News

Statue honoring Rod Serling to be dedicated during SerlingFest 2024: "The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation will dedicate a six-foot statue of the renowned Twilight Zone creator during the organization’s annual SerlingFest in his hometown of Binghamton, New York. Featuring presentations about Serling’s life and career, panel discussions and screenings, SerlingFest 2024 will run from Friday, Sept. 13, to Sunday, Sept. 15.

The culmination of a four-year effort by the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, the larger-than-life statue depicts Serling in an iconic narration pose familiar to fans of his landmark fantasy anthology series, The Twilight Zone (1959-64). The bronzed figure of the celebrated writer stands in front of a slightly open door inscribed with words from one of his Twilight Zone openings: “You unlock this door with the key of imagination.”

The statue will be located in Recreation Park, near Serling’s childhood home on Binghamton’s west side. The dedication ceremony,...

At the 27th Academy Awards, Oscar helped Edmond O’Brien win an Oscar.

O’Brien played sleazy show biz publicist Oscar Muldoon in 1954’s “The Barefoot Contessa,” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart had been crowned Best Actor of 1951 for “The African Queen,” and had also contended for the same award for 1943’s Best Picture, “Casablanca.” Gardner was coming off of her first and only nomination, for Best Actress in 1953’s “Mogambo.” “The Barefoot Contessa” was written and directed by Academy favorite Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had won back-to-back Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for 1949’s “A Letter to Three Wives” and 1950’s Best Picture, “All About Eve.”

”The Barefoot Contessa” didn’t fare quite as well at the Oscars as “Letter” or “Eve.” Neither Bogart or Gardner received nominations, though Bogart was cited for his role in that same year’s Best Picture entry “The Caine Mutiny.

The terror in "The Twilight Zone" always comes from "What if?" What if there was a little boy with way too much power for anyone to tell him "no"? What if what you thought of as Heaven turned out to be more like Hell? What if man-eating aliens arrived and made humans as docile as lambs to the slaughter?

These questions may be outrageous fantasy, but the terror of them is timeless. We still watch "The Twilight Zone" decades later, and the best episodes can still leave you chilled -- all thanks to the imagination of series creator Rod Serling.

Serling is synonymous with "The Twilight Zone" even for casual viewers; one could call him TV's first auteur. His reputation was as much thanks to his on-camera work as his writing. Serling was the narrator of "The Twilight Zone," introducing and closing out each episode. (He got the job after...

Ever since movies began, filmmakers have depicted the end of the world of the world on screen whether it be from floods, asteroids, comets, alien invasion and even Zombies. But cinema went nuclear after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945. The arrival of the nuclear age heralded the introduction of a new sub-genre: destruction by atomic bomb. And with the release July 21 of Christopher Nolan’s lauded “Oppenheimer,” which domestically earned some $70 million in its opening weekend, let’s look at some of the vintage flicks of the genre.

Nuclear destruction of London is stopped at the last moment in the taut 1950 British film “Seven Days to Noon,” directed by John and Roy Boulting and winners of the original story Oscar, stars veteran character actor Barry Jones as a brilliant scientist working at an atomic research center in London who steals an A-bomb that...

When 1960s and ‘70s icon Raquel Welch died last week at the age of 82, much of the media focus was on her (well-deserved) status as one of the most memorable and gorgeous sex symbols in movie history. A lot of the coverage, in fact, noted that the Chicago native’s substantial talents as an actress, singer, and dancer, were overshadowed by her status as one of the era’s premiere pinups.

While she may be best remembered for her turn as a skimpily-clad cavewoman in 1966’s One Million Years B.C., her breakout role came earlier that year in the 20th Century Fox sci-fi spectacle Fantastic Voyage. The film was Welch’s fourth, but the first in which she had a lead role. She played Cora Peterson, one of five members of a medical team who are miniaturized, along with a small submarine, and injected into the body of a defecting...

In his autobiography, "The Ragman's Son," "Spartacus" star and cinema luminary Kirk Douglas makes much of his longtime friendship with the hulking legendary actor Burt Lancaster. The two first worked together on Lisabeth Scott's 1947 noir classic "I Walk Alone," which sees Lancaster's convict battle his former bootlegging, currently two-timing business partner (Douglas).

Their second big-screen pairing was in "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," a John Sturges Western chronicling the storied 1881 Tombstone, Arizona shootout. Therein, Douglas would play the ailing gunslinger Doc Holliday to Lancaster's tenacious Wyatt Earp, two tough men whose tense alliance would blossom into diehard loyalty. Though the duo would go on to star in a handful of movies together it was on the set of the 1957 American Western where the two actors really hit it off.

"The Ragman's Son" carries the details of production, a shoot largely oscillating between the historically-relevant location of Tucson, Arizona, and Paramount Studio sets back in California.

Director John Frankenheimer's political thriller "Seven Days In May" (1964) about a deep state, attempted takeover of the United States, stars Burt Lancaster, Frederic March and Ava Gardner, with a screenplay by Rod Serling ("Twilight Zone"):

"...'US President 'Jordan Lyman' signs a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia. But the subsequent ratification has produced a wave of dissatisfaction among Lyman's political opposition and the military, who believe the Russians cannot be trusted.

"Pentagon insider 'Colonel Casey', director of the Joint Staff stumbles on evidence that Air Force General 'James Scott' a former fighter pilot, intends to stage a 'coup d'etat'  to remove Lyman and his cabinet in seven days, by any means necessary..." 

Click the images to enlarge...

In today’s Global Bulletin, “The Nest” tops Deauville, ITV outlines plans for carbon neutrality, Abacus Media Rights sells “People You May Know” in key territories, Southeast Europe gets its first premium independent series co-production and Sky enlists Gabriela Sperl to document German’s Wirecard financial scandal.

Festivals

“The Nest,” directed by Sean Durkin and starring Jude Law and Carrie Coon, was the big winner at the recently concluded 46th Deauville American Film Festival, taking home the grand prize, the 2020 Louis Roed­er­er Fon­da­tion Rev­e­la­tion prize and the Critic’s prize.

The jury, led by actor Vanessa Paradis, also gave Jury Prizes to Kel­ly Reichardt’s “First Cow” and Sabrina Doyle’s “Lorelei.”

The Revelation jury, led by filmmaker Rebec­ca Zlo­tows­ki (“Savages”), gave the directing prize to Kitty Green’s “The Assistant.”

The City of Deauville Audi­ence award...

You’ve asked questions. Prepare for the answers.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

The Beguiled (1971)

Tenet (2021? Maybe?)

Smokey Is The Bandit (1983)

Robin Hood (2010)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

The Devils (1971)

Song of the South (1946)

Gremlins (1984)

Dillinger (1973)

Marcello I’m So Bored (1966)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Big Wednesday (1978)

Swamp Thing (1982)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Payback (1999)

Bell, Book And Candle (1958)

Blowup (1966)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Medium Cool (1969)

25th Hour (2002)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Palm Springs (2020)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Mandy (2018)

The Sadist (1963)

Spider Baby (1968)

Night Tide (1960)

Stark Fear

Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Devil’s Messenger (1961)

Ms. 45 (1981)

Léolo (1992)

The Howling (1981)

Showgirls (1995)

Green Book (2018)

The Last Hurrah (1958)

The Best Man (1964)

Advise and Consent (1962)

The Candidate (1972)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Seven Days In May (1964)

The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)

The Man (1972)

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Four Lions (2010)

Pump Up The Volume (1990)

Nightmare In The Sun (1965)

The Wild Angels (1966)

The Omega Man (1971)

The Nanny (1965)

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man...

George Clooney directed and acts in this period drama that documents newsman Edward R. Murrow’s nightly clashes with Wisconsin’s demagogic senator Joe McCarthy. Set in 1953, Robert Elswit’s potent black and white cinematography recalls 60’s political thrillers like Seven Days in May and Fail Safe.

The post Good Night, and Good Luck. appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

As Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas tighten the screws in a life and death face-off between a traitorous general and his whistle-blowing aide, John Frankenheimer keeps upping the ante in this brilliantly directed political thriller scripted by Rod Serling in 1964. Good-guy politicos Fredric March and Edmond O’Brien push back against the gathering storm while conspirators Whit Bissell and Hugh Marlowe keep adding fuel to the fire.

The post Seven Days In May appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Those were the days! This entertainment section from the Dallas Morning News of May 3, 1964, shows a wealth of great movies in theaters that week- along with a stage appearance by cast members of The Beverly Hilllibillies! Among the movies you could check out this week were Tom Jones, Lilies of the Field, Move Over, Darling, Seven Days in May, The Silence and The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. (Courtesy of Jim Kroeper collection)...

We lost Kirk Douglas last week, and TCM today set a 24-hour marathon of programming featuring the legend of Hollywood’s Golden Age. The seminar actor’s life and career will be in the spotlight on March 5.

The “TCM Remembers Kirk Douglas” block will showcase 11 of his classic films — including Spartacus, Man with a Horn and Paths of Glory — along with the 2018 special

Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival: Michael Douglas, in which Ben Mankiewicz interviews the late star’s actor-producer son, Michael Douglas, at the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival. See the full program below.

Speaking of Spartacus and the TCM film fest, the event’s 2020 edition in April has set a 60th anniversary screening of the classic pic in a world-premiere 70mm print from a 4k restoration by Universal Pictures.

Peter Bart: Remembering Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas & ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’

Here’s the schedule for...

The word rang out yesterday, vibrating through the canyons of Los Angeles, much like the echo of thousands of voices sixty years ago that proclaimed “I am Spartacus!”. Perhaps the last of the leading men of Hollywood’s pre-1950 Golden Age is now with his long-departed peers. Here’s how the town’s Hollywood Reporter broke the news:

” Kirk Douglas, the son of a ragman who channeled a deep, personal anger through a chiseled jaw and steely blue eyes to forge one of the most indelible and indefatigable careers in Hollywood history, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 103.

“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” son Michael Douglas wrote on his Instagram account. “To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the Golden Age of movies who lived well into his golden years,...

Los Angeles – From his chiseled-from-marble good looks to his actor intensity on screen, Kirk Douglas defined the very concept of Movie Star. The actor also broke records for longevity, living to the ripe old age of 103. Kirk Douglas died of natural causes on February 5th, 2020, at his home in Los Angeles.

Douglas was known for his fierce commitment to his craft, and his independent spirit … he formed his own production company after dissatisfaction with the movie studio system of his era. He made several classic films, even a popular Walt Disney live action feature. He was father to Oscar-winner Michael Douglas, as well as three other sons from two marriages (his was married to his second wife for 66 years). He also committed his life to several charitable causes.

I Am Kirk Douglas: The Actor in ‘Spartacus’

Photo credit: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Douglas was born Issur Danielovich in Amsterdam, New...

Martin Amis’ 1984 novel “Money,” inspired by his painful experiences as the screenwriter of the disastrous 1980 sci-fi movie “Saturn 3,” includes a character based on “Saturn 3” star Kirk Douglas: “Lorne Guyland,” an aging but still virile screen legend, “had, in his time, on stage or screen, interpreted the roles of Genghis Khan, Al Capone, Marco Polo, Huckleberry Finn, Charlemagne, Paul Revere, Erasmus, Wyatt Earp, Voltaire, Sky Masterson, Einstein, Jack Kennedy, Rembrandt, Babe Ruth, Oliver Cromwell, Amerigo Vespucci, Zorro, Darwin, Sitting Bull, Freud, Napoleon, Spider-Man, Macbeth, Melville, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Methuselah, Mozart, Merlin, Marx, Mars, Moses and Jesus Christ.”

And while “Money” is not, on the whole, particularly kind to Kirk Douglas, this list does reflect the breadth and scope of a screen career that started in 1946 and culminated in the early 21st century.

On screen, Douglas was the epitome of the square-jawed leading man, whether he was playing a Roman slave,...

Kirk Douglas: Lifetime Achievement Award recipient at the 1st Annual Hollywood Film Awards® in 1997. Douglas came to silver screen stardom during the Golden Age of Hollywood in films like “Spartacus,” “Ace In the Hole”, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “Paths of Glory,” among many others. Visit Hollywood Film Awards® “Kirk Douglas was an American actor, producer, director, philanthropist and author. After an impoverished childhood with immigrant parents and six sisters, he made his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Douglas soon developed into a leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war films. During his career, he appeared in more than 90 films. Douglas was known for his explosive acting style, which he displayed as a criminal defense attorney in Town Without Pity (1961). Douglas became an international star through positive reception for his leading role as an unscrupulous...

Tony Sokol Feb 5, 2020

Kirk Douglas, an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, was as heroic as some of the characters he played.

Stage and screen actor, producer, director and writer Kirk Douglas, whose career spanned more than 60 years, died Wednesday at the age of 103, according to Variety.

“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” his son, actor Michael Douglas, said in a statement.

“To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to. But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne,...

Kirk Douglas was Mr. Hollywood. That’s not just because of his acting and producing career: The iconic actor, who died Wednesday, was a constant presence at showbiz-related functions, whether the opening of a theater, a charity event, political fund-raiser or awards show. His 1996 stroke slowed him down, but only temporarily.

Douglas enjoyed being the ham and playing to the crowd, but these public appearances were aimed at shining a light on others, not on himself. Long before it was fashionable, he and wife Anne formed a charitable organization, the Douglas Foundation in 1964. Among other initiatives, it funds programs to improve school campuses and playgrounds, hand out scholarships, foster an early-education program at Sinai Temple and backs the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund.

One of his pet causes was the Motion Picture TV Fund. After years of supporting the organization, both with appearances and donations, he...

Michael Douglas pays tribute to “a legend, a humanitarian”.

Kirk Douglas, the feisty and beloved star of Spartacus and Lust For Life and committed humanitarian activist, has died. He was 103.

Announcing the death on Instagram, son Michael Douglas paid tribute to “a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.”

In a statement, Steven Spielberg said, ”Kirk retained his movie star charisma right to the end of his wonderful life...

As heavily predicted, Brad Pitt won Best Supporting Actor at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards for Quentin Tarantino‘s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and with it, he’s claimed two records.

Pitt, who took home this award for “12 Monkeys” (1995), is the sixth person to win this category a record two times. The 24-year spread between his twin wins is also the longest as none of the previous five had more than a decade between their bookend supporting Globes.

Here are the other two-time champs:

1. Richard Attenborough, “The Sand Pebbles” (1966) and “Doctor Dolittle” (1967)

2. Edmund Gwenn, “Miracle of 34th Street” (1947) and “Mister 880” (1950)

3. Martin Landau, “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” (1988) and “Ed Wood” (1994)

4. Edmond O’Brien, “The Barefoot Contessa” (1954) and “Seven Days in May” (1964)

5. Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) and “Django Unchained” (2012)

See Golden Globes: Complete list of winners in all 25 categories

Of the quintet, only Attenborough failed to get corresponding Oscar nominations.

The Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe is Brad Pitt‘s to lose. The “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star has a commanding lead at 16/5 odds to take home award, which would be a record-setting 24 years after his first one for “Twelve Monkeys” (1995).

Pitt would also tie the category record for most wins at two, joining Edmund Gwenn (1947’s “Miracle of 34th Street” and 1950’s “Mister 880”), Edmond O’Brien (1954’s The Barefoot Contessa” and 1964’s “Seven Days in May”), Richard Attenborough (1966’s “The Sand Pebbles” and 1967’s “Doctor Dolittle”), Martin Landau (1988’s “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” and 1994’s “Ed Wood”) and Christoph Waltz (2009’s “Inglourious Basterds” and 2012’s “Django Unchained”). All five won their two Globes within a span of 10 years, with Attenborough being the only back-to-back winner.

See ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ production designer Barbara Ling on recreating classic Hollywood [Exclusive Video Interview]

A three-time nominee in the category,...

Read more from Variety’s Directors on Directors, in which filmmakers praise their favorite movies of the year, here.

Scott Z. Burns’ “The Report” tells the story of the Herculean efforts of Daniel J. Jones to make sure that the Senate Intelligence Committee report on torture saw the light of day.

Its powerful resonance with “right now” is because it makes us imagine how many thousands of unseen Daniel J. Joneses — mid-range white-collar workers with normal values and decent character — in government are leaving in droves from Justice, State, Fda, Epa, DEA … etc.

Dan Jones is a whistleblower in the tradition of Mark Felt, Karen Silkwood and Jeffrey Wigand; and Scott’s film fully earns its place at the table alongside the iconic pictures of Alan J. Pakula, Sidney Lumet and Mike Nichols, not just because “The Report” is similarly grounded in Washington and government, but because Scott perfectly conveys...

Don Kaye Nov 27, 2019

John Frankenheimer’s 1979 environmental horror movie comes to Blu-ray, flaws and all. Brace yourself.

The 1979 film Prophecy (not to be confused with 1995’s Biblical horror movie The Prophecy) was very much the last gasp of the 1970s boom in ecologically tinged genre movies. It was a string of titles that included No Blade of Grass (1970), Silent Running (1972) and Soylent Green (1973), but leaned especially heavily on the “nature strikes back” subgenre, which gave us such offerings as Frogs (1972), Night of the Lepus (1972), Bug (1975), The Food of the Gods (1976), Day of the Animals (1977) and other, often low-budget quasi-exploitation quickies.

Prophecy on its face seemed to have more going for it. The director was John Frankenheimer, the man behind masterworks like The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, and Seconds, while the writer was David Seltzer, fresh off his horror classic The Omen. Paramount sunk $12 million into the film, which...

The Golden Globes was the first major awards show to recognize Brad Pitt, giving him a Best Drama Actor nomination for “Legends of the Fall” (1994) and then awarding him Best Supporting Actor the next year for “12 Monkeys” (1995). He’s the odds-on favorite to claim a second statuette for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which would tie him for the most wins in the category.

The Globes hardly does repeat champs here, so just five actors have won two supporting actor Golden Globes:

1. Richard Attenborough, “The Sand Pebbles” (1966) and “Doctor Dolittle” (1967)

2. Edmund Gwenn, “Miracle of 34th Street” (1947) and “Mister 880” (1950)

3. Martin Landau, “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” (1988) and “Ed Wood” (1994)

4. Edmond O’Brien, “The Barefoot Contessa” (1954) and “Seven Days in May” (1964)

5. Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) and “Django Unchained” (2012)

Of the quintet, only Attenborough failed to get corresponding Oscar nominations. Three went on to win the Oscar for one of their...

Edward Lewis, an independent producer best known for “Spartacus” and “Missing,” died at the age of 99 in his Los Angeles home on July 27. He produced 33 films, which garnered 15 Oscars and Golden Globe awards as well as 90 nominations. Additionally, he co-wrote musicals, works of fiction, and screenplays with the his partner and wife, Mildred, who died April 7.

A passionate opposer of the Hollywood blacklist, Lewis was given credit for clearing the name of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo by hiring him for “Spartacus.” Lewis went on to produce “The Last Sunset,” “Lonely Are The Brave,” and “Executive Action,” all films written by Trumbo.

Lewis and his wife were nominated for a best picture Oscar for Costa-Gavras’ 1982 drama “Missing.” They worked together on a number of other projects including, “Harold and Maude” and “Brothers.” He and his wife also co-wrote the books “Heads You Lose” and “Masquerade.”

Born Dec. 16, 1919 in Camden, New Jersey, the...

Edward Lewis, who helped break the Hollywood Blacklist by employing Dalton Trumbo on Spartacus and shared an Oscar nomination with his wife, Mildred Lewis, for producing Costa-Gavras' Missing, has died. He was 99.

Lewis died July 27 at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter Susan Lewis told The Hollywood Reporter. Mildred died April 7 at age 98, Susan also revealed, and she was his "indispensable partner" for 73 years as they worked together on movies, musicals and novels.

Edward Lewis also produced or executive produced nine films directed by John Frankenheimer, including the classics Seven Days in May (1964),...

Edward Lewis, who helped break the Hollywood Blacklist by employing Dalton Trumbo on Spartacus and shared an Oscar nomination with his wife, Mildred Lewis, for producing Costa-Gavras' Missing, has died. He was 99.

Lewis died July 27 at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter Susan Lewis told The Hollywood Reporter. Mildred died April 7 at age 98, Susan also revealed, and she was his "indispensable partner" for 73 years as they worked together on movies, musicals and novels.

Edward Lewis also produced or executive produced nine films directed by John Frankenheimer, including the classics Seven Days in May (1964),...

The acting legend Kirk Douglas (and father of Michael Douglas) crosses the century mark on December 9, 2016. Here are his 10 most memorable roles:

Champion (1949)

Kirk Douglas earned his first Oscar nomination for playing the dogged boxer Midge Kelly in a black-and-white drama written by Carl Forman (“High Noon”).

Ace in the Hole (1950)

In one of Billy Wilder’s most cynical dramas, Douglas plays a ruthless journalist who exploits a mining disaster — even sabotaging rescue efforts at one point — to prolong the media furor.

The Bad and the Beautiful (1951)

He earned his second Oscar nomination playing another cad — this time a power-obsessed Hollywood producer said to be modeled on David O. Selznick.

Lust for Life (1956)

In a departure from his cynical big-screen roles, Douglas brought real sympathy to his portrayal of tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh in Vincente Minnelli’s biopic — and the actor earned his third Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Burt Lancaster would’ve celebrated his 105th birthday on November 2, 2018. The Oscar-winning actor appeared in dozens of movies until his death in 1994. But which titles are among his finest? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of Lancaster’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1913, Lancaster got into acting after performing as an acrobat in the circus. He made his movie debut in 1946 with a leading role in the quintessential noir thriller “The Killers” (1946). He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor for Fred Zinnemann‘s wartime drama “From Here to Eternity” (1953), winning the prize just seven years later for playing a fast-talking preacher in “Elmer Gantry” (1960). Lancaster would compete twice more in the category (“Birdman of Alcatraz” in 1962 and “Atlantic City” in 1981).

In the 1950s, the actor decided to chart his own career by forming the production company Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, which churned...

As Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas tighten the screws in a life and death face-off between a traitorous general and his whistle-blowing aide, John Frankenheimer keeps upping the ante in this brilliantly directed political thriller scripted by Rod Serling in 1964. Good-guy politicos Fredric March and Edmond O’Brien push back against the gathering storm while conspirators Whit Bissell and Hugh Marlowe keep adding fuel to the fire.

The post Seven Days In May appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Los Angeles – We can’t rebuild him, but we can honor him. Richard Anderson, best known for portraying Oscar Goldman, the aide de camp of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) in “The Six Million Man,” died on August 31st, 2017 at age 91. The versatile character actor was one of the few remaining performers that came up through the old studio system, in this case the dream factory known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Richard Anderson in Chicago, 2010

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Richard Anderson was born in New Jersey, and was an Army veteran of World War II. He started out in the mailroom at MGM shortly after the end of the war, and became a contract player for the studio after Cary Grant took an interest in his career. His major film debut was “The Magnificent Yankee” (1950), followed by “Scaramouche” (1952) and “Forbidden Planet” (1956). He made 24 films for MGM. His...

Reel-Important People is a monthly column that highlights those individuals in or related to the movies that have left us in recent weeks. Below you'll find names big and small and from all areas of the industry, though each was significant to the movies in his or her own way. Richard Anderson (1926-2017) - Actor. In addition to starring on TV's The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, he co-starred in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory, Forbidden Planet, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Seconds, Seven Days in May and The Long, Hot Summer. He died on August 31. (THR) Joseph Bologna (1934-2017) - Actor, Writer. He received an Oscar nomination for co-writing the adaptation of Lovers and Other Strangers and also...

Read More...

A military coup in the U.S.? General Burt Lancaster’s scheme would be flawless if not for true blue Marine Kirk Douglas, who snitches to the White House. Now Burt’s whole expensive clandestine army might go to waste – Sad! John Frankenheimer and Rod Serling are behind this nifty paranoid conspiracy thriller.

Seven Days in May

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1964 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date May 8, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Martin Balsam, Andrew Duggan, John Houseman, Hugh Marlowe, Whit Bissell, George Macready, Richard Anderson, Malcolm Atterbury, William Challee, Colette Jackson, John Larkin, Kent McCord, Tyler McVey, Jack Mullaney, Fredd Wayne, Ferris Webster.

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks

Film Editor: Ferris Webster

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Written by Rod Serling from the book by Fletcher Knebel, Charles W. Bailey II

Produced by Edward Lewis

Directed by John Frankenheimer...

Rebecca Clough Jan 13, 2017

Samuel L Jackson, Colin Farrell, Kirk Douglas, Denzel Washington and more, as we explore underrated political thrillers...

Ask someone for their favourite political thrillers and you’re likely to get a list of Oscar-winning classics, from JFK to The Day Of The Jackal, Blow Out to Argo. But what about those electrifying tales that have slipped under the radar, been largely forgotten or just didn’t get the love they deserved? Here are 25 political thrillers which are underappreciated but brilliant.

See related Star Wars: Episode IX lands Jurassic World director 25. The Amateur (1981)

Generally, the first hostage to get shot in a heist movie is considered insignificant; luckily this time the young woman killed by terrorists has a devoted boyfriend who vows to avenge her death. Charles Heller (John Savage) already works for the CIA, so he’s able to use secret information to blackmail his bosses into...

Apparently there’s an election happening somewhere at the moment. So what better time to test your knowledge of these campaign themed films.

Mr Smith Goes to Washington

The Best Man

Citizen Kane

Seven Days in May

Swing Vote

Bulworth

Bob Roberts

Election

The Manchurian Candidate

Dr Strangelove

Seven Days in May

Advise & Consent

The Candidate

The Campaign

The Contender

The Conquest

Meet John Doe

State of the Union

All the King's Men

The Great McGinty

Silver City

W.

The Ides of March

The American President

Three Days of the Condor

Taxi Driver

The Parallax View

The Candidate

Our Brand Is Crisis

State of Play

No

The Motorcycle Diaries

The Great McGinty

The Grapes of Wrath

Torchy Runs for Mayor

The Last Hurrah

Man of the Year

Napoleon Dynamite

Wag the Dog

Head of State

Continue reading...

Criterion's special edition of Stanley Kubrick's doomsday comedy is more powerful than ever in a 4K remaster; and it even comes with a top-secret mission profile package and a partial-contents survival kit. A Kubrick fan can have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 821 1964 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 28, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, James Earl Jones, Tracy Reed Cinematography Gilbert Taylor Production Designer Ken Adam Art Direction Peter Murton Film Editor Anthony Harvey Original Music Laurie Johnson Written by Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George from his book Red Alert Produced by Stanley Kubrick, Leon Minoff Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

When I heard that Criterion was putting out a Blu-ray of Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb I thought that there already was a disc out there from The Collection. Nope, Sony released a Blu-ray in 2009, and back around 2000, a DVD. I was thinking of a deluxe laserdisc from Criterion sometime in the early 1990s. I remember being impressed by its extras, which included documentary materials about the Bomb in the Cold War years. Potential new fans of Kubrick's wickedly funny movie are being born every year, which leaves those of us for whom Strangelove was an important part of growing up having to remind ourselves just how good it still is. I remember recording the soundtrack off TV in high school and memorizing all of the dialogue; this has to be the most quotable movie of its decade. I also can remember my father's reaction when we watched it together on network TV, ABC, I think. An Air Force lifer who wouldn't discuss politics (or much of anything), the Old Sarge had little use for 'defeatist' movies like On the Beach. But he thought the premise of Seven Days in May wasn't really farfetched, having worked with Hap Arnold and Curtis LeMay. He shook his head after seeing Dr. Strangelove but I could tell that he found it very funny. It's too bad the two of us couldn't have gotten our senses of humor more in sync -- as soon as I wore my hair long, I think he stopped trusting me. I believe that Dr. Strangelove is one of few movies that 'made a difference' in that it redirected American public opinion about a major life issue. From that point forward only the ignorant and Shoot First fanatics talked about nuclear war as win-able, at least not until the neo-con Millennium. 1963 audiences had little use for suspect 'pacifist' movies that ended in masochistic doom, like On the Beach. The nuclear crisis was such a hot topic that that the low-key English science fiction film The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a surprise hit. Strangelove is more realistic than the straight atom nightmare movies. We're told that when Ronald Reagan was briefed at the start of his first term in office, he asked where the White House elevator to the War Room was. He figured it was there because he saw it in the movie. The decision to opt for broad comedy was Kubrick's inspired stroke. Dr. Strangelove may be the first hit film that was a bona-fide black comedy; I don't recall anybody even using the expression before it came out. It's not a crazy comedy where anything funny is okay. The backbone of the story remains 100% serious, while the jokes relentlessly demolish the death-cult logic of our Nuclear Deterrent. Kubrick and Terry Southern populate Peter George's credible cold-sweat crisis with insane caricatures given ridiculous names. The scary part is that, no matter how stupid they behave, none are really that exaggerated. Peter Sellers serves triple duty in a trio of characterizations, effectively outdoing previous champion film chameleon Alec Guinness. George C. Scott steals the show as an infantile Air Force General who acts like a Looney Tunes cartoon character. And the rest of the inspired cast nails their highly original quasi-comic characters. Every joke is a gallows joke; we're never allowed to forget that we all have an atomic noose around our necks. I almost envy the dead viewers still unfamiliar with Dr. Strangelove, as seeing it for the first time was a mind-opening experience. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, orders a flight of B-52s to attack Russia. He then seals off Burpelson to prevent a recall of the planes. Exchange officer Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) tries to talk him into divulging the recall code. Holding court in the War Room, President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) is horrified to discover that such a Snafu is even possible. He orders General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) to take Burpelson Air Base by force and recall the planes, and gets on the hotline with the Soviet Premier. Up in the lead B-52, Major 'King' Kong (Slim Pickens) receives Ripper's orders, coded 'Wing Attack Plan R.' He urges his crew to avoid Russian defenses and reach their primary target, while Turgidson tries to talk Muffley into launching an all-out attack. Advising in the War Room is ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove, a grinning theoretician already fantasizing about the sexual recreation for the ruling elite in the VIP bomb shelters, where America's chosen high officials will be living for the next 93 years. Dr. Strangelove divides its time between three main locations, each with its own deadly serious function and each overlaid with a different comedic tone. In his locked executive office in the Alaskan Air Force Base, the sexually obsessed American General Ripper faces off with a veddy proper English officer in a farcical one-act. Beady-eyed and intense in his anti-Communist convictions, Sterling Hayden contrasts beautifully with Seller's genial Group Captain, who can't fathom the depth of his commanding officer's madness. The action in the B-52 is a throwback to those gung-ho WW2 action films in which a racially and ethnically diverse attack team uses brains and guts to barrel through their suicide mission. Even though their pilot is a cowboy clown (Slim Pickens doing his only characterization, Slim Pickens) they're an admirable bunch, seemingly the only humans capable of doing anything without red tape or Coca-Cola machines getting in their way. The horror is that our heroes' mission is totally against every moral precept ever imagined. The docu feeling in the B-52 is further amplified by the gritty newsreel-like footage of the taking of Burpelson Afb, with American troops fighting American troops. In 1964 these were traumatic, subversive scenes. U.S. troops on film are supposed to fight for freedom and righteousness, not kill each other. Kubrick has the audacity to place in the middle of it all a big sign that reads, 'Peace is our Profession.' The grainy authenticity of these scenes would come back to haunt us when similar footage started being seen nightly on television, fresh from Vietnam. The center of activities is the War Room, a Camelot-like round table of Death located in the basement of the White House. The rational President Merkin Muffley trips over an ideological roadblock in the form of Buck Turgidson, a gum-chewing military nutcase itching to go to war and overjoyed that Jack Ripper has 'exceeded his authority.' The President is hardly in charge of foreign policy, and none of fifty advisors come to his aid with any original thinking. An amateur among experts, Muffley must be shepherded through protocol by an assistant. Here's where Southern and Kubrick make their biggest points, basically asserting that a showdown with the Russkies is inevitable because the American stance is a military one -- Sac just wants the peacenik in the Oval Office to get out of their way. The comedy is all over the place, and it's a miracle that it works. The stand-up humor on the hot line to Moscow is very much like a Bob Newhart routine. At Burpelson, it's the Goon Show all over again. Sellers' Mandrake cannot sway General Ripper, and the moronic Major Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) suspects the Raf officer of being a 'deviated prevert.' Up in the bomber, Mad Magazine craziness is grafted onto combat realism. Previous looks at the Air Force's flying deterrent were enlistment booster films like Strategic Air Command. Kubrick drove his English craftsmen to fake the entire bomber interior right down to the switches and gauges. The aerial combat is more realistic than that in escapist films, even with inadequate models used for exteriors of the jet bomber in flight. Dr. Strangelove maintains a nervous tension between absurd comedy and morbid unease. Kubrick's main career themes -- sexual madness, treacherous technology and the folly of human planning -- come into strong relief. We're motivated to root for the fliers that are going to destroy the world. Then we fret over the President's pitiful lack of control. Dour, glowering Russian Ambassador De Sadesky (Peter Bull) informs the War Room about his country's solution to the costly Arms Race, the dreaded Doomsday Machine. Security advisor Dr. Strangelove enters the film in the last act to serve as sort of an angel of Death. Based loosely on Rand-corporation experts that calculated eventualities in nuclear war scenarios, Sellers' vision of Strangelove is a throwback to German Expressionism. A Mabuse in a wheelchair, he's black-gloved like the brilliant but mad Rotwang of Metropolis. Strangelove enters like the specter of Death itself; his grin looks like a skull. Contemplating 'megadeaths' gives him sexual pleasure. The detonation of the first bomb seems to liberate Strangelove, and he finds he can walk again. The character is straight from the Siegfried Kracauer playbook. The evil of nuclear war has restored the representative of apocalyptic Nazi vengeance to full power. Twenty years after his death, we all get to join Hitler in his suicide bunker. First-time viewers are usually floored by the audacious Dr. Strangelove. Only the truly uninformed will not recognize baritone James Earl Jones as one of Major Kong's flight crew. Those going back for a repeated peek will derive added enjoyment from Kubrick's deft juggling of his several visual styles and his avoidance of anything that might deflate tension: we hear about the recall code being issued but are spared any view of the responsible military personnel that must have sent it. Some of the best fun is finding details in designer Ken Adam's impressive War Room, such as the pies already laid out in preparation for the aborted pie-fight finale. Even better is watching the War room extras as they strain to maintain straight faces no matter how funny Sellers and Scott get; that contrast is what makes the comedy so brilliant. Watch Peter Bull carefully. In one extended take he starts to smile at Sellers, more than once. He catches himself and then is clearly on the verge of cracking up, forcing Kubrick to cut away. The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray of Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is the expected sterling transfer of this Kubrick classic, a 4K digital transfer. I put it up against Sony's old Blu-ray and the difference is not so great as to recommend that a trade-up is necessary. However, it looks extremely good. The Kubrick faithful out there will be thinking, 'I must not allow a disc shelf gap.' The HD picture makes quite a bit of difference in understanding Kubrick's photographic strategy. Not only do the hand-held Burpelson combat sequences approximate the look of documentary footage, a more contrasty and grainy film stock has been used. Switching "film looks" later became a fad for directors looking to be viewed as artists. The idea perhaps reached its zenith in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Back in 1964 the effect of imitating a news film look was quite stunning -- audiences reacted to the combat scenes as if they were real. I'm glad that we're finally beyond the frustrating early DVD years, when someone (at Warner Home Video?) claimed that Stanley Kubrick insisted that his films be shown at the old 1:33 aspect ratio for TV and disc. Even if they wangled a note from Kubrick to that effect, I still believe that the aspect ratio games were played because Kubrick was too busy to oversee new masters of his films, and Whv wanted to market them in a hurry at a minimum of cost. That's all old news now, but there was also the interesting aspect ratio question concerning Strangelove. At least one disc iteration -- Criterion's laserdisc, I'm fairly sure -- was released in a completely un-original dual-ratio scan. Kubrick apparently said that he preferred to see the War Room scenes at a full-frame 1:37, and so this one transfer of the film popped back and forth between ratios. I've never heard of anything like this before or after. Criterion's British 1:66 framing for this disc is correct, even though the film was probably screened at 1:85 for many of its American play dates. Criterion's new extras begin with interview featurettes with well-chosen spokespeople, like scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill. Kubrick archivist Richard Daniels' piece is quite good, as is an examination of the film's visuals by two of the original camera crew. The son of author Peter George gives an excellent account of his father's life and the adaptation of his novel Red Alert. George reportedly liked the notion of turning his story into a black comedy, especially when his original narrative was changed very little. The stroke of genius was deciding that the entire subject could best be approached as a sick joke. Other extras are repeated from Sony's DVD disc of 2004. A making-of docu interviews several surviving technicians and actors, and a primer on the Cold War atom standoff goes deep into detail. The featurettes have input from Robert McNamara, Spike Lee and Bob Woodward. Critics Roger Ebert and Alexander Walker are also represented. Docu pieces on Peter Sellers and Kubrick appear to suffer from legal restraints disallowing the use of clips from non-Columbia sources. The Peter Sellers show features several choice film clips from the 'fifties, including Sellers' almost perfect take on a William Conrad-like hired killer. We're shown some stills from the legendary The Goon Show, which is not mentioned by name. A Stanley Kubrick career piece that uses UA, MGM and Universal trailers covers a lot of territory a bit too quickly. It does have some nice interview input from Kubrick's partner James B. Harris. Harris has since given terrific interviews on Criterion discs for Kubrick's The Killing and Paths of Glory. Criterion's Curtis Tsui produced those discs as well as this one. An entertaining extra is a pair of vintage 'split screen' fake interviews with Sellers and Scott intended for publicity use. Each actor projects his chosen PR image. They're charming, especially when Sellers takes us on a lightning tour of regional English accents. I wonder if those distinctions have faded, 52 years later? As a pleasant surprise, Curtis Tsui has overseen the creation of a collectable, highly amusing substitute for a standard disc insert booklet. Inside an authentic-looking 'Wing Attack Plan R' envelope, David Bromwich's insert essay is printed in the form of classified orders on two sheets of loose-leaf paper. Terry Southern's hilariously profane 1994 essay on the movie comes in the form of a Playboy parody, illustrated with photos of Tracy Reed as 'Miss Foreign Affairs.' Finally, the disc credits and details are printed in a genuine miniature Russian Phrase Book and Holy Bible, a little bigger than one-inch square. It indeed offers some phrases that I'll have to try on my multi-lingual daughter, like "Where is the toilet?" But the cover Lies, as there's no Bible in there that I could find. Also, no nine packs of chewing gum and no issue of prophylactics. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Dr. Strangelove Blu-ray rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent uncompressed monaural + alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-hd Master Audio Supplements: (from Criterion stats): New interviews with Stanley Kubrick scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill; archivist Richard Daniels; cinematographer and camera innovator Joe Dunton; camera operator Kelvin Pike; and David George, son of Peter George, on whose novel Red Alert the film is based. Excerpts from a 1966 audio interview with Kubrick, conducted by physicist and author Jeremy Bernstein; Four short documentaries about the making of the film, the sociopolitical climate of the period, the work of actor Peter Sellers, and the artistry of Kubrick. Promotional interviews from 1963 with Sellers and actor George C. Scott; excerpt from a 1980 interview with Sellers from NBC's Today show; Trailers; insert essay by scholar David Bromwich and a 1994 article by screenwriter Terry Southern on the making of the film. Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5136love)

Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: [email protected]

Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...

Richard Anderson, who portrayed Oscar Goldman, the head of a secret scientific government organization, on the 1970s series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spinoff, The Bionic Woman, died Thursday. He was 91.

Anderson, who was mentored by nice guy Cary Grant and received a huge career boost when he was cast in Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war classic Paths of Glory (1957), died at his home in Beverly Hills, publicist Jonathan Taylor announced.

A frequent authority figure onscreen, Anderson also portrayed a colonel in another notable war film, the Rod Serling-scripted Seven Days in May (1964), and he operated on...

Since 1989, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been accomplishing the important task of preserving films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.” From films way back in 1897 all the way up to 2004, they’ve now reached 675 films that celebrate our heritage and encapsulate our film history.

Today they’ve unveiled their 2015 list, which includes classics such as Douglas Sirk‘s melodrama Imitation of Life, Hal Ashby‘s Being There, and John Frankenheimer‘s Seconds. Perhaps the most popular picks, The Shawshank Redemption, Ghostbusters, Top Gun, and L.A. Confidential were also added. Check out the full list below.

Being There (1979)

Chance, a simple-minded gardener (Peter Sellers) whose only contact with the outside world is through television, becomes the toast of the town following a series of misunderstandings. Forced outside his protected environment by the death of his wealthy boss, Chance subsumes his late employer’s persona,...

Director John Frankenheimer.

I'm often asked which, out of the over 600 interviews I've logged with Hollywood's finest, is my favorite. It's not a tough answer: John Frankenheimer.

We instantly clicked the day we met at his home in Benedict Canyon, and spent most of the afternoon talking in his den. A friendship of sorts developed over the years, with visits to his office for screenings of the old Kinescopes he directed for shows like "Playhouse 90" during his salad days in live television during the 1950s.

We hadn't spoken for nearly a year in mid-2002 when the phone rang. It was John, who spoke in what can only be described as a "stentorian bark," like a general. "Alex!" he exclaimed. "John Frankenheimer." He could sense something was amiss with me. It was. My screenwriting career had stalled. My marriage was progressing to divorce. I had hit bottom. John knew that...

Though it quickly escalates into one of the most exciting, suspenseful action films of the 1960s, The Train starts off in near silence. A German officer walks amidst an art gallery, surveying dozens (hundreds?) of key works of French art. They have remained safe during the war, which is soon to end in Europe, as we learn from his conversation with the makeshift museum’s manager. Finally, a sigh of relief. But the officer turns on a dime, immediately orders all the paintings be shipped by train to Germany to keep them under German control after that army is ousted from France. If the art should survive the trip, of course.

The curation and preservation of classic Western art is now practically a given. Funding may be slashed and flushed, tastes may miss the mark regarding who or what is truly important, and it will forever remain a struggle to...

'The Fixer' movie with Alan Bates, Dirk Bogarde and Ian Holm (background) 'The Fixer' movie review: 1968 anti-Semitism drama wrecked by cast, direction, and writing In 1969, director John Frankenheimer declared that he felt "better about The Fixer than anything I've ever done in my life." Considering Frankenheimer's previous output – Seven Days in May, the much admired The Manchurian Candidate – it is hard to believe that the director was being anything but a good P.R. man for his latest release. Adapted from Bernard Malamud's National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (itself based on the real story of Jewish brick-factory worker Menahem Mendel Beilis), The Fixer is an overlong, overblown, and overwrought contrivance that, albeit well meaning, carelessly misuses most of the talent involved while sadistically abusing the patience – and at times the intelligence – of its viewers. John Frankenheimer overindulges in 1960s kitsch John Frankenheimer...

Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen dead at 48 Nicholas Kallsen, who was featured opposite Brad Pitt in the short-lived television series Glory Days, has died at age 48 in Thailand according to online reports. Their source is one of Rupert Murdoch's rags, citing a Facebook posting by one of the actor's friends. The cause of death was purportedly – no specific source was provided – a drug overdose.* Aired on Fox in July 1990, Glory Days told the story of four high-school friends whose paths take different directions after graduation. Besides Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt, the show also featured Spike Alexander and Evan Mirand. Glory Days lasted a mere six episodes – two of which directed by former Happy Days actor Anson Williams – before its cancellation. Roommates Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt vying for same 'Thelma & Louise' role? The Murdoch tabloid also...

Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of '64 is just 8 days away. So it's time to get your votes in on the nominees that year. Readers, collectively, are the sixth panelists, so grade the nominees (only the ones you've seen) from 1 to 5 hearts. Your votes count toward the smackdown win!

Lila Kedrova Zorba the Greek Gladys Cooper for My Fair Lady Dame Edith Evans The Chalk Garden

Agnes Moorhead Hush... Hush Sweet Charlotte

Grayson Hall Night of the Iguana

But before we here at Tfe get to that particular metaphorical musical-horror mishmash of films with one of the most senior lineups the Academy ever offered up in this category, let's meet our panelists for this 50th anniversary retrospective competition.

The Panel

Special Guest

Melanie Lynskey

Melanie Lynskey is an actor from New Zealand. She made her film debut in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994) and is currently starring in Joe Swanberg's...

President John F. Kennedy was a fan of the best selling novel and provided enthusiastic, if clandestine, support for Rod Serling's scripted movie version, allowing unusual access to shooting outside the White House. General Edwin Walker,who clashed with Kennedy over the Cuban Missile Crisis, was the prototype for Burt Lancaster's warmongering general character who engineers a military coup against embattled president Fredric March. Director John Frankenheimer's live tv background provides plenty of Playhouse 90 immediacy and the supporting cast is unparalleled.

The post Seven Days In May appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

The X-Men movies are important. They make a lot of money and they helped create Superhero-Era Hollywood and they incepted a certain kind of lucrative career arc in the heads of a generation of young actors. (Do the franchise, take the money, spend a year on greenscreens and the press circuit pretending you understand anything that’s happening, try for the Oscar, repeat.)

And the X-Men movies are important to me. I grew up loving superhero comic books and I grew up loving movies. These two fascinations were not mutually exclusive; but now, more and more, they feel diametrically opposed.

This weekend, as you search for a movie to watch, you can either check out The Monuments Men or pick one of approximately 14 billion options available on streaming over a variety of services, be it Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, On Demand, or rental sites and services. Every Friday, Vulture tries to make life easier by narrowing it down to a handful of heartily recommended options. This week, we're salvaging the best of men-on-a-mission WWII movies, including a documentary on the story that inspired George Clooney's latest.The TrainDays into shooting The Train, star Burt Lancaster ousted director Arthur Penn (of Bonnie and Clyde fame) and recruited his Seven Days in May collaborator John Frankenheimer. Penn's take on the material — the true-ish World War II story of a railman's efforts to foil a Nazi plot to ship stolen art out of France — was a bit too stuffy for Lancaster, ruminating...

Longtime TV Guide columnist Joe Finnigan died January 22 in Sun Valley, CA after a long illness. He was 88. Finnegan began writing about Hollywood after landing in Upi’s Los Angeles bureau in the late 1950s, writing one of Upi’s two daily Hollywood columns. In 1965, Finnigan segued to TV Guide’s Hollywood bureau where, for the next 18 years, he penned the iconic, yellow-page “TV Teletype” column, along with features, profiles and interviews. He also wrote the “Inside Hollywood” column for the Daily Racing Form and worked as a writer/guest prep interviewer for The Merv Griffin Show. He later wrote for the now-defunct Television-Radio Age and Emmy magazine. Throughout the years, Finnigan also was occasionally cast as an extra in a TV series or movie, with credits including TV’s McHale’s Navy and Hazel and films Seven Days In May and The Patsy.

Like most Americans living today, I was born after November 22, 1963, so I don't remember John F. Kennedy and can't tell you where I was when news broke of his assassination. So here's what I know about the man, his presidency, and his death, thanks to the history professors of Hollywood.

Let me see if I have this right: JFK was a handsome man with the charisma of a movie star. (Indeed, he had connections to Hollywood through his father, a onetime movie producer; through his brother-in-law Peter Lawford and fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra; and through his torrid affair with Marilyn Monroe.) Through his youth, good looks, charisma, and forward-looking rhetoric, he inspired a nation to stop wearing hats, build rockets to the moon, and join the Peace Corps. His even more attractive, youthful, stylish, and patrician wife Jackie swept out the dowdy cobwebs of the Eisenhower years and turned...