Tag Archives: Burt Lancaster

The Professionals / 1966 cont’d …

18 Jun

The Professionals …

The Professionals / Laurel Award

The Professionals / Laurel Award

The Professionals Banner

Three 1966 Academy Award Nominations:

Best Director: Richard Brooks

Best Adapted Screenplay: Richard Brooks

Best Cinematography: Conrad Hall

The film won two Motion Picture Magazine Laurel Awards in 1967, for Best Action Drama and Best Action Performance for Lee Marvin.
In Germany, it was one of only four movies to receive a Golden Screen award (the others were Doctor Zhivago, Merveilleuse Angélique and You Only Live Twice) in 1967.

The Professionals Banner

The Professionals Lee Marvin

The Professionals / Lee Marvin

Tags: , , , ,

The Professionals … 1966

18 Jun

“Maybe there’s only one revolution, since the beginning, the good guys against the bad guys. Question is, who are the good guys?”
- Burt Lancaster / The Professionals 

The Professionals … 

Truly.

Lee Marvin moves into full blown stardom – becoming a legitimate box office titan – in one of the greatest Westerns ever made (My Favorite) starring along side Western Film Greats Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Claudia Cardinale, Ralph Belamy … What a cast!

Following Cat Ballou (Oscar) this is one of 4 Westerns remaining in Marvin’s Western filmography: Monte Walsh / 1970 (with Jack Palance); Paint Your Wagon / 1969 (with Clint Eastwood); Emperor of the North / 1973 (with Charles Bronson).

A true Western Star.

The Professionals posters

The Professionals posters

Tags: , , , ,

More Favorites …

4 Jan

My list of Favorites is pretty long. No problem there -
‘cept gettin’ sumpthin’ dun on them.

Sooo wilst I’m trying to figure what to do next, here are a few more of My Favorites:

The Mask of Zorro

ZORRO POSTER

I know wut yer thinkin’: HEY! is that a Western?

Yep. I don’t have a swashbuckler blog.

Catherine Zeta Jones

Catherine Zeta Jones

Anyway … it’s got Catherine Zeta Jones

________________________________________________

Hidalgo

Hidalgo

Hidalgo

I know wut yer thinkin’: HEY! is that a Western?

Yep. It’s got a cowboy … and a horse.

________________________________________________

The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker

I know wut yer thinkin’: HEY! is that a Western?

Yep.  There’s a horse in there … somewhere.

Anyway … it’s got Katherine Hepburn. And Lancaster.

What was the question?

Tags: , , , ,

Vera Cruz … Robert Aldrich / Director

23 Dec

“A director is a ringmaster, a psychiatrist and a referee.”

Robert Aldrich - Director

Robert Aldrich – Director

Robert Aldrich

Director / Writer / Producer

“The power is for the director to do what he wants to do. To achieve that he needs his own cutter, he needs his cameraman, he needs his own assistant and a strong voice in his choice of writer; a very, very strong voice on who’s the actor. He needs the power not to be interfered with and the power to make the movie as he sees it.”

Partial Filmography:

The Flight of the Phoenix / The Choirboys / The Frisco Kid  / Too Late the Hero / Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte / What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?  / Twilight’s Last Gleaming / Emperor of the North  / The Angry Hills  / The Dirty Dozen / Ulzana’s Raid  / The Longest Yard / Apache / The Big Knife  / Ten Seconds to Hell  / 4 for Texas  / The Killing of Sister George / Hustle

Aldrich Directed 5 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Victor Buono, Bette Davis, Agnes Moorehead, Ian Bannen and John Cassavetes.

Aldrich Directed 3 Westerns starring Burt Lancaster: Ulzana’s Raid, Apache, and Vera Cruz.

Awards

President of the Directors Guild of America (DGA). [1975-1979]

Head of jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1959

Berlin International Film Festival
1956 Won Silver Berlin Bear – Best Director for: Autumn Leaves (1956).

Cannes Film Festival
1963 Nominated Palme d’Or for: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).

Directors Guild of America, USA 
Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Dirty Dozen (1967).
1963 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).

Hochi Film Awards
1982 Won Hochi Film Award Best Foreign Language Film for: …All the Marbles (1981).

Laurel Awards
1970 Nominated Golden Laurel Producer-Director 10th place.
1968 Nominated Golden Laurel Producer-Director 4th place.
1967 Nominated Golden Laurel Producer-Director 6th place.
1965 Nominated Golden Laurel Producer-Director 6th place.

Venice Film Festival
1956 Won Pasinetti Award for: Attack (1956)
Nominated Golden Lion for: Attack (1956).
1955 Won Silver Lion for: The Big Knife (1955).
Nominated Golden Lion for: The Big Knife (1955).

“The struggle for self-determination, the struggle for what a character wants his life to be . . . I look for characters who feel strongly enough about something not to be concerned with the prevailing odds, but to struggle against those odds.”
- Robert Aldrich

Tags: , , , ,

Vera Cruz … Sarita Montiel / Diva Supremo

27 Nov

Excerpt from Internet Movie Database:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0600060/bio

“It is quite impossible to cover here all the awards Sara Montiel has won in her long successful career but we must mention the “Premio del Sindicato” (at that time Spain’s equivalent of the Oscar) for best actress, won two years in a row for her performances in “El Último Cuplé” and “La Violetera”. In 1972 she was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Los Angeles by Mayor Sam Yorty and was given the gold key to the city. Similarly she has been awarded the gold keys of New York, Miami and Chicago. In 1981 she received Israel’s most prestigious honor, the Ben Guiron Award and in 1983 she was awarded France’s Legion of Honor medal, after a retrospective of her career ran at the Autumn Film Festival in Paris. In 1986 “Nosotros”, a Hollywood-based Hispanic actors advocacy organization founded by Ricardo Montalban, gave her its Golden Eagle Award for life achievement. The trophy was presented to Sarita by her “Vera Cruz” costar-producer Burt Lancaster in an emotional reunion that triggered a standing ovation from all their Hollywood peers witnessing the event. In 1997 she was awarded the “Gold Medal“, also a life achievement recognition, given–rarely–by Spain’s Academy of Arts and Sciences. The two-hour ceremony was beamed live by national television. In 2008 Sara returned to her hometown to unveil a sculpture with her image at the new Sara Montiel Park. A nearby avenue was also named after her and there was at the same time a dedication ceremony of her newly renovated museum, located inside a 16th-century windmill. In addition, the government placed a commemorative plaque on the house where she was born.”

Not counting compilatons or singles, Montiel has also enjoyed a very successful recording career with approximately 30 albums to her credit.

http://infomontiel.tripod.com/id17.htm

Vera Cruz – Burt, Coop, Sarita

Vera Cruz – Sarita Montiel 1

Vera Cruz – Sarita Montiel 2

Vera Cruz – Sarita Montiel 4

Vera Cruz – Sarita Montiel 5

Vera Cruz – Sarita Montiel 6

Tags: , , , ,

Vera Cruz … Cesar Romero … Cast Updates

17 Nov

I’m posting updates to my Vera Cruz page – slowly – as able. Right now I’m working on the wonderful Cast. Bios for Lancaster and Cooper are in MFW Cowboy Hall of Fame … and everybody else’s too. Below is the wonderful Cesar Romero … Onward !

Vera Cruz – Cesar Romero

Romero’s acting credits are so extensive I have refrained from listing them here. However, I’ll investigate his list of Westerns and post those later. Romero could indeed act, but unfortunately found himself ‘typecast’ – usually played the debonair mustachioed Spanish / Mexican / Latino even though he was an American by birth. Playing as the Joker in the TV Batman series must surely have been a ‘breathe of fresh air’ for him and he surely tackled that role with joyful enthusiasm and his usual consummate professionalism. His screen charisma is undeniable and his famous grin (“old crocodile teeth” as Lancaster referred to him) is equal to Lancaster’s. Hail Cesar !

Cesar Julio Romero, Jr.

(February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994)

Wikipedia: an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and as the Joker in the Batman TV series.

In October 1942, he voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and served in the Pacific Theater. He reported aboard the Coast Guard-manned assault transport USS Cavalier in November, 1943. According to a press release from the period he saw action during the invasions of Tinian and Saipan. The same article mentioned that he preferred to be a regular part of the crew and was eventually promoted to the rate of Chief Boatswain’s Mate.

Tags: , , , ,

Vera Cruz … Burt pitches … Coop catches

12 Nov

The Power of Projection

‘Projection’ they call it. Some actors have it. Most never will. It’s the ability to take a simple line of dialogue and make it sing; have impact; the knack of making a whisper into a shout. All the great Shakespearean actors have it: Olivier, Burton, Dench, Jacobi, O’Toole …

YET … out of the unwashed West emerged several notable thespians who entered the stage via a different door: Hollywood.

Among them was Burt Lancaster …

Watch Burt in this famous clip from The Unforgiven: (1961)

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/317447/Unforgiven-The-Movie-Clip-How-Much-Woman-Worth-.html
 4:59

Sign language scene - The Unforgiven

How many actors could pull that off?

Vera Cruz: Burt Pitches – Coop Catches

Vera Cruz also has some inspired dialogue: ‘one-liners’, verbal sparring, quotes – delivered by two masters: Cooper and Lancaster.

Coop meets Burt:

Coop meets Burt

Clip:
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/274874/Vera-Cruz-Movie-Clip-You-An-American-.html

Coop meets Burt’s Gang: “Follow him boys. We was leaving anyways”

Burt straightens things out: “Anybody else string with Charlie?”

Tell me I’m wrong, but damned if that doesn’t look like a very young George Kennedy (uncredited) standing just to Charlie’s right.

Burt sums things up: “Looks like we tied up with the wrong outfit.”

Tags: , , , ,

Iconic Images: Gunfight at OK Corral 2 …

27 Aug

Tags: , , , ,

Iconic Images: Gunfight at the OK Corral …

27 Aug
GUNFIGHT at the OK CORRAL

GUNFIGHT at the OK CORRAL

Tags: , , , , , ,

Update at the ‘OK Corral’ …

6 May

Continuing to add pages to Gunfight at the OK Corral profile …

Thing is … I keep finding new stuff … and changing things.  So I’m editing and adding new material as a go along.

Combined with my inexperience at Blogging, it’s taking quite a bit of work and I’m only able to add 2 or 3 sections a day.

BUT … it’s a labour of love … and I’m enjoying it. And I never want to get into a space where I’m just throwing things on there just to get it done.

So … I should have Gunfight at the OK Corral pretty well finished in about 3 days … I’m guessing.

Then it’s on to the next movie which I think will be Pekinpah’s ‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid’.

In any case these profiles are never finished. I rarely ever look at them when I don’t see something that needs fixing – or improving. Not to mention the fact that I keep finding new material. So if you check back here you will continually find that these profiles are changing, expanding and growing. 


Moving along …

Tags: , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 83 other followers

%d bloggers like this: