Tag Archives: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Cleopatra Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Let’s celebrate the end of the month with four shots from four films about Caesar’s one true love, Cleopatra!

4 Shots From 4 Films

Cleopatra (1917, dir by J. Gordon Edwards)

Cleopatra (1934, dir by Cecil B. DeMille)

Cleopatra (1963, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz )

Cleopatra (1970, dir by Osamu Tezuka and Eiichi Yamamoto)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1950 Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Today, we pay tribute to a classic year in film.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 1950 Films

Orpheus (1950, dir by Jean Cocteau, DP: Nicolas Hayer)

Sunset Boulevard (1950, dir by Billy Wilder, DP; John F. Seitz)

All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Milton R. Krassner)

In A Lonely Place (1950, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Burnett Guffey)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Marilyn Monroe Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Marilyn Monroe would have been 99 years old today.  Sixty years after her mysterious death, Marilyn Monroe continues to intrigue film lovers and conspiracy theorists alike.  Her legacy is such that, ever since her death, directors have been trying to recreate her life with biopics and actresses have been trying to recapture Marilyn’s magic.

It’s not easy to for them to do because Marilyn Monroe was an original and not someone whose talent and charisma can be easily duplicated.  Needless to say, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Marilyn Monroe Films

All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Milton R. Krassner)

Niagara (1953, dir by Henry Hathaway, DP: Joseph MacDonald)

Some Like It Hot (1959, dir by Billy Wilder, DP: Charles Lang)

The Misfits (1961, dir by John Huston, DP: Russell Metty)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Tennessee Williams Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Today would have been Tennessee Williams’s 114th birthday!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Tennessee Williams Films

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Harry Stradling)

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958, dir by Richard Brooks, DP: William Daniels)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Jack Hildyard)

Boom! (dir by Joseph Losey, DP: Douglas Slocombe)

8 Shots From 8 Films: Special Lisa Marie’s Favorite Best Picture Winners Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

8 Shots From 8 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, 8 Shots From 8 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

My list of my favorite Best Picture winners is a fluid one.  There are a few — like All About Eve, It Happened One Night, the two Godfathers — that are always on the list.  I love these four films with all my heart.  Then there are films like No Country For Old Men that I think about and say, “Of course that’s going on the list!”  There are other films that have snuck up on me.  Until I was making out this list, I didn’t realize how much I truly did like Coda.

Anyway, here’s my top 8!

8 Shots From 8 Oscar-Winning Films

It Happened One Night (1934, dir by Frank Capra, DP: Joseph Walker)

Casablanca (1942, dir by Michael Curtiz, DP: Arthur Edeson)

All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Milton R. Krassner)

West Side Story (1961, dir by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, DP: Daniel L. Fapp)

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

The Godfather Part II (dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

No Country For Old Men (2007, dir by Joel and Ethan Coen, DP: Roger Deakins)

CODA (2021, dir by Sian Heder, DP: Paula Huidobro)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Elizabeth Taylor Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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!

Today is the birthday of one of the greatest films stars ever, Elizabeth Taylor!  And you know what that means.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Elizabeth Taylor Films

A Place in the Sun (1951, dir by George Stevens, DP: William C. Mellor)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Jack Hildyard)

Cleopatra (1963, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Leon Shamroy )

Boom! (1968, dir by Joseph Losey, DP: Douglas Slocombe)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Joseph L. Mankiewicz Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Today, we celebrate the great director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who was born 116 years ago today.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films

All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Milton R. Krassner)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Jack Hildyard)

Cleopatra (1963, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz , DP: Leon Shamroy)

A Carol For Another Christmas (1964, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Arthur Ornitz)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1963 Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Since I reviewed a film that takes place in 1963 this morning, I’m going to use today’s edition of 4 Shots From 4 Films to pay further homage to that pivotal year.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 1963 Films

From Russia With Love (1963, dir by Terence Young, DP: Ted Moore)

Black Sabbath (1963, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Ubaldo Terzano)

Hud (1963, dir by Martin Ritt, DP: James Wong Howe)

Cleopatra (1963, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Leon Shamroy)

4 Shots From 4 Best Picture Winners: The 1950s

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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!

Today, I’m using this feature to take a look at the history of the Academy Award for Best Picture.  Decade by decade, I’m going to highlight my picks for best of the winning films.  To start with, here are 4 shots from 4 Films that won Best Picture during the 1950s!  Here are….

4 Shots From 4 Best Picture Winners: The 1950s

All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Milton R. Krassner)

The Greatest Show On Earth (1952, dir by Cecil B. Demille, DP: George Barnes)

On The Waterfront (1954, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Boris Kaufman)

Ben-Hur (1959, dir by William Wyler, DP: Robert Surtees)

Scenes That I Love: Elizabeth Taylor Enters Rome In Cleopatra

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today would have been the 92nd birthday of one of the greatest film stars of all time, Elizabeth Taylor!

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1963’s Cleopatra.  Cleopatra is often dismissed as the film that nearly bankrupted a studio but it’s enjoyable if you’re in the right mood and you’ve got four hours of free time.  Elizabeth Taylor may not have been a historically accurate Cleopatra but who cares?  It seems appropriate that the most glamorous woman of what was then the modern world played the most glamorous woman of the ancient world.

In this scene, Cleopatra arrives in Rome with all of the fanfare befitting the world’s most beautiful and powerful woman.  Keep in mind that this scene was done in the days before CGI and — *shudder* — AI.  Every costume was real.  Every extra was real.  Everything about this scene was real.