Hello!

Partly inspired by John Kirk’s efforts twenty years ago to locate a missing musical number called ‘Coffee Break’, Joe Baltake takes on the larger issues behind the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, both on stage and film. It is indeed a favorite, partly because the writer-director David Swift befriended me back at MGM. Baltake’s September 4 entry at The Passionate Moviegoer is the one to read, but I will put in a plug for my short piece that stirred the pot on this issue back in 1998: Wanted: The Missing ‘Coffee Break’ Scene.

A great article by Beth Daniels over at Smithsonian.com caught my fancy — it’s How Bullwinkle Taught Kids Sophisticated Political Satire. That’s Bullwinkle J. Moose, I’ll remind you. Thanks to Edward Sullivan, who gave me the tip for this item. Unlike Savant, author Daniels was too young to see The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle when it was new. Since we kids in 1960 hadn’t a clue about many of the show’s cultural and political references, she must really have been confused ten years later, when kids had no way of knowing what a big deal Hula Hoops were.

Actually, I only think it was Edward that sent me this link … Edward Sullivan has been sending me meaningful and useful notes and links forever. I checked, and since he started in 2005, there have been 571 emails from Ed, all of them with something really valuable enclosed. I up ‘n’ blab that information in this way because I’m against the Facebook idea of a rolling obituary, where we only find out who the good guys were, famous or just friends, after they’re gone. So thanks, again Ed.

And, as Gary Teetzel reminds me, the holidays are just around the corner, and you know, I never felt it was a bad idea to, you know, suggest little gift ideas when they arise! Gary found the ideal item, and now we just have to figure out the price. A part of my completely non-binding ‘gift suggestion’ today appears in the photo above. Assuming the link still works, you can see all of it at this Bonham’s Auction Page link. Hey, thanks in advance! I won’t ask for new car until next year.

Thanks for reading — Glenn Erickson

Savant’s new reviews today are:

Hello!

If you’ve already read my just-previous Krakatoa East of Java review, it just became a lot longer, with an ‘additional information’ letter from correspondent “B,” aka ‘woggly.’ Maybe it’s too much, maybe not, but how can one resist MORE knowledge about this unforgettable picture. The producers liked it — they covered half a block in New York with a poster.

And, to sneak away early on this Labor Day, I’ll finish with a link from Gary Teetzel, for an item everyone needs: a Godzilla / Mothra Rug. Looks good to me.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Savant’s new reviews today are:

Hello! We’re melting in Los Angeles on a Labor Day weekend.

The newest radio show from the DVD Classics Corner On The Air is Dick Dinman & Eddie Muller Reach Their Breaking Point. If that isn’t self-explanatory, host Dinman and TCM’s ‘Noir Alley’ cable host to sing the praises of Michael Curtiz’ John Garfield masterpiece, which reached Blu-ray a couple of months back via The Criterion Collection’s excellent Blu-ray. Eddie Muller considers it Curtiz’ best directed feature; I wonder if Alan K. Rode’s new book will concur.

Is this for real? Joe Dante has been circulating this link to a Sun article, with a video, of what is supposed to be a real water creature. You have to look hard to get the name of the thing, and the locale is hard to pick out as well … the article and video are titled Terrifying blob creature that looks like a BRAIN discovered in a spooky lake called ‘The Lost Lagoon’. I don’t know . . . the hazy description makes the thing sound like a ‘composite organism’ of the kind seen in the old sci-fi thriller Quatermass 2.

What with the interest in Arrow Video’s new Blu-ray of Erik the Conqueror, correspondent Edward Sullivan has sent in a new link to performances by The Kessler Sisters, Alice and Ellen, who are still kicking over a half century later. I’ve had this blurry music video-like Scopitone Kessler Sisters do ‘Quando Quando Quando’ song & dance number on my desktop for ten years now — the multiple languages and peppy orchestration appeals. The flashy 2016 Kessler Sisters TV performance found by Ed isn’t as exciting, but it sure is a testament to the powers of longevity. Good for them — !

And judging by the reviews just in, Guillermo del Toro’s new fantasy picture The Shape of Water may be the del Toro smash hit we’ve wanted to see for years. It stars Sally Hawkins in what reads like perfect casting, a role suited to a master ‘silent’ actress like Judith Evelyn. (Extra points if you know who she is.) I stopped after two paragraphs into the Daily Variety rave review and am going to keep my head down in an effort to see the movie with a clean slate. It’s nice to be excited about something new again, and I hope all the positive thinking pays off.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Savant’s new reviews today are:

Hello!

— some fun news here in hot and dry Los Angeles, weather that I wish I could sent Texas way.

Apparently we could be expecting a Criterion Blu-ray of Ikarie XB-1 in the future, as a number of weeks back the label even put out a list of Czech titles that would be brought to the U.S.: Janus Films to Bring 30 Classic Czech Films to the States. However, no mention is made of specific disc releases for any of them yet. For the last fifteen years or so, a common litmus test for what Janus/Criterion will release on disc has been if the show appears on the TCM cable channel, with a Janus logo. That recently happened with the Wim Wenders science fiction epic Until the End of the World. Hope springs eternal

Hopefully this next link will be taken in a humorous, not blasphemous sense — Gary Teetzel has discovered someone selling Vincent Price ‘St. Vincent’ Novena candles online. Good taste doesn’t come with the purchase — the little green bottle Vincent is holding bears a skull ‘n’ crossbones, indicating a vial of poison. The historical Saint didn’t poison anybody, and reportedly died on the rack. Link presented as an unsolicited public service by Ban Savant Now (BSN), a leading nonprofit.

Correspondent “B”, who sometimes goes by the mysterious moniker woggly knows that I am a big 3-D enthusiast, and so asked me to give a brief shout-out for the 3-D Funhouse: Recent Restorations
from the 3-D Film Archive event that begins Friday at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Third-Dimensional masterminds Bob Furmanek, Greg Kintz, and Jack Theakston are returning to MoMA to present their restorations of GOG, Those Redheads from Seattle, September Storm, Dragonfly Squadron and the Archives’ 3-D Rarities compilation. The show is being organized by the Museum’s Dave Kehr. Messrs. Furmanek, Kintz, and Theakston presented many of the Rarities shorts at a MoMA program a few years ago. “B” lets me know that he’ll be trying to see GOG on the big screen.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Savant’s new reviews today are: