Everyone is great in it. Hans Lothar (SCHLEMMER!), satirizing the obedient Prussian subaltern. Lilo Pulver as the archetypical Frollein (I heard some people say that only the quais-ban of “One, Two, Three” prevented her Hollywood breakthrough) and Hans Buchholz as the fanatical young communist who is brainwashed into capitalism in a heartbeat (and with the proper outfit and haircut). At least Buchholz seems to have made a big enough impression to let him have a decent career in Hollywood.
One I haven’t seen listed: Little Murders
This is one of the strangest, but hilarious movies out there. It was written by Jules Feiffer, the cartoonist. And what is fascinating is that each scene plays out like one of Feiffer’s comic strips. The whole movie, then, is just a series of these loosely connected, somewhat standalone, scenes. Great performances by Elliot Gould and Vincent Gardenia. But the most memorable is Donald Sutherland’s hippie priest. His sermon/monologue is just classic.
This thread comes just in time to mention a film that I saw for the first time three days ago, the 1988 remake of “The Blob”. Does it qualify as forgotten? I was channel surfing around midnight and saw that this film came up. I knew and have seen the original, but that was decades ago and the only things I remembered were a young Steve McQueen and an alien monster that was just some kind of red jelly that ate people. But 1988, when I was twenty, was around my busiest theater visiting time, and horror films were (and still are) just up my alley, but I don’t remember even noticing the film back then, and I had only a vague notion that it existed before I saw it on TV.
If really forgotten, that’s undeserved, though having much of the typical teenager horror flick tropes of the 80s, it surprised me that two of the most sympathetic characters, the handsome clean cut high school boy who has his first date with the school darling, and the friendly and brave town sheriff who is looking forward to his first date with the spinster waitress of the local bar and grill, are both ruthlessly killed of very early into the film, and that the juvenile delinquent (Kevin Dillon sporting a mullet, a black leather jacket and tight jeans, what else, and riding a motorbike) turns out to be the hero in the end (and of course gets the girl). I really like it when tiresome Hollywood cliches are subverted, and a great bonus were the great special effects for the time. It was also very gory for a teen horror flick.
I may or may not have seen the remake. If I did, I’ve forgotten it. But your post did remind me of The Stuff (1985).
In the film, a sweet and addictive alien substance becomes a popular dessert in the United States, but soon begins attacking people and turning them into zombies. This film is a satire on the American lifestyle and consumer society.
I’ve only seen it once, back in the '80s, and have never seen it playing on any channel. I think it’s a real forgotten film. I remember thinking it was hilarious.
Weird song. Lots of 1960s movies had interesting music. The Margaret Rutherford Marple movies were awful, but they have a very upbeat harpsichord theme that’s extremely catchy.
I’ve seen all of these, and some of them are certainly classics. Not forgotten.
And the score is awesome. I have both the original Broadway cast album and Bernstein’s studio “orchestral” version. And thanks for this recommendation. I found a dvd on amazon and just bought it.
Note that Kurosawa rarely used closeups; only when they were necessary. (There are none in Dersu Uzala). However, he was a master at framing those medium shots, and cutting them at exactly the right moment in the movement. Compare that to the lazy use of medium shots in ordinary movies.