RIP Tony Curtis

Handsome hunk and brilliant actor, Tony Curtis, died recently and I'd like to honor his memory by reminding readers of his role in a Christmas movie, Christmas in Connecticut. This is the 1992 made-for-TV remake and TNT original movie. It was directed by...wait for it...Arnold Schwarzenegger. It stars Dyan Cannon in the role made popular by Barbara Stanwyck in the original 1945 movie.

Here, Elizabeth Blane is the star of her own cooking TV show and the author of several popular cook books. Her producer, Mr. Yardley convinces the head of the network to give Elizabeth her own prime time Christmas TV special to feature a special holiday dinner for her family and the latest headline maker, Jefferson Jones. He is a national hero who recently rescued a lost boy from the forest during a blizzard.

But this live TV special entitled ‘Christmas in Connecticut’ has just one flaw: Elizabeth is actually just Yardley’s media creation--she's a writer, not a cook! and she has no family or home in Connecticut. She may have just kept her professional persona intact except she’s falling in love with Jones and the lies of her life and career are getting in the way! Unfortunately, she decides to come clean about her false professional skills during her live TV broadcast on Christmas Eve.

There are slight variations from the original movie. This is TV not a magazine article as in the original film. Elizabeth’s fake family members vary slightly and the love interest isn’t a military hero but a park ranger. But the biggest difference here are not these small details but the lack of charm and wittiness that sparkles in the original. Though this TV movie isn't as enjoyable as the original, it is still fun to watch Tony Curtis as Mr. Yardley scrambling to cover up for Elizabeth's inadequacies to save their careers. This is certainly a lesser role for Curtis, but light holiday entertainment has its place as well.

The cast includes: Dyan Cannon as Elizabeth Blane; Kris Kristofferson as Jefferson Jones; Tony Curtis as Mr. Yardley; and Richard Roundtree is the TV network executive.

We'll miss you.

BOOK TOUR--information

Coming Soon: to a location NEAR YOU!

I'm proud to announce my upcoming BOOK TOUR where I'll be leading discussions about Christmas on TV, signing books, taking pictures and meeting all kinds of new friends. Stay close to this blog for more details as more dates and locations are still being arranged. And, if you have any questions, comments or requests--let me know.

If you need even more motivation to attend, I've been collecting freebies to hand out at each event. You MUST be present to win!


Book Tour Fall &Winter 2010:

October 14 (Thursday)
Nordonia Hills Branch, Akron Public Library
Northfield, OH
7:00 PM


November 5 (Friday)
Taylor Books, Charleston WV,
11:00-1:00 PM
www.taylorbooks.com

November 6 (Saturday)
Park Road Books, Charlotte, NC
2:00 PM
http://parkroad.indiebound.com/
***I used to live in Charlotte so this will be fun!****

November 9 (Tuesday)
East Central Georgia Regional Library (Main Library), Augusta, GA
7:00 PM
http://www.ecgrl.public.lib.ga.us/

November 11 (Thursday)
Columbus Library, Columbus, GA
TO BE CONFIRMED
http://www.thecolumbuslibrary.org/index.htm

November 18 (Thursday)
Chop Suey Books, Richmond, VA
4:00-5:30 PM
http://www.chopsueybooks.com/index.html

November 20 (Saturday)
Ukazoo Books, Baltimore, MD
2:00-4:00 PM
http://www.ukazoo.com/index.htm


December 6 (Monday)
Mudsock Books and Curiosities, Indianapolis, IN
5:00-7:00 PM
http://www.indiebound.org/stores/mudsock-books-curiosity-shoppe


December 8 (Wednesday)
Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI
7:00 PM
http://boswell.indiebound.com/

A Book Review--Go Rockets!

This is a review I recently received of my book from last year. It is taken from the alumni magazine from my alma mater, The University of Toledo, Ohio. Do NOT do the math to learn how old I am. I'm not kidding.

Thanks to Vicki L. Kroll for this great review.

For those interested, later this week I'll be posting the schedule for my upcoming book tour for November and December. Hopefully, I'll be coming to a major city near you!

Something Other than Christmas??

I've been asked to lead a workshop at the upcoming Akron Film Festival later this month. Exciting, right? On Saturday, Sept. 25th, I'll be leading a discussion "Deconstructing Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho" on how to read a film using the master filmmaker's creepy classic as an example. The workshop is free but they are asking people to register. This will be at 12:30 pm at the Akron Art Museum, downtown. Check it out: AkronFilm.com
Hope to see you there. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to get me to talk about something other than Christmas on TV.

A Ralph Bakshi Christmas

Ralph Bakshi at ComicCon in 2008

Christmas in Tattertown is a half hour animated TV special from Bakshi Animation. Of course, Ralph Bakshi is the legendary animator that made Fritz the Cat, Lord of the Rings and Cool World to name a few. This Christmas special was an original pilot for a series which never got picked up. And so it spends more story time developing characters than it does exploring Christmas. However, this piece features a 1920 and '30s cartoon look and style much to the delight of modern animation fans. This program has the distinction of being the very first original animated TV special made for Nickelodeon.

Debbie and her two dolls Dog and Muffet fall into a book that leads them to Tattertown, an enchanted place where lost and forgotten junk ends up. Debbie’s dolls have come to life and Muffet discovers that she has her own will to do as she pleases. Debbie busies herself collecting all the lost Christmas items throughout Tattertown to make a Christmas celebration. But Muffet is organizing an army against Debby and the residents of Tattertown. With her spider friend dressed as a reindeer, Muffet dresses as Santa Claus to crash the Tattertown Christmas celebration until she bumps into the real Santa Claus! Debbie inspires the junk in Tattertown with the Christmas spirit by playing an old phonograph record of Bing Crosby singing ‘White Christmas.’

Look for the jazz saxophone named Miles that serves as the story’s narrator. And, Mr. Tannenbaum, an evergreen that runs the Tattertown comic book store that becomes Debbie’s Christmas tree speaks with a New York Jewish accent.

Very recently this rare TV special became available for viewing on Youtube. Here it is in three parts:

Do You Remember...Scrooge (1935)

He's so miserly, he won't buy a comb for the office!?

What's your favorite filmed adaptation of the Dickens' book 'A Christmas Carol?' Most critics quibble between the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim and the 1984 version with George C. Scott. But viewers' favorites usually depend upon which version they grew up watching.

The 1935 version entitled Scrooge starring Seymour Hicks has become more popular in recent years. For decades it was ignored by broadcasters who preferred to air either the 1938 or the 1951 versions on television. The former is a theatrical release with Reginald Owen playing Scrooge. This version was known as the first Hollywood adaptation of Dickens' book. The 1951 Sim version replaced the earlier American version on television. But in the last handful of years, the 1935 version has also become easy to find on TV schedules each December.

The actor Seymour Hicks who portrays Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1935 version had performed the role many times before--on the stage as well as in an early silent film version. In fact, this 1935 version is the first feature-length filmed adaptation produced with sound. Over the years, this film like many others, has suffered from being edited and cut down, running as short as 60 minutes. However in the last few years, the uncut 78 minute full length version has become easily accessible for viewing.

The trimmed down scenes include:
~~the two charity collectors' scene in the beginning may be entirely absent
~~there’s a significant portion of the Cratchit family Christmas dinner during Scrooge’s visit with the Ghost of Christmas Present cut short
~~the party at his nephew Fred’s house during Scrooge’s visit with the Ghost of Christmas Present may be entirely absent
~~a much longer scene depicting the sadness of the Cratchit family upon losing Tiny Tim in Christmases Yet to Come is missing
~~there are several minutes of footage from scenes of Christmas morning missing including Scrooge shaving, going to the poulterer’s shop, snow falling on his head, meeting up with the charity collectors and Scrooge joining the Cratchit family at church.

These above moments collectively amount to seventeen minutes of footage cut out. That's quite significant considering how popular and well-known this story is to the average viewer.

However, the 1935 version has its own distinctive style of storytelling and contains scenes not seen in other versions. One such is the depiction of how Scrooge spends his Christmas Eve. In this scene, he is seen alone, patronizing a very simple tavern for his evening meal that is cross-cut with a very lavish holiday party and dinner for London’s wealthiest residents. In another, the ghost of Jacob Marley is invisible and only heard by Scrooge. Another is that the Ghost of Christmas Past is seen as an ethereal spirit, a stylized special effect rather than a traditional actor in a costume. Similarly, the Ghost of Christmas Future is depicted merely as a shadow. Ebenezer has visions of his Christmases past but doesn’t physically journey to the past as he does in most other filmed versions. Scrooge’s past does not include visions of his school days and his sister Fan as it does in the original book. Rather, Scrooge's visions of his past begin with Belle ending their engagement. And, on Christmas morning, the charwoman brings Scrooge his breakfast and his excited behavior causes her to fear he’s gone mad. This scene is not in the original book. Neither is the final scene of the movie where Scrooge joins the Cratchit family at church.

TRIVIA: the great Shakespearean actor Maurice Evans appears in the small role of a poor man requesting an extension on his debt during Scrooge’s vision of his Christmas Past. TV junkies may recognize Evans as the actor who played Samantha's father on the 1960s TV series Bewitched.

Of course, watch the 1935 version yourself. Let me know what you think. Below is the uncut, full length unedited version. Or, you can watch it at Archive.org.

Michael Cera

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Actor Michael Cera must be having a wonderful week, feeling at the top of his career and receiving praise for his new movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. He is everyone's favorite actor to embody the awkward, geeky young man inside all of us.

But I know him for his work in Christmas programs too. If you ever want to be a Cera Completist, you must see Stolen Miracle, the 2001 Lifetime TV movie that seems to never go away. This crime drama/Christmas movie airs year round as well as every December in Lifetime's holiday movie marathons. Inspired by a true story, this story unfolds on Christmas Eve in the hospital maternity ward when a woman posing as a nurse walks out with someone else’s newborn. Sgt. Jane McKinley has to leave her family celebration to join the investigation and search for the missing baby. Child actor Michael Cera plays Jane’s young son Brandon who misses his mother at Christmas.

2001 Lifetime movie

Of course, Cera also played George-Michael on the subversive comedy TV show Arrested Development. This series produced two Christmas installments: 2003's 'In God We Trust' and 2004's 'Afternoon Delight.' My favorite is the latter. The Bluth company office Christmas party is a disaster when Michael (played by Jason Bateman) and his niece Maeby (played by Alia Shawkat) sing karaoke together to the inappropriate lyrics of the song ‘Afternoon Delight.’ Not to be outdone, George-Michael (played by Cera) and his aunt Lindsay (played by Portia de Rossi) at the banana stand Christmas party apparently unaware of the sexual meaning of the lyrics, sing the same song ‘Afternoon Delight’ and completely gross out the partygoers.

Father Michael, son George-Michael, grandfather George Bluth Sr. on Arrested Development

Michael and Maeby singing 'And the thought of lovin' you is getting so exciting!'

I can't hear that song anymore without thinking of this classic TV Christmas moment and giggling. Oh great, now that song is stuck in my head...