Raquel Stecher

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The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (2016)

In 1923, Cecil B. DeMille and his crew headed to the Nipomo Dunes of Guadalupe, California, a small town 160 miles north of Hollywood. DeMille brought with him carpenters, electricians, sculptors, painters, set decorators and many more to build a giant set for his new film The Ten Commandments (1923). His crew got to work on building a 900 feet wide and 100 feet tall set which included 20 Sphinxes and four 35 ton statues of Ramses. It was one of the biggest sets in movie history. Too big to b...

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Interview with Daniel Raim, Director of Harold and Lillian

October marks the home video release of Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story, now available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber. If you follow me on social media, you know I've been a champion for this film ever since I reviewed it back in 2015. I recently hosted a Twitter chat for the movie's TCM premiere and have been recommending Harold and Lillian to anyone who will listen. Now that the film is available, I encourage you all to all to purchase the DVD or Blu-Ray which contains over ...

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Episode 5: Rocky / Raquel Stecher

In our first ever Series Shame!, Raquel Stecher (@quellelove) steps into the ring to tussle with the entire six-film ROCKY series. In the first of two very special episodes, Raquel and James (@007hertzrumble, as always) discuss ROCKY I-III and in doing so gush over gooey love stories, sweaty workout montages and surf-laden bromances. As a fitness guru herself, Raquel goes as far to question the effectiveness of Rocky’s training methods. This episode boasts perspectives on Rocky about which ev...

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Beauty for the Asking (1939)

Beautician Jean Russell (Lucille Ball) has just mastered her formula for astringent cold cream. The business and financial prospects are enough that she can finally marry her live-in beau Denny (Patric Knowles). However, it turns out Denny has his higher aims and plans to marry wealthy yet homely socialite Flora Barton (Frieda Inescort). Settling into life without Denny, Jean and her straight-talking roommate Gwen (Inez Courtney) set out to make Jean's cold cream a success. Jean barges into t...

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Alias Nick Beal (1949)

It's a story as old as time. A mortal sells his soul to the devil for what he really wants only to suffer the consequences later. Bargaining with evil always comes at a cost.
"I'd give my soul to nail him." - Joseph Foster
Joseph Foster (Thomas Mitchell) is a good man by all accounts. He's devoted to his wife Martha (Geraldine Wall). He runs an athletic club for wayward boys with his good friend Reverend Thomas Garfield (George Macready) and takes on a particular tough case with Larry Price (...

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Showcase Event Cinema: The Witches of Eastwick (1987) 30th Anniversary Screening

On Monday I had the privilege of attending an exclusive event hosted by Showcase at their Super Lux location in Chestnut Hill, MA. Showcase Event Cinema is the theater chain's initiative to bring classic movies, documentaries, anime as well as ballet, opera, stage productions and other entertainment to a wider audience. This is similar to Fathom Events except that it's exclusive to this chain.
The event I attended was a 30th anniversary screening of The Witches of Eastwick (1987). With Hallow...

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Hugh Hefner: The Ultimate Classic Movie Fan

On a cold wintry day in 2015, I sat in a makeshift screening room of a Holiday Inn in upstate New York. It was the final Cinefest and one of the highlights of the show would be a screening of the once lost Me and the Boys (1929). This jazz short starring Estelle Brody and Ben Pollack's band clocks in at nine minutes. Discovered in 2013, it was restored by the UCLA Film & Television archive and presented at a few screenings including Cinefest. Only die-hard cinephiles, and maybe jazz nuts too,...

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Beggars of Life (1928)

1928 is one of the most fascinating years in film history. Hollywood was in a state of transition, quickly trying to learn how to match visuals with sounds to deliver talking pictures to an eager public. The industry had already mastered the silent film making process and were churning out good quality movies. Many projects in the works were put on hold until talkie versions could be created. Other completed works were retrofitted with talking and singing sequences and synchronized sound to c...

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Hotel (1967)

"I'm an old-fashioned innkeeper. I take care of my employees and they take care of my guests. That's the way I want it to be. I don't want it to change." - Melvyn Douglas as Warren Trent
Hotel (1967) follows the story of the fictitious New Orleans hotel the St. Gregory. Pete McDermott (Rod Taylor) is at the heart of the business. As the hotel manager he oversees all staff, attends to any urgent needs of the hotel guests and conducts business with the owner Warren Trent (Melvyn Douglas). Altho...

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Gemini (2017)

Gemini (2017)
Gemini (2017) stars Lola Kirke as Jill, an assistant to movie star Heather played by Zoe Kravitz. Jill struggles to find a work-life balance with her job and spends most of her time caring for her boss than attending to the other relationships in her life including the one with her boyfriend Greg (Nelson Franklin). Heather is the center of attention but really the only attention she wants is from Jill. Their work relationship develops into something much more personal, leaning t...

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Rod Taylor: Pulling No Punches (2016)

Australian actor Rod Taylor burst upon the Hollywood scene in the late 1950s but it wasn't until his seminal film The Time Machine came out in 1960 that he became a major movie star. Good looks coupled with a talent for comedy and drama, Taylor was a force to be reckoned with. He had an artistic soul beneath a rugged Aussie exterior. He was a born adventurer and up for anything. Taylor did his own stunts, was an expert at accents and had a charisma that translated well on screen. As one of th...

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William Cameron Menzies by James Curtis

"His name is William Cameron Menzies, whose name wouldn't cause a ripple among the screen's cash customers, but he is certainly one of the most important creative figures in Hollywood." - Irving Hoffman
Imagine the most entrancing movie scene you've ever laid your eyes on. You might credit the director or the cinematographer. But chances are that much of th...

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King of Jazz by James Layton and David Pierce

King of Jazz (1930) was an ambitious project. The darling of Carl Laemmle's heir Carl Laemmle Jr., it sought out to showcase jazz superstar Paul Whiteman. The bandleader's popularity was staggering, boosted by his penchant for publicity and his ability to add to combine jazz with symphonic style. His name carried so much clout that night clubs were eager to be connected with him. Even his sideline bands and his singing trio the Rhythym Boys, made up of Al Rinker, Bing Crosby and Harry Barris, were in high demand. In 1927, Whiteman was at peak popularity and with the advent of sound...

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Five Came Back by Mark Harris

World War II was over and director John Huston was heading home. The army had one more assignment for him before he repatriated to good old Hollywood. They needed him to make a documentary about shell shocked servicemen being treated at a psychiatric ward. With soldiers coming back home and some dealing with serious mental trauma, the army was anxious to show employers across the nation that these men were treatable and would make fine employees. Propaganda films during the war became “a matter of strategic necessity” and this didn’t change when things were winding down. Huston was excited to show a reality of war that had been swept under the rug. The army’s vision of The Returning Psychoneurotic because Huston’s vision of Let There Be Light. Huston spent three months filming psychologists working with patients at Mason General Hospital. He had unfettered access and countless hours of precious footage. Once it was filmed, edited and in the can, a premiere at MoMA in New York City was arranged. At first the army approved the final result. But then they urgently tried to supress it. First they said they didn’t have music copyright permission for public screenings. Then they said the releases the soldiers signed were not legally binding. Even though Huston ended the film on an uplifting note, the army wasn’t ready for the public to see what Huston wanted them to see. Let There Be Light was supressed for 35 years. Huston fought for decades to have it released and finally got his wish when Vice President Walter Mondale gave his approval in 1980.

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Where the Boys Are (1960)

In the late 1950s, the young adult rite of passage known as "spring break" was blossoming. Legions of college students would make the trek to warmer climes. Spending Easter week in the sunshine and sand broke up the monotony of collegiate life. It wasn't until author and English professor Glendon Swarthout wrote a novel called Where the Boys Are that spring break became the phenomenon it's known as today.

It all started when Swarthout overheard some of his English honor students discussing an upcoming trip from Michigan State University to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Intrigued by their enthusiasm, Swarthout asked them questions about their trip. They invited him to join and see for himself and he did. Swarthout observed the goings on of his students and others on Spring Break and his observations proved to be the inspiration for his next novel. In a 1985 interview with Larry King, Swarthout said:

"as the week progressed that this would make a fine novel, a very funny novel, and yet, I thought at the same time make a kind of ... write a kind of profile of that particular generation. Their aspirations, their hopes, their fears and so and that’s what I tried to do."

The title was inspired by a 1959 Time magazine article. In the piece a young coed was asked why she traveled to Fort Lauderdale in the Spring and she replied "that’s where the boys are." The novel was published in 1960 and became a bestseller. MGM purchased the rights and quickly turned around a low-budget movie. Little did anyone know how one movie would make a huge impact on youth culture.

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