Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley, Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O'Connell, Red Buttons, Roddy McDowall, Ernest Borgnine and Jack Albertson pose on deck of cruise ship for the 1972 Irwin Allen 'disaster' movie 'The Poseidon Adventure'.
With (sitting) Pamela Sue Martin, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, and Roddy McDowell and (standing) Ernest Borgnine, Arthur O’Connell, Carol Lynley, Red Buttons, and Jack Albertson in a publicity photo for Ronald Neame’s The Poseidon Adventure (1972).
"This is child's play. I've replaced missing eyeballs with sawdust and glued the lids together; I've used bent aluminium combs for dentures; I've used the back part of the scalp when there was no front part; and I folded one hand over wadded-up newspapers when the other hand had no fingers. You find all this obscene, Sheriff? Do you know what is really obscene? Look at this. Look at the work I've done. This is an art and I am the artist! What can you remember about a sealed box? A sealed casket: that is obscene. That is the death of memory. The cosmetologist gives birth. I make souvenirs."
Gutter Garbs' Dead & Buried apparel will take your breath away. Two shirts designed by Sam Coyne and Paul Rentler are available for $28. They're expected to ship the week of April 2.
I will be taking a break from double posting on Mondays and Fridays in September to give myself a slight breather as I'll be on the road for much of the end of August and won't be able to take in my usual glut of cinema. This one is the lone exception as I watched it recently with my daughter after we finished the original Roald Dahl book.
For starters, it absolutely still holds up and really its only flaw is that Gene Wilder isn't in the movie until halfway through. This both heightens his appearance/role but it also makes the opening 45 minutes a tad boring by comparison.
I hadn't realized until this rewatch that Roald Dahl also penned the screenplay and briefly worked as a screenwriter as in the 60s, even penning two James Bond adaptations (for You Only Live Twice and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). Interestingly enough he wound up disowning the final film version of Willy Wonka both because of deviations made in the production and ultimately placing too much of the emphasis on Wonka instead of Charlie (and that's obvious in the title change). But, that being said, it truly is Wilder in the titular role that makes this movie work. Visually, it is definitely fun if not dated but none of it works without his performance at the center. It's as hilarious as it is completely bizarre. Wilder presents an affect that is uncanny, almost creepy at times, but constantly engrossing. It's the rare execution that is both perfect and impossible to explain.
And not to disagree with the master Dahl, but I found most of the deviations of the original story to be mostly positive changes, especially the ending, which is a bit more complicated the book but actually strengthens the character of Charlie as well as the moral implications. The book just kind of ends with him getting the factory and I think the final twist in the film is the better conclusion.
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Sung by Aubrey Woods. The opening song to the classic Gene Wilder movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now on the Sampo TV. Model #9519.
Sam Levene and Jack Albertson performing in the original Broadway production of "The Sunshine Boys” in 1972. Written by Neil Simon and directed by Alan Arkin.