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Song of the South is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson; produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on the Uncle Remus stories as adapted by Joel Chandler Harris, and stars James Baskett as Uncle Remus in his final film role. The film takes place in the U.S. state of Georgia during the Reconstruction era, a period of American history after the end of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. The story follows seven-year-old Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) who is visiting his grandmother's plantation for an extended stay. Johnny befriends Uncle Remus, an elderly worker on the plantation, and takes joy in hearing his tales about the adventures of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear. Johnny learns from the stories how to cope with the challenges he is experiencing while living on the plantation. Walt Disney had wanted to produce a film based on the Uncle Remus stories for some time. In 1939 he began negotiating with the Harris family for the film rights, and in 1944, filming for Song of the South began. The studio constructed a plantation set, for the outdoor scenes, in Phoenix, Arizona, while other scenes were filmed in Hollywood. The film is predominantly live action, but includes three animated segments, which were later released as stand-alone television features. Some scenes also feature a combination of live action with animation. Song of the South premiered in Atlanta in November 1946 and the remainder of its initial theater run was a financial success. The song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Original Song[4] and Baskett received an Academy Honorary Award for his performance as Uncle Remus. Since its initial release the film has attracted controversy, with critics characterizing its portrayal of African Americans and plantation life as racist. As a result of the film's controversial legacy, Disney has not released Song of the South on any home video format in the United States, and the film has never been available on its streaming platform Disney+. Some of the musical and animated sequences have been released through other means, and the full film has seen home video distribution in other countries, as well as fan-made 4K remasters that can be viewed at the Internet Archive.[5] The cartoon characters from the film continued to appear in a variety of books, comics, and other Disney media for many decades after the film's release. The theme park ride Splash Mountain, located at Tokyo Disneyland and formerly located at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, is based on the film's animated sequences. Synopsis Setting The film is set on a plantation in Georgia, part of the Southern United States; specifically in a location some distance from Atlanta. Although sometimes misinterpreted as taking place before the American Civil War while slavery was still legal in the region, the film takes place during the Reconstruction Era after slavery was abolished.[6][7] Harris' original Uncle Remus stories were all set after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Born in 1848, Harris was a racial reconciliation activist writer and journalist of the Reconstruction Era. The film makes several indirect references to the Reconstruction Era: clothing is in the newer late-Victorian style; Uncle Remus is free to leave the plantation at will; Black field hands are sharecroppers, etc.[8] Plot Seven-year-old Johnny is excited about what he believes to be a vacation at his grandmother's Georgia plantation with his parents, Sally and John Sr. When they arrive at the plantation, he discovers that his parents will be living apart temporarily, and he will live at the plantation with his mother and grandmother while his father returns to Atlanta to continue his controversial editorship of that city's newspaper. Distraught at his father's departure, Johnny secretly leaves for Atlanta that night with a bindle. As Johnny sneaks away from the plantation, he discovers Uncle Remus telling tales of a character named Br'er Rabbit to other sharecroppers on the plantation. By this time, word had gotten out that Johnny was missing, and some plantation residents are looking for him. Johnny evades being discovered, but Uncle Remus catches up with him, offers him food for his journey, and takes him back to his cabin, where he tells the boy the traditional African-American folktale, "Br'er Rabbit Earns a Dollar a Minute". In the story, Br'er Rabbit attempts to run away from home only to change his mind after an encounter with Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear. Johnny takes the advice and lets Uncle Remus take him back to Sally. Johnny makes friends with Toby, a young black boy who lives on the plantation, and Ginny Favers, a poor white girl. Ginny gives Johnny a puppy after her two older brothers, Joe and Jake, threaten to drown it. Sally refuses to let him take care of the puppy, so he takes it to Uncle Remus. Uncle Remus takes the dog in and delights Johnny and his friends with the fable of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, stressing that people should not get involved with something they have no business with in the first place. Johnny imitates Br'er Rabbit's use of reverse psychology from the tale and begs the Favers brothers not to tell their mother about the dog. The trick works and the boys get in trouble after telling their mother. In an act of revenge, they tell Sally about the dog. Sally becomes upset that Johnny and Uncle Remus kept the dog despite her order (which was unknown to Uncle Remus), and she instructs him not to tell any more stories to Johnny. Johnny's birthday arrives and Johnny picks up Ginny to take her to his party. On the way there, Joe and Jake push Ginny into a mud puddle. With her dress ruined, Ginny is unable to go to the party and runs off crying. Johnny begins fighting with the boys, but their fight is broken up by Uncle Remus, who reprimands Joe and Jake and warns them to keep away from Johnny and Ginny. Johnny runs off to comfort Ginny. He explains that he does not want to go to the party either, especially since his father will not be there. Uncle Remus discovers both dejected children and cheers them up by telling the story of Br'er Rabbit and his "Laughing Place". When the three return to the plantation, Sally becomes angry at Johnny for missing his party, and tells Uncle Remus to stay away from him. Saddened by the misunderstanding of his good intentions, Uncle Remus packs his bags and begins to leave for Atlanta. Johnny rushes to intercept him, but is attacked by a bull and seriously injured after taking a shortcut through a pasture. While Johnny hovers between life and death, his father returns. Johnny calls for Uncle Remus, and his grandmother escorts him in. Uncle Remus begins telling a Br'er Rabbit tale, and the boy miraculously survives. Later, a fully recovered Johnny sings with Ginny and Toby while Johnny's returned puppy runs alongside them. Nearby, Uncle Remus is shocked when Br'er Rabbit and several of the other characters from his stories appear in front of them and interact with the children. Uncle Remus rushes to join the group, and, together, they all walk into the sunset. Cast Clockwise from left: Ginny (Luana Patten), Uncle Remus (James Baskett), Johnny (Bobby Driscoll), and Toby (Glenn Leedy) James Baskett as Uncle Remus Bobby Driscoll as Johnny Luana Patten as Ginny Favers Glenn Leedy as Toby Ruth Warrick as Sally Lucile Watson as Grandmother Hattie McDaniel as Aunt Tempe Erik Rolf as John Olivier Urbain as Mr. Favers (uncredited) Mary Field as Mrs. Favers Anita Brown as Maid George Nokes as Jake Favers Gene Holland as Joe Favers Voices Johnny Lee as Br'er Rabbit James Baskett as Br'er Fox (also Br'er Rabbit in the "Laughing Place" segment) Nick Stewart as Br'er Bear Roy Glenn as Br'er Frog (uncredited) Clarence Nash as Bluebird (uncredited) Helen Crozier as Mother Possum (uncredited) Development In the aftermath of World War II, Walt Disney Studios faced financial difficulties due to a lack of foreign markets for animated films during wartime. The studio produced few theatrical animated shorts then, focusing instead on military training films that broke even, but produced no profit. The studio only profited in 1945 and 1946 by reissuing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio, and still had to lay off half of its employees in 1946. With additional financial difficulties due to a union strike in 1941, Disney sought to produce live-action films to generate additional revenue. While Disney's contract with RKO was for animated films, films that mixed live-action with animation fell under the contract, allowing the studio to lower production costs on Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. Additionally, Disney owned the rights to several properties purchased after the success of Snow White, which could be made into family films.[9] In 1938, Walt Disney became interested in the Joel Chandler Harris Uncle Remus storybook, claiming to remember hearing the stories as a child, and prepared two research reports to determine if it was possible to film the stories, dated April 8 and 11, 1938. He purchased the rights to the stories in 1939, paying Harris's family $10,000 (equivalent to $216,000 in 2023). By 1986, the film based on the stories, Song of the South, had earned $300 million.[9] Beginning in 1939, Disney began developing Uncle Remus as an entirely animated feature. The stories were also considered as two-reel animated shorts. Stories considered for the production included "Br'er Rabbit Rides the Fox", in which Br'er Rabbit tricks Br'er Fox into riding him like a horse to a party, and "De Wuller-De-Wust", in which Br'er Rabbit pretends to be a ghost to scare Br'er Bear. In another treatment, Uncle Remus gathers the critters together for a prayer meeting and to encourage them to build a church that would bring peace between predators and prey. Also proposed was a storyline in which Br'er Rabbit's addiction to gambling would be at the root of the troubles that led to the film's adventures.[9] Disney first began to negotiate with Harris's family for the rights in 1939, and by late summer of that year he already had one of his storyboard artists summarize the more promising tales and draw up four boards' worth of story sketches. In November 1940, Disney visited the Harris's home in Atlanta. He told Variety that he wanted to "get an authentic feeling of Uncle Remus country so we can do as faithful a job as possible to these stories."[10] Disney's brother Roy had misgivings about the project, doubting that it was "big enough in caliber and natural draft" to warrant a budget over $1 million and more than twenty-five minutes of animation. Disney planned to produce a series of Uncle Remus films if the first one was successful, each with the same live-action cast but different animated shorts. Ultimately, the studio decided that only a third of the film would be animated and the rest would be live-action.[9] Disney was initially going to have the screenplay written by the studio animators, but later sought professional writers.[9] In June 1944, Disney hired Southern-born writer Dalton Reymond to write the screenplay, and he met frequently with King Vidor, whom he was trying to interest in directing the live-action sequences.[10] Dalton Reymond delivered a 51-page outline on May 15, 1944.[11] The Hays Office reviewed Reymond's outline, and demanded that some terminology, such as characters referring to Remus as an "old darkie" be removed from Reymond's treatment.[12][13] Disney hired African-American performer and writer Clarence Muse to be consulted on the screenplay, but Muse quit when Reymond ignored Muse's suggestions to portray African-American characters in a way that would be perceived as being dignified and more than Southern stereotypes.[11] Muse subsequently wrote letters to the editors of black publications to criticize the depiction of African-Americans in Reymond's script. Disney claimed that Muse attacked the film because Disney did not choose Muse to play the part of Uncle Remus, which Muse had lobbied for.[12] In addition to concerns about his racial stereotyping, Reymond had never written a screenplay before (nor would he write another). Maurice Rapf, who had been writing live-action features at the time, was asked by Walt Disney Productions to work with Reymond and co-writer Callum Webb to turn the treatment into a shootable screenplay.[14] According to Neal Gabler, one of the reasons Disney had hired Rapf to work with Reymond was to temper what Disney feared would be Reymond's "white Southern slant".[15] Reymond's treatment included the phrases "massa", in reference to white characters, and "darkey", in reference to plantation workers, prominently.[11] Rapf removed the offending phrase and added dialogue to make it clear that the film was set after slavery had ended; one character in Rapf's script states, in reference to the Black plantation workers, "We gotta pay these people. They're not slaves." Uncle Remus also states, after being told that he cannot read any more stories to Johnny, "I'm a free man; I don't have to take this."[11] Rapf saw the animal stories as metaphors for slave resistance, and intended to portray Br'er Rabbit as a smaller, less powerful Black man, and in place of the oppressive whites would be Br'er Fox, Br'er Bear and the deleted character Br'er Coon.[11] Rapf was a minority, a Jew, and an outspoken left-winger, and he himself feared that the film would inevitably be Uncle-Tomish. "That's exactly why I want you to work on it," Walt told him, "because I know that you don't think I should make the movie. You're against Uncle Tomism, and you're a radical."[15] Rapf initially hesitated, but when he found out that most of the film would be live-action and that he could make extensive changes, he accepted the offer. Rapf worked on Uncle Remus for about seven weeks. When he got into a personal dispute with Reymond, Rapf was taken off the project.[14] According to Rapf, Disney "ended every conference by saying 'Well, I think we've really licked it now.' Then he'd call you the next morning and say, 'I've got a new idea.' And he'd have one. Sometimes the ideas were good, sometimes they were terrible, but you could never really satisfy him."[10] Morton Grant was assigned to the project.[14] Disney sent out the script for comment both within the studio and outside the studio.[16] On May 10, 1944, the title was changed from Uncle Remus to Song of the South.[11] Production Casting In February 1941, Disney talked with Paul Robeson about him playing Uncle Remus, and the two remained in talks about the project for several years, but ultimately he was not cast. It is speculated that Robeson's politics made him too controversial for the role. Other actors considered included Rex Ingram.[9] Clarence Muse lobbied for the role of Uncle Remus while consulting on the screenplay, but left the project due to Dalton Reymond's depiction of African-Americans in the original treatment.[12] James Baskett was cast as Uncle Remus after responding to an ad for providing the voice of a talking butterfly. Baskett is quoted as saying; "I thought that, maybe, they'd try me out to furnish the voice for one of Uncle Remus's animals." Upon review of his voice, Disney wanted to meet Baskett personally, and had him tested for the role of Uncle Remus. In addition to the role of Uncle Remus, Baskett also received the voice roles of the butterfly and Br'er Fox.[17] Baskett also filled in as the voice of Br'er Rabbit for Johnny Lee in the "Laughing Place" sequence after Lee was called away to do a USO tour.[18] Disney told Baskett's sister Ruth that Baskett was "the best actor, I believe, to be discovered in years". After the film's release, Disney maintained contact with him. Disney also campaigned for Baskett to be given an Academy Award for his performance, saying that he had worked "almost wholly without direction" and had devised the characterization of Remus himself. Baskett won an honorary Oscar in 1948.[19] After Baskett's death, his widow wrote Disney and told him that he had been a "friend indeed and [we] certainly have been in need".[20] Also cast in the production were child actors Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, and Glenn Leedy (his only credited screen appearance). Driscoll was the first actor to be under a personal contract with the Disney studio.[21] Patten had been a professional model since age three, and caught the attention of Disney when she appeared on the cover of Woman's Home Companion.[22] Leedy was discovered on the playground of the Booker T. Washington school in Phoenix, Arizona, by a talent scout from the Disney studio.[23] Ruth Warrick and Erik Rolf, cast as Johnny's mother and father, had actually been married during filming, but divorced in 1946.[24][25] Hattie McDaniel also appeared in the role of Aunt Tempe. Filming Production started under the title Uncle Remus.[26] The budget was originally $1.35 million.[27] The animated segments of the film were directed by Wilfred Jackson, while the live-action segments were directed by Harve Foster. Filming began in December 1944 in Phoenix, Arizona where the studio had constructed a plantation and cotton fields for outdoor scenes, and Disney left for the location to oversee what he called "atmospheric shots". Back in Hollywood, the live action scenes were filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio.[28] On the final day of shooting, Jackson discovered that the scene in which Uncle Remus sings the film's signature song, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", had not been properly blocked. According to Jackson, "We all sat there in a circle with the dollars running out, and nobody came up with anything. Then Walt suggested that they shoot Baskett in close-up, cover the lights with cardboard save for a sliver of blue sky behind his head, and then remove the cardboard from the lights when he began singing so that he would seem to be entering a bright new world of animation. Like Walt's idea for Bambi on ice, it made for one of the most memorable scenes in the film."[26] Animation Br'er Rabbit takes Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear to his "laughing place" There are three animated segments in the film (they total 25 minutes). The last few minutes of the film also combines animation with live-action. The three sequences were later shown as stand-alone cartoon features on television. Br'er Rabbit Runs Away: (~8 minutes) Based on "Br'er Rabbit Earns a Dollar a Minute". Includes the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby: (~12 minutes) Based on "Tar-Baby". The segment is interrupted with a short live-action scene about two-thirds through. It features the song "How Do You Do?" Br'er Rabbit's Laughing Place: (~5 minutes) Based on "The Laughing Place". The song "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" is featured. Music Nine songs are heard in the film, with four reprises. Nearly all of the vocal performances are by the largely African-American cast, and the renowned all-Black Hall Johnson Choir sing four pieces: two versions of a blues number ("Let the Rain Pour Down"), one chain-reaction-style folk song[29] ("That's What Uncle Remus Said") and one spiritual ("All I Want"). The songs are, in film order, as follows: "Song of the South": Written by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston; performed by the Disney Studio Choir "Uncle Remus Said": Written by Eliot Daniel, Hy Heath, and Johnny Lange; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah": Written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert; performed by James Baskett "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah": (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll "Who Wants to Live Like That?": Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by James Baskett "Let the Rain Pour Down": (uptempo) Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir "How Do You Do?": Written by Robert MacGimsey; performed by Johnny Lee and James Baskett "How Do You Do?": (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll and Glenn Leedy "Sooner or Later": Written by Charles Wolcott and Ray Gilbert; performed by Hattie McDaniel.[30] "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place": Written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert; performed by James Baskett and Nick Stewart "Let the Rain Pour Down": (downtempo) Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir "All I Want": Traditional, new arrangement and lyrics by Ken Darby; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah": (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, Glenn Leedy, Johnny Lee, and James Baskett "Song of the South": (reprise) Performed by the Disney Studio Choir "Let the Rain Pour Down" is set to the melody of "Midnight Special", a traditional blues song popularized by Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter). The song title "Look at the Sun" appeared in some early press books, though it is not in the film.[31] Ken Emerson, author of the book Doo-dah!: Stephen Foster And The Rise Of American Popular Culture, believes that "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is influenced by the chorus of the pre-Civil War folk song "Zip Coon", which is today considered racist for its use of an African American stereotype.[32][33] Release The film premiered at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta in 1946. The film premiered on November 12, 1946, at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.[26] Walt Disney made introductory remarks, introduced the cast, then quietly left for his room at the Georgian Terrace Hotel across the street; he had previously stated that unexpected audience reactions upset him and he was better off not seeing the film with an audience. James Baskett was unable to attend the film's premiere because he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, as Atlanta was then a racially segregated city.[34] Song of the South was re-released in theaters several times after its original premiere, each time through Buena Vista Pictures: in 1956 for the 10th anniversary; in 1972 for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney Productions; in 1973 as the second half of a double bill with The Aristocats; in 1980 for the 100th anniversary of Harris's classic stories; and in 1986 for the film's own 40th anniversary and in promotion of the upcoming Splash Mountain attraction at Disneyland. Spin-off comics and books As had been done earlier with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940) and Bambi (1942), Disney produced a Sunday comic strip titled Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit to give the film pre-release publicity. The strip was launched by King Features on October 14, 1945, more than a year before the film was released. The previous comic strip adaptations of Disney films lasted for four or five months, but the Uncle Remus strip continued for almost thirty years, telling new stories of Br'er Rabbit and friends, until the strip was discontinued on December 31, 1972.[35] Apart from the newspaper strips, Disney Br'er Rabbit comics were also produced for comic books; the first such stories appeared in late 1946. Produced both by Western Publishing and European publishers such as Egmont, they continue to appear.[36] In 1946, a Giant Golden Book entitled Walt Disney's Uncle Remus Stories was published by Simon & Schuster. It featured 23 illustrated stories of Br'er Rabbit's escapades, all told in a Southern dialect based on the original Joel Chandler Harris stories. In 1986, Floyd Norman wrote A Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Christmas! featuring Uncle Remus and Br'er Rabbit as that year's annual Disney Christmas Story newspaper comic strip.[37] When the Christmas Story strips were reprinted in the 2017 collection Disney's Christmas Classics, this story was omitted—the only deletion in an otherwise complete run of the strip.[38] Home media Disney has not released a complete version of the film in the United States on home video, given the film's controversial reputation.[39][40] Over the years, Disney has made a variety of statements about whether and when the film would be re-released.[41][42][43] From 1984 to 2005, CEO Michael Eisner stated that the film would not receive a home video release in the United States, due to not wanting to have a disclaimer and fearing backlash and accusations of racism. At Eisner's request, [citation needed] Uncle Remus was not featured in the Splash Mountain attraction, instead being replaced as the narrator by Br'er Frog in the Tokyo Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions of the ride. In March 2010, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that there were no plans to release the film on DVD, calling the film "antiquated" and "fairly offensive".[44] In November 2010, Disney creative director Dave Bossert stated in an interview, "I can say there's been a lot of internal discussion about Song of the South. And at some point we're going to do something about it. I don't know when, but we will. We know we want people to see Song of the South because we realize it's a big piece of company history, and we want to do it the right way."[45] Film critic Roger Ebert, who normally disdained any attempt to keep films from any audience, supported the non-release of the film, arguing that Disney films become a part of the consciousness of American children, who take films more literally than do adults.[46][47] Audio from the film—both the musical soundtrack and dialogue—was commonly used in home media tie-ins through the late 1970s. In particular, many book-and-record sets were released featuring the animated portions of the film or summaries of the film as a whole.[48] The Walt Disney Company has also included key portions of the film in VHS and DVD compilations in the United States, as well as on the long-running Walt Disney anthology television series. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and some of the animated portions appear in an added feature on the 2004 Alice in Wonderland Special Edition DVD, as part of the 1950 Christmas special One Hour in Wonderland, which promoted the then-forthcoming film. From 1986 to 2001, most of the musical segments – notably "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", "How Do You Do?", and "Everybody's Got A Laughing Place" – were included on the VHS and LaserDisc releases of the Disney Sing-Along Songs series. The full-length film has been released in its entirety on VHS and LaserDisc in various European and Asian countries. In the United Kingdom, it was released on PAL VHS between 1982 and 2000. In Japan, it appeared on NTSC VHS and LaserDisc in 1985, 1990 and 1992, with Japanese subtitles during songs. (Under Japanese copyright law, the film is now in the public domain.)[49] Most of the foreign releases of the film are literal translations of the English title; the German title Onkel Remus' Wunderland translates to "Uncle Remus's Wonderland", the Italian title I Racconti Dello Zio Tom translates to "The Stories of Uncle Tom",[50] and the Norwegian title Onkel Remus forteller translates to "Storyteller Uncle Remus".[51] In 2017, after being inaugurated as a Disney Legend, Whoopi Goldberg expressed a desire for Song of the South to be re-released publicly to American audiences and stated, "I'm trying to find a way to get people to start having conversations about bringing Song of the South back, so we can talk about what it was and where it came from and why it came out".[52][53] Song of the South has never been available on Disney's streaming service, Disney+, which launched in the United States in 2019.[54][55][56] In 2020, Iger affirmed during a shareholders meeting that the film would not be getting a release on the service, even with an "outdated cultural depictions" disclaimer, stating that the film is "not appropriate in today's world".[57] Reception Critical reception “As Uncle Remus, James Baskett is so skillful in registering contentment that even the people who believe in the virtues of slavery are going to be impressed and want to know his secret.”—Film critic Manny Farber in The New Republic, December 23, 1946.[58] Bosley Crowther wrote in The New York Times, "More and more, Walt Disney's craftsmen have been loading their feature films with so-called 'live action' in place of their animated whimsies of the past, and by just those proportions has the magic of these Disney films decreased", citing the ratio of live action to animation at two to one, concluding that is "approximately the ratio of its mediocrity to its charm".[59] A review in Variety felt the film overall was "sometimes sentimental, slow and overlong". Nevertheless, the review felt the songs were "above-average, with one 'Zip-adee-do-da,' [sic] likely to be one of the season's favorites" and the animated sequences as "great stuff". They also praised Driscoll and Patten as "two of the most natural and appealing youngsters" and Baskett's performance was "as warming a portrait as has been seen in a long time".[60] A review in Time magazine praised the animated sequences as "topnotch Disney—and delightful", but cautioned that it was "bound to land its maker in hot water" because the character of Uncle Remus was "bound to enrage all educated Negroes and a number of damyankees".[61] Harrison's Reports praised Driscoll and Baskett's performances, particularly the latter writing "his tender understanding of the child's problems gives the picture many appealing moments." Overall, the review felt the film had "a simple but sensitive and pathetic story, filled with deep human interest and fine, clean comedy situations, and it has an air of wholesomeness that comes as a pleasant relief from the general run of pictures nowadays."[62] Dorothy Masters of the New York Daily News wrote: "Although plot is practically ignored, Disney has worked a lot of magic with brilliant animation, effective and wonderful music, besides having made the very best possible choice for Uncle Remus. James Baskett, who portrays the sagacious dean of plantation workers, has both the benign appearance and mellifluous voice to make him the perfect spinner-of-tales. It's largely through his philosophical whimsy that Song of the South is so delightfully charming."[63] Columnist Hedda Hopper also praised Baskett's performance, and advocated for him to receive an Academy Award.[64] Criticism in the black press, however, was more politically divided. Richard B. Dier in The Afro-American was "thoroughly disgusted" by the film for being "as vicious a piece of propaganda for white supremacy as Hollywood ever produced." Herman Hill in The Pittsburgh Courier felt that Song of the South would "prove of inestimable goodwill in the furthering of interracial relations", and considered criticisms of the film to be "unadulterated hogwash symptomatic of the unfortunate racial neurosis that seems to be gripping so many of our humorless brethren these days."[65] Charles Solomon, reviewing the film in the Los Angeles Times during its 1986 re-release, praised the film as "essentially a nostalgic valentine to a past that never existed, and within those limits, it offers a pleasant, family diversion for holiday afternoons when the children get restless."[66] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes has a rating of 50% based on 14 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10.[67] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[68] Box office By January 1948, the film had grossed $3.4 million in distributor rentals from the United States and Canada,[19][69] netting the studio a profit of $226,000 ($2.83 million in 2017 dollars).[70] Accolades James Baskett was voted an Academy Honorary Award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus, the first African-American man to win any kind of Oscar.[71] The score by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott was nominated in the "Scoring of a Musical Picture" category, and "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert, won the award for Best Original Song at the 20th Academy Awards on March 20, 1948.[72] A special Academy Award was given to Baskett "for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney's Song of the South". For their portrayals of the children Johnny and Ginny, Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten were also discussed for Academy Juvenile Awards, but in 1947 it was decided not to present such awards at all.[73] The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in these lists: 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" – #47[74] 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated[75] Depiction of race The film has sparked significant controversy for its handling of race.[76][77] Cultural historian Jason Sperb describes the film as "one of Hollywood's most resiliently offensive racist texts".[78] Sperb, Neal Gabler, and other critics have noted the film's release as being in the wake of the Double V campaign, a campaign in the United States during World War II to promote victory over racism in the United States and its armed forces, and victory over fascism abroad.[79] Early in the film's production, there was concern that the material would encounter controversy. Disney publicist Vern Caldwell wrote to producer Perce Pearce that "the negro situation is a dangerous one. Between the negro haters and the negro lovers there are many chances to run afoul of situations that could run the gamut all the way from the nasty to the controversial."[15] The Disney Company has stated that, like Harris's book, the film takes place after the American Civil War and that all the African American characters in the movie are no longer slaves.[8] The Hays Office had asked Disney to "be certain that the frontispiece of the book mentioned establishes the date in the 1870s"; however, the final film carried no such statement.[14] Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a congressman from Harlem, branded the film an "insult to American minorities [and] everything that America as a whole stands for."[80] The National Negro Congress set up picket lines in theaters in the big cities where the film played, with its protesters holding signs that read "Song of the South is an insult to the Negro people" and, lampooning "Jingle Bells", chanted: "Disney tells, Disney tells/lies about the South."[80][81] On April 2, 1947, a group of protesters marched around Oakland, California's Paramount Theatre with picket signs reading, "We want films on Democracy not Slavery" and "Don't prejudice children's minds with films like this".[82] The National Jewish Post scorned the fact that the film's lead was not allowed to attend its premiere in Atlanta because of his race.[83] Criticisms in the black press largely objected to the reinforcement of stereotypes, such as the subservient status of black characters, costuming, the exaggerated dialect, and other archaic depictions of black people.[65] Response of civil rights activists According to Valarie Stewart, daughter of Nick Stewart (voice of Br'er Bear in the film), NAACP executive secretary Walter Francis White disliked actress Hattie McDaniel.[84] White, a light-skinned black man with blonde hair and blue eyes, according to Valarie Stewart, launched campaigns against McDaniel's films because McDaniel was dark-skinned, and she alleged that Song of the South was targeted because of White's prejudice against McDaniel.[84] Disney historian Jim Korkis, in his 2012 book Who's Afraid of Song of the South, alleged that White and June Blythe, the director of the American Council on Race Relations, were denied requests to see a treatment for the film.[12] When the film was first released, White telegraphed major newspapers around the country with the following statement, erroneously claiming that the film depicted an antebellum setting: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People recognizes in Song of the South remarkable artistic merit in the music and in the combination of living actors and the cartoon technique. It regrets, however, that in an effort neither to offend audiences in the north or south, the production helps to perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery. Making use of the beautiful Uncle Remus folklore, Song of the South unfortunately gives the impression of an idyllic master–slave relationship which is a distortion of the facts.[14] White had not seen the film; his statement was allegedly based on memos he received from two NAACP staff members, Norma Jensen and Hope Spingarn, who attended a press screening on November 20, 1946. Jensen had written the film was "so artistically beautiful that it is difficult to be provoked over the clichés," but said it contained "all the clichés in the book". Spingarn listed several things she found objectionable from the film, including the use of African-American English.[14] Jim Hill Media stated that both Jensen and Spingarn were confused by the film's Reconstruction setting, writing; "it was something that also confused other reviewers who from the tone of the film and the type of similar recent Hollywood movies assumed it must also be set during the time of slavery." Based on the Jensen and Spingarn memos, White released the "official position" of the NAACP in a telegram that was widely quoted in newspapers.[85] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times made a similar assumption, writing that the movie was a "travesty on the antebellum South."[59] Legacy The theme park ride Splash Mountain in Tokyo Disneyland is based on Song of the South. As early as October 1945, a newspaper strip called Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit appeared in the United States, and this production continued until 1972. There have also been episodes for the series produced for the Disney comic books worldwide, in the U.S., Denmark and the Netherlands, from the 1940s up to 2012.[86] Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear also appeared frequently in Disney's Big Bad Wolf stories, although here, Br'er Bear was usually cast as an honest farmer and family man, instead of an antagonist in his original appearances. The Splash Mountain log flume ride, which opened at Disneyland in 1989, and at Tokyo Disneyland and Magic Kingdom in 1992, is based on the animated portions of Song of the South. As with the film, the ride had drawn controversy over the years due to the racial issues associated with the work. Amid the George Floyd protests in 2020, Disney announced that they would retool the ride in Disneyland and Magic Kingdom to remove the Song of the South elements and replace them with a concept based on Disney's 2009 film The Princess and the Frog. Disney stated that development of the project began in 2019.[87] The New York Times reported that Disney executives had privately discussed removing the attraction's Song of the South theme for at least five years, before putting into development the Princess and the Frog theme.[88] In July 2022, Disney announced that the new ride would be called Tiana's Bayou Adventure.[89] The Magic Kingdom version of Splash Mountain closed in January 2023,[90] while the Disneyland version closed in May 2023.[91] Tiana's Bayou Adventure is scheduled to open in June 2024 at Magic Kingdom and later in 2024 at Disneyland.[92][93] Br'er Bear, the Tar-Baby, and the hummingbirds and moles from the "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" scene, have cameo appearances in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Br'er Bear has a cameo appearance in the television series Bonkers (1993–1994) in the episode "Casabonkers" (1993). Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear make recurring cameo appearances on the television series House of Mouse (2001–2003), and appear in the show's direct-to-video film Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001), while the Blue Bird makes a cameo appearance in the House of Mouse episode "Pete's One-Man Show" (2002). In addition, Bre'r Bear appears along with other Disney characters at the end of the direct-to-video film The Lion King 1½ (2004). Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear also appeared in the 2011 video game Kinect: Disneyland Adventures for the Xbox 360. The game is a virtual recreation of Disneyland and features a mini game based on the Splash Mountain attraction. Br'er Rabbit helps guide the player character through that game, while Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear serve as antagonists. The three Br'ers also appear as meet-and-greet characters in the game, outside Splash Mountain in Critter Country. In the game, Jess Harnell reprises his role from the attraction as Br'er Rabbit and also takes on the role of Br'er Fox, while Br'er Bear is voiced by James Avery, who previously voiced Br'er Bear and Br'er Frog in the Magic Kingdom version of Splash Mountain. This is the Br'ers' first major appearance in Disney media and their first appearance as computer-generated characters. In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the 67th greatest animated film of all time.[94] See also Lost Cause of the Confederacy § Song of the South References "Song Of The South (U)". British Board of Film Classification. October 23, 1946. Retrieved November 28, 2015. Solomon, Charles (1989). Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation. Alfred A. Knopf. p. 186. ISBN 0-394-54684-9. "Song of the South (1946)". The Numbers. Retrieved September 19, 2019. "1948 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Oscars.org. March 20, 1948. Retrieved January 19, 2021. Song of the South [2023 Restoration] (less color saturation). Internet Archive. Digital Janitor. February 18, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024. Kaufman, Will (2006). The Civil War in American Culture. Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-1935-6. Langman, Larry; Ebner, David (2001). Hollywood's Image of the South: A Century of Southern Films. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-313-31886-7. Walt Disney Presents "Song of the South" Promotional Program, Page 7. Published 1946 by Walt Disney Productions/RKO Radio Pictures. Korkis 2012, pp. 21–6. Gabler 2006, p. 433. Korkis 2012, pp. 27–34. Korkis 2012, pp. 67–74. "It might be well, from the standpoint of our negro patrons, to eliminate the expression 'darkey' wherever it appears in your dialogue." Joseph I. Breen to Walt Disney, 1 August 1944. Production Code Administration Records, Motion Picture Association of America (Margaret Herrick Library): https://digitalcollections.oscars.org/digital/collection/p15759coll30/id/14031/rec/37 Cohen, Karl F. (1997). Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 64. ISBN 0-7864-2032-4. Gabler 2006, p. 434. Gabler 2006, pp. 434–5. "James Baskett as Uncle Remus". Song of the South.net. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "Song of the South (1946) - Turner Classic Movies". tcm.com. Retrieved February 1, 2023. Gabler 2006, p. 438. Gabler 2006, pp. 438–9. "Bobby Driscoll as Johnny". Song of the South.net. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "Luana Patten as Ginny Favers". Song of the South.net. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "Glenn Leedy as Toby". Song of the South.net. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "Ruth Warrick as Sally". Song of the South.net. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "Eric Rolf as John". Song of the South.net. Retrieved January 18, 2007. Gabler 2006, p. 437. "14 RKO Pictures to Exceed Million in Prod. Cost in Coming 'Year of Years'". Variety. September 12, 1945. p. 12 – via Internet Archive. Gabler 2006, p. 436. Walt Disney's Song of the South, 1946 Publicity Campaign Book, Distributed by RKO Pictures. Copyright Walt Disney Pictures, 1946. "The chain-reaction, endless song, of which American folk music is so plentiful [...] The number is 'Uncle Remus Said,' and it consists of a single, brief melody repeated as often as new lyrics come along." Gilliland, John (197X). "Show 16" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries. "Song of the South Song Lyrics". Retrieved October 18, 2018. Emerson, Ken (1997). Doo-dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 60. ISBN 978-0684810102. "Blackface!". black-face.com. Retrieved December 24, 2013. In a October 15, 1946 article in the Atlanta Constitution, columnist Harold Martin noted that to bring Baskett to Atlanta, where he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, "would cause him many embarrassments, for his feelings are the same as any man's". Markstein, Don. "Br'er Rabbit". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 1, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2007. Inducks.org Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 422. ISBN 9780472117567. Korkis, Jim (December 19, 2018). "Disney Christmas Treats". Mouse Planet. Retrieved July 27, 2019. Inge, M. Thomas (September 2012). "Walt Disney's Song of the South and the Politics of Animation". Journal of American Culture. 35 (3): 228. Retrieved July 2, 2016. "Disney (Song of the South)". Urban Legends Reference Pages. July 12, 1997. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "News Archives: 2007 Disney Shareholder Meeting". Song of the South.net. March 8, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2007. "Disney Backpedaling on Releasing Song of the South?". Song of the South.net. May 11, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2007. Hill, Jim (July 5, 2007). "As "Tarzan" swings off Broadway, is Beyoncé getting ready to play Aida in Disney's next big movie musical?". Jim Hill Media. Retrieved July 6, 2007. "Disney CEO Calls Movie Antiquated and Fairly Offensive". Song of the South.net. March 16, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2010. Head, Steve (November 20, 2010). "Disney Producer Encouraging About 'Song of the South' Release". The Post-Movie Podcast. Retrieved November 16, 2011. Brantley, Mike (January 6, 2002). "Song of the South". Alabama Mobile Register. Song of the South.net. Retrieved January 18, 2007. Ebert, Roger (February 13, 2000). "Movie Answer Man (02/13/2000)". Ebert Digital LLC. "Song of the South Memorabilia". Song of the South.net. Archived from the original on February 13, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "Japanese Court Rules Pre-1953 Movies in Public Domain". contactmusic.com. December 7, 2006. "AKAs for Song of the South". Archived from the original on February 25, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2007. "Walt Disney's: helaftens spillefilmer 1941–1981". Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2009. Amidi, Amid (July 15, 2017). "In Her First Act As A Disney Legend, Whoopi Goldberg Tells Disney To Stop Hiding Its History". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved August 7, 2017. "Whoopi Goldberg Wants Disney to Bring Back 'Song of the South' to Start Conversation About Controversial 1946 Film". www.yahoo.com. July 2, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020. Bakare, Lanre (April 23, 2019). "Disney Plus streaming site will not offer 'racist' Song of the South film". The Guardian. Retrieved September 18, 2019. "Why "Song of the South" is not on Disney+". Newsweek. November 12, 2019. Barnes, Brooks (November 12, 2019). "Not Streaming: 'Song of the South' and Other Films Stay in the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2019. Grater, Tom (March 11, 2020). "Bob Iger Confirms 'Song Of The South' Won't Be Added To Disney+, Even With Disclaimer". Deadline. Retrieved March 11, 2020. Farber, Manny (2009). Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber. London, New York: The Library of America. p. 824. ISBN 978-1-59853-050-6. Crowther, Bosley (November 28, 1946). "The Screen; 'Song of the South,' Disney Film Combining Cartoons and Life, Opens at Palace—Abbott and Costello at Loew's Criterion". The New York Times. Vol. 96, no. 32450. "Film Reviews: Song of the South". Variety. November 6, 1946. p. 18. Retrieved August 25, 2022 – via Internet Archive. "The New Pictures". Time. November 18, 1946. "'Song of the South' with Bobby Driscoll, Ruth Warrick and James Baskett". Harrison's Reports. November 2, 1946. p. 174. Retrieved August 25, 2022 – via Internet Archive. Masters, Dorothy (November 28, 1946). "Disney Treat Screens Gospel of Uncle Remus". New York Daily News. p. C16. Retrieved August 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Frost, Frost (Winter 2008). "Hedda Hopper, Hollywood Gossip, and the Politics of Racial Representation in Film, 1946-1948". The Journal of African American History. 93 (1): 36–63. doi:10.1086/JAAHv93n1p36. JSTOR 20064255. S2CID 142114722. Retrieved March 23, 2023. Gevinson, Alan (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. California: University of California Press. p. 956. ISBN 978-0-520-20964-0. Solomon, Charles (November 21, 1986). "Movie Review: Animation Sings in 'Song of the South'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 19, 2019. "Song of the South (1946)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 25, 2022. "Song of the South Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved January 5, 2020. "Top Grossers of 1947". Variety. January 7, 1948. p. 63 – via Internet Archive. Thomas, Bob (1994) [1976]. Walt Disney: An American Original. New York: Hyperion Books. p. 205. ISBN 0-7868-6027-8. Song of the South - IMDb, retrieved June 29, 2020 Song of the South opened in Los Angeles in 1947, which became its qualification year for the awards. Parsons, Luella (February 28, 1960). "That Little Girl in 'Song of the South' a Big Girl Now". Lincoln Sunday Journal and Star. Retrieved September 2, 2008. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved August 13, 2016. "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees". Retrieved August 13, 2016. Suddath, Claudia (December 9, 2009). "Top 10 Disney Controversies". Time. EST, Samuel Spencer On 11/12/19 at 10:06 AM (November 12, 2019). "Why "Song of the South" is not on Disney+". Newsweek. Retrieved January 14, 2020. Lingan, John (January 4, 2013). "Bristling Dixie". Slate. Retrieved August 21, 2013. Sperb 2013. Watts, Steven (2001). The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. University of Missouri Press. pp. 276–277. ISBN 0-8262-1379-0. "Song Of South Picketed; Line at the Palace Protests Disney Portrayal" (PDF). The New York Times. Vol. 96, no. 32466. December 14, 1946. Korkis 2012, p. 69. Biron, Phineas J. (January 3, 1947). "Jewish Post". Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program. Retrieved December 14, 2020. Stewart, Valarie (January 23, 2023). Splash Mountain: Saving Her Father's Legacy, The Story of Nick Stewart and His Daughter Valarie (Video). WDW Pro. Retrieved January 29, 2023. "Wednesdays with Wade: Did the NAACP kill "Song of the South"?". Jim Hill Media. November 15, 2005. "Brer Rabbit" at Inducks Pallotta, Frank (June 25, 2020). "Splash Mountain, a Disney ride based on a controversial film, will be 'completely reimagined'". CNN. Retrieved June 25, 2020. Barnes, Brooks (June 25, 2020). "Disney's Splash Mountain to Drop 'Song of the South' Depictions". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2020. Becker, Emma (July 1, 2022). "Disney Reveals Splash Mountain Will Be Transformed Into Tiana's Bayou Adventure by 2024". People magazine. Retrieved July 1, 2022. Chen, Eve (December 2, 2022). "Disney World will close Splash Mountain in January for a new 'Princess and the Frog' adventure". usatoday.com. Retrieved December 5, 2022. Chen, Eve (April 12, 2023). "Disneyland's Splash Mountain closing date, new Tiana Bayou's Adventure details announced". usatoday.com. Retrieved April 12, 2023. Scott, Mike (February 13, 2024). "Disney reveals opening date for New Orleans-inspired Tiana's Bayou Adventure". nola.com. Retrieved February 16, 2024. Chen, Eve (May 12, 2024). "Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Splash Mountain's replacement, will open at Disney World in June". usatoday.com. Retrieved May 12, 2024. "Top 100 Animated Features of All Time". Online Film Critics Society. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2007. Bibliography Gabler, Neal (2006). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-679-75747-4. Korkis, Jim (2012). Who's Afraid of Song of the South? and Other Forbidden Disney Stories. Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-0984341559. Sperb, Jason (2013). Disney's Most Notorious Film: Race, Convergence, and the Hidden Histories of Song of the South. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0292756779.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is a 1965 animated television special. It is the first TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz, and features the voices of Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, Tracy Stratford, and Bill Melendez. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Melendez, the program made its debut on the CBS television network on December 9, 1965.[nb 1] In the special, Charlie Brown (Robbins) finds himself depressed despite the onset of the cheerful holiday season. After Lucy van Pelt (Stratford) suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers when he chooses a puny Christmas tree as a centerpiece. After the comic strip's debut in 1950, Peanuts had become a worldwide phenomenon by the mid-1960s. The special was commissioned and sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, and was written over a period of several weeks, and produced on a small budget in six months. In casting the characters, the producers took an unconventional route, hiring child actors. The program's soundtrack was similarly unorthodox, featuring a jazz score by pianist Vince Guaraldi. Its lack of a laugh track (a staple in US television animation in this period), in addition to its tone, pacing, music, and animation, led both the producers and the network to predict the project would be a disaster. However, contrary to their collective apprehension, A Charlie Brown Christmas received high ratings and acclaim from critics. It received an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and became an annual presentation in the United States, airing on broadcast television during the Christmas season for 56 years before becoming exclusively available on Apple TV+ streaming service. Its success paved the way for a series of Peanuts television specials and films. Its jazz soundtrack achieved commercial success, selling five million copies in the US.[3] Live theatrical versions of A Charlie Brown Christmas have been staged. Plot On their way to join their friends ice skating on a frozen pond, Charlie Brown confesses to Linus van Pelt that, despite all the things he likes about the Christmas season, he is still depressed. After Linus' reproach, and a put-down from Violet Gray, he visits Lucy van Pelt's psychiatric booth and tells her his problem. She suggests that he direct the group's annual Christmas play to get him involved, and he accepts. Charlie Brown becomes even more discouraged by his observations of Christmas' commercialization as he heads for the rehearsal: Lucy laments over not receiving real estate for Christmas; Snoopy decorates his doghouse for a neighborhood lights and display contest; and Charlie Brown's younger sister Sally asks him to write a greedy letter to Santa Claus. At the rehearsal, Charlie Brown finds a play fit for the 1960s with dancing, lively music, an uncooperative cast and a "Christmas Queen" (Lucy). Unable to control the cast, Charlie Brown decides the play needs a more "proper mood", and recommends a Christmas tree; Lucy suggests a big, pink aluminum tree, then sends him and Linus to get one. At the tree lot, Charlie Brown picks the only real tree there, a small sapling. Linus questions his choice, but Charlie Brown believes that once decorated, it will be perfect. When they return, however, Lucy and the girls scorn him and the tree and walk away laughing. Crestfallen, Charlie Brown loudly asks if anyone knows what Christmas is all about; Linus says he does, walks to center stage, asks for a spotlight, drops his security blanket, recites the annunciation to the shepherds, picks up his blanket, returns and says, "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." Realizing that he does not have to let commercialism ruin his own Christmas, Charlie Brown takes the tree home to decorate it and show the others that it will work in the play. The others realize that they were too hard on Charlie Brown and quietly follow him after listening to Linus' speech. He stops at Snoopy's doghouse, which had won the lights and display contest, and hangs a large red Christmas ball on his tree. The ornament's weight causes the tiny tree to bend to the ground. Believing he has killed the tree, Charlie Brown, dejected, walks away. The others arrive at Snoopy's doghouse and as they all start to see its potential, Linus gently uprights the drooping tree and wraps his blanket around its base to give it some support. After the others give the tree a makeover using more decorations from the doghouse, even Lucy concedes to Charlie Brown's choice. The kids then start humming "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". Hearing them, Charlie Brown returns to see that the sapling is now a magnificent Christmas tree. All the kids shout, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!", and then sing "Hark" with Charlie Brown joining in as snow begins to fall. Cast Peter Robbins as Charles "Charlie" Brown.[4] Christopher Shea as Linus van Pelt.[5] Tracy Stratford as Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt. This is Stratford’s last performance as Lucy.[6] Kathy Steinberg as Sally Brown. This is Steinberg’s first performance as Sally.[6] Chris Doran as Schroeder and Shermy. This is Doran’s last performance as Schroeder and Shermy. Geoffrey Orstein as Pig-Pen. Sally Dryer as Violet. This is Dryer’s last performance as Violet. She would later go on to voice Lucy van Pelt. Anne Altieri as Frieda. Bill Melendez as Snoopy. Karen Mendelson as Patty. Choral vocals: Members of the children's choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (San Rafael, California) directed by Robert "Barry" Mineah. The choir was recognized for their contribution to this work at a 40-year anniversary at the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.[citation needed] The choir was also featured on the Vince Guaraldi recording At Grace Cathedral.[7] Production Development By the early 1960s, Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts had gained enormous popularity.[8] Television producer Lee Mendelson acknowledged the strip's cultural impression and had an idea for a documentary on its success, phoning Schulz to propose the idea. Schulz, an avid baseball fan, recognized Mendelson from his documentary on ballplayer Willie Mays, A Man Named Mays, and invited him to his home in Sebastopol, California, to discuss the project.[9] Their meeting was cordial, with the plan to produce a half-hour documentary set. Mendelson wanted to feature roughly "one or two" minutes of animation, and Schulz suggested animator Bill Melendez, with whom he collaborated some years before on a spot for the Ford Motor Company.[10] Mendelson later stated that he was drawn to doing an animated Charlie Brown after working on A Man Named Mays, noting that Mays was arguably the best baseball player of all time, while Charlie Brown, in a running gag in the strips, was one of the worst, making him a natural follow-up subject to his previous work.[11] Despite the popularity of the strip and acclaim from advertisers, networks were not interested in the special.[12] By April 1965, Time featured the Peanuts gang on its magazine cover, perhaps prompting a call from John Allen of the New York-based McCann Erickson Agency.[8] Mendelson imagined he would sell his documentary, and blindly agreed to Allen's proposal: an animated half-hour Peanuts Christmas special.[12] The Coca-Cola Company was looking for a special to sponsor during the holiday season. "The bad news is that today is Wednesday and they'll need an outline in Atlanta by Monday," Allen remarked to Mendelson.[13] He quickly contacted Schulz, and the two got to work with plans for a Peanuts Christmas special.[8] The duo prepared an outline for the Coca-Cola executives in less than one day, and Mendelson would later recall that the bulk of ideas came from Schulz, whose "ideas flowed nonstop."[14] According to Mendelson, their pitch to Coca-Cola consisted of "winter scenes, a school play, a scene to be read from the Bible, and a sound track combining jazz and traditional music."[15] The outline did not change over the course of its production.[16] As Allen was in Europe, the duo received no feedback on their pitch for several days.[14] When Allen got in touch with them, he informed them that Coca-Cola wanted to buy the special, but also wanted it for an early December broadcast, giving the duo just six months to scramble together a team to produce the special. Mendelson assured him – without complete confidence in his statements – that this would be no problem. Following this, A Charlie Brown Christmas entered production,[14] and was completed just ten days shy of its national broadcast premiere.[8] Writing Charles M. Schulz in 1956. His goal for the special was to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Schulz's main goal for a Peanuts-based Christmas special was to focus on the true meaning of Christmas.[14] He desired to juxtapose this theme with interspersed shots of snow and ice-skating, perhaps inspired by his own childhood growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota.[14] He also created the idea for the school play, and mixing jazz with traditional Christmas carols.[14] Schulz was adamant about Linus' reading of the Bible, despite Mendelson and Melendez's concerns that religion was a controversial topic, especially on television.[16] Melendez recalled Schulz turned to him and remarked, "If we don't do it, who will?"[8] Schulz's estimation proved accurate, and in the 1960s, fewer than nine percent of television Christmas episodes contained a substantive reference to religion, according to university researcher Stephen Lind.[17] Schulz's faith in the Bible stemmed from his Midwest background and religious and historical studies;[16] as such, aspects of religion would be a topic of study throughout his life.[18] According to a 2015 "spiritual biography", Schulz's religion was personal and complex, and would be integrated in a number of his programs.[19] The program's script has been described as "barebones", and was completed in only a few weeks.[20] In the days following the special's sale to Coca-Cola, Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez met with Schulz in his home to expand upon the ideas promised in the pitch. Mendelson remembered that on the previous Christmas Day he and his spouse had read Hans Christian Andersen's "The Fir-Tree" to their children.[15] Schulz countered with the idea that there be a tree with the spirit of lead character Charlie Brown.[21] They spoke at length about creating an official theme that was neither jazz nor traditional to open the program. Schulz wanted a part of the special to feature the character of Schroeder performing Beethoven, and Mendelson combined this with the inclusion of Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy" number.[21] Schulz penned the script for A Charlie Brown Christmas, with Melendez plotting out the animation via a storyboard. His storyboard contained six panels for each shot, spanning a combined eighty or-so pages.[21] Mendelson also suggested they employ a laugh track, a staple of television animation, but Schulz rejected this idea immediately.[21] "Up until then, many, if not all, animated shows had laugh tracks," said Mendelson. "As we were discussing how we would handle our special, I said very casually, 'I assume we'll have a laugh track.' It was a statement, not a question. Sparky just got up and quietly walked out of the room. We looked at each other, then Bill said, 'Well, I guess we won't have a laugh track.' Sparky came back in the room, and we went on with the meeting as if the subject had never come up."[22] Schulz felt strongly that the audience at home should not be instructed when to laugh.[20] Casting In casting the silent comic strip characters of Peanuts, the trio pulled from their personalities.[4] Lead character Charlie Brown's voice was decided to be downbeat and nondescript ("blah," as Mendelson observed), while Lucy should be bold and forthright.[4] Linus' voice, it was decided, would combine sophistication with childlike innocence.[4] Mendelson recognized that the character of Snoopy was the strip's most popular character who seemed to seize "the best jokes," but realized they could not cast a voice for the cartoon dog. "In the process, we gained a veritable 'canine Harpo Marx,'" Mendelson later wrote.[4] Melendez suggested he provide gibberish for Snoopy's mutterings, and simply speed up the tape to prevent viewers from knowing.[4] There are no adult characters in the strip or in this special. Later specials would introduce an offscreen teacher; her lines are eschewed for the sound of a muted trombone (suggested by Guaraldi) as the team behind the specials found it humorous.[23] With this in mind, the trio set out to cast the characters, which proved to be a daunting process. Casting for Charlie Brown proved most difficult, as it required both good acting skills but also the ability to appear nonchalant.[21] The producers picked eight-year-old Peter Robbins, already known for his roles spanning television, film, and advertisements.[4] Robbins considered Charlie Brown to be one of his favorite characters, and despite leaving acting as an adult, he considered his time in the role a highlight of his life.[24] His godmother, Hollywood agent Hazel McMillen, discovered Christopher Shea, who would become Linus in the special.[4] His slight lisp, according to Mendelson, gave him a "youthful sweetness," while his emotional script reading "gave him power and authority as well."[5] Tracy Stratford played the role of Lucy, with the creators being impressed by her attitude and professionalism.[6] Kathy Steinberg was the youngest of the performers, just six years old at the time of recording. Too young to read, the producers had to give her one line at a time to recite.[6] Robbins remembered Melendez did this for him as well, joking that he also mistakenly copied his Latino accent.[8] Mendelson desired to have non-actors (not "Hollywood kids") perform on the special, and he sent tape recorders home with his employees for their children to audition.[20] Much of the background cast came from Mendelson's home neighborhood in northern California.[6] According to Robbins, the children viewed the script's sophisticated dialogue as "edgy," finding several words and phrases, among them "eastern syndicate", difficult to pronounce.[4] He recalled the recording sessions as chaotic, with excited children running rampant. Nevertheless, the recording of A Charlie Brown Christmas was completed in one day.[4] Jefferson Airplane was recording next door and came over to obtain the children's autographs.[8] Following the special's broadcast, the children became wildly popular in their respective elementary schools; Robbins recalled groups approaching him asking him to recite lines of dialogue.[6] Animation Animation for A Charlie Brown Christmas was created by Bill Melendez Productions. Mendelson had no idea whether or not completing a half-hour's worth of animation would be possible given the production's six-month schedule, but Melendez confirmed its feasibility.[15] In actuality, animation was only completed in the final four months of production.[25] CBS initially wanted an hour's worth of animation, but Melendez talked them down to a half-hour special, believing an hour of television animation was too much.[1] Having never worked on a half-hour special before, Melendez phoned Bill Hanna of Hanna-Barbera for advice, but Hanna declined to give any. CBS gave a budget of $76,000 to produce the show and it went $20,000 over budget.[1] The first step in creating the animation was to make a pencil drawing, afterwards inking and painting the drawing onto a cel.[8] The cel was then placed onto a painted background. There are 13,000 drawings in the special, with 12 frames per second to create the illusion of movement.[8] Melendez had previously worked for Warner Bros. and Disney, and working on Peanuts-related material gave him a chance to animate a truly flat cartoon design.[26] The movement of Schulz's characters, particularly the Peanuts gang, was limited. The character of Snoopy, however, proved the exception to the rule. "He can do anything – move and dance – and he's very easy to animate," said Melendez.[26] Schulz had envisioned the special as essentially talking heads reciting the script; animator Bill Littlejohn recalled meeting resistance from Schulz when he and Melendez designed the sequence of Snoopy dancing on Schroeder's piano, as Schulz was concerned it distracted too much from the plot.[27] Soundtrack Main article: A Charlie Brown Christmas (soundtrack) The soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas is an unorthodox mix of traditional Christmas music and jazz. The jazz portions were created by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Producer Lee Mendelson, a fan of jazz, heard Guaraldi's crossover hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on the radio not long after completion of his documentary Charlie Brown & Charles Schulz, and contacted the musician to produce music for the special.[10] Guaraldi composed the music for the project, creating an entire piece, "Linus and Lucy," to serve as the theme.[12] When Coca-Cola commissioned A Charlie Brown Christmas in spring 1965, Guaraldi returned to write the music.[8] The first instrumentals for the special were recorded by Guaraldi at Glendale, California's Whitney Studio with bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey.[28] Recycling "Linus and Lucy" from the earlier special, Guaraldi completed two new originals for the special, "Skating", and "Christmas Time Is Here".[28] In the weeks preceding the premiere, Mendelson encountered trouble finding a lyricist for Guaraldi's instrumental intro, and penned "Christmas Time is Here" in "about 15 minutes" on the back of an envelope.[16] The special opens and closes with a choir of children, culled from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California, performing "Christmas Time Is Here" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing".[6] One of the singers, Candace Hackett Shively, went on to become an elementary school teacher, and sent a letter of gratitude to Schulz after he announced his retirement in 2000.[6] In the letter, she recalls recording the choir at Fantasy Studios and going out for ice cream afterwards, while also saying she tells the story to her grade-schoolers each holiday season.[23] The recording sessions were conducted in late autumn 1965 and were cut in three separate sessions over two weeks. They often ran late into the night, resulting in angry parents, some who forbade their children from returning; consequently, numerous new children were present at each session.[29] The children were directed by Barry Mineah, who demanded perfection from the choir. Mendelson and Guaraldi disagreed, desiring the "kids to sound like kids"; they used a slightly off-key version of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" in the final cut.[29] Children were paid five dollars for their participation. In addition, the children recorded dialogue for the special's final scene, in which the crowd of kids shout "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!"[29] The soundtrack for the special was recorded during these sessions, with decisions regarding timing and phrasing determined quickly. Guaraldi brought in bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli to record the music, and spent time later re-recording earlier tracks, including covers of "The Christmas Song" and "Greensleeves." The eventual LP release credited Guaraldi solely, neglecting to mention the other musicians; Guaraldi was notorious for never keeping records of his session players.[30] Nearly three decades later, in an effort to resolve the matter, Fantasy surmised that the recordings with Budwig and Bailey were employed in the special, while Marshall and Granelli recorded the album.[30] Despite this, other individuals have come forward claiming to have recorded the special's music: bassists Eugene Firth and Al Obidinski, and drummers Paul Distel and Benny Barth. Firth and Distil are listed as performers on a studio-session report Guaraldi filed for the American Federation of Musicians.[30] A Charlie Brown Christmas was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007,[31] and added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings in 2012.[32] "I have always felt that one of the key elements that made that show was the music," said Mendelson in 2010. "It gave it a contemporary sound that appealed to all ages. Although Vince had never scored anything else and although I was basically a documentary film maker at the time, we started to work together on the cues because we both loved jazz and we both played the piano. So he would bring in the material for each scene and we would go over it scene by scene. Most of the time, the music worked perfectly. But there were times we would either not use something or use it somewhere else. We went through this same process on all sixteen shows. Although there was always some left over music, most of the time what he wrote and performed is what went on the air."[33] Reception All involved believed the special would be a disaster. Melendez first saw the completed animation at a showing in a theater in the days before its premiere, turning to his crew of animators and remarking, "My golly, we've killed it."[8] Melendez was embarrassed, but one of the animators, Ed Levitt, was more positive regarding the special, telling him it was "the best special [he'll] ever make [...] This show is going to run for a hundred years."[8][1] Mendelson was similar in his assumptions of the show's quality, and when he showed the film to network executives in New York, their opinions were also negative. Their complaints included the show's slow pace, the music not fitting, and the animation too simple. "I really believed, if it hadn't been scheduled for the following week, there's no way they were gonna broadcast that show," Mendelson later said.[8] Executives had invited television critic Richard Burgheim of Time to view the special, and debated whether showing it to him would be a good idea.[16] His review, printed the following week, was positive, praising the special as unpretentious and writing that "A Charlie Brown Christmas is one children's special this season that bears repeating."[34] The program premiered on CBS on December 9, 1965, at 7:30 pm ET (pre-empting The Munsters),[35] and was viewed by 45% of those watching television that evening,[20] with the number of homes watching the special an estimated 15,490,000, placing it at number two in the ratings, behind Bonanza on NBC.[8] The special received critical acclaim: The Hollywood Reporter deemed the show "delightfully novel and amusing," while the Weekly Variety dubbed it "fascinating and haunting."[36] Bob Williams of the New York Post praised the "very neat transition from comic page to screen," while Lawrence Laurent of The Washington Post declared that "natural-born loser Charlie Brown finally turned up a real winner last night."[37] Harriet Van Horne of the New York World-Telegram hailed the scene in which Linus recites scripture, commenting, "Linus' reading of the story of the Nativity was, quite simply, the dramatic highlight of the season."[37] Harry Harris of The Philadelphia Inquirer called the program "a yule classic [...] generated quiet warmth and amusement," and Terrence O'Flaherty of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Charlie Brown was a gem of a television show."[36] Ben Gross of the New York Daily News praised the special's "charm and good taste," while Rick DuBrow of United Press International predicted, "the Peanuts characters last night staked out a claim to a major television future."[37] The film has an aggregated review score of 85% based on 20 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.[38] The show's positive reviews were highlighted with an ad in trade magazines;[39] one thanked Coca-Cola, CBS, United Features Syndicate, and the show's viewers.[36] Fantasy released the special's soundtrack the first week of December 1965, coinciding with the special's airdate.[40] United Feature Syndicate pushed hard to promote the special, while Word Publishing issued a hardcover adaption of the special.[40] CBS promptly ordered four additional Peanuts specials.[16] A Charlie Brown Christmas was awarded the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program in 1966, making it the second animated TV program to win that award after Hanna-Barbera's The Huckleberry Hound Show. "Charlie Brown is not used to winning, so we thank you," Schulz joked.[8] When the special was aired for a second time in December 1966, it once again ranked No. 2 in the ratings, and again behind only Bonanza.[41] In 2022, an internal poll of writers at Fatherly ranked the special at 62 in a list of the 100 greatest family-friendly films of all time, one of only two productions made specifically for television to make the list (the other being the 1966 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!). In its summary, the writers noted that the special's technical flaws "are what makes A Charlie Brown Christmas feel distinct and special rather than generic" and that its low-budget feel fit the theme of the story.[42] Rotten Tomatoes records three negative reviews for the special for an overall rating of 86%.[43] One is a 2005 two-star review from Emanuel Levy that is no longer on Levy's website; the other two come from the Medium Popcorn podcast, in which both hosts gave the special a one-out-of-five stars review.[44] Television broadcasts CBS The special was originally broadcast on CBS in 1965 and rerun each year from 1966 until 2000. The original broadcasts included references to the sponsor, Coca-Cola. Because of Dolly Madison's eventual co-sponsorship of the series,[45] as well as subsequent FCC laws mandating the separation of commercial material from the actual program material,[46] subsequent broadcasts and home media releases removed all references to Coca-Cola products. Broadcasts of the special in later years also had some scenes, animation, and sound effects redone for correction. Snoopy's dog bowl was repainted red instead of white, Lucy now makes a whirling noise when scared out of her psychiatric booth, new animation was placed in scenes where the children dance on stage after the first time to avoid repetition, music was added in the background of the rehearsal scenes, and Snoopy no longer sings like a human in the final carol, amongst others.[47] Removed from some subsequent broadcasts is a scene in which Linus throws a snowball at a tin can using his blanket. For several years it was rumored the can was a Coca-Cola can.[45] However, a recently obtained copy of the original print disproves this rumor, showing the can was always a generic tin can.[48] ABC Beginning with the 2001 holiday season, ABC held rights to the special. On December 6, 2001, a half-hour documentary on the special titled The Making of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' (hosted by Whoopi Goldberg) aired on ABC. This documentary has been released as a special feature on the DVD and Blu-ray editions of the special. In subsequent years, to allow the special in an hour timeslot to be broadcast uncut for time, the animated vignette collection, Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales, is broadcast in the remaining time for that hour. The show's 40th anniversary broadcast on December 6, 2005, had the highest ratings in its time slot[citation needed]. The 50th anniversary broadcast aired on November 30, 2015, and it featured a full two-hour time slot that was padded by a special, It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown, which was hosted by Kristen Bell, and featured musical performances by Kristin Chenoweth, Matthew Morrison, Sarah McLachlan, Boyz II Men, Pentatonix, David Benoit, and the All-American Boys Chorus.[49] It also included documentary features.[50] After 18 consecutive years of being broadcast on the network, the special aired on ABC for the last time on December 17, 2019, at 8pm ET/PT. Apple TV+ In October 2020, Apple TV+ acquired exclusive rights to all Peanuts-related media. Under the terms of the agreement, Apple TV+ must make A Charlie Brown Christmas and two other holiday specials (It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving) available for free on the platform during a three-day window. The window for A Charlie Brown Christmas was from December 11 to 13, 2020, and in 2022 it was from December 22 through December 25. Subscribers to Apple TV+ have a broader window to watch the specials.[51][52] PBS After mounting criticism over Apple's decision to remove the Peanuts specials from free television, the company announced a deal with PBS to resume the annual broadcast tradition. In accordance with most PBS member stations' non-commercial educational licenses, the special was presented on PBS without commercial interruption, with an underwriting message from Apple being the only advertising.[53] PBS, Apple and WildBrain, the rightsholder to the Peanuts television library, announced they had renewed the arrangement in October 2021.[54] PBS did not acquire the broadcast rights for the Peanuts specials in 2022, ending a 57 year run on broadcast television.[55] Home media This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) In 1985, the special was released on VHS and Betamax by Media Home Entertainment, along with You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. In 1987 the special was released on VHS by its kids subsidiary, Hi-Tops Video. In 1991, the special was released for a limited time on VHS through Shell Oil for sale at their gas stations.[citation needed] On September 28, 1994, the special was released by Paramount on VHS. A laserdisc was released by Paramount (distributed by Pioneer) in 1996; Side 2 contained the 1979 special You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown. In September 2000 it was released on DVD. Bonus features included the 1992 special It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. On September 23, 2008, Warner Home Video (to which the rights to the Peanuts specials reverted earlier in the year, due to Melendez's connections to WB) released a "remastered" DVD. Bonus features include a restored version of Christmastime Again and a new documentary titled "A Christmas Miracle: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas". On October 6, 2009, it was released in high definition Blu-ray Disc from Warner in remastered Dolby 5.1 surround sound. This disc also contains It's Christmastime Again, A Christmas Miracle, a DVD of the special, and a Digital Copy.[56] Since off-network rights to this special have been transferred to Warner Bros., it has become available as a download on the iTunes Store, PlayStation Network, Amazon Instant Video, and Google Play, and includes It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown. In December 2014, a 50th anniversary 2-DVD set was released. It also features the special It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, and the Making of... documentary from previous editions. On October 31, 2017, it was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray disc containing It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and the Making of... special. Legacy A Charlie Brown Christmas has become a Christmas staple in the United States. Within the scope of future Peanuts specials, it established their style, combining thoughtful themes, jazzy scores, and simple animation.[57] It also, according to author Charles Solomon, established the half-hour animated special as a television tradition, inspiring the creation of numerous others, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) and Frosty the Snowman (1969).[57] (Earlier animated specials such as Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ran a full hour.) USA Today summarized the program's appeal upon its 40th anniversary in 2005: "Scholars of pop culture say that shining through the program's skeletal plot is the quirky and sophisticated genius that fueled the phenomenal popularity of Schulz's work."[20] Beyond its references to religion, unheard of on television at the time, the special also marked the first time children voiced animated characters.[20] The special influenced dozens of young aspiring artists and animators, many of whom went on to work within both the comics and animation industries, among them Eric Goldberg (Pocahontas),[58] Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc., Up), Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E),[1] Jef Mallett (Frazz),[57] and Patrick McDonnell (Mutts).[59] The show's score made an equally pervasive impact on viewers who would later perform jazz, among them David Benoit[60] and George Winston.[40] More directly, the special launched a series of Peanuts films, TV specials (many of them holiday-themed) and other works of entertainment. Linus' speech near the end of the special was used in the Sidewalk Prophets Christmas song "What a Glorious Night".[61] The problems encountered during the special's production prompted CBS to place a "premium on quality" for its future Christmas specials, and for How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, CBS allotted Chuck Jones a budget of $315,000, quadrupling its budget compared to A Charlie Brown Christmas.[62] Stage adaptation In 2013, Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc. began licensing an official stage version of the television special authorized by the Schulz family and Lee Mendelson.[63] The stage version follows the television special but includes an optional sing-along section of Christmas songs at the end. It includes all of Vince Guaraldi's music from the television special and the television script is adapted for the stage by Eric Schaeffer. It has been performed at hundreds of schools, churches and community theatres. The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Charlie Brown (left) and Linus (right) with the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Charlie Brown's insistence on purchasing a real tree and disparagement of the aluminum Christmas tree practically eliminated the popularity of the aluminum tree, which was a fad at the time of the special. By 1967, they were no longer being regularly manufactured, to the point that most modern viewers of the special are unfamiliar with this type of artificial tree.[64][65][66][67] On the contrary, artificial models of Charlie Brown's "poor tree" are offered by various retailers and have become synonymous with minimalist Christmas decorating.[67] Explanatory notes In Canada, A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted on CTV on December 5, 1965, four days before the CBS debut. The broadcast time varied by station; in Winnipeg, it was seen at 4:30 p.m. on CJAY-TV.[2] See also List of Christmas films References Solomon 2013, p. 11. TV Guide, Manitoba-Saskatchewan Edition, December 4–10, 1965. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved May 12, 2022. Mendelson 2013, p. 21. Mendelson 2013, p. 22. Mendelson 2013, p. 23. Bang, Derrick (September 20, 2014). "How Vince Guaraldi Made Charlie Brown Cool". Medium. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020. Whoopi Goldberg, Lee Mendelson et al. (2004). The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment. Mendelson 2013, p. 11. Mendelson 2013, p. 12. Greilsamer, Marc (November 1997). "Life After Snoopy". Stanford Magazine. Archived from the original on December 8, 2006. Retrieved February 3, 2019. Mendelson 2013, p. 14. Mendelson 2013, p. 15. Mendelson 2013, p. 17. Mendelson 2013, p. 19. John Kiesewetter (December 11, 2000). "'A Charlie Brown Christmas' almost didn't get made". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on September 20, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014. Lind, Stephen J. "Christmas in the 1960s: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Religion, and the Conventions of the Genre" Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 26.1 (2014) Templeton, David. My Lunch with Sparky, reproduced from the December 30, 1999 – January 5, 2000 issue of the Sonoma County Independent. Archived November 28, 2008. Lind, Stephen J. "A Charlie Brown Religion: The Spiritual Life and Work of Charles M. Schulz" (Jackson: U P Mississippi, 2015) Nichols, Bill (December 5, 2005). "The Christmas Classic That Almost Wasn't". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 4, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2012. Mendelson 2013, p. 20. Solomon 2013, p. 31. Mendelson 2013, p. 24. Blauer, Phil (January 25, 2022). "'Charlie Brown' voice actor dies at 65". Fox 5 San Diego. Retrieved January 25, 2022. Mendelson 2013, p. 59. Mendelson 2013, p. 57. Tom Sito (August 24, 2007). "Bill Littlejohn: Off We Go... Taking Our Pencils Yonder..." Animation World Network. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. Bang 2012, p. 176. Bang 2012, p. 187. Bang 2012, p. 188. Grein, Paul (January 4, 2012). "Week Ending Jan. 1, 2012. Albums: She's Back". Yahoo! Music. Nielsen Business Media. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2012. "The National Recording Registry 2011". National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Library of Congress. May 24, 2012. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2017. "George Winston: Love Will Come Liner Notes". Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Burgheim, Ronald (December 10, 1965). "Security Is a Good Show". Time. Vol. 86, no. 24. New York City: Time Inc. ISSN 0040-781X. "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search". Archived from the original on October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2016. Bang 2012, p. 191. Mendelson 2013, p. 32. "A Charlie Brown Christmas on Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021. Mendelson 2013, p. 33. Bang 2012, p. 190. The Dispatch. The Dispatch. "These Are The 100 Best Kids Movies Of All Time. Fight Us". Fatherly. Retrieved August 29, 2022. A Charlie Brown Christmas Archived September 18, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 3, 2021. Collins, Brandon and Justin Brown (December 12, 2020). A Charlie Brown Christmas Archived December 4, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Medium Popcorn. Retrieved December 3, 2021. "Was There Originally a Coca-Cola Ad Mixed Into A Charlie Brown Christmas?". December 6, 2017. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. "Children's Educational Television". December 4, 2019. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019. "A Charlie Brown Christmas - Original print vs. revised version". Vimeo. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2019. "YouTube: CBS Color Charlie Brown Christmas Coca-Cola Part 2". YouTube. December 1, 2019. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020. "'TIS THE SEASON FOR HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING ON ABC". Disney ABC Press. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015. ABC announces 2015 holiday programming schedule Archived October 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Moviefone. Retrieved October 27, 2015. Adalian, Josef (October 19, 2020). "Apple TV+ Says: Welcome, Great Pumpkin". Vulture. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020. "Apple TV+ is ringing in the holidays with all-new festive family fare". apple.com. Apple. Retrieved December 11, 2022. Steinberg, Brian (November 18, 2020). "You're on PBS, Charlie Brown: Apple Will Share 'Peanuts' Holiday Specials With Public TV". Variety. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020. Seiger, Theresa (October 25, 2021). "'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' returning to TV this year". Cox Media Group. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021. Cavanaugh, Patrick (October 11, 2022). "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Will Not Air on Broadcast TV This Year". Comicbook.com. Retrieved October 15, 2022. "WHV Press Release: Seasonal Family Classics Combo Packs (Blu-ray)". Home Theater Forum. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009. Solomon 2013, p. 12. Solomon 2013, p. 10. Solomon 2013, p. 52. Solomon 2013, p. 49. Tribune-Star, Mark BennettThe (December 20, 2013). "MARK BENNETT: Album turns memories into musical Christmas message for Terre Haute's Dave Frey, band". Terre Haute Tribune-Star. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2019. Humphrey, Hal (December 12, 1966). "Seuss Menagerie to Star on Sunday". The Los Angeles Times. p. 92. Retrieved December 11, 2023. "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Tams Witmark. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2015. Andrews, Candice Gaukel. Great Wisconsin Winter Weekends, (client=firefox-a Google Books Archived January 26, 2021, at the Wayback Machine), Big Earth Publishing, 2006, p. 178, (ISBN 1-931599-71-8) Lukas, Paul (December 1, 2004). "Trees Made of Tinsel". Money Magazine. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2008 – via CNNMoney.com. "A dark family secret: the artificial Christmas tree". East Bay Times. December 24, 2006. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2008. "ZIMA – www.ogrod-marzen24.pl" (in Polish). Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2020. Sources Bang, Derrick (2012). Vince Guaraldi at the Piano. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5902-5. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2016. Mendelson, Lee (2013). A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition. It Books. ISBN 978-0-06-227214-0. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2016. Solomon, Charles (2013). The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation: Celebrating Fifty Years of Television Specials. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-1-4521-1091-2. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2016. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to A Charlie Brown Christmas. Official Warner Bros. website A Charlie Brown Christmas at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata A Charlie Brown Christmas at AllMovie Edit this at Wikidata A Charlie Brown Christmas at Rotten Tomatoes "The Real Story Behind A Charlie Brown Christmas" at Mental Floss [1] March 2015 radio interview (KDRT program "Davisville") with David Willat, who as a child sang in the A Charlie Brown Christmas chorus, and Guaraldi author Derrick Bang vte Peanuts filmography vte Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program vte Vince Guaraldi Portals: icon Television flag United States icon Cartoon icon Christianity 1960s Categories: 1960s American television specials1960s animated television specials1965 children's films1965 television specialsAmerican Christmas television specialsAnimated Christmas television specialsCBS television specialsCriticism of the commercialization of ChristmasEmmy Award-winning programsPeabody Award-winning broadcastsPeanuts television specialsTelevision shows directed by Bill MelendezTelevision shows written by Charles M. Schulz

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a 1966 American animated Halloween television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The third Peanuts special, and the second holiday-themed special, to be created, it was written by Schulz along with director/animator Bill Melendez and producer Lee Mendelson. The cast included Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea as Linus Van Pelt, Sally Dryer as Lucy Van Pelt, and Melendez as Snoopy. The special features music composed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, whose contributions include the theme song "Linus and Lucy". It aired on broadcast television every year from its debut in 1966 until 2020 when it became an Apple TV+ exclusive. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown follows the children of the Peanuts comics as they celebrate Halloween, while Linus forgoes celebrations to wait in a pumpkin patch for the mythical Great Pumpkin. The sequence following Snoopy as a World War I flying ace and its depiction of Lucy pulling a football away from Charlie Brown have both become widely recognized in pop culture. The program was highly successful, watched by 49% of American television viewers in its debut broadcast. It received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its artistic style and music score, and it is often regarded as the best of the Peanuts television specials. The success of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown led to the development of the Halloween special as a television genre. Synopsis Sometime before Halloween, Linus works on a letter to the Great Pumpkin to the derision of other characters, but Sally Brown takes interest in the idea. Charlie Brown then shows up to announce that he was invited to a Halloween party hosted by Violet. On Halloween night, the children prepare their costumes for trick-or-treating. On the way, they stop at the pumpkin patch to jeer at Linus for missing the festivities. Linus persuades Sally, due to her infatuation with him, to join him. The other children go trick-or-treating, but Charlie Brown is disappointed when he only gets rocks, and they then head to Violet’s Halloween party. Snoopy, dressed as a flying ace from World War I, climbs aboard his doghouse and imagines that it is a Sopwith Camel fighter plane and that he is engaging in a dogfight with the unseen Red Baron. Snoopy is then shown crashing and navigating the countryside behind enemy lines. His voyage ends at Violet's party. He sneaks into the apple bobbing tank while Lucy is bobbing for apples and then is entertained listening to Schroeder playing on the piano, The music is happy at first, which amuses and entertains Snoopy, but then the music unexpectedly becomes sad and miserable, which gets too sad for him to listen to. Then it goes back to being joyful, but ends with the sad music again. Afterward, Snoopy starts crying, and leaves the party, much to his dismay. In the pumpkin patch, Linus sees a figure and he faints, believing it to be the Great Pumpkin. The figure is Snoopy, and Sally yells at Linus for embarrassing her. At 4 a.m., Lucy retrieves the sleeping Linus from the pumpkin patch, leads him into the house, and puts him to bed. Charlie Brown and Linus commiserate about Halloween the next day. Charlie Brown attempts to console Linus by explaining that he has done many stupid things in his life. Linus is offended by Charlie Brown's remark and loudly proclaims that the Great Pumpkin will surely come to the pumpkin patch next year as the credits roll. Cast The program's cast includes:[1] Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown Christopher Shea as Linus Van Pelt Cathy Steinberg as Sally Brown Bill Melendez as Snoopy Sally Dryer as Lucy Van Pelt Gai DeFaria as "Pig-Pen" Glenn Mendelson as Schroeder and Shermy Ann Altieri as Violet and Frieda Lisa DeFaria as Patty Background Charles M. Schulz in 1956 The Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz first printed in 1950, and it became popular within its first years of publication.[2]: 18–19  Schulz first introduced the Great Pumpkin in 1959 by having Linus confuse the traditions of Halloween and Christmas.[3]: 55  The Great Pumpkin was introduced through a series of strips published over eight days, which became a major event for the comic strip. A similar story appeared again in 1960, encompassing sixteen comics.[2]: 88  Schulz continued to write Great Pumpkin stories in Peanuts each October.[2]: 89  The television special A Charlie Brown Christmas had been written by Schulz and broadcast on CBS in December 1965. The special was highly successful, prompting the network to hire Schulz for two additional television specials. His second special, Charlie Brown's All Stars!, broadcast in the summer of 1966. While it was successful, it was not as renowned as A Charlie Brown Christmas.[2]: 82–83  Production The network requested another holiday special after the success of A Charlie Brown Christmas.[4]: 15  Its plot was formulated by a team of three: Schulz, director Bill Melendez, and producer Lee Mendelson.[5] The network executive communicating with Mendelson specified that it had to be a "blockbuster", which brought considerable stress to the writers.[6]: 7–8  They also gave the writers more creative freedom while they wrote the third special.[2]: 83  The writers began with disparate scenes from the comic strip to adapt, including Snoopy as a World War I flying ace and Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.[6]: 10–12  Schulz's co-writers immediately took to the idea when he suggested writing a Halloween special around the Great Pumpkin.[2]: 83  The writing process went quickly, allowing more time for other aspects of production, such as animation.[7] The decision to adapt Snoopy's flying ace persona from the comic strip came together with the Halloween theme after Schulz realized it resembled a Halloween costume.[4]: 15  Schulz suggested the idea of Charlie Brown receiving a rock while trick-or-treating, but Mendelson felt that this was "too cruel".[7] Schulz and Melendez responded by suggesting Charlie Brown should receive three rocks.[5][7] Mendelson later agreed that it was the right decision after seeing the scene's popularity.[7] The program was given a production budget of $76,000.[4]: 16  The children in the program were voiced by child actors, including both trained child actors and children that lived in Mendelson's neighborhood.[5] Malendez insisted on having child actors in all of the Peanuts specials,[8] and he voiced Snoopy by recording himself saying nonsense words and then speeding it up.[9] Steinberg's lines as Sally Brown were rushed when she developed a loose tooth, fearing that it would cause a lisp. She was taken to the studio to record all of her lines the same night and developed a severe lisp after losing her tooth the following day. Steinberg struggled with the word "restitution" while she was recording, so Mendelson had her pronounce it one syllable at a time and spliced it together afterward.[5] The animations were drawn by a team of artists led by Melendez. Bill Littlejohn also worked on the program's animation. Unlike previous Peanuts specials, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown incorporates frequent movement of the camera.[7] Artist Dean Spille painted the backgrounds of the French countryside during Snoopy's flying ace sequence. He drew from memory as he had previously visited similar areas in Europe, and he was given full creative freedom by Schulz and Melendez.[4]: 15–16  The backgrounds in this sequence used linear perspective rather than a simple flat design.[4]: 31  Mendelson later told The Washington Post that the sequence with Snoopy flying his doghouse was "one of the most memorable animated scenes ever."[7] He also described It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown as Bill Melendez's "animation masterpiece".[7] The program's final runtime was 25 minutes.[5] Soundtrack Main article: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (soundtrack) The soundtrack was performed by the Vince Guaraldi Sextet, featuring Guaraldi on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, Colin Bailey on drums, John Gray on guitar, Ronald Lang on woodwinds and Emmanuel Klein on trumpet. It was orchestrated by John Scott Trotter. Recording took place on October 4, 1966, at Desilu's Gower Street Studio in Hollywood.[10] Guaraldi had been in charge of music in both of the previous Peanuts specials, as well as the unaired 1963 documentary A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Guaraldi's theme for the special, "Great Pumpkin Waltz", is first heard when Linus is writing the Great Pumpkin at the beginning and plays throughout. The World War I songs played by Schroeder while Snoopy dances are: "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", "There's a Long, Long Trail", "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag", and "Roses of Picardy". Guaraldi historian Derrick Bang commented that the music Guaraldi composed for the special "emphatically established the Peanuts 'musical personality'," adding that the version of "Linus and Lucy" featured during the cold open was "arguably the best arrangement…that Guaraldi ever laid down, thanks in great part to Ronald Lang's flute counterpoint." This version was again utilized in the 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.[11] Craft Recordings released the complete soundtrack album from the special on October 5, 2018, but faced criticism for the inclusion of sound effects.[12] Craft Recordings reissued the soundtrack on August 26, 2022 using newly discovered original master tapes, without sound effects from the television special.[10][12] Release The initial broadcast of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown took place on October 27, 1966 on CBS, preempting My Three Sons, and tied Bonanza as the No. 1 broadcast in that week's Nielsen TV ratings.[9][13] The show aired against Star Trek on NBC and The Dating Game on ABC, earning 49% of the total market share with 17.3 million viewers.[2]: 86  After its success, CBS rebroadcast the program each year. It moved to ABC in 2001, where it continued to broadcast annually.[9] It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was made available as a home release in 1985.[14] The program was released on DVD by Paramount Pictures on September 12, 2000.[15] Apple Inc. purchased the broadcast rights to all Peanuts specials in 2018, and they became Apple TV+ exclusives in 2020. This was the first year that It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was not broadcast on television since its debut in 1966. A licensing agreement allowed the special to air on PBS in 2021. The agreement was not renewed in 2022, so Apple made the special free to watch from October 28 to 31 that year.[16] Themes Religion and faith feature prominently in the special. Linus's belief in the Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown's belief in Santa Claus, and their opposition to one another's beliefs, are described as "denominational differences".[2]: 84  This theme is lifted directly from the Peanuts comic strip, with the "denominational differences" line appearing in 1963.[3]: 55  Though Schulz was religious, he rejected evangelicalism and revealed religion,[17]: 353  and he had long opposed the idea of denominational differences splitting religion, believing that no one denomination could be sure of the truth.[2]: 99  Throughout the program, Linus maintains faith in the Great Pumpkin while he is criticized by the other children, and he chooses to maintain a vigil in the pumpkin patch at the cost of missing the festivities.[2]: 85  The special plays off of many traditional aspects of Halloween and celebrations associated with the holiday, including pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and wearing costumes.[2]: 84  Despite this, it does not incorporate elements of horror fiction outside of the title sequence.[18] Comparisons to Christmas are also included, particularly the letter to the Great Pumpkin as opposed to Santa Claus, alluding to the success of the franchise's Christmas special the prior year.[2]: 87–88  Schulz modeled Linus's devotion in part on that of children whose families were too poor to purchase vast amounts of Christmas presents, and the hope that things would be better next year if they maintained faith.[19] Reception Snoopy's journey across the French countryside has been praised for its art and animation. The backgrounds were painted rather than drawn, and it is the only scene to use linear perspective. The special was well received by viewers. The response was so positive that the Schulz and the studio began receiving packages of candy in response to Charlie Brown's failure to get any during the program.[2]: 86  Critic Lawrence Laurent praised the special in his review for The Washington Post, emphasizing the musical score.[2]: 86–87  Clay Gowran of the Chicago Tribune responded to the program by expressing support for the creation of additional Peanuts specials.[2]: 87  Cynthia Lowry of the Associated Press commented on the special's optimism and lauded it for its "charm, adult wit and wisdom".[20] Mary Wood of The Cincinnati Post similarly praised the program as "utterly enchanting".[21] At the 19th Primetime Emmy Awards, the special was nominated for Outstanding Children's Program and for Special Classifications of Individual Achievements.[22] The special has been celebrated for its artistic style, particularly its use of color.[19] The sequence of Snoopy crossing the French countryside has received extensive praise, including from other animators and artists such as Jeff Pidgeon and Paul Felix.[4]: 15  It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is often described as the best of the Peanuts specials.[4]: 14  Legacy It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown defined a new genre, as it was the first major Halloween special to broadcast on television.[2]: 87  The special's enduring popularity helped to define Halloween for the baby boomers generation and contributed to the spread of Halloween as a widely celebrated holiday.[17]: 386  Its viewing has since been established as a common Halloween tradition,[2]: 94 [23] and its 2003 rebroadcast was the most successful holiday special of the 2000s with 13.2 million viewers.[4]: 47  Two scenes adapting common elements of the comic strip—Snoopy as a WWI flying ace and Charlie Brown attempting to kick the football—were popularized by this special and became commonly recognized imagery.[2]: 87  The sequence of Snoopy as a flying ace, which featured no other characters and took up approximately one quarter of the program's runtime, popularized Snoopy as a character independently of the others.[5][24] Schulz replicated It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown when he portrayed Linus's devotion to the Easter Beagle in the 1974 special It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. In this case, Schulz was careful to avoid religious overtones, having Snoopy be the Easter Beagle.[2]: 147  The Great Pumpkin has also been referenced in later Peanuts specials, including You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown.[4]: 108  References "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)". Behind the Voice Actors. Lind, Stephen J. (2015). A Charlie Brown Religion: Exploring the Spiritual Life and Work of Charles M. Schulz. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-0469-3. Ball, Blake Scott (2021). Charlie Brown's America: The Popular Politics of Peanuts. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-009046-3. Solomon, Charles (2012). The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation: Celebrating Fifty Years of Television Specials. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-1-4521-1091-2. Cavna, Michael (October 27, 2011). "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: 7 Things You Don't Know About Tonight's 'Peanuts' Special". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2023. Schulz, Charles M.; Mendelson, Lee (2006). It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-089721-5. Cavna, Michael (October 19, 2016). "Why It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is the greatest 'Peanuts' visual achievement". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 28, 2017. We Need a Blockbuster, Charlie Brown! The Making of The Great Pumpkin (Video). 2008. Kurp, Joshua (October 28, 2011). "Checking In…with the Voice Cast of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Vulture. Retrieved June 26, 2023. Marchese, Joe (June 15, 2022). "It's a New Release, Charlie Brown! "Great Pumpkin" Arrives on CD, LP From Original Session Masters". The Second Disc. Retrieved June 16, 2022. Bang, Derrick. "Vince Guaraldi on LP and CD: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Music from the Soundtrack". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved February 25, 2020. Bang, Derrick. "Vince Guaraldi on LP and CD". Five Cents Please. Retrieved September 7, 2023. Lowry, Cynthia (November 22, 1966). "Television: Como Show Lacks Old Style, Pace". AP via The Free Lance-Star. Retrieved October 15, 2022. "New for children". The Philadelphia Inquirer. August 18, 1988. p. 75. "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)". The Numbers. Retrieved September 7, 2023. Adams, Matt (October 18, 2022). "'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' won't be on TV this year. Here's how to watch". NPR. Michaelis, David (2008). Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-093799-7. Sokol, Tony (October 27, 2022). "What Makes It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown So Magical". Den of Geek. Retrieved June 26, 2023. Pereira, Alyssa (October 17, 2016). "'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown': 50 years of friendship, hope, and Halloween". SFGATE. Retrieved June 26, 2023. Lowry, Cynthia (October 28, 1966). "TV Cartoon's Charlie Brown Has First Halloween Party". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 8B. Wood, Mary (October 28, 1966). "Linus' Sincere Pumpkin Patch Didn't Deliver". The Cincinnati Post. p. 18. "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Television Academy. Retrieved September 8, 2023. Abate, Michelle Ann (2023). Blockheads, Beagles, and Sweet Babboos: New Perspectives on Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4968-4419-4. Boxer, Sarah (2019). "The Exemplary Narcissism of Snoopy". In Blauner, Andrew (ed.). The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-59853-617-1.

The Black Cat is a 1934 American pre-Code horror film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi. It was Universal Pictures' biggest box office hit of the year, and was the first of eight films (six of which were produced by Universal) to feature both Karloff and Lugosi. In 1941, Lugosi appeared in a comedy horror mystery film with the same title, which was also named after and ostensibly "suggested by" Edgar Allan Poe's short story. The film was among the earlier movies with an almost continuous music score, and it helped to create and popularize the psychological horror subgenre by emphasizing atmosphere, eerie sounds, the darker side of the human psyche, and emotions like fear and guilt to deliver its scares. Plot On their honeymoon in Hungary, American mystery novelist Peter Alison and his new wife Joan are told that, due to a mix-up, they must share a train compartment with Dr. Vitus Werdegast, a Hungarian psychiatrist, who says he is traveling to see an old friend. As the night wears on, the couple learn that Werdegast left home 18 years earlier to fight in World War I and has not seen his wife since, as he spent the last 15 years in an infamous prison camp in Siberia. In the dark and rain, Peter, Joan, Werdegast, and Thamal, Werdegast's servant, transfer to a small bus. When they are near Werdegast's destination, the remote home that Austrian architect Hjalmar Poelzig built upon the ruins of Fort Marmorus, the driver of the bus loses control and drives off the road. He is killed in the crash and Joan is injured, but Peter, Werdegast, and Thamal are well enough to take her to Poelzig's house. After treating Joan's injury, Werdegast and Poelzig go to speak privately. Werdegast says he has come for revenge, as he knows Poelzig betrayed Fort Marmorus, which Poelzig commanded, to the Russians, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Austro-Hungarian soldiers and Werdegast's imprisonment, and stole his wife and daughter, both named Karen, after telling them he was dead. As Peter enters and attempts to intervene, Poelzig's black cat walks by and Werdegast, who suffers from severe ailurophobia, kills it with a thrown knife. Just then, Joan enters, behaving erratically because of an injection of the tranquilizing drug hyoscine that Werdegast had given her. The guests go to their rooms, and Poelzig, carrying a black cat, surveys a "collection" of preserved dead women on display in glass cases in his basement. He brings Werdegast to see one of the women, who Werdegast recognizes as his wife, and says she died of pneumonia two years after the war, also revealing that the younger Karen is also dead. Heartbroken, Werdegast almost shoots Poelzig, but he is spooked by the cat, and Poelzig says they should wait to have their confrontation until after the Alisons leave. The men part, and Poelzig joins Werdegast's daughter Karen, who is alive and is his wife, in bed. Instructing her to not leave the room the next day, he opens a book titled The Rites of Lucifer. In the morning, Joan awakens feeling well, and she and Peter hope to leave that day. Werdegast confronts Poelzig about how he is looking at Joan, and Poelzig mentions a ceremony scheduled for that night and admits he intends for her to stay. He and Werdegast play a game of chess to decide the fate of the Alisons, and, after losing, Werdegast has Thamal help place Peter in a cell in the basement and lock Joan in her room. Karen later stumbles upon Joan, who tells Karen that Werdegast is still alive, but the women are caught by Poelzig. He and Karen exit and Joan hears Karen scream. That night, Poelzig's cult gathers at his house. Joan is brought in and, as Poelzig approaches her, a female acolyte sees something which causes her to scream and faint. Taking advantage of the distraction, Werdegast and Thamal grab Joan and carry her away. Thamal is shot by Poelzig's servant before dispatching him, and Werdegast urges Joan to forget about Peter and escape. She tells him that his daughter is alive and married to Poelzig, and he rushes off, finding Karen dead on a slab. Poelzig enters and the adversaries fight. A dying Thamal helps Werdegast overpowers Poelzig and shackles him to his embalming rack, and Werdegast begins to skin Poelzig alive. Peter escapes from his cell and looks for Joan. He finds Werdegast crouching next to her to help tear a key from Thamal's dead hand, but thinks Werdegast is attacking her, so he shoots the psychiatrist. Fatally wounded, Werdegast tells the couple to leave and ignites demolition charges left over from when the house was a military installation, destroying the building and eradicating Poelzig's cult. Having just experienced an unbelievable adventure, on the trip home, Peter and Joan read a review of his latest novel, which complains that the plot is too far-fetched. Cast Boris Karloff (credited as Karloff) as Hjalmar Poelzig, an architect and former friend of Werdegast who is secretly keeping Karen and her daughter with in his house. Béla Lugosi as Dr. Vitus Werdegast, a doctor and WWI veteran who returns to find his wife and faces off against Poelzig. David Manners as Peter Alison, a writer and Joan's Husband Jacqueline Wells (later known as Julie Bishop) as Joan Alison, Peter's wife who is captured by Poelzig. Lucille Lund as Karen Poelzig (née Werdegast), Poelzig's wife and Werdegast's daughter (Lund also plays the corpse of Karen's mother, who was also named Karen) Egon Brecher as The Majordomo, Poelzig's servant Harry Cording as Thamal, Werdegast's servant Henry Armetta as The Sergeant who investigates the bus crash Albert Conti as The Lieutenant who investigates the bus crash George Davis as the bus driver for Hotel Hungaria—Gömbös (uncredited) Anna Duncan as Poelzig's maid (uncredited) John Carradine as the cult member who plays the organ (uncredited)[5] Production Although Edgar Allan Poe is given a "suggested by" credit, the film has little to do with his 1843 short story "The Black Cat". Instead, director Edgar G. Ulmer and writer Peter Ruric (better known as pulp writer "Paul Cain") came up with the story, which exploits what was a sudden public interest in psychiatry,[6] and Ruric wrote the screenplay.[7] The 1941 film of the same name starring Basil Rathbone, which purports to be "suggested by" the same Poe story, bears little relation to this film, other than the presence of Lugosi. The character of Hjalmar Poelzig drew inspiration from the life of occultist Aleister Crowley,[8] while the name "Poelzig" was borrowed from architect Hans Poelzig,[9] whom Ulmer claimed to have worked with on the sets for Paul Wegener's silent film The Golem (1920).[10] A score consisting of excerpts from classical pieces composed by Liszt,[11] Tchaikovsky,[12] Chopin,[13] and others runs through nearly 80% of the film.[14] The soundtrack was compiled by Heinz Roemheld. Release As part of the boom in horror sound films following the release of Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931, The Black Cat was the biggest box-office hit of 1934 for Universal Pictures,[4] and it was the first of eight films (six of which were produced by Universal) to feature both Béla Lugosi and Boris Karloff. The film was released in UK cinemas under the title House of Doom. Home media In 2005, the film was released on DVD as part of the Bela Lugosi Collection, along with Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), and Black Friday (1940).[15] Eureka Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray in July 2020 as part of their Masters of Cinema collection in the "Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi" set, which also included Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Raven.[16] Critical reception Upon the film's original release, The New York Times reviewer wrote: "The Black Cat is more foolish than horrible. The story and dialogue pile the agony on too thick to give the audience a reasonable scare".[17] The film's critical reputation has grown over time, however, and on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 88% approval rating based on 34 reviews, with an average score of 7.7/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Making the most of its Karloff-Lugosi star pairing and loads of creepy atmosphere, The Black Cat is an early classic in the Universal monster movie library".[18] In 2007, the British critic Philip French called the film "the first (and best) of seven Karloff/Lugosi joint appearances. The movie unfolds like a nightmare that involves necrophilia, ailurophobia, drugs, a deadly game of chess, torture, flaying, and a black mass with a human sacrifice. This bizarre, utterly irrational masterpiece, lasting little more than an hour, has images that bury themselves in the mind".[19] In the 2010s, Time Out polled a group of authors, directors, actors, and critics who had worked in the horror genre, and The Black Cat was voted the 89th best horror film of all time.[20] The film was also ranked #68 on Bravo's "100 Scariest Movie Moments" for the "skinning" scene.[21] Cramps-guitarist and noted horror aficionado Poison Ivy has said of this scene: "Karloff gets skinned alive at the end, but they show the shadow of it and somehow that's more gruesome".[22] In popular culture An excerpt from the scene in which Werdegast utters the line, "Supernatural, perhaps. Baloney, perhaps not", appears in the Monkees' 1968 feature film Head and on that film's subsequent soundtrack album. The line also appears in comedian Sinbad's 1990 comedy special Brain Damaged, as well as Deee-Lite's song "E.S.P." from their 1990 album World Clique.[23]

Dick Tracy (1937) is a 15-chapter Republic movie serial starring Ralph Byrd based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by Alan James and Ray Taylor. Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and masked mystery villain The Spider/The Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring. Plot Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and masked mystery villain the Spider/the Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring.[3] In the process of various crimes, including using his flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "speed plane", The Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother. Directed by: Alan James, Ray Taylor Produced by: Nat Levine, J. Laurence Wickland (Associate) Written by: Morgan B. Cox, George Morgan, Barry Shipman, Winston Miller, Chester Gould (comic strip) Music by: Harry Grey Cinematography: William Nobles, Edgar Lyons Edited by: Helene Turner, Edward Todd, William Witney Distributed by: Republic Pictures Release date: February 20, 1937 (U.S. serial) Running time: 15 chapters / 290 minutes (serial) Country: United States Language: English Starring cast Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy Kay Hughes as Gwen Andrews Smiley Burnette as Mike McGurk Lee Van Atta as Junior John Picorri as Dr Moloch Richard Beach as Gordon Tracy (pre-operation in Chapter 1) Carleton Young as Gordon Tracy (post-operation in Chapter 1) Fred Hamilton as Steve Lockwood Francis X. Bushman as Clive Anderson Supporting cast John Dilson as Ellery Brewster Wedgwood Nowell as H. T. Clayton Theodore Lorch as Paterno Edwin Stanley as Walter Odette (The Spider/ The Lame One) Harrison Greene as Cloggerstein Herbert Weber as Tony Martino Buddy Roosevelt as Burke George DeNormand as Flynn Byron K. Foulger as Kovitch - In this serial, Dick Tracy is a G-Man (FBI) in San Francisco rather than a Midwestern city police detective as in the comic strip. - Most of the Dick Tracy supporting cast and rogues gallery were also dropped and new, original characters used instead - There were three sequels to this serial: Dick Tracy Returns (1938), Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939), and Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tr...) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Byrd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republi...

Dick Tracy (1937) is a 15-chapter Republic movie serial starring Ralph Byrd based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by Alan James and Ray Taylor. Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and masked mystery villain The Spider/The Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring. Plot Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and masked mystery villain the Spider/the Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring.[3] In the process of various crimes, including using his flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "speed plane", The Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother. Directed by: Alan James, Ray Taylor Produced by: Nat Levine, J. Laurence Wickland (Associate) Written by: Morgan B. Cox, George Morgan, Barry Shipman, Winston Miller, Chester Gould (comic strip) Music by: Harry Grey Cinematography: William Nobles, Edgar Lyons Edited by: Helene Turner, Edward Todd, William Witney Distributed by: Republic Pictures Release date: February 20, 1937 (U.S. serial) Running time: 15 chapters / 290 minutes (serial) Country: United States Language: English Starring cast Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy Kay Hughes as Gwen Andrews Smiley Burnette as Mike McGurk Lee Van Atta as Junior John Picorri as Dr Moloch Richard Beach as Gordon Tracy (pre-operation in Chapter 1) Carleton Young as Gordon Tracy (post-operation in Chapter 1) Fred Hamilton as Steve Lockwood Francis X. Bushman as Clive Anderson Supporting cast John Dilson as Ellery Brewster Wedgwood Nowell as H. T. Clayton Theodore Lorch as Paterno Edwin Stanley as Walter Odette (The Spider/ The Lame One) Harrison Greene as Cloggerstein Herbert Weber as Tony Martino Buddy Roosevelt as Burke George DeNormand as Flynn Byron K. Foulger as Kovitch - In this serial, Dick Tracy is a G-Man (FBI) in San Francisco rather than a Midwestern city police detective as in the comic strip. - Most of the Dick Tracy supporting cast and rogues gallery were also dropped and new, original characters used instead - There were three sequels to this serial: Dick Tracy Returns (1938), Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939), and Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tr...) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Byrd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republi...

Pepe Le Moko is a notorious thief, who escaped from France. Since his escape, Moko has become a resident and leader of the immense Casbah of Algiers. French officials arrive insisting on Pepe's capture are met with unfazed local detectives, led by Inspector Slimane, who are biding their time. Meanwhile, Pepe meets the beautiful Gaby, which arouses the jealousy of Ines. Algiers is a 1938 American drama film directed by John Cromwell and starring Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie, and Hedy Lamarr.[2] Written by John Howard Lawson, the film is about a notorious French jewel thief hiding in the labyrinthine native quarter of Algiers known as the Casbah. Feeling imprisoned by his self-imposed exile, he is drawn out of hiding by a beautiful French tourist who reminds him of happier times in Paris. The Walter Wanger production was a remake of the successful 1937 French film Pépé le Moko, which derived its plot from the Henri La Barthe novel of the same name.[3] Algiers was a sensation because it was the first Hollywood film starring Hedy Lamarr, whose beauty became the main attraction for film audiences. The film is notable as one of the sources of inspiration to the screenwriters of the 1942 Warner Bros. film Casablanca, who wrote it with Hedy Lamarr in mind as the original female lead. Charles Boyer's depiction of Pepe le Moko inspired the Warner Bros. animated character Pepé Le Pew. In 1966, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.[4] Plot Pepe le Moko is a notorious thief, who, after his last great heist, escaped from France to Algeria. Since his escape, le Moko became a resident and leader of the immense Casbah, or "native quarter", of Algiers. French officials who arrive insisting on Pepe's capture are met with unfazed local detectives, led by Inspector Slimane, who are biding their time. Meanwhile, Pepe begins to feel increasingly trapped in his prison-like stronghold, a feeling which intensifies after meeting the beautiful Gaby, who is visiting from France. His love for Gaby soon arouses the jealousy of Ines, Pepe's Algerian mistress. The song in this film is called C'est la Vie which means That's Life in French. Sigrid Gurie, Charles Boyer, and Hedy Lamarr Cast Charles Boyer as Pepe le Moko Sigrid Gurie as Ines Hedy Lamarr as Gaby Joseph Calleia as Inspector Slimane Alan Hale as Grandpere Gene Lockhart as Regis Walter Kingsford as Chief Inspector Louvain Paul Harvey as Commissioner Janvier Stanley Fields as Carlos Johnny Downs as Pierrot Charles D. Brown as Max Robert Greig as Giraux Leonid Kinskey as L'Arbi Joan Woodbury as Aicha Nina Koshetz as Tania Claudia Dell as Marie Ben Hall as Gil Bert Roach as Bertier Cast notes Austrian actress Hedy Lamarr made her American film debut in Algiers, although she was already known for her appearance in the 1933 Czech film Ecstasy, in which she appeared nude.[3] Howard Dietz, the head of MGM's publicity department, quizzed her about this, and she admitted to having appeared nude. "Did you look good?", he asked. "Of course!" "Then it's all right", he said, "no damage has been done."[2] Production Walter Wanger, the producer of Algiers, purchased the rights to the French film Pepe le Moko in order to remake it, and bought all prints of the film to prevent it from competing with his film in the U.S. Wanger used most of the music from the French film in this remake as well as background sequences.[2][3] Duration: 1 hour, 39 minutes and 7 seconds.1:39:07 Algiers The first version of the script for Algiers was rejected by the Breen Office because the leading ladies were both portrayed as "kept women," and because of references to prostitution, the promiscuity of the lead character, and his suicide at the end of the film, which was directed to be changed to his being shot instead of killing himself.[3] Backgrounds and exteriors for the film were shot in Algiers by a photographer named Knechtel, who was based in London. These photographs were integrated into the film by cinematographer James Wong Howe.[3] United Artists had considered Ingrid Bergman, Dolores del Río, and Sylvia Sidney for the female lead, but, as Boyer tells it, he met Hedy Lamarr at a party and introduced her to Wanger as a possibility for his co-lead. Cromwell says about Lamarr that she could not act. "After you've been in the business for a time, you can tell easily enough right when you meet them. I could sense her inadequacy, Wanger could sense it, and I could see Boyer getting worried even before we started talking behind Hedy's back...Sometimes the word personality is interchangeable with presence although they aren't the same thing. But the principle applies, and Hedy also had no personality. How could they think she could become a second Garbo?...I'll take some credit for making her acting passable but can only share credit with Boyer fifty-fifty."[2] Boyer did not enjoy his work on Algiers. "An actor never likes to copy another's style," he said, "and here I was copying Jean Gabin, one of the best." Director Cromwell "would run a scene from the original and insist we do it exactly that way — terrible, a perfectly terrible way to work." Cromwell, however, said that Boyer "never appreciated how different his own Pepe was from Gabin's. Boyer showed something like genius to make it different. It was a triumph of nuance. The shots are the same, the dialogue has the same meaning, but Boyer's Pepe and Gabin's Pepe are two different fellows but in the same predicament."[2] Box office The film earned a profit of $150,466.[1] Awards and honors Joseph Calleia (right) in Algiers Academy Awards Best Actor (nomination) – Charles Boyer Best Supporting Actor (nomination) – Gene Lockhart Best Art Direction (nomination) – Alexander Toluboff Best Cinematography (nomination) – James Wong Howe National Board of Review Awards Joseph Calleia received the 1938 National Board of Review Award for his performance as Slimane.[5] Others The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated[6] Adaptations and remakes Newspaper advertisement for The Campbell Playhouse presentation of Algiers (October 8, 1939) Radio In the autumn of 1938, Hollywood Playhouse presented a radio adaptation of Algiers starring Charles Boyer.[7]: 222  Algiers was adapted for the October 8, 1939, presentation of the CBS Radio series The Campbell Playhouse. The hour-long adaptation starred Orson Welles and Paulette Goddard,[8][9] with Ray Collins taking the role of Inspector Slimane.[7]: 222  The film was dramatized as an hour-long radio play on two broadcasts of Lux Radio Theatre. Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr reprised their roles in the broadcast July 7, 1941.[10] Boyer starred with Loretta Young in the broadcast December 14, 1942.[11][12] Film Algiers was remade in 1948 as Casbah, a musical produced by Universal Pictures, starring singer Tony Martin and Yvonne De Carlo. It was directed by John Berry. A 1949 Italian parody titled Totò Le Moko featured the comedian Totò.[3] In popular culture The 1938 film Algiers was most Americans' introduction to the picturesque alleys and souks of the Casbah.[citation needed] It was also the inspiration for the 1942 film Casablanca, written specifically for Hedy Lamarr in the female lead role. MGM, however, refused to release Lamarr, so the role went to Ingrid Bergman. The invitation extended by Charles Boyer to "come to the Casbah" does not appear in the film, but still became comedians' standard imitation of Boyer, much like "Play it again, Sam" for Humphrey Bogart, "Judy, Judy, Judy" for Cary Grant and "You dirty rat" for James Cagney– all apocryphal lines. Boyer hated being reduced in that way, believing that it demeaned him as an actor.[2] In some part, the lampoon of Boyer spread, owing to its use by Looney Tunes cartoon character Pepé Le Pew, a spoof of Boyer as Pépé le Moko.[2] The amorous skunk used "Come with me to the Casbah" as a pickup line. In 1954, the Looney Tunes cartoon The Cat's Bah, which specifically spoofed Algiers, the skunk enthusiastically declared to Penelope Pussycat "You do not have to come with me to ze Casbah. We are already here!" Parts of the dialog between Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr have been sampled by new wave band The New Occupants for their song Electric Angel.[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algiers_(film)

Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp is a two-reel animated cartoon short subject in the Popeye Color Specials series, produced in Technicolor and released to theaters on April 7, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.[1] It was produced by Max Fleischer, and directed by Dave Fleischer for Fleischer Studios, Inc., with David Tendlar serving as head animator, and music being supervised by Sammy Timberg. The voice of Popeye is performed by Jack Mercer, with additional voices by Margie Hines as Olive Oyl and Carl Meyer as the evil Wazzir. Plot This short features Olive as a screenwriter for Surprise Pictures, working on a treatment of the story of Aladdin that will feature herself as the beautiful princess and Popeye as Aladdin, all the while speaking in rhyme. As she types, her adaptation of Aladdin comes to life on the screen, with Popeye having to use his wits against an evil vizier who seeks to control a magic lamp inhabited by a powerful genie. After completing the script, Olive gets a termination of employment notice from the front office, which reads "Your story of Aladdin is being thrown out... and so are you! [signed] Surprise." As in many Popeye cartoons, many of the gags are conveyed using dialogue. As Princess Olive awaits Popeye/Aladdin's declaration of his love, he turns to the camera and remarks "I don't know what to say... I've never made love in Technicolor before!" During the climactic battle between Aladdin and the vizier, Olive screams out "Help! Popeye—I mean Aladdin—save me!!" Release and reception This short was the last of the three Popeye Color Specials, which were, at over sixteen minutes each, three times as long as a regular Popeye cartoon, and were often billed in theaters alongside or above the main feature. Unlike the first two films, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp is more Disney-esque in plot and pacing, and does not make use of the Fleischer Tabletop 3D background process. According to the film's press release, its making involved two hundred colors and twenty-eight thousand individual, full-color drawings; the press release also mentions 3D animation, but such footage was never used in the final version.[2] However, a glimpse can be obtained in a Popular Science short, which documents the film's making, and reveals a sculpted model of the castle being photographed.[3] Running at twenty-one minutes, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp is the longest entry in the "color feature" series, and the only one produced at the relocated Fleischer Studios facility in Miami, Florida. Footage from the short, with a new soundtrack and rerecorded dialogue, was reused in the 1949 cartoon "Popeye's Premiere," wherein it is presented as a motion picture that Popeye starred in. Today, this short and the other two Popeye Color Specials, Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (both of which were also adapted from a story featured in One Thousand and One Nights), are in the public domain, and are widely available on various home video and DVD collections, usually transferred from poor quality, old, faded prints. Warner Bros. has fully restored this cartoon with the original Paramount mountain logo opening and closing titles and is included in Popeye the Sailor: 1938–1940, Volume 2, which was released on June 17, 2008. It also includes a documentary on the making of this cartoon as a bonus feature in this collection. This version also aired one time on Turner Classic Movies' celebration of Fleischer Studios during October 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_and_His_Wonderful_Lamp

Casbah is a 1948 American film noir crime musical film directed by John Berry starring Yvonne De Carlo, Tony Martin, Peter Lorre, and Märta Torén. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "For Every Man There's a Woman". It is a musical remake of Algiers (1938), which was in turn an American remake of the French film Pépé le Moko (1937). Plot Pépé le Moko (Tony Martin) leads a gang of jewel thieves in the Casbah district of Algiers, where he has exiled himself to escape imprisonment in his native France. Inez (Yvonne De Carlo), his girl friend, is infuriated when Pépé flirts with Gaby (Märta Torén), a French visitor, but Pépé tells her to mind her own business. Detective Slimane (Peter Lorre) is trying to lure Pépé out of the Casbah so he can be jailed. Against Slimane's advice, Police Chief Louvain (Thomas Gomez) captures Pépé in a dragnet, but his followers free him. Inez realizes that Pépé has fallen in love with Gaby and intends to follow her to Europe. Slimane knows the same and uses her as the bait to lure Pépé out of the Casbah. Cast Yvonne De Carlo as Inez Tony Martin as Pépé Le Moko Peter Lorre as Slimane Märta Torén as Gaby Hugo Haas as Omar Thomas Gomez as Louvain Douglas Dick as Carlo Herbert Rudley as Claude Gene Walker as Roland Curt Conway as Maurice Katherine Dunham as Odette Cast notes: Eartha Kitt plays an uncredited bit part.[3] This was her film debut. Kathleen Freeman plays an uncredited American Woman Production The film was made by Marston Productions, Tony Martin's production company, who signed a deal with Universal. Tony Martin was keen to re-establish himself in the film industry after having been blacklisted in the entertainment industry since being discharged from the Navy for "unfitness" in 1942. He was charged with buying a Navy officer a car to facilitate his obtaining a chief specialists rating.[4] It was the first production from Marston, which Martin owned with his agent, Nat Gould. The Bank of America lent $800,000 to finance the film; Universal provided some of the balance.[2] Yvonne de Carlo signed to play the female lead in June 1947.[5] Erik Charrell was to produce, William Bowers was to write the script and Harold Arlen to do the music.[6] John Berry signed to direct.[7] Märta Torén made her film debut here.[8] Soundtrack Songs by Harold Arlen (music) and Leo Robin (lyrics). "For Every Man There's a Woman", sung by Tony Martin. "Hooray for Love", sung by Tony Martin and Yvonne De Carlo. "It Was Written in the Stars", sung by Tony Martin. "What's Good About Goodbye", sung by Tony Martin. Reception The film only recouped $600,000 of its negative cost. By September 24, 1949 the film had earned rentals of $1,092,283.[2] Lawsuits Marston sued Universal in January 1949 for $250,000, alleging improper distribution. Universal counter-sued in May for $325,439, including the $320,439.25 Universal provided to the filmmakers, and $5,000 which Universal claimed Marston distributed contrary to their agreement.[9] Universal succeeded in getting a court judgment against Marston of $350,000. A judge ordered that the film be sold to auction for $329,486.[10] Universal bought all rights to the film at public auction for $5,000. This purchase was subject to an unsatisfied lien against the property of $195,000 to the Bank of America.[2] Martin had to go to court again to argue (successfully) that he was entitled to claim his loss on the film as a tax deduction.[4] Awards In 1949, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "For Every Man There's a Woman" by Harold Arlen (music) and Leo Robin (lyrics). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaMvSDb4zLo

A Farewell to Arms is a 1932 American pre-Code romance drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper, and Adolphe Menjou.[3] Based on the 1929 semi-autobiographical novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, with a screenplay by Oliver H. P. Garrett and Benjamin Glazer, the film is about a tragic romantic love affair between an American ambulance driver and an English nurse in Italy during World War I. The film received Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound, and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Art Direction.[3] In 1960, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the last claimant, United Artists, did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.[4] The original Broadway play starred Glenn Anders and Elissa Landi and was staged at the National Theatre September 22, 1930 to October 1930.[5][6] Plot This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The plot is from the original 1932 film on Turner Classic Movies. The film suffered from editing and censorship even at its initial release. (See below.) On the Italian front during World War I, Lieutenant Frederic Henry, is an American serving as an ambulance driver with the Italian Army. While carousing with his friend, Italian Captain Rinaldi, a bombing raid takes place, and Frederic and English Red Cross nurse Catherine Barkley, who left the nurses’ dormitory in her nightclothes chance to meet in a dark stairway. Frederic is tipsy and makes a poor first impression. Later, Rinaldi persuades Frederic to go on a double date with two nurses, who happen to be Catherine and her friend Helen Ferguson, "Fergie". At a concert for officers and nurses, Frederic and Catherine stroll into the garden, where Catherine reveals that she had been engaged to a soldier who was killed in battle. After more conversation, Frederic tries to kiss her and she slaps him. Both apologize and talk some more, before she asks him to kiss her again. In the darkness, he seduces her and tells her he loves her. In the morning, three ambulances, including Frederic's, leave for the front. Before leaving, Frederic tells Catherine that what happened between them was important, and that he will survive the battle unscathed. Catherine gives him a St. Anthony medal she wears around her neck. Rinaldi observes this, and then enters a major's office, where it is revealed that Rinaldi had orchestrated the separation to prevent Frederic from being with Catherine. The major transfers Catherine to Milan. At the front, Frederic is badly wounded by an artillery shell. He is sent to a hospital in Milan where Catherine rushes to his bed to embrace him. Later that night, an Italian Army priest visits Frederic while Catherine is there. Seeing they are in love, he performs an unofficial wedding. Months later, Catherine and Frederic ask Fergie for their wedding, who rejects the offer, saying they won't marry due to the war. As she leaves, she warns Frederic that if he gets Catherine pregnant, she will kill him. Back at the hospital, Frederic is told his convalescent leave is canceled. While waiting for his train, Catherine confides to Frederic that she is scared of each of them dying. He promises he will always come back, and they kiss before he leaves. Later, Catherine reveals to Fergie that she is pregnant and she is going to Switzerland to have the child. While apart, Catherine writes letters to Frederic, never revealing her pregnancy. In Turin, Rinaldi tries to entice Frederic to have some fun, but Frederic is intent on writing to Catherine. Rinaldi, unbeknownst to Frederic, makes sure that all of Catherine's letters are "Returned to sender". Meanwhile, the hospital at Milan returns Frederic's letters to him, marked "person unknown." Fredrick deserts and goes to Milan to find Catherine. A Farewell to Arms ad from The Film Daily, 1932 In Milan, Fredrick finds only Fergie, who refuses to tell him anything other than Catherine was pregnant and is gone. Rinaldi meets Frederic at a hotel and finally reveals that Catherine is going to have a baby and that she is in Brissago, apologizing for his part in keeping the lovers apart. While Frederic is rushing to the Brissago, Catherine goes into labor and is taken to a hospital. Frederic arrives as Catherine is wheeled into the operating room for a Caesarean section. After the operation, a surgeon tells Frederic the baby boy was stillborn. When Catherine regains consciousness, she and Frederic exchange endearments and plan their future, until Catherine panics fearing she is going to die. He tells her they can never really be parted. She tells him she is not afraid and dies in Frederic's arms as the sun rises. Frederic picks up her body and turns slowly toward the window, sobbing, "Peace, Peace." Ending This is the film's original ending when released to international audiences in 1932. Some prints for American audiences had a happy ending, where Catherine did not die, and some were ambiguous; some theaters were offered a choice.[7] The censors were concerned about more than just the heroine's death.[8][7] Versions proliferated when a much more powerful Motion Picture Production Code got hold of the picture before various re-releases to film and television, not to mention the effects of a change of ownership to Warner Bros. and lapse into the public domain. According to TCM.com: "‘A Farewell to Arms’ originally ran 89 minutes, and was later cut to 78 minutes for a 1938 re-issue. The 89-minute version (unseen since the original theatrical run in 1932 and long thought to be lost) was released on DVD in 1999 by Image Entertainment, mastered from a nitrate print located in the David O. Selznick vaults."[9] Cast Helen Hayes as Catherine Barkley Gary Cooper as Lieutenant Frederic Henry Adolphe Menjou as Captain Rinaldi Mary Philips as Helen Ferguson Jack La Rue as Priest Blanche Friderici as Head Nurse Mary Forbes as Miss Van Campen Gilbert Emery as British Major[3] Agostino Borgato as Giulio (uncredited) Tom Ricketts as Count Greffi (uncredited) Music The film's sound track includes selections from the Liebestod from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, Wagner's opera Siegfried, and the storm passage from Tchaikovsky's symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini.[10] Critical reception Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes In his 1932 review in The New York Times, Mordaunt Hall wrote: There is too much sentiment and not enough strength in the pictorial conception of Ernest Hemingway's novel ... the film account skips too quickly from one episode to another and the hardships and other experiences of Lieutenant Henry are passed over too abruptly, being suggested rather than told ... Gary Cooper gives an earnest and splendid portrayal [and] Helen Hayes is admirable as Catherine ... another clever characterization is contributed by Adolphe Menjou ... it is unfortunate that these three players, serving the picture so well, do not have the opportunity to figure in more really dramatic interludes.[11] In 2006, Dan Callahan of Slant Magazine noted, "Hemingway ... was grandly contemptuous of Frank Borzage's version of A Farewell to Arms ... but time has been kind to the film. It launders out the writer's ... pessimism and replaces it with a testament to the eternal love between a couple."[12] In a 2014 posting, Time Out London calls it "not only the best film version of a Hemingway novel, but also one of the most thrilling visions of the power of sexual love that even Borzage ever made ... no other director created images like these, using light and movement like brushstrokes, integrating naturalism and a daring expressionism in the same shot. This is romantic melodrama raised to its highest degree."[13] Awards and honors The film won two Academy Awards and was nominated for another two:[14] Academy Award for Best Picture (nominee)[3] Academy Award for Art Direction (nominee) Academy Award for Best Cinematography (winner) Academy Award for Best Sound Recording – Franklin Hansen (winner) Also, the film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated[15]

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (known as Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed in German) is a 1926 German animated fairytale film by Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film; two earlier ones were made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani, but they are considered lost.[2] The Adventures of Prince Achmed features a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented which involved manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead under a camera.[3] The technique she used for the camera is similar to Wayang shadow puppets, though hers were animated frame by frame, not manipulated in live action. The original prints featured color tinting. Several famous avant-garde animators worked on this film with Lotte Reiniger, among them Walter Ruttmann, Berthold Bartosch, and Carl Koch.[4][5] The story is based on elements from the One Thousand and One Nights written by Hanna Diyab, including "Aladdin" and "The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Perī-Bānū". Plot An African sorcerer conjures up a flying horse, which he shows to the Caliph. When the sorcerer refuses to sell it for any amount of gold, the Caliph offers any treasure he has. The sorcerer chooses Dinarsade, the Caliph's daughter, to her great distress. Prince Achmed, Dinarsade's brother, objects, but the sorcerer persuades him to try out the horse. It carries the prince away, higher and higher into the sky, as he does not know how to control it. The Caliph has the sorcerer imprisoned. Pari Banu (center) with her attendants, preparing to bathe. When Achmed discovers how to make the horse descend, he finds himself in a strange foreign land, a magical island called Wak Wak. He is greeted by a bevy of attractive maidens. When they begin fighting for his attention, he flies away to a lake. There, he watches as Pari Banu, the beautiful ruler of the land of Wak Wak, arrives with her attendants to bathe. When they spot him, they all fly away, except for Pari Banu, for Achmed has her magical flying feather costume. She flees on foot, but he captures her. He gains her trust when he returns her feathers. They fall in love. She warns him, however, that the demons of Wak Wak will try to kill him. The sorcerer frees himself from his chains. Transforming himself into a bat, he seeks out Achmed. The prince chases the sorcerer (who has turned into a kangaroo) and falls into a pit. While Achmed fights a giant snake, the sorcerer takes Pari Banu to China and sells her to the Emperor. The sorcerer returns and pins Achmed under a boulder on top of a mountain. However, the Witch of the Flaming Mountain notices him and rescues Achmed. The sorcerer is her arch-enemy, so she helps Achmed rescue Pari Banu from the Emperor. Then, the demons of Wak Wak find the couple and, despite Achmed's fierce resistance, carry Pari Banu off. Achmed forces a captive demon to fly him to Wak Wak. However, the gates of Wak Wak are locked. He then slays a monster who is attacking a boy named Aladdin. Aladdin tells of how he, a poor tailor, was recruited by the sorcerer to retrieve a magic lamp from a cave. When Aladdin returned to the cave entrance, the sorcerer demanded the lamp before letting him out. Aladdin refused, so the sorcerer sealed him in. Aladdin accidentally released one of the genies of the lamp and ordered it to take him home. He then courted and married Dinarsade. One night, Dinarsade, Aladdin's magnificent palace, and the lamp disappeared. Blamed by the Caliph, Aladdin fled to avoid being executed. A storm at sea cast him ashore at Wak Wak. When he tried to pluck fruit from a "tree", it turned into a monster and grabbed him, but Achmed killed it. Achmed realizes the sorcerer had been responsible for Aladdin's fate, and is further enraged. He also reveals to Aladdin that his palace and the lamp were stolen by the sorcerer because of his obsession for Dinarsade. Then, the witch arrives. Since only the lamp can open the gates, she agrees to attack the sorcerer to get it. They engage in a magical duel, each transforming into various creatures. After a while, they resume their human forms and fling fireballs at each other. Finally, the witch slays the sorcerer. With the lamp, they are able to enter Wak Wak, just in time to save Pari Banu from being thrown to her death. A fierce battle erupts. A demon steals the lamp, but the witch gets it back. She summons creatures from the lamp who defeat the demons. One hydra-like creature seizes Pari Banu. When Achmed cuts off one of its heads, two more grow back immediately, but the witch stops this regeneration, allowing Achmed to kill it and rescue Pari Banu. A flying palace then settles to the ground. Inside, Achmed, Pari Banu, Aladdin, and the Caliph find Dinarsade. The two couples bid goodbye to the witch and fly home to the palace. Production [icon] This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2015) Reiniger required several years, from 1923 to 1926, to make this film.[5] Each frame had to be painstakingly filmed, and 24 frames were needed per second.[5] The reason why an adaptation of Arabian Nights was chosen was based on the idea that the action should show events that would only be possible with animation. In addition to herself, her small team consisted of her husband Carl Koch, Walter Ruttmann, Berthold Bartosch, Alexander Kardan and Walter Turck. A Berlin banker named Louis Hagen financed the movie, and offered the team to use the attic of the garage in his vegetable garden as their studio. Oskar Fischinger made a wax-slicing machine for them which was used to visualize magic in several scenes. Another tool was an early version of the multiplane camera. Stars were made by holding a cardboard with small holes in front of a strong light, superimposed pieces of semitransparent tissue paper was used to make waves, and silver paper for moonlit water. For other movable backgrounds, which sometimes included the use of two negatives, they made different layers covered with substances like sand, paint and soap. For the latter, Bartosch would later say about the production of Prince Achmed: “During my years of work I have learned many things. Soap, it is quite extraordinary, with soap one can do everything.”[6][7] Censorship Reiniger was one of the first filmmakers in the 20th century to attempt a portrayal of the queer experience with a pair of openly gay lovers in this film: the Emperor of China and a male character named Ping Pong. Although this was censored in the version of the film that was distributed to theaters, Ping Pong is presented as the Emperor's favourite or darling (Des Kaisers Liebling) even in the censored version. Reiniger herself was outspoken on her motivation to destigmatize homosexual realities in the world of film. "I knew lots of homosexual men and women from the film and theater world in Berlin, and saw how they suffered from stigmatization. [...] I suspect that when the Emperor kisses Ping Pong, that must have been the first happy kiss between two men in the cinema and I wanted it to happen quite calmly in the middle of Prince A[c]hmed so children — some who would be homosexual and some who would not — could see it as a natural occurrence, and not be shocked [n]or ashamed."[8] Restoration While the original film featured color tinting, prints available just before the restoration had all been in black and white. Working from surviving nitrate prints, German and British archivists restored[9] the film during 1998 and 1999, including reinstating the original tinted image by using the Desmet method. Availability The film is screened on the Turner Classic Movies channel. It was also once available to stream through the subscription-based FilmStruck. Filmstruck's follow-up service, Criterion Channel, a service from the Criterion Collection, began streaming it in Region 1 after the service shuttered in November 2018. English-market DVDs are available, distributed by Milestone Films and available in NTSC R1 (from Image) and PAL R2 (from the BFI).[10] Both versions of the DVD are identical. They feature both an English-subtitled version (the intertitles are in German) and an English voice-over. The English-subtitled film is available via Fandor and LiveTree. Legacy An homage to this film can be spotted in Disney's Aladdin (1992); a character named Prince Achmed has a minor role in the film. The art style also served as inspiration for the Steven Universe episode "The Answer".[11] Score The original score was composed by German composer Wolfgang Zeller in direct collaboration with the animation of the film. Reiniger created photograms for the orchestras, which were common in better theatres of the time, to follow along the action.[12] Contemporary scorings The Silk Road Ensemble accompanied the film with a live improvised performance on Western strings and instruments such as the oud, ney and sheng in October 2006 at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, NY.[13] The Silk Road Ensemble repeated the performance at the Avon Cinema in Providence, Rhode Island, in February 2007.[14] London based band Little Sparta composed an original score to the film in 2007 with notable performances at Latitude Festival (2007), The Edinburgh Art Festival (2009) and Mekonville (2017). They have also had runs at theatres and venues in the UK and are continuing to perform it while releasing an EP of selected cues in June 2008. New York City band Morricone Youth composed a new score for the film in 2012 and first performed it live at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn on 28 September 2012.[15] Country Club Records released a vinyl 6-song EP of the score in 2016.[16] Spanish band Caspervek Trio composed a new soundtrack for the movie in 2014 premiered in Vigo, with further performances in Ourense, Liptovský Míkulás and Madrid.[17] The Scottish jazz quartet, S!nk, composed and performed a new score for the film in 2017 as part of the Hidden Door arts festival in Edinburgh as part of a series of events celebrating the re-opening of the Leith Theatre after being closed for 25 years.[18][19] Students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire composed a score for the film, which premiered at the Flatpack Film Festival at Dig Brew Co. on 22 April 2018 [20] Chris Davies composed a new score for the opening night of the 2014 Bradford animation festival. Using a mixture of recorded and live instrumentation, he has continued touring extensively, playing live with the film throughout the UK and Europe. Ben Bentele, David Alderdice, Daniel Be, and Cait Pope composed and improvised a score for the film, which premiered at the Paradise Theater in Paonia, Colorado, USA on 22 April 2023. The performance included a wide array of world instruments and electronic elements.

Dick Tracy (1937) is a 15-chapter Republic movie serial starring Ralph Byrd based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by Alan James and Ray Taylor. Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and masked mystery villain The Spider/The Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring. Plot Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and masked mystery villain the Spider/the Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring.[3] In the process of various crimes, including using his flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "speed plane", The Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother. Directed by: Alan James, Ray Taylor Produced by: Nat Levine, J. Laurence Wickland (Associate) Written by: Morgan B. Cox, George Morgan, Barry Shipman, Winston Miller, Chester Gould (comic strip) Music by: Harry Grey Cinematography: William Nobles, Edgar Lyons Edited by: Helene Turner, Edward Todd, William Witney Distributed by: Republic Pictures Release date: February 20, 1937 (U.S. serial) Running time: 15 chapters / 290 minutes (serial) Country: United States Language: English Starring cast Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy Kay Hughes as Gwen Andrews Smiley Burnette as Mike McGurk Lee Van Atta as Junior John Picorri as Dr Moloch Richard Beach as Gordon Tracy (pre-operation in Chapter 1) Carleton Young as Gordon Tracy (post-operation in Chapter 1) Fred Hamilton as Steve Lockwood Francis X. Bushman as Clive Anderson Supporting cast John Dilson as Ellery Brewster Wedgwood Nowell as H. T. Clayton Theodore Lorch as Paterno Edwin Stanley as Walter Odette (The Spider/ The Lame One) Harrison Greene as Cloggerstein Herbert Weber as Tony Martino Buddy Roosevelt as Burke George DeNormand as Flynn Byron K. Foulger as Kovitch - In this serial, Dick Tracy is a G-Man (FBI) in San Francisco rather than a Midwestern city police detective as in the comic strip. - Most of the Dick Tracy supporting cast and rogues gallery were also dropped and new, original characters used instead - There were three sequels to this serial: Dick Tracy Returns (1938), Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939), and Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tr...) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Byrd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republi...

The Adventure of the Clapham Cook Episode aired Jan 8, 1989 TV-14 51m Poirot probes the disappearance of a wealthy woman's cook, and soon uncovers an elaborate plot to hide an ever darker crime. Poirot (also known as Agatha Christie's Poirot) is a British mystery drama television programme that aired from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet stars as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Hercule Poirot. The programme ran for 13 series and 70 episodes in total; each episode was adapted from a novel or short story by Christie that featured Poirot, and consequently in each episode Poirot is both the main detective in charge of the investigation of a crime (usually murder) and the protagonist who is at the centre of most of the episode's action. At the programme's conclusion, which finished with "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case" (based on the 1975 novel Curtain, the final Poirot novel), every major literary work by Christie that featured the title character had been adapted. Addeddate 2020-08-22 14:53:34 Color color Identifier poirot-series Reviews allowed frozen Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.4 Sound sound Source torrent:urn:sha1:939cce3ce443a81da27bb8e5c71f42741b008754 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483459/fullcredits/ https://archive.org/details/poirot-series/01.01+The+Adventure+Of+The+Clapham+Cook.mkv

To Spring is a 1936 animated musical short produced by Harman and Ising for the MGM cartoon studio's Happy Harmonies series.[2] Although the production credit goes to Harman and Ising this short was actually the first cartoon to be directed by the future cartoon giant William Hanna, along with animator Paul Fennell.[3] It is one of just three MGM cartoons that are in the public domain, and the only Happy Harmonies short in the public domain. Plot Duration: 9 minutes and 14 seconds.9:14 The full short, restored. This short begins with the melting of winter snow as little human-like creatures (either elves or gnomes) below the ground mine colorful crystals. The creatures then process the crystals into liquids that cover the main rainbow colors. This work incites the arrival of spring above on the surface. However, a snowy wind appears and causes issues that hinders the process as the creatures start working harder. In the end, the creatures prevail and spring occurs. Production The title is a play on words used to represent the season of spring and action the gnomes must take to wake up and get to work. Lee Blair oversaw the short's vibrant Technicolor process.[4] The short also features the directorial debut of William Hanna, who would later create Tom & Jerry. Hanna co-directed the short with Paul Fennell, but Harman and Ising retained the production credit.[4] The film is in the public domain, because its copyright was not renewed after an initial 28 year term.[5] In addition to writing the music, Scott Bradley conducted the orchestra himself, as he did for all cartoons that he scored.[4] Voice work in the short included Delos Jewkes as the snowy wind, and radio actor J. Donald Wilson voicing the main elf (gnome).[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Spring

Jerky Turkey is a 1945 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon directed by Tex Avery.[1] Jerky Turkey is one of three MGM cartoons in the public domain in the United States as its copyright was not renewed.[2] Plot Duration: 7 minutes and 31 seconds.7:31 A video of the short. In 16207⁄8, Pilgrims, riding a caricatured Mayflower with a number of World War II-era anachronisms (such as a navy gunnery deck, a Henry J. Kaiser nameplate and a fuel rationing card) land at Plymouth Rock and establish a colony, where they quickly separate into "Ye Democrats" and "Ye Republicans." The Pilgrims all stand in line for cigarettes (some are caricatures of Avery's animation crew), while the town crier bemoans that he has been made eligible for the draft with a card bearing his "1-A" eligibility in his hand. A pear-shaped Pilgrim, who speaks with the milquetoast mannerisms of Bill Thompson (here impersonated because he had been drafted and was unavailable), emerges from his dilapidated teardrop trailer home and goes hunting for a turkey for a Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey emerges from the "House of Seven Gobbles" (a literal black market in disguise) and, seeing an easy mark and speaking in an impersonation of Jimmy Durante, offers himself to the pilgrim, only to use this as the start of a series of rapid-fire gags that stretch the limits of even cartoon physics, with the turkey consistently getting the best of his increasingly befuddled and frustrated opponent. Eventually the two make up and decide to "eat at Joe's," following the advice of a clapboard-wearing bear advertising his steakhouse that appears throughout the short. When they reach Joe's steakhouse, the door closes, loud crashes and thuds are heard, and the bear is seen coming out of the restaurant without his sandwich board; on his back is a tattoo which reads "I'm Joe". Joe the bear is grinning and picking his teeth, as the swallowed-whole turkey and pilgrim sulk in Joe's stomach. The pilgrim closes the cartoon by holding up a sign of his own: "DON'T eat at Joe's." Voice cast Tex Avery as Crows Nest Pilgrim, Turkey Call, Turkey Gobble, Junior Pilgrim[3][4][5] Frank Graham as Indian Leone LeDoux as Crying Pilgrim Wally Maher as Jimmy Durante Turkey[6][7] Production Some voices were provided by radio actors Wally Maher and Leone LeDoux, who had previously voiced Screwy Squirrel and who specialized in baby cries, respectively.[8] Some internet sources cite voice actor Daws Butler as the voice of jerky turkey, but he did not make his first voice appearance until 1948 in Screen Gems' Short Snorts on Sports.[9][10] Butler would go on to voice numerous characters in later Avery productions, including 1948’s Little Rural Riding Hood his first with the company.[10] Much like other Avery shorts, this cartoon features a celebrity voice impersonation. In this short it is a Jimmy Durante impression.[11] While it's not known if he would have had a cameo, The Turkey from the short can be seen on storyboard from the Who Framed Roger Rabbit deleted scene entitled "Acme's Funeral".[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerky_Turkey

In 48 B.C., Cleopatra, facing palace revolt in her kingdom of Egypt, welcomes the arrival of Julius Caesar as a way of solidifying her power under Rome. When Caesar, who she has led astray, is killed, she transfers her affections to Marc Antony and dazzles him on a barge full of Cecil B. DeMillean splendor. But the trick may not work a third time. Cleopatra is a 1934 American epic film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and distributed by Paramount Pictures. A retelling of the story of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, the screenplay was written by Waldemar Young and Vincent Lawrence and was based on Bartlett Cormack's adaptation of historical material.[2] Claudette Colbert stars as Cleopatra, Warren William as Julius Caesar, and Henry Wilcoxon as Mark Antony. Cleopatra received five Academy Award nominations. It was the first DeMille film to receive a nomination for Best Picture.[3] Victor Milner won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.[4] Plot "It was quite difficult to be rolled into a rug and breathe and come out looking pleased with yourself," Colbert remembered. "We only had to do that scene once."[5] In 48 BC, Cleopatra vies with her brother Ptolemy for control of Egypt. Pothinos (Leonard Mudie) kidnaps her and Apollodorus (Irving Pichel) and strands them in the desert. When Pothinos informs Julius Caesar that the queen has fled the country, Caesar is ready to sign an agreement with Ptolemy when Apollodorus appears, bearing a gift carpet for the Roman. When Apollodorus unrolls it, Cleopatra emerges, much to Pothinos' surprise. He tries to deny who she is. Caesar sees through the deception, and Cleopatra soon beguiles Caesar with the prospect of the riches of Egypt and India. Later, when they are seemingly alone, she spots a sandal peeking out from underneath a curtain and thrusts a spear into the hidden Pothinos, foiling his assassination attempt. Caesar makes Cleopatra the sole ruler of Egypt, and begins an affair with her. Caesar eventually returns to Rome with Cleopatra to the cheers of the masses but Roman unease is directed at Cleopatra. Cassius (Ian Maclaren), Casca (Edwin Maxwell), Brutus (Arthur Hohl) and other powerful Romans become disgruntled, rightly suspecting that he intends to abolish the Roman Republic and make himself emperor, with Cleopatra as his empress (after divorcing Calpurnia, played by Gertrude Michael). Ignoring the forebodings of Calpurnia, Cleopatra, and a soothsayer (Harry Beresford) who warns him about the Ides of March, Caesar goes to announce his intentions to the Senate. Before he can do so, he is assassinated. Cleopatra is heartbroken at the news. At first, she wants to go to him, but Apollodorus tells her that Caesar did not love her, only her power and wealth, and that Egypt needs her. They return home. Bitter rivals Marc Antony and Octavian (Ian Keith) are named co-rulers of Rome. Antony, disdainful of women, invites Cleopatra to meet with him in Tarsus, intending to bring her back to Rome as a captive. Enobarbus (C. Aubrey Smith), his close friend, warns Antony against meeting Cleopatra, but he goes anyway. She entices him to her barge and throws a party with many exotic animals and beautiful dancers, and soon seduces him. Together, they sail to Egypt. King Herod (Joseph Schildkraut), who has secretly allied himself with Octavian, visits the lovers. He informs Cleopatra privately that Rome and Octavian can be appeased if Antony were to be poisoned. Herod also tells Antony the same thing, with the roles reversed. Antony laughs off his suggestion, but a reluctant Cleopatra, reminded of her duty to Egypt by Apollodorus, tests a poison on a condemned murderer (Edgar Dearing) to see how it works. Before Antony can drink the fatal wine, however, they receive news that Octavian has declared war. Antony orders his generals and legions to gather, but Enobarbus informs him that they have all deserted out of loyalty to Rome. Enobarbus tells his comrade that he can wrest control of Rome away from Octavian by having Cleopatra killed, but Antony refuses to consider it. Enobarbus bids Antony goodbye, as he will not fight for an Egyptian queen against Rome. A short montage sequence shows the fighting between the forces of Antony and Octavian, ending in the naval Battle of Actium. Antony fights on with the Egyptian army, and is defeated. Octavian and his soldiers surround and besiege Antony and Cleopatra. Antony is mocked when he offers to fight them one by one. Without his knowledge, Cleopatra opens the gate and offers to cede Egypt in return for Antony's life in exile, but Octavian turns her down. Meanwhile, Antony believes that she has deserted him for his rival and stabs himself. When Cleopatra returns, she is heartbroken to find him dying. They reconcile before he perishes. Then, with the gates breached, Cleopatra kills herself with a venomous snake and is found sitting on her throne, dead. Cast Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra Warren William as Julius Caesar Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Antony The closing credits list 32 actors and the names of their characters: Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra Warren William as Julius Caesar Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Antony Joseph Schildkraut as King Herod Ian Keith as Octavian Gertrude Michael as Calpurnia C. Aubrey Smith as Enobarbus Irving Pichel as Apollodorus Arthur Hohl as Brutus Edwin Maxwell as Casca Ian Maclaren as Cassius Eleanor Phelps as Charmion, Cleopatra's servant Leonard Mudie as Pothinos Grace Durkin as Iras, Cleopatra's servant Ferdinand Gottschalk as Glabrio Claudia Dell as Octavia Harry Beresford as Soothsayer Jayne Regan as Lady Vesta (as Jane Regan) William Farnum as Lepidus Lionel Belmore as Fidius Florence Roberts as Lady Flora Richard Alexander as General Philodemas Celia Ryland as Lady Leda William V. Mong as Court physician Robert Warwick as General Achillas George Walsh as Courier Jack Rutherford as Flavius Kenneth Gibson as Scribe Wedgewood Nowell as Scribe Bruce Warren as Scribe Robert Seiter as Aelius (as Robert Manning) Edgar Dearing as the convict who tests the poison Production Publicity photo of Colbert as Cleopatra. Duration: 4 minutes and 16 seconds.4:16 The original trailer for the film. The shoot was a difficult one due to Colbert contracting appendicitis on the set of her previous film, Four Frightened People, leaving her only able to stand for a few minutes at a time. Heavy costumes complicated matters further.[6] Due to Colbert's fear of snakes, DeMille put off her death scene for as long as possible. At the time of shooting, he walked onto the set with a boa constrictor wrapped around his neck and handed Colbert a tiny garden snake.[6] On July 1, 1934 (89 years ago),[7] the Motion Picture Production Code began to be rigidly enforced and expanded by Joseph Breen. Talkie films made before that date are generally referred to as "pre-Code" films. However, DeMille was able to get away with using more risqué imagery than he would be able to do in his later productions. He opens the film with an apparently naked, but strategically lit slave girl holding up an incense burner in each hand as the title appears on screen.[citation needed] The film is also memorable for the sumptuous art deco look of its sets (by Hans Dreier) and costumes (by Travis Banton), the atmospheric music composed by Rudolph George Kopp, and for DeMille's legendary set piece of Cleopatra's seduction of Antony, which takes place on Cleopatra's barge.[citation needed] Colbert later said: "DeMille's films were special: somehow when he put everything together, there was a special kind of glamour and sincerity."[8] Release On August 16, 1934, Cleopatra received its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in New York City.[9] The premiere audience, which gave the film a standing ovation, included social leaders, diplomats, and famous stars of stage and film.[9] In its first week at the Paramount, the film set an annual record with 110,383 admissions.[10] Cleopatra went on to become the highest-grossing film released in North America in 1934.[citation needed] Reception Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called it "one of the director's most ambitious spectacles" and singled out Wilcoxon's performance as "excellent, especially in the more dramatic sequences."[11] Film Daily called it a "sumptuous historical drama" with a "strong cast" and "good entertainment values".[12] John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that "Even as extravaganza it's moderate", and called the dialogue "the worst I have ever heard in the talkies."[13] Variety agreed that "Often the lines drew titters that are not being angled for", but maintained, "Photographically the picture is superb."[14] In his Movie Guide, film critic Leonard Maltin gave Cleopatra 3.5 out of 4 stars and wrote, "Opulent DeMille version of Cleopatra doesn't date badly, stands out as one of his most intelligent films, thanks in large part to fine performances by all."[15] Accolades At the 7th Academy Awards in 1935, Cleopatra won for Best Cinematography (Victor Milner).[4] It was nominated for four more awards: Outstanding Production (Paramount), Best Assistant Director (Cullen Tate), Best Film Editing (Anne Bauchens), and Best Sound Recording (Franklin Hansen).[4] In the January 1935 issue of The New Movie Magazine, Claudette Colbert's performance in Cleopatra was named the "Movie Highlight of the Year" for August 1934,[16] the month in which the film premiered. In 2002, the American Film Institute nominated Cleopatra for the AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions list.[17] Home media Cleopatra, along with The Sign of the Cross, Four Frightened People, The Crusades and Union Pacific, was released on DVD in 2006 by Universal Studios as part of the five-disc box set The Cecil B. DeMille Collection.[18] It has been released for home viewing several times in the United States of America, including a 75th anniversary DVD edition in 2009 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.[19] In the United Kingdom, Cleopatra was released in a Dual Format DVD and Blu-ray edition on September 24, 2012, by Eureka as part of their Masters of Cinema series.[20] On April 10, 2018, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray.[21]

Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain Topics classic tv, Peter Lorre, checkmate, private detective Peter Lorre plays a recently released criminal mastermind who has hatched a plot to get even with the criminologist who sent him to prison. Aired: January 14, 1961 Addeddate 2010-05-16 13:52:58 Color color Ia_orig__runtime 49 minutes 24 seconds Identifier CheckmateTheHumanTouch1961 Run time 49:24 Sound sound https://archive.org/details/CheckmateTheHumanTouch1961

Jan 13, 2021 #AdolfHitler #FreeDocumentary #Documentary Mein Kampf: The Secrets of Adolf Hitler's Book of Evil | History Documentary Watch 'Operation Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler' here: • Operation Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill ... Today Adolf Hitler’s autobiography cum Nazi manifesto is still sold all over the world, under the counter, on the internet or simply at the bookshop. This 700 page book, published in 1925, was re-edited numerous times since the death of the author. How was it written? Was Hitler really the author? Were the war and the Holocaust truly inscribed in its pages? This documentary plunges deep into the secrets of Mein Kampf. A simple book of paradoxes: famous but unknown, fascinating and repulsive. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Subscribe Free Documentary - History Channel for free: https://bit.ly/2FjRPgV Join the club and become a Free Documentary Patron: / freedocumentary Facebook: https://bit.ly/2QfRxbG Twitter: https://bit.ly/2QlwRiI ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ #FreeDocumentary #Documentary #AdolfHitler ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Free Documentary - History is dedicated to bringing high-class documentaries to you on YouTube for free. You will see fascinating animations showing the past from a new perspective and explanations by renowned historians that make history come alive. Enjoy stories about people and events that formed the world we live in.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDaIjDXIAYU

The Thin Man is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy-mystery film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a leisure-class couple who enjoy copious drinking and flirtatious banter. Nick is a retired private detective who left his very successful career when he married Nora, a wealthy heiress accustomed to high society. Their wire-haired fox terrier Asta was played by canine actor Skippy. In 1997, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film's screenplay was written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, a married couple. In 1934, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The eponymous "Thin Man" is not Nick Charles, but the man Charles is initially hired to find – Clyde Wynant (part way through the film, Charles describes Wynant as a "thin man with white hair"). The "Thin Man" moniker was thought by many viewers to refer to Nick Charles and, after a time, it was used in the titles of sequels as if referring to Charles. It was followed by five sequels. Plot William Powell, Myrna Loy and Skippy (Asta) in The Thin Man Dorothy Wynant discusses her upcoming wedding with her father Clyde. She is surprised that her fiancé knows all about her family yet still wants to marry her. Later, her father discovers that bonds worth $50,000, intended as a wedding present for his daughter, are missing. The only other person who knows the combination of the safe in which they were kept is his secretary, Julia. When he confronts Julia about the missing bonds, she confesses that she cashed them in and has only $25,000 left. He threatens to call the police unless she comes up with the other $25,000. Nick Charles is a retired detective and he once did a job for Clyde. Nick and his wealthy wife, Nora, live in San Francisco but are visiting New York City for Christmas, staying in a glamorous apartment-like suite at the Hotel Normandie. While in New York, Nick is pressed back into service by Dorothy, as her father, the "Thin Man" of the movie title, was supposed to have left on a secret business trip with a promise to return home before his daughter's wedding, but he has mysteriously disappeared. She convinces Nick to take the case, with the assistance of his socialite wife, who is eager to see him in action. What appears to be a missing person situation rapidly turns into a murder case, when Julia Wolf, Clyde's former secretary and girlfriend, is found dead, and evidence points to Clyde as the prime suspect. Dorothy refuses to believe that her father is guilty. Nick and Police Lieutenant Guild visit Nunheim, a frequent source for the lieutenant. After being pressed for information, Nunheim excuses himself momentarily, only to slip away down the fire escape. He arranges a meeting with the yet-unidentified murderer (someone whose face is not yet shown) to collect $5,000 from him. When Nunheim arrives, however, he is immediately shot four times and killed. On a hunch, Nick soon visits Wynant's closed shop in the dead of night and unearths a skeletonized, but fully dressed, body, buried under the floor. In the dark shop, Wynant's bookkeeper, Tanner, suddenly appears. After that, the police—whom Nick had called once he found the body—arrive and concludes that Wynant committed the murders of Julia and now this newly discovered body. They assume that the remains belong to the "Fat Man"—a long-ago enemy of Wynant's—because of its oversized clothing with a belt buckle bearing an "R" (for "Rosebreen", that notorious figure's surname). But Nick has already all but solved the case—and soon invites the full cast of suspects to an elegant dinner party. There, as planned, the murderer is exposed. Nick—who had accompanied the medical examiner when he X-rayed the buried body—theorizes that the clothes were planted to hide the body's true identity, as the X-ray revealed telltale shrapnel, presumably from an old war wound, in one leg, the exact same injury that had plagued the "Thin Man": the missing Wynant. Nick deduces that the real culprit murdered Clyde once he discovered that the killer had been embezzling from him, and then the culprit murdered his own accomplice, Julia Wolf, because she knew about Clyde's murder, and after that, he murdered Nunheim since he had witnessed Julia's murder and was blackmailing him. Nick unfurls more of his theory to the dinner guests. Herbert MacCauley, Clyde's attorney, panics and tries to shoot Nick. Nick punches him out and declares MacCauley to be the murderer. Finally, Nick and Nora, along with Dorothy and her new husband, Tommy, celebrate as they ride a luxury train back to California. Nora, in the lower bunk, wants to sleep with Asta, but Nick tosses Asta to the upper bunk and joins Nora himself. Asta looks down on the couple and covers his eyes with his paw. Cast Lobby card William Powell as Nick Charles Myrna Loy as Nora Charles Maureen O'Sullivan as Dorothy Wynant Nat Pendleton as Lt. John Guild Minna Gombell as Mimi Wynant Jorgenson Porter Hall as Herbert MacCaulay Henry Wadsworth as Tommy William Henry as Gilbert Wynant Harold Huber as Arthur Nunheim Cesar Romero as Chris Jorgenson Natalie Moorhead as Julia Wolf Edward Brophy as Joe Morelli[3] Edward Ellis as Clyde Wynant, the "thin man" Skippy as Asta, their dog Cyril Thornton as Tanner Cast notes: Nat Pendleton reprised the role of Lt. Guild in 1939's Another Thin Man.[4] Production Screenplay The film was based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett, released in January 1934. Hammett's novel drew on his experiences as a union-busting Pinkerton detective in Butte, Montana. Hammett based Nick and Nora's banter upon his rocky on-again, off-again relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman.[5] MGM paid Hammett $21,000 for the screen rights to the novel. The screenplay was written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, who had been married for three years. Director W.S. Van Dyke encouraged them to use Hammett's writing as a basis only, and to concentrate on providing witty exchanges for Nick and Nora. Casting Van Dyke convinced MGM executives to let Powell and Loy portray the lead characters despite concerns that Powell was too old and strait-laced to play Nick Charles and that Loy had become typecast in exotic femme fatale roles.[6][7] Skippy played Asta, the dog of Nick and Nora. Skippy was subsequently cast in two screwball comedy classics, The Awful Truth (1937) and Bringing Up Baby (1938). Filming Myrna Loy, William Powell and Skippy [Nick and Nora were the] first on-screen Hollywood couple for whom matrimony did not signal the end of sex, romance and adventure. –Film historian Andrew Sarris (1998)[8] The film was shot with a budget of $226,408 by cinematographer James Wong Howe. For Powell's first scene in the film, Van Dyke told him to take the cocktail shaker, go to the bar and just walk through the scene while the crew checked lights and sound. Powell did it, throwing in some lines and business of his own. Suddenly he heard Van Dyke say, "That's it! Print it!" The director had decided to shoot the scene without Powell knowing it so that he would be as relaxed and natural as possible. Van Dyke often did not bother with cover shots if he felt the scene was right on the first take, reasoning that actors "lose their fire" if they have to do something over and over. It was a lot of pressure on the actors, who often had to learn new lines and business immediately before shooting, without the luxury of retakes, but Loy credited much of the appeal of the film to Van Dyke's pacing and spontaneity. He paid the most attention to Powell and Loy's easy banter between takes and their obvious enjoyment of each other's company and worked it into the movie. The director often encouraged and incorporated improvisation and off-the-cuff details into the picture. In order to keep her entrance fresh and spontaneous, Van Dyke did not tell Loy about it until right before they shot it. Powell loved working so much with Loy because of her naturalness, her professionalism, and her lack of any kind of "diva" temperament. Of her, Powell said: When we did a scene together, we forgot about technique, camera angles, and microphones. We weren't acting. We were just two people in perfect harmony. Myrna, unlike some actresses who think only of themselves, has the happy faculty of being able to listen while the other fellow says his lines. She has the give and takes of acting that brings out the best. According to Loy, the actors were not allowed to interact between takes with the dog Skippy; trainers felt it would break his concentration. Skippy once bit Loy during filming.[9]: 91  Although she had great compliments for Powell's charm and wit, Maureen O'Sullivan (who played the daughter of Wynant) later said she did not enjoy making the picture because her part was so small and the production was so rushed. The scene of Nick shooting the ornaments off the tree was added after Powell playfully picked up an air gun and started shooting ornaments the art department was putting up. Loy wrote that the biggest problem during shooting was the climactic dinner party scene in which Nick reveals the killer. Powell complained that he had too many lines to learn and could barely decipher the complicated plot he was unraveling. It was the one scene when several retakes were necessary, which brought up an entirely new problem. The script called for oysters to be served to the dinner guests and, in take after take, the same plate of oysters was brought out under the hot lights. Loy recalled that "they began to putrefy. By the time we finished that scene, nobody ever wanted to see another oyster".[9]: 89–90  Reception The film was released on May 25, 1934, to overwhelmingly positive reviews, with special praise for the chemistry between Loy and Powell. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called it "an excellent combination of comedy and excitement", and the film appeared on the Times year-end list of the ten best of the year.[6] Variety reported that "The Thin Man was an entertaining novel, and now it's an entertaining picture. For its leads the studio couldn't have done better than to pick Powell and Miss Loy, both of whom shade their semi-comic roles beautifully".[10] Film Daily raved: "The screen seldom presents a more thoroughly interesting piece of entertainment than this adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's popular novel. The rapid fire dialogue is about the best heard since talkies, and it is delivered by Powell and Miss Loy to perfection".[11] John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that Loy and Powell played their parts "beautifully", adding: "All the people of the book are there, and I think the final scenes of the solution of the mystery are handled on a higher note than they were in print".[12] Louella Parsons called it "the greatest entertainment, the most fun and the best mystery-drama of the year".[6] The Chicago Tribune said that it was "exciting", "amusing" and "fat with ultra, ultra-sophisticated situations and dialog". It also called Powell and Loy "delightful".[13] Harrison Carroll of The Los Angeles Herald-Express wrote that it was "one of the cleverest adaptations of a popular novel that Hollywood has ever turned out".[6] The film was such a box-office success that it spawned five sequels: After the Thin Man (1936) Another Thin Man (1939) Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) Song of the Thin Man (1947) The Thin Man was voted one of the ten best pictures of 1934 by Film Daily's annual poll of critics.[14] In 2002, critic Roger Ebert added the film to his list of Great Movies.[15] Ebert praised William Powell's performance in particular, stating that Powell "is to dialogue as Fred Astaire is to dance. His delivery is so droll and insinuating, so knowing and innocent at the same time, that it hardly matters what he's saying".[16] The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited The Thin Man as one of his favorite films.[17][18] In 2000 American Film Institute designated the film as one of the great comedies in the previous hundred years of cinema. The film is 32nd on the American Film Institute's 2000 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs[19] and was nominated for the following lists: 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies[20] 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions[21] 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: Nick & Nora Charles – Heroes[22] 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: Nora Charles: "I read where you were shot five times in the tabloids". Nick Charles: "It's not true. He didn't come anywhere near my tabloids".[23] 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)[24] 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: Mystery Film[25] Box office The Thin Man earned total theater rentals of $1,423,000, with $818,000 from the US and Canada and $605,000 in other foreign rentals, resulting in a profit of $729,000.[1][2] Trailer Duration: 3 minutes and 16 seconds.3:16Subtitles available.CC Trailer for The Thin Man The trailer contained specially filmed footage in which Nick Charles (William Powell) is seen on the cover of the Dashiell Hammett novel The Thin Man. Nick Charles then steps out of the cover to talk to fellow detective Philo Vance (also played by Powell) about his latest case. Charles mentions he hasn't seen Vance since The Kennel Murder Case, a film in which Powell played Vance, released in October 1933, just seven months prior to the release of The Thin Man. Charles goes on to explain to Vance that his latest case revolves around a "tall, thin man" (referring to Clyde Wynant's character), just before clips of the film are shown. Adaptations The Thin Man was dramatized as a radio play on an hour-long broadcast of Lux Radio Theatre on June 8, 1936. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Minna Gombell, Porter Hall, William Henry, and Thomas Jackson reprised their film roles, and W. S. Van Dyke was host.[26][27] Home media Long available on VHS and DVD, The Thin Man was released on Blu-ray Disc by the Warner Archive Collection on July 30, 2019. The 1080p high-definition master was made from a 4K restoration based on new transfers of the picture's best surviving film elements, with digital correction of a multitude of defects seen in earlier home-media releases. Blu-ray.com reported that the film "looks exceptional and, aside from a true 4K option, will likely never get a better home video release". Extras include the theatrical trailer, the 1936 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast, and the 1958 second-season premiere of the NBC television series.[28][29] In popular culture The TV series The Thin Man ran from 1957 through 1959, starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk.[30] In the 1976 comedy spoof movie Murder by Death, the characters of Nick and Nora Charles became Dick and Dora Charleston, played by David Niven and Maggie Smith.[31][32] In the 2005 animated film Hoodwinked!, the character Nicky Flippers, a frog detective voiced by David Ogden Stiers, was based on Nick Charles. Creators Rachel Cohn and David Levithan named their lead characters in the 2008 film Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist as an homage to the characters in The Thin Man.[33] The 2022 science fiction novel The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal is a sci-fi take on the Nick and Nora characters, but set in space.[34]

Publication date 1970 Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0Creative Commons Licensepublicdomain Topics Demolition Kitchen Video, Randall Parker, Randy Parker, Bob Walterschied Productions, Local Commercials, Wichita, Kansas, Vintage film, Vintage commercials, 16mm film, Television, Television production Language English Series of vintage commercials for a toy that was recalled shortly after it's release, Klackers. The last version of the commercial notes safety improvements. Demolition Kitchen Video collection of 16mm films from Randall Parker, Wichita, KS. Addeddate 2016-10-30 20:43:59 Color color Identifier KlackersCommercial Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3 Sound sound Year 1970 https://archive.org/details/KlackersCommercial

Publication date 1967 Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0Creative Commons Licensepublicdomain Topics Demolition Kitchen Video, Randall Parker, Randy Parker, Bob Walterschied Productions, Local Commercials, Wichita, Kansas, Vintage film, Vintage commercials, 16mm film, Television, Television production Language English KAKE-TV local television commercials from the 1960s, Walterschied Productions. Including: - Ott’s French Dressing - Pizza Hut (1967) - Oldham Sausage - Taco Tico - Derby Gas Station - Sandy’s Drive-in - Sandy’s Drive-in, Big Scott - Bulger Cadillac - Tect-Her spray - Penn Autoglass - Penn Autoglass #2 - Service Autoglass - Pizza Hut, version #2 Collected 16mm films of Randall Parker, Archivist: Ben Urish, 16mm to digital conversion by Demolition Kitchen Video Addeddate 2016-11-01 23:04:06 Color color Identifier WichitaCommercials01 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3 Sound sound Year 1967 https://archive.org/details/WichitaCommercials01

Cairo is a 1942 musical comedy film made by MGM and Loew's, and directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The screenplay was written by John McClain, based on an idea by Ladislas Fodor about a news reporter shipwrecked in a torpedo attack, who teams up with a Hollywood singer and her maid to foil Nazi spies. The music score is by Herbert Stothart. This film was Jeanette MacDonald's last film on her MGM contract.[3] The film was poorly received upon its initial release.[4] Plot [icon] This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2014) American Homer Smith is the star reporter of a small newspaper, which is named the best small town newspaper in the country. As a reward for his contributions, he is sent to North Africa to report on the war. In the Mediterranean, however, his ship is sunk; he and one other survivor, Philo Cobson, make it to shore. Cobson reveals that he is a member of British Intelligence and asks Smith to give a coded message to a Mrs. Morrison in Cairo. Mrs. Morrison tells him that motion picture star Marcia Warren is a Nazi spy. Smith, a big fan of Warren, has trouble believing it, but finds Warren's behavior suspect. He gets a job as her butler as Juniper Jones. Meanwhile, the innocent Warren begins to think that Smith is an enemy agent. Despite their mutual suspicions, they start to fall in love. Eventually, the real spies are unmasked: Cobson and Mrs. Morrison. Cast Jeanette MacDonald as Marcia Warren Robert Young as Homer Smith, aka Juniper Jones Ethel Waters as Cleona Jones, Marcia's Maid Reginald Owen as Philo Cobson Grant Mitchell as Mr. O.H.P. Boggs Lionel Atwill as Teutonic gentleman Eduardo Ciannelli as Ahmed Ben Hassan Mitchell Lewis as Ludwig Dooley Wilson as Hector Larry Nunn as Bernie Dennis Hoey as Col. Woodhue Mona Barrie as Mrs. Morrison Rhys Williams as Strange man Cecil Cunningham as Mme. Laruga Harry Worth as Viceroy Hotel bartender Frank Richards as Alfred Faten Hamama as Amina Reception According to MGM records. the film earned $616,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $581,000 elsewhere, meaning the studio recorded a profit of $273,000.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_(1942_film)

Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film that introduced the flesh-eating ghouls that would become synonymous with the term "zombie". The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by reanimated corpses. The movie was directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John Russo, and produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman. It stars Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. Having gained experience creating television commercials, industrial films, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood segments at their production company The Latent Image, Romero, Russo, and Streiner decided to make a feature film. They elected to make a horror film to capitalize on interest in the genre. Their script drew from Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend. Principal photography took place between July 1967 and January 1968, mainly on location in Evans City, Pennsylvania. Romero used guerrilla filmmaking techniques he had honed in his commercial and industrial work to complete the film on a budget of approximately US$100,000. Without the budget for a proper set, they rented a condemned farmhouse to destroy during the course of filming. Night of the Living Dead premiered in Pittsburgh on October 1, 1968. It grossed US$12 million domestically and US$18 million internationally, earning more than 250 times its budget and making it one of the most profitable film productions ever made at the time. Released shortly before the adoption of the Motion Picture Association of America rating system, the film's explicit violence and gore were considered groundbreaking, leading to controversy and negative reviews. It eventually garnered a cult following and critical acclaim and has appeared on lists of the greatest and most influential films by such outlets as Empire, The New York Times, and Total Film. Frequently identified as a touchstone in the development of the horror genre, retrospective scholarly analysis has focused on its reflection of the social and cultural changes in the United States during the 1960s, with particular attention towards the casting of Jones, an African-American, in the leading role.[5] In 1999, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[6][7][8] Night of the Living Dead created a successful franchise that includes five sequels released between 1978 and 2009, all directed by Romero. Due to an error when titling the original film, it entered the public domain upon release,[9] resulting in numerous adaptations, remakes, and a lasting legacy in the horror genre. An official remake, written by Romero and directed by Tom Savini, was released in 1990. Plot Duration: 1 hour, 35 minutes and 53 seconds.1:35:53Subtitles available.CC Night of the Living Dead (full film) Siblings Barbra and Johnny drive to a cemetery in rural Pennsylvania to visit their father's grave, where a pale man in a tattered suit kills Johnny and attacks Barbra. She flees to a nearby farmhouse but finds the resident's corpse lying half-eaten on the stairs. A growing horde of ghouls soon surround the house as a stranger, Ben, arrives and initially mistakes Barbra for the homeowner. After driving back several ghouls, he boards the windows and doors. While searching the home for supplies, he locates a lever-action rifle. A nearly catatonic Barbra is surprised to find people already taking shelter in the home's cellar. Harry, his wife Helen, and their young daughter Karen fled there after a group of the same monsters overturned their car and bit Karen on the arm, leaving her seriously ill. A couple, Tom and Judy, took shelter after hearing an emergency broadcast about a series of brutal killings. Tom and Ben secure the farmhouse while Harry protests that it is unsafe aboveground before returning to the cellar. Ghouls continue to besiege the farmhouse in increasing numbers. The refugees listen to radio and television reports of an army of cannibalistic corpses committing mass murder across the East Coast of the United States and of the posses of armed men patrolling the countryside to exterminate the living dead. Reports confirm that the ghouls can die again from heavy blows to the head, bullets to the brain, or being burned. Various rescue centers offer refuge and safety, and scientists theorize that radiation from an exploding space probe returning from Venus caused the reanimations. Judy peers from an open truck window. Judith Ridley as Judy, near the gas pump Ben devises a plan to obtain medical supplies for Karen and transport the group to a rescue center by refueling his truck at a pump on the farm. Ben, Tom, and Judy drive there together, holding the ghouls off with torches and Molotov cocktails. However, the gas from the pump spills and causes the truck to catch fire and explode, killing Tom and Judy. Ben returns and breaks down the door when Harry does not let him in. The remaining survivors attempt to figure a way out. They pause their discussion to watch the 3 a.m. news update until the power cuts out. The ghouls soon break through the doors and windows of the unlit home. In the chaos, Harry grabs Ben's gun but is disarmed and shot by Ben. Harry staggers down to the cellar and dies next to his daughter. Karen dies from her injuries, becomes a ghoul, and eats her father's remains. She stabs her mother to death with a masonry trowel. Barbra tries to help Ben keep the ghouls out, but a reanimated Johnny drags her away. As the horde breaks in, Ben takes refuge in the cellar, where he shoots Harry's and Helen's ghouls. In the morning, an armed posse arrives to dispatch the remaining ghouls. Awoken by their gunfire and sirens, Ben emerges from the cellar, but they shoot him, mistaking Ben for a ghoul. His body is thrown onto a bonfire and burned with the rest of the ghouls. Cast Ben holds a rifle in the farmhouse living room. Ben, played by Duane Jones The low-budget film included no well-known actors,[10] but propelled the careers of some cast members.[11] Two independent film companies from Pittsburgh—Hardman Associates and director George A. Romero's The Latent Image—combined to form a production company chartered only to create Night of the Living Dead.[12] The cast consisted of members of the production company, actors previously cast for their commercials, acquaintances of Romero, and Pittsburgh stage actors.[13] Duane Jones as Ben. The casting was potentially controversial in 1968 when it was rare for a black man to be cast as the hero of an American film primarily composed of white actors, but Romero said that Jones performed the best in his audition.[14] Jones went on to appear in other films, including Ganja & Hess (1973) and Beat Street (1984),[15] but worried that people only recognized him as Ben.[16] Judith O'Dea as Barbra. A 23-year-old commercial and stage actress, O'Dea previously worked for Hardman and Eastman in Pittsburgh. O'Dea was in Hollywood seeking entry to the movie business when contacted about the role.[17] O'Dea expressed surprise at the film's cultural impact and the renown it brought her.[18] Karl Hardman as Harry Cooper. President of Hardman Associates, Karl Hardman, played the hostile father. Cooper's wife was played by Hardman's real-life business and romantic partner Marilyn Eastman.[19][20] Marilyn Eastman as Helen Cooper.[21] Vice president of Hardman Associates, Marilyn Eastman played the doomed mother Helen Cooper and the unnamed, bug-eating zombie. She later appeared in Santa Claws (1996), directed by John Russo.[20][22] Kyra Schon as Karen Cooper. Hardman's daughter in real life,[23] 9-year-old Schon also portrayed the mangled corpse on the house's upstairs floor that Ben drags away.[24] Keith Wayne as Tom. "Keith Wayne" was Ronald Keith Hartman's stage name.[24] After this lone acting role, Wayne went on to work as a singer, dancer, musician, and night-club owner.[25][24] Wayne became a successful chiropractor in North Carolina.[25] Wayne explained the change in careers during a 1992 interview, "I am not that person anymore. [...] I got to a point in my life where I wanted to have some control. I didn't want to wake up at 40 or 50 and not be in control."[26] In 1995, he took his own life at age 50.[27][28] Judith Ridley as Judy. The 19-year-old receptionist from Hardman Associates auditioned for Barbra without any acting experience and was given the less-demanding role of Judy.[29] Ridley starred in Romero's unsuccessful second feature There's Always Vanilla (1971).[30] Bill Hinzman, who played the first ghoul encountered by Barbra and Johnny in the cemetery, went on to work on a number of horror films including The Majorettes (1986) and Flesheater (1988).[31][32] George Kosana as Sheriff McClelland. Kosana also served as the film's production manager.[33] Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille as himself.[34] Cardille was well known in Pittsburgh as a TV presenter who hosted a horror film anthology series, Chiller Theatre.[35] Production Development and pre-production External videos video icon The Calgon Story The creation of a high-budget television commercial for Calgon brand detergent spurred the film's producers to create a horror movie.[36] George Romero embarked upon his career in the film industry while attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.[37] He directed and produced television commercials and industrial films for The Latent Image, a company he co-founded with his friend Russell Streiner.[38] The Latent Image started small, but after producing a high-budget Calgon commercial spoofing Fantastic Voyage (1966), Romero felt that The Latent Image had the experience and equipment to produce a feature film.[36] They wanted to capitalize on the film industry's "thirst for the bizarre", according to Romero.[39] He, Streiner, and John A. Russo contacted Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, president, and vice president respectively, of a Pittsburgh-based industrial film firm called Hardman Associates, Inc. The Latent Image pitched their idea for a then-untitled horror film.[40] These discussions led to the creation of Image Ten, a production company chartered to produce a single feature film. The initial budget was $6,000;[12] each member of the production company invested $600 for a share of the profits.[41][b] Ten more investors contributed another $6,000, but this was still insufficient.[42] Production stopped multiple times during filming while Romero used early footage to persuade additional investors.[43] Image Ten eventually raised approximately $114,000 for the budget ($959,000 today).[44][42] Writing A group of actors in zombie makeup shamble across the unlit lawn of the farmhouse. Ghouls swarm around the house, searching for living human flesh. The script was co-written by Russo and Romero. They abandoned an early horror comedy concept about adolescent aliens,[45] after realizing they would not have the budget to create a convincing spaceship.[46] Russo proposed a more constrained narrative where a young man runs away from home and discovers aliens harvesting human corpses for food in a cemetery.[47][48] Romero combined this idea with an unpublished short story about flesh-eating ghouls,[49] and they began filming with an incomplete script.[43][45] According to Russo, the screenplay written prior to filming only covered events up to the emergence of the Cooper family.[50] Russo completed the script while filming and Romero later expanded the final pages of his short story into the sequels Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985).[51] Romero drew inspiration from Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (1954),[52][c] a horror novel about a plague that ravages a futuristic Los Angeles. The infected in I Am Legend become vampire-like creatures and prey on the uninfected.[53][42][54] Matheson described Romero's interpretation as "kind of cornball",[55] and more theft than homage.[56] In an interview, Romero contrasted Night of the Living Dead with I Am Legend. He explained that Matheson wrote about the aftermath of a complete global upheaval; Romero wanted to explore how people would respond to that kind of disaster as it developed.[57] Much of the dialogue was altered, rewritten, or improvised by the cast.[58] Lead actress Judith O'Dea told an interviewer, "I don't know if there was an actual working script! We would go over what basically had to be done, then just did it the way we each felt it should be done".[18] One example offered by O'Dea concerns a scene where Barbra tells Ben about Johnny's death. O'Dea said that the script vaguely had Barbra talk about riding in the car with Johnny before they were attacked. She described Barbra's dialogue for the scene as entirely improv.[59] Eastman modified the scenes written for Helen and Harry Cooper in the cellar.[40] Karl Hardman attributed Ben's lines to lead actor Duane Jones. Ben was an uneducated truck driver in the script until Jones began to rewrite his character.[60][40] The lead role was initially written for a white actor, but upon casting black actor Duane Jones, Romero intentionally did not alter the script to reflect this.[61] The film appeared in theaters at a time when very few black actors played leading roles. The rare exceptions, like the consciously black heroes played by Sidney Poitier, were written as subservient to make those characters palatable to white audiences.[62][63] Asked in 2013 if he took inspiration from the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in the same year that the movie was made, Romero responded in the negative, noting that he only heard about the shooting when he was on his way to find distribution for the finished film.[61] Filming Principal photography Color photograph of tombstones from the film. Evans City Cemetery in 2007 Color photograph of the cemetery chapel seen in the film, now with all windows boarded over. Cemetery Chapel in 2009 The small budget dictated much of the production process.[40][64] Scenes were filmed near Evans City, Pennsylvania, 30 miles (48 km) north of Pittsburgh in rural Butler County;[65] the opening sequence was shot at the Evans City Cemetery on Franklin Road, south of the borough.[66][d] Lacking the money to build or purchase a house for the main set, the filmmakers rented a nearby farmhouse scheduled for demolition. Though it lacked running water, some crew members slept there during the shooting, taking baths in a nearby creek.[69] The building's neglected cellar was not a viable location for filming, so the few basement scenes were shot beneath The Latent Image offices.[70] The basement door shown in the film was cut into a wall by the production team and led nowhere.[71] Props and special effects were simple and limited by the budget. The blood, for example, was Bosco Chocolate Syrup drizzled over cast members' bodies.[72] The human flesh consumed by ghouls consisted of meat and offal donated by an investor's butcher shop.[73][74] Zombie makeup varied during the film. Initially, makeup was limited to white skin with blackened eyes. As filming progressed, mortician's wax simulated wounds and decaying flesh.[75] Filming took place between July 1967 and January 1968 under various titles. Work began under the generic working title Monster Flick, was changed to Night of Anubis after Romero's short story that provided the basis for the script, and was completed as Night of the Flesh Eaters, a title not used in the final release due to a potential conflict with a similarly named film.[76][77][78] The small budget led Romero to shoot on 35 mm black-and-white film. The completed film ultimately benefited from the decision, as film historian Joseph Maddrey describes the black-and-white filming as "guerrilla-style", resembling "the unflinching authority of a wartime newsreel". He found the exploitation film to resemble a documentary on social instability.[79] Directing Karen Cooper leans over her father's bloody corpse holding two handfuls of meat in a still from the film. Living dead Karen Cooper, eating her father's corpse Night of the Living Dead was the first feature-length film directed by George A. Romero. His initial work involved filming advertisements, industrial films, and shorts for Pittsburgh public broadcaster WQED's children's series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[80][81][82] Romero's decision to direct Night of the Living Dead launched his career as a horror director. He took the helm of the sequels as well as Season of the Witch (1972), The Crazies (1973), Martin (1978), Creepshow (1982) and The Dark Half (1993).[83][84] Critics saw the influence of the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s in Romero's directorial style. Stephen Paul Miller, for instance, witnessed "a revival of fifties schlock shock ... and the army general's television discussion of military operations in the film echoes the often inevitable calling-in of the army in fifties horror films". Miller admits that "Night of the Living Dead takes greater relish in mocking these military operations through the general's pompous demeanor" and the government's inability to source the zombie epidemic or protect the citizenry.[85] Romero described the film's intended mood as a downward arc from near hopelessness to complete tragedy. Film historian Carl Royer praised the film's sophistication—especially considering Romero's limited experience—and noted the use of chiaroscuro (film noir style) lighting to create a mood of increasing alienation.[86] While some critics dismissed Romero's film because of the graphic scenes, writer R. H. W. Dillard claimed that the "open-eyed detailing" of taboo heightened the film's success. He asked, "What girl has not, at one time or another, wished to kill her mother? And Karen, in the film, offers a particularly vivid opportunity to commit the forbidden deed vicariously."[87] Romero featured social taboos as key themes, especially cannibalism. Film historian Robin Wood interprets the flesh-eating scenes of Night of the Living Dead as a late-1960s critique of American capitalism. Wood argues that the zombies' consumption of people represents the logical endpoint of human interactions under capitalism.[88] Post-production Members of Image Ten were involved in filming and post-production, participating in loading camera magazines, gaffing, constructing props, recording sounds and editing.[89] Production stills were shot and printed by Karl Hardman, assisted by a "production line" of other cast members.[40] Upon completion of post-production, Image Ten found it difficult to secure a distributor willing to show the film with the gruesome scenes intact. Columbia rejected the film for its lack of color, and American International Pictures declined after requests to soften it and re-shoot the final scene were rejected by producers.[43] The Walter Reade Organization agreed to show the film uncensored but changed the title from Night of the Flesh Eaters to Night of the Living Dead because of an existing film with a similar title. While changing the title, the copyright notice was accidentally deleted from the early releases of the film.[9][90] Soundtrack Duration: 14 minutes and 27 seconds.14:27 Drawn from pre-existing recordings, the music in Night of the Living Dead appears in many other films. The composition from the end credits previously appeared during this 1959 nuclear fallout public service video.[91] The film's music consisted of existing pieces that were mixed or modified for the film. Much of the soundtrack had been used by previous films.[e] Romero selected tracks from the Hi-Q music library, and Hardman cut them to match the scenes and augmented them with electronic effects.[92][40] A soundtrack album featuring music and dialogue cues from the film was compiled and released on LP by Varèse Sarabande in 1982. In 2008, the recording group 400 Lonely Things released the album Tonight of the Living Dead, an instrumental album with music and sounds sampled from the 1968 film.[93] Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Driveway to the Cemetery (Main Theme)" Spencer Moore 02:19 2. "At the Gravesite/Flight/Refuge" William Loose/Loose—Seely/W. Loose 03:42 3. "Farmhouse/First Approach" Geordie Hormel 01:16 4. "Ghoulash (J.R.'s Demise)" Ib Glindemann 03:30 5. "Boarding Up" G. Hormel/Loose—Seely/Glindemann 03:00 6. "First Radio Report/Torch on the Porch" Phil Green/G. Hormel 02:27 7. "Boarding Up 2/Discovery: Gun 'n Ammo" G. Hormel 02:07 8. "Cleaning House" S. Moore 01:36 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 9. "First Advance" Ib Glindemann 02:43 10. "Discovery of TV/Preparing to Escape/Tom & Judy" (All the samples of the track were composed by Geordie Hormel) G. Hormel/J. Meakin/J. Meakin 04:20 11. "Attempted Escape" G. Hormel 01:29 12. "Truck on Fire/Ben Attacks Harry/Leg of Leg*" (*electronic sound effects by Karl Hardman) G. Hormel 03:41 13. "Beat 'Em or Burn 'Em/Final Advance" (Final Advance was composed by Harry Bluestone and Emil Cadkin) G. Hormel 02:50 14. "Helen's Death*/Dawn/Posse in the Fields/Ben Awakes" (*electronic sound effects by Karl Hardman) S. Moore 03:05 15. "O.K. Vince/Funeral Pyre (End Title)" S. Moore 01:10 Release Premiere controversy Duration: 1 minute and 50 seconds.1:50 Night of the Living Dead trailer highlighting the film's gore and violence Night of the Living Dead premiered on October 1, 1968, at the Fulton Theater in Pittsburgh.[21] Nationally, it was a Saturday afternoon matinée—typical for horror films at the time—and attracted the usual horror film audience of mainly pre-teens and adolescents.[94][95][96] The MPAA film rating system was not in place until the following month, so children were able to purchase tickets. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times chided theater owners and parents who allowed children access to a film they were entirely unprepared for. Ebert noted that the children in the audience initially displayed typical reactions to '60s horror films, including shouting when ghouls appeared on the screen. He said that the atmosphere in the theater shifted to grim silence as the protagonists each began to fail, die, and be consumed—either by fire or the undead.[96] The deaths of Ben, Barbra, and the supporting cast showed audiences an uncomfortable, nihilistic outlook that was unusual for the genre.[97] According to Ebert: The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying ... It's hard to remember what sort of effect this movie might have had on you when you were six or seven. But try to remember. At that age, kids take the events on the screen seriously, and they identify fiercely with the hero. When the hero is killed, that's not an unhappy ending but a tragic one: Nobody got out alive. It's just over, that's all.[96] A review in Variety denounced the movie as a moral failing of the film's makers, the horror genre, and regional cinema. The reviewer claimed that the "unrelieved orgy of sadism" was effectively pornography due to its extreme violence.[98] These early denouncements would not limit the film's commercial success or later critical recognition.[99] Critical reception The neon marquee of a theater lists several notable cult films including Donnie Darko, Reanimator, and Night of the Living Dead. Decades after its initial release, a theater runs a midnight showing of the cult classic Despite the controversy, five years after the premiere Paul McCullough of Take One observed that Night of the Living Dead was the "most profitable horror film ever ... produced outside the walls of a major studio".[100] In the decade after its release, the film grossed over $15 million at the U.S. box office. It was translated into over 25 languages.[101] The Wall Street Journal reported that it was the top-grossing film in Europe in 1968.[87][87] In a 1971 Newsweek article, Paul D. Zimmerman noted that the film had "become a bona fide cult movie for a burgeoning band of blood-lusting cinema buffs".[102] Decades after its release, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives positive reviews.[103][104][105] In 2008, the film was ranked by Empire magazine No. 397 of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[106] The New York Times also placed the film on their Best 1000 Movies Ever list.[107] In January 2010, Total Film included the film on its list of The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.[108] Rolling Stone named Night of the Living Dead one of The 100 Maverick Movies in the Last 100 Years.[109] Reader's Digest found it to be the 12th scariest movie of all time.[110] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 84 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "George A. Romero's debut set the template for the zombie film, and features tight editing, realistic gore, and a sly political undercurrent."[111] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 89 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[112] Night of the Living Dead was awarded two distinguished honors decades after its debut. The Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry in 1999 with other films deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".[6][33][113][114] In 2001, the film was ranked No. 93 by the American Film Institute on their AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills list, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies.[115] The zombies in the picture were also a candidate for AFI's AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes & Villains, in the villains category, but failed to make the official list.[116] The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 5th scariest film ever made.[117] The film also ranked No. 9 on Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.[118] New Yorker critic Pauline Kael called the film "one of the most gruesomely terrifying movies ever made – and when you leave the theatre you may wish you could forget the whole horrible experience. ... The film's grainy, banal seriousness works for it – gives it a crude realism".[119] A Film Daily critic commented, "This is a pearl of a horror picture that exhibits all the earmarks of a sleeper."[120] While Roger Ebert criticized the matinée screening, he admitted that he "admires the movie itself".[96] Critic Rex Reed wrote, "If you want to see what turns a B movie into a classic ... don't miss Night of the Living Dead. It is unthinkable for anyone seriously interested in horror movies not to see it."[121] Copyright status and home media In the United States, Night of the Living Dead was mistakenly released into the public domain because the original distributor failed to replace the copyright notice when changing the film's name.[9][122] Image Ten displayed a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters, but the Walter Reade Organization removed it when changing the title.[9][123] At that time, United States copyright law held that public dissemination required copyright notice to maintain a copyright.[124] Several years after the film's release, its creators discovered that the original prints distributed to theaters had no copyright protection.[122] Because Night of the Living Dead was not copyrighted, it has received hundreds of home video releases on VHS, Betamax, DVD, Blu-ray, and other formats.[125] Over two hundred distinct versions of the film have been released on tapes alone.[126] Numerous versions of the film have appeared on DVD, Blu-ray, and LaserDisc with varying quality.[127] The original film is available to view or download for free on many websites.[f] As of October 2023, it is the Internet Archive's second most-downloaded film, with over 3.5 million downloads.[136] The film received a VHS release in 1993 through Tempe Video.[137] The next year, a THX certified 25th anniversary Laserdisc was released by Elite Entertainment. It features special features, including commentary, trailers, gallery files, and more.[138] In 1999, Russo's revised version of the film, Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, was released on VHS and DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment.[137] In 2002, Elite Entertainment released a special edition DVD featuring the original cut.[137] Dimension Extreme released a restored print of the film on DVD.[137] This was followed by a 4K restoration Blu-ray released by The Criterion Collection on February 13, 2018, sourced from a print owned by the Museum of Modern Art and acquired by Janus Films.[139][140] This release also features a workprint edit of the film under the title of Night of Anubis, in addition to various bonus materials.[141] In February 2020, Netflix took down Night of the Living Dead from its streaming service in Germany following a legal request in 2017 because "a version of the film is banned in that country."[142][143] Revisions There are numerous revised versions of the film with content added, deleted, rearranged, or more heavily modified. From its initial release into the public domain, Night of the Living Dead was widely screened from inferior prints in grindhouse theaters, a trend that continued among the bottom-tier home video companies. The first major revisions of Night of the Living Dead involved colorization by home video distributors. Hal Roach Studios released a colorized version in 1986 that featured ghouls with pale green skin.[144][145] Another colorized version appeared in 1997 from Anchor Bay Entertainment with grey-skinned zombies.[146] In 2009, Legend Films co-produced a colorized 3D version of the film with PassmoreLab, a company that converts 2-D film into 3-D format.[147] The film was theatrically released on October 14, 2010.[148] According to Legend Films founder Barry Sandrew, Night of the Living Dead is the first entirely live action 2-D film to be converted to 3-D.[149] In 1999, co-writer Russo released a modified version called Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition.[150] He filmed additional scenes and recorded a revised soundtrack composed by Scott Vladimir Licina. In an interview with Fangoria magazine, Russo explained that he wanted to "give the movie a more modern pace".[151] Russo took liberties with the original script. The additions are neither clearly identified nor even listed. Entertainment Weekly reported "no bad blood" between Russo and Romero. The magazine quoted Romero as saying, "I didn't want to touch Night of the Living Dead".[152] Critics disliked the revised film, notably Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, who promised to permanently ban anyone from his publication who offered positive criticism of the film.[153][154] A collaborative animated project known as Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated was screened at several film festivals[155] and was released onto DVD on July 27, 2010, by Wild Eye Releasing.[156][157] This project aims to "reanimate" the 1968 film by replacing Romero's celluloid images with animation done in a wide variety of styles by artists from around the world, laid over the original audio from Romero's version.[158] Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated was nominated in the category of Best Independent Production (film, documentary or short) for the 8th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.[159] Starting in 2015, and working from the original camera negatives and audio track elements, a 4K digital restoration of Night of the Living Dead was undertaken by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and The Film Foundation.[160] The fully restored version was shown in November 2016 as part of To Save and Project: The 14th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation.[161][162] This same restoration was released on Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection on February 13, 2018,[139] and on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 4, 2022.[163] Related works Romero's Dead films Main article: Night of the Living Dead (film series) An album with illustrations of hands bursting through the ground, above the words "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth." Cover for Dawn of the Dead album Night of the Living Dead is the first of six ... of the Dead films directed by George Romero. Following the 1968 film, Romero released Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead.[164] Each film traces the evolution of the living dead epidemic in the United States and humanity's desperate attempts to cope with it. As in Night of the Living Dead, Romero peppered the other films in the series with critiques specific to the periods in which they were released.[165][166][167] Romero died with several "Dead" projects unfinished, including the posthumously completed novel The Living Dead[168] and the upcoming film The Twilight of the Dead.[169] Return of the Living Dead series Main article: Return of the Living Dead (film series) The Return of the Living Dead series takes place in an alternate continuity where both the original film and the titular living dead exist. The series has a complicated relationship with Romero's Dead films.[170] Co-writer John Russo wrote the novel Return of the Living Dead (1978) as a sequel to the original film and collaborated with Night alumni Russ Streiner and Rudy Ricci on a screenplay under the same title. In 1981, investment banker Tom Fox bought the rights to the story. Fox brought in Dan O'Bannon to direct and rewrite the script, changing nearly everything but the title.[171][172] O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead arrived in theaters in 1985 alongside Day of the Dead. Romero and his associates attempted to block Fox from marketing his film as a sequel and demanded the name be changed. In a previous court case, Dawn Associates v. Links (1978), they had prevented Illinois-based film distributor William Links from re-releasing an unrelated film under the title Return of the Living Dead. Fox was forced to cease his advertising campaign but allowed to retain the title.[173][172][174][175] Rise of the Living Dead George Cameron Romero, the son of director George A. Romero, wrote a prequel to his father's classic, under the working titles Origins and Rise of the Living Dead. George Cameron Romero said that he created Rise of the Living Dead as an homage to his father's work, a glimpse into the political turmoil of the mid-to-late 1960s, and a bookend piece to his father's original story. Despite raising funds for the film on Indiegogo in 2014,[176] as of 2023 the film has yet to go into production.[177] In April 2021, Heavy Metal magazine published the first issue of a graphic novel adaptation of the story titled The Rise from Romero's script and with art by Diego Yapur.[178][179] Remakes and other related films Many remakes have attempted to reimagine the original film's story, most notably the 1990 remake written by Romero and directed by special effects artist Tom Savini. Savini had planned to work on the 1968 film before being drafted into the Vietnam War,[180][181] and, after the war, worked with Romero on the sequels.[182] The remake was based on the original screenplay but included a revised plot that portrayed Barbra (Patricia Tallman) as a capable and active heroine.[183] Film historian Barry Grant interprets the new Barbra as a reversal of the original film's portrayal of feminine passivity.[184] He explores how the 1990 Barbra embodies—arguably masculine—virtuous professionalism, as depicted in the works of classic Hollywood director Howard Hawks, a major influence on Romero.[185] Grant describes her as the film's only Hawksian professional. After changing from a mousy outfit that mirrors the original into the visually militaristic clothing she discovers in the farmhouse, Barbra is the lone character able to separate her emotions from the objective necessity to exterminate the living dead.[186] According to Grant, Romero is able to offer one of the most important feminist outlooks in horror because the undead disrupt all traditional values including patriarchy.[187] The second remake was in 3-D and released in September 2006 under the title Night of the Living Dead 3D, directed by Jeff Broadstreet. Unlike Savini's film, Broadstreet's project was not affiliated with Romero.[188] Broadstreet's film was followed in 2012 by a prequel, Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation.[189] On September 15, 2009, it was announced that Simon West was producing a 3D animated retelling of the original film, originally titled Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D and later re-titled Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn.[190][191] The movie is written and directed by Zebediah de Soto. The voice cast includes Tony Todd as Ben, Danielle Harris as Barbra, Joseph Pilato as Harry Cooper, Alona Tal as Helen Cooper, Bill Moseley as Johnny, Tom Sizemore as Chief McClellan and newcomers Erin Braswell as Judy and Michael Diskint as Tom.[192][193][194][195][196][197] Director Doug Schulze's 2011 film Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead relates the story of a group of horror film fans who become involved in a "real-life" version of the 1968 film.[198][199] Due to its public domain status, several independent producers have created remakes. Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (2012): British filmmaker James Plumb directed this Wales-set remake.[200] A Night of the Living Dead (2014): Shattered Images Films and Cullen Park Productions released a remake with new twists and characters, written and directed by Chad Zuver.[201] Rebirth (formerly Night of the Living Dead: Rebirth) (2021):[202] Rising Pulse Productions' updated take on the classic film was released in June 2021 and brings to light present issues that impact modern society such as religious bigotry, homophobia and the influence of social media.[203] Night of the Animated Dead (2021): Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced in June 2021 that they were in production of an animated adaptation. Directed by Jason Axinn (To Your Last Death) and featuring the voices of Dulé Hill (Ben), Katharine Isabelle (Barbra), Josh Duhamel (Harry Cooper), James Roday Rodriguez (Tom), Katee Sackhoff (Judy), Will Sasso (Sheriff McClelland), Jimmi Simpson (Johnny) and Nancy Travis (Helen Cooper), it was released via video on demand on September 21, 2021.[204] Night of the Living Dead II: In June 2021, director Marcus Slabine debuted his secretly filmed sequel.[205] The film stars Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander and Jarlath Conroy of Day of the Dead.[206] A Night of the Undead (2022) was released to select theaters in October 2022.[207] In January 2023, the film saw wider release. Directed by Kenny Scott Guffey, Jake C. Young and stars Denny Kidd, Briana Phipps-Stotts, and Mason Johnson.[208] Festival of the Living Dead: In May 2023, the Soska sisters announced an in-universe followup taking place half a century after the events of the 1968 film, starring Ashley Moore and Camren Bicondova. It was set to be released on Tubi in fall 2023.[209][210] In other media At the suggestion of Bill Hinzman (the actor who played the zombie that first attacks Barbra in the graveyard and kills her brother Johnny at the beginning of the original film), composers Todd Goodman and Stephen Catanzarite composed an opera Night of the Living Dead based on the film.[211] The Microscopic Opera Company produced its world premiere, which was performed at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh, in October 2013.[212] The opera was awarded the American Prize for Theater Composition in 2014.[213] A play called Night of the Living Dead Live! was published in 2017[214] and has been performed in major cities including Toronto, Leeds and Auckland.[215][216][217] Legacy See also: Zombie A packed crowd in zombie makeup hold a banner reading, "World Record Zombie Walk, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 26, 2006, The It's Alive Show, Pittsburgh East Nissan, Monroeville Mall" A zombie walk in Monroeville Mall, the setting of Romero's Dawn of the Dead Romero revolutionized the horror film genre with Night of the Living Dead; according to Almar Haflidason of the BBC, the film represented "a new dawn in horror film-making".[218] The film ushered in the splatter film subgenre. Earlier horror films had largely involved rubber masks, costumes, cardboard sets, and mysterious figures lurking in the shadows. They were set in locations far removed from rural and suburban America.[219] Romero revealed the power behind exploitation and setting horror in ordinary, unexceptional locations and offered a template for making an effective film on a small budget.[220] Night spawned countless imitators in cinema, television, and video gaming.[7] According to author Barry Keith Grant, the slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s such as John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980), and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) are indebted to Romero's use of gore in a familiar setting.[221] The film is regarded as one of the launching pads for the modern zombie movie,[222] and effectively redefined the "zombie".[223] Before the film's release, the term "zombie" described a concept from Haitian folklore whereby a bokor could reanimate a corpse into an insensate slave.[224] Early zombie films like White Zombie (1932) combined this with racial and postcolonial anxieties.[225] Romero never used the word "zombie" in the 1968 film or its script—using instead, ghoul—because he said that his flesh-eaters were something new.[21][226][227][61] The term "zombie" was retroactively applied to Night after its cannibalistic undead became the dominant zombie concept in the United States,[228] to such an extent that zombie has become a byword for concepts that failed to "die".[229] According to professor of religious studies Kim Paffenroth, Romero's antagonists broke with earlier traditions of "voodoo zombies" by having no human villain in control of the zombie and thus no potential to ever restore the monsters' humanity.[230] Compared to the vampires and Haitian zombies that served as inspiration, Romero's antagonists derive more horror from abjection, the disgust that arises from an inability to separate clean from corrupt. While the vampire myth offers a potential escape from mundane life, the zombie offers an infinite decay more abject than conventional death.[231] Cultural critic Steven Shaviro has remarked that—unlike with other movie characters—audiences cannot identify with the zombies because there is no identity left within their bodies, and that they instead provide audiences a combination of disgust and fascinated attraction.[223][232] Critical analysis Ben crouches to give shoes to Barbra who is sitting on the couch barefoot Barbra and Ben after their first meeting Since its release, many critics and film historians have interpreted Night of the Living Dead as a subversive film that critiques 1960s American society, international Cold War politics and domestic racism.[63] Film historian Robin Wood organized "The American Nightmare"—a sixty-film retrospective combining screenings and director interviews to frame horror in terms of oppression and repression—for the 1979 Toronto International Film Festival. His essay from the program notes, "An Introduction to the American Horror Film", was highly influential, especially in film criticism where horror as a genre had not previously been considered a topic for serious analysis.[233][234] Wood interprets notable horror films including Night through a psychoanalytic framework.[235] He discusses how traits deemed unacceptable are repressed on the personal level or when not repressed, oppressed on the societal level.[235] He identifies repressed taboos and othered groups as the psychological basis for horror monsters.[235] Wood and later critics used this framework to discuss Night as a commentary on repressed sexuality, the marginalized groups of 1960s America, and the disruption to societal norms resulting from the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.[236][237] Elliot Stein of The Village Voice sees the film as an ardent critique of American involvement in the Vietnam War, arguing that it "was not set in Transylvania, but Pennsylvania – this was Middle America at war, and the zombie carnage seemed a grotesque echo of the conflict then raging in Vietnam".[238] Film historian Sumiko Higashi concurs, arguing that Night of the Living Dead draws from the visual vocabulary the media used to report on the war, noting especially that the photographs of the napalm girl and the execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém would be fresh in the minds of the film's creators and audience.[239] She points to aspects of the Vietnam War paralleled in the film: grainy black-and-white newsreels, search and destroy operations, helicopters, and graphic carnage.[240] In 1968, the news was still broadcast in black and white, and the graphic photographs that appear during the closing credits resemble the contemporary Vietnam War photojournalism.[63] Critics have compared the shooting of the film's black protagonist to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[63][241][242] Stein explains, "In this first-ever subversive horror movie, the resourceful black hero survives the zombies only to be surprised by a redneck posse".[238] In 2018, on the film's 50th anniversary, Mark Lager of CineAction noted a clear parallel between the killing and destruction of Ben's body by white police and the violence directed at African Americans during the civil rights movement. Lager described it as a more honest exploration of 1960s America than anything produced by Hollywood.[243] Film historian Gregory Waller identifies broad-ranging critiques of American institutions including the nuclear family, private homes, media, government, and "the entire mechanism of civil defense".[244] Film historian Linda Badley explains that the film was so horrifying because the monsters were not creatures from outer space or some exotic environment, but rather that "They're us."[245] In the 2009 documentary film Nightmares in Red, White and Blue, the zombies in the film are compared to the "silent majority" of the U.S. in the late 1960s.[246

About this Item Title The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress Names United States Army Eighth Air Force Wyler, William Paramount Pictures, inc. Kern, Ed Created / Published 1944 Headings - Documentary Genre Documentary Notes - Summary: Documentary about the 25th and last bombing mission of the B-17 bomber, Memphis Belle. - Credits: Narrated by Ed Kern. Medium Film, Video Call Number/Physical Location Mavis identifier: 9301 Source Collection Copyright Collection Repository Motion Picture, Broadcasting And Recorded Sound Division https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs00009301/

His Girl Friday is a 1940 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and featuring Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot centers on a newspaper editor named Walter Burns who is about to lose his ace reporter and ex-wife, Hildy Johnson, newly engaged to another man. Burns suggests they cover one more story together, getting themselves entangled in the case of murderer Earl Williams as Burns desperately tries to win back his wife. The screenplay was adapted from the 1928 play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. This was the second time the play had been adapted for the screen, the first occasion being the 1931 film which kept the original title The Front Page. The script was written by Charles Lederer and Ben Hecht, who is not credited for his contributions. The major change in this version, introduced by Hawks, is that the role of Hildy Johnson is a woman. Filming began in September 1939 and finished in November, seven days behind schedule. Production was delayed because the frequent improvisation and numerous ensemble scenes required many retakes. Hawks encouraged his actors to be aggressive and spontaneous. His Girl Friday has been noted for its surprises, comedy, and rapid, overlapping dialogue. Hawks was determined to break the record for the fastest film dialogue, at the time held by The Front Page. He used a sound mixer on the set to increase the speed of dialogue and held a showing of the two films next to each other to prove how fast his film was. His Girl Friday was #19 on American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Laughs and was selected in 1993 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[2][3] The film is in the public domain because the copyright was not renewed, though the play it was based on is still under copyright.[4] Plot Walter Burns, the hard-boiled editor for The Morning Post, learns his ex-wife and former star reporter, Hildegard "Hildy" Johnson, is about to marry insurance man Bruce Baldwin and settle down as a housewife in Albany. Walter, determined to sabotage these plans, entices a reluctant Hildy to cover one last story: the upcoming execution of Earl Williams, a shy bookkeeper convicted of murdering a policeman. Hildy agrees on the condition that Walter buy a $100,000 life insurance policy from Bruce so he can receive a $1,000 commission. In the meantime, she bribes the warden to let her interview Williams in jail. Williams says he shot the police officer by accident. Walter does everything he can to keep Hildy from leaving, first accusing Bruce of stealing a watch, forcing Hildy to bail him out of jail. Exasperated, Hildy quits, but when Williams escapes, her journalistic instincts take over. Walter frames Bruce again, and he is immediately sent back to jail. Hildy realizes that Walter is behind the shenanigans, but she prioritizes covering the rapidly escalating Williams story over bailing Bruce out again. Williams sneaks into the deserted press room and holds Hildy at gunpoint; the lure of a big scoop proves too tempting for her to resist. Williams's friend Mollie comes looking for him. When the other reporters return, Hildy hides the fugitive in a rolltop desk. Mrs. Baldwin, Hildy's future mother-in-law, enters and berates her for the way she is treating Bruce. Upon being harassed for Williams's whereabouts by the reporters, Mollie jumps out of the window to escape. The reporters rush out, saving Williams from being found. Walter arrives and has his henchman Louie kidnap Mrs. Baldwin. Bruce comes into the press room, having wired Albany for his bail and asking for his mother's whereabouts. Hildy is so consumed with writing the story that she hardly notices; Bruce realizes his cause is hopeless and leaves. A disheveled Louie returns, revealing that he had hit a police car while driving away with Mrs. Baldwin and is unsure if she survived in the accident. Meanwhile, the crooked mayor and sheriff need the publicity from the execution to keep their jobs in an upcoming election, so when a messenger brings them a reprieve from the governor, they try to bribe the man to go away and return later, after it is too late. After Williams is discovered in the desk, Walter and Hildy are handcuffed by the sheriff. However, the messenger returns with the reprieve, just in time to save Williams from the gallows. Walter uses the messenger's statements to blackmail the mayor and sheriff into releasing him and Hildy. Hildy receives a call from Bruce, again in jail because of counterfeit money that was unknowingly transferred to him by Hildy from Walter. Hildy breaks down and admits to Walter that she was afraid that he was going to let her marry Bruce without a fight. After bailing Bruce out of jail again, Walter asks Hildy to remarry him and promises to take her on the honeymoon they never had in Niagara Falls. Then Walter learns that there is a strike in Albany, which is on the way to Niagara Falls. Hildy agrees to honeymoon in Albany, accepting that Walter will never change. Cast Cary Grant as Walter Burns Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson Ralph Bellamy as Bruce Baldwin Gene Lockhart as Sheriff Hartwell Porter Hall as Murphy Ernest Truex as Bensinger Cliff Edwards as Endicott Clarence Kolb as the Mayor Roscoe Karns as McCue Frank Jenks as Wilson Regis Toomey as Sanders Abner Biberman as Louie Frank Orth as Duffy John Qualen as Earl Williams Helen Mack as Mollie Malloy Alma Kruger as Mrs. Baldwin Billy Gilbert as Joe Pettibone Pat West as Warden Cooley Edwin Maxwell as Dr. Eggelhoffer Marion Martin as Evangeline (uncredited) Production Director Howard Hawks Development and writing While producing Only Angels Have Wings (1939), Howard Hawks tried to pitch a remake of The Front Page to Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures. Cary Grant was almost immediately cast in the film, but Cohn initially intended Grant to play the reporter, with radio commentator Walter Winchell as the editor.[5] Hawks' production that became His Girl Friday was originally intended to be a straightforward adaptation of The Front Page, with both the editor and reporter being male.[a] During auditions, Howard Hawks' secretary, a woman, read reporter Hildy Johnson's lines. Hawks liked the way the dialogue sounded coming from a woman, resulting in the script being rewritten to make Hildy female and the ex-wife of editor Walter Burns played by Cary Grant.[7] Cohn purchased the rights for The Front Page in January 1939.[8] Although Hawks considered the dialogue of The Front Page to be "the finest modern dialogue that had been written", more than half of it was replaced with what Hawks believed to be better lines.[9] Some of the original dialogue was left the same, as were all of the characters' names with two exceptions: Hildy's fiancé (now no longer a fiancée) was given the name Bruce Baldwin,[8] and the name of the comic messenger bringing the pardon from the governor was changed from Pincus to Pettibone.[10] Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures approved Hawks' idea for the film project. Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, the writers of the original play, were unavailable for screenwriting. Consequently, Hawks considered Gene Fowler as the screenwriter, but he declined the job because he disliked the changes to the screenplay Hawks intended to make.[8] Hawks instead recruited Charles Lederer, who had worked on the adaptation for The Front Page, to work on the screenplay.[11] Though he was not credited, Hecht assisted Lederer in the adaptation.[12] Additions were made at the beginning of the screenplay by Lederer to give the characters a convincing backstory; it was decided that Hildy and Walter would be divorced with Hildy's intentions of remarriage serving as Walter's motivation to win her back.[13] During writing, Hawks was in Palm Springs directing Only Angels Have Wings, but stayed in close contact with Lederer and Hecht.[8] Hecht helped Lederer with some organizational revisions, and Lederer finished the script on May 22. After two more drafts completed by July, Hawks called Morrie Ryskind to revise the dialogue and make it more interesting. Ryskind revised the script throughout the summer and finished by the end of September before filming began. More than half of the original dialogue was rewritten.[8] The film lacks one of the well-known final lines of the play, "the son-of-a-bitch stole my watch!", because films of the time were more censored than Pre-Code Hollywood films, and Hawks felt that the line was too overused. Ryskind developed a new ending in which Walter and Hildy start fighting immediately after saying "I do" in the wedding they hold in the newsroom, with one of the characters stating, "I think it's gonna turn out all right this time." However, after revealing the ending to a few writers at Columbia one evening, Ryskind was surprised to hear that his ending was filmed on another set a few days later.[14] Forced to create another ending, Ryskind ended up thanking the anonymous Columbia writer, because he felt that his ending and one of his final lines, "I wonder if Bruce can put us up", were better than what he had written originally.[14] After reviewing the screenplay, the Hays Office saw no issues with the film, besides a few derogatory comments towards newsmen and some illegal behavior of the characters. During some rewrites for censors, Hawks focused on finding a lead actress for his film.[15] Casting Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy in a promotional picture for the film. Hawks had difficulty casting His Girl Friday. While the choice of Cary Grant was almost instantaneous, the casting of Hildy was a more extended process. At first, Hawks wanted Carole Lombard, whom he had directed in the screwball comedy Twentieth Century (1934), but the cost of hiring Lombard in her new status as a freelancer proved to be far too expensive, and Columbia could not afford her. Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Margaret Sullavan, Ginger Rogers, and Irene Dunne were offered the role, but turned it down. Dunne rejected the role because she felt the part was too small and needed to be expanded. Jean Arthur was suspended by the studio when she refused to take it. Joan Crawford reportedly was considered.[16] Hawks then turned to Rosalind Russell, who had just finished MGM's The Women (1939).[17] Russell was upset when she discovered from a New York Times article that Cohn was "stuck" with her after attempting to cast many other actresses. Before Russell's first meeting with Hawks, to show her apathy, she took a swim and entered his office with wet hair, causing him to do a "triple take". Russell confronted him about this casting issue; he dismissed her quickly and asked her to go to wardrobe.[17] Filming John Qualen's character is discovered hiding in a rolltop desk. After makeup, wardrobe, and photography tests, filming began on 27 September 1939. The film had the working title of The Bigger They Are.[18] The film is noted for its rapid-fire repartee, using overlapping dialogue to make conversations sound more realistic, with one character speaking before another finishes. Although overlapping dialogue is specified and cued in the 1928 play script by Hecht and MacArthur,[19] Hawks told Peter Bogdanovich: I had noticed that when people talk, they talk over one another, especially people who talk fast or who are arguing or describing something. So we wrote the dialogue in a way that made the beginnings and ends of sentences unnecessary; they were there for overlapping.[20] Left to right: Cary Grant, Frank Jenks, Roscoe Karns, Gene Lockhart, Pat Flaherty, Porter Hall, Alma Kruger, and Rosalind Russell in one of the final scenes of the film. To get the effect he wanted, as multi-track sound recording was not yet available at the time, Hawks had the sound mixer on the set turn the various overhead microphones on and off as required for the scene, as many as 35 times.[18] Reportedly, the film was sped up because of a challenge Hawks took upon himself to break the record for the fastest dialogue on screen, at the time held by The Front Page.[21] Hawks arranged a showing for newsmen of the two films next to each other to prove how fast his dialogue was.[22] Hawks gave the actors the freedom to improvise some of their lines and actions, as he did with his comedies more than his dramas.[21] In her autobiography Life Is a Banquet, Russell wrote that she thought she did not have as many good lines as Grant, so she hired her own writer to "punch up" her dialogue. With Hawks encouraging ad-libbing, she was able to slip her writer's work into the movie. Only Grant was wise to this tactic and greeted her each morning with "What have you got today?"[23] Her ghostwriter gave her some of the lines for the restaurant scene, which is unique[clarification needed] to His Girl Friday. It was one of the most complicated scenes to film; because of the rapidity of the dialogue the actors actually ate very little during the scene. Hawks shot this scene with one camera a week and a half into production, and it took four days to film instead of the intended two.[24] The improvisations made it difficult for the cinematographers to know what the characters were going to do. Russell was also difficult to film because her lack of a sharp jawline required makeup artists to paint and blend a dark line under her jawline while shining a light on her face to simulate a more youthful appearance.[22] Hawks encouraged aggressiveness and unexpectedness in the acting, breaking the fourth wall a few times in the film. At one point, Grant broke character because of something unscripted that Russell did and looked directly at the camera, saying "Is she going to do that?" Hawks decided to leave this scene in, although it does not appear in the final cut.[22] Owing to the numerous ensemble scenes, many retakes were necessary. Having learned from Bringing Up Baby (1938), Hawks added some straight supporting characters in order to balance out the leading characters.[24] Arthur Rosson worked for three days on second unit footage at Columbia Ranch. Filming was completed on 21 November1939, seven days past schedule. Unusually for the time period, the film contains no music except for the music that leads to the final fade out of the film.[25] Ad-libs by Grant Grant's character describes Bellamy's character by saying "He looks like that fellow in the movies, you know ... Ralph Bellamy!" According to Bellamy, the remark was ad-libbed by Grant.[16] Columbia studio head Harry Cohn thought it was too cheeky and ordered it removed, but Hawks insisted that it stay. Grant makes several other "inside" remarks in the film. When his character is arrested for kidnapping, he describes the horrendous fate suffered by the last person who crossed him: Archie Leach (Grant's birth name).[26] Another line that people think is an inside remark is when Earl Williams attempts to get out of the rolltop desk he's been hiding in, Grant says, "Get back in there, you Mock Turtle." The line is a "cleaned-up" version of a line from the stage version of The Front Page ("Get back in there, you God damned turtle!") and Grant also played "The Mock Turtle" in the 1933 film version of Alice in Wonderland.[18] Release Release of the film was rushed by Cohn and a sneak preview of the film was held in December, with a press screening on January 3, 1940.[25] His Girl Friday premiered in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on January 11, 1940, and went into general American release a week later.[27][28] Reception Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell Contemporary reviews from critics were very positive. Critics were particularly impressed by the gender change of the reporter.[25] Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times wrote "Except to add that we've seen The Front Page under its own name and others so often before we've grown a little tired of it, we don't mind conceding His Girl Friday is a bold-faced reprint of what was once—and still remains—the maddest newspaper comedy of our times."[29] The Variety reviewer wrote "The trappings are different—even to the extent of making reporter Hildy Johnson a femme—but it is still Front Page and Columbia need not regret it. Charles Leder (sic) has done an excellent screenwriting job on it and producer-director Howard Hawks has made a film that can stand alone almost anywhere and grab healthy grosses."[30] Harrison's Reports wrote "Even though the story and its development will be familiar to those who saw the first version of The Front Page, they will be entertained just the same, for the action is so exciting that it holds one in tense suspense throughout."[31] Film Daily wrote "Given a snappy pace, a top flight cast, good production and able direction, the film has all the necessary qualities for first-rate entertainment for any type of audience."[32] John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that after years of "feeble, wispy, sad imitations" of The Front Page, he found this authentic adaptation of the original to be "as fresh and undated and bright a film as you could want".[33] Louis Marcorelles called His Girl Friday "le film américain par excellence".[34] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 99% based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 9.00/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Anchored by stellar performances from Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday is possibly the definitive screwball romantic comedy."[35] In the 2012 Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films of all time, His Girl Friday appeared on several lists, including those of critic David Thomson[36] and director Quentin Tarantino.[37] Interpretation Story Left to right: Ralph Bellamy, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell Irving Bacon, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy and Rosalind Russell Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, Billy Gilbert, Clarence Kolb and Gene Lockhart Cary Grant with Rosalind Russell; Russell wears a costume designed by Robert Kalloch The title His Girl Friday is an ironic title, because a girl "Friday" represents a servant of a master, but Hildy is not a servant in the film, but rather the equal to Walter. The world in this film is not determined by gender, but rather by intelligence and capability. At the beginning of the film, Hildy says that she wants to be "treated like a woman", but her return to her profession reveals her true desire to live a different life.[38] In His Girl Friday, even though the characters remarry, Hawks displays an aversion to marriage, home, and family through his approach to the film. Specific, exclusionary camera work and character control of the frame and the dialogue portray a subtle criticism of domesticity. [39] The subject of domesticity is fairly absent throughout the film. Even among the relationships between Grant and Russell and Bellamy and Russell, the relationships are positioned within a larger frame of the male-dominated newsroom.[39] The film, like many comedies, celebrates difficult, tumultuous love rather than secure, suburban love through its preference for movement and argument rather than silent poise.[40] Film critic Molly Haskell wrote that the scene near the end of the film when Hildy sheds tears was not included to expose her femininity, but to express the confusion she felt due to the collision of her professional and feminine natures. The feminine side of Hildy desires to be subservient and sexually desirable to men, while the other side of Hildy desires assertion and to forfeit the stereotypical duties of a woman. Her tears represent her emotional helplessness and inability to express anger to a male authority figure.[41] A commonality in many Howard Hawks films is the revelation of the amorality of the main character and a failure of that character to change or develop. In His Girl Friday, Walter Burns manipulates, acts selfishly, frames his ex-wife's fiancé, and orchestrates the kidnapping of an elderly woman. Even at the end of the film, Burns convinces Hildy Johnson to remarry him despite how much she loathes him and his questionable actions. Upon the resumption of their relationship, there is no romance visible between them. They do not kiss, embrace, or even gaze at each other. It is evident that Burns is still the same person he was in their previous relationship as he quickly waves off the plans for the honeymoon that they never had in pursuit of a new story. Additionally, he walks in front of her when exiting the room, forcing her to carry her own suitcase despite Johnson already having criticized this at the beginning of the film. This hints that the marriage is fated to face the same problems that ended it previously.[42] Hawks is known for his use of repeated or intentional gestures in his films. In His Girl Friday, the cigarette in the scene between Hildy and Earl Williams serves several symbolic roles in the film. First, the cigarette establishes a link between the characters when Williams accepts the cigarette even though he does not smoke. However, the fact that he doesn't smoke, and they don't share the cigarette shows the difference between and separation of the worlds in which the two characters live.[43] The film contains two main plots: the romantic and the professional. Walter and Hildy work together to attempt to release wrongly convicted Earl Williams, while the concurrent plot is Walter attempting to win back Hildy. The two plots do not resolve at the same time, but they are interdependent because although Williams is released before Walter and Hildy get back together, he is the reason for their reconciliation.[44] The speed of the film results in snappy and overlapping dialogue among interruptions and rapid speech. Gesture, character and camera movement, as well as editing, serve to complement the dialogue in increasing the pace of the film. There is a clear contrast between the fast-talking Hildy and Walter and slow-talking Bruce and Earl, which serves to emphasize the gap between the intelligent and the unintelligent in the film. The average word per minute count of the film is 240 while the average American speech is around 140 words per minute. There are nine scenes with at least four words per second and at least two with more than five words per second.[45] Hawks attached verbal tags before and after specific script lines so the actors would be able to interrupt and talk over each other without making the necessary dialogue incomprehensible.[46] Film theorist and historian David Bordwell explained the ending of His Girl Friday as a "closure effect" rather than a closure. The ending of the film is rather circular, and there is no development of characters, specifically Walter Burns, and the film ends similarly to the way in which it starts. Additionally, the film ends with a brief epilogue in which Walter announces their remarriage and reveals their intention to go cover a strike in Albany on the way to their honeymoon. The fates of the main characters and even some of the minor characters such as Earl Williams are revealed, although there are minor flaws in the resolution. For example, they do not discuss what happened to Molly Malloy after the conflict is resolved. However, the main characters’ endings were wrapped up so neatly that it overshadows the need for the minor characters' endings to be wrapped up. This creates a "closure effect" or an appearance of closure.[47] Editing style This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "His Girl Friday" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Magazine ad for the film Frank Jenks, Roscoe Karns, Rosalind Russell, Porter Hall, Gene Lockhart, Regis Toomey, and Cliff Edwards Roscoe Karns, Cliff Edwards, Porter Hall, Regis Toomey, and Frank Jenks His Girl Friday is a movie intentioned for speed: it set the record on fastest words spoken per minute in a movie.[48] A second to appreciate the moment is a foregone luxury in the whirlwind nature of the publishing business. Dissecting one of the scenes from the movie to best display the editing style, consider the specific scene where Earl Williams escapes. Howard Hawks emphasizes the pace difference between Hildy’s two possible lives, by having plot elements and staging mirror the editing, where slow and languid moments are interspersed with sub-second shots of newsworthy freneticism. To emphasize the contrast of rhythm between Hildy’s domestic life with Bruce versus her dynamic life with Walter, the director mirrors with editing techniques like lengthier contemplative shots versus rapid fire shots, matches on action versus elliptical shots with continuous diegetic sound, and scenes with one element of focus versus several different objects and sounds splitting our attention.[49] The scene opens with two lengthy (10 second) shots of Hildy describing her life outside the newsroom—the shots reinforce the idea that the life with Bruce will be predictable and slowly paced. As Hildy looks off away from the camera for the first time, literally turning her back on the newspaper life for just an instant, her attention is snapped back to newsroom as shots are fired. Immediately, the editing reflects the newfound fast pace: from slow pans to static shots with the only movement as Hildy’s slow walking, the movie immediately shifts to dynamic shots with several people’s movements on the street, as well as gunshots, ducking, spotlight-exaggerated lighting shifts, and shouting with the men in the window. The medium shots of the frantic news reporters are in contrast with a now obscured long shot of Hildy—while previously she was the main character and source of sound, the director makes it clear that she will be suddenly relegated to the background when the action is happening: her background presence is obscured by a frosted window, and her sounds obscured by the frenzy of the gunshots and shouting.[50] Upon hearing Earl Williams escaped, the movie then shifts from multi-second shots to sub-second shots as the news editors enter maximum monkey mode. As gunshots provide a diegetic backdrop of time, ellipses shots become more obvious; the first reporter immediately cuts from reaching the table to talking on the phone. The next 5 shots are also sub-second close-ups of newsmen yelling into phones. As she is slowly drawn into this world again, Hildy begins to occupy more of the frame—going from a long shot to a medium shot as the newsmen stream past her. Once the men are gone, the longest shot of the sequence ensues: 16 seconds as she closes the distance she created from her old life, shedding her coat, symbolizing her chilly life in Albany, to reveal the reporter-ready dress underneath, the person she truly is. She fully reunites with it as she picks up the phone to talk to Walter, then rushes out of the room with the same fervor as the news folk. The camera cements this final switch as the dolly moves out, and a crossfade ensues on her running out, unlike all the prior cuts.[51] Finally it concludes on shots of gates opening, cars streaming out, and people running. Here, Hawks’ shots are not just fast—they are explicit about being faster than time. A diegetic siren delineates unit seconds as cars screech, but the film shows the abbreviated ellipses shot of the gate closing, skipping the time with a shot of guards running. This sequence is faster than real time, and the contrast with the siren shows how time in the news reporters world is faster paced than the world around them. Hildy joins the chaos shouting ‘HEY!’, providing a final contrast to the start of the scene where she described the idyllic and calm city life she was originally headed for.[52] Throughout this sequence, Hawks is explicit about the passage of time and focus of characters through his edits and mocks the slow Albany life Hildy begins with by showcasing the romantic frenzy of news life through shot timing, continuity of action, and shifting attention-grabbing elements.[53] Women reporters According to Pauline Kael, all female reporters in newspaper films are based on Adela Rogers St. Johns.[54] Legacy His Girl Friday (often along with Bringing Up Baby and Twentieth Century) is cited as an archetype of the screwball comedy genre.[55] In 1993, the Library of Congress selected His Girl Friday for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.[56] The film ranked 19th on the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Laughs, a 2000 list of the funniest American comedies.[57] Prior to His Girl Friday, the play The Front Page had been adapted for the screen once before, in the 1931 film, also called The Front Page, produced by Howard Hughes, with Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien in the starring roles.[58] In this first film adaptation of the Broadway play of the same title (written by former Chicago newsmen Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur), Hildy Johnson was male.[29] His Girl Friday was dramatized as a one-hour radio play on the September 30, 1940, broadcast of Lux Radio Theatre, with Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray and Jack Carson.[59] It was dramatized again with a half-hour version on The Screen Guild Theater on March 30, 1941, with Grant and Russell reprising their film roles.[60][61] The Front Page was remade in a 1974 Billy Wilder movie starring Walter Matthau as Walter Burns, Jack Lemmon as Hildy Johnson, and Susan Sarandon as his fiancée.[62][63] His Girl Friday and the original Hecht and MacArthur play were adapted into another stage play His Girl Friday by playwright John Guare. This was presented at the National Theatre in London from May to November 2003, with Alex Jennings as Burns and Zoë Wanamaker as Hildy.[64][65] The 1988 film Switching Channels was loosely based on His Girl Friday, with Burt Reynolds in the Walter Burns role, Kathleen Turner in the Hildy Johnson role, and Christopher Reeve in the role of Bruce.[66] In December 2017, Montreal-based independent theatre company, Snowglobe Theatre's Artistic Director, Peter Giser, adapted the script for the stage, expanded some characters, and made the play more accessible to modern audiences. It was performed that December after Snowglobe obtained copyright status of this adapted version.[67] Director Quentin Tarantino has named His Girl Friday as one of his favorite movies.[68] In the 2004 French film Notre musique, the film is used by Godard as he explains the basic of filmmaking, specifically the shot reverse shot. As he explains this concept, two stills from His Girl Friday are shown with Cary Grant in one photo and Rosalind Russell in the other. He explains that upon looking closely, the two shots are actually the same shot, "because the director is incapable of seeing the difference between a man and a woman."[69] Rosalind Russell's performance as Hildy Johnson was cited[citation needed] as the model for the character of Lois Lane in the Superman franchise. https://archive.org/details/HisGirlFriday-1940