For many people, Michael Cimino’s 1980 epic “Heaven’s Gate” represents the worst of cinema. For others, however, the film is an original and audacious work that did not deserve the harsh reviews and box office failure in its initial release. On this episode, film critic Jerry Roberts joins Phil Hall to discuss the merits and mishaps of this still-polarizing work.
The episode can be heard here.
“The Online Movie Show” is produced at the Platinum Wolfe Studios.
BOOTLEG FILES 628: “The Jungle” (1967 documentary made by a Philadelphia street gang).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Murky rights issue.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It’s possible.
Movies about street gangs rarely resonate with any degree of honesty, if only because filmmakers have a tendency to sanitize or glamorize the gangs with the hope that something good can be found in their bad boy behavior. However, there was one strange little film that attempted to get a street level view of gang behavior, and what made it so unusual was having real gang members on both sides of the camera.
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The Marx Brothers’ final feature film was the 1949 comedy “Love Happy,” and the story behind the creation of this cinematic swan song was more astonishing than the on-screen antics. In this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” Kevin Scott Collier, author of “The Marx Brothers Love Happy Confidential,” details the film’s tumultuous production and release history, while providing insight in how Marilyn Monroe landed her scene-stealing role.
The episode can be heard here.
“The Online Movie Show” is produced at the Platinum Wolfe Studios.
BOOTLEG FILES 627: “Laverne & Shirley in the Army” (1981-82 animated series).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Never re-released after its initial broadcast.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Oh, I hope not.
In concept, making an animated series based on “Laverne & Shirley” made perfect sense because the beloved sitcom was the most cartoonish program in the 1970s prime-time schedule. With its propensity for slapstick comedy and a line-up of over-the-top characters, “Laverne & Shirley” was a living cartoon.
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BOOTLEG FILES 626: “Daughter of the Dragon” (1931 thriller starring Anna May Wong and Sessue Hayakawa).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Politically incorrect content makes it difficult to sell in today’s too-touch environment.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe someday.
In 1913, English writer Sax Rohmer published the crime thriller “The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu,” focusing on the elaborate homicidal activities of the brilliant yet deranged white-hating Chinese criminal mastermind. At a time when Western attitudes to the Chinese ranged from suspicious to violently hostile, the outlandish Fu Manchu was politically incorrect long before that toxic phrase was coined.
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85-year-old Mae West marries 32-year-old Timothy Dalton while swatting away the carnal pangs of Tony Curtis, George Hamilton, Ringo Starr and a gym full of musclemen in this seriously warped musical comedy, which is widely regarded as one of the strangest flicks of the 1970s. On this episode, Facebook funnyman Anthony “The Kingfish” Vitamia offers his distinctive insight on this bizarre celebration of geriatric eroticism.
The whole crazy episode is now online!
“The Online Movie Show” is produced at the Platinum Wolfe Studios.
BOOTLEG FILES 625: Madge the Manicurist Commercials (1966-1992 series of television advertisements for Palmolive Dish Detergent).
LAST SEEN: Some of the commercials are on YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Television commercials are never gathered together into a single anthology celebrating a specific product or brand.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.
If you were watching television in the mid-1960s through the early 1990s, there is a good chance that you were inspired to buy a bottle of Palmolive dish detergent thanks to a long-running series of commercials featuring a character known as Madge the Manicurist. Of course, those readers who came around after that era might not see the immediate connection between a dish detergent and a manicurist. However, some very clever advertising executives and one remarkably lucky actress helped make that unusual combination work.
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