The Longest Day, 1962

THE LONGEST DAY was one of the big ones in that great year 1962. I was 16 at the time but did not see it then, though have seen bits of it over the years, so it was finally interesting to sit down and see it properly. It it is of course 20th Century Fox's retelling, in crisp black and white, of the Normandy landing in 1944 done in an almost documentary style. This was producer Darryl F Zanuck's brainchild, and it is quite impressive. covering the events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.

The British had spent the 1950s re-fighting World War Two with all those films (DUNKIRK, THE CRUEL SEA,  THE DAM BUSTERS, THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM, SEA OF SAND, ICE COLD IN ALEX, REACH FOR THE SKY etc etc) keeping the likes of John Mills, Richard Todd, Kenneth More, Bogarde, Attenborough, Baker etc busy), then the all-star spectacular started arriving in the '60s, a mere 18 years after those D-Day battles, starting with THE LONGEST DAY and followed in 1963 by Carl Foreman's equally starry but downbeat THE VICTORS showing how war degrades everybody, then MGM's all-star OPERATION CROSSBOW and Rene Clement's French all-star IS PARIS BURNING? (roping in the likes of Delon, Belmondo, Montand, Signoret, Welles and visiting Americans), then the later THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN, OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR and A BRIDGE TOO FAR, as well as all the gung-ho actioners.

THE LONGEST DAY from Cornelius Ryan's book is a bit bitty, introducing us to all those guest stars for a moment or two, then we return to them later to see how they fare in the events ... the military are led by John Wayne, Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Henry Fonda looks in, and the personnel include all the young actors on the lot: Jeff Hunter, Robert Wagner, Fabian, Richard Beymer, Tom Tryon, Ray Danton etc. The British get  look in too: Welsh boys Richard Burton (on a break from CLEOPATRA) and Donald Houston, John Gregson as the padre, Todd and More, Sean Connery etc. The Germans are led by weary Curt Jurgens who cannot wake up The Fuhrer as he has taken a sleeping pill, and the French resistance seem to be led by Irina Demick (Zanuck's ladyfriend of the time). At least the German scenes are in German, and directed by German Bernhard Wicki. Ken Annakin and Andrew Morton handle the rest of the action sequences. It was a big achievement at the time, but rather unsatisfactory as there are no main characters to identify with, as we dash around seeing what all the guest stars are up to ...as the three hour running time zips by, The beach landings are not as graphic as SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.

Summer re-views: beach boys

A wet Saturday as summer slips away from us - here in the UK at any rate. How about some beach boy pix to refresh our memories ..... bring on Tom, Tab, Guy, Alain, Rory, Jeff, Fabian and all the rest ....
Alain in PLEIN SOLEIL, and that 1930s nifty swimsuit for THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE. 

Thats Guy Madison on the beach, then Rory Calhoun and Jeff Hunter, Tyrone Power with Cesar Romero, Farley Granger, Tab, Fabian, Troy and Sandra go off to A SUMMER PLACE, and lets end with Tom Daley on the beach at Rio before the Games.... go Tom. 
Well, Tom didn't qualify for the final 12 - these things happen on the day - but hopefully the poster boy and media star will return again for Tokyo in 4 years time .... 

Tab & Fab in '59

Youngsters Tab Hunter and Fabian listen to advice from old timers Frank Sinatra and Gary Cooper back in 1959. Frank was probably shooting CAN CAN on an adjoining 20th Century Fox lot, when Fabian was making his debut in the pleasant HOUND DOG MAN - while over at Warners co-stars Coop and Tab chat on the set of THEY CAME TO CORDURA. Tab and Fab went on to decent careers, see labels - Tab also sang a bit, and Fabian posed for "Playgirl" in the 70s. Here they are at a later date. 

Don Siegel's HOUND DOG MAN is a pleasant diversion and worth seeking out - as per review (Fabian label).

Something for the weekend 1: Fabian

Fabian in stripes! Fab Fabian was only 14 when he was discovered and manufactured into a pop star in the late '50s (Italian-Americans were all the rage then - Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Tommy Sands, John Saxon were others), but he matured rather nicely as an actor in the early '60s, mainly at 20th Century Fox where he usually played second banana to oldies like James Stewart, Bing Crosby, and John Wayne. I liked HOUND DOG MAN in 1959 and still like NORTH TO ALASKA in 1960 ,, FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON was fun recently too (reviews at Fabian label). 

Fabian was practically unrecognisable in the recent BBC documentaries on American Fifties rock'n'roll but, hey, he is in his seventies now; he parlayed his period of stardom into a longer career in television and touring and is still going now. 

5 weeks in a balloon

Back to one of our favourite years 1962 for this enjoyable romp. We liked those Jules Verne extravaganzas at the time - JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, THE LOST WORLD (thats Conan Doyle actually), MYSTERIOUS ISLAND and this. It was a formula that worked - take some senior thespians: James Mason, Claude Rains, Sir Cedric Hardwicke - give them a young sidekick, usually a pop singer: Pat Boone, Michael Callan, Fabian here, some love interest and amusing cameos by reliable old-timers (Peter Lorre and Henry Daniell here, as well as Richard Haydn perfecting his camp fusspot act (as in SITTING PRETTY). We also need some exotic locations and special effects, hopefully by Ray Harryhausen.  FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON by Irwin Allen (before his blockbusters like THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE) fits the  bill nicely. Its as enjoyable a his 1957 THE STORY OF MANKIND! Jules Verne was filmed as often then as Edgar Allen Poe ....

London, the 1800's. Victoria rules her Empire. But overseas, the forces of oppression & evil nibble at the edges. Meanwhile, a gruff old Scots professor takes his latest invention, a huge hot-air balloon, for a trial flight over Moslem Africa, picking up assorted companions along the way. They will meet many kinds of danger, but they must not be stopped, for they are on a secret mission from the Prime Minister: to raise the British flag in a remote part of the Dark Continent before slavers can claim that territory for themselves. In order to succeed, however, they must first spend FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON.

Based on a Jules Verne novel, the story is admittedly silly, but it is colorful and full of action and should appeal to kids. Older viewers will appreciate the unusually rich cast: Sir Cedric Hardwicke & Fabián as the Professor & his assistant; Red Buttons as a playboy reporter; Barbara Eden & Barbara Luna as rescued slaves; Richard Haydn as a stuffy old explorer; and Peter Lorre as a slave trader.

The guest stars & bit players are equally impressive: Henry Daniell, Mike Mazurki, Herbert Marshall & Reginald Owen. All told, they turn this bit of fluff into enjoyable family viewing.

Robin Bean, the editor of "Films and Filming" liked it too. His January 1963 review says: "It is a wholesomely entertaining, gaily ridiculous version of one of Verne's earlier works. Most of the humour is derived from the characterisatons, but there is sufficient wit and sharp observation to stop them becoming caricatures. 
Herbert Marshall makes a brief appearance as the Prime Minister, Peter Lorre amuses as a slave trader, while Henry Daniell is a very suave sheik blandly informing his infidel captives they are to die at dusk, while Richard Haydn clutches his china teapot. Briskly directed by Irwin Allen, thoughtfully  designed and photographed, it is quite a tonic for the drab days of winter. In all, a jolly good show." 

The DVD though has the opening credits in CinemaScope, but then reverts to standard format, but its still enjoyable. 

1954: Rock'n'Roll America = my childhood

Thanks to BBC4, that enterprising music channel, for the three-part series ROCK'N'ROLL AMERICA focusing on that period in the early and mid-'50s when that degenerate new music took hold of America's teenagers and quickly became upstoppable, to the consternation of the older generation. Focusing on the Deep South and Tennessee it showed how the fusion of blues, bluegress, and all that guitar music formed the new music for teenagers bored with their parents' heroes. This was still segregated America as the series shows, with seperate venues for Coloured folk, and the Ku Klux Klan were still operating, and everyone was afraid of flying saucers. The series focuses on the early black stars like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and then it all came together in the shape of Elvis, out of Tupelo and working as a driver in Memphis. We don't need to re-hash all that, but the footage is fascinating. Sun Records were looking for a white boy who could sing black and did Elvis deliver. I love that 1956 footage of him ....

Then along came Jerry Lee Lewis, the film THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT capturing Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, as Jayne sashays to and from the powder room in that red dress; and there were the Everly Brothers fusing their Appalachian tunes and harmonies to the new sounds .... The music biz though needed another white boy to sanitize that rather sleazy R'n'B, so Pat Boone was invented - a clean living (married with 3 little girls) and clean looking white boy eager to bowlerise those lyrics and appeal to the television audience. It worked for Pat - though not many would want to see APRIL LOVE or BERNARDINE or MARDI GRAS now. Boone, famously Christian and right-wing, now 80, is here along with Fabian and lots of other talking heads. The big re-discovery for me is Buddy Holly, with some great footage here - how I love those timeless tracks like "That'll Be The Day", "Not Fade Away", "Peggy Sue Got Married" etc. What a shame he died so young ...

Elvis had his imitators too - pretty Rick Nelson (a major talent too) struck out with Hawks' RIO BRAVO, always on somewhere and frequenly on here; Fabian had a run at Fox - I still like HOUND DOG MAN and that entertaining comedy western NORTH TO ALASKA (Fabian label), he also appeared with James Stewart (twice) and Bing Crosby, and the fantasy FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON, he was the first victim in TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1965) as well as appearing in surfing and hot rod movies, he also tastefully posed for "Playgirl" and is still going. Then there were Tommy Sands, Bobby Rydell and those other Philadelphia boys like Frankie Avalon.

Across the Atlantic, on the West of Ireland I was following all this from that distance, being about 12 at the time, we may not have had AMERICAN BANDSTAND but were able to read about it in the fan magazines, and hear the records and the artists like Connie Francis and Brenda Lee, I remember loving all those circa 1959, when I was 'wild in the country' on holidays. Ireland was really colonised by America then - we did not have their TV, but had the movies and the music and all those magazines and comics, from "Dick Tracy" to National Geographic spreads on Idado and Colorado, as well as LIFE and "Movieland and TV Time" and Dell's "Screen Album". The first record I actually saw and held in my hand was a 78rpm of "Jailhouse Rock" belonging to an older cousin home from London. Soon we were loving Elvis on screen in LOVING YOU and JAILHOUSE ROCK. Then there were those early cheap rock'n'roll movies and Bill Haley ,,,

But by the late-'50s it was all changing ... Elvis was a G.I in Germany and his music was changing, Buddy Holly dead in '59, Jerry Lee was in disgrace after marrying his 13-year old cousin, and wild Little Richard has found God. The music was sanitised for the television audiences, and just around the corner was The Twist and those new dances, the California surfing sound of The Beach Boys, Motown taking off in Detroit, and the British Invasion spearheaded by The Beatles not too far off. 
So, fun to enjoy again that innocent era of the late'50s and all that rock'n'roll.

It pinpoints too what a pivotal year 1954 was - one of my favourite years, I was 8 and had just discovered cinema (as per label 1954-1 - I have written lots on it): Elvis was recording those early ground-breaking records, James Dean was filming EAST OF EDEN for Kazan for 1955 release, while over in Italy teenage Sophia Loren (20 that September) was filming non-stop, plus my favourite film magazine "Films and Filming" began that October .... It would take me a few more years to catch up with those. But I remember the fuss about James Dean and the special magazines that came out after his death, as we all began to go mad over Elvis .... 

Something camp for the weekend 3: a lesser Agatha Christie

A star-laden Agatha Christie from 1974: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. We quite like those camp all-star Agatha Christie adaptations popular in the '70s and '80s, started by MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and getting camper as they went along: DEATH ON THE NILE, EVIL UNDER THE SUN, THE MIRROR'S CRACKED (see Christie label). A lesser one is AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, which features a fascinating round-up of Euro-players, and is set in a luxury hotel in Isfahan, Iran - and features rare footage of the little-seen ancient city of Persepolis, where Alexander the Great hung out. Despite all this, there is something cheap about it though, its very much a minor Christie, but none the less camp for all that. 

A group of ten people, strangers to each other, have all travelled to a hotel located deep in the deserts of Iran. Upon arrival they discover that their host is mysteriously absent. Though some find this odd they decide to make the best of the situation and settle into the isolated but luxurious hotel. But soon they are accused by a tape recording of having committed various crimes in the past which went unpunished by the law. Then one victim dies of poisoning. Then another is strangled .... and the remaining guests deduce that their unseen host is determined to kill them one by one .... and as there is no-one else at the hotel, the killer has to be one of them ..... finally, there are just two left - one of them has to be the killer - or is there a twist ? 

This hoary old Christie chestnut has been done several times. I have not seen the 1940s one, but this 1974 version follows the amusing 1965 British TEN LITTLE INDIANS almost line by line, scene by scene - they are almost comedies. That black and white one was set in an Alpine fortress and had a fascinating 1960s cast with Bond girl Shirley Eaton and Hugh O'Brien, exotic Daliah Lavi, and Fabian, with British stalwarts Dennis Price, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Stanley Holloway and Leo Genn.  

Here in '74 we have Oliver Reed and Elke Sommer as the rather bland leads, with French Stephane Audran and Charles Aznavour, and two Bond villains Gert Frobe and Adolfo Celi, plus Brits Richard Attenborough and Herbert Lom. If you know the twist its reasonably amusing. This one is a Harry Alan Towers polyglot co-production, directed by Peter Collinson. At least it reminds us how much we like the very slinky Stephane Audran, who is marvellous here. Aznavour sings one of his popular hits "Dance in the old fashioned way" before he croaks .... and thats when the fun starts ! Oh, and the voice on the tape machine is Orson Welles ! 

Wild in the country / you ain't nothing but a hound dog! - more teen heart-throbs ...

HOUND DOG MAN in ’59 may not be a western at all but is an amiable, pleasing backwoods comedy drama by Don Siegel set in rural America showcasing Fox’s new talent: singer Fabian as the confused teen, Stuart Whitman as his ne’er-do-well pal who takes the kids on a weekend of hunting with their hound-dogs, Carol Lynley and Dodie Stevens are the girls - Carol wants to tame Whitman, while Dodie and Fabian seem fated to be mated, after that barn-dance. 

Arthur O’Connell and Betty Field are the nice understanding parents, and there are old timers like Jane Darwell and Royal Dano, and its all perfectly delightful. Siegel also scored next year in 1960 putting Elvis out west in the stirring FLAMING STAR. HOUND DOG MAN is the kind of thing 20th Century Fox did well, their charming version of rural Americana ... usually those Jerry Wald productions like the pretty but vapid HEMINGWAY'S ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG MAN in 1962.

Teen heart-throbs:
Fabian was the ideal idol for a while then - an Italian-American teenager discovered and made a singer, he looked the part and filled a pair of jeans nicely. Good too with comic timing in NORTH TO ALASKA (rave for this favourite 1960 western at Fabian label) and other Fox movies like HIGH TIME, FIVE WEEKS IN A BALOON, and MR HOBBS TAKES A VACATION, amother other acting roles. 
He posed (tastefully) for "Playgirl" and aged quite well.  Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson (and even Tommy Sands) all went into the movies too, scoring while Elvis was away in the army - Ricky being a delight in Hawks' RIO BRAVO - and of course Bobby Darin in COME SEPTEMBER, not to mention the Elvis films - his big hit G I BLUES after his return from Germany, and those Fox dramas WILD IN THE COUNTRY and FLAMING STAR before all those lesser-quality items ... while serious actors like Tab Hunter and Tony Perkins tried their hand at singing - successfully too ! Then came the blondes: Troy Donahue, Tab Hunter, James Franciscus, and another striking brunette: Kerwin Matthews ... as per labels. Soon: more Guy Madison ! Kerwin Matthews ! George Maharis ! and those new 60s boys Warren Beatty, Christopher Jones ("the new James Dean"), Georges Peppard and Hamilton, Jean Sorel and some French guys ...

Forgotten '60s movies: Dear Brigitte

DEAR BRIGITTE is another of those gloopy comedies 20th Century Fox turned out in the early '60s featuring James Stewart, and directed once again by veteran Henry Koster. Here in 1965 Stewart (plus hairpiece) is the quirky professor and poet, who lives with his family on a riverboat. He always has a smart, spunky wife (its Maureen O'Hara in MR HOBBS TAKES A VACATION in '62, Audrey Meadows in TAKE HER SHE'S MINE in '63 (which I have not seen, but will before too long) and here it is Glynis Johns - last teamed with Stewart in 1951's NO HIGHWAY (also directed by Koster, who also helmed Stewart's HARVEY). There, Glynis was the air hostess helping Stewart's boffin about that dangerous flight ... here, they could be that married couple 15 years later ....

There is also of course a blonde daughter who again (as in MR HOBBS) has Fabian as a boyfriend. Fabian was amusing in HOUND DOG MAN and NORTH TO ALASKA but often ended up playing second banana to older stars like Stewart, Wayne, Crosby etc. Glynis (still here in her 90s) shines here, after her mother role in MARY POPPINS, I met her the next year 1966 when she was doing a play in London, and remember her enormous false eyelashes!  Wonderful Alice Pearce is also amusing here as the lady in the unemployment office with an eye for Professor Stewart ...

In DEAR BRIGITTE the professor's son Erasmus (freckled Billy Mumy) turns out to be a maths genius, attracting the attention of crooked John Williams. Erasmus though has no musical talent but writes letters to French star Brigitte Bardot - surely though he could not have seen many or any of her films? The plot takes us to Paris for the highlight of the film - a few minutes with Brigitte herself who appears very charming and friendly here and she even gives Erasmus an adorable little puppy! It is all pleasant, forgetttable stuff, so forgettable in fact that I had not seen it since its 1965 release and it never showed here again! 

We loved Stewart in the '30s: MR DEEDS and DESTRY; in the '40s: his Macaulay Connor in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, his films with his old pal Margaret Sullavan, his George Bailey in Bedford Falls in ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE; in the '50s with those Anthony Mann westerns, and Hitchcock classics - 1958 saw his last leading man roles in VERTIGO and BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, then 1959 saw the start of his older character roles in ANATOMY OF A MURDER. He did some more westerns: Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALLANCE is highly regarded (though I never cared for it myself, he seemed too old here for a start), HOW THE WEST WAS WON, SHENANDOAH, and those Fox comedies where he was the bumbling parent - rather an acquired taste now.  The best of his later roles was as the doctor with the equally aged John Wayne in THE SHOOTIST in 1976, where it was touching seeing the two old warriors having a last hurrah. (He died aged 89 in 1997).

Some more Brigitte:  with Robert Hossein in LOVE ON A PILLOW or THE WARRIOR'S REST in 1962 - which was a tedious chore to sit through, while BB and  Henri Vidal in COME DANCE WITH ME, 1959, is an absolute delight, totally charming with BB going undercover as a dance instructer to save her dentist husband from blackmail by scheming Dawn Addams; and with Vidal again and Charles Boyer in UNE PARISIENNE, 1957, another pleasant comedy by Michel Boisrond. 

We liked BB a lot in 1967's TWO WEEKS IN SEPTEMBER, at BB label...

In truth BB's career was winding down by then, 1965 - she had one great movie left, Malle's delightful arthouse hit VIVA MARIA with Moreau, in 1966, and I liked her TWO WEEKS IN SEPTEMBER from '67, but that dreadful Spanish western SHALAKO trashed her and the rest of the cast in 1968, and she had finished with movies by 1973, as she devoted her time to her animal welfare interests. 
BB sang too - I remember having a disk of hers "Sidonie" from the early '60s.