Film
Let’s Censor Hollywood
RETRO
The Production Code Administration – which policed standards of decency on all US cinema releases for twenty years – was established on 13th June, 1934, following a patch of unconvincing Hollywood self-censorship. ‘Excessive or lustful kissing’ and ‘sex perversion’ were no longer allowed – but nor was ‘depictions of safe-cracking’, ‘childbirth,’ and ‘dynamiting’. In this …
Christian Bale’s Terminator Freakout
RETRO
TMZ posted leaked footage of Christian Bale’s infamous meltdown on the set of ‘Terminator Salvation’ on 2nd February, 2009. Triggered by the film’s Director Of Photography, Shane Hurlbut, repeatedly walking past his eyeline, Bale launched into an expletive-laden tirade that lasted more than three minutes, during which he threatened to smash up the lights, and …
New York meets Snow White
RETRO
Disney’s long-awaited feature ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was rapturously received at Radio City, New York, inspiring three-hour queues for tickets. The reviews that America woke up to on 14th January 1938 were euphoric: a masterpiece had landed. “It is a classic as important cinematically as The Birth Of A Nation”, Frank Nugent wrote …
It’s A Wonderful Premiere
RETRO
Festive favourite ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ originated as a short story transcribed into Christmas cards by its author Philip Van Doren Stern. But it received disappointing box office returns following its premiere on 20th December, 1946 – and was not considered ‘a classic’ for decades. In the 1970s someone at Paramount forgot to renew its …