This film tells the story of a pair of detectives - John Russo (Gazarra) and Charles Rutledge (John Ritter) both assigned to follow supposedly unfaithful wives (Hepburn and Dorothy Stratten). Both fall in love with their quarries. The tenor of the film is very gentle and sweet with the characters all forming warm friendships with each other despite the curious circumstances. Unlike the usuall portrayal of New York City it's depicted as a town where people meet and instantly become friends, a place where understanding and human interaction trump circumstance an influence.
This is Peter Bogdanovich's favorite of his films, and has a real charm and warmth to it. It was not a success at the time of its release, partially because it was Dorothy Stratten's last film before she was murdered by her estranged husband. It was one of the films that spelled the death knell for director driven cinema in Hollywood. It's since been reappraised and is now thought of as a forgotten gem by many critics.
There was a 25th anniversary release of the film on DVD in 2006. It can also be seen online at CinemaxX.ru, a Rumanian film site.
Obscurity factor: 5 (known in film circles, unknown to the general public. Available on DVD)
Paul Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) is a painter living in Paris. He rooms with his friend Casey (James Garner), a writer. Paul has become disenchanted with painting and has decided to go home to America and his rich fiance, Laurie (Angie Dickinson). Casey sees his meal ticket flying the coop, so he gets Paul drunk and they toy with the idea of faking his suicide to increase the value of his paintings. When Paul jumps off a bridge to save a girl, Nikki (Ekle Sommer) who jumps before him Casey thinks he's gone and done it. Of course Paul is fine and rescues the girl and they end up on a barge floating downstream. Casey is distraught, but not upset enough not to capitalize on the "posthumous" success of his paintings. When Paul turns up alive in their flat, Casey convinces him play dead and continue painting so they can rake in the loot. Things get more and more complicated as Nikki comes back and Laurie flies to Paris. Nikki falls in love with Paul and Casey and Laurie start to spark. Out of jealousy Paul decides to frame Casey for his murder.
This film is, by no means a great one, but there are moments of charm to be had. Ethel Merman plays Madame Coco, the owner of a nightclub where Paul hides out. She's her delectable self. James Garner throws a wonderful tantrum in a jail house scene, Carl Reiner plays a delightfully unctuous lawyer and there are historical and literary references threaded throuhgout - Toulouse Lautrec, Madame De Farge...
This film is available in its entirety on YouTube but has not been released on DVD. Above is part one, uploaded by jkcPhog2001.
Obscurity factor: 8 (largely forgotten, not on DVD, available on YouTube)
This film and the book it was based on are very fond memories from my childhood. Claudia Kincaid (Sally Prager) is dissatisfied with her life. She yearns for drama and glamor. So she enlists her brother Jamie (the one who is the best at saving his money) in a scheme to run away. Sally is no ordinary, run of the mill runaway though. She has a plan. She and her brother will become guests of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. While there, between bouts of sleeping in Marie Antoinette's bed and bathing in the reflecting pool in the restaurant they find themselves returning to look at a beautiful statue that was just given to the museum and has a great mystery attached to it. As they become more convinced they know the secret of the statue, it becomes imperative that they track down the reclusive donor, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Bergman).
This story was very empowering to me as a child. It celebrates the ingenuity children have innately and doesn't devolve into a sugary sweet story of frantic parents and wayward, helpless waifs. Look for Richard Mulligan and Madeline Kahn in small roles early on.
Though I could only find a small snippet worth watching online, you can get this film on DVD under it's European title - The Hideaways. Don't be fooled into buying the condensed 30 minute version under the original title, go for the full 105 minute original cut. Above is a delightful scene with Claudia and Jamie exploring the galleries of the museum uploaded to YouTube by phoenixfilmandvideo.
Obscurity factor: 7 (hard to find, a fond memory for children who grew up in the 70's, available on DVD)
Bewitched was quite a phenomenon in its time. It was hugely popular and continues to be an iconic American sitcom. That's why in 1976 it must have seemed a good idea to spin it off into a new series featuring daughter Tabitha, all grown up and on her own. Unfortunately, spinoffs of highly popular shows have a heavy burden to carry. The memory of the original show, deep pink with a rosy glow of fondness is frequently too much for the new show to live up to. That's part of the problem with Tabitha. If you loved Bewitched, then you want the show to be as good, if you didn't, then you probably wouldn't watch in the first place.
Lisa Hartman is Tabitha, all grown up and working in a television station in LA. Her brother Adam has gotten her a job as an administrative assistant to Paul Thurston, an egomaniacal television host, played by a young Robert Urich so gorgeous it makes you weak in the knees. She's frequently visited by her aunt Minerva (Karen Morrow) who is always meddling in her affairs with witchcraft. Adam, who takes after his father, doesn't like that. The show has a certain charm of its own, though the character development frequently blows in what ever direction the wind of the plot takes it and the story lines are at times more implausible than they should be. But it succeeds in the most important aspect of any sitcom - the characters are fun to watch and very likable. Lisa Hartman is also a real dish with an exquisite figure and hair that rivals Farrah's.
This section is a bit nit-picky, so if you're not that interested in trivia then skip it and go right to the video. There are some odd conceits carried over from the original series, but not until they're twisted on their ears. Minerva was never in the cast of the original series and it's odd that Samantha never mentioned having a sister. Adam, who acts more like an older brother than a younger one is presented as a mortal, not a warlock. This is vaguely plausible because the series never really developed the character of Adam, he was too young. There was an episode where his powers were tested and it was determined that he did have them, but Maurice (Samantha's father) helped him along a bit. The last oddity is the timing. The original series ended in 1972 and the new series in 1976 had Tabitha about 23 or 24 years old. Erin Murphy, who played Tabitha in the original show would have been 12 in 1976.
This series has recently been released on DVD and if you're a Bewitched fan it's worth a look, as long as you don't keep your expectations too high. Lisa Hartman sings a catchy theme on most of the episodes and look for Bewitched veterans Mr. & Mrs. Kravitz, Dr. Bombay and the drunk man that Darren always saw in that bar in various episodes. Above is the first installment of the pilot episode, uploaded to YouTube by 1970sFeel.
Obscurity factor: 7 (available on DVD, largely forgotten and known mostly to hard core Bewitched fans)
Four bored Pasadena matrons (Hayes, Loy, Sylvia Sidney & Mildred Natwick) decide to amuse themselves by creating a fictitious woman on the rolls of a computer dating service. Their dalliance in the world of computer dating turns up three responses, a dull accountant, a smart-alec and a stalker. Mal Weston (Vince Edwards in a particularly creepy performance with a constant internal running dialog) becomes obsessed with their avatar Rebeca Mead and won't take no for an answer after he stakes out their home and scams their phone number out of an operator. He insists on meeting her at a cocktail lounge and the ladies go along to spy on him. They see him leave with a girl he thinks is Rebeca and the next day see her photo in the paper after she has been murdered. They (led by Hayes) decide to investigate! This made-for-TV movie resulted in a series of mystery movies of the week in rotation with the likes of McMillin & Wife called The Snoop Sisters starring Hayes and Natwick.
While The Snoop Sisters have made it to DVD, this film has yet to. It is, however available in full on YouTube, thanks to an upload by CDeanWatcher.
Obscurity factor: 9 (not on DVD, available on YouTube, largely forgotten)
We all know that the mega-hit The Simpsons started out on Tracey Ullman's first show in the 1980's, but what many people don't remember is that The Simpsons shorts rotated with another series. Dr. Janice N!godatu was a psychotherapist with a calm, pleasant manner that always seemed to find herself in surreal circumstances. Some of those circumstances were very subtle and that gave the shorts a curious, intellectual quality. They were conceived and drawn by well known cartoonist, M.K. Brown. There were six four act shorts, plus two unreleased episodes. These little gems are hard to find now. Here is the first in the series. Dr. N!godatu wears her slippers to the office by mistake. In the second segment watch the plant on the filing cabinet. Also in these clips are classic sketches from the show.
Below is "Freeway" in which Janice goes shopping with her friend Pat. Pat doesn't drive on freeways, through tunnels or on bridges.
These shorts are very hard to find and as far as I can tell, no stand alone video of them exists. The segments above are uploaded to YouTube by TraceyUllman1111. You can find out more about Dr. N!godatu on this page, which has synopses of the episodes and screen shots.
Obscurity factor: 10 (relatively unknown, hard to find)
One night after a party at their home, Sheila Green, wife of film producer Clinton Green is killed in a hit and run accident. A year later, the guests from the party are invited for a week on Clinton's yacht. There's the script writer (Richard Benjamin) and his wife (Joan Hackett), the agent (Dyan Cannon), the starlet (Raquel Welch) and her manager (Ian McShane) and the director (James Mason). But a gathering organized by Clinton is never just a gathering - all the guests are to play a game. They're each given cards with a secret on them and must discover each others secret without letting their own be revealed. Each night there is a trip to shore with a clue given that leads to the answer to one of the secrets. What makes the guests uneasy is that each of the secrets relates to an incident in one of the guests lives. When the game leads to murder all bets are off!
This was on TCM last night. Its obscurity is dubious in that it's notorious for being written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim. The plot is full of extremely clever twists and turns and you must watch closely to keep up with them all, but the film is, in some ways, a bit too clever for its own good.
It's available on DVD and can be watched instantly on Amazon. The trailer for it is above, uploaded to YouTube by Nederama. The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.
Obscurity factor: 1 (somewhat notorious, available on DVD)
