Born in 1942. Stefanie Powers is an American actress who is best known for her role as the ever-cheerful and strongheaded Jennifer Hart across five seasons and eight made-for-television movies of "Hart to Hart", over a span of fifteen years. (The series ran from 1979 to 1984, and the movies were aired in 1993 and 1994. Powers was co-producer on the films.)
Powers began her professional acting career while still in her teens, and her first top billing came in the spy series "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E", which ran for two seasons 1966 and 1967.
In addition to the two aforementioned series, Powers had leading roles in 20 other television series and mini-series, and made guest appearances in more than 200 individual episodes of other shows, including a recurring role in "The Six Million Dollar Man" during the 1970s and 1980s.
A mainstay of American television during the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s, Powers stopped acting on a regular basis after completing the final "Hart to Hart" film in 1994. While she continues to take the occasional role, most of her energy has been spent on conversation efforts and business ventures related to the William Holden Wildlife Foundation.
The Crazy Composer (1906)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars
A composer suffering from a creative block is visited by Muses and other magical creatures that rekindle his creativity... or is he?
It may be over 100 years old, but I suspect more than a few of those of you out there who work in creative fields can relate to the "crazy composer" in this film. Heck, these days, we can probably all relate to this film's title character, in the sense that we're all going a little stir-crazy with the global pandemic keeping many of us housebound. It's even worse now that the weather is turning good in many places.
Another thing that makes me strongly recommend watching "A Crazy Composer" is that it's the best Méliès film that I've watched so far. The large cast of energetic dancers and musicians perform their bits with flawless precision, and the special effects trickery is so precisely executed that it's clear why Méliès is more than deserving of being called "The Father of SFX". As this film unfolds, the cast on screen keeps growing and the dance numbers keep getting more elaborate and funnier... and the execution remains flawless.
As good as the film itself is, the modern musical score that is featured in the version I've embedded below makes the viewing experience eve better. It's PERFECT and absolutely hilarious, and it proves that these films are so much better served when someone takes the time to actually score them instead of just using some random muzak trck.
I can't recommend "A Crazy Composer" strongly enough. Whether you're homebound, stuck working more than you'd like, or not working at all, due to the current global crisis, I think the four or so minutes you'll devote to this film will brighten the rest of your day tremendously.
Cartoonist, and creator extraordinaire of creepy comics, Richard Sala passed away last week, at the age of 61. We present this gallery of his drawings, as well as some pages excerpted from his "The Bloody Cardinal" graphic novel in his memory.
TRAIL OF THE CARDINAL
Richard Sala's 2017 graphic novel "The Bloody Cardinal" opens with was is presented as pages from the journal of the notorious and murderous madman know as the Cardinal. We offer those pages below. We encourage everyone who enjoys the sorts of mystery and horror films that are covered in this blog to get copy of this very excellent work by clicking here.
For more about Richard Sala, his works, and many more samples of the great art he has left behind for us to enjoy, you can visit his blog and his Tumblr pages. (You can also enjoy pages of the series he was working on when he passed away, "Carlotta Havoc versus Everybody".)
Baby Be Good (1935)
Starring: Mae Questel (Voices of Betty Boop and Little Jimmy)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Betty tries to convince a misbehaving child to go to sleep for the night.
By 1935, Hollywood filmmakers had completely surrendered to the morality clauses of the Motion Picture Production Code (MPPC), and the risque escapes that had made Betty Boop so popular with movie-goers were well behind her. In fact, they were so far behind her that in "Baby Be Good", she's a homemaker and the mother of a bratty toddler.
I've repeatedly read comments from critics that the MPPC ruined the Betty Boop series. While I agree that what I've sampled of the post-1934 Boop cartoons for the most part don't have the same edge as the earlier ones--some were so dull I doubt I'll bother revisiting them for a write-up in these parts--I disagree that the series was ruined. There is still plenty of inventiveness in and fun to be had watching some of the tamer exploits of the domesticated Betty. Animation-wise, this one is every bit as good as older Betty cartoons, with detailed characters and backgrounds. The music is, as always, omnipresent, catchy, and fun.
One disappointment for me is that "Baby Be Good" is almost completely free of the surreal, borderline horrific craziness that had once been the series' hallmark. What we do get of that sort of content is very tame and mostly relegated to the cautionary bedtime story that Betty relates to her bratty kid. Overall, the "reality" of Betty's world is quite sedate compared to what she lived through in her younger days--although the kid's antics are every bit as cartoony as hers were in the old days... and we even get a little old-school weirdness bleeding through from the fairytale to reality at the end.
"Baby Be Good" is embedded below, via YouTube. Please take a few minutes and check it out!
I suppose I should mention that I think Jimmy is fortunate that he gets his looks from his mother instead of his father, who I presume is Bimbo. To illustrate what I mean, here are a couple of pictures with Betty and Bimbo together...
AND--for the historically minded and detail-oriented readers out there, I should add that I am aware that the Little Jimmy character predates Betty Boop's creation by about 25 years. Maybe it's because of a misspent youth reading comics where characters co-existed in the same universe, or the years I spent working on properties with sprawling continuities that didn't always quite fit together, but when I first came across Boop cartoons with Little Jimmy in them, he immediately became her son in my mind/"head-canon". We can discuss who the father might be, but Jimmy will always be Betty's son to me when they're sharing the screen. (The Little Jimmy character originated in a newspaper strip distributed by the same syndicate that handled Popeye's printed home. I assume that the same sort of deal that led to Popeye sharing the screen with Betty was at work when it came to Little Jimmy's animated appearances.)
You say you want to hear Kate Bush covering "Rocket Man"? You say you want her to do it while playing the ukulele? We have just the thing to brighten your Monday!
Rocket Man (1991)
Starring: Kate Bush
Director: Kate Bush
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars
In May of 2012, YouTuber Libby Thomas uploaded a cute and funny short film she made with her siblings that was equal part tribute to the silent films we write about here (like these, for example) and Mother's Day card. Check it out... it's bound to make you smile, and perhaps even laugh!
Oh... and Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there.
... and on this day in 1922, decades before I was born, this great Krazy Kat cartoon by George Herriman saw print. (Click on the image for a larger, more legible version.)
In the Bag (1932)
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Tom and Jerry crash their plane in the cartoon wild, wild west. Surreal hi-jinx involving robbery and a vicious outlaw ensue.
"In the Bag" isn't exactly bad... but it isn't exactly good either. It's an unfocused scatter-shot collection of ideas and situations, some of which are related to the western setting, but most of which are generic gags that could work in any picture. Unfortunately, those generic gags are also nonsensical and unfunny; I expect non-sensical in a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, but I also expect there to be more chuckles than this one delivered. The film also suffers from a sense of being padded, with several, otherwise amusing bits being dragged out to the point of almost outstaying their welcome while the animation loops two or three times with no variation.
The funniest sequences and bits of "In the Bag" come at the very beginning of the film--in the form of the disaster that causes our heroes to crash their plane in the wild west; at roughly the musical number at roughly halfway point involving some very unusual can-can dancers and scat-singing cowboys; and Jerry's heroic chase and capture of film's villain. The film's final series of jokes--in which Jerry designs to double-cross Tom and abscond with a bag full of cash--begin promising but they ultimately fall victim to the same lack of focus that crippled the picture overall and we're left in a closing bit that fizzles instead of sizzles. It's cute, but it doesn't provide a good close to the film, and it's the weakest ending to any of the "Tom and Jerry" cartoons I've watched so far.
"In the Bag" is neither among the best nor the worst entries in this series. I see glimmers of greatness here, but I think it was slapped together either in too big a hurry or with too little care for that greatness to be fully manifested. This causes me to give it the lowest possible rating of Five (on my usual 0-10 scale) that I can award it. It also causes me to observe that this is an all-too-common problem with "Tom and Jerry" and one of the reasons why they are not well-remembered today.
But how about you take a look at "In the Bag" and share what you think of it? You can watch it below, and leave a comment to this post, or pop on over to my Facebook page and speak up there!
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