It is never a good idea to approach a film with preconceived notions of its awfulness. That is not easy when the film in question of the 1977 “A Little Night Music,” which has a reputation for being something of a mess.
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Tag Archives: Academy Award
The Rogue Song (1930)
MGM’s 1930 film “The Rogue Song,” an adaptation of the Robert Bodansky-A. M. Willner operetta “Gypsy Love,” was the only sound-era production included on the American Film Institute’s 1980 list of the ten most wanted lost films. The inclusion of this title on the list was peculiar at many levels. For starters, its presence as the sole post-silent era entry, it inadvertently gave the wrong impression that few sound-era films were lost.
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Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got (1985)
When Brigitte Berman’s “Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got” won the Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature Film for 1986, the Canadian production had yet to secure a theatrical release. Unfortunately for Berman, the film’s subject – clarinetist and band leader Artie Shaw – sued her to secure a greater share of potential box office profits. Due to the litigation, the film never played theatrically after its Oscar win – Shaw died in December 2024 and Berman’s production didn’t have its theatrical premiere until January 2024.
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Grandma Moses (1950)
During the 1940s and 1950s, the most unlikely figure to emerge in the American art scene was Anna Mary Robertson Moses. The widow of a farmer in upstate New York, she began painting at the age of 78 because arthritis made it difficult for her to pursue needlework. Going by the moniker of Grandma Moses and coming to the medium without formal training, she created an extraordinary output of lively and invigorating paintings that recalled her rural world in the second half of the 19th century. Although her work was identified by the vaguely condescending category of folk art, her invigorating use of color and the surprising complexity of her subject matter captivated Americans – even Presidents Truman and Eisenhower celebrated her artistic achievements.
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The Bootleg Files: 3rd Ave. El
BOOTLEG FILES 857: “3rd Ave. El” (1955 Oscar-nominated short).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: It was reportedly on video, but I can’t confirm that.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: This fell through the cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe as a special feature.
New York City residents of a certain age will remember the IRT Third Avenue Line, an elevated railway that operated between Manhattan and the Bronx. The Manhattan portion of the line – which was informally known as the 3rd Avenue El – ended in 1955, while the Bronx portion of the line had service until 1973.
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A Time Out of War (1954)
Academy Award trivia buffs will know the 1954 production “A Time Out of War” was the first student film to win the Oscar – in the Short Subject (Two-Reel) category, beating out competition from the Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Disney studios. And when you experience the film, you’ll understand how a small no-budget student project could one-up the major Hollywood players.
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The Bolero (1973)
The winner of the 1973 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Live Action), Bill Fertik’s film essay offers a consideration of Maurice Ravel’s masterwork via a performance of the piece by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.