Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with the Daffy Duck Merrie Melodies cartoon, the iconic 1953 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, (co-starring Porky Pig and Marvin the Martian, and directed by Chuck Jones.
It's good to know that products from Acme Corporation are still being sold in the distant future.
Before the start of our feature presentation, given it was just September 21st, the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour had to find a mashup of Earth, Wind and Fire and Kiss, (because, why not,) and the intraweb obliged.
As alway, Bill McClintock, never lets us down
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's film is the 1965 epic drama Dr. Zhivago, directed by Davd Lean and starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Courtenay, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, Siobhán McKenna, and Rita Tushingham. The film was commercially successful - it is the eighth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada, adjusted for inflation. Although Dr. Zhivago has been critized for its length at over three hours and claimed that it trivialized history, critics has acknowledged the sweeping romantic story. Boris Pasternak's novel was 512 pages long. A film incorporating every scene in the novel would run 52 hours. David Lean's film version ran 197 minutes at its premiere and 180 minutes in general release. The 2002 British miniseries runs 485 minutes. So please join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour and sit back, get comfortable, perhaps, pack a snack or two and watch Dr. Zhivago.
Critics tore the film apart upon release. Newsweek commented about "hack-job sets" and "pallid photography." Director David Lean was so deeply affected that he swore he would never make another movie. Thanks in part to MGM's marketing campaign and strong word of mouth, this became the second highest-grossing movie of 1965, behind The Sound of Music. It received ten Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture and Director) and won 5 awards, giving Lean the confidence to continue making movies. His next movie, Ryan's Daughter, received a poisonous reception from critics and bombed at the box office. Lean made his next film, A Passage to India, over 14 years later.
Demand Euphoria!
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