BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: FILM #29

A STUNTMAN DESCRIBES SADDLE FALLS IN THE MOIVIE THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

“In the final dramatic sequence, where the Lancers charge the cannons of the Russian army, I took numerous ‘saddle falls’ rigged by ‘the running W.’ A cable was strung from an old car axle, driven in the ground, and then tied to a horse’s forelegs. The designated length of cable let a rider know exactly where the horse would topple. The fall area was over a camouflaged pit of soft dirt and turf. Unfortunately, horses would often be injured, with snapped legs, due to the fierce jerk of the cable. It was a dangerous stunt for both man and horse. Riders were breaking limbs daily.”

Buster Wiles. MY DAYS WITH ERROL FLYNN (Santa Monica, California: Roundtable Publishing,Inc 1988).

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THE STATUES OF THE MALTESE FALCON

“Three of the statuettes still exist and are conservatively valued at over $1 million each. This makes them some of the most valuable film props ever made; indeed, each is now worth more than three times what the film cost to make.”

iMBd Trivia

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FELLINI & THE PAPARAZZI

Even though intrusive journalists have been around for centuries, meddlesome photographers didn’t have a label until the 1960s. In Federico Fellini’s famous movie La Dolce Vita, there was an iconic character named Paparazzo. He was a freelance photographer who relentlessly followed celebrities to capture sensational images. His actions represented a new type of aggressive journalism that was emerging at the time, focused on capturing the private lives of public figures.

Over the years, Fellini revealed that he chose the name Paparazzo for the character because it sounded like a “buzzing insect, hovering, darting, stinging.” The word is universally used today and even has the derivation “papped”, for subjects that have been caught on camera by such photographers.”

DICTIONARY SCOOP WEBSITE (October 12, 2024)

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQXJZwpzKwltzMXNwRBTzdrLQrV

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ON FILMING SCENES AT ALCATRAZ PRISON FOR
POINT BLANK (1967)]

“Five loads of moviemaking equipment had to be trucked to San Francisco from the MGM studios in Culver City and then barged to Alcatraz. Two miles of cable strung throughout the prison gave it temporary lighting and some heat, but that didn’t lessen the feeling of dread enhanced by real life momento mori like a slogan penciled on a wall of the prison morgue: ‘Bob’s Mortuary. You stab ’em. We slab ’em.”

Kenneth Turan. Not To Be Missed: Fifty-Four Favorites From a Lifetime of Film (New York: Public Affairs, 2014)
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BUCK PRIVATE (1941) starring Abbott and Costello

“Japan used this film as propaganda to demonstrate to its own troops the “incompetence” of the United States Army. The film was shown to U.S. troops in every theater of war.[“” “
Wikipedia
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From Mark Curley: Remembering RUSSELL BAKER

Russell Baker once wrote a column about how when he was single if a woman asked him what his favorite movie was he would tell them Citizen Kane, but in
reality his favorite movie was Gunga Din.

Russell Baker wrote:
“Great stories an movies are products of their particular time. If somebody doesn’t get them down on paper or film at exactly the right moment, they’re lost forever.
“Take a movie like ”Raiders of the Lost Ark.” It had a big audience last summer and was a lot of fun to watch. Its production people said it was the ultimate Saturday-afternoon movie serial of the 1930’s. I thought it owed a lot to ”Gunga Din,” indisputably the best boy’s adventure film ever made.’

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THE FIRST FULL-LENGTH MOVIE TO BE USED AS EVIDENCE IN A CRIMINAL CASE

“Called The Nazi Plan it is the first full-length picture ever used as evidence in a criminal trial. Assembled by the Office of Stragetic Services from Nazi propaganda was made to help convince the accused at the Nurnberg war criminal trials.”

TIME (January 7, 1946)

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**FILM CREDITS REDUXfor GREYSTOKE : THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES

“With Greystoke, Director Hoch Hudson hoped to deliver a more faithful representation of Burroughs original story. Academy Award-winning writer Robert Towne (Chinatown, Reds)  was so unhappy with Hudson’a vision

that he asked for his name to be replaced with that of his sheepdog P.H. Vazak. The dog was duly nominated for an Oscar.”

George Tiffin. All the Best Lines (London: Head of Zeus, LTD, 2013)

Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd/ Alamy Stock Photo
Moviegoers in 3D Glasses (1952)
Photographer J.R. Eyerman’s famous shot, taken in 1952 at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood, California, captures a pivotal moment in cinema history. The image shows a sea of moviegoers, all wearing 3D glasses, transfixed by the screen while watching Bwana Devil, the first full-length color movie in 3D. (The movie’s tagline boldly promised “A lion in your lap! A lover in your arms!”) Eyerman’s photo encapsulated the excitement and novelty of 3D technology in the 1950s, while also presenting a visually impactful image in its own right, with the striking uniformity of the smartly dressed, 3D-glasses-wearing audience. It has since become one of the most recognizable images of 1950s popular culture. “

HISTORY FACTS website. (Novd

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JOHN KEATS & KING KONG
Truth is Beauty,
Beauty Truth,
That’s all ye need to know
In Hollywood la la land
About the movie making biz
Where cutting throats
Is a professional requirement.
Thus, This modest poem
Was going to be
A mind-bending spree,
An unforgettable feast
Of euphonic imagery
Celebrating my favorite movie star:
King Kong
Climbing to the top
Of The Empire State Building,
With a gorgeous woman
In his grip of dazzling
Sexual magnetism,
But zounds forsooth, etc.
Machine guns on bi-planes
Killed Kong, not Beauty,
As it is widely quoted.
Another famous quote:
Beauty is only skin deep.
Tell me this, Monster Breath,
Whose skin has ever been deeper
Than the skin of King Kong?

Louis Phillips