Boop Boop Bi Doop! (A 'Forgetten Gems' Post)

Bimbo's Initiation

I posted Bimbo's Initiation and commented briefly on Facebook, but I had to expand on it and the work of producer and animator Max Fleischer. The ever Happy Mutants at BoingBoing posted the video earlier today, describing it as Fleischer's 'darkest short' or something to that effect. Go to BoingBoing to see exactly what they said. Anyway, it ended up inspiring tonight's Forgotten Gems post.

Fleischer was a contemporary of Walt Disney and released his own animated feature Gulliver's Travels in 1939, two years after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs proved an animated feature could be successful. To be perfectly honest, Fleischer's film is technically superior to Disney's, using rotoscoping techniques that wouldn't surface in quite the same way again until Richard Linklater's 2006 adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly (albeit in an entirely different artistic interpretation).

Fleischer and his team were certainly more experimental in their animated films than Disney, catering to a more adult (if not exactly more sophisticated) audience. Most famous for producing the original Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons, the writers and animators at Fleischer's studio were undoubtedly influential on any number of animators to come after, including Friz Freleng; Tex Avery; Ralph Bakshi and modern animators like John Krikfalusi and director Joe Dante for his segment of the notorious Twilight Zone: The Movie.

So here's the bizarre, surreal and rather nightmarish Bimbo's Initiation in all it's weird glory:

And here is Dante's take on the style:



"Run, Ethel! Run!" Indeed.

Of course, Fleischer's Popeye cartoons could be just as dark (Sea Hag, anyone?). He also produced a series of simply gorgeous Superman shorts:

Still, I think Fleischer's masterpiece and a true forgotten gem is Gulliver's Travels. If you've never seen it, you should seek it out. Gorgeously rendered with a message of tolerance and forgiveness and a very clever score, every animation fan (or film fan) owes it him or herself to see it. The full movie is available on YouTube. The trailer is below:

Animated films aren't just for children. I promise. And while Fleischer's movie is hardly a definitive version of Swift's satirical novel, it is a good start in introducing kids to a classic while enjoying the artistry of the piece, itself. Hell, I've even referenced Fleischer's work in my screenplay 'Comatose Joe.' And there's no doubt in my mind that his creative team was a bunch of stoners and trippers, long before it was cool.I'm just sayin'...

More, anon.
Prospero

Forgotten Gems: "The Bad Seed"

Patty McCormack as Rhoda Penmark

Talk about obsessions... I don't exactly remember the first time I saw Mervyn LeRoy's 1956 thriller The Bad Seed, but I know it was Mom who introduced me to it. (Oh, yes. She had a dark side, too ). Based on the stage play by Maxwell Anderson and the novel by William March, the film explores mid-20th Century ideas about DNA and Nature Vs Nurture.

Young Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack, left)  is the perfect child. Smart, neat and loving, she hides a dark secret. When Rhoda's classmate, Claude Daigle is drowned at Rhoda's private school annual Spring picnic, Rhoda is suspected of killing him because he won the school's penmanship medal over her.

As Rhoda's mother Christine (Nancy Kelly) delves into her past, she comes to learn that she is the child of the infamous murderess Bessie Denker and may have passed her mother's psychopathy onto Rhoda. Henry Jones; William Hopper; Paul Fix; Elizabeth Varden and the amazing Eileen Heckart round out the stellar cast as Rhoda's family and victims, most of whom reprise their original Broadway stage roles. Jones, as the half-witted handyman Leroy and Heckart as the grieving alcoholic mother of the murdered Claude are especially good, but this is McCormack's movie and she owns every scene she's in.

Yes, it has a mid-50's camp feel about it, but The Bad Seed still has the power to be creepy and awful. Of course, having been produced under the Hayes Code, the movie couldn't be released with the  play and novel's original ending (SPOILER ALERT) and young Rhoda is struck by retributional lightning at the end, though she survives in the original versions.

I have wanted to direct a production of Anderson's play for almost 30 years, but have yet to come across a young actress capable of convincingly pulling off the role of Rhoda, while trying to justify the play's mid-century values and still holding relevance, today (though gun violence-related events in the past few years have made me rethink that).

The 1985 TV remake starring Blair Brown; Lynn Redgrave; Richard Kiley; David Ogden Stiers and openly gay actor Chad Allen doesn't hold a candle to the original.

If you are a genre film fan and have never seen this movie, you should. If you have seen it, then you know why it deserves to be seen,





Again, give me the money and I'll make a version of this story that will make you poop you pants!

Mwuahahahhahahahaha!

More, anon.
Prospero

Bizzaro Forgetten Gems: "Liquid Sky"

While visiting my usual haunts, I came across a video teaser (via) for a group (or song - not sure which) called Sparkles and Wine. I have no idea exactly why, but watching it sent me right me right back to the weirdness that was the 1980's and Russian director Slava Tsukerman's 1982 film Liquid Sky. Performance artist and model Margaret (Anne Carlisle) is addicted to heroin and sex. She has so much sex that aliens, who live on the endorphins produced by heroin and orgasms, land on the roof of the building across from her apartment in order to consume her many partners' (including male model Jimmy - also played by Carlisle) endorphins. Much mayhem ensues.

I saw this movie with my friend Deb (the mother of my godson) at the Ritz* in Philadelphia. We were both very into the music, fashion and "F*ck You" attitudes of the anti-mainstream, just like every other 20-something of the time. Loaded with time-lapse images, outre dialog and loads of folks on the fringe, Liquid Sky was (and is) very much a product of it's time.

Carlisle and Tsukerman went on to a few more projects, though neither has been heard from in the U.S. since the 90's and few (if any) of the rest of the cast has gone on to do anything significant. It may not exactly be brilliant, but Liquid Sky is certainly indicative of the anti-establishment movements of the 50's, 60's and 70's, simply replacing Beatniks and Hippies with Punks and New Wavers.

"Delicious, delicious. Oh, how boring."

More, anon.
Prospero

*Also where I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch for the first time.

Waltzing "Matilda"

As you can imagine, Uncle P was snarky even when he was a child. As with many people, snark was a form of defense when we were kids. And if you were funny, you didn't get picked on for being different... too much. I realize now why I loved Roald Dahl's books as a kid. Their heroes were always smart, good kids who always win the prize, expose and punish the bad adults and rise above adversity, ending up with a much better life.

And so it is with Matilda, a story about a very, very smart little girl who is being raised by rather dubious (and ignorant) parents who obviously don't care about her at all. Dumped in a private school run by an ogre of a headmistress (one Miss Trunchbull), thanks to a deal made by Matilda's crooked used-car dealer father, Matilda finds out some remarkable things about herself. Trunchbull is an evil tyrant, while Matilda's teacher Miss Honey, is kind and encouraging and (as it turns out), Trunchbull's niece, whom Trunchbull swindled out of her inheritance.

SPOLIER ALERTS: Matilda soon discovers she has telekinetic powers and uses them to right all the wrongs in her life, including finally allowing her to live happily ever after with kindly Miss Honey in the home that should have been hers, all along. End of spoilers.

Danny DeVito directed and appeared in a 1996 Americanized version, starring Mara Wilson (Mrs. Doubtfire); Rhea Perlman ("Cheers"); Embeth Davitz (Army of Darkness) Pam (Aunt Marge) Ferris and Paul  (Pee-Wee Herman) Reubens. It's a funny and delightful (if not always faithful) telling of the tale, transplanting it to America and softening some the Dahl's edges and brightening some of his darker corners. DeVito and Perlman are hilarious as Matilda's scumbag parents; Ferris is downright frightening as Trunchbull and Davitz is just sweet enough without ever once slipping in to saccharine. It's a sweet and fun family fantasy. I may just have to do a "Forgotten Gems" post on it, soon.

And now the book has been adapted into a stage musical by the RSC, which is taking the West End  by storm and looks to make the jump across the pond to Broadway next year. I had heard something about this a few months back, but either didn't know or had forgotten that my favorite satirical song-smith, Tim Minchin, had written the show's songs. I can't imagine anyone better for the job. I follow NPR on Facebook and and got directed  to this excited and exciting article about the show here. Personally, I don't remember being so excited for a musical adaptation since The Producers. Have a look for yourselves:

I have to admit to wearing a big, idiotic grin on my face as I write this post. Of course, this news came after my last gift-exchange gathering of the year, with the big three; Q, K and Dale. We all loved what we got and then sat down to the first pasta meal my very Italian Q has served me in almost 30 years of eating her food. We did do a group effort spaghetti and meatballs at K's tiny, 3rd floor apartment many years ago, but that hardly counts. It was delicious, as was dessert. As was the new Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey that K got from Q & Dale. I gotta get me a bottle of that! Yum! I also finally got to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes, thanks to Q & Dale's OnDemand - a terrific popcorn movie which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend, if you haven't already seen it. The four of us will gather again on New Year's Eve (along with a few other folks), for our traditional 'quiet' NYE. 

Sadly, real-life rears its ugly head until then, demanding the doing of laundry; the dusting of furniture; the putting-away of gifts and the running of the dishwasher. Maybe I should have gone to my sister's...

More, anon.

Prospero

Forgotten Gems: "Bad Ronald."

My buddy Pax Romano reviewed a 2008 horror movie called The Ceremony over at Billy Loves Stu. At some point, he likened the movie to an ABC Movie of the Week from the 70's. Pax is a contemporary of Uncle P's, though I suspect he is a few years younger. We both grew up in the greater Philadelphia area and are mutual state switchers. Uncle P was born in NJ and now lives in PA, while Pax was born in PA and now lives in NJ. We both adore horror movies and share very similar political ideals. We read each other's blogs and are friends on facebook.

Anyway... Pax's ABC MOW reference brought back a flood of memories of some the best of them. And at the top of the list was 1974's "Bad Ronald." Starring Scott Jacoby (where is he now?); Auntie Mame's Pippa Scott and Dabney Coleman, Based on a novel by John Holbrook Vance, "Bad Ronald "tells the story of socially awkward teenager Ronald (Jacoby) who accidentally kills one his tormentors. His over-protective mother (Kim Hunter) literally hides him in the walls of the house, where Ronald retreats into a fantasy world of his own creation.

When Ronald's mother passes away, the house is sold to a family who have no idea they have a "guest." Almost completely off his rocker, Ronald incorporates the family into his fantasy until this happens. There are lots of creepy peepholes, mysteriously disappearing food and other strange events that don't disturb the parents (Scott & Coleman) enough to cancel their plans for a weekend away, leaving their three daughters alone with a potentially dangerous lunatic living in the walls.

Eventually, Ronald is captured and presumably taken to an asylum of some kind. The body count is very low (this was TV in 1974, afterall) but the creepiness factor was off the charts. It was all my classmates and I talked about for days... Looking back, it's most certainly because the lead character was our age (more or less) and many of us (Uncle P especially) identified with Ronald. There isn't much scarier in life than puberty, except maybe going through puberty while insane. 

There has been talk of a big screen remake of "Bad Ronald" as late as last year, but until it's announced, I won't hold my breath. I have mixed feelings about a remake. It has been many years since I've seen the original "Bad Ronald." My memory may be tainted and or influenced by any number of things, including my own confusing, 13 year-old hormonal insanity. A great script, amazing cast and the right director would tear this story up and scare the hell out of a new generation of pubescent persons. The wrong director would turn Ronald into a mutant or monster of some kind, slashing his way through beautiful teens who have sex out of wedlock. 

If You've never seen "Bad Ronald," I highly recommend it. While the body count is rather low for a horror movie, the suspense is through the roof. "Bad Ronald" may be a bit dated but good suspense is timeless, as seen in the ultimate "bad child" movie The Bad Seed:

Man, do I love that movie! 

Of course, not to be confused with "Bad Ronald" is Andy Samberg's "Shy Ronnnie."

More, anon.
Prospero

Forgotten Gems: "The Rocketeer"

The Gorgeous Art Deco Teaser Poster for "The Rocketeer"

I almost titled this post "The Moment I Fell for Billy Campbell." 

20 years ago, director Joe Johnston actually made a good movie. The Rocketeer was produced by Disney and starred Billy (Bill) Campbell; Jennifer Connelly; Alan Arkin; Timothy Dalton and a still relatively unknown Terry O'Quinn as Howard Hughes.

Campbell is Cliff, a young wannabe pilot in the late 30's who stumbles upon a lost military jetpack. After he and his mentor Peevy (Arkin) tinker with it, Cliff makes his airshow debut as The Rocketeer. Connelly is the girl he wants to impress and Dalton is the Hollywood Heartthrob who is a secret Nazi and wants to steal the jetpack for Der Fuhrer.

An homage to the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials of the 1930's, The Rocketeer is a fun and exciting bit of nostalgia, featuring Campbell at the height of his boyish gorgeousness (though he's nothing to sneeze at these days, either). Of course, the big summer blockbuster that year was T2 and there was no way any movie was able to compete with it. Still, Campbell should have been a bigger star than he became. 

The following year he appeared as the usually forgotten American character Quincy Morris in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (and is one of the few well-cast actors in it). He would go on to more success on TV, appearing in the family drama "Once and Again;" the aborted-too-soon Sci-Fi series "The 4400" and most recently on A&E's adaptation of "The Killing."  

I've caught bits and pieces of The Rocketeer on TV a lot in the last few weeks, probably because of it's 20th Anniversary. I think it's time to sit down and watch it again from beginning to end. 

Director Johnston (The Wolfman; Jurassic Park 3) has had a truly hit-or-miss career, but managed to hit the ball out of the park with another WWII era superhero movie with this year's Captain America: The First Avenger. Connelly (who first caught our attention in the cult classic Labyrinth) won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind and appeared one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies, Dark City. Dalton would go on to play James Bond in several less-than-well-received films and Arkin recently made waves with his hilarious performance in Little Miss Sunshine.

If for no other reason (and there are plenty), The Rocketeer is worth seeing just to drool over Campbell. Just in case you doubt it, have a look:

More, anon.
Prospero