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[struth]

Once Upon a Time in the West, 1968..




After making his American Civil War epic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Leone had intended to make no more Westerns, believing he had said all he wanted to say. He had come across the novel The Hoods by the pseudonymous "Harry Grey", a fictionalized book based on the author's own experiences as a Jewish hood during Prohibition, and planned to adapt it into a film (17 years later, it would become his final film, Once Upon a Time in America). Leone, though, was offered only Westerns by the Hollywood studios. United Artists (which had produced the Dollars Trilogy) offered him the opportunity to make a film starring Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas, and Rock Hudson, but Leone refused. When Paramount offered Leone a generous budget along with access to Henry Fonda—his favorite actor, and one with whom he had wanted to work for virtually all of his career—Leone accepted the offer.

[struth]

Joe Kidd, 1972..



Writer Elmore Leonard certainly did know something about classic firearms. From Frank Harlan's (Robert Duvall's) Custom Savage 99 (1899), Olin Mingo's (James Wainwright's) Remington-Keene sporter (1880) in .45-70, Lamarr Simms' (Don Stroud's) Mauser C-96 (1896) broomhandle, and Joe Kidd's (Clint Eastwood's) Cased Ross Rifle sporter model M-10 (1910) in .280 Ross. Leonard took special care to ensure all weapons (even the optics) were period accurate for that movie, being set in pre-statehood New Mexico territory (1912).

In an interview given to French student Emmanuel Laborit in 1990, John Sturges said he had a lot of problems directing Clint Eastwood, and regretted that he did not resign during filming. This is the last time someone else (John Sturges) directed Clint Eastwood in a western. Eastwood appeared in four more westerns, all directed by himself.

[struth]

The Professionals, 1966...

Despite the principal male actors being in their 50's (except for Lee Marvin, who was only 42), all of them insisted on performing their own stunts. However, only Woody Strode performed all of his stunts as there were no black stuntmen who came close to his height and stature. Burt Lancaster, who was 52 at the time, did most of his own stunts, including being hung upside down in Coyote Pass and running across the top of the moving train car. The studio balked, however, at Lancaster climbing the side of the cliff in the pass to plant the dynamite and a stuntman was substituted. Even though Palance was as tall as Strode, he had to use a stunt double for the scenes where he was wounded and fell off his horse, because falling the wrong way off a horse could lead to serious injuries.






During the filming of the scene where Maria attempts to escape through a canyon wired with dynamite, Claudia Cardinale's stunt double was badly injured during the explosion. Cardinale, who had never ridden a horse before, performed the stunt herself for the final cut, and escaped uninjured.

First western to feature nudity although it is a long-range view and tame by later standards.

Lee Marvin took it upon himself to keep the film's guns clean in the unpredictable desert conditions.

[struth]

Silver Streak, 1976...




The twin open cockpit vintage plane was a de Havilland Tiger Moth model DH 82-C, registration N523R, which had been built in 1950. Its serial number was 1481, and its scenes were filmed in the Mojave Desert in California. Publicity for the film stated that the plane was owned by Cliff Robertson. The plane was painted with water soluble silver paint to camouflage its original colors, which were white with orange on a strip down the sides, and also on its leading edges. The plane was substantially damaged in a forced landing near Fontana, California on 23 June 2012, and it's registration was allowed to expire in 2018.

[struth]

The Legend of Tarzan , 2016...Alexander Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson and Margot Robbie.

[struth]

North West Frontier, 1959...





"DVD Talk" said of this film that it " . . . has a lot in common with John Ford's Stagecoach (1939) in that it's essentially a tale of a motley mix of Anglos confined in a train car, racing across an Indian plain trying to evade 'bloodthirsty savages'. It may be a blatant reworking of Stagecoach (1939), as the original story was co-written by John Ford (I)'s son Patrick Ford and Maureen O'Hara's husband Will Price. The final screenplay was adapted from a script by screenwriter Frank S. Nugent, the writer of 11 Ford films."

This picture's setting, the North-West Frontier Province of colonial British India in 1905, is now in modern-day Pakistan, but the movie was actually filmed in Guadix, Granada, in Andalucía, Spain.

The song Capt Scott (Kenneth More) sings and which is used as an occasional theme, especially at the end, is the Eton Boating Song, often heard in the Ealing comedies like "The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)" and "The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)."

[Lawrence001]

I can remember the scene where the little boy was playing with a stick and a big machine and the baddy was going to push him in (think it was the same actor who played Clouseau's mad boss in the Pink Panther). A memorable scene that I saw it when I was at school.

[struth]

I can remember the scene where the little boy was playing with a stick and a big machine and the baddy was going to push him in (think it was the same actor who played Clouseau's mad boss in the Pink Panther). A memorable scene that I saw it when I was at school.

lol yes, it was herbert lom..

[struth]

The Adjustment Bureau, 2011...matt damon and emily blunt..(emily is always watchable)




The names of the three main members of the Adjustment Bureau are Thompson, Richardson, and Harry: a play on the term Tom, Dick, and Harry, which is slang for any anonymous persons. Phillip K. Dick is also the writer of the short story the movie is based on.

Some of Emily Blunt's dancing scenes were completed using a body double, dancer Acacia Schachte of the Cedar Lake Company, with the actress' face being digitally placed on the dancer's body.

The first of three films Emily Blunt has been in where characters try to change the future; the other two are Looper (2012) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). ( both excellent films by way)

[struth]

Private's Progress, 1956..




The closing epilogue and dedication states: "To all those who got away, this film is most respectfully dedicated."