Howard's Movie Corner

Long before CGI of today,Ray Harryhausen was the special-effects wizard to this day is as impressive now as it was then."Sinbad"wouldn't be the same without Harryhausen's visual effects and his hand behind Jason and Argonauts"(1963),a marvel in itself,especially the fight scene between Greek heroes and skeleton warriors,as such,a scene that's one of the best in film history.Filmmakers like James Cameron,George Lucas,Steve Spielberg and Peter Jackson acknowledge Harryhausen as the antecedent to their works.Who else could create a dinosaur in "The Valley of Gawangi"(1969)(in color)so vivid?
Harryhausen's inspiration,as a teenager,came from seeing "King Kong"(1933),one of the two feature films to use stop-motion,the other was the "The Lost World"(1925),both the the works of pioneering animator Willis O'Brien.He had help from his parents to teach himself the art and science of stop-action animation.
One of my favorite of Harryhauser's,besides "Jason and the Argonauts",is "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" when a dinosaur(from millions of years ago) suffering from radiation becomes a deadly menace to the British people.He was 92 and lived in London.Another giant in the film industry that set a trail of special-visual effects wonders that directors and special-visual effects artists have "improved" on today.

Deanna Durbin,born on December 4,1921,in Winnipeg,Manitoba,grew up in Southern California,where she studied singing.At that point,she was discovered by a MGM director searching for someone to portray the opera star Ernestine Schumann-Heink as a child.
After Schumann-Heink was to play herself as an adult in the movie about her life died at 75 and the studio dropped Durbin.Durbin switched to Universal.Joe Pasternak produced Durbin's first 10 movies,and Henry Koster,who directed six of them:"Three Smart Girls Grow Up","One Hundred Men and a Girl",Three Smart Girls","First Love,"Spring Parade" and "It Started With Eve".She maybe most known in the mystery/crime film "Lady on a Train"(1946).Before she left the movie industry I believe her last movie "For the Love of Mary"(1949).

When I stumbled on Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert on television discussing movies unapologetically I was glued to the set,a certain inspiration for me being a movie critic.I'd always liked movies since I was a boy in south Minneapolis,but Siskel and Ebert's "At the Movies","Sneak Previews",etc.sent me to higher planes.Siskel died of brain cancer in 1999 at age 53.Ebert had written a screenplay with Russ Meyer in 1970 "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"and would do about five more screenplays for Meyer.
Ebert ushered a new era of movie critique in the 1970s,1980s and 1990s.He(along with co-host Siskel)strongly supported independent films,independent directors,such as Spike Lee,Ang Lee and Micheal Moore.
In 1975 he became the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize,for his Sun-Times reviews.In addition,his reviews were syndicated to more than 200 newspapers in the United States and afar,writing more than 15 books.In 2005 he became the first film critic to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Both Siskel and Ebert put movie reviews on TV when before critics wrote their reviews on papers or occasionally on radio.The "Thumbs Up!"or "Thumbs Down!"became the signature phrase of Siskel and Ebert.The curtain is now closed but Ebert's thumb is not forgotten.

***1/2 Comedy/Family/Baseball/Fantasy
A news reporter Jennifer Paige(Janet Leigh)criticizes the manager,"Guffy" McGovern(Paul Douglas),of the Pittsburgh Pirates,for his ornery personality on the field and off and says his demeanor needs to change if the Pirates are going to start winning."Guffy" starts to hear the voice of an angel(supplied by James Whitmore)while he's on the field.One little girl,Bridget White(Donna Corcoran),a Pirates fan,sees angels behind every Pirates player when she's at the games.She prays plenty for the sub par team.Bridget resides at a Catholic orphanage for girls and when reporters find out about Bridget's prayers for the team they flood the school to Sister Edwitha's(Spring Byington) chagrin.Cast:Paul Douglas(Aloysius X,"Guffy"McGovern),Janet Leigh(Jennifer Paige),Keenan Wynn(Fred Bayles),Donna Corcoran(Bridget White),Lewis Stone(Commissioner Arnold P. Hapgood),Spring Byington(Sister Edwitha),Ellen Corby(Sister Veronica),Bruce Bennett(Saul Hellman),Marvin Kaplan (Timothy Durney),Jeff Richards(Dave Rothberg),John Gallaudet(Joe Retnolds),King Donovan(Mack McGee),Don Haggerty(Rube Ronson),Paul Salata(Tony Minelli).Running time:99 minutes.Director:Clarence Brown.

**1/2 Warner Bros.
I must warn the reader:the Indians(like in most cases in old Westerns)are the bad guys in "Arrow in the Dust".Bart Laishe(Sterling Hayden)comes across a station that's been ravished by Indians leaving the men dead and one dying Major Andy Pepperis(Carleton Young)warns Bart the Indians plan more attacks against the white settlers ahead.Bart takes on Pepperis' identity finding the small group of wagon trains leading them through harsh country and Indian attacks on their way to Oregon.Cast:Sterling Hayden(Bart Laish),Coleen gray(Cristella Burkes),Keith Larsen (Lt.Steve King),Tom Tully(Crowshaw),Jimmy walker(Pvt. Carqueville),Tudor Owen(Tillotson),Lee Van Clee(Tillotson Henchman)<John Pickard(Sgt. Lybarger),Carleton Young(Maj.Andy Peppers)Running time:80 minutes.Director:Lesley Selander.

****1/2 Comedy
Cast:Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle("Fatty"),Winifred Westover(Winnie),Frank Hayes(Frank--Winnie's Father),Al St.John(Al Clove),Monty Banks(Farmhand),Buster Keaton(Himself).Director:Roscoe "Fatty"Arbuckle.Common man tries marry Frank's daughter,Winnie(Winifred Westover),but the father wants her to marry a rich man.

1)Drama/Biography/"Lincoln"/Steven Spielberg(PG-13)
2)Spaghetti Western/Blaxplitation/"Django Unchained"/Quentin Tarantino(R)
3)Drama/"Argo"/Ben Affleck(R)
4)Drama/"The Master"/Paul Thomas Anderson(R)
5)Comedy/Drama/"Silver Linings Playbook"/John O.Russell(R)
6)Drama/Detective/"Zero Dark Thirty"/Kathryn Bigelow(R)
7)Drama/"Beasts of the Southern Wild"/Benh Zeitlin(PG-13)
8)Comedy/Drama/"Bernie"/Richard Linklater(PG-13)
9)Drama/Social Drama/"Flight"/Robert Zemeckis(R)
10)Comedy/Drama/"Moonrise Kingdom"Wes Anderson and Drama/Comedy/"The Best Marigold Hotel"/John Madden,both PG-13
February 2013 will be 12 years since I've been with" The Alley Cat" newspaper

Action/Crime/Comedy ***
One man recently out of prison decides to take a danger chance by pulling off a big robbery under the Mafia's nose.Will he pull it off without repercussions?F. Gary Gray made a remake of "The Italian Job"in 2003,one of the few remakes that is as good as-if not better than--the original.I think it's better than the 1969 version.Any way,Sir Michael Caine as Charlie Croker(Mark Wahlberg plays Charlie Croker in the 2003 version)plans steal a gold shipment in Turin,Italy,by creating a traffic jam.Will he and his cohorts pull it off?Will he and his cohorts escape the wrath of of the Mafia?Clever heist that has danger at nearly every turn.Is it the Mafia,the police or a traitor who foils the deal?cast:Sir Micheal Caine(Charlie Croker),Noel Coward(Mr. Bridger),Benny Hill(Professor Simon Peach),Raf Vallone(Altabani),Margaret Blye(Lorna).Language:English and Italian.Country:"UK.Running time;99 minutes.Director:Peter Collinson.

Old miser named Scrooge(this adaption of Scrooge played by Reginald Owen)hates Christmas and let's everybody know it.

*** In Color. Comedy/Drama/Romance
Four college girls from the Midwest:Meritt(Dolores Hart),Melanie(Yvette Mimieux),Tuggle(Paula Prentiss)and Angie(Connie Francis)spend their spring break in Fort Lauderdale,Florida,to meet boys.Mild by today's standards,the tomfoolery of the all white college students from around the country descending on Fort Lauderdale seem to more innocent which the police captain(Chill Wills)realizes as he tells police officers to go easy on the wild students.Cast:Dolores Hart(Meritt Andrews),George Hamilton(Ryder Smith),Yvette Mimieux(Melaine Tolman),Paula Prentiss(Tuggle Carpenter),Jim Hutton(TV Thompson),Frank Gorshin(Basil),Rory Harrity(Franklin),John Brennan(Dill),Connie Francis(Angie).Running time:99 minutes.Director:Henry Levin.