One Last Buh-Buh Bah-Boo

October 4, 2012 | By

See, even in 1960 studio publicity departments were lazily cutting & pasting actor heads on ill-matched bodies. Was it really that hard to get a group picture before lunch?

Last night the U.S. networks televised the first of three debates between President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney; the latter seemed more energetic, but there were few sparks, and Obama’s lack of fire really made the lengthy debate quite meh – almost like our own election debates between the bigger and lesser idiots.

I’m currently discombobulated from filming until 7am yesterday this past Wednesday, and feel like I just arrived in another country and have yet to adjust to the time zone (which explains why the current work period for this blog & review spanned 3-7am). I look forward to the last day of filming, which ideally will be in 2 weeks, just before Halloween, at which point I hope to catch George Romero waxing about his career at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

The TBL’s website is currently partially non-functional – teaser images for upcoming series aren’t loading their respective info pages, and the few that load have a few boo-boos, like “This is a test for HTML Pitch at Event Program level.” re: this Friday’s 3D Dial M for Murder screening.

Might want to fix that…

Functioning, however, is the page for the next Packaged Goods installment – The Evolution of the Music Video – which screens next Wed. Oct. 10th, and is detailed here.

Now then.

Just uploaded is a review of High Time [M] (1960), an early Blake Edwards film starring Bing Crosby (who could really sing), Fabian (could he ever sing?), Tuesday Weld (not a singer), and Richard Beymer (who was dubbed in West Side Story, but could dance real swell), and features some unique scene transitions designed & executed by Pacific Title. They’re the brilliant minds behind the main titles for the original Twilight Zone series, and in the review I devote sufficient blather about their work as well as the film’s wafer-thin plot and glossy look.

I don’t fully care for Edwards’ brand of humour – the incessant door-slams and walk-throughs within many of the Pink Panther films are interminable – but he has made gems or crafted memorable scenes within contrived productions, and some of his early work, done around the success of his Peter Gunn TV series, is still MIA on DVD and Blu, such as the underrated fluffy romance Mister Corey (1957), released by Universal.

Twilight Time’s High Time Blu-ray features a stereo isolated score track of Henry Mancini’s music, but what I really want to know is whether anyone can identify the vintage component hifi system Beymer is setting up in the dorm room as Crosby arrives. The amp is Big Fifties Metal with Giant Dials, and the turntable is Heavy and features Many Silver Buttons.

Great commercial design. One viewer posted the same query on the film’s IMDB message board, so I am not alone in my curiosity.

Any thoughts?

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Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com ( Main Site / Mobile Site )

Category: EDITOR'S BLOG

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