All That Jazz

All That Jazz is a motion-picture musical about a dying director/choreographer, directed by Bob Fosse. Released in 1979, it won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival and earned Academy Awards for music, editing, art direction, and costume design. Joe Gideon (played by Roy Scheider) has an inkling that he will die soon, which leads him to review his life in show business. He chain smokes, has heart problems, and deals with the extreme highs and lows of the entertainment business. This movie contains scenes similar to Fosse’s own life and resembles Italian director Federico Fellini’s autobiographical film 8½ (1963). Fosse also designed the movie’s vibrant dance numbers.

Director

Bob Fosse

Cast

Roy Scheider (Joe Gideon)

Jessica Lange (Angelique)

Ann Reinking (Kate Jagger)

Leland Palmer (Audrey Paris)

Cliff Gorman (Davis Newman)

Ben Vereen (O’Connor Flood)

Erzsebet Foldi (Michelle)

Michael Tolan (Dr. Ballinger)

Max Wright (Joshua Benn)

William La Messena (Jonesy Hecht)

Chris Chase (Leslie Perry)

Deborah Geffner (Victoria)

Kathryn Doby (Kathryn)

Anthony Holland (Paul Dann)

Robert Hitt (Ted Christopher)

David Margulies (Larry Goldie)

Sue Paul (Stacy)

Keith Gordon (Young Joe)

Frankie Man (Comic)

Alan Heim (Eddie)

John Lithgow (Lucas Sergeant)

Awards

Academy Award for Costume Design (1979): Albert Wolsky

Academy Award for Film Editing (1979): Alan Heim

Academy Award for Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation (1979): Ralph Burns

Academy Award for Art Direction (1979): Philip Rosenberg, Tony Walton, Edward Stewart, Gary Brink

Cannes Film Festival Palme D’Or (1980)

Quote

O’Connor Flood: “Ladies and gentlemen, let me lay on you a so-so entertainer, not much of a humanitarian, and this cat was never nobody’s friend. In his final appearance on the great stage of life—uh, you can applaud if you want to—Mr. Joe Gideon!”

 

Alexander’s Ragtime Band

Alexander’s Ragtime Band is a motion picture musical about a love triangle and show business, released in 1938. It won an Academy Award for its musical score of more than 20 songs by Irving Berlin, including “Heat Wave” and “Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.” Roger Grant (played by Tyrone Power) and Charlie Dwyer (Don Ameche) are both composers and rivals for the affection of Stella Kirby (Alice Faye). Ethel Merman plays the singer who replaces Kirby in Grant’s band.

Director

Henry King

Cast

Tyrone Power (Roger Grant)

Alice Faye (Stella Kirby)

Don Ameche (Charlie Dwyer)

Ethel Merman (Jerry Allen)

Jack Haley (Davey Lane)

Jean Hersholt (Professor Heinrich)

Helen Westley (Aunt Sophie)

John Carradine (Taxi driver)

Paul Hurst (Bill)

Wally Vernon (Himself)

Ruth Terry (Ruby)

Douglas Fowley (Snapper)

Eddie Collins (Corporal Collins)

Joseph Crehan (Stage manager)

Robert Gleckler (Eddie)

Dixie Dunbar (Specialty)

Joseph King (Charles Dillingham)

Charles Coleman (Head waiter)

Stanley Andrews (Colonel)

Charles Williams (Agent)

Jane Jones (Part of trio)

Otto Fries (Part of trio)

Mel Kalish (Part of trio)

Grady Sutton (Babe)

Selmer Jackson (Radio station manager)

Tyler Brooke (Assistant stage manager)

Don Douglas (Singer)

James Flavin (Sergeant)

Jack Pennick (Sergeant)

Harold Goodwin (Military police officer)

Edward Keane (Major)

Ralph Dunn (Captain)

Charles Tannen (Secretary)

Robert Lowery (Reporter)

Eleanor Wesselhoeft (Martha)

Cully Richards (One of the king’s men)

Arthur Rankin (One of the king’s men)

Cecil Weston (One of the king’s men)

Kay Griffith (One of the king’s men)

Sam Ash (One of the king’s men)

A. S. Byron (One of the king’s men)

Edwin Stanley (One of the king’s men)

Lynne Barkley (One of the king’s men)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring (1938): Alfred Newman

 

Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) was a Japanese motion-picture director, known worldwide for the variety and visual beauty of his films. Influenced by American directors John Ford, William Wyler, and Howard Hawks, and inspired by Western literary classics and popular culture, Kurosawa made films with strong story lines that appeal to a wide audience.

Kurosawa was born in Tokyo. Aspiring to become a commercial artist, he attended the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts before deciding on a film career. In 1936 he began working as an assistant director at Toho Film Studios, and in 1943 he directed his first feature film, Sanshiro Sugata (Judo Saga).

Kurosawa’s film Rashomon (1950) established his international reputation. A historical motion picture set in medieval Japan, Rashomon dealt with the relativity of truth. It won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1951. The worldwide success of Rashomon encouraged American theater owners to run Japanese films and helped revive Japan’s motion-picture industry after World War II ended in 1945.

Kurosawa also directed motion pictures with contemporary settings, such as Ikiru (1952; To Live, 1960) and Akahige (Red Beard, 1965), but his historical films, including Shichinin o samurai (1954; The Seven Samurai, 1956), Yojimbo (1961; The Bodyguard, 1962), and Sanjuro (1962), attracted his largest following. Audiences admired these films for their visual beauty and spectacular action scenes, which combined long tracking shots, slow-motion sequences, and fast-paced editing. His films were also admired for their humanistic values; they emphasize the dignity and worth of the individual. Deeply rooted in the Japanese samurai code of behavior, which extols working for the good of others and the subordination of selfish desires, Kurosawa’s motion pictures were thought to possess universal appeal, and European and American filmmakers openly imitated them. Shichinin o Samurai and Yojimbo, for example, inspired two popular and influential Westerns: The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Per un pugno di dollari (1964; A Fistful of Dollars, 1967).

Kurosawa’s career slowed in the mid-1960s but revived with Dersu Uzala (1975), a Russian and Japanese coproduction, which won an Academy Award for best foreign film in 1975. With the financial support of American directors George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, Kurosawa went on to make two epic motion pictures: Kagemusha (1980), which shared the award for best film with All That Jazz (1980) at the Cannes Film Festival; and Ran (Chaos, 1985), which received Academy Award nominations in several categories. Kurosawa’s other films include Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990) and Hachigatsu no Kyoshikyoku (Rhapsody in August, 1991).

Airplane! (motion picture)

Airplane! (motion picture), motion picture spoofing Zero Hour (1957) and Airport (1970) are two films about commercial passenger planes in danger of crashing. This 1980 release moves along at a manic pace and features many deliberately corny jokes that are delivered in a nonstop manner. Actor Leslie Nielsen revived his career with this film, in which he satirizes his earlier, serious screen persona. Airplane! was a success at the box office and inspired Airplane II, The Sequel (1982).

Directors

Jim Abrahams
David Zucker
Jerry Zucker

Cast

Robert Hays (Ted Striker)
Julie Hagerty (Elaine)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Murdock)
Lloyd Bridges (McCroskey)
Peter Graves (Captain Oveur)
Leslie Nielsen (Dr. Rumack)
Lorna Patterson (Randy)
Robert Stack (Kramer)
Stephen Stucker (Johnny)
Barbara Billingsley (Jive lady)
Joyce Bulifant (Mrs. Davis)
James Hong (Japanese general)
Maureen McGovern (Nun)
Ethel Merman (Lieutenant Hurwitz)
Kenneth Tobey (Air controller Neubauer)
Jimmie Walker (Windshield wiper man)
Howard Jarvis (Man in taxi)

Trivia

Additional footage has been added in many different television broadcast versions of the film. In one version, there is a scene in the airport in which an older couple is greeted by a friend near the metal detectors. When the friend sees them, he calls out, ‘Hi, Jack!” and is tackled by security officers.

Quotes

Ted Striker: “Surely you can’t be serious.”
Dr. Rumack: “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”

Roger Murdock: “We have clearance, Clarence.”
Captain Oveur: “Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?”
Tower voice: “Tower’s radio clearance, over!”
Captain Oveur: “That’s Clarence Oveur! Over.”
Tower voice: “Roger.”
Roger Murdock: “Huh?”
Tower voice: Roger, over.
Roger Murdock: “Huh?”
Captain Oveur: “Huh?”

Rumack: “Elaine, you’re a member of this crew. Can you face some unpleasant facts?”
Elaine Dickinson: “No.”