Today’s scene that I love comes from 1971’s Dirty Harry, in which Clint Eastwood, as “Dirty Harry” Callahan finally confronts the the Scorpio Killer (Andy Robinson) and asks him if he feels lucky. Eastwood himself later said that Callahan’s badge must have been attached to a rubber band because he was somehow able to get it back in time for Magnum Force.
117 years ago today, Ian Fleming was born in Mayfair, London. A member of British Intelligence during World War II, Fleming is today best-remembered as the creator of James Bond.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1962’s Dr. No. Here is Sean Connery, in his first appearance as Fleming’s iconic secret agent. Eunice Gray was cast as Sylvia Trench, who was originally envisioned as being Bond’s permanent “London” girlfriend. She also appeared in From Russia With Love before the idea was abandoned. We all know that Bond’s true love was Tracy di Vincenzo.
The Fly (1958, D: Kurt Neumann)
One of the great things about the original, 1958 version of The Fly is that, even though it starred Vincent Price, Price didn’t play the Fly. Instead, for once, Price was allowed to be the voice of reason, the guy who said, “Maybe don’t mess around with the laws of time and space.”
Today’s scene that I love is from the ending of the original Fly. Supposedly, Price had a hard time filming this scene because whenever he heard the recording of David Hedison crying out, “Help me!,” he would start laughing. Still, if you know what spiders actually do to the flies that they capture, you can’t help but sympathize with our misdirected scientist in the web. Destroying him with a rock was probably the most merciful thing that anyone could do.
In honor of Vincent Price, on what would have been his birthday, here is a scene that I love.
Today, we wish a happy birthday to Cillian Murphy!
A year ago, Murphy won the Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer. However, before playing the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s epic, Cillian Murphy been an intriguing cinematic presence for over two decades. I first became aware of him after watching Danny Boyle’s 2002 classic, 28 Days Later. Here he is, showing what he can do without even uttering a word of dialogue, in a haunting scene from that film.
Today is the birthday of German filmmaker Tom Tykwer. Tykwer directed one of my favorite films of all time, 1998’s Run, Lola, Run! As such, it only seems appropriate that today’s scene that I love should come from that film.
In this scene, Lola shows us all how to win at roulette. Do not try this in Vegas.
119 years ago today, Laurence Olivier was born in Surrey. The son of a clergyman, Olivier would go on to become one of the greatest stage actors of the 20th Century. He would also have a distinguished film career, one that led to him frequently being described as being the world’s greatest living actor.
He is perhaps best-known for his Shakespearean performances. He won multiple Oscars for directing and starring in 1948’s Hamlet. Today’s scene that I love comes from that film and features Olivier at his best, as both an actor and a director.
Today, we wish a happy birthday to the one and only Mr. T! Today’s scene that I love comes from 1982’s Rocky III:
In honor of James Stewart’s birthday, our scene that I love comes from one of my favorite Stewart films, 1959’s Anatomy of a Murder.
In today’s scene that I love, James Stewart explains to his client (played by Ben Gazzara) that there are four ways that he can defend a murder charge. The contrast between Stewart’s classic style and Gazzara’s intense method style makes for an intense scene between two very talented and unique actors.
Today is Pete Townshend’s 80th birthday and today’s scene that I love features Pete Townshend (as a member of The Who) performing at Woodstock in 1969.
Roger Daltrey later said that this was the worst gig that they ever played and The Who did end up going on stage early in the morning, with the sun rising as they performed See Me, Feel Me. The majority of The Who’s performance was not included in the initial release of the Woodstock documentary but the noticeably grainy footage would later be included in various rereleases.
Unfortunately, no cameras recorded the moment when Pete Townshend became the hero that 1969 needed by kicking a ranting Abbie Hoffman off of the stage. But, audio of the incident survived.
Here is The Who at Woodstock:
Bill Paxton would have been 70 years old today.
Today’s scene that I love comes from Twister and it features Bill Paxton showing off some wonderful chemistry with Helen Hunt. One of the great things about Bill Paxton is that he was equally at home in both big blockbusters like Twister and Titanic and low-budget indies like Near Dark. He was an artist who also happened to be a star. As a lover of both films and eccentric Texans, I will always miss Bill Paxton.
Through the Shattered Lens 