On this date, 40 years ago, Top Gun was released and the movie changed forever.
From the opening shot, Top Gun captured the attention of audiences who understood that, though the film’s script may have been full of cliches and though the movie was basically just a remake of the old service moves of the late 30s and 40s, it didn’t matter because jets are freaking cool.
And that opening scene is today’s scene that I love!
Happy Top Gun Day!
On this date, 119 years ago, Katharine Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She would go one to become a cultural icon, a performer who survived being labeled box office to poison to eventually become one of our most acclaimed actresses. Hepburn was a total of four acting Oscars over the course of her career, a record that has yet to be topped.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1940’s The Philadelphia Story and it features Katharine Hepburn acting opposite another one of my favorite performers, the great James Stewart.
Happy Twilight Zone Day!
Norman Bates, now there’s someone who probably made a big deal out of every Mother’s Day. Today’s scene that I love comes from 1960’s Psycho and features Hitchcock, Janet Leigh, and Anthony Perkins at their absolute best.
Today would have been the 90th birthday of the great British actor, Albert Finney!
And today’s scene that I love features Albert Finney in the role of history’s most famous miser. In 1970’s Scrooge, Finney played the title role and, early on, his worldview was perfectly captured by a song called I Hate People. Finny was only 34 when he played Ebenezer Scrooge but he does a wonderful job of bringing the character to life and he’s just as convincing when he’s being good as he is when he’s being bad. Finney is the main reason why Scrooge is my personal favorite of all of the versions of A Christmas Carol.
Since today is Roberto Rossellini’s birthday, today’s scene is one of the most powerful of all time.
From Rossellini’s 1945 anti-Nazi masterpiece, Rome, Open City, this scene features Anna Magnani as Pina. For the first part of the film, Pina has been a major character. We see much of occupied Rome through her eyes. We watch as she risks her life to help the Resistance and, because we’ve seen so many movies, we assume that the filmmakers will protect her because she’s the main character. In this devastating scene, Rossellini shows us that no one is safe in an occupied city, not even a pregnant woman.
It’s just another day in Rome.
John Milius later paid homage to this scene in Red Dawn.
Today, we wish a happy birthday to director Amy Heckerling!
In this scene from the Heckerling-directed 1982 film Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Brad finally gets a moment of triumph. Played by Judge Reinhold, Brad spends most of this movie being humiliated. He kind of deserves it because he can definitely be a bit full of himself, especially when he was working at All-American Burger. But, at the same time, he’s there for his sister when she needs someone and, for a character in a 1982 teen comedy, he’s refreshingly nonjudgmental.
In this scene, poor Brad has been reduced to working at an all-night convenience store. Wherever Brad works, he appears to be destined to have to wait on Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn.) When James Russo attempts to hold him up, Brad finally snaps and becomes the hero that he’s always wanted to be.
Since today is Orson Welles’s birthday, I wanted to share at least one scene that I love from his films. The famous tracking shot from 1958’s Touch of Evil, which begins in America and ends in Mexico, truly shows Orson Welles at his visionary best.
It’s also Welles at his most clever. Knowing that he wouldn’t be given control over the editing of the footage he shot, Welles included as many long shots as possible to make it more difficult for an editor to chop up or alter his vision.
From Luis Bunuel’s 1965 short film, Simon of the Desert, the faithful Simon (Claudio Brook) finds himself transported from 6th Century Syria to the 1960s by the Devil (Silvia Pinal). The song playing at the club is called Radioactive Flesh. Simon wants to go home. The Devil wants to dance.
Today would have been the 97th birthday of one of my favorite actresses, the wonderful Audrey Hepburn!
We’re all Audrey Hepburn fans here at the Shattered Lens. How could we not be? She was one of the greats and, for that reason, today’s scene that I love comes from one of her best films, 1967’s Two For The Road.
In this scene, Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn play a married couple who discuss their troubled but loving marriage while on the road. This film features one Audrey’s best performances.
Through the Shattered Lens 