Midjourney at the Movies

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. 

I've been using Midjourney primarily for book character creations (like the one above) and only today did I try out their new video feature (below). It's like having a book character come to life when you see the illustration "you" created start moving. Exciting! 

Have you experimented with Midjourney? We'd love to hear what prompts you tried out and which ones you are excited to test out soon. 

Weekend with Father (1951)

Today is Father's Day and to celebrate all of the wonderful daddies of the world, we picked a rare but wonderful daddy movie to review - Weekend with Father (1951). This Universal Pictures comedy stars Van Heflin and Patricia Neal and tells the story of widower Brad Stubbs and widow Jean Bowen who meet while taking their children to a summer camp. Even though sparks of love instantly fly between the happy couple, getting their children to accept a blended family proves to be more difficult...but "Daddy Stubbs" gives it his best try to make it work. 

"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!

Fanthom's Big Screen Classics 2025

Every year, TCM had released a monthly selection of classic films back on the big screen in movie theaters across America as part of their "Big Screen Classics" series. Last year, Fanthom bought this series out and they did a great job of continuing it on. Instead of Ben Mankiewicz introducing each film, Fanthom brought in Leonald Maltin to share his thoughts and give a little behind-the-scenes commentary prior to the picture. 

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. 

From the Archives: Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

 
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