Robert Evans Week: The Phantom

Well hello my readers and welcome to Day 5 of Robert Evans Week.  Well we have seen some great successes by Evans, a less than stellar musical according to some critics and by God we need to end this week on a good old fashioned pulp strip hero.  Yes, when you have the director of Operation Dumbo Drop, Free Will and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles at the command, you know you are in good hands.  Ladies, be honest.  A well built man clad in purple tights, sporting mighty pecs and twin holstered Colt 45s is really a deep seeded fantasy, isn't it?      Perhaps not.  This is The Phantom.

Nobody move, see?!

The Phantom: I've wore it all my life.  For protection.  I never really understood what that meant until right now.
Drax: Ha! What a cheap jungle spoiler!




From 1936 to 1999, Lee Falk created a costumed crimefighter that hailed from the far reaches of Africa as a myth or legend known only as the Phantom or the Ghost Who Walks.  With control from director Simon Wincer (Homicide, D.A.R.Y.L., Lonesome Dove, Quigley Down Under, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and  Free Willy) and scribbled by writer Jeffery Boam (The Lost Boys, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) starts the tale of heroism from his ancestor 400 years prior whose ship was attacked by pirates.  Washed ashore on a remote African island Bengalla, the tribesmen taught the boy the ways of the jungle and to stand up again piracy and wrong doings.

Must be the sequel to Bound.

Where he got the fabrics and synthetics for his outfit?  Eh, not relevant.  1938, Kit Walker/Phantom (Billy Zane of Back to the Future, Critters, Back to the Future II, Sniper, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight,  Titanic and Vlad) sees strangers in his adopted lands searching for an ancient power, One of the legendary Skulls of Touganda  that will create a force that man is not wise enough to harness with proper intent.

 Meanwhile in New York, Investigative reporter Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson of Hot Shots!, Highway to Hell, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chase, Silence and Living Death) on assignment for her uncle Dave Palmer (Bill Smitrovich of Bodily Harm, Nick of Time, Independence Day, Ghosts of Mississippi, Millennium, Air Force One and Futuresport) owner of the Tribune Newspaper is looking into a local "robber baron" businessman Xander Drax (Treat Williams of The Eagle Has Landed, Dead Heat, Good Advice, Deep Rising, The Devil's Own, Venomous and The Circle) and his supposed links to a piracy organization called the Sengh Brotherhood.  

Travelling away on a Pan Am clipper, Diana's flight is interrupted by a sultry squadron of... well... bi-plane pirates lead by femme fatale Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Blue Juice, Catherine the Great, The Mask of Zorro, Entrapment, Traffic, Chicago, The Terminal, Rock of Ages and RED 2).  Within a moment's notice our hero listening in on the radio rushes to save his former girlfriend Diana (Yeah, I know the cliche') and brings her back to the Ghost's Lair, discovers they are on the same case and dismisses her due to her sex and frailty and blah blah blah misogynistic tendencies.

Can the Phantom stop Drax from taking over the world with his elite cadre of bumbling buffoons and mystic skulls?  Will he admit his feelings for Diana?  Does he have to sublet his lair if he moves to New York permanently?

Now just a few bits of trivia for you.  The "Palmer Mansion" during the cocktail party of movers and shakers scene was in fact Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion.  Prior to Wincer, Both Joe Dante and Joel Schumacher were considered for the directing job.   Most of the interior shots clearly have the look of a sound stage and the cameras caught the edges in a few of the shots.  The motorcycle cops are riding around on Indians made in the 40's while the film takes place in the 30's. I noticed the clipper had an a/c unit in it and that would be historically inaccurate but it sure beats roasting your cast in Thailand.

A rock 'em, sock 'em action film that is fast paced, blue screened in parts and decent enough story arc overall.  Still an enjoyable movie in spite of some of the cheesy dialogue but hell you adapted it from a comic strip from the 30's.

 Bruce Campbell and Dolph Lundgren were also considered for the part of the Phantom and frankly "Gimme some sugar, baby" or "I will break you." coming out of that purple costume just... not instilling fear in the hearts of the cowardly or superstitious.  I know this for a fact.  I asked Batman.

Your soul.. is mine!

Number 550!!!! Robert Evans Week: Popeye

Welcome readers of mine!!!  YOU LIKE ME!!! YOU REALLY, REALLY LIKE ME!!!   Ahem* sorry Sally Fields rents a place in my frontal lobe and there is some overlap now and again.   Back to Day 4 of Robert Evans Week as we see a wonderful musical based of the works of cartoonist E.C. Segar , penned by writer Jules Feiffer and brought to life by legendary director Robert Altman (MASH, The Long Goodbye, Thieves Like Us, Nashville, A Perfect Couple, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, The Player, Pret-a-Porter and Gosford Park) starring the late and great Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall.   This is Popeye.

Me sailor suit is riding where it not need be.

Popeye: Another thing I got is a sensk of humiligration. Now, maybe you spoils can pool your intelligensk and sees that I'm axking you for an apologeky.




Set in the town of Sweethaven, a fishing village (that looks an awful lot like Malta) our story revolves around hot tempered sailor Popeye (Robin Williams from Mork & Mindy,  Moscow on the Hudson, Club Paradise, Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Hook and Aladdin) and his assorted friends.  This town is buzzing with activity as Popeye looks for his long lost pappy.  Popeye plans to rent a room at the boarding house when he is smitten by the landlord's daughter Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall of Annie Hall, 3 Women, The Shining, Time Bandits, Roxanne, The Underneath and Dreams in the Attic) who is engaged to Captain Bluto (Paul L. Smith of Going in Style, Return of the Tiger, When I am King, Jungle Warriors, Crimewave, Red Sonja, Gor and Outlaw Force)  who taxes on behalf of the Commodore of the town.

Yes, a sailor's life for me... Yargh.

People are bled dry and Popeye is not one for bullies of any shape or size.   Finding an abandoned baby in a dingy, Popeye adopts (scoops up and claims as his own) the lad naming him Swee'Pea.   Not exactly the most creative of souls.  With dealing with ruffians in town and winning a boxing match for the sake of the town, the folk start to accept Popeye as one of their own and try to aid him in finding his pappy.   Will Bluto tax the town to turmoil?  Will Popeye persevere?

A few bits of trivia about the film now.  Paramount and Columbia got in a bidding war over Annie for a film adaptation of the Broadway musical and Paramount lost.  To retaliate, Robert Evans went to see what comic strip characters they had the rights to in order to create a movie musical.   This film was Robin William's first top billing and the first film for actress Linda Hunt (Fame, The Year of Living Dangerously, Dune, Silverado, Kindergarten Cop, If Looks Could Kill, The Relic and NCIS Los Angeles)

It took a crew of 165 men seven months to construct the set consisting of 19 buildings as well as a hotel, schoolhouse, general store, post office, a church and local watering hole.   8 seaworthy ships were bought to be sunk in the harbor and here is hoping the owners got their penny's worth.    Around 1977 as the script was being written, Robert Evans wanted Dustin Hoffman to play Popeye but was blown away by Robin Williams' comedic timing, energy and performance and changed his mind for the better.

Got more than tobaccy in this here pipe. Ug gug gug!

Robert Evans Week: Rosemary's Baby

Welcome to Day 1 of Robert Evans Week.  Selling a horror movie is never easy,  especially in mainstream Hollywood.   You can sell it easier with acclaimed playwright/novelist Ira Levin (A Kiss Before Dying, This Perfect Day, The Stepford Wives, The Boys from Brazil and Sliver).  Actions lead to consequences including pacts for wealth and success with dark forces may not be the wise career path.  Just ask Dennis Rodman.  This is Rosemary's Baby.

Ahh to Satan!  Er I mean our health!

Roman Castevet: I think we're spoiling Rosemary... 
Rosemary Woodhouse: I wasn't offended, really I wasn't.
Roman Castevet: You're not religious, my dear, are you?
Rosemary Woodhouse: I was brought up a Catholic... now, I don't know.

 Housewife Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow of Peyton Place, See No Evil, The Public Eye, Scoundrel in White, The Great Gatsby, Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, Reckless,  A Girl Thing, Third Watch and The Omen) and struggling actor Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes of Our Virgin Island, Shadows, Johnny Staccato, The Webster Boy, Burke's Law, The Dirty Dozen, Bandits in Rome and Husbands) moved into the Bramford, a gorgeous archaic 8 floor walk-up apartment with a dubious reputation in New York City.   Was there any part of that sentence that didn't say, "Shop around, kiddies." ?

How could you say no to such a matronly face?

Their landlord Mr. Nicklas (Elisha Cook Jr. of The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep,  House on Haunted Hill, The Killing, El Condor, Blacula and Salem's Lot)  has no problem at all explaining the previous tenant had gone senile and had to be shipped off the elderly concentration camp...  old folk's home if you prefer.    No sooner have they brought their bags in an elderly couple, the Castevets Minnie (Ruth Gordon of Two-Faced Woman, Edge of Darkness, Lord Love a Duck, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?, The Big Bus and Boardwalk) and Roman (Sidney Blackmer of Little Caesar, The Wrecker, The Lady and the Monster, The Rifleman, Ben Casey and Gentle Ben) who seem quaint and eccentric (THAT MEANS WHACKO!!!!) but charming and pleasant altogether.  The couple seem to be watching over a young lady that is a former drug addict who is grateful for a sponsor when she inexplicably hurls herself out the window at the Castevets' residence.  Hmm, bad timing I suppose.

 The Castevets give Rosemary with a strange talisman and tell her it is a good luck charm as Guy gets a role that another man was up for when he mysteriously was stricken with blindness.  With their good fortune Guy insists they start trying for a baby and basically violates Rosemary in her unconscious state so as to not miss the optimal cycle.  Yes, because this is what every husband rationally does with his wife...  IN THE LAND OF SATAN!!!!   Her cravings become unusual as her body demands raw meats, mostly organ and severe body spasms and pain as if something otherworldly is going on.  Is something amiss with those around her or is it all in her head and this is the normal path to motherhood... that no one has ever described or hinted at.

A few comments, critiques and compliments about the film now.  Roman Polanski as director took some unusual lighting and camera methods to portray a sense of dread in even sunlit scenes.   With the Spherical Eastman 35 mm a more pronounced use of the widescreen shooting and some anamorphic lens shoots it makes you feel you are in the room watching Farrow slip away into this madness and completely helpless to offer aid.   Rosemary's baby was born in June 1966. Yes, 6/66.  

Writer Ira Levin felt the film was the single most faithful adaptation of a novel to come out of Hollywood.   B-Movie Director William Castle bought the rights to Rosemary's Baby and wanted to direct.  Evans green-lit the project but persuaded Castle to produce instead, giving Polanski the go ahead for the helm.  Wise call there.  
Old Blue Eyes (Frank Sinatra, people.  Take in some history, sheesh.) called Evans demanding his then wife was starring in The Detective and she needs to quit this flick.  Evans has to haggle with Sinatra and tell him she won't be done for more than a month.  Threatened with divorce, Farrow continued Rosemary's Baby which was nominated for best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay and won Best Supporting Actress.  Frankie had the papers sent to her at the set.  He did his way.  The irony of it all is Evans was producing both movies.  The critic in me wondered about Best Actress and Best Director as well but film critics alike agree it is still a terrifying movie and aged with us like a sinister wine.

Oh sweetie, let's pledge to he who shall not be named... or get a puppy.