ATM Remembers Three Greats in Film

At The Matinee remembers three greats in the motion picture industry.

Photograph of Rod Taylor (left) in a
publicity advertisement for the
1960-61 TV drama, Hong Kong.

On January 7th, actor Rod Taylor passed away at the age of 84.  Born in Sydney, Australia in 1930, Taylor became interested in acting after seeing a touring stage production of William Shakespeare's Richard III, featuring Lawrence Olivier.  In the early 1950's, Taylor set his sights for Hollywood, when the plane landed in Los Angeles (the original destination was for London, England- part of a prize that Taylor won in his native Australia, according to The Los Angeles Times).

Though he was relegated to playing supporting roles throughout his career in film and television, Taylor was best known in George Pal's popular 1960 film adaptation of H.G. Wells' science fiction novel, The Time Machine.  He would also appear in Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 suspense masterpiece, The Birds (opposite Tippi Hedren).

Taylor's last screen role was his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's World War II film, Inglorious Basterds (2009, which was inspired from Italian director Enzo G. Castellari's war film).

Taylor was survived by his wife of 35 years, Carol Taylor, and his daughter Felicia Taylor, former CNN corespondent.

Turner Classic Movies will have a tribute to Rod Taylor on January 29th at 8:00 PM EST, showcasing Taylor's most memorable roles in film.  The films that will be featured will be The Time Machine (1960), The Birds (1963), Sunday In New York (1964, opposite Jane Fonda), Young Cassidy (1965, opposite Flora Robson and Maggie Smith), and The Glass-Bottom Boat (1966, opposite Doris Day).

On  January 9th, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. passed away at the age of 88.  The son of acclaimed mogul and producer Samuel Goldwyn (1879-1974), the junior Goldwyn was born in Los Angeles, California in 1926.  

The young Goldwyn became interested in film after working in film editing during his summer vacations.  After serving in the Army, Goldwyn Jr. worked with British film mogul J. Arthur Rank, where he worked as an associate producer on the 1948 British crime thriller film, Good-Time Girl (where he received his first screen credit.  He would work with noted CBS News journalist Edward R. Murrow on a documentary film series for CBS television, Adventure.

Goldwyn Jr. would turn to independent film production in the mid-1950's, using his father's studio lot for his Formosa Productions company (named after the street corner near his father's studio complex).  Some of Goldwyn Jr.'s independent features included Man With the Gun (1955, featuring Robert Mitchum), The Sharkfighters (1956, featuring Victor Mature), The Proud Rebel (which was released by Walt Disney's Buena Vista subsidiary in 1958, featuring Alan Ladd and Olivia De Havilland), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960, featuring Eddie Hodges and Tony Randall), The Young Lovers (1964, featuring Peter Fonda), and Cotton Comes To Harlem (1970, featuring Godfrey Cambridge, directed by Ossie Davis).

After the death of his father in 1974, Goldwyn Jr. would acquire the rights to the senior Goldwyn's classic feature films (through his father's estate).  Five years later, Goldwyn Jr. set up The Samuel Goldwyn Company, not only to manage re-release screenings and television syndication of his father's films, but to distribute art-house and independent productions as well.  Goldwyn Jr.'s firm was responsible for distributing the independent productions of Jim Jarmusch, David Lynch, Kenneth Branagh, and Ang Lee- just to name a few.  The Samuel Goldwyn Company became one of the most prominent independent film distributors throughout the 1980's and 1990's, until the company was sold to media investor John Kluge (of Metromedia fame) in 1996.  Kluge sold Goldwyn's company (along with Orion Pictures, which was also acquired by Kluge) to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a year later.

Goldwyn Jr. sued MGM for using the "Goldwyn" name when it changed the name of The Samuel Goldwyn Company to Goldwyn Films.  The case would be settled, and Goldwyn Jr. would restart another film distribution and production firm in honor of his father- Samuel Goldwyn Films.  Goldwyn Jr.'s last work was on a remake of his father's 1947 adaptation of James Thurber's novel, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013, in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox, and featuring Ben Stiller in the title role).

Recently, Goldwyn Jr. (through his family trust) made an agreement with Warner Bros. to distribute his father's classic films on DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming services (it should be noted that the classic Samuel Goldwyn features were distributed in the 1990's on video through Warners' corporate sibling, HBO, until the early days of the DVD format.  That was when distribution shifted from HBO to MGM, as part of that studio's acquisition of The Samuel Goldwyn Company).

Goldwyn Jr. is survived by his current wife, Patricia Strawn, along with his children- actor Tony Goldwyn (who now co-runs Samuel Goldwyn Films), producer John, actors Francis and Peter (who also serves as vice-president of Samuel Goldwyn Films), Catherine and Elizabeth.

Publicity advertisement for
Back From Eternity (1956,
featuring Anita Ekberg).

On January 11th, actress Anita Ekberg passed away in Rome at the age of 83.  After losing the Miss Universe pageant, she was spotted by a Universal Studios talent scout, which led the young Swedish beauty queen to her first role in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953).  Other roles included the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis comedy Hollywood or Bust (1956), and the Bob Hope comedy Paris Holiday (1958).

Tired of being typecast in Hollywood films, Ekberg wanted to work with noted Italian director Federico Fellini (1920-1993).  She appeared in Fellini's greatest screen triumph, La Dolce Vita in 1960.

This is where Ekberg would be best known for during her screen career, during the landmark Trevi fountain scene- in where she takes a dip in the fountain.

It was reported that the iconic scene of the film had to be filmed for seven nights, due to the harsh winter conditions in Rome.  The rest is cinematic history.

At The Matinee remembers three film greats- Rod Taylor, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., and Anita Ekberg.

"At The Matinee" Looks back at 2014

1977 advertisement in Boxoffice Magazine
for Washington-area cinema chains, film
laboratories, and distribution branches.

I can't believe that 2014 has been a quick and successful year for my blog, At The Matinee.  It's been a joyful and interesting year, writing about classic/contemporary/cult film, television, music, and technology.

Here are some of the most notable events that happened throughout the year (not only on this blog, but in the area as well):

-My article in the January 2014 edition of The Woodsboro-Walkersville Times (formerly The Woodsboro Times, on the bottom-half of page 15) on the town's movie theater in the Woodsboro Bank building* that operated for nearly forty years.

-Praised by Turner Classic Movies for my article on the network's twentieth anniversary.

-A conversation with Mr. Ron Hutchinson of The Vitaphone Project, and how those weren't Warner Bros. Vitaphone discs on the wall of the Shepherdstown Opera House (it must have been the labels that threw me off, from this News-Post photograph of the theater's office).

-Mentioned in The Digital Bits (in Mr. Bill Hunt's My Two Cents column) on MGM's negligence to restore and preserve the "roadshow" print of The Alamo (1960).  This was published shortly after veteran film preservation expert Robert A. Harris' account of the condition of the film.

-Finally got to see several classics on the big screen in one of the classes that I enjoyed at Hood College, History of American Film. They included the classic Laurel and Hardy short- The Music Box, The Marx Brothers' 1932 comedy classic- Horse Feathers, and Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece- Citizen Kane.

-Spreading the word about At The Matinee to fellow students and friends at Hood, along with flyers about the blog on the library bulletin board.  Will make new fliers in 2015 (not only on bulletin boards on the Hood campus, but in other area locations with community bulletin boards).

-Helped stop WJLA-TV's constant preemptions of Me-TV's Saturday lineup (including iconic horror host Svengoolie, portrayed by Rich Koz).  This was done with the help of fellow Me-TV viewers in the area.

HOPEFUL WISHES FOR FELLOW FILM BUFFS IN THE NEW YEAR:

-Revival screenings of classic films shouldn't be ignored by Frederick's cinema venues.  Sadly, classic cinema is still under-appreciated in the Frederick area.  As I've said before- classic films should be shown the way they were meant to be seen, on the big screen.  This is why Frederick needs a repertory cinema house (besides The Weinberg Center For The Arts).

-Hood College shouldn't be ignorant of showing classic films on the big screen in their Hodson Auditorium film series (which would be a great way to compliment their "blockbuster film series").  Yet unfortunately, their "Film club" hasn't responded to my message, nor have they set up any club meetings.  Even worse, my application to the college's "Campus Activities Board" (the organization programs the "blockbuster film series") was rejected.  I wonder if I should start a classic film club of my own at Hood...

-MGM should finally come to their senses, and restore the "roadshow" version of The Alamo before it's too late (or at least have someone else restore the film).  There won't be enough time to save it (due to the deteriorating Eastmancolor stock) if MGM is ignorant of the film.

Thanks to all for reading!  Happy New Year to everyone from the author of At The Matinee!

*There will be an update on the movie theater that was in the Woodsboro Bank building in 2015.

Frederick's cinemas bid "Humbug" to two classics for the holiday season

Trade ads for A Christmas Carol (1938) and Christmas In Connecticut (1945).
Yet once again, Frederick's cinema venues are missing out on
special double feature revival screenings of these holiday classics.

Turner Classic Movies, Warner Bros., and NCM Fathom Events will present two holiday classics on the big screen for one day only- the 1938 MGM adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (with Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, and Kathleen Lockhart), and the 1945 holiday comedy Christmas in Connecticut (with Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, and S.Z. Sakall).  The double feature screening will have a filmed introduction by TCM weekend host Ben Mankiewicz, and will be shown in theaters on December 7th at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM EST.  This is being done not only for the holiday season, but to promote Warners' new Blu-Ray releases of A Christmas Carol and Christmas In Connecticut (from new High-Definition transfers).

According to the theater roster for the special one-day cinematic event (via Fathom Events' website), cinemas in the Frederick area are not participating in this special revival screening.  Neither the area's sixteen-plex eyesore (Regal Cinemas), nor Frederick's iconic twinplex (MDL Holiday Cinemas)*, nor Frederick's "crown jewel" (The Weinberg Center For The Arts)* are participating in this classic Holiday film event.

In my view, I think that the Frederick area shouldn't miss out on this special "double feature" revival screening event of two holiday classics.  Both films (A Christmas Carol and Christmas In Connecticut) should be shown the way they were meant to be seen, on the big screen (in the Frederick area).

*NOTE: MDL Holiday Cinemas and The Weinberg Center For The Arts may not be able to show the one-day double feature revival screening of A Christmas Carol and Christmas In Connecticut due to licensing costs and/or availability of the NCM Fathom system.  It would be nice if the Frederick area had a "revival house" (or repertory) cinema venue.

If anyone from Hood College's Campus Activities Board (CAB) is reading At The Matinee, you could obtain the nontheatrical rights to one of the two classic films for possible screenings during the holiday season.  You could add some life to your "blockbuster movie showcase" series by offering revival screenings of classic films!  Just a suggestion.