This album - The Happy Hits - released in 1964 by RCA (LPM 2926) is not quite a film album but it includes a number of tracks that were from movies that were popular at the time: The Pink Panther, From Russia with Love, Wives and Lovers, and Love with the Proper Stranger. "Come Bach with Me" is probably the jazziest version of Bach's Fugue in D Minor that I have ever heard. Indeed, these are happy hits!
Click here to listen to the full album on Youtube.
Track Listing
Java
If I Had a Hammer
Ebb Tide
Come Bach with Me
Wives and Lovers
The Pink Panther Theme
Hello, Dolly!
From Russia with Love
People (from "Funny Girl")
Boinggg!
Love with the Proper Stranger
Don't Let the Rain Come Down
Top Picks: The Pink Panther, Come Bach to Me, Wives and Lovers, From Russia with Love, Love with the Proper Stranger
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.
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!
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 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!
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
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
Here's an important-looking man doing important-looking work... at least, some may think so. It depends on how much money you have riding in the 7th.
As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here!
There's something about the comedies of the early 1950s that I find so likeable. Even when they have silly and incredulous plots, they are entertaining. You Never Can Tell is one of those films with an amusing yet decidedly implausible plot. In fact, it was publicized as "A Picture for People Who Think They've Seen Everything!"
You may have heard of a man turning into a dog, but this film is about a dog turning into a man. Dick Powell stars as the reincarnated dog who continues to munch on kibbles and scratch behind his ear while in human form.
When King goes to the Beastatory - the afterlife of animals - he requests to return to Earth to avenge his murder and clear his mistress Ellen of suspicion. Hence, private detective Rex Shepard suddenly appears along with his private secretary Goldie (Joyce Holden), who was formerly "Golden Harvest," a prize-winning racehorse. While the two-legged Palamino spends some time visiting her filly friends, Rex sets off to investigate his own murder and, in the process, falls in love with Ellen.
You Never Can Tell sounds ridiculous and yet it is really an amiable bit of whimsy that's doggone addictive. The script - by David Chandler - is brimming over with canine quips and the casting is spot-on. Charles Drake plays a seemingly great guy and is re-united with his Harvey co-star Peggy Dow, while Albert Sharpe (of Darby O'Gill and the Little People) has an amusing role as Ellen's sea captain uncle. Also in the cast is Frank Nelson as a police chief.
This is a lovely behind-the-scenes photo of Gordon MacRae, Phyllis Kirk, and Dick Wesson on the set of About Face (1952), a Technicolor remake of the classic Brother Rat.
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
If blood-sucking vampires, ferocious werewolves, or linen-wrapped dead people aren't your cup of tea, then The Reptile, a scrumptious bit of gothic horror from the year 1966, may wet your lips.
In this tale, Captain Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) and his wife Valerie (Jennifer Daniel) come to England from India due to the sudden death of Harry's brother Charles. They want to live in the cottage that Charles left behind, but the village folk warn them against it. In fact, most of the villagers are downright hostile to the couple, except for local pub owner Tom Bailey (Michael Ripper).
Neighboring the cottage is the mansion of Dr. Franklin (Noel Willman) and his daughter Anna (Jacqueline Pierce), a young woman who is frightened of her father. Shortly after the Spaldings' arrival, a villager dies mysteriously with bite marks on the back of his neck and foam pouring from his mouth. Harry believes his brother may have died the same way and thinks Dr. Franklin is hiding the truth about his death.
The Reptile is one of Hammer Studio's more tamer productions and, like The Gorgon (1964), most of the film builds up to the creature-revealing climax, which in this case is a - surprise! - reptile. This climax would have been much more exciting if the title of the film, and the poster, did not give away the ending.
In spite of its tameness, The Reptile is engrossing and well worth a watch, if only to soak in all that wonderful gothic atmosphere that Hammer productions were so good at creating.
The cast were all capable actors (both Noel Willman and Jennifer Daniel may look familiar from Kiss of the Vampire), the music is fittingly eerie, and the color palette is marvelous. The cottage that the Spaldings stay in, as well as Dr. Franklyn's manor across the lawn, reminded me of Cherry Cottage and Cavor's home in First Men in the Moon but these were different filming locations. The Reptile was filmed in and around Windsor in Berkshire next door to Bray Studios, where the picture was made.
Also of note: If you click on the Roku Live TV Guide you will find a huge list of channels to browse. The "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" channel not only plays episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents throughout the day, but also shows two Hitchcock classics each evening, one at 8pm EST and another around 10pm EST.
One of the other channels through Roku's Live TV Guide listing is the "Universal Monsters" channel which plays 1930s-1980s Universal horror films throughout the day and then -for the month of October- airs back-to-back episodes of The Munsters starting from 6pm EST. Our family has been enjoying these each evening...followed by the Hitchcock film showing at 8pm.
Lastly, one great mystery to watch this month: Murder, She Said (1961) starring Margaret Rutherford is available for free through the Kanopy app.
Tubi TV
(Also available for viewing at tubitv.com)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Gunga Din (1938)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Cottage to Let (1941)
Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Notorious (1946)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Strangers on a Train (1950)
The Third Man (1950)
The Thing (1951)
Room for One More (1952)
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Them! (1954)
Autumn Leaves (1956)
The Bad Seed (1956)
Curse of the Demon (1957)
Around the World in 80 Days (1958)
Auntie Mame (1958)
South Pacific (1958)
Some Like it Hot (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1961)
The Music Man (1962)
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
The Haunting (1963)
The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
TV Series
The Addams Family (on Roku and Pluto)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (on Roku and Peacock)
Doctor Who - Classics
Gilligan's Island
The Munsters
Thriller
Twilight Zone
Tom and Jerry Collection (also available on the MeTV Toons channel)
"Don't Look Behind You" was only the second episode in this new hour-long format and, unfortunately, it played out like a half-hour episode stretched to fit the new timeslot.
The episode, based on a novel by Samuel Rogers, was about a crazed killer who stalked the woods at night murdering young women in the college town of Woodside. One evening, Daphne (Vera Miles) decides to take a chance and crosses the woods as a shortcut to get to a dinner party - she makes it out alive but knows for certain that someone was following her close behind. At the party, arriving shortly later, is her fiancé Harold (Jeffrey Hunter), a psychology professor who looks a bit bedraggled. Also arriving late is Dave (Dick Sargaent) a science teacher who has a crush on Daphne. Another admirer of hers is Edwin (Alf Kjellin), a pianist who has a bent towards the morbid.
Harold comes up with the brilliant idea of using Daphne as bait so he can catch the killer himself and throughout the episode we are supposed to wonder whether the lunatic is Harold himself, Dave, or Edwin, all of whom happen to be in the woods the same night Daphne is walking through it. All three men look crazy but Harold seems to be the most dangerous and one cannot help but wonder how Daphne can be so blind as to not realize it.
"Pain is only a secret name for pleasure, my darling"
The wonderful director John Brahm (The Lodger, Hangover Square) directed "Don't Look Behind You" and, while the scenes through the woods are atmospheric, the episode as a whole is a letdown. This could have been a tense thriller with nail-biting "who can the killer be?" ending, but instead it is so obvious that most of the episode fails to build any tension. Jeffrey Hunter's character of Harold should have been a sympathetic intelligent man whom Daphne relies on, this would have given her plausible reason for staying in Woodside with a killer on the loose and would have made the ending have more of that Hitchcockian-twist.
Halloween is fast approaching and what better time of the year to listen to ghost stories then the autumn season, when the leaves begin to change color and there is a cold nip in the air. There are plenty of ghost stories from radio programs of the olden days, but if you want a taste of something different, have a listen to Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People.
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This LP was released in 1962 by Golden Records and features "tales of spooks, hobgoblins and spirits hauntingly introduced by the master of the unexpected". Six chilling short stories are narrated by John Allen who has a marvelously smooth voice. Unlike most ghost stories aired on the radio, which average 25-30 minutes in length, these tales are a mere 5-10 minutes each.... just enough time to give you a little fright before heading to slumberland.
The complete album is available on Youtube. Just click on the link below to enjoy:
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People
Track Listing
Introduction
The Haunted and the Haunters
The Magician
Johnny Takes a Dare
The Open Window
The Helpful Hitchhiker
Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons
Top Picks: The Haunted and the Haunters, The Magician, The Open Window
Unfortunately, only about 50 episodes of the program still exist today since many of the original recordings, which were performed live during broadcast, were destroyed by Cole in 1961. All of the surviving episodes could be heard at the Relic Radio website or through Old Time Radio. 
Look at these two happy bakers! They are looking on the sweet-side of life while they are busy decorating wedding cakes. This is an extra-impossibly difficult scene to recognize unless the film this screenshot is from is one of your favorites.
As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here!
Boris Karloff as the famous "Monster" from the Frankenstein films (in this photo, The Son of Frankenstein). The make-up for all of the early Frankenstein movies was done by Jack Pierce, whom you could read more about in our previous articles here.
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
The hills are alive with the smell of heather and the sounds of bagpipes during the week of the Highland Games in Braemar, Scotland. This British Pathé newsreel shows footage of the event from the 1969 games. The annual Scottish sport ceremony was sponsored by the Royal Highland Society and gathered dignitaries from throughout Scotland - even the British monarch and her children attended this event since they lived in nearby Balmoral castle.
This traditional test of "men who really are men" included cannon ball tossing, log throwing, tug-of-war games, hammer throwing, and highland jig dancing. Of course, the Queen handed out the prizes to the winners which made them all the more proud to be Scotsmen.
Ready to watch The Highland Games? Simply click on the link below:
The Highland Games (1969) - 1:44 minutes
Similar British Pathé newsreels:
Inspector Mainwaring (John Arnatt) of the London police does not believe their shoe clue is enough to begin a search and so the boys decide to play detectives themselves and hunt down the man with the boots. Unbeknownst to them, he happens to be the uncle of one of their classmates.
Both Bowen and Bliss do a good job of acting as the young musician detectives. Bowen had done some acting previously (Bachelor Father) and would later appear in the television series Grange Hill. Dudley Sutton (Lovejoy), a veteran of British television, plays one of his usual nasty criminal roles. Arnatt is good as the Inspector, Patrick Jordan plays a detective, and Julia Dawn Cole has a small part as the sister of one of the boys.
It's that time of the month again.... stumping time! Here we have a clever scene (at least, we think so) featuring a man in a convertible. No hints, just a picture. Remember this movie?
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 Betty for correctly identifying this screenshot from Good Neighbor Sam (1964) starring Jack Lemmon and Romy Schneider. In this scene, this unknown actor is being filmed for a Hertz television commercial and has just been "dropped" into the driver's seat.
This month's film album is actually a compact disc album and it's an oldie and a goodie: The Avengers by the London Studio Orchestra. The cover states in big letters that it also includes themes from Dr. Strangelove, First Men in the Moon, etc... but Laurie Johnson's name is in small print at the bottom. The album really should have been called "The Music of Laurie Johnson" because it features a lovely sampling of some of his most popular themes.
This was a Varese Sarabande release (VCD 47270) that implements songs from one of its Soundtrack Series LP releases from 1982 titled The Avengers.
Track Listing
The Avengers - Suite
Theme
Pandora
The Joker
The New Avengers - Suite
Theme
Cat Amongst the Pigeons
Obsession
Tale of the Big Why
Dr. Strangelove
The Bomb Run
First Men in the Moon
Title
Moonscape and Descent
The Selenites
Trek to the Giant Doors
Monster Caterpillar
Eclipse and Staircase
Escape of the Sphere
End Title
Hedda - Suite
Title
Hedda and Thea
Judge Brack
Hedda and Lovborg
The Manuscript
Death and End Title
Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter
Title
Death Duel
Top Picks: The Avengers, The Joker, First Men in the Moon main title, Hedda main title.
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
Mr. Russell Donovan was just passing through the town of Quake City enjoying a game of poker, when he volunteered to pick up some valuables that was coming in on the next stagecoach for an old acquaintance . Those "valuables" turned out to be three children: Bobby (Clay O'Brien), Clovis (Brad Savage), and Celia (Stacy Manning), and his old acquaintance was nowhere to be found.
Judge McCoy (Harry Morgan) was of the mind that since Mr. Donovan accepted a down-payment for the valuables, they are rightly his. After numerous attempts to pawn of the youngens fail, Mr. Donovan reluctantly becomes a family man, but the townsfolk suddenly want to adopt the children after the little ones strike gold in an old derelict mine belonging to them. If Mr. Donovan wants to safeguard the children and their fortune, he better "find himself a wife" (the judge declares) and so Mr. Donovan grasps at a last straw and proposes marriage to one of the few single women in town, the rough and tumbled "Dusty" Clydesdale (Susan Clark).
Walt Disney Studios released The Apple Dumpling Gang in 1975, when most of the theaters were showing movies filled with violence and not many laughs. However, Disney knew what families wanted to see and this comedy-western struck gold. The picture reaped in nearly $32 million in box-office receipts and became the 11th top-grossing film of the year*.
What made the film so entertaining was the featured comedy duo of Don Knotts and Tim Conway. This was their first pairing and the characters of Amos and Theodore ("dumb and dumber") were a boot-fit for this team. Theodore (Tim Conway) had accidentally shot Frank Stillwell (Slim Pickens) of The Stillwell Gang in the leg and so he and Amos (Don Knotts) decide to strike out on their own as the newly dubbed "Hashknife Outfit". They wanted to leave a trail of crime in every town they passed but all they were leaving was a mess. Now the giant gold nugget that the children find is sitting on display at the local bank and Amos and Theodore have their eye on stealing it!
Like most of the scripts for Walt Disney films, there are multiple stories going on at once, all of which intersect and conclude nicely during the finale. The Apple Dumpling Gang was written by Don Tait who had just started with the Walt Disney Studios in 1972 when he wrote Snowball Express. He went on to write many more scripts for the studio, including the sequel to this film, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979), which also featured Don Knotts and Tim Conway.
Bill Bixby gives a wonderful performance (as usual) as Mr. Donovan and Susan Clark is entertaining as Dusty, but the children are the real scene-stealers. Clay O'Brien has long been a favorite of mine ever since I watched him on Saturday morning showings of The Whiz Kid series, where he played Alvin's friend Shooie. All of the children were well-cast, as were the character actors which also included David Wayne and John McGiver.
* Based on the website The Numbers.
Every once in a while you come across a gem of an album that you never even knew existed. This one caught my attention because Annette Funicello was on the cover but then I saw the subtitle "and other Walt Disney serials" and my heart skipped a beat. This album is actually just an updated release of Disney's "Songs from the Mickey Mouse Club Serials" album (another one I never knew existed) but with the inclusion of Annette's music from her latest serial Annette. If you enjoy Walt Disney serials then that one is well worth watching.
This album features songs from some of the popular Mickey Mouse Club members including Tim Considine, David Stollery, Darlene, and Annette, as well as tunes performed by the Walt Disney studio chorus. In my own humble opinion, these are the best ones on the album. There is a ripping version of "Pieces of Eight", the theme song to The Hardy Boys - The Mystery of Applegate Treasure; a lilting tune called "Moochie" (about Moochie, of course); a rosing version of The Boys of the Western Sea, the theme from a rare serial about Norwegian fishermen; and "Annette" performed by Jimmie Dodd.
Track Listing
Side One
How Will I Know My Love
Annette
Meetin' at the Malt Shop
Buckwheat Cakes
Hap-Happy Snowman
Pieces of Eight
What I Want to Be Theme
Side Two:
Don't Jump to Conclusions
Theme from Spin and Marty
Triple R Song
Uncle Dan
Moochie
The Boys of the Western Sea
Top Picks: Annette, Pieces of Eight, Meetin' at the Malt Shop, Theme from Spin and Marty, Moochie
When most people think of William Holden and the parts he played, they think of gritty characters such as Sheers (The Bridge on the River Kwai) and Pike Bishop (The Wild Bunch), or military men like Major Ferris (The 7th Dawn) and Lt. Col. Black (The Proud and the Profane), or even perhaps businessmen such as MacDonald Walling (Executive Suite); but very few think of him as "that handsome and pleasant young star of light-hearted comedies". Yet, that is exactly how one movie-goer dubbed him in a 1940s fan magazine.
