Thursday, July 18, 2019

Thursday Movie Picks-Blockbuster Flops

Wandering Through The Shelves picked a good one this week because it is all about the big budget flops that we see almost every year. Sometimes the films, I find, are pretty good(Adventures of Baron Munchausen) but, often, they are flops for a reason-they are crap! I chose 3 that are all from the 1960's because I have seen them when they come on TV and here they are...

1. CLEOPATRA-1963


Oh That Elizabeth Taylor who was a great choice as Cleo but the backstage antics catapulted the film's costs to over 44 million(almost $375 million today). Liz wanted her special food from a certain restaurant in Hollywood so they shipped it in for her. She started a huge affair with Richard Burton, who played Marc Antony, that created a world wide stir where the Pope condemned them. She also became very ill with pneumonia and almost died. An emergency tracheotomy had to be performed so she could breathe.. There were cast changes, thousands of costumes and changes in location shoots. This film is almost 4 hours long and it drags. Yes, it is all about Cleo's life when she is is presented (rolled in a rug) to Julius Caesar, played by sexy Rexy Harrison. Cleo has an affair with Antony all the while ruling Rome and Egypt before taking her life with an Asp (that's a snake by the way). This film almost bankrupted Fox but was saved by the Sound of Music, which became a huge hit. To be honest, even though, it drags a bit, it's still worth seeing just once, oh, it eventually recouped its cost.

2. DR. DOOLITTLE-1967


Rex Harrison (yup Sexy Rexy) was cast as the lead in this horrible movie about a man who can talk to the animals. It was thought that the best thing was to make this a musical and it sucks especially when they show the Pushme-Pullyou animal..yuck-a Doodle! Dr. Doodie  travels all around and meets up with Samantha Eggar and Anthony Newley(who can sing but I hate his style of singing). It's quite the stupid movie where the Doc, freed from the nut house sets sail to find the elusive pink sea snail...ughhh...watch the Eddie Murphy film instead. Oh it cost 17 million to make(over $128 Million today) but only made 6.2 million (46.7Million). Poor Rex had to deal with bad weather, irate villagers from one of the film locations, and being bitten by many of the animals. Once again, almost bankrupted Fox Studios (they never learn)

3. PAINT YOUR WAGON-1969


I watched a ton of movies on TV when I was young. I wish Movies for a Sunday Afternoon would come back. Anyhoo, This wretched musical, from a Tony Winning Broadway show takes place during the wild west days of mining. 2 men, one old and one young vie for the love of a pretty lass who can't decide whom she loves so she lives with both. They not only mine but rob a stagecoach to kidnap 6 prostitutes to create a boomtown. It stars the non singing Lee Marvin as the old coot, Clint Eastwood(yup!) as the young guy and Jean Seberg as the lassie...none can sing well even though Clint loves music and composes many songs that you hear in his films. The only saving grace for this movie is when the song , "They Call the Wind Mariah" is sung by Harve Presnell and other miners. I recall covering my eyes when Clint sang. Bad weather, Clint having an affair with the mentally unstable Jean Seberg, (who thought she was going to marry him. She had no idea he was having another affair with a bit player as well) and Marvin being drunk most of the time, the budget soared to 20 Million(over $138 million) but only made  ($14.5 million which is $100 Million).

Which 3 films would you choose?

46 comments:

  1. Hi, Birgit!

    I remember all three of these film flops released in the 60s. Some of my favorite thespians appeared in them including Liz Taylor, Samantha Eggar, Lee Marvin and Jean Seberg. I never sat through Cleopatra. As you well know, Liz was not the only high maintenance star in Tinseltown, and there were and are some singing stars and famous band members who fall into the same category. The only four hour film I have watched again and again is the Jeff Daniels epic Gettysburg which I can't recommend highly enough. It's a funny tidbit to learn that Rex Harrison was bitten by many of the animals in the making of Doctor Dolittle, another movie I have not watched. However I have seen Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine ten times. Close enough? :)

    Lee Marvin is my Pick To Click. As a boy my dad and I never missed his portrayal of the bold, swaggering Detective Lt. Frank Ballinger on the TV series M Squad, and Lee was sensational in The Dirty Dozen.

    Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend BB!

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    1. I love Gettysburg and wish it was better known. It’s so well acted and very moving. I would add Glory to this list as well. I love Lee Marvin who actually had a hit with one of the songs from the movie I mentioned. I forgot he was in the tv show.

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    2. i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
      or
      call/whatsapp:+2349057261346










      i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
      or
      call/whatsapp:+2349057261346

      Delete
  2. I saw Cleopatra opening week in downtown Detroit. I even have the soundtrack album. It was quite the spectacle. Haven't seen the other two.

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    1. Did you see it in one of the old movie palaces? That would have been something to see.

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    2. Yes, in one of the old theatres that has probably been torn down.

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  3. I've HEARD of the first two, but not the last. I had read about Cleopatra and the many problems associated with the film. I saw a tv show that showed the lives of the Liz and Richard and their on again, off again relationship. That wasn't news to me. But I knew NOTHING about the other two films. As always, you shine with your great synopses.

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    1. There was a documentary about the making of Cleo also. I saw the one about Liz and Dick as their relationship was one that you would think is from a movie. Thanks for liking what I write:)

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  4. I actually like Paint Your Wagon.
    Big blockbuster flops - Waterworld and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

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    1. You do?? Ok well, maybe I should give it another try since it has been a long time since I saw this. I have only seen bits of Waterworld but don’t know the other 2. John Carter was another huge flop and one I like

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  5. The first two read about, but the third pick was completely new to me. I haven't seen any of them, but I did watch Eddie Murphy's Doctor Doolittle.

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    1. I like Eddie Murphy’s take on the Doc which is better

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  6. I didn't know any of these were flops. And then there was that Warren Beatty film set in the desert from the 1970's I think. I don't remember its name though. Maybe it wasn't so popular. But I will say I actually like Cleopatra. Happy Thursday. Hugs-Erika

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    1. I don’t mind Cleo but it is a bit of a slog. Ishtar!! I saw this in the theatre and recall I didn’t mind it. I should try it again because it was slammed when it came out

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  7. Hi Birgit - interesting to read about ... I can't say I'd realised they were flops albeit not sure I've actually seen any of them through ... but thanks for letting us read your reviews ... cheers Hilary

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    1. The first 2 are very famous but they were big flops. Glad you enjoy the read

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  8. Those were interesting facts about the movies. Its good that Sound of Music helped recoop costs for Fox. I haven't seen any of these but I kind of liked Eddie Murphy's Dr. Doolittle movie :)

    betty

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    1. Fox must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when the Sound of Music got them out of the red. I like the Eddie Murphy Doolittle too.

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  9. Lee Marvin singing "I was born under a wand'rin star" was the best thing about "Paint Your Wagon." He was no singer, and there was no one who could have done a better job. The scene where he's walking along singing it makes me choke up every time.

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    1. That’s the song that made it in the top 40! I love Lee Marvin

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  10. Heard of them, of course, but haven't seen them. Cleopatra was just on TCM last week. One would think it would have been cheaper to just hire the chef from her favorite restaurant to do craft services than to fly out her meals. That's just crazy.

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    1. Yes, you would think that would be easier but....nope! Crazy? Yup

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  11. I've seen Cleopatra and it bloated for the wrong reasons while Doctor Doolittle was boring as I didn't like it as a kid and I don't like it as an adult. Paint Your Wagon, I saw some of it but it was enough for me to say NO!!!!!! At least it made Clint Eastwood take more control as a filmmaker as he hated the long hours and numerous takes in that film prompting him to do very little takes in his work as a filmmaker.

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    1. You hit the nail on the head with all. Yeah, Clint learned what not to do and started him on a long and fruitful career as a director

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  12. Oh! I didn't know that the original Doctor Doolittle was a box office bomb. I need to watch that movie soon.

    Here’s my Thursday Movie Picks!

    Ronyell @ The Surreal Movies and TV Blog

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    1. Yeas...it will be interesting to learn what you say about this movie

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  13. "I talk to the trees, but they don't listen to me," sang Clint's character. That rates right up there with him talking to an empty chair at the GOP convention. ....Sexy Rexy. I get it now that I've matured.

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    1. Hahahaaa...you’re right! I almost expect an empty chair to be in that scene. Rex Harrison was having a huge affair with the actress Carole Landis in the mid to late 40’s. He dumped her and she committed suicide as a result. When the news broke the newspaper coined Sexy Rexy which he hated but he was known to be a bit of a cad.

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    2. I didn't know the story about Carole Landis. Poor woman! There was something about Sexy Rexy that gave me the creeps so I didn't watch many of his movies.

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  14. There are so many good things in Cleopatra its just too bad they are plunked down among a lot of dross. Liz is a knockout and the production sumptuous but Fox should have known better. It's initial box office haul would have been enough to make any other film a success but because of the excess it ended up a loser.

    Dr. Doolittle is such a mess but everyone was trying to outdo themselves with musicals at the time and it suffered like most of the rest.

    Had they hired performers who could sing and a director adept at musicals Paint Your Wagon could have worked but they didn't and it doesn't.

    You should really read Roadshow!: The Fall of Film Musicals of the 1960's. It talks about both of your last two choices and many others and what caused the craze that almost bankrupted the studios and practically killed off the genre.

    Here's a link to some info about it:

    https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17847520-roadshow

    I wish I had thought to do a theme within the theme but I went with films that were troubled from the starting gate and had no better luck when released.

    Cutthroat Island (1995)-Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) inherits her late buccaneer father's galleon and one-third of a map to buried treasure located on Cutthroat Island. The map had been tattooed on her father's scalp, and to find the treasure, she must locate and scalp his two brothers. But Morgan's swashbuckling uncle, Dawg Brown (Frank Langella), wants the treasure for himself, and does battle with his headstrong niece and her unwilling accomplice, Latin-speaking physician William Shaw (Matthew Modine). Really not a bad film, it’s no masterpiece but an okay action flick but its production was deeply troubled and delayed ending up costing somewhere in the vicinity of 115 million 1995 dollars and grossing merely 10 million in the States. Adjusted for inflation it is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest money loser of all-time with a loss of $148 million. Star Geena Davis was married (not for long) to the film’s director Renny Harlin.

    Heaven’s Gate (1980)-In 1870 Jackson County, Wyoming a battle erupts between the area's poverty-stricken immigrants and its wealthy cattle farmers. Sheriff James Averill (Kris Kristofferson), tries to strike a balance but the politically connected ranch owners fight the immigrants with the help of mercenary Nathan Champion (Christopher Walken). While the battle rages Champion competes with Averill for the love of local madam Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert). It’s nearly four hour runtime is a trial even though it has some beautiful images. Michael Cimino’s infamous follow up to The Deer Hunter was plagued by his ego run amok and cost overruns. Originally budgeted for 11 million (48 million today) its eventual cost of 44 million ($190 mill in current dollars) and box office take of only 3 million (12 million) caused the collapse of United Artists studio.

    Supernova (2000)-When Nightingale 229, a deep space hospital ship, answers an emergency distress signal from a distant galaxy, the crew (including James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster and Lou Diamond Phillips) soon finds itself in danger from the mysterious young man (Peter Facinelli) they rescue, the alien artifact he smuggled aboard and the gravitational pull of a giant star about to go supernova. Once again an extremely troubled production period (three directors came and went, the original director twice!) the film’s budget was 90 million (135 million today) and tanked on release taking in a little under 15 million (22 million) worldwide.

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    1. I will look that book up and it sounds like a good read and maybe one for my collection:). You are right about Cleo and it’s a shame that it is such a slog in many ways. I never wanted to see Cutthroat Island because even the trailers made it look dumb and wow did it tank! I want to see Heaven’s Gate even though I know about it being boring. I found it a shame when UA went. I don’t even know the last film and maybe that’s aok. Oh and you are right bout Paint Your Wagon.

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  15. I don't much keep up with box office receipts or whatever measures of success are used, but go by what I like. I'll have to say that I did like Cleo & Wagon just fine, but don't think I saw Dolittle. I'm sure I'll watch Cleopatra again since that DVD is in my collection. Maybe I'll change my mind about it when I see it again.

    Lee

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  16. I remember the doolittle remake but I never saw the first one

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  17. BIRGIT ~
    Of your choices, I've seen #2 and #3.
    My Mom (before I was born) used to work for the Los Angeles Dodgers (before Dodger Stadium was fully constructed) and therefore, my family had Dodger season tickets. One time (circa 1991), I was in our seats with my girlfriend, "The Countess" (as much a film fan as you are), when the Dodger organist started playing a song from 'Doctor Doolittle'. My girlfriend, "The Countess", told me that the organist was playing that song because Samantha Eggar was also in the stadium that same night. And, in fact, as The Countess made me aware, Samantha was sitting just about 20 feet to the left of us! I had no idea who Samantha was, and had not yet seen the movie 'Dr. Doolittle'.

    Without a doubt, my all-time favorite big-budget flop is Francis Ford Coppola's 'ONE FROM THE HEART'. That movie bankrupted him and his new studio and it took him many years to recover from it. But I actually LOVE that movie so much that it is on my 'Top 25 Favorite Movies' list.

    I admit that the storyline of 'ONE FROM THE HEART' is pretty weak: "Boy loses girl; boy wins girl back". But the cinematography and the music is OUTSTANDING!! And the performances are really good, too. Harry Dean Stanton cracks me up!

    The ENTIRE movie (including the airport scenes!) was filmed on sets (rather than on location in Las Vegas), which is why it cost so much. That was a monetarily ridiculous idea! Nevertheless, the film is gorgeous and highly entertaining, with some very amusing performances, and is horribly underrated and regrettably forgotten. It was actually a truly WONDERFUL Romantic / Musical that could have been made for a lot less money. The Tom Waits soundtrack for that movie is also one of my very favorite and most-played albums in my compact disc collection!

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

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  18. I liked Cleopatra a lot and the whole drama behind the scenes made it all the more interesting! 😃 Dr. Doolittle and Paint Your Wagon are ones I've only seen bits and pieces of and none of them enticed me to watch more. Johnny Depp's Lone Ranger (he played Tonto) was a huge flop, was it not? We watched it and were terribly disappointed. It was bizarre!

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  19. Too bad they botched up Dr. Doolittle so horribly. It's a great, kid-friendly concept. And the Pope -- who was he to condemn Taylor's affair? Just jealous, don't you think, Birgit?

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  20. Seen the first two. Ugg could barely get through them. Some just bomb for a reason indeed. Never even heard of the latter.

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  21. I remember all the hype about Cleopatra the movie! I was young and saw the movie, remembered hearing it was a flop. Although at the time, it seemed fine to me. I wonder if I watched it again now if I'd see where it failed.

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  22. Gotta admit, I liked "Cleopatra" when I first saw it. That was many years ago, though. I may take issue with some of its historical inaccuracies now (for instance, I don't think any of them had English accents), but I'm a notorious crank. How timely this is, considering that I'm writing a history of the world and touched on Egypt last week (including a picture of Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra-the real Cleo wasn't nearly as beautiful) I probably would still like it somewhat, thought.
    Incidentally, Cleopatra was married to her brother Ptolemy (I can't remember the number).
    It was apparently the Egyptian way.

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  23. I had no idea The Simpsons was parodying a movie with one of its songs, but then later I found out Paint Your Wagon existed. Probably safer to stick with the song. But then I really should've known. Most of the songs in The Simpsons are film parodies. (They seem to have stopped doing that in the past decade or so. And that tells you just how long the show has been on TV...)

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  24. I believe my mother dragged me to see Cleopatra when it was at the drive in:) Remember drive ins? :) I didn't realize Elizabeth Taylor was so ill when it was being filmed. I trust you are the opposite of ill and are feeling healthy and pain free.

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  25. I can only imagine how hard working with Taylor was!

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  26. Just the idea of Clint singing makes me grin.
    Hope your day is filled with wonder.

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  27. Cleopatra is the only one I've seen, and I didn't know about it being a flop when it was released.

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  28. Great choices. Oh "Cleopatra"! The baggage it carried is pretty legendary, right? I've seen it that one time several years ago but I've felt the pull to rewatch it.

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  29. i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
    or
    call/whatsapp:+2349057261346










    i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
    or
    call/whatsapp:+2349057261346

    ReplyDelete