Movie-A-Day #212: The Shadow (1994).
The Shadow, one of the great early pulp detective heroes, made his debut on the radio in “Detective Story Hour” on July 31, 1930. The character became a massive hit, quickly spinning off into his own radio show, numerous pulp magazines and even film adaptations. But despite all that early success, The Shadow wound up not having the staying power of his pulp brethren like Batman or even The Phantom (who still stars in his own daily comic strip). The well-meaning but very uneven 1994 film version with Alec Baldwin was a much belated last hurrah for a character that was, sadly, already past its prime.
Movie-A-Day #211: The Thief of Bagdad (1940).
The city of Baghdad was founded on this date in 762 A.D. to be the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Although it is struggling to rebuild these days after years of war, it was once the thriving heart of the Ottoman Empire and one of the leading scientific, artistic and cultural center of its day. Baghdad has also been featured in countless Middle Eastern folk tales like “One Thousand and One Nights,” which the 1940 version of “The Thief of Bagdad” captures in all its Technicolor exuberance.
Movie-A-Day #210: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942).
Today marks the birth of American author Booth Tarkington, whose novel “The Magnificent Ambersons” was adapted by Orson Welles as his second film and follow-up to the legendary “Citizen Kane.” Sadly, battles with the studio over budget, final cut and the size of Welles’ ego got in the way, making this an imperfect, truncated masterpiece. But what is there is enough to hint at the tantalizing possibility of just how great this film could have been. And I’m not sure what director besides Welles could give the novel the treatment it deserves, so we may never see it done right.
Movie-A-Day #209: Summer School (1987).
It’s another lovely midsummer’s day. Screw whatever else you have planned for today and head out to your nearest convenient body of water to enjoy the sun. If you’ve got work, call in sick. And if you’ve got summer school, ditch. Who wants to go to school during the summer anyway?
Movie-A-Day #208: M*A*S*H (1970).
Today is National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. The Korean War has produced nearly the movie legacy as most of the United States’ other armed conflicts, which is kind of unfortunate. Even the best of that thin bunch, “M*A*S*H,” is really about a different war on a subtextual level. What a forgotten war.
Desuko Movie Spot. 