Forty Years Ago: The Terminator Makes a Killing

Arnold Schwarzenegger was already an iconic figure in October of 1984. He’d won the Mr. Universe bodybuilding contest five times and Mr. Olympia seven. He’d been a focus of the documentaries Pumping Iron and The Comeback. And he’d made five movies, including Conan the Barbarian and its sequel, Conan the Destroyer. For normal humans, that would be a career bio, but for Arnold, it was a prelude. That October, a science fiction film would push both Arnold and a gifted young director into the stratosphere. That film was, of course, The Terminator.

Director James Cameron got his big break like many talents of the time did: working for Roger Corman. The B-movie master launched myriad careers, creating space for the likes of Jack Nicholson, post-Opie Ron Howard, John Sayles, and countless others. By 1977, Cameron had already studied physics and read numerous papers on film technology and special effects. When he saw Star Wars, he quit his day job to try to work in movies. Cameron made a science fiction short, Xenogenesis, in 1978 and got work as a production assistant on The Ramones movie, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. After that, he went to work in effects for Roger Corman studios, making miniature models for the films.

Battle Beyond the Stars trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Roger Corman [Official YouTube Page])

Cameron was working on models for Battle Beyond the Stars when the art director was fired. Corman was already impressed with Cameron’s work, and the young model maker soon essentially took over the tasks of art director, production designer, and special effects producer. Though the film was a low budget affair, Cameron used every trick in his arsenal to make it look great. Two of Cameron’s recurring future collaborators worked on the film as well: Actor Bill Paxton was employed as an on-set carpenter, and James Horner composed the score. Battle Beyond the Stars was moderately successful, and much of the praise the film received pointed to work done by Cameron.

Corman gave him the director’s chair for Piranha II: The Spawning. However, Cameron alleges that he was in charge for less than three weeks before an Italian producer pushed him out. The resultant film is not something that Cameron likes to claim, though his name is still on the movie as director. For years, he said that he considered his first “real” directing job to be his next movie, The Terminator, but he did admit to it being his debut in a 2010 interview with 60 Minutes.

According to Cameron, he was sick in Italy while work on Piranha II and had a dream about a metallic killer. That inspired his Terminator concept. Cameron’s friend Bill Wisher helped on the screenplay, receiving an Additional Dialogue credit (Wisher would officially co-write the sequel). Producer (and Cameron’s future second wife) Gale Anne Hurd contributed edits and received a co-writing credit. Former Corman co-workers of Cameron and Hurd had gone on to work at Orion Pictures, and Cameron was able to secure distribution if another entity picked up the financial backing. Hemdale Film Corporation chair John Daly agreed to hear Cameron’s pitch. Cameron made a show of it by having his actor friend Lance Henriksen burst into the room first in an early version of the Terminator costume. Henriksen sat silently until Cameron came in and revealed the gag. Daly was excited by Cameron’s work and pitch, and put together a deal involving Hemdale, Orion, HBO, and other production houses to get the movie made.

The Terminator trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)

When casting began, one of Orion’s co-founders pitched Arnold Schwarzenegger for the part of Kyle Reese, the heroic soldier from the future. Cameron didn’t like the idea because, given Arnold’s rising profile, he’d have to find someone more menacing or of greater star power to be the Terminator. He met Arnold determined not to cast him, and left convinced that Arnold should be The Terminator. It’s funny in retrospect, but even though Arnold signed on, he wasn’t wild about the picture. The Terminator only has 17 lines of dialogue in the entire movie. However, when Arnold started to see the edits come together, he knew Cameron had done something special. The part of Reese went to Michael Biehn, and the role of Sarah Connor went to Linda Hamilton. Cameron’s Corman buddies Paxton and Henrikson were cast in minor roles.

Cameron was already skilled in special effects, but he also recruited an established master to help create the Terminator. Makeup artist Stan Winston, who had already proven his genius on 1982’s The Thing, collaborated with Cameron to sketch out the cyborg design. It took six months for Winston and his team to create and build the puppet apparatus used for the “unskinned” Terminator in the film.

Observers were skeptical about The Terminator’s chances for box office success. Even personnel at Orion had their doubts. However, the movie opened at #1 at the box office in its first week. Audiences flocked to the action-packed film that included elements of science-fiction, horror, and, occasionally, humor. The critics who loved it really loved it, praising the effects, pacing, and performances. Most of the negative criticism focused on the amount of violence, but there was general agreement that Arnold had cemented his place as an action star. He brought physicality and menace to the role, and had one scene that gave him his everlasting catchphrase, “I’ll be back.”

Prolific writer Harlan Ellison also loved the movie, but found it a little too familiar. Ellison threatened to sue over similarities to “Soldier,” an episode of The Outer Limits that he had written about two enemy combatants from the future who do battle in the past. Over Cameron’s objections, Orion settled, and a credit for Ellison was added to later prints of the film and home video releases.

Despite the Ellison hiccup, Cameron and Schwarzenegger had carved out prime spots in Hollywood. While The Terminator was being made, Cameron had already been approached about a sequel to Alien. He would write and direct Aliens in 1986. Starring original cast member Sigourney Weaver alongside Cameron regulars Biehn, Paxton, and Henriksen, it was a massive hit and is widely regarded as one of the finest action films ever made. Arnold went on an insane run of 1980s box office successes, reeling off hits like Commando, Predator, The Running Man, and Twins with seemingly ridiculous ease.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)

Cameron, Schwarzenegger, and Hamilton reunited in 1991 for an almost inevitable sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (colloquially known as T2). T2 was a bigger hit than both the original Terminator and Aliens, taking the #1 spot at the box office for the year. Like Aliens, it’s seen as one of the best action and science fiction films ever, as well as one of the greatest sequels; the movie flipped the script by having Arnold play a new, heroic Terminator who is sent to the past to protect young John Connor from an advance robotic assassin, the T-1000 (played by Robert Patrick). Cameron shoved the art of moviemaking further into the future with the computer effects used for the morphing T-1000. T2 won four Oscars (Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Makeup), giving it the distinction of being the first sequel to win an Oscar when the original film had received no nominations.

The rest you know. The Terminator has continued as a franchise, running off four more movies, a TV series, a web series, and an anime-style series that premiered in August. Arnold continues to be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history (as well as having a stint as the governor of California). He currently stars in the Netflix action-comedy series, FUBAR, the second season of which completed filming in August.

Cameron would continue to elevate the art of filmmaking, marrying eye-popping visuals to crowd-pleasing stories. Avatar (#1), Avatar: The Way of Water (#3), and Titanic (#4) are three of the of the four biggest box office moneymakers in history. He also took Oscars for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Film Editing for Titanic. Cameron and his brother Michael also hold a number of patents on film equipment that they developed for underwater shooting, as well as other digital filming innovations, like the head rigs used for performance capture.  He is currently prepping the third Avatar film, Fire and Ash, for 2025 release.

Three Frequently Imitated Films of 1954

Almost since the beginning of movies, people have been remaking movies. There have been more than 538 films based on Dracula alone. Just beyond the remake is the notion of “this film, but this way;” that’s how the pitch of “Die Hard on a bus” becomes Speed. In 1954, however, something was in the air with a trio of classic films that saw their plots reused, recycled, and rebooted in any manner of ways. From a Japanese classic to Lucy and Desi, here’s a look at some constantly copied classics.

Seven Samurai

Director Akira Kurosawa was no stranger to people repurposing his plots; his multiple perspective classic from 1950, Rashomon, has had its plot borrowed by everyone from Quentin Tarantino to the creators of Dawson’s Creek (Season 3’s “The Longest Day”), and The Hidden Fortress was a major influence on Star Wars.  Apart from being one of the greatest action movies ever made, Seven Samurai codified the notion of the “men on a mission” film, wherein trouble is instigated, an expert is recruited, said expert assembles a team, and said team battles the threat.

The restoration trailer for Seven Samurai (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Trailers)

Kurosawa wrote the screenplay with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Their first crack at the plot yielded a story that they were calling “Six Samurai,” but after some reconsideration, they thought that they needed one character who was a bit more of a wild card. That became Toshiro Mifune’s Kikuchiyo. With a more humorous character in place, the other personalities settled around him, creating some of the archetypes that became familiar in later action films (the wise leader, the leader’s steady right-hand man, the crazy guy, the quiet but effective fighter, etc.). You can see that reflected in everything from The Dirty Dozen to The Fast and the Furious franchise (notably Fast Five). In American comics, lineups for both DC’s Justice League and Marvel’s Avengers frequently contain seven members, which is often seen as a nod to the team balance and composition that Kurosawa and his collaborators used.

The group’s leader, Kambei (Takashi Shimura), gets an introductory subplot that critics like Roger Ebert also noted as incredibly influential. When the audience first meets Kambei, he’s in the midst of other things, eventually rescuing a child. Ebert theorized that this set the trope of introducing a character by showing them on a mission or job that isn’t related to the main plot, but allows them to demonstrate skills that they later use in the main story. One modern example would be Black Widow’s introduction in Avengers; while you’d know her capabilities if you saw Iron Man 2, Avengers brings her into the story in the middle of spycraft that she resolves by apprehending the Russian arms dealers before departing to answer Agent Coulson’s call. The James Bond films are also famous for this technique, frequently opening with what some critics referred to as a “prelim slammer,” an opening action scene to get the audience right into the movie before the main plot unfolds.

The particulars of marauding bandits plaguing a peaceful village have been directly adapted an endless number of times. Some of the most famous versions would include: John Sturges’s Western classic The Magnificent Seven; Pixar’s A Bug’s Life; and the fourth episode of the first season of The Mandalorian, “Sanctuary.” Obviously, The Magnificent Seven became its own mini-franchise of sequels, remakes, and TV series versions, but it all goes back to Kurosawa.

One particularly fun example of a Seven Samurai homage is 1980’s Battle Beyond the Stars, a science fiction spin on the story that wears its Kurosawa and Star Wars influences on its sleeve. Produced by Roger Corman and directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, the film swaps a village menaced by raiders for a planet menaced by raiders (the planet is even named Akir as a nod to Kurosawa’s first name). Young Shad (Richard Thomas) takes the job of recruiting a variety of humanoid aliens to come help (one of whom, in a double-reference score, is playing by Robert Vaughn of The Magnificent Seven). One of Corman’s model makers was promoted to essentially handle the special effects, production design, and art direction on the film; that was a major break for young James Cameron, who would direct The Terminator four years later.

Rear Window

Director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter John Michael Hayes adapted Rear Window from Cornell Woolrich’s short story, “It Had to Be Murder.” Like Kurosawa, Woolrich was a frequent source of inspiration; before his death in 1968, his novels and short stories had been adapted for film 30 times. Much of that adapted success came from the reliable story engines that Woolrich built. In the case of “Murder,” the central idea of an observer seeing just enough to understand that a crime has been committed, but unable to prove it, presents all kinds of interesting directions a creator can go.

Rear Window trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)

One of the film’s central set pieces, which has wheelchair-bound Jeff (Jimmy Stewart) watching while Lisa (Grace Kelly) tries to quietly evade Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) in the opposite apartment, has been imitated in countless pieces afterward. A notable example is in James Cameron’s Aliens, where Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and other characters watch on a screen as the Colonial Marines enter what turns about to be an alien hive; Ripley, understanding the danger, struggles to get Lieutenant Gorman to get the Marines out before disaster strikes. The tension-building, quick cuts, and situation of an observer helplessly watching the danger unfold owes much to Rear Window.

Rear Window not only influenced many other films like Dressed to Kill and Disturbia, but also inspired children’s books like The View from the Cherry Tree and countless television episodes (including, strangely enough, the enormously fun 1976 Halloween episode of Little House on the Prairie, “The Monster of Walnut Grove”).

The Long, Long Trailer

The Long, Long Trailer isn’t unique for being the adaptation of a popular book (this one by Clinton Twiss). And it’s not unique for casting a real-life couple as comedic leads. What set it apart at the time was that the stars of the film were also the stars of the #1 show on television at that moment. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had been dominating the ratings since 1951 with the launch of I Love Lucy, and they would continue that show’s run until 1957 (before transitioning to The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, which ran until 1960). Despite their fame and popularity, MGM had some consternation about whether or not paying audiences would show up for a couple that they could see for free on TV. It turned out . . . they did.

The Long, Long Trailer trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)

While the movie might not be as well remembered as the first two, it had an outsized impact in terms of framing a comedy around a disastrous road trip that followed the acquisition of a particular vehicle. Shades of that show up in 1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation, 2006’s RV, and many more. One could even argue that We’re the Millers fits into this little subgenre. Central to the film is the number of self-inflicted mishaps caused by the characters making bad decisions. The roots of many Clark Griswold foul-ups can be found in scenes like Lucy attempting to make dinner in the trailer while Desi is driving. The movie set a template for movie road trips that’s become an ongoing point of reference

Who Has Played Their Iconic Character the Most? (UPDATED!)

Editor’s Note: Some articles were just born to be updated. When we published the original version of this piece in 2019, there was always an inkling that we’d go back and revisit it. As time has marched on, so have a whole lot of franchises. And that occasionally means actors returning to roles that were given a supposedly final send-off (we’re looking at you, Jackman). Here’s the new accounting.

Most actors dream of getting work. When those jobs become a regular thing, it’s a big win. When a role becomes something that you can comfortably revisit, then that performer has entered a completely different realm of celebrity. Quite a few actors have played iconic characters a few times, but the rarer air is saved for the ones that revisit the same role many times, sometimes across decades. With discussions raging about Marvel’s inevitable recasting of Wolverine and the identity of the next person to don the cowl of Batman, it’s a great time to answer the question, “Who Has Played Their Iconic Character the Most?” Follow the footnote to see how we set our rules and to learn more about some of the people that made dozens of appearances in the cheaper Westerns of the day.

From here on in, we’re going to break it down from a cut-off of SEVEN appearances or more. So sorry to the likes of William Powell and Myrna Loy (The Thin Man series), Ian McKellan (Gandalf), and the rest of the 6-Timers.

The Sevens:

The Eights:

The Nines:

 

The Tens: This is rare air, but still a surprisingly big group.

The Elevens: Anthony Daniels has played C-3PO in 11 Star Wars films; he appears in all three films in all three trilogies, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and voices the character in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated theatrical film. He also deserves recognition for doing the character for the Star Tours ride at the Disney Parks, the universally reviled Star Wars Holiday Special, an episode of The Muppet Show, The Lego Movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet, on radio adaptations, and as a voice actor in every Star Wars animated series from 1985’s Droids to the present.

In other 11 news, Bernard Lee played M in 11 James Bond installments.  Just this summer, Hugh Jackman went to 11 as Wolverine courtesy of Deadpool and Wolverine (you might be surprised by this one, but remember that he was in three solo Wolverine films in addition to the other X-Men movies. We’re also counting that archival appearance in Deadpool 2 because it’s hilarious).

Twelve: Olympian Johnny Weissmuller won five golds for the United States as a swimmer. As Tarzan, he found box office gold in a popular series of films from 1932 to 1948. Amazingly, that’s NOT the character he played in the most films. We’ll get there. This category now includes Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury across the MCU (which doesn’t count two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on TV and his lead role on Disney+ series Secret Invasion).

Thirteen: Here we’ve got Tyler Perry, whose Madea is more unkillable than Wolverine. Madea is another character with a rich multi-media life, having also appeared in a number of Perry’s plays, TV series episodes, and a direct-to-video animated film.

Fourteen: The duo of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce played, respectively, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in 14 films from 1939 to 1946; many modern artistic interpretations of the characters draw from their appearance in the films. Also at 14, Lois Maxwell played Miss Moneypenny the most in the Bond franchise.

Desmond Llewelyn as Q
Desmond Llewelyn as Q. (Photo by Towpilot; Wikimedia Commons via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

Sixteen: Johnny Weissmuller knew that he couldn’t play the shirtless Tarzan forever. In 1948, he began the role of Jungle Jim in a film adaptation of the comic-strip character’s adventures. He’d go on to play Jim 16 times on film through 1956, and then in 26 episodes of a television series. Another 16 entry is Mickey Rooney, who played Andy Hardy in a series of family comedies; the films stretched from 1937 to 1946 with a final installment in 1958.

Your Solo Winner at Seventeen: From 1963 to 1999, Desmond Llewelyn played the beloved Q in 17 of the James Bond films. The inventor of Bond’s gadgets, Q’s frequently humorous demonstrations of his inventions delighted audiences.

Penny-Singleton and Arthur Lake from "Blondie"
Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake from “Blondie.” (Wikimedia Commons via Public Domain)

Tag-Team Champions at Twenty-Eight: Though we’ve waffled a bit in terms of some of the cheaply made films of earlier decades, this overall achievement needs to be noted. Together, Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton played the characters of Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead in 28 movies from 1938 to 1950. Moreover, the duo would continue their roles on the radio, and Lake would go on to the play the comic-strip character on television for a 26-episode series in 1957.

There you have it. As you can see, the list is constantly in flux, and a number of actors (notably Stallone, Diesel, and those still active in Star Wars and the MCU) have a chance of increasing their ranks in the next few years. And though it takes longer than a week to make a movie these days, we shouldn’t completely discount those early days of Hollywood. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that the familiar can be fun, and we’ve been on the sequel train for a long, long time. The showbiz axiom may be to leave them wanting more, but very few studios went broke by giving the people what they want.

Footnote: Here’s an explanation of some of our criteria. We’re not counting serial installments of the 1930s era as individual films, which some people do when they tackle this question, or straight-to-video releases (sorry, Jim Varney/Ernest). We’re also going to keep the focus on American films (or co-productions where U.S. studios were a partner); that excuses Japanese actors Shintaro Katsu, who played the blind swordsman Zatoichi in 26 films and a 98-episode TV Series, and Haruo Nakajima, who donned the Godzilla suit in 12 movies. Also, we’re leaving out people that essentially played themselves, like Western mainstay Gabby Hayes (27 times) and Laurel and Hardy (an astounding combination of 107 feature films, silent films, and shorts with sound).

The early Westerns present some challenges for this kind of round-up, too. We’re also going to set aside an interesting but bizarre subcategory of actors that played the “same” character as sidekicks to various heroes across several series of Westerns; that includes Robert Blake (Little Beaver), Dub “Cannonball” Taylor, Smiley Burnette (aka Frog Milhouse), and Al St. John (Fuzzy Q. Jones) who played their sidekick roles a respective 23, 52, 62, and 85 times alongside the likes of Red Ryder, Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Wild Bill Hickok, and more. Similarly, we’ll acknowledge a few actors that played their western leads an incredible number of times, but the truth is that many of these films were shot so quickly in succession, some in a week, that it defies the expectation of what it takes to play a character across an ongoing series of films when you’re also working on other projects. For many of these actors, their job was to “be” this character on a near constant basis, which is a brand of filmmaking that’s more closely associated today with television. Among those actors are Roy Rogers (79 as “Roy Rogers”), Gene Autry (also as himself, 87), William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy, 65), and Charles Starrett (The Durango Kid, 61). The Dead End Kids/Bowery Boys comedy series did something similar, with the likes of Huntz Hall (47 as Sach; 17 as Gimpy) and Leo Gorcey (41 as Slip; 21 as Muggs). Back to top.

 

Featured image: Shutterstock.com

The Summer of 1984 Rewrote the Box Office Rules

The movie business has existed in a state of perpetual change ever since the first flickering image was presented onscreen by the Lumière brothers in Paris’s Grand Café in 1895. The ‘20s brought us sound and the ‘30s saw the arrival of the feature-length animated film. The ’70s emerged as a decade of success and disruption, with director-driven dramas, disaster films, and the devil vying for top dollars against boxers, Bond, sharks, and Star Wars. By 1984, the board was getting reset yet again as the year would be the first time that three feature films made over $100 million each on their way to a total take of $4 billion. Here’s how the summer of ’84 rewrote the rules.

1. Summer Started Early

Footloose trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)

Though we’ve been conditioned since Jaws to think that the biggest moneymakers debut in the summer, or perhaps over the winter holiday, one of 1984’s top ten hits was released in February. That was Footloose, which would finish at number seven for the year despite the considerable list of movies that followed. It also helped cement another big truth about the ’80s that was particularly important when it came to selling movies. That was . . .

2. Big Soundtracks Drove Business

“Let’s Go Crazy” (Uploaded to YouTube by Prince)

1984 is notable for films that had absolutely massive hit soundtracks. In a few cases, the soundtrack albums far eclipsed the success of the films themselves. Hard to Hold, starring Rick Springfield, barely made back its budget, but the eponymous soundtrack album sold over a million copies in America and produced three Top 40 hits, included Springfield’s #5 classic “Love Somebody.” Another example was the soundtrack to Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution; the Prince-led film made almost ten times its budget, barely missing the top ten grossing films list for the year, but the album was a monster: It sold 15 million copies in the States, sat at #1 for months on end, and produced four Top Ten hits (#1 “When Doves Cry;” #1 “Let’s Go Crazy;” #2 “Purple Rain;” #8 “I Would Die 4 U”). Interestingly, the film also supported two additional albums by acts who also appeared in the film: Ice Cream Castle by The Time and the self-titled Apollonia 6. Buoyed by their use in the film, both “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” by The Time cracked the US Top 40.

Among the other major music movers were soundtracks for Breakin’, Ghostbusters, Streets of Fire, Beat Street, The NeverEnding Story, The Woman in Red (which netted the year’s Academy Award for original song, “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder), Give My Regards to Broad Street, Beverly Hills Cop, Teachers, and Stop Making Sense (from the Talking Heads concert film of the same name). Every one of those albums produced at least one hit song, while Beverly Hills Cop had four (Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On,” Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F,” and Patti LaBelle’s “New Attitude”). The compilation soundtrack album remained a major factor in selling a movie well over the next two decades.

As a coda to the key role music was playing in marketing, dance-oriented films were also huge in 1984. The 1983 success of Flashdance paved the way for Footloose, but Flashdance’s deployment of urban music and breakdancing also opened the door for films like Breakin’, its same-year sequel (Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo), and Beat Street. [Writer’s Note: It’s a crime that “Nobody puts Baby in the corner” from Dirty Dancing emerged as an iconic line from the decade while Breakin’s “Ozone! Street Dancer!” remains unappreciated.]

3. Comedy Can Be King

Ghostbusters trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Ghostbusters)

If you looked back at the #1 moneymakers in the United States prior to 1984, rarely would you find pure comedies holding the top spot. Musical comedies, like Funny Girl or Mary Poppins, took the top on occasion, and Blazing Saddles came close in 1974, but you were much more likely to find action or historical epics or spectacle films at the top. In the U.S. in 1984, six of the Top Ten grossing films were comedies or comedic genre mashups. In fact, five of the six were genre hybrids: Splash (fantasy-based romantic comedy); Ghostbusters and Gremlins (both horror comedy); Beverly Hills Cop (fish-out-of-water cop comedy, but with some heavy action set pieces); and Romancing the Stone (romantic adventure comedy). The sole “pure” comedy was Police Academy (and while it did have the action piece of the riot sequence at the end, it’s mostly played for laughs, as opposed to the life-of-death stakes of the violent climactic shootout of Beverly Hills Cop). And of those six, two made more in the U.S. than third place Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Beverly Hills Cop (over $224 million to date) and Ghostbusters (over $229 million).

You also have to note the “SNL effect” of the top two comedies. TV institution Saturday Night Live had been minting future talent for the movies for years at this point, and both Ghostbusters (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd) and Cop (Eddie Murphy) were led by SNL alums. In fact, every year of the ’80s had already featured a Top Ten box office comedy starring at least one SNL cast member (1980’s The Blues Brothers with Aykroyd and John Belushi; 1981’s Stripes with Murray; 1982’s 48 Hours with Murphy; 1983’s Trading Places with Aykroyd and Murray), and that pattern would hold through 1989.

For the record (every pun intended), we should also recognize that Ghostbusters and Cop each had one of those hit soundtracks we were talking about. The evidence is pretty clear that, in the Reagan Decade, building a film around an SNL breakout with a packed soundtrack yielded results.

4. Old/New/Old Rule: It’s Always Been About the Franchise

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)

Two of 1984’s Top Ten films (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) were entries in established franchises. However, six other entries would turn out to be franchise starters: Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Police Academy, and Romancing the Stone. Arguments could actually be made for Splash! (which generated a sequel TV movie) and Footloose (which led to a Broadway musical and a remake). This hopefully puts to rest the notion that franchise fever is a recent thing.

Moreover, whether in theaters or on streaming, six of the eight of the 1984 movies had new entries in those franchises within the past year. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the continued Star Trek series on Paramount+, the animated Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai spin-off, Netflix’s Karate Kid continuation Cobra Kai, the forthcoming Beverly Hills Cop 4, and the recent Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny prove that the summer of 1984 still has a hold on the movie-watching public.

5. The Money Had Never Been Bigger

Beverly Hills Cop trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Paramount Movies)

Even with the juggernaut of success that was Return of the Jedi, 1983’s domestic box office didn’t quite crack $2 billion. But 1984 more than doubled that, breaking the $4 billion barrier for the first time. Ghostbusters, Gremlins, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom all surpassed $100 million during the year, Beverly Hills Cop broke it as its run continued into 1985, and The Karate Kid came close. It wouldn’t surprise you that Hollywood immediately tried to develop everything for sequels, especially since they thought that the biggest franchise of the past several years, Star Wars, had run its course (look, even Hollywood gets naïve). There wouldn’t be a year without a sequel in the Box Office Top Ten until 1993; and there hasn’t been a year without a sequel in the Top Ten since 1996. It’s fair to say that if you consistently, decade after decade, show up for sequels, franchises, and remakes, you’re going to keep getting them.

6. 1984 Provoked a New Rating

Red Dawn (1984) trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by MGM)

One final lasting change wrought by 1984 was the introduction of the PG-13 rating. There had always been a bit of a nebulous gulf between the PG and R ratings. As violent as the shark attacks were in Jaws, for example, that film netted a PG in 1975. However, two blockbusters in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins (coincidentally, both either directed or produced by Jaws director Steven Spielberg), pushed the limits of their PG ratings. Two violent scenes in particular drove the conversation: Mola Ram pulling out a man’s heart in TOD and Billy’s mom wiping out a group of Gremlins with her kitchen appliances. The MPAA decided to add a PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) in between PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) and R (Restricted; no one under 17 admitted without an adult). Before the end of the year, action film Red Dawn would be the first movie to sport the new rating.

Review: Da 5 Bloods — Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott

Da 5 Bloods

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Rating: R

Run Time: 2 hours 34 minutes

Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chadwick Boseman

Writers: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee

Director: Spike Lee

Among the most thoughtful, riveting war movies of any year, Spike Lee’s searing story of four Black Vietnam War vets who return to Southeast Asia to clean up some unfinished business made a brief splash when it arrived on Netflix in June, but deserves a second look now that the belated awards season is here.

We meet the men in a plush hotel lobby in present-day Ho Chi Minh City, a garish real-life parody of communist/corporate excess. Way back in the days when this place was known as Saigon, the four came to call themselves Da 5 Bloods — a number that at the time included their platoon officer, a Malcolm X-quoting intellectual nicknamed Stormin’ Norman. He was killed in battle, and the grieving survivors were forced to leave him behind, buried in the mountains.

Now, decades later, the Bloods have told friends and neighbors they’re on a mission to find Norman’s remains and return them to his family, but that’s exactly half the story: They’re also planning to dig up a literal treasure chest of gold bullion — originally intended as payment from the U.S. government to Vietnamese collaborators — that they’d found on a crashed transport plane. The Bloods buried that, too, not far from Norman’s hastily excavated grave.

It’s a crackerjack set-up, just the sort of plot you’d expect as a vehicle for Bruce Willis. And, indeed, this film’s script started out as a standard-issue Hollywood action movie. Miraculously, it ended up in the hands of Lee, one of our most inventive and resourceful filmmakers, who took the bare bones of a caper film and layered upon it issues ranging from America’s historic willingness to send Black soldiers to defend freedoms they do not themselves enjoy to survivor’s guilt to the continuing threat of buried landmines in former war zones.

And all the while, while deftly shifting his spotlight among the various issues he wants us to consider, Lee never misses a beat in relating a pulse-pounding narrative of adventure, double-dealing, comradeship and, at times, horrific, out-of-nowhere violence (a warning regarding that:  Besides copious amounts of movie blood and carnage, Lee sometimes lingers on grisly photos of actual wartime atrocities involving men, women, and children).

To be sure, Lee’s monumental task is made easier by his utterly committed ensemble. Delroy Lindo (Get Shorty), Clarke Peters (The Wire), Norm Lewis (Scandal) and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (BlacKkKlansman) are the Bloods, men who have achieved varying levels of success in their lives, but all of whom remain scarred by their experiences in ‘Nam. They tussle like kids and fight like brothers, at times seething with resentment toward society — and sometimes each other.

As Paul, the vet with the deepest psychic wounds, Lindo does the heaviest lifting. Alternately laughing, snarling and sobbing, Lindo embodies a man paralyzed by guilt, roiling with suspicion, broken by racism, and tortured by a deeply troubled relationship with his son David (Jonathan Majors), who has unexpectedly tagged along for the expedition to Vietnam’s interior. Indeed, Lee has in some ways overburdened the character of Paul, asking him to swing from one grand emotion to another, leaving us to wonder where the core of his true personality lies. Lindo, however, never lets us lose sight of Paul’s essential, pitiful humanity.

And then there’s the man whose remains the Bloods have traveled all this way to retrieve. Stormin’ Norman is played in flashbacks by Chadwick Boseman, and as powerful as his performance was when Da 5 Bloods was released in June, it now becomes positively mesmerizing following his August death from colon cancer. He plays Norman as a complex man of war who nevertheless values life above all else; who preaches a gospel of love even while wielding a machine gun, and without a single note of irony. Boseman’s final scene, a mystical passage in which one of the Bloods envisions Norman visiting him with a message of forgiveness, was originally merely the emotional high point of the film; now it seems almost supernaturally inspired.

Still, the most permeating presence in Da 5 Bloods is Spike Lee, perhaps the most deliberate director of his generation. Not a minute of the film’s 2-1/2-hour run time goes by without his fingerprint appearing someplace. I most often get annoyed at directors who keep reminding me they’re behind the camera (don’t get me started on Jean-Luc Godard), but Lee nearly always manages to lift his hand just before it becomes too heavy. For his Vietnam war flashbacks, Lee does not insert younger actors to play earlier versions of his main characters — he enlists his 60-something stars to plunge into battle, an ingenious reminder that today’s Vietnam vets are every bit the men they were 50 years ago. He shifts the size of the image — from wide screen for the present day to a narrower, more constrained look for wartime scenes — and accompanies the battles with the kind of thumping, faux-heroic music you’d expect from a Lee Marvin war epic. Lee also plays games with the film’s chronology: It’s clearly set in the present day, or at least within the past five years, as one of the Bloods proudly sports a Make America Great Again ball cap. Yet to chronicle the voyage, one Blood uses an old school pistol grip videotape camera, and another snaps pictures on 35 mm film. In fact, even while the men walk the strobing streets of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, there’s not a single smart phone—or even flip phone—in sight. What’s more, many of the characters who seem to have been alive during the war are clearly way too young. From just about any other director, such elements would find their way into the “oops” column, but Lee is too meticulous for that.

Whatever Lee’s intention, the overall effect here is to create a universe of fluidity. None of us live our lives solely in the present, Lee seems to be saying; the sum of our experiences contribute to our whole. For Lee, of course, that message extends far beyond the personal: He sees our nation’s history, particularly its racial one, in precisely the same way. In Da 5 Bloods — and especially in his final benediction — Lee reminds us that no society’s history can be discerned from a snapshot. You’ve also got to account for every moment of time up until the click of the shutter.

Featured image: Scene from Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)

Review: Kindred — Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott

Kindred

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Run Time: 1 hour 41 minutes

Starring: Tamara Lawrance, Fiona Shaw, Jack Lowden, Edward Holcroft

Writers: Joe Marcantonio, Jason McColgan

Director: Joe Marcantonio

In Theaters and Streaming

A snappy British thriller that lives in the same twisted neighborhood as Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Kindred neither shies away from the social issues that drive its plot — nor forgets for one instant to keep the creepy chills coming with exhausting fervor.

When we meet young Charlotte and Ben (Tamara Lawrance and Edward Holcroft), the handsome, obviously madly-in-love couple are on their way to visit the sprawling, if crumbling, country estate of Ben’s mother Margaret (Fiona Shaw). Ben is white, Charlotte is black, and, yes, it is worth noting that this is almost exactly the same set-up Peele constructed for Get Out.

Unlike the disturbingly friendly parents of the former film, however, Ben’s mom is decidedly frosty and domineering — and Ben’s stepbrother Thomas (Jack Lowden), while friendly enough, seems weirdly detached from reality. What’s worse, the pair have come to tell Mother they are moving to Australia. She takes the news as badly as you’d expect — and doubly so when the couple inform her they are also expecting a baby. A series of awful events leads to Charlotte becoming a virtual prisoner in Margaret’s manse, where all involved await the birth of her baby with varying displays of growing anticipation and mounting horror.

The trouble with reviewing a film like Kindred is that the reader must take a lot of what the critic has to say on faith: Too much plot description will inevitably ruin the surprises first-time director/cowriter Joe Marcantonio has in store. Indeed, for my money the official description of the story gives away entirely too much detail, so I won’t even go that far here.

Kindred’s performances, however, are too splendid to ignore. The cast is composed almost entirely of acclaimed British stage actors — not always a good thing, as stage and screen acting are virtually separate arts. In this case, director Marcantonio masterfully ushers them between the subtleties of movie acting and the histrionics of stagecraft, putting both skill sets to effective use. As Charlotte, Lawrance artfully evokes the growing dread of a woman who must overcome loss and confusion to assert herself against a dementedly imperious host. Lowden’s Thomas is a clearly damaged soul, cowed by his mother and attracted to Charlotte’s obvious intelligence and humanity.

The film’s towering performance, though, comes from Shaw, one of Britain’s most beloved actors, known to most filmgoers as Harry Potter’s fussy Aunt Petunia but also fondly remembered as the doctor who rescued Daniel Day-Lewis from his crippled prison in My Left Foot. Marcantonio knows he’s got a good thing in Shaw, and he gives her enough screen time to breathe life into Margaret — most notably in one extraordinary scene, a single-shot masterpiece, in which the woman relates her long-ago transition from a distant, disinterested mother into an obsessively attentive one. Shaw’s monologue, a breathless example of the actor’s art, hauntingly embodies a woman teetering on the precipice between the maternal and the monstrous.

Kindred is rich in such moments; interludes that not only give the audience a moment to catch its breath but also endow the characters, even the perceived villains, with uncommon humanity. For one extended scene, Marcantonio has Charlotte and Thomas sit down at a piano together to engage in a four-handed rendition of Debussy’s “Claire de Lune.” The film could have survived without the passage, but it adds layers of nuance to the pair’s complicated (to say the least) relationship and has, on its own merits, a distinct visual and aural beauty.

The lush look of Kindred provides a fitting canvas for the film’s shadowy narrative. Cinematographer Carlos Catalán uses the visual language of supernatural cinema to evoke the very real horrors of an anguished mind, and Margaret’s classic scary old house — a once-grand estate now creaking with peeling paint and dusty paintings — is as much an emotional prison as a physical one.

But like Jordan Peele in Get Out, Marcantonio has more than the fictional traumas of his characters in mind. Although Charlotte’s race is never mentioned, she is quite emphatically the only character in the film of African descent. At every turn, she is marginalized and controlled by others. Even her beloved Ben sees nothing wrong with having been informed of Charlotte’s pregnancy by his mother, who’s gotten the word through back channels from Charlotte’s doctor — played to truly disturbing effect Anton Lesser (Wolf Hall) as a bow-tied cross between Dr. Spock and Dr. Jekyll.

Is Charlotte the victim of racism? Sexism? Or is she truly in need of the kind of paternalistic dominance being heaped on her by everyone in her orbit? Like all good filmmakers, Marcantonio leaves the conclusions up to us. It’s his job to present us with the clues, which he does with admirable style and intelligence.

Featured image: Fiona Shaw, Tamara Lawrance and Jack Lowden in Kindred (Courtesy of IFC Midnight)

25 James Bond Films, Ranked

Editor’s note: This article was updated in November 2021 to include the latest Bond movie, No Time to Die.

No Time to Die, the 25th 007 film, was set to open this month, after two pandemic-induced delays. Well, those plans went out the window, again because of COVID-19, and we won’t see the new adventures of Bond, James Bond, until April 2021. But I thought fans of the movies would still like to celebrate Bond this week — especially in light of the death of the greatest Bond, Sean Connery — so I’ve ranked all of the films from worst to best (not including the original Casino Royale from 1967 or 1983’s Never Say Never Again because they’re not part of the official Bond canon).

25. Spectre (2015)

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To be honest, there are worse Bond movies, quality-wise (like the next four on this list), but I give Spectre the nod for worst because it’s illogical, silly, and frustrating, with a needless plot involving arch-nemesis Blofeld that makes no sense (and practically ruins the other Daniel Craig-era Bond films). He’s Bond’s…foster brother? And they give him an alias just because it will trick viewers but in reality means nothing to Bond or anyone else in the film? Sigh.

I don’t know why the most recent Bond movies feel the need to give Bond either an origin story or an “I quit” story almost every time but it’s getting ridiculous. It also has a boring car chase and one of the worst theme songs too.

(They even screw up the film’s title. It should be SPECTRE.)

24. A View to a Kill (1985)

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At this point, Roger Moore could barely walk let alone run or fight bad guys. It was his final Bond film. Christopher Walken is a great villain though. Too bad the movie that surrounds him is one of the worst.

23. Moonraker (1979)

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Because of the success of movies like Star Wars, Bond had to travel to outer space, which tells you all you need to know about Moonraker. It has a good opening scene though, where Bond is pushed out of a plane without a parachute.

22. Live and Let Die (1973)

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Moore’s first 007 outing just isn’t much fun, with a dreary plot involving drugs and voodoo. The best thing about it is the theme song by Paul McCartney and Wings.

21. Die Another Day (2002)

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Pierce Brosnan’s final Bond movie has a great opening sequence, but it also has Madonna as a fencing instructor, CGI action scenes that look more like a video game, and a freakin’ invisible car.

20. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

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Christopher Lee could have been the greatest Bond villain of all-time; too bad the rest of the movie is rather lame. The best thing about it is a spectacular car stunt I still don’t know how they pulled off.

19. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

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This has one of my favorite opening scenes — Bond has to steal a plane armed with nuclear bombs — but also one of the worst endings. In between there’s an invigorating action scene with a remote-controlled car in a parking garage, but that’s about it. I don’t believe for one second that Teri Hatcher was the love of Bond’s life.

The story goes that the title was supposed to be Tomorrow Never Lies but the fax with the title was smudged and they misread it. It certainly would have made more sense.

18. The World is Not Enough (1999)

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The Brosnan entries all have great opening scenes but then they get worse and worse as the movie goes along. Why is that?

17: The Living Daylights (1987)

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Timothy Dalton’s first outing (of only two) isn’t bad, it’s just a little “meh,” even if he is a solid choice after the Moore years. Great soundtrack.

16. Octopussy (1983)

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There are a couple of good action sequences, and Louis Jourdan is a fun villain, but you should also be aware that during the film, Bond dresses as a clown and swings on a vine like Tarzan.

15. No Time to Die (2021)

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The first hour or so of Daniel Craig’s last 007 film is great. The last hour or so is a bit of a drag, like a by-the-numbers video game where a player goes around shooting people in doorways and blowing up things. The movie is too long, even if it is stylishly directed, gorgeous to look at, and has some terrific individual scenes (Ana de Armas completely steals the movie and I’d watch a spinoff franchise featuring her character). This could have been one of the great Bond films, but the movie wants to be EPIC and IMPORTANT and provide closure, and that leads to one of the stupidest endings in the history of pop culture (I won’t spoil it here), so ultimately it doesn’t matter how well-made it is.

14. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

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Connery quit the franchise after You Only Live Twice but was convinced to come back when George Lazenby didn’t return for a second film. And it’s…not bad! Not great, but not bad!

13. Quantum of Solace (2008)

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This didn’t get great reviews — maybe people were expecting too much after Casino Royale — but I think it’s the Bond movie that will be looked upon more and more kindly as the years go by, even if the theme song by Jack White and Alicia Keys is horrendous.

12. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

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This has a nice balance of the serious and the silly, but I feel it has always been a bit overrated.

11. For Your Eyes Only (1981)

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Many consider this Moore’s best, because it takes things a little more seriously after all of the goofiness of the ’70’s films. Except for a truly bizarre opening where Bond drops Blofeld down a smokestack, the villain pleading for his life by promising to buy Bond a delicatessen, “in stainless steel!”

10. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

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Many people consider this the best 007 film. It’s not, but it’s quite good, and Lazenby, a model plucked out of nowhere for the role, is underrated. This is the one where Bond gets married.

Trivia: Lazenby was once married to tennis player/commentator Pam Shriver.

9. Thunderball (1965)

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This film is a bit overlong — and there are probably too many underwater scenes — but it’s undeniably fun.

8. You Only Live Twice (1967)

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When you think of big, epic Bond adventures, this is the movie you’re thinking of, with its outrageous villain’s-lair-hidden-in-a-volcano set.

7. Dr. No (1962)

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The first 007 big-screen adventure, more low-key and with no opening theme song but a great introduction to the character and his world. Oh, and it has this iconic scene.

6. From Russia with Love (1963)

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This is also often cited as the best Bond movie, and it’s not a bad choice. It’s a serious spy story with just enough crazy elements (Rosa Klebb and her poison-tipped shoes) to make it classic fun. It includes the first appearance of Blofeld (called Number 1 here) and a great scene on a train where Bond fights henchman Robert Shaw.

5. License to Kill (1989)

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The most underrated 007 film. Some people think it’s too action-oriented (?), too gritty (!), too ’80’s. Those people are nuts. It’s actually one of the more satisfying entries in the series, as Bond infiltrates a drug cartel to avenge the murder of a friend’s wife.

4. Goldeneye (1995)

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Brosnan’s first Bond film is his best Bond film, a stylish and fun adventure that feels both ’60’s-ish and ’90’s-ish, a throwback to the Connery era and a new vision for the future. I’ve seen many 007 films in the theater, but this is still the only one where the audience actually applauded after a scene (where Bond flies off the cliff and takes control of a plane).

By the way, this movie inspired one of the greatest video games of all-time.

3. Casino Royale (2006)

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Daniel Craig’s first Bond film has not one but two great opening scenes, a black-and-white meeting with another agent that shows how Bond got his 007 status, and a terrific scene where Bond chases a rather athletic bad guy through a construction area. This is a return that makes you forget all about Brosnan’s last film.

2. Skyfall (2012)

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I didn’t think the makers of the Bond movies could top Craig’s first film, but they did it with Skyfall. It’s really a tie between the two. If they had decided to end the Bond series for some reason, this would have made for a great send-off. It introduces Moneypenny and Q, gives Bond a “comeback” story and emotional scenes with Judi Dench, and is exquisitely shot and directed.

1. Goldfinger (1964)

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This is number one on most lists for a reason, because it really sets up all of the Bond elements for the rest of the series: the big theme song, the evil villain with the master plan, the henchman Bond has to fight, the sexy girl with the crazy name (Pussy Galore!). A film so good you don’t care how ridiculous it is (I’ve seen it 20 times and I still don’t get why Goldfinger kills the mob guys) or how many mistakes there are.

Featured image: RichartPhotos / Shutterstock

Sean Connery Never Forgot His Humble Beginnings

“I suppose more than anything else,” Sean Connery said in 1964, “I’d like to be an old man with a good face.” No one could deny that his wish came true, particularly after he became the oldest recipient of People’s Sexiest Man Alive honor in 1989 at 59 years old.

Connery passed away in his sleep over the weekend at 90 years old, leaving behind a legacy of popular film roles like his principal portrayal of James Bond.

Though he was widely regarded to have the charm of Cary Grant and the toughness of Marlon Brando, Connery’s foray into show business was a sort of happy accident. He was born into a poor Scottish family and spent his early working years as a truck driver, a cement mixer, and even a coffin polisher. When he landed a role in a touring South Pacific company in London in 1953, he found a passion for performance.

Connery’s debut as Agent 007 in 1962’s Dr. No launched the lucrative spy movie franchise that continues to this day. He became an overnight star, known for bringing tall, dark, handsome life to Ian Fleming’s British agent. Pete Hamill profiled the newly-famous Connery in this magazine in 1964, making much of the Scotsman’s ability to throw his weight around Hollywood. Connery declined interviews, carefully negotiated his contracts, and even demanded to read a Hitchcock script (Marnie) before agreeing to take part. “Compared to the fatuous James Bond, Connery comes off as an admirable, self-effacing, modest, 100-percent, levelheaded good guy,” Hamill wrote.

After Bond, Connery’s career in action and adventure movies chugged along, with roles in Murder on the Orient Express, A Bridge Too Far, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He won an Oscar in 1988 for playing Jim Malone in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables. Though his career seemed to be predicated on sex appeal, Connery found lasting success through his willingness to play along as a character actor.

In 2000, Connery was finally knighted by Queen Elizabeth II after being denied the honor for several years, possibly because of his support for Scottish independence.

Even the most diehard Bond fans might have missed Connery’s right-arm tattoos, barely noticeable in his shirtless scenes. He received them during his service in the Royal Navy, and they signified a firm commitment to his humble roots: “Scotland Forever” and “Mum and Dad.”

First page of the article as it appeared in the magazine
Read “Bottled in Bond: Sean Connery” by Pete Hamill from the June 6, 1964, issue of the Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.

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Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott: Hail to the Movie Chiefs

See all Movies for the Rest of Us.

Featured image: Joseph Henabery in The Birth of a Nation

Review: Radium Girls — Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott

Radium Girls

⭐⭐⭐

Run Time: 1 hour 42 minutes

Stars: Joey King, Abby Quinn

Writers: Ginny Mohler, Brittany Shaw

Directors: Lydia Dean Pilcher, Ginny Mohler

In Theaters and on Streaming Services

Think they treat you badly at work? Consider the subjects of Radium Girls, an infuriating and engrossing drama based on the true story of 1920s factory women who endured deadly radiation poisoning — contracted from the dabs of fluorescent paint they applied to watch faces day after day, year after year.

In history, the U.S. Radium Company employed hundreds of young women at its East Orange, NJ, plant, paying top wages for their painstaking hours tracing luminous radium paint onto the faces of watches and airplane instruments. To keep the paintbrush tips pointy, they were told to lick the brush between each number — the worst possible advice, as the highly radioactive paint was slowly absorbed into their bones and teeth.

“If you swallow any radium, it will make your cheeks rosy,” they were told.

To make matters worse, as one young woman after another fell to jaw cancer, the company doctor assigned them all with the same fictional diagnosis: untreatable syphilis. Of course, rather than face public humiliation, nearly all of them went to their graves quietly, thinking they’d had no one to blame but themselves.

All those lowlights are grimly enumerated here by co-directors Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler (Mohler also co-wrote the script with Brittany Shaw). The name of the offending company is changed to American Radium and the real-life drama’s primary characters are consolidated into two fictional sisters, Bessie and Josephine — heartbreakingly portrayed, respectively, by Joey King (Hulu’s The Act) and Abby Quinn (Little Women). Tentatively asserting their rights in a world where women have been voting for barely a decade, the sisters lean on each other for moral — and at times physical — support. The actresses bring just the right blend of defiance and vulnerability to the roles (although the illusion of living in a bygone era is sometimes thwarted by their decidedly Millennial speech patterns, particularly when they drop “t’s” from words like “but” and “important”).

If you want the full story, by all means read Kate Moore’s exhaustive 506-page account, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, which teems with colorful, tragic characters and despicable corporate shills. The film, however, is an excellent and soul-stirring primer; a corporate horror story made all the more terrifying because it’s true. Spared the effects of radiation because she instinctively feels licking those brushes isn’t a good idea — and facing constant ridicule at work for that reason — Bessie watches with growing concern as Josephine’s teeth loosen and fall out. Her cheeks seem to suffer from constant sunburn, despite the fact that she’s inside all day. And when the oily company doctor (Neal Huff) arrives at the women’s home late one night with his scandalous diagnosis, they know for sure something is very wrong — Josephine’s never even had a boyfriend.

Plucky in that uniquely cinematic sense, the women get themselves a lawyer and try to enlist their co-workers to join them in a lawsuit against the company. But the money is too good and the work environment is relatively pleasant, so few want anything to do with the suit. In fact, many are openly hostile to the idea.

Eventually Radium Girls winds its way to a climactic courtroom scene. At this point, after having let the story unfold at a satisfying pace, the film hurtles into unrealistic overdrive: Events that in a real court would require months of wrangling unfold here in a matter of days. (In the actual proceedings, company lawyers cruelly dragged the matter out for years in hopes that the plaintiffs would die before they’d have to pay out a single penny.)

Reflecting the real-life resolution of the Radium Girls case, the film ends on a note that is neither stand-up-and-cheer nor shake-your-head-and-cry. For the most part, outrage is the order of the day in Radium Girls; anger that corporate greed could have so callously doomed loyal employees to protracted, painful deaths — and the nagging suspicion that there remain quarters of our world where things have not changed all that much.

Featured image: Still from Radium Girls (Juno Films)

The OTHER Classic Halloween Movies

It’s hard to make a more iconic Halloween movie than Halloween, but that’s not to say that there aren’t legions of other films where Halloween plays a critical role. Much like Christmas, Halloween is such a big holiday in the American imagination that it appears in a number of films that aren’t directly about Halloween, or even horror. Last year, the Post took a look at “The OTHER Classic Christmas Movies,” so it’s only fair that we do the same for Halloween.

10. Batman Forever (1995)

Batman Forever on YouTube Movies

For some reason, the first three modern Batman films all rotated around some kind of holiday celebration. 1989’s Batman featured the Gotham City bicentennial, 1992’s Batman Returns took place at Christmas, and 1995’s Batman Forever landed on Halloween. The holiday doesn’t have a huge impact on the overall plot, but it shows up significantly later in the film. Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and The Riddler (Jim Carrey), having discovered Batman’s secret identity and fool an unusually dim Alfred (Michael Gough) using Halloween costumes. With Alfred’s guard down, the villains and their henchmen invade Wayne Manor, destroying much of the mansion and Batcave while kidnapping Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) and setting up a final showdown between the villains, Batman (Val Kilmer), and his new partner, Robin (Chris O’Donnell).

9. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Esther discovers the truth about the street car prank (Uploaded to YouTube by WarnerArchive)

EVERYBODY knows that Meet Me in St. Louis is where we got “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” But not everyone quite recalls that the movie basically takes place over most of a year from 1903 until the World’s Fair opens in 1904. The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Sally Benson, which was originally presented as a string of short stories in The New Yorker. The Halloween sequence represents a pivotal moment in the plot’s central relationship. Esther (Judy Garland) has been in love with John (Tom Drake) from a distance for a while. However, her sister Tootie alleges that John hurt her while Tootie was out for trick-or-treat. Esther attacks John in a rage, but Tootie admits that John actually protected her and sister Agnes from the police after a bungled prank. Esther’s apology to John leads to their first kiss.

8. Mean Girls (2004)

Halloween from Mean Girls (Uploaded to YouTube by The Paramount Vault)

Tina Fey took on a terrifying subject when she adapted Mean Girls from Rosalind Wiseman’s book, Queen Bees and Wannabees, and that was the teenage trauma associated with high school cliques. Mean Girls covers a lot of ground when it comes to how young women interact, including social expectations versus reality, the spitefulness that can arise in a compressed setting like a high school, and how kids are often unaware of the damage that words can do. One key scene takes place at a Halloween party; the lead-in starts off light, playing off of the ongoing trend of hyper-sexualized costumes, but it takes a turn when Cady (Lindsay Lohan) is betrayed at the party, setting her on a course that affects the rest of the film.

7. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

The trailer for We Need to Talk About Kevin (Uploaded to Movieclips Trailers)

A soul-crushing novel made into a soul-crushing movie, We Need to Talk About Kevin deals with one of the worst possible nightmares for a parent: what do you do when your child is the one who conducts a school massacre? The epistolary novel by Lionel Shriver was made into a haunting film starring Tilda Swinton as Kevin’s mother, Eva. As Eva drives home one night, the demons plaguing her and her family seem to come to life, moving in and out of the shadows as she sees them out her car window. It is, however, only Halloween, but the frightening vista underscores Eva’s own inner turmoil and the tragedy that has played out over the course of Kevin’s life.

6. The Harry Potter Series (2001-2011)

The Mountain Troll scene (Uploaded to YouTube by Movieclips)

Take a hugely successful book series. Recruit appealing newcomers for the young leads. Add some of the most accomplished adult actors in England. Never stray too far from the books. Spend ten years becoming of the one best loved movie series of all time. We all watched that work for the Harry Potter series. Obviously, the magic-based series lends itself to Halloween. Moreover, since every book roughly covers one school year, it’s easy to slot those scenes in the plot. Each book at least references Halloween. Not all of the films touch on it, although there are recurring references. A running concern is the fact that Voldemort was originally defeated on Halloween Night. Rowling also tied important events to the holiday in the first four books. Easily one of the most memorable Halloween scenes is in the first book and first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. When a Mountain Troll gets into the school, the student body panics. Only Harry and Ron keep their cool to try to find Hermione. Making their way to the girls’ restroom, they find Hermione under attack by the creature. Encouraged by Hermione, Ron performs a spell that uses the troll’s own club to knock him out. Not everyone is pleased (Quirrell is a double-agent, Snape is annoyed), but Professor McGonagall gives the lads points for saving their friend.

5. The Crow (1994)

The Crow trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Movieclips Classic Trailers)

The supernatural revenge thriller based on the comic book series by James O’Barr found tragedy in the on-set death of leading man Brandon Lee and triumph in the critical and financial success of the film and its soundtrack. The plot turns around October 30th, once known as Devil’s Night in Detroit for a phenomenon of arsons taking place on that date over several decades; on one Devil’s Night, Eric Draven and his fiancée, Shelly, are murdered on the day before their wedding (which would have been Halloween). Draven returns one year later to deal out harsh vengeance on those responsible. The city, already portrayed in a dark and gothic manner by director Alex Proyas, also has the trappings of Halloween, including trick-or-treating children that pass Draven in costume.

4. Watchmen (2009)

Watchmen trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Legendary)

Based on the medium-changing comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (seriously; it’s on Time’s list of 100 Best Novels from 1923 onward), Zach Snyder’s Watchmen takes great pains to present an adaptation that’s as close to the page and panel as possible. The story takes place in an alternative 1985 where Nixon is still president and America won the Vietnam War thanks to the intervention of the super-powered Dr. Manhattan. Though the story constantly jumps in time, the main narrative is set in 1985 on the verge of Halloween . . . and nuclear holocaust. Halloween imagery sneaks in at the edges, and several critical plot developments (many of which are horrifying in their own right) occur across October 31 and November 1.

3. The Karate Kid (1984)

The trailer for The Karate Kid (Uploaded to YouTube by Movieclips Classic Trailers)

One of the more memorable Halloween scenes from any high school-related film happens in The Karate Kid. At a Halloween dance, Daniel (Ralph Macchio) wants to be with Ali (Elisabeth Shue), but he’s been trying avoid the bullying of Johnny and his Cobra Kai buddies. Daniel cleverly dresses in a shower costume to conceal his identity. But when Johnny breaks off from the other Cobra Kais (who are all dressed in matching skeleton costumes and facepaint) to smoke weed in the bathroom, Daniel takes the opportunity to rig up a hose and douse Johnny. The Cobra Kais chase Daniel down and deal him a violent beating until Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) intervenes. Miyagi dismantles the bullies by himself and helps treat Daniel’s injuries. Soon after, Miyagi begins to train Daniel so that he can confront the Kais at the All-Valley Tournament.

2. E.T. (1982)

The Halloween scene from E.T. (Uploaded to YouTube by Movieclips)

Is there anyone who doesn’t know E.T.? What you might not recall is that Halloween actually plays a crucial role in advancing the plot. E.T. wants to “phone home” so that his people can come back for him. However, Elliott and his brother Michael need to sneak E.T. and the communication array he’s built to the nearby woods where they’ll have a better chance of making contact. That’s where Halloween comes in. The boys use that most reliable of disguises (from a kid’s point of view): a white sheet ghost costume. They first have to convince their mother that they’re actually taking their little sister, Gertie, out, which works. Although a chance encounter with a kid dressed as Yoda distracts the alien, they are still able to get him to the forest to make his call.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

The Halloween attack from To Kill a Mockingbird (Uploaded to YouTube by Movieclips)

Speaking of important scenes occurring at Halloween . . . the climactic action of To Kill a Mockingbird happens on Halloween night after a pageant where Scout is dressed as a giant ham. As Scout and her brother Jem walk through the woods toward home, they are attacked. Scout can’t see much because of her costume, but she realizes that someone else stopped their attacker. It soon becomes clear that they were attacked by Bob Ewell, whom Atticus had shamed in court. The man who saved them was their reclusive neighbor, Arthur “Boo” Radley. As Atticus and Sheriff Tate piece together events, they realize that Boo stabbed Ewell, killing him. However, Tate decides to list it as an accident, sparing Boo the attention and circus of a trial.

Featured image: leolintang / Shutterstock

Review: Small Group — Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott

Small Group

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 2 hours 1 minute

Stars: Sterling Hurst, Emily Dunlop, Matt Chastain

Writer/Director: Matt Chastain

In Select Theaters and on Most Streaming Services

One of the reasons faith-based movies don’t ordinarily clean up at the box office is because the faithful too seldom see themselves accurately represented in them — and also because to the uninitiated, believers in these movies seem kind of, well, weird.

Those opposing perceptions are attacked head-on in Small Group, a good-natured faith-based comedy that explores the tentative dance Americans choreograph every day as the faithful and faithless try to find common ground without sacrificing their core beliefs — or lack thereof.

Sterling Hurst stars as Scott, a documentary filmmaker who’s been hired by a sleazy film producer (Robert Riechel Jr.) to make a movie that rips the cloak of hypocrisy from a community of Atlanta Christians, revealing them to be the fakers he’s convinced they are. A generally good-natured agnostic with no religious axe to grind, Scott at first resists. But a job is a job, so he dons a pair of Google Glass-like camera/eyeglasses and embeds himself in the fellowship, recording every interaction along the way.

The film merrily skirts the probability that this sort of Candid Camera scam would most likely land someone in jail. But Hurst is such an appealing actor, reminiscent of Daniel Stern in his goofily clueless Home Alone days, that we immediately give his character the benefit of the doubt. Along for the ride is Scott’s wife Mary (Emily Dunlop of TV’s Doom Patrol), trying to be supportive but uneasy about making “friends” with the subjects of her hubby’s guerrilla documentary.

Small Group wrings its laughs — and a few thoughtful moments — from the couple’s fish-in-baptismal-water experiences. An uncomfortable Sunday service seems to them more like a rock concert than a worship event, and they’re distressed when their brand-new red letter Bible proves no match for the digital Scriptures their pew mates wield on their smart phones.

Of course, once they’re enlisted into a small group of church members, the couple soon discover this is not the flock of weirdos they’d expected. And once Scott’s ruse is inevitably discovered, his enraged subjects have to decide whether or not there’s a place in their hearts for unbelieving — and occasionally duplicitous — outsiders.

It’s all as light as an Easter morning balloon launch — until the film takes an unexpectedly dramatic, almost documentarian turn when Scott is invited to accompany the men folk on a mission trip to Guatemala City. There, writer/director Matt Chastain (who also plays one of the small group guys) turns his camera on the real-life squalor of the city’s slums — and the work of Engadi Ministries, a program that tries to save young men from hurling themselves into the dead-end violence of local street gangs. Through Scott’s eyes, we meet several of these youngsters — their bodies covered with tattoos, their eyes ablaze with suspicion and anger — playing themselves with riveting intensity.

It’s quite a transition, admirably pulled off by first-time director Chastain, who momentarily sheds the friendly confines of an off-kilter Sunday School comedy to dip his toes into a kind of street-smart cinematic realism that owes more to Rossellini’s Rome: Open City than to Heaven Is for Real.

Too often, faith-based movies get written off as second-class cinematic citizens. But the genre has given us some of Martin Scorsese’s most thoughtful work (The Last Temptation of Christ; Silence), more than a few Best Picture Oscar Winners (Chariots of Fire and A Man for All Seasons among them), and even a classic comedy (Jim Carrey’s Bruce Almighty). Small Group doesn’t quite breathe that same rarified air, yet it succeeds in using film to explore the kinds of crosstalk that can build bridges among people of all faiths — or no faith at all.

Featured image: Still from Small Group (Limesoda Films)

Review: Herb Alpert Is… — Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott

Herb Alpert Is…

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Run Time: 1 hour 53 minutes

Stars: Herb Alpert, Sting, Billy Bob Thornton, Lani Hall, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Sergio Mendez

Director: John Scheinfeld

In Theaters and on Video On Demand

It’s always a good feeling when a movie offers reassurance that you are, despite your darkest suspicions, absolutely normal. That’s how I felt while watching the new documentary about Herb Alpert, the now-84-year-old trumpeter who revolutionized popular music in the 1960s with his Tijuana Brass.

The affirming moment comes about a half-hour into the film, at the point where Alpert releases his 1965 record Whipped Cream and Other Delights, the album that featured on its cover model Dolores Erickson wearing nothing but a mound of whipped cream. She was, as they say, quite something.

“I was obsessed with that woman,” says Police frontman Sting, who was an adolescent at the time.

“I actually had guilt,” confesses Billy Bob Thornton. “I would sneak into my mom’s room and look at the cover of that album when she was in the kitchen.”

And no, it does nothing to dim my fevered recollections of that time when, in the film, Alpert reveals that the model was covered not with dessert topping, but shaving cream.

The music was pretty good, too. I would defy anyone, no matter their age or musical inclinations, to sit through Herb Alpert Is… and resist tapping their toes, humming along, or even rising to their feet for a dance or two. “The Lonely Bull,” “Tijuana Taxi,” “Taste of Honey,” “This Guy’s in Love With You,” along with dozens more Alpert instant standards, jockey for position in a soundtrack that is so infectious at times you wish everyone would stop talking (even when the talking heads include the likes of Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Sergio Mendez, Quest Love, and Bill Moyers).

Still, in the hands of director John Scheinfeld (The Happy Days of Gary Marshall, Who is Harry Nilsson?) the story of Herb Alpert is a lot more than a snappy greatest hits collection; it’s a deep dive into the agonies and ecstasies that drive profoundly creative people like Alpert — a guy who not only recorded some of the 20th century’s most memorable music, but also made his mark in the fields of painting and sculpture.

Narrating his own story, Alpert is an affable, if somewhat selective guide. For reasons known only to him, he glosses over the early days of Tijuana Brass, essentially ignoring the rather remarkable fact that the first TJB records consisted primarily of Alpert alone, recording in his garage, relentlessly overdubbing his own trumpet solos to create the illusion of a full band. Only when audiences began demanding live performances did he hire a team of crack studio musicians to play with him.

Besides his music wizardry, Alpert also possessed a keen nose for talent, and along with his partner Jerry Moss (the “M” in their label, A&M Records) he released albums by a Who’s Who of ’70s and ’80s legends including Carole King, The Carpenters, Peter Frampton, Janet Jackson and Chuck Mangione. Many of A&M’s titles still reside on the list of best-selling albums of all time.

Still, Alpert insists, there was a dark side to his fairy tale.

“I’m famous, I’m rich,” he recalls thinking at the height of his fame. “But I’m miserable.”

Admittedly, it’s hard to really feel bad for a guy whose chief problem is he’s too successful. Still, a gallery of archive footage does seem to reveal a man who pastes on his dimpled smile while cranking it up onstage, but whose demeanor crashes the moment the curtain closes.

He ultimately found happiness sharing his success — with his clearly adoring wife, singer Lani Hall, and a growing circle of charitable groups. Aside from the soundtrack you never want to stop, Herb Alpert Is… becomes most satisfying in its coda, exploring the musician’s latter-day obsession with promoting arts in America’s schools. Reading in a newspaper that Harlem’s storied School of the Arts was going under due to a lack of funding, he rode to the rescue with a half-million-dollar grant — just one installment in the more than $150 million he’s donated to non-profits over the years.

Here the camera follows Alpert through the halls of the Harlem campus, stopping in classrooms to hear students feel their way through compositions classical, jazz, and pop.

To these kids, he’s a nice old man who has taken an interest in their aspirations. To the rest of us, Herb Alpert emerges as a reminder of our youthful passions — and our responsibility to help today’s kids realize theirs.

You can do that, Herb Alpert Is… says — even if you haven’t sold 72 million records.

Featured image: Still from the documentary Herb Alpert Is…(Abramorama)

Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott: The Toronto International Film Festival

See all Movies for the Rest of Us.

Featured image: kchiu / Shutterstock

Review: Blackbird — Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott

Blackbird

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Run Time: 1 hour 37 minutes

Rating: R

Stars: Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska, Rainn Wilson, Lindsay Duncan

Writer: Christian Thorpe

Director: Roger Michell

In Theaters

Blackbird, the story of a terminally ill woman (Susan Sarandon) summoning her family for one last weekend together, doesn’t take us anywhere we haven’t been before — but with a cast that boasts 12 Oscar, 13 Golden Globe and 5 Emmy nominations among them, it’s one first-class ride.

Matriarch Lily (Sarandon) is suffering from one of those undisclosed movie illness that is progressively but rapidly weakening her body. Right now she’s having trouble walking and one arm is useless, but as more than one character observes, “She’s not so bad.” Lily is bad enough, however, that she and her physician hubby Paul (Sam Neill, whose piercing eyes nearly match Sarandon’s in laser-like intensity) have decided she should end it all now, while she can still lift her own glass of hemlock (actually, phenobarbital).

But first, of course, there must be a final, not-so-fun family weekend at Lily and Paul’s plush seaside home — for all movies about life and death must take place by the water.

The kids arrive one by one. Here comes Jennifer (Kate Winslet), the “good” girl who has spent her entire life desperately trying to measure up to her mother’s expectations — and projecting those same unreasonable goals onto her son Jonathan (Anson Boon). Jennifer has a nebbish husband (The Office’s Rainn Wilson) who is a font of historical and scientific trivia but clueless when it comes to making actual human connections.

Next comes Anna (Mia Wasikowska) with her girlfriend Chris (Bex Taylor-Klaus) in tow. Anna is immediately confronted with questions about why she almost never has contact with the rest of the family. Don’t worry — we’ll get the answer soon enough.

And finally there’s Liz (Lindsay Duncan), Lily and Paul’s oldest and closest friend. Just how close? Patience. That particularly juicy reveal will have to wait until just before Lily’s fatal gulp.

For reasons known only to Lily, the weekend must include a non-chronological celebration of Christmas, complete with presents and a freshly chopped-down Christmas tree. Unfortunately, Lily’s Christmas soon devolves into a high-stakes version of Frank Costanza’s Festivus — with an emphasis on the traditional Airing of Grievances.

Director Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Hyde Park on the Hudson) is just the guy to corral all this histrionic star power. He gives each cast member ample time to strut their stuff in the service of a cluttered script that bristles with long-simmering family conflicts — all standing patiently in line, waiting to be tackled one-by-one as the film’s brisk hour-and-a-half proceeds apace.

In lesser hands, Blackbird (the meaning of the title is, to my knowledge, never really addressed) would rank little higher than your standard issue high-calorie, low-protein Hallmark Channel movie. But the entire cast hurls itself into this sentimental stew with such abandon you come away from Lily’s farewell party unexpectedly sated.

Just don’t drink the digestif.

Featured image: Rainn Wilson as Michael, Sam Neill as Paul, Bex Taylor-Klaus as Chris, Mia Wasikowska as Anna, Lindsay Duncan as Liz, Susan Sarandon as Lily, and Anson Boon as Jonathan. Blackbird arrives in theaters and on demand on September 18, 2020 from Screen Media. (Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh, Courtesy of Screen Media)

Dolly, Belushi, Mystery: Seriously Good Film and TV

The Library That Dolly Built (September 21)

There’s a smattering of classic songs in this documentary about country icon Dolly Parton, but the focus is on the star’s offstage work for the past 25 years: her Imagination Library. Summoning a powerful cocktail of charm, determination, and shrewd business sense, Dolly mounts a small program to put more than 100 million free books into the hands of children, first in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, but soon marshaling an army of allies to expand far into the English-speaking world. Yes, it’s an adoring portrait. But doggone it, the lady’s just plain adorable.

Belushi (Showtime, November 22)

John Belushi
(Judy Belushi Pisano/Courtesy Showtime)

Nearly 40 years after John Belushi’s death of a drug overdose in an L.A. hotel, documentarian R.J. Cutler (The September Issue) collaborated with the Saturday Night Live star’s widow, Judith Belushi Pisano, to mount this definitive look at the tragic star’s meteoric career. Through previously unreleased interviews, voice recordings, and archival footage, the film not only explores Belushi’s uncommon success (he simultaneously had a top-rated TV show, a No.1 music record, and the nation’s top box-office film) but also his enduring impact on comedy and music. (Note: The film’s premiere shifted from September to November as we were going to press.)

Mystery Road (Acorn TV, September)

Scene from Mystery Road
(Courtesy Acorn TV)

No Country for Old Men meets True Detective in the second six-episode series of this dust-choked, death-soaked drama set on the craggy coast of western Australia. It starts with a decapitated body floating among the mangroves and ends with an epic shootout, and in between, Aaron Pederson mesmerizes as a brooding indigenous cop. Directors Warwick Thornton and Wayne Blair, themselves indigenous Australians, pause to contemplate Australia’s complex social structure — fractured in ways that often echo the American experience.

For biweekly video reviews of the latest films, go to saturdayeveningpost.com/movies or check out Bill Newcott’s website, moviesfortherestofus.com.

This article is featured in the September/October 2020 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.

Featured image: Courtesy Land Grant Films