FEATURED POSTS

10 Questions with Shane Briant

The talented British' born actor Shane Briant made his screen debut in the Hammer horror film Demons of the Mind. Since then he's gone on to appear in over 60 films and television productions including Straight On Till Morning (1972), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The Mackintosh Man (1973), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981). Currently Briant is focusing his attention on writing fiction and he has recently completed a psychological thriller called Worst Nightmares that will be released May 12th. I've admired his film work for many years so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask Shane Briant a few questions about his early movies and current writing projects. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

The Girl On a Motorcycle (1968)

The talented director and cinematographer Jack Cardiff has passed away at the age of 94. As the tributes start to roll out from various news sites and film blogs its become clear to me that most people regard Jack Cardiff as a great cinematographer and have little regard or knowledge of his directing contributions, which is a shame. Cardiff was a brilliant photographer and his groundbreaking contributions to cinematography are well worth celebrating. But his impressive work as a director on films like the wonderful D.H. Lawrence adaptation Sons and Lovers (1960), the entertaining spy thriller The Liquidator (1965), the excellent erotic drama The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) and the effective horror film The Mutations (1974) is also worthy of applause. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Favorite DVD Releases of 2008

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but overall 2008 was somewhat of a lackluster year for new Region 1 DVD releases of '60s and '70s era films when compared to the previous two years (See: 2006 and 2007). Some of my favorite DVD companies such as BCI Eclipse and most recently New Yorker Films have folded. Boutique DVD companies are releasing fewer products and what is being released is often of questionable quality. With the failing economy and the rise in popularity of Blu-ray discs, it seems like the number of new worthwhile DVD releases might continue to drop dramatically in 2009. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda

Toru Murakawa's Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (aka Yomigaeru kinrô; 1979) is a wildly uneven Japanese crime film that left me wishing it had been helmed by another director. The film's script was adapted from a popular novel by Haruhiko Ooyabu and directors like Seijun Suzuki have had great success turning Ooyabu's hard-boiled fiction into films, but Toru Murakawa doesn't have Suzuki's eye for detail or his pop art sensibility. Resurrection of the Golden Wolf runs much too long and the dramatic filler weighs down the action, but even with its flaws the movie still keeps your attention thanks to the star performance of Yusaku Matsuda. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

We Are Controlling Transmission

This year analog broadcasting is coming to an end. On June 12th 2009 television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch permanently to digital. Digital broadcasting promises to provide viewers with a sharper picture and more diverse programming options, but this unavoidable change is forcing millions of people to buy new television sets or opt for getting a converter box that will often cost them $40 or more. I feel for these people because I didn't have complete cable TV Access or a digital television myself until 2007. READ MORE

Shirley MacLaine on Shooting The Apartment (1960)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | March 2, 2007

Categories | Directors, Comedies, Actresses, Blogathons

Billy Wilder & Shirley MacLaine on the set of The Apartment (1960)

“We started filming The Apartment with twenty-nine pages of script and Jack Lemmon and I had no idea how the film would end and neither did Billy Wilder, the director. So he just watched our relationship to see how the chemistry would evolve. Everything was evolving. At the time I was hanging with Frank and Dean, learning how to play Gin Rummy (That’s why the Gin game is in The Apartment). Billy Wilder was such a fabulous writer/director that the studio just financed the film without knowing what he would do, but they did know his reputation of creating great films and the studios knew their investment was secure. Billy could do a film on the phone book and studios and actors would stand in line to be part of the project.

The Apartment was great… a wonderful shoot and it was one of the first pictures where we mixed comedy and drama together. And many of the people at the screening seemed confused as to whether it was comedy or drama. I remember Marilyn Monroe was at the screening. She had no makeup on and was wrapped up in a mink coat. In her low whispery voice she said… “The picture is a wonderful examination of the corporate world.” My mouth flew open! She got it!

Jack Lemmon was terrific and such a nice guy. And Jack was a pro in every theatrical sense of the word. Billy was in love with Jack’s talent. The chemistry between the two was a joy to watch. In fact it was such a wonderful experience that I would come to the set on my days off just to observe two masters at work. Billy would have Jack do ten, twelve, seventeen takes of a scene to just watch him improve each scene. But in the process of this character development Billy couldn’t decide whether to let Jack just be brilliant or whether to control him.

We shot the film at United Artists which is where I made a string of hits including Irma la Douce (1963) and The Children’s Hour (1961). One day we were at lunch in the commissary and I was depressed about something. Billy and Jack were at my table, when I blurted out, “Why do people have to be in love with people anyway?” “That’s it! That’s it!” Billy yelled. He got up from the table and went back to the set and rebuilt it with that commissary scene.

Billy Wilder would never shoot a master shot. We never had a rehearsal with a master shot. So we never knew what we were actually doing. For a close up he would say, “Be upset.” If you asked, “Why am I upset Billy?” he would say “Because that’s what I want”.

In the scene from The Apartment, where Jack socks the guy… the brother, to get the shock on my face he cracked a 2 x 4 piece of wood, which startled me and gave Billy the shot he wanted.

Working with Billy was like one long ten-week lesson… and apparently it paid off for me, because I received my second Academy Award nomination, for Best Actress of 1960. I lost to Elizabeth Taylor for Butterfield 8, but The Apartment won best picture.

Working with Jack was “magic time”. His staring power was more and more evident as his career grew. He has left us a legacy of supreme humor, drama and talent, which we will be forever grateful. His genius was so riveting that even today I can close my eyes and be reminded yet again that he is the master of magic himself and a real friend throughout all time.”

- Shirley MacLaine in her own words on shooting The Apartment. To read more about Shirley and her films visit her website @ ShirleyMacLaine.com.

This is my very small non-contribution to the Billy Wilder Blog-A-Thon being hosted at Filmscreed. I love Billy Wilder and I would have put something more substantial together if I had more time, but I just learned about it today and wanted to spread the word. The Apartment (1960) is one of my favorite comedies from the 1960s and arguably one of the best dark comedies ever made.

Billy Wilder wrote some amazing scripts and made a lot of great films. Besides The Apartment, my personal favorite Wilder films are Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Stalag 17 (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like It Hot (1959), Irma la Douce (1963) and The Fortune Cookie (1966). I personally think Wilder did comedy better then drama, but I really wish he would have made more noir films.

I look forward to reading all the contributions to the Billy Wilder Blog-A-Thon!