New on DVD: Orry-Kelly Documentary “Women He’s Undressed”

Posted on August 1, 2016 at 3:23 pm

The greatest hat in the history of movies is the one worn by Ingrid Bergman at the end of “Casablanca.” The second greatest hat in the history of movies is the one worn by Bette Davis in “Now Voyager.” Both, along with iconic gowns like Marilyn Monroe’s almost-bare dresses in “Some Like it Hot” and “Auntie Mame’s” over-the-top fashion forward couture and many, many more were designed by a man known as Orry-Kelly, a three-time Oscar winner who ran the costume department at Warner Brothers and dressed everyone from Bette Davis and Greta Garbo to Natalie Wood and Jane Fonda.

A new documentary about Orry-Kelly called Women He’s Undressed is now available on DVD and streaming.

Director Gillian Armstrong, like Orry-Kelly an Australian, has made a movie with a lot of style and brio. I was not wild about the re-enactments and too much time is spent on whether a particular male icon was one of his lovers, but the interviews with stars, friends, and costume designers are fascinating and of course the costumes themselves are extraordinary because in addition to being beautiful (when called for in the story) they are critical to the creation of character, mood, and narrative. This is a must for all fans of classic movies, design, and a great story.

New on Demand: The Man Who Saved Ben Hur

Posted on July 26, 2016 at 6:10 pm

Documentarian Joe Forte loved the stories his second cousin told about the golden era of Hollywood — so he decided to interview him on film. Now available On Demand.

More on the Original Ghostbusters — History, Cultural Change, and the Legacy of Harold Ramis

Posted on July 16, 2016 at 3:35 pm

As some of the fanboys go nuts over the idea of a remake of “Ghostbusters” with an all-female lead cast, it’s a good time to take another look at the original they consider a classic. At Fando, Kevin B. Lee reminds us that the 1984 film was pretty sexist by today’s standards.

On Splitsider, Violet Ramis Stiel, daughter of the late Harold Ramis, who co-wrote and starred in the original, writes about her mixed feelings on the remake.

As much as I wanted to stomp my foot and align myself with the opposition, there was no way I could stand behind the viciousness and ugliness that seemed to fuel these fundamentalists. From flat-out rejection of women as funny, to remarks about the actor’s looks, to the invocation of GB84 as ‘untouchable’ and disgust with ‘reboot culture’ generally, I was shocked by the anger and outrage. Are these people for real? I wondered. Sure, the timing sucks, but damn! I mourn my dad’s absence in this world as much, if not more, than anyone, but for people to say that he is “rolling in his grave” or would never have let a female-centered cast happen is INSANE. In his personal life, Harold Ramis was a kind, generous, and gracious person. Professionally, he was always about sharing the spotlight and making the other guy look good. Please, stop using my dad as an excuse to hate the new Ghostbusters. It degrades his memory to spew bile in his name.

In truth, it has been the other kind of crazy fans — the people who adore and obsess over all things Ghostbusters — that have really turned me around.

And Yahoo Movies reminds us of some cool behind-the-scenes facts about the original, from Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History, by Daniel Wallace.

Imagine Eddie Murphy and his fellow paranormal firefighters battling a motorcycle-riding skeleton and a giant lizard monster from their gas-station base in a futuristic New Jersey. Who you gonna call? Ghost Smashers!

By the time it became an instant classic upon its release in 1984, Ghostbusters had morphed through radically different iterations, featuring bonkers plot points and unrecognizable creatures.

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Tiffany Vazquez Joins TCM

Posted on July 9, 2016 at 12:13 pm

Turner Classic Movies has brought in a new host to join Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz. The first woman host is Tiffany Vazquez, and she first came to the attention of the classic-movie network as the grand prize winner of its Ultimate Fan Contest.

In an interview with Jezebel, she talked about some of her favorite TCM movies (some of my favorites, too).

I particularly like when I just find a movie really funny. People think humor changes so much. I mean, you might watch a standup special from ten years ago and not really laugh anymore—sometimes jokes just don’t work anymore. But for some reason, so many comedies that are some of my favorite classic films are just, I think, always going to be funny. The Man Who Came to Dinner—I think that is a movie that is wildly impressive, probably influential to something like Veep now, because they both have the best insults I’ve ever heard in my life. So eloquent of an insult that you really can’t come back from it—you just really have to walk away.

And then there are so many women that I gravitate towards. I love Katherine Hepburn, I love Bette Davis. I love commentary on Hollywood, so Sunset Boulevard is one of my favorite movies. I love adolescence in films—Rebel Without a Cause is one of my favorites. And people who’ve had to struggle and should have had way bigger careers than they had also interest me. So I really love the Nicholas Brothers, and I think that their scene in Stormy Weather is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

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Happy 100th Birthday Olivia de Havilland!

Posted on July 1, 2016 at 10:04 am

Happy 100th birthday to one of the greatest and most versatile stars of the golden age of Hollywood, Olivia de Havilland!

She and her fellow-Oscar-winning sister, Joan Fontaine, were born in Tokyo, the daughters of British parents, a professor and an actress. The girls and their mother later moved to California, where she appeared in local theater productions as a teenager. Producer Max Reinhardt offered her an understudy role in “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and when Gloria Stuart (later nominated for an Oscar for “Titanic”) left the production, de Havilland played Hermia, and was asked to perform the same part in the film, opposite Dick Powell.

Soon she was paired with Errol Flynn in “Captain Blood.”

They made eight more films together. My favorite is “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”

Another of my favorite de Havilland performances is opposite James Cagney in “The Strawberry Blonde.”

She played Melanie in “Gone With the Wind.”

She won an Oscar for “To Each His Own.”

She won another one for “The Heiress.” And she won something more important — her rebellion against the oppressive contracts of the Hollywood studios led to a lawsuit that gave actors the freedom to choose their roles.

Happy birthday, Miss de Havilland! Thank you for 100 years of grace, beauty, and intelligence.