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On 12/10/2019 at 2:26 PM, WordWolf said:

"Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup."

 

" I'm trapped! I feel like I'm caught in a web!"

 

"Professor Little Old Man."      " 'Lillolman'."Lillolman''."

-This film could be seen as a beloved tribute to the work of a different director, by the one that directed it. 

-One actor was unavailable- otherwise he would have played in yet ANOTHER role under the same director (would have made that 4 roles in 4 movies rather than 3 in 3.)

-Oddly enough, some of us can name the movie just from that first quote from Cloris Leachman's nurse.  

-One doctor in their conspiracy was shadowed by a chandelier- a web-shaped shadow, while he said this line.

-Professor Lillolman was "the cocker spaniel."  He also figured out Thorndyke's  "high anxiety" by the end of the movie.

-This movie was meant-by Mel Brooks- to be a tribute to the suspense films of Alfred Hitchcock. 

-If Gene Wilder had been available, he would have followed up "the Producers", "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" with this movie.

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So, the actor who got top billing on this movie was really a supporting character, though a crucial one. The title character was billed third, and nominated for an Oscar.

The song featured in this movie won a Grammy, an Oscar and a Golden Globe. The only other song to repeat that achievement was The Streets of Philadelphia, by Bruce Springsteen.

A supporting male character was played by an actor who was not quite famous at the time [he is now VERY well known]. That actor was supposed to play the role of the actor who eventually got top billing. As a consolation, the lesser-known actor played a smaller supporting role. Interestingly, these two actors would cross professional paths again. The then-lesser known actor was cast as the lead in a well-received movie. The better known actor replaced him in two of that movie's sequels.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Harrison Ford got top billing in this romantic comedy. Second billing was NOT Alec Baldwin. It was someone most famous for working in an entirely different genre, though no stranger to a comedic role or two. Third billing went to the lead character, the title character, although the title of the movie is not a name.

 

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Melanie Griffith got third billing in Working Girl, after Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver. Carly Simon won an Oscar for "Let the River Run." [P.S. I was clearly wrong to regarding the Grammy, Oscar. Golden Globe bit. Who could forget Celine Dion's Titanic ballad? Turns out I left out the last part: It's the only song COMPOSED AND WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY A SINGLE ARTIST to win all three awards]

Edited by Raf
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Ok, next movie.

A movie in the past decade featured a character named "Percival Graves." (I just found this out.)  I immediately wondered if it was a reference to an earlier, completely-unrelated movie, which ALSO had a "Percival Graves" in it.   In both movies, Percival Graves was a government functionary, and should not be trusted.  In the earlier movie, that's made plainly obvious from his early appearances, as he goes on to be the villain of the piece- as much as there is one.   He got busted for violations of "the Treason Act of 1702" for " interfering in the proper succession of a monarch."      This movie also included the (made-up) African nation of Zambezi. (That's a river, but not a country any more than there is a country called "Nile" or "Amazon".)   That seems to have inspired some more recent television show to use the same name for an African nation.

Anyway, the original movie had Percival Graves and the nation of Zambezi.  It also included what was possibly the most tragic photo-shoot in film history (at least, as far as scripted tragedies- no actors were harmed in the filming, but their characters were in trouble.)   So, what movie was this? 

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Sorry. It made sense in my head at that hour.     What I want is the name of the OLDER movie, the movie that may have inspired elements in the newer movies.

A movie in the past decade featured a character named "Percival Graves." (I just found this out.)  I immediately wondered if it was a reference to an earlier, completely-unrelated movie, which ALSO had a "Percival Graves" in it.   In both movies, Percival Graves was a government functionary, and should not be trusted.  In the earlier movie, that's made plainly obvious from his early appearances, as he goes on to be the villain of the piece- as much as there is one.   He got busted for violations of "the Treason Act of 1702" for " interfering in the proper succession of a monarch."      This movie also included the (made-up) African nation of Zambezi. (That's a river, but not a country any more than there is a country called "Nile" or "Amazon".)   That seems to have inspired some more recent television show to use the same name for an African nation.

Anyway, the original movie had Percival Graves and the nation of Zambezi.  It also included what was possibly the most tragic photo-shoot in film history (at least, as far as scripted tragedies- no actors were harmed in the filming, but their characters were in trouble.)   So, what movie was this? 

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What I want is the name of the OLDER movie, the movie that may have inspired elements in the newer movies.

A movie in the past decade featured a character named "Percival Graves." (I just found this out.)  I immediately wondered if it was a reference to an earlier, completely-unrelated movie, which ALSO had a "Percival Graves" in it.   In both movies, Percival Graves was a government functionary, and should not be trusted.  In the earlier movie, that's made plainly obvious from his early appearances, as he goes on to be the villain of the piece- as much as there is one.   He got busted for violations of "the Treason Act of 1702" for " interfering in the proper succession of a monarch."      This movie also included the (made-up) African nation of Zambezi. (That's a river, but not a country any more than there is a country called "Nile" or "Amazon".)   That seems to have inspired some more recent television show to use the same name for an African nation.

Anyway, the original movie had Percival Graves and the nation of Zambezi.  It also included what was possibly the most tragic photo-shoot in film history (at least, as far as scripted tragedies- no actors were harmed in the filming, but their characters were in trouble.)   So, what movie was this? 

Not many films include a musical number on a harpsichord (cembalo), but this was one.  It also included "Duke of Earl" sung on-camera. That was not the same scene-  the harpsichord number was a Little Richard song played and sang on-camera (not by Little Richard.)  

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King Ralph?  I seem to remember John Goodman belting out an oldie, possibly Good Golly Miss Molly.

It predates 2010.

Most of the royal family are electrocuted in a photo shoot, resulting in Ralph being found (almost) next in succession.

I think he negotiates a treaty with the King (Prince) of Zambesi as his last official act before abdicating.

George

Edited by GeorgeStGeorge
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3 hours ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:

King Ralph?  I seem to remember John Goodman belting out an oldie, possibly Good Golly Miss Molly.

It predates 2010.

Most of the royal family are electrocuted in a photo shoot, resulting in Ralph being found (almost) next in succession.

I think he negotiates a treaty with the King (Prince) of Zambesi as his last official act before abdicating.

George

IT IS "KING RALPH." 

John Goodman, in the title role,  opened relations (as the new King of England)  with the King of Zambesi- who was new to international politics.  He stopped the stuffy speeches, and took him to a pub to chat and play darts.  After Ralph won,  the other King challenged him to their version.  One giant set of dart-boards with thrown spears later, the other king won also.     Both monarch hit it off well,   (This was useful later in negotiating jobs for British factory workers, since Zambesi was to begin importing cars and car parts.)  

When Ralph managed to get relieved by a more suitable English monarch, he remained Duke of York or something (and next in line of succession for the throne until someone else was born or something.)    He got to step down and out of much of the spotlight, and enjoy himself a bit more.  Over the closing credits, we got to see him recording "Duke of Earl". 

After his success with the King of Zambesi,  Lord Percival Graves recommended he use his own style to liven up a large, formal British event.   As a former lounge singer, he requested a piano (the harpischord is the closest they had),  and sang and played "Good Golly, Miss Molly." It was a big gaffe- which Graves was counting on.

Yes, the entire royal family was together for a group photo-  and a tragic accident electrocuted ALL of them.   A search for a surviving royal turned up Ralph Jones, a lounge singer in Las Vegas, a distant relation. 

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This is (at least at the time of the IMDb entry, if not today) Warner Brothers' highest-grossing-film of all time when adjusted for inflation.

Louise Fletcher, Richard Burton, and Dana Plato were all passed up for parts in this movie, but all appeared in the sequel.  Likewise, John Boorman was passed up as director for this film but directed the sequel.

There are no opening credits after the title. Although that is commonplace now, it was unheard of in when this film premiered.

The female lead was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.  After the nominations were out, it was pointed out that her lines were all dubbed by another actress.  Although I'm not sure how that would have mattered to anyone who actually SAW the performance, it tainted her performance enough to eliminate her from the award.

George

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I have no recollection of Dana Plato being in anything other than Diffrent Strokes and my pre adolescent fantasies.

But the other two were in Exorcist II: The Utter Waste of Celluloid.

At least, that's what is SHOULD have been called.

 

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2 hours ago, Raf said:

Few terms I hate more than "Richard Burton was in the sequel."

This movie is why.

 I can think of one:  BEBO!

 

2 hours ago, Raf said:

I have no recollection of Dana Plato being in anything other than Diffrent Strokes and my pre adolescent fantasies.

But the other two were in Exorcist II: The Utter Waste of Celluloid.

At least, that's what is SHOULD have been called.

 

I thought the sequel was Exorcist II:  Electric Boogaloo.

Anyway, you're up.

George

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2 hours ago, Raf said:

I have no recollection of Dana Plato being in anything other than Diffrent Strokes and my pre adolescent fantasies.

But the other two were in Exorcist II: The Utter Waste of Celluloid.

At least, that's what is SHOULD have been called.

 

Apparently, Raf and I remember Dana Plato from the same appearances!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very well known director. But his films don't exactly attract Oscar nominations. Except for this one: the lead was nominated for Best Actor.

The director made this movie because he thought it would be received better than his last movie, which flopped at the box office. Today both are considered classics, though the previous movie is perhaps a little better known. A little. [The prior movie had a sequel of sorts. This movie had a sequel tv series, though it did not do well].

To the best of my knowledge, the only Best Actor nominee for a role that was not human. 

In his natural form, the main character is basically energy, a ball of light.

The script was proposed to the same studio that made another movie about a non-human. The studio chose the other movie, which was VERY well received by critics and was a monster hit (monster is not a clue, but I suppose it could be, but no, not really). 

So anyway...

The main [title] character's origin is never revealed. Generally, yea. Specifically, no.

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