Walter Woolf King on Stage, Screen and Radio

 

Motion Picture Daily, 1938

Walter Woolf King is best remembered today for his work with two of the movies' greatest comedy teams. He appeared with The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935) and Go West (1940), as well as Laurel and Hardy in Swiss Miss (1938). He is perfect as the villain in the two Marx Brothers movies, truly making us want to hiss at him whenever he comes on screen. Unfortunately, he is much weaker in Swiss Miss. This is not because of his acting but rather the role he is given. He is supposed to be the romantic lead in this film but the way his character is written makes him seem much more like a villain. Swiss Miss has some great comedic bits for Laurel and Hardy but whenever the attention drifts away from them, it becomes much less interesting.  

Motion Picture, 1935

However, Walter Woolf King's career was so much more than these three films. He also appeared in such movies as Golden Dawn (1930), One More Spring (1935), Call It a Day (1937), Melody for Three (1941), Smart Alecks (1942), The Helen Morgan Story (1957) and Rosie! (1967). He also appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Our Cook's a Treasure (1955), The Percentage (1958)) and three episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (The Dark Pool (1963), A Nice Touch (1963), Isabel (1964)). 

King was also a quite successful stage actor, who was especially known for his baritone singing voice. Here is a list of some of the plays he was in and when they ran.

Florodora (Apr 05, 1920 - Aug 14, 1920)

The Midnight Rounders of 1920 (Jul 12, 1920 - Nov 27, 1920)

The Last Waltz (May 10, 1921 - Oct 29, 1921)

The Lady in Ermine (Oct 02, 1922 - Apr 21, 1923)

The Passing Show of 1923 (Jun 14, 1923 - Sep 15, 1923)

The Dream Girl (Aug 20, 1924 - Nov 29, 1924)

Artists and Models (Jun 24, 1925 - May 07, 1926)

Princess Flavia (Nov 02, 1925 - Mar 13, 1926)

Countess Maritza (Sep 18, 1926 - Jun 25, 1927)

The Red Robe (Dec 25, 1928 - May 20, 1929)
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Ladies All (Jul 28, 1930 - Dec 13, 1930)

The Great Man (Apr 07, 1931 - Apr 1931)

Experience Unnecessary (Dec 30, 1931 - Feb 1932)

Red Planet (Dec 17, 1932 - Dec 1932)

Melody (Feb 14, 1933 - Apr 22, 1933)

May Wine (Dec 05, 1935 - Jun 06, 1936)

As well as appearing in movies, TV and stage, King also hosted the CBS radio show Flying Red Horse Tavern. Here is a 1936 article about that from Radio Mirror. If you have trouble reading the following pages click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here. 

Resources Used

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/walter-woolf-king-48149

https://lantern.mediahist.org/

All-New Super Friends Hour: The Protector (1977)

 

This is the first segment of the fifteenth (and final) episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends (or two in the case of Batman and Robin) teaming up with a special DC Comics guest. 

In this cartoon, Batman, Robin and Aquaman team up to stop a villain named The Shark who steals valuables from various ships with his immobilizer ray. He does this to keep ships from going out to sea and because of this he views himself as a protector of the sea. 

This is an excellent episode. The use of fog out at sea creates a great sense of atmosphere and helps it stand out. Beyond this the background art (especially aboard the ship) is typically excellent. The Shark is a fun villain with a very memorable design and a great voice. His immobilizer ray is a good gimmick and makes him a believable threat to our heroes. The action is quite fun as well. The story is simple, but it is just the kind of simplistic superhero fun that I love. 

  

The Avengers (2012)

 

It is hard to overstate just how big of a deal The Avengers was to the climate of superhero movies. While hints of a big, connected Marvel Cinematic Universe were in place since Iron Man (2008), here is where it official came to fruition. Now that these characters from separate solo movies were now all appearing together in the same film with their storylines all intersecting, it was clear that the superhero movie would never be the same. 

In this film, Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleson) comes to Earth and finds the incredibly powerful Tesseract. With this new power, he tries to take over the Earth. Earth's Mightiest heroes, Captain America (Chris Evans, Black Widow (Scarlett Johannsson), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), must reluctantly team up to save the day. 

This is everything a superhero movie should be. It is action packed, exciting, funny, larger than life and just incredibly entertaining. This movie is simply a blast to watch from start to finish. Even with all the has come after in the MCU, this movie has not lost any of its luster. 

Yet as exciting and action packed as this movie is, what really makes it so great is the characters. Each of these characters are very well defined on their own. Even with the number of characters, not one of them is wasted. Each of the Avengers get their own chance to shine. Still, it is how these characters interact with each other that really stands out. Each of these characters has a well-defined relationship with each of the other characters. This makes each of them feel all the more real to us and makes us even more invested in these already great characters. Many movie fans have talked a lot about the humor in this film and quote comedic lines from this movie regularly. However, what makes this humor work so well is that it all comes so naturally from the characters. Through a lot of the funny moments, we even get a greater understanding of who these characters actually are. As funny and quotable as the humor is, it is never simply comedy for the sake of comedy but plays a role in telling the story. 

The story itself is a rather simple affair. It is a basic good vs. evil superhero story that we all know. However, there is a reason that these types of stories have remained popular for so long and that is that they work. Sometimes a simple story thar is well told is exactly what we want from a movie and that is exactly what this film offers. 

Another great asset to this movie is Alan Silvestri's score. Silvestri had previously scored Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and he even tops himself with The Avengers. His score is appropriately heroic and inspiring perfect for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The main theme he uses throughout has almost taken on the same legacy as John Williams' Superman theme and Danny Elfman's Batman theme. It is easily recognizable and captures the characters perfectly. About working on this film the composer stated, "I've worked on films where there have been a number of stars and certainly worked on films where there have been characters of equal weight in terms of their level of importance and profile in the film, but this one is somewhat extreme in that regard because each of these characters has their own world and it's a very different situation. It's very challenging to look for a way to give everyone the weight and consideration they need, but at the same time the film is really about the coming together of these characters, which implies that there is this entity called the Avengers which really has to be representative of all of them together."

Plans for an Avengers movie started as early as 2003. Movie producer, Avi Arad, first announced these plans in April 2005. By 2006, it was announced that individual characters would appear in solo films before the big crossover event would happen. With the success of Iron Man, a July 2011 release date was set for the movie. By March 2009 the release date was moved to May 4, 2012.

 In July 2010, Joss Wheadon was officially assigned to direct the movie. At this time Wheadon was best known for his television work. He was the creator of the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly. About this casting decision Marvel Studio head Kevin James stated, "I've known Joss for many years. We were looking for the right thing and he came in and met on it [...] we want to find a director that's on the verge of doing something great, as we think Joss is." Wheadon himself was drawn to the film because of the dynamic between these characters. At the 2010 San Deigo Comic Con Wheadon stated, "these people shouldn't be in the same room let alone on the same team—and that is the definition of family." He elaborated on this elsewhere by stating, ""It goes back to the very first incarnation of The Avengers, it goes to The Ultimates, it goes to everything about it. It makes no sense, it's ridiculous. There's a thunder god, there's a green 'id' giant rage monster, there's Captain America from the 40s, there's Tony Stark who definitely doesn't get along with anybody. Ultimately these people don't belong together and the whole movie is about finding yourself from community. And finding that you not only belong together but you need each other, very much. Obviously, this will be expressed through punching, but it will be the heart of the film." Wheadon however was very unhappy with Zak Penn's (who wrote The Incredible Hulk (2008)) original script, which he felt lacked any real connections between the characters. Wheadon re-wrote much of the script. Though Wheadon ended up sharing a co-writing credit with Penn, Wheadon had fought for having sole writing credit. 

This movie premiered on April 11, 2012 at Disney's El Capitan Theatre. The film earned $1.519 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing movie of 2012 and what was the third highest grossing movie ever at the time. Not only was it a finical success but it was also a critical one. 

Resources Used

https://gizmodo.com/joss-whedon-says-captain-america-and-iron-man-wont-be-p-5595293

https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/the-avengers-battle-of-new-york-joss-whedon

https://variety.com/2005/film/news/marvel-touts-par-s-hero-worship-1117921854/

https://www.superherohype.com/features/96489-marvel-studios-sets-four-more-release-dates

https://web.archive.org/web/20101008211821/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644849/20100730/story.jhtml

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/box-office-milestone-avengers-number-three-332331/

https://www.marvel.com/news/story/17069/alan_silvestri_to_score_marvels_the_avengers

Mary Pickford: America's Sweetheart (1990)

 

I have mentioned earlier on this blog that Scott Eyman is becoming one of my favorite film historians. Since Mary Pickford is one of my favorite actresses naturally his biography of Mary Pickford was a must read for me. I was not disappointed. 

Not only does this book give us an in-depth look at the life and career of Mary Pickford but also at the film industry from the silent era through the early talkie era. One of Scott Eyman's great gifts as a film historian is how well he can put old movies into the context of the time they were made and the films coming out at the same time. Reading this helps you understand how Mary's films fit into the time period they were made in yet also stood out from the pack. It also helps us understand how changing culture and advances in filmmaking changed Mary's films over the years. We see how she adapted to these changes and when she failed to adapt. Because of this book also giving us such a peak into the eras that the films were made in, it is perfectly accessible to those who are new to silent films or those who only have a passing familiarity with Mary Pickford. In fact, if you are a newcomer to silent movies, this book will probably enhance your appreciation of them and encourage you to seek more out.  

As for looking at Mary's life, this book does a wonderful job. Having talked to many who personally knew Mary, Eyman creates a very vivid portrait of who Mary was as a person. This book neither comes off as an overly positive fluff piece nor an attack on her. It instead provides a very fair and honest depiction of Mary. Eyman talks about her drinking problem as well as some of her means to control any situation. Yet he also talks about her generosity and how deeply she cared for her friends and family. It also delves deep into her relationships with others. This includes her complicated and sometimes adversarial relationship with Charlie Chaplin, her friendship with Lillian Gish, her relationship with her mentor D.W. Griffith and most of all her relationships with husbands  Owen Moore, Douglas Fairbanks and Charles "Buddy" Rogers. Her undying love for Douglas Fairbanks, even after they divorced, and Buddy Rogers' devotion to her are especially very touching. I did not expect to feel my heart being moved so dearly by a biography of Mary Pickford, but I did. 

Scott Eyman's writing style also adds a lot to this book as well. He writes so well that it doesn't feel like a biography but rather a novel. He also does a great job of making us relate to these people and feel like we are right beside them through thick and thin. 

This is a top-notch movie star biography in every way. 

Movie Review: Ikkis

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A very moving war film from India.

Many Bollywood war films too often suffer from overly simplistic jingoism.  Luckily that is not the case here. This film takes no real sides but instead focuses on the effect that war has upon two countries and those fighting. This film's message is one that is not exactly simplistic. In many ways it is an anti-war film but at the same time it honors the bravery of those who fought. This is frankly the best way to make a war movie because to give a true honest look at war requires something more complex than simple black and white or good and evil. This film also does a great job of exploring the main character and what turns him from a naive boy to a war hero in short time. It also examines what it truly means to be brave through this character. Even the romance, while quite cliché is pretty touching at times. The scenes with his elderly father many years later are also quite touching. This is another very well-developed character. These scenes are also where the film gives its most intelligent commentary about the aftermath of war. 

This movie does however have its problems with clumsy filmmaking at times. The film cuts back and forth between the story of the young war hero and his dad decades later trying to understand the death of his son. Unfortunately, the transitions between these two stories and separate time periods are abrupt and distracting. Sometimes it seems like it cuts from one time period to another at random times. It seems like both characters' stories are intruding on each other throughout. The pacing is also off in this film. Some scenes go on much too long (especially the climactic battle sequence), while others are too rushed (after the romance having been the focus of the film from a while, it is soon sidelined and later given a very rushed conclusion). 

This is a smart and intelligent movie; however, it could have benefited from stronger direction and especially stronger editing. 

Movie Review: Lupin the IIIrd: The Immortal Bloodline

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent Lupin the III movie. 

This is the 12th animated feature film from this anime and manga franchise that has been around since 1967. With this in mind it is impressive just how good this movie is. This is not a film that is trying to break any new ground or make any sort of commentary. Instead, this is simply a fun action/adventure movie. As such it works incredibly well. Our heroes are just the type of lovable scoundrels that we have liked for so long. The movie never tries to play down that these aren't exactly moral people but still makes us like them regardless. Despite the film's shorter runtime each of our main characters gets a chance to shine, even if Lupin is clearly the main character. This movie also has a great sense of danger throughout. This is one of the few anime franchise films that truly keeps you on the edge of your seat. This is because the stakes are so high and the villain so powerful, that we can't figure out how our "heroes" could possibly make it out alive. Not only does the film create a sense of suspense but it also lives up to it. The conclusion is very intelligent and does not feel rushed or forced (as is the case in most films with very powerful villains). On top of all this the action scenes are excellent, and the animation is of a very high quality. 

This movie does have some problems though. The film starts with a fairly long recap. However, this is unnecessary as the storyline is simple enough for even someone who has never heard of Lupin the III to follow it perfectly without any recap. It feels as if this recap was simply a way of making what was a very short feature length movie to a runtime that goes over an hour and a half. I also felt the villain's design was distracting as he was done in a different art style than our other characters. Also trying to make it seem like this episodic franchise was all leading up to this story can feel a little forced at times.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to this beloved franchise. 

Video Link: How Donald Duck’s Snowy Battles Became Carl Barks’ Secret Weapon - West of Neverland