Joseph L. Mankiewicz Centennial
Four-time Academy Award winner screenwriter-director-producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz will be saluted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a special 50th anniversary screening of a recently restored print of Suddenly, Last Summer, starring Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor (above, and right, with Mankiewicz), and Montgomery Clift. The screening will take place on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The evening will also celebrate the recent gift of the Joseph L. Mankiewicz Papers to the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library. Turner Classic Movies host and The Young Turks co-creator Ben Mankiewicz, Joseph L.’s great nephew and grandson of Citizen Kane co-screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, will host [...]
by Andre Soares | May 1, 2009
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Tags: 5 Fingers, A Letter to Three Wives, Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, All About Eve, All the King's Men, Ann Sothern, Anne Baxter, Ava Gardner, Ben Mankiewicz, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Celeste Holm, Citizen Kane, Classic Movies, Claudette Colbert, Danielle Darrieux, Dragonwyck, Edmond O'Brien, Edward G. Robinson, Elizabeth Taylor, Finlay Currie, Fritz Lang, Fury, Gay Interest, Gene Tierney, George Sanders, Herman J. Mankiewicz, House of Strangers, James Mason, Jeanne Crain, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Julius Caesar, Katharine Hepburn, Linda Darnell, Los Angeles Screenings, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, No Way Out, People Will Talk, Rita Hayworth, Robert Rossen, Ronald Colman, Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, Suddenly Last Summer, TCM, The Barefoot Contessa, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Late George Apley, The Philadelphia Story, The Young Turks, Thelma Ritter, Turner Classic Movies
Jack Cardiff
Cinematographer and director Jack Cardiff, one of the early masters of color cinematography, has died. He was 94.
Cardiff’s work as a cinematographer was quite eclectic, ranging from his partnership with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in the British-made Black Narcissus (1945) and The Red Shoes (1948) to prestigious international productions such as John Huston’s The African Queen (1951) and King Vidor’s War and Peace (1956), and to low-brow commercial fare such as Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985).
I’ve never watched Conan or Rambo, but I have watched more than 20 of Cardiff’s 60 or so features, and I can testify that whether working in art-house or commercial fare, Cardiff’s cinematography was invariably one [...]
by Andre Soares | April 22, 2009
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Tags: A Matter of Life and Death, Alfred Hitchcock, Annabella, Ava Gardner, Black Narcissus, Caesar and Cleopatra, Cinematographers, Classic Movies, Conan the Destroyer, Death on the Nile, Emeric Pressburger, Errol Flynn, Fanny, Girl on the Motorcycle, Harold D. Schuster, Henry Fonda, Jack Cardiff, John Huston, King Vidor, Laurence Olivier, Michael Powell, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Ray Rennahan, Robert Donat, Rod Taylor, Sean O'Casey, Sons and Lovers, The African Queen, The Barefoot Contessa, The Black Rose, The Dance of Shiva, The Long Ships, The Red Shoes, The Vikings, The Wicked Lady, Trevor Howard, Tyrone Power, Under Capricorn, Vivien Leigh, War and Peace, Wings of the Morning, Young Cassidy
National Film Registry 2008: A FACE IN THE CROWD, JOHNNY GUITAR
2008 National Film Registry
Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner in The Killers
National Film Registry 2008 Article
Film information from the National Film Registry press release
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
John Huston’s brilliant crime drama contains the recipe for a meticulously planned robbery, but the cast of criminal characters features one too many bad apples. Sam Jaffe, as the twisted mastermind, uses cash from corrupt attorney Emmerich (Louis Calhern) to assemble a group of skilled thugs to pull off a jewel heist. All goes as planned — until an alert night watchman and a corrupt cop enter the picture. Marilyn Monroe has a memorable bit part as Emmerich’s "niece."
Deliverance (1972)
Four Atlanta professionals (Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronnie Cox and [...]
by Andre Soares | December 30, 2008
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Tags: Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Burt Reynolds, Classic Movies, Deliverance, Flower Drum Song, Hallelujah, Johnny Guitar, National Film Registry, The Killers
THE AVIATOR Screening
Martin Scorsese’s 2004 Best Picture nominee The Aviator is the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ "Great To Be Nominated" series. The handsome but vapid Howard Hughes biopic will be screened on Monday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Following the screening, cast members Alec Baldwin, Jacob Davich, J.C. Mackenzie, and Amy Sloan, production sound mixer Petur Hliddal, special effects supervisor R. Bruce Steinheimer, and miniature effects supervisor Matthew Gratzner will take part in a discussion about the film.
The US$100-million-plus The Aviator wasn’t quite the hoped-for critical and box-office hit, though the biopic won numerous accolades and did good business thanks to the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio [...]
by Andre Soares | July 24, 2008
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Tags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Adam Scott, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Ava Gardner, Biopic, Cate Blanchett, Danny Huston, Dante Ferretti, Edward Herrmann, Errol Flynn, Film Awards, Films on Filmmaking, Gwen Stefani, Howard Hughes, Ian Holm, Jacob Davich, Jean Harlow, John C. Reilly, John Logan, Jude Law, Kate Beckinsale, Katharine Hepburn, Kelli Garner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Los Angeles Screenings, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Ralph Owen Brewster, Sandy Powell, Stanley DeSantis, The Aviator, Thelma Schoonmaker, Willem Dafoe
Best Films – 1954
Considered by many one of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s lesser films, The Barefoot Contessa is a classy, intelligently written, and generally well acted morality tale. Inspired by the life of Rita Hayworth (née Margarita Cansino), the film’s plot revolves around the tragic fate of Maria Vargas, a great, earthy beauty who becomes a Hollywood movie star. Besides Jack Cardiff’s beautiful cinematography and Mario Nascimbene’s melancholy score, The Barefoot Contessa offers Ava Gardner in top form — both as a star and as an actress. Humphrey Bogart offers solid support as a film director, while director-screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve, 5 Fingers, Sleuth) handles the proceedings with his usual sophisticated flair.
FILM
The Barefoot Contessa
Hobson’s Choice
Johnny Guitar
The Long, Long Trailer [...]
by Andre Soares | August 31, 2004
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Tags: Ava Gardner, Barbara Stanwyck, Best Films, Brenda De Banzie, Classic Movies, Dorothy Dandridge, Edward Underdown, Eva Marie Saint, Executive Suite, Fredric March, Lenore J. Coffee, Magnificent Obsession, Mercedes McCambridge, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Barefoot Contessa, Woman's World
Best Films – 1946
Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford in Gilda
FILM
Anna and the King of Siam
d: John Cromwell; scr: Talbot Jennings, Sally Benson
The Best Years of Our Lives
d: William Wyler; scr: Robert E. Sherwood
Cloak and Dagger
d: Fritz Lang; scr: Albert Maltz, Ring Lardner Jr.
From This Day Forward
d: John Berry; scr: Hugo Butler, Garson Kanin
Gilda
d: Charles Vidor; scr: Marion Parsonnet
Margie
d: Henry King; scr: F. Hugh Herbert
A Night in Casablanca
d: Archie Mayo; scr: Joseph Fields, Roland Kibbee, Frank Tashlin
Le Père tranquille / Mr. Orchid
d: René Clément; scr: Noël-Noël
Sciuscià / Shoeshine
d: Vittorio De Sica; scr: Cesare Zavattini, Sergio Amidei, Adolfo Franci, Cesare Giulio Viola
The Spiral Staircase
d: Robert Siodmak; scr: Mel Dinelli
CHECK THESE OUT
My Darling Clementine
d: John Ford; scr: [...]
by Andre Soares | August 31, 2004
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Tags: A Matter of Life and Death, A Night in Casablanca, Adolfo Franci, Albert Maltz, Anna and the King of Siam, Anthony Wager, Archie Mayo, Arthur C. Miller, Ava Gardner, Bernard Herrmann, Best Films, Burt Lancaster, Butterfly McQueen, Cecil Kellaway, Cesare Giulio Viola, Cesare Zavattini, Charles G. Clarke, Charles Vidor, Clarence Brown, Classic Movies, Claude Rains, Cloak and Dagger, David Niven, David O. Selznick, Deception, Dorothy McGuire, Duel in the Sun, Elwood Bredell, Ernest Haller, F. Hugh Herbert, Finlay Currie, Florence Bates, Frank Tashlin, Fredric March, Fritz Lang, From This Day Forward, Gale Sondergaard, Garson Kanin, Gary Cooper, George Barnes, George Brent, Gilda, Glenn Ford, Great Expectations, Gregory Peck, Guy Green, Harold Rosson, Henry King, Hugo Butler, Humoresque, Humphrey Bogart, Irene Dunne, Jane Wyman, Jeanne Crain, Jennifer Jones, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, John Berry, John Cromwell, John Ford, John Garfield, Joseph Fields, Joseph P. MacDonald, King Vidor, Le Père tranquille, Lee Garmes, Leopoldine Konstantin, Lilli Palmer, Linda Darnell, Margie, Marion Parsonnet, Marius Goring, Mel Dinelli, Mr. Orchid, My Darling Clementine, Myrna Loy, Nicholas Musuraca, Noël Noël, Notorious, Oliver H. P. Garrett, Paul Osborn, Queenie Smith, Ray Rennahan, René Clement, Ring Lardner Jr., Rita Hayworth, Robert E. Sherwood, Robert Siodmak, Roland Kibbee, Sally Benson, Samuel G. Engel, Saratoga Trunk, Sciuscià, Sergio Amidei, Shoeshine, Talbot Jennings, Teresa Wright, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Sleep, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Spiral Staircase, The Yearling, Vittorio De Sica, Walter Huston, William Wyler, Winston Miller
