Most film historians have exiled Spencer Williams to the fringes of cinema history, a situation based on both his race and the circumstances in which he worked. During the 1940s, he was the only prolific African American director – albeit in a series of cheaply-made, independently-produced features for a company out of Dallas that were distributed for exhibition in racially segregated cinemas serving the nation’s black population.
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Returning to a beloved comedy movie from decades past often comes with the nostalgic anticipation that one associates with school reunions. After all, favored comedies of youth could be considered the cinematic equivalent of childhood friends.
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Michael Ritchie’s ill-fated 1995 film adaptation of the Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt Off-Broadway classic “The Fantasticks” deserves attention, if only to call out the perils of adapting an inherently theatrical work for the big screen.
One key problem with the film industry is that too many worthy productions fall under the radar and never find the audiences they deserve. Robby Henson’s 1995 production “Pharaoh’s Army” is one of a countless number of smaller gems that never caught a break. Barely released in theaters and dumped into DVD release in 2004 with no fanfare, it remains an unfairly obscure title. This is a major shame, since “Pharaoh’s Army” is a provocative surprise at every level.
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When Barbra Streisand began production on her 1974 film “For Pete’s Sake,” she stated that this was being conceived strictly as a fun film. In a way, she kept her word because it is a light, silly, uncomplicated bit of fluff that offers 90 minutes of mindless distraction.
It is a shame that the film adaptation of John Berendt’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” was not helmed by a director who thrives in the radically offbeat. In the hands of someone like David Lynch, Tim Burton or John Waters, the extraordinary wealth of eccentricity, depravity and old-fashioned freakiness would have flowered brilliantly.
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“Copacabana” is the type of film that is half-remembered by many people who mistakenly believe it is something of a classic, if only by the virtue of its star power. In reality, this 1947 endeavor was a tired little mess that never caught its groove.
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