Today’s scene that I love comes from 1959’s Ben-Hur. The chariot race was one of the great action sequences of its era and its influence is still felt to this day. Rumor has it that Mario Bava was among the crew that helped to shoot the chariot race. Personally, I choose to believe that even if I can’t prove it!
Today is Christopher Walken’s 83rd birthday so it seems appropriate to share a Walken scene that I love. Without further ado, here is the classic gold watch speech from the 1994 film, Pulp Fiction:
Today, we wish a happy birthday to actor, director, and producer Warren Beatty.
In Alan J. Pakula’s 1974 film The Parallax View, Beatty plays a seedy journalist who goes undercover to investigate the links between the mysterious Parallax Corporation and a series of recent political assassinations. In the film’s most famous sequence, Beatty — pretending to be a job applicant (read: potential assassin) for the Parallax Corporation — is shown an orientation film that has been designed to test whether or not he’s a suitable applicant. The montage is shown in its entirety, without once cutting away to show us Beatty’s reaction. The implication, of course, is that what’s important isn’t how Beatty reacts to the montage but how the viewers sitting out in the audience react.
So, at the risk of furthering the conspiracy, here’s that montage.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Italian film star, Terence Hill!
This scene that I love comes from 1973’s My Name Is Nobody. It features Terence teaching a cocky gunslinger a thing or two about how to win a slap fight.
Lenny Montana started out as a boxer and a wrestler. He eventually ended up working as a bouncer and a bodyguard for the leadership of the Colombo Crime Family. However, Montana achieved his immortality as a result of veteran tough guy actor Timothy Carey turning down the role of Luca Brasi in The Godfather. Brasi was the Corleone Family’s most feared enforcer and Carey, who had made a career out of playing psychos, was one of the most feared men in Hollywood, one who was rumored to have pulled a gun on more than a few directors. (For the record, Stanley Kubrick loved him.) When Carey turned down the role in favor of doing a television series, Francis Ford Coppola offered the role to Lenny Montana. Montana may not have had Carey’s screen acting experience but he brought real-life authenticity to the role. When Michael says that Luca Brasi is a “very scary man,” one look at Lenny Montana confirms it. Unfailingly loyal to the family and willing to do anything for the Don, Luca Brasi represents the Family’s strength. When Luca Brasi is killed, you know that the old era of the Corleones is ending as well. Without Luca, the Corleones are in deep trouble.
My favorite Luca Brasi scene comes at the beginning of the film. Surprised to be invited to Connie’s wedding, Luca wants to thank the Don personally. Nervous about acting opposite Marlon Brando, Montana flubbed his lines. The scene, with the flub, was kept in the film and it served to humanize both Luca and Don Corleone. (The Don’s smile was due to the fact that Marlon Brando was having trouble not laughing.) It’s a nice little scene, one that reminds us that even gangsters are human.
This is, without a doubt, one of the best sequences that Quentin Tarantino has ever directed. Along with the perfect visuals of Shoshanna getting ready for the premiere, Tarantino makes perfect use of Theme From Cat People, reinventing the song from a somewhat silly horror theme to an anthem of revolution and revenge.
Today’s scene is just in time for opening day! From 1989’s Major League, this is the way every baseball game should end. Tom Berenger wins the game not with a home run but with a bunt. That’s what baseball is all about.
The great British director David Lean was born 118 years ago today.
In honor of his films and his legacy, here is a scene that I love from Lawrence of Arabia. In this scene, Peter O’Toole blowing out a flame transports us straight to a sunrise in the desert. Though Lean started out his career directing small-scale but emotionally rich films like Brief Encounter and Great Expectations, he ultimately became best-known for directing historical epics and cinematic spectacles. This scene shows us why. Even to this day, it seems as if any epic film is destined to be compared to the work of David Lean.
In honor of the birthday of actor Steve McQueen, the true epitome of all things cool, here is the famous and trend-setting chase scene from 1968’s Bullitt, featuring McQueen behind the wheel and doing his own stunts on the streets of San Francisco.
Actress Valerie Perrine passed away today, after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. She was 82 years old.
Perrine was the type of actress who could do it all. She made her debut as Montana Wildhack in the 197s adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughter-House Five. She was Oscar nominated for playing Lenny Bruce’s wife in 1975’s Lenny. She was the only cop willing to write Adrienne Barbeau a ticket in Cannonball Run. She could do drama just as easily as comedy. But for many of us, she will always be best remembered for playing Ms. Teschmacher, Lex Luthor’s assisant who saved Superman’s life in 1978’s Superman and then helped Luthor escape from prison in 1980’s Superman II.
With Perrine’s passing, only three of the principles from Superman and Superman II are still with us: Sarah Douglas, Jack O’Halloran, and Marc McClure.
RIP.
Through the Shattered Lens 