Movies 'Til Dawn Blog

SONG FROM AN UNMADE FILM

I occasionally get obsessed with a recording and go on a listening jag that defies explanation. This happened yesterday with the above recording of a song by Doris Day accompanied by Harry James and his Orchestra. It’s called ‘Would I Love You?’ and is hardly so well-known or even terribly

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SCREEN TESTS CAN BE FUN PT. 2–PAULETTE GODDARD

Yesterday I posted Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s screen tests for ‘The Godfather’, in which we also got a view of the young, then-fatso Francis Coppola directing. Today we move backwards thirty-five or so years for a glimpse of Paulette Goddard’s test for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in…oh,

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WHEN PACINO AND DE NIRO HAD TO TEST FOR ROLES

This is a fascinating little fragment of footage showing Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s screen tests for ‘The Godfather’. Pacino got the role of Sonny–we see Coppola giving him some direction as well–and De Niro was passed up for Sonny in favor of James Caan. In my not so

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JACK LEMMON MEETS…BURT BACHARACH?

“The April Fools” (1969) may not have left any mark on cinema history but it did bring to life two of Burt Bacharach’s best songs, one of which is the title song. The film stars a very Jack Lemmony Jack Lemmon and an absurdly gorgeous Catherine Deneuve as two people

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TV BOMBS OF THE MID 1970s

The 1970s were peak TV-watching years for me. I logged about five hours of TV a day–starting with old syndicated shows in the afternoons after I got from school, (Andy Griffith, Ozzie and Harriet etc.) moving onto dinner served on a stack table while watching The Three Stooges and ‘I

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SUMMER REPLACEMENTS; CARLIN/GRECO/RICH and…GREGORY HINES?

Once upon a time watching television was easy. You didn’t need to subscribe to channels, download apps, scan QR codes, binge, DVR, Roku, Apple, or Tubi your way through the media universe. Thirteen channels, one remote control and a couch was the whole deal. And the seasons were simple and

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MORE FUN FROM KNXT, 1967-EDITION

Here’s a continuation of yesterday’s reel of commercials, station I.D.s, intros and outros etc. from a 1967 CBS summer replacement show called ‘Away We Go’. There are almost no repeat commercials which makes for fresh, enjoyable views of what our culture looked and sounded like in that now-distant year. The

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WELCOME TO 1967 VIA KNXT

Here’s a twelve minute reel of intros, outros, station ID’s and commercials from a 1967 broadcast over the local Los Angeles CBS affiliate KNEXT. They appear to be part of an hour long summer replacement show called ‘Away We Go’ which features an awfully enticing cast–Buddy Greco, George Carlin, The

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DOC, JOHNNY AND…BILLIE JOE?

When I was a kid I had a two-disc LP comprised of the audio of ‘Tonight Show’ segments. The Johnny Carson album was a big flop for some reason–Carson liked to joke about it–and I can’t remember quite why we had it since neither I nor my parents watched Carson.

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STAN FREBERG MEETS OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN MEETS FRANK SINATRA?

Last week I posted the ridiculous version of ‘Ole’ Man River’ as performed by Frank Sinatra in the Jerome Kern biopic ‘Til The Cloud Roll By’, wearing a white suit on a white set in a all-white world. Another version of a ‘whiten-ing up’ of the song comes in a

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