Jeepers Creepers (2001) - Memorable terror

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Something frightening covered under tied together leather (or skin) pieces make up this eerie poster for Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers

A brother and sister drive through rural America together, when an old, rusty truck smashes aggressively past them. SPOILER This leads them to discover an underground mass grave, and soon a flying, man-eating monster is after them.

 

Jeepers Creepers is written and directed by Victor Salva (Clownhouse (1989)). 

It is a really good horror movie with a strong Stephen King vibe. The first half of the film, - that is, until the monster is revealed, - is to most audiences the more scary half. 

Gina Philips (Love and Debate (2006)) and Justin Long (Dear David (2023)) are good as the terrorized siblings, and the last image of Long (minus eyes) is pretty cool (in a horrific, evil way of course.) If you didn't know any more about convicted pedophile Salva, this film might earn him your respect.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 59.3 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 5.93 times its cost)

[Jeepers Creepers premiered 20 July (München Fantasy Filmfest) and runs 91 minutes. The film came about due to American Zoetrope founder, master filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's continued support for Salva, despite his having molested a boy actor on his debut Clownhouse, (Coppola, at whose house some of the abuse took place, subsequently attempted to sue the boy for breach of contract, when the arrest of Salva impeded the film's chance of success.) But also a studio craze for horror was spurred by the incredible success of Blair Witch Project (1999), and UA and MGM bought the distribution rights for 2.5 mil. $. Shooting took place from July - September 2000 in Florida. A million was reportedly cut from the budget during production, forcing Salva to change the ending. The film opened #1 to a 13.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#3), grossing 37.9 mil. $ (63.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.7 mil. $ (14.7 %) and Mexico with 2.4 mil. $ (4 %). Salva returned with Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003). Philips returned in The Anarchist Cookbook (2002); Long in Crossroads (2002). Jeepers Creepers is rotten at 44 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Jeepers Creepers?

Jackie Brown (1997) - Tarantino's Leonard adaptation marks his most fulfilling picture

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The cool-looking cast in black and white and two taglines alluding to the film's crime plot are prominent along with the yellow title logo on this poster for Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown

A middle-aged flight attendant, Jackie Brown supplements her salary by smuggling cash. But when she gets nabbed by customs police who demand that she squeal, Brown finds herself in a deadly bind.

Jackie Brown is written and directed by Tennessean master filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (My Best Friend's Birthday (1987)), whose 4th film it is. It is an adaptation of Rum Punch (1992) by Elmore Leonard (Bandits (1987)).

This is my favorite Tarantino picture, and I love it deeply. The atmosphere, the flow, the outstanding editing, the expertly chosen music, the lighting, the locations and the acting, - everything works together in this entertaining crime yarn. The dialog, not least.

Pam Grier (The Big Doll House (1971)) is a queen here in the title role, a deserved major comeback for her; but also Robert Forster (Twin Peaks (2017, TV-series)), Samuel L. Jackson (Unbreakable (2000)) and Robert De Niro (Ronin (1998)) are terrific here. SPOILER The ending is bittersweet, and I can never help myself from thinking: "Why the hell didn't Max Cherry go off to Madrid with Jackie?" 

Jackie Brown is a beautiful picture.

 

Related posts:

Quentin Tarantino:  2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]2019 in films - according to Film Excess

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood/Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) - Tarantino gets lost in Hollywood 

The Hateful Eight (2015) - Tarantino's indulgences take over 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Django Unchained (2012) - Tarantino's gutsy, colorful 'Southern' 
Inglourious Basterds (2009) - The Movies take revenge on Nazi scum

2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Death Proof (2007) - Tarantino's awesome, rubber-burning Grindhouse homage 
From Dusk till Dawn (1996) - Tarantino, Rodriguez and chums' enjoyable Mexico vampire extravaganza (writer-star)
Desperado (1995) - Rodriguez' second Mexico actioner is a sexy, latino fireball (actor) 
Four Rooms (1995) - Rodriguez, Tarantino & Co. fail with LA hotel anthology comedy (co-director)

Pulp Fiction (1994) - Tarantino makes the 1990s his decade with cinematic crime comedy 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 12 mil. $

Box office: 74.7 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.22 times its cost)

[Jackie Brown premiered 8 December (New York) and runs 154 minutes. Shooting took place from May - August 1997 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #5, behind holdover hits Titanic and Tomorrow Never Dies, fellow new release As Good As It Gets and holdover hit Mousehunt, to a 9.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 39.6 mil. $ (53 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for one Oscar: Best Supporting Actor (Forster), lost to Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Tarantino returned with Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). Grier returned in Pinky and the Brain (1998, TV-series), Family Blessings (1998, TV movie) and theatrically in Jawbreaker (1999). Jackie Brown is certified fresh at 69 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Jackie Brown?

Irma la Douce (1963) - Wilder's overlong prostitution comedy

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Colorful levity and hijinks are promised on this poster for Billy Wilder's Irma la Douce

In Paris' sinful Rue Casanova, a new copper roams, indignant and active in upsetting the obvious prostitution going on there, but only until he falls head over heels for the charming Irma.

 

Irma la Douce is written by I.A.L. Diamond (One, Two, Three (1961)) and Austrian-Hungarian/American master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Billy Wilder (Bad Seed (1934)), whose 19th feature it was. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1956 French stage musical. The title is French and translates to 'Irma the sweet'.

This poorly aged Wilder adaptation beckons you to accept prostitution a an easy and comfortable life, one that is also natural and without any negative sides to it. That proposition is a hard one to swallow, and fatiguing as well. The same can be said of Jack Lemmon's (Some Like It Hot (1959)) policeman character's unexplained 180 turn in the story from a by-the-book stickler to a completely embracing participant in the monkey business goings on of the Rue Casanova. His plan involves him keeping Shirley MacLaine's (Around the World in 80 Days (1956)) Irma from her sidewalk 'career' by dressing up as an English professor with very deep pockets.

Jokes are repeated ad infinitum. Irma la Douce is overlong. Handsome sets and costumes weigh up; and Lemmon's caricature of an Englishman is funny. But Irma la Douce overall is taxing.

 

Related posts:

Billy Wilder:  The Front Page (1974) - Wilder's hilarious Chicago newspaper comedy

Double Indemnity (1944) - Wilder's noir classic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 31.5 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.3 times its cost)

[Irma la Douce premiered 5 June (New York) and runs 147 minutes. The film was envisioned as a repairing of Lemmon with Wilder and Marilyn Monroe as Irma, but the latter's overdose death in 1962 meant the hiring of MacLaine. It seems that Wilder, Lemmon and MacLaine negotiated the same pay deal of 350k $ plus 7.5 % of the profits, a very lucrative deal as it turned out, which reportedly also meant that United Artists only profited 440k $ from the film's stellar theatrical run. Shooting took place from October 1962 - February 1963 in California and Paris, France. The film was a huge hit in North America, where it was the year's 5th highest-grossing with rentals of 12 mil. $/25.2 mil. $ (80 % of the total gross). It also struck huge in Netherlands with 3.6 mil. admissions, becoming the biggest hit in the country for many years. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Score - Adaptation/Treatment (André Previn (Dead Ringer (1963))). It lost Best Actress (MacLaine) to Patricia Neal in Hud and Cinematography - Color (Joseph LaShelle (A Child Is Waiting (1963))) to Leon Shamroy for Cleopatra. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, won a David di Donatello award and 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Wilder returned with Kiss Me, Stupid (1964). Lemmon returned in Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963); MacLaine in What a Way to Go! (1964). Irma la Douce is fresh at 75 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Irma la Douce? 

Indochine (1992) - Magnificent Deneuve in Wargnier's picturesque colonial epic

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Co-star Catherine Deneuve marching in a red dress and a flowery hat in front of poor locals in South East Asia in front of a temple makes up this poster for Régis Wargnier's Indochine

A beautiful Frenchwoman with an enormous rubber plantation in colonial French Indochina (Vietnam today) gets drama in her life, when she falls for a French naval officer and starts to feel her colony falling apart around her.

Indochine is written by Catherine Cohen (The Woman of My Life/La Femme de Ma Vie (1986)), Louis Gardel (Himalaya (1999)), Erik Orsenna (La Dette (2000, TV movie)) and co-writer/director Régis Wargnier (The Woman of My Life/La Femme de Ma Vie (1986)).

Catherine Deneuve (Place Vendôme (1998)) is fabulously beautiful and her acting is an enormous pleasure in the lead, paired here with an almost equally photogenic Vincent Perez (Fanfan (2003)) as the officer, who starts out with setting fire to a boat with a heroin-smuggling father and his little boy, but who later gains understanding and sympathy for the hardships of the locals, - mainly because he also falls in love with Deneuve's adopted daughter!

The impressive production is enamored with the foreign landscapes and presents beautiful costumes, hair and faces and in this the Wargnier commits the crime of beautifying the story. Indochine is at times a compelling drama, though at others it is a bit static, and the film is overlong.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 120 mil. FRF, approximately 4.3 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 29.6 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.88 times its cost)

[Indochine was released 15 April (France) and runs 159 minutes. 14 companies and support bodies collaborated in the financing and production of the film. Deneuve was paid 2.7 mil. FRF (approximately 513k $) for her performance in the film). Shooting took place from April - August 1991 in Malaysia, Vietnam and in Paris, France. The film sold 3.1 mil. tickets in France, where it was the 6th highest attended of the year, and it made 5.6 mil. $ in North America. Wikipedia lists the impressive 29.6 mil. $ total gross, linking to JPBox-Office, but the figure is not visible on the link, although it is not unlikely. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars, winning for Best Foreign Language Film. It lost Best Actress (Deneuve) to Emma Thompson for Howards End. It was also nominated for a BAFTA and won 5/12 César award nominations as well as a Goya, a Golden Globe and 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Wargnier returned with A French Woman/Une Femme Française (1995). Deneuve returned in My Favorite Season/Ma Saison Préférée (1993); Perez in Cendre d'Or (1992, short) and theatrically in Fanfan (1993). Indochine is fresh at 74 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Indochine?

Ice Age (2002) - Fun-filled animated adventure

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Four humorous-looking animal characters are assembled on this bright poster for Chris Wedge and Carlos Sandanha's Ice Age

When the ice age arrives some 20,000 years ago, a small human baby gets left in the care of a ground sloth named Sid and a mammoth named Manfred, who later meet and team up with a sabre tiger named Diego.

 

Ice Age is written by Michael Berg (The Scratist (2012, short)), Michael J. Wilson (The Tuxedo (2002)) and Peter Ackerman (The Diplomat (2024, TV-series)), with James Bresnahan (Epic (2013)), Doug Compton (Willie Survive (1982-83, director)), Jeff Siergey (Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011)), Michael Thurmeier (Robots (2005, supervising animator)), Galen T. Chu (Rio (2011, supervising animator)) and Xeth Feinberg (Queer Duck (200-02, animator)) contributing story elements, and directed by debuting Chris Wedge (Epic (2013)) and also debuting Carlos Saldanha (Rio (2011)). It is the first film in the Ice Age franchise.

The film is surprisingly funny and charming, driven by a good premise idea with some well animated and clear characters that get plenty of additional life from the voice performances of John Leguizamo (Spawn (1997)), Ray Romano (The Irishman (2019)) and others. The CG animation is a bit dated to look at today, - but not much, - and more importantly, it succeeds in capturing one's imagination. The story becomes episodic, (then this happens; then this happens; and so on), but not in any way that can impede Ice Age from being a refreshing hit.

 

Related posts:

 

Ice Age franchise: Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) - Lots of fun in 4th IA chapter

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) or, Ice Age 3: Add Dinosaurs! 

Carlos Saldanha: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) or, Ice Age 3: Add Dinosaurs!  (co-director)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 59 mil. $

Box office: 383.2 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.49 times its cost)

[Ice Age premiered 12 March (USA) and runs 81 minutes. The film opened #1 to a 46.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 another 5 weekends (#2-#2-#2-#3-#4), grossing 176.3 mil. $ (46 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 34.5 mil. $ (9 %) and the UK with 21.7 mil. $ (5.7 %). It was the 8th highest-grossing film of the year and the highest-grossing animation of the year. It was nominated for the Best Animation Oscar, lost to Spirited Away. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The characters returned in Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006). Wedge returned with Robots (2005); Saldanha with Gone Nutty (2002, video) and theatrically with Robots. Romano returned in Welcome to Mooseport (2004); Leguizamo in Sesame Street (2002, TV-series), Point of Origin (2002, TV movie) and theatrically in Spun (2002); Denis Leary (The Simpsons (2008, TV-series)) in The Job (2001-02, TV-series) and Crank Yankers (2002, TV-series) prior to his theatrical return in The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002). Ice Age is certified fresh at 77 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ice Age?

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) - The teen slasher favorite

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Pouty-faced teen stars in eerie lighting make up this effective poster for Jim Gillespie's I Know What You Did Last Summer

Two beautiful, promising young high school grad couples are heading to college when on one late, fateful night, they make a terrible mistake, which they pay dearly for the following year ...

 

I Know What You Did Last Summer is written by Kevin Williamson (Scream (1996)), loosely based on the same-titled 1973 novel by Lois Duncan (Killing Mr. Griffin (1978)), and directed by debuting Jim Gillespie (Venom (2005)).

Subtlety is not a virtue that this teen slasher pursues, but it works very well as top-tuned youth horror with four excellent stars, - especially Sarah Michelle Gellar's (Cruel Intentions (1999)) screams are epic, - and a simple premise of transgression and punishment, which is classical for the horror genre and very well made.

I Know What You Did Last Summer is a deeply entertaining minor 1990s classic that merits revisits. 

 

Related post:

 

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) - Cannon slashes possible franchise with repititious turkey 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 17 mil. $

Box office: 125.5 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.38 times its cost)

[I Know What You Did Last Summer premiered 9 October (Austin Film Festival) and runs 101 minutes. Williamson had written the script prior to Scream, and with that film's immense success, Columbia Pictures hurried to put I Know What You Did Last Summer into production. Ryan Phillippe (The Way of the Gun (2000)) was paid 250k $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from March - June 1997 in North Carolina and California. The film opened #1 to a 15.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends at #1 and then one more in the top 5 (#3), grossing 72.5 mil. $ (57.8 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 1/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. Gillespie returned with D-Tox (2002). Jennifer Love-Hewitt (House Arrest (1996)) first returned in Boy Meets World (1998, TV-series) before her theatrical return in Can't Hardly Wait (1998); Gellar in Scream 2 (1997); Phillippe in Homegrown (1998) and Freddie Prinze Jr. (Scooby-Doo (2002)) in Sparkler (1997). Hewitt and Prinze Jr. returned in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), and a second sequel is slated for the summer of 2025. I Know What You Did Last Summer is rotten at 47 % with a 5.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Know What You Did Last Summer?

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) - Systemic injustice bared in LeRoy's crackerjack crime drama

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A dangerous holdup in what appears a criminal underworld environment is presented on this murky poster for Mervyn LeRoy's I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

After having served military duty in WWI, James Allen returns to civilian status but does not want factory work; he wants to build something new up as an engineer! But following an unfortunate arrest, he is sentenced to 10 years in a chain gang. - He manages to escape! - But his past finds him ...

 

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is written by Howard J. Green (The Millionaire (1957, TV-series)) and Brown Holmes (Castle on the Hudson (1940)), with Sheridan Gibney (The Locket (1946)) contributing uncredited work, adapting the autobiographical I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! (1932) by Robert Elliott Burns, and directed by great Californian filmmaker Mervyn LeRoy (No Place to Go (1927)).

Thoroughly suspenseful, fast-paced, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang relies on a thrilling story for its success. The woman, who forces a lucrative marriage through by blackmailing our protagonist, is one of the film's exciting, credibly played (by Glenda Farrell (Bonanza (1964, TV-series))), memorable characters. All of it rings 100 % true. 

SPOILER A very exciting climax ends up in a shockingly tragic, stirring ending: 'The system can crush a good man' is the icy lesson here. Paul Muni (Hudson's Bay (1940)) is beautiful and outstanding as the hero in this electrical, indignant film.

 

Related post:

 

Mervyn LeRoy: The Green Berets (1968) - Wayne's gung ho pretty picture of the Vietnam War clashes with reality (co-director)

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 228k $

Box office: 1.599 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.01 times the cost)

[I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang premiered 9 November (Washington D.C.) and runs 93 minutes. LeRoy was paid 13.2k $ for his direction of the film. Shooting took place from July - September 1932 in California, including in Los Angeles, with stock footage of Chicago, Illinois also used. The film grossed 650k $ in North America, 40.7 % of the total gross. It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actor (Muni) to Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII, Picture to Cavalcade and Sound to A Farewell to Arms. The film also won 2 National Board of Review awards. It was instrumental in the appeal and release of Burns and "several other chain gang prisoners nationwide in the U.S." in 1933. LeRoy returned with Hard to Handle (1933). Muni returned in The World Changes (1933). I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is fresh at 96 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang?

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) or, It's a Loud, Loud, Loud and Long Movie

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A crazed mass of individuals crawl around a globe, all after a bag of money, on this cartoon-style poster for Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

An aging gentleman drives off a cliff and during his dying moments confesses to those surrounding him that a fortune is buried in a California park. - But who will get to the treasure first?

 

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is written by husband and wife writing team Tania Rose and William Rose (Touch and Go (1955), both) and produced and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Stanley Kramer (Not As a Stranger (1955)).

This enormous 1960s creation is a - by some - beloved phenomenon. It is very long and consists mainly of crosscut scenes of characters who hectically, exaggeratedly, voluminously and foolishly yell and scream at one another. - That gets old, star parade or not, and that makes It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World not a little exhausting to watch. Every one is more or less playing a screaming boob here.

But the film also has handsome high-speed car scenes and stunts as well as a big, wacky and undeniably funny finishing set piece featuring a fire escape. - As well as elegant photography (by Ernest Laszlo (Judgment at Nuremberg (1961))). It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a matter of taste.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9.4 mil. $

Box office: 60 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.38 times its cost)

[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premiered 7 November (Los Angeles + Canada) and runs 192 minutes (original release/162 minutes general release version/202 minutes restored director's cut version). Shooting took place from April - December 1962 in Florida and California, including in Los Angeles and San Diego. The film became the 3rd highest-grossing of the year, raking in 46.3 mil. $ (77.2 % of the total gross) in North America. The foreign numbers are not made public. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for Best Sound Effects. It lost Best Cinematography - Color to Leon Shamroy for Cleopatra, Editing to How the West Was Won, Song (Ernest Gold and Mack Davis for the title song) to Call Me Irresponsible from Papa's Delicate Condition, Score - Substantially Original (Ernest Gold) to John Addison for Tom Jones and Sound to How the West Was Won. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. Kramer returned with Ship of Fools (1965). Spencer Tracey (Broken Lance (1954)) returned in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Milton Berle (Burke's Law (1994, TV-series)) in 5 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in The Loved Ones (1965); and Sid Caesar (Christmas Snow (1986, TV movie)) in The Mouse That Roared (1966, TV movie) and theatrically in The Busy Body (1967). It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is fresh at 69 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

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?

Imitation of Life (1959) - Sirk's last film, an oppulent race melodrama

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Fabulously crafted and deliciously colored poster for Douglas Sirk's
Imitation of Life

Lora, a struggling widow and single mother actress in New York, out of compassion takes a black maid and her rebellious daughter into her home. Soon success arrives, but at home revolt brews.

 

Imitation of Life is written by Eleanore Griffin (Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955)) and Allan Scott (The Four Poster (1952)), adapting the same-titled 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst (Anitra's Dance (1934)), and directed by Douglas Sirk (April, April! (1935)).

Emotionally driven drama meant to induce sobbing with excessive pathos. The poshness often encountered in soap operas beleaguer every scene in Sirk's version of the popular story that had already been adapted by John M. Stahl in 1933 with Claudette Colbert. The film is very much a matter of personal taste but for me it is simply too much.

Lana Turner (The Big Cube (1968)) is rock solid in a part that is deliberately over-shadowed by the issues of the dark-skinned characters. Audiences outside of the American context of Imitation of Life could possible view it as propaganda for a 1950s American utopia in which race was treated just. But the truth of Imitation of Life is, of course, that the problem and the very progressive way the film deals with it was bold for its time.

 

Related post:

 

Douglas Sirk: All That Heaven Allows (1955) or, Not The Widow and Her Gardener!

 

 Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1.2 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 6.4 mil. $ (North American rentals alone)

= Uncertain but certainly a huge hit (returned 5.33 times its cost in North America alone)

[Imitation of Life premiered 17 March (Chicago) and runs 125 minutes. Turner was reportedly paid 50 % of the film's profits but the final amount is regrettably unmentioned. She reportedly wore jewelry worth 1 mil. $ in the film, besides 34 costumes worth 78k $. Shooting took place from August - October 1958 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film collected 6.4 mil. $ in North-American rentals according to Variety in 1960. If met with a less interested public abroad, - not unlikely due to its highly American race theme, - an 8 mil. $ total gross may be projected, which would still make the film a huge hit. It was twice Oscar nominated - in the same category, Best Supporting Actress: Juanita Moore (Paternity (1981)) and Susan Kohner (The Gene Krupa Story (1959)) both lost to Shelley Winters for The Diary of Anne Frank. It also won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Sirk retired to Switzerland after the film's release and only directed three more short films nearly two decades later. Turner returned in Portrait in Black (1960); John Gavin (Keep It in the Family (1973)) in A Breath of Scandal (1960). Imitation of Life is fresh at 82 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Imitation of Life?