Thursday, December 22, 2016

Thursday Movie Picks-Parties


Christmas is almost here...ready to bring cheer...or at least some beer...I'm rhyming like Pat Hatt, I fear:) OK, feeling giddy and I have not had a drop of anything fun. This week it is all about parties and I am staying away from something icky like "4 Christmasses" and even away from the hilarious, The Hangover (chicken included..what was it about that chicken??-hahahaaa) and went swingin' 60's this week. This Movie Pick theme is the brainchild of Wandering Through the Shelves and I dare ya to join in one day or just venture over to see what the others have picked. Here are my 3...

1. THE PINK PANTHER-1963


This is one of my favourite comedies and it is a tour de force  performance by the great Peter Sellers who stole the show from the star David Niven. Sellers plays Inspector Clouseau who takes his wife to Northern Italy for a ski holiday which is a ruse since he believes the Phantom, a famous jewel thief, will also be there to steal the famous Pink Panther diamond. Clouseau has no clue that his wife is having an affair with the thief and is his fence. The thief's nephew comes to visit and quickly wants in on his Uncle's business. It ends in Rome at a huge masquerade ball where you have gorillas, a Knight and a zebra all chasing one another through the streets. It's priceless entertainment and the music is great with Fran Jeffries, who just recently passed away singing a sexy song called "It had better be tonight".

2. BEACH BLANKET BINGO-1965


Oh, this is Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello playing fun loving kids...who look more like they should have teens of their own, frolicking on the beach having a great time partying, swimming, surfing, dancing and sky-diving. There is a sexy blonde babe, pre-dynasty Linda Evans, a mermaid, Don Rickles, Buster Keaton and the legendary (in his own mind) Eric Von Zipper and his rat pack bike gang. All there films are fun and silly and very g-rated.... too bad they don't get much air play any more.

3. THE PARTY-1968


I need to see some Jacques Tati films because this film seems to be playing homage to this famous French film director. There isn't too much of a plot but Peter Sellers knows how to improvise and create a great under-rated film. He plays an Indian actor who somehow blows up the film set by accident and is fired. By mistake the studio head writes the actor's name down as one of the guests to his wife's party instead of the blacklist. Sellers ends up at the party and he starts mingling with everyone at the party creating one disaster after another where many people end up in the pool, covered in suds while a baby elephant wanders around. To say the home gets destroyed would be an understatement. It is a comedic dream in my book and worth watching.

49 comments:

  1. My first thought when you showed the theme was Risky Business, though I do not think I have ever seen it from start to finish in one sitting. Of the three you list, I have only seen The Pink Panther, but it is one of my favorites. I still have the soundtrack recording on vinyl. I love the scene in the roundabout. BTW, I sat here and watched The Santa Clause movie yesterday. Facial expressions on Tim Allen were priceless. Merry Christmas.

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    1. I have the same soundtrack! yes-I love that chase scene. Tim Allen is funny in Santa Clause

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  2. I've only seen the Pink Panther as well. As for party movies, Animal House and Bachelor Party came to my mind first.

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    1. I thought of Animal House but I decided on the 60's vibe:)

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  3. I've only seen The Pink Panther. I did see clips of Beach Blanket Bingo on IFC's Indie Sex documentary though. That counts, right? lol

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    1. I'm still trying to understand that this showed up on a sex documentary-hahahaaa

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  4. Its a great theme for this time of year! Sadly, I haven't seen any of these movies (I must get a life in 2017). They do sound good! Merry Christmas!

    betty

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    1. These are good and I would see Pink Panther for sure

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  5. Hi, Birgit!

    You can't go wrong with two Peter Sellers movies. I have seen all three of these pictures and actually studied The Party in my film course in college (along with Sellers' Lolita). It's hard for me to watch Beach Blanket Bingo for two reasons. First, it makes me sad to recall Annette's debilitating illness and early death. The second reason why I cringe when I watch BBB and other movies of that genre is because they are schlocky spectacles filled with stereotypical characters, bad jokes and equally bad music. The actors were all older than teenage when the films were produced and the target audience of beach pictures like this one were not teenagers but older men who enjoyed the titillation and could relate to aging icons like Buster Keaton.

    Thanks for the memories and the entertainment, dear friend BB, and merry Christmas to you!

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    1. Yes, I get exactly what you mean and some of the jokes could never be done today because it is so politically incorrect but they are fun to me and I knew who Buster was even when I was a kid

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  6. Animal House was the first to pop in at my sea. Pink Panther is the only one I've seen of those three. Alright to rhyme like me haha

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    1. hahahaaa-I thought you might like the rhyme:)

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  7. Terrific picks! The Pink Panther is a clever comedy with Sellers eclipsing everyone else though they all give good performances as well. He's just so magnetic and crazy he draws the viewer's eye.

    I LOVE Beach Blanket Bingo. It's my favorite of the Beach Party movies though I can't put my finger on why. It's just as goofy as the others maybe because of Linda Evans whom I've always liked and LOVED on The Big Valley.

    The Party's good though I prefer Pink Panther.

    My main three have a not hard to decipher theme and my bonus-picked specifically to inject a summer feeling into these cold days-is where the beach fun all began.

    The Wild Party (1975)-On the skids Hollywood silent comic star Jolly Grimm (James Coco) is hoping that an elaborate party he’s throwing with the aid of his mistress (Raquel Welch), capped by the showing of his new film, will reignite his career. The party starts well but quickly spirals out of control ending in tragedy. This was loosely based on the notorious Fatty Arbuckle case. Welch and Coco are both excellent.

    The Wild Party (1956)-The wild party of the title is a kidnapping by a group of losers that becomes the ultimate bad night. “Kicks” Johnson, a hepcat ivory tickler (Nehemiah Persoff) who needs cash cause being broke for a living, “just ain’t cool for a jazzman”, Tom Kupfen, a former pro-football player (Anthony Quinn) reduced to rolling drunks for a few bucks, the trampy Honey (Kathryn Grant) Tom’s last hanger-on from his glory days- in need of cash to pay the rent who says of herself "I have 40,000 miles on me" plus a knife happy, small time con-man, Gage Freeposter (Jay Robinson) on the run from Johnny Law go looking for a score. Freeposter cruises an upscale jazz club “The Fat Man” where the “real cats swing” in search of a mark or two. They find a rich couple (Carol Omart and Arthur Franz) and entice them to an abandoned amusement park where things quickly go wrong. Loaded with 50’s hipster lingo and a primo jazz score.

    The Wild Party (1929)-A group of young women at a girls college are more interested in attending wild parties than studying for their classes. After being kicked out of one such party one of the girls, Stella Ames (Clara Bow), gets into a bad situation in a bar where one of her professors James Gilmore (Fredric March) has to save her. Gossip about the two spreads and Stella has to act fast to save both their reputations. Bow is at her “It Girl” best.

    Summer Throwback Bonus-Beach Party (1963)-It’s the original gathering of Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Deadhead, Eric Von Zipper and the whole beach party gang! This one has a bit more story than usual with anthropology professor Robert Orwell Sutwell (Robert Cummings) and his secretary Marianne (Dorothy Malone) studying the sex habits of teenagers. Not that they’re having any real sex just singing and dancing to Dick Dale and the Del Tones and surfing of course.

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    1. So glad you like my picks and that you love BBB-I almost picked the Girl in the Invisible Bikini. Love the Wild Party theme. I have not seen any!! I have a huge list to see. I know the Arbuckle case well and he was really raked through the coals especially by the hearst papers. The 50's film sounds great to see if but for the music. Who can resist Clara Bow...very few men actually:) Glad you picked Beach Party which is another fav...gotta love Eric Von Zipper

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  8. I've only seen clips of The Pink Panther, but I guess that doesn't count.

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    1. ops-you have to see this film-Sellers Is the perfect Clouseau!

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  9. Seen The Party. Seen bits of Pink Panther, because somebody else was watching it.

    Bachelor Party: Adrian Zmed, Tawny Kitaen.

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    1. Bachelor Party sounds like it's a good B flick because, well, look at the stars:)

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  10. Love the Pink Panther, or anything with Peter Sellers. Have you seen "Being There?" Ir's an amazing movie, and the last two minutes are magical.

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    1. I have seen Being There and think it is an excellent movie!

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  11. Loved all of those movies! Glad you're in good spirits, Birgit, with or without libations. ☺ Merry Christmas to you and your family. I'm taking some time off, so, "see" you next year. Cheers!

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  12. All the selections I've seen so far have been different, which is rare!
    Absurdly glad to see Pink Panther.

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  13. The only one of these I've seen is Beach Blanket Bingo. I can still sing the very complicated theme song to the movie. Beach Blanket Biiingo, Beach Blanket Biiingo . . . and so on and so forth.

    Love,
    Janie

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  14. I have to admit that I haven't seen any of these. I'm most ashamed to admit I haven't seen The Pink Panther, even though everyone always has such wonderful things to say about it (and yes, I know it's an actual movie, not just the cartoon about the pink cat). ;)

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    1. You have to see the pink panther movies with Peter Sellers...the new ones suck

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  15. I've only seen The Pink Panther. I know about BBB, but I never saw it.

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  16. I've got to see The Party! I love laughing. :-)

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  17. I watched the first two as a kid in the 70s since they were often on TV. Don't remember much of either, though. Might be interesting to see how they hold up.

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    1. The Pink Panther holds up better than those Beach movies but they are still fun.

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  18. Remember seeing the Pink Panther, loong time ago now though. I remember the movie most for Capucine whom I thought was so beautiful and who also wore the most wonderful blue velvet dress and sapphire necklace. I didn't think much of the film itself I'm afraid.

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    1. She was beautiful and was good in this film. It's a shame she committed suicide

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  19. All you have to do is say, "Peter Sellers" and I start laughing.

    Here's to a wonderful year ahead. Thanks for all the great movie memories.

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  20. The Pink Panther movie sounds hilarious! Merry Christmas!

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  21. All of the PINK PANTHER movies are funny!

    BIRGIT, I think I may have seen 'THE PARTY' a godzillion years ago -- and probably drunk as a skunk -- which 'splains why I can't remember anything about it. Except..... is this perchance the movie where some guy was walking around all night at the party with a big mug hanging around his neck on a chain? (If not, do you know what movie I'm thinking of?)

    Have a Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year!

    ~ D-FensDogG
    "The King Of Hostility"

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    1. I have to admit I have not seen this film in a few years and this scene sounds familiar but not sure if it's from this film.hope you had a great Christmas

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  22. Well, look at you go
    Rhyming about like Pat at his show

    Peter Sellers... loved the guy.

    I hope your X-mas was wonderful too.

    Blue

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    1. I can rhyme in time and sometimes act like a mime:) It was great!

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  23. Birgit, We are huge Peter Sellers fans and no one can pull off Inspector Clouseau like him. He was priceless to watch in these roles. You spotlighted some excellent retro picks here, all of which I've seen, too. Thank you for putting a smile on my face. I'm looking forward to another year of friendship and visits with you and may God's goodness shine down on you in 2017!

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    1. That is so sweet! I hope you had. Great Christmas and hope your Christmas was great

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  24. There is only one Clouseau and it is Peter Sellers - such a good film - laughed out loud whne I first saw it.

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    1. Peter Sellers is Clouseau, the remakes are not good at all even though I like Steve Martin

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