Screening: "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut"

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Directed by Trey Parker

Written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Pam Brady

Starring (the voices of): Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, Isaac Hayes, George Clooney, Eric Idle, Dave Foley, Mike Judge, Brent Spiner, Minnie Driver, Toddy Walters

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song ("Blame Canada")

 

Fathom Events presented South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut on the big screen this month as part of its Classics series and to mark the film's 25th anniversary. In addition, it was presented as a "sing-along", with lyrics subtitled onscreen in all their expletive-laden glory.

Released in 1999, this film gave South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone the opportunity to run wild without having to consider Comedy's Central censorship guidelines. And boy, did they deliver. Produced in tandem with the show's second and third seasons, not only was the film South Park on steroids, it's also a full-blown musical.

Responsibility for the effects of foul language, sexual imagery, and violent imagery in film and TV on children versus the influence and responsibility of parents were hot topics back in the late 1990's, and Parker and Stone did their usual fine job of parodying the issue. Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny sneak into a showing of "Asses of Fire" starring their beloved Terrance and Phillip, Canadian comics whose material is largely composed of farts and fart jokes, along with off-the-charts profanity. After emerging from the theater, they begin exercising their newly acquired four-letter vocabulary to the horror of their parents and teachers.

The adults of South Park become increasingly angry with the undue influence of the foul-mouthed film on their children, and they lay blame on Canada in general and Terrance and Phillip in particular. As they get more and more carried away with their crusade, not only are the kids neglected, but the parents set in motion war between the U.S. and Canada, and the release of Satan (accompanied by his gay lover, Saddam Hussein) to rule over the earth. Their misguided approach and lack of personal responsibility are articulated in the song "Blame Canada" ("We must blame them and cause a fuss/Before somebody thinks of blaming us!") and Sheila Brovlofski's line, "Remember what the MPAA says: Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words!"

I was a big fan of the film when it was released in 1999, having been a huge fan of South Park since Day 1. I hadn't seen it in a while and it was great to see it back on the big screen.

The Fathom screening was preceding by an introduction by film critic Leonard Maltin, who reminded the audience that he made one of the earliest celebrity appearances on South Park (episode 112, "Mecha-Streisand"). Apparently he's a fan of the show, his appearance on it, and indicated that he and his family loved the film.

 

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut facts and trivia:

• Paramount wanted a PG-13 rated film, but Parker and Stone refused. They would only make it if the studio agreed to an R rated film. Paramount eventually agreed.
• The Guinness Book of World Records cited South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut as having the most profanity of any animated film. There were 399 swear words in total. This was intentional as 400 words would have automatically triggered the dreaded NC-17 rating. In addition, it includes 128 offensive gestures and 221 acts of violence.
  
• The Oscar-nominated song "Blame Canada" was performed at the ceremony by Robin Williams. The award went to Phil Collins for "You'll Be in My Heart" from the Disney animated film Tarzan.
• The film was named "Best Animated Feature" of 1999 by the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. Parker and Stone won Best Musical Performance from MTV's Movie + TV Awards for the Terrance and Phillip song "Uncle Fucka".
  
• This film marked the first time Kenny's face was ever shown.
• The film grossed $80+ million world wide. It was the highest grossing R-rated animated film until 2016 when it lost the title to Sausage Fest. 
  
• In the end credits, all of the songs performances are attributed to the characters singing them, not the actors.
• The film was originally titled South Park: All Hell Breaks Loose, but the MPAA refused to allow the word "hell" in the title. Parker and Stone then gave it the double entendre title it was released with. In fact, the bitter battles between the MPAA and the filmmakers was the stuff of legend back when it was released.
  
• Rumor has it that when the U.S. military captured Saddam Hussein in 2006, soldiers forced him to watch this film, in which he's portrayed as residing in hell as Satan's gay lover. Stone apparently confirmed this, adding that the military sent him and Parker an autographed photo of Hussein.  
  

Sources: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut on imdb - South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut on Wikipedia

Holy, moly, I'd forgotten how amazing this was! RIP Robin 😭 

Screening: "The Big Lebowski"

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Directed/Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott, John Turturro, Tara Reid

Fathom Events presented The Big Lebowski on the big screen in honor of the film's 25th anniversary and as part of its Classics series. I saw it on Sunday; it's also screening Wednesday evening.

 

It's hard to describe The Big Lebowski as it's a very unique story. From the brilliant and offbeat minds of the Coen brothers, it follows the "adventures" of The Dude, real name Jeff Lebowski (Bridges), who wants nothing more than to smoke pot, drink White Russians, and go bowling with his buddies Walter (Goodman) and Donny (Buscemi). But the Dude's mellow existence is upended when he's mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski (Huddleston), a wealthy older man whose trophy wife Bunny (Reid) owes money all over town. When one of the people she owes sends goons to The Dude's apartment and one of them urinates on his living room rug, The Dude - egged on by the bombastic Walter - pays a visit to The Big Lebowski, requesting he be compensated for the rug because, "It really tied the room together." He's blown off by the millionaire, who considers him a bum. But when Bunny is kidnapped and a ransom demanded, The Big Lebowski cuts a deal with The Dude - if he deals with the kidnappers to deliver the ransom and recover Bunny, there's a big payoff in it for him.

But things are not as they seem. After a series of mishaps involving The Big Lebowski's adult daughter/artist/aspiring single mother Maude (Moore), the theft and eventual recovery of The Dude's POS car, nihilists, and a Malibu porn producer (among other things), The Dude discovers what really happened with Bunny and how he's been manipulated by everyone involved.

The Big Lebowski facts and trivia:

• A lot of the clothes worn by The Dude came from Jeff Bridges' own wardrobe.
• The list of actors that the Coens considered for The Dude before Bridges was finally cast is staggering, and kind of weird. Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Duvall, Mel Gibson, George C. Scott, Andy Griffith, and Ernest Borgnine were all considered.
• Charlize Theron was considered for the role of Bunny Lebowski. 
• The roles of Walter and Donny were written with Goodman and Buscemi in mind.
• The story was inspired by the works of Raymond Chandler, but set in modern day Los Angeles.
• The dream bowling sequence was inspired by the films of Busby Berkeley.
  
• The Dude says his favorite word, "man", 147 times in the film.
• The word "dude" is heard 160 times in the film.
  
• The "F" word and its many variations are heard almost 300 times in the film. 
• When the film was released in 1998, it met with mixed reviews and an anemic box office performance. Since then it has attained cult status. Over the years, in addition to its growing popularity it also spawned Lebowski Fest and Dudeism.
  
• T-Bone Burnett, who served as music consultant on the film, suggested The Dude's loathing of The Eagles, which Burnett shared. Later, Jeff Bridges was confronted at a party by an unhappy Glenn Frey.
• The Dude's apartment is located at 606 Venezia Avenue in Venice, CA. The Big Lebowski's mansion is located at 10231 Charing Cross Road (just off Sunset Boulevard) in Los Angeles (exteriors) and Greystone Mansion at 905 Loma Vista Road (just off Doheny Road) in Beverly Hills (interiors). 
• The Ralphs grocery store where we first see The Dude is located on Huntington Drive in South Pasadena, although its street address is 1745 Garfield Avenue (the cross street). I shopped there a few times while living in Arcadia. Nice store.
• The bowling scenes were filmed at Hollywood Star Lanes in East Hollywood. The bowling alley has since been torn down and replaced by an elementary school.
• The intersection where The Dude was kicked out of the taxi is Jefferson and Dusquene in Culver City.
  

Sources: The Big Lebowski on imdb - The Big Lebowski on Wikipedia

The Dude still abides

 

The Big Lebowski was released 25 years ago, and although it wasn't a hit back then, it has gotten the love it deserved in the two and a half decades since. Even Roger Ebert later "adjusted" his review from three to four stars, as described in this Hollywood Reporter article, in which Jeff Bridges reminisces about the happy experience. Some other highlights:

• The film only earned $18 million at the box office in its initial release. Since then it has surpassed the $100 million mark primarily from home viewing.
  
• The film's poor performance surprised Bridges, who expected it to be a big hit.
• Bridges was concerned about playing "a big pothead" because he had preteen children at the time.
• There was very little ad-libbing. The actors largely adhered to the script, including the vast usage of "man" and "fuck".
  

I don't remember the first time I saw this film, but it was well after its release. Fathom Events is screening The Big Lebowski next month, and I'm looking forward to seeing it on the big screen for the first time.

Screening: "Casablanca"

Fathom Events presented the classic Casablanca on the big screen this weekend.

Casablanca (Warner Bros., 1942)

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch

(based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison)

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henried, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Dooley Wilson, S.Z. Sakall

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay

Also nominated for Best Actor (Bogart), Best Supporting Actor (Rains) Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography (Black & White), Best Musical Score

In the early days of World War II, Casablanca in French Morocco has become a refuge for Europeans fleeing the growing Nazi invasion. Documents that will allow refugees to continue on to America are prized and often obtained on the black market. The center of the action takes place at Rick's Cafe Americain, a bar and casino run by American expatriate Rick Blaine. One night Ilsa Lund, a former lover of Rick's appears in the cafe with her husband, Victor Laszlo, famous as a resistance leader against the Nazis and for escaping their concentration camps. The couple are desperate to go to America where Laszlo will be safe, but the Nazis, who are keen to finally eliminate Laszlo, and Rick and Ilsa's complicated past threatens to prevent them from finally getting away. 

Casablanca is incredibly well-written, directed, and acted, The characters are vividly drawn and portrayed by a cast filled with both recognizable stars and gifted character actors. Seeing it on the big screen was a treat - a great movie made even better by seeing it how it was meant to be seen. Fathom Events also has screenings of Casablanca this Wednesday, March 8. It was so good I'm tempted to go again.

Casablanca facts and trivia:

• Bogart lost the Oscar to Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine. Rains was bested by Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier. Bogart would finally get his Oscar in 1952, for The African Queen.
  
• Bergman was nominated for Best Actress, but not for Casablanca. She got her nod for For Whom the Bell Tolls. She lost to Jennifer Jones (The Song of Bernadette).
• The Academy nominated ten films for Best Picture. The films bested by Casablanca were For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Song of Bernadette, Madame Curie, Heaven Can Wait, In Which We Serve, The Human Comedy, The Ox-Bow Incident, The More the Merrier, and Watch on the Rhine. 
• The classic song "As Time Goes By" was written years earlier for another production and was therefore ineligible for an Oscar nomination for its use in Casablanca. Academy rules require a song to be written specifically for a film to be eligible. The winning song at that year's Oscars was "You'll Never Know" from Hello Frisco, Hello. 
  
• Many of the actors in Casablanca were Jews who had fled Europe as the Nazis gained power. 
  
• Casablanca may be one of the most underrated films by those involved during its filming. Orson Welles claimed that at the time, Bogart told him that he was in "the worst picture I've ever been in." Neither Bergman or Henreid wanted to be in the film. Bergman didn't think it would do anything for her career and Henreid didn't want to play a non-lead. 
• Other actresses considered for the role of Ilsa Lund included Ann Sheridan, Hedy Lamarr, Luise Rainer, and Michele Morgan.
  
• Other actors considered for the role of Victor Lazslo included Herbert Marshall, Joseph Cotten, Philip Dorn, and Dean Jagger.
  
• Wallis's first choice of director was William Wyler, but he was unavailable.
  
• Joan Alison, one of the authors of Everybody Comes to Rick's, the unproduced play that was the basis for Casablanca, disliked Bogart and had envisioned Clark Gable as Rick.
• Conrad Veidt was the highest paid actor in the film.
  
• Rick never says, "Play it again, Sam." The line is, "You played it for her, you can play it for me. If she can stand it, I can. Play it." Ilsa simply says, "Play it, Sam."
  
• Dooley Wilson was a musician, but he was a drummer and had to fake playing the piano.
• Sam's piano from the cafe was sold at a TCM film memorabilia auction in 2014. It fetched $3.4 million.
  
• Rick Blaine is one of the roles believed to have been famously turned down by George Raft, however this may have been a self-serving rumor started by Raft himself, as it's also claimed that Bogart was always who the producers had in mind.
  
• In 2006 the Writers Guild of America named Casablanca as the Best Screenplay of All Time.
• Film critic Leonard Maltin called Casablanca "the best Hollywood movie of all time".
  
  

Sources: Casablanca on imdb - Casablanca on Wikipedia 

 

The 2021 Academy Awards

So in case you hadn't heard, last night the Academy Awards were held for a bunch of 2020 movies that barely saw the light of a movie theater. 

Because of the pandemic, this was no ordinary Oscars, which was held at Union Station in Downtown L.A. and not at the event's usual home at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. 

One thing that didn't change was the opulent swag bag handed out to nominees in the Director, Actor, and Actress categories. This year's bag was worth a whopping $205,000 each. You can see the dizzying list of items in the bag here. I thought about actually making a list then decided not to torture myself, as it's a mind-boggling collection of excess (although if anyone wants to gift me a trip to Golden Door, I'd happily accept). The only thing that made me feel better about the bag is that the recipients at least have to pay income tax on its value.

Unfortunately for the show itself, a change of scenery didn't seem to inspire a more entertaining awards show than we've seen in the past. Here is a boatload of mostly harsh reviews courtesy of PrimeTimer. Alison Martino of Vintage Los Angeles had a brilliant suggestion about honoring the unusual and historic location, which no doubt would have been an improvement to the show. Maybe next year they should hire her to be part of the production team. 

One of the stranger things the producers did was moving the Best Picture announcement to third from the end, rather than at the end as has always been done. There is a lot of talk online that they did this in the belief/hope that the late Chadwick Boseman would win Best Actor (for a number of reasons) and they felt what no doubt would have been a very emotional acceptance speech by his widow would be a great capper to the evening. Instead, Anthony Hopkins won and on top of that wasn't present to accept the award in person, so what was supposed to be a big finish to the show ended up being embarrassingly anti-climactic (or so I've read; I haven't actually watched an awards show in years). But it ended up backfiring on them big time. I bet they move Best Picture back to the finale next year. 

I can almost understand their reasoning. Boseman's death was tragic (he was only 43), he was gifted, respected, and well-liked, and it would be the last opportunity for the Motion Picture Academy to honor him. It's easy to see how he would have been a deserving sentimental favorite in the vein of Heath Ledger. Add in the whole "Oscars So White" movement over the past few years and Boseman seemed like a shoe-in. But in retrospect, that's what happens when you pander and/or try to make a big change just for the sake of doing something different. It can bite you in the ass big-time. 

There's also a great article in the PrimeTimer link that opines that the change ended up being unfair to the producers of Nomadland, three of whom were women, robbing them of their big moment at the conclusion of the broadcast. It's an interesting take and I don't completely disagree. 

Congratulations are due to Hopkins for becoming the oldest Best Actor winner at age 83. It was his second win in six nominations, and his first since winning for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Also congrats to Frances McDormand, who became a three-time Best Actress winner last night, and just for good measure scored a fourth Oscar as a Nomadland producer. In unrelated news, The Brother and I are going to see a screening of Fargo on the big screen this weekend. There is no limit to how many times I can watch McDormand as Marge Gunderson. 

Another criticism I'm seeing a lot of was the In Memoriam segment. When will awards show ever learn that if there's one thing fans and viewers don't want less of, it's this segment? If your broadcast is going to be bloated anyway, take a couple minutes more to honor your dead. And include everyone. I can't remember the last time there was an awards show and there weren't complaints about people being left out. You'd think producers would pick up on that at some point. 

And now early ratings are in and they aren't pretty: Oscars Ratings Crash To All-Time Low; Viewership Falls Below 10M For First Time Ever. These are only early Nielsen numbers, but they're still horrific:

In delayed fast national results just released by Nielsen, the 93rd Academy Awards were watched by a mere 9.85 million, with a dismal rating of 1.9 among the 18-49 demographic.

That is an all-time low for Hollywood's biggest night - by a huge margin.

In fact, it is a drop of over 48% in terms of audience from what the previous low of the 2020 Oscars snared on February 9 last year. In terms of the key demo, the 2021 Oscars is down a crushing 64.2% in the earlier ratings from the 2020 Oscars.

I'll leave you with this, because it's freaking hilarious, although I'm pretty sure they cleared out any homeless near Union Station so the beautiful people didn't have to see what's becoming increasingly common in Southern Cal neighborhoods:

Updated 4/27/21: Final numbers pushed the audience up to 10.4 million - still a stunning fall from grace for a broadcast that used to be a worldwide event that few missed.

RIP ArcLight and Pacific Theaters

Another casualty of you know who: ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters permanently closed. Included under the ArcLight/Pacific umbrella: the historic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood and the flagship ArcLight Hollywood.

There's been a lot of reaction to this news here in Southern California and from the entertainment industry, and nobody is happy about it. It also seems to have caught everyone completely by surprise. When I first saw it I was so shocked I thought it had to be a mistake. Unfortunately, it's true.

I'm not terribly worried about the Dome itself - it was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1998. I believe this gives it protected status and even if it doesn't I can't imagine a scenario where anyone would be allowed to knock it down. I'm pretty sure somewhere along the line some entity will resurrect it and get it back into the movie business. 

But the loss of the ArcLight/Pacific brand is a big one for Los Angeles. Most of the significant closures in the past year were classic and popular restaurants. These were businesses that should still be here. Their closures were due solely to loss of business because of the shutdown and not by any fault of their own. When I see states that didn't have California's strict COVID closure policies doing just fine...well, that just make this news even tougher to take.

Other local theaters that won't be reopening because of the closure include the Pacific Theaters at The Grove and ArcLights in Pasadena (Paseo Colorado), Sherman Oaks, El Segundo and Santa Monica. The ArcLight's website has already been scrapped with just the stark closing announcement.

But hey, at least The French Laundry seems to be thriving!

Hugs 😥

Update: There is now a petition to save the Cinerama Dome. Again, I don't think the structure itself is in danger, but a show of support isn't going to hurt its future prospects, so...

Update 4/14/21: The petition originally aimed for 2,500 signatures and blew right past that number. As I type this, they have crossed the 8,400 mark and are now aiming for 10k!

A most unusual movie premiere

In all my years as a huge fan of Blazing Saddles, of Hollywood history, and of living in Hollywood just over the hill from Burbank, I had never heard the story of its very creative world premiere.

Until now, thanks to this post that popped up on my Facebook feed: Blazing Saddles had its premiere in 1974 at the Pickwick Drive-In in Burbank, where attendees viewed the film on horseback.

The drive-in was demolished in 1989 and replaced with a shopping center. Per this article, it was once a popular filming location due to its proximity to Burbank studios including Warner Bros., which produced Blazing Saddles. Unfortunately, it eventually became a victim of low attendance.

You can get a lot more history from this Los Angeles Theatres blog post, along with a bunch of photos of the theater from over the years.

I'm still boggled that this is the first I've ever heard of this story.

Last Remaining Seats 2017 schedule announced

The Los Angeles Conservancy has announced the schedule for this year's Last Remaining Seats, which features classic films screened at restored Downtown L.A. and San Pedro theaters. Ticket for members go on sale March 29 and to the general public on April 5.

L.A. Confidential (1997)
Saturday, June 3, 8pm
Orpheum Theatre (DTLA)

Laura (1944)
Wednesday, June 7, 8pm
Million Dollar Theatre (DTLA)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Saturday, June 10, 2pm
Warner Grand Theatre (San Pedro)

On the Waterfront (1954)
Saturday, June 10, 8pm
Warner Grand Theatre (San Pedro)

La muerte de un burocrata (Death of a Bureaucrat) (1966)
Wednesday, June 14, 8pm
Palace Theatre (DTLA)

Easter Parade (1948)
Saturday, June 17, 8pm
Los Angeles Theatre (DTLA)

Wings (1927)
Wednesday, June 21, 8pm
The Theatre at Ace Hotel (DTLA)

E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Saturday, June 24, 2pm
Orpheum Theatre (DTLA)

Jaws (1975)
Saturday, June 24, 8pm
Orpheum Theatre (DTLA)

Jaws on my birthday! Yes please!

Screening: To Kill a Mockingbird at the Million Dollar Theater

As part of this year's Last Remaining Seats program, The Los Angeles Conservancy presented the classic To Kill a Mockingbird at the historic Million Dollar Theater last Wednesday.

To Kill a Mockingbird  (Universal-International Pictures, 1961)

Starring Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford, Brock Peters, Collin Wilcox, James Anderson, Frank Overton, Estelle Evans, William Windom, Alice Ghostley and Robert Duvall

Directed by Robert Mulligan

Screenplay by Horton Foote, based on the novel by Harper Lee

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor (Peck), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Set Decoration/Art Direction (Black & White)

Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Badham), Best Cinematography (Black & White) and Best Music Score

Jean Louise Finch (Badham) - a young tomboy better known by her nickname of Scout - looks back on a formative period of her childhood in the Depression-era South in this film adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Scout and her older brother Jem (Alford) live with their widowed father, lawyer Atticus Finch (Peck) in a small Alabama town. Scout experiences a number of normal childhood bumps in the road - first day of school, conflicts with other kids - until Atticus is asked to defend Tom Robinson (Peters), a black man accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell (Wilcox), a local white girl. As the case progresses, Atticus is increasingly unable to shield his children from the cold realities of prejudice and poverty.

The film is pretty much flawless, but it's in the court scenes where it really shines. Director Mulligan takes his time presenting testimony from both Robinson and his accusers. Atticus's summation alone runs almost ten minutes. But predictably, the all white, all male jury (hardly a jury of Tom Robinson's peers) convicts him despite the overwhelming evidence produced by Atticus that Mayella's abuse most likely came from her alcoholic father (Anderson).

Another source of interest in Scout and Jem's otherwise idyllic world are their reclusive neighbors, the Radley's. They develop a bit of an obsession with Boo Radley (Duvall), the family's adult son who is kept locked up in the house due to having once attacked his mother with scissors. They will finally meet Boo (who the unfailingly decent Atticus introduces as Mr. Arthur Radley) when he comes to their aid when they're menaced by an angry and intoxicated Bob Ewell, still stinging from being made to look bad by Atticus during the trial.

Some To Kill a Mockingbird  facts and trivia:

• Other actors considered for Atticus Finch: Rock Hudson, Spencer Tracy and James Stewart.
• The narration by the adult Scout was provided by legendary (and uncredited) actress Kim Stanley.
• Boo Radley was Robert Duvall's film debut. He had no dialogue.
• Despite their stunning debut performances, neither Mary Badham nor Phillip Alford pursued acting careers into adulthood. Badham became a wife and mother, while Alford became a successful businessman.
• To Kill a Mockingbird  was largely drawn from Lee's childhood. She based the character of Atticus Finch on her father, Amasa Lee, who was a widower with children and also a lawyer who was always ready to offer legal defense to blacks who he felt had been unfairly accused. Harper Lee was so moved and impressed by Peck's performance that she gave him her father's watch. It did not appear in the film, but Peck did wear it to the Academy Awards ceremony.
• For his portrayal of Atticus Finch, Peck received his fifth Best Actor nomination and his first win.
• The film was both a critical and financial success. It earned back ten times its cost at the box office.
• Of all the films he made in a career that spanned fifty years, Peck identified To Kill a Mockingbird  as his favorite.
• The film could not be shot on location in Lee's small Alabama hometown because by the early 1960's it had become quite modernized. The entire town seen in the film was built on the Universal backlot.
• The character of Scout and Jem's precocious friend Dill was based on Lee's childhood friend, author Truman Capote.
• The film has an impressive 91% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
• Brock Peters gave the eulogy at Peck's funeral. 

Sources:

To Kill a Mockingbird  on imdb - Gregory Peck  on imdb - To Kill a Mockingbird  on Wikipedia - To Kill a Mockingbird  on Rotten Tomatoes  

The view from my nosebleed seat.

Last Remaining Seats 2016 schedule announced

The Los Angeles Conservancy has announced the schedule for this June's Last Remaining Seats series, featuring classic films screened at historic Downtown Los Angeles theatres. I think its a great lineup.

2016 Schedule*

Top Gun (1986)
Saturday, June 4, 2pm & 8pm
Los Angeles Theatre

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Wednesday, June 8, 8 pm
Million Dollar Theatre

Some Like It Hot (1959)
Saturday, June 11, 8pm
Los Angeles Theatre

Dos tipos de cuidado (Mexico, 1953)
Wednesday, June 15, 8 pm
Palace Theatre
Co-presented with Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Saturday, June 18, 2pm & 8pm
The Theatre at Ace Hotel

Double Indemnity (1944)
Wednesday, June 22, 8pm
The Theatre at Ace Hotel

Safety Last! (1923)
Saturday, June 25, 8 pm
Orpheum Theatre

*films and theatres subject to change

Heads up! "Jaws" on the big screen!

Via Fathom events, and you have your choice of June 21 or June 24.

I got to see it at the Alex Theatre in Glendale a few years ago (blog post here), and it was a blast with a live audience. I also came within one raffle ticket number of winning a copy of the script autographed by screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, who was interviewed prior to the screening. That was a bummer, but I was able to get an autographed copy of his book The Jaws Log, so that took a lot of the sting out.

It's shaping up to be a film noir summer

As part of their "Summer of Darkness", TCM is presenting the online film noir course Into the Darkness: Investigation Film Noir. Pretty much dream school, as far as I'm concerned. And it's free! What are you waiting for? The class begins June 1 and runs through August 4.

Oh, and this is happening: Double Indemnity on the big screen.

Screening: All About Eve at the Los Angeles Theatre

As part of its annual Last Remaining Seats program, the Los Angeles Conservancy presented the classic All About Eve at the beautifully ornate and historic Los Angeles Theatre on Broadway in Downtown L.A.  Renowned film critic and historian Leonard Maltin introduced the film to the 2,000 strong audience.

All About Eve (Twentieth Century-Fox, 1950)

Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe and Marilyn Monroe

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the short story 

"The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Sanders), Best Screenplay, Best Costume Design (Black & White) and Best Sound Recording

Also nominated for Best Actress (Davis and Baxter), Best Supporting Actress (Holm and Thelma Ritter), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Black & White), Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography (Black & White) and Best Music/Scoring

Margo Channing (Davis) is a star of the New York theatre.  As introduced by Addison DeWitt (Sanders), she is a great star, a true star.  But she is also a star who has just turned forty years old and that's a problem for an actress, even one as great as Margo.  It doesn't help that Margo's director/boyfriend Bill Sampson (Merrill) is a distantly young thirty-two.

In the midst of all this greatness turns up a mousy, devoted uber-fan who never misses a single Margo Channing performance.  The ever-humble Eve (Baxter) is brought into the golden inner circle of her idol's life by Karen Richards (Holm), the non-industry wife of Lloyd Richards (Marlowe), Margo's go-to playwright.  Eve's tragic life story of a poor, boring existence made meaningful by a small-town theatre company, only to be dashed by the World War II death of Eve's husband touches Margo so much that she takes the waifish fan into her life and home.  The unassuming girl quickly becomes an indisposable friend and assistant.

But as time goes on, Eve makes moves into Margo's personal and professional lives, eventually persuading Karen to pitch her to Margo's producer as the star's new understudy.  By now Margo feels threatened by her youthful charge and things reach an ugly head when Bill returns home from a brief stint in Hollywood during a maudlin party in which Davis as Margo, after arguing with Bill about "the kid" utters the immortal line to her guests: "Fasten your seatbelts.  It's going to be a bumpy night!"

As the story progresses, Eve is revealed to be anything but the humble angel she has presented herself as.  She manages to tear apart both Margo and Bill as well as Karen and Lloyd.  Unable to seduce Bill, Eve moves on to the weaker Lloyd, who she persuades to leave his wife for her, envisioning for them a future as a Broadway super-couple.  However, in her quest for stardom Eve has enrolled the assistance of the deceptively civil but ultimately vicious Broadway critic DeWitt, and he will make her pay for her transgressions with Lloyd Richards.  To DeWitt, he and Eve are cut from the same cloth - ruthlessly ambitious, utterly devoted to the theatre and disdainful of their fellow man, unable to love or be loved, and therefore strangely meant to be together.  The scene where DeWitt rips Eve apart by exposing her true backstory and destroys her ambitions as the future Mrs. Lloyd Richards, followed by him forcing her to admit they are meant to be together is one of the all-time horrifically great scenes ever committed to film.

And I loved it at the end, when Davis uttered the much less famous but no less awesome line to Baxter, "I wouldn't worry about your heart, my dear. You can always put that award where your heart ought to be."  The Los Angeles Theatre erupted in delighted applause.  Take that Eve, you bitch!!!

Some All About Eve facts and trivia:

• Claudette Colbert was originally cast as Margo, but had to drop out after injuring her back shortly before filming began and Davis stepped in.  Other actresses considered for the role included Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Susan Hayward, Ingrid Bergman, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford and Gertrude Lawrence.  Other actresses considered for Eve included Jeanne Crain, who had just appeared in Mankiewicz's previous film, A Letter To Three Wives, and Donna Reed.
• All About Eve earned fourteen Oscar nominations, the most ever by a motion picture.  This record has never been exceeded and was only equaled decades later by Titanic.
• Tallulah Bankhead was widely considered to be the real-life inspiration for Margo Channing.  While Davis based her performance on the larger-than-life Bankhead, author Mary Orr personally told Bankhead that Margo was not based on her.  Bankhead was reportedly not amused by this news.
• Davis' husky voice was the result of screaming matches with her then-husband, William Sherry, as their marriage was deteriorating.  She fell in love with her co-star Merrill during filming.  Davis and Merrill eventually married and the result was a ten-year roller coaster ride that ended in divorce.  During their marriage they adopted a daughter they named Margot, who was later found to suffer from mental retardation so severe that she was institutionalized.  They also adopted a son, Michael.  Davis' daughter by Sherry, B.D. Sherry (later known by her married name of B.D. Hyman) would go on to write My Mother's Keeper, in which she detailed a chaotic and dysfunctional life with Bette, who disowned her as a result.
• The film was originally titled Best Performance.  The title was changed by Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck, who took the new title from Addison DeWitt's opening monologue.
• Future superstar and icon Marilyn Monroe made one of her early appearances in this film.  She played a ditzy blonde aspiring actress making nice with a producer in the position to help her career.  Other actresses considered for the small role were Angela Lansbury and Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was married to George Sanders at the time.
• Mary Orr's story The Wisdom of Eve was based on a real-life incident involving Austrian stage actress Elisabeth Bergner.  In the short story, which originally appeared in Cosmopolitan in 1946, Eve's exploits are detailed by Karen, who at the end is revealed to be on her way to Reno to obtain a divorce from her playwright-husband, whom Eve has stolen away from her.
• A Broadway musical version of the film, titled Applause, opened in 1970 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.  It ran for almost 900 performances.  Margo was first played by Lauren Bacall; when Bacall left the show she was replaced by Anne Baxter.
• All About Eve has a staggering 100% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

The Los Angeles Theatre is located at 615 Broadway in DTLA, on the same block as Clifton's Cafeteria, which is currently closed for remodeling.  Before the film began we were informed that the family that owns the Los Angeles Theatre also own a couple other historic theatres in the area and they are committed to restoring those to their former glory as well.  The DTLA renaissance hasn't quite made it to Broadway yet, but with the restoration of Clifton's and the old movie houses, hopefully it won't be long until it does.

Some shots of the interior (unfortunately not great quality as I took them with my phone):

Links/sources:
All About Eve on imdb - Joseph L. Mankiewicz on imdb - Bette Davis on imdb - Anne Baxter on imdb - George Sanders on imdb - Celeste Holm on imdb - Gary Merrill on imdb - Hugh Marlowe on imdb - Thelma Ritter on imdb - Marilyn Monroe on imdb - All About Eve on Wikipedia - All About Eve on Rotten Tomatoes - Bette Davis: The Official Site

Screening: Sunset Boulevard at the Alex Theatre

The classic Sunset Boulevard was screened Saturday night at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale as part of a tribute to director Billy Wilder.

Sunset Boulevard (Paramount, 1950)

Starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson

Directed by Billy Wilder

Screenplay by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman, Jr.

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing (Story & Screenplay), Best Music/Score and Best Art/Set Direction (Black & White)

Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Holden), Best Actress (Swanson), Best Supporting Actor (von Stroheim), Best Supporting Actress (Olson), Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography (Black & White)

Joe Gillis (Holden) is a failed screenwriter on the verge of having his car repossessed and his Hollywood dreams dashed.  While trying to evade the repo men, a blown tire sends him into the driveway of a seemingly deserted old Hollywood mansion that turns out to be occupied by forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond (Swanson) and her devoted butler Max (von Stroheim).

Norma Desmond was once one of the greatest stars in Hollywood, but those days were ended by sound.  But while the world has moved on, time has stood still for Norma.  Her home is still decorated in the fashion of her Hollywood heyday and is a shrine to Norma Desmond, movie star, littered with countless pictures of Norma in her heyday and a screening room where only her old films are shown.  She even retains the exotic, expensive car purchased during her glory days - a leopard upholstered 1929 Issota-Fraschini.

Norma is under the delusion that fans eagerly await her return to the screen and she plots her comeback with a film version of Salome that she has written herself.  When she discovers that Joe is a screenwriter she ropes him into reading the self-indulgent, horrifically written script, which she plans on sending to her former director, Cecil B. DeMille.  Broke and in debt, Joe leads Norma into hiring him to polish the script for her.  But he has no idea what he's getting into, as Norma becomes increasingly controlling and infatuated with him, while keeping him financially dependent on her.  As the months pass, Norma's desperate desire to reclaim her stardom pushes her further away from reality.  When Joe falls for a beautiful young aspiring screenwriter (Olson) while working on a script with her behind Norma's back, deadly jealousy sends the former star completely over the edge.

Sunset Boulevard is merciless in its portrayal of the cruelty Hollywood can inflict on those desperate for its approval.  When Norma shows up on DeMille's set to discuss Salome, one of his crew comments, "Norma Desmond?  I thought she was dead."  Another cracks, "She must be a million years old."  They don't mean to be cruel, but the comments reinforce the reality that Norma's days in the spotlight are long gone.  DeMille, while fond of Norma, doesn't have the heart to tell her that Salome - still an awful script - is never going to happen, especially not with her in the youthful title role.  And in a particularly cruel twist, it turns out that the phone calls coming from Paramount - which Norma believes to be DeMille's attempts to set up the project - turn out to be from another producer on the lot who spotted the unusual Issota-Fraschini and wants to rent it for a Bing Crosby movie.

Norma is 100% movie star, in every aspect of her life, even after her stardom has long passed.  Her whole life is a performance.  She is incapable of moving on without the adoration of "those wonderful people out there in the dark" and it is her undoing.  It doesn't help that the devoted Max (who in a particularly disturbing scene, is revealed to not only be a former director of Norma's who originally discovered her, but also her first husband) plays along with her delusion in an attempt to protect her fragile psyche.  It is Max who writes the fan letters that keep alive Norma's dreams of returning to the screen and Max who refuses confirm the real reason for the calls from Paramount.  And in the end, after Norma has completely broken with reality, it is Max who directs her down the staircase as news cameras roll, culminating in the famous line, "All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup."  But it is her comments a few moments earlier: "This is my life...there's nothing else...," that tell you everything you need to know about Norma Desmond and why she was unequipped to deal with life outside the Hollywood spotlight.

Some Sunset Boulevard facts and trivia:

• The original opening scene had Joe Gillis in the morgue sharing the strange tale of his demise with his fellow corpses, but it flopped with test audiences and was replaced with Gillis floating in the pool.  The Sunset Boulevard DVD includes the "Morgue Prologue" script pages, along with corresponding footage.  The clips are silent because the sound elements have been lost.
• Gloria Swanson almost passed on the film because Wilder wanted her to do a screen test.  Luckily she was eventually persuaded to test by George Cukor, who had recommended her to Wilder for the role.
• The exterior of Norma's residence was a real house, not located on the titular street, but on the corner of S. Irving Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard, about six miles east of where the house's movie address (10086 Sunset Boulevard) would have placed it.  The house did not have a swimming pool, so one was installed for the film.  The mansion also appeared in Rebel Without a Cause.  In typical Los Angeles style, the house was eventually torn down and an office building now sits on the site.  Interiors were shot on a sound stage.
• Joe's residence, the Alto Nido apartments, was also a real location and the apartments are still there, located at 1851 N. Ivar Street in Hollywood.  It "opened in 1930 as Hollywood's Premiere Apartment Hotel primarily for actors".  I briefly considered checking it out when I was apartment hunting and thinking about staying in Hollywood, but they don't allow pets.
• Because of its scathing treatment of Hollywood, the film had the working title "Can of Beans" during production to avoid detection of its true intention.
• Cecil B. DeMille, who appears as himself, was in the process of filming Samson and Delilah when his scenes for Sunset Boulevard were shot on his set on Paramount's Stage 18.  DeMille's compensation for his appearance included a new Cadillac.
• The Oscar losses were to All About Eve (Picture), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Director, All About Eve), Jose Ferrer (Actor, Cyrano de Bergerac), Judy Holliday (Actress, Born Yesterday), George Sanders (Supporting Actor, All About Eve), Josephine Hull (Supporting Actress, Harvey), King Solomon's Mines (Editing) and The Third Man (Cinematography).
• Brackett, Wilder and Marshman also won the Writers Guild Award for Best Written American Drama.
• Other actresses considered for the role of Norma Desmond included Greta Garbo, Mae West, Pola Negri (whose own film career had been ruined by talkies due to her heavy Polish accent), Norma Shearer and somewhat surprisingly, Mary Pickford.  Actors considered for Joe included Montgomery Clift (who was signed but dropped out shortly before shooting was to begin), Fred MacMurray, Marlon Brando and Gene Kelly.
• Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, who appears as herself at the end of the film, was originally an actress.  Her career began in 1917, during the silent film era.
• Sunset Boulevard has a staggering 98% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Karl Silvera, a former makeup artist who worked on Sunset Boulevard, was the guest and despite being ninety-five years old, is still very mentally sharp and had some lovely comments about his experiences working with Wilder and the cast.  I could have listened to him all night.  He was a very gracious gentleman and I'll bet he has some amazing Hollywood stories.

The film was preceded by a Warner Bros. short, A Star is Bored, in which janitor Daffy Duck, jealous of Bug Bunny's film success, ends up serving as Bugs' unfortunate stunt double in a stab at attaining stardom.

Sources/links:
Sunset Boulevard on imdb  - Billy Wilder on imdb - William Holden on imdb - Gloria Swanson on imdb - Gloria Swanson Tribute Site - Erich von Stroheim on imdb - Nancy Olson on imdb -
Sunset Boulevard on Rotten Tomatoes - Sunset Boulevard film locations

Screening: The World's Greatest Cartoons at the Alex Theatre

The Brother and I decided to check out the annual post-Christmas cartoon fest at the Alex (presented by the Alex Film Society) last weekend.

I usually enjoy screenings at the Alex, but this one was unfortunately a bit of a letdown.  For some reason I was expecting a couple hours of non-stop classic animation, but only ten were actually shown and the two-o'clock screening ended well before four.  In addition, the advertising was a bit misleading - of all the characters shown on the flyer, only Bugs and Daffy were shown.  I would have liked to have seen some old black & whites (particularly Betty Boop).  They were supposed to screen a Koko the Clown short, but apparently it's an old print and there was some concern that it wouldn't hold up, so it was replaced with Madeline. 

• Fast and Furry-ous (Warner Bros., 1949): The first Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon, originally made as a one-off.  The duo caught on and the rest was Acme-fueled history.  As usual, the "Latin" names given to each (Accellertatti Incredibus and Carnivorous Vulgaris) got huge laughs from the audience.
• Billion Dollar Limited (Fleischer/Paramount, 1942): It's Superman to the rescue when bad guys attempt to rob a U.S. Mint-bound train loaded with a billion dollars in gold.
• Madeline (UPA/Columbia, 1952): A sweet story based on the classic children's books.  This short received an Oscar nomination.
• Hockey Homicide (Disney, 1945): Thanks to this short, The Brother and I got to see more hockey in an afternoon than we'd seen since June.  Narrated with increasing insanity by Doodles Weaver, this short features a world populated by Goofys in a hotly contested hockey game.  Needless to say, there's lots of fighting both on the ice and in the stands.
• Pet Peeve (MGM, 1954): Technically a Tom & Jerry short, however it features Tom and the family bulldog attempting to prove which is the more desirable pet when their owners decide it's too expensive to keep and feed both (Jerry, as a tiny mouse, emerges as the winner, mainly because the owners have no idea of the gigantic stash of their food he's managed to squirrel away).
• The Fox and the Grapes (Columbia, 1941): Columbia came up short when it came to creating characters that the public wanted to see over and over again, however this was still a terrific one with a Heckle & Jeckle-type blackbird trying to distract a cheerful, happy-go-lucky fox from his picnic with a juicy bunch of grapes, because apparently foxes love grapes.
• Casey at the Bat (Disney, 1946): Originally a segment from Disney's Make Mine Music, Casey was later released as a stand-alone short.  Based on the famous poem about the overconfident baseball star who brings no joy to Mudville.  Narrated by Jerry Colonna.
• The Ventriloquist Cat (MGM, 1950): A cat finds a device that enables him to "throw" his meow and uses it to torment his canine foe.  A great example of Tex Avery's hysterical, lightning-paced work.  This one got some of the biggest laughs all day.
• Rabbit Seasoning (Warner Bros., 1952): One of the all-time greats, with Daffy Duck trying to persuade Elmer Fudd that it's really rabbit season, only to be thwarted by the always crafty Bugs Bunny.
• Rock-a-Bye Bear (MGM, 1950): Tex Avery again, this time with two dogs battling for the job of guarding the home of a hibernating bear, while trying (and failing) not to make any noise that will disturb the snoozing bruin.

The screening was halted every couple of cartoons by an animation historian and Alex Film Society rep, who would give us some historic info about the next couple of cartoons.  It was interesting, but could have been included in a handout.  More cartoons would have been preferable, especially in a program called "World's Greatest".  There were a lot of kids in the audience and it was a kick to hear them laughing at these decades-old cartoons, but they got restless during the talks.

Screening: "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" at the Pasadena Arclight

Just in time for Halloween, the lurid classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was screened at the Pasadena Arclight Sunday night.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Seven Arts/Warner Bros., 1962)

Starring Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Victor Buono

Directed by Robert Aldrich

Screenplay by Lukas Heller (based on the novel by Henry Farrell)

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Black & White).  

Also nominated for Best Actress (Davis), Best Supporting Actor (Buono), Best Cinematography (Black & White) and Best Sound.

Back in the days of vaudeville, Baby Jane Hudson is a big star.  She wields her childish star power as if it will never end, while her less glamorous sister Blanche seethes with resentment in the background.  Their father indulges the obnoxious Jane, while their mother desperately tries to assure Blanche that one day she will be the successful one.

Fast-forward twenty years and Blanche Hudson is a great actress and movie star.  Her contract perversely requires her Hollywood studio to make a film starring her much less talented sister Jane for every movie Blanche makes for them.  It's a testament to Blanche's talent and success that her studio complies (albeit reluctantly) with this odd request, despite the fact that they lose money on Jane's movies.

Another twenty years later, the aging sisters are sequestered in a gothic Hollywood mansion.  Blanche has been crippled by a car accident that wasn't an accident as much as it was the result of Jane's jealousy of her sister's Hollywood success.  Jane's curse for her sin is to care hand and foot for the sister she decimated, and the result is disappointment, cruelty and drunkeness.

TV is bringing Blanche Hudson's old films to an enthusiastic and appreciative new audience.  One of those enthralled by her long-lost work is the Hudson's teenaged neighbor, played by no other than Bette Davis' real-life daughter B.D. Merrill.  Numerous attempts by the girl's mother to engage their legendary neighbors are rebuffed by the bitter Jane.

As if Blanche's renewed fame isn't bad enough, she has been planning to sell their home and institutionalize Jane.  Unfortunately for Blanche all her secret precautions have been for naught - Jane is on to her plans.  Jane begins to torment Blanche and separate her from her few contacts with the outside world, especially their maid Elvira, who is supposed to become Blanche's new caregiver when Jane is out of the picture.

In the midst of all this mayhem the former vaudeville star decides to stage a comeback.  Jane engages a desperately unemployed pianist (Buono) for her return to the stage thinking that they are becoming great friends, not realizing he is just humoring her delusions for a paycheck.  Jane's treatment of Blanche becomes increasingly abusive and when Elvira discovers just how badly, Jane, who is dropping further and further into madness, murders her in a desperate attempt to keep her abuse of Blanche a secret and her comeback on track.

It's all downhill from there as her pianist discovers Jane's mistreatment of Blanche, Elvira's body is found and Jane finally succumbs to her mad delusions.  She drags a dying Blanche to the beach for a beautiful day out.  It's there that Blanche makes a startling deathbed confession: that Jane, who drunkenly blacked out the car "accident" didn't in fact cripple her sister.  It was actually Blanche who tried to ram the car into Jane, rather than Jane, resentful of Blanche's success.  All those years, the saintly Blanche had allowed Jane to believe that she was the guilty party and was therefore obligated to care for the sister she thought she had crippled.  This sends Jane completely over the edge.  The film ends with Blanche expiring on the beach, while Jane relives her glory days, dancing along the ocean's edge while a curious crowd gawks at her.

Baby Jane facts/trivia:

• What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was the first time Hollywood legends Davis and Crawford appeared in the same film.  They were lifelong Hollywood enemies.  Davis was the gifted, critically-acclaimed actress who recognized that she didn't have Crawford's glamor, while Crawford was the glamorous MGM star who envied Davis' talent.
• The nosy neighbor's daughter - one of Blanche Hudson's newfound fans thanks to television broadcasts of her old films - was played by Bette Davis' real-life daughter B.D. (short for Barbara Davis).  She was born B.D. Sherry, then became B.D. Merrill (the name she's credited with in Baby Jane) after Davis married her All About Eve costar Gary Merrill, who adopted the girl.  But it was under her married name, B.D. Hyman, that she became most famous...as the author of My Mother's Keeper, the Bette Davis version of Mommy Dearest.  B.D.'s husband, Jeremy Hyman, was a Seven Arts executive; he and B.D. met during promotion of Baby Jane.
• The decaying Hollywood mansion occupied by the dysfunctional sisters is located at 172 S. McCadden Place in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Hancock Park.  It still stands.
• There are several scenes were Jane does an eerily accurate imitation of Blanche's voice.  In reality, Davis couldn't mimic Crawford, so Joan's voice was dubbed.
• Both Davis and Crawford received BAFTA nominations for Best Foreign Actress.  Davis and Buono also received Golden Globe nominations.

Sources/links:
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? on imdb  - Bette Davis on imdb - Joan Crawford on imdb - Victor Buono on imdb - Robert Aldrich on imdb - Lukas Heller on imdb - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? on Wikipedia - 172 S. McCadden (Hudson Sisters house) on Trulia - Baby Jane film locations

Screening: Jaws at the Alex Theatre

The Alex Film Society presented Jaws on the big screen at the Alex Theatre in Glendale last night.  The screening was preceded by an interview with the film's screenwriter, Carl Gottlieb.

Jaws (Universal, 1975)

Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Screenplay by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb (based on Benchley's best-selling novel)

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Score, Best Film Editing and Best Sound
Also nominated for Best Picture

Just as its crucial summer tourist season is about to begin, the small beach community of Amity Island becomes the happy hunting ground for a terrifying and ruthless predator: a great white shark with a voracious appetite.

Recently appointed Police Chief Martin Brody (Scheider) wants to shut down the island's dangerous beaches after a pair of shark attacks in Amity's waters, but with the lucrative Fourth of July weekend approaching he's thwarted by Mayor Larry Vaughn (Hamilton) and locals more concerned with business than safety.  But when a third attack plays out in front of Amity's holiday crowd, summer is over and the hunt for the great white shark is on.  Along with young shark expert Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss) and Quint (Shaw), a local shark hunter, Brody heads out to sea to find and battle the beast.

Some Jaws factoids:

• Jaws was a phenomenon upon its release, becoming the highest grossing film of all time until Star Wars took the title. It was the first film to hit the $100 million dollar mark and was also the first summer blockbuster, changing the way studios market and release event films.  It also spawned shark fever - beach-goers were afraid to go in the water, there were suddenly numerous shark sightings and interest in shark hunting soared. 
• The opening sequence of the attack on the first victim took three days to shoot. For years rumors abounded that the actress, Susan Backlinie, suffered broken ribs in the process, but in interviews she has denied being injured during shooting.
• Peter Benchley, author of the bestselling novel the film was based on, was the grandson of famed humorist/writer/ actor Robert Benchley of the Algonquin Round Table.  Benchley did his best to adapt Jaws for the screen but was unable to come up with a satisfactory script, so Spielberg brought in actor/writer Carl Gottlieb.  In addition to his writing duties Gottlieb also played the editor of Amity's local paper.  Apparently there were no hard feelings on Benchley's part - he makes a cameo appearance in the film as a news reporter on the beach.  Benchley did reportedly loathe the movie's spectacular (and technically impossible) destruction of the shark, which wasn't in his book.
• In the years following the hysteria triggered by Jaws, Benchley became a vocal defender of sharks.  He stated that he wouldn't have written Jaws if he'd known at the time the negative impact it would have on the species.
• The classic line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat" was improvised on set by Scheider.  When he said it, the Alex audience burst into applause. 
• Quint's boat is named Orca, another name for the killer whale, whose natural prey includes sharks.
• Lorraine Gary, who played Brody's wife Ellen, was (and still is) married to Sid Sheinberg, who was then head of Universal Pictures.  This prompted talk of nepotism, although Spielberg reportedly cast her based on a performance she gave on the television series Kojak.
• Alternate casting considerations by Spielberg and Universal included: Robert Duvall and Charlton Heston for Chief Brody, Lee Marvin and Sterling Hayden for Quint, Victoria Principal for Ellen Brody, Jeff Bridges, Jon Voight, Jan-Michael Vincent and Timothy Bottoms for Hooper.  Benchley's choices had been Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen.
• The famous mechanical shark was dubbed "Bruce" in honor of Spielberg's lawyer.  Bruce (actually three Bruces created for different camera angles) frequently malfunctioned, leading to the necessity of shooting around him, which inadvertently helped the film's suspense because he couldn't be shown.  Before the screening, Gottlieb stated that he and Spielberg decided to use The Thing as a template for amping up tension by not showing the monster until well into the story, although they didn't really have a choice.
• Due to problems with Bruce, weather, and the difficulty of shooting on the sea, Jaws went significantly over budget and schedule.  The brutal ordeal has been documented in a "Making of" extra on the 30th Anniversary DVD, an episode of E! True Hollywood Story and in Gottlieb's book The Jaws Log.

Sources/Links:
Jaws on imdb - Jaws on Wikipedia - Jaws on Facebook - The Shark is Still Working on imdb - The Shark is Still Working on Facebook - JawsMovie.com - Jawsfest - Jawfest on Facebook - Jawsfest on Twitter - Jaws by Peter Benchley - The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb - Jaws: Memories From Martha's Vineyard by Matt Taylor - Just When You Thought It Was Safe: A Jaws Companion by Patrick Jankiewicz