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THE LATE GEORGE APLEY was based the 1944 play by John P. Marquand and George S. Kaufman, which was adapted from the novel The Late George Apley: A Novel in the Form of a Memoir by John P. Marquand (Boston, 1937). Twentieth Century-Fox bought the screen rights to the play for $275,000. The studio had previously backed the Max Gordon production of the play, which opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre, on November 23, 1944 and ran for 384 performances until November 17, 1945. Leo G. Carroll played George Apley.
The novel and the play present different portraits of their central character, "George Apley." In Marquand's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the story begins after the death of Apley and takes the form of a biography told by "Horatio Willing." Screenwriter Philip Dunne described the character of Apley in Marquand's novel as being "suffocated by the stultifying atmosphere." In contrast, Dunne felt the Apley of the play was not a victim or tragic hero but a clown. Dunne added that Marquand told him that George S. Kaufman had insisted upon the changes in Apley's character. Dunne claimed that he tried to make the character of Apley in his screenplay more sympathetic.
Ronald Colman played Apley in the 1947 film. The film marked the American screen debut of British actress Peggy Cummins, who played Apley's daughter "Eleanor." The film was Edna Best's return to the screen after a seven-year absence (she played wife "Catherine Apley"), and also marked the return to the screen of actor Richard Ney (son "John Apley") following four years in the armed services.
The Fox film was shot from late June to 22 August 1946. The film's New York street sequence was filmed at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, CA. Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed the film. Ernst Lubitsch directed additional scenes with Peggy Cummins that were shot in late August--early September 1946, after Mankiewicz had already left the production. Cyril Mockridge provided the unreleased score.
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Posted: |
Jan 3, 2018 - 11:00 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In 1950’s GUN CRAZY, “Bart Tare” (John Dahl) and “Laurie Starr” (Peggy Cummins) are loosely modeled on the infamous Depression-era bandits Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The screenplay’s 17-page bank robbery sequence was scheduled for a three-to-five-day shoot with numerous camera set-ups, but director Joseph H. Lewis decided he didn't want to do it the conventional way. He told the producers he could pull it off in a single day with one shot that never entered the bank. Since that would cut down on production time and eliminate the need for a bank set, the idea appealed to their budget consciousness, but he still had to prove to them it was possible. So he did a test run with extras using his own 16mm camera.
The bank heist sequence was done entirely in one take, with no one except the principal actors and people inside the bank aware that a movie was being filmed. When John Dahl says, "I hope we find a parking space," he really meant it, as there was no guarantee that there would be one. In addition, at the end of the sequence someone in the background screams that there's been a bank robbery--this was actually a bystander who saw the filming and assumed the worst.
The title of the film was changed in October 1949 to “Deadly Is the Female,” under which it was reviewed by most trade publications. By the time the film played in New York, in August 1950, the title had been changed back to GUN CRAZY.
The first draft of the screenplay was rejected by the Breen Office. In 1992, screenwriter Millard Kaufman revealed that he had acted as a "front" for blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, and asked the Writers Guild of America to remove his own name from the credits. Kaufman explained that although he and Trumbo did not know each other, he agreed to the arrangement at the request of their mutual agent, George Willner. "I've been telling people for years that I didn't write that movie," Kaufman said, "but I guess it never becomes official until it appears in the newspaper." Kaufman added that he had never even seen the film. In October 1992, at Kaufman's request, the Writers Guild gave Trumbo (who died in 1976) official writing credit, along with MacKinlay Kantor, for GUN CRAZY. Also in 1992, Academy Entertainment released GUNCRAZY, starring Drew Barrymore, a film loosely inspired by GUN CRAZY.
The theme from Victor Young’s score for the film was re-recorded for a 1995 Varese Sarabande compilation CD called “Sax and Violence.”
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Posted: |
Jan 3, 2018 - 11:42 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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CURSE OF THE DEMON opens with an image of a Stonehenge-like ruin over which an off-screen narrator states: "It has been written since the beginning of time even unto these ancient stones, that evil supernatural creatures exist in a world of darkness. And it is also said, man, using the magic power of the ancient runic symbols, can call forth these powers of darkness--the demons of hell."
In the film, American “John Holden” (Dana Andrews) arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshiper “Julian Karswell” (Niall MacGinnis). Peggy Cummins co-starred as “Joanna Harrington,” the niece of a professor who died after meeting with Karswell.
Director Jacques Tourneur stated that he was opposed to showing the demon on screen. Tourneur said "The scenes in which you really see the demon were shot without me. All except one. I shot the sequence in the woods where Dana Andrews is chased by a sort of cloud. This technique should have been used for other sequences. The audience should never have completely seen the demon....They ruined the film by showing it [the demon] from the very beginning." In a different interview Tourneur explained, "I wanted, at the very end, when the train goes by, to include only four frames of the monster...but after I had finished [the film] and returned to the U.S., the English producer made that horrible thing [the monster]."
Ray Harryhausen was contacted to create the effect scenes with the demon, but he was already committed to his project THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958) with producer Charles H. Schneer. The film’s special effects are credited to George Blackwell (THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH) and Wally Veevers (SODOM AND GOMORRAH).
The film was produced at Associated British Picture Corp. Studios, which is abbreviated on the print as A.B.P.C. The running time of the British release, called NIGHT OF THE DEMON, was 95 minutes, but Columbia Pictures cut the film to 83 minutes for its U.S. release. In the 1980s, Columbia replaced their edited 83-minute version with the uncut original 95-minute version while retaining the U.S. title CURSE OF THE DEMON. The various video releases, and pay-tv showings, have used this restored version. A DVD release contained both versions.
The theme from Clifton Parker’s score was recorded by Rumon Gamba and the BBC Concert Orchestra for a 2005 Parker compilation CD on Chandos Records.
On June 14, 2006, Peggy Cummins appeared as guest of honor at a special screening of CURSE OF THE DEMON in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, UK. Looking slim and elegant and nowhere near her age, she answered some questions from the audience before viewing the film for the first time.
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Posted: |
Jan 7, 2018 - 4:19 PM
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By: |
Rameau
(Member)
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I first saw her in the 1960 Bob Monkhouse comedy Dentist In The Chair, any posters for that one Bob?
DENTIST IN THE CHAIR was Cummins' next to last feature film. Don Chaffey (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) directed. Ken Jones scored.
The film was released in the U.S. in 1961 by tiny Ajay Film Co. Because several of the actors (not Cummins) had appeared in the "Carry On" films, Ajay attempted to make a tie-in to those films in its advertising, even though DENTIST IN THE CHAIR was not part of the series.
Stars Bob Monkhouse, Kenneth Connor, and Ronnie Stevens reprised their characters for a sequel, DENTIST ON THE JOB (1961). Neither Peggy Cummins nor her character appeared in the sequel. Instead, female pulchritude was provided by Shirley Eaton.
Ken Jones score for Dentist is a real earworm, after all these years I can still whistle it (the same goes for his music for the Peter Sellers comedy Two Way Stretch), Ken could really knock out a tune...& the lovely Shirley Eaton! Those were the days 
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