Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: August Edition

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Let's All Go To The Movies

August Edition

August? Gone already? How can that be?

But it is my little lambkins... it is. 

So how could there possibly be a better time to explore August's presence at the cinema?

August can be such a strange affair... a point well-illustrated in a few of today's silver screen classics. 

To be honest, 1987's The Whales Of August is the true inspiration for this post. You see... given the cast, I simply knew there had to be dirt worth digging there - and it doesn't disappoint! 

So, get your shovels out, my dears, and let's dig in!

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August Weekend

(1936)

AKA: August Week End / Weekend Madness

(A little drama directed by Charles Lamont - Abbott & Costello, Ma & Pa Kettle - staring Valerie Hobson. Hobson was the wife of John Profumo, a British government minister who became the subject of the juicy 1963 Profumo affair involving Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies.)

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A Sunday In August

(1950)

(This is an Italian comedy directed by  Luciano Emmer. Emmer was part of a wave of Italian cinema known as pink neorealism: a successor to the neorealism period when films dealt with blue collar themes, were shot on location and featured amateur actors. Pink realism continued those traditions, replacing the amateurs with professional actors, leading to the rise of celebrity film stars like Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida.)  

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A Cold Wind In August

(1961)

"If you care about love, you'll talk about... a teen-age boy and a woman who is all allure, all tenderness... all tragedy."

(This independent, low-budget, exploitation romantic drama stars Lola Albright as a mentally-unstable burlesque stripper who has an affair with a 17 year-old boy. It should be noted that the actor portraying the boy, Scott Marlowe, was, in fact, 28 years-old at the time of filming.) 

"So torrid, so tender... as love must be between a teen-age boy and a woman of too much experience..."

(In spite of it's roots as an exploitative film, it received positive reviews from the New York Herald Tribune, Variety and Saturday Review. Robert Osborne called it one of the best of all films exploring the theme of a May–December romance, echoing Lloyd Shearer who said it was "probably the best treatment of a youth's affair with an older women Hollywood has ever produced." Pauline Kael called it "shrewdly conceived and well-acted," while highly praising Albright's performance)

"Strange and sensual... a teen age boy and a mature woman, each searching for a special kind of love in the most exciting, yet, tender picture in your 'best picture' experience!'

(The film is a favorite of director John Waters.)

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The Teahouse Of The August Moon

(1956)

"All the Riotous fun of the prize-winning stage comedy!"

(This one harks back to the unenlightened days when Caucasian actors could play Asian roles. Brando spent two months studying Asian culture, speech, and gestures in preparation for the role. He then had to endure two hours a day in a makeup chair in order for him to appear believable.)

(The film did boffo at the box-office and was embraced by the critics as well, who at the time felt the film increased racial tolerance and the acceptance of interracial relationships. However, today, the film is viewed as racially insensitive, a prime example of yellowface casting, and demeaned for its stereotypical portrayal of Asian women as little more than passive prostitutes.)    

(Paul Ford was brought in to replace Louis Calhern, who died of a heart attack early in production. Ford was an easy choice - he'd played the role over a thousand times during the play's run on Broadway.)

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The Guns Of August

(1964)

"The great war that shook the world explodes on the screen!"

(Based on the Pulitzer Prize winner for General Non-Fiction of the same name, this documentary presents the history of the first month of World War I using footage discovered in governmental archives in Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin, and Washington, DC. Narrated by actor Fritz Weaver.)

"The great events... the thundering battles... that shook the world!"

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The Hot Month Of August

(1966)

(A Greek film, this thrilling crime drama tells the story of a chance encounter between an international playboy and a a cryptic married woman which leads to a clandestine affair and the entanglement of an unsuspecting young man in a carefully-plotted conspiracy.) 

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The End Of August At The Hotel Ozone

AKA: Late August At The Hotel Ozone

(1967)

"Eight average young women raised in the barren aftermath of the Final World War..."

(A Czechoslovakian sci-fi film by director Jan Schmidt about  a group of women who live in a post-apocalyptic world after nuclear war. It has frequently drawn comparisons to the original Mad Max, which it precedes by a dozen years.)

(After a revival viewing in 2014, The New York Times wrote, "Gorgeously shot and devastatingly well told, the film echoes the hopelessness of certain World War II narratives of the era.")

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5 Dolls For An August Moon

(1970)

(In this Italian giallo or mystery film, a group of wealthy people gather on a remote island for fun, relaxation and to bid for the rights of a revolutionary new chemical process. But once the guests begin dying one by one, the only business on the table is... murder!)

(Director Mario Brava, who was brought on to replace a director who quit two days before shooting was to begin, was reluctant to take on the project because he felt the script was poor and little more than a rip-off of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. With the provision that he be paid upfront being met, he was further dismayed to learn that he would have to work with the cast and crew selected by the director he was replacing. In the end, he got to use his regular crew of filmmakers and make several significant changes to the script, including a surprise/twist ending.)

(The budget for the film was so tiny that the actors ended up having to wear their own clothing and the director was forced to edit the film all by himself.)

(Released on Valentine's Day 1970, the film was a box-office bomb in Italy and never received an official American release until 2001.)

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Five Days In August

(1973)

(The directorial debut of Norway's Sven Wam, this film follows five days worth of adventures in the life of thirty-something divorcee Viveca who has moved into an artists colony with her friend Aud and her six year-old son.)  

(The film's star, Margrethe Robsahm, is primarily remembered internationally for her work in Castle Blood with Barbara Steele and as the first actress to ever expose her breasts in a general release Norwegian film. In 2008, scandal erupted when it was discovered that Robsahm, over a period of 16 years, had received 2.3 million in government arts grants without ever producing a single film.)

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Lesbian August

(1974)

(A Greek mystery/romance starring Katia Dandoulaki as a young girl who goes with her father and stepmother to a small island for a getaway. While on vacation, the daughter and stepmother begin a torrid lesbian affair. The pair then meet a local fisherman who inserts himself  - pun intended - between the two women.)

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Dark August

(1976)

"A young girl dies... and evil powers from a tortured mind go out of control!!!"

"A month of insane terror leads to a night of bloody revenge."

(A supernatural horror film written by the director and two of its stars - J.J. Barry and Carole Sherlyn. Dark August tells the story of a man who is cursed after killing a child  in a car accident.)

(Starring Kim Hunter, who, in 1951, won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire. Sadly, her star quickly dimmed as she spent most of the 1950's under a black cloud of suspicion, blackballed from the industry during the McCarthy era. She went on to make a bit of a career playing Dr. Zira in the Planet Of The Apes franchise.)

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The End Of August

(1981)

"There is a time in every woman's life when she must choose between her sense of duty and her sensuality."

(Set in the turn of the century South, a woman, unfulfilled by marriage and motherhood, begins an affair with a younger man - after which, she abandons her family, striking out on her own to create a new life.)

(Lots of surprises to be found in the cast, including Lilia Skala - best known for her work in Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poitier, for which she received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination, but also David Marshall Grant, Paul Roebling, Paul Shenar, Mark Linn-Baker, Patricia Barry, Roy Poole, and - billed as 'kid on the beach' - Dave Chappell.)

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The Whales Of August

(1987)

"The screen's immortals... a movie you'll never forget."

(Based on the play by David Barry, the movie brought together two screen legends, Bette Davis and 'The First Lady Of American Film' - Lillian Gish. Also on board, Vincent Price and Ann Sothern - who earned an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work on the film. Mary Steenburgen appears as Lillian Gish's younger self, while Ann Sothern's daughter, Trisha Sterling, portrays the young Bette Davis.)

(This proved to be the final film for both Gish, who was 93 at the time, and Sothern. Gish was producer Mike Kaplan's only choice to play the role of Sarah. Those approached for other roles in the film include Joel McCrea, Frances Dee, Katharine Hepburn and John Gielgud; all of whom declined. Shirley Booth, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred Astaire and Paul Henreid were offered roles which each declined due to various infirmities. Both Gish and Davis turned down the opportunity numerous times before signing on; Gish was hard of hearing and Davis had recently endured a series of strokes which caused mobility issues on her left side.)

(Surprise, surprise... Gish and Davis, two actresses from very different eras, didn't get along at all during the film. The first issue was billing. Gish was appalled when Davis demanded top billing, saying "Oh dear, I just can't deal with that sort of thing. I don't care what they do with my name. If they leave it off, so much the better. It's the work I love, not the glory." One can almost hear Davis mimicking that right back at her. Gish agreed to her terms, citing Davis' declining health, "That face! Have you ever seen such a tragic face? Poor woman! How she must be suffering! I don't think it's right to judge a person like that. We must bear and forbear.")

(Davis took issue with Gish constantly missing her line cues, saying "Miss Gish was stone deaf. She couldn’t have heard the cues if I’d shouted them through a bullhorn." Later, Gish admitted that she had no trouble at all hearing Davis. It became a sort of game for Gish, to give Davis the silent treatment and pretend to be befuddled - a way of getting back at Davis for the way she constantly mistreated her.) 

"You're never too old to see things anew."

(The film, always a gift producer Mike Kaplan had wanted to give Gish, premiered in New York City on October 14, 1987, Gish's 94th birthday.)

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And that's all for now...

Tune in next week.

Same time, same channel.

Dear August - Noah Cyrus and PJ Harding