#1962 movies

[dianewebber]

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

September: Bond Films

Dr. No / Sean Connery as James Bond

I simply have to start the month of Bond with the suit he wears on his very first appearance: a "dinner suit" (tuxedo) by Anthony Sinclair. As the site Bondsuits.com puts it: "It set an unbelievable standard for evening wear that never has been achieved again. The look has a 1930s timelessness to it, with the daring update of no waistcoat or cummerbund. The dinner jacket has the creative detail of gauntlet (turnback) cuffs, while the bow tie is an unusual narrow diamond-point variant. It’s an interesting look that stands the test of time."

We see later that he (very correctly) wears the tuxedo with a velvet-collared evening overcoat and a black Homburg hat.

Bondsuits also has a full, detailed writeup of the suit's individual components here:

[hooked-on-elvis]

Elvis Presley in "Kid Galahad" (1962) 🥊💥

Directed by Phil Karlson and released by United Artists in August 1962. The movie opened at #9 at the American box office. Variety ranked it #37 on its list of the top-grossing films of 1962. "Kid Galahad" with Elvis Presley is a remake of the 1937 version starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart and directed by Michael Curtiz, who also directed the 1958 Presley film "King Creole" released in 1958. Its actually said that Elvis prefered Mr. Curtiz had directed "Kid Galahad" instead of the actual director, just because he thought Michael was a perfect fit for this production.

#PLOT

Willy Grogan (Gig Young) is a small-time boxing promoter and innkeeper based in the Catskills resort region of Cream Valley, New York. He is a contemptible man who is in debt and pays little attention to the woman who loves him, Dolly (Lola Albright), a chain-smoking, love-starved woman residing at the camp. Walter Gulick (Elvis Presley) arrives, a young man recently discharged from the army (they based Elvis' character on his real life pretty frequently on the scripts. Elvis had been discharged from the army a year before, in March 1960. This wasn't the first of his characters to be a former soldier tho) who loves the peaceful setting almost as much as he loves working on old cars. Walter wishes to find work as a mechanic at a nearby garage.

[Sub-plot/romance] When Willy's younger sister Rose (Joan Blackman) shows up unexpectedly, she becomes interested in Walter. Willy objects because he doesn't want Rose to fall for a "grease monkey" mechanic and two-bit boxer. Dolly is envious of the young couple's romance and resents Willy's interference.

Walter, in need of work, accepts a job as a sparring partner and knocks out one of Willy's top fighters. Even tho Walter is not a professional boxer, Willy, afraid of his debts expiring, convinces Walter, dubbed as "Kid Galahad" for him, to try his hand in a real bout. Both men are reluctant but need money. Walter begins training under the watchful eye of Lew Nyack, Willy's top trainer (Charles Bronson).

Some fights here and there, and then there's the biggest fight, the ultimate challenge. Will Walter win the competition even being an amateur boxing fighter?

Place your bets🥊💥

PRODUCTION, ACTORS AND SOUNDTRACK

Professional boxing coach "Mushy" Callahan trained Elvis for the fight scenes. He is credited as "Technical Advisor" for this movie. Above we see Elvis Presley practicing with Mushy Callahan on the set of Kid Galahad, 1961.

Kid Galahad was shot on location in Idyllwild, California and onset in Hollywood, CA.

Shooting began in early November 1961 at Hidden Lodge, Idyllwild, California, before a storm forced a move to Hollywood.

Above, Elvis between takes on the "Kid Galahad", 1961.

Makeup shots for Kid Galahad at Culver Studios, Culver City, CA, 1962

Elvis shows what he looks like after he gets slammed. I believe they intentionally opted for "smoothing" the makeup bruises big time, since it's a pretty shocking image seeing Elvis like in the last two pictures, specially. Like, wtf?! It really shocked me seeing this picture. Now imagine this beaten up Elvis in motion on the big screen for thousands of teenagers to see. It looks straight out from a horror picture, doesn't it? Great talented makeup artist tho!

ELVIS' CO-STARS in 'Kid Galahad' (1962)

Presley's co-starts in "Kid Galahad" were Joan Blackman, Lola Albright, Charles Bronson and Gig Young.

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And last but not least, the movie soundtrack

"Kid Galahad" (EP) released on August, 1962.

Six songs were recorded for the film and the soundtrack was issued as an extended play record in August 1962 to coincide with the film's premiere. Recorded on October, 1962, at Radio Recorders (Hollywood), the EP "Kid Galahad" was released in August 28, 1962.

The tracks featured on this EP were: "King of the Whole Wide World", "This Is Living", "Riding the Rainbow", "Home Is Where the Heart Is", "I Got Lucky" and "A Whistling Tune" — As the plots for Presley films became interchangeable, songs rejected for a certain storyline could later be used for an entirely different film, as with "A Whistling Tune" which had been omitted from Presley's previous film "Follow That Dream" (1962) but found a place here instead.

The featured song from the album, "King of the Whole Wide World", received Top 40 radio airplay and reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

"I Got Lucky" on scene from "Kid Galahad"

RECEPTION

"Kid Galahad" didn't have a warm reception among critics.

Variety's note was: "The story may be old, the direction not especially perceptive, the performances in several cases pretty poor, but United Artists' 'Kid Galahad' is apt to be a moneymaker in spite of all this." Another critics report, John L. Scott in the Los Angeles Times called the story "old hat" but thought that it "should more than satisfy the horde of Presley fans."

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If you like this movie or not, it serves an undeniable purpose: Giving Elvis fans their well-deserved Elvis appreciation time. ❤️‍🔥

I don't know about you but I find Elvis incredibly, and specially, sexy in tank tops, cotton short-sleeves T-shirts and sweatshirts. In that movie EP delivers that all at once. The ultimate [hunk] boy next door.

... let's not forget the shirtless scenes. Yeah... the shirtless scenes. 🫠

Yeah, leaving aside the movie, Elvis Presley's our ultimate champion winning with a high score. He holds the champion's belt for the hottest/sexier man ever alive since the 50s. No one take over his title, no one can beat Elvis Presley. 🏆✨

Elvis Presley in "Kid Galahad" (1962).

[misforgotten2]

My compliments to the chef for making sure none of these delightful hors d’oeuvres ended up looking like certain parts of the female anatomy.

The Art of French Cooking   1962

[cinemajunkie70]

Sixty years ago today, David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia was released! My parents took me to see the restorstion in 1989 at the Uptown! This is why I love going to see movies on the big screen! It is truly one of the greatest screen epics of all time! And certainly one of my favorite films! Happy anniversary Lawrence!! 🎥🎥🎥🎬🎬🎬🎞️🎞️🎞️📽️📽️📽️

[nicolasxiv]

Harakiri 1962)

[lipglossanon]

[manibolly]

All Night Long Patrick McGoohan

Interestingly he used to drink with Peter O'Toole who was nominated that year for Lawrence of Arabia and lost to Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Few films demonstrate that “less is more” better than Carnival of Souls. Consistently eerie and surprisingly frightening, this little horror film was made on a shoestring budget but drips with atmosphere thanks to simple but effective techniques. You’d never guess that it was Herk Harvey’s directorial debut. What's even more shocking is that this was the only film he ever directed.

After miraculously surviving a car accident, Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) moves to Salt Lake City to work as a church organist - and get away from her home. There, she has persistent visions of a ghoulish man (played by director Herk Harvey). Try as she might, she is unable to relate with the locals and cannot shake the strange feeling that something in the nearby abandoned pavilion needs to be investigated.

Anyone who has seen Night of the Living Dead will immediately recognize this film’s influence on it. The ghastly man with white skin and dark circles around his eyes is the progenitor of George A. Romero’s flesh-eating ghouls. The dream-like story had an undeniable influence on David Lynch. There are sure to be others who will cite it as a game-changer.

The atmosphere is amplified by the organ score and black-and-white cinematography. Everything we see just… doesn’t feel right. It’s so eerie you’re never sure what to expect next, even if you can foresee the film’s ending. I did not but even if you do, this story is so strange it grips you. Any other movie would spell what’s going on clearly and that would rob what we see of all suspense and unease. By leaving so much to the imagination even at the end, Carnival of Souls infects you with an anxiety you just can’t shake.

This delightfully sophisticated film preys on several fears. The man Mary keeps seeing - the first of many - must be some kind of ghost or lost soul. He eerily resembles a figure in one of the church’s stained glass windows, making you wonder if he isn’t an angel of death coming after “The one that got away”. Whatever he is, it can’t be good, particularly not for Mary, who sees the church as a place where she earns her pay and nothing else. How terrifying it must be for someone who doesn’t believe in anything to suddenly discover that there is a life beyond ours.

Carnival of Souls also examines the fear of the unknown and of being alone, but not in the way you expect. Whatever The Man is or represents, Mary doesn’t want anything to do with him. In a desperate attempt to avoid being alone, she decides to play nice with John (Sidney Berger), the other lodger in the small hotel in which she’s staying. It doesn’t take long for us to see that John is a jerk; one of these overgrown frat boys who will jump onto any opportunity to have a drink and isn’t inclined to take “no” for an answer. The thing is, in a new city where she doesn’t know anyone, he’s the only protection Mary has from the sinister force stalking her. They say the devil you know is better than the one you don’t, but it’s hard to agree when your safety net is this guy.

Because no one can see what Mary sees, she worries that her sanity is slipping away. If there’s one thing worse than going crazy, it’s everyone around you THINKING you’re crazy. What’s particularly striking is that the effects used to bring The Man and his fellow ghouls to unlife are so simple yet so effective. They look just like us except for a few small details, just enough for you to wander close before realizing something is wrong. Once they start moving, there’s no mistaking them for normal people.

Though the film stands on its own, Carnival of Souls becomes much more impressive when you realize it was made for about $33,000. In terms of a movie, that’s nothing - even for 1962. While the illusions on display would be considered crude by today’s standards (though to me they seemed quite convincing and I could not figure out how they did them “back in the day” with so little money) and the performances range from decent to pretty good, what makes this film a triumph is how scary it is. I can just imagine a child watching this, late at night, all alone and having nightmares for months. I'm singling out children because Carnival of Souls would be a great pick to watch on Halloween night with the family; there's no blood, nudity or any other material that might make you want to cover a little one’s eyes… except for those terrifying ghouls. (Extended cut, November 19, 2021)

[imkeepinit]

Movie poster from the National Screen Service (#63/54) for the Universal Pictures film To Kill a Mockingbird. The movie had a private showing on Christmas Day 1962 at the headquarters of the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in order to qualify for the 1962 awards, but had its official premiere in New York on Valentines Day 1963. It went into general release in early March 1963.

[abnormes]

Jane Fonda, Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

[dianewebber]

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

July: Blue Redux (+ Green Redux)

The Music Man / Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo

This dress deserves to get more screen time because I love everything about it! I love the color, the sheen of the material, the floral lace panels on the "lapels," the tassels on the sash, and the contrasting perpendicular stripes around the hips. The hat and handbag make it even more elegant. Interestingly, she seems to be wearing a narrow bracelet in the wardrobe test, but they evidently decided not to use it for the actual film.

[ihateilona]

Jules et Jim par François Truffaut ❣️

[gayfic]

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (1962)

[k-wame]

RAF VALLONE & ANTHONY PERKINS 1962 • Phaedra • dir. Jules Dassin