It’s Official: Steven Spielberg is Remaking “West Side Story,”

Showbiz 411 ^ | 01-25-2018 | Roger Friedman

[unread]

Truth is, I tried twice to watch that film back in the 60’s... I got up and left both times... I thought it pretty much stank...

[RooRoobird20]

One factoid you probably already knew, but I didn’t know until recently: Before “Ben Hur” became a movie in the 20’s, it was a stage play. They used real horses running on conveyor belts to do the chariot race scene. Can you imagine?

My very favorite movie of all time is “Ben Hur” with Chuck Heston. For me the chariot race in this movie is the most exciting 20 minutes on film ever. And they did it all without CGI, just great stunts and camera work.

When I was 15, I got to meet Chuck Heston in person, he came to give a lecture at AZ State University. This was the only time in my life that I literally almost passed out because I was 3 feet away from an UNBELIEVABLY handsome man. My heart pounded so hard and fast I thought I was going to die LOL.

[nopardons]

You're interested in JACK THE RIPPER too, or just that book?

Have you seen the '40s movie o9f the same name? If not, do so.

Oh yes, when it comes to G&S and especially, Gilbert, I am the "expert". But at least you also like G&S and have seen one of the greats, John Reed ( though I still say that Martin Green was better LOL ), as have I. :-)

I never did manage to get to Penzance; however, my trilling anything from that opus, now, is as likely as poor Derek Jacobi doing a star turn as the Pirate King...and I once had a good voice. ;^)

[nopardons]

Back, now, from my dinner break, and I think that I have seen the original cut of OLIVER TWIST, with Sir Alec as Fagin. He was very young, but absolutely amazing, believable, and yes, scary in that role.

I'll have to check, but I think we saw Ron Moody on stage, in the production we saw.

Oh dear...didn't know he said those things, later in life. Poor man....

Georgia Brown was an out of this world actress and her singing voice/style....WOW; leaves one in tears and breathless.

I first heard the original cast recording, of Oliver, in '61, IIRC. I was, needless to say, blown away by it!

I could talk about this stuff forever, too...and we should do! :-)

[nopardons]

I too, like you, would NOT see THE BOOK OF MORON. Besides the anti-Mormonism and mocking, the language used, I feel was unnecessary, foul, and I'm not a Moromon either, but gee....

Having grown up in NYC and going to plays since childhood, a many weeks long trip, just to see plays, sounds great; except that there's NOTHING worth seeing now-a-days. :-(

When we were going to London, yearly, we went to the theatre every night and to the Music Hall, when the theatres were "dark". So hey...I'm all in favor of doing a "theatre vacation"! :-)

[nopardons]

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm...not to be a picker of nits, but at 44, Moody was hardly an "old man" when he made OLIVER and both James Cagney and Bob Hope were far and away much older, when they danced the now classic number in THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS!

Also, Fagin is not, not, NOT supposed to be in the least "loveable".

I've seen every single movie and T.V. series made from OLIVER TWIST. I'm funny that way, if I like something, I will watch the remakes/new versions, even if they stink.

Kingsley's Fagin wasn't bad at all; Guiness' was THE best.

All good books and you REALLY must see Ronald Coleman in the old B&W movie of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, if you haven't.

Do try to read DAVID COPPERFIELD and perhaps, if you'd care to, BLEAK HOUSE.

Art...hmmmmmmmmmm...I love a LOT of it, from many different eras and places. But since you're talking about one set period and one country, okay, mark down for Michelangelo and Botticelli and one of my all time favorites, from anywhere and any time: GIUSEPPE ARCHIMBOLDO, who sadly isn't as well known as those artists you mentioned.

Sorry, but "BAD" anything, no matter how much you love the genre, is still just BAD and nothing to "love"!

No matter one's profession/career, without knowledge nor appreciation of "the arts", man is NOTHING; souless!

And I'm not putting you down, but just WHAT else binds a populace together? Certainly not religion, career/work, nor anything else. It is a nation's shared CULTURE ( and language ), which makes a nation whole; which is but one reason why this nation is so very torn apart now.

[nopardons]

Not a big fan of FIDDLER, but it is a good movie; if for the dance numbers alone. And then there is Leonard Frey "acting" the part of a love sick hetero. LOL

Still stuck in my Paul Lukas mood, so might watch a few more of his films, tonight. Haven't seen LADIES IN LOVE nor THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR in a while and I can always watch WATCH ON THE RHINE. :-)

[RooRoobird20]

I understand Dickens intended Fagin to be scary. But Oliver! was intended to be a fun and family-friendly musical, and I thought Ron Moody was perfect as Fagin. I don’t get all worked up if a movie or play isn’t 100% faithful to the original book. Happens all the time.

Yes Ron Moody was “only” 44 and he did some terrific dancing. However, not too many 44 year olds can dance like that. Ron Moody’s dancing as Fagin was joyous and delightful. I believe Onna White, the choreographer, received a special Oscar for her choreography in Oliver!

I love James Cagney as a dancer! He had a unique style that reminds me of marionette puppets. My favorite scene in Yankee Doodle Dandy is when he’s leaving the White House as an old man and starts walking down a large flight of stairs and he slides into a dazzling tap dance routine going diwn the stairs.

Yes the dancing in The Seven Little Foys was great.

[nopardons]

And before it was a play, it was a BOOK; a good one!

Yes, yes, live horses were once used on the stage...running on a treadmill kind of thing. As a matter of fact, back in the Gilded Age, there was an actress names Adah Isacs Menken, who became a national sensation, not for her acting "chops', but due to the fact that she rode a horse up to and on stage, wearing nothing but a nude colored body suit and tights, with the horse running and running on a treadmill kind of contraption, in a play called MAZEPPA.

The 1960 movie, HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS ( see it if you can...it has a fantastic cast and was directed by George Cuckor ) is sort of/kind of/vaguely about the play Mazeppa.

Both Ben Hur movies are out of this world and I loathe the stupid CGI crap.

Ramon Navarro was stunningly handsome and vibrant, in the silent, just as Heston was in the remake.

[RooRoobird20]

Trust me, if you met Chuck Heston in person, you probably would have come close to passing out cold. He’s magnificent as Judah Ben Hur, but in person he was STUNNING, jaw-droppingly STUNNING.

I hope Mr RooRoo never finds out about my secret crush on Chuck Heston LOL.

[combat_boots]

I would have liked to meet him. He had an aura.

[nopardons]

Look, both the book and the original musical play, had Fagin NOT being "lovable" and no, the movie wasn't exactly made to be "family friendly". *sigh*

Many actors and actresses, into their ripe old age, who either began as "hoofers" or were actors/actresses who "danced", were dancing well into their 70s. Ergo, you're superimposing your opinion onto something that you don't understand.

In '69, I saw Ray Bolger, at the ripe old age of 65 sing & dance in the Broadway play COME SUMMER. He and Margaret Hamilton were fantastic and I'm thankful that I did get to see these "STARS" live, in person, do what they did best.

Jimmy Cagney, in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, copied Cohan's dancing style, which was NOT his! Cagney had been a Broadway "gypsy" /chorus boy, before being in the movies.

Bolger and Buddy Epson danced in that certain style, whose name escapes me at the moment. OTOH, George M's style of dancing is what he learned, as a child, from his father, which is sort of a form of Irish clog dancing, modified somewhat for the Vaudeville stage of the latter part of the 19th century.

[nopardons]

Trust me, growing up, I knew, in social settings, actors, actresses, directors, etc. and just saw them as "people". Knew some as an adult, too, and never once came anywhere near "swooning".

Jaded? Perhaps, but I'll explain a bit more in FRmail.

[miss marmelstein]

Fiddler is definitely an imperfect movie. Way too long (3 hours) and too slow. My husband thinks it is Topol who slows it down but I think the direction is slow. Topol played it in London for a long time and I think it shows - in a good way. I actually like Leonard Frey in the movie. Remember when we talked about him in Boys in the Band? Quite a different performance - much more sinister. Gone way too soon although I don’t think it was AIDs.

You’re right that Cagney’s dancing imitated Cohan which was based on Irish clog dancing - stiff upper body and only the legs moving. My mother was taught dancing by Pat Rooney, an Irish-American dancer, and he wanted her to join his troupe but she didn’t (I don’t know why). It’s not my favorite style (I can’t stand Riverdance) but it was shown to good effect in Yankee Doodle Dandy. I love the sequence in The Seven Little Foys when both Bob Hope and James Cagney dance on a table top - one as Cohan and the other as Foy. Wow.

[nopardons]

Yes, that movie is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to long, don't care for the director's touch, also, NEVER cared for the non-musical plays made from SHOLEM ALEICKIM's stories, so FIDDLER isn't high on my seen list of seen plays/movies made from plays.

Yes...we did have a chat about Frey and BOYS IN THE BAND. I LOVE THAT PLAY and the movie was pretty much the same as the play.

Almost the entire cast of BITB died at an early-ish age. It's almost as though there was a "curse". But Frey DID die from AIDS/AIDS related something; IIRC.

LOL...when it comes to dance, I "shine"; yes, do know it cold. :-)

Oh I know who Pat Rooney was; know about his father too!

I wonder why your mother never joined his company.

We agree re RIVERDANCE.

I love THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS and the Bob Hope/James Cagney dance routine; it's spectacular; such talents...never to be seen the likes of now!

I've always LOVED Eddie Foy Jr.! He was a marvelous actor, comedian, and song&dance man! He was great in THE PAJAMA GAME and BELLS ARE RINGING; not to mention the films he made, as his father.

[RooRoobird20]

What I’ve also loved about Chuck Heston is his integrity and good character. He married his first and only true love Lydia, and they spent 63 very happy years together. He always referred endearingly to Lydia as “my girl.”

He was a good writer, and he wrote his own autobiography, “In the Arena.” It’s a very good book.

He marched with Martin Luther King but eventually left the Rat party when he realized how bad it had become. He became a conservative Republican and served for several years as the head spokesman for the NRA.

He was a great man.