hawk the slayer is a 1980 british sword and sorcery adventure fantasy film directed by terry marcel and starring john terry and jack palance .

hawk the slayer

vultan , leader of the hawk men from flash gordon . two hawk the slayer references from a single character !
sword and sorcery … the poster for hawk the slayer . photograph : itv / rex shutterstock
to quote a well loved british sitcom :
hawk the slayer is rubbish .
hawk the slayer is a british film , made in 1980 by terry marcel and harry robertson . it is the story of hawk , professional hero , swordsman and slayer , and also of voltan , hawk ' s evil brother .
i love the music in hawk the slayer . especially that eagle shriek . i would assume that ' s the shriek of a hawk . . . ; )
vultan : jack palance ‘at his scenery - chewing worst’ in hawk the slayer . photograph : itv / rex shutterstock
we’d love your help . let us know what’s wrong with this preview of hawk the slayer by terry marcel .
this is a video informing fans of hawk the slayer , an old sword and sorcery b - movie . that there is going to be a sequel it has been confirmed . just wikipedia hawk the slayer and visit the links , thanks for watching .
for the religious among us who choose to believe lies , the self - proclaimed experts at wikipedia have an article about hawk the slayer .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing fantastique : hawk the slayer near you .
hawk the slayer seemed like a much bigger world than what you actually saw in the film . was it always the intention to open it up ?
‘a medieval fistful of dollars’ : hawk the slayer’s band of avengers , starring john terry , second left . photograph : itv / rex shutterstock
the faux patriot sissies at conservapedia think that hawk the slayer is liberal communist blasphemy against jebus and thus refuse to have any articles about it at all .
rebellion have also snapped up the games and publishing rights to the property . with exquisite timing , a new hawk the slayer blu - ray is out on monday from network . we ' ll update on hawk the hunter shortly , following the kick - starting of the kickstarter .
the first two videos were then taken down from youtube by the representative of the harry robertson estate [ citing ] soundtrack copyright as we’d used a few seconds of original hawk the slayer music without permission .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing slayer near you .
tragically , hawk ' s producer harry robertson died in 1996 . without his vision , a new hawk is impossible .
if you took a dungeons & dragons adventure written hastily by an 8th grader during study hall and turned it into a movie , you’d wind up with something a lot like hawk the slayer .
leitmotif : the pan flute cue every time hawk is about to do something .
in january 2009 , a sequel to this movie , hawk the hunter ( ? ? ? ? ) was announced , the sequel ' s scheduled release will be thirty - one years after this movie . the tagline reads :
the slayer returns . the hunt begins
.
i loved hawk the slayer as a kid ! now that they ' re finally planning a sequel ( hawk the hunter ) , i wouldn ' t be surprised to see it getting more attention from the rpg community . not sure what system i ' d use for it , but probably something more narrative - based .
chronic backstabbing disorder : drogo , who kills the man who informs him of hawk raiding the slaver camp .
damsels in distress : a good part of the movie involves hawk and his gang rescuing the captured nun .
crow is alive ! i have seen again . great underrated low budget fantasy movie . in 80 - s were more than 20 fantasy universes on the screen , but i remember good hawk the slayer , conan the barbarian and red sonja only of them .
they wanted to make a medieval fistful of dollars . they ended up with a cult hit that triggered the sword and sorcery boom . now , hawk the slayer is set to return – with better fights and special effects , but still plenty of cheese
hawk also manages an effective throw of his mind sword against the bandits that held ranulf hostage .
hawk if its on - watch it . it is lord of the ring without a budget !
some say that hawk is the definitive masterwork of the heroic fantasy film genre . others go further , and say that hawk is the definitive masterwork of all cinema . controversially , some even say that hawk is the finest piece of dramatic artwork ever produced by any human at any time throughout history . but all of these people insult the mighty hawk with their faint praise . in fact , hawk is the finest artwork in the entire universe , and if thou sayest otherwise , knave , then thou shalt taste cold steel !
i loved hawk the slayer as a kid ! now that they ' re finally planning a sequel ( hawk the hunter ) , i wouldn ' t be surprised to see it getting more attention from the rpg community . i suggest you track down prisoners of the lost universe , which terry marcel made three years after hawk , and which is totally not in any way the same plot with a goofy sf backstory ( and has apollo from battlestar galactica in the lead role , to boot ) .
karmic thief : hawk needs 2000 gold pieces for the ransom , so he steals them from the hunchbacked slave trader .
clearly it ' s a week for unexpected and belated sequels . a day after the news that robin hardy is prepping the final part of his wicker man trilogy , comes the revelation that hawk the slayer is also set to return , 35 years after his first adventure . original director terry marcel , in cahoots with 2000ad publishers rebellion , is about to launch a crowdfunding campaign for hawk the hunter .
right here , right now , jack palance is dead . following
hawk the slayer
though , palance enjoyed a remarkable career including films like
batman ,
the pros and cons of hitchhiking ,
and
city slickers ,
for which he won the academy award .
fwiw , i watched
hawk the slayer
and immersed myself in a litany of 80s s & s films while putting magic world urltoken together . ( legend , ladyhawke , willow , archer and the sorceress , conan the barbarian - - and endless conan ripoffs - - and more ! ) . hawk the slayer , ladyhawke , and willow specifically were big influences on the default campaign setting in the book (
the southern reaches
) . i always figured crow had a magical bow , rather than some innate ability to rapidfire arrows . back in the day , we just figured it was something like the runequest
multimissile
spell .
terry : i totally believe that this is an 8pm slot , as per hawk the slayer . the fans will kill me if i don’t keep all the elements of hawk in : we’ve got the giant , we will introduce a new dwarf called hanfer ; there’s a female in the new one ; crow , the new crow is still in it , but the old one’s in it as well , because in the sequel , the new character who plays crow comes across an old elf dying .
if you are from a parallel earth where youtube is a video site instead of a drainage pipe emporium , you can listen to the hawk the slayer soundtrack online . like everything else about hawk , the soundtrack is brilliance from beginning to end . sure , conan was good with its basil poledouris soundtrack , but imagine how much better it could have been with a bit of disco .
the grand finale fight between voltan and hawk lasts about 45 seconds and was filmed completely in slow motion .
we were also issued with a statement that under no circumstances were we allowed to use the hts soundtrack music to promote the sequel hawk the hunter .
hawk ' s enemies are overpowered by glowing golf balls + 1 . they are unstoppable !
i love the music in hawk the slayer . especially that eagle shriek . mind you . . . tallest dwarf , and shortest giant , ever . good chemistry between the two - i always liked the ' holy food ' gag : ) and crikey , jack really chewed the scenary . ' i will wait for you at the gates . . . of hell ! '
terry : we’re constantly getting requests for merchandise , like , can we buy a sword ? so apart from what jason’s doing , there’s a whole other area that we never got into on hawk the slayer that we’ll get into on this . the offers for the sword itself don’t stop . they pester me like mad .
hawk the slayer , after seeing both his father and bride die at the hands of his malevolent brother , voltan , sets out for revenge and the chance to live up to his title . tooling himself up with the
mind - sword
and recruiting a motley band of warriors : a giant , a dwarf , a one - armed man with a machine - crossbow and an elf with the fastest bow in the land ; hawk leads the battle against voltan to free the land from the forces of evil and avenge his loved ones .
crow the elf , a man of few words . for moviegoers , though , this may have been their introduction to seeing an elf portrayed on the silver screen . ray charleson made it work . following hawk the slayer , he went on to star in
john and yoko : a love story
and
empire of the sun .
hawk the slayer was important to me as a boy ,
says rebellion ceo jason kingsley ,
and has remained an important touchstone for me now as an adult . it blazed a shining path of true sword and sorcery movie magic for others to follow . i am delighted , and slightly awed , to be part of the team helping to create more adventures for hawk and his friends .
andrew : it’s the licensing , the games . they’re a genre publishing company . jason’s a huge fan , and wants to expand the world of hawk : all the characters that terry’s created , he wants to branch off . only terry can do this : where did crow come from ? where did hawk come from ? what were hawk and voltan like when they were younger ?
this is followed by laughter a fight . drogo ' s red shirts are mostly killed , and drogo is mortally wounded . two henchmen drag him back to voltan , where he dies . voltan is furious and starts killing his own people . this is because he is evil ( in case you had forgotten ) . once again , voltan swears vengeance on hawk . ( play the
hawk the slayer
drinking game if you are an alcoholic or just desparate to win kudos from your dorky friends in the chess club . you must take a drink whenever a character says
death
. but beware that true hawk fans will look down on you for watching hawk in an intoxicated state . watching hawk is serious business . )
the kickstarter campaign for hawk the hunter is ongoing now – click here to back it . visit the official website for more details , or follow them on twitter .
gort the giant , portrayed brilliantly by the late bernard bresslaw , saved the day repeatedly with his mighty hammer . bresslaw , standing at 6 & apos ; 7
, was no stranger to playing giants . following
hawk the slayer ,
he went on to play another giant in the movie
krull .
because of his height , he was briefly considered for the role of frankenstein in the 1957 production
the curse of frankenstein .
first appeared in the uk . what’s the story behind the long wait for the sequel ?
dull surprise : john terry ( hawk ) seldom cracks any sort of expression . except at the end when he starts smirking .
this is a dream come true ,
says marcel .
iām delighted to be working with a true fan of sword - and - sorcery whose talent means the possibilities for hawk are endless ā keep watching hawk fans !
terry : like we did in hawk the slayer , we will go for some very well - known english actors to play all those minor parts that they were so fantastic in the other script . people like roy kinnear , annette crosbie and warren clarke , i hope i can get one those named actors to come across and do this .
on 30 august at frightfest , a kickstarter campaign was launched with the aim of raising funds for sequel hawk the hunter , which in turn will hopefully lead to a tv series , hawk the destroyer . we spoke to original director terry marcel and producer andrew grocock about what to expect…
the fellowship of the hawk begins to form . with the help of the witch , hawk is teleported to the locations of three companions : a giant , an elf , and a dwarf . each companion is engaged in some heroic fantasy activity that introduces them to tha audience , summing up their personality , motivation and personal background .
i ' m still holding out hope that hawk will live again , but if this campaign couldn ' t even muster the full support of its own fans , maybe the wider world just isn ' t that bothered about seeing hawk do battle with voltan again .
who can save hawk now ? will the nun ever be rescued ? escape seems impossible . . . but wait . . . !
not only did hawk set the standard for heroic fantasy , it was also the genesis of an artistic tradition . musicians have their
twelve bar blues
, and writers have their own equivalent in the
generic quest story structure
popularised by hawk . leading hawkologist nick lowe summarises the key properties of a derivative work .
good hawk ( john terry ) and his bad brother , voltan ( jack palance ) , vie for the power of a magic flying sword .
burn the witch ! : hawk meets the witch by rescuing her from a couple of locals who want to burn her for . . . being a witch , apparently .
long before the lord of the rings there was
hawk the slayer ,
a fairly low budget , dungeons & dragons inspired movie , that has soared high through the test of time . it qualifies as one of those movies ; it was good , and even when it was bad , it was bad in a good way . here it is 33 years later , the movie is still around , and many of the stars are showing up where you would least expect them .
hawk pioneered the quest - based story structure that would later be copied by lesser authors such as shakespeare , tolkien , homer , robert e . howard and jim theils . like all the quest - based stories that ripped it off , hawk ' s plot can be divided into four sections :
kingsley and rebellion ( co - founded by jason and his brother in 1992 ) are helping to produce hawk the hunter , much like they did with 2012 ' s dredd . rebellion will also do some cgi work for the film , and kingsley is mulling over plans for a game and novels in the hawk universe .
as a result of his psychotic hatred , voltan tries to kill hawk and has his face partly burned off by elaine . this is why he wears a mask . all who see below the mask scream in horror ! voltan gets immediate revenge on elaine by shooting her with a crossbow and she dies in hawk ' s arms . at this point , relations betwen hawk and voltan sour slightly .
so marcel was persuaded to map out a whole new mythic architecture for hawk . the sequel , if it is made , will see the slain vultan reanimated without a soul and looking for an evil sword to counter hawk’s weapon . there will be a couple of female additions to hawk’s crew instead of just nuns and witches , and a new cast of unknowns to play hawk , vultan et al . ray charleson , who played crow the elf in the original , has agreed to take a small part opposite his replacement , in what grocock refers to as “a poor man’s version” of the spock - meets - spock moment in the star trek franchise .
the final scene takes place at the convent , as voltan attempts to take revenge on hawk . this is the first place in the film where the sword of mind ' s special powers are actually any use , because hawk is able to call on the sword and ( at long last ) kill voltan . and thus evil is defeated and the saga ends . . . or does it ? ( see
sequels
below )
that brother is hawk ( john terry ) , who arrives too late to save his father but in time to hear the prophecy that he had been guarding and which had seen him slain by his own son . as he dies , hawk ' s father gives him a magical sword ( which voltan had desired ) and the two are set on a path that will see them face one another in battle . when voltan breaks into a convent and kidnaps the mother superior , a one - handed man with an automatic crossbow seeks out hawk . hawk comes to the rescue of the sisters of the holy word , promising not only that he will raise the two thousand pieces of gold but will defeat voltan . carrying his sword before him , hawk sets out to gather a band of warriors . . .
the back story is told through the innovative medium of flashbacks . at various points in the story , hawk will say something like
i have good reason to suspect that voltan can ' t be trusted
. the camera will pan upwards slightly . then there is a fade to idyllic countryside , where hawk is chilling out with his newlywed wife elaine .
meanwhile , hawk is riding around in the forest , searching for voltan . he rescues a witch from being burned at the stake , and the audience sees that he is good . unusually , the witch admits her witchiness , and luckily turns out not to be evil . she will periodically reappear in order to resolve plot holes . next , hawk rescues ranulf , the messenger from the church sent to find him . ranulf is about to get a bandit ass - raping despite his 1337 crossbow skills , but hawk steps in to save him .
ok so it may be feature the worst special effects ever but that does not stop this movie being an all time fantasy classic . long live hawk !
badass boast : drogo will slay hawk himself and claim the gold , and
then voltan will see who is the lord of the dance !
well , he seems to think it ' s badass anyway .
ooc is serious business : in one or two cases hawk changes his standard dull surprise expression and threatens to kill voltan . this is the cue that voltan has really crossed the line .
the fellowship play a lethal prank on a hunchback . from left to right : gort , ranulf , hawk , crow , baldin . note the clever use of forced perspective that makes gort look taller than the others .
kingsley got involved with the sequel through a series of happy coincidences . a while back , he was in the middle of a move and already thinking about old franchises that might be ripe for renewal within abaddon books , one of rebellion ' s book imprints . as kingsley was rifling through a box of
those things you keep but only ever look at when you ' re moving ,
he ran across his copy of hawk the slayer on vhs .
good witch versus bad witch : the unnamed witch supports hawk and his band , while voltan ' s evil master serves as the movie ' s bigger bad . they never fight directly , though .
our dwarves are all the same : averted . hawk ' s dwarf companion doesn ' t have a long beard , and he uses a whip instead of an axe .
in the second part of the adventure , the fellowship executes their plan to defeat evil . they do this by stealing some gold from a hunchbacked slave trader , noting that
the ends justify the means if we can save the mother superior !
( this the first hint of the moral ambiguity of the
good
guys : hawk is a very complex story where nothing is truly black or white . )
the details of hawk the hunter are sketchy at present , pending a full announcement by marcel at frightfest next month . we know that marcel will be delegating the directing duties this time , but it ' s unclear who ' s replacing him ; whether any cast is yet in place ( although ray charleson seems possible - see below ) ; or if this is the same film as hawk the destroyer , the unrealised sequel marcel was already talking about thirty years ago . all - or at least more - will no doubt be revealed in due course . update : marcel has now announced on hawk the hunter ' s facebook page that rick wakeman will be providing the soundtrack .
the sound effect used for the black wizard ' s healing crystal is the one used for the sound of scaramanga ' s laser in the man with the golden gun ( 1974 ) .
terry : if you’re a sword and sorcery fan , come take a look , because i think this’ll be worth watching . it’s going to be a good script , and if people enjoy a good story , and you haven’t seen hawk the slayer , there’s a reprise at the beginning that tells you why the brothers fought and what happened . so at least you can come into this without having watched the original and still enjoy it . it’s for anybody , but if you’re a sword and sorcery you’ve got to come and see this .
summon to hand : hawk can make his mindstone blade fly into his hand by thought alone . well , not fly , exactly . slowly float .
making a sequel for hawk would be like writing a sequel for the bible . no improvement is possible , and anyone attempting an improvement would probably be crucified for their heresy against the mighty hawk . the same goes for any remakes that anyone might think of doing . if you try , the true hawk fans will be waiting like the pharisees with a cross and some nails . so don ' t even try it . i ' m looking at you , nicholas cage , in your shitty wicker man remake . i ' m also looking at you , tim burton , with your pisspoor
version
of planet of the apes . get lost , you mongs .
the lost woods : much of the scenes seem to be in the same patch of british forest .
not forgetting the sword and the sorcerer urltoken too and the warrior and the sorceress , which is the closest thing i ' ve ever seen to a dark sun movie .
never trust a trailer : the trailer mentions
two armies
,
voltan ' s army - the devil ' s army , and hawk ' s
. in the actual movie , hawk ' s
army
consists of exactly six people , while voltan ' s
army
is in no way satanical and has nothing to do with the legions of hell - it ' s a band of some 100 or so normal human bandits .
hawk , having suffered the ignominy of watching both his father and fiancée die at the hands of his brother , voltan , sets out on a quest for companions to aid him in his fight to stop his brother ' s reign of evil and free the abbess .
terry : anyone who is alive , we’re going to try and get back in different roles . patricia quinn – she doesn’t know it yet , but there’s a new character called fod . she’s in the television series . a lot of the strategy for the new series is based around the kitchen . she sort of runs the household for hawk and the others , and of course , although she’s a rough , fairy - type creature , she loves hawk ; she calls him the master , and she’d do anything for him . and so , all the planning , plotting – it’s all done in the kitchen , and fod oversees it .
“we have a studio deal and a sales deal , ” says marcel , himself quite elfin at 73 . games company rebellion has also signed up to produce a hawk game and a putative range of books or comics , and to provide cgi and funding for the sequel . rebellion’s co - founder jason kingsley described the original hawk as “a touchstone” of his life and said he was “delighted and slightly awed” to be part of the new venture .
in the first major part of the story , voltan kills his father . his brother hawk arrives - too late to save the old man , but just in time to be granted the sword of mind . it glows and flies across a room into the hands of its owner . ( george lucas would later copy this idea for star wars . )
new powers as the plot demands : hawk gets the mindsword and his father explains that it ' ll come to him if he wills it . but when he and ranulf travel through a haunted forest , he somehow knows the light it sheds will keep them protected from evil spirits ?
it’s a big cast , i saw the trailer , all i kept thinking was lord of the rings . i hope it works , because i want people to be aware of sword and sorcery . i hope it’s a big success , but i don’t think competition - wise i’ve got much to worry about . there’s a sword and sorcery space , and they’re going to eat up part of that space , but there’ll be plenty left for little old hawk the slayer . it’s six episodes of advertising to us , and it’s a great story ; terry brooks is a hell of a writer .
crow : hawk turns up just as crow begins a shooting contest with two homosexuals . the audience learns that crow is the last elf in the world , is really good at shooting , has spock ears , and talks like a robot . ( orlando bloom studied crow ' s scenes repeatedly in preparation for lord of the rings , as the character of legolas is transparently based on crow . tolkien used profits from
the hobbit
to buy a cine projector for his oxford home specifically so that he could watch hawk every day until lord of the rings was completed . he saw it over 9000 times . )
rewarded as a traitor deserves : well , voltan offs the noviate who betrayed hawk , but he ' s such a bad boss you really can ' t say he treated her any differently than his own henchmen .
terry : i had him . i went to a fairly well - known distributor , and they said , ‘tom hardy’s never going to make it . ’ lost him . that’s the trouble with working with a studio . this isn’t going to have a huge budget . hawk the slayer was £61 , 000 . you need to be in a sensible budget area . you need to be able to say , ‘those people are investing in this , i believe i’ve got a good chance of getting their money back , ’ and i believe that if the audience is there , we can get a tv series , which is the ultimate aim .
human sacrifice : hawk rescues baldin from a group of religious nutters who ' ve tied him to a raft that they ' re trying to set alight with arrows on fire .
keen - eyed fans may recognize the dwarf from our release prisoners of the lost universe . also , the actor playing hawk went on to portray jack’s dad in lost - - hmmm , prisoners of the lost universe . lost . time to dig up your old lost conspiracy theories because there’s something happening here . it’s all connected !
eye scream : voltan ' s scar is apparently a result of his being stabbed in the eye with a piece of burning wood by hawk ' s girlfriend . the wizard he gets magic pain relief from mentions that it inexplicably refuses to heal , and in fact the flesh seems to be melting .
the stoic : nearly everyone , due to bad , bad acting , but hawk and his elf buddy rarely show any expression other than
intense staring
. gort , baldin and voltan are pretty much the only exceptions , since they can actually act somewhat .
page spelling out some of the reasons why the campaign had faltered so spectacularly .
horror dvd of the week : shadow of the vampire ( 200 . . .
torn from the headlines : the ' secret history ' of d . . .
torn from the headlines : the ' true ' face of count . . .
with the arrival of the red dwarf the roleplaying game series sourcebook , i ' m calling an end to my quixotic quest for the ' holy . . .
the pan - galactic gargle blaster ( 18 . 19 ) is a drink from the hitchhiker ' s guide to the galaxy
as you may be aware , the kickstarter campaign was unsuccessful so we are re - evaluating the project . i hope to have news before the end of the year
for us , it’s outside of the usual stuff : we’ve got a fantastic t - shirt . to get them involved , there’s a fan day . terry’s got this fantastic scene that he’s going to direct with gort and hanfer , and there’s a big fight scene in a tavern . we’re asking fans to pay the money , come on the day and be in the movie . we’ve commissioned a coin . hawk is a lord , so he’s got a currency . when people are gambling in the movie they use these silver coins . those coins as a prop will be available as a reward . we’ve had rifftrax , they’re huge hawk fans . as a reward , they will riff hawk . they’re going to do it anyway as a digital download , they will provide it for the film and take the mickey out of it . we’ve done loads of stuff .
all of this is in early stages of planning and a lot of it hinges on hawk the hunter ' s kickstarter campaign , which launches on august 30th . the film ' s budget is $ 5 million , and marcel , kingsley and company need to raise the final 20 percent , marcel told the guardian earlier this month . for now , kingsley can dream big and hope for the best .
there was talk in 2009 about a sequel entitled
hawk the hunter .
as you have no doubt noticed , there has since been no such movie . as a matter of fact , the message board which announced the sequel has since only received one post . the stars , on the other had , have gone on to successful careers , many showing up in places you may not have realized .
note : the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer ( s ) .
yannick bisson is best known for playing the titular william murdoch in the . . .
, while the second part got 1 , 382 and the first 1 , 527 .
wwf , the world wrestling federation ( 10 . 20 ) not the world wildlife fund
: voltan actually specializes in throwing daggers ( not throwing knives ) . when forced into an actual sword fight ( after this fails against hawk ) he clearly has no idea what he ' s doing .
hawk was sponsored by ye olde militarie and industrielle complexe , the dark age arms manufacturer that was eventually closed down by henry viii , as it was ( 1 ) richer than him , and ( 2 ) had sold siege engines to the pope . this was the medieval equivalent of selling a weaponized ebola virus to kim jong il .
the
don ' t panic
sticker ( 18 . 3 ) is a reference to the hitchhiker ' s guide to the galaxy
this is one of those rare early 80 ' s movies that i love . everything about it is terrible and yet something about it is great ! it has the feel of a saturday
matinee
and is certainly an entertaining piece of work ( although far from a masterpiece ) . essentially , this movie is a guilty pleasure . if had to choose between it or
the beastmaster
, i would certainly take hawk the slayer . i recommend this movie as a must see ! although i am not blind and can certainly see all of the faults , i still love this movie . i even sampled sound bites from this movie and created a dance mix ! ( not for commercial purposes . . . just for fun ) . if interested , check out the messages boards as i have posted a link to the sound file there .
) to see the enthusiasm was there at the start , but then dropped away dramatically .
top of the pile : trick ' r treat - days of the dead . . .
idiot ball : the abbess and nuns at the convent juggle a whole host of idiot balls , all based on the belief that voltan isn ' t the obviously evil chronic backstabbing disorder shoot the dog bond villain that he is .
baldin : hawk finds baldin tied to a raft and being shot at by priests . those wacky dwarves ! in this scene , the audience learns that baldin is really good at eating , drinking and telling bad jokes . he also comes from ironforge . ( hawk has attracted criticism from dwarven rights activists for this stereotyped portrayal . dwarf rights activist ricky gervais points out that not all dwarves are fat , drunk and unfunny , even though ricky himself is frequently all three . )
it looks like we don ' t have a synopsis for this title yet . be the first to contribute ! just click the
edit page
button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the synopsis submission guide .
voltan ( jack palance ) is pissed that hawk ( john terry ) has married elaine . he has been stalking elaine for several years , has even spoken to her a couple of times , and once brushed against her boobs . therefore , she is rightfully his . anger and jealousy turn him to evil . ( remember - if it ' s in hawk , it ' s not a cliche . hawk invented this stuff . other people copied it , making it cliched . just like jokes about
it ' s built on an old indian burial ground
. it sounds cheesy when you hear it in the shining , but you are wrong , because that ' s where it comes from . )
terry : not really , no . the sequel in its original form was just another adventure with hawk and his team . but i opened up the world because of the tv show . with tv , you have to know where you’re going . with dark knight , i only ended up doing the two series , but i knew where it was going , where it would end and what my arc was .
the magnificent seven samurai : there are only five of them ( six if you count the sorceress ) , but it ' s pretty overt . a few of the recruitment scenes are even fantasy takes on the ones from the magnificent seven .
the zapruder film is part of the john f . kennedy assassination conspiracy ( 0 . 9 )
wade ' s passphrase ,
you have been recruited by the star league to defend the frontier against xur and the ko - dan armada
is from the last starfighter ( 1 . 81 )
baldin , the obligatory dwarf in the movie , brought the expected comedic flare to the film . peter o & apos ; farrell would go on to star in several major motion pictures including
harry potter and the chamber of secrets ,
legend ,
and
prisoners of the lost universe .
answer the question , claire
( 17 . 58 ) is a quote from the breakfast club
aside from the fact that the there were instants where the men moan when they die , the lines coming from that elf being extremely wooden to the point of laughable , the cut shots of arrows firing that would even make legolas laugh , the corny acting / lines , and the corny 80 ' s music that plays whenever the protagonist rides off . . . watch this while you ' re stoned , drunk , or multitasking . . . - _ -
terry : andrew’s been working with me for a long time , and one day he said , “i’ve had a request for you to do this interview . ” he said , “you ought to write a sequel to hawk” , and i said “i’ve written a sequel to hawk ! ” he said “we ought to go out and try and put this together . ” so i got hold of the old script that harry and i had written , and it needed a bit of work on it , so i did that .
i offered to interview them on my blog and help spread the word . i heard crickets back . the social media campaign for the kickstarter was pitiful .
andrew : it’s all down to the kickstarter . it’s going to be interesting , terry’s done so much work on not just the script , but the background he’s built into the world for the tv series . the sequel really is a cinematic pilot , basically . and we’ve got interest from actors that are aware of the situation . it’s quite an exciting time .
gort : hawk arrives shortly after gort has beaten up an angry mob . gort is a giant , and therefore excellent at being stupid and tall . gort is also very bad at acting : bad enough to appear in several carry on films .
dwindling party : two of the party members are dead by the end , and one is grieviously injured .
horrible judge of character : the nuns are utterly convinced they can trust the dark one at his word .
pay evil unto evil :
the end truly justifies the means !
uh , sure . . .
the campaign launched on august 30 , and ran until october 1 , hoping to raise a cool half - a - million dollars , the final 20 per cent of the finances needed to get the film made .
archer and the sorceress i am glad to see that someone else remembers this movie . in the us , it was known as the archer : fugitive from the empire and was a failed tv series pilot . i wish it was available on dvd in the us .
the finished film evokes both derision and devotion . apart from terry ( who had been a carpenter ) and palance , it has an extraordinary cast : patricia “rocky horror” quinn , harry andrews , warren clarke , roy kinnear , annette crosbie , cheryl campbell . marcel readily admits the fights are sketchy and the dialogue between the giant ( bernard bresslaw , 6ft 7in ) and the dwarf ( peter o’farrell , 5ft 6in ) is “cheesy” but hawk was meant for a family audience . he does wish he’d had more to spend on effects , though : “most of the flying - sword sequences involved me throwing it to the actor . ”
and the warrior and the sorceress , which is the closest thing i ' ve ever seen to a dark sun movie . i ' m glad i ' m not the only one to think this ! : cool :
“the budget is $ 5m – half an episode of game of thrones – and we’re short 20 % , ” says marcel . “so andrew [ grocock , co - producer ] suggested a kickstarter campaign . ” this will be formally launched after a screening of the original film followed by a director’s q & a during frightfest , the horror film festival , in london in august . marcel hopes to start shooting in november . he also has plans for a tv series , “the third part of the trilogy” , called hawk the destroyer , which he reckons could run for five years .
has been ' in the works ' for more than 30 years , you have to question some of the decisions made as the film raced towards its final hurdle .
i like novelisations of films to expand on the original , providing new insights into the characters , building on the backstory . this , unfortunately , doesn ' t .
i would assume that ' s the shriek of a hawk . . . ; ) that ' s what i thought but i was told no ! in my defence , i was ten and didn ' t know a thing about birds - my dad told me the producers had got the wrong sound effect and it was definitely an eagle . i ' m going to have to have a few words with my dad the next time i see him . . . : )
fans would get in touch asking if he’d agree to novelisation , if they could buy the mindsword . grocock’s theory is that hawk touched a chord , coming at the end of the austere 1970s and the start of a brave new 1980s world of atari computers , vhs recorders and dungeons and dragons role - playing games . famous nerds who grew up at that time seem to bear this out . “bill bailey is a huge fan , simon pegg is a massive fan , ” says grocock . another fan , rock wizard rick wakeman , has apparently agreed to write the music for the sequel .
in that voltan returns and this time he’s after the dark sword which was made before the mind sword , the dark sword is evil and has been hidden away by a troll . if voltan gets his hands on it , we’re in deep trouble so there’s a race to find the dark sword . we also see the development of hawk beginning to understand the power of the mind sword . we’ve just put up a prologue on youtube which gives away a little bit about the stones . there were three stones and one of them ends up with the wizards , who are in fact elves and one ends up in the sword – the other one i can’t disclose ! they were discovered by a rock - finding troll who’s digging away in a tiny tunnel . he breaks through into this gigantic cavern where he finds this skyscraper - sized crystal buried in the ground . around the crystal are three shining stones , the three sisters . he grabs them and runs but as he does so the giant crystal bursts into life and that’s when magic is born in the land . it’s all to do with crystal magic and in the sequel we begin to see how it all works , why it works and i had to reinvent everything to give a reason for the mindstone .
curb - stomp battle : two guys with automatic weapons and a powerful witch vs . ordinary medieval soldiers . even without the guy with the magic sword ( and the dwarf with the whip ) it would have been a walkover .
in this , you have to have a bigger view of the world , and so it was fairly obvious to me to start from , what was going to be the key to the series : magic . and where did the magic come from ? magic came from the stones . where did the stones come from ? and then bit by bit i rebuilt the whole thing and created a massive world .
films , playing sparrow ; you always get extra from those sorts of people because they’re such distinctive character actors . but we’ve got to look to the long - term . we want to know that whoever’s going to play hawk is going to come and stay with us for the series . i think we’ll probably end up with complete newcomers for all the main parts . there is one troll who’s about twice the size of a human and i’ve always wanted brian blessed for that , he’d be perfect .
caroline munro ( from the golden voyage of sinbad , the spy who loved me , dracula ad 1972 , starcrash , maniac , the last horror show , sl . . .
magrathea is a planet in douglas adams ' s the hitchhiker ' s guide to the galaxy ( 4 . 13 )
with the stolen gold as bait for voltan , the trap is set . the fellowship lie in wait for voltan and his men . but voltan doesn ' t appear . instead , his useless adopted son drogo turns up , without the kidnapped nun . the heroes refuse to hand over the gold until the nun is safe . drogo is angry .
i am no messenger ,
he says .
but i do bring a message . the message of death !
andrew : you make it , and the generation in which it was made watch it and go away , and then their kids discover it , and they start to like it . because it’s got two generations of fandom , it becomes a cult , you’ve got an older and a younger generation , it becomes a cult , because the younger generation discover it , and the older generation say , ‘that was ours’ , and that’s what happened to hawk .
harry robertson died in 1996 and jack palance in 2006 . john terry went on to appear in lost ( as jack’s dad ) but still gets asked to sign hawk memorabilia at sci - fi conventions . because hawk wouldn’t die . “it still sells well globally , ” says grocock . “scandinavian countries , america , south america . it’s big in japan , south africa . you still get cheques from germany , terry . ” marcel adds cheerfully : “yes , about £12 . 65 last time i looked . i’ve never made any money from it . ”
not forgetting the sword and the sorcerer urltoken too i love that movie . it might ' ve been a better conan movie than conan the barbarian . just as good , anyway .
good guy hawk ( john terry ) and his evil brother , voltan ( jack palance ) , both want control of
the power ,
a magical flying sword . this comic - bookish exercise in sword - and - sorcery gibberish is dragged down by its excess of slow - motion battle scenes , though palance makes an enjoyable villain .
bigger bad : voltan ' s dark master . he never gets directly involved in the plot , but is clearly manipulating things behind the scenes . he ' s also shown to have great magical powers , including the ability to resurrect the dead .
everyone calls him barkeep : the closest thing to a name that the blind witch seems to have is
woman
.
hoist by his own petard : the hunchback is killed by the exact method by which he threatens gort ' s life .
although planned as the start of a franchise amid much local publicity , the movie was released in the uk as the supporting feature to saturn 3 ( 1980 ) before it was picked up for theatrical distribution in some territories such as north america .


smilin ' through is a 1932 american pre-code mgm romantic drama film based on the play by jane cowl and jane murfin , also named smilin ' through .

the film was nominated for the academy award for best picture for 1932 .

it was adapted from cowl and murfin 's play by james bernard fagan , donald ogden stewart , ernest vajda and claudine west .

the movie was directed by sidney franklin and starred norma shearer , fredric march , leslie howard and ralph forbes .

the film was a remake of an earlier 1922 silent version also directed by sidney franklin which starred norma talmadge .

smilin ' through ( 1932 film )

jeanette macdonald appears in smilin through and new moon . jeanette macdonald appears in smilin through and i married an angel . jeanette macdonald appears in smilin through and broadway serenade . jeanette macdonald appears in smilin through and bitter sweet . jeanette macdonald appears in smilin through and the girl of the golden west .
smilin ' through is a 1932 film directed by sidney franklin , starring norma shearer , leslie howard , and fredric march .
moving picture world , march 18 , 1922 , fritz tidden , review of smilin’ through .
wikimedia commons has media related to a farewell to arms ( 1932 film ) .
smilin ' through is a 1941 mgm musical film based on the 1919 play of the same name by jane cowl and jane murfin .
title drop : moonyeen sings the song
smilin ' through
at the pre - wedding reception .
norma shearer and fredric march in a scene from the 1932 drama smilin ' through ~ please visit my blog http : / / classichollywoodactresses . blog . . .
titled after the song : before the play or the movies there was the 1919 song
smilin ' through .
' introduced in joseph m . schenck ' s motion picture version of the fantastic play
smilin ' through
featuring
( with jane cowl ; under pseudonym alan langdon martin ) smilin’ through ( play ) , first produced in new york , ny , 1924 .
smilin ' through was an adaptation of a stage play . it had been previously adapted as a silent film in 1922 and was adapted again in 1941 as a vehicle for jeanette mac donald .
2 - sidney franklin is second without any competition for metro - goldwyn - mayer produced titles the guardsman , private lives , reunion in vienna and smilin ' through .
daybreak , lilac time , and smilin’ through , were also made into movies . in fact , smilin’ through was adapted for film three different times . a tragic tale that belies the happy - sounding title , smilin’ through is about a young woman named kathleen whose adoptive uncle , john carteret , forbids her to see the man she loves ; the reason for this is that kenneth wayne is the nephew of the man who killed carteret ' s fiancée on their wedding day . eventually , though , young love wins , and even carteret ' s heart finds some room for forgiveness in it .
smilin’ through director : sidney franklin writers : jane cowl , jane murfin , ernest vajda , claudine west , james b . fagan , donald o . stewart cinematography : lee games film editing : margaret booth art direction : cedric gibbons costume design : adrian
last spring , i caught a day of pre - hayes code films on tcm including her smilin’ through ( 1932 ) , where she is naked in a bath scene . this winter , i caught the film version of one of my favorite plays , noel coward’s private lives , which i had never seen . shearer is just terrific in it ; so eccentric and sexy opposite robert montgomery .
, who is known to have made some musical sketches for the score before the plan fell through .
the title smilin ' through almost seems ironic , considering that this 1932 melodrama might be the weepiest weepy that ever weeped . an also - ran for the best picture academy award of 1932 / 33 , this is actually the second of three adaptations of a popular 1919 play by jane cowl and jane murfin . directed by sidney franklin , who also directed the original silent film adaptation in 1922 , the story still plays quite well , with only a few scattered moments feeling a bit stilted or dated stylistically .
academy award nomination for best original story ( with adela rogers st . johns ) , 1932 , for what price hollywood ?
1 - frank capra through strength of two from columbia , lady for a day and it happened one night .
review : lovely , simply lovely . smilin ' through was first a stage play , then a 1922 silent film starring norma talmadge . the story begins in england in 1868 , on the day of norma shearer ' s wedding to leslie howard . tragedy strikes during the ceremony , when shearer ' s… ( more )
lovely , simply lovely . smilin ' through was first a stage play , then a 1922 silent film starring norma talmadge . the story begins in england in 1868 , on the day of norma shearer ' s wedding to leslie howard . tragedy strikes during the ceremony , when shearer ' s jealous suitor , fredric march ,
the war is out - of - place , but the rest of smilin’ through is sufficiently romantic and engaging with a passionate performance by fredric march . warner archive recently released this on dvd , so if you’re watch them be sure to send them a thanks !
smilin ' through is an example of romantic melodrama at its best . a hit at the box office , the film boasts a superb production and a strong cast who handle their roles with aplomb . la norma was perhaps never better ( and she never looked lovelier ) , and march , howard , o . p . heggie , and ralph forbes
a comprehensive list of every film ever nominated for the academy award for best picture .
the film was a remake of a previous 1932 version by mgm and was the third and final film version of the play . it starred jeanette macdonald , brian aherne , gene raymond and ian hunter . it was filmed in technicolor and was remade as a musical for macdonald with several older songs interpolated into the story .
had its first sound - film treatment in 1932 in a version again directed by franklin and starring norma shearer , fredric march and leslie howard . ( a musical version , starring jeanette macdonald and gene raymond , would appear in 1941 . )
every film that has ever been nominated for an academy award in any category . enjoy !
pearl buck intended the film to be cast with all chinese or chinese - american actors .
lend sterling support . one of those rare films whose gorgeous soft - focus look and dreamy , unashamed , sentimental romantic conviction suggests the best of frank borzage , smilin ' through was remade by borzage with less success in 1941 , with jeanette macdonald , gene raymond and brian aherne .
borzage made a third film about german life , the mortal storm ( 1940 ) , with james stewart , robert young , sullavan , and frank morgan as members of a family torn apart by the nazis’ rise to power . flight command ( 1940 ) was a blend of sentimentality and aerial acrobatics , with taylor starring as a young man who strives to excel as a navy pilot . borzage then directed smilin’ through ( 1941 ) , a musical remake starring jeanette macdonald of a melodrama that had been previously filmed in 1922 and 1932 .
final thoughts : smilin ' through is an excellent drama which somehow has not lingered in the greater classic - movie consciousness . hopefully , this release - - as bare bones as it is - - will reach more people in the mood for a good old - fashioned cry . highly recommended .
los angeles , ca ) ; married laurence trimble ( divorced ) ; married donald crisp ( an actor and director ) , 1932 ( divorced , 1944 ) .
this hungarian film is a careful , compassionate and beautifully acted character drama with a social conscience .
screenwriter , playwright , and film producer . motion picture supervisor for rko studios , beginning 1934 .
the bulk of the story takes place during the wwi era , 1915 - 1919 , but all of norma shearer ' s clothes , hats , and hairstyles are strictly in the 1932 mode , the year the film was made , a typical practice of the era .
the plot is a mite bit predictable for a modern audience , with the romantic fate of the young lovers hinging on sir john ' s ability to forgive and forget . yet when all is said and done , and the kleenex box is empty , smilin ' through is a memorable , moving little story .
in addition to the popular success of smilin’ through , murfin was also known for bringing hollywood ' s first dog star , strongheart the german shepherd , to the big screen . strongheart starred in five films in the 1920s and was about as popular as rin - tin - tin at the time . a prolific writer from the 1920s through the mid - 1930s , murfin ' s output eased somewhat after she was named the first woman supervisor of motion pictures at rko studios in 1934 . she continued making films , however , through the early 1940s , including 1940 ' s pride and prejudice , an adaptation of the jane austen novel , and 1944 ' s dragon seed , based on the pearl buck book about chinese farmers living through the hell of japanese occupation .
using the hollywood reporter ' s may 1 cut - off date as given in the first poll and the release dates posted to the imdb , wellman ' s qualifying movies for 1932 - 33 would have been : love is a racket , the purchase price , the conquerors , frisco jenny ( all 1932 ) , central airport ( 1933 ) .
lovely , simply lovely . smilin ' through was first a stage play , then a 1922 silent film starring norma talmadge . the story begins in england in 1868 , on the day of norma shearer ' s wedding to leslie howard . tragedy strikes during the ceremony , when shearer ' s jealous suitor , fredric march , shows up drunk and crazed . he pulls a pistol and fires at his rival , . . . read more
the sense of place is as pervasive as a character in “moss , ” a film by daniel peddle .
premiere on january 29 , 1937 . the film credits stated that this was his
last great achievement
.
. new york : wid ' s films and film folk , inc . : 9 february 3 , 1937 .
helen hayes , gary cooper and adolphe menjou in a film of hemingway ' s
farewell to arms .
the 1932 - 33 report , found inside the may 22 , 1933 edition of the hollywood reporter gives the better explanation of the poll , though i assume it was conducted similarly each year .
film costs hit both extremes : poverty row spends less , big studios more million - dollar features
shoot the works
inexpensive
arty
hit due to make appearance schallert , edwin . los angeles times ( 1923 - current file ) [ los angeles , calif ] , october 16 , 1932 : b13 .
also envisioned casting only chinese actors , but had to concede that american audiences were not ready for such a film . though
and used for the first time in this film . however , some of the supporting cast did include chinese american actors .
the film stars paul muni as wang lung . for her role as his wife o - lan , luise rainer won an academy award for best actress . the film also won the academy award for best cinematography for karl freund . it was nominated for best director , best film editing and best picture . its world premiere was at the elegant carthay circle theatre in los angeles .
how would you rate the leading box office directors on pictures made since may 1 , 1932 ? your rating should be given on the basis of earned money for you on the play of the pictures .
there was no awards ceremony in 1933 . the 1932 / 33 academy awards were presented on march 16 , 1934 and covered a full 17 months period ( august 1932 - december 1933 ) . 1932 - 33 was the last year that eligibility for oscar nominees ran for films released from august thru july ( actually december this time ) - to allow the next ceremony to cover films for a single calendar year . the academy had finally decided to match the eligibility period to the calendar year , beginning in the next year , 1934 . ( from then on , the nominating selections and the award ceremony would cover the same calendar year . )
, the film is about a 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 .
( 1929 ) as a poor farm girl and the paralyzed world war i veteran who loves her . borzage’s final silent film ,
smilin’ through is a remake of a silent film of 1922 . the main character is obviously kathleen / moonyeen , played by norma shearer , though leslie howard’s interpretation of the sir john character was praised by critics . considering the time when the film was made , the effects used to create the ghost moonyeen are remarkable . the film is rich in sentiment and leslie howard’s role is a very sad one , almost tragic ; yet he is able to give the character of the old sir john some lightness and vivacity , as in the scene between sir john and the little kathleen . seeing leslie disguised as an old man always seems very sad to me and always makes me feel uneasy , as i cannot forget that his tragic fate did not allow him to become an old man .
maybe i am dead inside . . but i thought the character mister howard played got a cosmic screw job in this . it seemed wrong . . everything he went through . . . . .
smilin through before sleeping through , i was really disappointed in this film it lacked character and interest . jeanette ' s singing is the only thing that saved me from complete boredom . gene raymond didn ' t fit the character or the movie , jeanette didn ' t have any chemistry with her husband on screen might as well have put nelson eddy in the film it wouldn ' t have been so bad to watch . all in all the songs are nice including
drink to me only with thine eyes
it looked like she was singing that to herself instead of her loving husband if you ask me . even louie b mayor said it himself
sing to him like you love him
she was supposed to be singing to her husband with love that shouldn ' t have been hard , if only she wasn ' t already inlove with nelson . jeanette always looks stunning in color and black and white films if you like jeanette macdonald then watch this film other then that nothing special really .
scarface ( 1932 ) directed by howard hawks ( sergeant york ( 1941 ) ) with a ben hecht ( underworld ( 1927 ) ) screenplay this infamous gangster film was co - produced ( with the director ) by howard hughes . neither took an on - screen credit due to the controversial nature of the film which was released without the censor’s approval with the subtitle “the shame of the nation” . it stars paul muni as a capone - like hood who works his way up [ . . . ]
the hollywood reporter also polled the film exhibitors and they came up with an annual top 10 list of the biggest earning directors in hollywood .
i really want to watch this film – when i saw that wa had released it last month , i got unusually excited ! i’m a big shearer fan and i can tolerate howard , but i can’t stand march lol judging from your review , though , the film is definitely worth seeing at least once .
due to the fact that the category of special visual effects hadn ' t been introduced yet , and it was released by the minor rko film studio , the adventure / horror film from co - directors merian c . cooper and ernest b . schoedsack - king kong , also failed to win any nominations !
the film ' s 1936 production lasted from february 28 to july 23 . thalberg died on september 14 , four - and - a - half months before its
my distaste for leslie howard , norma shearer and ( to a lesser extent ) fredric march , are well - documented in my various reviews of their work . so color me surprised when i settled down to watch smilin’ through , a 1930s romance now available via warner archive . the direction and acting suffer from routine issues plaguing movies till about the mid - 30s ( such as highly overwrought acting and soppy direction ) , but the sensitive telling of the story does enough to temper the movies faults .
interesting lists , huh ? since we ' re voting with our dollars i ' d step right up and give roy del ruth my money in 1932 - 33 as often as possible , though i also love the output of that year ' s winner , alfred e . green .
this film was very successful at the box office , earning mgm a profit of $ 529 , 000 ( $ 9 . 1m in 2017 ) according to studio records .
when mgm inquired into the possibility of making the film in china , the chinese government was divided on how to respond . initial hostility derived from resentment of the novel , which critics charged focused only on the perceived backwardness of the country while some government officials hoped to have control which would be gone if the film work was done outside china . generalissimo
the film ' s budget was $ 2 . 8 million , a small fortune at the time , and took three years to make . a five - hundred - acre farm in
it’s melodramatic as hell and it plays loosey - goosey with time more than any film i’ve seen that doesn’t involve actual time travel . . . but , lord , it broke me .
. . . 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 .
unlike most pre - 1950 paramount sound features , a farewell to arms was not sold to what is now known as universal television . warner bros . acquired the rights at an unknown date with the intention to remake the film , but never did . the film would end up in the package of films sold to associated artists productions in 1956 , that company would be sold to united artists two years later .
james l . neibaur of urltoken calls it :
one of the most interesting and important film books of the young year ,
adding ,
the documentation is original and significant .
full review .
new york times , august 9 , 1940 , bosley crowther ,
the screen in review ; pride and prejudice , a delightful comedy of manners , seen at the music ; h3
; march 7 , 1941 , bosley crowther ,
andy hardy ' s private secretary adorns the capitol— another melodrama at the rialto
; december 5 , 1941 , bosley crowther ,
the screen in review ; smilin’ through in its third reincarnation , with jeanette macdonald , at the capitol—aherne , raymond in the cast
; april 16 , 1943 , bosley crowther ,
flight for freedom , ; a film speculation on fate of woman flier , with rosalind russell in lead , at the music hall
; july 21 , 1944 ,
dragon seed , picturization of the pearl buck novel , with katharine hepburn , walter huston , arrives at music hall .
topkapi ( 1964 ) a funny unusual caper film which ( along with the pink panther ( 1963 ) ) pioneered many of the robbery stunts you’ve come to see in later films even james bond movies and ultimately inspired tv’s mission impossible . maximilian schell robert morley and melina mercouri star in this film which features peter ustinov’s oscar winning supporting actor performance . directed by jules dassin . purchase this dvd now [ . . . ]
george cukor for little women ( with three nominations and one win - best adaptation ) , the best of many film versions of louisa may alcott ' s civil war story of the march family of four sisters .
paramount pictures , one of the first and most successful of the hollywood film studios . it became a subsidiary of viacom in 1994 . paramount pictures corp . was established in 1914 by w . w . hodkinson as…
the good earth is a 1937 american drama film about chinese farmers who struggle to survive . it was adapted by talbot jennings , tess slesinger , and claudine west from the play by owen davis and donald davis , which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by nobel prize - winning author pearl s . buck . the film was directed by sidney franklin , with uncredited contributions by victor fleming and gustav machaty .
smilin’ through is gimmicky from the first minute john starts talking to his deceased lover , moonyeen ( also shearer ) , and from there the movie relies on howard in old - age makeup while march and shearer play dual roles . thankfully , it all works because of the script , and original play by jane cowl . the movie is a sensitive tale of love persevering through the ages and john’s blindness to the individual identities of kathleen and kenneth ; they may look like people from the past , but they aren’t the same in spirit . at a brisk 98 - minutes the plot takes its time to set up john’s character more than anyone else . he’s lost a loved one , tasked with caring for a child – the scene is rather sweet – and raises kathleen the best way he knows how . eventually , kathleen grows up and falls in love , leading to a slew of subtle freudian discussions about john’s own love for kathleen although there’s no implication that john sees her as anything more than his ward .
1932 - 33 seems more earthy than 1933 - 34 , doesn ' t it ? sure , the later year claims convention city , but ' 32 - 33 counts three warner brothers ' directors among its top four and the movies they worked on are all the typical working class ( i . e . , gritty ) movies we think of as coming from the studio .
according to mgm records the film earned $ 2 , 002 , 000 in the us and canada and $ 1 , 555 , 000 elsewhere but because of its high cost incurred an ultimate loss of $ 96 , 000 .
the sweeping , episodic film , spanning over thirty years , featured an all - british cast ( including clive brooks , diana wynyard , and young frank lawton ) and traced the lives of the british upper - class marryot turn - of - the - century family , from an 1899 new year ' s eve celebration around the time of the boer war and the death of queen victoria through the sinking of the titanic , world war i , the 1920s , the depression , and up to a second new year ' s eve celebration in 1932 . the effects of good and bad times and world events on the family ' s lives were chronicled ( wartime , the death of the queen , the husband ' s knighthood , the loss of one son on the titanic and another in the great war ) . [ lloyd would be the director for 1935 ' s best picture winner , mutiny on the bounty although he lost for best director . ]
what makes this film quite touching is how natural both shearer and march play their flirting scenes . despite the play’s call for melodramatic emotions—which shearer supplies in abundance towards the end—i was impressed by the chemistry between the two of them . shearer has been dismissed as an actress by quite a few critics and film historians , and while she was never a great actress , she could be quite convincing in her limited range , particularly when it came to expressing sincerity .
remarkably , the best picture and director winner were for the same film - fox ' s and director frank lloyd ' s over - produced cavalcade - a portent of other british costume drama award - winners in future years . the oft - forgotten fox film , based on noel coward ' s dramatic stage play ( adapted by reginald berkeley ) , was honored with four nominations and three wins - best picture , best director , and art direction / decoration .
i ' m a college student getting my master ' s in english , but dreams of getting an additional degree in film . i ' m a movie reviewer for several sites , but i also write classic film reviews for several other sites . i stretch myself pretty thin these days . you can usually find me at a bookstore , or a movie theater . i dream of the day when the two are combined . i base a lot of my friendships on favorite movies .
in film history class when i was a youth , all that i could muster for the work of norma shearer were cynical comments about her crossed - eyes and unusually mannered performances . but , i would later come to appreciate her special talents .
judging by the text inside the latter of those two reports , the hollywood reporter had only conducted this poll in one prior year , for 1931 - 32 . that remains a mystery unless , or hopefully until , the media history digital project gets their hands on a january - june 1932 volume . if you ever see it in their possession , let me know , and i ' ll add the findings to this post .
this title is grotesquely unsuitable to the film . even in full it would be misleading , but the omission of the final consonant of the first word gives it an unbearably arch air of facetiousness , while in fact the film manages to be both a sensitive and sentimental account of the conflict between young love and old feud . [ … ] up to a certain point the film succeeds in being at once rational and moving , and it owes not a little to the acting of miss norma shearer as kathleen . [ … ] only in the last few minutes does it collapse into an abyss of bathos , and for that the director is to be blamed , first , for not knowing when to stop , and , secondly , for allowing a passion for tidying up loose ends to betry him into an absurd , as well as a faintly offensive , climax . mr . fredric march , as kenneth wayne , supports miss shearer adequately , while mr . leslie howard , as john carteret , makes a highly credible pretence of being an old man , although he is actually at his best in those “flash - back” scenes which show him as a young and ardent bridegroom . ( the times , november 14 , 1932 )
sidney franklin directed this film , as he had the very first version in 1922 , and it is all rather exquisite , very enjoyable and at a couple of points , rather touching . howard in particular is interesting to watch as he starts to crack and thaw under the joy…
mogambo ( 1953 ) directed by john ford this better than average remake of screenwriter john lee mahin’s adventure drama red dust ( 1932 ) also stars clark gable in the leading male role but replaces jean harlow with ava gardner and mary astor with grace kelly as well as altering the story . instead of gable running a rubber plantation for its owner and having an affair with the owner’s wife gable is a big game hunter who has a dalliance with one [ . . . ]
could the hollywood reporter have left him off the lists they sent out to exhibitors ? the fact that they sent out such lists seems to skew any potential accuracy of these polls . that is , unless they sent out lists of every film released by every director for each period .
praised the film as
a superb translation of a literary classic . . . one of the finest things hollywood has done this season or any other . while it has taken some liberties with the novel ' s text , it has taken none with its quality or spirit .
the film ' s storyline greatly resembles that of noël coward ' s operetta bitter sweet , right down to the
frame story
surrounding the main plot . three years later , mgm filmed a technicolor version of bitter sweet , but altered the plot slightly so that audiences would not notice the similarities .
shearer was in so many hits that many of mgm’s plum roles were hers for the picking , and approved by her powerful husband . she wanted to do more adaptations of broadway plays and was given the lynn fontanne role in anti - war comedy idiot’s delight ( 1939 ) , opposite gable in the alfred lunt part . she received rave reviews for other broadway transitions strange interlude ( 1932 ) , again with gable , based on a play by eugene o’neill and , of course , the women ( 1939 ) .
also author of other plays , including flaming sign ; collaborated with jane cowl on other plays , often under the pseudonym alan langdon martin , including lilac time ; author , with anita loos , of play the women , published in twenty best film plays , edited by john gassner and dudley nichols , 1943 .
the merry widow is a 1934 film adaptation of the operetta of the same name by franz lehár . it was directed and produced by ernst lubitsch and starred maurice chevalier and jeanette macdonald . a french - language version was produced at the same time and released in france the same year as la veuve joyeuse .
he was the son of a master stonemason . borzage began acting in his teens with a theatrical troupe , doubling as a prop boy before entering films as an actor in 1912 for producer and director thomas ince . after appearing in a number of westerns and comedies , he began directing films at the american film manufacturing company in 1915 . he worked as an actor and director primarily for triangle film corporation from 1917 to 1919 , where in 1918 he switched to directing exclusively . in the early 1920s he worked at paramount pictures , first national pictures , and metro - goldwyn - mayer ( mgm ) . he finally landed at fox film corporation , the scene of his greatest triumphs , in 1925 . there he began with lazybones , a melancholy romance set in a small town in the american west , though he soon moved over to domestic comedies such as wages for wives ( 1925 ) and early to wed ( 1926 ) .
awhile back i took a deep peek inside several issues of harrison ' s reports to get a look at which mid - 30 ' s era movies the film exhibitors were reporting as actually making them money . that series came to an end when i sold the collection before i could finish ( whoops ! ) .
at her apex , shearer was lavishly gowned for her film roles , and her hair was styled in a fashion that was the essence of sophistication . it was rumored that skilled camera work hid a flaw in her beauty : her eyes were not perfectly aligned . her eyes became a delicate subject at the studio .
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it is based on the stage play in which jane cowl appeared a number of seasons ago , and the experts tell me that norma talmadge once appeared in it in a silent version . in spite of which it still remains a good story , and in sidney franklin’s capable direction and the excellent performances of miss shearer , leslie howard and fredric march , the picture at the capitol comes as a refreshing and affecting variation on the run - of - the - mill product . ( thornton delehanty , new york evening post , october 15 , 1932 )
she was even better in the lavish marie antoinette ( 1938 ) , well - matched opposite tyrone power . it had its posh premiere at the legendary carthay circle theatre with special versailles inspired landscaping just for the event . the film was the last project of thalberg who passed away suddenly when he was just 37 - years - old while it was in pre - production . he was taken by pneumonia , but basically , he had worked himself to death . shearer remained committed to making marie antoinette even if her enthusiasm for her career was waning following his death . it’s budget of two million dollars made it the most expensive film of the 1930s , and one of the biggest money makers .
maytime is a 1937 american musical romantic drama film distributed by mgm . it was directed by robert z . leonard and stars jeanette macdonald and nelson eddy . the screenplay was rewritten from the book for sigmund romberg ' s 1917 operetta maytime by rida johnson young , romberg ' s librettist ; however , only one musical number by romberg was retained .
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
, whose american education made her an advocate for cooperation . permission was granted on condition that the view of china be favorable , that chinese government would supervise and have approval of shots done in china , and the unenforced stipulation that the entire cast be chinese . the government in nanjing did not foresee the sympathy the film would create and when mgm decided to shoot on location in china officials took extraordinary steps to control the production , forcing the studio to hire a nationalist general to advise them on authentic settings and costumes ( most of this footage was mysteriously lost when it was shipped home and had to be re - shot in california ) . there were reports that mgm distributed a different version of the film in china
jacqueline t . lynch , author of ann blyth : actress . singer . star . , says :
a prime example of a classic film fan taking the reins to produce a scholarly study of a neglected figure from the golden age of classic films in a way that i feel is refreshing , infinitely helpful to fans and students of old movies .
full review .
71 early on i thought this film was promising an interesting reincarnation story or at least some spooky ghost shenanigans , but really it’s just a mawkish melodrama in which a bitter old man stands in the way of his niece ( who resembles his slain fiancée ) being happy with the perfectly nice son of his fiancée’s killer ( who looks just like him ) lots and lots of violins .
there is one scene towards the end that made this film ultimately worthwhile for me because for the most part i wasn ' t really immersed in the story . it ' s the reunion scene between march and shearer , after he comes back from the war . especially march is good here , and like the sap i am , i shed a tear or two . march and shearer have good chemistry and do a great deal of kissing in this film but who can blame norma ? fredric looks so kissable , even with the moustache . also noteworthy is the scene , right before march marches off to war , where shearer says :
don ' t you want me , too ? i want you . i ' m not ashamed to say it . i ' m yours . you ' re…
the plot remained essentially the same as in the play and previous film versions . kathleen is a young irish woman in love with an american , kenneth wayne . the romance , however , is opposed by her adopted father john carteret , who recalls the painful memory of his tragically thwarted love for kathleen ' s aunt , moonyean clare . the roles of kathleen and moonyean are both played by macdonald .
shearer’s fame was so great , and her fans were so fervent , that she helped bring attention to one young actor named clark gable just by having an on - screen affair with him even though he was playing a gangster . the film was a free soul ( 1931 ) , and in it , gable gave her such a vicious slapping in one scene that it jolted audiences and outraged critics .
i saw this film at the egyptian theater in sioux falls , sd when i was 7 yrs . old . i can still remember the shooting scene . i cried all the way home . i just watched it today and cried all over again ! i didn ' t realize ' til today what a wonderful actress norma shearer was . the photography was great , better than i remember 30 ' s movies being . the chemistry between norma and frederic was superb . and , of course , leslie howard always gives a stellar performance . i haven ' t seen the re - makes , but can ' t imagine that they could improve upon it . i ' m saving this movie for my daughter to see so she can appreciate a fine film from the past , one with an everlasting theme and a great story .
classic film starter kit i typically ‘hate’ top 10 lists especially movie top 10 lists because i’ve found that it’s nearly impossible to narrow down almost any large category to such a finite number . however i have recommended afi’s original top 100 list as a good place to begin . even though i don’t agree with all the choices on the afi’s list ( s ) and certainly not the rankings therein there are a lot of quality titles to chose from [ . . . ]
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 .
it is a beautiful production , too immaculate , if anything , in its scenes of the past . it is rich in sentiment , but mr . franklin has permitted sufficient gentle comedy to relieve the romance and the tragedy of bygone years . it is another venture that benefits by expert photography , particularly in those scenes in which a wraith - like figure appears and talks . [ … ] mr . march is very good , although a trifle too flippant at times . he is , however , far better than the ordinary choice for such a role . he does make the character determined and sympathetic . miss shearer is no less beautiful than she is in “strange interlude , ” but here , occasionally , she is almost too careful about her personal appearance . mr . howard’s performance is splendid , even though his voice belies his disguise of old age . he is , however , so nicely restrained during his scenes that it is a joy to witness his interpretation at all times . and his chess partner , major owen , is admirably acted by mr . heggie . ( mordaunt hall , new york times , october 15 , 1932 )
the video & audio : presumably cobbled together from different sources , the 1 . 37 : 1 standard image is inconsistent but watchable . certain sequences have quite good detail for a standard - def presentation , while others are a bit soft . many scenes are marked with scratches and specks , but nothing that completely disrupts the image . the blacks are strong throughout , though , and nothing looks terribly washed - out . the mono audio is similarly variable . there are brief moments of distortion , and the track has frequent hiss and crackle . none of it interferes with the dialogue or music , and considering the age of the film , this is in pretty good shape for something that wasn ' t specifically remastered .
the film opens in 1890s england , with sir john canteret ( leslie howard ) communing with the ghost of his thirty - years - dead lover , moonyeen clare ( norma shearer ) . moonyeen is wearing a wedding dress , so you know something bad happened there . also not so positive : moonyeen ' s sister has just died in an accident , along with her husband . the care of their daughter kathleen ( played at this age by cora sue collins ) has been put to sir john . he is reticent , but he is soon won over by the adorable little moppet who first sees him and says ,
i don ' t think i like you .
obviously , she must have gotten used to the old man pretty quick , because soon after , we flash forward twenty years , and kathleen ( now played by shearer ) has been living happily in sir john ' s mansion the whole time .
charles laughton ( with his first nomination ) won the best actor award for alexander korda ' s british picture the private life of henry viii . [ laughton was the first british actor / performer in a foreign / british film to win an acting academy award . ] he portrayed the notorious , corpulent and autocratic tudor king as a flamboyant , loud and lusty character with despicable table manners - belching while eating capon . the monarch was noted for his six marriages and wives - catherine of aragon , anne boleyn ( merle oberon ) , jane seymour , anne of cleves ( portrayed by laughton ' s real - life wife elsa lanchester ) , catherine howard , and katherine parr . [ throughout awards history , more oscar nominations have been given for the character of sixteenth - century king henry viii ( 1491 - 1547 ) than any other historical / literary figure . robert shaw was nominated for playing henry viii in a man for all seasons ( 1966 ) , and richard burton was nominated for the same character role in anne of the thousand days ( 1969 ) . ]
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the adoptive father of a young woman is horrified to learn she plans to marry the son of the man who accidentally killed her aunt years before .
hotel transylvania 3 : summer vacation stars plan their dream summer getaways to some memorable movie settings .
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tom collier has had a great relationship with daisy , but when he decides to marry , it is not daisy whom he asks , it is cecelia . after the marriage , tom is bored with the social scene and . . . see full summary »
elizabeth barrett ' s tyrannical father has forbidden any of his family to marry . nevertheless , elizabeth falls in love with the poet robert browning .
the poor , downtrodden ( beautiful , of course )
dutiful
daughter in a london society family falls for a barrister , disguises herself , and takes a job as governess to his son . adapted from . . . see full summary »
in the late 1800s new england , banker william marlowe and his wife martha have arranged for their daughter mary to marry the officious and older lord hurley of england . mary does not want . . . see full summary »
john carteret has long been depressed and lonely , because , at his wedding years ago , his bride , moonyean , was murdered . he accepts into his house kathleen , the 5 year old orphaned niece of . . . see full summary »
an alcoholic lawyer who successfully defended a notorious gambler on a murder charge objects when his free - spirited daughter becomes romantically involved with him .
in order to avoid a prearranged marriage , a rebellious french princess sheds her identity and escapes to colonial new orleans , where she finds an unlikely true love .
an actor of the stage finds himself pursued by a lovestruck fan while trying to patch up a tempestuous relationship with his actress lover .
three daughters of a small town pharmacist undergo trials and tribulations in their problematic marriages between 1904 and 1908 .
captain fred allison has been in a german prisoner of war camp for a long time . it has been two years since he last saw monica , a girl he met , married and bought a house with in six days . . . see full summary »
a young american man is transported back to london in the time of the american revolution and meets his ancestors .
john has led a solitary life for thirty years since the death of moonyeen clare . but now owens , a close friend , insists that he care for his niece , kathleen , orphaned when her parents were lost at sea . kathleen is five , but the years pass and now she is a young woman who is the image of moonyeen . willy wants kathleen for his wife , but sparks fly when she meets kenneth wayne one dark and stormy night . john is horrified for it was wayne ' s father who shot moonyeen dead on her wedding day and john has never found him or forgiven the family . when ken goes off to war , john forbids any marriage and ken agrees , while kathleen does not . when ken returns four years later when the war is over , he is crippled . he conceals his condition and makes plans to leave for america .
metro - goldwyn - mayer studios - 10202 w . washington blvd . , culver city , california , usa
: look at this . when jeremy wayne got it , he crushed it in his hand and threw it away . why would he do that ?
as m - g - m would later do with
the wizard of oz
, no mention at all is made of any of the actors having dual roles . thus , the characters
moonyeen
and
jeremy wayne
are not even mentioned in the credits , although the characters are drastically important to the story .
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a young woman falls in love with the son of an old family enemy .
previous reviewer a . morris says this movie is
a good story
and a
heart fart mess .
well , he or she is half right .
born april 3 , 1893 , leslie howard steiner was one of two sons of hungarian immigrant to england , a london stockbroker married in 1892 . debonair englishman . . .
leonard maltin classic movie guide , copyright 2005 , 2010 . used by arrangement with penguin group ( usa ) inc .