Book review - "Irving Thalberg" by Mark Viera

 Thalberg is such an engimatic figure in Hollywood history but Viera does a good job of digging into the primary sources and making him into a real person. It's hard to ascertain the contribution of a producer but Viera rises to the occasion.

Movie review - "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965) *** (re-watching)

 The last really strong AIP Beach Party movie - energetic, confident. Weird moments like that moody ballad Frankie Avalon sings and the Deborah Walley fake rape plot. Odd that John Ashley is Frankie's rival.

The romance between mermaid Sylvia Kristel and Jody McCrea (who is the lead as much as anyone) is charming because both. are dumb - but then he gets with Linda Evans? Confusing that both are blondes. Unsatisfactory.

Linda Evans gorgeous and sweet. The double act of Bobbi Shaw and Buster Keaton is funny. Fun silent era chase and climax. This was peak Mac Sennett period at AIP.

Don Rickles' night club act isn't funny. Paul Lynde is funny.

Movie review - "Pajama Party" (1964) *** (re watching)

 Fun dance numbers. Plot is silly. Anntte Funicello gets to dance. But her character falls in love very quickly - she's so flippant. Jody McCrea isn't in to her so she goes with Tommy Kirk but then he is attacked by Bobbi Shaw and she huffs, he says sorry, finds out she's a martian, and huffs again.

The veterans are very well used - Jesse White is fun as is Elsa Lanchester, it's great to see Buster Keaton yucking it up with Bobbi Shaw, Dororhy Lamour has a terrific number. The numbers are good except the dim love ballad with Funicello and Tommy Kirk.

Annette suits Frankie better but she and Kirk are fine and he's charming as usual. Teri Garr is a dancer - all those AIP starlets and the true star was there. Susan Hart gets a lot of screen time but she just shimmies. She struggles with her few lines. Donna Loren sings. They may as well have shown Avalon's face we know it's him. He's funny as is Don Rickles.

This is fun. A mash up of sci fi and beach party - the first mash ups. Goldfoot and Ghost in the Invisible Bikini were closer like that.

Donald O'Connor Top Ten

 Let's see if I can do it...

1) Singing in the Rain (1952) - easy choice.

2) The Milkman (1950) - fun comedy with O'Connor teaming well with Jimmy Durante.

3) Feudin, Fussin and Fighting (1949) - O'Connor meets up with Percy Kilbridge/Marjorie Main before they went off to their franchises - a joyous time.

4) The Buster Keaton Story (1957) - look, this isn't a good movie and it killed O'Connor's movie star career but he's very good and it's interesting.

5) Call Me Madam (1953).- first rate musical.

6) Anything Goes (1956) - not highly regarded and undercast female leads but a lot of talent and joy.

7) Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950) - shenanigans out west sort of a musical Westerner and entertaining.

8) There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) - ah, I know its flaws but it has Marilyn singing 'Heatwave'.

9) Francis Covers the Big Town (1953) - I'll limit myself to one Francis and this 'll be it.

10) Bowery to Broadway (1944) - an all star Universal musical so the talent is B level but it's entertaining.

Book review - "Buster Keaton" By James Curtis

 Long. Maybe didn't need to be - there's lots of description of synopsis and gags. The best bit is the first section - the tale of Keaton in vaudeuville with his parents, trying to stay one step ahead of the authorities. It didn't seem to do him much psychological damage. Maybe a little more time in the classroom would've made him a better businessman. Or maybe not (Chaplin didn't).

I think Keaton was a genius - brilliantly trained who sound the perfect medium - silent comedy. He had an ideal patron in Joe Schenck and was protected for many years. Keaton benefited from a perfect storm of good fortune (vaudeville training, patronage of Fatty Arbuckle, the fact films were so new and silent, and had been doing for just the right amount of time)... then had a perfect storm of bad things, some of which TBH were his fault (moving to control-obsessed and cost-conscious MGM, blowing all his money on a ridiculously elaborate house, and most of all boozing). He had a lousy 30s but even then remained a box office draw at MGM longer than is commonly thought... had a bad second marriage... but the last two decades of his life were happy: a nice third marriage, plenty of work, critical acclaim. Died at an old age for a smoker.

I like how this book have credit to the later AIP films (my first exposure to Keaton) and to television.

A fine life, a worthy tribute. Maybe a little overlong.

Movie review - "San Diego, I Love You" (1944) ***

 Little known comedy was the favourite of its director. Reginald Le Borg. It's a wacky family screwball comedy with widowed inventor Edward Everett Horton, hot daughter Louise Albritton and crazy kids. They go on a train to San Diego where Horton is to work on his raft design. 

All the tropes are there - overcrowded train carriages and hotel lobbies, bewildered black train porters, befuddled millionaires, kindly duffers, wisecracking kids, antics on the water, comic butlers.

Jon Hall is quite good as a straight man millionaire, reacting to the madcap family. Albritton is less strong - they were after a new Carole Lombard, and while Albritton tries she doesn't get there. Eric Blore is a butler working for Horton's family and I imagined them having a "butler off".

Lively, beautifully shot, plenty of energy. I didn't expect much and I was pleasantly surprised. Variety called it a "sleeper" and they were right.

Movie review - "The Great Buster" (2018) ***

 Peter Bogdanovich's last feature is a perfectly adequate documentary about Keaton's life and career. It's celebrator rather than with any in depth analysis.

A random collection of interview subjects - Cybill Shepherd, Johnny Knoxville, Richard Lewis (who knew his widow), Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Bill Hader, Dick Van Dyke, one of the directors of Spiderman, Nick Kroll, Quentin Tarantino. 

It is determined to appeal to the younger kids, which I get. It skimps on the personal drama. Really just shows a lot of clips and talks about them.

Bogdanovich narrates and his mates are in there but he never wrote about Keaton or had a connection with him (cf Chaplin) so it doesn't feel particularly Bogdanovich-ian. I'm glad he had a gig though.

Movie review - "The Buster Keaton Story" (1957) **1/2

 The film that marked the end of Donald O'Connor's time as a movie star... he'd just been in Anything Goes then he did this, billed above the title, and it flopped and it was... over. No films for a few years, and they didn't do much.

He's really good. He's always good. Does the comedy, the drama (Keaton's alcoholism). He's not exactly Mr Stoneface but that's hard to do. He was ideal because he grew up in vaudeville and was an alcoholic too.

Maybe the story was too hard. The fictionalisation of this is annoying. It gives Keaton one wife, a made up script supervisor. Ann Blyth was in musicals with O'Connor back in the day but here she's just bland pretty doll and too sensible. We never feel that she and O'Connor would be together or why (she seems very uncomfortable taking part in the slapstick at the end) - which is a big deal since that's the one relationship the film invests time in. Biopics only work really when they focus on a relationship. 

They do little with Keaton's parents There's the one studio guy, Larry Keating, one flunkie, Richard Anderson (as a rival for Blyth). Rhonda Fleming pops up as a silent film star Keaton falls for. Peter Lorre has a random small role as a director and Cecil B De Mille appears as himself.

It never feels real. There's no consistent theme.

I enjoyed O'Connor's dramatic acting and there's nice bits like Keaton doing business for the baseball kids. I do like that they had a go at it - I mean it's interesting and is a good chance for O'Connor. Sidney Sheldon directed - maybe he was the wrong guy. Maybe it just should've focused on the early days of vaudeville made it happy go lucky. The true story actually has a great five act structure (early days, struggle, fame, decline and booze, third wife) but that was probably too hard legally.

Look, this film did buy Keaton a house.

Movie review - "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1966) **1/2

 The reputation of this film is mixed despite its interesting cast. It started very well with that wonderful opening number 'Comedy Tonight'. It is bright and funny and the Spanish locations are fine. 

But after a while I kept thinking "this probably played better on stage" especially the broad comic antics of people like Zero Mostel (slave), Phil Silvers (slave dealer).

The cast includes Michael Crawford (male juvenile), Australia's own Annette Andre as the girl of his dreams, Michael Hordern as Crawford's dad.

Movie review - "Easy to Wed" (1946) ***

In the 1950s MGM would go nuts remaking their earlier hits in color but they were already at it in 1946, adding colour and songs to Libeled Lady.

This one has a B grade cast - not in terms of box office draw or acting talent but in terms of star charisma. Van Johnson was hugely popular at the time - he's not as skilled as Bill Powell but is amiable and cheerful; he never seems too sleazy, possibly because he was gay in real life but that might just be his acting. In real life Johnson was best friends with Keenan Wynn and Wynn divorced his wife so Johnson could have a beard so it's fun to see them as friends here with Johnson pretending to go out with Lucile Ball...

It's so Johnson can pursue Esther Williams and get to to stop suing Wynn's paper. Wynn is a solid character actor but not a star; Williams is a star, in the water, and doesn't spend that much time in the water here - she really should have. She is pretty, with a strong athletic body (she's sunning herself in her first scene) and tries She's okay just not Myrna Loy.

Lucille Ball looks gorgeous in colour in some scenes and has her moments but she's not Jean Harlow. Wynn isn't Spencer Tracy. (I think Wynn is better as a villain or in more broadly comic parts).

There's some musical numbers but not a lot. Maybe it needed more.This started off well, I went with it, but got more of a strain the longer it went on - it stuck too close to the original, and I found myself wishing I was watching that.

Buster Keaton added some gags for the film. The colour is nice.

Movie review - "Steamboat Bill Jr" (1928) ***

For the most part I didn’t find this that amazing - Buster Keaton as the college-educated son of a steamboat captain who finds his kid a bit whimpy. But then the last act kicks in - it's a storm that hits the town, resulting in houses falling down everywhere, boats flying about, and Buster struggling against the elements. This is the film which features the famous stunt of a house collapsing all around him, but him surviving by standing in an open window. There's plenty of it and it's all terrific - one of the great all time physical performers was Keaton,

Short review – “Coney Island” (1919) **

Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton at the famous resort with some funny stuff with Fatty going for a swim and buying a costume, plus footage of Coney at the time (parades etc) which is historically interesting.

Movie review – “Cops” (1922) ****

The first half is shenanigans with Buster and a horse dragging a load of furniture – fun but nothing special. Then he stumbles upon a cop parade – an anarchist throws a bomb which is blamed on Buster and it becomes magical. A brilliant 10 minute chase ensues, full of incredible spectacle (eg masses of police converging on the station) and stunts (running across a plank that’s spread over a fence).

Movie review – Keaton#3 – “His Wedding Night” (1917) **1/2

Fatty Arbuckle is very funny as a soda clerk who has a bunch of adventures at work (serving beer to Buster Keaton, etc) while being engaged to a pretty thing. His rival kidnaps the girl but Fatty saves the day. Keaton does a scene in drag modelling the wedding dress but it’s Arbuckle’s film. Love the bit where a horse sits on him.

Movie short review – Buster#2 - “The Rough-house” (1917) ***

Buster Keaton fell so in love with filmmaking that after making one short, The Butcher Boy, he was writing and directing them – helping rather, along with Fatty Arbuckle, the star. Arbuckle plays one of a family who run a hotel, during the course of which he destroys his bedroom, a kitchen and a living room. Very funny slapstick and destruction. Keaton has a small role as a gardener who turns into a policeman, just in time to take part in the final chase.

Movie short review – Buster#1 - “The Butcher Boy” (1917) ***

Fatty Arbuckle remains one of the best known silent film stars because of the scandal that effectively ended his career, but he was a really terrific screen comic. He had this great expressive face, a mischievousness about him, the weight of course, and tremendous physical skill. This falls into two halves: shenanigans in a butchers, resulting in a flour fight, and a section in a girls boarding school where Arbuckle (and the rival for his girls' affection) dress up in drag. This is hilarious too. Buster Keaton makes his film debut as Arbuckle's co worker - he's funny, but not as funny as Arbuckle, or that dog on the treadmill at the butchers.

Movie review – “Sergeant Deadhead” (1965) *1/2

Normally I love AIP musicals but this one was hard to take. It’s an attempt to graduate their Beach Party stars to more grown up entertainment – so we have Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley (fitting in for Annette Funicello), John Ashley, Harvey Lembeck, Bobbi Shaw, Donna Loren and Buster Keaton put into military outfits. Service comedies are normally pretty surefire, but this is dreadful.

For one thing, it has a needlessly over-complicated plot – geeky Avalon is accidentally shot into space (fine), comes down a national hero but has a big head (fine), then has to have his position taken over by a lookalike (silly – and introduced way too late to the story). For another the antics of Avalon and co are really irritating, and breaking out into song doesn’t work. Also the freedom inherent in the beach party movies is stifled in the army setting.

There is a funny gag about the girls having to salute while wearing towels and said towels dropping on the ground, and Avalon and Walley work well together. It's weird to see John Ashley playing a nerd type character as opposed to his normal suave sidekick.

Movie review – “The General” (1927) ***

I’m always afraid to say I don’t really enjoy certain classic films – perhaps it’s a reaction to all that screen studies I did, or having read too much David Shipman growing up. “But it’s hilarious, Keaton is better than Chaplin, it’s perfect cinema”. I did find a lot to admire and enjoy about this film – Buster sitting on a wheel having lunch which then starts moving, Buster tossing a piece of wood to push another piece of wood off a train track, the final gag with Buster doing rapid saluting. I didn’t find that many laughs in it – things like Buster accidentally firing a canon which causes a dam to burst, flooding a river and presumably killing a lot of Union soldiers really isn’t that funny. This works better more as a light adventure film, with some spectacular stunts and thrilling action. The final battle scenes are beautifully composed, and you won’t see a better train crash than the one at the end of this.

I guess I also had troubles cheering on a Confederate hero – hooray, he’s helped strike a blow for slavery. And sometimes Buster’s behaviour is too silly to be funny eg tossing long pieces of wood on to a train instead of just placing them (ok yes then you get the gag of the wood bouncing off but it’s just silly). Also his girlfriend is a bit of a bitch for dumping him just because he can’t get into the army – wouldn’t she think that they might have rejected him because of his profession? Even if she didn’t, she’s still not very nice. (To be fair though, she does suffer later on in the film, being kidnapped and dunked in water, and she proves a useful ally for Buster during the chase).

I recognise there are some beautiful things here, and Keaton was an incredible talent (some of his balletics on the train has to be seen to be believed); I just didn’t find it that funny or thrilling. Sorry, David Shipman.

Movie review – Beach Party #4 - “Pajama Party” (1964) ***1/2

Tommy Kirk’s homosexuality saw him fired from Disney but he was still offered work over at AIP, for whom he made this film – after which he was busted for drugs and they gave him the flick.

Here he steps into Frankie Avalon’s shoes as leading man in what became the fourth in the Beach Party series. Apparently this wasn’t originally envisioned as part of the series but was changed – so most of the action takes place as a mansion next to the beach rather than the beach, the hero of the plot is a martian rather than a teenager, Annette starts the film dating Jody McCrea rather than Frankie (actually this is a little stressful to watch) and winds up wth Tommy, there’s no John Ashley and Don Weis directs instead of William Asher; but they do have Donna Loren, Candy Johnson, Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper, plus a bunch of veteran stars, Don Rickles and Frankie Avalon in cameos, and plenty of groovy songs and dances.

I read an article about this film once that pointed out it was the only Beach Party movie that was done as a proper musical – the songs and routines are better integrated, there is a big well-choreographed dance number on the beach and at the pajama party (as well as the standard wiggling) and a really fun number performed by Dorothy Lamour in a dress shop (where the dancers include a young Terri Garr in a yellow dress – and if I’m not mistaken Toni Basil in a bikini).

Don Weis moves the camera more than William Asher and the songs are consistently strong. Also Funicello is actually allowed to sing and dance in a big production number – normally in Beach Party movies she was stuck singing ballads.

Kirk and Funicello have charming chemistry together, except in the scene where they ding a duet (if Kirk isn’t dubbed, he seems to be – and he does it poorly). And the story of their romance isn’t much – Beach Party movies were never that good at actually depicting couples fall in love (Frankie and Annette would break up and get back together) and the Annette-Kirk romance feels as though it needs another scene or beat or something – for instance, Annette’s got no real reason to be mad at Kirk for flirting with Bobbi Shaw… they’re not going out, and hello Annette is meant to be going out with Jody McCrea.

The film seems unable to make up its mind whether to concentrate on the martians-invading-earth story or the conmen-trying-to-rip-off-Elsa-Lanchester story. Eric Von Zipper and his cronies get involved too – they look hilarious in red pajamas at the end.

This is one of the sexiest movies in the series, with plenty of attractive women in bikinis and pajamas. Candy Johnson is in it but the role of woman-who-can-knock-men-over-with-a-shimmy is taken here by Susan Hart (who gets to dance in the end credits, another former place of Johnson’s – was she already seeing Jim Nicholson at this point?) She’s gorgeous but the real stunner is Bobbi Shaw, as a man-eating well-endowed Swede - if she’s not jumping out of the bathtub she’s in a bikini or rubbing Buster Keaton’s face in his breasts (this was one of Keaton’s last roles and even if AIP movies weren’t of the level of his silent classics, they were bright ad cheerful and gave him a pay cheque… and the chance to get up close and personal with Bobbi Shaw). 

A really fun, bright movie.

Movie review - "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965) ***

Many commentators think this is the best of the Beach Party series. I used to think so until a recent re-viewing made me change my mind. It's definitely not the purest, if that makes sense, as there are too many things which make it stick out from the series: Frankie and Annette aren't in the best of form, John Ashley plays Frankie's rival instead of friend (this at least means Ashley has something to do, though), Jody McCrea is the lead as much as anyone else as she chases mermaid Marta Kristen and winds up with beautiful starlet Linda Evans.

There is lots of colour and action and movement - sky diving is the gimmick here, plus mermaids (the romance between McCrea and Kristen is unexpectedly touching) - with some decent songs, apart from an awful ballad sung by Avalon. The scene where he impresses columnist Earl Wilson while singing it makes one think he had one eye well and truly on Vegas by this time. The climax, in the style of old Hollywood silent cinema, is funny.

My main problem with it was Frankie Avalon was so obnoxious – he’s cocky with Paul Lynde, he tells Annette that a woman’s place is in the kitchen so she shouldn’t sky dive (he also complains about her cooking). Also Deborah Walley accuses him of sexually assaulting her – which is a bit full on for a Beach Party movie. To compensate though, Don Rickles and Paul Lynde insult Avalon several times, and most of the romantic duties are carried by McCrea .

Annette Funicello has very little to do – so too do Buster Keaton and Bobbi Show (who seems to be sucking in her gut the whole movie). The music is a bit different, indicating that even AIP were getting impatient with the series.