June 30 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Today’s movie is a fantasy adventure film with a scene that happens on June 30. Watch it tonight and enjoy.  

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE         

Harry Potter,  Hermione Granger, and the Weasleys along with Cedric Diggory and his father travel via a magical portkey to the Quidditch World Cup. The post match celebrations are marred when  Voldemort’s followers, the Death Eaters, appear and set fire to the spectator’s campsite. At Hogwarts visitors arrive from Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institute to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, a magical contest where one student from each school is picked to participate. “Mad Eye” Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher introduces the students to the three unforgivable curses. The Goblet of Fire, a powerful magical artifact selects the three champions who will participate in the Triwizard Tournament: Viktor Krum from  Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour from  Beauxbatons and Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts are selected. Unexpectedly the Goblet also spits out the name of Harry Potter. As the Goblet of Fire has created an unbreakable magical contract Harry cannot withdraw, even though he is technically too young to be a champion. Ron becomes jealous of Harry over his participation. Rita Skeeter, a tabloid journalist, writes untrue stories about the champions. Harry learns from Hagrid that the first challenge involves dragons. Harry is able to use his flying skills to defeat the dragon and retrieve the egg that contains a clue to the second challenge. Harry and Ron reconcile. Harry and Ron take the Patil Twins to the Yule Ball, while Viktor Krum escorts Hermione. Harry opens the egg underwater and learns that is where the next challenge is to occur. Neville Longbottom tells Harry that gillyweed will enable him to breath underwater for an hour.  Krum rescues Hermione, while Harry rescues Ron and Fleur Delacour’s younger sister after Fleur has to drop out of the contest. In Dumbledore’s office, using the pensieve, Harry sees through Dumbledore’s memories that Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang was once a Death Eater. Harry also learns that Barty Crouch, the ministry official who is supervising the tournament sent his own son, who was a Death Eater and helped tortured Neville Longbottom’s parents into insanity, to Azkaban prison where he died.  Snape accuses Harry of stealing polyjuice potion ingredients from him. The third task is to penetrate a magical maze to reach the Triwizard Cup. Krum and Fleur are soon overcome, while Cedric and Harry grab the Triwizard Cup at the same time.  The cup is actually a portkey that transports them to a graveyard. Cedric is killed by Peter Pettigrew. A magical ritual creates a physical body for Voldemort using a bone from his father’s tomb and some of Harry’s blood.  Voldemort summons the Death Eaters and they watch him duel Harry. Voldemort’s wand emits the spirits of those who were recently killed with it including Cedric and Harry’s parents. The spirits enable Harry to use the portkey to return with Cedric’s  body to Hogwarts.  Everyone is shocked at this turn of events.“Mad Eye” Moody leads a shaken Harry back to the school, but in time McGonnagal, Snape and Dumbledore arrive and  discover that Barty Crouch, Jr., who did not die in Azkaban, but was smuggled out by his father, has been using polyjuice potion to impersonate Moody. The real Moody was locked in a magical trunk. On June 30, 1995 [2:17:28 to 2:19:24] Dumbledore tells the school at the leaving feast how Cedric died. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students return home.

           

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic Inc., New York, 2000) pages 720-723. Dumbledore makes these remarks at the leaving feast. (page 720). We learned in  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at page 430 that the leaving feast occurs the day before the students go home, which is on July 1.

Producer - David Heyman

Director - Mike Newell

Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Art Direction Oscar at the 78^th Academy Awards.

Screenplay - Steve Kloves

Runtime – 2 hours 37 minutes

Released – November 18, 2005

Starring –

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter

Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid

Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort

Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore

Brendan Gleeson as Alastor Moody

David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr.

Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy

Robert Pattinson as Cedric Diggory

Stanislav Ianevski as Victor Krum

Clémence Poésy as Fleur Delacour

Gary Oldman as Sirius Black

Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter

Alan Rickman as Severus Snape

Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall

Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew

Frances de la Tour as Olympe Maxime

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 29 - Auto Focus

Today’s movie is a biography with scenes that happen on June 29. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

AUTO FOCUS    

                       

Bob Crane is a popular LA disc jockey. He later moves into acting, becoming the star of the successful comedy Hogan’s Heroes. After the show is cancelled he tours the country doing dinner theatre. Crane was always portrayed in the media as a clean-cut family man. However he has a secret life. He met John Henry Carpenter and was drawn into a world of sex addiction and videotaping. On June 29, 1978 [1:39:38 to 1:41:50] Bob Crane was killed, the night after witnesses reported an argument between Crane and Carpenter.

An unusual biopic. Its accuracy has been questioned by some people. However, it is still an interesting and entertaining film.

        

Producers – Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, Alicia Allain, Patrick Dollard, Brian Oliver and Todd    Rosken

Director – Paul Shrader

Screenplay - Michael Gerbos

Runtime – 1 hour 45 minutes

Released – October 18, 2002

Starring -

Greg Kinnear as Bob Crane

Willem Dafoe as John Henry Carpenter

Rita Wilson as Anne Crane

Maria Bello as Sigrid Valdis

Ron Leibman as Lenny

Michael E. Rodgers as Richard Dawson

Kurt Fuller as Werner Klemperer

Christopher Neiman as Robert Clary

Ed Begley, Jr. as Mel Rosen

Roderick L. Mccarthy as Bartender

John Kapelos as Bruno Gerussi

Lyle Kanouse as John Banner

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014

June 28 - Truman

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on June 28. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

TRUMAN      

Harry Truman makes a “Whistle Stop” for a campaign speech in Weston, Missouri. He flashes back to when he told his girlfriend Bess Wallace that he was going to join the army in World War I. They get engaged before he goes to France and fights with the army. When he returns they get married on June 28, 1919. [13:36 to 13:57] He opens a haberdashery, but loses it in a business crash. He is introduced to the Missouri political ‘boss’ Tom Pendergast. He is elected county commissioner and quarrels with Pendergast over road construction. Truman runs for the US senate and wins. After the US enters World War II he heads a committee that investigates graft in war materiel production. He learns of the existence of the Manhattan Project, but keeps it secret. He is browbeaten into becoming the Vice-presidential candidate in 1944. He rarely sees Roosevelt.  When Tom Pendergast dies, Truman attends his funeral in spite of criticism. FDR dies and Truman becomes president. He learns about the atom bomb. The war in Europe ends and he goes to the Potsdam Conference, where he learns that the bomb has been tested successfully and he will have to decide about its use.  He orders the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman integrates the armed forces and calls for the drafting of striking miners. After much discussion Truman recognizes Israel. He pushes the Marshall Plan. He is renominated and pulls off an upset victory.  The Korean War begins. He meets with MacArthur on Wake Island who tells him the Chinese will not enter the war not too long before they do. He writes a rude letter to a newspaper critic who was critical of his daughter’s singing. After a series of inappropriate comments by MacArthur, Truman fires him. Truman refuses to use the FBI file on Joe McCarthy’s personal problems to attack him. Truman’s term ends.

                       

A good bio about one of the greatest presidents this country has ever had. 

Truman by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1992) at page 143 gives the date of Harry and Bess’s wedding.

Director - Frank Pierson

Awards - The film won the Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Movie; Outstanding Made For Television Movie. It was also nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie (Sinise); Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie (Scarwid); Outstanding Editing For A Miniseries Or A Movie (Single-Camera Picture); Outstanding Makeup For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special;   Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Miniseries or a Movie, and Outstanding Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special at the 48^th Primetime Emmy Awards

Running Time - 2 hours 15 minutes                          Released- September 9, 1995

Starring -  Gary Sinise as Harry S. Truman, Diana Scarwid as Bess Truman, Richard Dysart as Henry L. Stimson, Pat Hingle  as  Boss Tom Pendergast, Zeljko Ivanek as Eddie Jacobson, Remak Ramsay as Dean Acheson

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 27 - Kidnapped

Today’s movie is an action adventure film with a scene that happens on June 27. Watch it tonight and enjoy.  

KIDNAPPED        

Alan Breck Stuart returns to Scotland from exile in France to collect funds raised secretly to support “Bonnie’ Prince Charlie. David Balfour leaves his home village after his father’s death for the House of Shaws with a letter of introduction from his dead father. Alan meets with Colin Campbell, who is George II’s factor in Scotland, who tells him that if Alan will switch sides, Campbell will restore their land to all former Jacobite supporters. Alan refuses and escapes from the trap Mr. Reed, an English agent had set for him. David arrives at Shaws, a run down house and meets his Uncle Ebenezer. David is suspicious of his uncle and fortunately his uncle’s attempt to arrange a fatal “accident” for David fails.  David and his uncle go to the port of Glasgow and meet the Captain of a brig. David learns by a chance meeting that his father was the oldest son and the Shaws actually belongs to him.  David is kidnapped by the crew of the ship and he learns he is to be taken to South Carolina and sold as an indentured servant. Alan has evaded the English and rows out to meet a French ship but in the fog comes upon the ship David is on. The Captain agrees to take Alan back to where he started, but not to France. The crew plot to kill Alan for the money he is carrying, but when the Captain asks David to assist him in killing Alan, David joins with him instead and together they fight off the crew, killing several. The captain agrees to put them ashore and Alan gives David the money to hold.  When the ship comes close to land in a storm, it is wrecked and David and Alan are washed over board on June 27, 1751. [1:01:42 to 1:10:20] David starts looking for Alan to give him back the money. David meets Colin Campbell and Mr. Reed. Colin Campbell is shot by an unseen rifleman.  Alan finds the murderer’s gun. The authorities are going to arrest David as an accomplice, but Alan rescues him David thinks Alan killed Campbell in cold blood, so he gives him the money and leaves. David is caught by the English, but rescued by Alan, who convinces him he is innocent of Campbell’s murder. David and Alan go to see Alan’s brother James, who he tries unsuccessfully to persuade to flee, as Alan is sure the English will come to arrest him, as James hated Campbell for driving him off his land. They disarm the first group of soldiers who come to arrest James, but a second larger group burns the houses and arrests James. Alan sets out to find the real killer. Alan and David visit the gunsmith who made the rifle that killed Campbell and learn its purchaser was a McDonald. They visit the Earl of Dunbrae, head of Clan McDonald and convince him to give them the name and location of the killer. They find him, but so do the English troops, who arrest Alan and Reed kills the murderer, who he had paid to kill Campbell, so he could use the murder as an excuse to get rid of Alan and his brother. James is hung, but at the hanging David frees Alan. Alan and David head for the House of Shaws. They are almost surrounded and captured, but Mary granddaughter of the Earl of Dunbrae, who has taken a liking to David, convinces him to hide Alan and David in their coach, so they escape the trap. David learns from the family lawyer that he does own the House of Shaws. Both brothers loved the same woman so in a deal the elder got the girl, while the younger got the income from the estates for the elder’s lifetime. The place was titled so it could not be sold but had to pass automatically from father to eldest son. Alan, David, the lawyer and a magistrate go to the House of Shaws and Alan tricks Ebenezer into confessing that he arranged to have David kidnapped. David gets the house and all the funds his uncle has saved from the rents. It is implied that David marries Mary and Alan returns to France.

                       

A rousing good adventure story.Actually has a plot where people act the way they do for a reason. Keeps you interested. This version sticks closest to the book.

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (Running Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1989) at page 260 gives the date of the shipwreck.

Producer - John Davis

Director - Ivan Passer

Screenplay - John Goldsmith, Michael Barlow & Rob Hedden

Running time - 3 hours

Released - November 5, 1995

Starring -

Armand Assante as Alan Breck Stuart

Brian Blessed as Cluny McPherson

Brian McCardie as David Balfour

Patrick Malahide as Ebenezer Balfour

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 26 - Veronica Guerin

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on June 26.  Watch it tonight and enjoy.

VERONICA GUERIN                    

On June 26, 1996 [00:23 to 3:42] Veronica Guerin, instead of going to jail for all her unpaid speeding tickets gets off with just a fine, but on the way home, she's assassinated by the Dublin Mob.   We flash back to two years ago when she started to write about the drug traffic in Dublin. She meets John Taynor who is involved in the underworld. He is willing to help her to some extent, but also steers her towards Gerry Hutch as the main supplier because he’s afraid of the real boss, John Gilligan. She pursues Hutch as the lead supplier until she figures out he’s not involved and suspect’s he is trying to start a gang war so he can take over the drug trade. Gilligan rules the Dublin underworld with an iron fist. Someone puts a bullet into her house and the shoots her in the leg. Her family begs her to stop, but she refuses.  She continues to work on tracing the illegal proceeds of drug sales to Gilligan. She finally confronts him and he beats her up, but she declines to prosecute so she won’t get taken off the story. Gilligan threatens to kidnap her son and kill her. Taynor betrays her to Gilligan. She is killed leaving traffic court on June 26, 1996. [1:19:45 to 1:27:39]  As a result of her death, the Criminal Assets Branch was given the power to seize unexplained assets. Gilligan was extradited and convicted of drug trafficking. Taynor continues to fight extradition from Portugal. Many of Gilligan’s minions were also convicted of various crimes.    

        

An interesting film. However it is somewhat clichéd. This is a movie about a crusader who puts themselves and their family in danger. In the end I’m not sure if she accomplished any permanent result that justified the sacrifice.

Veronica Guerin: The Life and Death of a Crime Reporter by Emily O’Reilly (Vintage, London, 1998) at page xi and the movie at 1:07 and 1:19:45 give her death date

Producer - Jerry Bruckheimer

Director - Joel Schumacher

Screenplay - Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue

Runtime – 1 hour 38 minutes

Released – July 11, 2003

Starring –

Cate Blanchett as Veronica Guerin

Gerard McSorley as John Gilligan

Ciarán Hinds as John Traynor

Brenda Fricker as Bernie Guerin

Barry Barnes as Graham Turley

Simon O'Driscoll as Cathal Turley

Don Wycherley as Chris Mulligan

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015. 

June 25 - Love Is a Many Splendored Thing

Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on June 25. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING     

Widowed Dr. Han Suyin meets the married correspondent Mark Elliott at a party in Hong Kong. After several dates she begins to fall in love with him almost against her will. Then they have a fight and break up. She goes to Chungking to deal with a family problem. He follows her there, proposes and they become engaged. However his wife refuses to agree to a divorce. They go to Macau for a romantic weekend. There on June 25, 1950 [1:07:26 to 1:20:01]Mark learns of the  North Korean invasion of South Korea. Mark is sent to cover the war. A fellow Chinese doctor blasts her for agreeing to marry a westerner. Suyin is devastated when she learns Mark has been killed in the war. 

The Korean War by Donald M. Goldstein and Harris J. Maihafer (Brassey’s, Washington, D.C., 2000) at page 23 and the film at 1:19:17-20 give the date.

       

Producer - Buddy Adler

Director - Henry King

Screenwriter - John Patrick

Awards - The film won the Best Color Costume Design, Best Original Score and Best Song Oscars. It was also nominated for the Best Picture, Best Actress (Jennifer Jones), Best Color Art Direction, Best Color Cinematography and Best Sound Oscars at the 28^th Academy Awards.

Runtime – 1 hour 42 minutes

Released – August 18, 1955

Starring -

Jennifer Jones as Dr. Han Suyin

William Holden as Mark Elliott

Jennifer Jones as Dr. Han Suyin

Torin Thatcher as Humphrey Palmer-Jones

Isobel Elsom as Adeline Palmer-Jones

Murray Matheson as Dr. John Keith

Virginia Gregg as Anne Richards

Richard Loo as Robert Hung

Soo Yong as Nora Hung

Philip Ahn as Third Uncle

Jorja Curtright as Suzanne

Donna Martell as Suchen, Suyin's sister

Dereck Woodcock as Third Army lorry driver

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015. 

June 24 - Emma

Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on June 24. Watch this film tonight and enjoy.  

EMMA      

Emma Woodhouse’s mother dies while Frank Weston and Jane Fairfax have to leave Highbury. Frank’s mother has died and Jane’s Aunt has fallen on hard times. Frank goes to live with his aunt and takes her last name, Churchill. Jane goes to live with Colonel Campbell. The contents of Jane’s letters to her aunt are repeated ad nauseum to the whole town by her aunt, Miss Bates. As she grows up, Emma imagines that she is a great matchmaker. She thinks she has arranged the marriages of her sister Isabella to John Knightley and her governess Miss Taylor to Mr. Weston, who is Frank Churchill’s father. Emma and her father are good friends with George Knightley, her brother-in-law.  His estate Donwell Abbey is adjacent to Hartfield, Emma’s home. Emma’s father, who is overly concerned about his and everyone else’s health , disapproves of her matchmaking as it causes change, which he hates. Emma ‘adopts’ Harriet Smith, an illegitimate girl who attends Mrs. Goddard’s school as her new companion. At a dinner at Hartfield, Emma imagines an attraction between Mr. Elton, the parson and Harriet Smith. Harriet however is attracted to Robert Martin, a farmer and tenant of Mr. Knightley. Emma denigrates Mr. Martin and promotes Mr. Elton to Harriet. When Mr. Martin proposes to Harriet, Emma advises her to reject him. Harriet does, causing a spat between Emma and George, who thinks Harriet and Mr. Martin would be a good match. Emma tells Harriet she will never marry and continues to promote Mr. Elton to Harriet. Emma’s sister and her husband, George’s brother come to visit. Emma and George make up. Harriet gets sick and cannot attend a Christmas party at the Westons. On the way home from the party, she ends up alone in a carriage with Mr. Elton. He shocks Emma by proposing to her. She rejects him and learns he never had any interest in Harriet. Emma has to tell this to Harriet, who forgives her.  Jane Fairfax arrives to stay with her aunt, Miss Bates. After a visit, on the way home, Emma and Harriet meet a gentleman. They hear that Mr. Elton has gotten engaged to someone else. Frank Churchill arrives and is revealed as the gentleman Emma and Harriet met. Emma is upset when an invitation to a party, given by the (to Emma “socially inferior”) Coles is delayed. At the party Everyone learns that Jane Fairfax has received a piano as a gift from a mystery admirer. Mrs. Weston thinks George Knightley is interested in Jane Fairfax.   Frank Churchill proposes a ball, which Emma eagerly agrees to. Frank and Emma often discuss the negative qualities of Miss Fairfax. However, Frank gets a letter saying his aunt is extremely ill. Before leaving he meets with Emma. She leaves the meeting with the feeling that Frank is attracted to her and convinces herself that she likes him. Mr. Elton returns with his new wife, who acts superior to everyone. Frank Churchill returns and the postponed ball is finally held. At the ball Mr. Elton publicly slights Harriet Smith by refusing to dance with her, but George Knightley asks her to dance, even though he does not like to dance. Later while walking, Harriet is attacked by a band of gypsies , but is rescued by Frank Churchill. Emma now thinks Harriet is in love with Frank Churchill, when Harriet says she is attracted to the man who rescued her.  Mrs. Elton begins seeking a governess position for Jane Fairfax, whether she wants it or not. George Knightley proposes a picnic at Box Hill, but it has to be postponed and everyone is invited to Donwell Abbey to pick strawberries. At this outing Mrs. Elton tells Jane Fairfax she has found her a position as a governess. On the trip to Box Hill on June 24, 18 __ [Ep. 4 11:06 – 21:38] Emma gets exasperated and deliberately insults Miss Bates. Mr. Knightley takes her to task over this and she is very embarrassed and ashamed. The next day Emma goes to see Miss Bates and reconciles with her. Emma learns that Jane Fairfax has accepted the governess position that Mrs. Elton found for her.George Knightley leaves for London. Word is received that Mrs. Churchill is dead. It is revealed that Frank Churchill is secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax. When Emma goes to tell Harriet that Frank is engaged, she is shocked to learn that the man Harriet liked for rescuing her was Mr. Knightley for asking her to dance. Emma briefly regrets her friendship with Harriet and realizes she loves George Knightley, but fears this revalation has come too late.  Mr. Knightley returns from London and after an awkward encounter with Emma, confesses that he loves her also. Emma tells George they cannot wed, as she could not leave her father, but he offers to move to Hartfield. They become engaged. Mr. Martin renews his attentions towards Harriet and they are married. Emma renews her friendship with Harriet and Frank Churchill, Mrs. Weston has her baby and Emma and George get married. He takes her to the seaside for their honeymoon, as Emma has never seen the ocean.  

Producer - George Ormond

Director - Jim O'Hanlon

Screenwriter - Sandy Welch

Awards - The film won the Emmy for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries or Movie. It was also nominated for the Outstanding Casting for a Movie, Miniseries or Special, the Outstanding Costumes for a Movie, Miniseries or Special, and the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Gambon).

Runtime - 4 hours

Released - October 4, 2009

Starring -

Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse

Johnny Lee Miller as Mr. George Knightley

Michael Gambon as Mr. Woodhouse

Louise Dylan as Harriet Smith

Jodhi May as Anne Taylor/Weston

Robert Bathurst as Mr. Weston

Rupert Evans as Frank Churchill

Laura Pyper as Jane Fairfax

Tamsin Greig as Miss Bates

Blake Ritson as Mr. Elton

Christina Cole as Augusta Elton

Dan Fredenburgh as John Knightley

Poppy Miller as Isabella Knightley

Jefferson Hall as Robert Martin

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015. 

June 23 - The Disapperance of Aimee

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on June 23. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE DISAPPERANCE OF AIMEE

       

Popular radio evangelist Aimee McPherson goes to the beach and vanishes while in the water. Her mother says she was murdered, but her body is not recovered. Aimee’s mother holds a memorial service and receives a ransom demand. A reporter gets a tip that Kenneth Ormston, who used to work for McPherson and whose name was linked with hers is driving south with a woman. The reporter stops the car. The driver says he’s ‘Frank Gibson” and the reporter can’t id the woman as Aimee. Ormston turns up at search headquarters, says he don’t know where she is. The next day June 23, 1926 her mother is told Aimee has turned up in Arizona, claiming to have escaped from kidnappers. [46:43 to 50:23] McPherson says she was tortured to get the info contained in the letters, but extensive searching fails to locate the adobe house where she claims she was held.  Her mother doubts her story, but Aimee sticks to it. She gets a big welcome back from her followers. She is hauled in front of the grand jury by the DA on fraud charges, as her church used her disappearance to raise large amounts of cash, and he says slips with her handwriting showing she actually spent the time in Carmel with Ormston were stolen by a sympathetic grand juror. The landlord in Carmel refuses to id her as the woman who stayed with Ormston. Her mother presses her again about her story. Ormston appears, testifies that woman was not her. Charges dismissed.

                     

An interesting film about a lingering mystery. This film is of two minds. From the evidence shown she’s innocent, but based on Aimee’s attitude and behavior, she’s guilty.

Unfortunately, the viewer can’t decide one way or the other.

Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister by Edith Blumhofer (William B. Erdsman Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Mi, 1993) at pages 288-289 and the film at 46:42 give this date as when her mother learned of her return

Producer - Paul Leaf

Director - Anthony Harvey

        

Screenplay - John McGreevey

Running Time - 1 hour 40 minutes

Released - November 17, 1975

Starring -

Faye Dunaway as Aimee Semple McPherson

Bette Davis as Minnie Kennedy

James Woods as Joseph Ryan

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 22 - Houdini

Today’s movie is a biography with a scene that happens on June 22. Watch it and enjoy.

HOUDINI     

Harry Houdini performs a wild man in a sideshow in return for being allowed to have a magic act. He meets a girl, Bess. He meets her several times and they get married on June 22, 1894. [12:35 to 21:36] They take his magic act on tour with Bess as his assistant. She doesn’t like it so he goes to work in a lock factory. At the Halloween magicians meeting he gets out of a straightjacket, winning the prize of a roundtrip steamship ticket to Europe. . Another magician advises him to drop as he thinks Harry has supernatural powers that would make him famous, but kill him and that only Von Swager had ever had similar abilities. At work Harry locks himself in a safe to try and escape and gets fired, causing an argument with Bess. She changes her mind, trades the ticket in for two one way ones and they go to Europe. After Harry escapes from a cell at Scotland and his European tour is a smash, even though in Germany he is charged with claiming he has supernatural powers, but Harry convinces a court he does not. He had been looking for Von Swager and finally gets a letter from him, but when he goes to eet him Von Swager is dead. His assistant comes to work for Harry and introduces him to the ‘Chinese Water Torture’ stunt. Harry return s to the USA to no notice until he escapes from a straitjacket hanging upside down over a New York street. He tours to great success, even being dropped in an iron box in the frozen Detroit River. After he escapes the box he can’t find the hole, until he hears his mother’s voice calling him and he swims towards it.  He later learns that his mother died at exactly that time and he goes into seclusion. He tries to contact his mother and exposes fake mediums. Houdini tries to return to the stage using the ‘Chinese Water Torture’ but drops it after Bess expresses her worry. At the crowd’s urging he tries it anyway, and since he had been suffering from appendicitis can’t escape, has to be rescued and dies.

        

A some what melodramatic film. Takes great liberties with the facts. Still entertaining though and worth watching.

The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini by Ruth Brandon (Random House, New York, 1993) at page 41 gives the date of the wedding

Producer - George Pal & Berman Swarttz

Director - George Marshall

Screenplay - Philp Yordan

Running Time - 1 hour 46 minutes

Released - July 2, 1953

Starring -  Tony Curtis as Harry Houdini, Janet Leigh as Bess Houdini, Torin Thatcher as Otto, Angela Clarke as Harry's Mother , Stefan Schnabel as German Prosecuting Attorney, Ian Wolfe as Malue, Sig Ruman as Schultz , Michael Pate as Dooley, Malcolm Lee Beggs as British Jail Warden , Frank Orth as Mr. Hunter

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 21 - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court,

Today’s movie is a comedy with a scene that happens on June 21. Watch and enjoy.

       

A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT 

Hank Martin is touring an English castle and tells its owner how he seems to know so much about King Arthur. Hank, a Connecticut mechanic got hit by lightning and wakes up in the sixth century in Camelot. After a show trial, King Arthur sentences Hank to be burned at the stake as a sorcerer, but after Hank uses some modern tricks to defeat the wizard Merlin, he is made “The Boss”.  Hank begins romancing Alisande la Carteloise, (who Hank calls Sandy) but he has aroused the hatred of Merlin and Morgan le Fay. When Hank and his friend Sir Sagramore persuade King Arthur to tour his kingdom in disguise so he can personally see the wretched condition of the peasantry, Merlin and Morgan plot a revolt. Then the trio are captured by the evil Sir Logris. On June 21, 528  [1:38:22 to 1:44:39] when they, along with Sandy are about to be sold as slaves, Hank threatens to blot out the sun. When this happens, due to a solar eclipse he recalls happening on that date, they are released, except for Sandy. Hank tries to free her, but is knocked out and awakens back in modern times. After he finishes his tale the owner, Lord Pendragon introduces Hank to his niece Sandy, who looks just like his Sandy. 

                       

The date is given in the film at 1:39:37

Producer - Robert Fellows

Director - Tay Garnett

Screenwriter - Edmund Beloin

Runtime – 1 hour 46 minutes

Released – April 22, 1949

Starring –

Bing Crosby as Hank Martin

Rhonda Fleming as Alisande la Carteloise

Sir Cedric Hardwicke as King Arthur/Lord Pendragon

William Bendix as Sir Sagramore

Murvyn Vye as Merlin

Virginia Field as Morgan le Fay

Joseph Vitale as Sir Logris

Henry Wilcoxon as Sir Lancelot

Richard Webb as Sir Galahad

Alan Napier as High Executioner

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015. 

June 20 - Captain Blood

Today’s film is an action/adventure movie with a scene that happens on  June 20. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

CAPTAIN BLOOD   

Doctor Peter Blood is sentenced to death for treating a wounded rebel leader after the Battle of Sedgefield. James II changes the sentence of the defeated rebels to transportation to Jamaica as indentured servants. In Port Royal, Blood is purchased by Arabella Bishop, niece of Colonel Bishop, the local military commander. Arabella secures Blood the job of being personal physician to the governor. When a Spanish force attacks the town Blood and his fellow prisoners seize their ship and defeat them when they try to reboard. Blood and his men escape on the captured ship and on June 20, 1687 [1:03:06 – 1:05:51] sign articles of piracy. When the governor of Jamaica can’t capture Blood’s ship, Arabella’s uncle is promoted to the post. After Arabella’s visit to England, the ship on which she and royal emissary Lord Willoughby are sailing is captured by Blood’s partner Levasseur. When he refuses to sell the captives to Blood, they fight a duel in which Levasseur is killed. In spite a rejection by Arabella, Blood vows to return her to Port Royal safely, in spite of the danger to himself. When they arrive, two French ships are bombarding the city. When Willoughby reveals James II has been deposed and replaced by William III, the pirates attack and defeat the French. As a result, Blood is made governor and finally wins the hand and heart of Arabella.

                    

An outstanding swashbuckler. Olivia de Havilland will turn 100 on July 1, 2015. The eightieth anniversary of the release of this film is on December 28, 2015.

The date is given in the film at 1:05:08-11

        

Producers - Harry Joe Brown and Gordon Hollingshead

Director - Michael Curtiz

Screenwriter - Casey Robinson

Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Picture and Best Sound Recording Oscars at the 8^th Academy Awards.

Runtime – 1 hour 59 minutes

Released – December 28, 1935

Starring - Errol Flynn as Peter Blood, Olivia de Havilland as Arabella Bishop, Lionel Atwill as Colonel Bishop, Basil Rathbone as Levasseur, Ross Alexander as Jeremy Pitt, Guy Kibbee as Hagthorpe, Henry Stephenson as Lord Willoughby, Robert Barrat as Wolverstone, Hobart Cavanaugh as Dr. Bronson, Donald Meek as Dr. Whacker, Jessie Ralph as Mrs. Barlow, Forrester Harvey as Honesty Nuttall, Frank McGlynn Sr. as Rev. Ogle, Holmes Herbert as Capt. Gardner, David Torrence as Andrew Baynes, J. Carrol Naish as
Cahusac, Pedro de Cordoba as Don Diego, George Hassell as Governor Steed, Harry Cording as Kent, Leonard Mudie as Baron Jeffreys, Ivan F. Simpson as the prosecutor, Mary Forbes as Mrs. Steed, Edward E. Clive as Clerk of the Court

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 19 - Now And Then

Today’s movie is a dramedy with a scene that happens on June 19. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

NOW AND THEN   

       

Samantha, a writer, Roberta, a doctor, and Teeny, an actress return to their hometown to support Chrissy as she is about to give birth to her first child. Sam then flashes back to the year they were twelve. As children Sam was considered weird, Roberta was a tomboy, Teeny dreamed of fame and Chrissy was a sheltered child. The girls carry on a feud with four brothers named the Wormers. The girls’ summer plans include earning enough money to buy a treehouse from Sears. On June 19, 1970 [10:20 to 25:40] Sam convinces the girls to hold a séance in a graveyard in the hope of contacting the spirit of a dead boy buried there, only identified as “Dear Johnny”, but it is interrupted by a thunderstorm.  They return and are stunned to find the gravestone of “Dear Johnny” has been cracked. The girls cycle all the way to a nearby town to look at the back issues of the newspapers to learn about Johnny’s death. On the way they get their revenge on the Wormers by stealing the clothes of the skinny-dipping boys. At the library, Roberta learns that her mother died in an auto accident, not a painless death as she has been told. The issues that would have explained how Johnny died have been torn out. Later, when Sam looses the friendship bracelet Teeny just gave her in a storm drain, she almost drowns, but is rescued by Crazy Pete, the local hermit. Sam’s grandmother tells them that something terrible happened to Johnny and his Mom. The girls break into her house and learn Johnny and his Mom were murdered. The girls make a friendship pact. They hold a second séance, where they see his tombstone apparently floating in air, but learn the caretaker just accidentally cracked it and was replacing it with his backhoe.  Sam learns that Crazy Pete was “Dear Johnny’s father who had always felt guilty for being out drinking when his family was killed. Back in the present, Chrissy has her baby.

                       

The year is given as 1970 at 10:48. The first full moon of summer was this date as per

http://www.fullmoon.info/en/fullmoon-calendar/1970.html

Producers - Demi Moore and Suzanne Todd

Director - Lesli Linka Glatter

Screenwriter - I. Marlene King

Released – October 20, 1995

Runtime – 1 hour 40 minutes

Starring – Demi Moore as Samantha Albertson, Gabby Hoffman as Sam (young), Rosie O’Donnell as Roberta Martin, Christina Ricci as Roberta (young), Rita Wilson as Chrissy DeWitt, Ashleigh Aston Moore as Chrissy (young), Melanie Griffith as Teeny Tercell, Thora Birch as Teeny (young), Tucker Stone as Young Morton Williams, Carl Espy as Dr. Morton Williams, Devon Sawa as Scott Wormer, Lolita Davidovich as Mrs. Albertson, Rumer Willis as Angela Albertson, Cloris Leachman as Grandma Albertson, Hank Azaria as Bud Kent, Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. DeWitt, Janeane Garofalo as Wiladene. Walter Sparrow as Crazy Pete 

June 18 - Planet of the Apes

Today’s movie is a science fiction adventure with a scene that happens on June 18. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

PLANET OF THE APES        

In 2029 astronaut Leo Davidson works on space station Oberon with chimps who have been trained to operate space pods. When a pod containg his favorite chimp, Pericles is lost in an electromagnetic storm, Leo defies orders, takes a pod and enters the storm. He passes through a wormhole, and travels through many dates, including June 18, 2057 and June 18, 2085 [13:18]. He crashes in the year 5021 on a planet called Aslar , where apes rule and humans are slaves.  Leo is purchased by an ape named Ari. He starts a human revolt and discovers that the apes sacred temple of Calima is actually the wreck of the Oberon. The station log reveals that the station entered the storm and was transported across space, but not time to Ashlar, where the primates on board fought the base’s humans for control. When Pericle’s pod lands on Aslar, the apes think he is the expected return of the god Semos. Leo and Thade fight in the ship. Leo gives Pericles to Ari and uses Pericles’ pod to return through the storm to Earth, but finds it is now ruled by the apes. 

                    

The date is given in the film at 13:18

                       

Producers - Richard D. Zanuck and Ralph Winter

Director - Tim Burton

Screenwriters - William Broyles, Jr., Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal

Runtime – 1 hour 59 minutes

Released – July 27, 2001

Starring –

Mark Wahlberg as Capt. Leo Davidson   

Tim Roth as General Thade

Helena Bonham Carter as Ari

Michael Clarke Duncan as Colonel Attar  

Paul Giamatti as Limbo

Estella Warren as Daena

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Gen. Krull

Kris Kristofferson as Karubi

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015. 

June 17 - Gulliver's Travels

Today’s movie is fantasy adventure with a scene that happens on June 17. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

GULLIVER’S TRAVELS               

Lemuel Gulliver goes off on a sea voyage and after a storm finds himself washed up in Lilliput, where the people are only six inches high. He is hauled to the capital and the Lilliputians can’t decide what to do with him. Gulliver is amused by their unusual customs and divisions. He aids them by capturing the Blefudcudiasn fleet and becomes a hero. However after a palace fire that he puts out (but accidentally douses the Empress) they decide to kill him. He builds a raft and escapes taking a Lilliputian sheep with him. He arrives in Brobdingnag on June 17, 1703 where the inhabitants are 72 feet tall. [49:27 to 51:59] He is captured by a farmer who exhibits him for money. Eventually he becomes the favorite of the queen and the enemy of the court jester whom he has displaced in the queen’s interest. She is appalled by Gulliver’s description of Europe as they have a communistic, peaceful society. He lives in a box which one day is picked up by an eagle and dropped into the sea, so he makes his escape. He is picked up by the flying island of Laputa, where math and music are much studied, but not to any practical end. The ruler of Laputa is estranged from his wife who lives on the surface in Menudi. He bombards her with rocks, but she builds a giant magnet, causing instability and damage to Laputa. Gulliver deploys the countermagnet and restores stability, but falls to earth. In Menudi beauty is favored over science. She doesn’t get along with her husband mainly because he built the Academy, whose scientists believe that before the perfect world can be built the old one must be destroyed. Thus they have devastated the countryside. Gulliver visits the Academy but gets no help from those there who pursue useless experiments. Gulliver wants to go home so he ventures into the wasteland.  He meets a sorcerer, who studies history by using his magic mirror to pull historical personages out of the past and discussing their activities with them. Gulliver finally has to bring in dozens of historical figures who fight each other and annoy the sorcerer, who finally lets Gulliver go.    He is captured by the struldbrugs, who deliver him to the gatekeeper, who offers him the water of life. Gulliver considers the price of immortality too high, as it causes blindness. He escapes and comes to the land of the Houyhnhnms, a race of telepathic, talking horses. He admires their use of reason in all their affairs, but they consider him partly a Yahoo, the degenerate race of humans who also inhabit that land. .Gulliver eventually makes it back to England, where he finds that his wife works as a servant for Dr. Bates, who wants to marry her. He starts telling about his voyages and having hallucinations about them and everyone but his wife and son think he’s crazy. He’s sent to Bedlam. The doctor had hidden Gulliver’s letters to his wife and now tries to burn his journals, as they support his story. At a sanity hearing things look bad, but his son finds the Lilliputian sheep and produces it. That convinces everyone Gulliver is sane.

                

The best version of this story. Includes all the voyages. The special effects are really, well special. Danson is surprisingly good as Gulliver.   

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (Barnes & Noble Classics, New York, 2001) at page 90 gives the date Gulliver landed in Brobdingnag

Producer - Duncan Kenworthy

Director - Charles Sturridge

Screenplay - Simon Moore

Awards - The film won the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special; Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special; Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Miniseries or a Special; Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Special Visual Effects Emmys. It was also nominated for the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special; Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special; Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special; Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Miniseries or a Special - Single Camera Production; Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special (Woodard).

Runtime - 3 hours 6 minutes

Released - February 4, 1996

Starring -

Ted Danson as Gulliver

Mary Steenburgen as Mrs. Gulliver

James Fox as Dr. Bates

Omar Sharif as the Sorcerer

Peter O'Toole as Emperor of Lilliput

Alfre Woodard as Queen of Brobdingnag

Kristin Scott Thomas as immortal gatekeeper

John Gielgud as professor of sunlight

           

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 16 - The Nanny Diaries

Today’s movie is a dramedy with a scene that happens on June 16. Watch it and enjoy.

THE NANNY DIARIES     

Annie Braddock graduates from college with a major in finance and a minor in anthropology. She can’t get a job, but after saving a young boy’s life in Central Park is hired as a nanny by the ultra rich Mrs. X. After some difficulties in settling in, she and the boy, Grayer become very close, since he is basically ignored by both his parents. Annie also begins dating a resident of the X’s building, a man she refers to as “Harvard Hottie”. Meanwhile, Annie has not told her working single parent Mom about her job. Annie learns Mr. X is having an affair. After she has to tell Mrs. X that Mr. X is not returning from Chicago for the wedding anniversary dinner that Mrs. X has been preparing for, Mrs. X leaves for a spa. When Grayer gets deathly ill, Annie has to call in her Mom, who is a nurse, to help and blows her cover story. Harvard Hottie invites her to move in with him, but Annie stays on the job out of sympathy for Grayer and Mrs. X. On June 16, 2007 Annie and the X family [1:19:40 to 1:20:42] arrive on Nantucket for the vacation Mrs. X hopes will save her marriage. However, Mr. X makes a pass at Annie and even Mrs. X pretending she is pregnant isn’t enough to save the marriage. Annie gets fired, but she records a rant on the nanny cam at the apartment while collecting her belongings. Watching this recording forces Mrs. X to take stock of her life. She leaves her husband and starts paying more attention to her son. Later Mrs. X writes a letter to Annie, both apologizing and thanking her. Annie and “Harvard Hottie” (Hayden) begin a serious relationship.

                       

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2002) at pages 236 and 245 give the date they arrive on the island

Producer - Richard N. Gladstein

Directors - Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini

Screenwriter - Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini

Runtime – 1 hour 46 minutes

Released - August 24, 2007

Starring -       

Scarlett Johansson as Annie 'Nanny' Braddock

Chris Evans as Hayden "Harvard Hottie"

Laura Linney as Mrs. Alexandra X

Paul Giamatti as Mr. Stan X

Nicholas Art as Grayer Addison X

Donna Murphy as Judy Braddock

Alicia Keys as Lynette

Nina Garbiras as Miss Chicago

Brande Roderick as Tanya

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015, 

June 15 - Manhattan Melodrama

Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on June 15. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

MANHATTAN MELODRAMA        

On June 15, 1904 [1:23 to 7:46] the excursion ship, the  General Slocum catches fire and sinks in the East River. Two boys on board, Blackie Gallagher and Jim Wade are rescued by Father Joe, but both are made orphans by the disaster. They live with Poppa Rosen for a time until he is killed when a riot breaks out after he heckles a Leon Trotsky speech. Jim is very studious and graduates from law school. Blackie is much more carefree and ends up owning an illegal casino. His girlfriend Eleanor asks Blackie to give up his illegal activities, but he refuses. Wade works as an Assistant District Attorney and is then elected District Attorney. Blackie can’t make a celebration of Jim’s victory and sends Eleanor in his place. They talk the night away and when Jim leaves he forgets his overcoat, with a victory doodad in the pocket.  After again unsuccessfully trying to get Blackie to give up his illegal career, Eleanor leaves him. Blackie later kills Manny Arnold who owed him a lot of money. Blackie’s lieutenant leaves Wade’s overcoat in the murder room, having not returned it to Wade as instructed by Blackie. Jim calls in Blackie to tell him that he and Eleanor are getting married, but Blackie is happy for them. Blackie uses the opportunity to give Jim a duplicate overcoat, convincing Jim that the one found in the murder room was not his, so he does not charge Blackie with the murder of Arnold. The coat’s presence had pointed the finger at Blackie, since Jim knew he had left the overcoat at Eleanor’s apartment.  Jim and Eleanor get married and he later runs for governor. His former assistant, Richard Snow, threatens to say that Jim covered up for Blackie in the Arnold murder case. Although untrue, this rumor could cost Jim a close race. By chance Blackie and Eleanor meet and she tells him about Snow’s threats. Blackie kills Snow, but is seen leaving the scene. Jim has no choice but to prosecute Blackie, who is convicted and sentenced to death.  Jim wins the election, in part because the public is convinced of his integrity after prosecuting his childhood friend for murder. Eleanor tells Jim why Blackie killed Snow, but Jim refuses to grant clemency and Eleanor leaves him. In the end Jim sees Blackie and ultimately offers to commute the death sentence, but Blackie refuses to accept the offer. Jim resigns as governor because he feels he was elected because of a murder and that in the end he compromised his principles by offering to commute Blackie’s death sentence. As he leaves, Eleanor says she was wrong about him and they are reunited.

This film could be used as the definition of melodrama, that is a story where the plot and characters are exaggerated to appeal to your emotions.  The story is contrived, relying on coincidence and the characters are too perfect. Blackie seems to take a very ho-hum attitude towards dying in the electric chair. In real history this was the movie John Dillinger had just been to see when he was shot by the FBI.   

Date given in film at 1:25 and in  Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum by Edward T. O’Donnell (Broadway Books, New York, 2003) at page 217

Producer - David O. Selznick

Director - W. S. Van Dyke

Awards- The film won the now discontinued Best Original Story Oscar at the 7^th   Academy Awards. 

 

Screenplay - Oliver H. P. Garrett and Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Runtime – 1 hour 33 minutes

Released - May 4, 1934

Starring –

Clark Gable as Blackie Gallagher

William Powell as Jim Wade

Myrna Loy as Eleanor Packer

Leo Carrillo as Father Joe

Nat Pendleton as Spud

George Sidney as Poppa Rosen

Isabel Jewell as Annabelle

Muriel Evans as Tootsie Malone

Thomas E. Jackson as Asst. Dist. Atty. Richard Snow

Isabelle Keith as Miss Adams

Frank Conroy as Blackie's lawyer

Noel Madison as Manny Arnold

Jimmy Butler  as Jim
Wade as a Boy

Mickey Rooney as Blackie as a Boy

Shirley Ross as Singer in the Cotton Club

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015

June 14 - The Producers(2005)

Today’s movie is a musical comedy with a scene that happens on June 14. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE PRODUCERS

On June 14, 2005 [00:52 to 3:26] producer Max Bialystock has another stinker of a Broadway show when Funny Boy closes. His accountant Leo Bloom realizes that since Max took in more money than he spent and that because the IRS never investigates flops, if a producer took in a million more than he needed on a flop he could keep it as tax free cash. Leo initially refuses to join Max in this scheme, but his fantasies of being a producer get to him, so he quits his job and partners with Max. They look for the worst script ever and settle on Springtime for Hitler, written by an insane ex-Nazi named Franz Liebkind. They hire flamboyant director Chris De Bris and his assistant Carmen Ghia. Max and Leo hire a Swedish model Ulla as their secretary and persuade Franz to portray Hitler.  The show opens, but the audience takes it as a satire and it becomes a huge hit. Franz later tries to shoot Max. Max is arrested for tax fraud. Leo initially flees to Rio de Janeiro with Ulla, but returns to defend Max. Leo, Max and Franz are sentenced to five years.  In jail they write a show called Prisoners of Love. The trio is later pardoned and the show becomes a big hit on Broadway. 

.

The date is given in the film at 3:12

Producers - Mel Brooks and Jonathan Sanger

Director - Susan Stroman

Screenwriters - Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

Runtime – 2 hours 14 minutes

Released – December 16, 2005

Starring –

Nathan Lane as Max Bialystock

Matthew Broderick as Leo Bloom

Uma Thurman as Ulla

Will Ferrell as Franz Liebkind

Gary Beach as Roger De Bris

Roger Bart as Carmen Ghia

Jon Lovitz as Mr. Marks

Michael McKean as Prison Trustee

David Huddleston as Judge

Richard Kind as Jury Foreman

Eileen Essell as Hold Me-Touch Me

Debra Monk as Lick Me-Bite Me

Andrea Martin as Kiss Me-Feel Me

John Barrowman as the Lead Tenor Stormtrooper

Marilyn Sokol as Bag Lady

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015

June 13 - Le Mans

Tonight’s movie is a drama with scenes that happen on June 13. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

LE MANS                  

       

Race car driver Michael Delaney sees Lisa Belgetti,  the widow of a former rival and thinks back to the crash that killed Belgetti. On June 13, 1970 [7:16 – 1:03:21] the 24 Hours of Le Mans Endurance auto race begins, with Delaney driving for team Porsche. On his first break from driving, Michael meets Lisa, who has a new boyfriend Ferrarri driver Claude Aurac.  Fellow Porsche driver Johann Ritter and his wife discuss the possibility of him retiring from racing. It starts to rain and eventually after a crash, all the teams are forced to switch to rain tires. On his second break Michael eats dinner with Lisa. The next day Eric Stahler of Team Ferrari spins out, causing team member Aurac to crash. The explosion of Aurac/.s car distracts Michael and he crashes as well. Michael rescues Lisa from a horde of reporters who are grilling her about the accident. The pair talk about auto racing. Then Porsche car #21 has rear suspension problems, while the lead Ferrari car has ignition troubles. The Porsche coach replaces Ritter in car #21 with Michael.  As they reach the end of the race it is Ferrarri, Porsche, Porsche, Ferrari. The lead Ferrarri has a blown tire and has to quit. Michael blocks the other Ferrari, driven by his arch-rival Stahler and enables the other team Porsche driver to win the race.

Producer - Jack Reddish

Director - Lee H. Katzin

Screenwriter - Harry Kleiner

Runtime -  1 hour 46 minutes

Released – June 23, 1971

Starring –

Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney

Siegfried Rauch as Erich Stahler

Elga Andersen as Lisa Belgetti

Ronald Leigh-Hunt as David Townsend

Fred Haltiner as Johann Ritter

Luc Merenda as Claude Aurac

Christopher Waite as Larry Wilson

Louise Edlind as Mrs. Anna Ritter

Angelo Infanti as Lugo Abratte

Jean-Claude Bercq as Paul-Jacques Dion

Michele Scalera as Vito Scaliso

Gino Cassani as Loretto Fuselli

Alfred Bell as Tommy Hopkins

Carlo Cecchi as Paolo Scadenza

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015. 

June 12 - Escape from Alcatraz

Today’s film is a suspense movie with scenes set on June 12. Watch it tonight and enjoy. 

ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ               

Morris arrives in Alcatraz and works in the library, then the carpentry shop. When he resists Wolfe’s homosexual advances both are locked in solitary. “Doc” a fellow prisoner has his painting privileges revoked and chops off own his fingers with an axe. Morris uses a home made knife to enlarge a vent and get out of his cell into a service area. He climbs to the top of the cellblock and cuts his way into a vent shaft that leads to the roof. There is a shakedown of his cell, but his camouflage of the opening is not discovered.  Wolfe’s second attempt to kill him is stopped. The Anglin brothers and Morris exit their cells, leaving papier-mâché dummy heads in their beds to fool the guards. They climb to the roof of the cellblock, up the vent shaft and onto the roof. Early in the morning of June 12 1962 they clamber down the side of the building, cross the fence and enter the water on a raft made of raincoats. [1:32:58 to 1:49:18]  The escape is discovered, but no trace of the three escapees is ever discovered.

                       

A good escape story that holds your interest. The director does a good job of trying to get you to sympathize with the escapers and not the guards. Leaves unanswered the question of whether the three got away.

                 

Breaking the Rock by Jolene Babyak (Ariel Vamp Press, Berkelry, Ca, 2001) at pages. 199-217 gives the date of the escape

Director -  Don Siegel

Producer - Don Siegel

Screenplay - Richard Tuggle

Running Time – 1hour 52 minutes

Released - June 22, 1979

Starring -         

Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris

Larry Hankin as Allen West

Jack Thibeau as Clarence Anglin

Fred Ward as John Anglin

Patrick McGoohan as Warden

Paul Benjamin as English

Frank Ronzio as Litmus

Roberts Blossom as Chester "Doc" Dalton

Bruce M. Fischer as Wolf Grace

Fred Stuthman as  Johnson

David Cryer as Wagner

Madison Arnold as  Zimmerman

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015. 

June 11 - Elizabeth

Today’s movie is a biography with a scene that happens on June 11. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

ELIZABETH

Queen ‘Bloody’ Mary Tudor of England is burning heretics. She has a false pregnancy. Mary and her husband Phillip II of Spain fear the Protestants are plotting to put Mary’s half-sister, Princess Elizabeth on the throne. Elizabeth is arrested, taken to the Tower of London and interrogated, but she will not confess to anything. Elizabeth is released and Mary soon dies, making Elizabeth the Queen. The Scots, under their regent Mary of Guise are threatening to put their Queen Mary Stuart on the English throne. An English attack on Scotland fails.  The religious Act of Uniformity passes, since Elizabeth’s advisor Walsingham locks up the pro-Roman bishops during the vote. The French Duc d’Anjou, brother of the French king and nephew of Mary of Giuse comes to visit touted as a potential husband to Elizabeth. He acts very rude when he meets her. There is an assassination attempt on Elizabeth and Anjou is revealed as a transvestite.  He leaves for Scotland. The Pope absolves English Catholics of any duty to obey Elizabeth. Walsingham goes to Scotland to meet Anjou and Mary of Guise.  Mary of Guise dies on June 11, 1560 possibly due to Walsingham’s actions. [1:34:50 to 1:35:19]  The Duke of Norfolk is goaded into betraying Elizabeth, is arrested and executed. Elizabeth rejects her lover Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who had plotted against her and vows to live as a ‘Virgin Queen’.

A beautiful period piece. It does take liberty with the order of the facts, not their occurrence. It is extremely unlikely Elizabeth and Dudley ever consummated their relationship as this would have finished her, had it been discovered.  .

Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart by John Guy (Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 2004) at page 109 gives the date of Mary of Guise’s death.

Producer - Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner & Alison Owen

Director - Shekhar Kapur

Screenplay - Michael Hirst

Awards - The film won the Best Makeup Oscar. It was also nominated for the Best Actress (Blanchett), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Picture.

Running Time - 2 hours 4 minutes

Released - November 6, 1998

Starring -         

Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I of England

Geoffrey Rush as Francis Walsingham

Christopher Eccleston as Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk

Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

Kathy Burke as Mary I of England

Jordi Mollà as Philip II of Spain

Emily Mortimer as Kat Ashley

Edward Hardwicke as Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel

Daniel Craig as John Ballard

James Frain as Alvaro de la Quadra

Kelly Macdonald as Lettice Knollys Dudley

Angus Deayton as Waad

Wayne Sleep as the dance tutor

Richard Attenborough as William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

John Gielgud as The Pope

Fanny Ardant as Mary of Guise

Vincent Cassel as the Duc d'Anjou

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.

June 10 - Carve Her Name With Pride

Today’s film is a biography with scenes that happen on June 10. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE      

Violette Bushell is an Anglo-French woman living in London during the early part of the Second World War. She meets and marries a French army officer Etienne Szabo and they have a daughter Tania. After he is killed in action, she is recruited to work for British intelligence because of her language skills. On an undercover mission to Rouen in occupied France, she  is discovered by the Nazis and has to flee. She returns for another mission behind the lines, but is caught on June 10, 1944. [1:25:56 to 1:36:21] She is later executed by the Nazis.

A good biopic about a little known figure. The first part is more of a romance. She was very brave, but I have to question her volunteering when her daughter had already lost one parent.

Vickers, Philip (2000; reprinted 2003), Das Reich. 2nd SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' –Drive to Normandy, June 1944 (Battleground Europe; Leo Cooper, London) at pages 103-105 give the date she was captured 

Producer - Daniel Angel

Director -  Lewis Gilbert

Screenplay - Vernon Harris & Lewis Gilbert

Running Time - 119 minutes

Released - September 8, 1958

Starring - 

Virginia McKenna as Violette Szabo

Paul Schofield as Tony Fraser

Jack Warner as Mr. Charles Bushell

Denise Grey as Mrs. Bushell, Violette's mother

Alain Saury as Etienne Szabo

Maurice Ronet as Jacques

Anne Leon as Lilian Rolfe

Sydney Tafler as Potter

Avice Landone as Vera Atkins

Nicole Stéphane as Denise Bloch

Noel Willman as Interrogator

Bill Owen as NCO Instructor

Billie Whitelaw as Winnie

William Mervyn as Colonel Maurice Buckmaster

Michael Goodliffe as Coding expert

André Maranne as Garage Man

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.