Man’s Favorite Sport? (1964) – fishing fun!

What happens if a leading expert on sport fishing turns out to be someone who’s never been fishing in his life, never even touched a real live fish? If he were a scientist, you’d call him a theoretician. In everyday life, you’d call him a fraud! Sounds fishy? You bet it does. It’s all the fish, you know…

Every Girl Should Be Married (1948)

Just when I thought I’d seen every fun Cary Grant comedy there was to see, I came across this. The title is not very promising, but for Cary Grant, I was willing to brave it. Though the film does somewhat live up to the sexist promise of it’s title, it is a novel tale and a pretty fun ride!

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Who does not like Robin Hood? He’s the stuff of romance - he robs the rich to give to the poor, helps the needy, fights against oppression and is an all round good guy. Naturally, that isn’t what makes him so popular at the box office. His other good qualities are responsible for that - he is tall and handsome, shows off to good advantage in tights (how many men can do that?), can fight with any weapon (guns excluded), keeps cracking jokes while vigorously fencing with foes, and is extremely chivalrous. In short, filling Robin of Locksley’s shoes is no easy job, even though Errol Flynn makes it look like it is! Of course, you all know the story of Robin Hood, but I’ve just finished watching this beautifully restored film and need an excuse to post the screen caps. So I will tell you the story all over again, with LOTS of screencaps!

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) – fun unlimited!

The 60s is not my favorite decade for Hollywood comedies - the screwball comedy was largely defunct and the romantic-comedies were usually too sexist for my taste. In spite of that, I can be occasionally induced to watch 60s rom-coms for my favorite actors, and Doris Day is definitely one of them (Rock Hudson is another, but that’s a post for another day!). So it’s a good thing that I did follow Ms. Day into this film, because it is hilarious.

When the debonair scientist Bruce Templeton (Rod Taylor) goes fishing in the Catalina island, the last thing he expects to catch is a real-life mermaid! But that is exactly what he does land up reeling in - a mermaid tail! It’s actually the tail end of a mermaid-suit, with a very angry de-tailed mermaid (Doris Day) close behind. Jenny was doing a mermaid act as a stunt for her father’s glass bottom boat business, in waters that Templeton had no business fishing in.

Bhowani Junction (1956) – Raj romance the way it should be!

I’ve always been keen on watching foreign films set in India, though I’ve seldom liked them! They’re either too Orientalist or too boring, frequently both, for my taste. In spite of that, its hard to resist the pull of seeing India through an alien lens. Bhowani Junction was one of the first set-in-India English language films that I ever saw. I’ve compared every subsequent film of this kind against it, and found it wanting! Its not because Bhowani Junction eschews Orientalism/Colonialism altogether, but because these are kept in fairly good check, and the fast-paced and interesting narrative keeps me too occupied to brood upon the flaws.

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

Rock Hudson is usually reason enough for me to watch a movie. And when the film co-stars Gina Lollobrigida, there is no doubt about it – I have to see the film! They were great together in Come September – one of my favorite 60s rom-coms. So when a “new” Gina-Rock film showed up on Amazon, I knew I had to get it. Commenters on imdb warned that Strange Bedfellows was no Come September, so I held off buying it, for a while. And then, last Christmas, I finally gave in to temptation and ordered it.

 

My New Year resolutions

I am not usually inclined to make resolutions, but always make an exception for New Year’s day. Its a day that comes around only once a year and one must do something to make it special. So, while I sipped my Tequila Sour and tried to tune out the loud Spanish music in the restaurant, I resolved to do certain things this year:

1. Sing at least one Rafi and one Asha Bhosle song per day, even though my neighbours complain of noise pollution and the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Golden Oldies bays for my blood.

2. Include more bell-bottoms, loud prints and big-sunglasses in my wardrobe (I already did that, but then Govinda stole my wardrobe. So now, I have to start all over again!).

Casino Royale (1967) – Its raining Bonds, halleluja!

It is James Bond on weed – i.e., a Bond movie made entirely by a cast and crew who were high on weed! Its psychedelic, its wackadoo, AND has almost as many famous cameos/guest appearances as Deewangi deewangi! There is no coherent plot and nothing makes any sense. And yet, strangely enough, its a lot of fun while it lasts. It really must be seen to be believed, but I’ll try my hand at describing what I recall from my first viewing, yesterday.

How To Steal A Million (1966) - A lesson in love and larceny*

What happens when you lend your invaluable statuette to a Paris museum and want it back in a hurry? Why, you enlist the help of a society cat-burglar and steal it from the museum! Elementary dear Watson. But which society burglar? Its 1966 and Cary Grant has retired (well, almost) and Stewart Granger is too busy making spaghetti Westerns in Germany. Fear not. In the British Isles the sun never sets on debonair thieves. Lets get Peter O'Toole. He isnt British (he is Irish) but can disguise himself as an Arab and even has something that Grant did not - intensely blue eyes and a true-blue British accent (Grant's accent is classified as Mid-Atlantic)!

From Hollywood to Bollywood - of romantic comedies and remakes

I was meditating on my review for Suhana Safar - an adaptation of It Happened One Night - when it struck me that many of my favorite Hindi movies are remakes/adaptations of Hollywood classics. In most cases I found that I loved the Hindi versions as much as, if not better than, the original ones. The gray cells jumped in excitement - why not do a post on remakes and adaptations? So, here goes...

Warning: very long post with spoilers ahead.

1. Come September (1961)

American tycoon Robert Talbot (Rock Hudson) visits his Italian villa once a year in September to meet his fiery Italian girl friend Lisa (Gina Lollobrigida). In his absence, his enterprising butler Maurice (Walter Slezak) has turned the villa into a very profitable hotel. When Talbot suddenly decides to visit Italy in June, Maurice's hotel has a group of girls (Sandra Dee and friends) chaperoned by Margaret (Brenda De Banzie), staying at the hotel. What will Maurice do to avoid discovery? He tells Talbot that the girls are taking shelter at the villa due to lack of hotel rooms in town while the girls are told that Talbot is a lunatic whose family used to own the villa. Enter: a group of boys (Bobby Darin and friends) camping outside the hotel/villa and the stage is set for the comedy to begin. Talbot finds himself playing the heavy-handed guardian to the girls and unable to openly spend time with Lisa. The boys' attempts to outwit him and get to the girls make for hilarious situations. Apart from all the beautiful people and the hilarious comedy, the best part of the movie is Rock Hudson dancing the 60's dance - he is adorably dorky!