What's new

Anthology films (1 Viewer)

Louis Letizia

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Messages
998
I always had a fondness for anthology films but except for the Amicus/Hammer ones or others like CREEPSHOW or DEADTIME STORIES -there are still a few I'd like to see. Anthologies were either horror, sex comedies or comedies and the few American examples like CREEPSHOW, AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON and FOUR ROOMS are all we have on DVD. And MGM Vault gave us THE WITCHES recently (a ghoulish example of the form -with a very uncomfortable , young and naked Clint Eastwood in an Italian made travesty) and Columbia gave us the fun THE QUEENS-along with SPIRITS OF THE DEAD , all European examples.I'd like to see he following-but don't know where the rights lie: HOW FUNNY CAN SEX BE?: this was extremely popular in theaters circa 1976 and starred Giancarlo Giannini and Laura Antonelli. CBS/FX put it out on video-but doubt they have rights to it now. SEX WITH A SMILE: along with THINK DIRTY , these were released to theaters after YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN made Marty Feldman popular. SMILE is barely mentioned in a great new book on Feldman, but it was in constant release throught the late 70s-bu dont think it ever played on HBO. There were vides from different labels-but no dvd. VIVA ITALIA!: One of the best Italian comedy anthologies this went on to garner a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination (was this a one and only?)-but never appeared on video in the States SUNDAY LOVERS: Iknow WB now owns this -but its so bad it never was ever released on vhs. With very few of MGMs 70s/80s films left to be released by WB -I doubt it will ever make it I'm sure there are others-and hope there may be a comeback of quality anthologies AS they were intended to be shown -3 or 4 short films -not jumbled together like VALENTINES DAY , CRASH and its ilk
 

Matt Hough

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
26,152
Location
Charlotte, NC
Real Name
Matt Hough
One of my favorites is O. Henry's Full House with a batch of O. Henry stories put together into making a very enjoyable film.
 

Richard Kaufman

Supporting Actor
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
508
Location
Washington DC
Real Name
Richard Kaufman
All portmaneau horror films owe a debt to Dead of Night, made by Ealing Studios in England in the 1940s. It also easily bests those made by Amicus, which I enjoy greatly and have for many years, but Dead of Night is really in another league altogether.
 

ahollis

Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
8,864
Location
New Orleans
Real Name
Allen
Richard, is so agree with you about DEAD OF NIGHT. It was the daddy of anthology films and is still one of the best done. It is a yearly favorite around October and I enjoy watching people that see it for the first time.


Would EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX, BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK qualify? It is hard not to laugh at Gene Wilder and a sheep along with the battle of the big boob.
 

Charles H

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 7, 2004
Messages
1,526
ENCORE, TRIO, QUARTET were superb "omnibus" films based on W. Somerset Maugham short stories, and there was also MGM's IT'S A BIG COUNTRY and THE STORY OF THREE LOVES. The Maugham films triggered the trend in the fifties.
 

WaveCrest

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
4,238
Real Name
Richard
The House That Dripped Blood (1971) was on TV a few weeks ago, and of what I saw of it, it was entertaining and slightly scary (saw some of a segment with Jon Pertwee (vampires) and another with Peter Cushing (to do with a wax museum).
 

Nebiroth

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
748
Real Name
Richard Gregory
I just wish they;d release the remaining Amicus anothology, Tales That Witness Madness
 

Louis Letizia

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Messages
998
Anthology films will be represented by 2 films this year. Relativity Media has Movie 43-a movie with a huge cast. While I may be wrong-this seems structured after Amazon Women on the Moon. I'm a bit excited about this-and await its outcome in April. The Weinstein Co. picked up the French omnibus film -Les Infideles, which may be called "The Players" here. It's a Gallic sex farce , much like the Italians did so well in the 60s /70s (How Funny Can Sex Be?, Viva Italia! , Boccacio , . It's ace in the hole is that it stars this years best actor -Jean Djurdain- frequently shown wearng nothing but his now famous smile. Reading theVariety review , which leaned more positive then negative , this is in the vein of Sunday Lovers-one of the few studio backed anthologies of the 80s. I'm hoping these do well. The former has an amazing starstuddeed cast while the latter has the handsom Jean's versatility as a comic actor-he is in every vignette. With the right vehicle this guy can make it big. He'd be a perfect Inspector Clouseau. I predict he will become very popular here soon enough. He needs to choose wisely -or end up like Alain Delon -upside down in an Airplane in some allstar disaster movie! I'd like to see him in a musical - "A Parisian in America" perhaps? An Americanized Umbrellas of Cherbourg with Djurdain in the Gene Kelly role? I have faith Weinstein will make The Players aware to everyone. In fact -in their rlier incaration as Miramax I believe the Weinsteins gave us the true last major anthology film -Four Rooms?
 

Bob Cashill

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2001
Messages
3,799
Real Name
Robert Cashill
PARIS JE T'AIME and NEW YORK I LOVE YOU were arthouse hits here and abroad, but not studio-backed. THE TEN, a David Wain anthology comedy with a Ten Commandments hook, was a recent US-made dud. Miramax/Dimension was going to try again with ALIEN LOVE TRIANGLE, but it fell apart.
 

Louis Letizia

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Messages
998
Were "Paris" and "New York" seperate stories or more Valentines Day like in structure? I havent seen either , so I do not know
 

Bob Cashill

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2001
Messages
3,799
Real Name
Robert Cashill
Vignettes, with a little tie-in. There was also a 9/11 omnibus movie, 11'09"10, co-directed by Sean Penn and others.
 

Louis Letizia

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Messages
998
I had forgotten about the 9/11 one. The Ten was sparsely released. I do not think there has ever been a true anthology film that did well at the boxoffice. Love Actually and Valentines/ New Years Day are more tapestries with the stories woven together than vignettes. I think one of the issues is that many anthologies rely on different directors-making for a schizophrenic scheme. Probably Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex... and Creepshow are the only successful American releases. Of the early 80s anthology films-Nightmares was pretty good.
 

Jon Hertzberg

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
1,541
Real Name
Jonathan
There's also Frank and Eleanor Perry's TRILOGY, an adaptation of Truman Capote stories, released in 1969 by Allied Artists. Maybe the Archive can get this out when they release Perry's LAST SUMMER.
 

Louis Letizia

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Messages
998
I have the Allied Artists vhs of Trilogy and often wondered if WB owns this now . There were a slew of Allied Artists releases to video that were very obscure. They seem perfect for WB Archive. Have many AA releases been handled through WA? Last Summer-hopefully we will get this soon. This needs a good remaster-it has great cinematography of which the Key video didnt do justice to.
 

Jon Hertzberg

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
1,541
Real Name
Jonathan
Louis Letizia said:
I have the Allied Artists vhs of Trilogy and often wondered if WB owns this now . There were a slew of Allied Artists releases to video that were very obscure. They seem perfect for WB Archive. Have many AA releases been handled through WA? Last Summer-hopefully we will get this soon. This needs a good remaster-it has great cinematography of which the Key video didnt do justice to.
WA has stated many times that they are working on LAST SUMMER, restoring it to its original X-rated length, etc. They've made mention of having some more trouble finding appropriate elements than they originally anticipated. They are doing good work here...I'm definitely stoked to see so much commitment to a title like LAST SUMMER.
 

Louis Letizia

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Messages
998
I'll have to check out that John Ford anthology. This may be one of the better ones as its done by one director -so it should be more even than most omnibus films. Thanks for pointing this one out- Tyrone Power as the narrator in hius Autumn years should be very interesting.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,815
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top