Thursday Film Picks

 

Richard Chamberlain died 2 days before he would have turned 91 on March 31st. I don’t know why but I just feel so very sad that he died even though he lived a nice long life ( unlike Val Kilmer, who just passed at only 65 from pneumonia but was dealing with Cancer for years although, I think, he was in remission). I think it’s because I had a crush on him when he became the King of the Miniseries back in the early 1980s. Strangely, I never saw him in his iconic TV series, “Dr. Kildare”  when women, all over the U. S. And Canada swooned over the handsome actor, but, one day, I will watch some episodes. I also love him in the Musketeer films that were so much fun and star filled( I consider these Musketeer films the best). I am talking about his miniseries roles and tv movies that I love…

1. SHOGUN-1980

This miniseries made Chamberlain a megastar after his Dr. Kildare series. The miniseries became a force since this show was on regular TV( yes, regular, no cable). He plays the Captain of a ship that became shipwrecked near feudal Japan and becomes embroiled in the war between 2 lords, one played by the legendary Toshiro Mifune,  and does his best to keep the peace while falling in love with a Japanese woman which is just not allowed. It is being remade now and getting huge accolades but this was the first.

2. THE THORNBIRDS-1983

This is an excellent miniseries with the legendary Barbara Stanwyck as a grande dame  who owns a very large sheep ranch. Her brother and his family come to help run the ranch and this is when we meet a very young Maggie who doesn’t get much love from her mom, played by Jean Simmons. Maggie is so happy to meet and become friends with the priest, played by Chamberlain. When, one New Year’s, she comes down the stairs, the priest has some very impure thoughts. Over the years, we see how their love for each other grows and grows culminating on a hot and heavy week on a beach. This mini series created a huge stir over at the Vatican that condemned this series for its depiction of a priest who dares fall in love and have sex with a woman( all altar boys were safe with this priest). It’s such a well acted series and remains faithful to the book which I did read, many moons ago.

3. WALLENBERG: A HERO’S STORY-1985

When I watched this mini-series based on the heroism of this Swedish diplomat and a man with royal lineage, I had no idea who Wallenberg was. After watching this excellent tv movie ( thank God all the different cable channels and streaming didn’t exist) I had to learn more about Raoul Wallenberg and was sad to know that he was 5ake n by the Russians and ended up in one of their prisons. This man, working at the Swedish embassy, was able to save thousands of Jewish people during WW2 only to be treated in such abhorrent manner by the Russian government. The Russians took this man, placed him in prison until he died never admitting they took this hero.

4. THE BOURNE IDENTITY-1988

Who thought Matt Damon played the first Jason Bourne? Well, you are incorrect because Richard Chamberlain played him first and, I think, he does a really good job as the amnesiac assassin who is trying to find out who he is with the help of the beautiful Jacklyn Smith. Of course, the Damon films have a much bigger budget with great effects not to mention, car chases but this is an under-rated gem, in my humble opinion which held my attention all the way through.

Any Chamberlain films you can think of? What about Val Kilmer? 

Dieter's Dance Party

 

The 1980s was a fun time for me, with many bars and Discos laid waste to my vodka and OJ drunken escapades. It was fun dancing the night away and I got a kick out of the many German songs that made it big during this decade.  Some were good but some are just ...dumb  as dumb can be. It's freebie week over at Monday Music Moves Me  and I movin' to German songs baby..

1. DA, DA, DA BY TRIO-1981

I first heard this song when I was in Austria in 1982 and just thought it was the stupidest song I ever heard. That assessment has not changed. It took a while to make it here...still dumb as fu#$&. There was a commercial that used this song and it was funny.

2. 99 LUFT BALLOONS BY NENA-1983

This is a pretty cool song that still gets airplay in both the German and English language. What I find funny is how many guys found her sexy only to have their illusion shattered when she lifted her arms over her shoulders showing her hairy armpits. I don't know what it's like now, but the European gals never thought of shaving ...anything. I'll leave you with that. 

3. ROCK ME, AMADEUS SUNG BY FALCO-1985

This was a big hit for Falco who was inspired to write a song about this great composer after he saw the film about Mozart that starred Tom Hulce as Mozart and F. Murray Abraham as the jealous Salieri. I just recall dancing to it more than once. The Simpsons did a great parody of a musical Planet of the Apes with the words, “ Rock me, Dr. Zaius.”

What fun music did you rock to that came from  another country?

April Star of the Month- Melvyn Douglas

 

MELVYN DOUGLAS

BIRTH: April 5, 1901

DEATH: August 4, 1981

AGED: 80 years

DIED FROM: pneumonia and cardiac issues

REAL NAME: Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg

MARRIED: Twice-1st to Rosalind Hightower. 2nd to Helen Gahagan, an actress and the physical inspiration for the Evil Queen in Disney’s Snow White.  She became a 3 time Congresswoman(D)

CHILDREN: 3 kids. 1 from the first and 2 with his 2nd wife

GRANDKID: Illiana Douglas- check her out, you know her

FRIENDS: FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt 

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: “I Never Sang  For My Father”

OSCAR WINS: “ Hud” and “ Being There”

KNOWN FOR: winning trifecta in awards- Oscar, Emmys and Tony Awards

This man is a solid actor who had no illusions about age, stood up against tyranny, faithful to his wife and loved being an actor. His mom, came from high Southern family and  had her direct roots to the Mayflower while his dad was an immigrant from Latvia who was a Concert Pianist and composer and taught piano. Melvyn had no idea his dad was Jewish until he turned 14 years old and learned about his heritage from his aunts who were proud to tell him. He loved his Jewish ancestry and never hid from it where most people did in Hollywood, like all the studio heads. Melvyn never finished high school but signed up for WW1 and, after that, ended up on the theatre stage….his first love. He married twice, the first to  an artist and had one son with her who, in turn, had a daughter, Iliana Douglas, who made a name in her own right as an actress on film and TV. His 2nd wife was his big love and, together, they were a force, often fighting for injustice. When they visited Europe after they got married, in 1931, and saw first hand, the anti-Semitism in Germany and France, were appalled and fought fascism for the rest of their lives. After the 2nd World War, which he signed up and was head of  an Entertainment unit in Burma rising to Major, he and his 2nd wife started being called leftist sympathizers which caused a delay in his film career. I love that his wife became a 3 time congresswoman who went up against Nixon in 1950. Nixon fought dirty ( and won) calling her a Pinko and said he wouldn’t be surprised if her undies were even pink. She was the one that coined the term, “Tricky Dick”..I think I love her! When he returned to the big screen, he looked much older, probably due to his heart issues. Sadly, his wife died of cancer in 1980 and Melvyn was left bereft. He did make one more film, “Ghost Story” but sadly died before his scenes were done. The director worked around those scenes and it became his last film. A rare gentleman in Hollywood.

FILMS

1. Theodora Goes Wild-1936  ( my favourite)

2. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Home-1948

3. I Never Sang For My Father-1970

4. Hud-1963

5. Ninotchka-1939

6. Ghost Story-1981

7. Being There-1980

8. As You Desire Me-1932

9. That Gorgeous Hussey-1936

10. That Uncertain Feeling-1941

The Last 3 and others not mentioned, I have yet to see. I tried to placed the first 7 in order of my favourites…Ninotchka should be higher..just so darn hard.