This is the first in a series of posts about Robert Wagner. I had hoped to feature Pearl, the 1978 miniseries about Pearl Harbor in honor of Memorial Day, but there's very little video of it online and none that can be embedded. So, instead we'll take a look at this 1968 series. In it, Wagner plays Alexander Mundy, a master cat burglar who, when caught is offered a job stealing for a shady government espionage agency. Mundy travels the world with his handler (Malachi Throne, later Ed Binns) pulling off daring jobs and getting into exciting scrapes. Later in the series we meet Mundy's father (Fred Astair) who is also a master thief. The show has a great stylish quality to it and reeks of sophistication.
The title derives (as does that of Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 film) from the English proverb "it takes a thief to catch a thief." Look for great old Hollywood guest stars including Paul Henried and Ida Lupino. This series has yet to be released on DVD, There is quite a bit of online video available, however. The pilot episode is on YouTube, the first installment is above, uploaded by roderickplatinum86.
Obscurity factor: 5 (not on DVD, known to Wagner fans and 60's hipsters, largely forgotten, otherwise)
Showing posts with label Fred Astaire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fred Astaire. Show all posts
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Ava Gardner & Gregory Peck in On The Beach (1959)
Obscurity factor: 3
Now to be honest, this film is borderline for this blog. It was a very big film at the time of its release, and Ava Gardner's first film after her contract ended with MGM. It was also directed by Stanley Kramer, who is no slouch, so students of film have known and studied this film in depth. If you weren't around when it was released and you're not a film student, then you might not have heard of it before.
American Captain Dwight Lional Towers (Gregory Peck) and his crew pilot their submarine into Melbourne harbor after a nuclear conflict that has wiped out the rest of the world. All that's left of the world population is in Australia. The Australian citizens are getting on as best they can and the government is trying to calculate if and when the nuclear fallout will reach them. Captain Towers, his crew and a scientist (Fred Astaire) are charged with testing a theory about the radiation abating at the north pole, but not until Dwight is introduced to Moira (Gardner) by a new Australian crew member (Anthony Perkins) Moira, an Australian native, tries to help Dwight come to terms with his family's death. As they set out on their voyage disappointments await them at the north pole, down the west coast of the United States and upon returning to Melbourne.
In the scene above, uploaded to YouTube by slaxor, Julian explains to the crew his thoughts on how the conflict started. This film is available on DVD and can be seen frequently on TCM. The poster above is available at MoviePosterShop.com.
Obscurity factor: 3 (known to film buffs, somewhat forgotten otherwise)
Now to be honest, this film is borderline for this blog. It was a very big film at the time of its release, and Ava Gardner's first film after her contract ended with MGM. It was also directed by Stanley Kramer, who is no slouch, so students of film have known and studied this film in depth. If you weren't around when it was released and you're not a film student, then you might not have heard of it before.
American Captain Dwight Lional Towers (Gregory Peck) and his crew pilot their submarine into Melbourne harbor after a nuclear conflict that has wiped out the rest of the world. All that's left of the world population is in Australia. The Australian citizens are getting on as best they can and the government is trying to calculate if and when the nuclear fallout will reach them. Captain Towers, his crew and a scientist (Fred Astaire) are charged with testing a theory about the radiation abating at the north pole, but not until Dwight is introduced to Moira (Gardner) by a new Australian crew member (Anthony Perkins) Moira, an Australian native, tries to help Dwight come to terms with his family's death. As they set out on their voyage disappointments await them at the north pole, down the west coast of the United States and upon returning to Melbourne.
In the scene above, uploaded to YouTube by slaxor, Julian explains to the crew his thoughts on how the conflict started. This film is available on DVD and can be seen frequently on TCM. The poster above is available at MoviePosterShop.com.
Obscurity factor: 3 (known to film buffs, somewhat forgotten otherwise)
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