Author Archives: Phil Hall

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Ed Wynn: The Perfect Fool

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For five decades, Ed Wynn delighted audiences with his brilliant clowning, making him a beloved star of Broadway, movies, radio and television. Late in his career, he reinvented himself as a dramatic actor of extraordinary power, earning a Golden Globe nomination for “The Great Man” and an Oscar nomination for “The Diary of Anne Frank.” On this episode of The Online Movie Show, Ed Wynn biographer Garry Berman discusses the life and career of this versatile entertainer.

The episode can be found here.

“The Online Movie Show” is produced at the Platinum Wolfe Studios.

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The Bootleg Files: A Bell for Adano

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BOOTLEG FILES 624: “A Bell for Adano” (1945 drama starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney).

LAST SEEN: On cable television.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Never commercially released in the U.S. home video market.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It deserves it.

Watching Hollywood’s war films produced during World War II is often unsatisfactory, if only because much of the gung-ho patriotism that permeated those movies feels corny and propagandistic today. But one film from that era stands out for offer a somewhat harsh and often unpleasant consideration of how the U.S. Army operated in Europe: the 1945 production of “A Bell for Adano.”

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Michael Mongillo’s “Diane”

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Michael Mongillo is one of the most inventive filmmakers in the independent film world, with acclaimed films including “Welcome to Earth” and “Being Michael Madsen.” His latest feature, “Diane,” is a provocative psychological thriller that has earned praise on the film festival. In this episode of The Online Movie Show, Michael Mongillo joins us to discuss his distinctive approach to cinematic storytelling.

The episode can be heard here.

“The Online Movie Show” is produced at the Platinum Wolfe Studios.

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The Bootleg Files: Cozzilla

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BOOTLEG FILES 623: “Cozzilla” (1977 Italian riff on “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!”).

LAST SEEN: It is on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Never commercially released outside of Italy.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Utterly unlikely.

In 1976, Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis unleashed a remake of “King Kong” on the moviegoing public. Inspired by the commercial success of this endeavor, Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi figured that he could score his box office hit with a monster film. But rather than create a new film from scratch, he sought to re-release the 1954 Japanese classic “Godzilla.” But Cozzi’s simple plan turned out to become a lot more complex than he anticipated, and what he eventually put into theaters is widely regarded as one of the most bizarre productions ever made.

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