Here's a happy policeman...we know what he is grinning at, but do you? You really don't have to know, all you have to do is guess what film this is from - that's the name of the game, and that's why it is so impossibly difficult!
As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here!
It's been quite a while since we posted our last "Midjourney at the Movies" feature so this time we have quite a few images to share. It is fun creating pictures on Midjourney but it is equally entertaining seeing what other members decided to create with this powerful tool. If you are not familiar with Midjourney, it is one of the leading Ai art generators and v7 was recently released which has definitely made its images more detailed and much more precise to what you input. There are new features that let you upload photos and keep the likeness of what is in the photo, so replicating old Hollywood stars is even easier now (and much more scary-realistic). A few days ago, Midjourney also released video output, so now you can upload an image and get a 5-second video generated. Gadzooks!
Anyway, here are some images that we discovered over the past few weeks. The captions are our own, so you have to click on the photo itself to be taken to the Midjourney site if you want to obtain the image "prompt" to experiment with for yourself.
On a side note: please don't leave hateful comments about AI art and its usage. It's only a tool and if you do not like it, just skip over this post. Thank you!
 |
| Leonard Nimoy as Spock in a scene from the TV series "Star Trek" |
 |
| What is George Washington appeared as a guest on Star Trek? He may have looked like this. |
 |
| It looks like this user may have combined Anne Heywood with a scene from The Children's Hour to get a Hollywood scene like this. |
 |
| Here's a cute one of a Scarlet O'Hara-ish film still. She looks a bit like Susan Hayward, who was actually offered the part in Gone with the Wind. |
 |
| This one is amazing! This handsome heartthrob looks like a blend of Sean Connery, Richard Burton and Guy Madison. Now you have to give him a Hollywood name. Click here to see this image "videofied" -it's frightfully good! |
 |
| Speaking of Sean Connery....what if there was a Bond film set in Greece with Mr. Connery playing 007? One member prompted this. |
 |
| If Sean doesn't look quite like himself in the above still, he sure does in this poster rendering. Although, he isn't carrying his favorite Walther PPK. |
 |
| Of course, Marilyn Monroe is a popular topic, here she is wearing a frothy low-cut jeweled dress in what looks like a 1950s publicity photo. |
 |
| Audrey Hepburn is another popular actress in Ai creations....someone cleverly thought to imagine her as a 5-year old girl. Even "Toto" took on some of Audrey's features. |
 |
| Now if Audrey appeared in a black-and-white period film, she may have looked like this. |
 |
| This looks like a 1980s TV promo photo with that lovely soft glow....note the extra finger on this woman and her upside down pen. By v8, I'm sure even these small mistakes will be ironed out of Midjourney, it is progressing so fast. |
 |
| A Superman publicity photo from 1980 - I wish this fellow had starred in a TV version! |
 |
| If you prefer Batman - here's a great shot of an Adam West-like actor playing the caped crusader. |
 |
| A vintage trading card for a BBC Henry James production from 1968. |
 |
| Midjourney can do "character sheets" to give you inspiration.... |
 |
| ... and animation "cels" to see what the final result looks like. Nifty. |
 |
| Lastly, a book illustration of a 1960s Michael Caine type character in London. |
"Mommy, is that Schmoe gonna be our father??"
Yes, unfortunately, Bowen's two boys see their new father as a failure, especially when compared to He-Man Don Adams (Richard Denning), the camp counselor, but Mrs. Bowen knows what a gem she found. Stubbs' two daughters are disappointed with "mother" as well.... they were hoping their dad was going to marry the glamorous TV star Phyllis Reynolds (Virginia Field) whom he has been dating for over a year.
Ironing up the difficulty with their children and trying to shake off the two cardboard idols makes up with the bulk of the film and provides ample opportunity for comedic moments, many of which were provided in Joseph Hoffman's script. Incidentally, this script feels like it was tailor-made for Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. I wonder if they weren't initially planned to be the stars of this vehicle. Colbert would have been wonderful as Mrs. Bowen, but Patricia Neal does what she can with the role and what she does is rather good.
Universal released so many entertaining comedies in the late 1940s and early 1950s and just about every actor on their payroll ended up appearing in at least one during their tenure with the studio. Van Heflin and Patricia Neal are generally considered serious actors, but they do a good job with these light-hearted roles.... especially Heflin, who should have gone on to make more comedies.
Weekend with Father was directed by Douglas Sirk, who was such a versatile director. He made a series of comedies before switching to adventure films and later mushy romance pictures starring Rock Hudson. This film plays out quickly and keeps the laughs going.
You can't help but feel sorry for both parents as they put up with their children's antics but faced with the same situation, I guess most couples would bend backward trying to get their children to like their newly chosen spouse. It's worth checking out this little-known classic and, to make the film extra special, why not pair this with Walt Disney's short cartoon "Father's Weekend" featuring Goofy?
Happy Father's Day!
This year, the Big Screen Classics continues with some interesting selections as well as some old-and-true classics:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - June 14, 15 and 18 (Father's Day weekend)
Clueless (30th Anniversary) - June 29, 30
This is Spinal Tap - July 5,7
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (50th Anniversary) - July 13, 16
Sunset Boulevard (75th anniversary) - Aug 3, 4
The Sound of Music (60th Anniversary) - Sept 13, 14 and 17
Rocky IV - Rocky vs Drago - Nov 5, 9
Oddly, there are no films listed for the month of October or December but sometimes they issue a film at a short notice, so check out Fanthom's website to see what the latest releases are.
David Niven and Cantiflas as Phileas Fogg and Passepartout pose for a photograph before embarking on their extraordinary adventure around the world in this scene from Around the World in 80 Days (1956).
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
Every Saturday afternoon for the last 20 years, I've enjoyed the routine of watching cooking shows on PBS. These include Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Lidia Bastianich, and of course Mary Ann Esposito, who hosted Ciao Italia which ranks as the longest-running cooking show on PBS.
Ciao Italia first premiered in 1989 and ran for over 35 years...that's a lot of Italian cooking! Since Mary Ann Esposito has cooked so many authentic Italian favorites over the years she has built up quite a library of recipes and cooking footage from the series. If you head over to www.ciaoitalia.com you will find that she has shared many (if not all) of these recipes online in a wonderful database where you can click on any season and any recipe and view the recipe in full along with the film clip from the episode where it appeared. Simply click on "Seasons" and you will find them all. This is such a great site so be sure to check it out!
For her first US album (from Mercury Records) she performed some of her personal favorites in a mixture of Japanese and English languages. Personally, I favored her Japanese renditions and was hoping to find an album of hers in Japanese but no such luck...even in the 1950s, Japanese audiences wanted to hear American songs in English!
There are some lovely orchestra arrangements with these songs but what makes them especially wonderful is Miyoshi's rendering of these classics. She puts such heart in her singing.
Click here to listen to the full album on Youtube.
Track Listing:
Side A
If I Give My Heart to You
China Nights
I'm in the Mood for Love
My Baby's Comin' Home
How Deep is the Ocean
Slowly Go Out of Your Mind
Side B
Teach Me Tonight
Hanna Ko San
Can't Help Lovin' That Man
S'Wonderful
Over the Rainbow
Sayonara
Top Picks: China Nights, I'm in the Mood for Love, Hanna Ko San, Can't Help Lovin' that Man, Sayonara
