Officially Announcing the "Celebrate the Drive-In Week"

An event of epic proportions with a chance for audience participation. Hang on for the final reel (below)!

Note (after the fact): I just realized that I forgot to include a thanks to Rachel (Hamlette) in this post for the button.  Thanks, Rachel!

 

 

Drive-In Movie Day is Saturday, June 6th. If you have been following along all these years, you know of my endearing love for the drive-in movie experience. Many of my favorite memories involved going to the drive-in, either with my folks and my sister, or, as I got older, with a bunch of friends, or even sometimes solo. At the time, my only two sources were two drive-ins in Sherman/Denison area of north Texas. Both of these (pictured below), coincidentally, were located directly across the highway from each other, on the Sherman/Denison city limits dividing line (where FM 691 intersected Hwy 75, if you are of a mind to Google map the location...). My vague memory is one of them actually being on Denison side of that dividing line and the other actually being on the Sherman side, but my memory may be faulty... Both of them were torn down sometime late last century. (I was not living in the area at the time, so I can't actually say when, but one has been replaced by apartments and the other has a couple of convenience stores on the property formerly occupied by them).

 

 

(Photos courtesy of a website I found:  Pinball Rebel.) 

Of course, if I wanted to drive that far, there were plenty of drive-in options all over the Dallas - Ft. Worth area. Joe Bob Briggs, a columnist and drive-in movie critic for the Dallas Times Herald, had a weekly column that came in the Weekend supplement of the Friday issue of the newspaper.  Based on his recommendations, after I moved to that area, I found my way to the local D/FW drive-ins.

Memories abound in my recollections of movies I saw. The standard format for the drive-in was a double feature. The headliner, the draw, was a major recent release, while the second feature was an older movie, sometimes as much as 3 or 4 years prior. 

 

 

Many is the time that I remember that second feature and can't recall what the first feature was, the one I ostensibly went to see.  The Warriors is a perfect example. I went to the drive-in to see some film, I can't recall what, and the second feature was The Warriors. (Possibly could have been Conan the Barbarian, since I DID go to the drive-in for that one, but I'm not sure..) 

Another one was Partners, a buddy cop film with Ryan O'Neal as a straight cop and John Hurt as a gay cop going undercover as a gay couple to find a serial killer. Probably some gritty cop drama was the first bill movie.

For the week of this event, Celebrate the Drive-In Week, I am going to write up some of those movies I wish I had had the chance to see at the drive-in... I wasn't born until 1961, so I didn't see any of the 50's entries (not even born yet) or even 60's entries (too young). Even the 70's movies were not available for me for the most part, since I had a very restrictive upbringing. (Nothing rated higher than G, until I finally broke down my father's resolve and he let us kids go see Star Wars.) 

 

 

Over the week of the celebration you will see various reminiscences as well as reviews of the movies I chose. I did not pick any movies from the 1940's simply for the fact that the drive-in did not really come into its own as far as popularity until the 50's. The list, below in chronological order, rather than order I am going to present them (since even I don't know what order that is going to be...), are:

Hot Rod Girl (1956)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Day of the Triffids (1962)   

The Born Losers (1967)

Coffy (1973)

Drive-In (1976) 

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)  

There is a variety there, indicative of the kinds of stuff you could get at the drive-in in it's heyday. As I described this blog for the Classic Movie Blog Association, the essence of the drive-in movie can be distilled down to what I call the three "b"s, "beasts, bikes and babes".

For "beasts" you are getting "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Day of the Triffids". For bikes (and by association, cars) you are getting "The Born Losers" and "Hot Rod Girl" (and "Smokey and the Bandit"). For "babes" you are getting "Coffy" featuring a butt-kicking Pam Grier and "Smokey and the Bandit", featuring a fairly enticing Sally Field. And as an added bonus, I am going to feature a comedy from the late 1970's simply titled "Drive-In".

Audience Participation! 

But, there is also a chance for you to join in the fun. If you would like to share memories of attending drive-in theaters in your younger days, or if you would like to highlight a movie that features a significant scene that takes place at the drive-in, or if you, like me, love those old cheesy low-budget movies you could only find at the drive-in and want to review one of them, then you can sign up to participate.

The following list is people who have agreed to participate in the celebration. Remember. This is NOT a blogathon. There are no rules about multiple entries on the same subject. If everyone wants to do a piece on the drive-in scene in Grease, that's fine by me. And last minute jump ins are totally acceptable.

Hamlette's Soliloquy : The drive-in scene in The Outsiders.

 

There will be door prizes involved.  Everyone who joins in and posts something about drive-in movies or a drive-in experience will get their names entered into a hat. I have a few drive-in theater related trinkets that I will send out after the event. I don't have access to a program, so if you are interested in a specific set, you will have to let me know in comments.

The items are a sticker and a postcard (one of the following three sets) Left side is the postcard, right side is the sticker.

Set #1:

 

 

Set #2:

 

 

Set #3:

 

Quiggy

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Rotten Movies We Love by the Editors of Rotten Tomatoes

Book Review: Rotten Movies We Love by The Editors of Rotten Tomatoes

If you have been a regular reader of The Midnite Drive-In, you know that I often reference the website of Rotten Tomatoes when discussing how a movie is or was received by the critics. You also know that I just love to watch movies that were considered "bad" by either the critics or the public.

So, to set the scene, Rotten Tomatoes is a website that collects the overall critical reviews of movies (as established by people who actually make their living writing reviews, unlike me, who just does this for my own , and hopefully your, entertainment.)  A Rotten Tomatoes rating could go as high as 100% (movies included in this category include Seven Samurai, 12 Angry Men, and The Treasure of Sierra Madre).  Conversely, a movie could garner a rating of 0% (movies such as Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever,  Return to Blue Lagoon, Problem Child and the Nicholas Cage fiasco Left Behind). 

In the context of this rating system, the dividing line between "Fresh" and "Rotten" is about 60%. The films that the editors picked to highlight are movies that, despite the critical reception, are ones that they think are worth a second look. The highest rated movie in this volume is at 59% Fresh is The Last Dragon. And the lowest rated movie, at 0% Fresh, is the aforementioned Problem Child. The movies in this volume have either been the subject of a review on this blog, or in some cases have been on the list for future reviews, or in the case of a few, movies that I missed completely, but are now on the back burner. (This would include an odd looking movie that somehow escaped me during it's release, The Strangers from 2008).

There are also a few featured guest reviewers (the professional critics I mentioned) talking about movies that they consider worth a second look.  For instance, Leonard Maltin, whom I assume you ALL know of, considers Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla to be a "guilty pleasure". 

Of course, a few of the movies will NEVER be featured on The Midnite Drive-In, no matter what any one else might have to say. It's no secret that I don't like that whackadoodle Tom Cruise, so even though Cocktail and Legend are among the movies selected you won't find me joining the bandwagon.

Some of the movies featured are ones that I adore, of course, and have even dedicated a post to them. Hook, for one, is one that I still like (this is the lowest rated movie that Steven Spielberg ever had a hand in, even lower than 1941...) Tim Burton, another director that I have a high regard for, appears in the book with his 1996 fiasco Mars Attacks!, which remains one of the few movies I saw more than once in it's theatrical release. In my review of Xanadu I even stated that I had fluctuated in my enamoration, really liking it on first viewing, but thinking it was trash later, and reverting now to actually liking it again. Other movies that I have a special place for in my heart that are included in this book are Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Three Amigos!, both of which I think are highly unworthy of the disparagement they have received.

The book proves that relying solely on the opinions of others, even if they are the highbrow critics that make their living from evaluating films, is sometimes entirely unfounded.  Of course, it's no secret if you have followed along with my blog, that I never let the opinion of others influence my movie watching habits. 

Keep watching this site, because I intend to watch a few of these again (or for the first time, in some cases) and post my own personal opinions (which, needless to say, should not influence you in your watching, but at least will make you aware of their status in the movie review world).

Drive safely, folks!

Quiggy

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #15: The Moonshine War

  

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

Week #15: Kentucky 

 

The state of Kentucky was established on June 1, 1792

Details about Kentucky:

State bird: Kentucky cardinal

State flower: goldenrod

State tree: tulip poplar

Additional historical trivia:

The state is the only one south of Ohio to have erected a memorial to Union soldiers. It is in the city of Vanceburg.

The city of Richmond, KY was considered as a place to establish the country's capitol, but lost out to the eventual winner, Washington, D.C.

(This one hurts...) The first oilwell in the country was not dug in Texas. It was dug in McCreary County.

"Happy birthday to you!" The familiar song was written by Kentucky natives.

Mother's Day originated through the efforts of a Kentuckian.

Of course you know that most of the country's gold reserve is in Fort Knox. 

Famous people born in Kentucky: Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Billy Ray Cyrus, Muhammed Ali, Edgar Cayce and Civil War presidents Jefferson Davis (Confederacy) and Abraham Lincoln (Union).

 

 

The Moonshine War (1970): 

Memory is such a transient and fleeting thing. When I was a young boy of about 15 I remember catching this movie on TV. In those days, before cable, we only had the three major networks, CBS, ABC and NBC, plus, if the weather was right, one or two independent UHF stations. The UHF stations would play syndicated reruns of older shows and most nights would run an older movie. So, about 1976, the local UHF station played The Moonshine War. As usual my tastes ran counter to whatever the rest of the family wanted to watch. (I may be wrong, but it was probably my sister's turn to pick the shows we had on the family room TV. They probably were watching The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie, neither of which I ever wanted to watch.)

So I migrated to the black and white Tv we kept in another room. And I remember watching this movie. I didn't remember a heck of a lot about it until I watched it again this week. Of course, I remember Alan Alda as a country bumpkin moonshiner butting heads with a corrupt Federal Agent played by Patrick McGoohan and his cohort, a less than reputable dentist turned gangster, played by Richard Widmark. Really, I could only recall the ending clearly (and I won't give it away here, but it was an unexpected and extremely satisfying ending).

The fleeting memory that I had, and remember I was very young at the time, was that it was a pretty decent movie.  The thing is, that was almost 50 years ago. And, truth be told, it didn't take a whole lot to impress me. But with 50 years under my belt, and the experience of having watched quite a number of movies since then, I can't say that the whole second experience with the film was all that satisfying.

For one thing, Alda was just getting started in his film career. This was only his third or fourth starring role, and he was still a couple of years away from his iconic role in the TV series, M*A*S*H*.  I have to say that I was not all that impressed with his performance. Some reviewers echo the same sentiments that I had, that he was entirely miscast. I never really could believe that he was some backwoods hillbilly.

In the supporting cast, too, there was some issue. Patrick McGoohan has been much better, especially in one of my favorite roles of his, as The Prisoner. Only Richard Widmark, as the evil dentist, really shines, for me. (And some of the reviews I read even took issue with his performance...) 

Will Geer is essentially Grandpa Walton here, as the local sheriff, but he is a welcome addition to the otherwise lacking cast. There are a couple of interesting cameos here, including Teri Garr in a brief role as part of a husband/wife team who are robbed of their clothes by Widmark's character's second hand man.

The premise is fairly straightforward, although some of the actual motivations of the main characters take a little while to come out. Initially it appears that Frank Long (Patrick McGoohan) is a straight arrow Federal agent seeking a stash of bootleg moonshine held by local moonshiner Son Martin (Alan Alda).  There is some motivation, however, behind his quest.  You see, it's a foregone conclusion that a) Franklin Delano Roosevelt is going to win the upcoming election (which he did), and that b) he is going to repeal Prohibition (which he also did). 

That stash of moonshine that Son has hidden becomes the MacGuffin of the story. It turns out that Long's motivations are not entirely above board. He is not seeking the moonshine to destroy it, he is looking to make a huge bundle of money off of it because it will represent a head start over the upcoming legal distributors that will come to the fore after the repeal. Added to this intrigue is that Son and Frank were fellow soldiers in World War I.  It doesn't appear at the outset that they were compadres during that conflict, however. Either that or their friendship deteriorated after Frank became an enemy due to his now being a Federal agent.

When his tactics don't seem to be making any progress Long calls in a former "associate", a dentist turned gangster, Emmett Taulbee (Richard Widmark).  Taulbee brings with him his right hand man, Dual Metters (Lee Hazlewood).  

Dual shows his stripes early on when he tries to buy a suit that strikes his fancy from a fellow diner at a restaurant. When the diner is not forthcoming with selling the suit Dual forces him and his girl (Claude Johnson and Teri Garr) to strip naked under threat of a gun.

When Son turns down Frank and Emmett's pittance offer to buy his stash (only $1 a gallon, when the fair market price would seem to be $5 a gallon), Emmett calls in some reinforcements. And there is going to be Hell to pay. These hillbillies are not about to go gentle into that good night, but they underestimate the ruthlessness that the other side is willing to go to to achieve their goal.  What happens is that Martin ends up facing off the gangsters alone because Emmett and company raid Son's neighbors and bust up their stills. (Is everyone in town running an illegal moonshine operation? It would seem that might flood the market a bit, but maybe I don't know how much effort the public was willing to go to get the contraband alcohol...) 

Emmett, when his efforts to turn the neighbors against Son don't get Son to cough up his stash, resorts to some of the same tactics that a fellow bootlegger in Chicago became famous for, that of eliminating anyone who might have some influence on Son's reluctance. Emmett's ruthlessness eventually leads to Frank starting to have second thoughts about the whole operation.

As I said earlier, the denouement of the film is one of the better parts. Son has alienated most of his neighbors by this time, since he steadfastly refuses to give up his stash, despite the unorthodox tactics that Emmett and Frank have been using against said neighbors. So, instead of helping defend Son from the authorities, they instead watch the last action play out from the surrounding hills as it seems that Emmett will finally achieve his objective.

Rotten Tomatoes rates this movie only at 36%. I'm not sure how well it did at the box office, but IMDb only has it standing at just slightly under a 6.0 rating, which means it probably didn't get well received by the public. Wikipedia only notes that the film went over budget on production, but doesn't give me any financial stats other than that.

As I said earlier, it is not entirely all that well acted, although there are several faces that will trigger recognition. Harry Carey, Jr., Bo Hopkins, Tom Skerritt and John Schuck are familiar, and if you like my series of "Hey! I Know That Guy!", you will be interested to know that I had another one of those memories crop up. One of the neighbors of Son is Bill Durham (also sometimes credited by his real name, Charles Tyner). Durham had a significant role in The Outlaw Josey Wales as the trading post operator where Josey acquired the young Indian girl, and as Gus the hotelier in Planes Trains and Automobiles.

So the verdict on this movie; is it worth watching? Well, I'd say it's interesting enough for one time, but as far as that factor of "re-watch-ability", I'd have to give it a "no".  Widmark is the only actor who really makes the movie watchable, but even he is not on his best mark. Given a chance to recast the film I would definitely find someone a bit more believable as a hillbilly than Alda. It had Bo Hopkins in it, and he could have probably essayed the role a bit better. And McGoohan is McGoohan. When he is playing British guys he is pretty much a good actor, but as an American he leaves something to be desired. 

Well, folks, until next time... drive safely.

Quiggy

Semiquincecentennial Movie Project #14: The Trouble with Harry

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

Week #14: Vermont -

 

The state of Vermont was established on March 4, 1791

Details about Vermont:

State bird: hermit thrush

State flower: red clover

State tree: sugar maple

Additional historical trivia:

Vermont is the home of the hippie's favorite ice cream, Ben & Jerry's.

The first postage stamp in the US was printed in Brattleboro.

The state was the last holdout to allow the Evil Empire (Wal-Mart) to open up a store in it's boundaries. They didn't get one until 1996...

There are more covered bridges in Vermont than any other state. Only about 8.000 people. But even the most populous city only has about 50,000 residents.

Vermont was the first state to outlaw slavery.

You won't find billboards in Vermont. It was the first state to outlaw them. 

Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, is the least populated capital city in the Union. 

Famous people born in Vermont: Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur (US Presidents), John Deere, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (founders of the Mormon church), and Bill Wilson (founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and, yes, I included him because I am a member of the recovery group...).

 

The Trouble with Harry (1955): 

The Trouble with Harry was a rarity in the oeuvre of Alfred Hitchcock, in that it was more of a comedy than a thriller. And the film is populated with some of the most oddball characters you'll see this side of Arsenic and Old Lace. 

The production of the film had as much oddball quirks as the characters in the movie itself. For one thing, when the production company showed up in Vermont to start shooting the film, they were expecting the trees to still be sporting the fall colors of just beginning to hibernate foliage. But the trees were almost bare of leaves... So the solution? Why, they glued leaves to the trees, of course... (As ridiculous as it sounds, they didn't do all that bad a job of it...)

The production team was also plagued with torrential rain. Some of the scenes actually had to be filmed in a rented gym. And the rain played hell with the production there, too. There was some extensive redubbing because the rain interfered with the sound. And, on top of that, a camera fell from the ceiling and almost hit Hitchcock. The good thing about all that rain; even though there was some local flooding, which was bad, the revenue from the film was donated to locals who had been affected by the flooding.

The Trouble with Harry had some fairly big names associated with it. It was the first movie that Shirley MacLaine was ever cast. It was also an early screen premiere for Jerry Mathers, who just a few years later would be cast for the lead in the TV series Leave it to Beaver. Also appearing in the film were Edmund Gwenn (Kris Kringle in the classic Miracle on 34th Street), John Forsythe (probably most well-remembered as the voice of "Charlie" on the TV series Charlie's Angels or Blake Carrington on Dynasty), two-time Oscar winner Mildred Dunnock (Death of a Salesman and Baby Doll) and Royal Dano (a familiar face to many people, like my sister, who watched those old TV westerns.)

The movie opens with young Arnie Rogers (Jerry Mathers) hiking through the woods with his toy gun when he stumbles upon a body. The body is that of Harry Worp (the body was played by Philip Truex, whose father. Ernest Truex, appeared in two classic Twilight Zone episodes). 

Arnie runs off to tell his mom of his discovery, but in the meantime, Captain Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) comes across the body. He thinks that Harry is the victim of an accident, having been shot by Wiles while he was out hunting rabbits.

Wiles has plans to hide the body, but he is discovered by Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick). Miss Gravely is not entirely in shock, as you might expect. Instead she agrees to keep the body a secret, provided that the captain drops by her house for a social engagement. But when the captain tries to continue his plan to hide the body he runs into problems. The woods seem to be populated as much as the local town. Everybody and their mother stumbles upon the body (while the captain hides and mutters that he might as well have sold tickets to view the body.

Everyone who stumbles upon the body is likewise as unperturbed as Miss Gravely. It turns out that several people know who Harry is, and that they themselves are complicit in the death of the poor man.  This is the black comedy part of the film. (Yes, it's a black comedy. What other kind of comedy could we expect from the master of the macabre...?) 

Among those who drop in on the corpse are a tramp (Barry Macollum) who steals the corpse's shoes,

and Jennifer Rogers (Shirley MacLaine), Arnie's mom, who, instead of shock, exhibits what amounts to relief. 

Harry, you see, was her estranged husband and she had hit him with  milk bottle earlier and thinks that is probably what killed him.  And Miss Gravely? She is not so innocent as she appears. She, too, thinks that she was implicit in the death of Harry. It seems the only person in town that does not think her or she was involved in Harry's death is little Arnie.

Meanwhile, back in town, we meet a few more of the screwy residents. Mrs. Wiggs (Mildred Dunnock), who runs a local dry goods store and is the local postmaster to boot, confers with local artist, Sam Marlowe (John Forsythe). 

Sam has commissioned her to sell some of his paintings, but she hasn't had much success. It seems tourists don't stop by as often as would be useful. (I'm not entirely sure if there EVER ARE any tourists dropping by, but be that as it may...) Local sheriff Calvin Wiggs (Royal Dano) comes on the scene asking about some shooting he heard. The sheriff had previously posted a "No shooting" ordinance and wants to know who was doing some shooting. The sheriff, by the way, is the son of the postmaster/dry goods store owner.

Of course, into the scene comes a potential customer for the decidedly odd paintings, but he may have a bit of trouble in succeeding in his quest since it seems everyone else is preoccupied with other small town events. Later, when Sam goes out into the woods to do a little drawing he too stumbles across the body, as well as the captain who is still fretting over his supposed complicity in the exit of Harry. Sam agrees to help the captain bury the body.  And unbury it... And bury it again... And unbury it... And bury it again... This part of the film is ne of the funnier parts of the film as they try to decide what to do about Harry.

In the meantime a relationship between Sam and Jennifer develops. And, as can usual happen in such a comedy of errors, Sam wants to marry Jennifer. But she is still married to Harry.  And if it can't be proven that Harry is dead, they would have to wait until the requisite 7 years for Harry to be declared officially missing... So now Harry is going to have to be "found" by the officials and declared dead, if they don't want to wait it out.

The Trouble with Harry was not particularly well received by the critics.  Bosley Crowther, a critic for The New York Times wrote that it is not a particularly witty or clever script" and that Hitchcock's direction did not "make it spin". But he did compliment the way the cast was able to pull it off with some panache in the form of it's comedy. Another critic, John McCarten for The New Yorker, claimed that "Alfred Hitchcock, whose work has been going steadily downhill ever since he arrived in Hollywood, skids to preposterous depths."

It was not a big hit at the box office either, although it did manage to bring in a profit; $3 million in sales against a budget of $1 million. Despite that, Rotten Tomatoes ranks it as 88% Fresh. And, really, if you have an open enough mind to accept Hitchcock as a comedic director, it's pretty good. Note "laugh out loud" funny, like, say Blazing Saddles, or, if you want to go the black comedy route, Arsenic and Old Lace, but I did find myself snickering on several occasions. Peopled as it is with such oddball characters, it carried itself well.

Black comedy is, by nature, not for everyone. If you have trouble accepting a dead body as a source of comedy, then I suggest you leave this one alone. But if you are like me, and appreciate a jaunt into the outré, then by al means, set up the DVD player. Maybe even make it a double feature with the aforementioned Arsenic and Old Lace...

Until, next time, drive safely, folks.

Quiggy

Semiquicentennial Movie Project #13: The Witches of Eastwick

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

 

Week # 13: Rhode Island -

 

The state of Rhode Island was established on May 29, 1790. 

Details about Rhode Island:

State bird: Rhode Island red hen

State flower: violet

State tree: red maple

Additional historical trivia:

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union. In terms of size, you could fit 450+ Rhode Islands inside the boundaries of Alaska (the largest state in the union.)

The official "family-travel ambassador" of Rhode Island is Mr. Potato Head, which was invented in Pawtucket.

Although Rhode Island did not support the passing of the amendment to initiate Prohibition, there are still some "stick-in-the mud" sectors within the state. In Scituate you can be ticketed if you have beer in the car, even if it's unopened. (So much for the grocery store beer run trip, bub...) 

The "sideburn" style of men's haircut was popularized by Ambrose Burnside (get it? "Burnside" "sideburn"...) Burnside was a former Civil War general and governor of Rhode Island.

Rhode Island is not a place to visit if you are a zombie. It's illegal to bite of someone's limbs in the state.

It was the first state to disband from English rule in the American Revolution, but it was the last state (of the original 13) to join the union of the states after the Revolutionary War.

The first Baptist church, as well as the first Jewish synagogue, in the country were both established in Rhode island'

Famous Rhode Islanders: Gilbert Stuart (the guy who painted the original portrait of George Washington now seen on the $1 bill), H. P. Lovecraft (horror author), George M. Cohan, Van Johnson and Viola Davis all hail from Rhode Island.

 

 

 

The Witches of Eastwick (1987): 

Apology: I'm a bit behind on my schedule. As stated in my last review, i am having some health issues and been in and out of hospital recently. Hope to get back on schedule soon;

Sexual liberation of the female gender was a popular topic in film in the 1980's. The idea that a woman could be independent from the strictures of a male dominated society had been percolating for a couple of decades already, but the release of those strictures really started to come out beginning in the 80's. Witness the empowerment and sexuality Alex Woods (Jennifer Beals) derives from her desire to be the woman she wants to be in Flashdance.   Or the independence that Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) strives for in Pretty in Pink and "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) in Dirty Dancing . 

One of the more interesting films that explored this sexual revolution was The Witches of Eastwick, a film about three women who are seeking satisfaction on their own terms in a male-dominated community. As opposed to the John Updike novel that inspired the movie, however, these three women aren't exactly "witches"; rather they are three women who stumble upon their ability in a impromptu discussion over wine, describing their own ideal man.

The discussion ends up calling up the Devil himself, in the form of Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson). Side note: Personally I would not consider a balding 50-year old Nicholson the ideal man, but he pulls it off with some aplomb. 

The three women in question have all been recently, in one way or another, divested of their own form of male domination. Alexandra Medford (Cher) is a widow, who has one child from her marriage. Sukie Ridgemont (Michelle Pfeiffer) was deserted by her husband, with whom she has had six(!) children. And Jane Spofford (Susan Sarandon) has just recently become divorced from her husband.

As mentioned above, the three have a regular get together where over drinks they discuss the ideal man. Somehow this conjures up a newcomer to the straight-laced  community of Eastwick. A mysterious man has bought the local Lenox Mansion. Interestingly, no one seems to be able to recall the man's name. (An ominous beginning if there every was one...) Most of the town folk are either ambivalent or intrigued by this newcomer, but one woman, Felicia Alden (Veronica Cartwright), is very suspicious. She is a very religious person, and senses there is something sinister about this newcomer.

The mysterious figure makes his presence known (to the audience at least) by his appearance at a recital in town. He falls asleep and snores very loudly and falls out of his chair, thus attracting attention. And suddenly the forgetfulness of the town as to the mystery man's name vanishes. It's Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson).  

Van Horne has ulterior motives on the three main characters, ultimately trying to get them out of their comfort zones, sexually. As such he seduces all three women. Initially neither of the women know anything about the relationship that Van Horne has developed between the other two friends, but he uses his wiles to get them in the sack and then uses those same wiles to get them more comfortable in their own supernatural abilities. Essentially he transforms each into the witch aspect of their personalities that they originally had only an inkling of.

Meanwhile, goody-two-shoes (and, apparently, despiser of sexually liberated women) Felicia uses her influence on her husband, Clyde (Richard Jenkins) to try to expose the sinister Van Horne and the now liberated women. Clyde is the publisher of the local newspaper, and even though his star reporter, Sukie, is unaware of it, he publishes an expose that Felicia has browbeaten him to publish. The result of which is that now not only Van Horne is in hot water, but so are the three women. 

The film starts to take a dark turn from it's comedic stance when Felicia becomes more and more obsessed and psychotic over the way that Van Horne is influencing the women and the obvious freedom that his influence has over them. Plus, reminiscent of a scene straight out of The Exorcist, Felicia ends up puking up a vast amount of cherry pits, which is paralleled by the witches eating cherries with Van Horne. She also causes Clyde to kill her, probably because he thinks she is possessed...

As a result of the outrage caused by Felicia's expose, they try to distance themselves from him. But, secret exposed, Van Horne is more than he seems. Although the film never actually comes right out and says it, he is obviously the Devil and, thus, an unwanted interloper in the staid community. But Van Horne is unwilling to go gently into that good night.  He starts to exert more influence on the women, going so far as to use their fears to exact revenge.

The women decide that the only way to divest themselves of Van Horne's influence is to work voodoo on him (as to how that is possible, since he is the Devil himself, is a question best left unanswered...) The film returns to it's comedic roots as they work out a voodoo doll of him and use all sorts of tricks on him. Seeing Nicholson getting his comeuppance in this is a treat. 

Interesting casting tidbit. Originally Bill Murray was going to be portraying Van Horne, and Nicholson dropped into the role after Murray dropped out. 

Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 67% Fresh. It was profitable on it's release, pulling in $103 million on a $22 million budget. Roger Ebert was among those who liked it, but thought that final sequence was a bit over the top. My personal opinion is that that scene was what saved the movie after the surprisingly dark turn the film took in the middle of the movie. Despite the title of the movie, the real star here is Nicholson. There is one particularly interesting scene in the movie where Nicholson is ranting around his mansion and bumps into a life size doll that looks remarkably like a version of the Joker from the Batman comics. (Batman was still a couple years away in Nicholson's filmography at this point...)

Not that Cher, or Sarandon, or Pfeiffer are not up to snuff in the film.  All three manage to carry their own throughout. But each pales by comparison when Nicholson is in the scene. 

I saw this movie in the theater when it was released. I have no idea what drew me to it at the time. I would have thought it was a "chick flick" if I were to see it advertised today, and I wasn't a huge Nicholson fan at the time, even though I like The Shining and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by then.   On retrospect of seeing it for only the second time, 40 years hence, I thought it was fairly well done.

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #12: Hero's Island

 

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

Week #12: North Carolina -

 

The state of North Carolina was established on November 12. 1789. 

Details about North Carolina:

State bird: cardinal

State flower: dogwood

State tree: pine 

Additional historical trivia:

The first fact is personal. Although your humble blogger has spent 99% of his life in Texas, he was born in the state of North Carolina (Durham, to be exact).

In January of 1942, the Rose Bowl, typically played in California, was relocated to Durham due to fears of Japanese attacks on the West Coast, basically making Duke the "home team" against Oregon State.

North Carolina was the first state to declare it's independence from England, thus beginning the road to the Revolutionary War.

As a minor league player, Babe Ruth hit his first ever home run as a professional in a spring training game in Fayetteville. It was also here that George Herman Ruth first got the nickname "Babe".

The headache relief product known as BC Powder was invented in Durham.

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. located in Chapel Hill, was where many early astronauts trained.

Krispy Kreme Donuts was founded in North Carolina., as was Pepsi. (I'll wait while you make a donut and cola run, now...)

And everyone knows that the Wright brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk. (It's noted on the state license plate, people...)

The state is also the site of the famous Lost Colony of Roanoke. 

 

 

Hero's Island (1962): 

The movie is significant, if only in terms of the star power brought to the film. James Mason, he of such films as The Desert Fox, the Marlon Brando version of Julius Caesar, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Heaven Can Wait, North by Northwest and The Boys from Brazil was the star (and financial backer) of the film. But among the dozen or so actors who helped bring the film to the big screen were several familiar names who were just getting started in film. Rip Torn (totally unrecognizable to me, since most of the stuff I have seen him in came later in his career: Canadian Bacon, Freddy Got Fingered, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and the Men in Black films), Harry Dean Stanton (who I would recognize almost anywhere... he of Alien, Escape from New York, Christine, Repo Man, Red Dawn and The Straight Story), Warren Oates (also easily recognizable: he was in Stripes, Dillinger, Race with the Devil,  Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, and 1941), as well as the first ever appearance of Darby Hinton, who played Daniel Boone's son on the Disney TV series. Neville Brand, a perennial bad guy in numerous films also put in an appearance.

Which may lead one to wonder "Why have I never heard of this film?" well, the God's honest truth is it is ostensibly an action film, but there is very damn little action going on in the film. That's not to say it's not interesting. As a drama piece, it's not all that bad. But it's a very "talky" movie, meaning there is more conversation going on than actual action. If you come to the film expecting a lot of sword play (it takes place in the mid-1700's), you are going to be mostly disappointed.

The main thrust of the movie revolves around the rights that two separate forces claim to have on an island off the coast of the Carolina territory.  Thomas Mainwaring (Brendan Dillon), a freed former indentured servant has come to claim the island, along with his wife, Devon (Kate Manx), their children, Cullen (Morgan Mason; James Mason's real son) and Jafar (Darby Hinton) and a friend/helper, Wayte (Warren Oates). It should be noted there are some interesting developments in the exposition of the situation with this family that may be unfamiliar to anyone not well-versed with the history of the time period.

 

For one thing, Devon was actually acquired as a wife for Thomas because he purchased her freedom from indentured servitude. It is unclear whether they actually are married by law, as such was not required when a man purchased a wife in this way. also, only one of the boys is actually a son of Devon. (She had apparently been married prior to this. Neither of the boys are the offspring of Thomas, and in fact, one of the boys was also acquired in the same manner as Devon. However, given that both Devon and Thomas are apparently very devout Christians, marriage was probably a foregone conclusion...)

When the five arrive and begin setting up with establishing a foothold on the island, they are almost immediately confronted by a disputing band of outlaws who claim right to ownership, this despite the fact that Thomas has a deed signed by the original landholder. The disputers in question are three brothers, Dixey Gates (Harry Dean Stanton), Nicholas Gates (Rip Torn) and Enoch Gates (Robert Sampson). The brothers try various ways to threaten the interlopers to convince them to leave, which include (accidentally) killing Thomas. 

 

The brothers think that this is going to go in their favor, because although they are not law-abiding in their own right, they do not have any objection to using the law to their own advantage. The right of ownership to the land includes a codicil that to occupy the land there must be a complete family to farm the land. Without the husband, Devon and her boys are basically up the creek without a paddle. But Devon is the essence of a determined woman, and refuses to give up.

 

The brothers use all sorts of tricks and bad ploys to get her to give up. But fortunately for them onto the scene comes a marooned sailor, Jacob Weber (James Mason). But it appears that his appearance may not be the salvation that could help the family win the fight. 

 

Jacob refuses to take up arms to defend the family, although he does do his part by trying to negotiate and be diplomatic about the conflict. Unfortunately, the brothers are immune to diplomacy. They call on outside sources, in the form of Kingstree (Neville Brand), who is either a mercenary or an official, I can't decide which.

 

Kingstree, however, knows who Jacob really is; he is a former pirate under the sail of the notorious Blackbeard, and is thus wanted by the authorities. But this revelation only inspires Jacob (whose real name is Stede Bonner) to pitch in and help. Also coming on board (because he went against his brothers as was abandoned by them) is Nicholas. He pitches in because he was betrayed by his brothers.

As sometimes happens when I review these older and more obscure movies, there is not much information regarding the background. I don't even know how much the movie was budgeted for, much less how well it did at the box office. Still, it stands to reason it did reasonably well, as it doesn't look like it cost all that much to produce.

IMDb gives it a 5.5 out of 10 rating, and I think that's fair. Despite the fact that only about the last 10 minutes has any real action going on, it is still interesting enough. It does tend to be a little on the preachy side when it comes to the religious aspect of it. The fact that Devon flat refuses to resort to violence and cautions her helpers to basically give it over to God because God will judge everything aright becomes a bit annoying. 

But just for the star power involved this movie is well worth a watch. The only female part in the film, and pretty much the second star in the headline, Kate Manx, was a flash in the pan as far as her career went. She only managed 8 film roles before she took her life from an overdose of sleeping pills. Whether that was directly related to a recent divorce from the director of this  picture is something I could not discover.

Until next time, folks, drive safely.

Quiggy