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'The Pink Panther' with Peter Sellers: Blake Edwards' 1963 comedy hit and its many sequels revolve around one of the most iconic film characters of the 20th century: clueless, thick-accented Inspector Clouseau – in some quarters surely deemed politically incorrect, or 'insensitive,' despite the lack of brown face make-up à la Sellers' clueless Indian guest in Edwards' 'The Party.' 'The Pink Panther' movies [1] There were a total of eight big-screen Pink Panther movies co-written and directed by Blake Edwards, most of them starring Peter Sellers – even after his death in 1980. Edwards was also one of the producers of every (direct) Pink Panther sequel, from A Shot in the Dark to Curse of the Pink Panther. Despite its iconic lead character, the last three movies in the Pink Panther franchise were box office bombs. Two of these, The Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther, were co-written by Edwards' son,...

Multiple Maniacs

Blu-ray

1970 / Black and White /96 Min. / 1:66 / Street Date March 21, 2017

Starring: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce and Mink Stole.

Cinematography: John Waters

Film Editor: John Waters

Written by John Waters

Produced by John Waters

Directed by John Waters

Andy Warhol was nothing if not a multi-media maven. Along with his ubiquitous silkscreens and sculpture, he embraced movie-making beginning as early as 1963 with such literal-minded efforts as Haircut (a haircut) and Taylor Mead’s Ass (one hour of exactly what you think) and pretty much closed shop with 1968’s Lonesome Cowboys, a 109 minute western satire that, of all his films, came closest to approximating a traditional tinseltown production.

Essentially Warhol was parodying the Hollywood studio system, rounding up his acolytes and hangers-on, from supermodels to pushers, and casting them as regular performers in a series of deadpan documentaries. Meanwhile in the wilds of Baltimore, Warhol fan John Waters...

With a budget of $1.5 million, 2017 Best Picture winner “Moonlight” cost less than a 30-second ad during the Oscars (reported price: $2.2 million). And, among the category’s 89 winners, it stands as the lowest-budgeted film in the Academy Awards’ history.

To determine the 10 least expensive Best Picture winners, we looked back at each year, researched reported budgets, and then calculated them at 2017 dollar values. Although independent films have dominated the Oscars for the last decade, the only indie to make the cut from that period was “Crash.” Nor did Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall,” or some black-and-white studio classics like “Casablanca” or “The Lost Weekend.”

The 10 straddle almost every decade of the Oscars and come from either independent producers or smaller distributors (four of the 10 were released by United Artists).

For comparison, the most expensive film to win remains “Titanic;” its adjusted budget was $300 million more than “Moonlight.” That total dwarfs the...

This month, Cinelinx is taking you on a trip back through time. Join us as we examine how movies have changed over the last 100 years. To begin, we are going all the way back to 1917.

1917 was a year of tension and conflict. Europe was war-torn, having been engaged in World War I for 3 years with no hope for peace on the horizon. Several acts by Germany including resuming submarine warfare and the Zimmerman Telegram would cause the United States to reluctantly enter the war and bolster the Allied forces. On the homefront, numerous scientific advances around the turn of the century were proliferating their way through society to modernize cities and improve industrial efficiencies. However, the transition to having more machines and electricity in the workplace was not a smooth one. Industrial accidents were common, working conditions were terrifying, and child labor was the norm. Thus, free time was not...

People who discover the provocative pre-Code movies made in the early 1930s inevitably become fans of leading man Warren William, an urbane actor (sometimes referred to as the poor man’s John Barrymore) who starred in so many memorable films of that period: Beauty and the Boss, Skyscraper Souls, The Mouthpiece, Employees Entrance, The Dark Horse, Three on a Match, The Match King, and many more. He also gave fine performances as Dave the Dude in Frank Capra’s Lady for a Day and served Cecil B. DeMille well as Julius Caesar in Cleopatra. He played a number of prominent detectives including Philo Vance and lawyer/sleuth Perry Mason before starring in his own B movie series as The ...

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Imitation of Life

Written by William Hurlbut

Directed by John M. Stahl

USA, 1934

Written by Eleanore Griffin and Allan Scott

Directed by Douglas Sirk

USA, 1959

The debate about the necessity and worth of continual remakes rages on every year. Will the new version be as good as the original? Or even better? Should it have even been made to begin with? While we do seem to hear more about this recently, the concept of a remark is, of course, nothing new. Examples go back to the very dawn of cinema. What makes a remake particularly worthwhile, however, is when the films involved are dissimilar in certain aspects yet notably congruent in other areas: just enough to keep the basic premise or theme consistent, but varied enough to keep it up to date and original in one way or another. If both versions have their merits, a considerate comparison and contrast...

No man leaves Delilah!

Cecil B. DeMille was famous--apart from giving close-ups to muderesses--to constructing grand epics like Cleopatra (1934), The Ten Commandments (1923/1956) twice, The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and many others that, while mostly unknown to modern viewers, made heaps of cash.  Coming towards the end of his career, Samson and Delilah (1949) was another Biblical epic in the top ten highest grossing films up to that time.  After Gone with the Wind (1939), only Walt Disney did better than DeMille.  Audiences then and now go to the movies for spectacle, but DeMille is no Michael Bay and Hedy Lamarr isn't Megan Fox.  DeMille cared about the story and the characters and they lie at the core of Samson and Delilah with only two dramatic set pieces.  DeMille and Bay do have one thing in common, however.  Both close out their movies with then-unseen levels of destruction.

Read more...

Pre-Code Hollywood studios spent millions transitioning their medium to sound and other new technologies that brought about major advances in photography, lighting, and set design. But there were still five million unemployed people in the United States and many more just getting by. The studios were losing money, many of them going bankrupt.

By 1930 the breadlines were longer than the ticket lines and people were slow to give up their hard earned money. They wanted to be entertained, they wanted to laugh and forget their troubles for just a while. Comedies, adventure, and musicals quickly became the most popular film genres of the time.

I. Pre-Code Action, Adventure, and Drama

Hollywood took their stories to the far corners of the earth as places like Africa, the South Pacific, and the Far East became exotic settings for movies. An island kingdom somewhere in the Pacific with strange creatures, even stranger natives,...

As part of their Marilyn Monroe celebration this summer, Austin Film Society will show Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (pictured above) 7 pm Tuesday at Alamo Drafthouse Village. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell on a boat! In addition, tonight and Sunday Afs hosts Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra at the Marchesa (free, but you should RSVP). And In Bed with Ulysses, a documentary about James Joyce and his work Ulysses, plays 7 pm Wednesday at the Marchesa.

The Paramount continues the summer classic film series with a focus on musicals this weekend (Singin' in the Rain and The Sound of Music on Saturday and Sunday). Then it's film noir at both Paramount and Stateside on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, Sunset Boulevard and The Maltese Falcon all on the schedule.

For something completely different, the Alamo Kids Club at the Slaughter Lane location is screening The Muppets Take Manhattan this month.

April 7 (Reuters) - Set phasers to sell - and sell big.

Captain Kirk's "Star Trek" phaser gun from the second pilot of the wildly popular 1960s television series sold for a hefty $231,000 on Saturday in Los Angeles, Julien's Auctions said.

The phaser, created at the request of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry for use by William Shatner, who played Kirk in the beloved sci-fi show, had been estimated to sell for about $50,000, but achieved more than four times that including commission.

Other extraterrestrial highlights at the two-day Hollywood Legends sale of hundreds of costumes, memorabilia, props and other items included the "alien survey buggy" seen aboard the Nostromo in the 1979 movie "Alien," which sold for $10,625, and a complete costume worn by Anubis, played by Carlos Lauchu, in the 1994 movie "Stargate," which sold for $16,250, more than three times the estimate.

An archive of autographs from Academy Award winners fetched $15,625, while a...

Prop used by William Shatner sells for far beyond estimates at two-day auction of Hollywood memorabilia and costumes

Set phasers to sell – and sell big.

Captain Kirk's Star Trek phaser gun from the second pilot of the wildly popular 1960s television series sold for a hefty $231,000 (£151,000) on Saturday in Los Angeles, Julien's Auctions said.

The phaser, created at the request of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for use by William Shatner, who played Kirk in the beloved sci-fi show, had been estimated to sell for about $50,000, but achieved more than four times that including commission.

Other extraterrestrial highlights at the two-day Hollywood Legends sale of hundreds of costumes, memorabilia, props and other items included the "alien survey buggy" seen aboard the Nostromo in the 1979 movie Alien, which sold for $10,625, and a complete costume worn by Anubis, played by Carlos Lauchu, in the 1994 movie Stargate, which sold for $16,250, more than three times the estimate.

Like Night of the Hunter, Tod Browning’s Freaks or Leonard Kastle’s The Honeymoon Killers, The Road to Yesterday can be ranked among the UFOs of cinema. It’s place in the heart of Cecil B. DeMille’s work proves to be in itself very distinctive. We know that, during his entire life, DeMille had virtually only one producer—Paramount (the former Famous Players Lasky)—just like Minnelli was MGM’s man and Corman American International’s. Sixty-three of his films (out of seventy) were produced at Paramount. And, oddly enough, it is among the seven outsiders, situated within a brief period from 1925 to 1931, that his best activity is to be found (I’m thinking of Madam Satan, The Godless Girl, and The Road to Yesterday)–his most audacious undertakings. To top it off, for this uncontested king of the box office, his best films were his biggest commercial failures.

It is always an exciting day when Eureka Entertainment's Masters of Cinema series unveils a new block of titles soon to be entering its pantheon of cinematic excellence. And today is just such a day. Only a few minutes ago, the MoC twitter feed announced its slate of January and February 2013 releases, and it more than holds up to the label's recent run of incredible home video titles, which has included Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity and will soon see the release of Carl Theodor Dreyer's masterpiece, The Passion of Joan of Arc.January will see the release of Stanley Kubrick's much sought-after debut feature, Fear And Desire on both DVD and Blu-ray, in a newly restored print by the Library of...

★★★★☆

Eureka Entertainment kicks off a busy Q4 this week with the rerelease of three classic cinematic treats on Dual Format, courtesy of their acclaimed Masters of Cinema label. Restored gems include Cecil B. DeMille's hammy-yet-enjoyable rough diamond Cleopatra (1934), Fritz Lang's expressionist crime sequel The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and Pier Paolo Pasolini's inaugural colour feature Oedipus Rex (1967) - yet another addition to MoC's growing Pasolini catalogue. Read more »...

Claudette Colbert/James Robert Parish Q&A Pt.1: 'The Claudette Colbert Business' A follow-up to the previous question: Which roles did Claudette Colbert want — whether at Paramount or elsewhere — that she didn't get? Colbert knew her limitations (because of her sophisticated look and being French-born), so, once a star, she stayed away from seeking parts that would be too far afield from her screen type. Noticeably, she was one of the few actresses in late-1930s Hollywood who did not seek the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind despite the fact that she was a great favorite and personal friend of Gwtw producer David O. Selznick. A few years later, Selznick offered Colbert a huge salary to star in his life-on-the-homefront World War II saga, Since You Went Away. She couldn't resist the hefty fee, but lived to regret the decision, because the set of that...

Henry Wilcoxon, Claudette Colbert in Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra Claudette Colbert: James Robert Parish Discusses the Legendary Paramount Star – Introduction You've been planning for some time a biography of Claudette Colbert. How did you become interested in Colbert's life story? As a very young teenager, I saw several of Claudette Colbert's films on TV and was fascinated by her verve, throaty voice, attractiveness, and acting versatility — whether drama, comedy, or just a "personality" performance. Later, I saw several of her stage vehicles: In pre-Broadway tryout, on Broadway, and on tour, ranging from The Marriage-Go-Round in 1958 to Aren't We All in 1985. On stage, she proved just how superior a (light) comedienne she was, and her energy/presence was truly captivating — no matter how slight the play. Over these years, I became very intrigued with what made her "tick." Would you say there's something that distinguishes Claudette Colbert from...

Wasn't the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences thinking about creating a Hollywood museum? The Academy sent no bidder to Debbie Reynolds' historic costume and prop collection assembled over 50 years, which crowds checked out over the past few weeks at the Paley Media Center until its auction Saturday. It was strange to conjure images of Yul Brynner sitting on the throne from The King and I, Charlton Heston or Ingrid Bergman putting on their armor for Ben Hur or Joan of Arc (pictured below), Gary Cooper putting on his World War I uniform as Sergeant York (below), Julie Andrews strumming her guitar from The Sound of Music, or anyone small enough to slip into Claudette Colbert's Cleopatra gown or Cecil Beaton's My Fair ...

Cecil B. DeMille was an award winning producer notable for his work on Union Pacific, Cleopatra, and The Ten Commandments. In commemoration of his death, the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award was created in his honor and given out during the Golden Globe Awards. Robert De Niro will be the next coveted honoree to this award who is following last year’s recipient Martin Scorsese.

De Niro has to be one of the most prestigious and recognizable actors of our time. Unfortunately, kids these days may only know him for the Focker movies, but if we look back, De Niro has given us some of the greatest performances and roles in cinematic history.

Robert De Niro, the two-time Oscar winner can most notably be seen in Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, The Godfather Part II, The Deer Hunter, The King of Comedy, Midnight Run, Once Upon a Time in America,...

The National Organization for Women should send Angelina Jolie a nice cheese basket (or vice versa).

The world's most famous actress-humanitarian might not have single-handedly erased gender inequality in the movie industry, but she sure has struck a major blow for actresses. How else to explain her $20 million payout for Sony's next big summer release, "Salt," an action project that originally was written to star a man -- no less than Tom Cruise?

"It's definitely unusual that a female has become an action star," "Salt" producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura says. "But it's a funny thing. She's not a female action star; she's an action star. She's really the first female to transcend gender. I don't think it's occurred before."

To di Bonaventura's point, a star must be in some rarefied atmosphere when a one-hander lead role in a huge studio action tentpole is rewritten from male to female. It's akin...

Alla Nazimova, Salome (top); Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Mata Hari (bottom) Alla Nazimova’s Salome, Claudette Colbert’s Cleopatra, Hedy Lamarr’s Delilah, and Greta Garbo’s Mata Hari are the four temptresses featured in the "Ornament and the Enchantress" film series presented by Los Angeles’ J. Paul Getty Museum. Charles Bryant’s Salome (1923); Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra (1934), co-starring Warren William and Henry Wilcoxon; DeMille’s Samson and Delilah (1949), co-starring Victor Mature; and George Fitzmaurice’s Mata Hari (1931), co-starring Ramon Novarro, will be screened at the Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center June 26-27. "Ornament and the Enchantress" will serve as a complement [...]...

Your cinematic birthdays for 12/02. If it's your big day, let us know.

Steven, Lucy and Warren

1894 Warren William, charming snake, pre-code movie star who was often paired with formidable actresses like Claudette Colbert (Imitation of Life, Cleopatra), Joan Blondell (Gold Diggers of 1933, Stage Struck) and Bette Davis (Three on a Match, Satan Met a Lady)

1914 Ray Walston, the Damn Yankees! devil had a lengthy career on screens small and large

1914 Adolph Green, musical giant of 'Comden & Green' fame. I can't even begin to choose a favorite song by that duo. Plus they wrote the screenplay to Singin' in the Rain!

1923 Maria Callas, La Divina. Fanny Ardant recently played her in Callas Forever. The next actress who'll have a go at her is Eva Mendes in Greek Fire

1925 Julie Harris was Oscar nominated for her film debut (The Member of the Wedding), co-starred with James Dean (East of Eden) and...

Universal begins a new collection of classic films, the Backlot Series, with the release of Cecil B. DeMille.s historical epic. It.s welcome news for fans of cinema - such as me. The film may be a bit creaky as far as acting style goes, but it still has a sexy side and an abundance of pageantry. More please, Universal. Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) is the queen of Egypt, but finds herself in political trouble as an attempted coup threatens to strand her in the desert and lose her crown. She outsmarts her usurpers and sneaks into their audience with Julius Caesar (Warren William) and succeeds in defeating them in their own game. She also takes Caesar as her lover...

Tonight I watched the new Criterion Blu-ray release of Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages of Fear and at the top of the film I was reminded of the influence it had on the opening of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch as cockroaches were tortured by a young boy compared to the scorpion that was thrown onto a pile of ants at the opening of Peckinpah's feature. However, does this mean Wages of Fear should be considered one of the all-time most influential films? When TCM released their list of top 15 most influential films of all-time they opened up a much larger can of worms than I had actually assumed they did as conversations began sprouting up all over the Internet. The two most frequent comments I saw regarding the list (not dealing with specific film omissions) were: 1.) there weren't any films listed that were released after 1977 (Star Wars) and...

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed Doubt I have this Blu-ray sitting right here and plan on popping it in as soon as I get done with this column and will hopefully have a review up in the next day or so. Doubt is a solid film with fantastic performances and with cinematography from Roger Deakins I am sure it will look gorgeous in high-def (even though Deakins didn't exactly bring his A-game to this one). The features, however, do look a bit on the weak side with four traditional featurettes and a commentary from writer/director John Patrick Shanley, but Shanley's comments may prove to be solid enough for a recommendation. However, all likelihood is this one is best left as a rental as I don't consider it a buy based on my one theatrical experience. No Country for Old Men (Collector's Edition) Along...

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed As I am typing this up I am completing my tour of the five most recent James Bond Blu-rays released last week. I have already watched Goldfinger, Moonraker, The World is Not Enough and Quantum of Solace and I am watching Never Say Never Again for the first time with plans of watching Thunderball immediately afterward. I am sure many of you know the story and why I will be watching Thunderball, but for those that don't, stay tuned as it will certainly be part of my Bond Blu-ray Round-Up Part Two. If you missed the first one you can read it here. As for what else is on my plate I just received the new Blu-ray copy of No Country for Old Men as well as Doubt. I am also interested in taking a peek at Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra,...

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is going back to its studio parent's roots for a new DVD line.

The Universal Backlot Series will consist of historic films from the studio's library. The first batch of films, coming April 7, includes a 75th anniversary edition of Cecil B. DeMille's "Cleopatra" and six saucy classics from Hollywood's notorious pre-Production Code era.

"Cleopatra," nominated for five Academy Awards, ranks as one of DeMille's most lavish historical epics. The 1934 production stars Claudette Colbert as the cunning queen of the Nile, Warren William as Julius Caesar and Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Antony.

The six films in what Universal is billing as the "Pre-Code Hollywood Collection" are "The Cheat," with Tallulah Bankhead as a woman willing to do anything to pay off her gambling debt; "Merrily We Go to Hell," with Fredric March as an abusive alcoholic; "Hot Saturday," with Cary Grant; "Torch Singer," with Claudette Colbert; "Murder at the Vanities,...