A Timeless Song 'As Time Goes By'-- Part 2: 'The Lousiest Tune'

Producer Hal Wallis gave him the go ahead, and Max Steiner got to work on a new one, but there was a problem.  The scenes featuring "As Time Goes By" would need to be reshot and Ingrid Bergman had already moved on to her next movie, an adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and had cut her hair short for the role.

That meant that Steiner was stuck with "As Time Goes By, a song which he described to his wife, Louise, as "the lousiest tune."

But Steiner wasn't considered one of the best composers in the film business for nothing, and he worked with what he had.  He incorporated the song into his score, along with bits of the two songs played in the epic musical showdown between the German soldiers and the club patrons:  "Die Wacht am Rhein" and "La Marseillaise."

By using inpirtation for all three, Steiner earned his 11th Oscar nomination of the astonishing 24 he would get over the course of his long career.

(It would be hard to think of "Casablanca" without "As Time Goes By.")

--CootSeillaise

A Timeless Song 'As Time Goes By'-- Part 1

We just watched the movie and throughout it, this song was played more than a bit often.  And, that would be "As Time Goes By."

It is rare that a single song is so tied to a single movie, but this is certainly the case with "As Time Goes By" and "Casablanca."  It is so closely identified that when you see any movie released by Warner Brothers (the company that made the movie) these days, several bars of the song play with the WB logo.

But it almost wasn't that way.  The song was written by Herman Hupfield in 1931 for the Broadway musical "Everybody's Welcome."  It had been included by playwrights Joan Alison and Murray Bennett in their original play, "Everybody Comes to Rick's."

Once the film production was underway, composer Max Steiner, who had already won two Oscars wanted to change the song and insert something original of his, giving him the potential to easrn rotyalties and possibly another Academy Award.

--Cooter

'Casablanca' Trivia-- Part 6: That Oscar and First Scene

MAGICAL TALISMAN

In 2006, David Copperfield paid $231,500 for director Michael Curtiz's Best Director Oscar for "Casablanca."

The Las Vegas showman, who kept it by his bed, said the statuette represented the excellence of old films that influenced his career:  "It keeps me hungry."

An unnamed seller later sold that statue at auction for more than $2 million.  Nice profit.

**********************************

THE FIRST SCENE

It wasn't the director's original plan to begin shooting the movie with a love scene, but when filming of "Now, Voyager" ran behind scedule and both Paul Heinreid and Claude Rains were unavailable, he had to change his mind.

The very first scene shot for "Casablanca" featured Rick and Ilsa standing over Sam's piano in Paris.

The Usual Suspects.  --Cooter

Deaths in Sept. 2022: Starr, Fletcher and Coolio

KEN STARR, 76

A former federal appellate judge and a prominent attorney whose criminal investigation of Bill Clinton led to the president's impeachment and put Starr  in the center of one of the country's most polarizing debates in the 1990s.  Died September 13.

LOUISE FLETCHER. 88

A late-blooming star whose riveting performance as Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" set a new standard for screen villains and won her an Academy Award.  Died September 23.

I always felt she was just doing her job and trying to deal with Jack Nicholson.

COOLIO, 59

The rapper was among hip-hop's biggest names of the 1990s with hits including "Gangsta's Paradise" and "Fantastic Voyage."   Died September 28.

I really liked those two songs and I am not a rap fan.

'The Godfather' Turns 50, Where Are They Now?-- Part 6: Robert Duvall and James Caan

ROBER DUVALL

Since his film debut as Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962), Duvall -- who played the Corleone's legal consultant Tom Hagen -- has racked up seven Oscar nominations, including "The Judge" in 2015.  (He won in 1984 for "Tender Mercies.")

The actor, now 91, is also a skilled tango dancer.

JAMES CAAN

He auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone before Coppola chose him for brash older brother Sonny.  Now 81, Caan has stayed busy during the later decades with more than 90 film and TV credits -- most notably in the 2003 holiday classic "Elf."

--Cooter

50 Things About 'The Godfather'-- Part 8: Joel Grey?

47.  Caan, Duvall and Pachino were all nominated in the supporting actor category, but the winner was Joel Grey for "Cabaret."

48.  All deep and abiding respect for Joel Grey, but the fact that Pacino didn't win for playing Michael Corleone is mind-boggling.

49.  Two years later, the Academy had the opportunity to get it right when Pacino was nominated for best actor for "The Godfather Part II" - but the Oscar went to Art Carney for "Harry and Tonto."

50.  "The Godfather" is the most memorable, most influential, most beloved, most discussed, most imitated, most entertaining American movie ever made (with the possible exception of "The Godfather II."

--Cooter

50 Things About "The Godfather"-- Part 7: Killing Sonny

42.  Some 400 squibs were affixed to Caan to produce one of the bloodiest scenes since "Bonnie & Clyde,"  Possibly a case of overkill.

43.  The killing of Sonny at the Long Beach Causeway took three days to film and cost about $650,000 in today's dollars.

44.  Brando famously refused to learn his lines, so cue cards were taped on lamps, desks, bushes and even other  actors.

45. "The Godfather" is still the 25th highest grossing film of all time, with an adjusted-for-inflation gross of $722 million.

46.  At the 45th Academy Awards, the film won best picture, best actor for Brando and best adapted screenplay for Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo.

--CootWhat'sMyLine?

Fifty Things About 'The Godfather'-- Part 4: Don't Want No Oscar, No Way, No How

24.  Brando skipped the Academy Awards and sent Sacheen Littlefeather in his stead to explain why he was declining the Oscar to protest Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans.

25.  Pachino was also a no-show at the Oscars because he felt he should have been in the best actor and not supporting actor category given that he had more screen time than Brando.

26.  Robert De Niro and Marlin Brando win Oscars for playing the same character at different points in his life.  (Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix won Oscars for playing the Joker -- but two very different versions of the character in two standalone movies.

27.  That was a real horse's head.

28.  James Caan's Sonny favored the nonsensical phrase "bada bing."

29.  Caan had overheard the real-life mobster Carmine Persico using the phrase.

--RoadBing

'The Silence of the Lambs'-- Part 1

"The Silence of the Lambs"  (1991)

Raise a glass of nice Chianti to this spellbinding masterpiece.  A twisted buddy movie, this story of fresh-faced FBI trainee Clarice Sterling (Jodie Foster) using the help of the brilliantly warped inmate Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to catch a serial killer was a rare critical and commercial hit.  It won the top five Oscars, including Best Picture.

My thoughts on the movie:  "Man, that was some kind of weird.  And, that Hannibal was some kind of smooth."

That's unusual for any movie, let alone a macabre one.  "I remember gripping the armrests [at the first screening] because it was so intense!" says Brooke Smith, 53, who played feisty kidnapping victim Catherine Martin.  "I got sucked in like everyone else."  She says the psychological thriller made its mark because "the hero was a woman in a role that's usually played by a nab.  And, she saves another woman.

--Cooter

Why We Love Shrek-- Part 2: Who's a Believer?

**  Shrek won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

**  The computer animation for Shrek took more than four and a half years to complete.

**  Shrek  received his own  star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2021.

**  "I'm a Believer," the last song in the movie was chosen because of the line "I thought love was only true in fairy tales."

**  John Lithgow (Lord Farquaad, Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy never met each other while working on the film.  They recorded their parts separately.

Personally, I thought animated movies were dumb back in 2000.  That is, until 2006's "Cars."  That one really opened my eyes as to how far aniamation had come.

--Cooter

We Remember People We Lost in 2020-- Part 2: Bryant, Connery, Preston, De Havilland and Trebeck

KOBE BRYANT, 41

Eighteen-time NBA All-Star.  Won five NBA Championships.  Died January 26.

SEAN CONNERY, 90

Probably the most famous and beloved Agent 007s.  Played James Bond 7 times.  Also "The Untouchables," ""Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "The Hunt for Red October."  Died October 31.

KELLY PRESTON, 57

Actress.  "Jerry Maguire."  Husband was John Travolta.  Died July 12.

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND, 104

The last living lead of 1939's "Gone With the Wind."  Played Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law.  Nominated for five Academy Awards during her50-year career.  Died July 26.

ALEX TREBECK, 80

Longtime host of "Jeopardy."  Began hosting it in 1984.  Died November 8.

The Oscars By the Numbers-- Part 3: Of British Monarchs and Real People

19--  Number of acting nominations that have gone to performers playing British monarchs, including Olivia Colman, who is nominated for Best Actress this year for portraying Queen Anne in "The Favourite."

Five have won:  Colin Firth, Helen Mirren, Charles Laughton, Katherine Hepburn "The Lion In Winter" (1969) and Judi Dench "Shakespeare in Love" (1999).

72--  The number of actors/actresses who've won for playing real people, including Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Jaime Fox.

89--  Age of "Call Me By Your name" screenwriter James Ivory when he accepted his award in 2018, becoming the oldest winner ever.

--Cooter

The Oscars By the Numbers-- Part 2: Charlie Chaplin's Ovation

7--  Number of times "The Wife" Best Actress nominee GLENN CLOSE has contended for a trophy.  She has never won one.

10--  Age of TATUM O'NEAL when she won Best Supporting Actress in 1974 for "Paper Moon."

12--  Minutes of CHARLIE CHAPLIN's  standing ovation in 1972 when he received his lifetime achievement award.

14--  Most nominations ever for a film in a single year.  Three-way tie:  "La La Land". (2017), "All About Eve" (1951), and "Titanic" (1998).

--Cooter

2019 Oscars-- Part 3: Best Actor, Best Actress

**  Movies I saw.

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale--  Vice*

Bradley Cooper--  A Star Is Born*

William Dafoe--  At Eternity's Gate

Rami Malek--  Bohemian Rhapsody*

Viggo Mortenson--  Green Book*

Personally, I think Mahershala Ali of  "Green Book" should have been nominated in this category.

I picked Christian Bale.  Rami Malek won.


BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio--  Roma

Glenn Close--  The Wife

Olivia Colman--  The Favourite*

Lady Gaga--  A Star Is Born*

Melissa McCarthy--  Can You Forgive Me?*

I was torn on this one between Olivia Colman and Melissa McCarthy.  I picked Olivia McCarthy and she won.

Oh, the Stars.  --Cooter

TV Deaths: Al Molinari and Patty Duke

AL MOLINAR, 96.  Died October 30, 2015.

Best known as Al Delvecchio, owner of Arnold's on the TV series "Happy Days and Murray Greishier, the policeman on "The Odd Couple."  A favorite of mine.  Who could miss that nose?

PATTY DUKE, 69.  (December 14, 1946-March 29, 2016)

Played two roles in "The Patty Duke Show" 1963-1966.  Also won an Academy award for Best Supporting Actress in the movie "The Miracle Worker" about Helen Keller.  She had two top 40 hits in 1965 with "Don't Just Stand There", #8 and "Say Something Funny" #22.  As good of Girl Group sound as you can get.

I always pitied her poor "boyfriend" Richard who never knew what was going on.  We watched an episode of her show on one of those oldies TV stations just yesterday when she decided her biology teacher would have to be her husband.  A few hours later, we heard she was dead.

Four Decades of Best Picture-- Part 3

1997-- Titanic
1998-- Shakespeare in Love
1999-- American Beauty

2000-- Gladiator
2001-- A Beautiful Mind
2002-- Chicago

2003-- Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
2004-- Million Dollar Baby
2005-- Crash

2006-- Departed
2007-- No Country for Old Men
2008-- Slumdog Millionaire

2009-- The Hurt Locker
2010-- The King's Speech
2011-- The Artist
2012-- Argo.

I Saw Most of Them. --Cooter

Four Decades of Best Picture-- Part 2

1981-- Chariots of Fire
1982-- Gandhi
1983-- Terms of Endearment

1984-- Amadeus
1985-- Out of Africa
1986-- Platoon

1987-- The Last Emperor
1988-- Rain Man
1989-- Driving Miss Daisy

1990-- Dances With Wolves
1991-- The Silence of the Lambs
1992-- Unforgiven

1993-- Schindler's List
1994-- Forest Gump
1995-- Braveheart

1996-- The English Patient. ////

Had You Forgotten Some? --DaCoot

Four Decades of Best Pictures-- Part 1

From the March 3, 2014, Time Magazine "And the Winning Formula Is...:Four Decades of Best Picture, decoded" by Chris Wilson and Heather Jones.

They went through and analyzed every movie in 30 categories in theme, character, sex, violence, storytelling and setting. Quite interesting, but I am just going to list them:

1970-- Patton
1971-- The French Connection
1972-- The Godfather

1973-- The Sting
1974-- The Godfather Pt. 2
1975-- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1976-- Rocky
1977-- Annie Hall
1978-- The Deer Hunter

1979-- Kramer Vs. Kramer
1980-- Ordinary People.

More to Come. --Cooter

World War II at the Oscars-- Part 2

Last night was the first time since 1943 that ten movies were nominated for Top Picture. The last time was during the war years, 1943, when "Casablanca" took the honors. Two other WW II movies also were nominated that year: "In Which We Serve" and "Watch on the Rhine."

Other nominees over the years with a World War II connection:

HOLOCAUST

The Diary of Anne Frank 1959
Life id Beautiful 1998
The Pianist 2002

BATTLE EPICS

Wake Island 1942
The Longest Day 1962
Saving Private Ryan 1997
Letters from Iwo Jima 2006


NAVAL AND AERIAL STORIES

Twelve O'Clock High 1949
The Caine Mutiny 1954
Mr. Roberts 1955

CRIME AND JUSTICE NARRATIVES

Judgement at Nurenberg 19961
A Soldier's Story 1984
The Reader 2008

HOMEFRONT

Mrs. Miniver 1942
Hope for Glory 1987

From Arab Times On Line.

Looking Forward to the Next World War II Epic. --DaCoot

World War II at the Oscars-- Part 1

The film "Inglourious Basterds" didn't win best picture, but Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor role, as the Jew hunter, Col. Hans Landa.

"Inglourious" joins a long line of World War II-related movies which have been nominated for the top honor. Almost 36, to be exact. The first movie was Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" in 1940.

Seven films won the Oscar from 1943's "Cassablanca" to 1996's "The English Patient." Winners in between were: The Best years of Our Lives 1946; From Here to Eternity 1953; The Bridge Over the River Kwai 1957; Patton 1970; and Schindler's List 1993.

A war movie did win, "The Hurt Locker."

From Arab Times Online.

And Then, We Have the HBO Miniseries "The Pacific" Coming Out This Month. --Cooter