CNATUC - 50TH!

Can't believe I almost forgot this one... 

CAPTAIN NEMO AND THE 

UNDERWATER CITY
1969

Aye, aye ~ it was, admittedly and absolutely, the hardest thing to do: 

determining who was the true Underwater Queen here - 

Nanette or Luciana? 

For both would have been -for different reasons, somehow- excellent 

choices to portray a QUEEN OF ATLANTIS type; 

the next best thing to an actual flesh-and-blood MERA, indeed! 

And for years this would be the closest we would get to it, too! 

Alas - CHUCK CONNORS would be the closest we'd get to an 

AQUAMAN, also - for many, many years! 

It is no wonder that DC was the first to get their underwater superhero 

into live action and onto the big screen ~ they had been there before! 

Warner Bros will always trump (pardon the expression; these days, 

it has to be pardoned...) miserable envious Marvel and all of its 

aspirations - which have led them to their unholy alliance with the Rat! 

Disney may have had the official 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea 

done up about a decade earlier; but this film from the year of our Lord 

nineteen sixty-nine had it closer to what the filmgoing audience wanted! 

Jules Verne himself would have said so - were he alive! 

They had to replace Kirk Douglas with Chuck Connors - so what! 

James Mason and Robert Ryan were pretty much the same; 

and with ladies Newman and Paluzzi onboard, 

the scales tip decisively in favor of CNATUC! 

So very ironic, is it not: just as Nicole Kidman 

and Amber Heard have made AQUAMAN a hit 

(and OHMSS was saved by the presence of 

Diana Rigg, for the most part!) 

this film also owes it all... to its ladies! 

(And the director's craft... maybe!) 

And its soundtrack music ~ 

here also the work of a LADY: 

~Angela Morley ~

And if you don't agree, you can have some 

Irwin Allen fare instead ~ from 1967! 

...still better than a Disney treatment! 

Or anything that came after...! 

(circa 1975... onwards!)

AQUAMAN approves! 

OHMSS - 50TH

HEY - I had promised myself 
that I would celebrate 
my favorite Bond film's 
BIG 5-0 ANNIVERSARY 
in a big way... rrright? 
007 - 50! 
This never meant as much 
with the other feller...!

I admit it:
It took me a long, long time to discover that ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE was the greatest James Bond film ever made (in great part due to the absence of either Sean Connery or Roger Moore - but also because of the simply stupendous title sequence by master Maurice Binder (the best such sequence ever made), the awesome action sequences, their realism, the stunning soundtrack by John Barry, the masterful directorial debut of one Peter Hunt, the better use of the locales chosen to shoot in, the flair and panache that dastardingly (I'd say - decadently daring was such the approach of Peter Hunt, determined that he was to prove that *anyone could be Bond* - with just the right surroundings! Not into new words? So let's settle for ''daringly'') captures the true essence of the Ian Fleming beast throughout this film and, of course, the casting of Diana Rigg as the first and only Mrs. Bond! Very appropriate for a future Dame Diana...!)
It took me quite long to give the film a chance, alas; prior to 1980, I had considered this to be a film "that didn't count" - it wasn't "the real Bond", just an impostor! The real Bond was, to me, The Saint! Roger Moore - in other words, Lord Brett Sinclair, Simon Templar and James Bond were all one and the same to me! Sean Connery was himself a mere replacement in my mind - so what did George Lazenby hope to be rated as, when young film-goers such as me had this kind of "backwards logical thinking" going totally against themselves - eh?

The pleasant surprise that "OHMSS" is born to the world in the luminous year of 1969 was a major factor, I cannot deny it (plus, one of the locations it was shot in was Portugal - wow!) - but the film itself, in my more mature eyes, proved to be far superior on all technical levels that matter - once I finally gave it a chance, sat down and saw it, in 1980! (1980 something - as the Goldbergs say!)
I was stunned - this was waaaaaaaaay better than any Connery conk out on celluloid or any Moore merriment caught on film...! (And please spare me any Dalton or Brosnan talk - and that other guy now...! Yes; the preceding was a little wink-wink *clin d'oeil* to the pre-credits in-joke Lazenby so cleverly delivers in this one...! He remains the only spy with such wit - ever on film! ;) 
Enjoy the sights and sounds - and raise your glass to this 50th now!
THIS, my friends, is the true James Bond! Coupled with the Ultimate Bond Girl... ah, make it Bond Lady... too! 



DIANA RIGG: the ultimate Bond Girl - no question about it!
Most fully-capable critics will agree with me on that too!  Everyone else = doesn't matter!

And then there's that theme music too:  unquestionably the best Bond music ever!  .

Many kudos and thanks to the Propellerheads (with a fine helpful hand from another delightful dame; Dame Shirley Bassey, notable James Bond contributor in her own privileged right!) for resuscitating that unforgettable and unmistakably unique theme music concocted for Bond exclusively for this fine film
(the finer music, the meticulous approach to every detail, both in scriptwriting, cinematography and plain plausibility - it was all attributable to the casting of a neophyte 007 in this one! It was the nicest side-effect of all, in the end: in over-compensating for their apparent weakness -their leading man- the 007 team made this the best Bond film of all! More stills from it can be seen here.)

BTPOTA - 50TH!

another classic film; 

another milestone 

 BENEATH THE PLANET 

 OF THE APES 

(1969; NOT 1970!) 

In one of the most notable bits of cinematic continuity 

ever seen up until that point - after all the Hammer 

classics of horror and the likes of Charlie Chan, 

Inspector Clouseau and The Thin Man, perhaps - 

reputed actor Charlton Heston agreed to 

make an appearance in this sequel 

to the film adaptation of the Pierre Boulle novel 

that he had starred in just a few years earlier... 

(Because, although it was indisputably crafted 

and produced in 1969, this movie was truly 

released to the world in 1970 - I'll admit...! 

But you'll have to swallow that, POTA, which was 

released in 1968, was really made in... 1967!) 

Heston further cemented his reputation 

as a classical actor - one had been both 

Moses and Ben Hur in legendary productions 

helmed by prestigious directors - 

who was willing to take part in 

science-fiction projects... 

He was a few years away from becoming 

the OMEGA MAN ~ and, as such, he'd  

have fit right into the action in this 

very apocalyptic sequel 

to the Planet of the Apes! 

The soundtrack music was composed masterfully 

by veteran composer Leonard Rosenman 

James Franciscus, as the "replacement hero of service" 

was more than adequate and equal to the task 

of carrying the entire movie on his shoulders 

(the two thirds of it, anyhow) 

But he was quickly relegated to the backdrop 

once Charlton Heston's character makes his appearance; 

and that was quite jarring and disappointing. 

Young movie aficionado me, already quick 

to pick up on those things, had a strange sense 

of déjà vu here; for it reminded me 

of various other franchises/series/properties 

in which the archetypical hero figure 

was that certain type of hero: 

square-jawed, dark, ravenous, brooding 

(and dark-haired, too!) type of guy - 

like James Bond, Matt Helm, Major Mason, 

Tarzan, Green Hornet, James West, 

And whenever there was a blond-haired, 

valiant and noble figure around 

(OK, sometimes he was of another ethnicity; 

other times he was more of a brainy type, 

like Artemus Gordon for example...) 

he always played second-fiddle to the archetype! 

It was so very true on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 

with Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. 

And it was true in the realm of super-heroes, 

with Superman and Aquaman... 

And here it was once again: 

with Taylor and Brent on the POTA! 

That was... regrettable. 

Director Ted Post was at fault...? 

The author of the screenplay? 

Producers...? The studio...? 

They were all very understandably grateful 

to Heston for his participation; but giving him 

the central figure spot for the movie's climax 

was not at all what he wanted here...! 

Much like Harrison Ford requested 

in exchange of his participation in 

Star Wars The Force Awakens, 

Charlton Heston wanted to have his character 

promptly killed off for good in this one; 

so he would never have to reprise the role - 

ever again! 

Ironically enough, many years later, 

when a remake was finally put together 

(one that misses the mark considerably 

even though it is more faithful to the 

source material than the original was!) 

Heston would agree to portray one of the 

Simians, this time out...! 

Stepping into the shoes of cast mate 

Maurice Evans, certainly...  

Evans, along with Kim Hunter, 

Linda Harrison and Roddy McDowell 

had all reprised their roles 

for BTPOTA ~ flawlessly! 

The same could not quite be said 

of Heston's second time out as "Taylor"... 

Turning 50 in 2019

... which means it was made...  

it got created... or conceived... 

or it took place, somehow, at some point 

in 1969! 

1969 is 50

...and so are all of the 

following ladies... 

Jennifer Aniston 

Holly Aird 

Allison Balson 

Danielle Brisebois  

Bobbie Brown 

Martha Byrne 

Edwidge Danticat 

Cathy Dennis 

Sandy Denton 

Ami Dolenz 

Candy Dulfer 

Danielle Egnew 

Erika Eleniak 

Angie Everhart 

Gisselle 

Lucero 

Emma Rabbe 

and many, many more...

Now, it is not like a gentleman 

to ask a lady her age ~ they say! 

But... we didn't ask them! 

WE... GOOGLE! 

And, besides, 

who are they, anyway? 

Human beings - who age, 

like everybody else...! 

Googling ~ it is the way to go; 

we can find every info we want 

that safe and sure-as-heck way! 

There is a website for everything! 

And wouldn't you know it: 

there's just the perfect site 

for this sort of data, too: 

and it's called 

PATHETIC FACTS. 

The above (virtually unknown) singer 

was born a good 30 years earlier... 

her song was born in '69, tho! 

However, Mariah was not born in 1969 - 

it was 1970 - we've established that! 

(In the preceding video ~ right after 

Ed Hensley's very own 1969 tune!) 

But guess who else was born in 1969?  

Who else was "just born to lose" - ultimately? 

Here are but two clues now:  

she is hailed as a greater actress 

than all of the previously mentioned 

-born in the same year as she was- 

COMBINED... 

(Yeah; she is that overrated!) 

AND... 

they gave her the sobriquet... 

The ultimate compliment... 

*The* title of... 

LUMINOUS. 

THEY DARED. 

YEAH! 

Cate Blanchett shares, 

with Carrie Stevens, 

Holly Aird and Pat Hurst, 

the luminous distinction alright: 

that of having been born in 

the month of flowers ~ 

IN MAY...!!! 

AND IN 1969!!! 

However... 

See? She is NOT "luminous" one iota!!!