Comedy

Quote:
Chinese comedy superstar Huang Bo (“Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons”) makes a good first stab at directing with “The Island,” an entertaining if overlong dramedy about company workers splitting into rival factions after being shipwrecked on a desert island. This mix of broad humor, survivalist drama and romance opens brightly and ends with a bang but stutters a little in the middle. Huang’s name and a cast including box-office draws Shu Qi and Wang Baoqiang should ensure strong domestic business, while the universally accessible “Lord of the Flies”-like premise ought to help attract audiences in offshore markets. “The Island” opens in China, North America, and several other international territories on Aug. 10.Read More »

PLOT:
Vivian Stanshall’s priceless film of exquisite lunacy is is a work of absurd genius. The labyrinthine plot sees Sir Henry, a mad aristocratic war veteran, attempt to exorcise the trouserless ghost of his dead brother, Humbert, whom he accidentally killed in a drunken duck-shooting accident. This is aided, or hindered, by his mad family and servants including the tapeworm-obsessed Mrs. E; Old Scrotum; the eternally knitting Aunt Florrie; the Lady Philippa of Stains, a turkey-legged old soak. With German POW’s in the garden, a mechanical bulldog, a horse in the billiards room and a marriage bed furnished with a barbed-wire divide, the mayhem of Rawlinson End is endless…
-Vivian StanshallRead More »

Quote:
Italian immigrant tries to become a member of Swiss society but fails as a waiter and even as a chicken plucker. He then becomes involved with shady wealthy character and tries to hide his Italian identity. He refuses to give up no matter how awful his situation.Read More »

Innovative direction by Les Blair when constructing this too little known work, a collaboration with skilled players, includes the provision to the cast of only a mere outline, in lieu of a script, that ultimately expands into a 25 page scenario sans written dialogue. He motivates his actors to give dimension for the mere flinders furnished them, through pure improvisation that is grounded upon their own frames of reference. The outcome proves to be a nice job all around that ruffles some of the standards that have been adopted by cinema enthusiasts.Read More »

Quote:
In December 1965, Telsun had announced that production of the fifth movie had been postponed once again (the original postponement having been part of the February 1965 announcement). The film, to be produced by Sam Spiegel, was to highlight UN peacekeeping efforts along the India-Pakistan border, and some filming had already been completed. However, an armed conflict had erupted between the two nations over the disputed Kashmir territory (including one of the largest tank battles fought since World War II), and a Telsun spokesman announced that production would not resume while the conflict continued. Spiegel had by this time moved on to another project (the 1966 movie The Chase, starring Marlon Brando and the little-known Robert Redford, whom Spiegel had personally chosen for the movie), and as it turned out the project apparently was never restarted.Read More »

Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Joan Fontaine was still two years away from full stardom when she appeared in the B-plus comedy Maid’s Night Out. Future cowboy star Allan Lane plays Bill, a millionaire’s son who, to win a bet with his father (George Irving), sets out to prove that he can succeed without his family’s money. While working as a milkman, Bill offers a lift to Sheila (Fontaine), whom he takes to be a housemaid. In fact, Sheila was also born into wealth, but she doesn’t let Bill know that, fearful that she’ll lose his love; Bill likewise keeps his actual identity a secret for the same reason. Adding to the fun is the presence of Hedda Hopper, making one of her final acting appearances before devoting herself full-time to her gossip columnist. Film buffs will also enjoy a fleeting but hilarious jibe at Hopper’s number-one rival Louella Parsons..Read More »

Joey Drayton brings her fiancé, Dr. John Prentice, home to sunny San Francisco to meet her affluent parents. Their liberal persuasions are now put to the test, for although the young man is an ideal choice (he’s highly and internationally respected in the medical field, and he’s impeccably mannered, handsome, well dressed and of a respectable California family), he’s black. The film, which covers one busy day in the Drayton home, is essentially a drawing-room comedy, a series of cross-conversations between the young doctor and the girl’s parents, and finally between all sets of parents and offspring. A simple dinner is extended to include the doctor’s parents, who fly up from Los Angeles for the evening, and the crusty but benevolent old Irish priest, a friend of the family. Thus, the title of the film . . .

Read More »

the AMG wrote :
“This offbeat satirical comedy finds a beautiful and talkative housekeeper (Annie Girardot) working for several colorful employers. One is a former prostitute living with a prominent politician. Also included is a ribald bank teller and a strange man who helps out at a church for wayward boys and sings at a homosexual nightclub. The housekeeper’s verbose nature leads to blackmail for her clients…”
(edited to avoid spoilers)Read More »

Plot: A clumsy, bumbling plumber finds his true calling as a successful manufacturer of bathroom facilities.Read More »