On the Marquee & Whiskey

So check this out. On the Marquee is branching out to different mediums! Yours truly crashed Sean and Bob’s WhiskeyHour podcast today and chatted about this very blog. I talk about my latest post on I Confess, so go to whiskeyhour.com to check it out! My bit is towards the end, but make sure you listen to Sean and Bob’s musings too! And follow them on Twitter. Because they’re awesome. (And I’m not just saying that because I work with them.)

The Full Monty!

Starting last Thursday and all through this month, BAMcinématek is running a Montgomery Clift retrospective. I like to think of Clift as the actor who showed the world how brooding was done. (Wannabe brooders like Robert Pattinson take note.) In his films, Monty perfected the silent sulk, the inner turmoil, the just-below-the-surface panic and despair of a brooding hero, in a way that sets you on edge. “When is he finally going to explode?” you keep thinking.

No better evidence of this is found than in Alfred Hitchcock’s supremely underrated I Confess – the film I moseyed on down to Brooklyn this weekend to watch, with my mom (the biggest Clift-fan I know) and sister in tow. Just how under the radar is this film, you ask? I had no idea Hitchcock even directed it until the credits started to role. You’ll never hear it spoken about in the same breath as Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo, but all the makings of a Hitchcock classic are there. From his camerawork (a lot of back-of-the-head shots and foreboding cathedral angles) to the interesting location (Quebec) to the story of murder, religion and scandalous intrigue.

Clift plays conflicted priest Fr. Michael Logan, who receives a confession of murder, yet cannot break his vows to speak of it. Things get complicated when Fr. Logan himself gets implicated in the murder. Turns out, he may have had quite the motive – one that involves a married woman (Anne Baxter). Does he go against his religion and talk? Or will he go to the grave for a crime he didn’t commit?

Chock-full of great stuff, I tell ya. Including a sly performance by Karl Malden as the investigator determined to bring Fr. Logan to justice.

Clift – like many of the characters he played – led a conflicted life. The actor battled alcoholism, drug abuse, his closeted homosexuality, and later in life, a nasty car accident that permanently altered his good looks. Marilyn Monroe once described him as "the only person I know who is in worse shape than I am." But thanks to films like I Confess, and showcases like the one at BAM, we’re able to see Monty immortalized in peak cinematic condition.

Pierce Gets Pearce! (And Evan Rachel Wood!)

HBO’s Mildred Pierce five-part mini-series is shaping up quite nicely! As I previously reported, the great Kate Winslet is going all Joan Crawford in the title role. And in the latest bit of casting news, Evan Rachel Wood has signed on to play Mildred’s scheming, ungrateful bitch of a daughter, Veda. I’m all set to hate her already! Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential) is set to play Monte Beragon, the role originated by Zachary Scott in the 1945 film. Melissa Leo, James Le Gros, Brian F. O’Byrne, and Morgan Turner round out the cast.

Sounds top notch. Primed for an Emmy-sweep, if you ask me.



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Natalie Wood Mystery Resurfaces

Sudden celeb deaths are always a point of fascination. But once the police (and the media) decide case closed, it’s on to the next scandal. Case in point: Heath Ledger. We never did find out the exact Mary-Kate Olsen connection. Will we ever? And Brittany Murphy. The coroner ruled there were no illegal drugs in her system. But was there more to the story? What’s with that shady husband? Questions, questions. Maybe years down the line someone will decide to re-open the cases.

Which brings me to this latest bit of news.

Friends and family of Natalie Wood (A Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass) have asked the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office to re-open the case surrounding her mysterious death, CNN reported yesterday. Wood died tragically at the age of 43 after falling off a yacht and drowning in November 1981, following an argument with her husband Robert Wagner. Wood's sister, Lana Wood, and Dennis Davern, former captain of the yacht called The Splendour, are now hoping police will investigate and find out the truth – and to be honest, we’re pretty curious ourselves.

According to Wagner’s autobiography, he admits he got into a fight with Christopher Walken, who was also aboard the boat and may have had a less-than-appropriate relationship with Wood. He said during the fight Wood went back to her room and that was the last he saw of her. But the captain says he heard Wood and Wagner fighting inside their stateroom, then arguing on the boat's deck. He thinks her death was a direct result of their fighting. Cue the conspiracy theorists.

This is one case that begs to be revisited. Circumstances are just too strange – and ironic – considering Wood’s biggest fear was dark water. Maybe now we’ll get some answers. Or maybe, like most things in Hollywood, the truth will remain just below the surface.

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A Good Old Fashioned Gag Reel!

This absolutely made my morning.

Humphrey Bogart flubbing his lines?! Edward G. Robinson unable to work his prop gun?! It's a 1930's blooper reel and it'll blow your mind. (At around the 6:45 mark, check out the guy in the Lady GaGa headdress. Amazing.)




Want more? I know I do! Click here for the complete series of Warner Bros. bloopers. Oh man, you'll be glad you did.

San Francisco Treats!

I visited San Francisco last weekend and here’s what I discovered: there are a lot of steep hills to be climbed, good food to be eaten, amazing shopping to be done, and many Full House references to be made. But even more than that - because I always have movies on the brain, even on vacation - I noticed evidence of Alfred Hitchcock’s influence on the town. I spotted old movie posters tacked up in the Castro and an entire book dedicated to Hitchcock’s San Fran films in the Ferry Market. It all got me thinking about my favorite old flicks set in the colorful California city. Here are a few that came to mind:

Dark Passage (1947)

This movie is all kinds of ridiculous, and it completely sucked me in one night on TCM. Humphrey Bogart plays an escaped wrongly accused convict, and nearly the entire first half of the movie is filmed as if you’re seeing through Bogart’s eyes. Then, he gets plastic surgery to disguise his looks, so there’s a good chunk of the movie where he’s all wrapped in bandages. You may not be able to see his face through most of the movie, but you do catch glimpses of some San Fran scenery. Lauren Bacall’s apartment building can be found on Telegraph Hill.

Vertigo (1959)

With all those steep San Francisco hills, it’s no wonder James Stewart’s character had vertigo! This Hitchcock classic, also starring Kim Novak, includes some iconic shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mission Dolores and Nob Hill. Granted, it’s not my favorite Hitchcock film (not even close), but as for movies set in San Fran, it's one to see.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

A substitute English teacher at my high school made my class read Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon just for the hell of it. (Seriously, when we asked him why he picked that book for us to read, he shrugged and said he thought it might be fun.) Then, he showed us the movie. In this real Venetian-blinds film noir, Humphrey Bogart stars as a P.I. for a San Francisco detective agency investigating some mysterious murders that all revolve around one gold-encrusted statue of a bird.

The Birds (1963)

It’s a silly premise, but it’s also kind of a creepy one. Birds inexplicably begin attacking people in a small town in the San Francisco Bay Area. The film opens with a shot of a San Francisco cable car crossing in front of Union Square, as Tippi Hedren makes her entrance. Word is, Hitchcock wanted to end the movie with a shot of birds swarming the Golden Gate Bridge, but it proved too expensive.

Beatty Beds 12,000?!

Take that Tiger Woods! While the world is still reeling from news of the golf legend’s escapades with 10 + mistresses, a new biography was released that alleges Warren Beatty bedded over 12,000 women! Kinda makes Woods’ indiscretions seem like nothin’, eh?

Granted, we always knew of Beatty’s womanizing reputation – and how Annette Bening finally tamed the beast in 1992 – but over 12,000?! That’s the population of a small town! Warren Beatty had sex with an entire town of women! Peter Biskind, author of Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, calculates that Beatty slept with "12,775 women, give or take, a figure that does not include daytime quickies, drive-bys, casual gropings, stolen kisses and so on." His conquests allegedly included Jane Fonda, Joan Collins, Leslie Caron, Isabelle Adjani, Julie Christie, Diane Keaton and Madonna (who hasn’t?).

We’re surprised the 72-year-old is still standing! And as far as we know, he’s never pulled a Duchovny. Beatty has already issued a statement through his attorney denying the claims, and to be fair, that number does seem a little unlikely. Still, it doesn’t keep us from wondering. If Woods taught us anything, it’s that nothing stays secret forever.

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