Friday, July 19, 2024

Connecting the Dots

 

 

 


 

This is my entry in the Norman Jewison blogathon hosted by Taking Up Room.

 

 

 

Norman Jewison was not the most prolific director to come down the pike. IMDb credits him with only 44 entries as director and of those 20 were either TV shows of made for TV movies and documentaries.  So, all-in-all, he only has 24 major motion pictures to his credit.  But of those 24, there are some of the most iconic films of all time.  

In the Heat of the Night is one that many people will remember. As well, he also brought two classic Broadway musicals to the big screen; Fiddler on the Roof and Jesus Christ Superstar. One of my favorites, and one that may not be all that well-known, is A Soldier's Story, which I saw in conjunction with a project for a history class, even though it is not based on an actual historical event.

In the 40 year career from his first major theatrical endeavor to his final film had a variety of actors and actresses appear in his films. In the course of those movies there was an interesting  connection to them.  You could almost do a connect the dots with the actors who appeared in his movies, as some would appear in more than one film.

Hence the game that I came up with for this entry.  How are the movies connected with each other?  Admittedly some don't exactly connect in any way on this level.  For instance: Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof are connected by the presence of Barry Donnen, but I could find no way to connect any of the other movies with these two.  (Presumably because the rest of them were not musicals and possibly none of the other actors in those films had any musical ability whatsoever, with the exception of Doris Day, of course.)

This idea came as a result of seeing Edward Andrews' name appear in the list of credits for the first three major theatrical releases in the Jewison oeuvre. So it's fitting that we start there.

Edward Andrews: From 40 Pounds of Trouble-

My experience with Andrews got it's start when I saw him in an old Twilight Zone  episode "Third From the Sun" in which he was ostensibly the villain of the piece. In this movie he plays Herman.

  To The Thrill of it All-

Where Edwards plays Gardiner Farleigh. The main stars of TTOIA are Doris Day who plays the wife of a doctor, who in turn is played by James Gardner.

     To Send Me No Flowers

Where Edwards once again shares billing with Doris Day, this time as the doctor of a hypochondriac, played by Tony Randall.

But ....

James Garner, who skipped a leg in this sequence returned in The Art of Love-

Where he played the best friend and roommate of Dick Van Dyke. One of the other players in the film was 

Carl Reiner, who segued from there to-

The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming! -

Where he played a writer on vacation when a broken-down Russian submarine  and it's commander intrudes into his life.  One of the minor characters is Peter Brocco as a preacher.  Brocco also was part of the cast in

Gaily, Gaily - 

Where he played along side of Brian Keith (who had also been with him on the set of TRAC,TRAC!

See how they all seem connected?  It goes even further.

Denzel Washington was one of the main featured actors in A Soldiers Story. He was also the star of The Hurricane, a movie which featured a role played by Rod Steiger as the Judge who overturned the main character's conviction.  And we all know Rod Steiger as the Academy Award winning actor in In the Heat of the Night.  He also had a role in the Sylvester Stallone flick F.I.S.T. 

Jack Weston appeared in both Steve McQueen/ Norman Jewison collaborations, The Cincinatti Kid and The Thomas Crown Affair.  And, as stated earlier, Barry Donnen had roles in the two musicals directed by Jewison. Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof

And with a few stretches, you could end up linking all of them together.  (By that I mean you'd have to accept one of those Oracle of Kevin Bacon connections. You know, like James Caan was in Rollerball. He also shared the screen with Al Pacino in The Godfather, who was also the star of Jewison's ...And Justice for All.)

Apparently, either Jewison, or his casting directors had a good rapport with a stable of actors and actresses or just a whole lot of people enjoyed working with HIM. 

Or maybe there some finger of fate swirling around the pie filling with her finger.  Either way, this was a fun post to create.  Hope you got a chuckle or two.

Quiggy



Monday, July 15, 2024

Announcing the Barbarians at the Gates Blogathon

 




A muscle-bound, (usually) bare-chested Adonis (or in some cases, a woman, although NOT bare-chested..) stands facing a supernaturally powered horde of enemies, the only one who has the courage to face the onslaught and prevent the success of some evil force from it's nefarious goals.

"Sword and Sorcery" stories and movies have been around since the early days of pulp fiction.  Authors familiar to all, like Robert E. Howard, made a name for this type of fiction, and beginning in the late 50's, Hollywood even got it's fingers in the pie.

The term 'sword and sorcery" was given to the genre by Fritz Leiber, another stalwart of the pulp fiction days, and it was more or less defined by a statement made by another giant of the print industry of the genre, Lin Carter:


"We call a story sword and sorcery when it is an action tale derived from the traditions of the pulp magazine adventure story, set in the land, age or world of the author's invention - a milieu in which magic actually works and the gods are real _ a story, moreover, which pits a stalwart warrior in direct conflict with the forces of supernatural evil."


This blogathon was originally inspired by a long-planned post on the two Arnold Schwarzenegger / Conan films from the 80's and spurred into commitment by my acquisition of a book "Barbarians at the Gates of Hollywood". 




My friend and frequent cohort, Rachel @ Hamlette's Soliloquy agreed to help bring this blogathon into fruition.  The sword and sorcery genre is rife with possibilities, not only in film, but as previously noted, in print.  Therefore it would be a shame to limit the idea to only movies.  Therefore the ground rules are a bit expanded (see rule #1)


Rules for the Barbarians at the Gates Blogathon:

1. Anything that fits the idea of "sword and sorcery" are allowed.  Want to write about Robert E. Howard or one of the other authors who kick-started the theme?  Or any of the plethora of films that have made their way to either the theater or even direct-to-video films?  Any questions about whether an idea fits can be addressed to Rachel or myself, but it's pretty wide open.

2. Only one person per film or idea, but you can go several ways with it.  A general overview of the print genre and an entry specifically on the career of Robert E. Howard, say, would be two different ideas.  The same goes for movies.

3. We would like to limit the entries per person to 3 (if you are that ambitious..), so more people can enter.

4. For your enlightenment the following page will give you some ideas to start with on movies (but not limited to just these.  Got another idea?)

Sword and Sorcery Films

5. The dates of the blogathon are Sept 14-15. Early entries are OK, but we are asking that you post new material. And extensions for late entries could be accepted if you get tied up those days.

6. Please use one of the following banners to help promote the blogathon.








7. Have fun 

Additionally, I have a few gifts which will be in a drawing for all people who post entries in the blogathon.  You could be the winner of one of these.  If you win, I will mail your prize, And postage is not a problem. If you are in the UK, (or elsewhere) you can still be a winner.

Set of 4 pins



20 sided die lapel pin



Dungeons and Dragons lanyard



2 unpainted (sorry) miniatures




This list will be updated as time permits me to do so over the next few weeks.  Here are the entries so far:

The Midnite Drive-In: Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer (the two "Ahnold" entries in the saga).

Hamlette's Soliloquy: Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: (2023) 

Realweegiemidget Reviews: The Beastmaster  (1982)

Soeakeasy: Hercules and the Haunted World (1961)

Whimsically Classic: Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Taking Up Room : The Scorpion King (2002)

18 Cinema Lane: Willow (1988)