Dr. Caligari's cabinet is now so crammed that he had to stow stuff in the Cupboard. Time may wound all heels but once in a while you need a cup of tea.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Bugs Bunny Merrie Melodies cartoon, the 1957 Rabbit Romeo (featuring Elmer Fudd), directed by Robert McKimson.
This short is notable as one of the few parings of Bugs and Elmer in which Bugs is not hunted throughout the entire picture (despite Elmer using his hunting rifle every time Bugs tries to escape throughout the entire cartoon), and also notable as a cartoon in which Bugs has a romantic encounter.
Before the start of our feature presentation, ACME Eagle Hand Soap would like you to share with you a special moment of edifying culture -
Won't you see this kind of entertainment every day folks.
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before
You Die by Steven Jay Schneider for today's feature. Today's choice is the 1955 taut
psychological thriller Les Diabolique (The Devilish Ones) directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and
starring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse and Charles Vanel. The film is based on
Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel Celle qui n'était plus (She Who Was No More). Alfred
Hitchcock also attempted to buy the rights to this novel; Boileau and Narcejac subsequently
wrote D'Entre les Morts (From Among the Dead) especially for Hitchcock, who filmed it as
Vertigo.When director Henri-Georges Clouzot bought the film rights to the original novel, he
reportedly beat Alfred Hitchcock by only a matter of hours. Robert Bloch, the author of the
novel Psycho, stated in an interview that his all-time favorite horror film was Les Diaboliques. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching Les Diaboliques. And
please, do not reveal the ending (if you have already seen the film.)
Simone Signoret hadn't read her contract closely before signing it and didn't realize she was
to be paid for only eight weeks, regardless. After sixteen weeks and a wrap, she found out
Henri-Georges Clouzot was only going to pay her for the contractually obligated eight. She
protested but the outcome didn't change. By the end of the shoot, according to Signoret, she,
Véra Clouzot and Henri were no longer on speaking terms.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny cartoon, the 1957 Show Biz Bugs (featuring Daffy Duck), directed by Friz Freleng.
The cartoon portrays the modern interpretation of Daffy in a more sympathetic light: In this film, Daffy is a jealous and arrogant competitor to Bugs, but his shabby treatment by the theater management and audience is depicted as being unfairly out of proportion to the genuine talent he possesses.
Before the start of our feature presentation, ACME Eagle Hand Soap would like to you to join us in listening to this summer's catchiest tune (which also contain some of the subtlest filthiest lines-)
Once you hear it, you'll know what I mean.
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's choice is the 1954 On the Waterfront, Elia Kazan Academy award winning crime drama film, written by Budd Schulberg starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. Budd Schulberg based his story and screenplay on Malcolm Johnson's Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles on longshoremen and union corruption, Crime on the Waterfront, which appeared in The New York Sun in 1948. Arthur Miller was approached by Elia Kazan to write the screenplay, but he turned it down because he felt that Kazan might have named him as a Communist during his secret appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Both Kazan and Schulberg had actually cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee in its attempt to ferret out people in the film industry who held communist sympathies. On the Waterfront was often interpreted as a metaphorical rationalization of their decision to name names. Kazan, ultimately, was ostracized for his testimony, and frozen out by Hollywood’s inner circle.
The harsh, naturalistic, well-acted and uncompromising film was hugely successful, critically and financially. Its budget of slightly less than $1 million brought in almost $10 million at the box-office. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching this iconic classic, On the Waterfront.
Most of the solo shots of Rod Steiger during the famous taxicab scene were done after Marlon Brando had left for the day. Steiger was deeply hurt and annoyed at Brando's apparent rudeness, but used these emotions to add to his performance. Steiger was unaware but as part of his contract, Marlon Brando only worked until 4:00 every day and then would leave to go see his analyst. Brando's mother had recently died and the conflicted young actor was in therapy to resolve his issues with his parents.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny cartoon (featuring Rocky and Mugsy,) the 1957 Bugsy and Mugsy, directed by Friz Freleng.
This short shares similarities with Stooge for a Mouse such as Rocky and Hector/Mike saying to Sylvester and Mugsy "I don't know how youse done it but I know youse done it!" and the mouse and Bugs using a magnet to make it look like Mugsy and Sylvester are fighting Rocky and Hector/Mike. Coincidentally, both cartoons were directed by Freleng.
Before the start of our feature presentation, ACME Eagle Hand Soap would like to promote the new documentary Roadrunner, about the life of the late Anthony Bourdain.-
If you get a chance you should seek out the film.
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider for today's feature. Today's choice is the 1953 comedy adventure film directed by John Huston, Beat the Devil, starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, and Peter Lorre. The film has a checkered past - opening in 1953 to bad reviews and poor box office, the film was plagued with mishaps, including Huston’s drunken fall off a cliff and an auto accident that shattered Bogart’s bridgework. box-office success. And yet the film has garnered an almost cult-like status as a parody of a crime thriller. Truman Capote was hired as a screenwriter at the last minute, furiously writing pages of the script nearly moments before they were actually shot. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching this very funny film, Beat the Devil. So push away from the table, get comfortable and enjoy the film.
Humphrey Bogart was involved in a serious automobile accident during production of this film, which knocked out several of his teeth and hindered his ability to speak. John Huston reportedly hired a young British actor noted for his mimicry skills to rerecord some of Bogart's spoken lines during post-production looping. Although it is undetectable when viewing the film today, it is Peter Sellers who provides Bogart's voice during some of the scenes in this movie.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Merrie Melodies Bugs Bunny cartoon, the 1957What's Opera, Doc?, featuring Elmer Fudd, (considered by many the greatest piece of animation created by Warner Bros), directed by Chuck Jones. The short marks the final appearance of Elmer Fudd in a Chuck Jones cartoon.
Chuck Jones once said of What's Opera, Doc?, "We took the entire 'Ring of the Nibelungen' music and crushed it down to six minutes". In reality the film quotes only one bit from composer Richard Wagner's 19th century operatic Ring Cycle": the Ride of the Valkyries, when Elmer Fudd hunts and shouts "Kill da wabbit!" The rest of the score was adapted by Milt Franklyn from three other Wagner operas, The Flying Dutchman (opening sequence), Rienzi (when Elmer chases Bugs), and Tannhäuser (the ballet and song Return My Love)
Before the start of our feature presentation, ACME Eagle Hand Soap would like to listen to two middle-aged men singing some Beatles covers. -
The songs are available for pre-order on vinyl with proceeds benefiting the work of Doctors Without Borders.
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's choice is the 1953, The Big Heat - we're back to form with Fritz Lang morally ambiguous landmark film noir crime drama starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin and Jocelyn Brando (the elder sister of Marlon Brando). The film is based from based on a serial by William P. McGivern, which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and was published as a novel in 1953, it was critically acclaimed and laid the groundwork for the whole sub-genre of “rogue cop” films that began to surface during the Vietnam era. Lang's touch brings a distinctly European existentialism this typical of American films, and in many ways this film is perhaps more about the European experience than the American experience. One of the film's most famous scenes, of Vince Stone throwing boiling coffee into Debby Marsh's face, earned the film a "B" rating from the Legion of Decency.The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching this taut drama, The Big Heat.
One of only a handful of movies made in the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood that hasn't had its original 15 certificate rescinded or lowered by the British Board of Film Classification. This means that the film cannot be viewed legally in the United Kingdom by anyone under the age of 15. Although it may be considered tame by today's standards, the film contains some scenes where extreme violence is graphically described, as well as the disturbing 'coffee pot' scene.
This year, Mrs. Dr. Caligari and I are not laying on a beach with our mispukah. We are actually in the mountains with them.)
(We are not shopping at Woodbury Commons, but we are hoping to throw the surveillance team tailing us off our trail.)
Remember - Alcohol and fireworks do not mix!
Find some neighbor kid to light them for you.
Hope you're enjoying your holiday - Here's a shorts before the main feature today:
Once again, ACME would like to share their salute to this Independence Day with the annual playing of the Bruce Springsteen clip of Fourth of July,
sponsored by ACME Split Buns - Slip your ACME Snappy Weinie - The Almost 100% all beef frank (but hey don't ask what the other stuff in it is) - in our well buttered Split Buns and feel the difference.
Uncle Joe is always permitted to enjoy this song and have hot dogs. Hell, Uncle Joe will fry 'em up and crack a beer or two for you. And while he's at it, he may end his day with a nice ice cream cone.
If only for one day a year, it's important to remember that the British weren't always the friendly sort of people who gave us the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Monty Python. They're also responsible for warm beer, vinegar-flavored potato chips, and irritating Anglophiliacs on our own shores schedule as shed-yule and issue as iss-yew. On July 4 of every year, therefore, we celebrate our forefathers having told them to screw.
We not only celebrate the purging of the British blight from our land: we celebrate the manner in which it was done, which was at once brilliant, daring, and easily adapted to the screen. The events that led to our independence are all the more worthy of remembrance, even inaccurately, at this crucial juncture in our history, and I therefore offer the following summary of American independence for the edification of my friends.
In 1774, representatives from each of the thirteen colonies convened in Philadelphia to complain. This was The First Continental Congress. Upon registering their various complaints, they returned home.
One of the colonists' primary complaints was that British cabbies working in the colonies refused to unionize. This was called "Taxis without Representation," and became the issue that ultimately pushed the simmering discontent of the colonies into outright hostility. Sensing the volatility of the situation, British troops advanced toward Concord in April of 1775, forcing Paul Revere to ride his horse (and not to ring bells and warn the British not to take our guns but let's not bring up Mrs. Palin on this holiday.)
The first shot that rang out at the battle of Concord was so loud that its sound reverberated all the way around the world. As a result, the British heard it behind them instead of in front of them. This caused the fog of war. Neither the British nor the Colonists were prepared for fog, so the War was postponed.
In May, representatives once again convened in Philadelphia to complain about the taxis, the fog, and other grievances. This was the Second Continental Congress. Unlike the previous Congress, however, this one tried to work out a deal with Britain's King George. This was difficult, as King George was insane and regularly confused the colonies for colostomies, causing considerable embarrassment to everyone involved but accruing great profit to Britain's flourishing proctology trade.
In June the Colonists developed a Continental Army and a Continental Currency, operating on the assumption that an insane king would be easier to deal with if they had a lot of money and guns. This assumption proved partly correct, as the Brits appeared to ease hostilities for nearly a year. It also proved partly wrong when, in May 1776, the Americans discovered that the King had been hiring German mercenaries to come kill them.
In June of 1776 the Colonists finally decided that instead of working something out with the British it would be easier and more satisfactory to shoot them.
On June 7,Richard Henry Lee of Virginia read a resolution to the Continental Congress. The essence of his resolution was that King George and Great Britain could kiss his hairy American ass. The Congress appreciated Lee's sentiments, and subsequently formed a committee to write a note to King George in which it would be made plain why it had become necessary to start shooting the British.
The committee was chaired by Thomas Jefferson. Its four other members were John Adams and Benjamin Franklin (each of whom was counted twice for the sake of Stature - ok, ok, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston were also on the committee.)
The Declaration of Independence wasn't a very long document, but little Tommy Jefferson was trying so hard to impress all the older guys that he overwrote it, using an archaic style of English that is best understood in translation.
Here is a translation of the Declaration in its entirety:
"It's a good idea to let people know why you're having a revolution. We think it's pretty obvious that any government that screws its people over is cruising for a bruising. We're not saying anyone with a hair up their butt ought to have their own revolution, but we've put up with an awful lot of crap from King George. He won't let us do anything on our own, and whenever we try, he sends people to kill us. We've asked him over and over to back off. We've told him over and over that we'd only put up with so much. But did he listen? No. So to hell with him and to hell with Britain and all their phony goddam accents. We'll kick their ass or die trying."
These were, what political scientists refer to as "fightin' words."
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration was presented to the Congress. Nine of the thirteen colonies voted to adopt it. Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted against it (we know where you live). Delaware couldn't make up its mind, and New York abstained. Copies of the Declaration were distributed the next day (photocopiers were much slower back then). On July 8 it was read aloud in Philadelphia's Independence Square.
The document wasn't fully signed until August, but as soon as it was, Americans began shooting the British in earnest. By February of 1783 they had shot enough of them that Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Russia officially acknowledged the United States of America as an independent nation.
In honor of our Independence, we celebrate the anniversary of its declaration by blowing things up, roasting dead animals over hot coals or gaseous flames, and drinking cold, sudsy beverages that inhibit our ability to think. Such festivities may not honor the philosophical nuances of our revolution, but they do keep the rest of the world at a comfortable distance.
Happy Fourth of July folks!!!
And bunkies remember - Drink til you drop and don't drive! The life you save may be mine.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny cartoon, the 1957 Piker's Peak (featuring Yosemite Sam), directed by Friz Freleng.
One of the only Looney Tunes shorts to omit the ending The Merry Go Round Broke Down music. Instead, the soundtrack from the short continues over the "That's All Folks!" screen. Also one of the few cartoons that does not have the word 'rabbit', 'hare' or 'bunny' in the title.
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's choice is the 1953, Roman Holiday, William Wyler memorable romantic comedy starring Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert and Audrey Hepburn, in her first starring role. The film was originally slated for Frank Capra, who had planned to cast Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor. When William Wyler was attached to the project, he initially wanted Jean Simmons, to play Ann, and nearly canceled the project when Simmons was unavailable. Dalton Trumbo, who was a member of the Hollywood Ten, was the actual writer of the film's story. Credited writer Hunter fronted for Trumbo, and Hunter's agent sold the screen story to producer-director Frank Capra under Hunter's name. Hunter then wrote a draft of the screenplay for Capra. In October 1991, the Writers Guild of America West, acting on the recommendations of its ad hoc blacklist credits committee, officially credited Trumbo with the film's story, and awarded him with the same Guild screenplay prize that Hunter and co-screenwriter John Dighton shared in 1954. (One of the reasons why William Wyler was anxious to film in Europe was because he wanted to put some distance between himself and the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was threatening to embroil him in their investigations because of his liberal stance.) The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching this delightful film, Roman Holiday.
Audrey Hepburn won the 1953 Best Actress Academy Award for Roman Holiday. When she accepted the award from the Academy president Jean Hersholt, Audrey kissed him smack on the mouth, instead of the cheek, in her excitement. Minutes after accepting her Oscar, Audrey realized that she'd misplaced it. Realizing her mistake, she raced back to the ladies' room, retrieved the award, and was ready to pose for photographs.
