Katherine O'Hare (no relation to Bunny) is a simple woman who has found her way into the tightly knit society that lives on the hill in a small Irish town. She has been taken under the wing of Mrs. Doyle-Counihan (Joan Plowright). The hill has been informally reserved for widows, and when a new, young, racy American widow comes to join the ladies on Widow's Peak, Katherine takes an instant and irrational dislike to her. The people in the town don't know quite what to do about that, as the dislike turns to open hostility and physical violence. Will harm befall one of the women, so brutally pitted against one another?
This taut, well crafted little film is not what you expect when you sit down to watch it, and it's full of unexpected twists and turns as it plays out its story.
The film is fairly recent, and available on DVD. The trailer is up on YouTube and can be seen above, thanks to an upload by Gabben92. The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.
Obscurity factor: 3 (still fairly recent, available on DVD)
All my friends know I love cheese (see Milineum). So when my friend Carol gave me a copy of this miniseries on DVD I was ecstatic. This was one of those shows that was appointment TV for me when it was first run on CBS back in the 80's (don't judge, I was in high school). It's based on a Judith Krantz novel and has all the over-the-top drama and glamor you would expect. It's an epic tale of the Ambervilles and the publishing empire that Zachery (Barry Bostwick), the elder Amberville brother builds up. He is helped and hindered by a cast of familiar faces - his younger brother, Cutter (I know, right?) played by Perry King, his wife (Francesca Annis) blind son (Timothy Daly), and supportive mistress and editor (Jane Kaczmarek). But the real focus of the story is his fiery daughter Maxi, played by Valerie Bertinelli. She's an irresponsible playgirl with all the money she could ever need and an unerring ability to get anything she wants. And what she wants is Jack Scalia, playing art director Rocco Cipriani. She's aided by her best friend India, played by a very young Julianne Moore. This is a long series! 4 installments of what were, with commercials, 2 hour movies, comes to 357 minutes. If you like to indulge in a banquet of gorgonzola then its worth it.
This is, I'm glad to say, available on DVD. It can also be found on YouTube in it's entirety, which is saying a lot. there are 35 installments of it, all uploaded by LBColby. The first installment is above.
Obscurity factor: 5 (available on DVD and YouTube, very much a piece of its times, and forgotten by all except those who love TV movies and miniseries)
This animated short is a cartoon adaptation of the familiar story of The Devil and Daniel Webster. When mice Daniel and Jan are fired from their latest music gig they're pretty down on their luck. As they walk home, lamenting the fact that they have no job, no money and no prospects, Daniel promises Jan to get them some food. He leaves her sitting in the woods while he goes to hock his guitar. Meanwhile, Jan is approached by a serpent, who introduces himself as B. L. Zebubb. B.L. and his wiley weasel of an assistant offer to make Jan a star if she'll sign with them. She resists at first, but is eventually taken in. Fame and fortune follow, but on the night of her greatest success, according to her contract, she must surrender her soul. Can Daniel save her? What makes this version of the story interesting is the setting in which it was produced. It's very much a piece of its time, with some groovy music and slick 70's style. The rendering of the devil is really wonderful. He oozes evil and shifts from hideous shape to hideous shape gracefully at will.
This short film (27 minutes) is available as a DVD extra on the 2 disc collector's edition of Rock and Rule, which it inspired. It's also available as a stand alone VHS tape and a companion kid's book. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube as well, thanks to bbahalt. The first installment is above.
Obscurity factor: 9 (not available as a stand alone DVD, largely forgotten, available on YouTube)
Keeping in the vein of all-star casts in wacky comedies we have this Aaron Spelling TV movie from 1980. It's cartoonish, poorly written and simplistically silly, but for fans of 70's television none of that matters. This caper film relies on knowledge of the popular cop shows of the 1970's and benefits from knowledge of the ubiquitous actors of the era. They're all here - Colombo (Burt Young), Kojak (Gavin MacCleod), Police Woman (Connie Stevens), McCloud (Buck Owens), Starsky (Jamie Farr) and Hutch (John Byner), Ironsides (Victor Buono), Beretta (Tony Danza) - with just a tweak to the names for the sake of parody. The story revolves (dizzily) around The Man in White, who has decided to do in all the dectectives, for reasons of his own. He does his level best and they start meeting bizarre and preposterous ends. But none of that really matters. The only reason to watch this is to see actors you're familiar with broadly lampoon characters you're also familiar with in stereotypical cop show circumstances that are amplified for comedy - it's a self-referential 70's TV fest. If that's not your thing, then you'll want to skip this one. Look for Marty Allen and Jimmie Walker also populating the cast.
No surprise that this one isn't available on DVD. It can be watched on YouTube in its entirety, however, thanks to dalekenbuck.
The runaway success of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World led Hollywood to several copycat ventures. There was a Remington Steele episode, a movie with everyone looking for something under a big "K" somewhere (that's one of those lost films that I remember from my youth but can't find - all those lost films will become a post some day) and this film from 1979. Milton Parker (Vincent Price) has died and left a huge fortune. His will decrees that it will be given in its entirety to the winning team of a scavenger hunt he has set up. The teams include his greedy sister (Cloris Leachman), her son (Richard Masur) and her lawyer (Richard Benjamin), the old man's servants (Roddy McDowell, Clevon Little, James Coco and Stephanie Faracy), his nephews (Dirk Benedict and Willie Aames), his son in law Henry Motley (Tony Randall) and his kids and a cab driver (Richard Mulligan) who helped him out once, who is eventually joined by Scatman Crothers. As the teams head out to pillage San Diego for the items on the list they wreak all sorts of havoc on population and countryside, encountering a slew of familiar faces such as Ruth Gordon, Meatloaf, Arnold Schwarzenegger in cameo roles.
One of my favorite moments features Liz Torres (Julie, the photography studio owner on Phyllis) playing a psychic from which one of the teams needs a crystal ball. Before they can even knock, she opens the door and knows in minute detail what they want and why they want it. It's a brilliantly written little moment. Also look for Robert Morley as the lawyer and executor of the estate.
Though the film has yet to be released on DVD, it can be found on VHS. It's also uploaded to YouTube in its entirety, thanks to dalekenbuck. The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.
Obscurity factor: 7 (available on VHS and YouTube, not on DVD, buried by the sands of time)
Thanks to frequent commenter propagatrix I saw this cunning little film last night. It was a TV movie back in 1971, but before that it was a notorious Broadway flop (running only 8 performances) by Ira Levin, author of such creepy fare as Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives. The play starred Burl Ives, the film features Bing Crosby as the kind, benevolent doctor of the title. His young protege returns from his residency for a much needed rest in his old New England home town. While staying with the doctor it strikes him that the town has the most idyllic residents - only the good, kind, healthy members of the population seem to survive. As he casually examines his records he begins to wonder if Dr. Cook might be responsible.
This film is a prime example of great casting. Bing Crosby strikes just the right notes of respectability and charm as the doctor with a dark secret, he turns in a very solid performance, as do the rest of the cast, including Frank Converse as the young protege and Blythe Danner as Dr. Cook's nurse and receptionist. Look for veteran Barnard Hughes as the town constable and Dr. Cook's gardener.
This film is not on DVD, though you can see it on YouTube in its entirety, thanks to cmcb09. The first installment is above. You can also find copies on iOffer.com.
Obscurity factor: 9 (not on DVD, TV movie, largely forgotten, available on YouTube and iOffer.com)
This 1970's Bollywood film is all about adventure. S. S. Kumar (Dharmendra) is a petty thief who cons his way into the estate of Sir John Locksley (Rex Harrison) who is hosting a house party. Little does Kumar know that the guests are all master criminals and Sir John, who is dying, is picking a successor to the title of greatest criminal mind by tempting them to steal the fabulous Shalimar diamond from him.
This film has a very James Bond quality, with our hero moving heaven and earth to succeed at his game, and of course there's a girl at stake as well. Look for American actors John Saxon and Sylvia Miles as rival jewel thieves. It's a fun watch, and worth a look.
This film is available on DVD and can be seen on YouTube, however the upload has no subtitles. The first installment is posted above and begins with a fun dance number that you don't need to speak Hindi to understand. The soundtrack was released and is still known in the Indian music scene.
Obscurity factor: 8 (known in its native India, relatively unknown in the states, on DVD)
