In honor of Werner Herzog’s birthday, today’s scene that I love comes from one of his best films. 1972’s Aguirre, The Wrath of God not only established Herzog as a major filmmaker but it also showed that he was the director who could get the best out of the notoriously difficult Klaus Kinski.
In this scene, Kinski plays the mad conquistador, Aguirre. Lost with his men in the Amazon, Aguirre establishes control over the dwindling expedition.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1954’s The Caine Mutiny.
In this scene, directed by Edward Dmytryk, the Caine mutineers celebrate their acquittal when they’re confronted by their own defense attorney. Having previously exposed Captain Queeg’s paranoia on the stand, Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) has dealt with his guilty conscience by having a bit too much to drink. He interrupts the celebration and calls out the man who he claims is the real “author of the Caine Mutiny,” the arrogant Keefer (Fred MacMurray).
This scene features Ferrer at his most vitriolic and MacMurray at his sleaziest. Fred MacMurray was typically cast as a nice, All-American guy so it’s always interesting to see him cast as a bad guy in films like this one, The Apartment, and Double Indemnity. MacMurray always tended to underplay his villains, playing them as self-centered cads who hid their true motives behind a façade of bland affability. The Caine Mutiny features one of MacMurray’s best performances.
From The Caine Mutiny:
The ultimate Labor Day scene comes from one of my favorite movies, Office Space. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you can relate to this scene. Be sure to sing along!
Happy (early) Labor Day!
Bob Barker, a pop cultural institution if there ever was one, passed away today. He was 99 years old. And while he will probably be best-remembered for his long run as the host of The Price Is Right, he will also always be remembered for beating up Adam Sandler in my favorite golf film, Happy Gilmore.
Barker himself reportedly turned down the cameo when it was first offered to him but accepted it after he was assured that he would be winning the fight.
In honor of what would have been Sean Connery’s 93rd birthday, today’s scene that I love comes from the film for which Connery won an Oscar, 1987’s The Untouchables.
In this scene, Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness first meets Sean Connery’s Jim Malone.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes actor and comedian Steve Martin a happy 77th birthday. Originally from Texas, Martin has been a cultural mainstay for longer than I’ve been alive. He’s an adept banjo player and an occasional actor, equally skilled at both comedy and drama.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1979’s The Jerk, in which Steve Martin reveals all that he needs.
For Hitchcock’s birthday, today’s scene that I love is the final scene of 1960’s Psycho! Do I really have to give a spoiler warning for this?
142 years ago, on this date, director Cecil B. DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts. From the silent era until his death in 1959, DeMille was one of Hollywood’s superstar directors. His films, which were often over the top and effective at the same time, helped to build the modern film industry.
Today’s scene that I love comes from DeMille’s final film. From 1956’s The Ten Commandments, Moses parts the Red Sea.
(Please note, this video starts with a frozen image that lasts for about 12 seconds.)
Since today is the birthday of the great Mario Bava, today’s scene that I love comes from one of Bava’s best films. Here is the wonderfully atmospheric and ominous opening of 1960’s Black Sunday:
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the greatest director come out of Texas, Richard Linklater!
Today’s scene that I love comes from Linklater’s 1991 film, Slacker. Filmed in Austin, this film not only established Linklater as one of the best indie film directors but it also inspired a countless number of other aspiring filmmakers. How many other director have attempted to make a Slacker? None have done it as well as Linklater. Indeed, the film not only helped to define the modern independent film aesthetic but it also continues to shape the way that people view Texas’s idiosyncratic capital city.
In this opening scene, Linklater himself gets the film started, delivering a monologue as he’s driven around Austin.
Through the Shattered Lens 