May 31 - Cold Turkey

Here is today's movie with a scene that happens today - May 31. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

COLD TURKEY

Merwin Wren proposes that the tobacco industry offer a town $25 million dollars to quit smoking for 30 days, to create goodwill a la the way the Nobel Peace Prize improved Alfred Nobel’s image, in the certainty that no town can do it. The town of Eagle Rock, Iowa is in the financial dumps because the local air base was closed. Colonel Galloway tells Mayor Wappler  and local minister Rev. Brooks that the town needs to improve its industrial, social and educational facilities to get the base re-opened. They of course don’t have the money. Rev. Brooks wants to be re-assigned to Dearborn, Michigan, but his bishop won’t until things improve in Eagle Rock. When they hear about the offer there is a lot of opposition, but some people see the potential to get money for the town. Rev. Brooks becomes the cheerleader for the plan, even though his wife is a secret smoker. Rev Brooks starts smoking again to force a few holdouts to agree to sign the non-smoking pledge. On the last day, May 31, 1971 [31:29 to 44:52] Dr. Proctor is blackmailed into signing the pledge by the threat of foreclosure. The town’s “man-about-town”, Mr. Stopworth is sent out of town for the month. The members of John Birch society clone agree to sign the pledge if they can enforce compliance. Eagle Rock gets everybody to sign up at the last minute. The tobacco executives are upset at this. Mayor Wappler and his wife start fighting the day the ban begins. All kinds of nuts start descending on the town. Wren goes to Eagle Rock and the smokers start going nuts without smokes. Rev. Brooks becomes a sex fiend with his wife to try and get over not smoking. Tempers flare in the town. Dr. Proctor almost cracks. Newscasters Walter Chronic, David Chetly and Hugh Upson arrive in Eagle Rock. The town starts to profit from billboards and selling souvenirs to the tourists who visit the town. The town council starts fighting over how to spend the money before they even have  the money. On the last night, a citizen proposes dividing the money equally among the town’s citizens. Wren pays to set the town clock ahead and drops cigarettes on the crowd. Dr. Proctor and Wren get accidentally shot. They get the money and the president shows up. The polluting Mercury missile factory moves to the town . 

This is a very dry social humor kind of movie but I do like it. It is full of biting satire that pokes fun at just about everything and everybody. Consumerism, hypocrisy, greed and even TV commercials and news anchors are deftly satirized.

At 22:29 the non-smoking pledge says the non-smoking period will start “beginning at midnight, June 1”.

Producer - Norman Lear

Director - Norman Lear

Screenplay - Norman Lear and William Price Fox Jr.

Runtime – 1 hour 39 minutes

Released - February 19, 1971

Starring -  

Dick Van Dyke as Rev. Clayton Brooks

Pippa Scott as Natalie Brooks

Bob Newhart as Merwin Wren

Vincent Gardenia as Mayor Wappler

Jean Stapleton as Mrs. Wappler

Barnard Hughes as Dr. Proctor

Paul Benedict as Zen Buddhist

Helen Page Camp as Mrs. Watson

Bob Elliott as Hugh Upson

Ray Goulding as Walters Chronic

Edward Everett Horton as Hiram C. Grayson “Mr. Tobacco”

Graham Jarvis as Amos Bush

Harvey Jason as the hypnotist

Judith Lowry as Odie Truman

Tom Poston as Mr. Stopworth

M. Emmet Walsh as    Art

watch Cold Turkey, part 1

May 30 - The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Part 3 - Jane Seymour

Here is today's movie with a scene that happens today - May 30. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII, PART 3 – JANE SEYMOUR

A dying Jane Seymour is taken to the christening of her son, Edward. She thinks back on the history of her relationship with Henry VIII. Henry VIII visited her family on a royal progress. Henry later summons Jane to court. Jane reluctantly takes the oath of allegiance to Henry. Henry gives Jane a picture of himself, which arouses the wrath of Queen Anne Boleyn.  Henry is trying to force through a bill to secularize the monasteries. He also has to deal with what he thinks are treasonous plots involving his daughter Mary and the desire of Cromwell to secure an agreement with the Emperor Charles and the Pope.  Cromwell’s plot to get rid of Anne Boleyn succeeds and Henry marries Jane Seymour on May 30, 1536. [49:09 to 49:25] Jane persuades Henry to reconcile with his daughter Mary. The Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion breaks out. Henry and Jane argue when she speaks against the dissolution of the monasteries and in favor of mercy towards the rebels. Jane becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son. However she dies only a few days later. Cromwell immediately pushes Henry to remarry. Henry does at least appear to be heartbroken by her death.

Jane Seymour was not as pedantic as Catherine of Aragon nor as immoral as Anne Boleyn. She genuinely tried to promote peace, as shown when she persuaded the King to reconcile with his daughter and spoke in favor of mercy for the rebels.  Probably the best of Henry’s queens.

Henry VIII by Lucy Wooding (Routledge, New York, 2009) at page 200 gives the date of the wedding

Producer - Ronald Travers

Director  - John Glenister

Screenplay - Ian Thorne

Awards -     The film won the Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading

Role (Michell) Emmy award. It was also nominated for the Outstanding   Drama Series, Outstanding New Series, Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a leading role in a dramatic series (Michell) and the Outstanding Single Program, drama or comedy.

Released - January 15, 1970

Runtime - 1 hour 30 minutes

Starring -

Keith Michell as Henry VIII of England

Patrick Troughton as the Duke of Norfolk

Bernard Hepton as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

Sheila Burrel as Lady Rochford

Anne Stallybrass as Jane Seymour

Wolfe Morris as Thomas Cromwell

Daniel Moynihan as Edward Seymour

Alison Frazer as Lady Mary

watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII-Jane Seymour-part 1

 watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII-Jane Seymour-part 2

watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII-Jane Seymour-part3

watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII-Jane Seymour-part 4

watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII-Jane Seymour-part 5

watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII-Jane Seymour - part 6

watch the Six Wives of Henry VIII-Jane Seymour-part 7

May 29 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Hello. Here is today's movie with a scene that happens today, May 29, I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

Dobby the house elf visits Harry Potter at the Dursleys to warn him not to return to Hogwarts as bad things are going to happen When Harry refuses Dobby causes trouble that gets Harry locked in his room. Ron Weasley and his twin brothers ‘borrow’ their Dad’s flying car and rescue Harry. On a trip to Diagon Alley, they meet Gilderoy Lockhart the new defense against the dark arts teacher and have a run-in with Draco Malfoy and his father, Lucius. When Harry and Ron can’t get onto Platform 9 ¾ to take the Hogwarts Express, they ‘borrow’ the flying car to take them there. The car crashes, causing Ron to damage his wand and then disappears into the Dark Forest. Lockhart is revealed to be an incompetent teacher and egomaniac. Harry starts hearing things that no one else can and they find Filch’s cat petrified. A message left on the wall in blood says the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. The three friends learn this is a secret chamber supposedly built by Salazar Slytherin, one of Hogwart’s founders, containing a monster that only his heir can open. It had been opened 50 years ago.  A student is petrified and Harry learns he can talk to snakes. Another student is petrified and Harry visits Dumbledore’s office. Hermione has brewed shape shifting polyjuice potion.  Harry and Ron use this to assume the appearance of two Slytherin students  and they pump Draco for information, but he doesn’t know anything. Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who lives in a girls bathroom at the school has a book thrown at her. Harry takes the book and learns it belonged to a student from 50 years ago named Tom Riddle. Riddle allows Harry to see what happened 50 years ago at the school. The Chamber of Secrets was opened, a student was killed and Hagrid was blamed. The diary is later stolen and Hermione is petrified. Hagrid is arrested and Dumbledore is removed as headmaster. Harry and Ron go into the Dark forest, where they learn from Agragog, the leader of the giant spiders that live there that Hagrid is innocent and that the student who died 50 years ago was found in a bathroom. Harry deduces this is Moaning Myrtle and they learn Hermionie figured out that the monster is a basilisk, a giant snake that has been using the sewer pipes to travel around the school.  On May 29, 1993, a message is left saying that Ron’s sister Ginny has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. Lockhart, deputized to deal with the monster tries to run away, but Harry and Ron force him into the chamber, the entrance of which is in Myrtle’s bathroom. Lockhart tries to use Ron’s damaged wand to erase their memories, but instead erases his own.   Harry enters the chamber and finds an unconscious Ginny and a revived Tom Riddle, who reveals he is Lord Voldemort, Harry’s mortal foe. Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix  flies in and drops the Sorting Hat. Fawkes blinds the basilisk. Harry pulls the sword of Gryffindor out of the hat and uses it to kill the basilisk. He then uses a fang from the basilisk to destroy the diary, which destroys the manifestation of Tom Riddle.  Fawkes’s tears heal a fatal bite Harry had gotten from the basilisk. [1:50:59 to 2:17:57] Harry later tricks Lucius Malfoy into releasing Dobby from his service. Hermione and the other students are revived and Hagrid and Dumbledore return. All is well at Hogwarts … until next year. 

A good adaptation of the book. It retains most plot elements has a lot of scary and funny moments. If you’re a Potter fan you’ll love it, otherwise probably not.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic Press, New York, 1998) we are told that exams will start on June 1, 1993 at page 283 and that the entrance into Chamber of Secrets happens three days before their first exam at page 284. 

Director - Chris Columbus

Producer - David Heyman

Screenplay - Steve Kloves

Released – November 3, 2002

Runtime – 2 hours 41 minutes

Starring –

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter

Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart

John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick

Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid

Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick

Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley

Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore

Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy

Alan Rickman as Severus Snape

Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley

Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall

Julie Walters as Molly Weasley

Shirley Henderson as Moaning Myrtle

Watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets trailer

May 28 - Million Dollar Babies

Here is today's movie with a scene that happens today, May 28, I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight.

MILLION DOLLAR BABIES

The poor Dionne family lives in rural Ontario, Canada. The mother, Elzire collapses and goes into what everyone thinks is premature labor. Even though they have no money the husband, Oliva races to get a doctor. Early on the morning of May 28, 1934 she gives birth to five daughters. [03:50 to 20:58]   The quints birth soon causes a media frenzy. Helena Reid,  an American  radio personality arrives on the scene. Oliva and the other children leave in order to save the quints from infections. After Americans take the lead in providing for the quints, the Ontario government finally starts to provide some assistance. Oliva  signs a deal to have the quints displayed at the Chicago World’s fair and he is attacked for this by Helena Reid.  The Canadian government moves to take the kids and they all develop high fevers, but are pulled through by Dr. Dafoe. The Ontario government declares the quints wards of the state and Dr. Dafoe is named their guardian. The kids are taken away and placed in a house built just for them across the road. Dr. Dafoe starts to profit from the kids, including taking them on tour. They kids are put on display and the area acquires a circus-like atmosphere. Finally, the parents are only allowed to visit with Dr. Dafoe’s permission.  The Dionne parents try to tell their story and in response the government extends the guardianship until the quints are 18. Dr. Dafoe makes tons of cash in endorsement deals for the quints. The Dionnes have a baby boy. The quints are kept on a strict schedule isolated from everyone else and put on display for mobs of tourists, but only one of their nurses disapproves of this and is fired. The parents finally find a lawyer to help them get the girls back. He takes the tack that the quints were only taken away only because the parents were French-Canadians. They get French nurses and teachers hired. The parents get better access. The government finally gets ticked off at Dr. Dafoe excesses and remove him as guardian. Oliva finds out that the quints are paying for all their expenses out of their funds. Helena Reid returns and now sides with the Dionnes. It all comes to a head in a dramatic confrontation when Emilie goes to Dr. Dafoe instead of her mother. Ms. Reid gets Dr. Alfred Adler to condemn the regime that the children are living under. The quints and their parents meet the King and Queen. The guardianship is dissolved and the girls are returned to their parents. 

An interesting film. You can’t help but feel sympathy for the parents who were accused of exploiting the girls, so they were removed from them and actually exploited for years. The girls were eventually returned, but as the film’s final minutes hint, the damage had already been done.  

   

In The Dionne Years: A Thirties Melodrama by Pierre Berton (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, 1978) at page 11 we are told that “[o]n May 28, 1934, between the hours of three and six in the morning, there were born ….. five identical girl babies” .Date is also given in film at 3:55.

Director - Christian Duguay

Producer - Bernard Zukerman

Screenplay - Suzette Couture, Stuart Foxman and John Nihmey

Released - November 20, 1994

Runtime - 180 minutes

Starring -

Beau Bridges as Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe

Roy Dupuis as   Oliva Dionne

Céline Bonnier as   Elzire Dionne

Sean McCann as Premier Mitch Hepburn

Ginette Reno as  Madame Legros

Domini Blythe as Nurse Lena de Keyzer

Kate Nelligan as Helena Reid

Watch Million Dollar Babies

May 27 - Operation Daybreak

Hello. Here is today's movie and appropriately for this Memorial Day, it's a movie about true heroes. I hope you like it and watch it tonight. 

OPERATION DAYBREAK

Three Czechs serving in the British Army during World War II, Sergeant Jozef Gabčík,  Sergeant Karel Čurda and Sergeant Jan Kubiš,  are recruited to return to their homeland and assassinate Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi ruler of the occupied Czech territories of Bohemia and Moravia. They parachute into the country. Curda goes to visit his wife, but the three  are successful in making contact with Czech resistance members. They eventually develop a plan to kill Heydrich. However, on May 27, 1942 [54:25 to 1:05:03] when Gabcik steps into the street to shoot Heydrich in his car, Gabcik’s gun jams and won’t fire. He has to run as Heydrich’s driver chases after him. However this allowed Kubis to toss a grenade into the car. Heydrich appeared to be only slightly injured, but the grenade forced shrapnel and bits of the horsehair seat covers into his blood system and he died eight days later. In  revenge the Nazis destroyed the Czech village of Lidice and killed thousands of others. Curda betrayed the others to the Nazis for the reward. They are trapped in the basement of a church and after a gun battle with the Germans,  the survivors kill themselves to prevent capture. Curda was later executed for treason.

An interesting film. Notable for being shot on location in Prague at the height of the Cold War. The film implies that Curda turned traitor to protect his family, but history seems to indicate he did it for the reward.  By the way there is a museum dedicated to the team in the church where they died.

The Killing of SS Obergruppenfuher Reinhard Heydrich by Collum MacDonald (The Free Press, New York, 1989) at page 169 gives the date of the attack

Director - Lewis Gilbert

Producer - Carter DeHaven

 Screenplay - Ronald Harwood

Released -   February 29, 1976

Runtime -  1 hour 58 minutes

Starring –

Timothy Bottoms as Sergeant Jan Kubiš

Martin Shaw as Sergeant Karel Čurda

Joss Ackland as Janák

Nicola Pagett as Anna Malinová

Anthony Andrews as Sergeant Jozef Gabčík

Anton Diffring as Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich

Carl Duering as Karl Frank, acting Reichsprotektor

Cyril Shaps as Father Petrek

Diana Coupland as Aunt Marie Moravcová

Ronald Radd as Karel Moravec

Kim Fortune as Ata Moravec

Ray Smith as Hájek

George Sewell as Heinz Panwitz, Chief Investigator

Reinhard Kolldehoff as Fleischer, Gestapo

Kika Markham as Čurda's Wife

Philip Madoc as Heydrich's interpreter

Nigel Stock  as General Cyril Cross  

Vernon Dobtcheff as Pyotr

Frank Gatliff as Surgeon

Pavla Matejovska as Jindriska

May 26 - 13 Going on 30

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you like it and watch it tonight. 

13 GOING ON 30

Jenna Rink is an “uncool” girl having her 13^th birthday on May 26, 1987. [1:46 to 12:49] Jenna wants to look like the models in Poise magazine. She gets the cool ‘six chick’ group to come to her party by agreeing to do a school assignment for them. Her nerdy, overweight friend Matt comes to the party and gives her a doll ‘dream house’ that he built for her and sprinkles ‘wishing dust’ on it. The six chicks show up at the party with some boys, including the hunk Chris Grandy, who  Jenna has a crush on. They play ‘Seven minutes in heaven’, but everyone except Matt  leaves while Jenna is in the closet. She is embarrassed by this and sits in the closet and knocks some of the ‘wishing dust’ off the doll house onto her as she wishes to be “thirty, flirty and thriving’. The next thing she knows, she wakes up in her New York apartment and she’s thirty. Her best friend Lucy (who’s later revealed to have been ‘Tom-Tom’ the leader of the chick six) drives her to their jobs, as editors at Poise magazine. Jenna learns Poise has been scooped by their rival Sparkle for the last seven months.  She finds Matt and learns they’ve been estranged since high school.  Poise’s promotional party is crashing until Jenna revives it with 80’s tunes that get everyone dancing.  Jenna has to learn how to do her job and finds out that Matt is engaged, while she has a full time boyfriend, who she does not like. She gets close to a young girl in her apartment building and her friends. Jenna learns she had been having an affair with a married man and that Lucy is putting together her own idea for a redesign of the magazine. Jenna realizes that she hates her life. She goes back home and reconnects with her parents. She hires Matt to  help her with her redesign project. The magazine’s senior editor, Richard likes her redesign idea. Then everything crashes. Poise is to be shut down because her photos from the redesign plan ended up in Sparkle. Lucy learned that Jenna was the one who had been feeding stuff to Sparkle. Lucy used this knowledge to con Matt into signing the rights to the redesign photos over to her and she takes them to Sparkle as its new editor.  Jenna meets Chris Grandy, who’s now a cabbie and goes to Matt’s house on his wedding day. He admits he loves her, but can’t change the past. He gives her the dream doll house. Some of the ‘wishing dust’ falls on her as she wishes to be 13 again.   Jenna is back in the closet. She charges out and kisses Matt and tosses the six chicks. We jump ahead to Jenna and Matt’s wedding.

This is a funny female version of Big. Jennifer Garner does a fantastic job of portraying a 13 year old in a grown up world. Her out of touch behavior help make this a very funny movie.    

Date given in film at 5:10 on video

Director - Gary Winick

Producer - Susan Arnold, Donna Arkoff Roth and Gina Matthews

Starring –

Jennifer Garner as Jenna Rink

Christa B. Allen as Young Jenna

Mark Ruffalo as Matt "Matty" Flamhaff

Sean Marquette as Young Matt

Judy Greer as Lucy "Tom-Tom" Wyman

Alexandra Kyle as Young Lucy

Andy Serkis as Richard Kneeland

Kathy Baker as Beverly Rink

Phil Reeves as Wayne Rink

Lynn Collins as Wendy

Samuel Ball as Alex Carlson

Marcia DeBonis as Arlene

Kiersten Warren as Trish Sackett

Ashley Benson as Six Chick

Brie Larson as Six Chick

Brittany Curran as Six Chick

Renee Olstead as Becky

Kayla Hickson as Mindy

Nick Olig as Himself

Steven Strozza as Himself

Screenplay - Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa and  Niels Mueller

Released – April 23, 2004

Runtime – 1 hour 37 minutes

Watch 13 Going On 30 trailer

May 25 - Thunderball

Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

THUNDERBALL

British MI6 agent James Bond attends the funeral of SPECTRE agent Col. Bouvar and becomes suspicious of a woman at the funeral. Bond follows her back to her chateau, where it’s revealed the woman is actually Bouvar. Bond kills Bouvar and escapes on a jetpak. We see a meeting of SPECTRE, where their NATO project is mentioned. Count Lippe, a Spectre Agent and Bond happen to be staying at the same spa.  Bond searches Lippe’s room and an attempt is made to kill him. Major Deval meets his double and is killed. The double, a SPECTREE agent takes his place on a British nuclear bomber. He kills the crew and hijacks the plane. Back at the spa Bond sees the dead body of Major Deval  which was brought there by Lippe. Deval’s double lands the land in the ocean and it is hidden underwater. The bombs are removed. There is a meeting of all oo agents because SPECTRE has sent a ransom demand for $280 million or it will set off a bomb in a city. Bond is sent to Nassau as a photo of Derval was taken there. He meets Dervals’s sister, Domino and later her guardian and SPECTRE agent, Largo. On May 25, 1965 Q arrives in Nassau and equips Bond. [54:10 to 1:09:02] Bond searches both Largo’s yacht and compound looking for the bombs, but can’t find them. Later, with Domino’s help he sneaks on board Largo’s yacht, which is taking the bombs to Miami. After an epic underwater fight the bombs are secured and Largo and his henchmen killed.    

This installment of the Bond series is not the best. The plot is good, but the underwater ‘action’ sequences get dull after a while. When Bond and his foes are on dry land however, there’s plenty of action to go around.

In the film at 1:01:48 SPECTRE’s ransom tape says the diamonds are to be dropped at 8 p.m. GMT May 27. Leiter says while Q is there that it is 55 hours until that time, at 1:02:45 meaning its 3 p.m. on the 25^th in the Bahamas.

Director - Terence Young

Producer - Kevin McClory

Starring –

Sean Connery as James Bond (007)

Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo

Claudine Auger as Dominique "Domino" Derval

Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe

Rik Van Nutter as Felix Leiter

Bernard Lee as M

Guy Doleman as Count Lippe

Martine Beswick as Paula Caplan

Molly Peters as Patricia Fearing

Earl Cameron as Pinder

Paul Stassino as François Derval and Angelo Palazzi

Desmond Llewelyn as Q

Roland Culver as the Foreign Secretary

Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny

Philip Locke as Vargas: Largo's personal henchman

George Pravda as Ladislav Kutze

Michael Brennan as Janni.

Bill Cummings as Quist

André Maranne as SPECTRE #10.

Screenplay - Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins

Awards – The film won the Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects.

Released – December 9, 1965

Runtime – 2 hours  10 minutes

Watch Thunderball trailer

May 24 - In Which We Serve

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

IN WHICH WE SERVE

The opening shows show H.M.S. Torrin, a destroyer being built and commissioned into the Royal Navy. We then jump to the waters off Crete during World War II, where the Torrin is attacking a German troopship convoy at night. The next morning, May 24, 1941[8:35 to 14:14, 20:33 to 23:23; 31:00 to 31:38; 41:35 to 44:27; 1:12:02 to 1:13:06 and 1:38:16 to 1:44:15] the ship is attacked by Stuka dive bombers and is hit and sunk. In the water, the captain thinks back to commissioning day and his home leave to visit with his wife and two young kids. Back in the water, the captain gathers survivors together on a life raft, as they are strafed by the Germans.  Chief Petty Officer Hardy thinks back to the day he left his wife and mother for the ship’s commissioning.  The crew works day and night for three days to get the ship ready for sea as war appears to be imminent. War is declared on Germany. The Torrin does not go into combat at once and they celebrate Christmas, 1939 at home. The captain’s wife gives a rousing speech about the life of a navy wife. After being wounded in another strafing run Seaman Shorty Blake thinks back to how he met his future wife, Freda, who turns out to be a relation of CPO Hardy,  on a train trip.  On the way to their honeymoon, the meet the Captain and his wife, who by chance are traveling on the same train. Mrs. Blake moves in with CPO Hardy’s wife and mother in Plymouth. After his return Blake and the Torrin are sent to the waters off Norway, where they engage in a naval battle. One sailor is terrified and leaves his gun post. The ship is torpedoed and 36 men are killed. They are towed back to port, suffering attack from German aircraft the entire way.   The captain only gives the crewman who left his post a caution, instead of a court-martial. The Torrin is sent to help with the Dunkirk evacuation. The crew gets leave after this, but German aircraft start bombing England. We see an  air raid on Plymouth and CPO Hardy’s house is hit. CPO Hardy’s wife and mother are killed, but  Freda Blake lives and gives birth to a baby boy. Seaman Blake gets a letter informing him of these facts and he has to give CPO Hardy the bad news. The survivors of the sinking, including the captain, CPO Hardy and Shorty Blake are picked up by another destroyer. The captain tells the survivors of the crew that he is proud of them. 

More of a melodrama and a propaganda film than a war movie. Still it doesn’t get too maudlin and the action sequences are very well done. Noel Coward gives a surprisingly good, very underplayed performance as the Captain.

The date of May 23^rd 1941 is given in the film at 5:55 for the first day. So the next day when the Torrin is sunk, must be May 24^th.

Producer  - Noël Coward

Director - Noël Coward and David Lean

Screenplay - Noël Coward

Awards - Nominated for the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscars.

Released -  September 17,  1942

Runtime - 1 hour 55 minutes

Starring -

Noël Coward as Captain E.V. Kinross

Bernard Miles as Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardy

John Mills as Ordinary Seaman Shorty Blake

Celia Johnson as Alix Kinross

Michael Wilding  as Flags

Leslie Dwyer as Parkinson

James Donald as Doc

Richard Attenborough as Young Stoker

Joyce Carey as Kath Hardy

Kay Walsh as Freda Lewis

Kathleen Harrison as Mrs. Blake

Daniel Massey  as Bobby Kinross

 watch "In Which We Serve"

May 23 - Cloverfield

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

Cloverfield trailer

CLOVERFIELD

The movie begins with an indication that it was taken from a camera found in an area formerly called “Central Park”. The first segment shows Rob waking up Beth after they have spent the night together and they go to Coney Island. Suddenly there is a film of a party. Rob’s brother Jason and his girlfriend Lily are giving one to say goodbye to Rob, who is moving to Japan. Their friend Hud does the filming.  Beth leaves the party. Shortly after midnight on May 23, 2009 [15:31 to 1:13:07] an apparent earthquake hits New York, causing a brief power outage. TV reports an oil tanker has capsized in the harbor. The partygoers  climb to the roof to try and find out what is going on, but there is a distant explosion that sends shrapnel flying their way. Rob, Jason, Hud, Lilly and Marlena leave the building and see the severed head of the Statute of Liberty lying in the street. Hud films what looks like a monstrous arm several blocks away and the Woolworth Building collapses. The group heads towards the Brooklyn Bridge to get off of Manhattan, but a creature with tentacles attacks the bridge, and they barely escape with their lives, except for Jason, who is killed. TV shows  the army attacking the creature, which sheds smaller beasts that attack people. Rob finds a working phone and listens to his messages. One is from Beth telling him she is trapped in her wrecked apartment building. The group travels to rescue her, going down into the subways where they are attacked by the smaller creatures and Marlena is bitten. They leave the subways and find an army command center/hospital. Marlena dies. They learn the last helicopter will leave the island at 6 am, before action is taken to destroy the creature. They rescue Beth. At the evacuation center Lilly is put on one helicopter and Rob, Hud and Beth are placed on another one. They witness a B-2 bomber attack the creature, which lashes out, causing their helicopter to crash in Central Park.  They get out of the wreckage, but the monster kills Hud. Beth and Rob hide underneath a bridge. Then bombing starts and the camera (and presumably Rob and Beth) is buried. We then switch back to a brief segment of the Coney Island trip.  

An unusual docudrama style monster movie. It starts out like a young adult drama , but then suddenly morphs into a terrifying monster flick. There are some plot issues. I don’t think the armed forces could get into position and be attacking within just a couple of hours/. 

Date given in film at 1:11:41-42. At 15:34 a clock shows it’s about 12:10 a.m.

Producer - J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk

Director - Matt Reeves

Screenplay - Drew Goddard

Released – January 18, 2008

Runtime -  1 hour 25 minutes

Staring –

Michael Stahl-David as Robert "Rob" Hawkins

T. J. Miller as Hudson "Hud" Platt

Odette Yustman as Elizabeth "Beth" MacIntyre

Jessica Lucas as Lily Ford

Lizzy Caplan as Marlena Diamond

Mike Vogel as Jason Hawkins

Ben Feldman as Travis

Billy Brown as Staff Sgt. Pryce

May 22 - The Late Shift

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

THE LATE SHIFT

We see David Letterman’s press conference when he signs on with CBS. We then flashback three years. CBS wants to emulate the success and profitability of the Tonight Show.  Letterman feels that NBC gives him no respect, with Leno as Carson’s permanent guest host. Letterman really wants to host the Tonight Show. CBS meets with Leno’s agent, Helen Kushnick. Then there is a change at the top at NBC and the network makes a deal with Leno to become the host when Carson leaves. Carson announces his retirement. When NBC says Leno will replace Carson, Letterman says he wants out of his contract. Letterman hires Michael Ovitz as his agent. On May 22, 1992 Carson hosts the Tonight Show for the last time. [37:40 to 41:03] Other networks pitch to Letterman. Leno’s tenure gets off to a rocky start as Kushnick starts bullying guests and their agents as well as canceling the show when it looks like it might start late due to coverage of the Republican National Convention. NBC tells Leno either she goes or he goes. After a bitter public fight, Leno dumps her.  CBS offers Letterman $12.5 million a year, with a $50 million penalty if they don’t give him a show at 11:30. NBC can match this offer, but since they’ve given the Tonight Show to Leno, if they match they’ll have to pay Letterman the $50 million. The president of NBC tries to make a deal with Letterman, but Letterman says he wants the Tonight Show or nothing.  Leno eavesdrops on an NBC executive meeting about the late night schedule.  NBC offers Letterman a deal to give him the Tonight Show in 18 months. Letterman calls Johnny Carson who says he would walk from that deal, so Letterman does. He signs with CBS.   

A good film about an entertainment controversy. This movie shows the seamy underside of television. Even though you know how it comes out this film still manages to make the story interesting enough so you want to keep watching.

Stay Tuned: Television’s Unforgettable Moments by Joe Garner (Andrew McNeal Publishing, Kansas City, 2002) at page 48 gives the date of the broadcast

Producer - Ivan Reitman and Don Carmody

Director - Betty Thomas

Screenplay - George Armitage and Bill Carter

Awards – The film was nominated for the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Casting for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Individual Achievement in             Writing for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Made for Television Movie, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special(Williams), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special (Bates) Emmys,  but did not win any of these awards.

Released - February 24, 1996

Runtime – 1 hour 35 minutes

Starring –

Kathy Bates as Helen Kushnick

John Michael Higgins as David Letterman

Daniel Roebuck as Jay Leno

Bob Balaban as Warren Littlefield

Ed Begley, Jr. as Rod Perth

Peter Jurasik as Howard Stringer

Reni Santoni as John Agoglia

John Kapelos as Robert Morton

Steven Gilborn as Peter Lassally

John Getz as Brandon Tartikoff

Lawrence Pressman as Bob Wright

Sandra Bernhard as Herself

Treat Williams as Michael Ovitz

Paul Elder as Rupert Murdoch

Michael Fairman as Michael Gartner

Ken Kragen as Himself

Aaron Lustig as Paul Shaffer

Kevin Scannell as Dick Ebersol

Edmund L. Shaff as Jack Welch

Rich Little as Johnny Carson

Little Richard as Himself

The Late Show trailer

May 21 - Charles II: The Power and the Passion

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

CHARLES II: THE POWER AND THE PASSION

Charles Stuart, living in exile has a nightmare about the execution of his father, King Charles I of England.             His friend, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham wants him to compromise with Cromwell to regain the throne while his mother wants him to become a Catholic so France will put him back on the throne. He meets and begins an affair with the married Lady Barbara Villiers(Lady Castlemaine). News is received that Oliver Cromwell has died. General Monck takes power and offers the throne to Charles. He accepts and returns to England and is crowned king. He resists attempts by parliament to control him. Many of those who killed Charles I are executed.  There is a row when Lay Castlemaine bears the King a son and he does not instantly acknowledge him. Even though some of his advisors oppose the marriage, Charles weds Catherine of Braganza on May 21, 1662[32:22 to 37:33], but spends most of the wedding night with Lady Castlemaine. His brother Henry dies. Some of his advisors promote a war with Holland in order to make the crown rich. The Queen is angry when Charles appoints Lady Castlemaine to her household and his brother James is upset when Charles refuses to let him divorce his wife. When Charles throws her over,  Lady Castlemaine seduces Charles’ illegitimate son James Scott. Parliament insists on a Test Act to exclude Catholics from government office. The queen miscarries and the plague strikes London.  Lady Castlemaine tries to find proof that Charles was married to James Scott’s mother, Lucy Walter. Charles’s brother James converts to Catholicism. Catherine offers to let Charles have an annulment, but he declines.   Lady Castlemaine’s efforts to promote Lady Francis Stewart end when Lady Stewart elopes with the Duke of Richmond. The English navy suffers a series of defeats by the Dutch. Even though Sir Edward Hyde opposed the Dutch war, he gets blamed for these reverses.  Charles again refuses to end his marriage to Catherine or to make James Scott his heir. The great fire of London breaks out, destroying much of the city. The King’ s mother dies in France. Charles acquires a new mistress in Nell Gwynn. Lady Castlemaine tries to get the King to acknowledge her youngest child, but he refuses. Charles discovers John Churchill in bed with Lady Castlemaine and the king finally ends it with her. Charles’s sister  Henrietta comes with an offer from King Louis XIV of France, her brother-in-law. He will pay Charles money to join a new war against Holland. Charles also proposes to become Catholic in return for further sums. Henrietta dies. Charles takes a new mistress, Louise de Kerouaille, one of his sister’s ladies in waiting. The King’s brother James marries Mary of Modena, a Catholic. In anger Parliament forces all Catholic ministers out of office. Titus Oates falsely suggested that there was a Catholic plot to kill the King, involving the Queen’s household, leading to rioting. Parliament proposes a bill to exclude Charles’s brother James from the throne. Charles has to arrest his treasurer, Lord Danby to save him from impeachment, when Charles’s secret treaty with France came to light. Charles allows Lord Stafford to be executed for treason. James Scott is exiled. Charles has a stroke and dies, just after converting to Catholicism.

If you think politicians today have poor morals, just watch this film. Today’s leaders just continue a long line of greed and self-interest that has existed for centuries. This film does have excellent costumes and make-up.

The Life and Times of Charles II by Christopher Folkus (Abbeville Press, New York, 1992) at page 90 gives the date of the wedding

Producer - Kate Harwood

Director - Joe Wright

Screenplay - Adrian Hodges

Awards - Nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a
                  Special (Dramatic Underscore) Emmy.

Released -  March  21, 2004

Runtime - 3 hours 55 minutes

Starring -

Rufus Sewell as Charles II of England

Rupert Graves as George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

Helen McCrory as Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine

Christian Coulson as James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

Ian McDiarmid as Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Shirley Henderson as Catherine of Braganza

Martin Freeman as Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury

Charlie Creed-Miles as James, Duke of York

Anne-Marie Duff as Henrietta Anne of England

Shaun Dingwall as The Earl of Danby

Emma Pierson as Nell Gwynn

David Bradley as Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey

Diana Rigg as Queen Henrietta Maria

Alice Patten as Lady Frances Stewart

Garry Cooper as General Monck

Thierry Perkins-Lyautey as Louis XIV of France

Cyrille Thouvenin as Philippe I, Duke of Orléans

Martin Turner as Charles I of England

Sean Biggerstaff as Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester

Predrag Bjelac as Portuguese Courtier

Robert East  as The Earl of Arlington

Dorian Lough as Clifford

Eddie Marsan as Titus Oates

Ryan Nelson as Young Monmouth

Jochum ten Haaf as William of Orange

Mélanie Thierry as Louise de Kérouaille

Simon Treves as Member of Parliament

Peter Wight  as The Duke of Ormonde

Andrew Woodall as Earl of Essex

Simon Woods as Captain John Churchill

May 20 - The House on Garibaldi Street

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you like it and watch it tonight. 

THE HOUSE ON GARIBALDI STREET

Israeli premier David Ben-Gurion approves a Mossad operation to be led by Isser Harel to kidnap Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi mass murderer in Argentina. Harel and his team travel to Argentina to track down Ricardo Klement, who it has been suggested is Eichmann. Unfortunately, Klement had moved two months before. Primo, one of their local contacts goes to Klement’s former residence and gets a lead to Dieter, one of Eichmann’s sons.  They arrange for a hotel bellboy to deliver a parcel to Dieter, addressed to another son Nicholas. The Mossad trails Dieter, but he goes to the dentist and not his house. Michael, the agent in charge sends the bellboy back to the Klement’s old address and he learns their new address. Harel learns that Israel has been invited to send a delegation to Argentina’s 150^th  celebration of its independence, so a special flight can be sent, on which Eichmann can be smuggled out of the country. The Mossad finally spots Eichmann. Harel flies to Argentina to take over the operation.  The Mossad rents three houses near Buenos Aires. The Mossad snatches Eichmann off the streets and take him to a safe house. Dieter Eichmann contacts other local Nazis for help in recovering his father. The Israeli agents watching Eichmann are conflicted as they want to kill him instead of taking him back for trial. The Israeli special plane arrives. Meanwhile Michael interrogates Eichmann about the Holocaust. Michael thinks they are on the verge of being caught by the police and that they should kill Eichmann while they can. They disguise Eichmann as an  Israeli mechanic injured in an accident.   A policeman in the pay of the Nazis tries to stop the takeoff, but they convince the airport officials to let the flight take off on May 20, 1960 [1:26:55 to 1:36:34] The plane returns to Israel, where Eichmann was tried , found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed.

An interesting film. However, for some reason as often happens in adaptations of books major plot points were altered, for no good reason that I can see. The book is a page turner and has a high suspense level. I see no reason a straight adaptation could not have been done.

Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World’s Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, 2009) at page 288  and the film at 1:27:00 give the date of departure

Director - Peter Collinson

Producer - Mort Abrahams

Screenplay - Steve Shagan and Isser Harel

Released   -  May 28, 1979

Runtime- 1 hour 38 minutes

Starring -

Topol   as  Michael

Nick Mancuso as Ari

Janet Suzman as Hedda

Martin Balsam as Isser Harel

Leo McKern as David Ben-Gurion

Charles Gray  as Gen. Lischke

Derren Nesbitt as Arthur Lubinsky

Alfred Burke as Adolf Eichmann

John Bennett  as Aaron Lazar

John Cater as Doctor

Edward Judd as Meged

Wolf Kahler as Real Estate Agent

Alberto de Mendoza as Primo

Simon Shepherd as Nickalous Eichmann

Gareth Hunt as Kedem

Antonio Canal as Cordero

Jeff Waters as  Co-Pilot

Watch The House on Garibaldi Street

May 19 - Matewan

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

MATEWAN

In Mingo County, West Virginia in 1920 after the Stone Mountain Coal company reduces wages and raises prices in the company store in the same week, the miners vote to form a union and go on strike. The company brings in African-Americans and recent immigrants to work as scabs, relying on racism and xenophobia to divide the miners.  Joe Kenehan, a union organizer arrives in Matewan and stays at the boarding house of widow Elma Radnor and her son Danny, a miner and preacher. Kenehan meets with the local union at the restaurant of C.E. Lively. During the meeting the unofficial leader of the African –Americans, "Few Clothes" Johnson comes to the meeting and Kenehan says to succeed the union must accept African-Americans and immigrants as members so there will be no one left to work in the mines. Mrs. Radnor is forced to allow two hired thugs of the company from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to stay in the boardinghouse. When they try to illegally evict a mining family from company housing, the town marshall, Sid Hatfield stops them after deputizing the miners.  Kenehan and the local union leader Sephus eventually persuade the African-Americans and immigrants join the strike. The miners are forced to live in tents, but when Baldwin-Felts men try to pressure them, some hill people drive them off. The company tries to ‘buy’ Sid Hatfield and the mayor,  Cabell Testerman, but fail. There is a nighttime shootout with the Baldwin-Felts men. Sephus is wounded and taken in by some hill people, but he sees that Lively is actually a company spy. Lively convinces a young widow Bridey Mae Tolliver, that  Kenehan, instead of responding positively to a love letter she addressed to him, has been saying derogatory things about her. She tells a story that Kenehan raped her and Livley produces a fake letter from Baldwin-Felts to Kenehan that says Joe is the spy. The miners draw straws to decide who will kill Kenehan. Danny overhears this plot, but the Baldwin-Felts men threaten him into staying silent. However, at a prayer meeting that night Danny tells the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, but alters it sufficiently to alert the miners present (but not the Baldwin-Felts men) that Kenehan is innocent and his murder is called off. Sephus returns and Lively’s restaurant is burned down and he flees town. While Danny and another miner Hillard are stealing coal, Hillard is caught. After being threatened with death Hillard gives the names of five other union men (which turn out to be the names of men who died in a coal accident years ago), he is killed anyway, while Danny watches. On May 19, 1920 [2:01:00 to 2:07:36] more Baldwin-Felts  men arrive to complete the evictions and Sid Hatfield and the mayor stand in their way. Kenehan tries to stop it but a gun fight begins with the miners assisting Hatfield. The mayor and Kenehan are killed as well as seven of the Baldwin-Felts men.      

This is a very interesting little movie about a forgotten episode in American history. Shines a spotlight on a two American heroes, Sid Hatfield and Cabell Testerman, who refused to be bought and stood up to the big money for the little man. Everybody who works should watch this movie. Corporate America has only changed its methods, not its goals since the time of Matewan.

West Virginia by John A. Williams (W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 1976) at page 147 gives the date of the “battle”

Director - John Sayles

Producer - Peggy Rajski and Maggie Renzi

Screenplay - John Sayles

Released - August 28, 1987

Runtime – 1 hour 12 minutes

Starring –

Chris Cooper as Joe Kenehan

James Earl Jones as "Few Clothes" Johnson

Mary McDonnell as Elma Radnor

Will Oldham as Danny Radnor

David Strathairn as Police Chief Sid Hatfield

Ken Jenkins as Sephus Purcell

Gordon Clapp as Griggs

Kevin Tighe as Hickey

John Sayles as Hardshell Preacher

Bob Gunton as C.E. Lively

Josh Mostel as Mayor Cabell Testerman

Nancy Mette as Bridey Mae Tolliver

Jace Alexander as Hillard Elkins

Joe Grifasi as Fausto

Maggie Renzi as Rosaria

Jo Henderson as Mrs. Elkins

Gary McCleery as Ludi

Watch Matewan trailer

May 18- St. Helens

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

ST. HELENS

      

After 123 years, volcanic activity starts at Mount St. Helens, causing a disruption in the Earth’s magnetic field that causes a flock of quail to collide with a  helicopter, almost causing it to crash. David Jackson is sent by the USGS to investigate. Harry Truman is the crotchety owner of Spirit Lake lodge located near the mountain. Jackson meets and falls in love with Linda, a waitress at a local restaurant. Some locals are upset that Jackson is saying Mount St. Helens might be active as they are afraid it will cause economic loss.  Jackson sets up instruments to monitor the mountain. When a smoke plume goes up the head of the USGS comes to the mountain, but he downplays the seriousness of the situation.  Tourists come to see the volcano as it continues to vent, while the sheriff tries to get and keep people out of the danger zone. The townspeople talk the governor into allowing access to the town again. Jackson flies into the crater in a helicopter and gets what he thinks is positive proof that an eruption is on the way. An evacuation is ordered. On May 18, 1980, Jackson is on the mountain to monitor equipment when the mountain erupts killing him and many others, including Harry Truman,  who stupidly decided to stay in the area. [1:22:04 to 1:30:53]

A tolerable melodrama. The acting is good, although certainly not Oscar quality. It is good enough to keep you interested.

Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes by Alexander Gates and David Ritchie (Checkmark Books, New York, 2007) p. 223

Producer - Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer

Director - Ernest Pintoff

Screenplay  - Peter Bellwood, Larry Ferguson, Michael Timothy Murphy and Larry

                       Sturholm

Released -  September, 1981

Runtime – 1 hour 30 min

Starring -

Art Carney as Harry Truman

David Huffman as David A. Johnston

Cassie Yates as Linda Steele

Albert Salmi as  Clyde Whittaker

Ron O'Neal as  Otis Kaylor

Tim Thomerson as  Sheriff Wayne Temple

Bill McKinney as  Kilpatrick

Nehemiah Persoff as  Mr. Ellison

Brendan Burns as  David Crockett

Henry Darrow as  Lloyd Wagner

May 17 - King Solomon's Mines (1950)

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight.

KING SOLOMON’S MINES

White hunter Alan Quartermain has become disillusioned with his job. When John Goode asks him to help his sister Elizabeth, look for her lost husband Henry Curtis he initially refuses, until she offers Quartermain enough money to provide for his young son in England should he be killed. Henry Curtis was looking for the legendary lost mines of King Solomon and they have a copy of his map. The safari begins, even though Quartermain is still very skeptical about taking a woman along. They reach a native village where they learn Curtis passed through. They encounter the usual African dangers, including surviving a stampede caused by a wildfire. The group encounters a tall African named Umbopa who asks to accompany them on their expedition. All their bearers run away except for Khiva. They arrive at a village where they find a white man who calls himself Smith. He is really Van Brun, who is wanted for murder and fled to the jungle to avoid arrest. He remembers Curtis and his bearer passing through, but just the bearer returned, only to die a few hours later. The tribe are cannibals and they have to take Van Brun hostage to escape. Van Brun tries to escape, killing Khiva and is killed by Quartermain. The quartet reach the desert shown on Curtis’s map. They almost die of thirst, but on May 17, 1897 they reach the waterhole shown on the map. [1:17:26 to 1:18:23]  This enables them to press on into the mountains on the other side of the desert. Here they find a fertile valley and evidence that Curtis reached this far. They also learn that Umbopa is a prince of the Tutsi tribe that lives there and he is returning to claim his throne from  his cousin Twala who usurped the throne. The three whites have a tense meeting with Twala. Twala supporter Gagool speaks of Curtis and leads them to a diamond rich cave where they find Curtis’s skeleton. Gagool triggers a booby trap, sealing the three Europeans inside.  They escape to find Umbopa and Twala about to fight to the death for the throne. Umbopa wins and gives them enough bearers and supplies to return to civilization.

This is a passable adventure film, based on a classic novel of the genre. The film seems a little dated today with its misogynistic tinge and racist undertones. If can put this to one side and just enjoy, it is a good film. The cinematography is fantastic, as it was one of the first films set in Africa to actually be filmed there., and not in a studio. 

In the book King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard (Magnum Books, New York, 1968) at page 83 they reach a waterhole and spend the rest of the day beside it and when they leave it “that night we covered nearly…” (May 17/18) [page 84], they rest the next day and “at the approach of evening…” set off again (May 18/19), [page 84] the next day they find melons and “That night …” (May19/20), set out again [page 86] they continue climbing and “that night we ate our last morsel… “(May20/21). [page 87] immediately after this the date 21^st May is given on page 87.  In the movie at 2:47 the year is given as 1897. 

Producer - Sam Zimbalist

Director  - Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton

Screenplay - Helen Deutsch

Awards – The film won the Best Color Cinematography and Best Film Editing Oscars. It

                 was also nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. 

Released – November 24, 1950

Runtime – 1 hour 43 minutes

Starring –

Deborah Kerr as Elizabeth Curtis 

Stewart Granger as Allan Quatermain 

Richard Carlson as John Goode 

Hugo Haas as Van Brun a.k.a. Smith 

Lowell Gilmore as Eric Masters, District Commissioner 

Kimursi as Khiva  

Siriaque as Umbopa 

Sekaryongo as Chief Gagool 

Baziga as King Twala

Watch King Solomon's Mines trailer

May 16 - The Dam Busters

Hello: Here is today's movie. I hope you like it and watch it tonight. 

THE DAM BUSTERS

During World War II, Barnes Wallis comes up with an idea on how to destroy three dams in Germany that supply the water and power for the Ruhr, a major industrial area. His idea is to drop a spinning bomb so it will bounce over anti-torpedo netting and explode right next to the dam, causing a breach. Even though his prototype bomb works, he can’t get the project going until he gets the support of Arthur Harris the head of bomber command. A special squadron is formed and they practice low level flying over water, as the bomb will have to be dropped from a very low altitude. The first full scale trial fails. Gibson gets an idea from the spotlights at a London show to use spotlights on the water to establish their altitude, as they are flying so low the normal altimeter won’t work. After the second trial also fails, Barnes realizes the bomb will have to be dropped from a mere 60 feet. The third trial works. A simple bombsight is developed and tested. The men of the squadron get into a fight with men from another squadron who had insulted them saying that all they do is train. On May 16, 1943 the planes take off for Germany.  The regimental mascot is run over by a car. At least two bombers are shot down en route to the dams. [1:04:22 to 1:33:48]  After several bomb explosions which do no significant damage they successfully breach the first dam. With only three planes they also successfully breach the second dam.   Almost 40% of the squadron doesn’t come back.

A very interesting film about a very unusual bombing mission. Fascinating in that it shows how the bomb was developed and tested. The sequences showing the raid are very suspenseful and influenced the destruction of the death star sequence in Star Wars. There has been talk of a re-make of this film, but it hasn't materialized yet. 

The Strategic Bombing of Germany by Alan J. Levine (Praeger, London, 1992) at page 56 gives the date of the raid

Director  - Michael Anderson

Screenplay - R. C. Sherriff

Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Special Effects Oscar.

Released - May 24, 1955

Runtime – 2 hours 4 minutes 

Starring –

Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson

Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis

Ursula Jeans as Mrs Molly Wallis

Basil Sydney as Sir Arthur Harris

Patrick Barr as Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers

Ernest Clark as Air Vice-Marshal The Honourable Ralph Cochrane

Derek Farr as Group Captain John Whitworth

Charles Carson as Doctor

Stanley Van Beers as David Pye

Colin Tapley as Dr William Glanville

Frederick Leister as Committee Member

Eric Messiter as Committee Member

Laidman Browne as Committee Member

Raymond Huntley as National Physical Laboratory Official

Hugh Manning as Ministry of Aircraft Production Official

Edwin Styles as Observer at Trials

Hugh Moxey as Observer at Trials

Anthony Shaw as RAF Officer at Trials

Laurence Naismith as Farmer

Harold Siddons as Group Signals Officer

Frank Phillips as BBC Announcer

Brewster Mason as Flight Lieutenant Richard Trevor-Roper

Anthony Doonan as Flight Lieutenant Robert Hutchison

Nigel Stock as Flying Officer Frederick Spafford

Brian Nissen as Flight Lieutenant Torger Taerum

Robert Shaw as Flight Sergeant John Pulford

Peter Assinder as Pilot Officer Andrew Deering

Richard Leech as Squadron Leader Melvin "Dinghy" Young

Richard Thorp as Squadron Leader Henry Maudslay

John Fraser as Flight Lieutenant John Hopgood

David Morrell  as Flight Lieutenant Bill Astell

Bill Kerr as Flight Lieutenant H. B. "Micky" Martin

George Baker as Flight Lieutenant David Maltby

Ronald Wilson as Flight Lieutenant Dave Shannon

Denys Graham as Flying Officer Les Knight

Basil Appleby as Flight Lieutenant Bob Hay

Tim Turner as Flight Lieutenant Jack Leggo

Ewen Solon as Flight Sergeant G. E. Powell, crew chief

Harold Goodwin as Gibson's Batman

Watch The Dam Busters trailer

May 15- Cast a Giant Shadow

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you like it and watch it tonight. 

CAST A GIANT SHADOW

At Christmastime 1947 the Haganah underground group approaches the Jewish Mickey Marcus, former American military lawyer to assist the future Israeli army. He finally agrees and tells his wife, who is upset, as she thinks the Israelis can’t win. She thinks back to when he served during World War II. Marcus finagles his way across the Channel into France after D-Day, without orders and is arrested by his commanding general. Back in 1947, the Pentagon says he can only go to Palestine if he goes incognito. When he arrives in Palestine, the bus he travels on is ambushed by the Arabs.  He is greeted with some suspicion by the Haganah, but after he assists in helping some illegal refugees land, he earns some respect. Marcus goes on a tour of Haganah positions and reflects back on when he helped in the liberation of Dachau concentration camp. Marcus leads a raid to destroy an illegal Arab arms dump. Marcus keeps pushing to unify the different Jewish forces into a united army. He continues observing, writes manuals for the Israeli army and runs the Arab gauntlet into Jerusalem.  His wife miscarries their child.   In Jerusalem, Mickey resists temptation from his female Haganah handler, Magdha. Marcus returns to New York for a time and thinks back to when he was awarded the OBE. He returns to Palestine with a planeload of arms. The Haganah and Palmach agree to serve under a unified command. Israel declares its independence and Marcus succumbs to a night with Maghda. The next day, May 15, 1948, Marcus, Gen. Asher and David Ben-Gurion meet  and discuss the overwhelming Arab advantage. [1:27:14 to 1:28:56] Israel is attacked on all fronts, but they fight back with everything they’ve got. Marcus leads an attack with improvised weapons that stops an Egyptian armored attack. He is recalled to help save Jerusalem and is put in charge of all forces in the area.  He helps organize an attack on Latrun, where the Arab Legion has cut off the supply line to the city.  The attack is repulsed due to overwhelming Arab strength and lack of Israeli training. Marcus proposes building a new supply road through a narrow valley. Working 24 hours a day the new road is built and the supplies start flowing again to feed Jerusalem. Marcus decides to end the affair with Maghda.  On the last night before the cease fire takes effect, Marcus is killed by an Israeli sentry because he did not know how to respond to the challenge in Hebrew.  . 

A good, if somewhat sentimentalized biopic. Marcus is presented as the American “saviour’ of Israel, which is certainly an exaggeration. The film also tacks on domestic quarrels and a love affair to what is essentially a war movie.

This scene is after the proclamation of the state of Israel, which was on May14, 1948 as per Historic Palestine, Israel and the Emerging Palestinian Autonomous Areas ed. by Laura S. Etheredge (Britanica Publishing, New York, 2011) at page 69. The next scene after this at 1:29:00 says May 16

Director = Melville Shavelson

Producer = Melville Shavelson

Screenplay = Melville Shavelson

Released = March 30,  1966

Runtime = 2 hours 26 minutes.

Starring =

Kirk Douglas as “Mickey” Marcus

Angie Dickinson as Emma Marcus

Senta Berger as Magda

Yul Brynner as Asher

Stathis Giallelis as Ram Oren

John Wayne as The General

Frank Sinatra as Vince

Gordon Jackson as McAffee

James Donald as Saphir

Watch Cast a Giant Shadow

May 14 - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Hello. Here is today's movie. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD

In 1805, The HMS Surprise under the command of Captain Jack Aubery is ordered to pursue the French privateer the Acheron and sink or capture her. The ship however is surprised by the Acheron in the fog and the Surprise’s cannonballs bounce off the Acheron’s hull. Surprise’s rudder is shot off and it is only by using rowboats to pull the ship into an impenetrable fog bank that the ship escapes. They lay low repairing the ship and tending the wounded. The captain and his friend Dr. Maturin relax by playing music together. On May 14, 1805 a crewman who happened to see the Acheron being built in Boston gets a friend to build a model of the ship which they give to the Captain. [28:05 to 30:00] The Captain dines with his officers. For a second time they are spotted by the Acheron. They stay ahead of it during the day and at night using a raft with lamps as a decoy, slip away. The Surprise is now chasing the Acheron, but loses her in a terrible storm.  Aubrey heads to the Galapagos islands where Dr. Maturin engages in some scientific investigation of the islands unique flora and fauna. They find the crew of a British whaler sunk by the Acheron. An officer suicides and Dr. Maturin is accidentally shot. Aubrey abandons pursuit of the Acheron to take Maturin back to dry land in the Galapagos where Maturin operates on himself using a mirror. While looking for more specimens Maturin discovers the Acheron is very close. Taking an idea from one of the insect specimens Maurin has collected, Aubrey disguises the ship as a whaler to lure the Acheron in close.  The ruse works. Acheron’s mainmast is shot away and boarding parties capture the French ship. As the Acheron sails away with a prize crew Aubrey learns that the man he thought was the Acheron’s surgeon was actually its captain. He orders a pursuit. 

A very exciting combat film. It explores an era of history that has received little attention from filmmakers.  Very good action sequences as well as character development, which only rarely both occur in the same film.

  

Date given in the film via Aubrey’s letter to his wife at 28:09

Producer -  Alan B. Curtiss

Director - Peter Weir

Screenplay – Peter Weir and John Collee

Awards – The film won the Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing Oscars. It was also nominated for the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual effects and the Best Makeup Oscars.

Released – November 14, 2003

Runtime -  2 hours 18 minutes

Starring –

Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey

Paul Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin

James D'Arcy as First Lieutenant /Acting Captain Thomas Pullings

Edward Woodall as Second Lieutenant William Mowett

Chris Larkin as Captain Howard, Royal Marines

Max Pirkis  as Midshipman Lord William Blakeney  

Jack Randall as Midshipman Boyle

Max Benitz as Midshipman / Acting Third Lieutenant Peter Myles Calamy

Lee Ingleby as Midshipman Hollom

Richard Pates as Midshipman Williamson

Robert Pugh as Sailing master John Allen

Richard McCabe as Mr. Higgins, Surgeon's Mate

Ian Mercer as Mr. Hollar, Boatswain

Tony Dolan as Mr. Lamb, Carpenter

David Threlfall as Preserved Killick, Captain's Steward

Billy Boyd as Awkward Davies, Captain's Coxswain

Bryan Dick as Joseph Nagle, Carpenter's Mate

Joseph Morgan as William Warley, Captain of Mizzentop

George Innes as Joe Plaice, Able Seaman

William Mannering as Michael Doudle, Able Seaman

Patrick Gallagher as Awkward Davies, Able Seaman

Alex Palmer as Nehemiah Slade, Able Seaman

Mark Lewis Jones as Mr. Hogg, Whaler

John dDeSantis as Padeen Colman, Loblolly boy

Ousmane Thiam as Black Bill, Steward's Mate

Konstantine Kurelias as Young Sponge

Thierry Segall as  Captain of the Acheron

Aidan Black as Private Trollope

Sebastian Grubb as Jemmy Ducks

Watch Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World trailer