February 7 - Aristocrats

Today’s movie is a period drama that has a scene that happens today – February 7. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

ARISTOCRATS         

After three London seasons, Lady Caroline Lennox has still not found a husband. However, her parents are appalled when she falls in love with the untitled Henry Fox, a politician. After her parents refuse to approve the marriage, they elope. Her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Richmond disown Caroline. Her younger sister, Emily is wooed by Lord Kildare, but her family dislikes him, because even though he is very rich, he is Irish. The Duke of Richmond is promoted to the post of Master of the Horse, but this puts him in the Cabinet and into conflict with Henry Fox. Caroline’s first child is sickly and was lucky not be killed by his doctors.  Emily’s parents finally withdraw their objections to Lord Kildare.   On February 7, 1747 [Part 2 – 2:34 to 7:08] Lord Kildare and Lady Emily are married. Taking advantage of her married state, Emily visits her sister Caroline. Emily starts spending big bucks, while Caroline thinks her husband cares more about politics than her. Emily is finally able to reconcile Caroline with their parents. The Duke of Richmond dies of a stroke and his wife soon dies also. The mother’s will gives the custody of the three younger girls Louisa, Sarah and Cecilia to Emily, not Caroline, which causes a rift between the sisters.  Emily raises the girls and arranges the marriage of Louisa to Thomas Connolly. Caroline is upset when her sons turn out to be wastrels, losing vast sums at gambling and drinking. Lord Kildare wants to keep Irish taxes in Ireland, but Henry Fox thinks he is wasting his time.   Emily sends her sister Sarah to London to be introduced into society by Caroline. The King tries to encourage a match between Lady Sarah and the Prince of Wales. Sarah is sent to the country to make the Prince’s heart grow fonder for her, but she injures her leg. Then George II dies. His advisors suggest that the new King, George III should marry Charlotte of Mecklenburg instead of Sarah, who marries Charles Bunbury. He is an idiot who soon ignores her.  Caroline’s oldest son dies.  Emily hires William Ogilvie as her children’s tutor. Sarah is the subject of gossip due to gambling and flirting. She commits adultery with a Frenchman and then starts an affair with William Gordon and becomes pregnant by him. She then runs away with him. Emily and Caroline become estranged. Louisa tries to restore harmony, but the price for Sarah to return to the family is to never see William Gordon again. The youngest sister Cecelia dies.  Bunbury divorces Sarah. Emily begins an affair with William Ogilvie, while Sarah meets George Napier, a poor army Captain. Both Emily and Caroline’s husbands die.  Caroline and Emily reconcile, but Caroline dies shortly thereafter.  Emily shocks Sarah and Louisa by announcing she is going to marry William Ogilvie. Captain Napier’s wife dies of a fever.  Sarah and George Napier are married and have eight children. Mr. Ogilvie has trouble fitting into society. He and Emily’s grandson Edward support democratic ideas in opposition to the rest of the family.  Edward becomes involved in the French plans to support the United Irishmen in an anti-English revolt. Emily tries to get those involvedin this plot to give up their plans, as she is convinced it will not succeed. Some of Louisa’s servants are arrested for being involved in plotting. Mr. Ogilvie visits Edward, who is in hiding, but fails to persuade him to flee the country. Edward is wounded while being arrested and dies shortly thereafter of his wounds.    

An interesting historical movie. For the most part it is accurate. The aristocrats in this film followed their natures instead of morality and paid the price.

The Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. VII ed by Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney

Lee (Oxford University Press, New York, 1968) at page 130 gives the wedding date.

Producers – Christopher Hall and David Snodin

Director - David Caffrey

Screenplay - Harriet O'Carroll

Runtime – 5 hours

Released – June 20, 1999

Starring –

Serena Gordon as Lady Caroline Lennox Fox

Anne-Marie Duff as Lady Louisa Lennox Conolly

Geraldine Somerville as Lady Emily Lennox FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster

Siân Phillips as Older Lady Emily Lennox FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster

Jodhi May as Lady Sarah Lennox (age 16)

Alun Armstrong as Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland

Ben Daniels as James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster aka Lord Kildare

Julian Fellowes as Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond

Diane Fletcher as Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox

Tom Mullion as Thomas Conolly

Andrew Havill as Sir Charles Bunbury, 6th Baronet

George Anton as William Ogilvie

John Light as Lord Edward FitzGerald

Clive Swift as George II of Great Britain

Richard Dempsey as Lord Beaufield

Eoin O'Driscoll as Little Eddie

February 6 - Klimt

Today’s movie is a biography with a scene that happens today – February 6. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

KLIMT                    

On February 5, 1918 [2:00 to 5:22] Egon Schiele comes to see the dying Gustav Klimt in the hospital. Klimt starts thinking back on his life. He is an artist who is deeply involved in the philosophical debate about the theory of art. Klimt is so avant-garde, he is not happy to win a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition for his art. He meets Lea de Castro and begins a sexual relationship with her, watched by Duke Octavo and her double. His paintings are not as well received in his hometown of Vienna. He throws himself into a decadent lifestyle and soon has a fourteen illegitimate children by Jewish mothers and syphilis. He steals his own painting back from a museum. Klimt meets Egon Schiele. Klimt’s hallucinations become more and more disjointed as he slowly dies on February 6, 1918 [1:27:06 to 1:33:20].

A very mixed up film. Beautiful and innovative cinematography, but even if you know Klimt’s story you could not figure it out from this film or what message you’re supposed to take away. A mysterious movie, rather like Klimt’s art. 

The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece Portrait of

Adele Bloch-Bauer by Anne-Marie O’Conner (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2012) at

page 64 gives the date of Klimet’s death

Producers - Matthew Justice, Arno Ortmair, Dieter Pochlatko and Andreas Schmid

Director - Raúl Ruiz

Screenplay - Gilbert Adair, Raúl Ruiz and Herbert Vesely

Runtime – 2 hours 11 minutes(director’s cut), 1 hour 36 minutes (theatrical release)

Released – March 3, 2006      

Starring –

John Malkovich as Klimt

Veronica Ferres as Midi

Stephen Dillane as Secretary

Saffron Burrows as Lea de Castro

Sandra Ceccarelli as Serena Lederer

Nikolai Kinski as Egon Schiele

Aglaia Szyszkowitz as Mizzi

Joachim Bibmeier as Hugo Moritz

Ernst Stötzner as Minister Hartl

Paul Hilton as Duke Octave

Annemarie Düringer as Klimt's Mother

Irina Wanka as Berta Zuckerkandl

February 5 - A Child's Wish

Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens today – February 5. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

A CHILD’S WISH                   

Missy Chandler is a popular soccer playing high-school student. Then she starts having pain in her left knee.  This turns out to be caused by cancer. The doctors have to amputate her leg. Missy’s mom quits her job to take care of Missy, while her auto salesman father says he can earn enough to support the family. Missy goes through rehabilitation and learns to walk with her new prosthetic leg. Her life seems to return to normal including going to school dances. Then she undergoes chemotherapy, while her father has a stress attack as a result of worry and overwork. He gets fired from his job. Missy starts to blame herself. Ed Chandler is asked to testify before a Congressional committee. They are about to be foreclosed on, but Missy’s older sister and her husband move in and help with the bills. Then Missy starts coughing up blood and tumors are found in her lungs. Ed Chandler finally is able to get a job selling used cars. On February 5, 1993[1:18:09 – 1:21:41] President Clinton signs the Family and Medical Leave Act into law. Missy’s sister has her baby the same day. Missy has surgery to remove the tumors in her lungs, but the doctors find even find more tumors than they thought were present in her lungs. When the Make-a-Wish Foundation visits her, Missy asks to go to Washington, D.C. and meet the President. Missy and her family take the trip to Washington. They tour the city and see all the monuments and historical buildings. The Foundation surprises Missy by taking her to the Oval Office, where she meets President Clinton.    

A touching film. This movie manages to keep from getting either too depressing or maudlin. Ritter is very good as the father.

American Decades 1990-1999 ed by Tandy McConnell (Gale Group, Farmington

Hills, MI, 2001) at page 285 gives the date this bill was signed into law.

Producers – Michelle MacLaren and Susan Nanus

Director - Waris Hussein

Screenplay - Susan Nanus

Runtime – 1 hour 36 minutes

Released - January 21, 1997

Starring - John Ritter as Ed Chandler

                Tess Harper as Joanna Chandler

                Anna Chlumsky as Missy Chandler

                Sarah Chalke as Melinda

                Karl David-Djerf as Scott

                Kevin McNulty as Robbie

                Bill Clinton as himself

                David Lewis as Rick

                Janine Cox as Karen

February 4 - The Karen Carpenter Story

Today’s biographical film has a scene that happens today – February 4. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY      

On February 4, 1983 [00:01 to 3:01] paramedics arrive at the home of Karen Carpenter. She’s unconscious and she is rushed to the hospital. Karen hallucinates and flashes back to when her family moved to California in 1963. Her brother Richard plays the piano and is very musically talented. He proposes that Karen and he can form a musical group. Karen takes up the drums and plays them in her high school band. Karen and Richard start playing together in ‘The Richard Carpenter Trio’. The group moves from jazz into pop. A small record label signs Karen to a contract.   Richard starts writing songs for Karen to record. After two years of submitting tapes, they get a break when Herb Alpert at A & M records signs them to a recording contract. The have hits with “Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun”. Then their Mom introduces Richard to quaaludes. They go on tour, but the media already starts commenting about Karen’s weight. At the same time pressure is put on her to come out from behind her drum kit to sing. Their success continues with “Superstar”, but Karen starts to obsess about her weight. Richard and Karen move into a house together and start dating people. However, tensions arise and Karen moves out. They continue to tour, but then Karen collapses on stage. She recovers, but then Richard has to go through six weeks of rehab to get off of quaaludes. After a whirlwind courtship Karen marries Tom Burris, but the marriage soon falls apart. Karen starts to undergo psychotherapy to help with her anorexia. She underwent a therapy where she gained thirty pounds in a few months. This put more strain on her heart, leading to the heart attack that killed her.       

A tragic story. Karen Carpenter had a great talent. However, the media and society contributed to killing her by promoting a body image that is not sustainable by everyone.

The date is given in the film at 1:31:05.

Producers - Robert A. Papazian and Hal Galli

Director - Joseph Sargent

Screenplay - Barry Morrow

Runtime - 1 hour 32 minutes

Released - January 1, 1989

Starring –  Cynthia Gibb as Karen Carpenter

                  Mitchell Anderson as Richard Carpenter

                  Peter Michael Goetz as Harold Carpenter

                  Louise Fletcher as Agnes Carpenter

                  Michael McGuire as Sherwin Bash

                  Lise Hilboldt as Lucy

                  Kip Gilman as David Lattimer

                  Scott Burkholder as Ted

February 3 - La Bamba

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens today – February 3.  I hope you enjoy this film and watch it tonight.   

LA BAMBA                 

Ritchie Valenzuela, a rock-n-roll loving Chicano and his family leave the migrant work camps in California and move to LA. There he meets Donna Ludwig and joins a band, while his brother, who has gotten Ritchie’s ex-girlfriend pregnant, dreams of being a cartoonist, but smuggles pot on the side. Ritchie has nightmares about a plane crash that took place at his old school. His family helps him start performing. Donna listens to her father and ends her relationship with Ritchie. Bob Keane signs Ritchie to a recording contract and changes his last name to “Valens”. “Let’s Go” becomes a hit and after he writes “Donna” Ritchie gets back together with Donna. His brother takes him to Tijuana and thus misses his baby being born. Ritchie starts touring, while his brother’s marriage falls apart. Ritchie is on American Bandstand. He uses some of the money he is making to buy his Mom a house.  At an Alan Freed show with Eddie Cochran he plays “La Bamba”. He goes on the “Winter Dance Party” tour with Buddy Holly and the “Big Bopper”. When the bus breaks down in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly hires a plane to fly them to the next tour stop. Ritchie wins the toss to get a seat. The plane takes off in the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, but crashes, killing everyone on board. Ritchie’s family is devastated. [1:39:45 to 1:44:00]

A good, if somewhat fictionalized biopic. Phillips is very good as Ritchie. The movie is almost as much about his brother, Bob. The music is great.

Waterkeyn, Xavier. Air and Space Disasters of the World. London, New Holland Publishers, 2007. This book at page 212 gives the date of the crash.

Director - Luis Valdez

Runtime - 1 hour 48 minutes

Released - July 24, 1987

Starring -

Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens

Esai Morales as Bob Morales

Rosanna DeSoto as Connie Valenzuela

Elizabeth Peña as Rosie Morales-Valenzuela

Danielle von Zerneck as Donna Ludwig

Joe Pantoliano as Bob Keane

February 2 - Michael Clayton

Today’s drama movie has a scene that happens today – February 2. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

MICHAEL CLAYTON                 

      

Michael Clayton takes care of problems for a high powered New York law firm. He is called away from an illegal poker game to deal with a client’s hit and run accident. On the way back he stops to look at some horses and his car blows up. Four days ago on February 2, 2007 [16:00 to 42:23] Michael learned at the auction of the fixtures of a restaurant that he had invested in that he will still owe a lot of money on the deal. Then he is sent to deal with the fact that a member of the firm, Arthur Edens, stripped naked during a deposition in a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit against Unorth, a major client of the firm. Arthur later disappears. Karen Crowder, general counsel of Unorth learns Edens had a memo that shows that Unorth knew their product could cause injury. She retains a group of ‘fixers’ to spy on Edens. Clayton asks his boss for a loan to cover his restaurant expenses. He tries to find Edens. After Edens is killed by the fixers at Crowder’s direction, Clayton meets with one of the Plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Edens had called her and told her he had something that would change the case.  Clayton breaks into Edens apartment and eventually finds the damaging memo.    Clayton gets his loan, but has to sign a confidentiality agreement. He then goes to the poker game, which is when the fixers plant a bomb in his car. Clayton then approaches Crowder, who is getting Unorth to approve a settlement agreement, and gets her to agree to pay $5 million for his silence, but he has secreted a cell phone in his pocket that the police were listening to and they arrest Crowder. Clayton leaves.

A devious film. It keeps you guessing throughout, both about what’s going to happen and about who Clayton really is. The end twist surprised me.

Date given in the film at 30:28 on a TV screen.

Producers - Sydney Pollack, Steven Samuels, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent

Director - Tony Gilroy

Awards – This movie won the Best Supporting Actress (Swinton) Oscar. It was also nominated for the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Clooney), Best Supporting Actor (Wilkinson), Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score at the 80^th Academy Awards. 

Screenplay - Tony Gilroy

Runtime – 1 hour 59 minutes

Released – August 31, 2007

Starring – George Clooney as Michael Clayton.

     Tom Wilkinson as Arthur Edens

                 Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder

                 Sydney Pollack as Marty Bach

February 1 - Rescue Dawn

Today’s action movie has a scene that happens today – February 1. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.  

RESCUE DAWN                                 

On February 1, 1966, [6:46 to 14:11] Dieter Dengler, a US Navy pilot flying his very first top secret mission over Laos is hit by enemy machine gun fire and he has to make a crash landing behind enemy lines. He evades capture for a time, but is eventually taken prisoner. Dengler is tortured by his captors. He is finally put in a camp with two other Americans and three Asian employees of the CIA’s ‘Air America’.  They are handcuffed and restrained at night, but Dengler gets a nail that he uses to pick the cuff locks. Dengler has to do a lot of persuading to convince the other demoralized prisoners to try and escape.  They agree after they learn the guards plan to kill them all. Dengler and Martin separate from the others and build a raft to float down to the Mekong river. Some villagers kill Martin, but Dengler gets away. He is finally picked up by a rescue helicopter. Dengler is treated as the only patient in a military  hospital ward and debriefed by the CIA. Some of the crewmen from his carrier smuggle him out of the hospital and back to the ship.  

A decent film. The story is similar to others such as Bridge on the River Kwai and Bat*21. Bale gives a good performance as Dengler.

http://skyraider.org/skyassn/dengler/dengler.htm gives the date he was shot down,

Producers - Freddy Braidy, Jimmy De Brabant, Michael Dounaev, Gerald Green, Kami Naghdi, Nick N. Raslan and Elie Samaha

Director - Werner Herzog

Screenplay - Werner Herzog

Runtime – 2 hours 5 minutes

Released – September 9, 2006

Starring –

Christian Bale as Dieter Dengler

Steve Zahn as Duane W. Martin

Jeremy Davies as Gene DeBruin

Marshall Bell as Admiral Berrington

François Chau as Province Governor

Craig Gellis as Corporal

Zach Grenier as Squad Leader

Pat Healy as Norman

Toby Huss as Spook

Yuttana Muenwaja as Crazy Horse

Teerawat Mulvilai as Little Hitler