR1970 said:
While we're on the subject - Here's John Houseman's last film appearance.

"Extend your middle finger." :rommie:

He really doesn't look much different fifteen years later.

I was there opening night and you should have heard the cheer that came up from the audience when Houseman appeared.

Very nice.

The Old Mixer · Jan 4, 2024

DarrenTR1970 said:
If I really had to think about it - I think my first real exposure to Houseman was his recurring role as Ricky Schroder's grandfather on 'Silver Spoons'.

That also rings a bell from my limited exposure to the show.

While we're on the subject - Here's John Houseman's last film appearance.

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I saw that, but didn't remember that he was in it. The middle finger part did ring a bell.

I was there opening night and you should have heard the cheer that came up from the audience when Houseman appeared.

It was released soon after his death.

RJDiogenes said:
I'll take your word for it on that one.

What, you don't want me to send a cap via PM? That'd probably be permissible, so long as you didn't report me.

I'd also have a tee shirt made, but Kingsfield's not quite the tee shirt type.

I'd love to see him in a Stones tongue logo T-shirt.

The part where Patton says to the sleepy soldier, "Go back to sleep-- you're the only one around here who knows what the hell he's doing."

Heh...I don't even remember that part.

At first I thought the joke would be about the staff thinking they were Gay

The maid reported them because she seemed to think they were plotting a murder.

Definitely open to interpretation. My take is that he knew very well who he was talking to. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that brain held the name of every student he ever had.

OTOH, he was pretty dependent on his seating chart, complete with headshots of the students.

Bloody Hell, now I'm afraid to watch it.

Pepper was a broad comic relief character. These guys were seriously threatening.

ETA: I was just watching the second episode of Gold Monkey. The war-related anachronisms come hot and heavy in this one. Jake and Corky serving in the Flying Tigers is referenced, and the episode opens with Jake having a fever dream of the two of them in a P-40 Warhawk being pursued by Zekes, a.k.a. Zeroes. The P-40 was what the Tigers flew, but it was only entering service in '38; and as previously mentioned, the Zero went into service in '40, and the Flying Tigers squadron didn't start being put together until '41. Jake and Corky are also said to have met in '35 (implicitly in the Tigers), and there's a reference to them having still been flying in "the war" the previous December. I think the former, and definitely the latter, contradict dates dropped in the pilot episode that indicated they'd been running the Goose for years.

Song continuity is better--Sarah sings "The Lady Is a Tramp," which is from '37.

The fighter footage definitely looks like it was reused from Black Sheep...I think that show's pilot episode had Pappy evading Zeroes in a P-40, but I'd have to check.

Just gonna leave this here...

RJDiogenes · Jan 4, 2024

The Old Mixer said:
What, you don't want me to send a cap via PM? That'd probably be permissible, so long as you didn't report me.

No, no! That's okay! I wouldn't want you to risk losing your Moderator position!

I'd love to see him in a Stones tongue logo T-shirt.

Now there's a job for Generative AI. :rommie:

Heh...I don't even remember that part.

One of my favorite scenes:

:rommie:

OTOH, he was pretty dependent on his seating chart, complete with headshots of the students.

Good point. I didn't think of that.

ETA: I was just watching the second episode of Gold Monkey. The war-related anachronisms come hot and heavy in this one. Jake and Corky serving in the Flying Tigers is referenced, and the episode opens with Jake having a fever dream of the two of them in a P-40 Warhawk being pursued by Zekes, a.k.a. Zeroes. The P-40 was what the Tigers flew, but it was only entering service in '38; and as previously mentioned, the Zero went into service in '40, and the Flying Tigers squadron didn't start being put together until '41. Jake and Corky are also said to have met in '35 (implicitly in the Tigers), and there's a reference to them having still been flying in "the war" the previous December.

I'm sure I could come up with a justification, and build a story around it, if I studied up on the Tigers, but I'd love to know how this came to be, especially if the writers referenced "the war."

Just gonna leave this here...

Special effects have certainly changed in forty years. :rommie:

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