Judy Nichols's Blog - Posts Tagged "kevin-bacon"
2017 - My Year of Bacon
Every year, I get a new calendar. I take this choice very seriously, as I know I will be looking at the pictures every day for an entire year.
My 2016 calendar was black and white photographs of Paris landmarks like Notre Dame and the Louvre and the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre. I could imagine myself sitting at a sidewalk bistro by the River Seine, reading poetry as I sipped my cafe au lait.
The year before I had Neil deGrasse Tyson's Cosmos calendar which took me to the farthest ends of the universe with his Ship of the Imagination. When things got hectic, it was very calming to look at a close up of the rings of Saturn or a worm hole. Always put things into perspective.
This year, my calendar is classic movie posters. I figured with all the chaos going on in the world right now, I could use a reminder of my favorite way to escape--watching a good movie.
After I hung up the calendar in the kitchen, I decided that I'd have a little fun with the various posters, playing Six Degrees of Bacon with one of the stars in each month's featured film.
It is quite a challenge, especially since the first movie was 1925's "The Gold Rush" starring Charlie Chaplin. But he wrote, directed and had a cameo appearance in a film called "A Countess from Hong Kong" starring Sophia Loren.
Who was in "Desire Under the Elms" with Burl Ives.
Who was in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with Paul Newman.
Who was in "Road to Perdition" with Tom Hanks.
Who was in "Apollo 13" with KEVIN BACON!!!!
Normally I avoid using all caps, but when you play Six Degrees of Bacon, you always shout his name at the end.
For the rest of the year, I will be posting my degrees of Bacon on the first of each month on my Facebook page.
I've already gone through all 12 movies and have my transitions ready. I've vowed never to use the same Bacon film twice. Which was also a challenge, as my favorite go-to Bacon movies are "River Wild," because Meryl Streep has been in so many films with so many actors, and "Sleepers" because that has damn near every big Hollywood star in it (Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt).
February is the classic Billy Wilder film "Double Indemnity" starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. Go to my Facebook page to check out how I got to Bacon. Or should I say who I got to Bacon?
Feel free to print your own alternative routes to other Bacon movies.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
My 2016 calendar was black and white photographs of Paris landmarks like Notre Dame and the Louvre and the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre. I could imagine myself sitting at a sidewalk bistro by the River Seine, reading poetry as I sipped my cafe au lait.
The year before I had Neil deGrasse Tyson's Cosmos calendar which took me to the farthest ends of the universe with his Ship of the Imagination. When things got hectic, it was very calming to look at a close up of the rings of Saturn or a worm hole. Always put things into perspective.
This year, my calendar is classic movie posters. I figured with all the chaos going on in the world right now, I could use a reminder of my favorite way to escape--watching a good movie.
After I hung up the calendar in the kitchen, I decided that I'd have a little fun with the various posters, playing Six Degrees of Bacon with one of the stars in each month's featured film.
It is quite a challenge, especially since the first movie was 1925's "The Gold Rush" starring Charlie Chaplin. But he wrote, directed and had a cameo appearance in a film called "A Countess from Hong Kong" starring Sophia Loren.
Who was in "Desire Under the Elms" with Burl Ives.
Who was in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with Paul Newman.
Who was in "Road to Perdition" with Tom Hanks.
Who was in "Apollo 13" with KEVIN BACON!!!!
Normally I avoid using all caps, but when you play Six Degrees of Bacon, you always shout his name at the end.
For the rest of the year, I will be posting my degrees of Bacon on the first of each month on my Facebook page.
I've already gone through all 12 movies and have my transitions ready. I've vowed never to use the same Bacon film twice. Which was also a challenge, as my favorite go-to Bacon movies are "River Wild," because Meryl Streep has been in so many films with so many actors, and "Sleepers" because that has damn near every big Hollywood star in it (Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt).
February is the classic Billy Wilder film "Double Indemnity" starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. Go to my Facebook page to check out how I got to Bacon. Or should I say who I got to Bacon?
Feel free to print your own alternative routes to other Bacon movies.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Six Degrees of Bacon for April
Okay, now that we've gotten through April Fool's Day, I have flipped my 2017 Classic Film Posters Calendar to a new month, and we all know what that means.
Six Degrees of BACON!!!!
"The African Queen" was released in 1951, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, directed by John Huston. Bogie played the gin swilling captain of the riverboat in the title and Katherine Hepburn was the strait-laced missionary who persuaded him to use his boat to attack an enemy warship.
"Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we were put in this world to rise above," Hepburn says when Bogie tells her drinking gin is just his nature.
A Facebook friend pointed out that this film was essentially remade in 1975, with Hepburn reprising her strait-laced missionary role, but with John Wayne in Bogart's role (Bogart had died of lung cancer 18 years earlier). It was billed as a sequel to the very popular "True Grit," for which Wayne won his Oscar in 1970, but aside from the eye patch, it was for all intents and purposes "The African Queen Out West."
By the way, John Wayne will make an appearance later on this year. Everyone knows you can't put together a calendar of classic film posters without one from the Duke.
So let's make our way to Kevin Bacon, starting with Katharine Hepburn:
1. Who was in "The Rainmaker" with Burt Lancaster,
2. Who was in "Atlantic City" with Susan Sarandon
3. Who was in "Dead Man Walking" with Sean Penn
4. Who was in "Mystic River" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!
As always, feel free to come up with your own Bacon connections.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Six Degrees of BACON!!!!
"The African Queen" was released in 1951, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, directed by John Huston. Bogie played the gin swilling captain of the riverboat in the title and Katherine Hepburn was the strait-laced missionary who persuaded him to use his boat to attack an enemy warship.
"Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we were put in this world to rise above," Hepburn says when Bogie tells her drinking gin is just his nature.
A Facebook friend pointed out that this film was essentially remade in 1975, with Hepburn reprising her strait-laced missionary role, but with John Wayne in Bogart's role (Bogart had died of lung cancer 18 years earlier). It was billed as a sequel to the very popular "True Grit," for which Wayne won his Oscar in 1970, but aside from the eye patch, it was for all intents and purposes "The African Queen Out West."
By the way, John Wayne will make an appearance later on this year. Everyone knows you can't put together a calendar of classic film posters without one from the Duke.
So let's make our way to Kevin Bacon, starting with Katharine Hepburn:
1. Who was in "The Rainmaker" with Burt Lancaster,
2. Who was in "Atlantic City" with Susan Sarandon
3. Who was in "Dead Man Walking" with Sean Penn
4. Who was in "Mystic River" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!
As always, feel free to come up with your own Bacon connections.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Six Degrees of Bacon, Rosemary's Baby
Welcome to the fifth installment of our year long game of Six Degrees of Bacon. Where has the year gone?
This month is that classic scarefest "Rosemary's Baby" starring Mia Farrow and John Cassevetes. A film about a guy who makes a deal with the creepy old Satanists next door--they arrange for his acting career to take off in exchange for letting them conjure up the devil to impregnate his wife.
The image of that baby carriage on the mountain top alone is enough to give you the heeby-jeebies.
"This is no dream! This is really happening!!!" Farrow screams in the film.
Since the election, I've been screaming that a lot myself.
If any of you watched Feud on FX, you should remember the scene where Joan Crawford is promoting "Straitjacket" in Oklahoma City, along with its producer/director William Castle, master of the B-movie horror film as well as the cheesy promotional gimmick. Like handing out little cardboard axes to the audience before the the film starts.
Anyway, Castle mortgaged his house to buy the film rights to the Ira Levin novel, hoping to finally direct a prestigious A movie, but alas Paramount Pictures insisted on Roman Polanski as director and Castle had to settle for producing the film. According to Wikipeidia, he has a cameo in the film--grey haired man standing outside the phone booth as Mia Farrow frantically tries to call her obstetrician.
But back to our game. I've chosen to start with Ruth Gordon, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minnie Castevet, the little old lady Devil Worshiper next door.
So here goes:
Ruth Gordon was in "Harold and Maude" with Bud Cort,
Who was in "M*A*S*H" with Donald Sutherland,
Who was in "Ordinary People" with Elizabeth McGovern,
Who was in "She's Having a Baby" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!
I'm especially proud of this one. Notice we went from "Rosemary's Baby" to "She's Having a Baby." Both films about pregnant women, although there's a happier ending in the Bacon film.
As always, feel free to come up with your own connections. And we'll do it all again with another great movie, next month.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
This month is that classic scarefest "Rosemary's Baby" starring Mia Farrow and John Cassevetes. A film about a guy who makes a deal with the creepy old Satanists next door--they arrange for his acting career to take off in exchange for letting them conjure up the devil to impregnate his wife.
The image of that baby carriage on the mountain top alone is enough to give you the heeby-jeebies.
"This is no dream! This is really happening!!!" Farrow screams in the film.
Since the election, I've been screaming that a lot myself.
If any of you watched Feud on FX, you should remember the scene where Joan Crawford is promoting "Straitjacket" in Oklahoma City, along with its producer/director William Castle, master of the B-movie horror film as well as the cheesy promotional gimmick. Like handing out little cardboard axes to the audience before the the film starts.
Anyway, Castle mortgaged his house to buy the film rights to the Ira Levin novel, hoping to finally direct a prestigious A movie, but alas Paramount Pictures insisted on Roman Polanski as director and Castle had to settle for producing the film. According to Wikipeidia, he has a cameo in the film--grey haired man standing outside the phone booth as Mia Farrow frantically tries to call her obstetrician.
But back to our game. I've chosen to start with Ruth Gordon, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minnie Castevet, the little old lady Devil Worshiper next door.
So here goes:
Ruth Gordon was in "Harold and Maude" with Bud Cort,
Who was in "M*A*S*H" with Donald Sutherland,
Who was in "Ordinary People" with Elizabeth McGovern,
Who was in "She's Having a Baby" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!
I'm especially proud of this one. Notice we went from "Rosemary's Baby" to "She's Having a Baby." Both films about pregnant women, although there's a happier ending in the Bacon film.
As always, feel free to come up with your own connections. And we'll do it all again with another great movie, next month.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Playing Six Degrees of Bacon with "Saving Private Ryan"
My God, it's another month. June already? Hey, at least this year is going fast.
We all know what a new month means. Another round of Six Degrees of Bacon!!!!!
This month's poster is "Saving Private Ryan," the classic World War II drama, staring Tom Hanks and directed by Stephen Spielberg. It's the story of of a group of six Army Rangers led by Captain John Miller (Hanks) ordered to find paratrooper Private James Ryan, the last surviving brother of four serviceman.
The film begins with 22 minutes of the most realistic battle footage ever filmed. Ballinesker Beach in County Wexford, Ireland stood in for Omaha Beach in Normandy and 1500 extras were used to portray the action, including 20 to 30 amputees. That scene alone cost $12 million to film (about $26 million in today's dollars).
This film gave me fits as I tried to figure out who to use. Hanks was out of the running, as I used him back in January ("Apollo 13").
So I decided to go with the actor who played the title character, Private Ryan himself--Mat Dammon.
Who was in "Dogma" with Ben Affleck
Who was in "Argo" with Alan Arkin
Who was in "Catch-22" with Charles Grodin
Who was in "Midnight Run" with Robert De Niro
Who was in "Falling in Love" with Meryl Streep
Who was in "The River Wild" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!!!!!
A bit longer than it could have been, but I figure I should get something for having sat through the really boring "Falling in Love" back in 1984. What can I say? My mother wanted to see it. She always was a hopeless romantic.
As always feel free to come up with your own connections.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
We all know what a new month means. Another round of Six Degrees of Bacon!!!!!
This month's poster is "Saving Private Ryan," the classic World War II drama, staring Tom Hanks and directed by Stephen Spielberg. It's the story of of a group of six Army Rangers led by Captain John Miller (Hanks) ordered to find paratrooper Private James Ryan, the last surviving brother of four serviceman.
The film begins with 22 minutes of the most realistic battle footage ever filmed. Ballinesker Beach in County Wexford, Ireland stood in for Omaha Beach in Normandy and 1500 extras were used to portray the action, including 20 to 30 amputees. That scene alone cost $12 million to film (about $26 million in today's dollars).
This film gave me fits as I tried to figure out who to use. Hanks was out of the running, as I used him back in January ("Apollo 13").
So I decided to go with the actor who played the title character, Private Ryan himself--Mat Dammon.
Who was in "Dogma" with Ben Affleck
Who was in "Argo" with Alan Arkin
Who was in "Catch-22" with Charles Grodin
Who was in "Midnight Run" with Robert De Niro
Who was in "Falling in Love" with Meryl Streep
Who was in "The River Wild" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!!!!!
A bit longer than it could have been, but I figure I should get something for having sat through the really boring "Falling in Love" back in 1984. What can I say? My mother wanted to see it. She always was a hopeless romantic.
As always feel free to come up with your own connections.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Six Degrees of Bacon, Round 7
It's July 1st, and as I always do on the first of every month, I've flipped the page on my Classic Movie Posters calendar and we're playing another round of Six Degrees of Bacon with one of the stars.
This month's movie is the 1982 cross dressing comedy of errors "Tootsie" starring Dustin Hoffman as unemployed actor Michael Dorsey, who manages to pass himself off as a woman to get a part on a soap opera. Hilarity ensues. Also in the cast are Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr and Charles Durning.
I watched it this morning and I have to say with all the old hag parts Jessica Lange has played lately (Big Edie in "Grey Gardens," Joan Crawford in "Feud," various Evil Women on "American Horror Story"), it certainly was nice to see her in her younger days.
But hey, it's 35 years later and she's still working regularly in a business where youth and beauty are prerequisites for movie and television roles. As if we never get old. You go, Jessica.
My favorite part of the movie was when Michael meets with his agent George, played by director Sidney Pollack, who tells him he can't get him parts because no one wants to work with him. He cites all the trouble Michael caused when he refused to sit down when playing a tomato for a TV commercial.
"You were a tomato! A tomato doesn't have logic! It can't move!"
"I was a stand-up tomato! A juicy, sexy beefsteak tomato!"
OK, enough idle chat. Let's get started:
Dustin Hoffman was in "Midnight Cowboy" with Jon Voight
Who was in "Deliverance" with Burt Reynolds
Who was in "Boogie Nights" with John C. Reilly
Who was in "The Perfect Storm" with George Clooney
Who was in "Oceans 11" with Julia Roberts
Who was in "Flatliners" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!
It goes without saying (but I'm saying it anyway) that you are welcome to add any different routes to Bacon. What better way to spend your Fourth of July holiday?
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
This month's movie is the 1982 cross dressing comedy of errors "Tootsie" starring Dustin Hoffman as unemployed actor Michael Dorsey, who manages to pass himself off as a woman to get a part on a soap opera. Hilarity ensues. Also in the cast are Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr and Charles Durning.
I watched it this morning and I have to say with all the old hag parts Jessica Lange has played lately (Big Edie in "Grey Gardens," Joan Crawford in "Feud," various Evil Women on "American Horror Story"), it certainly was nice to see her in her younger days.
But hey, it's 35 years later and she's still working regularly in a business where youth and beauty are prerequisites for movie and television roles. As if we never get old. You go, Jessica.
My favorite part of the movie was when Michael meets with his agent George, played by director Sidney Pollack, who tells him he can't get him parts because no one wants to work with him. He cites all the trouble Michael caused when he refused to sit down when playing a tomato for a TV commercial.
"You were a tomato! A tomato doesn't have logic! It can't move!"
"I was a stand-up tomato! A juicy, sexy beefsteak tomato!"
OK, enough idle chat. Let's get started:
Dustin Hoffman was in "Midnight Cowboy" with Jon Voight
Who was in "Deliverance" with Burt Reynolds
Who was in "Boogie Nights" with John C. Reilly
Who was in "The Perfect Storm" with George Clooney
Who was in "Oceans 11" with Julia Roberts
Who was in "Flatliners" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!
It goes without saying (but I'm saying it anyway) that you are welcome to add any different routes to Bacon. What better way to spend your Fourth of July holiday?
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Six Degrees of Bacon for August
Happy first day of August. First of the month means another round of Six Degrees of Bacon. Hard to believe we're up to the eighth film in my 2017 Classic Movie Poster Calendar.
This month it's "Stagecoach," (1939), described on the poster as "A Powerful Story of 9 Strange People."
I admit I didn't know much about "Stagecoach," other than John Wayne was in it and John Ford directed it. And it was a western filmed on location in Arizona's Monument Valley.
Sure am grateful for IMBd.com.
Turns out Westerns were not all that popular once talkies came around. People had lost interest in the genre, but with the breathtaking scenery of Monument Valley, and the climactic chase scene in which stuntman Yakima Canutt jumped from galloping horse to galloping horse while they were pulling the coach, audiences now couldn't get enough cowboy shoot-'em-ups.
Because I can't resist powerful stories about strange people, I decided to watch it this morning. Right off, I noticed that Doc Boone, played by Thomas Mitchell, looked really familiar but I couldn't place him. A quick check of IMDb explained why. He also played Scarlet O'Hara's father Gerald in "Gone With the Wind," and the scatterbrained Uncle Billy in "It's a Wonderful Life."
By the way, Mitchell won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Stagecoach."
All right, let's make our way to Bacon starting with John Wayne,
Who was in "The Sons of Katie Elder" with Dean Martin,
Who was in "What a Way to Go" with Shirley MacClaine,
Who was in "Terms of Endearment" with Jack Nicholson,
Who was in "A Few Good Men" with KEVIN BACON!!!!
Any different routes to Bacon are always appreciated. See you next month.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
This month it's "Stagecoach," (1939), described on the poster as "A Powerful Story of 9 Strange People."
I admit I didn't know much about "Stagecoach," other than John Wayne was in it and John Ford directed it. And it was a western filmed on location in Arizona's Monument Valley.
Sure am grateful for IMBd.com.
Turns out Westerns were not all that popular once talkies came around. People had lost interest in the genre, but with the breathtaking scenery of Monument Valley, and the climactic chase scene in which stuntman Yakima Canutt jumped from galloping horse to galloping horse while they were pulling the coach, audiences now couldn't get enough cowboy shoot-'em-ups.
Because I can't resist powerful stories about strange people, I decided to watch it this morning. Right off, I noticed that Doc Boone, played by Thomas Mitchell, looked really familiar but I couldn't place him. A quick check of IMDb explained why. He also played Scarlet O'Hara's father Gerald in "Gone With the Wind," and the scatterbrained Uncle Billy in "It's a Wonderful Life."
By the way, Mitchell won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Stagecoach."
All right, let's make our way to Bacon starting with John Wayne,
Who was in "The Sons of Katie Elder" with Dean Martin,
Who was in "What a Way to Go" with Shirley MacClaine,
Who was in "Terms of Endearment" with Jack Nicholson,
Who was in "A Few Good Men" with KEVIN BACON!!!!
Any different routes to Bacon are always appreciated. See you next month.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Six Degrees of Bacon for September
Hello. Happy First Day of September. Time for a little Bacon--Kevin, that is. And Six Degrees of it.
This month it's the King. Yes, Elvis Presley in the 60 year old classic "Jailhouse Rock."
Come on everybody, it's time to rock.
"Jailhouse Rock" was Elvis Presley's third film, in which he played Vince, a young man sentenced to prison for manslaughter who is mentored in music by his prison cellmate who realizes his musical abilities. Vince becomes a star when he's released. But he must overcome his self centered personality to find love and true happiness.
Oh, what's the point? All anyone remembers is Elvis doing that iconic song and dance production of the title song.
The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there and they began to wail
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing
You should've heard them knocked-out jailbirds sing.
OK, enough about Elvis, let's make our way to Kevin. Starting, of course, with Elvis Presley.
Who was in "Viva Las Vegas" with Ann-Margret,
Who was in "Magic" with Anthony Hopkins,
Who was in "Silence of the Lambs" with Scott Glenn.
Who was in "The Right Stuff" with Fred Ward,
Who was in "Tremors" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!!
Please feel free to make your own Bacon connections. And have a great Labor Day weekend.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
This month it's the King. Yes, Elvis Presley in the 60 year old classic "Jailhouse Rock."
Come on everybody, it's time to rock.
"Jailhouse Rock" was Elvis Presley's third film, in which he played Vince, a young man sentenced to prison for manslaughter who is mentored in music by his prison cellmate who realizes his musical abilities. Vince becomes a star when he's released. But he must overcome his self centered personality to find love and true happiness.
Oh, what's the point? All anyone remembers is Elvis doing that iconic song and dance production of the title song.
The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there and they began to wail
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing
You should've heard them knocked-out jailbirds sing.
OK, enough about Elvis, let's make our way to Kevin. Starting, of course, with Elvis Presley.
Who was in "Viva Las Vegas" with Ann-Margret,
Who was in "Magic" with Anthony Hopkins,
Who was in "Silence of the Lambs" with Scott Glenn.
Who was in "The Right Stuff" with Fred Ward,
Who was in "Tremors" with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!!
Please feel free to make your own Bacon connections. And have a great Labor Day weekend.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
From Dracula to Bacon
It’s the first of the month and time for another round of Six Degrees of Bacon.
October already! Where has the year gone? It’s nearly Halloween.
Which is why this month’s movie calendar poster is that old school horror film "Dracula," starring Bela Lugosi.
When I first saw this month’s poster, I was worried because the only co-stars I could think of for Bela Lugosi were Ed Wood, Jr. and Vampyra. Getting either of them from “Plan 9 From Outer Space” to a Kevin Bacon film seemed impossible.
But then I remembered following the success of "Dracula" and "Frankenstein," there was a flurry of horror star match ups. So my Bacon streak continues.
I was surprised to learn that Lugosi was not the first choice for the role. Not only had he enjoyed a successful run starring in the stage version of “Dracula,” (based on the book by Bram Stoker) he was born in Hungary not far from Count Dracula’s own Transylvania. His accent was the real deal. It’s quite possible that I could be trying to connect Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, John Wray, or Arthur Edmund Carewe to Kevin Bacon instead of the legendary Bela Lugosi.
The film was a hit, and in the 1930s, Lugosi was cast in a string of Universal produced horror movies. Then midway through the decade his career began its slow decline toward the Ed Wood, Jr. D-minus movies. Universal management changed its management and because of a British ban on horror movies, they were dropped from production. The thick Hungarian accent that worked so well for him in “Dracula” limited his roles in other films. And there was his famous drug addiction.
He continued to make personal appearances and did stage shows like “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Dracula,” and also in the Ed Wood movies near the end of his life. But he was never the big star he’d been in the 1930s. He died of a heart attack in 1956.
All right, let’s start with Bela Lugosi,
Who was in “The Raven” with Boris Karloff
Who was in “The Bride of Frankenstein” with Elsa Lanchester
Who was in “Murder by Death” with Maggie Smith
Who was in “California Suite” with Michael Caine
Who was in “The Man Who Would Be King” with Sean Connery
Who was in “The Name of the Rose” with Christian Slater
Who was in “Murder in the First” with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!!!
If anyone has any other ways to Bacon, feel free to share them.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
October already! Where has the year gone? It’s nearly Halloween.
Which is why this month’s movie calendar poster is that old school horror film "Dracula," starring Bela Lugosi.
When I first saw this month’s poster, I was worried because the only co-stars I could think of for Bela Lugosi were Ed Wood, Jr. and Vampyra. Getting either of them from “Plan 9 From Outer Space” to a Kevin Bacon film seemed impossible.
But then I remembered following the success of "Dracula" and "Frankenstein," there was a flurry of horror star match ups. So my Bacon streak continues.
I was surprised to learn that Lugosi was not the first choice for the role. Not only had he enjoyed a successful run starring in the stage version of “Dracula,” (based on the book by Bram Stoker) he was born in Hungary not far from Count Dracula’s own Transylvania. His accent was the real deal. It’s quite possible that I could be trying to connect Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, John Wray, or Arthur Edmund Carewe to Kevin Bacon instead of the legendary Bela Lugosi.
The film was a hit, and in the 1930s, Lugosi was cast in a string of Universal produced horror movies. Then midway through the decade his career began its slow decline toward the Ed Wood, Jr. D-minus movies. Universal management changed its management and because of a British ban on horror movies, they were dropped from production. The thick Hungarian accent that worked so well for him in “Dracula” limited his roles in other films. And there was his famous drug addiction.
He continued to make personal appearances and did stage shows like “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Dracula,” and also in the Ed Wood movies near the end of his life. But he was never the big star he’d been in the 1930s. He died of a heart attack in 1956.
All right, let’s start with Bela Lugosi,
Who was in “The Raven” with Boris Karloff
Who was in “The Bride of Frankenstein” with Elsa Lanchester
Who was in “Murder by Death” with Maggie Smith
Who was in “California Suite” with Michael Caine
Who was in “The Man Who Would Be King” with Sean Connery
Who was in “The Name of the Rose” with Christian Slater
Who was in “Murder in the First” with KEVIN BACON!!!!!!!!
If anyone has any other ways to Bacon, feel free to share them.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
Last Degree of Bacon with Willy Wonka
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain...of BACON!!!!
Here it is, friends--our final round of Six Degrees of Bacon for the year. I’m at the last page of my calendar and after that, there are no more.
So, with misty eyes,, let’s get started.
This month’s film is “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder, not the 2005 Tim Burton remake with Johnny Depp. I saw that one, and have to say, I much prefer the original. It’s based on the Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which came out in 1964.
According to Wikipedia, the producers had an amazing amount of choices when it came to casting Willy Wonka. All six members of Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin) expressed interest in playing Wonka, but at the time they were not seen as big enough names for an international audience. The producers also considered Fred Astaire, Joel Grey, Ron Moody (who played Fagin in “Oliver!”) and third Doctor Who, John Pertwee. Peter Sellers even begged Dahl for the role.
Dahl’s first choice was British comedian Spike Milligan, known for the Goon Show.
But it was Gene Wilder who got the Golden Ticket, so to speak, and he was the one who escorted the five children through his factory. One by one, four of them succumb to horrible fates brought on their own bad habits. And don’t forget the Greek Chorus provided by the Oompa Loompas.
What do you get from a glut of TV?
A pain in the neck and an IQ of three
Why don't you try simply reading a book?
Okay, it’s time for (sniff) the very last foray into Bacon and we’ll start with Gene Wilder.
Who was in “Young Frankenstein” with Gene Hackman
Who was in “The Unforgiven” with Morgan Freeman
Who was in “Red” with Bruce Willis
Who was in “Die Hard” with Alan Rickman
Who was in “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” with Kevin Costner
Who was in “JFK” with KEVIN BACON!!!!!
Because I have nothing better to do, I counted up all the actors in each round of Bacon, and the grand total is 73. And not a single movie or actor used twice. All the way from Charlie Chaplin to Kevin Costner, with the likes of Dean Martin, Sean Connery, Marilyn Monroe, Donald Sutherland, Michael Caine and Burl Ives in between.
If you don't believe me, let me know and I'll send you the list.
I already have my 2018 calendar. It features photos from episodes of the original Star Trek series. I figure we can all watch each episode and comment on it. Heads up, first episode is “Mirror, Mirror.”
May we all live long and prosper in 2018.
And so I face the final curtain...of BACON!!!!
Here it is, friends--our final round of Six Degrees of Bacon for the year. I’m at the last page of my calendar and after that, there are no more.
So, with misty eyes,, let’s get started.
This month’s film is “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder, not the 2005 Tim Burton remake with Johnny Depp. I saw that one, and have to say, I much prefer the original. It’s based on the Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which came out in 1964.
According to Wikipedia, the producers had an amazing amount of choices when it came to casting Willy Wonka. All six members of Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin) expressed interest in playing Wonka, but at the time they were not seen as big enough names for an international audience. The producers also considered Fred Astaire, Joel Grey, Ron Moody (who played Fagin in “Oliver!”) and third Doctor Who, John Pertwee. Peter Sellers even begged Dahl for the role.
Dahl’s first choice was British comedian Spike Milligan, known for the Goon Show.
But it was Gene Wilder who got the Golden Ticket, so to speak, and he was the one who escorted the five children through his factory. One by one, four of them succumb to horrible fates brought on their own bad habits. And don’t forget the Greek Chorus provided by the Oompa Loompas.
What do you get from a glut of TV?
A pain in the neck and an IQ of three
Why don't you try simply reading a book?
Okay, it’s time for (sniff) the very last foray into Bacon and we’ll start with Gene Wilder.
Who was in “Young Frankenstein” with Gene Hackman
Who was in “The Unforgiven” with Morgan Freeman
Who was in “Red” with Bruce Willis
Who was in “Die Hard” with Alan Rickman
Who was in “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” with Kevin Costner
Who was in “JFK” with KEVIN BACON!!!!!
Because I have nothing better to do, I counted up all the actors in each round of Bacon, and the grand total is 73. And not a single movie or actor used twice. All the way from Charlie Chaplin to Kevin Costner, with the likes of Dean Martin, Sean Connery, Marilyn Monroe, Donald Sutherland, Michael Caine and Burl Ives in between.
If you don't believe me, let me know and I'll send you the list.
I already have my 2018 calendar. It features photos from episodes of the original Star Trek series. I figure we can all watch each episode and comment on it. Heads up, first episode is “Mirror, Mirror.”
May we all live long and prosper in 2018.
