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Enter the Queen
Katharine Hepburn sure knows how to make a grand entrance. In her Oscar-winning performance as Eleanor of Aquitaine in THE LION IN WINTER (1968), she enters as as a medieval queen should--on a barge
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He Was Born To Be Hanged
Once a bastard, always a bastard? That question lies at the heart of Henry Fielding’s classic TOM JONES. For those who missed out on the Kritzerland reissue of John Addison’s Oscar-winning score, you’ll have to
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In the Lion’s Den
“It’s 1183 and we’re all barbarians…” And barbaric it is! THE LION WINTER follows an aging King Henry II (Peter O’Toole) who has summoned his exiled queen, Eleanor of Acquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), to court to
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The Biggest Word You Ever Heard
When I was young, my mother would drum words into my head night after night in preparation for the yearly spelling bee. Other kids struggled over “antidisestablishmentarianism.” Though you won’t find it in a bee, my
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CD Review: Tom Jones
Arguably the least stuffy costumer ever filmed, Albert Finney stars as TOM JONES (1963), Henry Fielding’s classic bastard of ignoble birth. With a countryside estate’s worth of raucous performances–including Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, and Dame Edith
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No Shy Violet, Let’s Middle Aisle It
You think your life sucks? Coke bottle glasses, out-of-date hairstyle and outfit, and oh those sensible shoes. Poor Charlotte Vale: unattractive, overweight, and a spinster on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the
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The Men Behind the Curtain
While you may fly over the rainbow when you think of the classic songs of Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, it took an entire team of musical artists to make THE WIZARD OF OZ
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Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
Judy Garland in a gingham dress singing “Over the Rainbow” against a sepia-toned backdrop. That’s the musical image most viewers take away from THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939). But there is more to the
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Best Foot Forward
THE RED SHOES has probably been responsible for more little girls (and probably some little boys) wanting to be in the dramatic world of the ballet than any other film. Based on a Hans
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9 Oscar-Winning Scores In Need of a Release
The Academy Awards have played a big part in my love of film music. In the late 1970s, as a film score virgin, I figured that any organization that awarded my beloved OMEN soundtrack
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