Buttered Pop Culture

1963's  Charade went into public domain immediately upon it's release, because the studio didn't do the copyright notice on the film properly. Because it didn't have the word copyright, or an abbreviation of the word, or the little c in a circle, it wasn't legally protected by copyright law. As a result there have been many different prints of the film of varying quality made available, including some with a piece of dialogue from the theatrical release that wasn't in later official releases. Initially in one scene Audrey Hepburn says something about getting assassinated. But the movie released in December of 1963, less than a month after John F. Kennedy was shot. The line was dubbed to say eliminated instead. The line was later changed back to the original assassinated by the  studio, but due to the lack of copyright some copies of the original release have been made available with the word still censored.

Sometimes reading theories about Star Wars movies is more entertaining than watching the movies themselves. This isn't a slam on the Disney made sequels either, this has always been the case. For instance, in a December 1980 issue of Fantastic Films by Bill Hays it is suggested that the upcoming conclusion to the trilogy Revenge of the Jedi would reveal that Darth Vader was a clone of Anakin Skywalker. That was his explanation for why Luke saw his own face behind Vader's mask in the Sith cave on Dagobah. He also thought that Anakin would be revealed to be alive and well and living as Boba Fett (and was who Yoda was referring to when he said there is another), and that Obiwan's name is actually OB1, a clone designation because he was actually a clone of the Emperor.

Before I start, I should give a warning. This movie shows rape and other sexual abuse and also cruelty to animals. If these things really get to you, you should absolutely not watch this movie or read this post. One thing I have noticed about this movie is that every description of it that you read says that a travelling black singer's car breaks down at a lodge where she is terrorized by a psychotic Elvis impersonator. I don't know if that's because some people think that any guy who has a guitar and sideburns is an Elvis impersonator, but if Eddie is supposed to be doing an Elvis impersonation it's the worst one I have ever seen. I suspect maybe that description is an attempt to make the movie more interesting than it really is. Because, while the movie does have it's moments and a really interesting cast, overall it's kind of dull.

Lon Chaney didn't usually make personal appearances. He was convinced to make one for the premiere of is movie Tell It To The Marines. The reason he agreed to this appearance was because during filming he had become close friends with General Smedley Butler. During the appearance at the premiere General Butler gave Chaney an honorary membership in the Marines.

I should be up front about something here. I grew up on Elvis movies. My mom was a huge fan and I've been watching them all my life. So even though many of them are terrible, and most of them are corny, I love them. This one may in fact be the corniest of Elvis' movies, and it also happens to be one of my favorites. Elvis stars as Charlie, a singer who seems to only ever play one song per show and who also can't stop getting into fights. He has to run out of town very quickly after getting into a scrape with some local college boys at his latest gig. As he's travelling down the road on his motorcycle he tries to pass a Jeep. Joe, the driver of the Jeep runs him off the road. His passengers, his daughter Cathy and his boss Maggie, go to help Charlie. His guitar and his bike are smashed. Maggie offers him a place to stay and a temporary job with her carnival while she fixes the bike and replaces the guitar.

A great artist has appeal to different kinds of people Rowena Morrill (that's one of her pictures above, of a woman being manhandled by what appears to be the monstrous offspring of Jar Jar Binks and a giant squid) can lay claim to this. Her art graced the cover of the Metallica bootleg No Life Til Leather. Her art also was found gracing the wall of one of Saddam Hussein's love nests.

Hammer Film Productions had become the kings of horror with their Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing movies reviving classic monsters like Dracula and the Mummy. By 1980 though, times had changed and a different kind of horror movie had taken over the movie theaters. But Hammer wasn't quite yet done. Hammer House of Horror debuted on September 13, 1980 on Britain's ITV with the episode Witching Time. The episode starred Jon Finch (Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy, The Martian Chronicles, The Horror of Frankenstein), Patricia Quinn (The Lords of Salem, Dr. Who, The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Prunella Gee (Never Say Never Again), and Ian McCulloch (Dr. Who, Moonlighting, Zombie Holocaust).

Made for television horror is always tricky, because you can't be as graphic on a network as you can in a movie or on cable or streaming. Even the "classics" of made for t.v. horror are a little cheesy if we're being honest. Go watch Trilogy of Terror and you'll see what I mean. It, broadcast in 1990, did push the limits of what you could do, but it was still obviously limited by being a network show. There is more blood than you'd expect, and adult themes are brushed up against. Beverly's father is shown to be a creepy and abusive guy, but is not shown as explicitly to be a sexual predator as in the new movies.

American Pie by Don McLean is one of the most analyzed songs of all time. It's lyrics have been said to refer to the 1968 Democrat Convention, the Kennedy assassination, the Manson murders,  and all sorts of other things. These can all be debated, but the song is certainly also about the history of rack and roll. The day the music died is the day the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper went down. The Jester is widely said to be Bob Dylan, the King is obviously Elvis, the girl who sang the blues is likely Janis Joplin. The marching band is almost definitely the Beatles, Jack Flash I believe has been confirmed to be Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones by McLean himself. One reference that seems clear to me but I have only seen mentioned in a parody article, is the line Lenin read a book on Marx. I think this is referring to the movie A hard Day's Night, and means John Lennon and Groucho Marx. But that's not what this is about. This is about a conf

Carroll O'Connor knew that the main reason people watched All In The Family was to see his racist character Archie Bunker. So, in 1974 he went on a one man strike to get more money and more control over the show. The show was ready to try to move on without him though, even if his character was the most popular. The writers prepared a 3 episode script in which Archie died in a plane crash. O'Connor finally gave in and the story was rewritten with Archie getting drunk on the plane and getting off at the wrong airport.

Charade has been called the greatest Alfred Hitchcock film that Hitchcock didn't make. This is mainly due to it's many twists and the presence of Cary Grant as leading man. Honestly, as much as I like the film, I don't think it quite reaches the bar of Hitchcock's work. The film has some problems that I don't think Hitchcock would have left unresolved if he had made it. I honestly got more of a James Bond feel from it than I did Hitchcock, but that may have been partly because of the score (by Henry Mancini).  But overall it is a fun, silly movie with some very good performances. I'm going to discuss the good and bad points of the movie.