Laurie's Classic Movies Blog

I love Turner Classic Movies, duh, because they show great classic movies. Uncut, no commercials, with plenty of juicy tidbits about the films and the stars.

And because they have cool graphics on the air and on their web site. And because they do thoughtful, informative original programming like their examinations of African American images in film in 2006 and their look at gay images in film in 2007.

This June, a not-unexpected next step: Race and Hollywood: Asian Images in Film coming on Tuesday and Thursday nights, with Robert Osborne hosting experts and actors to discuss how Hollywood has depicted Asians from the silent era to comtemporary films. Each night will feature a marathon of films around a theme -- the civil rights era, movie detectves like Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, the films of legendary actress Anna May Wong and the screen versions of Pearl Buck novels. Should be fascinating.

(One film I don't see is Breakfast at Tiffany's, a wonderful classic almost ruined by Mickey Rooney's ghastly caricature of a Japanese landlord. Ugh.)

Nancy Kwan on the DVD cover of Flower Drum Song

A colleague and friend of mine, Tim Plant, has signed on to do occasional articles for the classic movies site on About.com, and we're lucky to have him.

Tim is a lifelong fan of classic and modern movies, literature and the performing arts, and he's published hundreds of freelance articles on films, books and theater productions in several Washington, DC area publications. He's an entertaining writer with an engaging style.

About.com is Tim's first foray into Internet-only writing, and he's started off with two fun lists of classic films: Hayley Mills Does Disney, and a round-up of the remakes of 2007.

Look for more to come, and let both of us know whether there are any topics you'd like to see us tackle in the coming months.

Okay, had to share at least one publicity still from the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie. Harrison Ford may be a bit longer in the tooth than your average action hero, but he still looks mighty good to me.

And remember, the whole Indiana Jones franchise started 27 years ago. We should all look so good after 27 years.

There's been quite a bit of secrecy surrounding this one, but it sounds like Cate Blanchett will be a lot of fun as a nasty Soviet type, with an aging Indy fighting the Cold War. And I'm looking forward to the return of Karen Allen as Marion. Just the thing for a classic movie fan.

By David James, copyright Lucasfilm Ltd., courtesy Paramount Pictures

I'm a huge Billy Wilder fan, so I'm glad to see Universal has finally put out Midnight (with Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche) on DVD.

Wilder (with Charles Brackett) wrote Midnight, but he didn't direct. That chore feel to Mitchell Leisien, one of the Hollywood helmsmen who drove Wilder to take the director's chair himself, just so he could protect his own witty dialogue from directorial malpractice.

The 1939 outing is one of Wilder's scripts I've never seen, so I'm looking forward to it. And bonus, it has John Barrymore in his last major role, who for reason of his own turns Colbert, a down-on-her-luck American, into a fake countess. Sounds frothy and fun!

(I've lost track of this, but a while ago, before the DVD came out, there were rumors that Reese Witherspoon was going to tackle a remake. Wonder if this means the remake is a go?)

Midnight DVD cover

I wasn't going to touch this story, but now that the FBI has weighed in with what appears to be the last word, let me join in the chorus of good citizens telling you: The so-called Marilyn Monroe sex tape was a hoax. And the sun rose in the East.

For weeks, classic movie fans have been hearing the buzz that an anonymous New York businessman had bought a copy of a film allegedly held by the FBI, with Monroe allegedly engaged in a sex act with a man whose face could not be seen - some grainy, sleazy "French-type" film.

Of course it's a hoax, but the buzz on the web and in the MSM had reached the point where the FBI issued its denial. (Part of the tale was that Edgar J. Hoover was obsessed with trying to prove the man was JFK, blah, blah, blah.)

If I weren't so disgusted with the self-serving, self-aggrandizing twerp of a perp who circulated the story, I'd have to hand it to him. Combine the legend of Marilyn with the equally legendary JFK and Hoover, and watch the media and the armies of googlers go nuts.

You know, I wish coming up a load of bat guano like this and foisting it on the public were illegal. Maybe it is. Meanwhile, watch something the poor girl did beautifully - like Some Like It Hot.

Painting of Monroe by Laurent Smael/Getty Images

Those sweet Weinstein boys are at it again -- they've put out another great epic movie in a collector's edition in homage to their mama, Miriam, just in time for Mother's Day.

The Fall of the Roman Empire is the second entry in The Miriam Collection. (The first was El Cid.) It's one of those, big sprawling epics with an incredible cast: Alec Guinness, Sophia Loren, Omar Sharif, James Mason, Christopher Plummer and Stephen Boyd. Whew.

DVD extras include a copy of the original 1961 souvenir pogram, production stills, and a bunch of featurettes about the Madrid location shoot, the Hollywood version vs. actual history, the theatrical trailer and more.

I have to admit I haven't seen this one yet, but I've got a copy and I'll review it as soon as I can. After alll, if Miriam Weinstein loves it, how can it be bad?

Bogie told her, "Go Back to Bulgaria." But then he arranged for the luckless refugee groom to win miraculously at the roulette table - so the lovely young bride wouldn't have to sacrifice her virtue to the corrupt police captain for a visa. Awwww.

Pretty, dark-haired Joy Page, the stepdaughter of studio head Jack Warner, was just 17 when she played the role of Annina Brandel in Casablanca. It was a pretty little subplot that mirrored the larger theme of sacrificing for love. It allowed the rakish Claude Rains to accuse Bogart's character of being a closet softie, and warn him: "There's a stunning blonde coming in tomorrow and I'll be very pleased if she loses."

The actress passed away this week in California from complications of stroke and pneumonia.

Turner Classic Movies is serving up a heapin' helpin' of Ol' Blue Eyes in May, playing a bunch of classic Frank Sinatra films, launching a web site and running all kinds of promotions and giveaways (I'm gonna try for the special edition martini shaker.)

The tribute, which commemorates the 10th anniversary of Sinatra's death, will show films and specials on Sundays and Wednesdays throughout May, with the singer's children - Nancy, Tina and Frank Jr. - hosting on Wednesdays. Movies include From Here to Eternity (he won Best Supporting Actor for this drama); musicals like Pal Joey and On the Town, and of course, the Rat Pack classic Ocean’s Eleven. My personal favorite is the weird, almost surreal Manchurian Candidate, where Sinatra is a soldier brainwashed by Cold War commies.

Along with the movies, the web site has all kinds of pictures, music, interviews and web goodies, as well as airing four television specials with Sinatra and musical guests. It's a regular Frankfest.

Undated publicity shot/Getty Images

The delightfully self-aware blog "Alfred Hitchcock Geek" informs us that the Shamley Green "cottage" where the master of suspense once lived is on the block, if you can come up with 2.5 million in pounds sterling. That's about $5 million U.S. dollars these days. For a nice little weekend place in a village outside of London.

From the stills in Hitchcock's home movies, it looks perfectly lovely -- but I think I'll have to wait until the exchange rate gets a bit better.

Hitchcock, Wikipedia Commons, via the Library of Congress

The Hollywood blogs and rags report that director Brett Ratner is in talks to remake The Incredible Shrinking Man, playing it for laughs with Eddie Murphy in the leading role as a Vegas magician under a curse that will shrink him to nothing unless he can reverse the spell.

Sounds like a far cry from the 1957 original, an old-fashioned, Cold War nuclear scare flick in which everyman Grant Williams passes through some sort of radioactive glitter before starting to shrink - not the best classic movie of its genre by a long shot.

So, despite the fact that Eddie Murphy has made more box office misses than hits, he can be a very funny man. This could actually be a better movie than the original -- not something you'll hear from me very often!