Noble Johnson had a decent career as an actor in films, even with the racial typecasting. Or maybe “under the circumstances” is a better way of putting it. He was half-black, and he could credibly play exotic looking Europeans as well as many Asian nationalities, as in Lost Horizon. I knew it was him in the final scenes without having watched the credits or knowing that he was in the film.
John Ford used Johnson in a number of films, as did Cecil B. De Mille. Both directors liked to use him for Native Americans. Johnson’s life makes for fascinating reading, though I don’t think he has an “official” biography. The man was a Hollywood pioneer, and began working in films in the early silent era, during the First World War. He was a boyhood buddy of Lon Chaney, father, not son (that I know of), and he lived to nearly a hundred.
When it comes to racial typecasting I like something Hattie McDaniel said about her roles as maids. She said it was better to play a maid at $150 a week than to actually be one at $5 a week.
The wife came into the room and said “Hey, there’s a new Wallace and Gromit movie on Netflix! Let’s watch it!” So, remembering W&G from long ago, I thought sure, why not. So we watched Vengeance Most Fowl last night and I’d really like that hour and 20 minutes back. It was probably fine for a six year old, but other than one or two chuckles, it was a slog for me.
After seeing A Complete Unknown in the theater I dug up Dont Look Back (auto correct hates this title) from the TCM section of MAX. It’s the prototypical “rockumentary” of Dylan’s 1965 tour of Britain. Last time I saw it was at an art theater in the 1970s before it became the Zero Hour! for This is Spinal Tap.
It holds up better than I expected. Much of it is Dylan being a contrarian in the face of people who think they have him figured out. Some might chalk it up to rudeness, drink/drugs, or some kind of autism like Asperger’s but on this viewing I’m convinced he’s just arguing with (some highly regarded) idiots.
We watched My Dinner with Andre over the holidays. I watch 3-4 times a year and I still don’t know how I feel about the movie, but I often think back on My Dinner with Andre.
The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, two very talented and likable performers in a movie without much creativity. “Hey, let’s make a movie about stunt guys doing stunts!”
He also played The Harem Guard (with an enormous curved sword) in the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks The Thief of Bagdad.
Johnson played so many stereotyped black roles – Harem Guard, Tribal chief (in both King Kong and Son of Kong, “the Nubian” in The Mummy – that you’d think he’d get tired or frustrated. And probably he did, because he founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, which made “race” movies geared to black audiences, and to provide something besides those offensive roles. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of ther movies
I’ve been raiding my DVD collection and watching old fantastic cinema while putting away the Christmas decorations
Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers
Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
The Mysterians
My wife was working on her laptop with her headphones on when I put the last one up. She looked up just as Moguera/Giant Robot burst out of the ground, and exclaimed “Oh, my God!”
She hadn’t watched The Mysterians a zillion times, as I had.
Secondly, have you ever seen The Magnetic Monster - Wikipedia? My guess is you have. Be that as it may, it’s a bit different for a monster movie, though every bit as tense. Very cool stock footage from UFA’s Gold (1934) is well-integrated into the story, if not the visuals.
Lastly, although the article you linked to does contain some interesting facts I never knew and photos/sketches I had never seen of the original Moguera, it’s primarily about the “re-imagined” Moguera (seen in the thumbnail) that appeared in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994). I offer the following as an alternative reference more focused on the original:
Which is based on the television show of a stunt guy doing stunt guy stuff to solve murders and otherwise foil bad guys. The film was very much in the vein of the series, and neither were intended to be taken remotely seriously.
Hal Needham’s Hooper is a much better precursor for a (rather) uncreative film about stuntmen doing stunts. Stunt Man is a brilliant psychological satire that bears little resemblance to reality let alone the life of an actual stunt man.
I’ve seen it. It’s one of three movies that Ivan Tors made in the 1950s featuring the OSI – the Office of Scientific Investigation. The other two were Riders to the Stars (a really odd film, written by Curt Siodmak) and GOG The first two were in black and white, but the third w3as not only in color, but in 3D. I showed it, in 3D, at least year’s Arisia SF convention.
I saw GOG as a kid on TV, and didn’t realize it was a color movie. For years. I didn’t know it was 3D until a few years ago. After re-watching the film, I’m convinced that Michael Crichton must have seen it and lifted the setting for The Andromeda Strain from it. A giant underground research lab hidden in the desert of the Southwest, built several levels, each one circular and centered on the elevator shaft, with an atomic bomb at the base. In both stories the imminent detonation of the bomb is the climactic danger.
Interesting flick, but the two robots – Gog and Magog, look kinda silly today. And why the hell did they buiild flamethrowers into them?
As for Moguera – you probably missed my first link, which doesn’t show up well. It’s to a picture of the 1957 Moguero,.
Finally watched Confess Fletch. Really enjoyed it and am sorry it’s not going to get a sequel. I saw the Chevy Chase films years ago but don’t remember much about them.
This is a film I remember liking when I saw it at the $2 movie theater when I was 13, though I remembered few details. Despite incorporating a rather late example of the old “seduction through attempted rape” trope, it’s a fun and novel (if unbelievable) story. It starts as a pulp romance that eventually subverts its love story in a surprising and clever way. Charles Bronson reveals himself as a charming and capable comedic actor and his wife Jill Ireland is cast in a role that isn’t diminished by her limited range.
This film receives no love in the online reviews I’ve read. Perhaps because it’s not a typical western or a typical Bronson vehicle. It’s not a masterpiece by any measure but I think it deserves better than that.
ETA- Beware the infectious earworm, if you choose to watch this.
