In the Heat of the Night (1967) - Southern racism blasted in Jewison's riveting crime drama

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A very "groovy" and "hip" zeitgeist-tasting poster for Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night

An important engineer is found slain in a small South state town, and right away homicide investigating expert Virgil Tibbs from an Eastern state is accused. But he'll soon be tasked with collaborating with the local racists.

 

In the Heat of the Night is written by Stirling Silliphant (Over the Top (1987)), adapting the same-titled 1965 novel by John Ball (Judo Boy (1964)), and directed by great Canadian-American filmmaker Norman Jewison (40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)).

It is an electric, powerful picture, - still one of the most stimulating American films of all time. The racism theme is served with aplomb; through the terrific performance of Sidney Poitier (The Jackal (1997)), the audience experiences what it may have been like to be black in the American South, both the belittlement and the menace involved. Rod Steiger (End of Days (1999)) inhabits the local sheriff, who learns something from the outsider during the course of the film, in role-model fashion. All of the local rednecks are portrayed convincingly. The cotton farm scene is especially effective.

In a way the murder plot is 'second fiddle' to the racism theme here. Quincy Jones' (Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)) score (abetted with participation from Ray Charles) is a hip and mighty musical pairing that also deserves praise. Haskel Wexler's (Something's Gotta Give (2009)) cinematography is outstanding. SPOILER In the Heat of the Night succeeds in condensing its issue at hand in a meaningful way to reach an optimistically hopeful conclusion; that human meetings may break down hatreds and prejudice.

 

Related post:

 

Norman Jewison: The Hurricane (1999) - Terrific performances in Jewison's long racism drama

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 24.3 mil. $ (North American alone)

= Mega-hit (projected return of 17.5 times its cost)

[In the Heat of the Night was released 2 August (USA, Philippines) and runs 110 minutes. Poitier was paid 200k $ and 20 % of the profits for his performance; Steiger 150k $. Shooting took place from September - November 1966 in Illinois, Tennessee and in Los Angeles, California. The film had reportedly racked in 11 mil. $ in North American rentals (the gross minus the exhibitor's cut) by 1971, which would make the 24.3 mil. $ domestic gross realistic. If the international reception was markedly less enthusiastic, - not unlikely due to the film's very American theme of Southern racism, - a very conservatively set 35 mil. $ world gross may be projected. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 5: For Best Picture, Actor (Steiger), Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Sound. It lost Best Director to Mike Nichols for The Graduate and Sound Effects to The Dirty Dozen. The film also won 2/4 BAFTA nominations, 3/7 Golden Globes and was nominated for a Grammy, among other honors. Poitier returned as Tibbs in the two sequels They Call Me Mister Tibbs (1970) and The Organization (1971). A 1988-95 spin-off series also entitled In the Heat of the Night was also made. Jewison returned with The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Poitier returned in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967); Steiger in The Girl and the General (1967). In the Heat of the Night is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of In the Heat of the Night? 

In Cold Blood (1967) - Authentic chills and insigth in Brooks' marvelous true-crime drama

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The frightening, guilty eyes of the actual murderers are used effectively on this strong poster for Richard Brooks' In Cold Blood

A family of four in a Kansan countryside home gets slaughtered one night by intruding strangers for the meager sum of 40 $. The two culprits are later arrested and put to trial.

 

In Cold Blood is written, produced and directed by Pennsylvanian master filmmaker Richard Brooks (Crisis (1950)), adapting the same-titled true-crime novel by Truman Capote (The Grass Harp (1951)).

Brooks' film is a role-model piece of true-crime storytelling, preoccupied with the actual crime, the actual criminals, and a close adaptation of Capote's masterwork. The film also gives a dimension that the novel cannot with its human portrait of the murderers, and especially Robert Blake (Second-Hand Hearts (1980)) as Perry Smith is excellent. Scott Wilson (Bottlewood (2009)) is also great as the other bastard, Richard. The scenes of Smith's childhood are devastating, yet subtle. The sudden, inexplicable, violent crime together with the film's strangely hard-boiled imagery (cinematography by Conrad L. Hall (Jennifer 8 (1992))) is part of its fascination.

SPOILER Despite the sympathy for Perry that the film and Blake's performance creates, also through Brooks' advanced narrative, the punishment for the two, their execution, still stands as the only correct verdict, in my opinion.

In Cold Blood is eerie, disheartening, with great performances and outstanding cinematography and score (by Quincy Jones (Roots (1977, miniseries)).) A masterly film.

 

Related post:

 

Richard Brooks: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) - He's GAY, ya get it?!?...

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 3.5 mil. $

Box office: 13 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain, projected huge hit but at least a big hit (projected return of 5.71 times its cost)

[In Cold Blood premiered 14 December (New York) and runs 135 minutes. Capote was paid 400k $ for the rights to his novel, which reportedly earned him a total of 2 mil. $. Shooting took place from March - June 1967 in California, including in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Nevada, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri and in Mexico, including in the area and actual home where the murders took place. The film earned 13.5 mil. $ in North America. A conservative projected total gross of 20 mil. $ would rank it as a huge hit. It was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Cinematography to Burnett Guffey for Bonnie & Clyde, Director to Mike Nichols for The Graduate, Score to Elmer Bernstein for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Adapted Screenplay to Stirling Silliphant for In the Heat of the Night. The film also won a David di Donatello award, was nominated for a Golden Globe and won 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal in rating with this one. Brooks returned with The Happy Ending (1969). Blake returned in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969); Wilson in Castle Keep (1969). In Cold Blood is certified fresh at 76 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In Cold Blood?

The Firemen's Ball/Hoří, Má Panenko (1967) - Forman and Co. slice up communism to hilarious effect in outright masterpiece

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A bodacious young woman removes her dress before a man wiping sweat from his forehead on this Soviet-colored poster for Milos Forman's The Firemen's Ball

The Firemen's Ball centers on a festive ball for volunteer firemen and their wives in a small town in Czechoslovakia at the town hall, where a beauty pageant is attempted to be carried out, as gifts are stolen, and an old man's house burns down.

 

The Firemen's Ball is written by Jaroslav Papusek (Black Peter/Cerný Petr (1964)), Ivan Passer (Silver Bears (1977)) and Czech master filmmaker, co-writer/director Milos Forman (Black Peter), with Václav Sasek (Muka Obraznosti (1990)) contributing story elements. The original title translates to, 'fire, my lady'.

The film is an eminent exhibition of human blunder and stupidity. It is terrifically comical. Here the art of putting acting amateur 'real people' in front of a camera for a feature-length period has one of its most impressive, fantastic results ever: Forman and Co. succeed in lifting a simple premise up to becoming a social-realist allegory about dysfunction and incompetence in a communist-run system, and the portrayal clearly hit its mark.

The Firemen's Ball is Forman's arrival as a master filmmaker. An incredible film you shouldn't miss!

Related posts:

Milos Forman: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Goya's Ghosts (2006) - Forman's under-appreciated last major picture  

Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Amadeus (1984) or, The Fool Genius and his Teacher

Hair (1979) - Reflect on 1960s youth counter-culture in Forman's infectious musical 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Forman's 1970s gold-rimmed classic

 

Roger Ebert presents the film in this 14-minute video

 

Cost: 65k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain - but certainly a box office success of some sort

[The Firemen's Ball was released 15 December (Czechoslovakia) and runs 73 minutes. Forman, Passer and Papusek were not able to concentrate on writing after the success of Loves of a Blonde (1965) and headed to the little town of Vrchlabí for quiet. Here they attended a firemen's ball for the fun of it. According to Forman; "What we saw was such a nightmare that we couldn't stop talking about it. So we abandoned what we were writing on to start this script." Shooting took place in Vrchlabí, Czechoslovakia, now Northern Czech Republic. Most of the actors were amateurs, and many of the local firemen volunteers appeared. The film was highly controversial upon release: The Italian co-producer Carlo Ponti withdrew his support for the film upon seeing it, thereby risking Forman a 10-year prison sentence in Czechoslovakia for "economic damage to the state". Forman drove to Paris and found support from Francois Truffaut, who bought the international distribution rights and saved him. Firemen across Czechoslovakia were also outraged by their portrayal, and Forman toured the country to try to calm them down and describe the film's true aim. It sold 750k tickets in Czechoslovakia before the Soviet invasion of the country in 1968 and subsequent ban. The film was released in North America in a subtitled version and a dubbed version, and was also released in many other Western markets. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, lost to War and Peace from the USSR. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Forman left for America after the film's release, and it impressed Michael Douglas enough to hire him for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Forman first returned with Taking Off (1971). The Firemen's Ball is fresh at 91 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Firemen's Ball?

Film Excess' 7th birthday movie masterpiece: The Fearless Vampire Killers/Dance of the Vampires (1967) - Witness Polanski's incredible, underrated Gothic horror comedy

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A strange, partly humorous and partly menacing poster for Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers

A disgraced professor from Königsberg and his young assistant have traveled to Transylvania to find and prove the existence of vampires.

The Fearless Vampire Killers is written and directed by French-Polish master filmmaker Roman Polanski (Knife in the Water/Nóz w Wodzie (1962)), with Gérard Brach (The Bear/L'Ours (1988)) contributing story elements. It is Polanski's 4th feature.
Polanski's vampire movie is in every way an overwhelming experience: Enormously wittily written both in terms of characters, dialog and plot and with production design and costumes, hair and makeup of very high quality, the film is also memorable for specific scenes: The castle and its mirror effect, for others the male-on-male rape attempt; both are quite simply unnerving and frightening scenes.
At other times the film is incredibly funny: Polanski himself is convincing and impressively hilarious as the fearsome assistant Alfred, who falls for smashing Sharon Tate (Eye of the Devil (1967)). Other actors are also noteworthy: Jack MacGowran (How I Won the War (1967)) as the Einstein-like professor, and Ferdy Mayne (Conan the Destroyer (1984)) and Iain Quarrier (Wonderwall (1968)) as the ominous count and his son are both tremendous.
The title is ambiguous, and perhaps the film as such was too refined and in a way high-brow for its audience or at least many of the distributors regrettably seemed to think so at the time.
The humor in The Fearless Vampire Killers has a Mel Brooksian side to it, though it is less coarse and vulgar than most of his films, and in my book it beats his famed Gothic horror spoof mega-hit Young Frankenstein (1974). Watching The Fearless Vampire Killers today also can't but make one wonder where Polanski might have gone, if it hadn't been for Charles Manson and his 'family's cowardly murder of Polanski's then wife Tate in 1969.

Related posts:

Roman Polanski:  2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Carnage (2011) - Polanski castigates modern parents in great play adaptation
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  The Ghost Writer/The Ghost (2010) - A master at work 
Chinatown (1974) - Polanski's masterpiece 

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Cul-de-Sac (1966) - Edge-of-the-world island tale meanders at times, but is ultimately a winner  
Two Men and a Wardrobe/Dwaj Ludzie z Szafą (1958, short) - Polanski's remarkable, surreal short 
Previous Film Excess birthday movie masterpieces: Film Excess' 6th birthday movie masterpiece: The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003, documentary) - Morris attains a stunning depth and historic wingspan in chilling, inspiring and mind-boggling must-see
Film Excess' 5th birthday movie masterpiece: Hunger/Sult/Svält (1966) - Oscarsson leaves you breathless in Carlsen's impressionist masterpiece
Film Excess' 4th birthday movie masterpiece: From Here to Eternity (1953) - Zinnemann, Taradash and Jones' Hawaii-set classic
Film Excess' 3rd birthday movie masterpiece: Anatomy of a Murder (1959) - The courtroom movie to rule them all
Film Excess' 2nd birthday movie masterpiece: The King's Speech (2010) - Hooper's soaring, royal masterpiece about overcoming human frailty
Film Excess' 1st birthday movie masterpiece: Broadway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart 

Watch  the correct version's cool opening of the film here

Cost: Estimated 2 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain
[The Fearless Vampire Killers premiered 13 November (New York) and runs 108 minutes. Polanski gave Tate the part after he had successfully scared her to a scream with a terrifying mask. Shooting took place in England and Italy. The film was mutilated in the US, where the title was changed to Dance of the Vampires and between 12 and 20 minutes was cut out, and an animated opening sequence was made to underscore that the film was marketed as a farce. Facts concerning the film's theatrical performance are regrettably not to be found. Polanski returned with Rosemary's Baby (1968). MacGowran returned in 3 TV and a short credit prior to his theatrical return in Wonderwall (1968); Tate in Valley of the Dolls (1967); and Alfie Bass (Come Play with Me (1977)) in Up the Junction (1968). The Fearless Vampire Killers is fresh at 69 % with a 6.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fearless Vampire Killers?

The Graduate (1967) - Submerge yourself in Nichols' terrific classic

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Someone's sticking out an alluring leg before Dustin Hoffman on this titillating, hugely popular poster for Mike Nichols' The Graduate

We meet Benjamin as he graduates college and finds himself on high and dry concerning his future. At this junction his parents' friend Mrs. Robinson enter his life with her attractive daughter Elaine, which further complicates things.

The Graduate is written by Calder Willingham (Paths of Glory (1957)) and Buck Henry (The Owl and the Pussycat (1970)), adapting Charles Webb's (Love, Roger (1969)) same-titled 1963 novel, and directed by German-born American master filmmaker Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1966)), whose 2nd film it is.
This film is everything. You might go into it with some reservations and find the symbolism and heightened drama of the performances somewhat ostentatious. But keep watching. This film is irresistible: so funny, so involving, so full of creative spirit and invention. It is a zeitgeist hit that's full of youthful energy, joy in the art of relating a narrative, music, - Simon and Garfunkel's folk-pop evergreens are an integral part of the film, - and memorable performances, especially form Anne Bancroft (Home for the Holidays (1995)) and Dustin Hoffman (Kung Fu Panda (2008)). And so many underwater shots!
The film also has a visual (the cinematography is simple yet fabulous) and lyrical poetic quality, especially in the scenes of Hoffman driving the red sports car. It is a strange thing, but watching the film feels like traveling back in time, visiting the 1960s. It is absolutely wonderful. And The Graduate is a genuine classic.

Related posts:

Mike Nichols: Closer (2004) - Nichols and Marber's intelligent film of love and infidelity 
Angels in America (2003, TV-miniseries) or, Dying in the 80's, of AIDS, at L-E-N-G-T-H
Biloxi Blues (1988) or, '45 Army Camp Confidential     
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist satire

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: 190 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 63.33 times its cost)
[The Graduate premiered 20 December (New York) and runs 106 minutes. An exhaustive list of actresses were in contention or considered for the main female parts, while Hoffman was mainly cast over 'just' Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from April - August 1967. In post-production Nichols begged Paul Simon to write more songs for the film. It made 104.6 mil. $ domestically in its original release, making it the currently 23rd highest-grossing film in North America, adjusted for inflation. It is estimated to have made 85 mil. $ in international rentals, and it has made another 339k $ in 3 subsequent domestic re-releases. It was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for Best Director. It lost Best Actor to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night, Actress (Bancroft) to Katherine Hepburn for Guess Who's Coming for Dinner, Supporting Actress (Ross) to Estelle Parsons for Bonnie & Clyde, Cinematography (Robert Surtees) to Burnett Guffey for Bonnie & Clyde, Picture to In the Heat of the Night and Adapted Screenplay to Stirling Siliphant also for In the Heat of the Night. It won 5/7 Golden Globe nominations, 5/7 BAFTA nominations, a Grammy, a National Board of Review award and other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. It was since adapted for the stage. Nichols returned with Teach Me! (1968, short) and theatrically with masterpiece Catch-22 (1970). Bancroft returned in Young Winston (1972); Hoffman in Madigan's Millions (1968); and Katherine Ross (A Climate for Killing (1991)) in Hellfighters (1968). The Graduate is certified fresh at 86 % with an 8.85/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Graduate?

Elvira Madigan (1967) - Widerberg's picturesque period romance lacks insight but has picturesque and lyrical power

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This elegant, slightly literary poster for Bo Widerberg's Elvira Madigan highlights one of its picturesque scenes

A beautiful Danish line dancer falls in love with a deserted Swedish officer, but the two are soon found.

Elvira Madigan is written and directed by Bo Widerberg (Man on the Roof/Mannen på Taket (1976), based on the real-life 19th century legend of Hedvig Jensen (stage name Elvira Madigan) and Sixten Sparre.
The film has some enormously picturesque scenes in the Danish landscapes, which have a still-life idyllic quality to them, (cinematography by Jörgen Persson (A Song for Martin/En Sång för Martin (2001)), and together with the Mozart and Vivaldi music, a - for cinema - rare lyrical force is felt. 
Elvira Madigan portrays a delicate infatuation, SPOILER one with a fatal end which I feel like Widerberg himself may have also grappled with understanding. In any case the film has too much silence and distance to its two lovers, SPOILER and thus their tragic decision of mutual suicide never becomes really comprehensible for us. - Why, for instance, don't they simply choose to flee South, into Germany?

Watch a 3 minute scene from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.1 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertainty - but considered a big hit
[Elvira Madigan was released 24 April (Sweden) and runs 91 minutes. Widerberg cast 17 year-old Pia Degermark (The Looking Glass War (1970)) as the title character after having seen her photo in a newspaper. Shooting took place in Sweden, including Stockholm, and in Northern Jutland, Denmark. The film hit a nerve in its time with its sensual, romantic tale of young rebels and was a big hit. Unfortunately records of its grosses in markets outside of North America are not available. The film won Degermark the Best Actress Award in Cannes; it was nominated for two Golden Globes and two BAFTAs and won two National Board of Review awards. Widerberg returned with tennis documentary The White Match/Den Vita Sporten (1968) and strike drama Adalen 31/Ådalen 31 (1969). Degermark returned in A Brief Season/Una Breve Stagione (1969), but her movie career fizzed out fast. 2,180 IMDb users have given Elvira Madigan a 7.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Elvira Madigan?

The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Aldrich's rough WWII super-entertainment

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The poster for Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen is an example of a truly exciting, greatly detailed, marvelous ditto

QUICK REVIEW:

Lee Marvin (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)) plays the undisciplined major, who gets a tough mission during World War II: Train 12 hardened criminals to storm a Nazi stronghold and kill everyone.

- Quite naturally, it seems to me, this great premise results in a fiercely entertaining piece of war suspense here in Long Islander Robert Aldrich's (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)) The Dirty Dozen. The screenplay, by Nunnally Johnson (The Angel Wore Red (1960)) and Lukas Heller (The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)), is an adaptation of E. M. Nathanson's (Lovers and Schemers (2003)) 1965 novel of the same name.
Dozen is a joy from start to finish for anyone who likes brawling, military-centered action and great actors. - The ensemble cast truly is the core of the film:
Besides Marvin, who is perfect, Ernest Borgnine (The Wild Bunch (1969)) is priceless as the good-hearted general; Oscar-nominated John Cassavetes (Rosemary's Baby (1968)) is good as the rebel in the pack; and Charles Bronson (Once Upon a Time in the West/C'era una Volta il West (1968)) nails it as the good soldier. - Robert Ryan (The Wild Bunch) is a find as the intractable colonel. The only one I feel a little bad for is the great Jim Brown (Mars Attacks! (1996)), who, as the only black among the dozen, as the cliché seems to stipulate, of course dies... Brown was actually made to choose between his formidable football career and acting around the time of Dozen; at 29, already NFL's all-time greatest rusher at the time, he chose acting.
John Wayne (True Grit (1969)) and Jack Palance (The Silver Chalice (1954)) were approached to star in Dozen but ultimately declined due the fact that their characters were prone to adultery and racism, respectively.
Of the actors portraying the dozen, several were real WWII veterans, including Marvin, who fought with the US Marines in the Pacific.
In the world of today, Dirty Dozen serves as the acknowledged basis of David Ayer's coming superhero mega-movie Suicide Squad (2016), - make of that what you will ...

Lee Marvin leads the 12 untraditional warriors in Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen

Watch the exciting trailer for the film here

Cost: 5.4 mil. $
Box office: 45.3 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Though many critics at the time took aim at Dozen's morally dubious heroes and its violence, the film was also Oscar-nominated 4 times: Aside from Cassavetes as Best Supporting Actor, it was nominated for Editing, Sound and Sound Effects, for which it won its only statuette. The film was a huge commercial success, making 24.2 mil. $ in the US alone, (53 % of the total gross); and also a big hit in European countries like France (4.6 mil. admissions) and Sweden (0.8 mil. admissions). It was the 5th highest-grossing film of '67 and MGM's biggest hit that year.]

What do you think of The Dirty Dozen?

Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time

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A naked, colorful lady and an impressive list of stars compete in grabbing your attention on the poster for producer Charles K. Feldman's Casino Royale

QUICK REVIEW:

Everyone (almost) is James Bond in this ultimate, (and probably the first) Bond spoof, which is based on Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, (which is also the basis of the 2006 'real' Bond movie.)

Woody Allen (Broadway Danny Rose (1984)) is a neurotic, minority complex-plagued gnome, who hiccups atomic bombs, and Orson Welles (The Trial (1962)) plays embezzler villain Le Chiffre ...

Casino Royale sports an incredible star cast, - including also Peter Sellers, Jean Paul Belmondo, Deborah Kerr, Charles Boyer, William Holden, Ursula Andress and many others, - with several big boys behind the camera as well; directors Ken Hughes (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)), John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)), Joseph McGrath (The Magic Christian (1969)), Robert Parrish (Doppelgänger (1969)) and Richard Talmadge (What's New Pussycat (1965)) and Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard (1950)) and Ben Hecht (Notorious (1946)) are just two of the men that supplied writing for the film.
Burt Bacharach's (What's New Pussycat (1965)) music is, well, silly and over-the-top, - just as the rest of this spy comedy.
Despite the American studio (Columbia Pictures) and many American stars and crew members, Casino has a lot of British soul and fun dead-pan-lines, especially from David Niven (55 Days at Peking (1963)), also as James Bond:

David Niven, surrounded by strangely clad, beautiful ladies, gets a chance to show off his sizable comedic chops in Charles K. Feldman's Casino Royale

The film was a notorious mess production-wise, with Sellers disappearing with scenes unmade: He was reportedly afraid of Welles, who insisted on doing magic tricks in his scenes. Sellers had also hoped to have played his Bond seriously. The huge Casino Royale's budget grew bigger than contemporary Bond hits Thunderball (1965, 11 mil. $) and You Only Live Twice (1967, 9.5 mil. $), which came out 2 months after the spoof, but the zeitgeist was fortunately on its side, and it became a big hit.
Casino Royale is silly as hell, but good fun.

Woody Allen goofs around in producer Charles K. Feldman's Casino Royale

Woody Allen and Ursula Andress are both James Bond on this poster for Charles K. Feldman's Casino Royale

Watch the silly trailer here and 'join the Casino Royale fun movement!'

Cost: 12 mil. $
Box office: 41.7 mil. $
= Big hit

What do you think of Casino Royale?
Other good spy spoofs?

Bonnie and Clyde (1967) - Penn and Beatty's true-crime classic marks a turn in American film

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The wild, lawless allure of the subjects attract on this poster for Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde

Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are young and aimless in Texas in the doldrums of 1931's Depression-era US, but they find each other and discover a new kind of freedom, - based on robbing banks.

 
Bonnie and Clyde is written by Robert Benton (What's Up Doc? (1972)) and David Newman (Still of the Night (1982)), with uncredited contributions by Robert Towne (Tequila Sunrise (1988)), and directed by Arthur Penn (The Left Handed Gun (1958)). It is a heist/road movie/drama-romance based on the historical figures.

The film is a very entertaining, albeit perhaps a bit overrated, American classic, first and foremost because it is also very funny, which it seems to be with a charming ease. One example from the film could be Clyde's brother Buck's cow joke. Often the film blends comedy and crass violence for the audience to digest with some ambiguity. 

Gene Hackman (The French Connection (1971)) is Buck, and Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)) debuts in a supporting role. Warren Beatty (Reds (1981)) produced and co-stars; he is great as Clyde. Faye Dunaway (Chinatown (1974)) is beautiful and lost as Bonnie.
Beatty and Dunaway's scenes together are wonderful. The language and the images of Bonnie and Clyde contribute to its distinguished magic. It is a good, oft cited and distinctive film.
But in the outlaw couple sub-genre, I find that both Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973) and David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990), both, however, inevitably influenced by Bonnie and Clyde, are greater films.
Bonnie and Clyde was very trendsetting, and served as an indicator for the arrival of the New Hollywood era with young, strong-minded directors like Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, William Friedkin and Martin Scorsese, who revitalized American cinema. It also marked a change in the depiction of violence; a change for the more boldly realistic, explicit and transgressive.
Bonnie and Clyde is heavily influenced by the French New Wave, and the direction of the film was, in fact, offered to both François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, the two most famous directors of the French New Wave, before it ended up with Penn. SPOILER To those who have seen Bonnie and Clyde and wondered at Clyde's sexual problem in the film, it was originally the idea for the character to be portrayed as bisexual, but for reasons of censorship and possibly Beatty being against the idea, Clyde, in the film, is instead meant to be impotent.

 

Related post:

 

Arthur Penn: Top 10: Best heist movies

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 2.5 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 70 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 28 times its cost)

[Bonnie and Clyde premiered 4 August (Montréal Film Festival) and runs 111 minutes. Truffaut passed on directing the film in favor of his Fahrenheit 451 (1966); Godard wanted to shoot in New Jersey (not Texas) and was not hired as a consequence; Penn was reportedly asked several times to direct by Beatty before accepting. Beatty's deal with Warner Bros. secured himself 40 % of the film's profits (if it would make any); and 10 % for Penn; eventually netting the two more than 6 mil. $ (Beatty) and more than 2 mil. $ (Penn). Dunaway was paid 60k $ for her performance in the film; Estelle Parsons (Diane (2018)) 5k $. Shooting took place from October 1966 - January 1967 in Texas, including in Dallas, and in California. Warner Bros. were unsupportive of the film, which ran over budget, and tried to give it a small release without marketing it, but its impressive reception (and Beatty's threat to sue) made them change their tune, and the film became their 2nd highest-grossing film up to that point, only beaten by My Fair Lady (1964). It was in the North-American top 12 for 22 weeks, becoming one of the 5 highest-grossing films overall in 1967.The film was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 2: For Best Supporting Actress (Parsons) and Cinematography (Burnett Guffey (The Split (1968)). It lost Best Actor (Beatty) to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night; Supporting Actor (Hackman; Michael J. Pollard (Forever Lulu (2000))) to George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke; Actress (Dunaway) to Katharine Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner; Costume Design to Camelot; Director to Mike Nichols for The Graduate; Picture to In the Heat of the Night; and Original Screenplay to William Rose for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. It also won 1/4 BAFTA award nominations, 2 David di Donatello awards and was nominated for 7 Golden Globes and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Penn returned with Flesh and Blood (1968, TV movie) and theatrically with Alice's Restaurant (1969). Beatty returned in The Only Game in Town (1970); Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Bonnie and Clyde is certified fresh at 91 % with an 8.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

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