Kill the Umpire lobby cards image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Lloyd Bacon and Columbia Pictures delivered the hilarious Kill the Umpire to movie theaters in 1950. William Bendix plays the rookie umpire, with Una Merkel, Ray Collins and Gloria Henry in support. Play ball!

Lloyd Bacon Directs Kill the Umpire

Frank Tashlin wrote Kill the Umpire for Columbia Pictures. Lloyd Bacon (Footlight Parade, The Oklahoma Kid, It Happens Every Spring) directed. Heinz Roemheld created the playful music score and Charles Lawton Jr. served as cinematographer.

William Bendix heads the cast as Bill “Two Call” Johnson. Other players include Una Merkel (Betty Johnson), Ray Collins (Jonah Evans), Gloria Henry (Lucy Johnson), Jeff Richards (Bob Landon), Connie Marshall (Suzie Johnson), William Frawley (Jimmy O’Brien), Tom D’Andrea (Roscoe Snooker), Luther Crockett (Sam Austin), Jeff York (Panhandle Jones), Glenn Thompson (Lanky), Bob Wilke (Cactus), Jim Bannon (Dusty), Ralph Dunn (Electrician), Billy Gray (Boy Catcher), Alan Hale Jr. (Harry Shay), Harry Hayden (Hotel Manager), Tommy Ivo (Boy Second Baseman) and Larry McGrath (Rogers).

Kill the Umpire Filmed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles

Much of Kill the Umpire was filmed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Located at 42nd Place and Avalon Boulevard, L.A.’s Wrigley Field – not to be confused with the more famous one in Chicago – served primarily as the home of the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League from 1925 to 1957. A number of other baseball films were shot here as well, including Babe Comes Home (1927), Pride of the Yankees (1942), The Winning Team (1952) and The Kid from Left Field (1953).

L.A.’s Wrigley Field, named for the chewing gum magnate William K. Wrigley Jr., had officially opened on September 29, 1925. It later served as the home of the expansion Los Angeles Angels of the American League for one season only (1961). Demolished in 1969, L.A.’s Wrigley Field is now the site of a playground.

William Bendix Plays Baseball Umpire

Kill the Umpire follows the triumphs and tragedies of Bill Johnson, an ex-ballplayer and rabid fan who harbors an abiding hate for the boys in blue. Residing in St. Petersburg, Florida, Bill invariably loses his job every year when spring training rolls around. Threatened with a walkout from his wife, Bill reluctantly signs up for umpire school with the help of his father-in-law, Jonah Evans, a retired professional ump.

At his new educational digs in Florida, Bill tries his best to get tossed out of school. But Jimmy O’Brien, the venerable director of the institution, finally convinces Bill that he would make a darned good umpire.

A reinvigorated Bill successfully completes the curriculum and is assigned to the Texas Interstate League. In time, he gains a measure of popularity, earning the nickname “Two Call Johnson” after indulging in a fellow ump’s eye drop medicine, resulting in temporary double vision.

Following a controversial call against the home team, a huge rhubarb ensues with Bill barely escaping the ballpark as angry fans follow in pursuit. Donning various disguises, Bill manages to sneak back into the stadium just in time to work the big game.

Kill the Umpire Opens in New York City

Kill the Umpire came to New York City’s Rivoli Theater on May 27, 1950.

“Since the weather is fast becoming balmy, let’s blame it for such visitations as Kill the Umpire. For this decidedly seasonal farce…is, unlike the men in blue it lampoons and lauds, not to be taken seriously on any score,” reported A.H. Weiler of The New York Times (5/29/50).

“Lame-brained comedy about a fanatic baseball fan (William Bendix) who hates umpires but becomes one when he needs a job…For undemanding fans,” observed the uncharitable critic for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Kill the Umpire Trivia, DVD

• Kill the Umpire acquired its title from the classic Ernest Lawrence Thayer poem, “Casey at the Bat,” which first appeared in the San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888. “One stanza reads in part: “‘Kill him! Kill the umpire!’ shouted someone in the stands, And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.”
• Willam Bendix (1906-1964) is perhaps best known for his other baseball role, that of George Herman “Babe” Ruth in The Babe Ruth Story (1948).
• William Frawley (1887-1966), who played Fred Mertz on TV’s I Love Lucy (1951-57), actually had a clause in his contract allowing him to take time off from work to attend the World Series if his beloved New York Yankees were playing.
• On DVD: Baseball Double Feature – Kill the Umpire/Safe at Home (Sony, 2007).

“Just call ‘em like you see ‘em!” a young, freckled-faced Tony Taylor tells William Bendix during a kids’ sandlot game. 

That could be difficult, especially for an umpire saddled with the moniker “Two Call Johnson”…

The Day of the Jackal British poster image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Fred Zinnemann and Universal Pictures delivered The Day of the Jackal to movie theaters in 1973. Edward Fox stars as the international assassin, with Alan Badel, Tony Britton, Cyril Cusack and Michel Lonsdale along for the gripping ride.

Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal

The Day of the Jackal is based on the 1971 best-selling novel of the same name by British writer Frederick Forsyth. A former Royal Air Force pilot, Forsyth also penned such thriller fare as The Odessa File (1972), The Fourth Protocol (1984) and The Fist of God (1994).

Kenneth Ross wrote the screenplay for Warwick Film Productions, Ltd. Fred Zinnemann (High Noon, From Here to Eternity, A Man for All Seasons) directed. Georges Delerue created the movie’s unique diegetic/background music score while Jean Tournier served as cinematographer.

The Day of the Jackal Cast

Edward Fox stars as The Jackal. Other players include Terence Alexander (Lloyd), Michael Auclair (Colonel Rolland), Alan Badel (The Minister), Tony Britton (Inspector Thomas), Cyril Cusack (The Gunsmith), Denis Carey (Casson), Adrien Cayla-Legrand (President de Gaulle), Maurice Denham (General Colbert), Vernon Dobtcheff (The Interrogator), Jacques Francois (Pascal), Michel Lonsdale (Claude Lebel), Olga Georges-Picot (Denise), Derek Jacobi (Caron), Ronald Pickup (The Forger), Eric Porter (Colonel Rodin), Delphine Seyrig (Colette), David Swift (Montclair) and Timothy West (Berthier).

Producer John Woolf’s first choice for The Jackal had reportedly been Roger Moore, who was subsequently rejected by the director because he was too recognizable from his role as TV’s The Saint (1962-69). Others considered for the lead were Michael Caine and Jack Nicholson.

The Day of the Jackal Filmed in Europe

An Anglo-French production, The Day of the Jackal was filmed in Europe. Locations used included France (Paris, Nice, Tulle, French Riviera), England (London), Austria (Vienna) and Italy (Genoa, Imperia).

As with his western classic High Noon (1952), director Fred Zinnemann made skillful use of ticking clocks. In all, 31 clock inserts were used to convey the heightening tension as The Jackal closes in for the kill.

The Near Assassination of Charles de Gaulle

Set in 1963, The Day of the Jackal’s intricate plot centers on the ultra-nationalist Organisation de l’armee secrete (OAS), whose members are enraged following the signing of the Evian agreements granting Algerian independence from France. The OAS plans to kill President Charles de Gaulle in retaliation, and turns to a professional British assassin who demands $500,000 for the job.

Operating under the code name “The Jackal,” the loner assassin begins his methodical preparations, obtaining forged documents and a specially modified lightweight rifle with telescopic site. Discovering that the OAS has hired an unknown killer to knock off de Gaulle, the French government brings in its top detective, Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel, who is given unlimited resources in his hunt for the assassin.

Tipped off that the French authorities are on to the plot, The Jackal opts to complete his assignment, penetrating heavy security during Liberation Day festivities and gathering de Gaulle in his sights.

The Day of the Jackal Opens in New York City

The Day of the Jackal opened at New York City’s Loew’s State 2 and Orpheum Theaters on May 16, 1973.

“Fred Zinnemann’s The Day of the Jackal is one hell of an exciting movie. I wasn’t prepared for how good it really is…” crowed Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (7/3/73).

“Edward Fox is a very natty-looking assassin…In the supporting cast are some of the best actors in England and France, including Michel Lonsdale as a French supercop and Delphine Seyrig as a bossy baroness whom the assassin encounters en route to his date with destiny,” reported Vincent Canby of The New York Times (5/17/73).

Film Analysis

In the movie thriller genre they don’t come any finer than The Day of the Jackal, Fred Zinnemann’s classic study of an international assassin at work. Edward Fox is low-key brilliant as the professional hit man (that’s $250,000 up front and another $250,000 when the job is completed), who methodically stalks President de Gaulle.

The Day of the Jackal is outstanding in its painstaking attention to detail. The mysterious Jackal is seen gathering all the trade craft needed for the job, including forged identity papers, disguises and a special rifle with mounted scope and silencer.

Turning in a quiet, competent performance is Michel Lonsdale as France’s top investigator. This is a gem of a role, with Lonsdale ferreting out a mole in the French government and eventually coming face to face with his elusive quarry in a Paris hotel room.

Viewers won’t easily forget The Jackal, who disguises himself as an old, handicapped, decorated World War I veteran on Liberation Day. Deftly slipping through security, The Jackal assembles the rifle that was hidden in his crutch and sets up shop in the sniper’s nest, patiently waiting for de Gaulle to arrive.

The Day of the Jackal Oscar Nomination, Movie Memorabilia, DVD

• The Day of the Jackal garnered one Academy Award nomination: Best Film Editing (Ralph Kemplen).
• Auction results for original The Day of the Jackal movie material, courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($16), British one sheet poster ($28), Japanese poster ($29), set of eight lobby cards ($24).
• On DVD: The Day of the Jackal (Universal, 1998).

“Considering you expect to get France in return, I’d have thought it a reasonable price,” The Jackal coolly replies after Montclair blanches at the assassin’s $500,000 fee.

The OAS only had to pay half…

Come Back, Little Sheba lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Daniel Mann and Paramount Pictures delivered Come Back, Little Sheba to movie theaters in 1952. Burt Lancaster plays the alcoholic Doc Delaney, with Oscar winner Shirley Booth as his slovenly wife.

William Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba is based on the play of the same name by noted American playwright William Inge (1913-1973). First staged on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on February 15, 1950, Come Back, Little Sheba featured an opening night cast comprised of Sidney Blackmer (Doc), Shirley Booth (Lola), Joan Lorring (Marie), Wilson Brooks (Ed Anderson), Lonny Chapman (Turk) and Robert Cunningham (Bruce).

Come Back, Little Sheba, which earned Shirley Booth both a Tony Award and a New York Drama Critics Award, registered 190 Broadway performances before coming to a close on July 29, 1950.

Daniel Mann Directs Come Back, Little Sheba  

Independent producer Hal B. Wallis purchased the movie rights to Come Back, Little Sheba. Ketti Frings wrote the screenplay for Paramount Pictures and Daniel Mann, who had helmed the Broadway play, directed. Little Sheba would mark Mann’s motion picture debut.

Wallis and Paramount Pictures assembled a strong cast for Little Sheba. Actively campaigning and eventually winning the role of Doc Delaney was Burt Lancaster, who wished to display his sensitive side. Reprising her Broadway role as Lola Delaney was Shirley Booth in her film debut. Other players included Terry Moore (Marie Buckholder), Richard Jaeckel (Turk Fisher), Philip Ober (Ed Anderson), Edwin Max (Elmo Huston), Lisa Golm (Mrs. Coffman), Walter Kelley (Bruce), Virginia Hall (Blonde) and Paul McVey (Postman).

Bette Davis had been considered for the role of Lola. Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan and Fred MacMurray had all been mentioned as potential Doc Delaneys.

Come Back, Little Sheba: Alcoholism and Lost Youth

Come Back, Little Sheba opens with college art student Marie Buckholder answering a newspaper ad regarding a room to rent in the home of Doc and Lola Delaney. The nervous Doc, a chiropractor and recovering alcoholic, likes things they way they are and frets that a new boarder will upset the steady rhythm of his life.

Marie decides to take the room, with the Delaneys doting over her as if she were their daughter, or more symbolically, their missing dog, Little Sheba. The long-lost pet represents the Delaneys’ past, the good times when Doc was a promising medical student and Lola was still endowed with her youthful good looks.

The pretty Marie is currently seeing two men: the virile college athlete Turk Fisher and the steady, responsible Bruce from back home. Meanwhile, Doc continues to struggle with his alcoholism, falling off the wagon one night and threatening Lola with a kitchen knife. Coming to her rescue are two of Doc’s sponsors from Alcoholics Anonymous, who disarm the drunken Doc and transport him to City Hospital where he can dry out.

With Doc back on the wagon once again, the Delaney household returns to normal. When Marie suddenly marries Bruce, a happy Doc and Lola express their approval.

Come Back, Little Sheba Opens in New York City

Come Back, Little Sheba premiered at New York City’s Victoria Theater on December 23, 1952.

“The screen version of Come Back, Little Sheba…makes as poignant and haunting a drama as was brought forth upon the stage. For this we may also be grateful to Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth, who contribute two sterling performances in the picture’s leading roles,” reported Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (12/24/52).

“Shirley Booth has the remarkable gift of never appearing to be acting. Opposite her is Burt Lancaster, bringing an unsuspected talent to his role of the middle-aged, alcoholic husband,” observed Variety (12/3/52).

Shirley Booth Wins Best Actress Oscar

Come Back, Little Sheba garnered three Academy Award nominations: Best Actress (Booth), Best Supporting Actress (Moore) and Best Film Editing (Warren Low). On March 19, 1953, the first year the Academy Awards ceremony was televised, simultaneously from the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles and the International Theatre in New York, it was Shirley Booth who carried the day, winning Little Sheba’s lone Oscar.

“Rising from her seat in delight, Shirley Booth tripped slightly as she reached the stage of the International Theatre here last night to accept her ‘Oscar’ statuette for Come Back, Little Sheba, one of the most unsurprising awards in Academy history,” reported The New York Times (3/20/53).

Come Back, Little Sheba Box Office, Movie Memorabilia, DVD

• Come Back, Little Sheba grossed $3.5 million at the American box office, earning the #11 slot on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1952.
• Auction results for original Little Sheba movie material, courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($40), insert poster ($11), window card ($119.50), Italian 2 folio poster ($239), set of eight lobby cards ($45).
• On DVD: Come Back, Little Sheba (Paramount, 2004).

“I don’t think Little Sheba’s ever coming back, Doc. I’m not going to call her any more,” Lola says at the end of the film.

The little dog had lost its magic, but the movie never will…

Apocalypse Now lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Francis Ford Coppola and United Artists brought Apocalypse Now to movie theaters in 1979. Martin Sheen plays a U.S. Army assassin, with Marlon Brando as his quarry.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is loosely based on the 1902 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for Zoetrope Studios, with Coppola also directing. Carmine Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola created the original music score and Vittorio Storaro served as cinematographer.

Martin Sheen (Captain Benjamin L. Willard), Marlon Brando (Colonel Walter E. Kurtz) and Robert Duvall (Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore) head the cast. Other players include Frederic Forrest (Jay “Chef” Hicks), Sam Bottoms (Lance B. Johnson), Laurence Fishburne (Tyrone “Clean” Miller), Albert Hall (Chief Phillips), Harrison Ford (Colonel Lucas), Dennis Hopper (Photojournalist), G.D. Spradlin (General Corman), Jerry Ziesmer (Jerry), Scott Glenn (Lt. Richard M. Colby), Bo Byers (MP Sergeant #1), Cynthia Wood (Playmate of the Year), Colleen Camp (Miss May), Linda Carpenter (Playmate), James Keane (Kilgore’s Gunner) and Jack Thibeau (Soldier in Trench).

Making a cameo appearance as the director of a television news crew (”Don’t look at the camera, keep on fighting!…”) is a bearded Francis Ford Coppola.

Apocalypse Now Filmed in the Philippines

Apocalypse Now began filming in the Philippines in 1976 where the production team experienced a series of disasters. A raging typhoon wreaked havoc with the sets; a communist insurrection threatened cast and crew; the Philippine military commandeered the company’s rented helicopters to fight the rebels; Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack, and an indifferent Marlon Brando failed to learn his lines.

After 16 tortuous months of filming, the picture’s budget had swelled from $12 million to over $31 million. Finally, when all the jungle dust had settled three years later, producer Francis Ford Coppola had his war film. He then hurriedly pieced the finished product together in order to get it into release and satisfy his anxious creditors.

Apocalypse Now: The Ultimate Vietnam War Film

Apocalypse Now opens with Jim Morrison and the Doors’ rendition of “The End” amidst thumping helicopter blades and a spectacular napalm strike. An alcohol-debilitated Captain Willard is seen in his Saigon hotel room, impatiently waiting for another covert mission.

Willard, who is attached to the 505th Battalion, 173rd Airborne, SOG (Special Operations Group), is later transported by chopper to a high-level intelligence briefing. Here a three-star general and his aide apprise him of his latest assignment. He is to proceed up river by Navy PBR boat into Cambodia, where renegade Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz now commands his own personal army of Montagnard tribesmen. Willard is to “terminate the colonel’s command – with extreme prejudice.”

Captain Willard’s mission proves to be a surreal odyssey through the Vietnam War. Along the way he encounters a surfing-mad Air Cavalry colonel, a wild USO show featuring a trio of Playboy Playmates, a Vietnamese sampan whose occupants are slaughtered by a trigger-happy Navy gunner, a gonzo American photojournalist and, at journey’s end, the mad Colonel Kurtz himself.

Apocalypse Now Debuts at Cannes Film Festival

Apocalypse Now was first shown at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival on May 10, 1979, where it won a Golden Palm award. “My film is not about Vietnam,” Francis Ford Coppola told the assembled media. “My film is Vietnam.”

“Apocalypse Now is a stunning work. It’s as technically complex and masterful as any war film I can remember, including David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai…” crowed Vincent Canby of The New York Times (8/15/79).

“Years and years from now…’Apocalypse’ will stand, I think, as a grand and grave and insanely inspired gesture of filmmaking – of moments that are operatic in their style and scope, and of other moments so silent we can almost hear the director thinking to himself,” reported Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (6/1/79).

Apocalypse Now Box Office, Academy Award Nominations, Most Memorable Scene, DVD

• Apocalypse Now grossed $37.980 million at the American box office, good for the #6 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1979.
• Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Duvall), Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Sound (won), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography (won).
• Most memorable scene: Robert Duvall’s ode to napalm, while standing on a Vietnamese beach following a fighter jet strike in the surrounding jungle. “Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning…The smell, you know that gasoline smell…It smells like – victory.”
• Apocalypse Now Redux, which includes an additional 53 minutes, was released to selected American movie theaters on August 3, 2001. Featured in this restored version is the PBR’s “lost” stop at the fog-shrouded French rubber plantation.
• On DVD: Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (Paramount, 2006).

“Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission. And for my sins they gave me one,” Martin Sheen intones at the beginning of the film.

Listen closely, and one can still hear Richard Wagner’s “The Ride of the Valkyries” from the opera Die Walkure – the music blared from Colonel Kilgore’s helicopters during the attack on the Viet Cong fishing village… 

Journey to the Center of the Earth lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Henry Levin and Twentieth Century-Fox delivered the Jules Verne classic Journey to the Center of the Earth to movie theaters in 1959. James Mason plays the academic adventurer, with Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl and Peter Ronson along for the subterranean descent.

Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth is based on the novel of the same name by noted science fiction writer Jules Verne (1828-1905). Titled Voyage au centre de la Terre in France, the book was first published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel in 1864.

Verne’s other works, many of which were also made into motion pictures, include such fantastic fare as Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863), From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) and The Mysterious Island (1875).

Henry Levin Directs Journey to the Center of the Earth

Walter Reisch and Charles Brackett wrote the screenplay for Cooga Mooga, Joseph L. Schenck Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox. Henry Levin (Cry of the Werewolf, Jolson Sings Again, April Love) directed. Bernard Hermann created the fabulous music score, with Leo Tover serving as cinematographer.

James Mason (Professor Oliver S. Lindendbrook), Pat Boone (Alec McEwen) and Arlene Dahl (Carla Goteborg) head the cast. Other players include Diane Baker (Jenny Lindenbrook), Thayer David (Count Saknussemm), Peter Ronson (Hans Belker), Robert Adler (Groom), Alan Napier (Dean), Alan Caillou (Rector), Mary Brady (Kirsty), Frederick Halliday (Chancellor), Alex Finlayson (Professor Bayle), Ben Wright (Paisley) and Red West (Bearded Man at Newspaper Stand).

Originally tapped to play Professor Lindenbrook and Count Saknussemm were Clifton Webb and Alexander Scourby, respectively. The ailing Webb, who never made it before the cameras, was replaced by James Mason. Scourby was deemed ineffective in the role of the evil Count and was let go in favor of the more sinister-looking Thayer David.

Pop music sensation Pat “White Bucks” Boone originally wasn’t interested in doing the picture. But after a talk with his agent, Boone signed on as the young Scot. It proved to be a good move, as Journey to the Center of the Earth became a hit and provided Boone with residual income for years to come.

Journey to the Center of the Earth Filmed at Carlsbad Caverns

Journey to the Center of the Earth was filmed primarily at New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Other locations used were Edinburgh University in Scotland and Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu, California. Little Lake and Fossil Falls in Lone Pine, California, served as the setting for Iceland.

L.B. Abbott, James B. Gordon and Emil Kosa Jr. were in charge of special effects, delivering an array of prehistoric monsters, giant mushrooms, a violent subterranean storm and other fantastic scenes in giant CinemaScope.

The Lindenbrook Expedition Discovers Atlantis

Journey to the Center of the Earth opens in 19th century Scotland, where Professor Oliver S. Lindenbrook discovers a cryptic inscription inside a piece of volcanic rock. Lindenbrook believes it’s a message from Arnie Saknussemm, the legendary explorer who descended into the bowels of the earth alone some 300 years ago and was never heard from again.

With young student Alec McEwen in tow, Professor Lindenbrook heads to Iceland where he hopes to duplicate Arnie Saknussemm’s journey. In Reykjavik, he finds that a rival, Professor Goteberg of Stockholm University, has been murdered in his hotel room. The leading suspect is Count Saknussemm, a descendant of the famous explorer who is planning a journey below as well.

Professor Goteborg’s widow, Carla, agrees to supply the Lindenbrook Expedition with all the necessary equipment from her late husband’s estate, with one stipulation: that she be allowed to accompany Lindenbrook on his journey. Reluctantly, Lindenbrook agrees, with Carla, Alec and a big, strapping Icelander named Hans Belker (along with his duck Gertrude) rounding out the team.

Following markers left by Arnie Saknussemm, the Lindenbrook party make their trek to the center of the earth. Along the way they encounter giant mushrooms, glowing rock formations, underground waterfalls, giant lizards, a vast subterranean ocean and the remnants of the lost continent of Atlantis.

Journey to the Center of the Earth Premieres in New York City

Journey to the Center of the Earth opened at New York City’s Paramount Theater on December 16, 1959.

“The true-blue sci-fi fan may find aspects of the picture ludicrous, but if one is willing to accept the film as one big spoof, it can turn out to be a fairly amusing entry,” observed Variety (12/9/59).

“Its main success is as a children’s film, one of the best to come along in some time…” opined Paul V. Beckley of The New York Herald Tribune (12/17/59).

“Good, clean, gaudy fun without a brain or a message in its pretty little head, which should be enough for anyone,” offered John P. Case in Films in Review (1/60).

Journey to the Center of the Earth Box Office, Trivia, DVD

• Journey to the Center of the Earth grossed $4.777 million, earning the #17 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1959.
• The film garnered three Oscar nominations: Best Color Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Special Effects and Best Sound.
• Pat Boone performs four songs: “The Faithful Heart,” “Twice as Tall,” “My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose” and “My Heart’s in the Highlands.”
• On DVD: Journey to the Center of the Earth (Twentieth Century-Fox, 2003).

“I don’t sleep. I hate those little slices of death,” Count Saknussemm declares.

Giants lizards, a quacking duck, Pat Boone singing – no one else will sleep through this movie either…

Billy Jack lobby cards image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Warner Bros. brought Billy Jack to movie theaters in 1971. Tom Laughlin has the title role as the high-kicking Vietnam vet, with Delores Taylor, Clark Howat, Bert Freed and Kenneth Tobey along for the violent ride.

Billy Jack in The Born Losers

The Billy Jack character made his debut in the 1967 biker film The Born Losers. Released by American International Pictures, The Born Losers featured Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack, a half-breed martial arts expert who battles an outlaw biker gang in a small California town.

Budgeted at a miniscule $360,000, The Born Losers was deemed so violent that Sweden banned the picture from its shores in 1968, 1972 and 1975.

Tom Laughlin Directs Billy Jack

Tom Laughlin and real-life spouse Delores Taylor wrote Billy Jack under the pseudonyms Frank and Teresa Christina. As with The Born Losers, Laughlin once again directed under the moniker T.C. Frank, derived from the names of his two children, Frank and Teresa Christina.

Mundell Lowe created the original music score, which included the film’s spirited title song, “One Tin Soldier,” performed by Jinx Dawson of Coven. Released as Warner Bros. single 7509, “One Tin Soldier” graced the Billboard Top 100 for 12 weeks, peaking at #26.

Billy Jack Cast

Tom Laughlin (Billy Jack) and Delores Taylor (Jean Roberts) head the cast. Other players include Clark Howat (Sheriff Cole), Bert Freed (Stuart Posner), Julie Webb (Barbara), Kenneth Tobey (Deputy Sheriff Mike), Victor Izay (Doctor), Debbie Schock (Kit), Stan Rice (Martin), Lynn Baker (Sarah), Teresa Kelly (Carol), David Roya (Bernard Posner), John McClure (Dinosaur), Susan Foster (Cindy a.k.a. Little Miss Up Yours), Susan Sosa (Sunshine), Katy Moffatt (Maria), Gwenn Smith (Angela), Richard Stahl (Council Chairman), Alan Myerson (O.K. Corrales) and Ed Greenberg (Drama Teacher).

Howard Hesseman, who later found fame as Dr. Johnny Fever on CBS-TV’s WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-82), appears as Howard Johnson under the name Don Sturdy.

Billy Jack Filmed in New Mexico

Budgeted at $800,000, much of Billy Jack was filmed at the Eaves Movie Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other locations used were Los Alamos, New Mexico; Prescott, Arizona, and Imperial County, California.

Hapkido karate master Bong Soo Han expertly staged the movie’s martial arts scenes involving the twisting, high-kicking Billy Jack. Han also doubled for star Tom Laughlin in some of the more difficult fight sequences, displaying the now-famous Outside Crescent Kick.  

Billy Jack Studio Wars

Like The Born Losers, Billy Jack was originally to be released by American International Pictures. Because of studio interference, however, Tom Laughlin opted out of the AIP deal and took his film to Twentieth Century-Fox.

After learning that Fox might re-edit Billy Jack, the maverick Laughlin bought back his movie for $100,000. He then sold Billy Jack to Warner Bros. for $1.8 million and a whopping 45% of the film’s subsequent profits. In 1973, a disgruntled Laughlin sued Warner Bros. for $51 million, alleging that Billy Jack had been improperly publicized.

Billy Jack Set in the American Southwest

Billy Jack opens in majestic style, with a stunning aerial shot of a herd of wild horses racing through the canyons of the great American Southwest.

The motion picture centers on Billy Jack, described as “a war hero who hated the war.” An ex-Green Beret and Vietnam veteran, the mysterious Billy defends the persecuted and downtrodden against the locals headed by town boss Stuart Posner.

Posner’s son, Bernard, who pals around with a hulking sidekick named Dinosaur, is every bit as mean as the old man, habitually harassing the students who attend Jean Roberts’ Freedom School. Jean is an avowed pacifist, but boyfriend Billy Jack is decidedly not, as he continually demonstrates his martial arts skills in a series of violent encounters with the racist townsfolk.

Billy Jack is brimming with social idealism and violent action, with the latter including a dust-up at an ice cream parlor, a brawl at a city park, a brand new Corvette plunging into a lake, multiple killer karate chops and kicks, and a climactic shootout at an old adobe church.

Billy Jack Release and Reviews

Billy Jack was first trade-screened in Hollywood in the spring of 1971. The movie later went into limited release on May 1, 1971.

“For a picture that preaches pacifism, Billy Jack seems fascinated by violence, of which it is full,” reported Howard Thompson of The New York Times (7/29/71).

“Specious and mawkish as it is, Billy Jack has energy to burn: it’s deadly stuff but at least it doesn’t die on screen,” observed Gary Arnold of The Washington Post (8/7/71).

“There is essentially just one difference between Billy Jack and those countless oaters on which John Wayne has built a fortune and a personal credo. In this one, the good guys are youthful long-hairs and Indians, and the bad guys are your standard, paunchy pols, fat-cat capitalists, beer-guzzling ruffians, and cops…” opined Jerry Parker of Newsday (7/29/71).

Billy Jack Box Office, Golden Globe Nomination, Sequels, Movie Memorabilia, DVD

• Billy Jack proved to be a sleeper hit at the box office, grossing $32.5 million, good for the #2 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1971.
• Delores Taylor earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Female Newcomer.
• Billy Jack sequels: The Trial of Billy Jack (1974) and Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977).
• Auction results for original Billy Jack movie material, courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($62), Polish poster ($59), international one sheet poster ($262.90), lot of seven lobby cards ($51), 1973 reissue poster ($11).
• On DVD: The Complete Billy Jack Collection (Image, 2009).

“I’m gonna take this right foot, and I’m gonna whop you on that side of your face, and you wanna know something? There’s not a damn thing you’re gonna be able to do about it,” Billy tells Stuart Posner.

Right on!

“Victor Juliet’s Director’s Cut” is a 100% Guerrilla style Horror film. It’s actually almost a parody of itself, and a parody of how many Indie Guerrilla style horror directors really are. In fact that’s where it’s charm comes from. It does have an original concept, which gets kudos in my opinion. It starts off with a scene in a movie, then goes to a documentary style set up, and from there takes you on a path that Victor Juliet himself seems to have made. Another great thing about this film is that it even ends with a note of a possible sequel, and or spin off. I warn you now that this film isn’t for everyone. If you enjoy a film that makes fun of itself, others, with cheesy dialogue, and just as cheesy effects, then I’d say check it out!

Over all I give “Victor Juliet’s Director’s Cut” a 7 out of 10. It gets bonus points for being Indie, and self aware.

Paranormal Activity is a psychological thriller. It isn’t necessarily the type of film that would scare you while watching it, but at the screening I went to see many people were jumping and screaming in there seats, heck I even jumped once. A lot of people are saying it isn’t a scary movie, and I do understand what they are saying, but in my opinion I’d beg the differ. This being a psychological film, it can have a similar effect on people that The Exorcist had on many Catholics. While watching the movie you may not be scared but later on when you’re alone home, you might thing that the sound of your house settling, may not be your house settling. At least that’s just my opinion on how the film works. You watch it and it lingers with you later on when you decide to go to sleep, almost taking you back to a childhood when you were afraid of the boogieman.

My final review of the film is I give it an 8 out of 10. The film keeps you on your seat, the whole time, and it really does linger with you later. So if you’re a fan of Ghost Hunters and anything of that sort, go and see Paranormal Activity, I believe you’d really enjoy it.

         The first thing I’d like to talk about was how the movie was filmed. I personally being an amateur filmmaker can appreciate how the movie was filmed. Due to this I notice how the movie was shot. The film angles he used were great. My favorite is scene that I’d like to talk about is the scene when the doctor goes to the “school” where he found the human remains, and he picks up the skull with the bullet hole in it. I like how the camera angle is when he’s holding the skull, like how it’s like a first person view through the doctor’s eyes. The next thing I’d like to bring up is the lighting of the whole movie. The lighting sets the tone of the whole movie. With the yellowish, almost sepia tone almost sets you in to the mood that the doctor is in, that troubled almost uneasy feeling. The film grain of the movie also adds to this effect, because the grain adds to the mood of the whole thing. It gives everything more of the run down dirty feeling that the villages and towns in the movie had. John also likes to use actors he’s worked with before, because they know how he works, and he knows how they work. (Enders 1)

         Men With Guns was a well-written movie. John Sayles approach of telling the story was great, along with his character development. Dr. Fuentes’s need to make sure his legacy continued is what pushed him to go from village to village to find any of his old students, and even though in every town he found a disappointment either by finding out they left or had been killed, he wouldn’t give up. In fact every disappointment caused him to work harder at finding one of his students. Due to the experiences from his trip he started to learn about the truth of his country. He thought it was perfect, and Dr. Fuentes found out otherwise. The next character I’d like to bring up is the former soldier. When the former soldier is first introduced he is a hard ass. He takes the money the doctor and the boy have, and leaves them stranded, soon after the he returns with a gunshot wound and needs help from Dr. Fuentes. Due to the injury he is forced to bring the doctor and the boy with him. As time goes on you can see he did many horrible things as a soldier, but as time goes on in the movie you notice a change and he starts to care about the others not just him self. Ironically at the end of the movie he actually becomes the doctor’s legacy, and starts to help the natives with his knowledge as a medic. The last character I’d like to bring up is “The Ghost” also known as Padre Portillo. The Padre was ashamed of himself of how he let the village he served down, and because of this he lost his faith. After running into the doctor, boy, and the former soldier they caused him to gain his faith back, and he sacrificed himself to help the others move on, especially the former soldier. I like how John Sayles keeps pushing the timeline forward from village to village and keeps giving the doctor hope that maybe his legacy has moved on. It almost keeps you on the edge of your seat hoping, and wishing that the doctor will be thrown a bone, and he’ll find someone still around.

         Even with the Spanish dialog, and having to read the subtitles, you can enjoy this movie. Some critics believe that the film was more of a message than a drama (Armstrong 1); I believe that it was both. I not only enjoyed the film, it is an inspiration to amateur filmmakers like myself, especially since he’s from Central New York too.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Richard. “John Sayles” Senses of Cinema, Febuary 2004

Enders, Eric. The John Sayles Stock Company. 2002-2005,

John Sayles Retrospect, Sayles IFC Retrospective, 2002,

The Blackboard Jungle insert movie poster image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Richard Brooks and MGM brought The Blackboard Jungle to movie theaters in 1955. Glenn Ford plays an idealistic teacher struggling to reach his students, with Anne Francis as his sympathetic wife.

Evan Hunter’s The Blackboard Jungle

The Blackboard Jungle is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter (1926-2005). Born Salvatore Albert Lombino, Hunter also wrote under the pseudonyms Ed McBain, Richard Marsten, Ezra Hannon, Curt Cannon and Hunt Collins.

Published by Simon and Schuster in 1954, The Blackboard Jungle was inspired by Hunter’s brief stint as a teacher at Bronx Vocational High School in New York City. The novel, called “nightmarish but authentic” by one critic, went on to become a bestseller in both hardcover and paperback.

In October 1954, the same month in which the unabridged novel was released, a condensed version of The Blackboard Jungle also appeared in a special education issue of Ladies’ Home Journal.

Richard Brooks Directs The Blackboard Jungle

Richard Brooks wrote and directed The Blackboard Jungle for producer Pandro S. Berman and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. Scott Bradley and Charles Wolcott created the original music score, complete with a rousing rendition of “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets.

The Blackboard Jungle was filmed from November to December 1954 at El Segundo (California) High School. Built in 1927 and replete with Neo-Gothic architecture, towering pine trees and a well-manicured front lawn, El Segundo High has been a favorite Hollywood filming location for years. The fabled “Anywhere USA” school has played host to such movie and television productions as Logan’s Run (1976), WarGames (1983), Superbad (2007), CSI: Miami, Beverly Hills 90210, The O.C. and 24.

Glenn Ford and Anne Francis Head Cast

Glenn Ford (Richard Dadier) and Anne Francis (Anne Dadier) head the cast. Other players include Louis Calhern (Jim Murdock), Margaret Hayes (Lois Judby Hammond), John Hoyt (Mr. Warneke), Richard Kiley (Joshua Y. Edwards), Emile Meyer (Mr. Halloran), Warner Anderson (Dr. Bradley), Basil Ruysdael (Professor A.R. Kraal), Sidney Poitier (Gregory W. Miller), Vic Morrow (Artie West), Dan Terranova (Belazi), Rafael Campos (Pete V. Morales), Paul Mazursky (Emmanuel Stoker), Horace McMahon (Detective) and Danny Dennis (De Lica).

Other familiar faces dotting the urban jungle are Jameel Farah a.k.a. Jamie Farr (Santini), Richard Deacon (Mr. Stanley), James Drury (Hospital Attendant), Tommy Ivo (Frightened Student) and Emil Sitka (Father).

The Blackboard Jungle Rocks Around the Clock

U.S. Navy veteran Richard Dadier garners his first teaching job at a tough inner-city vocational high school. An English teacher with high expectations, Dadier soon learns the harsh realities after meeting his students, an unruly bunch of underachievers and sociopaths.

The all-male school is headed by Mr. Warneke, who is loath to admit that his fine institution may have a discipline problem. Other staff occupying the school’s combat zone include Jim Murdock, a cynical teacher just biding his time to retirement; Lois Hammond, a young, idealistic female educator, and Joshua Y. Edwards, a passive instructor whose prized collection of jazz records, including Bix Beiderbecke’s classic “Jazz Me Blues,” is trashed by his hoodlum pupils.

Voicing his concerns to his pregnant wife Anne, Richard Dadier seriously considers taking another teaching job at a nice, safe, private school. It’s little wonder, as the new “teach” experiences a series of disturbing incidents, including a sexual assault in the library, anonymous letters sent to his wife alleging an affair and a rough-and-tumble showdown with the violent, knife-wielding punk Artie West.

The Blackboard Jungle Opens in New York City

The Blackboard Jungle made its debut at New York City’s Loew’s State Theater on March 19, 1955.

“As a straight melodrama of juvenile violence this is a vivid and hair-raising film…It is as hard and penetrating as a nail,” reported Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (3/21/55).

“Glenn Ford, Morrow and Poitier are so real in their performances under the probing direction by Brooks that the picture alternatingly has the viewer pleading, indignant and frightened before the conclusion,” opined Variety (3/2/55).  

“An exaggerated account of an increasing problem,” observed Life magazine in an illustrated story/review titled “Bad Boys in the Schoolroom” (3/28/55).

The Blackboard Jungle Box Office, Academy Award Nominations, Trivia, DVD

• The Blackboard Jungle hit movie theaters like a pair of brass knuckles, grossing $5.459 million at the box office, good for the #14 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1955.
• The Blackboard Jungle earned four Oscar nominations: Best Screenplay, Best B&W Cinematography, Best B&W Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Film Editing.
• The movie features one of the oldest student bodies in Hollywood history. Portraying teenagers are Vic Morrow (born 1929) at 26-years-old, Sidney Poitier (born 1927) at 28, Paul Mazursky (born 1930) at 25, Jamie Farr (born 1934) at 21, Danny Dennis (born 1927) at 28 and Dan Terranova (born 1930) at 25. Talk about no “child” left behind…
• One classroom features a cardboard alphabet display at the top of the blackboard. Nice touch – if this were a first grade classroom and not a high school.
• In January 1955 The Saturday Evening Post began running a five-part series on juvenile delinquency titled “The Shame of America.” It proved to be fabulous promotional material for The Blackboard Jungle’s March 1955 release.
• On DVD: Controversial Classics Collection (Warner, 2005).

“You ever try to fight thirty-five guys at one time, Teach?” the violent Artie West sneers.

Substitute teaching, anyone?