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

Mahogany Coming to DVD May 1st!

by Kimberly Lindbergs | April 21, 2007

Categories | Movie Reviews, American Cinema, Blaxploitation, Anthony Perkins

My favorite Diana Ross film is coming to DVD on May 1st and I’m really looking forward to it! Mahogany (1975) is classic 1970s camp that features some of the decade’s most awe inspiring fashions and great over-the-top performances. If you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing Mahogany for yourself, you’re in for a real treat and for its long time fans, all I can say is that it’s time to warm up your DVD players, butter up some popcorn and get ready to enjoy Mahogany in all it’s widescreen splendor!

Mahogany was originally supposed to be directed by the great British filmmaker Tony Richardson (The Entertainer, Tom Jones, The Loved One, etc.) but he was kicked off the picture by the powerful Motown founder and film producer Berry Gordy, who ended up directing Mahogany himself. Gordy had previously produced the highly successful and critically acclaimed film Lady Sings the Blues (1972), which also starred Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams. Creative conflicts between Diana Ross, Berry Gordy and Tony Richardson supposedly led to Richardson’s departure, but Gordy issued a statement to the press saying he was taking over directing duties because Tony Richardson “Didn’t understand the black experience.”

In Mahogany Diana Ross stars as the beautiful and ambitious Tracy. Tracy is an aspiring fashion designer and secretary, who’s slowly developing a relationship with a Chicago politician named Brian (Billy Dee Williams). After she’s spotted by the famous fashion photographer Sean McAvoy (Anthony Perkins), Tracy leaves Chicago and heads for Rome. There she meets up with representatives of the Gavina Modeling Agency, which include the lovely Carlotta Gavina (Marisa Mell) who helps Tracy transform into the supermodel and fashion maven known as Mahogany.

Critics were not kind to Mahogany when it was released. The movie was universally panned and considered a major failure. Feminists railed against the films final moments, which could be interpreted as rather old fashioned and a bit sexist. Roger Ebert called the movie “An unholy alliance between daytime soap opera and Jacqueline Susann” and Ebert was right on the money. If anyone should be familiar with Jacqueline Susann’s melodramatic writings it would be Roger Ebert, who was responsible for writing the script for Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1971). Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was based on Jacqueline Susann’s original book Valley of the Dolls, which was made into a movie in 1967 by director Mark Robson. If you’re a fan of the original Valley of the Dolls film you’re going to love Mahogany. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend watching both movies together because they would make for an incredibly entertaining double feature.

Besides starring in Mahogany, Diana Ross also designed all the fashions she is seen wearing in the film. Ross has always defended the movie and was proud of the colorful fashions she produced for it. Her performance as Mahogany is really fun to watch and she looks amazing in the film. It’s easy to believe that the renowned and talented Diva could have had an impressive career as a fashion model. The beautiful european actress Marisa Mell (Danger: Diabolik!, Perversion Story, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, etc.) also stands out in her role as Carlotta Gavina.

Billy Dee Williams (Brian’s Song, Scott Joplin, The Empire Strikes Back, etc.) is very good as the Chicago politician trying to win Mahogany’s heart, but he’s overshadowed by the totally over-the-top performance of Anthony Perkins (Psycho, Pretty Poison, The Fool Killer, etc.) as the fashion photographer who wants Mahogany all for himself. The film presented Perkins with one of his best roles and he chews up the scenery every time he’s on screen. If you keep your tongue firmly planted in your cheek while watching Mahogany and recognize it for the camp classic that it is, you’ll enjoy the movie. On the other hand, if you’re looking for sexist stereotypes, including disparaging portrayals of gay men and straight women, you’ll probably find them. Just remember to keep in mind that Mahogany was made in 1975 and it’s clearly a product of the era that it was produced in.

The new Paramount NTSC Region-1 DVD of Mahogany is available for pre-order at Amazon for only $10.99. The film is being released in widescreen for the first time and the DVD will include a Photo Gallery. It would have been nice if Paramount had gotten Diana Ross, Berry Gordy and Billy Dee to provide some commentary for the disc or had interviewed them about the film, but fans will have to make due with this rather bare-bones presentation of the movie for now.

Mahogany is a whole lot of fun to watch! Unfortunately director Berry Gordy never made another film, which I think is a shame. Whatever you might think of the plot, it’s hard to ignore the creative way Gordy captures the decadent world of high fashion in 1975.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the recent success of Parmount’s Dreamgirls probably lead to the release of Mahogany on DVD (Dreamgirls is also being released on DVD May 1st). I’m sure fans of both films will enjoy comparing the fictional Diana Ross of Dreamgirls to the fictional character Ross plays in Mahogany, but you can’t top the real thing and for my money, Mahogany is much more entertaining than Dreamgirls. Diana Ross doesn’t do any singing in Mahogany, but she did provide the theme song Do You Know Where You’re Going To?, which was a bigger success than the movie.

You can hear Diana sing Do You Know Where You’re Going To? in this brief clip from Mahogany that I came across on Youtube.