Friday movie pick

Last night we watched The King and I (1956) because it was on TCM. Although I have seen it many times, it did not disappoint!

It is on my Top Ten Best Movie Musical List–indeed, probably my Top Five. Yul Brynner is stupendous and Deborah Kerr holds up her end admirably. The Siamese rendition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin–“The Small House of Uncle Thomas” ballet sequence–is wonderful. The sets, the costumes–wow. It won Oscars for Bests Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Costumes, Best Sound, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical.

It is a movie that has it all. And by that I mean, mostly Yul Brynner.

If you are in need of a little escape from the madness, watch The King and I (1956). You’ll be glad you did.

Have a good weekend!

“Even in my customary befuddled state…”*

It’s been a very busy, draining week “at work”–lots of Zoom meetings and emailing and answering of phone messages etc. Ugh. So though we don’t have anything exciting planned this weekend beyond picking out a new ceiling fan for my “office,” I am really looking forward to it nonetheless.

I liked this message from the Anglican bishop of South Carolina, Mark Lawrence. Ah yes, John Calvin was right when he said, ““The human heart is a factory for the making of idols.” Read the whole thing. (Discuss among yourselves.)

The OM and I have been watching the old 1980s British television series Lovejoy, starring Ian McShane, on Prime. It is based on the mystery novels by Jonathan Gash of which my parents were fans. The show is fun–Lovejoy is “an irresistible rogue with a keen eye for antiques. The part-time detective scours the murky sale-rooms, auction halls and stately homes of Britain, always on the lookout for a find.” Right up my alley! Auctions and estate sales! (But no murders or sex crimes!)

Besides that, I haven’t seen anything worth reporting. How about you?

Tomorrow is the birthday of the inimitable Yul Brynner (1920-1985).

So we will toast him and watch one of his great (or even not so great) movies.

It is also the birthday of the ubiquitous supporting actor Thomas Mitchell (1892-1962) who won an Academy Award for Stagecoach (1939).

Although he made several movies with John Ford in the 1930s, he was not a regular member of his corps of players. He nevertheless turns up in so many movies–everything from Gone With the Wind (1939) to Our Town (1940) to It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) to High Noon (1952) to Pocketful of Miracles (1961). We will toast him and think of Kansas City, Kansas.

As far as I can tell Yul Brynner and Thomas Mitchell never made a movie together.

Well, I’m feeling the Katiebelle vibe this weekend…

Talk to the hand. I’m over and out.

*Tinker in Lovejoy

Hats off to Yul!

Last night son #2 and I treated ourselves to a Yul Brynner movie called “Escape from Zahrain”. In this fictional ‘Arab’ country, Ahmed (Sal Mineo) helps rebel leader, Sharif (Yul), escape from a prison truck. In the process, they are joined by Jack Warden and another convict. During their subsequent flight, they hijack an ambulance, complete with a pretty nurse (Madlyn Rhue). The rest of the movie amounts to a chase across the desert and one of Sal’s better death scenes. We enjoyed our viewing experience immensely, especially since Yul wore this unique headgear throughout the entire film.

Let’s take a closer look:

What…what is this hoodie-hat-shirt?

We were not sure of its purpose, but it got us thinking about all the other head coverings that Yul endured over the years. Take this fluffy white sheepskin confection from Taras Bulba.

Seriously. Only Yul could pull this outfit off and look proud to wear it!

or this alluring Egyptian Nemes headdress.

So sexy.

Sometimes he got to wear something more conventional like a navy captain’s cap

I like that turtleneck, don’t you?

or a cowboy hat.

Despite the headgear Yul sometimes sported, you have to admit that he was at his perfect best when his bald pate shined free, preferably with accompanying bare chest. Like this,

or this.

One thing’s for sure. No matter what exotic B-movie part he played, he always played it straight and gave it his all. Here’s to Yul Brynner, a consummate professional and awesome manly man. They sure don’t make ’em like you anymore!

 

Friday movie pick

The other night I tried to watch Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) on TCM, but I  didn’t make it to the end. I knew how it was going to end, and it was pretty depressing.

Indeed, there was nothing uplifting in the story of the hapless Czar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra and their downfall and ultimate murder.  I remember seeing it at the movies back when it came out. My mother thought it was great and wept through much of it, but seeing it again, I was unmoved. And I should note that the soundtrack was terrible.

The next night I watched Anastasia (1956)–the film adaption of the stage play starring Ingrid Bergman in her second Academy Award-winning role and the great Yul Brynner.

It was pretty great. It is the story of an opportunistic Russian businessman (Brynner) who tries to pass a mysterious woman (Bergman) off as the Grand Duchess Anastasia. However, she is so convincing in her performance that even the biggest skeptics, including the Dowager Empress herself,  believe her.

So Anastasia is my Friday movie pick. Check it out.  Although Yul’s part is not nearly big enough to suit me, it is a good movie and the soundtrack by the great Alfred Newman is terrific.

Have a great weekend!

 

Weekend update

This past weekend I spent some time perusing the “Watch Instantly” section of Netflix.com. Friday night I settled on an old chestnut called Secret of the Incas (1954) starring Charlton Heston, Robert Young and Thomas Mitchell. It is notable mostly for having been filmed in part at Machu Picchu and the town of Cusco in Peru which at the time were extremely remote locations.

The plot involves an Inca legend and a gold and bejeweled starburst that several people are trying to find. Nicole Maurey plays a mysterious Romanian beauty with a distinctly French accent with whom Heston and Young form a love triangle. Pretty standard stuff with the exception of Yma Sumac, a Peruvian singer with a 4 1/2 octave range, who intermittently launches into creepy performances of “Virgin of the Sun Gods” and the like.

Charlton Heston is very convincing as the slightly seedy adventurer out to make money. We forget how sexy he was back in the day. He is well suited to his clothes in this film.

Clearly Steven Spielberg thought so too as Heston as Harry Steele has got to be what everyone had in mind when they were dreaming up Indiana Jones in their typical derivative way. And there is all that archaeological stuff to boot!

I remember watching this movie as a child and enjoying it immensely. I’m sure it was one of the reasons why my sister (and dual personality) wanted to be an archaeologist from an early age. She no doubt was taken with Robert Young and his sartorial splendor. Don’t all archaeologists wear jodhpurs and riding boots and smoke a pipe? Aren’t they all charmingly shy and tongue-tied around women and fall head over heels in love with inappropriate ones whose naked shoulders they are called upon to bandage? Don’t they all propose marriage (spoiler alert!) the next day?!

Nothing from the waist done was available, but perhaps you can use your imagination. He had a pipe as well.

Anyway, it was a good few hours spent. Since I had started down the pre-Columbian road, I continued the next day with another family favorite, Kings of the Sun (1963) with the inimitable Yul Brynner and who cares who else. Clearly this film was an excuse for Yul to walk around half naked (and at times nearly naked)–not a bad excuse.

The plot here, such as it is, has to do with a Mayan king (George Chakiris of the amazing hair) who escapes ferocious invaders by boat (with his people, including Richard Basehart, Shirley Anne Field and Brad Dexter) to a new land, where he meets up with Black Eagle (Yul Brynner), a Native American. Uh huh.

Suspending disbelief, this movie is quite entertaining. Filmed on the Yukatan, there are many attractive sun-burned people in this film, foremost among them, of course, our hero, Yul Brynner. Quiet, peace-loving, handsome George Chakiris seems way out of his league and knowing it, hands over the scenery for Yul to chew. We appreciate his sacrifice.

Also over the weekend I read The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which I had picked up at an estate sale for 50-cents a few weeks ago. I had never read it before. Published in 1961, it tells the story of a little boy names Milo, who has many adventures in his search for Rhyme and Reason. It is frequently compared to Alice in Wonderland, but it reminded me of The Wizard of Oz. I enjoyed it. It is always worthwhile being reminded to pay attention and that there is much to be learned, even in your own backyard.

“Carry this with you on your journey,” he said softly. “for there is much worth noticing that often escapes the eye. Through it you can see everything from the tender moss in the sidewalk crack to the glow of the farthest star–and, most important of all, you can see things as they really are, not just as they seem to be. It’s my gift to you.”

What did you read/watch this weekend?

Just for the record: fun facts to know and share

Interesting fact for the day: Ralph Richardson, Yul Brynner and Orson Welles all died on October 10–Richardson in 1983 and Brynner and Welles two years later in 1985. What about that?

Ralph Richardson

All three were great actors and leading men, known for their fine speaking voices (back when that was valued in the movies). Yul Brynner was arguably the only superstar. Richardson, however, was knighted in 1947, a year before Laurence Olivier!

Brynner and Welles acted in one movie together: The Battle of Neretva (1969).

Have you seen it? Neither have I.

Brynner and Welles both acted in film versions of Faulkner novels with Joanne Woodward. Welles in The Long Hot Summer (1958) playing Will Varner and Brynner in The Sound and the Fury (1959) playing Jason Compson (with hair).

All three (separately) appeared in big-scale religious movies. Welles played Saul in David and Goliath (1960). Brynner appeared as Solomon in Solomon and Sheba (1959) and as Rameses in The Ten Commandments (1956).

Richardson was especially memorable as Simeon in Jesus of Nazareth (1977).

Richardson and Welles participated in many filmed versions of an array of Shakespeare’s plays. Brynner did not. It is some consolation that Brynner at least got to play Dimitri Karamozov.

Richardson, of course, played God in Time Bandits (1981). I don’t know about you, but that is how I always picture God. A Cambridge man. Brynner played a god, or at least a pharaoh, in the aforementioned Ten Commandments. Welles famously played a megalomaniac in Citizen Kane.

And Welles was in the original Muppets Movie (1979).

Point and game to Welles?

I think not. All three made great movies and also some really bad ones. Let us remember the great ones: The Four Feathers (1939). Citizen Kane (1941). The King and I (1956). A toast to our absent friends!