Hollywood Royalty -- KING KONG 1933

One of the most significant films from Hollywood has to be the 1933 film, King Kong. When I was perhaps fourteen years old, our local cinema decided to show some old (vintage) "horror films" from the 1930s, 1940s...King Kong was the last in the series. I was truly impressed by the film, it was an incredible example of human nature vs "the unknown"...and of course the beautiful, sensual Fay Wray was a favorite.
This film was produced prior to the Hays Code so there was this one scene with Fay Wray in the water, being saved by Jack (played by Bruce Cabbot), where if you look close enough, she becomes topless. I know that the version I saw as a fourteen year old, and on the big screen at the cinema was the pre-Hays Code film...later on while attending college, we viewed the film again and unfortunately it was the "redone" film, which was made to suit the Hays Code.

King Kong was, and will forever be one of the best films, for it was far advanced in special effects for the 1930s, and helped to advance in special effects in movies.
The eventual remakes of this film are, as for my own opinion crap...they do away with a most excellent plot, to replace it with more modern special effects and though the 1976 version was quite good (with naughty tid-bits allowed post-Hays Code recall and new censorship laws replacing it), it did not live up to the 1933 version.
However the newest 2005 version, with Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody was indeed a feast for the eyes (special effects), it dealt a bit more with the personalities of the characters, especially King Kong himself. At least this remake stuck to the 1933 version, as far as the time period the film took place in.

King Kong is a 1933 American monster film directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B.
Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore
Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film
tells of a gigantic island-dwelling gorilla called Kong who
falls in love with a young woman and dies in an attempt to protect her from what
he perceives as danger. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert
Armstrong and Bruce Cabot, and opened in New
York City's Radio City Music Hall on March 2, 1933 to good reviews. The film is notable for its stop-motion animation and its musical score, has been released to video and DVD, and has been computer colorized. In 1991, the film was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress
and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Carl
Denham (Robert
Armstrong), a film director famous for shooting animal pictures in remote
and exotic locations, is unable to hire an actress to star in his newest project
and so wanders the streets of 1930's New York City searching for a suitable girl. He chances upon unemployed (and presumably hungry) Ann Darrow (Fay Wray)
as she is caught trying to steal an apple from a street vendor. Denham pays the
vendor, and, after providing Ann with nourishment in a diner, offers her the
lead role in his latest film. Although Ann is apprehensive, she has nothing to
lose and agrees.
They set sail aboard the Venture, a tramp steamer, and travel for weeks in the direction of Indonesia. Despite his ongoing declarations that women have no place on board ships, the first mate Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) is attracted to Ann. Denham informs Driscoll he has enough trouble without the complications of a seagoing love affair. Driscoll sneers at the suggestion, reminding Denham of his toughness in past adventures. Denham's reply outlines the theme of both the movie he is making and the one in which he is a character: "The Beast was a tough guy too. He could lick the world, but when he saw Beauty, she got him. He went soft. He forgot his wisdom and the little fellas licked him."
After maintaining secrecy throughout the trip, Denham finally tells Driscoll and
Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher) that they're searching for an uncharted island. Denham has the only map that shows its location, originally drawn by a native of the island who had been swept out to sea. Denham then describes something monstrous connected to the island, a legendary entity known only as "Kong".

Fay Wray, the femme fatale...















Official trailer


Home made trailer for the film

Fay Wray as Ann Darrow, Denham's lead actress and the love interest of Driscoll and Kong.
Robert Armstrong as Carl Denham, a tenacious movie director who leads the expedition to Skull Island.
Bruce Cabot as Jack Driscoll, the first mate on the Venture who falls in love with Ann and saves her from Kong.
Frank Reicher as Captain Englehorn, the captain of the Venture.
Sam Hardy as Charles Weston, a theatrical agent.
Victor Wong as Charlie, the Chinese chef on the Venture who has a monkey named Ignatz.
Noble Johnson as the Native Chief who has Ann kidnapped and sacrificed to Kong.
Steve Clemente (credited as Steve Clemento) as the Witch King.
James Flavin as Second Mate Briggs, a sailor who comes to the island.

Directed by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Produced by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack and David O. Selznick
(exec. prod.)
Written by Story: Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace
Screenplay: James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose
Starring
Fay Wray
Robert Armstrong
Bruce Cabot

Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date March 2, 1933
Running time 105 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $500,000 (est.)
Followed by The Son of Kong

AC-130 -- an incredible fighting machine, born in Vietnam and still used today

The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft. The basic airframe is manufactured by Lockheed, and Boeing is responsible for the conversion into a gunship and for aircraft support.[1] It is a variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane. The AC-130A Gunship II superseded the AC-47 Gunship I in the Vietnam War.

The gunship's sole user is the United States Air Force, which uses AC-130H Spectre and AC-130U Spooky variants.[2] The AC-130 is powered by four Rolls-Royce T56-A-15 turboprops and has an armament ranging from 25 mm Gatling guns to 105 mm howitzers. It has a standard crew of twelve or thirteen airmen, including five officers (two pilots, a navigator, an electronic warfare officer and a fire control officer) and enlisted personnel (flight engineer, electronics operators, and aerial gunners).

The US Air Force uses the AC-130 gunships for close air support, air interdiction, and force protection. Close air support roles include supporting ground troops, escorting convoys, and flying urban operations. Air interdiction missions are conducted against planned targets and targets of opportunity. Force protection missions include defending air bases and other facilities. Currently, AC-130U Spooky model gunships are stationed at Hurlburt Field in Northwest Florida and the AC-130H models are stationed at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. The gunship squadrons are part of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), a component of United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

Wikipedia; Lockheed AC-130





























Role Fixed-wing gunship
Manufacturer Lockheed and Boeing
First flight AC-130A: 1966
AC-130U: 1990
Introduction AC-130A: 1968
AC-130U: 1995
Status Active
Primary user United States Air Force
Number built 43, including all variants (25, Active)
Unit cost AC-130H: US$132.4 million

AC-130U: US$190 million (2001)
Developed from C-130 Hercules

General characteristics

* Crew: 13
o Officers: 5 (pilot, copilot, navigator, fire control officer, electronic warfare officer)
o Enlisted: 8 (flight engineer, TV operator, infrared detection set operator, loadmaster, four aerial gunners)
* Length: 97 ft 10 in (29.8 m)
* Wingspan: 132 ft 7 in (40.4 m)
* Height: 38 ft 6 in (11.7 m)
* Wing area: 1745.5 ft² (162.2 m²)
* Loaded weight: 122,400 lb (55,520 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 155,000 lb (69,750 kg)
* Powerplant: 4× Allison T56-A-15 turboprops, 4,910 shp (3,700 kW) each

Performance

* Maximum speed: 260 knots (300 mph, 480 km/h)
* Range: 2,200 nm (2,530 mi, 4,070 km)
* Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

[edit] Armament
Gunners loading 40 mm cannon (background) and 105 mm howitzer (foreground)
AC-130H Spectre

AC-130A Project Gunship II

* 4× 7.62 mm GAU-2/A miniguns
* 4× 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon

AC-130A Surprise Package, Pave Pronto, AC-130E Pave Spectre

* 2× 7.62 mm GAU-2/A miniguns
* 2× 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon
* 2× 40 mm (1.58 in) L/60 Bofors cannon

AC-130E Pave Aegis

* 2× 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon
* 1× 40 mm (1.58 in) L/60 Bofors cannon
* 1× 105 mm (4.13 in) M102 howitzer

AC-130H Spectre[29]

(Prior to circa 2003)

* 2× 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon
* 1× 40 mm (1.58 in) L/60 Bofors cannon
* 1× 105 mm (4.13 in) M102 howitzer

(Current Armament)

* 1× 40 mm (1.58 in) L/60 Bofors cannon
* 1× 105 mm (4.13 in) M102 howitzer

AC-130U Spooky II

* 1× 25 mm (0.984 in) 5-barrel GAU-12/U Equalizer Gatling gun
* 1× 40 mm (1.58 in) L/60 Bofors cannon
* 1× 105 mm (4.13 in) M102 howitzer

AC-130U Plus 4 / AC-130U+4 (cancelled)[30]

* 2× 30 mm Bushmaster II cannon
* 1× 105 mm (4.13 in) M102 howitzer

Other Links

Spectre Association

Military/Discovery Channel

two cool movies; All This And World War II, and How I Won the War

All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary that juxtaposes Beatles
songs, performed by a number of musicians, with World War II newsreel footage
and 20th Century Fox films from the 1940s. It lasted a week in movie theaters
and was quickly sent into storage, although it did play a midnight show at
Landmark's Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles in June 2007.

After Terry
Gilliam turned down the offer to direct this documentary, 20th Century Fox
turned to Susan Winslow. She had previously participated as a researcher in the
crew that produced Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (directed by Philippe Mora)
which married 30s newsreel and mostly Warner Bros. movie footage to gramophone
songs of the period.

The original intention of the filmmakers was to use
actual Beatles music in the film. The decision to use other artists covering
Beatles music was made by the film's producers after they realized additional
money could be made through a soundtrack album. The decision was a sound one, as
the soundtrack actually generated more revenue than the film.

The film
was made only six years after the Beatles had split up.

The film has
never been released on home video or DVD, but bootleg copies of the film are
available from several collector-to-collector resources.

Wikipedia; All This & World War 2

------------------------------

How I Won the War is a black comedy film directed by Richard Lester, released in
1967. The film stars Michael Crawford as bungling British Army Officer
Lieutenant Earnest Goodbody, with John Lennon (Musketeer Gripweed), Jack
MacGowran (Musketeer Juniper), Roy Kinnear (Musketeer Clapper) and Lee Montague
(Sergeant Transom) as soldiers under his command. The film uses an inconsistent
variety of styles — vignette, straight–to–camera, and, extensively, parody of
the war film genre, docu-drama, and popular war literature — to tell the story
of 3rd Troop, the 4th Musketeers (a fictional regiment reminiscent of the Royal
Fusiliers) and their misadventures in the Second World War. This is told in the
comic/absurdist vein throughout, a central plot being the setting-up of an
“Advanced Area Cricket Pitch” behind enemy lines in Tunisia, but it is all
broadly based on the Allied landings in North Africa in 1942 to the crossing of
the last intact bridge on the Rhine at Remagen in 1945.

Wikipedia; How I Won The War



...and;

Cecil B. DeMille -- One of Hollywood's Greatest Directors

Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881–January 21, 1959) was a legendary American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies. Among some of his most well-known films are The Ten Commandments (1956), Cleopatra (1934), and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Wikipedia; Cecil B DeMille

Oscar Awards; Cecil B. DeMille

These are some of my favorite DeMille films.

Cleopatra 1934

Wikipedia; Cleopatra, 1934

Cleopatra is a 1934 epic film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and distributed by Paramount Pictures, which retells the story of Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
It was written by Waldemar Young, Vincent Lawrence and Bartlett Cormack, and was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
In 1934 the Hays code had just taken effect, so DeMille got away with using more risque imagery than he would be able to in his later productions. He opens the film with a naked, strategically lit slave girl holding up incense burners as the title appears on screen

{to see what the Hay Code entailed, see entry below}

* Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra
* Warren William as Julius Caesar
* Henry Wilcoxon as Marc Antony
* Joseph Schildkraut as King Herod
* Ian Keith as Octavian
* Gertrude Michael as Calpurnia
* C. Aubrey Smith as Enobarbus
* Irving Pichel as Apollodorus
* Arthur Hohl as Brutus
* Edwin Maxwell as Casca
* Ian Maclaren as Cassius
* Eleanor Phelps as Charmion
* Leonard Mudie as Pothinos
* Grace Durkin as Iras

Wikipedia; Cleopatra, 1934

The 10 Commandments 1956

The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American motion picture that dramatized the biblical story of Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince-turned deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. It was released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Charlton Heston in the lead role. Co-stars included Yul Brynner as his adoptive brother, Pharaoh Ramesses II, Anne Baxter as Nefretiri, John Derek as Joshua, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan, Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora, Cedric Hardwicke as Pharaoh Seti I, Vincent Price as Baka, and John Carradine as Aaron.

This was the last film that Cecil DeMille directed. He was set to direct his own remake of The Buccaneer, but his final illness forced him to relinquish the directing chores for that one to his son-in-law, Anthony Quinn. He had also planned to film the life of Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the Scout movement, with David Niven; this project was never realized.

* Charlton Heston as Moses
* Yul Brynner as Pharaoh Rameses II
* Anne Baxter as Nefretiri
* Edward G. Robinson as Dathan
* Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora
* Debra Paget as Lilia
* John Derek as Joshua
* Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Pharaoh Seti I
* Nina Foch as Bithiah
* Martha Scott as Yochabel
* Judith Anderson as Memnet
* Vincent Price as Baka
* John Carradine as Aaron
* Douglass Dumbrille as Jannes
* Olive Deering as Miriam
* Mike Connors as Amalekite Herder (under the name Touch Connors)

Wikipedia; The 10 Commandments


The Greatest Show On Earth, 1952

The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Its storyline is supported by lavish production values, actual circus acts, and documentary, behind-the-rings looks at the massive logistics effort which made big top circuses possible.

The film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring, and Charlton Heston as the circus manager running the show. James Stewart also stars as a mysterious clown who never removes his make-up, even between shows.

In addition to the film actors, the real Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Circus' 1951 troupe appears in the film, with its complement of 1400 people, hundreds of animals, and 60 carloads of equipment and tents. The actors learned their respective circus roles and participated in the acts.

Wikipedia; TGSOE

* Betty Hutton as Holly
* Cornel Wilde as The Great Sebastian
* Charlton Heston as Brad Braden
* James Stewart as Buttons the Clown
* Dorothy Lamour as Phyllis
* Gloria Grahame as Angel
* Henry Wilcoxon as FBI Agent Gregory
* Lyle Bettger as Klaus
* Lawrence Tierney as Mr. Henderson
* Brad Johnson as unnamed reporter

The film features about 85 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus acts, including clowns Emmett Kelly and Lou Jacobs, midget Cucciola, and aerialist Antoinette Concello.

Samson and Delilah 1949

Samson and Delilah (1949) is a film made by Paramount Pictures (and one of few pre-1950 films by the studio to remain under its ownership), produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as the title characters. Angela Lansbury, George Sanders and Henry Wilcoxon are also featured.

The story of Samson and Delilah is adapted from the Biblical Book of Judges.

Wildly successful at the box-office, DeMille's Biblical epic is known for the beauty of its leading lady and the spectacular toppling of the temple

.

Wikipedia; Samson and Delilah

* Hedy Lamarr - Delilah
* Victor Mature - Samson
* George Sanders - The Saran of Gaza
* Angela Lansbury - Semadar
* Henry Wilcoxon - Ahtur
* Russ Tamblyn - Saul
* Olive Deering - Miriam
* Edgar Dearing - Tax collector
* Fay Holden - Hazeleponit
* Julia Faye - Haisham, Delilah's maid
* William Farnum - Tubal, Delilah's Father
* Lane Chandler - Teresh
* Moroni Olsen - Targif
* Francis McDonald - Story Teller
* Wee Willie Davis - Garmiskar
* John Miljan - Lesh Lakish
* George Reeves - Wounded Messenger
* Nils Asther - Prince
* Mike Mazurki - Leader of Philistine Soldiers

Unconquered 1947

Unconquered is a 1947 adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount. The film depicts the violent struggles between American colonists and Native Americans on the western frontier in the mid-eighteenth century, primarily around Fort Pitt (modern-day Pittsburgh). It stars Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard

Based on Neil Swanson's Unconquered, a Novel of the Pontiac Conspiracy, the film focuses on "Abby" Hale (Paulette Goddard), who is condemned to death by a British court, then offered clemency if she will become an indentured servant in America. There is a bidding competition between Captain Christopher Holden (Gary Cooper) and Martin Garth (Howard Da Silva), which Holden wins. He then sets her free. Unfortunately, Garth is a sore loser; he kidnaps Abby and takes her to the western frontier, where he is involved in illegal arms sales to the Native Americans. Soon, Holden becomes involved in the conflict with the warring tribes and is reunited with Abby; he also has further confrontations with Garth and his henchman (Mike Mazurki).

# Gary Cooper as Captain Christopher Holden
# Paulette Goddard as Abigail 'Abby' Martha Hale
# Howard Da Silva as Martin Garth
# Boris Karloff as Chief Guyasuta
# Cecil Kellaway as Jeremy Love
# Ward Bond as John Fraser
# Virginia Campbell as Mrs. Fraser
# Katherine DeMille (the director's daughter) as Hannah
# Henry Wilcoxon as Capt. Steele
# C. Aubrey Smith as Lord Chief Justice
# Victor Varconi as Capt. Simeon Ecuyer
# Virginia Grey as Diana
# Mike Mazurki as Dave Bone
# Porter Hall as Leach

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