Out of the Celluloid Closet: Test Pilot

Although Spencer Tracy played second fiddle to Clark Gable in other films (San Francisco, Boom Town), it was in Test Pilot that their relationship takes on an added dimension if one knows to look for it. (Think of it as the original Top Gun in more ways then one.)

Gable is a hotshot pilot and Tracy his trusty best friend/co-pilot who is always there to clean up his messes - both in the air and on the ground. One could say that Tracy plays the western stock "old coot" character to Gable's impulsive adventurer; totally devoted to his hero, the "coot" doesn't like it when a woman (in this case, Myrna Loy) enters the picture. No female attachments means no interference when it comes time for all that male bonding out on the range ... or up in a plane.

At one point, Gable gruffly barks "I love ya!" to Tracy in that macho way guys do (they are even in a locker room when he does it). Tracy's reply is an understated "I love you too" brimming with unstated meaning.

Test Pilot is not currently on DVD, but the film does occasionally turn up on Turner Classic Movies. Keep an eye on my weekly "Latest on TV" column for future airings.

Links via Imdb.com and TCM.com.

Best of the Fests: Venice & Toronto

Venice and Toronto, two late summer film festivals known in the past to launch films into the end-of-year award melee, recently announced their line-ups for this year.

As has become the norm with these fests, several movies will emerge as front-runners, guaranteeing that we will be talking about them ad nauseum from now 'til Oscar night. For example, both Brokeback Mountain and The Queen made impressive debuts in Venice the past two years.

What will be the standouts this year? No one knows at this point, but a look over the scheduled films does weed out a few of interest:

- One can only imagine the Cassandra's Dream on-set conversations between Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell and director Woody Allen.

- I can usually take (The Royal Tenenbaums) or leave (The Life Aquatic with Steve with Steve Zissou) Wes Anderson, but his The Darjeeling Unlimited does boast a nice teaser poster (above).

- Nicole Kidman did make a movie this year without Daniel Craig. She plays Margot at the Wedding (in an ugly hat) for Noah Baumbach.

- Michael Cain graduates to the Olivier role in Kenneth Branagh's high tech remake of Sleuth, opposite his Alfie doppelganger Jude Law. Check out the nifty trailer here.

- Todd Haynes finally returns with the bizarre Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. Dylan will be played by multiple actors, including Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and ... Cate Blanchett???

- A post-Brokeback Ang Lee does a 360 with the Chinese language spy thriller Lust, Caution.

- First Anne Hathaway (in this week's Becoming Jane), now Keira Knightley: James McAvoy romances another talented young actress, who reunites with her Pride & Prejudice director Joe Wright, in Antonement.

- And on the documentary front, Joan Allen, Paul Giamatti, Nathan Lane, Josh Lucas and others give voice to Trumbo, an examination of the life of blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.

Click here to buy Darjeeling Limitedposters from Amazon.com.

Links via GoldDerby.LATimes.com, Imdb.com and YouTube.com.

The Latest in Theaters: Bourne To Be Wild

This week in theaters - Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and a flying dog:

- Damon returns for a third time as the forgetful super spy Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum. Join Premiere.com as they give an overview of the series.

- Hathaway takes on Austen in Becoming Jane. (In select cities, opens nationwide next week.)

- "There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!" Or at least an unconvincingly CGI'ed facsimile thereof.

- Speaking of dogs, Marc Anthony co-stars in wife Jennifer Lopez's vanity project, El Cantante.

- As if it needed to be spelled out, Bratz: The Movie is just one big toy commercial.

- Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg hopes to follow in the doofy = rich footsteps of Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell with yet another comedy of arrested adolescence, Hot Rod.

- David Wain and Ken Marino's take an irreverent look at the commandments with The Ten. The cast includes a who's who of today's hip and happenin' actors, including Paul Rudd, Liev Schreiber, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, Bobby Cannavale and an animated rhino. Head over to Cinematical for an interview with the creators.

- And lastly, Hairspray goes "Sing-A-Long". Go on, you know you want to see it again.

UPDATE: Broadway.com has pictures from the New York City Hairspray "Sing-A-Long" launch event hosted by stars Nikki Blonsky and Elijah Kelly.

Visit Fandango - Search movie showtimes and buy tickets!
Links via Imdb.com, Premiere.com, Cinematical.com and Broadway.com.

Au Revoir, Albin

Michel Serrault, the French actor who created the role of Albin in the original film version of La Cage aux Folles, has died.

Serrault's outrageous performance of Albin and his flamboyant drag diva alter ego Zaza won him his first César Award (France's Oscar). He reprised the role in two sequels as well. La Cage (based on the play by Jean Poiret, which Serrault also starred in) was recreated on Broadway as a splashy Jerry Herman musical and was remade in America as The Birdcage.

In addition to the La Cage trilogy, Serrault appeared in more then 130 films, including two more César Award-winning roles in Garde à Vue and Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (co-starring Emmanuelle Béart).

Links via Imdb.com and Advocate.com.

Comic-Con '07: That's a Wrap!

This year's Comic-Con is history and let me tell you, if all the geeks who dressed up looked like this Spartan 300 dude, then the joint would have been even more crowded. (No offense to geeks, of course ... the whole pot/kettle/black thing.)

To wrap things up, some odds and ends from around the web:
- For a lot of blood, a little skin and a few choice four-letter words, check out the R-rated trailers for 30 Days of Night, Beowulf and Shoot 'Em Up. That last one looks like a hoot and a half, with a badass Clive Owen, a homicidally wacky Paul Giamatti, a baby and a carrot.

- On the G-rated front, WALL·E was not the only Pixar-related news: a collection of their award-winning shorts will hit DVDthis November 6 (which will reportedly also see the release of Ratatouille). In addition to such favorites as Geri's Game, For the Birds and Boundin', a documentary on the creation of the animation powerhouse, The Pixar Story, will also be included on the disc, which will be released both in standard and Blu-Ray formats.

I expect there will also be some kind of sneak preview of WALL·E as well; in the meantime, take a look-see at the collectable WALL·E postcards that were handed out at the Con.

- As for the superhero franchises (this was Comic-Con, after all): Check out the super-cool Hellboy 2 poster; Sam Raimi talks Spider-Man 4 (you knew that was coming); Seth Green talks Green Hornet (not a comedy); and get this - Edward Norton wrote the script for The Incredible Hulk.

Hope you caught that Iron Man footage on YouTube earlier this week, 'cause it ain't there no more. In addition, Jon Favreau discusses the possibility of a whole mess of heroes hitting the big screen in a Marvel Universe movie ... and that sound you heard was millions of fanboys' heads exploding in anticipation.

And sure, Tony Stark may have an awesome ride, but he uses the john just like the rest of us.

- My sources say that J.J. Abrams' mystery project (a.ka. 01.18.08 and/or Cloverfield) will be titled ... Monstrous. Or it could be Furious or Overnight depending on who you talk to ...

- Bond 22 does not have a title yet either, but it may have a new Bond girl.

- And finally, in all things Indiana Jones: Frank Darabont talks about his script (that wasn't used); co-star John Hurt doesn't say much about his secret role; and take a look at the Con exclusive poster ... and a plot synopsis. Turns out Marion is not the only aspect of the Raiders of the Lost Ark to return for the fourth film after all.

Links via Cinematical.com, ComingSoon.net, ObsessedWithFilm.com, UpcomingPixar.blogspot.com, Amazon.com, Variety.com, KungFuRodeo.com, MoviesBlog.MTV.com and IGN.com.

Women We Love: Judy Garland

"What's more boring than a queen doing a Judy Garland imitation?"

As you can see by that quote from the seminal play The Boys in the Band, even by 1968 the gay icon status of Judy Garland had become clichéd.

What it is about Garland that makes her so appealing to gays of every generation has been discussed and dissected almost as long as she has been deified. Quite simply, her tragically public - or publicly tragic - life, so beautifully conveyed - or unconsciously betrayed - in every nuance of her film and song performances, is so intrinsically, immediately relatable to not just gays, but anyone who has felt they were given a raw deal in life.

At some point, we have all wanted to be Dorothy, wishing for a better world "over the rainbow". We have all pined away for "the boy next door" and then mourned when he grew up to become "the man that got away". And who amongst us doesn't want to just "forget your troubles" and "get happy"?

While watching Judy sparkle and yearn her way through her many movies, it sure is easy to do just that.

Link via Imdb.com.

Tale as Old as Time

After 13 years on the Great White Way, Disney's first foray into legitimate theater, Beauty and the Beast, has closed. Although still raking it in at the box office, the show packed up its dancing silverware and magical roses to make way for the next Disney fairy tale extravaganza, The Little Mermaid, currently playing in Denver in preparation for a November New York debut.

I actually saw this show twice (both on tour, once in Phoenix and again in Orlando) and I have always felt that it was a very good adaptation of the movie (one of my all-time favorites). The stage version successfully built off the original film, deepening the characters (especially, with "Human Again", the enchanted objects) without going too far down the dark side (reportedly why Mary Poppins has not been well received). Originally faced with lackluster notices and little Tony love (which I chalk up to typical New York snobbishness), the production endured its many critics to become the sixth longest-running show in Broadway history.

To celebrate the beauty that was this Beast, many online tributes sprang up recently.

• BroadwayWorld.com has a video retrospective of Beauty through the years.
• Another video feature, Broadway.com says 'goodbye' to the Beast. Also on that site: a host of pictures from the last performance.
• LaughingPlace.com gives us all the (fun) facts behind the show.
• Playbill.com, in addition to a "where are they now" feature on cast members past and present, was there on closing night.
• And for a unique perspective on treading the boards for a living, plus lots of backstage photos, head over to DailyKos.com.

As Mrs. Potts would say: "Goodnight, luv."

Click here to purchase Beauty and the Beaston DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via BroadwayWorld.com, Broadway.com, LaughingPlace.com, Playbill.com and DailyKos.com.