After the critical and commercial success of Midnight Cowboy, the late director John Schlesinger had the freedom to pursue the project of his choice. Deciding not to play it safe, Schlesinger chose Sunday Bloody Sunday, a thoughtful film about homosexuality,…
Blame IKEA, with its Swedish meatballs and odd, but amusing-sounding names for bookcases that require a degree in civil engineering to put together, and the softest towels that melt away that frustration. All that is what got me interested in…
By its second season, Alice became a real hit, finishing the year at #8 in the Nielsen ratings. Mel Sharples (Vic Tayback), the proprietor of Mel’s Diner, a greasy spoon eatery in Phoenix and his waitresses, Alice (Linda Lavin), Flo…
Fifty shades of Humphrey Bogart. Actually, I’m sure there are more than fifty, but they’re only effective if the movie he’s in makes him worth watching, not if it just seems that he’s going through the motions, as it is…
It’s little wonder that Clark Gable and Jean Harlow made six films together in a span of just six years. Gable’s man’s man’s persona and her bawdy personality made for great chemistry. In Red Dust, their scenes have a palpable…
Growing up, I occasionally read the Heathcliff comic strip, but I also considered him a second rate Garfield. So while I had a stuffed Garfield on my bed and Garfield pencils in my pencil box, Heathcliff was largely ignored. Whatever…
Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass, better known to millions as simply Rankin/Bass, gained fame for co-producing and directing a wide array of stop motion animation features. Some of their most popular were their holiday offerings such as Rudolph the…
When Magical Mystery Tour premiered on BBC1 on Boxing Day 1967, the public’s reaction to the film was contemptuous. Though shot in color, the film was broadcast in black and white. The Beatles themselves thought it looked terrible when they…
Compared to Christmas, Halloween doesn’t boast a wealth of TV specials with different takes on the holiday. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown would seem to be enough, because how much more can you make out of the day beyond…
Since its debut in 1988, the PBS series American Experience has been known as a program that produces extensive documentaries on the people and events that have helped shape the history of America. The documentaries are extensive, often taking years…