John Wayne as Genghis Khan? Lucille Ball as Mame? On this episode, we celebrate some of the most wonderfully misguided examples of movie miscasting, including some still-controversial casting decisions (Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle, Barbra Streisand as Dolly Levi) and some noble endeavors that went awry (Marlon Brando’s Fletcher Christian, Jane Fonda as Ibsen’s Nora). Actor/writer Joe Mannetti returns to “The Online Movie Show” to give praise to the actors in the wrong roles.
BOOTLEG FILES 678: “Elstree Calling” (1930 British musical revue co-directed by Alfred Hitchcock).
LAST SEEN: We cannot confirm the last public exhibition of this film.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On bootleg video labels only.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Never made available for U.S. commercial home entertainment release.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It is possible, but not a priority.
In 1930, the first British musical feature film was released under the title “Elstree Calling.” Today, most people are aware of the film only because of Alfred Hitchcock’s involvement in the production.
While much of today’s focus on Rock Hudson centers on his private life and untimely death, the depth and scope of his film and television career is often overlooked. Actor/writer Joe Mannetti returns to “The Online Movie Show” for a discussion of Rock Hudson’s versatility as an actor and the many memorable performances he created.
BOOTLEG FILES 677: “3 Days in the County Jail” (1976 nontheatrical short film distributed by Walt Disney Educational Media Company).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On a gray market DVD with other imprisonment-related short nonfiction films.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Never made available for commercial home entertainment release.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.
Back in the mid-1970s, when Walt Disney Pictures was stuffing theaters with such happy nonsense as “The Apple Dumpling Gang” and “Escape to Witch Mountain,’ the company’s nontheatrical subsidiary Walt Disney Educational Media Company was attempting to convince America’s youth that crime didn’t pay. Through a four-part series called “Under the Law,” the sons o’ fun at the mouse factory offered a grim and gritty – at least by Disney standards – view of the mishaps that befell naughty young people who thought they were above and beyond the reach of law enforcement.
Kim Novak was the last major star created by the Hollywood studio system, but she was also an iconoclastic screen personality who broke out of the blonde bombshell mold to create a distinctive force of personality. Actor and writer Joe Mannetti returns to “The Online Movie Show” to discuss Kim Novak’s remarkable and unpredictable career.
What can be said about Marilyn Monroe that hasn’t already been said? In this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” actor/writer Joe Mannetti shares a distinctive view of Marilyn Monroe’s talent and film canon, creating a provocative challenge to the stereotypes associated with her life.
BOOTLEG FILES 676: “Nimbus Libéré” (1944 propaganda animated short).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: It was included in the 1993 Claude Chabrol documentary “The Eye of Vichy.”
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unauthorized use of copyright-protected animated characters.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It is in “The Eye of Vichy,” but it is also posted online without authorization.
By early 1944, Nazi Germany saw its control over Europe weaken dramatically due to Soviet advances from the East and the arrival of Allied forces into Italy. An invasion of France was expected, and the Germans were not eager to see their brutal control over the French removed.
In one of the weirdest attempts to convince an occupied nation that they should not welcome liberation, the German authorities commissioned an animated short designed to show the stupidity and recklessness of the liberating Allied forces.