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preacha93
Reviews
The Shadow (1940)
The correct information on the original Shadow
I saw this serial shortly after it was commercially released on VHS in the late 1990s, and have not seen it since. I do, however, remember enjoying it.
I must correct some misinformation in the post by blackcurtain about The Original Shadow. The writer infers that this Shadow serial predates the radio series, but this it totally false. While it is true that the original Shadow on radio was a narrator for another show, he was the central character of his own series starring Orson Welles by 1937. Welles left in 1938, but the show was already hugely popular, and actors William Johnstone, John Archer, Steve Courtleigh (for a whopping 6 episodes, all of which are lost), and Bret Morrison carried the series all the way to 1954. And so, by the time the serial came out in 1940, the official radio series of The Shadow that is still famous today had already been on the air for three years.
I will, however, agree that this portrayal of The Shadow was much more in likeness to the portrayal in the pulp magazines. The 3 movies from 1946 that starred Kane Richmond are also closer to the magazines than the radio version, except for the humorous elements. In fact, the only version of The Shadow that I've seen on film that actually became invisible, other than the 1994 Alec Baldwin movie, was the hideous black and white filmed version from the 1950s called Invisible Avenger. If someone were to try to torture me, they couldn't do much worse than to tie me up and lock me in a room with nothing but that DVD set to endless repeats.
But this version of The Shadow, while not the best, is still enjoyable. It's doubtful I'd want to watch it again at over four hours in length, but I did enjoy seeing it the first time.
Columbo: Murder in Malibu (1990)
I Was Going to Disagree, But On Second Thought, I'll Agree
First of all, the reason I'm giving this film 2 stars instead of 1 is because at least Peter Falk gave his usual fantastic performance as Lieutenant Columbo. He alone can get 10 stars for trying to save this otherwise utterly worthless attempt at making a movie.
I was initially all fired up at reading one poster's comment that Andrew Stevens in this movie gave "the performance of his career." To me, it was the abysmal performance by Stevens that absolutely ruined this movie, and so I was all prepared to hurl all sorts of insults at the person who made the aforementioned comment. Then I thought to myself, what else has Stevens done? So I checked and, you know, that person was absolutely right. In the 17 years since this Columbo movie was made, apparently every one of the 33 projects that Stevens has been in since then has been utter crap, so it is doubtful that anybody has even seen the rest of his career.
If you like Columbo, see every other of the 69 titles before watching this one. Do yourself a favor and save the worst for last.
The Jack Benny Program: Jack Does Christmas Shopping (1954)
My Favorite Episode, but...
Jack Benny's Christmas shopping episodes, where he repeatedly harasses Mel Blanc, have been my favorites ever since I first heard them. The television episode that is easily available had me laughing hysterically the first time I saw it, and I still laugh at it to this day when I watch it. This, however, is NOT it.
First of all, unless I'm greatly mistaken, there was not a Christmas shopping episode done on December 12, 1954. I say this with confidence because I have the script from that date, and it is the first television version of Jack going grocery shopping, not Christmas shopping. Mel Blanc isn't even in the episode. If anyone wishes to verify that I'm telling the truth, go to www.tobaccodocuments.org and type in Jack Benny. You can download scanned copies of the actual scripts from all of Jack's television and most of his radio shows for the 15 years that he advertised Lucky Strike.
Secondly, to the best of my knowledge, the only version of the Christmas shopping episode that is available to the public is the last version, filmed around 1960 (I don't have the script for that one). I do have a script for a television Christmas shopping program from 1957, and while there are many similarities, it is not the one that is readily available. Unfortunate, because I'd love to see it. Incidentally, I believe I have seen a brief clip of it on Eddie Carroll's website.
The Jack Benny Program: Jack Hires Opera Singer in Rome (1957)
Laughed Out Loud When I Saw This One
I saw this episode one time in the early 90s when Comedy Central was playing the old Jack Benny television shows. I haven't seen it since, but I thought it was hilarious at the time.
This was an episode filmed in Europe. The plot involves Jack staying in a hotel and being frustrated by the loud opera singing coming from the room next door. He starts to complain until he is told that a famous opera singer was discovered and made his agent millions of dollars. This changes Jack's tune, and he offers to start his neighbor in a career as a professional opera star, with Jack naturally as his agent. When Jack asks the neighbor to sing for a crowd of people, he is sickened by the man's awful voice. It turns out that the voice Jack heard was a record of the famous opera singer he had been told about.
Columbo: A Trace of Murder (1997)
One of the best
I've read lots of comments about this movie, both good and bad, and I must say that I think it is one of the best of the newer Columbo movies. This was actually the first time I'd seen him stumped for the majority of the movie, and it wasn't until shortly before the end that he actually figured it out. Although I love Columbo, the main reason I decided to watch this one was because I loved David Rasche in Sledge Hammer (please make more of those). However, the plot for this one kept me riveted to the couch and not wanting to move. Possibly not as good as many of the classics from the 70s, but definitely better than most of the newer episodes I've seen. Watch it if you get a chance.
The Amos 'n Andy Show (1951)
I owe my grandparents a lot for teaching me about this show
As a young man still in my 20s, I didn't grow up watching or listening to Amos n' Andy when it first aired. However, when I was in the 10th grade and spent a year with my grandparents in Mississippi in the early 1990s, I discovered this show for the first time. I heard some radio episodes first, and then saw several of the videos. I still think that this show has some of the funniest (and cleanest) comedy I've ever encountered.
One person commented that the black stars of the television series deserved equal recognition as the white creators of the radio series, including stars on the Walk of Fame. While I wholeheartedly agree that they should receive special recognition as the pioneers of black actors on television (and I won't deny that they should get stars on the Walk of Fame), I don't think it is accurate to say that the popularity of the series rests more on them than on Gosden and Correll. Perhaps you think that the radio series was fairly new when the television series began in 1951. On the contrary, Gosden and Correll had been playing Amos n' Andy on radio (and Sam n' Henry before that) since the late 1920s, and even played the characters in a 1930 movie, Check and Doublecheck. There was a time when movie theaters, in order to keep from losing customers, would actually stop the movie for 15 minutes each evening to play the Amos n' Andy radio show (what theater would stop a movie today for anything?). During that 15 minute period each evening, everything in the country went to a standstill, including water usage. Cops could walk down the streets and catch the entire show because they could hear it coming out of every single window. For many years, not only were Gosden and Correll the only writers (pumping out a fresh script every single day), but they also played every single character. It wasn't until 1943 that the series was was re-formatted to a 30 minute radio sitcom with a live audience, at least 15 years after the series began. So, as much as I love the cast from the TV series (many of whom had been on the radio series) and think they deserve proper recognition, the real credit still goes to Gosden and Correll, two white men who personally loved the black people and hated racism themselves.
Love Thy Neighbor (1940)
Didn't reach my expectations
Warning--Contains minor SPOILERS.
First of all, let me say that I've been wanting to see this movie for over 10 years. Although I'm still in my 20s, Jack Benny has been my favorite comedian for a little over 13 years. I loved hearing him and Fred Allen together on radio, so I was very excited when I found a VHS tape of this movie for sale on ebay at a good price, so I bought it without reservation.
To be very honest, I just plain didn't like it. In fact, I liked The Horn Blows at Midnight much better than Love Thy Neighbor. Maybe this was partly due to the fact that I'm not a fan of musicals, but I prefer plot and humor.
For me, this movie had way too many songs in it, which was just filler for a pretty weak story. Yes, Jack and Fred had their scenes where they fought well and insulted each other, but that was the only thing this movie had going for it. Also, considering that they were both playing "themselves" (their radio personalities), why is Jack falling in love with and marrying Fred Allen's attractive niece? On radio, all the beautiful women hated Jack, and the only women who would go out with him were plumbers, telephone operators, waitresses. Besides, Mary Livingstone was the closest thing to a "girlfriend" that Jack had on radio. I understand that Mary had severe stage fright, hence only appearing in one film ever, but she could have at least been mentioned in this movie.
All in all, I was very disappointed with it, because it didn't come close to being what I had hoped for. The best thing about it was at least having a chance to see Jack and Fred arguing rather than just hearing them.