Tribute: Maurice Jarre

Posted on April 5, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Maurice Jarre wrote soundtracks for movies that became the soundtracks for our lives. The lush romantic score for Dr Zhivago (known as “Somewhere My Love”) is inseparable from the snowy vistas of the story. The sweep of his score for Lawrence of Arabia perfectly matched the endless sweep of the desert and the endless competing ambitions of the title character. Both won Oscars as did a third score Jarre did for director David Lean, A Passage to India. Other memorable scores included “Fatal Attraction,” “The Year of Living Dangerously,” and “Dead Poet’s Society.”

Tribute: Natasha Richardson

Posted on March 20, 2009 at 8:03 am

The loss of the lovely, charming, elegant, and talented Natasha Richardson is terribly sad. Her greatest opportunity to show what she could do as an actress was on stage. She won a Tony award for her performance in “Cabaret” on Broadway. She was the daughter of one of the great acting families, with both parents Oscar-winners. Her mother is Vanessa Redgrave and her father was the late Tony Richardson, director of “Tom Jones.” On film, she is perhaps best known as the mother in the Lindsay Lohan remake of “The Parent Trap.” I loved the way she and co-star Dennis Quaid brought a bittersweet but tender and very dear quality to their scenes together as the estranged couple who were increasingly unable to deny their powerful connection. The poignancy of the Ray Charles song, “Every Time We Say Goodbye” on the soundtrack is even sharper now.

Related Tags:

Actors Tribute

Tribute: Ricardo Montalban

Posted on January 14, 2009 at 7:38 pm

Mexican-born leading man Ricardo Montalban died this morning at age 88. He may be best remembered now for his commercials for the Chrysler Cordoba (with the “rich Corinthian leather) and for Maxwell House coffee, but that is because even at the end of his career, his warm, inviting voice was unforgettable.

Montalban had a remarkable and varied career that included musicals (“On an Island With You”), silly comedy (The Naked Gun – From the Files of Police Squad!), drama , family movies (Spy Kids 2 – The Island of Lost Dreams and The Ant Bully), television (Fantasy Island), and of course the title role in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Back in the days when Hollywood figured that any non-Anglo-Saxon ethnic group could substitute for any other, Montalban was cast as a Japanese actor in Sayonara and a Native American in movies like “Across the Wide Missouri” and on television Westerns like “Bonanza.” He performed these roles with dignity and grace. He was one of the last of the great leading men of the 1940’s-70’s and we are lucky to have so many of his magnificent performances to watch again.

Related Tags:

For Your Netflix Queue Tribute

Tribute: Eartha Kitt

Posted on December 27, 2008 at 11:56 pm

Eartha Kitt, who died this week, was an electrifying performer. The warm reminiscences about her incendiary performances on and off-stage are as entertaining as the legendary actress/singer was herself. The Washington Post had Will Haygood’s hilarious recounting of the most expensive — and mesmerizing — lunch of his life. Entertainment Weekly has a piece about a recent cabaret performance by the still-flirty octogenarian .

The obituaries mentioned the spirited attack on our involvement in Viet Nam at a White House luncheon that led to controversy, headlines, and years of difficulty in getting booked. The highlights of her performing career that were most often mentioned were her appearances in nightclubs, her performance as Catwoman in the “Batman” television show, and her unforgettable recording of “Santa Baby.” But today I am remembering her perfect casting as the villain in one of Disney’s most under-appreciated films, The Emperor’s New Groove.

Tribute: Van Johnson

Posted on December 12, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Van Johnson, one of the best light comedian/song and dance men of the 1940s-50s, died this week at age 92. His boyish, All-American good looks made him a popular choice for musicals, romantic comedies, and some dramatic roles as well. He was so well known as the ideal boy-you-wish-lived-next-door performer that Cole Porter included him in the lyrics of his song “Give me a Primitive Man.”

Johnson could play a lead but he was better as a wise-cracking wingman for Gene Kelly in Brigadoon and Henry Fonda in Yours, Mine and Ours. My favorite Van Johnson performances include In the Good Old Summertime, opposite Judy Garland in the musical pre-“You’ve Got Mail” remake of “The Shop Around the Corner,” about the two warring music store employees who don’t know that they are real sweethearts through an anonymous letter exchange. I also love the neglected gem “Wives and Lovers,” which has a wonderful scene where he watches with combined fascination and horror as his daughter makes her lunch. Johnson was not the best singer, dancer, or actor but he was fun to watch because he was so comfortable and natural on screen and always looked like he was having a good time.

And I love this little dance number from “I Love Lucy.”