A Christmas Carol — The Top Five Versions

Posted on December 21, 2011 at 3:43 pm

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is my favorite Christmas story and I love it in just about any of its movie incarnations. “Bah, humbugs” have been muttered by Scrooges played by top-notch dramatic actors like George C. Scott and Albert Finney, former Miss America Vanessa Williams, former Fonzie Henry Winkler, and former Saturday Night Live star Bill Murray. I love them all. But here are my very favorites, the ones I try to watch every year.

5. Mickey’s Christmas Carol Who better to play Scrooge than his namesake Scrooge McDuck? And who better for the part of the unquenchable Bob Cratchit than Mickey Mouse? This compilation DVD includes other Christmas goodies “The Small One” and “Pluto’s Christmas Tree.”

4. The Muppet Christmas Carol has the distinguished actor Michael Caine as Scrooge and the equally distinguished Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit. Special mention of A Sesame Street Christmas Carol as well.

3. Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. The voice talent is outstanding, with Broadway star Jack Cassidy (father of teen idols David and Shaun) as Bob Cratchit and of course Jim Backus as Mr. Magoo, in this version an actor playing the part of Scrooge. The tuneful songs were written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, who later went on to write “Funny Girl.” (The legend is that their song “People” was originally written for this movie.)

2. A Christmas Carol This MGM classic features the top stars of the 1930’s. Watch for future “Lassie” star June Lockhart as one of the Cratchit children — her real-life father Gene Lockhart played Bob. (He also appears in another Christmas classic, as the judge inMiracle on 34th Street.)

1. A Christmas Carol This is the all-time best, with the inimitable Alistair Sim as Scrooge. There has never been a more embittered miser or a more jubilent Christmas morning rebirth. When he orders that turkey for the Cratchits and walks into his nephew’s celebration at the end, everything Dickens hoped for from his story is brought to life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayW4c9aZXyw

Sherlock Holmes on Screen

Posted on December 14, 2011 at 3:58 pm

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular fictional characters of all time. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a physician who also write science fiction, romance, and poetry, but he is best remembered for his creation of the detective with the prodigious powers of observation and deductive reasoning. The most famous resident of 221B Baker Street has been portrayed in movies more than any other character, sometimes old, sometimes young, sometimes in Conan Doyle’s Victorian era, sometimes in modern times, in movies from Disney to Billy Wilder, portrayed by Oscar-winners and unknowns. He inspired many other hyper-rational, hyper-observant characters like Nero Wolfe, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, House, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo herself, Lisbeth Salander. Reverend Desmond Tutu recently told Vanity Fair that Sherlock Holmes was his favorite fictional character.

As we prepare for the second film with Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role and Jude Law as his partner in crime-solving, Dr. Watson, it’s a good time to look at some of the best — and some of the strangest portrayers of the detective in the deerstalker hat and his doctor sidekick. And let’s not forget O. Henry’s parody, Shamrock Jolnes and “Sesame Street’s” Sherlock Hemlock.

1. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce portrayed Holmes and Watson in 14 films released between 1939-46. The early films are true to the books but the later ones update the characters to the 1940’s, with plots related to WWII.

2. Nicolas Rowe and Alan Cox appeared in “Young Sherlock Holmes,” an underrated origin story film that has our heroes solving their first mystery together while they are still in boarding school.

3. George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward In “They Might be Giants” a mental patient who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes and his doctor (she’s a woman, but she is named Watson) investigate the mystery of reality and what we call sanity.

4. Barrie Ingham and Val Bettin Disney’s animated “The Great Mouse Detective” is the story of mice who live on Baker Street with Sherlock Holmes (voiced by Basil Rathbone). Inspired by their flatmate, they solve the mystery of a clockwork creation that was substituted for the Queen of the Mice. The villain is portrayed by the silky-voiced Vincent Price.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=004282khD1E

5. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman A British miniseries updates the setting to the 21st century, with Holmes and Watson solving mysteries in the era of laptops and cell phones.

6. Nicol Williamson and Robert Duvall One of the most fascinating versions of the Holmes stories is “The Seven Percent Solution,” which has Watson doing an intervention and taking Holmes to consult with Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) about his use of cocaine. Of course once he is there he gets involved in another mystery, the kidnapping of another of Freud’s patients.

7. Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke The popular British minseries is a perennial favorite on PBS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX6a–uu6QM

8. Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely Legendary writer-director Billy Wilder co-wrote and directed “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,” with a story inspired in part by Conan Doyle’s “The Bruce-Partington Plans.” There is an excellent score by Miklos Rozsa.

9. Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman Douglas Wilmer and Thorley Walters play Holmes and Watson but the stars of “Young Frankenstein” have the lead roles in “Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother,” a wild comedy about “Sigerson Holmes” and his efforts to surpass his famous older sibling.

10. Christopher Lee and Patrick Macnee Made-for-British-television movies show us an older Holmes and Watson in “Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady” and “Sherlock Holmes and the Incident at Victoria Falls.”

Special bonus radio version: Sir John Gielgud as Holmes, Sir Ralph Richardson as Watson and Orson Welles as Professor Moriarty.

Twelve Christmas Movies That Don’t Feature Tiny Tim, Linus, Bing Crosby, the Grinch, Clarence the Angel, or a Leg Lamp

Posted on December 12, 2011 at 3:58 pm

I love the Christmas classic movies and watch as many as I can every year. But there are many great Christmas films that don’t get mentioned as often and I like to remind families that these are worth making time for as well.

1. The Nativity Story This sincere and respectful story is a good way to remember that Christmas is about more than presents and parties. “Whale Rider’s” Keisha Castle-Hughes has a shy but dignified and resolute air and she glows believably as the very young woman who is selected as the mother of Jesus. And “Drive’s” Oliver Isaac effectively conveys tenderness, doubt, courage, and transcendence as Joseph.

2. A Christmas Memory Truman Capote’s bittersweet memory of his childhood Christmas making fruitcakes with his elderly cousin, the only relative who cared about him is beautifully filmed with the magnificent Geraldine Page and Capote himself reading the narration.

3. Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas The California Raisins guys put together this Christmas special, with the highlight the funniest-ever performance of “Carol of the Bells.”

4. Come to the Stable Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are French nuns trying to raise money to build a hospital. Their faith and goodness transforms those they meet.

5. Little Women “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents” is the first line of this classic novel based on the loving if sometimes tumultuous family of author Louisa May Alcott. The movie opens with an important Christmas lesson about the joy of giving.

6. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Based on the classic book, this stars Loretta Swit as the mother of six rambunctious kids who insist on playing roles in the church pageant.

7. This Christmas I love this movie about a family with five adult children who return home to celebrate Christmas with their mother and youngest brother. The outstanding cast includes Regina King, Idris Elba, Loretta Devine, and Chris Brown. Be sure to watch through the credits to see a great dance number.

8. Desk Set Before Google, companies had human beings to track down information. Katherine Hepburn plays the head of the all-female research department for a television network and Spencer Tracy is the engineer who is installing the company’s first computer, which takes up a whole wall and uses punch cards and vacuum tubes. Sparks fly — and not just in the equipment.

9. Die Hard Bruce Willis plays a cop visiting his estranged wife at her office Christmas party when the building is taken over by bad guys led by Alan Rickman in this action-movie classic.

10. The Polar Express Tom Hanks stars in this animated story based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg about a magical train ride to the North Pole.

11. Home Alone This comedy smash hit stars Macauley Culkin as a little boy who is accidentally left home when his family goes away for the holidays and has to take care of himself and guard the house from a couple of inept thieves. The slapstick is a bit over the top but the message of Christmas is surprisingly touching.

12. Annie The story of the plucky orphan from the comic pages became one of the biggest Broadway musicals of all time and one of its highlights is Christmas with Daddy Warbucks.

World AIDS Day

Posted on December 1, 2011 at 4:34 pm

In observance of World AIDS Day, I recommend these films:

Longtime Companion The first feature film to address the AIDS epidemic is this wrenching story of love and loss with beautiful performances from Campbell Scott, Bruce Davison, and Mary-Louise Parker.

And the Band Played On HBO’s drama with an all-star cast is based on the true story of the early days of the epidemic, the heroic public health officials and tragic mistakes.

Philadelphia Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of a lawyer who sued the law firm that fired him for having AIDS, based on a true story.

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For Your Netflix Queue

Your Week with Marilyn — Monroe’s Best Films

Posted on November 27, 2011 at 9:37 pm

“My Week With Marilyn” is a new film based on the memoirs by Colin Clark about his time as a third assistant director (basically a gofer) on the set of a movie she made in England with Sir Laurence Olivier. You can have your own week with Marilyn Monroe, the most popular sex symbol in movie history, by watching some of her films. I recommend:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Monroe plays a gold-digging showgirl in this colorful and energetic musical. Her signature song “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” inspired Madonna’s “Material Girl” video.

Some Like It Hot The American Film Institute’s pick for the funniest American movie of all time is Billy Wilder’s gender-bending masterpiece about two male musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) who disguise themselves as women and join an all-female band so they can hide from mobsters. Monroe plays the band’s lead singer who has a weakness for saxophone players. It gets better and funnier every time you see it.

Let’s Make Love Yves Montand plays one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the world. When he hears that a small off-Broadway musical satiric revue makes fun of him, he goes to the theater to complain. But the director thinks he has shown up to audition and when he sees Monroe (in sheer practice tights and leotard) is in the cast, he pretends to be an actor. She sings a sizzling version of “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.”

Bus Stop Many people think Monroe’s best performance as an actress is in this poignant story of a cowboy in love with a bar girl. She sings a heartbreakingly (intentionally) trashy “That Old Black Magic.”

The Seven Year Itch Monroe’s most iconic pose comes from this film about an innocent flirtation between a man who stays in New York while his family is on vacation and his free-spirited upstairs neighbor.

The Prince and the Showgirl When Monroe wanted to be taken more seriously as an actress she formed a production company to finance this film, co-starring and directed by Sir Laurence Olivier. It is more interesting to watch to compare their incompatible acting styles than it is to try to care about the slight story, but definitely worth seeing if you plan to watch “My Week With Marilyn.”

How to Marry a Millionaire Monroe co-stars with Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable in this romantic comedy about three blonde models with a plan to find wealthy husbands.