The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game

It's that time of year again..... yes, Christmas is just around the corner and so to help speed along the days till then, we've got a puzzle for you to solve. This one is rather easy and - if you watch this film around Christmastime - you'll recognize it in a snap. So get snapping! Leave your guess in the comment box below and you might have an extra Christmas present coming your way. 

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game or the prize, click here!

GAME OVER. 

Congratulations to Chloe the Movie Critic for correctly identifying this scene from In the Good Old Summertime (1949, MGM) starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson. In this scene, Johnson's "lady friend" is playing Mr. Oberkugen's coveted Stratovarius for her recital. 

The Private War of Major Benson (1955)

Atten-shun!! Get ready to muster for some good family entertainment with The Private War of Major Benson, a little-known gem of a comedy from Universal Pictures. 

Charlton Heston stars as Major Benson, an overly strict army officer but one whose bark is worse than his bite. He opened his mouth once too often and ended up being booted from active service and assigned to command a military boarding school co-run by Catholic nuns. The "men" he needs to drill into soldiers range from age six to fifteen, one of whom has trouble keeping his pants up. 

"We've gotta turn these milkshake drinking school boys into whiskey drinking soldiers!"

If it isn't humiliating enough to be in this position, Major Benson gets pegged ten notches lower when the boys go over his head and sign a petition to have him ousted. Benson then does some soul searching to discover where he went wrong as a leader and, with the aid of Mother Redempta (Nana Bryant) and the lovely Ms. Lambert (Julie Adams), he tries to win back their approval. 

The Private War of Major Benson was one of many entertaining family comedies that Universal Pictures released in the 1950s. This came a year before Heston donned sandals and staff to portray Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. No matter how rough Heston pretended to be as Major Benson, he still comes out looking like a swell guy - a little chipped, but still lovable. 

At least, the school's doctor Ms. Lambert aka "Lammy" thinks so. The boys think otherwise, especially little "Tiger" played by the scene-stealing Tim Hovey. The other boys who consider Benson a fink include Tim Considine, Sal Mineo, Butch Jones and Gary Pagett. 

"This is our school's founder. He was canonized in 1857." - Mother Redempta [showing Benson a portrait of a priest] 
"Aw, gee... That's too bad." - Major Benson

Jerry Hopper does a great job of directing The Private War of Major Benson and keeps the fun going from start to finish. The script was penned by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher who later created "Leave it to Beaver" on television. Also in the cast is William Demarest as the school's handyman, Milburn Stone as Benson's commanding officer, and Don Haggerty. Major Benson doesn't have the makings of a four-star general, but he gets four stars for entertainment!

From the Archives: Come to the Stable (1949)

This photo from Come to the Stable (1949) shows Dorothy Patrick, Hugh Marlowe and Louis Jean Heydt in one of my favorite scenes. Dorothy is singing "Through a Long and Sleepless Night" which they all agree will be composer Hugh Marlowe's best song yet... until they hear the nuns from the convent across the lawn singing an old French melody that sounds just like the piece. The set design for Hugh Marlowe's house is marvelous - who wouldn't want that great big fireplace!

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures

Tell it to the Judge (1949)

Rosalind Russell and Robert Cummings seem like an unlikely pair of actors to play a married couple but they were a delightfully entertaining twosome in Paramount's 1949 comedy Tell it to the Judge. 

Roz was top-billed as a would-be Federal Court judge who is being wooed by ex-husband Robert Cummings who wants her back. He remarries her only to lose her once again when Marie McDonald, a curvaceous client of his, reappears in the scene. Gig Young adds to the merriment as a debonair playboy whom Russell snags to spite her husband. 

Tell it to the Judge is chock full of witty barbs that Rosalind Russell and Bob Cummings enjoy throwing at each other and there are plenty of visual gags, too. It is one of Paramount's better comedies of the late 1940s and it brought back the bubbly vibes of the 1930s screwball comedy genre. In fact, had this film been released ten years earlier it could have been an excellent MGM comedy starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. ("Let's Fall in Love" would have been a perfect title to this imaginary production).

The film bounces along at a spritely pace with director Norman Foster making sure there was never a dull moment. The setting jumps from Washington D.C. to Palm Beach to the snowy Adirondacks and the art direction - by Carl Anderson - is wonderful. However, it is the cast that makes the picture. Rosalind Russell and Robert Cummings were in top form. Cummings is especially hilarious when he acts drowsy after taking four sleeping tablets! The rest of the cast is made up of seasoned pros such as Harry Davenport, Douglas Dumbrille, Marie McDonald, Fay Baker, Louise Beavers and Clem Bevans.

Tell it to the Judge is available on DVD and can also be seen frequently on the Cinevault Channel on Roku. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

                                     

Happy Thanksgiving dear readers! 

Shirley Temple is as surprised as we are by how quickly turkey-day has come around. We are grateful for a lot of things this year, including a wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner, family and friends, great classic films to enjoy, and we are especially grateful for you, our loyal readers. We wish you all a blessed holiday season!

British Pathé: Map Making (1961)

In Great Britain, they have a national mapping agency known as The Ordnance Survey (OS) which provides highly-detailed geographic maps for individuals as well as for military purposes. In the early 1960s, the Ordnance Survey undertook to re-map Great Britain and it was a massive project. 

This 1961 British Pathe newsreel shows just how large a project it was and how many people were involved in the creation of these new maps... literally thousands of skilled artists and technicians! Mapping the land is difficult enough but it is even more impressive to watch the maps being made, from the super tiny ink work that needed to be done to the huge printing plates that had to be created. 

These road maps were then purchased by drivers and hikers who probably had no idea how many people were behind the making of the map that they held in their hands. 

Ready to watch Map Making? Simply click on the link below: 

Map Making (1961) - 3:36 sec

Similar British Pathé newsreels:

Map Making (1942) - 1:50 sec 

Plastic Maps (1947) - 1:23 sec

Map Survey (1965) - 2:20 sec

Ordnance Survey Mapmakers (1965) - 1:00 sec

Film Albums: The Trouble with Angels (1966)

In 1966, Jerry Goldsmith was relatively new to soundtrack scoring for comedy films (he was making a name for himself writing music for western films and television series), but nevertheless he created a marvelous score for the dramatic comedy The Trouble with Angels starring Hayley Mills and Rosalind Russell. He mixes a light-hearted upbeat tempo (reflecting the rebellious teens) with a solemn church-like theme to create an entirely new sound. It's a happy score with hints of religious themes and it was perfectly suited to the picture. 

The complete album is available on Youtube. Just click on the link below to enjoy: 

The Trouble with Angels Original Soundtrack

Track Listing

Main Title

Welcome to St. Francis

Warning #1

Dirty Dishes

Changing Seasons

Snow Birds

Silent Sunday

True Feelings

A Pot of Tea

Angels We Have Heard on High

The Sewing Circle

Future Plans

Sad Sunday

Graduation

Rachel Says Goodbye

End Title

Top Picks: Main Title, Welcome to St. Francis, Snow Birds, Rachel Says Goodbye