12 Monkeys and Seven Samurai inspired films wikipedia pages

 

12 Monkeys

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12 Monkeys
Twelve monkeysmp.jpg
Theatrical release poster
 
Directed by
Terry Gilliam
Produced by
Charles Roven
Screenplay by
David Peoples
Janet Peoples
 
Based on
La jetée
 by Chris Marker
Starring
Bruce Willis
Madeleine Stowe
Brad Pitt
Christopher Plummer
 
Music by
Paul Buckmaster
Cinematography
Roger Pratt
Editing by
Mick Audsley
Studio
Atlas Entertainment
Classico
 
Distributed by
Universal Pictures
Release date(s)
December 29, 1995
 
Running time
127 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
US$29.5 million
Box office
US$168,839,459
12 Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée, and starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in supporting roles.
After Universal Studios acquired the rights to remake La Jetée as a full-length film, David and Janet Peoples were hired to write the script. Under Terry Gilliam's direction, Universal granted the filmmakers a US$29.5 million budget, and filming lasted from February to May 1995. The film was shot mostly in Philadelphia and Baltimore, where the story was set.
The film was released to critical praise and grossed approximately US$168.8 million worldwide. Brad Pitt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and won a Golden Globe for his performance. The film also won and was nominated for various categories at the Saturn Awards.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development
3.2 Casting
3.3 Filming
3.4 Design
3.5 Music
4 Themes 4.1 Memory, time, and technology
4.2 Cinematic allusions
5 Reception 5.1 Release
5.2 Critical reception
5.3 Awards and nominations
6 Lebbeus Woods lawsuit
7 TV adaptation
8 References
9 External links
Plot[edit]
James Cole (Willis) is a convicted criminal living in a grim post-apocalyptic future. In 1996–97, the Earth's surface had been contaminated by a virus so deadly that it forced the surviving population to move underground. In the years that followed, scientists had engineered an imprecise form of time travel. To earn a pardon, Cole allows scientists to send him on dangerous missions to the past to collect information on the virus, thought to have been released by a terrorist organization known as the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. If possible, he is to obtain a pure sample of the original virus so that a cure can be developed. Cole is troubled by recurring dreams involving a chase and an airport shooting.
On Cole's first trip, he arrives in Baltimore in 1990, not 1996 as planned. He is arrested and hospitalized in a mental institution on the diagnosis of Dr. Kathryn Railly (Stowe). There he encounters Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), a fellow mental patient with fanatical animal rights and anti-consumerist leanings. Cole tries unsuccessfully to leave a voicemail on a number monitored by the scientists in the future. After a failed escape attempt, Cole is restrained and locked in a cell, but then disappears, returning to the future. Back in his own time, Cole is interviewed by the scientists, who play a distorted voice mail message which gives the location of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys and asserts that they are responsible for the virus. He is also shown photos of numerous people suspected of being involved with the virus, including Goines. The scientists then send Cole back in time again, this time successfully transporting him to 1996.
Cole kidnaps Railly and forces her to travel to Philadelphia with him. They learn that Goines is the founder of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, and set out in search of him. When they find him and confront him, however, Goines denies any involvement with the virus and suggests that wiping out humanity was Cole's idea, originally broached at the asylum in 1990. At that point, the police approach, whereupon Cole vanishes. Railly then finds evidence that Cole had been telling her the truth, including a photograph from World War I in which Cole appears. This causes her to doubt her diagnosis of Cole. Meanwhile, Cole convinces himself that his future experiences are hallucinations, and persuades the scientists to send him back again. Railly tries to settle the question of Cole's sanity by leaving a voice mail on the number he provided, thereby creating the message the scientists had played right before they sent Cole on his second mission. At that point, both Railly and Cole realize that the coming plague is real, and make plans to try to enjoy the time they have left.
On their way to the airport, they learn that the Army of the Twelve Monkeys was not the source of the virus but a red herring; the group's major act of terrorism is to release animals from the zoo and to place Goines's Nobel Prize-winning father in an animal cage. At the airport, Cole leaves a last message telling the scientists that in following the Army of the Twelve Monkeys they are on the wrong track, and that he will not return. He is soon confronted by Jose (Jon Seda), an acquaintance from his own time, who gives Cole a handgun and instructions to complete his mission. At the same time, Railly spots the true culprit responsible for the release of the virus: Dr. Peters (David Morse), an assistant at the virology lab run by Goines's father. Peters is about to embark on a tour of several cities around the world that exactly matches the locations and sequence Cole had memorized in which the viral outbreaks will take place. When Dr. Peters is queried about the contents of his briefcase, he opens one of the vials, which presumably contains the virus and thus exposes the security-checkpoint guard to possible infection. After forcing his way through the checkpoint in pursuit of Peters, Cole is fatally shot by police. As Cole dies in Railly's arms, she makes eye contact with a small boy: the young James Cole witnessing the scene of his own death, which will replay in his dreams for years to come. Dr. Peters, aboard the plane with the virus, sits down next to Jones (Florence), one of the lead scientists we see in the post-apocalyptic world. It is understood that she has travelled back in time like James. She then draws him into a discussion about whether he believes humanity is doomed or not.
Cast[edit]
Bruce Willis as James Cole
Madeleine Stowe as Kathryn Railly
Brad Pitt as Jeffrey Goines
Christopher Plummer as Dr. Goines
Jon Seda as Jose
Christopher Meloni as Lt. Halperin
David Morse as Dr. Peters
Frank Gorshin as Dr. Fletcher
Vernon Campbell as Tiny
Lisa Gay Hamilton as Teddy
Bob Adrian as Geologist
Simon Jones as Zoologist
Carol Florence as Astrophysicist/Jones
Bill Raymond as Microbiologist
Thomas Roy as a street preacher
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
The genesis of 12 Monkeys came from executive producer Robert Kosberg, who had been a fan of the French short film La jetée (1962). Kosberg persuaded the film's director, Chris Marker, to let him pitch the project to Universal Pictures, seeing it as a perfect basis for a full-length science fiction film. Universal reluctantly agreed to purchase the remake rights and hired David and Janet Peoples to write the screenplay.[1] Producer Charles Roven chose Terry Gilliam to direct because he believed the filmmaker's style was perfect for 12 Monkeys' nonlinear storyline and time travel subplot.[2] Gilliam had just abandoned a film adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities when he signed to direct 12 Monkeys.[3] The film also represents the second film for which Gilliam did not write or co-write the screenplay. Although he prefers to direct his own scripts, he was captivated by the Peoples' "intriguing and intelligent script. The story is disconcerting. It deals with time, madness and a perception of what the world is or isn't. It is a study of madness and dreams, of death and re-birth, set in a world coming apart."[2]
Universal took longer than expected to approve 12 Monkeys, although Gilliam had two stars (Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt) and a firm budget of $29.5 million (low for a Hollywood science fiction film). Universal's production of Waterworld (1995) had resulted in various cost overruns. To get 12 Monkeys approved for production, Gilliam convinced Willis to lower his normal asking price.[4] Because of Universal's strict production incentives and his previous history with the studio on Brazil, Gilliam received the right of final cut privilege. The Writers Guild of America was also skeptical of the "inspired by" credit for La Jetée and Chris Marker.[5]
Casting[edit]
Gilliam's initial casting choices were Nick Nolte as James Cole and Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey Goines, but Universal objected.[3] Gilliam, who first met Bruce Willis while casting Jeff Bridges' role in The Fisher King (1991), believed Willis evoked Cole's characterization as being "somebody who is strong and dangerous but also vulnerable."[2] The actor had a trio of tattoos drawn onto his scalp and neck each day when filming: one that indicated his prisoner number, and a pair of barcodes on each side of his neck.
Gilliam cast Madeleine Stowe as Dr. Kathryn Railly because he was impressed by her performance in Blink (1994).[2] The director first met Stowe when he was casting his abandoned film adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities.[3] "She has this incredible ethereal beauty and she's incredibly intelligent", Gilliam said of Stowe. "Those two things rest very easily with her, and the film needed those elements because it has to be romantic."[2]
Gilliam originally believed that Pitt was not right for the role of Jeffrey Goines, but the casting director convinced him otherwise.[3] Pitt was cast for a comparatively small salary, as then he was still relatively unknown. By the time of 12 Monkeys' release, however, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Legends of the Fall (1994), and Se7en (1995) had been released, making Pitt an A-list actor, which drew greater attention to the film and boosted its box-office standing. In Philadelphia, months before filming, Pitt spent weeks at Temple University's hospital, visiting and studying the psychiatric ward to prepare for his role.[2]
Filming[edit]
Filming for 12 Monkeys lasted from February 8 to May 6, 1995. Shooting on location in Philadelphia and Baltimore (including the Senator Theatre)[6][7] in winter was fraught with weather problems. There were also technical glitches with the futuristic mechanical props. Because the film has a nonlinear storyline, continuity errors occurred, and some scenes had to be reshot. Gilliam also injured himself when he went horseback riding. Despite setbacks, however, the director managed to stay within the budget and was only a week behind his shooting schedule. "It was a tough shoot", acknowledged Jeffrey Beecroft (Mr. Brooks, Dances with Wolves), the production designer. "There wasn't a lot of money or enough time. Terry is a perfectionist, but he was really adamant about not going over budget. He got crucified for Munchausen, and that still haunts him."[6]
The filmmakers were not allowed the luxury of sound stages; thus, they had to find abandoned buildings or landmarks to use.[5] The exteriors of the climactic airport scene were shot at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, while the interior scenes were shot at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (formerly, Reading Terminal). Filming at the psychiatric hospital was done at the Eastern State Penitentiary.[8]
Design[edit]
Gilliam undertook the same filmmaking style from his own Brazil (1985), including the art direction and cinematography (specifically using fresnel lenses).[4] The interrogation room where Cole is being interviewed by the scientists was based on the work of Lebbeus Woods; these scenes were shot at three different power stations (two in Philadelphia and one in Baltimore). Gilliam intended to show Cole being interviewed through a multi-screen interrogation TV set because he felt the machinery evoked a "nightmarish intervention of technology. You try to see the faces on the screens in front of you, but the real faces and voices are down there and you have these tiny voices in your ear. To me that's the world we live in, the way we communicate these days, through technical devices that pretend to be about communication but may not be."[9]
The art department made sure that the 2035 underground world would only use pre-1996 technology as a means to depict the bleak future. Also, Gilliam, Beecroft, and Crispian Sallis (set decorator) went to several flea markets and salvage warehouses looking for materials to decorate the sets.[2] To create the majority of visual effects sequences, Gilliam awarded the shots to Peerless Camera, the London-based effects studio he founded in the late 1970s with visual effects supervisor Kent Houston (The Golden Compass, Casino Royale). Additional digital compositing was done by The Mill, while Cinesite worked on film scanning services.[2]
Music[edit]
The film's score was composed, arranged, and conducted by English musician Paul Buckmaster. The main theme is based on Argentinian tango musician and composer Ástor Piazzolla's Suite Punta del Este.[10]
Themes[edit]
Memory, time, and technology[edit]
"Cole has been thrust from another world into ours and he's confronted by the confusion we live in, which most people somehow accept as normal. So he appears abnormal, and what's happening around him seems random and weird. Is he mad or are we?"
— Director Terry Gilliam[4]
12 Monkeys studies the subjective nature of memories and their effect upon perceptions of reality. Examples of false memories include:[5]
Cole's recollection of the airport shooting, which is altered each time he has the dream.
A "mentally divergent" man at the asylum who has false memories.
References to time, time travel, and monkeys are scattered throughout the film, including the Woody Woodpecker cartoon "Time Tunnel" playing on the TV in a hotel room, the Marx Brothers film Monkey Business (1931) on TV in the asylum and the subplots of monkeys (drug testing, news stories and animal rights). The film is also a study of modern civilization's declining efforts to communicate with each other due to the interference of technology.[5]
Cinematic allusions[edit]
12 Monkeys is inspired by the French short film La jetée (1962), specifically, characters being haunted by the image of their own death. The climaxes for both films also take place in an airport.[8]
Like La Jetée, 12 Monkeys contains references to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). Toward the end of the film, Cole and Railly hide in a theater showing a 24-hour Hitchcock marathon and watch a scene from Vertigo. Railly then transforms herself with a blonde wig, as Judy (Kim Novak) transformed herself into blonde Madeleine in Vertigo; Cole sees her emerge within a red light, as Scottie (James Stewart) saw Judy emerge within a green light.[8] Brief notes of Bernard Herrmann's film score can also be heard. Railly also wears the same coat Novak wore in the first part of Vertigo. The scene at Muir Woods National Monument, where Judy (as Madeleine) looks at the growth rings of a felled redwood and traces back events in her past life, resonates with larger themes in 12 Monkeys. Cole and Railly later have a similar conversation while the same music from Vertigo is repeated.[8] The Muir Woods scene in Vertigo is also re-enacted in La Jetée.
In a previous scene in the film, Cole wakes up in a hospital bed with scientists of the future talking to him in chorus. This is a direct homage to the "Dry Bones" scene in Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective.[11]
Reception[edit]
Release[edit]
12 Monkeys was given a limited release in the United States on December 29, 1995. When the 1,629 theater wide release came on January 5, 1996, the film earned $13.84 million in its opening weekend. 12 Monkeys eventually grossed $57.14 million in US totals and $111.7 million in other countries, coming to a worldwide total of $168.84 million.[12] The film was able to hold the #1 spot on box office charts for two weeks in January, before dropping to competition from From Dusk till Dawn, Mr. Holland's Opus and Black Sheep.[13]
Universal Studios Home Entertainment's special edition of 12 Monkeys, released on May 10, 2005, contains an audio commentary by director Terry Gilliam and producer Charles Roven, The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (a making-of documentary) and production notes.[14]
A HD DVD of 12 Monkeys was released on March 4, 2008, and includes the same special features as the special edition DVD.[15]
A Blu-ray Disc of 12 Monkeys was released on July 28, 2009, and includes the same special features as the previous special edition DVD and HD DVD.[16]
Critical reception[edit]
The film received a positive response from critics. Based on 56 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of the critics enjoyed 12 Monkeys with an average rating of 7.4/10. The consensus reads: "The plot's a bit of a jumble, but excellent performances and mind-blowing plot twists make 12 Monkeys a kooky, effective experience."[17] By comparison, Metacritic calculated a 74/100 rating, based on 20 reviews.[18]
Roger Ebert observed 12 Monkeys' depiction of the future, finding similarities with Blade Runner (1982; also scripted by David Peoples) and Brazil (1985; also directed by Terry Gilliam). "The film is a celebration of madness and doom, with a hero who tries to prevail against the chaos of his condition, and is inadequate", Ebert wrote. "This vision is a cold, dark, damp one, and even the romance between Willis and Stowe feels desperate rather than joyous. All of this is done very well, and the more you know about movies (especially the technical side), the more you're likely to admire it. And as entertainment, it appeals more to the mind than to the senses."[19]
Desson Thomson of The Washington Post praised the art direction and set design. "Willis and Pitts's performances, Gilliam's atmospherics and an exhilarating momentum easily outweigh such trifling flaws in the script", Thomson reasoned.[20] Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine cited the film's success on Gilliam's direction and Willis' performance.[21] Internet reviewer James Berardinelli believed the filmmakers took an intelligent and creative motive for the time travel subplot. Rather than being sent to change the past, James Cole is instead observing it to make a better future.[22] Richard Corliss of Time magazine felt the film's time travel aspect and apocalyptic depiction of a bleaker future was overtly cliché. "In its frantic mix of chaos, carnage and zoo animals, 12 Monkeys is Jumanji for adults", Corliss wrote.[23]
Awards and nominations[edit]
Brad Pitt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects. Costume designer Julie Weiss (Hollywoodland, Frida) was also nominated for her work, but lost to James Acheson of Restoration.[24] However, Pitt was able to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.[25] Terry Gilliam was honored for his directing duties at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.[8] 12 Monkeys received positive notices from the science fiction community. The film was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation[26] and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films awarded 12 Monkeys the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. Pitt and Weiss also won awards at the 22nd Saturn Awards. Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Gilliam and writers David and Janet Peoples received nominations.[27]
Lebbeus Woods lawsuit[edit]
In the beginning of the film, Cole is brought into the interrogation room and told to sit in a chair attached to a vertical rail on the wall. A sphere supported by a metal armature is suspended directly in front of him, probing for weaknesses as the inquisitors interrogate him.[28] Architect Lebbeus Woods filed a lawsuit against Universal in February 1996, claiming that his work "Neomechanical Tower (Upper) Chamber" was used without permission. Woods won his lawsuit, requiring Universal to remove the scenes, but he ultimately allowed their inclusion in exchange for a "high six-figure cash settlement" from Universal.[28][29]
TV adaptation[edit]
On August 26, 2013, Entertainment Weekly announced that Syfy was developing a television series based on the film. Production is set to begin in November 2013. The pilot is being written by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett, who had written for the series Terra Nova. Due to the series being labeled as "cast contingent", the series will not move forward until the roles of Cole and Goines are cast.[30]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Chris Nashawaty (July 28, 2006). "They Call Him Mr. Pitch". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h DVD production notes
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Ian Christie; Terry Gilliam (1999). Gilliam on Gilliam. London: Faber and Faber. pp. 220–225. ISBN 0-571-20280-2.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Christie, Gilliam, pp.226–230
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Terry Gilliam, Charles Roven, DVD audio commentary, 1998, Universal Home Video.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Jill Gerston (December 24, 1995). "Terry Gilliam: Going Mainstream (Sort Of)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
7.Jump up ^ Jeff Gordinier (May 19, 1995). "Brass Bald". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Christie, Gilliam, pp. 231–233
9.Jump up ^ Nick James (April 1996). "Time and the Machine". Sight and Sound. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
10.Jump up ^ "Suite Punta del Este". Ástor Piazzolla. Archived from the original on 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
11.Jump up ^ "SALON Reviews:12 Monkeys". Salon Media Group. Archived from the original on 2005-05-31. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
12.Jump up ^ "12 Monkeys". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
13.Jump up ^ "Twelve Monkeys". The Numbers. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
14.Jump up ^ "12 Monkeys (Special Edition) (1996)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
15.Jump up ^ "12 Monkeys (Special Edition) (1996)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
16.Jump up ^ "12 Monkeys (Special Edition) (1996)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
17.Jump up ^ "12 Monkeys". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
18.Jump up ^ "12 Monkeys (1995): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
19.Jump up ^ Roger Ebert (1996-01-05). "12 Monkeys". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2009-02-15. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
20.Jump up ^ Desson Howe (January 5, 1996). "Gilliam's Barrel of 'Monkeys' Shines". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
21.Jump up ^ Peter Travers (January 1, 1995). "12 Monkeys". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
22.Jump up ^ James Berardinelli. "Twelve Monkeys". ReelViews. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
23.Jump up ^ Richard Corliss (January 08, 1996). "Back To The Bleak Future". Time. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
24.Jump up ^ "The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
25.Jump up ^ "12 Monkeys". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
26.Jump up ^ "1996 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards Organization. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
27.Jump up ^ "Past Saturn Awards". Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
28.^ Jump up to: a b "Copyright Casebook: 12 Monkeys - Universal Studios and Lebbeus Woods". Benedict.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
29.Jump up ^ Woods v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 920 F.Supp. 62 (S.D.N.Y. 1996)
30.Jump up ^ Lynette Rice (August 26, 2013). "SyFy orders '12 Monkeys' pilot". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: 12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys at the Internet Movie Database
12 Monkeys at AllRovi
12 Monkeys at Rotten Tomatoes
12 Monkeys at Metacritic
12 Monkeys at Box Office Mojo

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Yojimbo (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

Yojimbo
Yojimbo (movie poster).jpg
Theatrical release poster
 
Directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Produced by
Ryuzo Kikushima
 Akira Kurosawa
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by
Ryuzo Kikushima
 Akira Kurosawa
Starring
Toshiro Mifune
Tatsuya Nakadai
Yoko Tsukasa
Isuzu Yamada
Music by
Masaru Sato
Cinematography
Kazuo Miyagawa
Takao Saito
Editing by
Akira Kurosawa
Distributed by
Toho
Release date(s)
April 25, 1961
Running time
110 minutes
Country
Japan
Language
Japanese
Yojimbo (用心棒 Yōjinbō?) is a 1961 jidaigeki (period drama) film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a ronin, portrayed by Toshiro Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords vie for supremacy. The two bosses each try to hire the deadly newcomer as a bodyguard (yojimbo in Japanese).
Based on the success of Yojimbo, Kurosawa's Sanjuro of 1962 was altered to feature a very similar lead character.
The film has been remade several times, see "Influence," below.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Inspirations
3 Cast
4 Production
5 Influence
6 Notes
7 External links
Plot[edit]
The film is set in 1860, near the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.[citation needed] A ronin wanders into a small town being ruined by a gang war between Seibei and Ushitora. Ushitora used to be Seibei's right hand man, until Seibei decided that his son Yoichiro would succeed him. Tazaemon, the silk merchant and mayor, backs Seibei, while Tokuemon the sake brewer is allied with Ushitora. Gonji, a restaurant proprietor, advises the stranger to leave while he can, but after sizing up the situation, the stranger tells Gonji that the town would be better off with both sides dead, and that he intends to do the job.
The ronin first convinces the weaker Seibei to hire him as a swordsman by demonstrating his skill, killing three of Ushitora's men. He eavesdrops on Seibei's wife Orin ordering their son to stab him in the back after their victory so they will not have to pay him. The ronin then provokes the two factions into attacking each other (while he stands back and watches), but the untimely arrival of an official spoils his plan before any blood is shed. Seibei and Ushitora keep an uneasy peace to avoid attracting government notice.
When the two factions decide to settle their differences, the ronin stirs things up again. Learning that Ushitora hired two assassins to kill an officer many miles away to get the government official to leave, the ronin captures and sells the pair to Seibei. Then he tells Ushitora that Seibei's men have caught them. Alarmed, Ushitora hires him. Ushitora has Yoichiro kidnapped and offers an exchange of prisoners, but double crosses Seibei, having his brother Unosuke shoot the assassins with the only firearm in town, his beloved pistol, when they are brought to be traded. The wily Seibei, however, has taken a beautiful woman that Tokuemon is infatuated with. The woman is swapped for Yoichiro.
Gonji informs the ronin that the woman is the wife of a farmer named Kohei. Ushitora seized her and Kohei's home as payment for a gambling debt. He then gave her to Tokuemon to gain his support.
The ronin kills all six guards assigned to the woman and reunites her with her husband and son. He gives them the money Ushitora paid him and tells them to leave town. However, Unosuke becomes suspicious of his claim that Seibei's men are responsible and uncovers the ronin's double dealing. The stranger is beaten in an attempt to find out where the woman is hiding.
When the ronin manages to escape, Ushitora decides to eliminate Seibei once and for all. He succeeds in wiping out the opposing gang. With the help of Gonji, the ronin recuperates in hiding. However, when he learns that Gonji has been caught while bringing food and medicine, he returns to town to confront the remainder of Ushitora's men. Unosuke and his pistol are a dangerous combination, but the ronin manages to kill them all, sparing only one terrified young man he had encountered at the beginning of the film, who had run away from a boring, poverty-stricken life as a farmer. Then, the ronin leaves town.
Inspirations[edit]

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2013) 
Kurosawa stated that a major source for the plot was the 1942 film noir classic The Glass Key, an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1931 novel. In particular, the scene where the hero is captured by the villains and tortured before he escapes is copied almost shot for shot from The Glass Key.[citation needed] It has been noted that the overall plot of Yojimbo is closer to that of another Hammett novel, Red Harvest (1929).[1] Kurosawa scholar David Desser, and film critic Manny Farber claim that Red Harvest was the inspiration for the film; however, Donald Richie and other scholars believe the similarities are coincidental.[2]
When asked his name, the samurai calls himself "Kuwabatake Sanjuro" (meaning "mulberry field thirty-year-old"), which he seems to make up while looking at a mulberry field by the town. Thus, the character can be viewed as an early example of the "Man with No Name" (other examples of which appear in a number of earlier novels, including Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest[3]).
The characters —the taciturn loner and the helpless townsfolk needing a protector— are reminiscent of Kurosawa's own Seven Samurai (1954).
Cast[edit]
Toshiro Mifune as Kuwabatake Sanjuro, the ronin
Tatsuya Nakadai as Unosuke
Yoko Tsukasa as Nui
Isuzu Yamada as Orin
Daisuke Katō as Inokichi, Ushitora's brother
Takashi Shimura as Tokuemon, sake brewer, claims to be new mayor
Namigoro Rashomon as Kannuki, the giant who beats up the ronin
Hiroshi Tachikawa as Yoichiro, Seibei's son
Yosuke Natsuki as Kohei's Son
Eijirō Tōno as Gonji
Kamatari Fujiwara as Tazaemon, mayor and silk merchant
Ikio Sawamura as Hansuke, the officer of the town
Susumu Fujita as Homma, Seibei's fencing instructor, who deserts when the ronin is paid much more than him
Kyu Sazanka as Ushitora
Production[edit]
Many of the actors in Yojimbo worked with Kurosawa before and after, especially Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Tatsuya Nakadai.
After Kurosawa scolded Mifune for arriving late to the set one morning, Mifune made it a point to be ready on set at 6:00 AM every day in full makeup and costume.[4]
At one point the hero, beaten, disarmed and left for dead, recovers in a small hut where he practices with his throwing knife by pinning a fluttering leaf. This effect was created by reversing the film: in reality, the leaf was pinned, the knife yanked away by a wire, and the leaf blown away.
This was the second film where director Akira Kurosawa worked with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa.
Influence[edit]
Yojimbo ranked at #95 in Empire magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time.[5] Both in Japan and the West, Yojimbo had a considerable influence on various forms of entertainment.
In 1962, Kurosawa directed Sanjuro, in which Mifune returns as a ronin who claims to have the same given name, Sanjuro (meaning "thirty-year-old man") but he takes a different "surname". In both films, he takes his surname from the plants he happens to be looking at when asked his name.

 

 Western-influencing cinematography; Toshiro Mifune as a lone hero in wide framing
In 1964, Yojimbo was remade as A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first appearance as the Man with No Name. Leone and his production company failed to secure the remake rights to Kurosawa's film, resulting in a lawsuit that delayed Fistful's release in North America for three years. In Yojimbo, the protagonist defeats a man who carries a gun, while he carries only a knife and a sword; in the equivalent scene in Fistful, Eastwood's pistol-wielding character survives being shot by a rifle by hiding an iron plate under his clothes to serve as a shield against bullets.
The 1970 film Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo also features Mifune as a similar character. It is the twentieth of a series of movies featuring the blind swordsman Zatoichi. Although Mifune is clearly not playing the same man (his name is Sassa, and his personality and background are different in many key respects), the movie's title and some of its content do intend to suggest the image of the two iconic jidaigeki characters confronting each other. Incident at Blood Pass, made in the same year, also stars Mifune in a role similar to that of Yojimbo.
Mifune's character became the model for John Belushi's Samurai Futaba character on Saturday Night Live.[6]
In The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984), the mercenary warrior Kain (David Carradine) sets rival warlords Zeg and Balcaz against each other in a battle over a town's only well. The action is set on Ura, a desert planet with two suns.
Last Man Standing (1996), a Prohibition-era gangster thriller directed by Walter Hill and starring Bruce Willis, is an officially authorized remake of Yojimbo.
At the closing of Episode XXIII of the animated series Samurai Jack, a triumphant Jack walks off alone in a scene (and accompanied by music) influenced by the closing scene and music of Yojimbo. In Episode XXVI, Jack confronts a gang who destroyed his sandals, using Clint Eastwood's lines from A Fistful of Dollars, but substituting 'footwear' for 'mule.' The influence of Yojimbo in particular (and Kurosawa films in general) on the animated series has been noted by Matthew Millheiser at DVDtalk.[7]
More recently, both Lucky Number Slevin and Sukiyaki Western Django have the plot of a loner caught between two warring gang bosses.
Indian movies Pokiri and Soldier have also borrowed heavily from the ronin archetype, who plays both sides of the antagonists and then eliminate both the parties.
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Desser, David (1983). "Towards a Structural Analysis of the Postwar Samurai Film". Quarterly Review of Film Studies (Print) (in English) (Redgrave Publishing Company) 8.1: 33. ISSN 0146-0013.
2.Jump up ^ Barra, Allen (2005). "From Red Harvest to Deadwood". Salon.
3.Jump up ^ Dashiell Hammett. Red Harvest. ISBN 0-679-72261-0.
4.Jump up ^ Peary, Gerald (June 6,1986). "Toshiro Mifune". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2013-04-30. "One day Kurosawa said, 'I won't mention names, but the actors are late.' I said. 'What are you talking about? I'm the actor.' Every day after that, when Kurosawa arrived, I would be there already, in costume and makeup from 6 a.m. I showed him."
5.Jump up ^ "The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time". Empire. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on August 17, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
6.Jump up ^ Barra, Allen (17 August 2010). "That Nameless Stranger, Half a Century Later". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
7.Jump up ^ "Matthew Millheiser at DVDtalk".
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Yojimbo
Yojimbo at the Internet Movie Database
Yojimbo at AllRovi
Yojimbo at Box Office Mojo
Yojimbo at Rotten Tomatoes
Criterion Collection essay by Alexander Sesonske
A Comparison of Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing
Yojimbo (Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database

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Sanjuro

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Sanjuro
SanjuroPoster.jpg
Directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Produced by
Ryuzo Kikushima
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by
Ryuzo Kikushima
 Akira Kurosawa
Starring
Toshiro Mifune
Tatsuya Nakadai
Keiju Kobayashi
Yuzo Kayama
Music by
Masaru Sato
Editing by
Akira Kurosawa
Distributed by
Toho Company Ltd.
Release date(s)
January 1, 1962 (Japan)
 May 7, 1963 (US)
Running time
96 minutes
Country
Japan
Language
Japanese
Sanjuro (椿三十郎 Tsubaki Sanjūrō?) is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's 1961 Yojimbo.[1]
Originally an adaptation of the Shūgorō Yamamoto story Hibi Heian, the script was altered with the success of Kurosawa's 1961 Yojimbo to incorporate the lead character of that film.[citation needed]

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
Nine young samurai believe that the lord chamberlain, Mutsuta, is corrupt after tearing up a petition against organised crime. One samurai told the superintendent of this, who agreed to intervene. As the nine meet secretly at a temple and discuss their problem, a ronin (Mifune) emerges from another room where he had been resting. The ronin had overheard their plans, and suggests that the superintendent is in fact the real corrupt official. While at first the samurai are insulted by his claims, they soon find themselves surrounded by the official's men, proving that he was correct. The ronin fights off the men in return for money, however after realizing that Mutsuta could now be in danger, he decides to help the samurai bring down the corruption.
They first begin by rescuing Mutsuta's wife (played by Takako Irie) and daughter (Reiko Dan). The group hide in a house within the chamberlain's compound. Musuta's wife asks the ronin's name; looking out the window at tsubaki (camellia) trees, he invents the name Tsubaki Sanjūrō. The lady insists that Sanjuro refrain from unnecessary killing.
The Superintendent's henchman Muroto Hanbei (Tatsuya Nakadai), and several other corrupt officials address a plan to outsmart the chamberlain's followers. First they arrest the chamberlain by making a false claim that he has been in charge of organised crime. Afterwards, they try to lure out the samurai by setting out a patrol of palanquins, believing that the samurai will think the officials are in them and attack. This backfires on them.
Sanjuro decides to get closer to Hanbei's master by going undercover as his henchman. Mistrust causes several of the samurai to believe he is switching sides. The samurai agree that four of them will follow him: two who believed in him and two who did not. However, Sanjuro realizes he is being followed and the four are easily captured. When Hanbei leaves to request reinforcements Sanjuro frees the samurai, at the expense of having to kill all the guards. He demands the four samurai tie him up, and is found in disgrace. Understanding Hanbei cannot hire him after such a fiasco, Sanjuro insincerely commits to finding the attackers.
The next day, Mutsuta's wife and daughter find a parchment of the torn up petition flowing from a stream through the compound. The samurai realise that Mutsuta is being imprisoned in the room opposite where the samurai are staying. While at first they consider a full on attack at the officials, they soon find that the superintendent's entire force is surrounding them, meaning an attack would end in slaughter.
Sanjuro hatches a plan to get the army out of the compound, and then sending a sign to attack through camellias down the stream. The first part of the plan works and the force is moved, however Hanbei catches him trying to send the sign and ties him up. When the officials realise that Sanjuro has moved the army on purpose, Hanbei races off to retrieve them. In a comedic scene, Sanjuro tricks the remaining officials into making the Samurai attack. It works and they manage to rescue the Chamberlain. Hanbei returns later to find he has been made a fool of once more.
Later the samurai find that Sanjuro has left the compound. They race off and find him with Hanbei, about to duel.
Sanjuro is reluctant to fight and tries to dissuade Hanbei saying that if they fight, one of them would surely die and nothing would be gained by that.
Hanbei insists, feeling that he will not be at ease unless one of them is put to rest. As Hanbei makes to draw his sword, Sanjuro kills him by drawing and slashing forward and up in one single swift move. A fountain of blood gushes from Hanbei and he falls dead. When the young samurai cheer his victory, Sanjuro becomes angry, says he's in a bad mood and that his dead adversary was exactly like him, so that at least he now has an understanding of what he really represented. Sanjuro then stalks off in a huff after warning the worshipful young men not to follow him.
Cast[edit]
Toshiro Mifune as Sanjuro Tsubaki
Tatsuya Nakadai as Hanbei Muroto
Yuzo Kayama as Iori Izaka
Takako Irie as Mutsuta's wife
Reiko Dan as Chidori
Takashi Shimura as Kurofuji
Production[edit]
The story is largely based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's short story "Peaceful Days" (日日平安 Nichinichi hei-an). Originally Sanjuro was to be a straight adaptation of the story. After the success of Yojimbo the studio decided to resurrect its popular antihero, and Kurosawa reimagined the script accordingly.[2][3]
The scene where a single blossom falls into a rushing stream raised severe problems on how to pull it off. Originally the crew considered using piano wire but were afraid the light glinting on it would show up on film. A female costume designer suggested unraveling a woman's stocking and using the nylon due to its strength and invisibility. When it worked, Kurosawa said the happiness he felt at that moment was "indescribable".
In the same documentary Nakadai and production designer Yoshiro Muraki relate that the notorious "blood explosion" at the film's end was done in one take. At the moment that the compressor hose attached to actor Tatsuya Nakadai was activated it blew a coupling causing a much larger gush of fluid than planned. In fact it was so strong that it nearly lifted him off the ground and it took all his might to finish the scene.
Reception[edit]
Toshiro Mifune's sword fighting in the film was used in an extensive illustrated example of "samurai virtuosity with his sword" in "This is Kendo", a kendo manual published in English.[4]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Sanjuro". britannica.com. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
2.Jump up ^ Richie, Donald. The films of Akira Kurosawa. p. 156.
3.Jump up ^ Yoshinari Okamoto (director) (2002). Kurosawa Akira: Tsukuru to iu koto wa subarashii [Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create] (in Japanese).
4.Jump up ^ Sasamori, Junzo; Warner, Gordon (1989). This is Kendo - the art of Japanese fencing. p. 38-41. ISBN 0-8048-1607-7.
External links[edit]
Sanjuro at the Internet Movie Database
Sanjuro at AllRovi
Criterion Collection essay by Michael Sragow
Sanjuro (Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database

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The Hidden Fortress

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The Hidden Fortress
The Hidden Fortress poster.jpg
Original Japanese poster
 
Directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Produced by
Sanezumi Fujimoto
Akira Kurosawa
Written by
Shinobu Hashimoto
 Ryuzo Kikushima
Akira Kurosawa
 Hideo Oguni
Starring
Toshiro Mifune
Misa Uehara
Minoru Chiaki
Kamatari Fujiwara
Music by
Masaru Sato
Cinematography
Kazuo Yamasaki
Editing by
Akira Kurosawa
Distributed by
Toho Company Ltd.
Release date(s)
December 28, 1958 (Japan)
 January 23, 1962 (USA)[1]
Running time
139 minutes; 90 minutes (1962 USA release)[1]
Country
Japan
Language
Japanese
The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人 Kakushi toride no san akunin?, literally, "The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress") is a 1958 jidai-geki[2] film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune as General Makabe Rokurōta (真壁 六郎太?) and Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Critical reception
4 Awards
5 Influence
6 Remake
7 References
8 External links
Plot[edit]
The film begins with two bedraggled peasants, Tahei and Matashichi (Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara). Through conversation, they reveal that they had intended to fight with the Yamana clan, but turned up too late, were taken for soldiers of the defeated Akizuki clan, and forced to bury dead. After quarreling and splitting up, the two are both captured again and forced to dig for gold in the Akizuki castle with other prisoners.
After an uprising, Tahei and Matashichi escape. Near a river they find gold marked with the crescent of the Akizuki clan. They thereafter travel with the General of the defeated Akizuki clan, Makabe Rokurōta (Toshiro Mifune), while escorting Princess Yuki Akizuki (Misa Uehara) and what remains of her family's gold to a secret territory. In order to keep her identity secret, Yuki poses as a mute.
During the mission, the peasants impede it and sometimes try to seize the gold. They are later joined by a farmer’s daughter (Toshiko Higuchi), whom they acquire from a slave-trader. Eventually, they are captured and held by Rokurōta's rival; but the latter unexpectedly sides with the Princess and Rokurōta.
The peasants stumble upon the gold, but are later captured; whereupon Rokurōta explains Yuki's true identity, and states that all of the gold has been used to restore her family's domain. The peasants are then dispatched, taking a single ryō. In the final scene, Tahei gives this to Matashichi to protect; but Matashichi allows Tahei to keep it.
Production[edit]
This was Kurosawa's first feature filmed in a widescreen format, Tohoscope, which he continued to use for the next decade. Hidden Fortress was originally presented with Perspecta directional sound, which was re-created for the Criterion DVD release.
In box-office terms, The Hidden Fortress was Kurosawa’s most successful film, until the 1961 release of Yojimbo.[2]
Critical reception[edit]
Writing for The Criterion Collection in 1987, David Ehrenstein called it "one of the greatest action-adventure films ever made" and a "fast-paced, witty and visually stunning" chambara film."[3] According to Ehrenstein:[3]

"The battle on the steps in Chapter 2 (anticipating the climax of Ran) is as visually overwhelming as any of the similar scenes in Griffith's Intolerance. The use of composition in depth in the fortress scene in Chapter 4 is likewise as arresting as the best of Eisenstein or David Lean. Toshiro Mifune's muscular demonstrations of heroic derring-do in the horse-charge scene (Chapter 11) and the scrupulously choreographed swordfight climax that follows it (Chapter 12) is in the finest tradition of Douglas Fairbanks. Overall, there’s a sense of sheer "movieness" to The Hidden Fortress that places it plainly in the ranks of such grand adventure entertainments as Gunga Din, The Thief of Baghdad, and Fritz Lang's celebrated diptych The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Hindu Tomb.
Writing for The Criterion Collection in 2001, Armond White said "The Hidden Fortress holds a place in cinema history comparable to John Ford's Stagecoach: It lays out the plot and characters of an on-the-road epic of self-discovery and heroic action. In a now-familiar fashion, Rokurōta and Princess Yuki fight their way to allied territory, accompanied by a scheming, greedy comic duo who get surprised by their own good fortune. Kurosawa always balances valor and greed, seriousness and humor, while depicting the misfortunes of war."[2]
Upon the film's UK re-release in 2002, Jamie Russell, reviewing the film for the BBC, said it "effortlessly intertwines action, drama, and comedy", calling it "both cracking entertainment and a wonderful piece of cinema."[4]
Awards[edit]
Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Bear for Best Director[5]
Influence[edit]
George Lucas has acknowledged heavy influence of The Hidden Fortress on Star Wars,[6] particularly in the technique of telling the story from the perspective of the film's lowliest characters, C-3PO and R2-D2.[7][8] Kurosawa's use of frame wipes (sometimes cleverly hidden by motion within the frame) as a transition device also influenced Star Wars. Lucas' original plot outline for Star Wars also had a strong resemblance to the plot of The Hidden Fortress.[9]
Remake[edit]
Main article: Kakushi Toride no San-Akunin: The Last Princess
A loose remake entitled Kakushi Toride no San-Akunin: The Last Princess was directed by Shinji Higuchi and released on May 10, 2008.
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Crowther, Bosley (January 24, 1962). "Hidden Fortress From Japan: Kurosawa Resorts to Hollywood Effects". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c White, Armond (May 21, 2001). "The Hidden Fortress". Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Ehrenstein, David (October 12, 1987). "The Hidden Fortress". Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
4.Jump up ^ Russell, Jamie (31 January 2002). "The Hidden Fortress (Kakushi Toride No San Akumin) (1958)". BBC. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
5.Jump up ^ "Berlinale: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
6.Jump up ^ "The Secret History of Star Wars". Michael Kamiski, 2007, pg 48. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
7.Jump up ^ Star Wars DVD audio commentary
8.Jump up ^ "The Secret History of Star Wars". Michael Kamiski, 2007, pg 47. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
9.Jump up ^ Tom Stempel; Philip Dunne (2000). Framework: A History of Screenwriting in the American Film (3 ed.). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 154 & 204. ISBN 0815606540. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Hidden Fortress.
The Hidden Fortress at the Internet Movie Database
The Hidden Fortress at AllRovi
The Hidden Fortress at Rotten Tomatoes
The Hidden Fortress (Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database

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Films directed by Akira Kurosawa
Japanese films
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1958 films




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The Guns of Navarone (film)

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Coordinates: 37°52′53″N 25°39′7″E

The Guns of Navarone
GunsofNavarone.jpg
film poster by Howard Terpning
 
Directed by
J. Lee Thompson
Produced by
Carl Foreman
Screenplay by
Carl Foreman
Based on
The Guns of Navarone
 by Alistair MacLean
Starring
Gregory Peck
David Niven
Anthony Quinn
Stanley Baker
Anthony Quayle
Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography
Oswald Morris, BSC
Editing by
Alan Osbiston
Studio
Highroad Productions
Distributed by
Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)
22 June 1961
 
Running time
158 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Budget
$6 million
Box office
$28,900,000
The Guns of Navarone is a 1961 Anglo-American action/adventure war film directed by J. Lee Thompson. The screenplay by producer Carl Foreman was based on Alistair MacLean's 1957 novel The Guns of Navarone about the Dodecanese Campaign of World War II. It stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, along with Stanley Baker and Anthony Quayle. The book and the film share the same basic plot: the efforts of an Allied commando team to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that threatens Allied naval ships in the Aegean Sea, and prevents 2,000 isolated British troops from being rescued.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception 4.1 Awards
5 In Popular Culture
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
In 1943 the Axis powers decide that a show of strength might bully neutral Turkey into joining them. Their target is a command of 2,000 British soldiers marooned on the island of Keros in the Aegean Sea. Rescue by the Royal Navy is impossible because of massive radar-directed guns on the nearby island of Navarone. Time is short, because the Germans are expected to launch an assault on the British forces.
Efforts to destroy the guns by aerial bombing have proved fruitless. So that six destroyers can pick up the stranded men, Commodore Jensen (James Robertson Justice) of Allied Intelligence gathers a team of commandos to sail to Navarone and destroy the guns. Led by Major Roy Franklin (Anthony Quayle), they are Captain Keith Mallory (Gregory Peck), a renowned mountaineer; Colonel Andrea Stavrou (Anthony Quinn), from the defeated Greek army; Franklin's best friend Corporal Miller (David Niven), a former university chemistry teacher and explosives expert; Greco-American Spyros Pappadimos (James Darren), a native of Navarone; and "Butcher" Brown (Stanley Baker), an engineer and expert knife fighter.
Disguised as Greek fishermen on a decrepit boat, they sail across the Aegean Sea. They are intercepted by a German boat and boarded. They attack and kill all the Germans and sink the patrol boat. During the remainder of the voyage, Mallory confides to Franklin that Stavrou has sworn to kill him after the war, because Mallory was inadvertently responsible for the deaths of Stavrou's wife and children.
In a violent storm near the island's coast, the ship is wrecked and the group loses part of their equipment, but still manages to land on the island. Led by Mallory, who was recruited for his climbing skills, they scale the "unclimbable" cliff. But Franklin is badly injured; the injury later becomes infected with gangrene. They find that the cliff is, in fact, guarded after all. Miller suggests that they leave Franklin to be "well cared for" by the enemy. Mallory, who assumes command of the mission, feels that Franklin would be forced to reveal their plans, so he orders two men to carry the injured man on a stretcher.
Franklin tries to commit suicide, but Mallory lies to him, saying that their mission has been scrubbed and that a major naval attack will be mounted on the side of the island opposite the gun emplacement. They rendezvous with local resistance fighters, Spyros's sister Maria (Irene Papas) and her friend Anna (Gia Scala), who was captured and tortured, but escaped. She was so traumatized that she cannot speak and will not allow even Maria to see her scars.
The mission is continually dogged by German soldiers, and the group is captured by Oberleutnant Muesel (Walter Gotell) in the town of Mandrakos, when they try to find a doctor for Franklin. Muesel and Hauptsturmführer Sessler (George Mikell) of the SS fail to persuade the saboteurs to tell them where Miller's explosives are. Stavrou pretends to grovel and beg for mercy, which distracts the Germans, allowing the group to overpower their captors. They escape in German uniform but leave Franklin behind to receive medical attention.
In due course, Franklin is injected with scopolamine and gives up his disinformation, as Mallory had hoped. German units are deployed in the direction of the supposed invasion point, away from the guns. But upon infiltrating the city of Navarone, where the guns are located, Miller discovers that most of his explosives have been rendered useless and deduces that Anna is the saboteur. It transpires that she is not mute after all and was only threatened with torture, but agreed to become an informer in exchange for her release. She pleads that she was coerced, but Miller, bitter about the way that Mallory abandoned Franklin and aware she will reveal their plans once found by the Germans, insists she must be silenced. Mallory eventually, reluctantly agrees to the task, but Maria shoots Anna dead first.
The team splits up: Mallory and Miller go for the guns, while Stavrou and Spyros create a distraction in the town, and Maria and Brown steal a boat for their escape. Mallory and Miller make their way to the heavily fortified gun emplacements. Locking the main entrance behind them—which sets off an alarm—Miller sets obvious explosives on the guns and hides more below an ammunition elevator leading to the guns. The Germans cut through the thick emplacement doors, as Mallory and Miller make their escape by diving into the sea, reaching the stolen boat. Spyros and Brown are dead, and Stavrou is wounded. Mallory saves him, pulling him into the boat, thus voiding the "blood feud" between them.
The Allied destroyers appear on schedule. The Germans find the explosives planted on the guns and begin to fire on the passing Allied flotilla. However, the elevator eventually descends low enough to trigger the hidden explosives. The guns and fortifications are destroyed in a spectacular explosion that Franklin hears from his hospital bed. As the ruined guns fall into the sea, the destroyers sound off their horns in celebration. Mallory's team safely reaches the British convoy, but Stavrou, who has fallen in love with Maria, decides to return to Navarone with her. Mallory and Miller observe the aftermath of the destruction from a destroyer.
Cast[edit]
Gregory Peck: Capt. Keith Mallory
David Niven: Cpl. John Anthony Miller
Anthony Quinn: Col. Andrea Stavrou
Stanley Baker: Pvt. Casey 'Butcher' Brown
Anthony Quayle: Maj. Roy Franklin
James Darren: Pvt. Spyros Pappadimos
Peter Grant : British Commando
Irene Papas: Maria Pappadimos
Gia Scala: Anna
James Robertson Justice: Commodore James Jensen
Richard Harris: Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby, Royal Australian Air Force
Bryan Forbes: Cohn
Allan Cuthbertson: Maj. Baker
Michael Trubshawe: Weaver
Percy Herbert: Sgt. Grogan
George Mikell: Hauptsturmführer Sessler
Walter Gotell: Oberleutnant Muesel
Tutte Lemkow: Nikolai, the laundry boy
Albert Lieven: The Commandant
Norman Wooland: Group Captain
Cleo Scouloudi: Bride
Nicholas Papakonstantinou: Patrol Boat Captain
Christopher Rhodes: German Gunnery Officer
Wallace Grimmé: Soldier
Production[edit]
The film was part of a cycle of big-budget World War II adventures that included The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Longest Day (1962) and The Great Escape (1963). The screenplay, adapted by producer Carl Foreman, made significant changes from the novel The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean.
The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson after original director Alexander Mackendrick was fired by Carl Foreman due to "creative differences" a week before shooting started.[1] The Greek island of Rhodes provided locations and Quinn was so taken with the area that he bought land there in an area still called Anthony Quinn Bay. Some further scenes were shot on the islands of Gozo, near Malta, and Tino, in the Ligurian Sea. One of the warships in the film, the USS Slater (DE-766) then a training ship in the Hellenic Navy known as Aetos (D-01), is preserved as a museum ship in Albany, New York.[2]
As described by director Thompson in the DVD commentary track, David Niven became severely ill after shooting in the pool of water underneath the cave elevator and nearly died, remaining in hospital for some weeks as other portions of the cave sequence were completed by the crew. However, since key scenes with Niven remained incomplete at that time, and it was in doubt whether Niven would be able to return at all to finish the film, the entire production was in jeopardy, and reshooting key scenes throughout the film with some other actor—and even abandoning the whole project to collect the insurance—was contemplated. Fortunately Niven was able to complete his scenes some weeks later.
The film's maps were created by Halas and Batchelor, a British team best known for their animated films.
Reception[edit]
The Guns of Navarone grossed $28,900,000 at the box office[3] and was the 2nd top-grossing film of 1961, earning a net profit of $18,500,000.[4] As a result, MacLean reunited Mallory, Miller, and Stavrou in the best-seller Force 10 From Navarone, the only sequel of his long writing career, in 1968. That was in turn filmed as the significantly different Force 10 from Navarone in 1978 by British director Guy Hamilton, a veteran of several James Bond films. The cast included Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, and Harrison Ford. The sequel was a modest success, but not as big as the original.
Awards[edit]
WonAcademy Award Best Effects, Special Effects (Bill Warrington & Chris Greenham)
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Nominated[5]Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Director (J. Lee Thompson)
Academy Award for Best Film Editing (Alan Osbiston)
Academy Award for Best Original Score (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Academy Award for Best Sound (John Cox)
Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Carl Foreman
DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (J. Lee Thompson)
Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin)
In Popular Culture[edit]
On The Dick Van Dyke Show, in the episode You're Under Arrest, Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) claims to have fallen asleep while watching the film at a drive-in theater.[6][7]
The title was parodied on Rocky and Bullwinkle as The Guns of Abalone and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as The Girls of Nazarone.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/21984/The-Guns-of-Navarone/articles.html
2.Jump up ^ "Aboard the U.S.S. Slater in Albany, NY". New York Traveler.net.
3.Jump up ^ Box Office Information for The Guns of Navarone. The Numbers. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
4.Jump up ^ Steinberg, Cobbett (1980). Film Facts. New York: Facts on File, Inc. p. 24. ISBN 0-87196-313-2.
5.Jump up ^ "The 34th Academy Awards (1962) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
6.Jump up ^ "The Dick Van Dyke Show, episode You're Under Arrest (Season 5, Episode 13)". IMDb. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
7.Jump up ^ "The Dick Van Dyke Show Season 5 Episode 13 You're Under Arrest". TV.com. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
External links[edit]
The Guns of Navarone at the Internet Movie Database
The Guns of Navarone at AllRovi
The Guns of Navarone (film) at the TCM Movie Database
Movie review at Alistairmaclean.de (German)
Movie review at AlistairMacLean.com

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Categories: 1961 films
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Ocean's 11

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Ocean's Eleven (1960 film))
Jump to: navigation, search

For the 2001 film, see Ocean's Eleven.

Ocean's 11
Ocean'sEleven(1960)Poster.jpeg
Directed by
Lewis Milestone
Produced by
Lewis Milestone
Screenplay by
Harry Brown
Charles Lederer
Story by
George Clayton Johnson
Jack Golden Russell
Starring
Frank Sinatra
Dean Martin
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Peter Lawford
Joey Bishop
Angie Dickinson
Music by
Nelson Riddle
Cinematography
William H. Daniels
Editing by
Philip W. Anderson
Distributed by
Warner Bros.
Release date(s)
August 10, 1960
 
Running time
127 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Box office
$5 million (US/ Canada rentals)[1]
Ocean's 11 is a 1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five Rat Packers: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Joey Bishop.[2]
Centered on a series of Las Vegas casino robberies, the film's other stars included Angie Dickinson, Cesar Romero, Richard Conte, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase, Norman Fell, Harry Wilson and Buddy Lester, as well as cameo appearances by Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton, and George Raft.
A remake, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García and Julia Roberts (among others) was released in 2001, followed by a pair of sequels.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Cast 3.1 Ocean's 11
3.2 Others
3.3 Cameos
4 Blu-ray release
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
A gang of World War II 82nd Airborne veterans is recruited by Danny Ocean (Sinatra) and Jimmy Foster (Lawford) to rob five different Las Vegas casinos (Sahara, Riviera, Desert Inn, Sands and The Flamingo) on a single night.

 

 From left to right: Lester, Bishop, Davis, Sinatra, and Martin
The gang plans the elaborate New Year's Eve heist with the precision of a military operation. Josh Howard (Davis) takes a job driving a garbage truck while others work to scope out the various casinos. Sam Harmon (Martin) entertains in one of the hotel's lounges. Demolition charges are planted on an electrical transmission tower and the backup electrical systems are covertly rewired in each casino.
At exactly midnight, while everyone in every Vegas casino is singing "Auld Lang Syne" the tower is blown up and Vegas goes dark. The backup electrical systems open the cashier cages instead of powering the emergency lights. The inside men sneak into the cashier cages and collect the money. They dump the bags of loot into the hotels' garbage bins, go back inside, and mingle with the crowds. As soon as the lights come back on, the thieves stroll out of the casinos. A garbage truck driven by Josh picks up the bags and passes through the police blockade. It appears to have gone off without a hitch.
Their ace electrician, Tony Bergdorf (Conte), has a heart attack in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip and drops dead. This raises the suspicions of police, who wonder if there is any connection.
Reformed gangster Duke Santos (Romero) offers to recover the casino bosses' money for a price. He learns of Ocean being in town and his connection to Foster, who is the son of Duke's fiancee (Chase). Santos pieces together the puzzle by the time Bergdorf's body arrives at the mortuary.
Santos confronts the thieves, demanding half of their take. In desperation, the money is hidden in Bergdorf's coffin, with $10,000 set aside for the widow (Willes). The group plans to take back the rest of the money, making no payoff to Santos, after the coffin is shipped to San Francisco.
This plan backfires when the funeral home talks Bergdorf's widow into having the funeral in Las Vegas, where the body is cremated – along with all of the money.
Production[edit]
Peter Lawford was first told of the basic story of the film by director Gilbert Kay, who heard the idea from a gas station attendant. Lawford eventually bought the rights in 1958, imagining William Holden in the lead.[3] Sinatra became interested in the idea, and a variety of different writers worked on the project. When Lawford first told Sinatra of the story, Sinatra joked, "Forget the movie, let's pull the job!"[3]
The opening animated title sequence was designed by Saul Bass. The closing shot shows the main cast walking away from the funeral home, with the Sands Hotel marquee behind them listing their names as headliners.
Cast[edit]
Ocean's 11[edit]
1.Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean
2.Dean Martin as Sam Harmon
3.Sammy Davis, Jr. as Josh Howard
4.Peter Lawford as Jimmy Foster
5.Richard Conte as Tony Bergdorf
6.Joey Bishop as Mushy O'Connors
7.Henry Silva as Roger Corneal
8.Buddy Lester as Vince Massler
9.Richard Benedict as Curly Steffans
10.Norman Fell as Peter Rheimer
11.Clem Harvey as Louis Jackson
Others[edit]
Angie Dickinson as Beatrice Ocean
Cesar Romero as Duke Santos
Patrice Wymore as Adele Elkstrom
Akim Tamiroff as Spyros Acebos
Ilka Chase as Mrs. Restes
Jean Willes as Gracie Bergdorf
Hank Henry as Mr. Kelly
Lew Gallo as Jealous Young Man
Robert Foulk as Sheriff Wimmer
Cameos[edit]
Shirley MacLaine as Tipsy Woman
George Raft as Jack Strager (Casino Owner)[4]
Red Skelton as Himself
Richard Boone as The Minister (Voice)
Blu-ray release[edit]
Ocean's 11 was released on Blu-ray on November 9, 2010 in a "50th Anniversary Edition". Bonus features include:[5]
Special commentary by Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Angie Dickinson.
"Vegas Map" – Mini-documentaries of the five casinos involved in the movie.
Tonight Show clip of Angie Dickinson with Frank Sinatra as host from November 14, 1977.
"Tropicana Museum Vignette"
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "All-Time Top Grossers", Variety, 8 January 1964 p 69
2.Jump up ^ Variety film review; August 10, 1960, page 6.
3.^ Jump up to: a b pp.117–121 Levy, Shawn Rat Pack Confidential 1998 Fourth Estate Ltd
4.Jump up ^ Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 171
5.Jump up ^ http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Oceans-11-Blu-ray/12284/#Review
External links[edit]
Ocean's Eleven at the American Film Institute Catalog
Ocean's Eleven at the Internet Movie Database
Ocean's Eleven at AllRovi
TCM notes http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=18360&category=Notes

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Categories: 1960 films
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The Dirty Dozen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Dirty Dozen (disambiguation).

The Dirty Dozen
Dirty moviep.jpg
Original poster by Frank McCarthy
 
Directed by
Robert Aldrich
Produced by
Kenneth Hyman
Written by
Nunnally Johnson
Lukas Heller
Novel:
E. M. Nathanson
Starring
Lee Marvin
Ernest Borgnine
Charles Bronson
Jim Brown
John Cassavetes
Richard Jaeckel
George Kennedy
Trini Lopez
Ralph Meeker
Robert Ryan
Telly Savalas
Donald Sutherland
Robert Webber
Clint Walker
Music by
Frank De Vol
Cinematography
Edward Scaife
Editing by
Michael Luciano
Distributed by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)
June 15, 1967
Running time
150 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$5.4 million[1]
Box office
$45,300,000[2]
The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 war film directed by Robert Aldrich, released by MGM, and starring Lee Marvin. The picture was filmed in England and features an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M. Nathanson's novel of the same name that was potentially inspired by a real life group called the "Filthy Thirteen". In 2001, the American Film Institute placed the film number 65 on their 100 Years... 100 Thrills list.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot 1.1 Act one – Identification and "recruiting" the prisoners
1.2 Act two – Training
1.3 Act three – The mission
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Casting
4 Reception and criticism
5 Awards
6 Box office performance
7 Basis in fact
8 Sequels and adaptations
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Plot[edit]
In England, in the spring of 1944, Allied forces are preparing for the D-Day invasion. Among them are Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin), an OSS officer; his commander, Regular Army Major General Sam Worden (Ernest Borgnine); and his former commander Colonel Everett Dasher Breed (Robert Ryan). Early in the film the personalities of the three men are shown to clash and the characters of the individualistic Reisman and the domineering Breed are established. Reisman is aided by his friend, the mild-mannered Major Max Armbruster (George Kennedy)
Major Reisman is assigned an unusual and top-secret pre-invasion mission: take a small unit of soldiers convicted of felonies and turn them into a commando squad to be sent on a special mission, an airborne infiltration and assault on a chateau near Rennes in Brittany. The chateau will be hosting a meeting of dozens of high-ranking German officers, the elimination of which will presumably hamper the German military's ability to respond to D-Day. Those felons who survive the mission will have their sentences commuted. It quickly becomes clear that both Reisman and his superiors regard the operation as a near-suicide mission and expect that few, if any of the felons will return.
Reisman is assigned twelve convicts, all either serving lengthy sentences or destined to be executed. Notable members include slow-witted Vernon Pinkley (Donald Sutherland); Robert Jefferson (Jim Brown), an African American soldier convicted of killing a man in a racial brawl; Samson Posey (Clint Walker), a gentle giant who becomes enraged when pushed; Joseph Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) a taciturn coal miner recruited for his ability to speak German, convicted of shooting his squad's medic; A.J. Maggott (Telly Savalas), a misogynist and religious fanatic; and Victor Franko (John Cassavetes), a former member of the Chicago organized-crime Syndicate who has extreme problems with authority. Under the supervision of Reisman and military police Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel), the group begin training. After being forced to construct their own living quarters, the twelve individuals are trained in combat by Reisman and gradually learn how to operate as a group. For parachute training they are sent to the base operated by Colonel Breed. Under strict orders to keep their mission secret, Reisman's men run afoul of Breed and his troops, especially after Pinkley poses as a general and inspects Breed's troops. Angered at the usurpation of his authority, Breed attempts to discover Reisman's mission and then attempts to get the program shut down. Major Armbruster suggests a test of whether Reisman's men are ready: during practice maneuvers which Breed will be taking part in, the "Dirty Dozen" will attempt to capture the Colonel's headquarters. During the maneuvers, the men use various unorthodox tactics, including theft, impersonation, and rule-breaking, to infiltrate Breed's headquarters and hold him and his men at gunpoint. This proves to the General that Reisman's men are ready.
The night of the raid, the men are flown to France, and practise a rhyme they have learned which details their roles in the operation. There is a slight snag when upon landing in a tree one of the Dozen, Jiminez (Trini Lopez) breaks his neck and dies, but the others proceed with the mission. Wladislaw and Reisman infiltrate the meeting disguised as German officers while Jefferson and Maggott sneak onto the top floor of the building. The others set up in various locations around the chateau. The plan falls apart when Maggott sees one of the women who had accompanied the officers, abducts her at knifepoint, and orders her to scream. The German officers downstairs ignore her, thinking she is just having sex. Maggott stabs her and begins shooting, alerting the German officers. Jefferson kills Maggott, as Maggott began to realize he was going to die anyway. As the officers and their companions retreat to an underground bomb shelter, a general firefight ensues between the Dozen and the German troops. After Wladislaw and Reisman lock the Germans in the bomb shelter, the Dozen pry open the ventilation ducts to the shelter and drop unprimed grenades down, then pour gasoline inside. Jefferson throws a primed grenade down each shaft and sprints for their vehicle, but is shot down as the grenades explode. Reisman, Bowren, Wladislaw, and Franko, the last remaining survivors of the assault team, are making their escape on a German half-track when Franko, shouting triumphantly that he has survived, is shot by a stray round. Back in England only Reisman, Bowren and Wladislaw (the sole surviving felon) have managed to get out alive.
The film unfolds in three major acts.
Act one – Identification and "recruiting" the prisoners[edit]
After witnessing a hanging in a military jail in London, Major Reisman is briefed on the mission at General Worden's headquarters. As the credits to the film are rolling he walks along the line of 12 prisoners and stares at each of them as Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel) reads out their sentences.

Name
Portrayed by
Sentence
Fate
Franko, V. R. John Cassavetes Death by hanging Killed by multiple shots to the back/neck
Vladek, M. Tom Busby 30 years' hard labor Killed by a shot to the head
Jefferson, R. T. Jim Brown Death by hanging Killed by multiple shots to the leg and back
Pinkley, V. L. Donald Sutherland 30 years' imprisonment Killed by three shots to the back
Gilpin, S. Ben Carruthers 30 years' hard labor Blown up
Posey, S. Clint Walker Death by hanging Blown up
Wladislaw, T. Charles Bronson Death by hanging Wounded
Sawyer, S. K. Colin Maitland 20 years' hard labor Killed by two shots to the neck; body blown up in the boat
Lever, R. Stuart Cooper 20 years' imprisonment Killed by two shots to the neck; body blown up in the boat
Bravos, T. R. Al Mancini 20 years' hard labor Shot by three shots to the chest
Jiminez, J. P. Trini Lopez 20 years' hard labor Died of a Broken Neck
Maggott, A. J. Telly Savalas Death by hanging Killed by ten shots to the chest and back
On March 19, Reisman visits Franko, Wladislaw, Maggott, Posey and Jefferson in their cells. Some details of their crimes are revealed and he uses a different approach with each in an effort to gain their cooperation.
Act two – Training[edit]
Depicts the unit building their own compound and training for the mission. It highlights the interpersonal conflicts between the men, some of whom see the mission as a chance for redemption and others as a chance for escape. The second act places the mission, and the characters, in jeopardy when a breach of military regulations on Reisman's part forces General Worden, at Breed's urging, to have the men – now dubbed the "Dirty Dozen" by Sergeant Bowren because of their refusal to shave or bathe as a protest against their living conditions – prove their worth as soldiers at 'divisional maneuvers', a wargame in "Devonshire".
Act three – The mission[edit]
The final act, which was a mere footnote in the novel, is an action sequence detailing the attack on the chateau. The men recite the details of the attack in a chant in order to remember their roles:
1.Down to the road block, we've just begun
2.The guards are through
3.The Major's men are on a spree
4.Major and Wladislaw go through the door
5.Pinkley stays out in the drive
6.The Major gives the rope a fix
7.Wladislaw throws the hook to heaven
8.Jimenez has got a date
9.The other guys go up the line
10.Sawyer and Gilpin are in the pen
11.Posey guards points five and seven
12.Wladislaw and the Major go down to delve
13.Franko goes up without being seen
14.Zero-hour – Jimenez cuts the cable, Franko cuts the phone
15.Franko goes in where the others have been
16.We all come out like it's Halloween
Cast[edit]
Lee Marvin as Maj. John Reisman
Ernest Borgnine as Maj. Gen. Sam Worden
Charles Bronson as Joseph Wladislaw
Jim Brown as Robert T. Jefferson
John Cassavetes as Victor R. Franko
Richard Jaeckel as Sgt. Clyde Bowren
George Kennedy as Maj. Max Armbruster
Ralph Meeker as Capt. Stuart Kinder
Robert Ryan as Col. Everett Dasher Breed
Telly Savalas as Archer J. Maggott
Donald Sutherland as Vernon L. Pinkley
Clint Walker as Samson Posey
Trini Lopez as Pedro Jimenez
Robert Webber as Brig. Gen. Denton
Al Mancini as Tassos R. Bravos
Tom Busby as Milo Vladek
Ben Carruthers as Glenn Gilpin
Stuart Cooper as Roscoe Lever
Colin Maitland as Seth K. Sawyer
Robert Phillips as Cpl. Carl Morgan
Production[edit]

 

 Aldbury – scene of the wargame
 

 Bradenham Manor – Wargames HQ
Although Robert Aldrich had tried to buy the rights to E.M. Nathanson's novel The Dirty Dozen while it was just an outline, MGM succeeded in May 1963. The novel was a best-seller upon publication in 1965.
Filming took place at the MGM British Studios, Borehamwood and the English prison camp location scenes were filmed at Ashridge in Hertfordshire. Wargame scenes were filmed at the village of Aldbury and Bradenham Manor in Buckinghamshire featured as 'Wargames Headquarters'. Beechwood Park School in Markyate was also used as a location during the school's summer term, where the training camp and tower were built and shot in the grounds. The main house was also used, appearing in the film as a military hospital.[3]
The château was built especially for the production, by art director William Hutchinson. It was 240 ft wide and 50 ft high, surrounded with 5,400 sq. yds. of heather, 400 ferns, 450 shrubs, 30 spruce trees and 6 weeping willows. Construction of the faux château proved problematic. The script required its explosion, but it was so solid that 70 tons of explosives would have been required for the effect. Instead, a cork and plastic section was destroyed.
The film is remembered for being the one during which Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown announced his retirement from football at age 29. The owner of the Browns, Art Modell, demanded Brown choose between football and acting. With Brown's considerable accomplishments in the sport (he was already the NFL's all-time leading rusher, was predominantly ahead statistically of the second-leading rusher, and his team had won the 1964 NFL Championship), he chose acting. Despite his early retirement from football, Brown remains the league's eighth all-time leading rusher, the Cleveland Browns all-time leading rusher, and the only player in league history to have a career average 100 yards per game. In some form of tribute, Art Modell himself said in Spike Lee's Jim Brown: All American documentary, that he made a huge mistake in forcing Jim Brown to choose between football and Hollywood and if he had it to do over again, he would never have made such a demand. Modell fined Jim Brown the equivalent of over $100 per day, a fine which Brown said that "today wouldn't even buy the doughnuts for a team".
Casting[edit]
The cast included many World War II US veterans, including (but not limited to) Robert Webber and Robert Ryan (US Marines), Telly Savalas (US Army) and Charles Bronson (Army Air Forces), Ernest Borgnine (Navy) and Clint Walker (Merchant Marine). Marvin served as a Private First Class in the US Marines in the Pacific War and provided technical assistance with uniforms and weapons to create realistic portrayals of combat, yet bitterly complained about the falsity of some scenes. He thought Reisman's wresting the bayonet from the enraged Posey to be particularly phony. Aldrich replied that the plot was preposterous, and that by the time the audience had left the cinema, they would have been so overwhelmed by action, explosions, and killing, that they would have forgotten the lapses.
John Wayne was the original choice for Reisman, but he turned down the role because he objected to the adultery present in the original script, which featured the character having a relationship with an Englishwoman whose husband was fighting on the Continent.[4] Jack Palance refused the "Archer Maggott" role when they wouldn't rewrite the script to make his character lose his racism; Telly Savalas took the role instead.[5]
Six of the Dozen were experienced American stars whilst the "Back Six" were actors resident in the UK, Englishman Colin Maitland, Canadians Donald Sutherland and Tom Busby, and Americans Stuart Cooper, Al Mancini and Ben Carruthers. According to commentary on The Dirty Dozen: 2-Disc Special Edition when Trini López left the film early, the death scene of Lopez's character where he blew himself up with the radio tower was given to Busby[6] (in the film, it is Ben Carruthers' character Glenn Gilpin who is tasked with blowing up the radio tower while Busby's character Milo Vladek is shot in front of the château).[7] The same commentary also states that the impersonation of the General scene was to have been done by Clint Walker who thought the scene demeaning to his character who was a native American. Aldrich picked out Sutherland for the bit.[8]
Reception and criticism[edit]
In response to the violence of the film, Roger Ebert, in his first year as a film reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote sarcastically:

I'm glad the Chicago Police Censor Board forgot about that part of the local censorship law where it says films shall not depict the burning of the human body. If you have to censor, stick to censoring sex, I say...but leave in the mutilation, leave in the sadism and by all means leave in the human beings burning to death. It's not obscene as long as they burn to death with their clothes on.[9]
In another contemporary review, Bosley Crowther called it "an astonishingly wanton war film" and a "studied indulgence of sadism that is morbid and disgusting beyond words"; he also noted:

It is not simply that this violent picture of an American military venture is based on a fictional supposition that is silly and irresponsible.... But to have this bunch of felons a totally incorrigible lot, some of them psychopathic, and to try to make us believe that they would be committed by any American general to carry out an exceedingly important raid that a regular commando group could do with equal efficiency – and certainly with greater dependability – is downright preposterous.[10]
Crowther called some of the portrayals "bizarre and bold":

Marvin's taut, pugnacious playing of the major ... is tough and terrifying. John Cassavetes is wormy and noxious as a psychopath condemned to death, and Telly Savalas is swinish and maniacal as a religious fanatic and sex degenerate. Charles Bronson as an alienated murderer, Richard Jaeckel as a hard-boiled military policeman, and Jim Brown as a white-hating Negro stand out in the animalistic group.[10]
Variety was more positive, calling it an "exciting Second World War pre-D-Day drama" based on a "good screenplay" with a "ring of authenticity to it"; they drew particular attention to the performances by Marvin, Cassavetes, and Bronson.[11]
The Time Out Film Guide notes that over the years, "The Dirty Dozen has taken its place alongside that other commercial classic, The Magnificent Seven:

The violence which liberal critics found so offensive has survived intact. Aldrich sets up dispensable characters with no past and no future, as Marvin reprieves a bunch of death row prisoners, forges them into a tough fighting unit, and leads them on a suicide mission into Nazi France. Apart from the values of team spirit, cudgeled by Marvin into his dropout group, Aldrich appears to be against everything: anti-military, anti-Establishment, anti-women, anti-religion, anti-culture, anti-life. Overriding such nihilism is the super-crudity of Aldrich's energy and his humour, sufficiently cynical to suggest that the whole thing is a game anyway, a spectacle that demands an audience.[12]
The film currently holds a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews.[13]
Awards[edit]
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning in the category Best Sound Effects.[14]
Actor in a Supporting Role (John Cassavetes)
Film Editing (Michael Luciano)
Sound
Sound Effects (John Poyner) (Won)
Box office performance[edit]
The Dirty Dozen was a massive commercial success. Produced on a budget of $5.4 million, it grossed $45.3 million, earning domestic rentals of $24.2 million in North America.[15] It was the 5th highest grossing film of 1967 and MGM's highest grossing movie of the year.
Basis in fact[edit]
The Dirty Dozen is not the story of a real unit. In the prologue to the novel, Nathanson states that, while he heard a legend that such a unit may have existed, he was unable to find any corroboration in the archives of the US Army in Europe.
However, there was a unit called the "Filthy Thirteen", an airborne demolition unit documented in the eponymous book,[16] and this unit's exploits inspired the fictional account. Barbara Maloney, the daughter of John Agnew, a private in the Filthy Thirteen, told the American Valor Quarterly that her father felt that 30% of the movie's content was historically correct, including a scene where officers are captured. Unlike the Dirty Dozen, the Filthy Thirteen were not convicts; however, they were men prone to drinking and fighting and often spent time in the stockade.[17][18]
Both the Germans and Soviets used convicted men in high risk operations during the war.
Sequels and adaptations[edit]
Three years after The Dirty Dozen was released, Too Late the Hero – a film also directed by Aldrich – was described as a "kind of sequel to The Dirty Dozen".[19] The 1969 Michael Caine film Play Dirty follows a similar theme of convicts-recruited-as-soldiers.
Several made-for-TV movies were produced in the mid- to late-1980s which capitalized on the popularity of the first film. Lee Marvin, Richard Jaeckel, and Ernest Borgnine reprised their roles for The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission in 1985, leading a group of military convicts in a mission to kill a German general who was plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.[20] In The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987), Telly Savalas, who had played the role of the psychotic Maggott in the original film, assumed the different role of Major Wright, an officer who leads a group of military convicts to extract a group of German scientists who are being forced to make a deadly nerve gas.[21] Ernest Borgnine again reprised his role of General Worden. The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988) depicts Savalas's Wright character and a group of renegade soldiers attempting to prevent a group of extreme German generals from starting a Fourth Reich, with Erik Estrada co-starring and Ernest Borgnine again playing the role of General Worden.[22] In 1988, FOX aired a short-lived television series, with no major stars, that lasted only eleven episodes.[23]
See also[edit]
Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films
Do Aankhen Barah Haath
Silmido
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Alain Silver and James Ursini, Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich?, Limelight, 1995 p 269
2.Jump up ^ "The Dirty Dozen, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
3.Jump up ^ "Dirty Dozen film at Beechwood - Local History Questions". Hemel Hempstead Gazette. Retrieved July 27, 2010.[dead link]
4.Jump up ^ p.537 Roberts, Randy & Olsen, James Stuart John Wayne: American 1997 University of Nebraska Press
5.Jump up ^ "Actor Jack Palance Won't Play Racist for $141,000". Jet: 59. March 10, 1966.
6.Jump up ^ Commentary The Dirty Dozen: 2-Disc Special Edition
7.Jump up ^ Film The Dirty Dozen: 2-Disc Special Edition
8.Jump up ^ Patterson, John (September 3, 2005). "Total recall". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 25, 2010.
9.Jump up ^ Roger Ebert (1967-07-26). "The Dirty Dozen". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Bosley Crowther (1967-06-16). "The Dirty Dozen (1967)". NYT Critics' Pick (The New York Times). Retrieved 2010-03-29.
11.Jump up ^ Variety staff (1967). "The Dirty Dozen". Variety. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
12.Jump up ^ "The Dirty Dozen". Time Out Film Guide. Time Out. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
13.Jump up ^ The Dirty Dozen
14.Jump up ^ "The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
15.Jump up ^ "Big Rental Films of 1967", Variety, 3 January 1968 p. 25. These figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors.
16.Jump up ^ Amazon.com: The Filthy Thirteen: From the Dustbowl to Hitler's Eagle's Nest: The True Story of the 101st Airborne's Most Legendary Squad of Combat Paratroopers: Richard Killblane, Jake McNiece: Books
17.Jump up ^ Associated Press, April 11, 2010
18.Jump up ^ The Filthy Thirteen: The U.S. Army's Real "Dirty Dozen" American Valor Quarterly online, Winter 2008-09. Retrieved April 10, 2010
19.Jump up ^ "Cinema: Jungle Rot". Time. June 8, 1970. Retrieved 2010-03-29. "War may be getting a bad name, but it still pays at the box office. Ask Director Robert Aldrich. His 1967 film The Dirty Dozen made millions by drafting a gang of incorrigible convicts into a mission behind enemy lines. Too Late the Hero is a kind of sequel to The Dirty Dozen, based once again on a World War II suicide mission."
20.Jump up ^ The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission at the Internet Movie Database
21.Jump up ^ The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission at the TCM Movie Database
22.Jump up ^ The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission at the TCM Movie Database
23.Jump up ^ Dirty Dozen: The Series at the Internet Movie Database
External links[edit]
The Dirty Dozen at the American Film Institute Catalog
The Dirty Dozen at the Internet Movie Database
The Dirty Dozen at AllRovi
The Dirty Dozen at the TCM Movie Database

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Sholay

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Sholay
Sholay-poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
 
Directed by
Ramesh Sippy
Produced by
G.P. Sippy
Screenplay by
Salim-Javed
Starring
Dharmendra
Sanjeev Kumar
Amitabh Bachchan
Hema Malini
Jaya Bhaduri
Amjad Khan
Music by
R. D. Burman
Cinematography
Dwarka Divecha
Editing by
M. S. Shinde
Studio
United Producers
 Sippy Films
Distributed by
Sippy Films
Release date(s)
15 August 1975
 
Running time
204 minutes[1]
Country
India
Language
Hindi
Sholay (About this sound pronunciation (help·info); English translation: Embers) is a 1975 action-adventure Hindi film directed by Ramesh Sippy and produced by his father G. P. Sippy. The film follows two criminals, Veeru and Jai (played by Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan), hired by a retired police officer (Sanjeev Kumar) to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri also star, as Veeru and Jai's love interests. Sholay is considered a classic and one of the best Indian films. It was ranked first in the British Film Institute's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time. In 2005, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare Awards named it the Best Film of 50 Years.
The film was shot in the rocky terrain of Ramanagara, in the southern state of Karnataka, over a span of two and a half years. After the Central Board of Film Certification mandated the removal of several violent scenes, Sholay was released with a length of 198 minutes. In 1990, the original director's cut of 204 minutes became available on home media. When first released, Sholay received negative critical reviews and a tepid commercial response, but favourable word-of-mouth publicity helped it to become a box office success. It broke records for continuous showings in many theatres across India, and ran for more than five years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre. By some accounts, Sholay is the highest grossing Indian film of all time, adjusted for inflation.
The film drew heavily from the conventions of Westerns, and is a defining example of the masala genre. Scholars have noted several themes in the film, such as glorification of violence, conformation to feudal ethos, debate between social order and mobilised usurpers, homosocial bonding, and the film's role as a national allegory. The combined sales of the original soundtrack, scored by R. D. Burman, and the dialogues (released separately), set new sales records. The film's dialogues and certain characters became extremely popular, contributing to numerous cultural memes and becoming part of India's daily vernacular.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Origin
3.2 Casting
3.3 Filming
3.4 Alternate version
4 Themes
5 Soundtrack
6 Reception 6.1 Box office
6.2 Critical response
6.3 Awards
7 Legacy
8 Footnotes
9 References
10 Bibliography
11 External links
Plot[edit]
In the small village of Ramgarh, the retired policeman Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) summons to a pair of small-time thieves that he had once arrested. Thakur feels that the duo—Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan)—would be ideal to help him capture Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), a dacoit wanted by the authorities for a INR50,000[a] reward. Thakur tells them to surrender Gabbar to him, alive, for an additional INR20,000 reward.
The two thieves thwart the dacoits sent by Gabbar to extort the villagers. Soon afterwards, Gabbar and his goons attack Ramgarh during the festival of Holi, and in a tough battle, Veeru and Jai are cornered. Thakur, although he has a gun within his reach, does not help them. Veeru and Jai fight back and the bandits flee. The two are, however, upset at Thakur's inaction, and consider leaving the village. Thakur explains that Gabbar had killed nearly all of his family members, and cut off both his arms a few years earlier; which is why he could not use the gun. He had concealed the dismemberment by always wearing a shawl.
Living in Ramgarh, the lively Veeru and cynical Jai find themselves growing fond of the villagers. Veeru is attracted to Basanti (Hema Malini), a feisty, talkative young woman who makes her living by driving a horse-cart. Jai is drawn to Radha (Jaya Bhaduri), Thakur's reclusive, widowed daughter-in-law, who subtly returns his affections.
Skirmishes between Gabbar's gang and Jai-Veeru finally result in the capture of Veeru and Basanti by the dacoits. Jai attacks the gang, and the three are able to flee Gabbar's hideout with dacoits in pursuit. Fighting from behind a rock, Jai and Veeru nearly run out of ammunition. Veeru, unaware that Jai was wounded in the gunfight, is forced to leave for more ammunition. Meanwhile, Jai, who is continuing the gunfight singlehandedly, decides to sacrifice himself by using his last bullet to ignite dynamite sticks on a bridge from close range.
Veeru returns, and Jai dies in his arms. Enraged, Veeru attacks Gabbar's den and catches the dacoit. Veeru nearly beats Gabbar to death when Thakur appears and reminds Veeru of the promise to hand over Gabbar alive. Thakur uses his spike-soled shoes to severely injure Gabbar and destroy his hands. The police then arrive and arrest Gabbar. After Jai's funeral, Veeru leaves Ramgarh and finds Basanti waiting for him on the train. Radha is left alone again.
Cast[edit]
Dharmendra as Veeru
Amitabh Bachchan as Jai (Jai Dev)
Sanjeev Kumar as Thakur Baldev Singh, usually addressed as "Thakur"
Hema Malini as Basanti
Jaya Bhaduri as Radha
Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh
Satyen Kappu as Ramlaal, the servant of Thakur
A.K. Hangal as Rahim Chacha, the imam in the village
Sachin as Ahmed, son of the imam
Jagdeep as Soorma Bhopali, a comical wood trader
Leela Mishra as Mausi, Basanti's maternal aunt
Asrani as the Jailor, a comical character modelled after Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator[3]
Keshto Mukherjee as Hariram, prison barber and Jailor's side-kick
Mac Mohan as Sambha, Gabbar Singh's sidekick
Viju Khote as Kaalia, another of Gabbar's men whom he kills in a game of Russian roulette
Iftekhar as Inspector Khurana, Radha's Father
Helen in a special appearance in song "Mehbooba Mehbooba"
Jalal Agha in a special appearance in song "Mehbooba Mehbooba"
Production[edit]
Origin[edit]
The idea for Sholay began as a four-line snippet which screenwriter pair Salim-Javed told G.P. Sippy and Ramesh Sippy; two other producer/director teams had earlier rejected the idea.[4] Ramesh Sippy liked the concept and hired them to develop it. The original idea of the film involved an army officer who decided to hire two ex-soldiers to avenge the murder of his family. The army officer was later changed to a policeman because Sippy felt that it would be difficult to get permission to shoot scenes depicting army activities. Salim-Javed completed the script in one month, incorporating names and personality traits of their friends and acquaintances.[4]
The film was loosely styled after Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai,[5] and drew heavily from the conventions of Westerns, especially Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns such as Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), and John Sturges' film The Magnificent Seven (1960).[5][6] Sholay was also influenced by the westerns of Sam Peckinpah, such as The Wild Bunch (1969) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973); and by George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).[7] A scene depicting an attempted train robbery was inspired by a similar scene in North West Frontier (1959),[8] and a scene showing the massacre of Thakur's family has been compared with the massacre of the McBain family in Once Upon a Time in the West.[9] Some plot elements were borrowed from the Indian films Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) and Khote Sikkay (1973).[4]
The character Gabbar Singh was modelled on a real-life dacoit of the same name who had menaced the villages around Gwalior in the 1950s. Any policeman captured by the real Gabbar Singh had his ears and nose cut off, and was released as a warning to other policemen.[10] The character was also influenced by the villain "El Indio" (played by Gian Maria Volonté) of Sergio Leone's For A Few Dollars More (1965).[11] Soorma Bhopali, a minor comic relief character, was based on an acquaintance of actor Jagdeep, a forest officer from Bhopal named Soorma. The real-life Soorma eventually threatened to press charges when people who had viewed the film began referring to him as a woodcutter.[12] The main characters' names, Jai and Veeru, mean "victory" and "heroism" in Hindi.[13]
Casting[edit]
The producers considered Danny Denzongpa for the role of bandit chief Gabbar Singh, but he could not accept it as he was committed to act in Feroz Khan's Dharmatma (1975), under production at the same time.[14] Amjad Khan, who was the second choice, prepared himself for the part by reading the book Abhishapta Chambal, which told of the exploits of Chambal dacoits. The book was written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri, the father of fellow cast member Jaya Bhaduri.[15] As cast members had read the script ahead of time, many were interested in playing different parts. Pran was considered for the role of Thakur Baldev Singh, but Sippy thought Sanjeev Kumar was a better choice.[16] Initially, Dharmendra was also interested to play the role of Thakur. He eventually gave up the role when Sippy informed him that Sanjeev Kumar would play Veeru if that happened, and would be paired with Hema Malini, who Dharmendra was trying to woo. Dharmendra knew that Kumar was also interested in Malini.[17] Sippy wanted Shatrughan Sinha to play the part of Jai, but there were already several big stars signed, and Amitabh Bachchan, who was not extremely popular yet, lobbied hard to get the part for himself.[4]
During the film's production, four of the leads became romantically involved.[6] Bachchan married Bhaduri four months before filming started. This led to shooting delays when Bhaduri became pregnant with their daughter Shweta. By the time of the film's release, she was pregnant with their son Abhishek. Dharmendra had begun wooing Malini during their earlier film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), and used the location shoot of Sholay to further pursue her. During their romantic scenes, Dharmendra would often pay the light boys to spoil the shot, thereby ensuring many retakes and providing more time to spend with her. The couple married five years after the film's release.[18]
Filming[edit]

A rocky outcrop such as those used in filming Sholay

 Ramdevarabetta, near the town of Ramanagara; much of Sholay was shot in rocky locations such as this.
Much of Sholay was shot in the rocky terrain of Ramanagara, a town near Bangalore, Karnataka.[19] The filmmakers had to build a road from the Bangalore highway to Ramanagara for convenient access to the sets.[20] Art director Ram Yedekar had an entire township built on the site. A prison set was constructed near Rajkamal Studio in Mumbai, also outdoors, to match the natural lighting of the on-location sets.[21] One part of Ramanagara was for a time called "Sippy Nagar" as a tribute to the director of the film.[22] As of 2010, a visit to the "Sholay rocks" (where much the film was shot) was still being offered to tourists travelling through Ramanagara.[23]
Filming began on location on 3 October 1973, with a scene featuring Bachchan and Bhaduri.[24] The film had a lavish production for its time (with frequent banquets and parties for the cast),[25] took two and a half years to make, and went over budget. One reason for its high cost was that Sippy re-filmed scenes many times to get his desired effect. "Yeh Dosti", a 5-minute song sequence, took 21 days to shoot; two short scenes in which Radha lights lamps took 20 days to film because of lighting problems, and the shooting of the scene in which Gabbar kills the imam's son lasted 19 days.[26] The train robbery sequence, shot on the Mumbai–Pune railway route near Panvel, took more than 7 weeks to complete.[27]
Sholay was the first Indian film to have a stereophonic soundtrack and to use the 70 mm widescreen format.[28] However, since actual 70 mm cameras were expensive at the time, the film was shot on traditional 35 mm film and the 4:3 picture was subsequently converted to a 2.2:1 frame.[29] Regarding the process, Sippy said, "A 70mm [sic] format takes the awe of the big screen and magnifies it even more to make the picture even bigger, but since I also wanted a spread of sound we used six-track stereophonic sound and combined it with the big screen. It was definitely a differentiator."[30] The use of 70 mm was emphasised by film posters on which the name of the film was stylised to match the CinemaScope logo. Film posters also sought to differentiate the film from those which had come before; one of them added the tagline: "The greatest star cast ever assembled – the greatest story ever told".[31]
Alternate version[edit]
The director's original cut of Sholay has a different ending in which Thakur kills Gabbar, along with some additional violent scenes. Gabbar's death scene, and the scene in which the imam's son is killed, were cut from the film by India's Censor Board, as was the scene in which Thakur's family is massacred.[26] The Censor Board was concerned about the violence, and that viewers may be influenced to take the law into their own hands.[32] Although Sippy fought to keep the scenes, eventually he had to re-shoot the ending of the film, and as directed by the Censor Board, have the police arrive just before Thakur can kill Gabbar.[33] The censored theatrical version was the only one seen by audiences for fifteen years. The original, unedited cut of the film finally came out in a British release on VHS in 1990.[29] Since then, Eros International has released two versions on DVD. The director's cut of the film preserves the original full frame and is 204 minutes in length; the censored widescreen version is 198 minutes long.[1][29][34][b]
Themes[edit]
Scholars have noted several themes in the film, such as glorification of violence, conformation to feudal ethos, debate between social order and mobilised usurpers, homosocial bonding, and the film's role as a national allegory.
Koushik Banerjea, a sociologist in the London School of Economics, notes that Sholay exhibits a "sympathetic construction of 'rogue' masculinity" exemplified by the likeable outlaws Jai and Veeru.[36] Banerjea argues during the film, the moral boundary between legality and criminality gradually erodes.[37] Film scholar Wimal Dissanayake agrees that the film brought "a new stage in the evolving dialectic between violence and social order" to Indian cinema.[38] Film scholar M. Madhava Prasad states that Jai and Veeru represent a marginalised population that is introduced into conventional society.[39] Prasad says that, through the elements of revenge included in the plot and the application of Jai and Veeru's criminality for the greater good, the narrative reflects reactionary politics, and the audience is compelled to accept feudal order.[39] Banerjea explains that though Jai and Veeru are mercenaries, they are humanized by their emotional needs. Such dualism makes them vulnerable, in contrast to the pure evil of Gabbar Singh.[37]
Gabbar Singh, the film's antagonist, was well received by the audience, despite his pervasive sadistic cruelty.[38] Dissanayake explains that the audience was fascinated by the dialogues and mannerisms of the character, and this element of spectacle outweighed his actions, a first for Indian melodrama.[38] He notes that the picturisation of violence in the film was glamourised and uninhibited.[40] He further notes that, unlike earlier melodramas in which the female body occupies the audience's attention as an object of male fetish, in Sholay, the male body becomes the centrepiece. It becomes the battleground where good and evil compete for supremacy.[40] Dissanayake argues that Sholay can be viewed as a national allegory: it lacks a comforting logical narrative, it shows social stability being repeatedly challenged, and it shows the devaluation of human life resulting from a lack of emotions. Taken together, these elements comprise the allegorical representation of India.[41] The narrative style of Sholay, with its violence, revenge, and vigilante action, is occasionally compared by scholars to the political unrest in India at the time of its release. This tension culminated in the Emergency (rule by decree) declared by prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.[42][43]
Dissanayeke and Sahai note that, although the film borrowed heavily from the Hollywood Western genre, particularly in its visuals, it was successfully "Indianised".[44][45] As an example, William van der Heide has compared a massacre scene in Sholay with a similar scene in Once Upon a Time in the West. Although both films were similar in technical style, Sholay emphasised Indian family values and melodramatic tradition, while the Western was more materialistic and restrained in its approach.[9] Maithili Rao, in Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema, notes that Sholay infuses the style of the Western genre into a "feudalistic ethos".[46] Ted Shen of the Chicago Reader notes Sholay's "hysterical visual style" and intermittent "populist message".[47] Cultural critic and Islamist scholar Ziauddin Sardar lampoons the film in his book The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema, both for its caricature and stereotyping of Muslim and women characters, and for what he calls mockery of innocent villagers.[48] Sardar notes that the two most prominent Muslim characters in the film are Soorma Bhopali (a buffoonish criminal), and an impotent victim of the bandits (the imam). Meanwhile, the sole function of one female character (Radha) is to suffer her fate in silence, while the other female lead (Basanti) is just a garrulous village belle.[48]
Some scholars have indicated that Sholay contains homosocial themes.[49][50] Ted Shen describes the male bonding shown in the film as bordering on camp style.[47] Dina Holtzman, in her book Bollywood and Globalization: Indian Popular Cinema, Nation, and Diaspora, states that the death of Jai, and resultant break of bonding between the two male leads, is necessary for the sake of establishing a normative heterosexual relationship (that of Veeru and Basanti).[51] According to Thomas Waugh, professor of Film Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality at Concordia University, the manner in which the male leads "clutch and caress each other's hands, shoulders, head and thighs" during the song "Yeh Dosti", although seemingly innocuous, implies homosexual gesturing.[52]
Soundtrack[edit]

Sholay
 
Soundtrack album by R. D. Burman

Released
1975
Genre
Feature film soundtrack
Length
28:59
Label
Universal Music India Pvt. Ltd.
 (originally Polydor Records)
R. D. Burman composed the film's music, and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. The songs used in the film, and released on the original soundtrack are listed below.[53] Following that is a list of unused tracks and dialogues which were released later on an updated soundtrack.[54] The album's cover image depicts an emotional scene from the film in which Basanti is forced to sing and dance on broken glass under the blazing sun to save Veeru's life.

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
 
No.
Title
Singer(s)
Length

1. "Title Music (Sholay)"    – 02:46
2. "Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin"   Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey 05:21
3. "Haa Jab Tak Hai Jaan"   Lata Mangeshkar 05:26
4. "Koi Haseena"   Kishore Kumar and Hema Malini 04:00
5. "Holi Ke Din"   Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar 05:42
6. "Mehbooba Mehbooba"   R. D. Burman 03:54
7. "Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin" (sad version) Kishore Kumar 01:49

Bonus tracks — Released later
 
No.
Title
Singers / Speakers
Length

8. "Ke Chand Sa Koi Chehra" (Qawwali) Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Bhupinder Singh, Anand Bakshi  –
9. "Veeru Ki Sagai" (dialogues) Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan  –
10. "Gabbar Singh" (dialogues) Amjad Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra  –
The song "Mehbooba Mehbooba" was sung by its composer, R. D. Burman, who received his sole Filmfare Award nomination for playback singing for his effort. The song, which is often featured on Bollywood hit song compilations,[55] was based on "Say You Love Me" by Greek singer Demis Roussos.[8] "Mehbooba Mehbooba" has been extensively anthologised, remixed, and recreated.[56] It was remixed and sung by Himesh Reshammiya (along with Asha Bhosle) in his debut film Aap Kaa Surroor (2007). Another version was created by the Kronos Quartet for their Grammy-nominated album You've Stolen My Heart, also featuring Bhosle.[57] "Yeh Dosti" has been called the ultimate friendship anthem.[58][59] It was remixed for the 2010 Malayalam film Four Friends,[60] and in 2012 it was used to symbolise India's friendship with the United States during a visit from President Barack Obama.[61]
Several songs from the soundtrack were included in the annual Binaca Geetmala list of top filmi songs. "Mehbooba Mehooba" was listed at No. 24 on the 1975 list, and at No. 6 on the 1976 list. "Koi Haseena" was listed at No. 30 in 1975, and No. 20 in 1976. "Yeh Dosti" was listed at No. 9 in 1976.[62] Despite the soundtrack's success, at the time, the songs from Sholay attracted less attention than the film's dialogue—a rarity for Bollywood. The producers were thus prompted to release records with only dialogue.[63][64] Taken together, the album sales totalled an unprecedented 500,000 units,[65] and became one of the top selling Bollywood soundtracks of the 1970s.[66]
Music critic Oli Marlow reviewed the soundtrack in 2013, calling it a unique fusion of religious, folk, and classical music, with influences from around the world. He also commented on the sound design of the film, calling it psychedelic, and saying that there was "a lot of incredible incidental music" in the film that was not included the soundtrack releases.[67] In a 1999 paper submitted to London's Symposium on Sound in Cinema, film critic Shoma A. Chatterji said, "Sholay offers a model lesson on how sound can be used to signify the terror a character evokes. Sholay is also exemplary in its use of sound­matching to jump­ cut to a different scene and time, without breaking the continuity of the narrative, yet, intensifying the drama."[68]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Sholay was released on 15 August 1975, Indian Independence Day, in Mumbai. Due to lacklustre reviews and a lack of effective visual marketing tools, it saw poor financial returns in its first two weeks. From the third week, however, viewership picked up owing to positive word of mouth.[69] During the initial slow period, the director and writer considered re-shooting some scenes so that Amitabh Bachchan's character would not die. When business picked up, they abandoned this idea.[70] After being helped additionally by a soundtrack release containing dialogue snippets,[37] Sholay soon became an "overnight sensation".[28] The film was then released in other distribution zones such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, and Hyderabad on 11 October 1975.[71] It became the highest grossing Bollywood film of 1975, and film ranking website Box Office India has given the film a verdict of "All Time Blockbuster".[72]
Sholay went on to earn a still-standing record of 60 golden jubilees[c] across India,[28] and was the first film in India to celebrate a silver jubilee[d] at over 100 theatres.[28] It was shown continuously at Mumbai's Minerva theatre for over five years.[5] Sholay was the Indian film with the longest theatrical run until Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) broke its record of 286 weeks in 2001.[73][74]
Exact figures are not available on the budget and box office earnings of Sholay, but film trade websites provide estimates of its success. According to Box Office India, Sholay earned about INR15 crores nett gross[e] (valued at about US$16,778,000 in 1975)[a] in India during its first run,[76] which was many times its INR3 crores (valued at about US$3,355,000 in 1975)[a] budget,[77] earning it an "All Time Blockbuster" status.[76] Those earnings were a record that remained unbroken for nineteen years, which is also the longest amount of time that a film has held the record. Its original gross was increased further with re-releases during the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s.[78] It is often cited that after adjusting the figures for inflation, Sholay is one of the highest grossing films in the history of Indian cinema, although such figures are not known with certainty.[79] In 2012, Box Office India gave INR1.63 billion (US$25 million) as Sholay's adjusted nett gross,[e][76] whereas Times of India, in a 2009 report of business of Indian films, reported over INR3 billion (US$46 million) as the adjusted gross.[80]
Critical response[edit]
Initial critical reviews of Sholay were negative. Among contemporary critics, K.L. Amladi of India Today called the film a "dead ember" and "a gravely flawed attempt".[81] Filmfare said that the film was an unsuccessful mincing of Western style with Indian milieu, making it an "imitation western—neither here nor there."[81] Others labelled it as "sound and fury signifying nothing" and a "second-rate take-off" of the 1971 film Mera Gaon Mera Desh.[74] Trade journals and columnists initially called the film a flop.[82] In a 1976 article in the journal Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, author Michael Gallagher praised the technical achievement of the film, but otherwise criticised it stating, "As a spectacle it breaks new ground, but on every other level it is intolerable: formless, incoherent, superficial in human image, and a somewhat nasty piece of violence".[83]
Over time, the critical reception to Sholay greatly improved; it is now considered a classic, and among the greatest Hindi-language films.[6][84] In a 2005 BBC review, the well-rounded characters and simple narrative of the film were commended, but the comical cameos of Asrani and Jagdeep were considered unnecessary.[85] On the film's 35th anniversary, the Hindustan Times wrote that it was a "trailblazer in terms of camera work as well as music," and that "practically every scene, dialogue or even a small character was a highlight."[86] In 2006, The Film Society of Lincoln Center described Sholay as "an extraordinary and utterly seamless blend of adventure, comedy, music and dance", labelling it an "indisputable classic".[87] Chicago Review critic Ted Shen criticised the film in 2002 for its formulaic plot and "slapdash" cinematography, and noted that the film "alternates between slapstick and melodrama".[47] In their obituary of the producer G.P. Sippy, the New York Times said that Sholay "revolutionized Hindi filmmaking and brought true professionalism to Indian script writing".[5]
Awards[edit]
Sholay was nominated for nine Filmfare Awards,[88] but the only winner was M. S. Shinde, who won the award for Best Editing. The film also won three awards at the 1976 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards (Hindi section): "Best Actor in Supporting Role" for Amjad Khan, "Best Cinematographer (Colour)" for Dwarka Divecha, and "Best Art Director" for Ram Yedekar.[89] Sholay received a special award at the 50th Filmfare Awards in 2005: Best Film of 50 Years.[90]
Legacy[edit]
Sholay has received many "Best Film" honours. It was declared the "Film of the Millennium" by BBC India in 1999.[5] It topped the British Film Institute's "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time poll of 2002,[91] and was voted the greatest Indian movie in a Sky Digital poll of one million British Indians in 2004.[92] It was also included in Time Magazine's "Best of Bollywood" list in 2010.[93]
Sholay inspired many films and pastiches, and spawned a sub-genre of films, the "Curry Western",[94][95] which is a play on the term Spaghetti Western. It was an early and most definitive masala film,[96][97] and a trend-setter for "multi-star" films.[98] The film was a watershed for Bollywood's scriptwriters, who were not paid well before Sholay; after the film's success, script writing became a more respected profession.[28]

A dialogue and image of Gabbar Singh painted on the back of an auto rickshaw

 A line of Gabbar Singh (Tera kya hoga, meaning, "What will happen to you?") and a picture of him is painted on the back of an auto rickshaw, a common mode of public transport. Dialogues and characters from the film have contributed to many cultural tropes in India's daily life.
Certain scenes and dialogues from the film earned iconic status in India, such as "Kitne aadmi the" (How many men were there?), "Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya" (One who is scared is dead), and "Bahut yaarana laagta hai" (Looks like you two are very close) – all dialogues of Gabbar Singh.[6][99][100] These and other popular dialogues entered the people's daily vernacular.[3][100] Characters and dialogues from the film continue to be referred to and parodied in popular culture.[99][101] Gabbar Singh, the sadistic villain, ushered in an era in Hindi films characterised by "seemingly omnipotent oppressors as villains", who play the pivotal role in setting up the context of the story, such as Shakal (played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda) of Shaan (1980), Mogambo (Amrish Puri) of Mr. India (1987) and Bhujang (Amrish Puri) of Tridev (1989).[102] Filmfare named Gabbar Singh the most iconic villain in the history of Indian cinema,[103] and four actors were included in its list of "80 Iconic Performances" for their work in this film.[104][105][106][107]
The film is often credited with making Amitabh Bachchan a "superstar", two years after he became a star with Zanjeer (1973).[96][108] Some of the supporting actors remained etched in public memory as the characters they played in Sholay; for example, Mac Mohan continued to be referred to as "Sambha", even though his character had just one line.[109] Major and minor characters continue to be used in commercials, promos, films and sitcoms.[28][99] Amjad Khan acted in many villainous roles later in his career. He also played Gabbar Singh again in the 1991 spoof Ramgarh Ke Sholay, and reprised the role in commercials.[110] The British Film Institute in 2002 wrote that fear of Gabbar Singh "is still invoked by mothers to put their children to sleep".[111] The 2012 film Gabbar Singh, named after the character, became the highest grossing Telugu film up to that point.[112] Comedian Jagdeep, who played Soorma Bhopali in the film, attempted to use his Sholay success to create a spinoff. He directed and played the lead role in the 1988 film Soorma Bhopali, in which Dharmendra and Bachchan had cameos.[113]
In 2004, Sholay was digitally remastered and shown again to packed theatres in India, including Mumbai's Minerva, where it had run successfully 29 years earlier.[114] An attempt to remake Sholay, Ram Gopal Varma's film Aag (2007), starring Amitabh Bachchan as the villain, was a commercial and critical disaster.[115] In March 2012, Shaan Uttam Singh, the grandson of producer G.P. Sippy, said that he would sponsor a conversion of the film to 3D, and release it in August 2012;[116] however it remains unreleased as of 2013.[117][118] Because of television and home media, Sholay is widely available and still popular. Twenty years after its release, Sholay was first shown on the Indian DD National television channel, where it drew the highest ratings ever for a film broadcast.[119] Video game producer Mobile2win released the "Sholay Ramgarh Express" game for mobile phones in 2004, along with other Sholay themed content such as wallpapers, video clips, and ringtones.[120]
Sholay has been the subject of two books and many articles. Wimal Dissanayake and Malti Sahai's Sholay, A Cultural Reading (1992) attempts a comprehensive scholarly study that sets the film within the broader history of popular cinema in India. Anupama Chopra's Sholay: The Making of a Classic (2001) provides an inside look at the film's production based on interviews with the director, stars, and crew members.[32][96]
Sholay has been labeled by Chopra as the gold standard in Indian cinema, and a reference point for audiences and trade analysts. Over the years, the film has reached a mythic stature in popular culture,[84] and has been called the greatest Hindi film of all time.[121] It belongs to only a small collection of films, including Kismet (1943), Mother India (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), which are repeatedly watched throughout India, and are viewed as definitive Hindi films with cultural significance.[122] The lasting effect of Sholay on Indian cinema was summarised by Anupama Chopra, when she called it "no longer just a film, [but] an event".[123] The noted director Shekhar Kapur stated "there has never been a more defining film on the Indian screen. Indian film history can be divided into Sholay BC and Sholay AD".[124]
Footnotes[edit]
a.^ Jump up to: a b c The exchange rate in 1975 was 8.94 Indian rupees (INR) per 1 US dollar (US$).[2]
b.Jump up ^ The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) notes three running times of Sholay. The version that was submitted in film format to BBFC had a running time of 198 minutes. A video version of this had a running time of 188 minutes. BBFC notes that "When a film is transferred to video the running time will be shorter by approximately 4% due to the differing number of frames per second. This does not mean that the video version has been cut or re-edited." The director's cut was 204 minutes long.[35]
c.Jump up ^ A golden jubilee means that a film has completed 50 consecutive weeks of showing in a single theatre.
d.Jump up ^ A silver jubilee means that a film has completed 25 consecutive weeks of showing in a single theatre.
e.^ Jump up to: a b According to the website "Box Office India", film tickets are subject to "entertainment tax" in India, and this tax is added to the ticket price at the box office window of theatres. The amount of this tax is variable among states. "Nett gross figures are always after this tax has been deducted while gross figures are before this tax has been deducted." Although since 2003 the entertainment tax rate has significantly decreased, as of 2010, gross earnings of a film can be 30–35% higher than nett gross, depending on the states where the film is released.[75]
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4.^ Jump up to: a b c d Chopra 2000, pp. 22–28.
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86.Jump up ^ "Sholay completes 35 years". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
87.Jump up ^ "Sholay". Film Society of Lincoln Center. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
88.Jump up ^ "The Nominations – 1975". India Times. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
89.Jump up ^ "1976: 39th Annual BFJA Awards". Bengal Film Journalists' Association. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
90.Jump up ^ "Filmfare Awards". India Times. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
91.Jump up ^ "Top 10 Indian Films". British Film Institute. 2002. Archived from the original on 15 May 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
92.Jump up ^ Thambirajah, Mohan (27 May 2004). "'Sholay' voted best Indian movie". New Straits Times. Retrieved 25 April 2013. "SHOLAY has been voted the greatest Indian movie in a research by Sky Digital of one million Indians in Britain."  – via Highbeam (subscription required)
93.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (27 October 2010). "Sholay – 1975 – Best of Bollywood". Time. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
94.Jump up ^ Dudrah & Desai 2008, p. 5.
95.Jump up ^ Sparks 2008, p. 157.
96.^ Jump up to: a b c Lutgendorf, Philip. "Sholay". South Asian Studies Program, University of Iowa. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
97.Jump up ^ Hayward 2006, p. 67:"In its truest sense Sholay was perhaps the first Masala movie"
98.Jump up ^ Jain 2009, p. 62.
99.^ Jump up to: a b c Chopra 2000, pp. 4–5.
100.^ Jump up to: a b Jess-Cooke 2009, p. 126.
101.Jump up ^ Ganti 2004, p. 161.
102.Jump up ^ Zankar 2003, p. 365.
103.Jump up ^ Hashmi, Parampara Patil (3 May 2013). "Iconic villains of Indian cinema". Filmfare. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
104.Jump up ^ "Filmfare – 80 Iconic Performances 1/10". Filmfare. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
105.Jump up ^ "Filmfare – 80 Iconic Performances 2/10". Filmfare. 3 June 2010. Archived from the original on 5 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
106.Jump up ^ "Filmfare – 80 Iconic Performances 6/10". Filmfare. 6 June 2010. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
107.Jump up ^ "Filmfare – 80 Iconic Performances 10/10". Filmfare. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
108.Jump up ^ "Top Actor". Box Office India. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
109.Jump up ^ "'Sambha' Mac Mohan of 'Sholay' fame dies". The Times of India. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
110.Jump up ^ Khanna, Parul (6 February 2010). "The most hilarious ads ever...". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
111.Jump up ^ "1. Sholay (1975)". British Film Institute. 2002. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
112.Jump up ^ "Gabbar Singh highest grosser in south". India Today. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
113.Jump up ^ "Soorma Bhopali (1988) Cast and Crew". Bollywood Hungama. 1 January 1988. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
114.Jump up ^ "29 years later, Sholay still rules". The Indian Express. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
115.Jump up ^ "Box Office 2007". Box Office India. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
116.Jump up ^ Singh, Renu (31 March 2012). "Sholay 3D to release on Aug 15". Times of India. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
117.Jump up ^ Awaasthi, Kavita (9 May 2013). "Watch Sholay 3D, Harishchandra in Mumbai". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
118.Jump up ^ "Sholay gets delayed for Ek Tha Tiger". Times of India. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
119.Jump up ^ Mahmood, Rafay (5 April 2012). "Bollywood Masterpiece: Sholay in 3D". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
120.Jump up ^ "Sholay on the go!". The Hindu. 27 September 2004. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
121.Jump up ^ Dwyer 2005, p. 218.
122.Jump up ^ Mishra 2002, p. 66; Morcom 2007, pp. 139–144.
123.Jump up ^ Ahmed, Zubair (18 August 2004). "Hindi classic pulls in the crowds". BBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
124.Jump up ^ Chopra 2000, back cover.
Bibliography[edit]
Banerjea, Koushik (2005). "'Fight Club': Aesthetics, Hybridisation and the Construction of Rogue Masculinities in Sholay and Deewar". In Kaur, Raminder; Sinha, Ajay J. Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through A Transnational Lens. SAGE. ISBN 978-0-7619-3321-2.
Banerjee, Shampa; Srivastava, Anil (1988). One Hundred Indian Feature Films: An Annotated Filmography. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-8240-9483-6.
Chopra, Anupama (2000). Sholay – The Making of a Classic. Penguin Books, India. ISBN 0-14-029970-X.
Dissanayake, Wimal (1993). "The concepts of evil and social order in Indian melodrama: an evolving dialectic". In Dissanayake, Wimal. Melodrama and Asian Cinema. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-41465-4.
Dissanayake, Wimal; Sahai, Malti (1992). Sholay, a cultural reading. Wiley Eastern. ISBN 978-81-224-0394-7.
Dudrah, Rajinder Kumar; Desai, Jigna (2008). The Bollywood Reader. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-335-22212-4.
Dwyer, Rachel (2005). One Hundred Bollywood Films. BFI. ISBN 978-1-84457-098-0.
Elliott, Emory; Payne, Jasmine; Ploesch, Patricia (2007). Global migration, social change, and cultural transformation. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60054-6.
Gallagher, Michael (1976). "Indian and Western Cinema: Film Report". Studies: an Irish Quarterly Review (Irish Province of the Society of Jesus) 65 (260). JSTOR 30090035.
Ganti, Tejaswini (2004). Bollywood: a guidebook to popular Hindi cinema. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-28854-5.
Hayward, S (2006). Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-36782-4.
Heide, William Van der (2002). Malaysian cinema, Asian film: border crossings and national cultures. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-5356-580-3.
Hogan, Patrick Colm (2008). Understanding Indian Movies: Culture, Cognition, and Cinematic Imagination. University of TEXAS Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77955-6.
Holtzman, Dina (2011). "Between Yaars: The Queering of Dosti in Contemporary Bollywood Films". In Bhattacharya Mehta, Rini; Pandharipande, Rajeshwari. Bollywood and Globalization: Indian Popular Cinema, Nation, and Diaspora. Anthem Press. ISBN 978-0-85728-782-3.
Jain, Manju (2009). Narratives Of Indian Cinema. Primus Books. ISBN 978-81-908918-4-4.
Jess-Cooke, Carolyn (2009). Film Sequels: Theory and Practice from Hollywood to Bollywood. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2603-8.
Khan, Mohammad Zahir (1981). Dacoity in Chambal Valley. National.
Mishra, Vijay (2002). Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93015-4.
Morcom, Anna (2007). Hindi film songs and the cinema. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-5198-7.
Prasad, M. Madhava (1998). Ideology of the Hindi Film: A Historical Construction. Oxford University Press, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-19-564218-6.
Rao, Maithili (2003). "1976–1989: Rebels without a Cause". In Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterjee, Saibal. Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopædia Britannica, Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5.
Roy, Sharmishta (2003). "Art Direction: Sets, Reality, and Grandeur". In Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterjee, Saibal. Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopædia Britannica, Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5.
Sardar, Ziauddin (1998). "Dilip Kumar Made Me Do It". In Nandy, Ashis. The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-85649-516-5.
Sparks, Karen Jacobs (2008). Encyclopedia Britannica 2008. Encyclopaedia Britannica. ISBN 978-1-59339-425-7.
Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1977 (PDF). US Bureau of the Census. 1977. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
Varma, Pavan K. (2010). "Creativity and Distortion". Becoming Indian. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-670-08346-6.
Waugh, Thomas (2003). "Queer Bollywood, or "I'm the Player, You're the Naive One": Patterns of Sexual Subversion in Recent Indian Popular Cinema". In Tinkcom, Matthew; Villarejo, Amy. Keyframes: Popular Cinema and Cultural Studies. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-203-16519-5.
Zankar, Anil (2003). "Heroes and Villains: Good versus Evil". In Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterjee, Saibal. Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopædia Britannica, Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sholay
Sholay at the Internet Movie Database
Sholay at Rotten Tomatoes
Sholay at Bollywood Hungama
Sholay at AllRovi
Sholay 30th Anniversary site at BBC Asian Network

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The Magnificent Seven

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For other uses, see Magnificent Seven.

The Magnificent Seven
Magnificent original.jpg
Original film poster
 
Directed by
John Sturges
Produced by
John Sturges
Written by
William Roberts
 uncredited:
Akira Kurosawa,
Shinobu Hashimoto
 & Hideo Oguni
 and
Walter Newman
 & Walter Bernstein
Starring
Yul Brynner
Eli Wallach
Steve McQueen
Horst Buchholz
Charles Bronson
Robert Vaughn
James Coburn
Brad Dexter
Music by
Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography
Charles Lang
Editing by
Ferris Webster
Studio
The Mirisch Company
Distributed by
United Artists
Release date(s)
October 23, 1960
 
Running time
128 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$2 million[1]
Box office
$2,250,000 (rentals)[2]
The Magnificent Seven is a 1960 American western film directed by John Sturges. It is a western-style remake based on Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai. The film stars Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz who play a group of seven American gunmen hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding native bandits led by Calvera, portrayed by Eli Wallach. The film's musical score was composed by Elmer Bernstein.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Pre-production
4 Production
5 Score
6 Reception
7 Sequels, remakes and adaptations 7.1 Movies
7.2 Television
7.3 Books
7.4 Comics
8 References
9 External links
Plot[edit]
A Mexican village is periodically raided for food and supplies by bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach). As he and his men rode away from their latest visit, Calvera had promised to return for more booty and loot the village again. Taking what meager goods they have, the village leaders ride to a town just inside the American border hoping to barter for weapons to defend themselves. While there, they encounter Chris (Yul Brynner), a veteran Cajun gunslinger (recently from Dodge)[3]; after listening to their tale, Chris suggests that the village hire more gunfighters as they would be cheaper than guns and ammunition. The village men relentlessly try to convince him to be their gunman; while at first he agrees just to help them find men, eventually he decides to help them out in person as well as finding six other men to join them, despite the poor pay offered.
The other men include hotheaded, inexperienced Chico (Horst Buchholz); Chris's friend Harry Luck (Brad Dexter) who believes Chris is seeking treasure; the drifter Vin (Steve McQueen), who has gone broke after a round of gambling and is loath to accept a position as a store clerk; Bernardo O'Reilly (Charles Bronson), a gunfighter of Irish-Mexican heritage who has fallen on hard times; a cowboy, Britt (James Coburn), who joins for the challenge involved; and an on-the-run gunman Lee (Robert Vaughn) in the midst of a crisis of confidence. The group recognizes they will be outnumbered, but hope that when Calvera realizes that the village has brought them aboard, he will move on to a different village.
Arriving at the village, the seven begin to train the villagers how to defend themselves. They all find themselves bonding with the villagers, sharing the meal the women of the village have made them when they discover that the villagers have little food themselves. Chico is fascinated by Petra, one of the village's young women, while Bernardo begins to bond with three of the village's little boys.[4][5] Lee, meanwhile, struggles with nightmares and fears the loss of his skills. Calvera and his bandits soon arrive, sustain heavy losses, and are run out of town by the gunmen and the villagers working in concert. Chico, who is Mexican, follows Calvera back to his camp, pretending to be one of the gang of bandits. There he learns that Calvera plans to return and raid the village because he is desperate for the food in order to feed his men.
Chico reports this back to Chris and the rest of the men. Though a part of the group believes they should leave, Chris insists that they stay and they ride out to make a surprise raid on Calvera's camp. However, they find the camp empty and, on returning to the village, they find that the fearful villagers allowed Calvera to take control. Calvera spares the gunmen's lives, believing they have learned the lesson that the simple farmers are not worth fighting for. Calvera also fears reprisals from the U.S. Army. The seven are curtly escorted out of the village. The group debates their next move and all but Harry agree to return and free the village from Calvera. Harry believes the effort will lead to their deaths and rides off alone.
A gunfight breaks out, and the villagers, recognizing the courage of the gunmen, soon join in the fight. Bernardo is killed protecting the children he had befriended, and both Britt and Lee die after killing a considerable number of bandits. Harry, who had a change of heart, arrives in time to protect Chris but is fatally shot. Soon, the bandits are routed, and Chris shoots Calvera. Calvera, in his dying breath, asks him, "You came back ... to a place like this—why? A man like you—why?"
The three remaining gunmen help to bury their own and the villagers' dead. Chico announces he will be staying with Petra, while Chris and Vin begin to ride out. The village elder bids them farewell and comments that it is only the villagers who have really won: "You're like the wind, blowing over the land and ... passing on ... ¡Vaya con Dios!" However, as they leave and pass the graves of their fallen comrades, Chris fatalistically observes, "The Old Man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose."[6][7]
Cast[edit]
Yul Brynner as Chris Adams
Eli Wallach as Calvera
Steve McQueen as Vin
Horst Buchholz as Chico
Charles Bronson as Bernardo O'Reilly
Robert Vaughn as Lee
James Coburn as Britt
Brad Dexter as Harry Luck
Vladimir Sokoloff as The Old Man
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos as Hilario
Rosenda Monteros as Petra
Whit Bissell as Chamlee the Undertaker
Rico Alaniz as Sotero
Natividad Vacío as Miguel
Robert J. Wilke as Wallace
Val Avery as Henry the Corset Salesman
Bing Russell as Robert, Henry's Traveling Companion
Pre-production[edit]
Producer Lou Morheim originally bought the rights to Seven Samurai, with plans to have Anthony Quinn as lead; according to Variety magazine, Brynner "got the rights away from Quinn" and brought Sturges into the project as director, based on the latter's work on Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.[8] In spite of Morheim's involvement, Sturges "insisted on sole producer credit"; both Morheim and Quinn brought suit over the events, with Morheim settling for an associate producer credit and Quinn denied the $630,000 in damages he sought.[8]
Script credit was also a subject of contention. Walter Bernstein, a blacklisted scriptwriter, was commissioned by Morheim to produce the first draft "faithfully" adapted from the original script written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni and Akira Kurosawa; when Mirisch and Brynner took over the production, they brought on Walter Newman, whose version "is largely what's on screen."[8] When Newman was unavailable to be on-site during the film's principal photography in Mexico, William Roberts was hired, in part to make changes required by Mexican censors. When Roberts asked the Writers Guild of America for a co-credit, Newman asked that his name be removed from the credits.[8]
Production[edit]
Filming began on March 1, 1960, on location in Mexico, where both the village and the U.S. border town were built for the film. The location filming was in Cuernavaca, Durango, Tepotzlan, and the Churubusco Studios in Mexico. [9] The first scene shot was the first part of the six gunfighters' journey to the Mexican village, prior to Chico being brought into the group.[citation needed]
The film was shot in Panavision;[10] an anamorphic format.
Score[edit]
The film's score is by Elmer Bernstein. Along with the iconic main theme and effective support of the story line, the score also contains allusions to twentieth-century symphonic works, such as the reference to Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, second movement, in the tense quiet scene just before the shoot out. (This is a common practice among film score composers.) The original soundtrack was not released at the time until reused and rerecorded by Bernstein for the soundtrack of Return of the Seven. Electric guitar cover versions by Al Caiola in the U.S. and John Barry[11] in the U.K. were successful on the popular charts.[12] A vocal theme not written by Bernstein was used in a trailer.
In 1994, James Sedares conducted a re-recording of the score performed by The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra (which also included a suite from Bernstein's score for The Hallelujah Trail, issued by Koch Records; Bernstein himself conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for a performance released by RCA in 1997, but the original film soundtrack was not released until the following year by Rykodisc (Varèse Sarabande reissued this album in 2004).
1.Main Title and Calvera (3:56)
2.Council (3:14)
3.Quest (1:00)
4.Strange Funeral/After The Brawl (6:48)
5.Vin’s Luck (2:03)
6.And Then There Were Two (1:45)
7.Fiesta (1:11)
8.Stalking (1:20)
9.Worst Shot (3:02)
10.The Journey (4:39)
11.Toro (3:24)
12.Training (1:27)
13.Calvera's Return (2:37)
14.Calvera Routed (1:49)
15.Ambush (3:10)
16.Bernardo (3:33)
17.Surprise (2:08)
18.Defeat (3:26)
19.Crossroads (4:47)
20.Harry's Mistake (2:48)
21.Calvera Killed (3:33)
22.Finale (3:27)
Bernstein's score has frequently been quoted in the media and popular culture. Starting in 1963, the theme was used in commercials in the U.S. for Marlboro cigarettes. A similar-sounding (but different) tune was used for Victoria Bitter beer in Australia. The theme was included in the James Bond film Moonraker.
Other uses include in the 2004 documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11; in the 2005 film The Ringer; as entrance music for the British band James, as well as episodes of The Simpsons that had a "Western" theme (mainly in the episode titled "Dude, Where's My Ranch?"). The opening horn riff in Arthur Conley's 1967 hit "Sweet Soul Music" is borrowed from the theme. Canadian band Kon Kan use the opening bars of the theme in their single "I Beg Your Pardon", Celtic Football Club (Glasgow, Scotland) used the theme music whenever Henrik Larsson scored a goal.
The Mick Jones 1980s band Big Audio Dynamite covered the song as "Keep off the Grass" (although this cover was not officially released). In 1995, the KLF also did a drum and bass cover of the main title as "The Magnificent"; it was released under the group alias One World Orchestra on the charity compilation The Help Album.
In 1992, the main theme of The Magnificent Seven came into use on a section of the Euro Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland Paris. Portions of the theme play as the train exits the Grand Canyon diorama tunnel behind Phantom Manor, enters Frontierland, and travels along the bank of the Rivers of the Far West.
The "Main Title" was used as an intro tune on many nights of Bruce Springsteen's 2012 Wrecking Ball Tour. The theme was played as the E Street Band entered the stage, adding to the dramatic atmosphere in the stadium.
Reception[edit]
Howard Thompson of The New York Times called the film a "pallid, pretentious and overlong reflection of the Japanese original"; according to Thompson, "don't expect anything like the ice-cold suspense, the superb juxtaposition of revealing human vignettes and especially the pile-driver tempo of the first Seven."[13] According to Variety magazine's December 31, 1960 review, "Until the women and children arrive on the scene about two-thirds of the way through, The Magnificent Seven is a rip-roaring rootin' tootin' western with lots of bite and tang and old-fashioned abandon. The last third is downhill, a long and cluttered anti-climax in which The Magnificent Seven grow slightly too magnificent for comfort."[14]
At the 33rd Academy Awards, the score was nominated for Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, losing to Ernest Gold's score for Exodus. The Magnificent Seven was listed at No. 8 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 25 American film scores.
The film has grown greatly in esteem since its release, largely due to its cast (several of whom would go on to become superstars over the decade following its release) and its music score. As of 2012, it has a freshness rating of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.[15] It is the second most shown film in U.S. television history, behind only The Wizard of Oz. The film is also ranked No. 79 on the AFI's list of American cinema's 100 most-thrilling films.
Sequels, remakes and adaptations[edit]
Movies[edit]
The film was a box office disappointment in the United States but proved to be such a smash hit in Europe that it ultimately made a profit.[2][16] Three sequels were eventually made:
Return of the Seven (1966)
Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)
The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972)
None of these were as successful as the original film.
The plot of The Magnificent Seven directly inspired the 1980 sci-fi film, Battle Beyond the Stars, which included actor Robert Vaughn as one of the seven mercenaries hired to save a farming planet from alien marauders.
"I sette magnifici gladiatori" (1983) aka "The Seven Magnificent Gladiators" was a Sword & Sandal variation on the Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven theme starring Lou Ferrigno and Sybil Danning.
The 1986 comedy Three Amigos directly parodies many aspects of The Magnificent Seven, from the hiring of a team of Americans to defend a small Mexican village, to the training of the villagers by the mercenaries, to the megalomaniacal over-the-top character of the Mexican gang leader.
A remake of the film is currently in the planning stages, with Tom Cruise starring. It has been reported that Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, and Matt Damon may join the film.[17]
Television[edit]
The film also inspired a television series, The Magnificent Seven, which ran from 1998 to 2000.
Books[edit]
The plot of Stephen King's 2003 novel Wolves of the Calla is loosely based on The Magnificent Seven. In the story, gunslinger Roland Deschain and his allies defend a small village from a raiding party that steals children once a generation. The village's name, "Calla Bryn Sturgis", is a nod to Sturges and Brynner, and the similarity in plot leads Roland's allies from 20th century New York to realize that they are taking part in a similar story. The novel also includes the misquoted epigraph "Mister, we deal in lead."
Robert B. Parker's 2001 novel Potshot borrows heavily from the film's end for the final confrontation between Spenser's group of seven outlaws and the Dell, the story's antagonists, going so far as to acknowledge it in dialog between characters and having one of them say the line, "We deal in lead, friend."
Comics[edit]
Roy Thomas from Marvel Comics wrote a 4-issue story arc (issue numbers 7, 8, 9 & 10 from the original Marvel series) Star Wars story based on the Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven plot. In the comic, Han and Chewie recruit five other aliens from different backgrounds to help defend a city from a band of marauders called the Cloud Riders.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Glenn Lovell, Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges, University of Wisconsin Press, 2008 p194
2.^ Jump up to: a b "Rental Potentials of 1960", Variety, 4 January 1961 p 47. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.
3.Jump up ^ http://www.subzin.com/search.php?title=The+Magnificent+Seven&imdb=54047&q=dodge&search_sort=Popularity&genre=-1&type=All
4.Jump up ^ McGee, P (2007). From Shane to Kill Bill: rethinking the Western. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 262. ISBN 1-4051-3964-1.
5.Jump up ^ Rand, Y (2005). Wild Open Spaces: Why We Love Westerns. Maverick Spirit Press. p. 208. ISBN 1-932991-44-1.
6.Jump up ^ Transcript of script. Accessed 1 May 2012.
7.Jump up ^ The film's memorable closing lines closely echo the last words of the source film Seven Samurai, spoken by the character Kambei: "Again we are defeated. The winners are those farmers. Not us."
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d Robert Koehler (May 8, 2001). "The Magnificent Seven (MGM Home Entertainment release)". Variety. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
9.Jump up ^ "The Magnificent Seven" Filing locations. IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054047/locations?ref_=ttco_ql_6
10.Jump up ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054047/technical
11.Jump up ^ p.14 Billboard 27 Feb 1961
12.Jump up ^ p.226 Cusic, Donb The Cowboy in Country Music: An Historical Survey with Artist Profiles 2011 McFarland
13.Jump up ^ Thompson, Howard (November 24, 1960). "On Japanese Idea: Magnificent Seven, a U.S. Western, Opens". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
14.Jump up ^ [hhttp://variety.com/1959/film/reviews/magnificent-seven-1200419670/ "Magnificent Seven"]. Variety. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
15.Jump up ^ URL: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1013077-magnificent_seven/ . Accessed Sep 26, 2012
16.Jump up ^ Mirisch, Walter (2008). I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History (p. 113). University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin. ISBN 0-299-22640-9.
17.Jump up ^ Snieder, Jeff. Tom Cruise attached to MGM's 'Magnificent Seven'. Variety (May 21, 2012).
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven at the Internet Movie Database
The Magnificent Seven at AllRovi
The Magnificent Seven at Rotten Tomatoes

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The Hero with a Thousand Faces

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

The Hero with a Thousand Faces
TheHeroWithAThousandFaces.jpg
1st edition
 
Author
Joseph Campbell
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Non-fiction
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Publication date
1949; 2nd ed., 1968; 3rd ed., 2008
Media type
Print (hardback)
ISBN
978-1-57731-593-3
OCLC Number
224442464
Dewey Decimal
201/.3 22
LC Classification
BL313 .C28 2008
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (first published in 1949) is a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell. In this publication, Campbell discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world mythologies.
Since publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell's theory has been consciously applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists. The best known is perhaps George Lucas, who has acknowledged a debt to Campbell regarding the stories of the Star Wars films.[1]
The Joseph Campbell Foundation and New World Library issued a new edition of The Hero with a Thousand Faces in July, 2008 as part of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell series of books, audio and video recordings. In 2011, Time placed the book in its list of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since the magazine was founded in 1923.[2]

Contents
  [hide] 1 Summary
2 Background 2.1 Publishing history
3 The hero's journey and women
4 Artists influenced by the work
5 See also
6 Footnotes
7 References
8 External links
Summary[edit]
Campbell explores the theory that important myths from around the world which have survived for thousands of years all share a fundamental structure, which Campbell called the monomyth. In a well-known quote from the introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell summarized the monomyth:
“ A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.[3] ”
In laying out the monomyth, Campbell describes a number of stages or steps along this journey. The hero starts in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unusual world of strange powers and events (a call to adventure). If the hero accepts the call to enter this strange world, the hero must face tasks and trials (a road of trials), and may have to face these trials alone, or may have assistance. At its most intense, the hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help earned along the journey. If the hero survives, the hero may achieve a great gift (the goal or "boon"), which often results in the discovery of important self-knowledge. The hero must then decide whether to return with this boon (the return to the ordinary world), often facing challenges on the return journey. If the hero is successful in returning, the boon or gift may be used to improve the world (the application of the boon).
Very few myths contain all of these stages—some myths contain many of the stages, while others contain only a few; some myths may have as a focus only one of the stages, while other myths may deal with the stages in a somewhat different order. These stages may be organized in a number of ways, including division into three sections: Departure (sometimes called Separation), Initiation and Return. "Departure" deals with the hero venturing forth on the quest, "Initiation" deals with the hero's various adventures along the way, and "Return" deals with the hero's return home with knowledge and powers acquired on the journey.
The classic examples of the monomyth relied upon by Campbell and other scholars include the stories of Osiris, Prometheus, the Buddha, Moses, and Christ, although Campbell cites many other classic myths from many cultures which rely upon this basic structure.
While Campbell offers a discussion of the hero's journey by using the Freudian concepts popular in the 1940s and 1950s, the monomythic structure is not tied to these concepts. Similarly, Campbell uses a mixture of Jungian archetypes, unconscious forces, and Arnold van Gennep's structuring of rites of passage rituals to provide some illumination.[4] However, this pattern of the hero's journey influences artists and intellectuals worldwide, suggesting a basic usefulness for Campbell's insights not tied to academic categories and mid-20th century forms of analysis.
Background[edit]
Campbell used the work of early 20th century theorists to develop his model of the hero (see also structuralism), including Freud (particularly the Oedipus complex), Carl Jung (archetypal figures and the collective unconscious), and Arnold Van Gennep (the three stages of The Rites of Passage, translated by Campbell into Separation, Initiation and Return). Campbell also looked to the work of ethnographers James Frazer and Franz Boas and psychologist Otto Rank.
Campbell called this journey of the hero the monomyth.[5] Campbell was a noted scholar of James Joyce (in 1944 he co-authored A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake with Henry Morton Robinson), and Campbell borrowed the term monomyth from Joyce's Finnegans Wake. In addition, Joyce's Ulysses was also highly influential in the structuring of The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Publishing history[edit]

reprint book cover with the image of Hamill as Luke Skywalker near the bottom right corner

 Cover of reprints of the book, featuring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
The book was originally published by the Bollingen Foundation through Pantheon Press as the seventeenth title in the Bollingen Series. This series was taken over by Princeton University Press, who published The Hero through 2006. Originally issued in 1949 and revised by Campbell in 1968, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has been reprinted a number of times. Reprints issued after the release of Star Wars in 1977 used the image of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the cover. Princeton University Press issued a commemorative printing of the second edition in 2004 on the occasion of the joint centennial of Campbell's birth and the Press's founding with an added foreword by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
A third edition, compiled by the Joseph Campbell Foundation and published by New World Library, was released as the twelfth title in the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell series in July 2008.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces has been translated into over twenty languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Turkish, Dutch, Greek, Danish, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Czech, Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, Russian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Hebrew, and has sold well over a million copies worldwide.[6]
The hero's journey and women[edit]
One of the questions that has been raised about the way that Campbell laid out the monomyth of the hero's journey in Hero with a Thousand Faces was that it focused on the masculine journey. Although this was not altogether true—the princess of the Grimms' "The Frog Prince" tale and the saga of the hero-goddess Inanna's descent into the underworld feature prominently in Campbell's schema—it was, nonetheless, a question that has been raised about the book since its publication.
Late in his life, Campbell had this to say:
“ All of the great mythologies and much of the mythic story-telling of the world are from the male point of view. When I was writing The Hero with a Thousand Faces and wanted to bring female heroes in, I had to go to the fairy tales. These were told by women to children, you know, and you get a different perspective. It was the men who got involved in spinning most of the great myths. The women were too busy; they had too damn much to do to sit around thinking about stories. [...]
In the Odyssey, you'll see three journeys. One is that of Telemachus, the son, going in quest of his father. The second is that of the father, Odysseus, becoming reconciled and related to the female principle in the sense of male-female relationship, rather than the male mastery of the female that was at the center of the Iliad. And the third is of Penelope herself, whose journey is [...] endurance. Out in Nantucket, you see all those cottages with the widow's walk up on the roof: when my husband comes back from the sea. Two journeys through space and one through time.[7]
 ”
Artists influenced by the work[edit]
Main article: Monomyth
In Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation, a book drawn from Campbell's late lectures and workshops, he says about artists and the monomyth:
“ Artists are magical helpers. Evoking symbols and motifs that connect us to our deeper selves, they can help us along the heroic journey of our own lives. [...]
The artist is meant to put the objects of this world together in such a way that through them you will experience that light, that radiance which is the light of our consciousness and which all things both hide and, when properly looked upon, reveal. The hero journey is one of the universal patterns through which that radiance shows brightly. What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss.[8]
 ”
The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced a number of artists, musicians, poets, and filmmakers, including Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and George Lucas. Mickey Hart, Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead had long noted Campbell's influence and agreed to participate in a seminar with him in 1986 entitled From Ritual to Rapture.[9]
Stanley Kubrick introduced Arthur C. Clarke to the book during the writing of 2001: A Space Odyssey.[10]
George Lucas' deliberate use of Campbell's theory of the monomyth in the making of the Star Wars movies is well documented. On the DVD release of the famous colloquy between Campbell and Bill Moyers, filmed at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch and broadcast in 1988 on PBS as The Power of Myth, Campbell and Moyers discussed Lucas's use of The Hero with a Thousand Faces in making his films.[11] Lucas himself discussed how Campbell's work affected his approach to storytelling and film-making.[12]
Dan Harmon, the creator of the T.V show Community has stated that he has used the monomyth as inspiration for his work.
Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood film producer and writer, wrote a memo for Disney Studios on the use of The Hero with a Thousand Faces as a guide for scriptwriters; this memo influenced the creation of such films as Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Vogler later expanded the memo and published it as the book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, which became the inspiration for a number of successful Hollywood films and is believed to have been used in the development of the Matrix series.
Novelist Richard Adams acknowledges a debt to Campbell's work, and specifically to the concept of the monomyth.[13] In his best known work, Watership Down, Adams uses extracts from The Hero with a Thousand Faces as chapter epigrams.[14]
Author Neil Gaiman, whose work is frequently seen as exemplifying the monomyth structure,[15] says that he started The Hero with a Thousand Faces but refused to finish it: "I think I got about half way through The Hero with a Thousand Faces and found myself thinking if this is true—I don’t want to know. I really would rather not know this stuff. I’d rather do it because it’s true and because I accidentally wind up creating something that falls into this pattern than be told what the pattern is."[16]
Many scholars and reviewers have noted how closely J. K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter books hewed to the monomyth schema.[17] To date, however, Rowling has neither confirmed that she used Campbell's work as an inspiration, nor denied that she ever read The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
The sixth and final season of Lost also recognizes Joseph Campbell's theories on the hero. During one of the bonus features they discuss the journey of the main characters and how each is a hero in their own way. Before each little segment of this particular feature, they quote Joseph Campbell and then expound on that particular quote by discussing the various characters.
Singer Janelle Monáe, in the liner notes of her 2010 album, The ArchAndroid, cites Hero as one of her inspirations for the track "57821."
Mark Rosewater, head designer of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, cites "The Hero's Journey" as a major inspiration for "The Weatherlight Saga," an epic storyarc that went from 1997 to 2001, and spanned multiple cardsets, comic books, and novels.
Jenova Chen, lead designer at thatgamecompany also cites "The Hero's Journey" as the primary inspiration for the game Journey for PlayStation 3.[18]
See also[edit]
Bildungsroman
Otto Rank
The Golden Bough
The Iron Dream
Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
Something Startling Happen: The 120 Story Beat Every Writer Needs To Know
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, 3rd edition, Phil Cousineau, editor. Novato, California: New World Library, 2003, pp. 186-187.
2.Jump up ^ "Ideas: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell". Time. Aug. 30, 2011.
3.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968, p. 30 / Novato, California: New World Library, 2008, p. 23.
4.Jump up ^ Since the late 1960s, with the introduction of post-structuralism, theories such as the monomyth (to the extent they are based in structuralism) have lost ground in the academic world. Nonetheless, the resonance of this theory and of Campbell's schema remains; every year, The Hero with a Thousand Faces is used as a text-book in thousands of university courses worldwide. Source: Joseph Campbell Foundation website.
5.Jump up ^ Source of term monomyth.
6.Jump up ^ The Complete Works of Joseph Campbell data base on the Joseph Campbell Foundation website, accessed July 2, 2010.
7.Jump up ^ --Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation, Edited by David Kudler. Novato, California: New World Library, 2004, pp. 145, 159.
8.Jump up ^ --Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation, Edited by David Kudler. Novato, California: New World Library, 2004, pp. 132, 133.
9.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell Timeline on the Pacifica Graduate Institute website
10.Jump up ^ "Clark's 2001 Diary," extracted from Arthur C. Clark, Lost Worlds of 2001. New American Library (New York), 1972.
11.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth: The Hero's Adventure - TV.com
12.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey, loc. cit.
13.Jump up ^ Bridgman, Joan (August 2000). "Richard Adams at Eighty". The Contemporary Review (The Contemporary Review Company Limited) 277.1615: 108. ISSN 0010-7565.
14.Jump up ^ Richard Adams, Watership Down. Scribner, 2005, p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7432-7770-9
15.Jump up ^ See Stephen Rauch, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and Joseph Campbell: In Search of the Modern Myth, Wildside Press, 2003
16.Jump up ^ The Wild River Review, "Interview with the Dream King"
17.Jump up ^ Sharon Black, "The Magic of Harry Potter: Symbols and Heroes of Fantasy," Children‘s Literature in Education, Springer Netherlands, Volume 34, Number 3 / September, 2003, pp. 237–247, [ISSN 0045-6713] (Print), [ISSN 1573-1693] (Online); Patrick Shannon, "Harry Potter as Classic Myth"; Deborah De Rosa, "Wizardly Challenges to, and Affirmations of the Initiation Paradigm in Harry Potter," Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter, Elizabeth Heileman, ed. Routledge, 2002, pp 163–183—there are numerous similar references.
18.Jump up ^ Kevin O'Hannessian, GAME DESIGNER JENOVA CHEN ON THE ART BEHIND HIS “JOURNEY”; CoCreate Magazine
References[edit]
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Edited and with an Introduction by Phil Cousineau. Forward by Stuart L. Brown, Executive Editor. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.
Campbell, Joseph and Henry Morton Robinson. A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake, 1944.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 1st edition, Bollingen Foundation, 1949. 2nd edition, Princeton University Press. 3rd edition, New World Library, 2008.
Campbell, Joseph. Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation. Edited by David Kudler. Novato, California: New World Library, 2004.
Ford, Clyde W. The Hero with an African Face. New York: Bantam, 2000.
Henderson, Mary. Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. Companion volume to the exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. New York: Bantam, 1997.
Larsen, Stephen and Robin Larsen. Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2002.
Manganaro, Marc. Myth, Rhetoric, and the Voice of Authority: A Critique of Frazer, Eliot, Frye, and Campbell. New Haven: Yale, 1992.
Moyers, Bill and Joseph Campbell. The Power of Myth. Anchor: Reissue edition, 1991. ISBN 0-385-41886-8
Pearson, Carol and Katherine Pope. The Female Hero in American and British Literature. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1981.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998.
External links[edit]
Information on the 2008 third edition from the Joseph Campbell Foundation
Monomyth from UC Berkeley
The Archetype of the Hero's Journey from Web English Teacher
A Practical Guide to THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES
The Hero Cycle as seen in the Star Wars saga
Star Wars Origins - Joseph Campbell
The Matrix - Joseph Campbell Monomyth

[hide]
v·
 t·
 e
 
Joseph Campbell

 
Books
Where the Two Came to Their Father: A Navaho War Ceremonial (1943). with Jeff King and Maud Oakes·
 A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944). with Henry Morton Robinson·
 The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).
 

The Masks of God
 (1959–1968)

Volume 1, Primitive Mythology (1959)·
 Volume 2, Oriental Mythology (1962)·
 Volume 3, Occidental Mythology (1964)·
 Volume 4, Creative Mythology (1968))
 
The Flight of the Wild Gander:Explorations in the Mythological Dimension (1968)·
 Myths to Live By (1972)·
 Erotic irony and mythic forms in the art of Thomas Mann (1973)·
 The Mythic Image (1974)·
 The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor As Myth and As Religion (1986)
 

Historical Atlas
 of World Mythology
 (1983–1989)

Volume I: The Way of the Animal Powers (1983) (reprint in two parts: Part 1: Mythologies of the Primitive Hunters and Gatherers (1988);
Part 2: Mythologies of the Great Hunt (1988))·
 Volume II: The Way of the Seeded Earth (Part 1: The Sacrifice (1988); Part 2: Mythologies of the Primitive Planters: The North Americas (1989);
Part 3: Mythologies of the Primitive Planters: The Middle and Southern Americas (1989))
 
Transformations of Myth Through Time (1990)·
 A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living (1991). editor Diane K. Osbon·
 Mythic Worlds, Modern Words: On the Art of James Joyce (1993). editor Edmund L. Epstein·
 The Mythic Dimension: Selected Essays (1959–1987) (1993). editor Anthony Van Couvering·
 Baksheesh & Brahman: Indian Journals (1954–1955) (1995). editors Robin/Stephen Larsen & Anthony Van Couvering·
 Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor (2001). editor Eugene Kennedy·
 Sake & Satori: Asian Journals - Japan (2002). editor David Kudler·
 Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal (2003). editor David Kudler·
 Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation (2004). editor David Kudler
 
 
Books based
 upon interviews
The Power of Myth (1988). with Bill Moyers and editor Betty Sue Flowers·
 An Open Life: Joseph Campbell in Conversation with Michael Toms (1989). editors John Maher and Dennie Briggs, forward by Jean Erdman Campbell·
 This business of the gods: Interview with Fraser Boa (1989)·
 The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (1990). editor Phil Cousineau
 
 
Audio tapes
The Power of Myth (With Bill Moyers) (1987)·
 Transformation of Myth through Time Volume 1-3 (1989)·
 The Hero with a Thousand Faces: The Cosmogonic Cycle (Read by Ralph Blum) (1990)·
 The Way of Art (1990—unlicensed)·
 The Lost Teachings of Joseph Campbell Volume 1-9 (With Michael Toms) (1993)·
 On the Wings of Art: Joseph Campbell; Joseph Campbell on the Art of James Joyce (1995)·
 The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell (With Michael Toms) (1997)
 

The Collected Lectures
 of Joseph Campbell

Volume 1: Mythology and the Individual (1997)·
 Volume 2: The Inward Journey (1997)·
 Volume 3: The Eastern Way (1997)·
 Volume 4: Man and Myth (1997)·
 Volume 5: The Myths and Masks of God (1997)·
 Volume 6: The Western Quest (1997)
 
Myth and Metaphor in Society (With Jamake Highwater) (abridged)(2002)
 
 
Video/DVDs
Psyche & Symbol (13 part KQED/PBS video series: Executive Producer: Aaron Miller; Director: Diane Dowling) (1976)·
 Transformations of Myth Through Time (1989)·
 Mythos (1987/1998)·
 Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (1988)·
 The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell (1987) (Phil Cousineau)·
 Myth and Metaphor in Society (With Jamake Highwater) (1993)·
 Sukhavati (2005)
 
 
Books edited
Gupta, Mahendranath. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942) (translation from Bengali by Swami Nikhilananda; Joseph Campbell and Margaret Woodrow Wilson, translation assistants -
 see preface; foreword by Aldous Huxley)·
 Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization. Heinrich Zimmer (1946)·
 The King and the Corpse: Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil. Heinrich Zimmer (1948)·
 Philosophies of India. Heinrich Zimmer (1951)·
 The Portable Arabian Nights (1951)·
 The Art of Indian Asia. Heinrich Zimmer (1955)·
 Man and Time: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Man and Transformation: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 The Mysteries: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 The Mystic Vision: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Spirit and Nature: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Spiritual Disciplines: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Myths, Dreams, Religion. Various authors (1970)·
 The Portable Jung. Carl Jung (1971)
 
 
See also
Monomyth·
 Mythos·
 Joseph Campbell Foundation·
 Jean Erdman
 

 

Categories: Books by Joseph Campbell
Comparative mythology
1949 books
Mythology books
Religious studies books
Philosophy books
Sociology books
Pantheon Books books



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The Hero with a Thousand Faces

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

The Hero with a Thousand Faces
TheHeroWithAThousandFaces.jpg
1st edition
 
Author
Joseph Campbell
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Non-fiction
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Publication date
1949; 2nd ed., 1968; 3rd ed., 2008
Media type
Print (hardback)
ISBN
978-1-57731-593-3
OCLC Number
224442464
Dewey Decimal
201/.3 22
LC Classification
BL313 .C28 2008
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (first published in 1949) is a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell. In this publication, Campbell discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world mythologies.
Since publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell's theory has been consciously applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists. The best known is perhaps George Lucas, who has acknowledged a debt to Campbell regarding the stories of the Star Wars films.[1]
The Joseph Campbell Foundation and New World Library issued a new edition of The Hero with a Thousand Faces in July, 2008 as part of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell series of books, audio and video recordings. In 2011, Time placed the book in its list of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since the magazine was founded in 1923.[2]

Contents
  [hide] 1 Summary
2 Background 2.1 Publishing history
3 The hero's journey and women
4 Artists influenced by the work
5 See also
6 Footnotes
7 References
8 External links
Summary[edit]
Campbell explores the theory that important myths from around the world which have survived for thousands of years all share a fundamental structure, which Campbell called the monomyth. In a well-known quote from the introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell summarized the monomyth:
“ A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.[3] ”
In laying out the monomyth, Campbell describes a number of stages or steps along this journey. The hero starts in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unusual world of strange powers and events (a call to adventure). If the hero accepts the call to enter this strange world, the hero must face tasks and trials (a road of trials), and may have to face these trials alone, or may have assistance. At its most intense, the hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help earned along the journey. If the hero survives, the hero may achieve a great gift (the goal or "boon"), which often results in the discovery of important self-knowledge. The hero must then decide whether to return with this boon (the return to the ordinary world), often facing challenges on the return journey. If the hero is successful in returning, the boon or gift may be used to improve the world (the application of the boon).
Very few myths contain all of these stages—some myths contain many of the stages, while others contain only a few; some myths may have as a focus only one of the stages, while other myths may deal with the stages in a somewhat different order. These stages may be organized in a number of ways, including division into three sections: Departure (sometimes called Separation), Initiation and Return. "Departure" deals with the hero venturing forth on the quest, "Initiation" deals with the hero's various adventures along the way, and "Return" deals with the hero's return home with knowledge and powers acquired on the journey.
The classic examples of the monomyth relied upon by Campbell and other scholars include the stories of Osiris, Prometheus, the Buddha, Moses, and Christ, although Campbell cites many other classic myths from many cultures which rely upon this basic structure.
While Campbell offers a discussion of the hero's journey by using the Freudian concepts popular in the 1940s and 1950s, the monomythic structure is not tied to these concepts. Similarly, Campbell uses a mixture of Jungian archetypes, unconscious forces, and Arnold van Gennep's structuring of rites of passage rituals to provide some illumination.[4] However, this pattern of the hero's journey influences artists and intellectuals worldwide, suggesting a basic usefulness for Campbell's insights not tied to academic categories and mid-20th century forms of analysis.
Background[edit]
Campbell used the work of early 20th century theorists to develop his model of the hero (see also structuralism), including Freud (particularly the Oedipus complex), Carl Jung (archetypal figures and the collective unconscious), and Arnold Van Gennep (the three stages of The Rites of Passage, translated by Campbell into Separation, Initiation and Return). Campbell also looked to the work of ethnographers James Frazer and Franz Boas and psychologist Otto Rank.
Campbell called this journey of the hero the monomyth.[5] Campbell was a noted scholar of James Joyce (in 1944 he co-authored A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake with Henry Morton Robinson), and Campbell borrowed the term monomyth from Joyce's Finnegans Wake. In addition, Joyce's Ulysses was also highly influential in the structuring of The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Publishing history[edit]

reprint book cover with the image of Hamill as Luke Skywalker near the bottom right corner

 Cover of reprints of the book, featuring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
The book was originally published by the Bollingen Foundation through Pantheon Press as the seventeenth title in the Bollingen Series. This series was taken over by Princeton University Press, who published The Hero through 2006. Originally issued in 1949 and revised by Campbell in 1968, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has been reprinted a number of times. Reprints issued after the release of Star Wars in 1977 used the image of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the cover. Princeton University Press issued a commemorative printing of the second edition in 2004 on the occasion of the joint centennial of Campbell's birth and the Press's founding with an added foreword by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
A third edition, compiled by the Joseph Campbell Foundation and published by New World Library, was released as the twelfth title in the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell series in July 2008.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces has been translated into over twenty languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Turkish, Dutch, Greek, Danish, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Czech, Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, Russian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Hebrew, and has sold well over a million copies worldwide.[6]
The hero's journey and women[edit]
One of the questions that has been raised about the way that Campbell laid out the monomyth of the hero's journey in Hero with a Thousand Faces was that it focused on the masculine journey. Although this was not altogether true—the princess of the Grimms' "The Frog Prince" tale and the saga of the hero-goddess Inanna's descent into the underworld feature prominently in Campbell's schema—it was, nonetheless, a question that has been raised about the book since its publication.
Late in his life, Campbell had this to say:
“ All of the great mythologies and much of the mythic story-telling of the world are from the male point of view. When I was writing The Hero with a Thousand Faces and wanted to bring female heroes in, I had to go to the fairy tales. These were told by women to children, you know, and you get a different perspective. It was the men who got involved in spinning most of the great myths. The women were too busy; they had too damn much to do to sit around thinking about stories. [...]
In the Odyssey, you'll see three journeys. One is that of Telemachus, the son, going in quest of his father. The second is that of the father, Odysseus, becoming reconciled and related to the female principle in the sense of male-female relationship, rather than the male mastery of the female that was at the center of the Iliad. And the third is of Penelope herself, whose journey is [...] endurance. Out in Nantucket, you see all those cottages with the widow's walk up on the roof: when my husband comes back from the sea. Two journeys through space and one through time.[7]
 ”
Artists influenced by the work[edit]
Main article: Monomyth
In Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation, a book drawn from Campbell's late lectures and workshops, he says about artists and the monomyth:
“ Artists are magical helpers. Evoking symbols and motifs that connect us to our deeper selves, they can help us along the heroic journey of our own lives. [...]
The artist is meant to put the objects of this world together in such a way that through them you will experience that light, that radiance which is the light of our consciousness and which all things both hide and, when properly looked upon, reveal. The hero journey is one of the universal patterns through which that radiance shows brightly. What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss.[8]
 ”
The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced a number of artists, musicians, poets, and filmmakers, including Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and George Lucas. Mickey Hart, Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead had long noted Campbell's influence and agreed to participate in a seminar with him in 1986 entitled From Ritual to Rapture.[9]
Stanley Kubrick introduced Arthur C. Clarke to the book during the writing of 2001: A Space Odyssey.[10]
George Lucas' deliberate use of Campbell's theory of the monomyth in the making of the Star Wars movies is well documented. On the DVD release of the famous colloquy between Campbell and Bill Moyers, filmed at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch and broadcast in 1988 on PBS as The Power of Myth, Campbell and Moyers discussed Lucas's use of The Hero with a Thousand Faces in making his films.[11] Lucas himself discussed how Campbell's work affected his approach to storytelling and film-making.[12]
Dan Harmon, the creator of the T.V show Community has stated that he has used the monomyth as inspiration for his work.
Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood film producer and writer, wrote a memo for Disney Studios on the use of The Hero with a Thousand Faces as a guide for scriptwriters; this memo influenced the creation of such films as Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Vogler later expanded the memo and published it as the book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, which became the inspiration for a number of successful Hollywood films and is believed to have been used in the development of the Matrix series.
Novelist Richard Adams acknowledges a debt to Campbell's work, and specifically to the concept of the monomyth.[13] In his best known work, Watership Down, Adams uses extracts from The Hero with a Thousand Faces as chapter epigrams.[14]
Author Neil Gaiman, whose work is frequently seen as exemplifying the monomyth structure,[15] says that he started The Hero with a Thousand Faces but refused to finish it: "I think I got about half way through The Hero with a Thousand Faces and found myself thinking if this is true—I don’t want to know. I really would rather not know this stuff. I’d rather do it because it’s true and because I accidentally wind up creating something that falls into this pattern than be told what the pattern is."[16]
Many scholars and reviewers have noted how closely J. K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter books hewed to the monomyth schema.[17] To date, however, Rowling has neither confirmed that she used Campbell's work as an inspiration, nor denied that she ever read The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
The sixth and final season of Lost also recognizes Joseph Campbell's theories on the hero. During one of the bonus features they discuss the journey of the main characters and how each is a hero in their own way. Before each little segment of this particular feature, they quote Joseph Campbell and then expound on that particular quote by discussing the various characters.
Singer Janelle Monáe, in the liner notes of her 2010 album, The ArchAndroid, cites Hero as one of her inspirations for the track "57821."
Mark Rosewater, head designer of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, cites "The Hero's Journey" as a major inspiration for "The Weatherlight Saga," an epic storyarc that went from 1997 to 2001, and spanned multiple cardsets, comic books, and novels.
Jenova Chen, lead designer at thatgamecompany also cites "The Hero's Journey" as the primary inspiration for the game Journey for PlayStation 3.[18]
See also[edit]
Bildungsroman
Otto Rank
The Golden Bough
The Iron Dream
Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
Something Startling Happen: The 120 Story Beat Every Writer Needs To Know
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, 3rd edition, Phil Cousineau, editor. Novato, California: New World Library, 2003, pp. 186-187.
2.Jump up ^ "Ideas: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell". Time. Aug. 30, 2011.
3.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968, p. 30 / Novato, California: New World Library, 2008, p. 23.
4.Jump up ^ Since the late 1960s, with the introduction of post-structuralism, theories such as the monomyth (to the extent they are based in structuralism) have lost ground in the academic world. Nonetheless, the resonance of this theory and of Campbell's schema remains; every year, The Hero with a Thousand Faces is used as a text-book in thousands of university courses worldwide. Source: Joseph Campbell Foundation website.
5.Jump up ^ Source of term monomyth.
6.Jump up ^ The Complete Works of Joseph Campbell data base on the Joseph Campbell Foundation website, accessed July 2, 2010.
7.Jump up ^ --Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation, Edited by David Kudler. Novato, California: New World Library, 2004, pp. 145, 159.
8.Jump up ^ --Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation, Edited by David Kudler. Novato, California: New World Library, 2004, pp. 132, 133.
9.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell Timeline on the Pacifica Graduate Institute website
10.Jump up ^ "Clark's 2001 Diary," extracted from Arthur C. Clark, Lost Worlds of 2001. New American Library (New York), 1972.
11.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth: The Hero's Adventure - TV.com
12.Jump up ^ Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey, loc. cit.
13.Jump up ^ Bridgman, Joan (August 2000). "Richard Adams at Eighty". The Contemporary Review (The Contemporary Review Company Limited) 277.1615: 108. ISSN 0010-7565.
14.Jump up ^ Richard Adams, Watership Down. Scribner, 2005, p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7432-7770-9
15.Jump up ^ See Stephen Rauch, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and Joseph Campbell: In Search of the Modern Myth, Wildside Press, 2003
16.Jump up ^ The Wild River Review, "Interview with the Dream King"
17.Jump up ^ Sharon Black, "The Magic of Harry Potter: Symbols and Heroes of Fantasy," Children‘s Literature in Education, Springer Netherlands, Volume 34, Number 3 / September, 2003, pp. 237–247, [ISSN 0045-6713] (Print), [ISSN 1573-1693] (Online); Patrick Shannon, "Harry Potter as Classic Myth"; Deborah De Rosa, "Wizardly Challenges to, and Affirmations of the Initiation Paradigm in Harry Potter," Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter, Elizabeth Heileman, ed. Routledge, 2002, pp 163–183—there are numerous similar references.
18.Jump up ^ Kevin O'Hannessian, GAME DESIGNER JENOVA CHEN ON THE ART BEHIND HIS “JOURNEY”; CoCreate Magazine
References[edit]
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Edited and with an Introduction by Phil Cousineau. Forward by Stuart L. Brown, Executive Editor. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.
Campbell, Joseph and Henry Morton Robinson. A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake, 1944.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 1st edition, Bollingen Foundation, 1949. 2nd edition, Princeton University Press. 3rd edition, New World Library, 2008.
Campbell, Joseph. Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation. Edited by David Kudler. Novato, California: New World Library, 2004.
Ford, Clyde W. The Hero with an African Face. New York: Bantam, 2000.
Henderson, Mary. Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. Companion volume to the exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. New York: Bantam, 1997.
Larsen, Stephen and Robin Larsen. Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2002.
Manganaro, Marc. Myth, Rhetoric, and the Voice of Authority: A Critique of Frazer, Eliot, Frye, and Campbell. New Haven: Yale, 1992.
Moyers, Bill and Joseph Campbell. The Power of Myth. Anchor: Reissue edition, 1991. ISBN 0-385-41886-8
Pearson, Carol and Katherine Pope. The Female Hero in American and British Literature. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1981.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998.
External links[edit]
Information on the 2008 third edition from the Joseph Campbell Foundation
Monomyth from UC Berkeley
The Archetype of the Hero's Journey from Web English Teacher
A Practical Guide to THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES
The Hero Cycle as seen in the Star Wars saga
Star Wars Origins - Joseph Campbell
The Matrix - Joseph Campbell Monomyth

[hide]
v·
 t·
 e
 
Joseph Campbell

 
Books
Where the Two Came to Their Father: A Navaho War Ceremonial (1943). with Jeff King and Maud Oakes·
 A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944). with Henry Morton Robinson·
 The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).
 

The Masks of God
 (1959–1968)

Volume 1, Primitive Mythology (1959)·
 Volume 2, Oriental Mythology (1962)·
 Volume 3, Occidental Mythology (1964)·
 Volume 4, Creative Mythology (1968))
 
The Flight of the Wild Gander:Explorations in the Mythological Dimension (1968)·
 Myths to Live By (1972)·
 Erotic irony and mythic forms in the art of Thomas Mann (1973)·
 The Mythic Image (1974)·
 The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor As Myth and As Religion (1986)
 

Historical Atlas
 of World Mythology
 (1983–1989)

Volume I: The Way of the Animal Powers (1983) (reprint in two parts: Part 1: Mythologies of the Primitive Hunters and Gatherers (1988);
Part 2: Mythologies of the Great Hunt (1988))·
 Volume II: The Way of the Seeded Earth (Part 1: The Sacrifice (1988); Part 2: Mythologies of the Primitive Planters: The North Americas (1989);
Part 3: Mythologies of the Primitive Planters: The Middle and Southern Americas (1989))
 
Transformations of Myth Through Time (1990)·
 A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living (1991). editor Diane K. Osbon·
 Mythic Worlds, Modern Words: On the Art of James Joyce (1993). editor Edmund L. Epstein·
 The Mythic Dimension: Selected Essays (1959–1987) (1993). editor Anthony Van Couvering·
 Baksheesh & Brahman: Indian Journals (1954–1955) (1995). editors Robin/Stephen Larsen & Anthony Van Couvering·
 Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor (2001). editor Eugene Kennedy·
 Sake & Satori: Asian Journals - Japan (2002). editor David Kudler·
 Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal (2003). editor David Kudler·
 Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation (2004). editor David Kudler
 
 
Books based
 upon interviews
The Power of Myth (1988). with Bill Moyers and editor Betty Sue Flowers·
 An Open Life: Joseph Campbell in Conversation with Michael Toms (1989). editors John Maher and Dennie Briggs, forward by Jean Erdman Campbell·
 This business of the gods: Interview with Fraser Boa (1989)·
 The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (1990). editor Phil Cousineau
 
 
Audio tapes
The Power of Myth (With Bill Moyers) (1987)·
 Transformation of Myth through Time Volume 1-3 (1989)·
 The Hero with a Thousand Faces: The Cosmogonic Cycle (Read by Ralph Blum) (1990)·
 The Way of Art (1990—unlicensed)·
 The Lost Teachings of Joseph Campbell Volume 1-9 (With Michael Toms) (1993)·
 On the Wings of Art: Joseph Campbell; Joseph Campbell on the Art of James Joyce (1995)·
 The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell (With Michael Toms) (1997)
 

The Collected Lectures
 of Joseph Campbell

Volume 1: Mythology and the Individual (1997)·
 Volume 2: The Inward Journey (1997)·
 Volume 3: The Eastern Way (1997)·
 Volume 4: Man and Myth (1997)·
 Volume 5: The Myths and Masks of God (1997)·
 Volume 6: The Western Quest (1997)
 
Myth and Metaphor in Society (With Jamake Highwater) (abridged)(2002)
 
 
Video/DVDs
Psyche & Symbol (13 part KQED/PBS video series: Executive Producer: Aaron Miller; Director: Diane Dowling) (1976)·
 Transformations of Myth Through Time (1989)·
 Mythos (1987/1998)·
 Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (1988)·
 The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell (1987) (Phil Cousineau)·
 Myth and Metaphor in Society (With Jamake Highwater) (1993)·
 Sukhavati (2005)
 
 
Books edited
Gupta, Mahendranath. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942) (translation from Bengali by Swami Nikhilananda; Joseph Campbell and Margaret Woodrow Wilson, translation assistants -
 see preface; foreword by Aldous Huxley)·
 Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization. Heinrich Zimmer (1946)·
 The King and the Corpse: Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil. Heinrich Zimmer (1948)·
 Philosophies of India. Heinrich Zimmer (1951)·
 The Portable Arabian Nights (1951)·
 The Art of Indian Asia. Heinrich Zimmer (1955)·
 Man and Time: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Man and Transformation: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 The Mysteries: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 The Mystic Vision: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Spirit and Nature: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Spiritual Disciplines: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Various authors (1954–1969)·
 Myths, Dreams, Religion. Various authors (1970)·
 The Portable Jung. Carl Jung (1971)
 
 
See also
Monomyth·
 Mythos·
 Joseph Campbell Foundation·
 Jean Erdman
 

 

Categories: Books by Joseph Campbell
Comparative mythology
1949 books
Mythology books
Religious studies books
Philosophy books
Sociology books
Pantheon Books books



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Flash Gordon (film)

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Flash Gordon
Flash gordon movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster by Richard Amsel
 
Directed by
Mike Hodges[1]
Produced by
Dino De Laurentiis
 Bernard Williams
Screenplay by
Michael Allin (Adaptation)
Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
Based on
Characters
 by Alex Raymond
Starring
Sam J. Jones
Melody Anderson
Ornella Muti
Max von Sydow
Chaim Topol
Timothy Dalton
Mariangela Melato
Brian Blessed
Peter Wyngarde
Music by
Queen
Howard Blake
Cinematography
Gilbert Taylor
Editing by
Malcolm Cooke
Studio
Dino De Laurentiis Company
 Starling Films
Distributed by
Universal Studios
Release date(s)
December 5, 1980
 
Running time
111 minutes
Country
United States
 United Kingdom
Language
English
Budget
$20 million[2]
Box office
$27,107,960[3]
Flash Gordon is a 1980 British-American science fiction film, based on the comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film was directed by Mike Hodges, and produced and presented by Dino De Laurentiis. It stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed and Ornella Muti. The screenplay was written by Lorenzo Semple, Jr., and adapted by Michael Allin (who previously scripted Enter the Dragon). It intentionally uses a camp style similar to the 1960s TV series Batman (for which Semple had written many episodes) in an attempt to appeal to fans of the original comics and serial films. However, it performed poorly outside the United Kingdom. The film is notable for its soundtrack composed, performed and produced by the rock band Queen (although orchestral sections were by Howard Blake).

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception and following
5 Soundtrack
6 Media
7 Awards
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
Plot[edit]
Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow) declares that he will first play with and then destroy the Earth using natural disasters. On Earth, New York Jets football star "Flash" Gordon (Sam J. Jones) boards a small plane, where he meets travel journalist Dale Arden (Melody Anderson). Mid-flight, the cockpit is hit by a meteorite and the pilots are lost. Flash takes control and manages to crash land into a greenhouse owned by Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol). Zarkov, who believes the disasters are being caused because an unknown source is pushing the Moon towards Earth, has secretly constructed a spacecraft which he plans to use to investigate. Zarkov's assistant refuses to go, so he lures Flash and Dale aboard. The rocket launches, taking them to the planet Mongo, where they are captured by Ming's troops.
The three are brought before Ming. He orders Dale be prepared for his pleasure. Flash tries to resist, but is overpowered. Ming orders Zarkov be reprogrammed and Flash executed. Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Ornella Muti), seduces Ming’s surgeon into saving Flash, to whom she is attracted. As they escape, Flash sees Zarkov being brainwashed by Klytus, the head of the secret police. Aura and Flash flee to Arboria, kingdom of Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), Aura's lover. En route, Aura teaches Flash to use a telepathic communicator to contact Dale. He lets her know he is alive. Dale is locked in Ming's bedchamber, but encouraged by Flash, she escapes. Klytus sends Zarkov to intercept Dale, who tells him and Klytus that Flash is alive. They then escape, as Zarkov reveals he resisted the brainwashing. They are captured by Prince Vultan's (Brian Blessed) Hawkmen and taken to Sky City.
Aura and Flash arrive at Arboria. Aura asks the Prince to keep Flash safe. A distrustful Barin, in love with Aura, agrees not to kill Flash, but then forces him to perform a deadly ritual. Barin and Flash take turns sticking their hands into a hollow stump with a giant scorpion-like Wood Beast inside. When Flash has to take an extra turn, he pretends to be stung as a distraction and escapes. Barin follows, but they are both captured by the Hawkmen.
Klytus informs Ming that Flash is alive and is given authority to find out who is responsible. Aura returns and is taken prisoner and tortured by Klytus and General Kala (Mariangela Melato). They force her to confess and Ming banishes her to the ice moon Frigia after his wedding. Meanwhile, Flash and Barin are taken to Sky City, where Flash and Dale are briefly reunited. Flash is forced to fight Barin to the death, but Barin joins him when Flash saves his life. Klytus arrives and Flash and Barin kill him. Knowing that this will bring retribution, Vultan orders the Hawkmen to evacuate, leaving Barin, Flash, Dale and Zarkov behind. Ming’s ship arrives and he orders Barin, Zarkov and Dale to be taken aboard. Ming is impressed with Flash, and offers him lordship over Earth in exchange for loyalty, which Flash refuses. Ming gives the order to destroy Vultan’s kingdom along with Flash. Flash finds a rocket cycle and escapes before Sky City is destroyed.
Flash contacts Vultan, who is hiding on Arboria and they plot an attack on Mingo City. Flash pretends to attack Mingo City alone on his rocket cycle. General Kala dispatches the war rocket Ajax to kill Flash, but the Hawkmen ambush and seize the rocket. Meanwhile, Princess Aura overpowers her guard and frees Barin and Zarkov from the execution chamber. Flash and the Hawkmen attack Mingo City in Ajax and Kala activates the defenses, as Ming and Dale’s wedding begins. Mingo City's lightning field can only be penetrated by flying Ajax into it at a suicidal speed. Flash volunteers to stay at the helm to ensure success and allow the Hawkmen to invade the city.
Barin and Zarkov enter the control room to stop the lightning field, encountering Kala who refuses to deactivate it. She attempts to kill Zarkov, but Barin shoots and kills her. Without Kala they are unable to deactivate the field from that control room. Barin tells Zarkov to hold the fort while he heads to Sector Alpha. Zarkov keeps trying, but is unable to deactivate the shield.
Barin fights through Ming's guards and gets to Sector Alpha and deactivates the lightning field before Ajax hits it. Flash flies the rocket ship into the city's wedding hall and the ship's bow impales Ming. He falls off the rocket nose, seriously wounded and Flash offers to spare his life if he will stop the attack on Earth, but Ming refuses. Ming attempts to use his power ring on Flash, but his power falters and nothing happens. He then aims the ring at himself and is seemingly vaporized by its remaining power seconds before the counter to the destruction of the Earth reaches zero. A huge victory celebration ensues.
Barin and Aura become the new leaders in Ming's place. Barin names Vultan the leader of their armies. Flash, Dale and Zarkov discuss returning to Earth. Zarkov says he doesn't know how they will get back, but they will try. Barin tells them all they're welcome to stay, but Dale says she's a New York City girl, and it's now too quiet around Mongo.
The final frame shows Ming's ring being picked up by the hand of an unseen person. Ming's laugh echoes as the credits roll.
Cast[edit]
Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon
Melody Anderson as Dale Arden
Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming the Merciless
Chaim Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov
Ornella Muti as Princess Aura
Timothy Dalton as a Prince Barin
Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan
Peter Wyngarde as General Klytus
Mariangela Melato as General Kala
Richard O'Brien as Fico
John Hallam as General Luro
John Morton as Airline pilot
Robbie Coltrane as Man at Airfield[4]
William Hootkins as Munson, Dr. Zarkov's assistant
Leon Greene as Colonel of Battle Control Room
Tony Scannell as Ming's officer
Bogdan Kominowski as a Lieutenant of Ming's Air Force
George Harris as Prince Thun
John Osborne as Arborian priest
Deep Roy as Fellini, Princess Aura's pet
Peter Duncan as Treeman
Bob Goody as Azurian Man
Production[edit]
Initially, producer De Laurentiis wanted Italian director Federico Fellini to direct the picture; in the late 1930s, with most American comics banned in Mussolini's Italy, the young Fellini had been approached to write some new adventures for the popular Flash Gordon character.[5] But despite this connection, the great director refused De Laurentiis' offer.
According to Empire magazine,[clarification needed] Sam J. Jones had disagreements of some sort with director Hodges and producer De Laurentiis and departed prior to post-production, which resulted in almost all of his dialogue being dubbed by a professional voice actor, whose identity is still a mystery.[citation needed] A sequel was proposed, but the departure of Jones effectively ended any such prospects.[1][6] The airfield scene at the beginning of the film, although set in the U.S., was shot at the Broadford Airfield in Skye, Scotland.[4]
Reception and following[edit]
Flash Gordon had a mediocre box office performance, grossing $27,107,960 in North America (equal to $70 - 75 million in 2010 dollars). The notable exception is the United Kingdom, where the film was a huge success, grossing about £13,864,652. The film did find appreciation with a few critics, notably The New Yorker's Pauline Kael. Max von Sydow (Ming) received a good deal of praise for his performance, despite Jones (Gordon) being nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for worst lead actor. Before the film's run in theaters, a sequel was considered and according to Brian Blessed on the Region 2 DVD commentary for Flash Gordon - Silver Anniversary Edition, the sequel was going to be set on Mars, as a possible update of the Buster Crabbe serials.
The film received overall positive reviews, holding a 82% approval rating at the movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 33 reviews.[2][7][7][8] The film is ranked #88 on the Rotten Tomatoes Journey Through Sci-Fi List (100 Best-Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies).[9]
Despite the commercial disappointment of the film, Flash Gordon has since become a cult classic with fans of science fiction and fantasy. It is a favorite of director Edgar Wright, who used the film as one of the visual influences for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Acclaimed comic book artist Alex Ross names the film as his favorite movie of all time. He painted the cover of the 2007 "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD release of the movie, and starred in a featurette to talk extensively about his affection for the film.[10] In Seth MacFarlane's 2012 comedy Ted, the characters of Ted (MacFarlane) and John (Mark Wahlberg) are fans of the film, and it is continually referenced. Sam J. Jones (playing himself) also appears in the film during a manic party sequence and in the film's conclusion.
Brian Blessed's performance as Prince Vultan lodged the veteran stage and screen actor into the collective consciousness for the utterance of a single line – "GORDON'S ALIVE?!" – which, more than 30 years later, remains the most repeated, reused, and recycled quotation from both the film and Blessed's career.[11][12][13]
Soundtrack[edit]
Main article: Flash Gordon (soundtrack)
The film's soundtrack was composed and performed by the rock band Queen. Flash Gordon was one of the earliest high-budget feature films to use a score primarily composed and performed by a rock band. An orchestral score was also composed by Howard Blake, and Blake's pieces from the film have been released on CD, alongside his score from Amityville 3-D.
Media[edit]
The film was originally released in North America via Universal Studios. Universal has retained the domestic theatrical and home video rights, while the international rights passed on through different companies, eventually landing with StudioCanal, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer representing. MGM now also owns the television rights under license from StudioCanal, which explains why the MGM logo appears before television airings of this film.
A comic book adaptation, written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by classic Flash Gordon artist Al Williamson (himself not a fan of the movie due to its overall campy nature, numerous script changes and resulting alterations to his artwork [14]), was released by Western Publishing to coincide with the film's release. It was serialized in three issues of the Flash Gordon comic book (#31-33) and released in a single large format softcover edition.
A novelization by Arthur Byron Cover of the movie script by Lorenzo Semple Jr. was published in 1980.
The film was released in 1981 on VHS, Betamax and MCA DiscoVision, and re-released in 1998 on both Laserdisc and Region 1 DVD via Universal. It was released in Region 2 in 2001 (Japan) and again in 2005 (UK/Europe); with the 2005 release including commentary by Brian Blessed winning the "Commentary of the Year" award from Hotdog Magazine for his humor and enthusiasm. On August 7, 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released a "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD in North America to coincide with The Sci Fi Channel's new television series. This special edition does not include the cast and crew interviews of the Region 2 release.
In October 2007, a high definition transfer of the film premiered on the MGM HD cable/satellite channel.
In November 2007, Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson together created a new commentary track for the international (non-USA) DVD edition of the film.[15][16] Flash Gordon was released on Blu-ray on June 15, 2010.[17]
Awards[edit]
Saturn Award
Nominated: Best CostumesNominated: Best Science Fiction FilmNominated: Best Supporting ActorBAFTA
Nominated: Best Costumes DesignNominated: Best Original Film MusicNominated: Best Art Design1st Golden Raspberry Award
Nominated: Worst Actor (Sam J. Jones)[18]
See also[edit]
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon (album)
Flesh Gordon (erotic parody)
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b "Mike Hodges: "Flash Gordon was a bumpy ride… "". Total Sci-fi Online. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
2.^ Jump up to: a b "Flash Gordon". Variety. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
3.Jump up ^ "Flash Gordon (1980)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
4.^ Jump up to: a b McKenzie, Steven (10 September 2013). "Flash Gordon: Actor Sam J Jones on the Skye connection". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
5.Jump up ^ Bullpress
6.Jump up ^ "Sequel Baiting Endings That Didn't Work". Empire. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
7.^ Jump up to: a b "Flash Gordon". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
8.Jump up ^ "Flash Gordon". Empire. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
9.Jump up ^ "RT's Journey Through Sci-Fi". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
10.Jump up ^ "Flash Gordon - Saviour of the Universe Edition". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
11.Jump up ^ "Brian Blessed" at the BBC's H2G2. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
12.Jump up ^ "Gordon's Alive! Flash returns to cinema screens", May 21, 2008 report for Dreamwatch's Total Sci-Fi website. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
13.Jump up ^ The singular phrase was much-used to refer to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, including Glen John Feechan's Accounting blog; Blessed himself on Have I Got News For You Series 35, episode 3 (broadcast on BBC1, May 2, 2008); Steven Poole reviewing Gordon Brown: Speeches 1997-2006 for the Guardian newspaper, etc.
14.Jump up ^ "Mark Schultz: Celebrating Al Williamson's Flash Gordon". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
15.Jump up ^ "Flash Gordon Commentary Featuring Sam Jones and Melody Anderson Just Released". Sci-Fi Storm. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
16.Jump up ^ "Flash Gordon - Saviour of the Universe Edition". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
17.Jump up ^ "Flash Gordon (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
18.Jump up ^ "Golden Raspberry Nominations 1980". Razzies.com. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon - Saviour of the Universe Edition
Flash Gordon at the Internet Movie Database
Flash Gordon at the TCM Movie Database
Flash Gordon at AllRovi
Flash Gordon at Box Office Mojo
Flash Gordon at Rotten Tomatoes



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Flash Gordon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Flash Gordon (disambiguation).

Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon.jpg
The first Flash Gordoncomic strip
 
Publication information

Publisher
King Features Syndicate
First appearance
January 7, 1934
Created by
Alex Raymond
In-story information

Team affiliations
Dale Arden(love interest),
Dr. Hans Zarkov(scientist)
Defenders of the Earth
Flash Gordonis the hero of a science fictionadventure comic striporiginally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogersadventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash Dixon(1935 to 1939) by H.T. Elmo and Larry Antoinette and Don Dixon and the Hidden Empire(1935 to 1941) by Carl Pfeuferand Bob Moore.[citation needed]
In Australia, the character and strip were retitled Speed Gordonto avoid a negative connotation of the word "Flash".[1]At the time, the predominant meaning of "flash" was "showy", connoting dishonesty.[2]In France, his adventures were published in Le Journal de Mickey, under the name "Guy l'Éclair". Dale Arden was named Camille in the French translation. In Spain, Mexico and some countries in Latin America, the strip is called Roldán el Temerario(Roldan the Fearless) and in Turkey the strip is called "Bay Tekin" (Mister Canny).
The Flash Gordoncomic strip has been translated into a wide variety of media, including motion pictures, television and animated series. The latest version, a Flash Gordontelevision series, appeared on the United States Sci-Fi Channelin 2007–2008 and then on the United Kingdom Sci-Fi Channel. A print comic bookseries by Brendan Deneen and Paul Green and published by Ardden Entertainment debuted in 2008, with the first arc entitled "The Mercy Wars". These were followed by further storylines.

Contents
 [hide] 1Characters and story
2Strip bibliography2.1Reprints
3Films3.1Film serials
3.21980 film
3.3A Christmas Story
3.4Flash Gordon 3D
3.5Flash Gordon Classic
4Television4.1Flash Gordon(1954-55 live-action)
4.2Flash Gordonanimated (1979-80)
4.3Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All(1982)
4.4Defenders of the Earth(1986)
4.5Flash Gordon(1996)
4.6Flash Gordon(2007-08 live-action)
5Radio serials
6Comic books
7Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine
8Novels
91939 World's Fair
10Reprints
11DVD releases11.1Film serials (1936-1940)11.1.1Flash Gordon (1936)
11.1.2Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)
11.1.3Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
11.2Flash Gordon (1954-55)
11.3The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979)
11.4Flash Gordon (1980)
11.5Defenders of the Earth
11.6Flash Gordon (1996)
12Parody
13Stamps
14References
15External links
Characters and story[edit]


Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon(February 25, 1934)
The comic strip follows the adventures of Flash Gordon, a handsome polo player and Yale Universitygraduate, and his companions Dale Ardenand Dr. Hans Zarkov. The story begins with Earth bombarded by fiery meteors. Dr. Zarkov invents a rocket ship to locate their place of origin in outer space. Half mad, he kidnaps Flash and Dale, whose plane has crashed in the area, and the three travel to the planet Mongo, where they discover the meteors are weapons devised by Ming the Merciless, evil ruler of Mongo.
For many years, the three companions have adventures on Mongo, traveling to the forest kingdom of Arboria, ruled by Prince Barin; the ice kingdom of Frigia, ruled by Queen Fria; the jungle kingdom of Tropica, ruled by Queen Desira; the undersea kingdom of the Shark Men, ruled by King Kala; and the flying city of the Hawkmen, ruled by Prince Vultan. They are joined in several early adventures by Prince Thunof the Lion Men. Eventually, Ming is overthrown, and Mongo is ruled by a council of leaders led by Barin. Flash and friends return to Earth and have some adventures before returning to Mongo and crashing in the kingdom of Tropica, before reuniting with Barin and others. Flash and his friends would travel to other worlds and frequently return to Mongo, where Prince Barin, married to Ming's daughter Princess Aura, has established a peaceful rule (except for frequent revolts led by Ming or by one of his many descendants). The long story of the Skorpii War takes Flash to other star systems, using starships that are faster than light.
Strip bibliography[edit]
See also: List of Flash Gordon comic strips
Sunday, Alex Raymond, 1934–1943
daily, Austin Briggs, 1940–1944
Sunday, Austin Briggs, 1944–1948
Sunday, Mac Raboy, 1948–1967
daily, Dan Barry, 1951–1990
daily, Harry Harrison, writer, 1958–1964
Sunday, Dan Barry, 1967–1990
Sunday and daily, Ralph Reese& Bruce Jones, Gray Morrow, 1990–1991
Sunday and daily, Thomas Warkentin, 1991–1992
Sunday, Richard Bruning, Kevin VanHook, Thomas Warkentin, 1992–1996
Sunday, Jim Keefe, 01/1996 - 03/2003
Reprints[edit]
Raymond's work, particularly his Sunday stripshas been reprinted many times over the years by many publishers, most notably Nostalgia Press, Kitchen Sink Pressand Checker Book Publishing Group.[citation needed]
The Mac RaboySundays have been reprinted by Dark Horse Comicsin black and white, while Kitchen Sink began to collect both the Dan Barry and Austin Briggs daily strips. Those stories written by noted author Harry Harrisonwere reprinted in Comics Revuemagazine, published by Manuscript Press. Tempo Bookspublished six mass-market paperbacksreprinting strips from the 1970s in the 1980s.
Two stories from the Dan Barry dailies, D2-133 "Baldur Battles Skorpi" (February 24 to May 10, 1986) and D2-134 "The Bear" (May 12 to August 21, 1986), were reprinted in an oblong format, 6.5 by 10.5 paperback edition with two strips per page by Budget Books PTY of Melbourne, Australia in 1987 under the title The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, ISBN 0-86801-795-7.
Films[edit]
Most of the Flash Gordon film and television adaptations retell the early adventures on the planet Mongo.
Film serials[edit]
Main article: Flash Gordon (serial)
Main article: Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
Main article: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
Flash Gordon was featured in three serial filmsstarring Buster Crabbe: Flash Gordon(1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars(1938), and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe(1940). The 1936 Flash Gordonserial was condensed into a feature-length film titled Flash Gordonor Rocket Shipor Space Soldiersor Flash Gordon: Spaceship to the Unknown;[3]the 1938 serial into a feature-length film entitled Flash Gordon: The Deadly Ray from Marsand the 1940 serial into a feature-length film entitled The Purple Death from Outer Space.
The first Flash Gordon serial remains copyrighted, but the compilation made of the second serial, and the third serial itself are in the public domain.[4]
1980 film[edit]
Main article: Flash Gordon (film)
The classic sci-fi adventure film Flash Gordon(1980) stars former Playgirl-centerfold[5]Sam J. Jonesin the title role. Its plot is based loosely on the first few years of the comic strip (in particular the famous Alex Raymond Sunday page, "Flight of the Hawkmen",[citation needed]) revising Flash's backstoryby making him the quarterbackof the New York Jetsinstead of a poloplayer. Raymond's drawings feature heavily in the opening credits, as does the signature theme-song "Flash!" by rock band Queen, who composed and performed the entire musical score.[6]


Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon(March 4, 1934). Flash and Thun rush to stop the wedding of Ming and Dale.
Riding the coattails of Star Wars, Superman, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Flash Gordonwas not a critical success on release, but the film has been buoyed by its later cult-status, and is particularly lauded for the calibre of both its score and supporting cast, which featured many notable actors. Melody Andersonco-starred with Jones as Dale Arden, alongside Chaim Topolas Dr. Hans Zarkov, Max von Sydowas Ming, Timothy Daltonas Prince Barin, Brian Blessedas Prince Vultan, Peter Wyngardeas Klytus and Ornella Mutias Princess Aura. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, with extraordinarily ornate production designs and costumes by Danilo Donati, the bright colors and retro effects were inspired directly by the comic strip and 1930s serials.[6]
Brian Blessed's performance as the Hawkman Prince Vultanlodged the veteran stage and screen actor into the collective consciousness for the utterance of a single line – "GORDON'S ALIVE?!" – which, more than 30 years later, remains the most repeated, reused, and recycled quotation from both the film and Blessed's career.[7][8][9]
The film's cult-status led it to feature heavily in the 2012 summer blockbuster Ted.
A Christmas Story[edit]
The 1983film A Christmas Storyfeatured a deleted scenewith Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun saving Flash (played by Paul Hubbard) from Ming (played by Colin Fox).[10]
Flash Gordon 3D[edit]
In 2010, it was announced that Breck Eisnerhad signed on to direct a 3D film version of Flash Gordon. "The film's story is in place and the screenplay is now being worked on."[11]
Flash Gordon Classic[edit]
In April 2013, Robb Pratt, director of the popular fan film Superman Classic, announced plans to make Flash Gordon Classic. The traditionally animated short will feature the characters Flash Gordon, girlfriend Dale Arden, sidekick Dr. Hans Zarkov, antagonist Ming the Merciless, and Princess Aura. Pratt expects production on the short to last approximately one year.[12]
Television[edit]
Flash Gordon(1954-55 live-action)[edit]
Main article: Flash Gordon (1954 TV series)
Steve Hollandstarred in a 1954-55 live-action television serieswhich ran for 39 episodes. The first 26 episodes had the distinction of being filmed in West Berlin, Germanyless than a decade after the end of World War II. This is notable, given that some episodes show the real-life destruction still evident in Germany several years after the war. The final 13 episodes were filmed in Marseille, France.
In this series, Flash, Dale (Irene Champlin) and Dr. Zarkov (Joseph Nash) worked for the Galactic Bureau of Investigation in the year 3203. The actual timeline was established in one episode, "Deadline at Noon", in which Flash, Dale and Dr. Zarkov went back in time to Berlin in the year 1953. The GBI agents traveled in the Skyflash and Skyflash II spaceships.
The series was syndicated, appearing on stations affiliated with the long-defunct DuMont Network, and many other independent stations in the United States. Stylistic similarities with the Buster Crabbe films are obvious, and may have been desired by the producers. It was recut into a movie in 1957.
Flash Gordonanimated (1979-80)[edit]
Main article: The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
In 1979, Filmationproduced an cartoon series, often referred to as The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, though it is actually titled Flash Gordon. The expanded title was used to distinguish it from previous versions. The project was originally designed as a TV film but NBC decided to change it into an animated series.
NBC was unhappy with the serial nature of the first season, as it clashed with their re-run style (details can be found on a documentary included on the DVD), so the second season was much changed and also aimed at a younger audience. Each episode included two stand-alone stories, often featuring a young dragon named Gremlin, introduced for comic relief. Unfortunately, this decision led to a decline in ratings and the show was canceled thereafter.
Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All(1982)[edit]
Main article: Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All
Filmationproduced this successful animated television movie, written by Star Trekwriter Samuel A. Peeples, before they began their Saturday morning series, but the TV-movie did not actually air until 1982. It was critically well-received, and is considered one of the best film versions of Flash Gordon, though it would never be re-broadcast following its premiere.[13]
This movie has yet to be commercially released in the United States, although some sources indicate that off-air bootlegs are prevalent. The only known commercial releases were by VAP Video in Japan (catalog #67019-128), c. 1983, in both laser disc and NTSC VHS videotape formats and in Bulgaria, where it was released on VHS "Van Chris" and "Drakar". The movie also aired numerous times on "Diema" Channel in the late 90s. In the Japanese release it is presented uncut with the original English voice track, with Japanese subtitles added for its intended audience. At the end of the movie is a trailer for the De Laurentiislive-action movie, as well as trailers for other titles from the VAP Video library at the time. The covers for both versions feature comic-strip panels, using stills taken from the movie. Its last listing was in VAP Video's catalog for 1983.[citation needed]
Defenders of the Earth(1986)[edit]
Main article: Defenders of the Earth
In the 1986 cartoon Defenders of the Earth, Flash teamed up with fellow King Featuresheroes The Phantomand Mandrake the Magicianin 65 episodes. This series took extreme liberties with all the characters, revealing that Flash and Dale Arden had conceived a son, Rick Gordon, who is in his mid-teens when the series begins. Dale has her mind torn from her body by Ming in the first episode and is preserved in a crystal, which Rick is able to recover and give to his father. Dale is reborn on Earth as Dynak-X, the strategic super-computer based in the Defenders' Headquarters.
Flash Gordon(1996)[edit]
Main article: Flash Gordon (1996 TV series)
In 1996, Hearst Entertainment premiered an animated Flash Gordontelevision series. This version turned Flash and Dale into hoverboardingteenagers.
Flash Gordon(2007-08 live-action)[edit]
Main article: Flash Gordon (2007 TV series)
The Sci-Fi Channelpremiered its new Flash Gordonseries in the United Stateson August 10, 2007. On January 12, 2007 at the Television Critics Associationtour, it was announced that the live-action series would comprise 22 one-hour episodes, produced in Canada in early 2007. Under an agreement with King Features Syndicate, the series was produced by Reunion Pictures of Vancouver with Robert Halmi Sr.and Robert Halmi Jr.of RHI Entertainmentserving as Executive Producers.
The characters of Ming, Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov were drastically altered. Eric Johnson, best known for his earlier work on the WB's Smallville, played the title character of Steven "Flash" Gordon. Gina Holden(who has appeared in Fantastic Fourand Aliens vs. Predator) played Dale Arden, Jody Racicot(Night at the Museum) played Dr. Hans Zarkov, and John Ralstonportrayed the arch-villain, Ming.
Advertisements featured a cover version of Queen's "Flash's Theme" (from the 1980 film) performed by the band Louis XIV. The song was not present in any episode of the show. The show was officially canceled in early 2008.
Radio serials[edit]
Starting April 22, 1935, the strip was adapted into The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon, a 26-episode weekly radio serial. The series followed the strip very closely, amounting to a week-by-week adaptation of the Sunday strip for most of its run.
Flash Gordon was played by Gale Gordon, later famous for his television roles in Our Miss Brooks, Dennis the Menace, The Lucy Showand Here's Lucy(the latter two with Lucille Ball). The cast also included Maurice Franklin as Dr. Zarkov and Bruno Wick as Ming the Merciless.[14]
The radio series broke with the strip continuity in the last two episodes, when Flash, Dale and Zarkov returned to Earth. They make a crash landing in Africa, where they meet Jungle Jim, the star of another of Alex Raymond's comic strips.
The series ended on October 26, 1935 with Flash and Dale's marriage. The next week, The Adventures of Jungle Jimpicked up in that Saturday timeslot.
Two days later, on October 28, The Further Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordondebuted as a daily show, running five days a week. This series strayed further from Raymond's strip, involving Flash, Dale and Zarkov in an adventure in Atlantis. The series aired 74 episodes, ending on February 6, 1936.[15]
Comic books[edit]
Over the years, several publishers have produced Flash Gordoncomics, either reprints or original stories.
David McKay PublicationsKing Comics#1–155 (1936–1949) [strip reprints]
Dell ComicsFour Color Comics#10, 84, 173, 190, 204, 247, 424, 512; Flash Gordon#2 (1945–1953) [first 2 strip reprints]
Harvey Comics#1–5 (1950) [strip reprints]
Gold Key Comics#1 (1965) [reprints FC #173]
King Comics#1–11 (1966–1967) (also in Phantom#18–20)
Charlton Comics#12–18 (1969–1970)
Gold Key Comics#19–27 (1978–1979); under their "Whitman Comics" #28–37 (1980–1982)
King also released a comic version as a part of their Comics Reading Library in the 1970s. In 1988, Dan Jurgenswrote a modernized version of the comic strip as a nine-issue DC Comicsminiseries. It featured: Flash as a washed up basketballplayer who finds new purpose in life on Mongo, Dale as an adventurous reporter who is just as capable as Flash, and a gray-skinned Ming who is less of an Asian stereotype.
The series ran for the planned nine issues and was left with an open-ended conclusion. Though Mongo was not a threat to Earth in this series, Ming had every intention of conquering Earth once he coerced Dr. Zarkov into designing the needed ships.
In 1995, Marvel Comicsdid a two-issue series with art by Al Williamsonin the style of the Flashcomics he had produced for King and others.
A new comic book series was released by Ardden Entertainment in August 2008, though with inconsistent release dates for subsequent issues. The initital story arc concluded in mid-2009 with an open door to an announced new story arc to begin fall 2009.[16][17]Ardden also published a Flash Gordon anthology entitled The Secret History of Mongo. Ardden's second Flash Gordon arc is titled Invasion of the Red Sword(2010). Two other arcs were completed.
A reprint of all of Al Williamson's Flash Gordon comic books in black and white was printed by Flesk in 2009.
In 2010, Dark Horse Comicsbegan an archive reprint series in hardback, starting with the original comics published by Dell. The second volume covers the comics published by King Comics, the third covers the comics published by Charlton Comics, the fourth covers the comics published by Gold Key, and the fifth covers the comics published by Whitman.
In 2011, Dynamite Entertainmentbegan a new series called Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist. The series is written by Eric Trautmann (Vampirella, Red Sonja), from a story and designs by Alex Ross(Kingdom Come, Marvels, Project: Superpowers) and illustrated by Daniel Lindro.[18]The company also produced a spinoff miniseries, Merciless: The Rise of Ming, in 2012, with story and art by Scott Beattyand Ron Adrian.[19]
Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine[edit]
In 1936, one issue of Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazinewas published by Harold Hersey, featuring a novel about Flash Gordon, entitled The Master of Mars. It was written by little-known author James Edison Northford. The saddle-stitched novel was based (more or less) on the comic strip story lines, and included color illustrations reminiscent of Alex Raymond's artwork. On the back pages a second installment, The Sun Men of Saturn, was promised, but it never saw print. Even though the series did not gain in popularity, the lone issue of Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazinehas become a much sought-after item for pulp magazine collectors.
Novels[edit]
The first novel based on the strip, Flash Gordon in the Caverns of Mongo, was published in 1936 by Grosset & Dunlap. The credited author was Alex Raymond. Like the pulp magazine of the same year, it failed to launch a series.
In 1973, Avon books launched a six-book series of adult-oriented Flash Gordon novels: The Lion Men of Mongo, The Plague of Sound, The Space Circus, The Time Trap of Ming XIII, The Witch Queen of Mongoand The War of the Cybernauts. Although the books were credited to Alex Raymond, they were all written by SF writer Ron Goulart.
In 1980, Tempo books released a series by David Hagberg: Massacre in the 22nd Century, War of the Citadels, Crisis on Citadel II, Forces from the Federation, Citadels under Attackand Citadels on Earth. Except for the names of the hero and his co-stars of Dale Ardenand Dr. Hans Zarkov, this series had little to do with any other version of Flash Gordon.
1939 World's Fair[edit]
The name "Flash Gordon" was emblazoned on the proscenium of a ride at the 1939 New York World's Fair. An article in Popular Science(March 1939) described how 150 people could enter a ride designed to resemble a rocket ship with a motion picture screen and vibrating seats for a simulated trip to another planet. The ride was located "at the opposite end of the amusement zone from the parachute tower". Fairgoers walked around a simulation of Venus as a jungle planet, inhabited by mechanical dinosaurs to enter a "Martian Headquarters", where "weirdly costumed Martians and mechanically animated models of giant beasts enact[ed] episodes from the adventures of Flash Gordon". The ride's Martians did not look like those in the 1938 serial, nor did the rocket ship.[20]
Reprints[edit]
The Alex Raymond Sunday stripshave been reprinted by several publishers, notably Nostalgia Press, Kitchen Sink Press, and Checker Book Publishing Group. The Kitchen Sink and Checker versions are in color, Nostalgia Press did one in black and white and the others in color. The Mac Raboy Sundays have been reprinted by Dark Horsein black and white. The Dan Barry dailies have never been entirely reprinted, but the early years were published by Kitchen Sinkand the stories written by Harry Harrisonare reprinted in Comics Revuefrom Manuscript Press. Tempo Books published six mass market paperbacks reprinting strips from the 1970s into the 1980s. Some of the Austin Briggs dailies were reprinted by Kitchen Sink Press. A reprint of all of Al Williamson's Flash Gordoncomic books was released in 2009.
Flash Gordon on the Planet Mongo (1934–35), Nostalgia
Flash Gordon in the Water World (1935–37), Nostalgia
Flash Gordon Escapes to Arboria (1937–39), Nostalgia
Flash Gordon vs Frozen Terrors (1939–40), Nostalgia
Flash Gordon Joins the Power Men (1940–41), Nostalgia
Mongo, Planet of Doom (1934–35), Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-114-7
Three Against Ming (1935–37), Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-120-1
The Tides of Battle (1937–39), Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-162-7
The Fall of Ming (1939–41), Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-168-6
Between Worlds at War (1941–43), Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-177-5
Triumph in Tropica (1943–44), Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-199-6
Flash Gordon: The Dailies by Austin Briggs 1940-1942 Volume 1, Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-172-4(strips from 1940)
Flash Gordon: The Dailies by Austin Briggs 1940-1942 Volume 2, Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-187-2(strips from 1941)
Flash Gordon The Complete Daily Strips 1951-1953, Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-035-3
Flash Gordon - Star Over Atlantis, Dan Barry, Manuscript Press, 2007, ISBN 0-936414-16-2, ISBN 978-0-936414-16-4, dailies 1953 - 1954.
Flash Gordon: Volume 1 (1934–35), Checker Book Publishing GroupISBN 0-9741664-3-X
Flash Gordon: Volume 2 (1935–36), Checker Book Publishing GroupISBN 0-9741664-6-4
Flash Gordon: Volume 3 (1936–37), Checker Book Publishing GroupISBN 1-933160-25-X
Flash Gordon: Volume 4 (1938–40), Checker Book Publishing GroupISBN 1-933160-26-8
Flash Gordon: Volume 5 (1940–41), Checker Book Publishing GroupISBN 1-933160-27-6
Flash Gordon: Volume 6 (1941–43), Checker Book Publishing GroupISBN 1-933160-28-4
Flash Gordon: Volume 7 (1943–45), Checker Book Publishing GroupISBN 1-933160-20-9
Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 1, Dark Horse Comics ISBN 1-56971-882-2(Sundays, 1948-1953 S32-S45)
Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 2, Dark Horse Comics (Sunday, 1953–1958)
Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 3, Dark Horse Comics ISBN 1-56971-978-0(Sundays, 1958–1962)
Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 4, Dark Horse Comics (Sundays, 1962–1967)
The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 1 Tempo Books ISBN 0-448-17349-2(S132/D2-097 - S135)
The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 2 Tempo Books ISBN 0-448-17348-4(D2-081, D2-082)
The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 3 Tempo Books ISBN 0-448-17347-6(S114-S118)
The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 4 Tempo Books ISBN 0-448-17155-4(D2-105, D2-107)
The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 5 Tempo Books ISBN 0-448-17208-9(D2-098)
The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 6 Tempo Books ISBN 0-448-17245-3(D2-102, D2-109)
Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic, Flesk ISBN 1-933865-13-X
DVD releases[edit]
Flash Gordon has been released to DVD under a variety of titles and in both edited and non-edited versions. The serials and 50s TV show have no shortage of public domain DVD releases.
Film serials (1936-1940)[edit]
Flash Gordon (1936)[edit]
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers. (245 minutes)
Flash Gordon: Spaceship to the Unknown. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (edited to 98 minutes)
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)[edit]
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars(2 discs). (299 minutes)
Flash Gordon: O raio mortal de Marte. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (97 minutes)
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)[edit]
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. (234 minutes)
Flash Gordon: The Peril from Planet Mongo. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (edited to 91 minutes)
Flash Gordon (1954-55)[edit]
Flash Gordon(3 Volumes). Alpha Home Entertainment (only 13 of the episodes have been released thus far).
The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979)[edit]
US – BCI Eclipse
The New Adventures of Flash Gordon: The Complete Series(4–Discs). 600 minutes
UK – Hollywood DVD LTD
The Adventures of Flash Gordon – Castaways in Tropica
The Adventures of Flash Gordon – Blue Magic
Flash Gordon (1980)[edit]
On May 6, 1998, Image Entertainment released the 1980 film on DVD in North America for DVD Region 1territories through a contract with Universal, but it quickly went out of print.
Momentum Pictures later released it in the UK for DVD Region 2territories on October 10, 2005. This edition of the film, the "Silver Anniversary Edition", features an anamorphic widescreen transfer at the film's 2.4:1 aspect ratio, both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio, the original Queen theatrical trailer, an audio commentary by director Mike Hodges, a second audio commentary from actor Brian Blessed, an interview with Mike Hodges, a photo slideshow and an original 1940s Serial, episode one of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.
Universal released the film on August 7, 2007 in North America and Region 1 territories once again. The new disc, entitled the "Saviour of the Universe Edition", features a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Extras include an "Alex Ross on Flash Gordon" featurette in which world-renowned comic artist Alex Rosstalks about the film and how it has inspired him in his life and work, a "Writing a Classic" featurette with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr.and a Flash Gordon 1936 serial episode (chapter one of Planet of Peril).
Defenders of the Earth[edit]
US – BCI Ecplise
Defenders of the Earth – Complete Series Volume 1(5 Discs) 33 Episodes
Defenders of the Earth – Complete Series Volume 2(5 Discs) 32 Episodes (Spring 2007)
UK – Hollywood DVD LTD
Defenders of The Earth – The Story Begins
UK – Delta Music PLC
Defenders of the Earth Movie(3 Discs)
Defenders of the Earth Vol 1
Defenders of the Earth Vol 2
Defenders of the Earth Vol 3
Defenders of the Earth Movie – Prince Of Kro-Tan
Defenders of the Earth Movie – Necklace Of Oros
Defenders of the Earth Movie – The Book Of Mysteries
Flash Gordon (1996)[edit]
Lion's Gate on September 21, 2004, released three 4-episode DVDs of Flash Gordon(1996) and Phantom 2040.
Flash Gordon: Marooned on Mongo – The Animated Movie(97 minutes)
Parody[edit]
Flesh Gordonis a 1974 American eroticscience fictionadventurecomedy film. It is an erotic spoof of the Universal PicturesFlash Gordonserialsfrom the 1930s.[21]The screenplay was written by Michael Benveniste, who also co-directed the film with Howard Ziehm. The cast includes Jason Williams, Suzanne Fields, and William Dennis Hunt.
The film had an MPAArating of X, but was also re-edited for a reduced rating of R. It has an original runtime of 78 minutes, and the unrated "collector's edition" release runs 90 minutes.
Stamps[edit]
In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classicsseries of commemorative US Postal Servicepostage stamps.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^p.42 Burrows, Toby & Stone, Grant Comics in Australia and New Zealand1994 Routledge
2.Jump up ^"ANDC – The Australian National Dictionary: Additions and Corrections, by James Lambert". Anu.edu.au. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
3.Jump up ^Flash Gordonat the Internet Movie Database
4.Jump up ^http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/75122/Rocket-Ship/notes.htmlhttp://books.google.com/books?id=dQIAoAGnKm0C
5.Jump up ^Flash Gordonreview for UK TV's Channel 4. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
6.^ Jump up to: abCool Cinema Trash's Flash Gordon: Saviour of the Universe EditionDVD Review & Summary. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
7.Jump up ^"Brian Blessed" at the BBC's H2G2. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
8.Jump up ^"Gordon's Alive! Flash returns to cinema screens", May 21, 2008 report for Dreamwatch's Total Sci-Fiwebsite. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
9.Jump up ^The singular phrase was much-used to refer to British Prime MinisterGordon Brown, including Glen John Feechan's Accounting blog; Blessed himself on Have I Got News For YouSeries 35, episode 3(broadcast on BBC1, May 2, 2008); Steven Poolereviewing Gordon Brown: Speeches 1997-2006for the Guardiannewspaper, etc.
10.Jump up ^"Deleted Scenes – A Christmas Story House – Ralphie's House Restored to its A Christmas Story Splendor". A Christmas Story House. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
11.Jump up ^"Director Breck Eisner Exclusive Interview The Crazies – Plus an Update on Flash Gordon". Collider.com. 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
12.Jump up ^"Superman Classiccreator Robb Pratt unveils Flash Gordon Classic". AnimatedViews.com. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
13.Jump up ^Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of Allat the Internet Movie Database
14.Jump up ^"Audio Classics Archive: The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon". Audio-classics.com. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
15.Jump up ^"Radio Science Fiction: Information and Help to the New Collector", by Terry G.G. Salmonson. Retrieved 09-11-07.
16.Jump up ^"Ardden Entertainment's site". Ardden-entertainment.com. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
17.Jump up ^Previewing Ardden's Flash Gordon #1, Newsarama, June 12, 2008
18.Jump up ^http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dynamite-entertainment-flash-gordon-110825.html
19.Jump up ^http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36384
20.Jump up ^"World's Fair Thrills", Popular Science. March, 1939.
21.Jump up ^Sobchack, Vivian Carol (1997). Screening space: the American science fiction film(2nd ed.). Rutgers University Press. p. 165. ISBN 0-8135-2492-X.
External links[edit]
Flash Gordonat King Features
Flash Gordonat the Grand Comics Database
Flash Gordonat the Comic Book DB
Flash Gordonat the Internet Movie Database
Flash Gordon (1954 TV show)at epguides.com
3rd Flash Gordon serial Conquers the Universe, full public domain download in DVD quality for free plus in the audio section the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers Radio serials
I Love Comix Archive: Flash Gordon
Interview with 2008 Flash Gordan comic creator Brendan Deneenat comiXology
The New Adventures of Flash Gordonat the Big Cartoon DataBase

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Categories: Flash Gordon
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