What’s New in Old Movies: December 2024
– Don Stradley
Nostalgia may not be sweeping the country, but it certainly was in the 1970s.
Paper Moon (1973) is a perfect example. Peter Bogdanovich’s ode to Depression era America settled into movie theaters like a gigantic black and white newsreel from the past, but was bursting with energy, wit and heart. Audiences loved it. Tatum O’Neal starred as a spunky little girl on the road with a mysterious Bible salesman, a grifter who may be more than just a “friend of her ma.” Tatum’s real-life father, Ryan O’Neal, gave the best performance of his career as the hot-headed salesman, only to be overshadowed by his daughter.
Bogdanovich directed the film under some grueling personal circumstances, namely the crumbling of his marriage to Polly Platt, who had often served as his muse and production designer. But what did he expect? He was having a wide-open affair with Cybill Shepherd, whom he’d recently directed in The Last Picture Show. Along with marital problems, he was dealing with an eight-year-old who’d never acted before, an experience Bogdanovich recalled as “one of the most miserable” of his life. Throughout the production, Bogdanovich kept the youngster from seeing the dailies out of concern she’d become self-conscious. Deep down, the director feared the film would be a failure.
Tatum O’Neal’s own memory of the shoot differs. In her 2005 memoir, A Paper Life, she admitted her “inexperience tested everybody’s patience,” but recalled the film as “the time of my life.” Unfortunately, the movie began a lifelong tension between father and daughter. Legend has it that Ryan was so jealous when he heard Tatum had earned an Oscar nomination that he struck her. She claims to have blocked this incident from her memory but doesn’t deny it. She did win the Oscar for “Best Actress in a Supporting Role,” a misnomer since she was the film’s undeniable star. But even as the battling O’Neals became tabloid favorites, nothing could cast a cloud over Paper Moon. Of Bogdanovich’s direction, Rolling Stone’s Jon Landau wrote, “He succeeds in reawakening our childlike feelings about movies.”
Criterion’s new Paper Moon digipack includes a 4k Blu-ray disc as well as a standard Blu-ray. Extra bits include commentary from Bogdanovich recorded in 2003, several short documentary features, and a clip of the O’Neals and Bogdanovich on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. (102 minutes, available November 26.)
The 1970s was also awash in 1950s nostalgia. It seemed endless, with American Graffiti (set in 1962, but close enough), Grease, Happy Days, Sha Na Na, and constant TV commercials hawking album collections of “Golden Oldies” which, at the time, were less than 20 years old. There was also The Lords of Flatbush (1974), a scrappy little film where a young Sylvester Stallone steals every scene. This was two years before his star making turn in Rocky, but it’s as if Stallone knew his career was at a crossroads and he needed to give an eye-catching performance. To watch him here is to see a smart young actor at work, not the grunting millionaire movie star he became. Stallone, along with Henry Winkler, Perry King, and Paul Mace, star as “The Lords,” (comically misspelled as “Lord’s” on the backs of their leather jackets), a gang of shiftless teens in late 1950s Brooklyn. High school is almost over, and the boys are realizing that the future looks awfully big and empty. King is “Chico,” the inarticulate lover boy. Stallone is “Stanley,” the group’s moody bruiser. Winkler and Mace are “Butchey,” and “Wimp,” the wise guys of the gang. The quartet’s life consists of hanging out at the pool hall, or the all-night malt shop. At one point they steal a car, but they aren’t bright enough to be competent criminals. They like to talk about “busting heads,” but in the movie’s single fight scene they aren’t particularly handy with their fists. These photogenic losers find their uneventful existence interrupted by two things: Chico falls hard for a new girl in school (Susan Blakely), and Stanley learns that his mouthy girlfriend is pregnant. Though Chico and his new flame provide the traditional “nice girl/bad boy” love angle, it’s the plot about Stanley that provides the film with its heart. Stallone is sheer perpetual motion in this movie. He’s constantly cracking his knuckles, slapping his hands together, or craning his neck, as if he’s simply too dynamic to be contained in a movie frame. The scene where Frannie (Maria Smith, looking like a pint-sized Fran Drescher) enters the pool hall and demands Stanley marry her is mesmerizing. Stanley’s face if full of anxiety, but also resignation. Childhood’s end is near. He is about to walk stoop shouldered into adulthood, complete with a screaming baby and a nagging wife. But when he eventually gives in and buys an engagement ring for her, Stanley seems happy enough. Maybe he senses married life will be better than another night at the pool hall. (From Sony Pictures, 84 mins, single disc Blu-ray, available Dec. 31)
The nostalgia craze hit Hollywood in such a big way that MGM responded with That’s Entertainment (1974), a lavish collection of classic movie clips from the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. Talk about “star-studded,” this expansive highlight reel was hosted by a bevy of big names, including Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Gene Kelly, and Fred Astaire, all onboard to introduce bits from such popular musicals as Showboat, Singin’ in the Rain, and Gigi. It took guts to release a collection of clips as a full-length feature, but director-producer Jack Haley Jr guessed the 1970s public was hungering for the old days of Hollywood. Now we’d just look for these clips on YouTube, but in 1974 people left their homes and paid admission to see That’s Entertainment.
Released at the time to celebrate MGM’s 50th anniversary, That’s Entertainment went on to become one of the top grossing films of the year, with epic red-carpet premieres at the Loews Beverly Theater in Beverly Hills, and the Ziegfield Theater in New York. Yet it was a bittersweet success, for the film glorified a past that was long gone, and a studio system that had been bulldozed. As MGM faced financial ruin, That’s Entertainment served as a towering epitaph. The new Blu-ray from Warner Bros includes a 1974 TV special, “50 Years of MGM,” plus other goodies. (Warner Archive Collection, 135 min, reconstructed from the original negatives and preservation elements, available Nov. 26)
From the TV Box: A nostalgia trip isn’t complete without Lucille Ball, but we’re in luck. I Love Lucy: The Complete Series Blu-ray, includes all six seasons of the brilliant redhead’s first television series. This whopping 33-disc set bundles the original CBS series with its later incarnation, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, which ran for three seasons. As is often the case with TV shows, the early years are best. Lucy was at her most manic, and there was genius in every episode. Still, even the tired later years produced a few gems.
The new package includes a ton of extras, including some commercials starring the old cast (Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and good ol’ William Frawley) plus a lot of snippets and long-lost stuff, all of which is enticing for the Lucy buffs. It’s a pricey box set, upwards of 100 bucks, but you’ll be getting nearly 90 hours of Lucy. The DVD set is closer to 30 dollars, so maybe that’ll suit you. I can almost hear Lucy crying, “Aww Ricky! Can’t we get the Blu-rays?” (Paramount Pictures, 5,397 mins, now available)
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