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Posts from the ‘1971’ Category

Jan 24

Fiddler on the Roof

Canadian director Norman Jewison brings Fiddler on the Roof to the big screen in this very entertaining 1971 musical film. It won three Oscars and was nominated for several more, with John Williams picking up a golden dude for Best Song Score Adaptation. Oswald Morris snagged an Oscar for his cinematography, while the movie also scooped one for Best Sound.

The film follows the play very closely, I’m told, and retains nearly all the dialogue. A new scene was added for the movie production, but a couple of songs were omitted from the Broadway version. Casting was somewhat controversial, too, with the inclusion of Chaim Topol as Tevye considered somewhat of an issue as Zero Mostel had originated the role in the 1964 theatre production.

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Dec 7

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks gets compared an awful lot to Mary Poppins. The two films are similar in many ways, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen Mary Poppins so I’m going to avoid comparisons as much as I possibly can. In the case of Bedknobs, Disney scores with a musical comedy that successfully employs some creative and highly entertaining animation to go with some brilliant song and dance numbers.

I was able to check out the director’s cut version of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which thankfully includes the full version of the lively “Portobello Road” segment. With the songs for the movie recorded in full stereo (the spoken parts were done in mono), the music jumps from the screen with all the joy and glee intended. Musically and artistically, it is one of Disney’s stronger pictures.

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Nov 7

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Bananas

Woody Allen’s Bananas is an uproarious comedy about getting wrapped up in something bigger than you are. Sandwiched between two devilishly hilarious sequences involving Howard Cosell and ABC’s Wide World of Sports, this 1971 picture is Allen’s third feature-length movie. It finds the filmmaker immersed in his Marx Brothers phase and the zaniness is running full tilt from start to finish.

What’s notable about Allen’s films from this particular phase is that he never lets the story get in the way of a sight gag or a joke, even when it may work to the flick’s detriment in some way. Bananas balances the elements and the picture achieves a great deal of comic momentum as it slips towards its finale.

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Feb 27

THX 1138

THX 1138

THX 1138 is the directorial debut of George Lucas, representing a fuller version of one of his student films from the University of South Carolina. Lucas used inspiration from a variety of sources, with the most obvious being George Orwell’s 1984. THX 1138 also shares themes with Brave New World, The Machine Stops, and the short film by Arthur Lipsett 21-87. Francis Ford Coppola helped produce THX 1138, along with Warner Bros. The overall style of the film appears to also take some lessons from French New Wave, as the visuals are very austere and bold.

Lucas is certainly a visual filmmaker, as his Star Wars films would attest to. His love for effects is certainly apparent in his first film, too, as the androids and characters he creates have deep science-fiction relatives. One can see some visuals from Lucas’s future work coming together in THX 1138, so viewing it is an interesting experience. Never particularly gifted in working with actors, Lucas’s films tend to rely more on the effects than anything else and this film is no different. Perhaps the only exception to this rule is in American Graffiti, where he demonstrates somewhat of an ability to conduct his performers.

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Aug 6

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Made in 1971, this film originally flopped at the box office due to a lack of marketing and due to the general public’s unfamiliarity with the story. After several showings on TV and after its VHS release, however, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory began to enjoy success and became a family classic. The film made Dahl’s characters come to life in vibrant colour and led to a new fascination with Willy Wonka and the mysterious Oompa Loompas. It was remade in 2005 by Tim Burton, this time under the original title of the book.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was directed by Mel Stuart and stars Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The plot is rather familiar, as it follows the quest of several children to find a Golden Ticket and the subsequent tour of Wonka’s candy factory as a result of finding the ticket. The plot mainly centers around the polite and gracious Charlie, played here by Peter Ostrum in what would be his only film role. Charlie is the best of the children, as he is morally honest and ends up being the rightful winner of Wonka’s entire factory as a result. The drawback to this film version was the notion that Charlie actually wasn’t that honest and had tasted the fizzy drink with his grandfather when nobody was looking. Nonetheless, it somehow works.

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