Jon Hall and George Reeves, Two Suicides

Above, George Reeves and Jon Hall in The Mutineers (1949). Columbia Pictures photo.

This evening, while having dinner, I watched the Universal Pictures feature, The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944), which is part of the Invisible Man Legacy Collection DVD set I have. I had never viewed the movie before today. It stars Jon Hall in the title role.

It was entertaining, but not one of the more popular (or better) Invisible Man series of movies. 

I remembered while watching it that Hall died by suicide on December 13, 1979. He was suffering from terminal bladder cancer and was in excruciating pain. Apparently, the pain got so great that he ended his suffering by a bullet to the brain.

I also remembered that Jon Hall starred with George Reeves in The Mutineers (1949) for Sam Katzman and Columbia Pictures. Reeves, as everyone knows, put a bullet through his head on June 16, 1959. Nobody knows the reason except Reeves had a high amount of alcohol in his blood at the time of his death.

It is interesting that Hall and Reeves starred together in The Mutineers and both later died by suicide. Also, Hall had a syndicated television show, Ramar of the Jungle from 1952 to 1954, at the same time Adventures of Superman starring Reeves was originally syndicated. Another coincidence, I recall Ramar of the Jungle had the same music cues as the first season of Adventures of Superman. I watched Ramar reruns back in the early 1960s.

I find it interesting that the careers and fates of Jon Hall and George Reeves shared such similarities.

Boris Karloff Collection

Yesterday, I picked up the Boris Karloff Collection from Mill Creek Entertainment on DVD. They consist of the following from Columbia Pictures:

"The Black Room", "The Man They Could Not Hang", "The Man With Nine Lives", "Before I Hang", "The Devil Commands", and "The Boogie Man Will Get You".

Thus far, I have watched "The Black Room" (first time I've seen it since I was a kid) and "The Man They Could Not Hang".

In "The Black Room", Karloff plays a dual role of twin brothers. One kills the other to take on his identity. One of Karloff's best.

This is my first viewing of "The Man They Could Not Hang". It reminds me a bit of two Universal Pictures movies, "The Raven" and "Black Friday", although those came out later.

So far, I am enjoying this set.

I also picked up a 1982 Sean Connery flick, "Five Days One Summer". I talk about that one at a later time.

Noel Neill Turns 95

Above, Noel Neill and Armand at the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration in 2001.

Actress Noel Neill, who originated the screen role of Lois Lane in two Columbia Pictures Sam Katzman serials, was born November 25, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She later reclaimed the Lois Lane role in television's Adventures of Superman in 1953 when Phyllis Coates opted to do a different television show.

Over the years, before advancing age and health problems forced her quit, Noel made many convention appearances around the country. She began by giving presentations at college and universities, often having audience members come up on stage to re-enact scenes from Adventures of Superman from the show's scripts.

Above, Noel Neill and George Reeves.

I first met her in July 2001 at the Superman Week celebration at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

She will be receiving a big surprise today, as fans contributed almost $600 for flowers for her birthday and they will be delivered to her assisted living home in Arizona.

Happy Birthday, Noel!

Sony Wimps Out And Cancels Release of "The Interview"

Above, the Three Stooges in You Nazty Spy. Photo by Columbia Pictures.

Let's see. Dictators in the past have always been lampooned by Hollywood. Hollywood is now being run by pansies.

Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator and The Three Stooges' You Nazty Spy come immediately to mind (to read an interesting article on these and other movies, go here). Both Chaplin and Moe Howard lampooned Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

It is interesting that The Three Stooges' You Nazty Spy was released by Columbia Pictures. The current parent company to Columbia Pictures is Sony Pictures Entertainment, the same Sony who has decided to cave in to threats by not releasing a new comedy on a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

According to Japan Today:

NEW YORK —Sony Pictures on Wednesday abruptly canceled the Dec 25 U.S. release of the comedy which has angered North Korea and triggered chilling threats from hackers, reportedly suspected to be ordered by Pyongyang. 

The Hollywood studio announced the decision after the majority of U.S. theater chains said they would not screen “The Interview” about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. 

“In light of the decision by the majority of our (theater) exhibitors not to show the film ‘The Interview,’ we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release,” it said in a statement.

According to an article in Variety, U.S. authorities have found linkage that North Korea ordered recent cyberattacks against Sony, including the threats.

The Interview will eventually be released. This episode of North Korean cyberterrorism will only make people more curious to screen the movie to see what the fuss was all about.

Sony should have not caved in and kept to the December 25 release schedule.

As former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, "With the Sony collapse, America has lost its first cyberwar."

"SPECTRE" Script Stolen In Sony Cyberattack

Above, Donald Pleasence as SPECTRE boss Ernst Stavro
Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967). United Artists photo.

An occurrence that would make for a good script itself has actually happened to Sony Pictures.

Japan Today reported:

LOS ANGELES —Early villains have emerged in the next James Bond film “SPECTRE”: hackers who stole a version of the screenplay as part of a devastating cyberattack on Sony Pictures. 

Producers of the James Bond films said they learned on Saturday morning that an early version of the “SPECTRE” script was among material stolen and made public by hackers who infiltrated computers at the Sony studio. 

“Eon Productions is concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents,” Eon said in a statement, while warning that the script is protected by UK copyright laws.

Earlier, it was reported that sensitive information gleaned from the cyberattack included emails, salary information and actors' personal information.

To read more, go here. 

Hacker Reveals Jennifer Lawrence Is Paid Less Than Male Co-Stars

Above, Jennifer Lawrence.

It is interesting to learn that the bastion of liberal politics, Hollywood, is neck-deep in sex discrimination when it comes to compensating their stars.

A hacker has reached into the records of Sony Entertainment (Columbia Pictures) and found that Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence was paid less than her male co-stars in American Hustle.

According to The Daily Beast:

The Daily Beast has combed through much of the hundreds of thousands of emails and unearthed many other shocking revelations which you can find here.  

But the most troubling reveal concerning Lawrence is in regard to her financial compensation with hacked emails revealing that the Hunger Games star was compensated less than her male co-stars on American Hustle. 

In an email dated December 5, 2013, Andrew Gumpert, President of Business Affairs and Administration for Columbia Pictures, wrote to Pascal and Doug Belgrad, President of SPE Motion Picture Group, about the “points”—or back-end compensation—that each actor was to receive on Hustle. (The “Amy” referred to is Amy Adams, “O'Russell” is director David O. Russell, “Renner” is Jeremy Renner, and  “Megan” is Megan Ellison, head of Annapurna Pictures, which co-financed Hustle.)

The funny part is that liberals in the Democratic Party and Hollywood have been claiming that there's a "war on women" by the Republican Party and beating the drums for equality, yet female stars are getting the short end when it comes to compensation by their Hollywood studio masters. This is hypocrisy at its worst.

To read more, go here.

"Skyfall" Blu-ray

The newly-released Skyfall Blu-ray made it to my collection yesterday and it is one that fans of the 50-year-old franchise must get.

Besides the Blu-ray disc, the package also includes a second disc that includes DVD version of the movie along with software and instructions for streaming/downloading for portable media players.

The Blu-ray picture quality and sound are fantastic.  I already posted at how gorgeous the night scenes of Shanghai, China are, but the Blu-ray really makes them stand out (other night shots of London and Macau are equally as impressive).

There are plenty of extras, including the theatrical trailer, making of Skyfall documentaries (locations, music, M, Judi Dench, the Aston Martin and many others) and commentaries.  Great stuff!

The folks at Eon Productions, MGM and Columbia Pictures really made Bond's 50th Anniversary something very special. Skyfall is one great 50th Anniversary movie.

My grade: A+.

40 Years of "Godzilla vs. Hedorah"

Seven years ago, the 50th anniversary of Godzilla (1954) was celebrated.

Part of that celebration included the DVD release by Columbia-TriStar Home Entertainment of Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), along with several other Godzilla movies.

Suddenly, next month marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Godzilla vs. Hedorah in Japan on July 24, 1971. It was released the following year in the United States as Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster.

This is the famous (or infamous, depending upon one's point-of-view) movie in which Godzilla curls up his tail and uses his atomic breath as a rocket engine to fly (!) after Hedorah. Director Yoshimitsu Bannai added the flying scenes to "lighten up" an otherwise dark movie. This was Banno's message movie on pollution.

Right, Yoshimitsu Banno at a dinner party in Roppongi, Tokyo in 2004. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The movie is quirky in other ways besides the flying sequences. It also contains animated sequences whose intent was to drive home the dangers of pollution along with strange music motifs and bizarre editing.

Tomoyuki Tanaka, the producer of the Godzilla series, was in the hospital at the time Hedorah was made. When he finally saw the finished movie, he reportedly said that Banno ruined the Godzilla series and was determined to never allow Banno to direct another Godzilla movie. This may or may not be a true story. Banno refuted this at G-FEST a few years ago.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah has risen in G-fandom's esteem over the years. The U.S. version (Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster) was featured in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.

To this day, Godzilla vs. Hedorah remains an odd entry in the entire series of Godzilla movies. At least one can't say it's dull.

Happy 40th anniversary!

Joanne Siegel, Widow of Superman Co-Creator, Dies At 93

by Armand Vaquer

Above, a group photo from the Superman Week ceremony with Joanne Siegel and her daughter Laura at far right. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Sad news today in the world of Superman.

Joanne Siegel, the widow of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the model for Lois Lane (drawn by Joe Shuster) died today in California at the age of 93.

Daughter Laura Siegel Larson is currently making funeral arrangements.

It was my honor and privilege to meet Mrs. Siegel in July 2001 at the Superman Week ceremony at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. At that ceremony, Mrs. Siegel met actress Noel Neill for the first time. Neill played Lois Lane in to Sam Katzman Columbia serials and replaced Phyllis Coates in the role on the Adventures of Superman television show in 1953.

Mrs. Siegel later joined us for a luncheon at Cafe Pinot following the ceremony.

My condolences to the Siegel family.

Actress Nina Foch, 1924 - 2008

1924 - 2008
Actress and drama teacher Nina Foch has passed away.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

Nina Foch, a veteran actress from Hollywood's film noir era of the 1940s who became a widely respected acting coach and teacher of directors, died Friday at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She was 84.

The cause was complications of long-term myelodysplasia, a blood disorder, according to her son, Dr. Dirk De Brito.

Foch became ill Thursday while teaching "Directing the Actor," a popular course at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, where she taught for 40 years. She also offered the class for years at the American Film Institute.

Her students have included a number of accomplished directors, including Randal Kleiser, Amy Heckerling, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.

I mostly remember her as Nicky in Return of the Vampire in which she co-starred with Bela Lugosi in 1943 for Columbia Pictures.