Dickens/Serling

 

 (imdb)

CAROL FOR ANOTHER CHRISTMAS-1964-An updated version of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol written by Rod Serling for The United Nations. 

A man, Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden) left bitter by the death of his son in the war is visited by 3 ghosts, Past (Steve Lawrence), present (Pat Hingle) and yet to come (Robert Shaw). In the H-bomb devastated future, Imperial Me (Peter Sellers) tries to make survivors think only of themselves while Grudge's butler (Percy Rodrigues) tries to unite humanity and is ridiculed. 

This all-star TV special also features Ben Gazzara, Eva Marie Saint and James Shigeta. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz a year after the colossal flop CHEOPATHRA.

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Goon

Pearl Harbor day has come and gone. It was pretty much ignored around here. I feel sorry for veterans like my Dad who spent an extra three years in the army because of the attack. He had 5 months to go on his hitch before it happened. But he survived and because he did I'm here and so is this review:



DOWN AMONG THE Z MEN-1952-This is the only full length film to feature the 4 original members (Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan & Michael Bentine) of THE GOON SHOW, the classic English TV/radio comedy series. Sad to say it's not very good despite the presence of Sellers & Milligan.

The story is about a whacky professor (Bentine) who loses his formula for a secret gas. A dumb grocery clerk (Secombe) tries to help him and winds up getting drafted. He teams up with a stupid corporal (Milligan) to stop some spies from getting the top secret formula. Sellers is Major Bloodnok (a character he created on the show) the commanding officer. Singer Carole Carr is featured as an undercover agent who sings a couple of songs.

Some routines are performed but it's just not very funny. I guess it's out dated (1952 WAS a long time ago). However THE GOONS themselves inspired MONTY PYTHON and a host of others.

Today is also the 115th birthday of EC Segar, who created Popeye The Sailor!

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Peter Sellers

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS-2004-It’s pretty obvious that unless a celebrity was mostly a son of bitch in real life he/she would never have a movie made about them unless they wound up with some very serious illness. HBO’s PETER SELLERS pretty much adheres to this rule.







Geoffrey Rush gives a right on performance in the title role but it’s painfully obvious that the director (Stephen Hopkins) wanted to focus more on the actor’s off screen antics than anything remotely connected with his movie roles. So much time is spent on depicting him as a bad father and husband that most of his work in his most famous films is thrown to the wayside. But I guess if you really wanted to know the motivation behind his performance in such films as THE PINK PANTHER series, LOLITA and DR. STRANGELOVE it would be better to watch a documentary.



Lots of time is wasted on his pursuit of Sophia Loren in a movie no one remembers which led to the divorce of his first wife (Emily Watson). The film seems to lay some blame on his behavior to his overbearing mother (who along with her husband talk to the camera several times). It’s cool though to hear characters talk about people like Spike Milligan.



Much is also made about how he DIDN’T want to play Inspector Clouseau even though Blake Edwards (John Lithgow) wanted him. It’s hard for me to believe that he created the character in the men’s room on a plane going to the US! Some time however is given to his quest to bring his last “masterpiece” BEING THERE” to the screen.



Stanley Tucci has a minor role as Stanley Kubrick and Charlize Theron plays actress Britt Ekland (Theron is 10 times better looking than the real actress ever was!) who became his second wife. Other actors play David Niven, Hal Ashby, Ursula Andress and Carlo Ponti.



From the director of LOST IN SPACE, PREDATOR 2 and several episodes of TV’s 24.



Do I look like him?


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