The Late Great Olivia Hussey

Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet in the movie Romeo and Juliet (1968) and Mary, mother of Jesus, in the mini-series Jesus of Nazareth, died yesterday, December 27 2024, at the age of 73.

Olivia Hussey was born Olivia Osuna on April 17 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her father was Argentine opera singer  Andrés Osuna (who used the stage name Osvaldo Ribó). Her mother, Joy Hussey, was an English legal secretary. Her parents separated when she was only two years old. When she was seven years old she moved with her mother and brother to London. There she attended the Italia Conti Academy for five years. Shew as 13 years old when she began acting on stage, taking her mother's maiden name for her stage name.

Olivia Hussey made her television debut in an episode of Drama 64. She made her film debut in The Battle of the Villa Fiorita in 1965. That same year she appeared in Cup Fever (1965). In 1966 she played Jenny in a production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie on the West End. The play brought her to the attention of director Franco Zeffirelli, who cast her as Juliet in his film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (1968). The film proved to be a huge success.

In the Seventies Olivia Hussey played Mary in the limited series Jesus of Nazareth. On television she also appeared in the mini-series The Bastard,  as well as the TV movies The Pirate and The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther. She appeared in the movies All the Right Noises (1971), H-Bomb (1971), The Summertime Killer (1972), Lost Horizon (1973), Black Christmas (1974), Death on the Nile (1978), The Cat and the Canary (1978), Virus (1980), and The Man with Bogart's Face (1980).

In the Eighties Olivia Hussey guest starred on Murder, She Wrote and Hallmark Hall of Fame (the presentation The Corsican Brothers). She appeared in the TV movies Ivanhoe (1982) and Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990). She appeared in the mini-series The Last Days of Pompeii and It.She appeared in the movies Turkey Shoot (1982), Distortions (1987), The Jeweller's Shop (1989), and Undeclared War (1990).

In the Nineties Miss Hussey provided the voice of Talia al Ghul on the TV shows Superman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond. She was also a guest voice on Pinky and the Brain. She guest starred on Lonesome Dove: The Series and Boy Meets World. She appeared in the movies Quest of the Delta Knights (1993), Save Me (1994), Ice Cream Man (1995), Bad English I: Tales of a Son of a Brit (1995), The Gardener (1998), Shame, Shame, Shame (1998), and El grito (2000). She provided a voice for the movie The Lord Protector (1996).

In the Naughts Olivia Hussey played the title role in the TV movie Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She appeared in the movies Island Prey (2001), Headspace (2005), Seven Days of Grace (2007), Tortilla Heaven (2007), Three Priests (2008), and I am Somebody: No Chance in Hell (2008). Her final appearance was in the film Social Suicide in 2015.

Olivia Hussey provided voices for several Star Wars video games.

Olivia Hussey was a remarkable actress. For many she will remain the quintessential Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, a performance that was particularly impressive given her age. She would go onto give several other great performances. She was particularly impressive as Mary in Jesus of Nazareth, playing the role with a humility while at the same time seeming otherworldly. She also gave a great performance as Rosalie Otterbourne in Death on the Nile (1978), the sulky and secretive daughter of the flamboyant Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury). She played Rebecca of York in the 1982 television adaptation of Ivanhoe well. That the "final girl" became a trope common to slasher films may be due in part to the strength of  her performance as Jessica Bradford in Black Christmas (1974). Olivia Hussey was an incredible actress and one who left her mark with several iconic roles.

The 100th Birthday of Rod Serling

Yesterday marked 100 years since the birth of Rod Serling. He was born on December 25 1924 in Syracuse, New York. Today Rod Serling is best known as the host, creator, and producer of the classic television series The Twilight Zone. He also remains well-known for the horror anthology show Night Gallery.Of course, even before The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling was an established and well-respected television writer.

After having worked in radio, Rod Serling sold his first television script in 1953, the episode "Long Time Till Dawn" to Kraft Television Theatre. It would be another script for Kraft Television Theatre that would prove to be Rod Serling's breakthrough teleplay. "Patterns" aired live on Kraft Television Theatre and proved to be so much of a success that it was re-staged on February 9 1955. "Patterns" won Rod Serling his first Emmy Award for Best Original Teleplay Writing. Rod Serling adapted his own teleplay as the movie Patterns (1956).

Rod Serling would follow "Patterns" with other highly successful teleplays, including "Requiem for a Heavyweight" for Playhouse 90, "The Comedian" for Playhouse 90, and "A Town Has Turned to Dust" for Playhouse 90. Rod Serling would adapt his teleplays The Rack (1956),  Incident in an Alley (1962), and Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Rod Serling's work in television would lead to work in the movies beyond adapting his own teleplays. He wrote such films as Saddle the Wind (1958), The Yellow Canary (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), Assault on a Queen (1966), and The Man (1972). He wrote the initial script for Planet of the Apes (1968), and Michael Wilson's final script retained the surprise ending from Rod Serling's original script.

As a writer Rod Serling often found himself in conflict with the sponsors of the television shows for which he wrote. He sometimes had to re-write his scripts when a sponsor objected to some of its content as being too controversial. An example of this was the interference he ran into with his script "A Town Has Turned to Dust" for Playhouse 90. The original script was inspired by the murder of Emmett Till and dealt with the lynching of a lack man in a present-day Southern town. Rod Serling was forced to change the setting of "A Town Has Turned to Dust" to a border town in the late 19th Century and the victim to a Mexican. Even then Rod Serling had to make changes to the teleplay, as sponsor Prudential Insurance objected to its ending.

It was Rod Serling's constant struggles with sponsors that led him to him to create The Twilight Zone. Mr. Serling believed that he could deal with more controversial topics and would would receive less interference from sponsors through an fantasy/science fiction/horror anthology series. The Twilight Zone proved critically acclaimed and, while not necessarily a hit in the ratings popular with viewers. It won Rod Serling two more Emmy Awards for writing and one for Best TV Producer/Director. The Twilight Zone has had a lasting impact. Not only has it been revived several times, but it would inspire other genre shows.

Following The Twilight Zone Rod Serling would continue to work in television. He created the short-lived Western The Loner and the horror anthology Night Gallery. He wrote the television movies A Carol for Another Christmas (1964) and The Doomsday Flight (1966).

Sadly, Rod Serling did not take particularly good care of himself. He smoked multiple packs of cigarettes a day. He had a heart attack that required hospitalization on May 3 1975. He would have another heart attack only two weeks after being released from the hospital. It was then on June 26 1975 that he underwent open heart surgery. Unfortunately, he had a heart attack while on the operating table. He died two days later, on December 28 1975. He was only 50.

Rod Serling was ahead of his time. In many ways, he is still ahead of this time. Even beyond having created The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling would have a huge impact on television. He would inspire and influence future television creators, including Aaron Sorkin (creator of The West Wing), David Chase (creator of The Sopranos), and Matthew Weiner (creator of Mad Men). Rod Serling believed television could go beyond mere entertainment and his teleplays often dealt with serious themes .At a time when it was not fashionable to do so, Rod Serling argued against racism and for racial equality. He was strongly opposed to war, something that often found its way into his teleplays. One hundred years since  his birth and nearly fifty years since his death, Rod Serling remains well-known and well-respected.

Merry Christmas 2024

Here at A Shroud of Thoughts on many holidays I post vintage photos. Christmas is no different. Here then are this year's Christmas-themed, Old Hollywood pictures.

Here is Joan Blondell with a wreath and candles.

Next, Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel are having a disagreement over who'll kiss Marion Byron under the mistletoe.

Debbie Reynolds is a real doll.

Alice White is relaxing on Christmas.

Mitzi Gaynor is delivering presents.

And here is Ann Miller with multiple gifts!

Merry Christmas!

The 20th Anniversary of The Polar Express (2004)

Following its release on November 10 2004, The Polar Express (2004) seemed to have a lot going against it. It received decidedly mixed reviews from critics. Some critics claimed the film's character animation fell into the uncanny valley. Audiences at the time may have agreed with the critics, as The Polar Express (2004) proved to be a disappointment at the box office. Despite this, over the years The Polar Express (2004) has developed a following, to the point that there are some who consider it a Christmas classic.

The Polar Express (2004) is based on the children's book of the same name by Charles Van Allsburg. Like the movie after it, the book The Polar Express told of a boy who travels aboard a train to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus. Inspiration for The Polar Express went in part back to Charles Van Allsburg's childhood. Pete Marquette 1225 is steam locomotive which was owned at one point by Michigan State University. Growing up Charles Van Allsburg attended nearly all of Michigan State University's home football games and remembered playing on the train as a kid. The Polar Express proved to be a success. It made the New York Times bestseller list and was awarded the Caldecott Medal. It has since become regarded as a classic.

Among the many parents who read The Polar Express to their children was actor Tom Hanks. It was in 1999 that he optioned the book in the hope that he could play both the conductor and Santa Claus. In 2000 Castle Rock Entertainment agreed to co-produce the movie with Tom Hanks's Playtone Company. It was in February 2002 that Robert Zemeckis signed on to produce The Polar Express. He would also become the film's director. Robert Zemeckis co-wrote the screenplay with William Broyles Jr. As the book The Polar Express was only 32 pages with illustrations, Messrs.Zemeckis and Broyles had to expand the plot a bit.. Minor characters in the book, such as Hero Girl, the Lonely Boy, and Know-it-all became more prominent in the film than they had been in the book, and new character, a hobo calling himself "the King of the North Pole" was created for the movie.

Based on a fantasy children's book, The Polar Express presented the producers with some special challenges. The book featured some action that would be impossible to re-produce in a live-aciton movie.  Making The Polar Express as a live-action movie would also mean losing the magic of the book's artwork. At the same time, making The Polar Express as an animated movie would mean losing the humanity of the characters. Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks then decided that The Polar Express should be made using motion capture technology., whereby the movement of people would be recorded and then animated. In some ways it similar to rotoscoping, the technique pioneered by animator Max Flesicher whereby animators traced over live action footage. The cost of making the movie using motion capture necessitated binging in another studio to produce the film. Universal turned the chance to co-produce The Polar Express, but eventually Shangri-La Entertainment, agreed to do so.  The Polar Express became the first feature-length movie made entirely with motion picture technology. It also marked the first time that motion capture was for both the performers' facial expressions and body movements. Previously it had only been used for body movements.

Principal photography on The Polar Express (2004) began on March 21 2003. Shooting the film involved seventy motion capture cameras which  surrounded a green screen stage.Principal photography for The Polar Express took only thirty eight days, an impossibility had it been shot as a live-action movie.

As to the train in the film, the Polar Express itself, it was based on  Pete Marquette 1225. Not only did the locomotive serve as a model for the movie's train, but sounds from the engine were recorded to be used in The Polar Express (2004). Dennis Braid, executive director of the Steam Railroading Institute who own Pete Marquette 1225,  lent several items to be used for the movie, among them a bulb and valve gear from Pete Marquette 1225.

The Polar Express (2004) premiered at the 40th Chicago International Film Festival on October 21 2004. Later that month it was shown at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival on October 20 2004, and its Hollywood premiere was on November 7 2004. The Polar Express went into wide release in the United States on November 10 2004. In addition to the standard 35mm format, The Polar Express was also released in 3D for IMAX theatres.

As mentioned earlier, reviews for The Polar Express (2004) were mixed. Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, stating, "...it has a haunting, magical quality." Richard Roeper also gave the movie good marks, commenting that it "...remains true to the book, right down to the bittersweet final image." Other critics gave The Polar Express (2004) overly negative reviews. Peter Travers of The Rolling Stone referred to The Polar Express (2004) as "...a failed and lifeless experiment in which everything goes wrong." Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star wrote, " "If I were a child, I'd have nightmares. Come to think of it, I did anyway." Stephanie Zacharek of Salon also thought The Polar Express had ventured into uncanny valley territory,  commenting, "I could probably have tolerated the incessant jitteriness of The Polar Express if the look of it didn't give me the creeps."

Initially audiences did not seem to embrace The Polar Express (2004) either. In its opening weekend it earned only $23.3 million and came in second to The Incredibles (2004), which had come out a week earlier. For its second weekend, The Polar Express (2004) dropped by 33%, making a gross profit of only $15.7 million. While the film was underperforming at standard theatres, it was doing very well at IMAX theatres. In fact, it would hold the record for the highest IMAX gross of a film until it was overtaken by Avatar in 2009.

While The Polar Express (2004) would be a disappointment at the box office in its initial release, it would be helped by strong word of mouth so that it would do relatively well in its re-releases over the years. The December 10 2011 issue of Variety it was reported that Warner Bros.' holiday re-issues of The Polar Express had $182.2 million in domestic grosses since 2004. While the film had been a disappointment at the box office upon its first release, in the end it had become very profitable and one of Warner Bros.' most successful movies of the Naughts. It has also come to be regarded by many as a Christmas classic.

The Polar Express (2004) still has its share of detractors. There are still those who maintain its human characters are unsettling, that the film ventures into the uncanny valley. Despite this, there are many who have come to love the film and it is regarded by some as a recent holiday classic. Indeed, in recent years it has done very well on various streaming venues. There may always be those who are critical of The Polar Express (2004), but it seem clear that it had developed a large following who love the film.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984): A Christmas Controversy

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is not a classic by any stretch of the imagination. It was not particularly original either. There had been movies featuring killer Santas before. Indeed, while it has a cult following, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) may be best remembered for the controversy surrounding it upon its release on November 9 1984.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) centred on Billy Chapman (Robert Brian Wilson), who suffers psychological trauma after witnessing his parents killed by an armed robber dressed in a Santa Claus suit. After his parents died, Billy spent the rest of his childhood in an rather abusive orphanage ran by the Catholic Church. Once reaching adulthood, Billy becomes a serial killer who dresses in a Santa Claus suit.

The origins of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) go back to 1981 when Scott Schneid, then training to be an agent at the William Morris Agency, received a screenplay titled He Sees You When You're Sleeping by Paul Caimi, who had completed a Harvard writing seminar during which time he wrote the screenplay. As it turned out, Scott Schneid had attended the same prep school as Paul Caimi's older brother Bill. At the time Scott Schneid was not familiar with any of previous movies featuring killer Santas, so he agreed to read Paul Caimi's script.

Although Scott Schneid thought the script was not particularly original, he sent it to Dennis Whitehead, who would also become one of the producers on the film. Dennis Whitehead decided that they could actually do something with the concept of a killer Santa in He Sees You When You're Sleeping. Scott Scheid and Dennis Whitehead then took the idea of a killer Santa from He Sees You When You're Sleeping, and developed a while new movie project with Michael Hickey as the writer. Eventually Tri-Star Pictures agreed to finance and distribute the movie, which received the working title Slayride.

It was Ira Barmak, who had a deal to produce B-movies for Tri-Star, who approached Charles Sellier about directing the film. Charles Sellier had produced the feature film The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams and the subsequent television series of the same name, making him something of a surprising choice to direct a slasher film. Under the working title Slayride, the movie was shot in thirty-two days on a budget of $750,000. It was in post-production that the film was finally titled Silent Night, Deadly Night.

As mentioned earlier, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) was not particularly original. Ghost stories had been a part of Christmas since at least the Victorian Era. Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is a famous example of this. Horror beyond ghost stories has been linked to Christmas well before the release of Silent Night, Deadly Night. The classic British horror anthology film Dead of Night (1945) had a sequence set at Christmas. Black Christmas (1974) was a pioneering slasher film set at Christmas. Even the idea of a killer Santa was not particularly original. It was perhaps the EC Comics story "...And All Through the House," from The Vault of Horror no. 35 (February-March 1954) that pioneered the idea of a killer Santa. It was adapted for the 1972 Amicus Productions portmanteau horror movie Tales from the Crypt. The year 1980 saw two movies featuring killer Santas. To All a Goodnight (1980) had a limited release in January of that year. Christmas Evil (1980) was released in November 1980. None of these films, not Tales from the Crypt (1972), not To All a Goodnight (1980), not Christmas Evil (1980), generated any controversy. Unfortunately, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) did.

So why did Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) generate so much controversy where previous killer Santa movies had not? The reason was simply that Tri-Star was a bit unwise as to when they bought time  for TV spots adverting the movie. The TV spots aired at times, such as Sunday afternoon, when entire families, including children, might be watching television. One of the TV spots aired during a Green Bay Packers football game. Others aired in between episodes of such family friendly fare as Little House on the Prairie.

By the time Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) was released on November 9 1984, protests were already rising. They appear to have begun in the Milwaukee area, where a protest group known as "Citizens Against Movie Madness" was organized. Tri-Star pulled the TV spots, but it appears to have been too little, too late.  While Silent Night, Deadly Night initially did well on box office, but it was not long before theatres began dropping the film. By November 15 1984 three theatres in Milwaukee, two theatres in New York City, and one in New Jersey, stopped showing the movie. News articles published on November 24 1984 reported that Tri-Star had dropped distribution of the film.

Despite the controversy over the film, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) would not disappear. While a release on home media by RCA in early 1985 was cancelled due to the controversy, it was released on VHS and Betamax in 1986. Despite the controversy, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) proved successful enough to have two sequels and two more Christmas-themed horror movies using the "Silent Night, Deadly Night." A loose remake of the movie, simply titled Silent Night, was released in 2012. A reboot was announced last month.

As mentioned above,the controversy over Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) most likely emerged because of the TV spots promoting the movie aired when families, including children would be watching. It probably did not help that the television advertisements emphasized Billy killing people while dressed as Santa Claus. Of course, the TV spots for Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) might not have had quite the same impact had the movie come out a few years earlier or a few years later. The 1980s saw many Americans shift towards conservativism. Such people would probably not look kindly on a movie about a killer Santa, especially not one advertised during family television time. As it was the Eighties was an era for moral panics over everything from Satanism to alleged backmasking in rock music. It is for these reasons that Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) became a cause célèbre , whereas previous killer Santa movies, such as Tales from the Crypt (1972) and Christmas Evil (1980) did not.

Since its release Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) has become a cult film, even if only a very few would regard it as a classic, even in the slasher movie genre. Regardless, it is remembered as possibly the most controversial Christmas movie of all time and one of the most controversial movies of the Eighties. It might never make most lists of the greatest movies of all time, but it will certainly always be remembered.

Perry Como's Christmas Television Specials

When many people think of Christmas television variety specials, Bing Crosby or Andy Williams might come to mind, but the all-time champion when it came to Christmas television specials may well have been Perry Como. Perry Como not only did Christmas specials on television before Bing Crosby and Andy Williams, but he did more of them for a longer period of time.

Like Bing Crosby before him, Perry Como's career began on radio. He was the host of The Chesterfield Supper Club five times a week. It would be through The Chesterfield Supper Club that Perry Como would host his first Christmas TV show. On Christmas Eve, 1948 The Chesterfield Supper Club was simulcast on both radio and television. Perry Como hosted The Chesterfield Supper Club on television until it ended its run, hosting a Christmas episode of the show each year. Afterwards, he hosted The Perry Como Show from 1955 to 1959 and then Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall from 1959 to 1967. Like The Chesterfield Supper Club, both The Perry Como Show and Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall featured Christmas episodes.

While Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall ended its run in 1967, Perry Como would continue to appear on American television screens each Christmas for literally decades. It was in 1968 that he hosted his first Christmas special that was not part of a regularly scheduled program, although it was still called The Perry Como Show. In 1969 Perry Como hosted the Christmas edition of The Hollywood Palace. It was in 1971 that he hosted  Perry Como's Winter Show. He would host The Perry Como Winter Show in 1972 and 1973. In 1974 the name of Perry Como'sYuletide special would be The Perry Como Christmas Show.

It was in 1975 that Perry Como hosted the first of his Christmas specials set in a specific location, Perry Como's Lake Tahoe Holiday, Over the next 19 years Perry Como would host Christmas specials in Mexico, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Austria, the Bahamas, Paris, England, and yet other locations. His final Christmas special was set in Ireland and was called Irish Christmas. It aired in 1994, 46 years after Perry Como first hosted a Christmas show.

Starting with The Chesterfield Supper Club in 1948, Perry Como very nearly hosted a Christmas show, either a Christmas edition of a regularly scheduled programme or a Christmas special, every single year. From 1948 to 1994 there were only few times he did not do so. What makes this even more remarkable is that for much of this time he also hosted specials at other times of year, such as Easter and summer. While Bing Crosby might be better known for his Christmas television specials, Perry Como did far more of them and for a longer period of time.