The opening narration of 1960’s Spartacus refers to the Christian faith overthrowing the pagan “tyranny” of Rome, implying that all that was wrong with ancient Roman society was due to paganism. Except as the narrator makes clear a moment later, slavery wasn’t abolished for another 2,000 years. That’s right, Christianity did nothing to abolish slavery; when … Continue reading A Real Gladiator Never Says I’m Sorry
Movies
Alex North and the Ancient Lowly
I’ve always been just a bit absent minded, and sometimes I’ve had to think a moment or two to recall a name or a word, but as I progress into late youth those tendencies have accelerated and now it’s often far more than a moment that I have to struggle to recall a name. But … Continue reading Alex North and the Ancient Lowly
Snails and Oysters
With the movie version of Spartacus Kirk Douglas famously broke the blacklist by openly putting Dalton Trumbo’s name on the picture as the screenwriter, but right wing anti-Communist creeps like Hedda Hopper weren’t the only problems that the movie faced. The time was 1960, and the Catholic Church and other religious groups as well as the … Continue reading Snails and Oysters
Not So Magical
I received the blu-ray of William Friedkin’s Sorcerer a couple weeks ago, and it turned out to be an example of a director given an unlimited budget with no constraints. Friedkin had had a couple of big hits so he could write his own ticket, and the result was a big mess. Now some folks claim … Continue reading Not So Magical
Kwai Me a River
After The Bridge on the River Kwai was released, the magazines that printed a joke section all seemed to have some variation of this one: I came across a fellow peeling onions on a bridge and when I asked him why, he said he wanted to see the bridge on the river cry. Even at eight … Continue reading Kwai Me a River
Col. Bogey Had a March
If you’ve ever seen the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, then you can’t forget the tune that the British prisoners whistle as they march to build a bridge for their Japanese captors. It’s a catchy tune and it was written years before in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (pen name Kenneth J. Alford), … Continue reading Col. Bogey Had a March
They Wanted a Ton of Money
I recently watched the Clue movie from 1985 and it turned out to be a pretty hilarious screwball comedy with a great cast including Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, and Colleen Camp, but it’s Tim Curry as the butler, who has twice as many lines as anyone else, … Continue reading They Wanted a Ton of Money
My Experience With Friedkin
I was especially eager to see the movie version of The Boys in the Band when it was released in 1970, because I hadn’t been able to attend a performance of the off-Broadway play. So when The Boys in the Band movie came to State College, I was ready to see it. I called Mike Carr, … Continue reading My Experience With Friedkin
Sunday Bloody Sunday
I was keeping a very detailed journal for a few days in the early part of 1972, so I happen to know what I was doing on Friday evening January 7 of that year; I attended the movie Sunday Bloody Sunday with Rich, a fellow from work. Which surprised me when I came across that … Continue reading Sunday Bloody Sunday
Boys’ Night Out
With a cast that includes Kim Novak, Jim Garner, Tony Randall, Howard Duff, Howard Morris, William Bendix, Jim Backus, Patti Page, and Jessie Royce Landis (not to mention Fred Clark and Larry Keating, both of whom had played the Burns and Allen neighbor Harry Morton), Boys’ Night Out starts with lots of comic star power in … Continue reading Boys’ Night Out