#marc breaux

[camyfilms]

MARY POPPINS 1964

You know, you can say it backwards, which is "docious-ali-expi-istic-fragil-cali-rupus" - but that's going a bit too far, don't you think?

#mary poppins #1964 #julie andrews #dick van dyke #david tomlinson #glynis johns #hermione baddeley #reta shaw #karen dotrice #matthew garber #elsa lanchester #arthur treacher #reginald owen #marc breaux

[world-cinema-research]

I Was Always Me, In a Way.

I remember not liking the 1968 kids movie musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I found the kids irritating, and I was not interested in many of the songs.

The trailer is long on slapstick and sentiment.

I have memories of seeing it both in a movie theater and on TV. But I would have been six years old when the movie came out, and I'm not sure my parents let me go to movies alone that young.

I think I liked the one where the adults sing about candy and make whistles out of candy. I remember watching it on TV and feeling relieved and happy that a good number finally came on.

I was more interested in the villain than the kids. The villain (really the villain's helper) was the Child Catcher. he has a long nose, which is probably an anti-Semitic stereotype, which he uses to sniff out children. (Children are illegal in the kingdom where that part of the story takes place.) It's like the opposite of the Star Trek episode where adults are outlawed.

Reviews at the time were mixed to negative.

Reviewers thought the movie talked down to children, and as a child, I think I saw it that way.

"The $10 million film lacks warmth. No real feeling is generated between any two characters. As well as one star performer, from Mary Poppins have come all the musical talent – songwriters Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman and the choreographers [Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood]. But there has been no desire to reprise the Edwardian music hall tradition, aspects of which so informed Poppins.

Howes goes through the romantic motions with Van Dyke and the maternal ones with the kids, but there is no real sentiment between players."

Howes goes through the romantic motions with Van Dyke and the maternal ones with the kids, but there is no real sentiment between players."

Doing some research, I discover that the people who owned the right to Ian Fleming's James Bond books also owned the rights to his children's book about a magical car.

After Julie Andrews appearance in the musical My Fair Lady on Broadway, she was such a hot commodity that people fought over her. The producers of the film of My Fair Lady foolishly cast a movie star who couldn't sing (Audrey Hepburn), and so Disney cleverly snatched up Julie Andrews for their 1964 kids movie based on a book Mary Poppins, co-starring Dick Van Dyke.

The same year My Fair Lady was released, and Hepburn and Andrews both got Oscar noms but Andrews won for playing Mary Popppins.

So the Bond producers owned the rights to Fleming's children's book and made a kids movie musical featuring Dick Van Dyke. There's even a musical number ("The Old Bamboo") which is a lot like the chimney sweet dance in Mary Poppins.

The female star Sallie Ann Howes is basically a substitute for Julie Andrews. Andrews was busy working for Hitchcock and other high-profile things. She was not about to make another kiddie picture after having made a celebrated one.

The producers of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang also hired Roald Dahl to write the screenplay, and Dahl's children's book about a child and a chocolate factory was made into a much bigger hit in 1971: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The director of Chitty Chitty worked a lot, but he did not have any major hits. Chitty Chitty was a flop. Which I didn't know as a child.

Things have changed since 1968.

Today (April 16, 2023) the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang DVD DVD gets 4.8 stars stars from almost 9,000 reviews reviews.

One Amazon reviewer says basically this: they made this for the wrong reasons.

"I don't know how this movie wasn't sued into oblivion, especially by Disney. It takes so much from Mary Poppins, it's an abomination. And throw in The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, My Fair Lady, Wile E Coyote cartoons…bits of business, choreography, and the music, one song is a direct rip off of With A Little Bit of Luck! I just thank God DVD didn't try another British accent, bad enough we've had to listen to the English bang on about his bad Cockney for the last 60 years.

Talented cast, no mistake, but ill-used….

….I watched this in five sittings, I wanted to finish it, but I just couldn't stick with it for an extended period, and it is painfully long and slow -- that Toot Sweets number was like one of those bugs you keep swatting but it never seems to die?"

Talented cast, no mistake, but ill-used….

….I watched this in five sittings, I wanted to finish it, but I just couldn't stick with it for an extended period, and it is painfully long and slow -- that Toot Sweets number was like one of those bugs you keep swatting but it never seems to die?"

I later discovered that the Child Catcher was played by Robert Helpmann: a revered ballet dancer who danced leads and also played 'character parts' in ballet. He danced the role of Hamlet, which is one of my favorite plays.

And he has an important role in the movie The Red Shoes. This later became one of my favorite movies. It's about an empressario who falls in love with his lead ballet dancer and works her literally to death--or suicide, I think it's ambiguous.

When we are young, we don't know who we are or what we will become.

Some experiences from childhood later in hindsight tell us about the person we will become.

Movies don't change. People do, but maybe not that much.

#chitty-chitty-bang-bang #dick van dyke #julie andrews #Youtube

[uneasylisteningradio]

Hair October 8, 2022

Photo of Spaz and friends courtesy of Spaz

stream on Mixcloud

Bay City Rollers - Saturday Night Amanda Lepore - My Hair Looks Fierce

DJ speaks over Tomita - The Girl with the Flaxen Hair

Nina Simone - Four Women The Teen Queens - Royal Crown Hairdressing The Seeds - The Wind Blows Your Hair Dry Cleaning - Viking Hair

DJ speaks over Paul Revere and the Raiders - Like, Long Hair

Konstrakta - In corpore sano Death Side - The Sight Made Our Hair Stand On End The National Gallery - Long Hair Soulful KRS-One - Mortal Thought Blind Alfred Reed - Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Connie Stevens -Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)

DJ speaks over Ramsey Lewis - Hang on Sloopy

KMD - Mr. Hood Gets a Haircut Syd Barrett - Golden Hair (Take 5) Red Cross - Clorox Girls (demo) Cornershop - Topknot Erykah Badu - Afro (Freestyle Skit) Blyth Power - Strawberries

DJ speaks over Augustus Pablo & Inner Circle - Curly Locks

The Monkees - Dandruff? The Monkees - Randy Scouse Git Mekons - Where Were You? Sportchestra! - Mick McManus' Haircut The Moonglows - Ten Commandments of Beautiful Hair Anna Bell - La Moustache a Papa Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five - (You Dyed Your Hair) Chartreuse Skinned Teen - Karate Hairdresser Cyanamid - Long Hairs Kampec Dolores - Hajam, Arcom

DJ speaks over Milton Mélançon, Marc Savoy, and Lurlin Lejeune - Jolie Blonde

Amédé Breaux - Ma Blonde Est Partié Bulldog Breed - Halo In My Hair Zip Code Rapists - Cut Your Hair Lulu - Gentle Hair Care Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges - Um Girassol Da Cor De Seu Cabelo

DJ speaks over The Buff Medways - Mons Quiff

The Left Banke - Toni Hairspray Naked Lady Wrestlers - Dan With the Mellow Hair Le Bain Didonc - Cheveux Dans le Vent Little Richard & Gene Nobles - Royal Crown Hairdressing Hank Ballard & the Dapps - How You Gonna Get Respect (When You Haven't Cut Your Process Yet)

DJ speaks over Mort Garson - Hair

Talib Kweli & Hi Tek - For Women

#radio #community radio #hair #wprb #broadcast radio #uneasy listening #music #playlist #jazz #garage rock #psychedelic rock #eurovision #post punk #novelty music #punk #folk punk #folk music #bubblegum pop #glam rock #baroque pop #hip hop

[kwebtv]

Maurice Evans Presents Alice in Wonderland  -  NBC  -  October 23, 1955

From a series of special Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations produced by Maurice Evans and directed by George Schaefer

Fantasy

Running Time:  74 minutes 

Stars:

Gillian Barber as Alice

Martyn Green as The White Rabbit

Bobby Clark as Ugly Duchess

Hiram Sherman as King of Hearts

J. Pat O'Malley as Gryphon

Burr Tillstrom as Mock Turtle

Elsa Lanchester as Red Queen

Eva Le Gallienne as White Queen

Reginald Gardiner as White Knight

Noel Leslie as The Caterpillar

Michael Enserro as Fish Footman

Gilbert Mack as Frog Footman

Bernard Tone as Cook

Ian Martin as Tweedledum

Don Hanmer as Tweedledee

Robert Casper as March Hare

Mort Marshall as Mad Hatter

Alice Pearce as Dormouse

Skedge Miller as Gardener

Tom Bosley as Knave of Hearts

Ronald Long as Queen of Hearts

Karl Swenson as Humpty Dumpty

Don Somers as Red King

Marc Breaux as Walrus

Lenny Claret as Carpenter

#Alice in Wonderland #Maurice Evans Presents #Hallmark Hall of Fame #TV #1955 #Fantasy #NBC #Gillian Barber #Martyn Green #Bobby Clark #Hiram Sherman #J. Pat O'Malley #Burr Tillstrom #Elsa Lachester #Eva Le Gallienne #Reginald Gardiner

[jamieroxxartist]

Birthday Remembrances. Today, Nov 3, 1924 – Marc Breaux, American actor, director, and choreographer (d. 2013) was born.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Breaux)

[rumforall]

Perfection.

#chitty chitty bang bang #Marc Breaux #dick van dyke #sally ann howes

[jamieroxx]

Birthday Remembrances. Today, Nov 3, 1924 – Marc Breaux, American actor, director, and choreographer (d. 2013) was born. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Breaux)

#Marc Breaux

[danceoftheday]

Performed by: Dick Van Dyke and the penguins

Number: “The Penguin Dance”

Choreographers: Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood

Style: Tap

From: Mary Poppins (1964)

#dance #dick van dyke #penguins #dancing #mary poppins #1964 #1960s #marc breaux #dee dee wood #tap #tap dancing #tap dance #vintage #retro #disney

[papermoonloveslucy]

LIKE HEP!

April 13, 1969

Directed by Marc Breaux ~ Executive Producer George Schlatter ~ Written by Chris Bearde and Coslough Johnson

Dinah Shore (Herself, Host / Various Characters) was born Fannye Rose Shore in 1916. She was a singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era, but achieved even greater success a decade later, in television, mainly as hostess of a series of variety programs. Her first recordings were with Desi Arnaz’s mentor, bandleader Xavier Cugat, and she later changed her named to Dinah after her success with the song of the same name. She was famous for blowing a kiss to her audiences (“Mwah!”) at the end of each show. 

Shore appeared as herself on a 1971 episode of “Here's Lucy” (S4;E7). Shore and Ball appeared together on many television talk shows, specials and award shows together. Her passions were golf, cooking, and painting. Shore died in 1994.

Lucille Ball (Herself / Various Characters) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Diana Ross (Herself / Various Characters) makes her first television appearance as a solo act after many years of headlining with The Supremes. The group released a record-setting twelve number-one hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100.  As an actress, she starred in Lady Sings The Blues (1971), Mahogany (1975), and The Wiz (1978).

Ross is credited by the announcer as Dinah's “Extra Added Attraction Guest”.

Dick Martin (Himself / Various Characters, below right) is probably best remembered as the co-host of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” from 1967 to 1973. He was born Thomas Richard Martin on January 30, 1922, in Battle Creek, Michigan. As a teenager he lost a lung to tuberculosis and used bottled oxygen for the rest of his life. Martin was a writer for the popular radio show “Duffy’s Tavern” before teaming up with Dan Rowan in the 1950s. They played nightclubs and Las Vegas before Martin was cast as Lucy Carmichael's boyfriend Harry Conners on “The Lucy Show,” his ‘acting’ debut. He was married three times and died in 2008 of respiratory failure.

Dan Rowan (Himself / Various Characters, above left) is best known as the co-host of “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” which earned him a 1972 Emmy Award. In 1966 he had appeared with Lucille Ball on “The Dean Martin Show.” Rowan made two appearances on “The Lucy Show” in 1966 and 1967. He died in 1987 at age 65.

Gary Owens (Announcer / Emcee, uncredited) was also, not surprisingly, the announcer for “Laugh-In.”

Lorne Greene (Himself, uncredited) appears in his costume from “Bonanza” in a couple of quick comic cut-aways.

The Smothers Brothers (Themselves, uncredited) had a variety show that was opposite this special on CBS. They were generally up against “Bonanza.”  

Tom and Dick Smothers only appeared at the very end of the final credits, in a one shot gag. The gag was not included in the rebroadcast. 

Greg Morris (Nightclub Patron, uncredited) was appearing in the Desilu spy thriller “Mission: Impossible” at the time. He does not have any dialogue.

Victor Buono (Corrupt Rival Gang Leader, uncredited) played “Batman” villain King Tut from 1967 to 1968. A month before this cameo, he had appeared on an episode of “Here's Lucy” (S1;E21).  He does not have any dialogue.

Jay Meyer (uncredited) was a singer and actor who performed with such stars as Ray Conniff, Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, and Tennessee Ernie Ford, just to name a few. Jay also worked for 13 years at Disneyland in the Golden Horseshoe Revue and became one of the singing ghosts busts in the Haunted Mansion. His career continued until his mid-seventies. He died in 2009.

Carole Cook (Lucy's Singing Voice, uncredited) played Thelma Green on “The Lucy Show” as well as a host of other characters. She was a protege of Lucille Ball’s during the Desilu Playhouse years. Although born as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take the name Carole, in honor of Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard. Cook appeared in five episodes of “Here’s Lucy” as various characters and sometimes was a ghost singer for Lucille Ball.

About the title: Hip v Hep ~ 'Hip' is a slang term for fashionably current or to have an attitude in opposition to the unfree (or un-cool) world. It entered common parlance after World War II. In the 1940s the word 'hep' became used interchangeably (not without controversy) with 'hip,' especially by Jazz musicians, although 'hip' eventually proved the more time-tested of the two terms. “Like Hep” the TV special seems to suggest that the term 'hep' is coming back, which proved not to be true. You hep?  

In the fall of 1969, George Schlatter also had Diana Ross as a guest on two episodes of “Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.” The NBC smash hit's second half hour competed with “Here's Lucy” on CBS. Both Dan Rowan and Dick Martin had appeared many times on “The Lucy Show” before their big success with “Laugh-In.” Interestingly, “Here's Lucy” frequently incorporated catch phrases from “Laugh-In” like “Here Come the Judge” and “Sock It To Me” in order to stay contemporary. “Laugh-In” regulars Ruth Buzzi and Arte Johnson guest starred on “Here's Lucy.”  

In one of J. Randy Taraborrelli's books about Diana Ross, he wrote that Lucy and Dinah "gave Diana hell", and took advantage of her inexperience with comedy. Other accounts, however, relate that Ross's experience with Lucy and Dinah was a good one. The "gave her hell" line just referred to the fact that hey worked her hard, but she wasn't intimidated because they were all working hard to make it right. In the planning stages they all met at Lucy's house to discuss the special and everyone was very cordial. Diana and Lucy had a friendly relationship after the special as well with Lucy praising Ross's performance in Lady Sings The Blues.

In a Diana Ross book, she's quoted as saying Lucy and Dinah pretty much ignored her. She may have been over-sensitive or it may be that Lucy and Dinah found it hard to find common ground for chit-chat, their backgrounds and ages being so different. When this special was shot, Lucy was 57 (going on 58) Dinah was somewhere between 52 and 55 (depending on your source), while Diana was just 25.

Later in 1969, Diana Ross appeared on television with The Supremes in “G.I.T. on Broadway,” also produced by George Schlatter. That special also contained the song “Let The Sunshine In” from the Broadway musical Hair.

Coincidentally, NBC's lead-in for “Like Hep” was the final episode of the Desi Arnaz series “The Mother-In-Law.” That night's episode was directed by Elliot Lewis and featured his wife, Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane on “Here's Lucy”). It was written by Lucy's original writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis.

More coincidental, “Just Hep” was programmed opposite “The Smothers Brothers” on CBS which that night guest starred Dan Rowan. Following “The Smothers Brothers” was the Desilu produced series “Mission: Impossible.”

Dinah makes her first entrance in an elegant setting singing “For Once In My Life” by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden in 1966 and popularized by Stevie Wonder. The song was also recorded by Diana Ross. Dinah stops herself (literally, thanks to special effects) and says that while “she” is singing songs like that, the rest of us will be doing something that's more “like hep.” After the opening credits, she finishes the song.

After the break, Dinah sings “Both Sides, Now” by Joni Mitchell, popularized by Judy Collins in late 1968. After the song is over, Dinah bows and is instantly (thanks again to technology) in a new outfit. Lucy bounds out to join her.  

Dinah: “It's not easy to change clothes that fast on television thanks to all the new restrictions on sex and violence. Senator Pastore – eat your heart out!”

John O. Pastore is probably best remembered as the senator who was involved in quizzing Fred Rodgers about the value of Public Television when it was proposed that their Federal funding be raised by 20 million dollars. In the end, the generally grouchy Pastore was won over by Mr. Rogers and funding was increased to 22 million.

Dinah explains to Lucy that the term 'hip' has reverted to 'hep' again. Which launches the song “Like Hep” written by Billie Barnes and W. Earl Brown especially for this special. Diana Ross (in her first appearance) struts in for the second chorus. Just as in “Laugh-In,” the song is occasionally interrupted for a few quick comic exchanges about being ‘hep.’ Some of the names mentioned in the fast-paced song include:

Terence Stamp – English actor famous for the films Billy Budd (1962, Oscar nominee) and Far From the Madding Crowd (1966).

Betty Grable – American starlet famous for her shapely legs who starred in three films with Lucille Ball in 1935 and guest-starred with her husband Harry James on a 1958 “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”

“Sock it To Me” /  “Bet Your Bippy” – Catch-phrases popularized by “Laugh-In” that entered common usage.

Andy Warhol – pop artist and counter-culture celebrity who also produced films and ran the famous Factory nightclub.

Dinah introduces “The Story of the Singing Detective,” which opens in a nightclub located “in the outskirts of beautiful lower New Jersey.” Ross is singing a peppy “Baby Love” with four back-up dancers. Greg Morris (“Mission: Impossible”) is sitting at a table with Dick Martin who constantly (and inexplicably) wields a screwdriver. Dan Rowan is the “Boss” and Lucy is Joyce, his “Moll.”  Diana asks the Boss about her performance. 

Boss: “You do a great Minnie Pearl, but how's your Judy Garland?” Diana: (singing) “Somewheeeeeeeeere...” Boss: “Work on it.”

Ross is attempting the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, sung by Garland as Dorothy in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Little did she know then that she would also play Dorothy in the 1978 film adaptation, The Wiz. 

Joyce takes the floor to sing a few bars of “Big Spender” written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the 1966 stage musical Sweet Charity. The film version starring Shirley MacLaine was released two weeks before this special first aired. Lucy's belted vocals knock the corrupt rival gang leaders dead – literally. [Note: This is likely not Lucille Ball's voice, but that of her frequent ghost-singer, Carole Cook.] Enter the Singing Detective played by Dinah looking like Sherlock Holmes by way of Las Vegas. The Singing Detective also has a 'killer voice' and with a blast of “From This Moment On” (by Cole Porter) everyone in the nightclub (including Diana) drops over dead!

During a bit of brief banter between Lucy and Dick Martin he says he watches “Here's Lucy.” Dan Rowan introduces a 'space age' song: “The Age of Aquarius” from the musical Hair sung by Diana Ross. The song pauses for Lucy and Dick to play robots who speak an unintelligible language. The robot sketch slowly morphs into a parody of “Laugh-In's” popular park bench skit starring Ruth Buzzi as handbag-wielding Gladys Ormphby and Arte Johnson as the muttering dirty old man Tyrone F. Horneigh. Lucille Ball did another version of the sketch in 1971′s “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” with Arte Johnson himself. 

This goes directly into Diana [wearing an outfit that only Cher would envy] singing “Don't Ya Hear Me Calling To Ya?” popularized by the Fifth Dimension and appearing on their 1969 album “The Age of Aquarius”. It was also the 'B' side of the single. The song goes back to Diana singing “The Age of Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In.”  

After ”station identification” [remember that?] the background music plays “When You Wish Upon A Star” and Dinah introduces “The Fairy Godmother's Revenge,” a fairy tale parody set in Goosetown, a village populated by various storybook characters. Diana plays Snow White [!], who is worried about the seven dwarfs, who have gone on strike at the gold mine. 

The dwarfs’ picket line is behind a wall so only their protest signs can be seen. One of the signs says “Abe Lastfogel for Mayor.” Abe Lastfogel was the long-time president and agent of the William Morris Talent Agency. When he died in 1984 he had worked for the agency for 72 years. Unsurprisingly, he was Dinah Shore's agent. His last name was used for an in-joke during a 1948 episode of Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband”. 

Other picket signs say: 

“Shorter Hours, Smaller Work Days” 

“Mickey Rooney for President” 

“Raise the Floors” 

“Lower the Ceilings” 

“Movie Shorts for Lunch” 

“Rich Little is Nice” 

“More Short Term Loans” 

“We Love Teeny Boppers” 

“Hooray for Tom Thumb” 

“Up With Tiny Tim” 

“How About Some Girl Dwarfs” 

“Cheers for Jockey Shorts.”

Dick Martin plays Little Boy Blue using a New Orleans drawl and Dan Rowan is a rhyming Little Tommy Tucker. For help with the strike, Snow White calls upon her Fairy Godmother (Lucy), and she magically appears. Lucy is wearing a pink Glinda-like dress and chomping on a cigar. She is a grouchy Fairy Godmother, annoyed about being woken from her five decade trance.

Fairy Godmother: (to Little Boy Blue): “Are those your real clothes or are you just trying to stay out of the Army?”

“Like Hep” aired at the height of the Vietnam War and the attendant peace movement. To avoid the draft, some men would claim psychological exemption due to homosexual or transsexual behavior. This idea was mined for comedy through the character Klinger (Jamie Farr) on TV's “M*A*S*H” (1972).

Little Boy Blue (about the Fairy Godmother): “I hear she's been bugged ever since her twin sister did the stunts in 'Mary Poppins'.”  

That's Lucy's cue to go flying overhead (on very visible wires) as Mary Poppins, singing “A Spoonful of Sugar.” Once again, Lucy's singing voice is probably dubbed by Carole Cook. Dinah comes in and out as several fairy tale damsels: Little Miss Muffet looking for her tuffet; a girl named Candy looking for a guru; and Little Bo-Peep looking for her sheep.

Trying to make the mean Fairy Godmother smile, Bo-Peep and Snow White sing a song that mashes up all the fairy tales into one and (at the end) even includes suggestions of Dracula!

Bo-Peep and Snow White: “That's our fairy bippity-boppity-zippidy-bang-bang-chitty-chitty-doo-dah tale!”

As Mary Poppins (“the Fairy Godmother's crazy stuntman sister”) flies in to save the day, she collides mid-air with Ye Olde Flying Nun. The TV series “The Flying Nun” starring Sally Field ran from 1966 to 1970 on ABC. The mean Fairy Godmother finally gives in to the dwarfs' demands. [General rejoicing.]   

Dinah: “They lived happily ever after. The dwarfs grew up and became Jim Arness. The Fairy Godmother turned into an aardvark and ate Philadelphia. And as you well know, the giant chicken and the giant rabbit ran off to Athens together and became Spiro and Agnew.”

Jim (James) Arness played Marshal Matt Dillon from 1955 to 1975 on the TV series “Gunsmoke.” Greek-American Spiro Agnew was the recently elected Vice-President of the United States under Richard Nixon.

In a break from the silliness, Dinah sings “The Windmills of Your Mind” by Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair wining the Academy Award for Best Song.  

A sketch about the country bumpkin Whitebread Family starts with a down-home song from Mandy (Lucy), Randy (Dinah) and Sandy (Diana).  A rich stranger rolls up (in a Rolls), and offers to put them in “the show business.” 

In a montage sequence, the three girls each take ballet lessons. The sight of Lucy at the barre is immediately reminiscent of “The Ballet” (ILL S1;E19), where Lucy Ricardo was put through her paces by Madam Lamond (Mary Wickes). In the next montage, the girls take music lessons. All the while, the trio's brother (Dan Rowan) is trying out his frog impressions while holding a plate of apple pie with an American flag stuck in it. [No. Really.]

Flash forward to “a little more than four months later,” the Whitebreads are in Las Vegas doing their act, which begins with “There's No Business Like Show Business” by Irving Berlin. On a huge Ziegfeld-like staircase (the same from earlier in the show), flanked by glittering showgirls and boys, the now formally dressed Whitebreads sing...the same old country bumpkin song the sketch started with!  The image of Lucy poised at the top of a high staircase immediately brings to mind when “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;E18). 

In a serious segment, Dinah sings “Cryin' Time,” first written by Buck Owens in 1964. It won a 1967 Grammy Award for Ray Charles.

After Dinah blows her trademark “Mwah!” goodnight smooch to the audience, Lucy, Diana and Dinah sing an uptempo ‘hep’ version of “Dinah” written in 1925 by Harry Akst, Sammy Lewis, and Joe Young.  It was the song that inspired Shore's stage name (she was born Fannye Rose) and it became her signature song. The credits roll. [Finally!]

"Like Hep" was rerun on NBC several years later, an unusual occurrence as specials were rarely rerun. For the rerun, several moments were edited out: 

The "Bonanza" reference; 

A reference to Nixon adviser John Dean; 

A reference to gravel-voiced Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirkson, who had made an LP of patriotic speeches with patriotic music in the background. One critic later compared Lucy's singing voice in Mame to Dirksen's.

Missing from the end of the "Dinah" number as it was originally run: Dinah interrupts the singing to announce "be sure to tune in next week for the return of 'Bonanza'” (the 9pm Sunday time slot the special was run in) followed by a shot of the Smothers Brothers saying "Darn it" followed by a shot of Lorne Green chuckling. "The Smothers Brothers Hour" was the first show CBS programmed opposite "Bonanza" that actually made a dent in "Bonanza's” ratings.

Lucy wears a mod black and white dress by Robert Carlton, who had designed the costumes for Dinah’s weekly variety series. Less than two years later, the costume would appear on “Laugh-In”, which aired opposite “Here’s Lucy” at the time. It was worn by Lily Tomlin on the January 18, 1971 episode when she  played Lula in the show’s cocktail party sequence. [credit to The Lucy Lounge for spotting this dress redux!]

This Date in Lucy History – April 13

“Lucy Wants A Career” (LDCH) – April 13, 1959

#Like Hep #Dinah Shore #Lucille Ball #George Schlatter #Laugh-In #Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In #Diana Ross #Dan Rowan #Dick Martin #1969 #TV #Gary Owens #Greg Morris #Marc Breaux #Chris Bearde #Coslough Johnson #NBC #Jan Meyer #The Smothers Brothers #Carole Cook #Victor Buono #Hep #Hip #John Pastore #Terrence Stamp #Betty Grable #Andy Warhol #Mary Poppins #The Flying Nun #Here's Lucy

[dancecinema]

MARY POPPINS (1964)  dir. Robert Stevenson, choreography by Marc Breaux & Dee Dee Wood

#mary poppins #1960s #film #ours #filmedit #classicfilmsource #classicfilmcentral #duchessofhastings #tusercarol #userrobin #userdeforest #cinematv #usersavana #userkitkaat #disneyedit #usergiles #fyeahmovies #by tanya #filmgifs #userjack

[queensusanthemagnificent]

A Review of The Slipper and the Rose (1976)

So, based on a comment in the tags of the kisses from 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella post I made, I decided to watch 1976′s The Slipper and the Rose.

It’s a film I’ve seen mentioned once or twice in some of the Cinderella comparison videos you can find on YouTube, usually discussing things like the best Cinderella dress and it tends to end up near the bottom or the middle, so I kind-of knew about it, but certainly not enough to feel any burning need to watch it. I’ve seen the two older Rodgers and Hammerstein films from 1957 and 1965 mostly just to see how they stacked up to 1997′s, but aside from that, I’ve tended to stick to more modern adaptations. But @withbriefthanksgiving, who I still cannot tag sadly, said it was their favorite film for its STORY, which definitely caught my attention, so I figured it was worth a shot.

What I HAD NOT KNOWN and probably would’ve gotten me to see this a LOT earlier was that this film was a MUSICAL. Like an honest to god musical written by Robert and Richard Sherman, who were involved in writing the music for both Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The choreographer Marc Breaux ALSO worked on all 3 films (as well as Sound of Music). And you can tell. 

Somehow that ends up both hurting and helping this film, and here’s why.

(tl;dr at the bottom)

I love those other films. I saw them a lot as a kid. Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Sound of Music were a MAJOR part of my childhood growing up and inarguably a large part of why I enjoy musicals today. Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music are pretty well-known for being masterpieces in the world of movie musicals, too, and for GOOD REASON.

So it helps the film to be associated pretty heavily with these films I love so much, I’m definitely charmed by the choreography that hits at that nostalgic funny bone and, when the songs do well, those hit that same nostalgic funny bone, too. And of course, being from 1976, it has a lot of the same LOOK as those other films that were from a decade earlier, which isn’t hurting it either.

The problem comes from the fact that I just. Like those other movies better. It seems cruel to compare it to films like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music which are just in almost a league of their own in terms of music and story, but I CAN compare it to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

For anyone unfamiliar with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it is a really wacky film just to start. Trying to give a nice brief summary of events is next to impossible because it’s just. Really fucking wacky. It involves an eccentric widowed inventor with two kids who ends up in a romance with a beautiful heiress to a candy factory, a car that is at least semi-sentient that can fly and swim, a fantasy German kingdom that has banned children, people pretending to be dolls, and a crotchety old grandfather who spends most of his time in the family outhouse pretending he’s going off on grand adventures. It’s not exactly a masterpiece of cinema is what I’m saying, so it feels easier to compare it to The Slipper and the Rose than films like Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music.

And had I seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as an adult, I likely would feel similarly about it to the way I’m feeling about The Slipper and the Rose. It’s... fine. It’s okay. It has some good moments, but some stuff that does feel very dated to when it came out, and a really wacky nonsensical plot that’s hard to get into and sometimes is a tad unclear. But I didn’t. I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a young child who didn’t really care AT ALL that the plot makes little to no sense and found a lot of humor in the film that still gets me a good chuckle now, 20 years down the line and 50-60 years away from when the film was made. The Slipper and the Rose suffers a bit from the fact that I have no nostalgia associated with THIS PARTICULAR FILM, but is helped a lot by the fact that I’ve got a LOT of nostalgia associated with this particular STYLE OF FILM.

I don’t think the songs are as good as the other films by the Sherman Brothers, and I’m not sure their story writing is as up to snuff as their song writing is. Again, I’m watching it from a more adult perspective, so I’m being a bit more snooty about it and more nitpicky than I ever am about films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But Chitty Chitty Bang Bang REALLY leaned in to how wacky it was and the songs reflect that, so there’s a LOT more songs in it that are just fun and catchy tunes. There’s maybe... two? three? songs in The Slipper and the Rose that really caught my eye as real fun songs. And a number of ballads that all kind-of just... flow into each other and I don’t really remember much about them. This style of movie musical does a lot better (for me) when it focuses more on the fun, catchy tunes rather than the ballads.

The stand-out song of the whole film was, without a doubt, Oh What a Comforting Thing to Know. And the entire song is... SO WACKY, I honestly loved it. The prince is spending the ENTIRE SONG just dancing and hopping and flipping and swinging around his family’s mausoleum with his best buddy, singing about how comforting it is to him to know that no matter what he does in his life, how well he does as a King, he’s always going to end up right here in the mausoleum with the rest of his dead ancestors. And Cinderella just. Watches. Because she’s at the neighboring cemetery for the rest of the poor folks, singing a ballad about how there’s no one left alive who loves her now that both her parents are dead. It’s a bit of an immediate tonal whiplash, and Cinderella’s snooping on the prince for some reason and it quite literally NEVER COMES UP AGAIN that she did this.

I think the other song that stood out to me was perhaps Tell Him Anything (But Not That I Love Him) mostly because, were the romance written JUST a little bit better, this would be an absolutely HEARTWRENCHING song. It IS a heartwrenching song, sung by Cinderella after her prince has ALREADY FOUND HER and brought her back to the castle but is told he’s not allowed to marry her for plot reasons and so she’s literally being sent into exile by the king. I just wish I cared a tad more about the romance between these two characters so I could really just SIT in those emotions this song gives, because it is, genuinely, a great song and a highlight for the romance in this particular film.

It also really highlights what I think this film’s greatest strength is, which is how it DID try to add some depth and nuance to the Cinderella story in a way that I honestly thought was truly interesting! The kingdom is about to go to war and they need the resources to defend themselves, so the Prince is required to find a bride among some foreign princesses, but he falls in love with Cinderella, so even after he finds her and gets to the place the story normally ENDS, they have one more obstacle to get through in that Cinderella has no resources to give that would help the kingdom survive an attack.

It’s really really good! Unfortunately, it’s... a tad soured by the resolution to this which involves the foreign princess we’ve never even seen before and whose name we don’t even know suddenly and conveniently falling into love at first sight with the prince’s odious simpering cousin who, up until this point, has just been comic relief not unlike Mr. Collins from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. He’s creepy, he’s unattractive, he’s overly confident for no discernible reason, he’s inferior to the other main male characters in every way. And he has exactly zero interactions with this princess.

It’s weird and kind-of trite and the writing seems to recognize this a bit given the dialogue between the two Kings about it, but it means Cinderella and her Prince can get married and have a happy ending, so.... who cares. Whatever, moving on.

Not my favorite resolution to what is actually quite an interesting storyline, but I’m willing to give the film a lot of kudos for a REALLY solid effort when very few other people were doing anything that interesting with the Cinderella story. Even today, there aren’t that many adaptations that try to continue the storyline passed the Prince FINDING Cinderella.

The other highlight of the film is actually the Fairy Godmother, who we actually get to see IN HER OWN HOME, taking care of the world’s fairytales and is just an overworked career woman who does like and believe in her work but wishes more people could handle themselves every so often so she could just get a moment for herself. It involves a lot of references to other fairy tales and folk tales like Robin Hood and Hansel & Gretel and Snow White, which is really cute and what does feel like a very unique take on Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, especially in a non-modern setting. She’s not unkind, but she is very matter-of-fact and likes to get things done in a timely manner because she’s a very busy woman with a lot of things to do.

I also think there was a LOT of really funny moments, usually involving the King and his court, that genuinely made me laugh out loud. It’s got some delightful little details that make no sense but are insanely charming.

There are some things in the film that feel like they don’t really go anywhere or do anything and are just there to... be there. Which isn’t PARTICULARLY surprising in a film that’s about 50 years old and is based on one of the simplest fairytales out there, but it did drop the film a little in terms of how it stacked up for me in comparison to other adaptations I’ve seen.

If I had to rank it in terms of MOVIE adaptations, it’s definitely still below the 1997 TV movie musical. I still think that the 1997 film REALLY understood the theme they wanted to convey and the characters they were writing and the romance and chemistry between their characters was all absolutely top notch. It also has better music. It took the simpler aspects of the Cinderella story and breathed so much depth and life into it that I have never seen anywhere else. But I’d probably rank The Slipper and the Rose equal with Ever After, perhaps? Solid effort, falls apart in a few places, but definitely a worthy watch. The Slipper and the Rose might even rank a tad bit higher just because it’s a musical which is a massive plus for me, and I personally think it was funnier. If I include book adaptations, Ella Enchanted would beat it out, as well, just for being a much tidier narrative and having a massively better written romance.

tl;dr, if you like movie musicals of the 60s/70s, in particular Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, you’re probably going to love this movie. If you’re really not into that style of movie musical, even if you DO like Cinderella adaptations, I wouldn’t recommend this film at all. It NEEDS you to like that style of movie musical, I think, or it’s going to fall REALLY flat really fast. It’s a solid effort, really solid 8.5/10 for me, I think, just based on my personal preferences.

#cinderella #the slipper and the rose #long post

[ashambilingshapepile]

Say their name

Timothy Thomas was killed in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 7, 2001. He was 19 years

old.

2010

Danroy Henry Jr. was killed in Thornwood, New York on October 17, 2010. He was 20 years old, attended Pace University, and was nicknamed “D.J.”

2012

Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26, 2012 He was a junior in high school.

2014

Eric Garner was killed in New York City on July 17, 2014. He had been with his wife for twenty years.

2015

Artago Damon Howard was killed in Strong, AR on January 8, 2015. He was 36 years old.

Jeremy Lett was killed in Tallahassee, FL on February 4, 2015. He was 28 years old. Jeremy had recently become a pastor. He was a well-known gospel musician and skilled with the steel guitar.

Lavall Hall was killed in Miami Gar- dens, FL on February 15, 2015. He was 25 years old. Lavall left be- hind a wife and 8-year-old daughter.

Thomas Allen was killed in St Louis, MO on February 2, 2015. He was 34 years old

and a father. Thomas was known for his love of cooking and spend- ing time with his family.

Charly Leundeu Keunang was killed in Los Angeles, CA on March 1, 2015. He was

43 years old. Charly was called by his nick- name “Africa.”

Naeschylus Vinzant was killed in Aurora, CO on March 5, 2015. He was 37 years old.

His former wife remembers, “He was a great provider who loved his family and kids.”

Tony Robinson was killed in Madison, WI on March 6, 2015. He was 19 years old and

had recently graduated early from high school. He had planned to at- tend business school.

Anthony Hill was killed in Atlanta, GA on March 9, 2015. He was 27 years old and a veteran.

Bobby Gross was killed in Washington, DC on March 12, 2015. He was 35 years old and

a father of three.

Brandon Jones was killed in Cleveland, OH on March 19, 2015. He was 18 years old and his family said he was love- able, soft hearted and could make you laugh.

Eric Harris was killed in Tulsa, OK on April 2, 2015. He was 44 years old. Friends say Eric cared more for others then material things and would happily give his last $5 to

someone in need.

Walter Scott was killed in North Charleston, SC on April 4, 2015. He was 50 years

old and his brother recalled that the the last time he saw him he was doing the two things he enjoyed most: telling jokes and dancing.

Frank Shephard was killed in Houston, TX on April 15, 2015. He was 41 years old and a barber.

William Chapman was killed in Ports- mouth, Virg, on April 22, 2015. He was 18

years old and father re- called in their last con- vestation Chapman was going to “get back to him over the cost of a skateboard.”

David Felix was killed in New York City on April 25, 2015. He was 24 years old. David was a “strawberry milkshake enthusiast,” and was known to give his friends surprise makeovers.

Brendon Glenn was killed in Venice, California on May 5, 2015. He was 29 years old

and was said to always have a smile on his face.

Kris Jackson was killed in Lake Tahoe, CA on June 15, 2015. He was 22 years old.

Spencer McCain was killed in Owen Hills, Md. on June 25, 2015. He was 41 years

old and a father of two.

Victor Emmanuel Larosa was killed in Jacksonville, Fla. on July 2, 2015. He was 23

years old and a graduate of Englewood High School. He left behind two children and his girlfriend, Jessica Thomas.

Salvado Ellswood was killed in Plantation, Fla. on July 12, 2015. He was 36 years old.

Darrius Stewart was killed in Memphis, TN on July 17, 2015. He was 19 years old.

Friends remember him as always being “playful and smiling”.

Albert Joseph Davis was killed in Orlando, FL on July 17th, 2015.

Samuel Dubose was killed in Cincinnati, OH on July 19th, 2015, father of 13, produced music for local artists and friends.

Christian Taylor was killed in Arlington, TX on August 7th, 2015.

Asshams Pharoah Manley was killed in District Heights, MD on August 14th, 2015.

Felix Kumi was killed in Mount Vernon, NY on August 28th, 2015.

India Kager was killed in Virginia Beach, VA on September 5th, 2015.

Keith Harrison McLeod was killed in Reistertown, MD on September 23rd, 2015.

Junior Prosper was killed in Miami, FL on September 28th, 2015.

Anthony Ashford was killed in Point Loma, CA on October 28th, 2015

Bennie Lee Tignor was killed in Opelika, AL on October 31st, 2015.

Jamar Clark was killed in Minneapolis, MN on November 15th, 2015.

Nathaniel Harris Pickett was killed in Barstow, CA on November 20th, 2015.

Miguel Espinal was killed in New York, NY on December 8th, 2015.

Michael Noel was killed in Breaux Bridge, LA on December 21st, 2015.

Kevin Matthews was killed in Dearborn, MI on December 23rd, 2015. He was 35 years

old.

Bettie Jones was killed in Chicago, IL on December 26th, 2015. She was 55 years old

and a mother of five.

2016

Antronie Scott was killed in San Antonio, Tex, on February 4, 2016. He was 36 years

old.

David Joseph was killed in Austin, Texas on February 8, 2016. He was 17 years old. David was the son of Hatian immigrants who moved to the U.S. in the 1990s.

His mother stated that “he liked American everything. American music, sports, food.”

Dyzhawn L. Perkins was killed in Arvonia, Vir, on February 13, 2016. He was 19 years

old and was a star high school football player.

Calin Roquemore was killed in Panola County, Tex, on February 13, 2016. He was 24

years old, and was nick- named “Big Friendly” while at school.

Christopher J. Davis was killed in East Troy, Wisc. on February 24, 2016. He was 21 years old and engaged to be married.

Peter Gaines was killed in Houston, Tex, on March 12, 2016. He was 37 years old, and his family described him as sweet-natured. Kevin Hicks was killed in Indianapolis, Ind, on April 5, 2016. He was 44 years old and was married to his wife for over 20 years.

Jessica Nelson-Williams was killed in San Francisco, Calif. on May 19, 2016. She was

29 years old. She was the mother of five and was pregnant at the time of her death.

Michael Eugene Wilson Jr. was killed in Hallandale Beach, Fla. on May 22, 2016. He

was 27 years old and a father.

Vernell Bing was killed in Jacksonville, Fla. on May 22, 2016. He was 22 years old and

died before meeting his son, who was born two days after he was killed.

Antwun Shumpert was killed in Tupelo, Mississippi on June 18, He was 37 years

old and a father of 5.

Deravis Caine Rogers was killed in Atlanta, GA, on June 22, He was 22 years

old and is survived by his parents who continue as activists today.

Dalvin Hollins was killed in Tempe, Arizona on July 27, 2016. He was 19 years old

and was described as a sweet, joyful young man.

Donnell Thompson was killed in Compton, California on July 28, 2016. He was 27 years old and was described as a “quiet and soft spoken man” by his friends. Had the nickname “Bo Peep.”

Levonia Riggins was killed in Tampa, Fla. on August 30, 2016. He was 22 years old and was nicknamed “Daddyman” for his caring nature.

Terence Crutcher was killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma on September 16, 2016. He was

40 years old and studied music at a local community college.

Alfred Olango was killed in El Cajon, Calif. on September 27, 2016. He was 38 years

old, a refugee from Uganda, and a father.

Christopher Sowell was killed in Philadelphia, Pa. on September, 28, 2016. He was

32 years old.

Andrew Depeiza was killed in East Point, Ga. on November 11, 2016. He was 57 years old and a father to a two-year-old and a four-year-old.

2017

JR Williams was killed in Phoenix, AZ on January 9, 2017. He was 38 years old.

Darrion Barnhill was killed in Reagan, Tenn. on January 10, 2017. He was 23 years

old.

Nana Adomako was killed in Fremont, Calif. on February 5, 2017. He was 45 years

old.

Cad Robertson was killed in Chicago, Ill. on February 8, 2017. He was 25 years old

and a father of two children.

Raynard Burton was killed in Detroit, Mich, on February 13, 2017. He was 19 years

old.

Alteria Woods was killed in Gifford, Fla. on February 19 2017. She was 21 years old and expecting a child.

Ricco Devante Holden was killed in Converse, La. on May 21, 2017. He was 24

years old.

Marc Brandon Davis was killed in Petal, Miss. on June 2, 2017. He was 34 years old

and the father of five children.

David Jones was killed in Philadelphia, Pa. on June 6, 2017. He was 30 years old.

Aaron Bailey was killed in Indianapolis, Ind. on June 29, 2017. He was 45 years old

and was a father and volunteer in the community.

Dejuan Guillory was killed in Mahmoud, La. on July 6, 2017. He was 27 years

old and liked to ride ATVs.

Charles David Robinson was killed in Woodville, Ga, on August 25, 2017. He was

47 years old.

Anthony Antonio Ford was killed in Miami, Fla., on August 30, 2017. He was 27

years old. Anthony had two children.

Dewboy Lister was killed in Corpus Christi, Texas, on October 19, 2017. He was 55

years old. Dewboy was a father and grandfather, and he mentored many young men

in his neighborhood.

Calvin Toney was killed in Baton Rouge, LA, on November 13, 2017. He was 24 years

old.

Lawrence Hawkins was killed in Prichard, Ala, on November 18, 2017. He was

56 years old. Lawrence was a handyman with many close friends and family, and he

was known for helping his neighbors.

Keita O’Neil was killed in San Francisco, Calif. on December 1, 2017. He was

42 years old. Keita was his mother’s only child.

Juan Pedro Pierre was killed in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., on December 6, 2017. He was 42 years old. He had five children, and he once ran for political office in Haiti.

2018

Arther McAfee Jr. was killed in Longview, Texas on January 21, 2018. He was 61 years old, and he was a veteran.

Ronnell Foster was killed in Vallejo, Calif. on February 23, 2018. He was 33 years old

and a father.

Mario Dantoni Bass was killed in Woodbridge, Va. on February 23, 2018. He was

37 years old and a father of five.

Shermichael Ezeff was killed in East Baton Rouge, La. on March 14, 2018. He

was 31 years old.

Cameron Hall was killed in Casa Grande, Ariz. on March 15, 2018. He was 27

years old.

Stephon Clark was killed in Sacremento, Calif. on March 18, 2018. He was 23

years old. He graduated Sacremento High School in 2013 where he played football.

Danny Thomas was killed in Greenspoint, Texas on March 22, 2018. He was a father of two.

Juan Markee Jones was killed in Danville, Va. on April 18, 2018. He was 25

years old and part of a family of 10.

Marcus-David L. Peters was killed in Richmond, Va. on May 14, 2018. He was 24

years old. Antwan Rose was killed in Pittsburgh, Pa. on June 6, 2018. He was 17 years old and an Honor Roll student, taking AP courses to prepare for college.

Tony Green was killed in Kingsland, Ga. on June 21, 2018. He was 33 years old

and a father of three.

Rashaun Washington was killed in Vineland, N.J. on July 16 2018. He was 37

years old and a father of two. Cynthia Fields was killed in Savannah, Ga., on July 28, 2018. She was 62 years old and a great-grandmother.

James Leatherwood was killed in Hollywood, Fla. on September 5, 2018. He was

23 years old.

Charles Roundtree was killed in San Antonio, Tex- as on October 18th 2018. He

was 18 years old and liked to play video games with his cousin.

Danny Washington was killed in Franklin Township, Pa. on December 18th, 2018. He was 27 years old and a father.

Gregory Griffin was killed in Newark, NJ on January 28, 2019. He was

46 years old and went by the name “G”.

2019

Marcus McVae was killed in Boerne, Texas on April 11, 2019. He was 34 years old.

[creepingsharia]

Elite U.S. Universities Hide Information on Funding From Sharia Nation of Qatar

Elite U.S. Universities Hide Information on Funding From Sharia Nation of Qatar

Qatar funds al-Qaeda and other terrorists…and elite U.S. universities.

Source: Elite Universities Hide Information On Funding From Ultraconservative Nation Of Qatar | by Luke Rosiak at The Daily Caller

Qatar gave $1 billion to elite American universities since 2011, according to Department of Education data.

The Qatar Foundation is suing the Texas attorney general to prevent information about Qatari funding from becoming public.

Universities are taking money from Qatar, a nation with a checkered human rights history, as students rally for social justice causes.

The nation of Qatar, a Sharia-law monarchy that has been accused of trying to influence other countries’ governments, gave $1 billion to elite American universities since 2011, according to Department of Education data.

Some universities have refused to discuss where strings are attached to that money. The Qatar Foundation, for example, filed a lawsuit against the Texas attorney general Oct. 12 to hide information about the $225 million Qatar has awarded to Texas A&M University since 2011.

The Qatar Foundation hired the politically connected powerhouse law firm Squire Patton Boggs for the suit, which was filed in response to a researcher’s public information request regarding the foreign funding.

The biggest recipient of Qatar’s educational funding, Georgetown University, repeatedly ignored requests from The Daily Caller News Foundation for basic information about the funding and whether it implicates academic independence.

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of meddling in other nations��� internal affairs as well as funding terrorism. Qatar also wields influence through its media group, Al Jazeera.

For a nation seeking sway over the U.S., Georgetown University would be a particularly tactical site of influence. Georgetown has received nearly $333 million from Qatar since 2011 — far more than any other U.S. school has received from any foreign nation.

Georgetown is situated in the seat of power, near the State Department, and its experts are frequently cited by groups shaping policy. In fact, the Jesuit Catholic university trains many of the United States’ future diplomats at its Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Its website notes that “At SFS, you can study with former Secretaries of State” and access “connections to diplomats from just about every country, and of course, the seat of the U.S. government. Our location gives SFS the extraordinary opportunity for us to engage (and sometimes even influence) the debates that lead to real action.”

Thanks to the Qatari funding, Georgetown and its foreign service program has an entire outpost in Qatar. “Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is an additional location of Georgetown University, based in Education City in Doha,” its website says. “The University offers a four year undergraduate program in international affairs leading to the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree.”

The vast majority of funds from Qatar were contracts, the Education Department data shows, requiring Georgetown to do something in return for the money, unlike gifts.

Top Foreign Funders of U.S. Universities, 2011-2016 (Source: Department of Education) Country Amount Qatar $1,024,065,043 England $761,586,394 Saudi Arabia $613,608,797 China $426,526,085 Canada $402,535,603 Hong Kong $394,446,859

  …

Georgetown spokesman Matt Hill ignored questions from TheDCNF about the strings attached to such funds and whether they could influence curriculum and would not provide the contract governing them.

The dean of Georgetown’s Qatar campus is Ahmad Dallal, who the Middle East Forum describes as “a long-time and enthusiastic supporter of the State Department-designated terrorist group Hezbollah. Dallal, who chaired Georgetown’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies from 2003 to 2009, is also pro-Hamas, pro-Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, co-author of an Arabic textbook whose maps omit Israel, and signatory of a letter warning that Israel would engage in ‘ethnic cleansing’ at the start of the Iraq war.”

The Zachor Legal Institute, which opposes the movement to sanction and boycott Israel, submitted a Freedom of Information request in May to Texas A&M (TAMU), a state university, for “a summary of all amounts of funding or donations received” from Qatar and a long list of proxies.

The office of state Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled “the university must withhold the donors’ identifying information … the university must release the remaining information.”

Most of the money to TAMU were contracts, not donations.

The Qatar Foundation’s high-powered lawyers intervened, arguing the relevant portion of the attorney general’s ruling “requiring release of all remaining information other than donor identity is incorrect and without force or effect.”

They wrote:

This is an action to prevent disclosure of confidential financial information concerning the relationship between QF and Texas A&M University … QF operates programs dedicated to education, science, and community development. It is responsible for funding much of the development in Education City, a hub for higher education outside Doha. … In addition to TAMU, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern, and Virginia Commonwealth University have all established campuses in Education City.

The Attorney General concluded that TAMU could withhold information identifying ‘donors’ under section 552.1235. But the Attorney General stated that TAMU would be required to release all remaining information requested, which would include information related to payments made by QF to TAMU pursuant to a contract. In so doing, the Attorney General implicitly ruled that those payments were not ‘donations,’ and therefore not exempt from disclosure under the PIA … The information related to these grants and donations is also confidential commercial information and constitutes a trade secret.

The Qatar Foundation’s general counsel is Michael Mitchell, a former vice president of Ohio State University.

Marc Greendorfer, an attorney for the Zachor Legal Institute, responded to the Texas attorney general Nov. 8: “One of the Qatari entities that was the subject of our original request has taken the extraordinary step of taking the Texas Attorney General to court to suppress the information that we requested. Now, with the most recent attempt by TAMU to prevent public disclosure of information as to how Qatari entities are involved with a Texas public university, the intrigue grows, and we have to wonder what it is they are trying to keep from the public.”

TAMU and the Qatar Foundation did not return requests for comment.

The university operations by Qatar are just one prong in a massive public relations and influence push that includes millions to lobbyists and public relations firms in the U.S.

It is also not the only involvement of Squire Patton Boggs with Middle Eastern countries. The same law firm also has a $100,000-a-month contract with Qatar’s rival Saudi Arabia for the kingdom to retain former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and former Democratic Louisiana Sen. John Breaux.

According to Foreign Agent Registration Act disclosures, it worked directly with Saud al-Qahtani, the same aide who allegedly organized the killing of a Washington Post columnist.

#Creeping Sharia #Education #finance #islam #law #Legal #Life #Media #Muslim #News #Politics #Random #Religion #Sharia #travel

[ljones41]

"MARY POPPINS" (1964) Review

"MARY POPPINS" (1964) Review Looking at the 1964 movie about a magical nanny, one would be amazed that it took nearly 20 years to make it. I suspect that many did not predict it would become critically acclaimed. But if one is ever interested in the behind-the-scenes production of the film, one would have to read about it . . . or watch the 2013 movie, "SAVING MR. BANKS". I am here to discuss the actual movie, "MARY POPPINS". 

Based upon a selection of short stories written by P.L. Travers, "MARY POPPINS" tells the story of how two Edwardian Age children named Jane and Michael Banks, who request a particular kind of nanny after their latest one quits her job after enduring one too many pranks from the two siblings. Their father, a banker named George Banks, is too busy with his career and projecting the image of an ideal Englishman in order to pay attention to them. Their mother, although slightly more concerned about their welfare, is either caught up in the Suffregette Movement or too busy adhering to their father's demands. After the departure of their latest nanny, Katie Nanna, Jane and Michael write a letter describing what they want in a new nanny. But Mr. Banks has different ideas - a nanny who is an effective disciplinarian - and tears up their letter. However, the children's letter magically reaches a woman named Mary Poppins. She appears at the Banks' home the following morning to apply (or appoint herself) as Jane and Michael's new nanny. Despite his initial reservation, Mr. Banks is impressed by Mary Poppins' firm manner and hires her. With the help of friend named Bert, Mary Poppins introduces the Banks children to a new magical world. In doing so, she also manages to shake up Mr. Banks, his household and his livelihood. I first saw "MARY POPPINS" as a child and immediately fell in love with it. For years, I have regarded the movie as one of the highlights of my childhood and one of the best films to be released from the Disney Studios. But recent criticism of Mary Poppins as a sugar-coated character of no substance, and of the film as an infantilization of P.L. Travers' work and vision has led me to wonder if my childhood opinion of "MARY POPPINS" may have been overrated. After all, I had spent years judging the movie from the viewpoint of a child. How would I judge this movie from an adult who has spent the last ten to twenty years viewing movies with a critical eye? As many have recently pointed out, the Disney Studios made a good number of changes to Travers' stories. They also left out a great deal. To point out "all" of the changes and deletions would require an essay. And I am not interested in writing such an essay. Were there any aspects of "MARY POPPINS" that I disliked? Honestly? No. But there are aspects of the movie's production that I wish could have been handled in a slightly different manner. For quite some time, I never understood why "MARY POPPINS" was shot at the studio's Burbank lot, instead of at England's Pinewood Studios, where 1963's "DR. SYN, ALIAS THE SCARECROW" and "THE THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA" were filmed. Like the two 1963 films, "MARY POPPINS" mainly featured a cast of British actors. Only four cast members were American born - Dick Van Dyke, Ed Wynn, Jane Darwell and Reta Shaw. I feel that if the movie had been shot in Great Britain, its exterior shots of the Banks and Uncle Albert's neighborhoods and the City of London would have featured a bit more details - add more oomph to the movie's visual British style. As for Tony Walton's costume designs, I must admit that I found them rather charming, if not particularly mind blowing. However . . . I could not help but wonder why Mary Poppins' skirts seemed a tad short for 1909-10 fashions. And I also end up wondering why Winifred Banks' wardrobe seemed so limited. Unless I am mistaken, actress Glynis Johns wore only three costumes in "MARY POPPINS". In fact, I suspect she wore one particular costume twice. And Walton designed her costumes either in yellow, powder blue or a combination of both colors. Although I found Johns' costumes rather charming, they also struck me as a bit limited. Although the film's production designs struck me as a bit limited, I cannot help but admire the film's cinematography and visual style. Edward Colman earned a much deserved nomination for his colorful and sharp photography for the film. Colman's photography also enhanced Tony Walton's pthe matte paintings created by Peter Ellenshaw. Since "MARY POPPINS" was filmed on the Disney Studios backlot in Burbank, Walt Disney and director Robert Stevenson not only had to depend upon Carroll Clark and William H. Tuntke's art direction, but also the visual effects and special effects teams. But "MARY POPPINS" was set in Edwardian London. And since Disney, Stevenson and the film's crew could not film in Great Britain, the production team had to rely on Ellenshaw's beautiful and colorful matte paintings to add to the film's visual look for its setting, as shown in the following images:

"MARY POPPINS" may not have been free of any flaws, but it still remains one of my favorite movies of all time. I had earlier pointed out that some critics have pointed out the movie's failure to be completely faithful to Travers' stories. Honestly? I do not care. It would have been near impossible for any screenwriter to be completely faithful. Travers did not write a single novel. She wrote a series of short stories and novellas. And since it is impossible for a screenplay to be completely faithful to a novel or stage play, what on earth made these critics believe Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi could have been completely faithful to Travers' stories and still fashion a single narrative for the film? Ridiculous! Personally, I am amazed that Walsh and DaGradi managed to wring a single narrative out of so many short stories in the first place. That must have not been an easy task. As the 2013 movie, "SAVING MR. BANKS", had pointed out, Mary Poppins' purpose within the Banks' household was to save George Banks and his relationship with his children. And she did this in the most interesting way. Mary Poppins used her role as the children's nanny to indirectly affect the family's patriarch. Instead of utilizing traditional means to care for the children, Mary Poppins exposed Jane and Michael to her world - using magic to clean the nursery, an excursion into a sidewalk chalk drawing of the English countryside, and an afternoon tea party on the ceiling with Mary Poppins' Uncle Albert. The children's revelations of their activities naturally shook up Mr. Banks, along with the magical nanny's subversive and cheerful impact upon the Banks' household. Unable to accept Mary Poppins' impact upon his family and servants, Mr. Banks threatened to fire her. And this is where Mary Poppins, as the film's trickster, pulled off a pièce de résistance. Before Mr. Banks could fire her, Mary Poppins managed to manipulate him into agreeing to take the children on an outing to his bank. However, the night before this outing, she decides to sing a song to the children about an old beggar woman who sits on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, selling bags of breadcrumbs to passers-by for twopence a bag,so that they can feed the many pigeons that surround her. Between the song and the children spotting the Bird Woman on their way to their father's bank set in motion the chaos that followed and Mary Poppins' plan to save Mr. Banks' relationship with his family. Brilliant. If the narrative that Walsh and DaGradi had created from Travers' short stories had struck me as brilliant, the songs written by Robert and Richard Sherman seemed even more so. Aside from the performances, the Sherman Brothers' songs seemed to be the heart and soul of the film. If someone was to ask me which song was my favorite, I honestly could not answer that question. Aside from two of them, I found most of their songs very memorable . . . even to this day. One of their songs - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" - was nominated for the Best Song Oscar and won. However, I must admit to being surprised that the beautiful and rather haunting "Feed the Birds" failed to garner any kind of nomination or award. Perhaps it was not as fully appreciated back in 1964-65 as it is today. Both "Jolly Holiday" and </i>"Step in Time"</i> were not only entertaining songs, but they also provided the background for some very entertaining dance numbers. The first featured the very agile Dick Van Dyke and a quartet of animated pigeons. I found this dance sequence both funny and a joy to watch. You have to see it to believe it. As for the second song, it was featured in a show stopping dance routine that involved Van Dyke, Julie Andrews . . . and chimney sweeps. Between the song, the dance routines choreographed by the husband-and-wife team of Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood, and the London rooftops background, the entire sequence is one of the film's highlights. Another addition to the magic of "MARY POPPINS" proved to be its cast. The movie featured excellent voice performances in the chalk picture sequence from the likes of J. Pat O'Malley, Marni Nixon, Dallas McKinnon, and Alan Napier. Even Julie Andrews and David Tomlinson also provided voice performances. The supporting and cameo performances featured in this film were marvelous. The movie included excellent performances from Reginald Owen as the cankerous Admiral Boom; Elsa Lancaster as the disgruntled Katie Nanny; Arthur Treacher as the kindly Constable Jones; Arthur Malet as Mr. Dawes Jr., one of the board members of the bank that employed Mr. Banks; Hermione Baddeley and Reta Shaw as Ellen and Mrs. Brill, the Banks' gregarious maid and cook; and a poignant cameo by Jane Darwell, who was convinced by Disney to make a brief appearance as the Bird Lady. "MARY POPPINS" marked the second teaming of Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, who portrayed the magical nanny's charges, Jane and Michael Banks. It seemed pretty simple to me why Disney had used this pair in three movies. Not only were they were first-rate actors who more than kept up with the likes of Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and David Tomlinson; they also had a great screen chemistry. In P.L. Travers' books, Mrs. Banks was an easily intimidated woman who could barely maintain control of her household. In this movie, Mrs. Banks was a woman more occupied by her suffragette activities than her children. And she was portrayed by actress Glynis Johns. The latter gave a marvelous performance as a woman who seemed to hid her inability to protect her children from their father's neglect with a few sympathetic words and her own brand of neglect. If I had to select the most complex character in this movie, it would have to be Mr. George Banks of 17 Cherry Tree Lane and the Dawes Tomes Mousley Grubbs Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. Thanks to actor David Tomlinson in his first appearance in a Disney film, movie audiences were treated to a superb performance. Tomlinson skillfully transformed George Banks from a highly driven and disciplined man who was obsessed with order to an affectionate family man who had found a new lease on life. It almost seems criminal that the actor never received any kind of acting nomination for his performance. Unlike Tomlinson, Dick Van Dyke did receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, thanks to his performance as Bert, Mary Poppins' closest friend and jack-of-all-trades. Whenever Van Dyke's performance in "MARY POPPINS" is mentioned, people seemed to comment on his Cockney accent. Granted, it was not perfect. But I have never considered it to be a travesty. I have noticed that whenever he spoke words with a long vowell, his Cockney accent seemed exaggerated. Otherwise, I had no problems. And if someone like Sean Connery can win an Oscar for portraying an Irish immigrant with a Scots accent, I see no reason why Van Dyke's portrayal of Bert should only be condemned for a questionable Cockney accent. Besides . . . accent aside, Van Dyke gave a superb performance in so many other ways. He captured Bert's charm, wit and a slight talent for manipulation with such perfection. Van Dyke was also given the opportunity to portray another character in the film - namely Mr. Banks' elderly boss, Mr. Dawes Senior of the Dawes Tomes Mousley Grubbs Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. How often does one find an actor in his late 30s effectively portraying a 90-something year-old man? In my personal experience, very rarely. And to put the cherry on the icing, Van Dyke was never criticized for his British accent, while portraying Mr. Dawes . . . for good reason. Although there have been hints of his talent as a song-and-dance man in his first television series, "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW", this movie really provided an opportunity to convey how truly talented he could be. Julie Andrews managed to capture the big prize for her portrayal of the film's leading character, Mary Poppins. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Whereas many were distracted from Van Dyke's performance because of his accent, others have lamented on how Andrews' portrayal of the magical nanny seemed a far cry from her literary version. Granted, the latter was a plain-looking woman, somewhat more pompous and strict. Although Andrews' Mary Poppins was more beautiful looking and somewhat warmer, she could still be quite sharp-tongued - especially when disciplining Jane and Michael. Andrews also did a great job in conveying Mary Poppins' no nonsense behavior and massive talent for emotional manipulation. That one scene in which the magical nanny manipulated Mr. Banks into taking his children on an outing to his bank was just a joy to watch. Thanks to her skillful and award winning performance, Andrews managed to convey the reason why Mary Poppins is regarded as a trickster. What else can I say about "MARY POPPINS"? Over fifty years have passed since the movie's initial release and it is still - at least to me - a magical movie to watch. Yes, it had a few flaws. What movie did not? But thanks to P.L. Travers' stories, Robert Stevenson's marvelous direction, Robert and Richard Sherman's music, the movie's visual effects teams and the superb cast led by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke; "MARY POPPINS" remained timeless and magical as ever.

#mary poppins #mary poppins 1964 #walt disney #robert stevenson #sherman brothers #robert sherman #richard sherman #julie andrews #dick van dyke #david tomlinson #glynis johns #karen dotrice #matthew garber #hermione baddley #reta shaw #ed wynn #arthur malet #elsa lanchester #peter ellenshaw #arthur treacher #reginald owen #jane darwell #p.l. travers

[jamieroxxartist]

Birthday Remembrances. Today, Nov 3, 1924 – #MarcBreaux, American actor, director, and choreographer (d. 2013) was born.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Breaux)

#Marc Breaux

[rumforall]

#Marc Breaux #choreography #choreographer #mary poppins #chitty chitty bang bang #step in time