Scenes That I Love: David Bowie and Bing Crosby Sing A Duet in Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas


In this scene from Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas, David Bowie stops by the home of his old friend, Sir Percival Crosby, and meets Sir Percy’s long-lost American relative, Bing Crosby!  A discussion of modern music and parenting techniques leads to them performing a duet of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy.

This was Bing’s final Christmas special and he died just five weeks after filming completed.  This scene is a holiday classic and has been described. by the Washington Post, as “one of the most successful duets in Christmas music history.”

When asked about David Bowie, Bing said he was “clean-cut kid and a real fine asset to the show. He sings well, has a great voice and reads lines well.”

Enjoy!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Richard Fleischer Edition


4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Director Richard Fleischer was born 109 years ago today.

4 Shots From 4 Richard Fleischer Films

Fantastic Voyage (1966, directed by Richard Fleischer)

Soylent Green (1973, directed by Richard Fleischer)

Mr. Majestyk (1974, directed by Richard Fleischer)

Red Sonja (1985, directed by Richard Fleischer)

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us for Riot!


As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1996’s Riot!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Riot on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!

Enjoy!

 

Music Video Of The Day: Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney (1979, directed by ????)


As a group, The Beatles never released an “official” Christmas song, though the members of their fan club received a recording of Christmas Time Is Here Again in 1967.  After the band broke up, all four of the members recorded Christmas songs on their own.  Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime is probably the most remembered.  I don’t know if I would say it was the most popular but anyone who has ever had to rush out to do some last minute Christmas shopping has heard it playing in countless stores on December 24th.  Whenever I’ve been in a store while Wonderful Christmastime was playing, I’ve always felt as if the song was taunting me but it is definitely a part of the season.

McCartney recorded this song at his farm.  He was just getting into what was then known as “electropop,” which is why he used a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer in the song.  More than anything, that weird bouncing noise probably explains why this song is so well-known.  Whenever I hear this song, I imagine that this is what Christmas sounds like on Mars.

The video was shot at at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex.  Though the members of Wings had nothing to do with recording the song, they all appeared in the video because they were all hanging out with McCartney on the night that it was filmed.

Reportedly, Paul McCartney receives $400,000 a year in royalties from Wonderful Christmastime.

Enjoy!