Today’s scene of the day comes from 1995’s Casino. In this scene, Martin Scorsese shows us and Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro tell us about what happened when Nicky Santoro (played by Pesci, in one of his best performances) moved out to Las Vegas.
Category Archives: Scenes I Love
A Scene That I Love: A Boy Named Charlie Brown
Happy Super Bowl Sunday! By the end of the day, some dreams will have come true and others will not. The important thing is never stop dreaming and to always keep trying, just like Charlie Brown in the scene from A Boy Named Charlie Brown!
Enjoy the game!
Scenes I Love: Lambada Is The Forbidden Dance
Today’s scene that I love comes from my favorite Greydon Clark movie, 1990’s The Forbidden Dance!
And remember — this film is dedicated to the preservation of the rain forest.
Scenes That I Love: Ronald Reagan in Kings Row
Today’s scene that I love features future President Ronald Reagan, giving what he considered to be his best performance in 1942’s Kings Row. He liked one of the lines in this scene so much that he used it as the title for autobiography.
On what would have been Ronald Reagan’s 115th birthday, here is today’s scene that I love. 38 years after this scene, Reagan would be elected to his first term, saving the country from the twin scourge of the incompetent Jimmy Carter and the pompous John Anderson. Ronald Reagan would go on to save the world from communism, at least temporarily. Not bad for a self-described “B-actor!”
Scenes I Love: John Carradine in Fallen Angel
Today, we celebrate the 120th birthday of actor John Carradine.
John Carradine appeared in over 300 movies over the course of a career that spanned nearly a century. Born in 1906, Carradine made his film debut in 1930 and worked steadily until his death in 1988. He was so prolific that films featuring him were still being released for years after his passing. Though he’ll probably always be most-associated with the low-budget horror and thriller films that he appeared in, Carradine was also a favorite of directors like Cecil B. DeMille and John Ford. He played key roles in such Ford films as Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Carradine, however, often said that his true loves were Shakespeare and the theater and that the films were just something he did so he could afford to work on stage.
In this scene from 1945’s Fallen Angel, John Carradine plays a traveling fortune teller named Prof. Madley.
Scenes I Love: The End of The Original Dawn of the Dead
The original Dawn of the Dead, which was released in 1978 and directed by George Romero, is not only one of the most influential horror films of all time. (Even more so than Night of the Living Dead, Dawn was responsible for inspiring the Italian zombie boom.) It’s also a rather dark satire of humanity and commercialism. With the world ending, both humans and zombies head to the mall. Briefly, the humans manage to form their own peaceful society but, inevitably, they end up screwing it all up. The Dead may be slow and not particularly intelligent but, as poor old Steve discovered in that elevator, they’re absolutely determined to get what they want.
Dawn of the Dead ends with an apocalytpic combination of bikers, zombies, and one helicopter that has next to no fuel. Our two remaining survivors head off in search of some place safe but we all know that helicopter isn’t going to stay in the sky for long. In its way, the ending of Dawn of the Dead is even more bleak than the end of Night of the Living Dead. With the end of this film, Romero’s message is clear. Society is as dead as the creatures tearing it down.
Scenes That I Love: The Harvard Graduation Dance From Heaven’s Gate
How many westerns do you know that open with a graduation ceremony at Harvard? I can only think of Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate.
Today’s scene that I love comes from the controversial 1981 epic western. Some people feel that Heaven’s Gate is a secret masterpiece. I’m not quite one of those people but I do think the Harvard graduation scene was a great way to launch Cimino’s idiosyncratic vision of the Old West.
Scenes I Love: Happy Groundhog Day!
Happy Groundhog Day!
In the spirit of the day, it is time for me to share this scene that I love from the movie Groundhog Day… again!
Scenes I Love: John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The legendary director John Ford was born 132 years ago today, in Maine of all places. He may have been born in New England but few directors have done a better job of capturing, on film, the forces that shaped America.
He also directed one of my favorite films, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Today’s scene that I love comes from the end of that 1962 film and it features a line that would become a classic. “Print the legend.” That was a line that Ford clearly understood and I imagine it’s one that all great filmmakers eventually come to appreciate.
Happy Birthday in Cinema Heaven to Character Actor, Stuart Margolin!
I love the character actor Stuart Margolin. He’s well known for his work as Angel Martin on the James Garner TV series THE ROCKFORD FILES, but I’ll always appreciate him the most for his important performances with director Michael Winner and actor Charles Bronson in the movies THE STONE KILLER and DEATH WISH. Margolin passed away in 2022 but his legacy on film and TV live on forever!
For a bit of 70’s cinema trivia, if anyone ever asks you who gave Paul Kersey his Colt revolver in the original DEATH WISH, the answer is Aimes Jainchill, played by Mr. Margolin. Join me in celebrating his legacy by watching this scene from the vigilante classic!
Through the Shattered Lens