Orangey the Cat, Feline Film Star

Orangey with Rhubarb director Arthur
Lubin and costars Jan Sterling and Ray
Milland.

Today is World Cat Day so it seems as fitting a day as any to write a post about one of the few cats to achieve stardom in movies. Orangey was a male marmalade tabby with a remarkably long career in film and television. He may be best known as Cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's, but he also appeared in such films as This Island Earth (1955), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and Village of the Giants (1965).

Orangey would be the first real success for famed animal handler Frank Inn. Frank Inn had served as an assistant to Rudd Weatherwax, who trained Pal, the star of the early "Lassie" fiilms (starting with Lassie Come Home in 1943). He would later go onto train Higgins, the dog who starred on Petticoat Junction and the film Benji (1974), as well as a host of animals for other TV shows and films.

Orangey made his film debut in the 1951 comedy Rhubarb. Orangey played the cat of the title, who inherits a baseball team from his owner, eccentric millionaire Thaddeus J. Banner (played by Gene Lockhart). Not only was Orangey the first cat to play a title role in a film, but he also won a PATSY for his performance as Rhubarb (the PATSY is the equivalent of an Oscar for animal actors). It was the start of  a rather long and illustrious career for Orangey, who would appear in films and TV shows for the next fourteen years.

Orangey would perform on both television and in film. Despite the fact that he was male, Orangey played Minerva,  a cat belonging to Connie Brooks' landlady on the TV show Our Miss Brooks. He had a significant role in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) as Butch, the cat who threatens his miniaturised owner. Of course, his most famous role would be that of Cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's. He also appeared in the films This Island Earth (1955), Visit to a Small Planet (1960), and Gigot (1962). His television work included an episode of Shirley Temple's Storybook, episodes of My Favourite Martian, and playing Rusty the Cat on The Beverly Hillbillies. His last role was as a giant cat in Village of the Giants in 1965.

Like many movie stars Orangey had several "stunt doubles". Because cats can be notoriously hard to train, multiple cats often stood in for Orangey in the films in which he starred. For Rhubarb Frank Inn used 36 cats, teaching each one of them one or two tricks necessary to the film. In Breakfast at Tiffany's twelve different cats were used. Indeed, although Orangey is often credited with playing Cleopatra in The Comedy of Terrors (1963), it seems likely that the primary cat used in the film was one of his doubles. teh kitteh antidote has a post discussing how Cleopatra in The Comedy of Terrors looks different from Cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Also like many movie stars, Orangey had a reputation for being difficult. Although he was known to behave during scenes, it was not unusual for him to scratch or bite his co-stars the moment the scene was over. A studio executive actually called Orangey "the world's meanest cat". And while Orangey was known to stay on set while his scenes were being shot, even if it meant being around for hours, he was also known to flee the set the moment his scenes were over. Of course, this often meant shooting had to be shut down while he could be found. Once Frank Inn actually posted guard dogs at the exits of the studio to prevent Orangey from attempting one of his usual escapes!

It is often the case that the most difficult actors are often the most talented, and this was true of Orangey as well. Not only did he have a long career for a cat, but he was also the only cat to ever win two PATSY Awards, one for Rhubarb and one for Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Orangey's last film was Village of Giant's in 1965. While I have been unable to determine when Orangey died, given the average lifespan of cats it might not have been too long after that. Regardless, Orangey would be given a final resting place befitting the star he was. Reportedly his ashes were buried with Frank Inn in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. One can only hope he gets along better with his co-stars in the afterlife than he did while making movies.

TV Writer Rick Mittleman R.I.P.

Rick Mittleman, a television writer nominated for Emmy Awards for his work on The Red Skelton Show and Arnie, died on 30 July 2014 at the age of 84.

Rick Mittleman began his career in the Fifties as a producer on the show You Asked for It. During the 1962-1963 he went wrote for The Red Skelton Show. In the Sixties he worked on several different sitcoms. He wrote several episodes of Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., as well as episodes of such shows as The Flintstones, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Petticoat Junction, I Spy, Good Morning World, Get Smart, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, That Girl, My World and Welcome to It, Arnie, Mary Tyler Moore, and Arnie. He served as a producer on Arnie and a script consultant on McHale's Navy.

In the Seventies Mr. Mittleman wrote for such shows as Bridget Loves Bernie, Roll Out, Dusty's Trail, The Odd Couple, Emergency, Welcome Back Kotter, M*A*S*H, Sanford and Son, Alice, and What's Happening. He served as a script consultant on What's Happening. In the Eighties he wrote for such shows as CHiPs, Remington Steele, Matlock, and MacGyver. He served as a script consultant on Remington Steele and MacGuyver, as well as a producer on Simon and Simon. In the Nineties he wrote episodes of Murder, She Wrote and Early Edition.

Make Up Artist Dick Smith Passes On

Dick Smith, the legendary make-up artist who worked on such films as Little Big Man, The Gofather, and The Exorcist, died on 30 July at the age of 92.

Dick Smith was born in Larchmont, New York on 26 June 1922. He attended Yale University with the intention of becoming a dentist. While he was there, however, he found a book entitled  titled Paint, Powder and Makeup. Fascinated by the subject, he began experimenting with make-up and even did make-up for Yale's drama department. His first film work was on the movie The Cowboy and the Blonde in 1941. During World War II he served in  the United States Army. Following the war he went to work at WNBC-TV. He served as the head of its make-up department for 14 years. In the late Forties he worked on such films as Captain Eddie (1945), Call Northside 777 (1948), The Iron Curtain (1948), Down to the Sea in Ships (1949), and  House of Strangers (1949).

During the Fifties much of Mr. Smith's work was in television. He worked on such shows as Fireside Theatre, The Philco-Goodyear Playhouse, Kraft Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, and Hallmark Hall of Fame (specifically, their production of "Alice in Wonderland"). He worked on the films From Hell to Texas (1958), The Flame Barrier (1958), and The Alligator People (1959).

In the Sixties Dick Smith's career shifted more towards film, although he did still work in television. He did make up for episodes of Way Out, The Untouchables, Dark Shadows, and a 1968 television movie adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  That having been said, the majority of his work during the decade was in film. He worked on such films as The Cardinal (1963), The World of Henry Orient (1964), What a Way to Go! (1964), Midnight Cowboy (1969), House of Dark Shadows (1970), and Little Big Man (1970).

In the Seventies Mr. Smith worked on such films as The Godfather (1972), The Exorcist (1973), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Stepford Wives (1975), The Sunshine Boys (1975), Taxi Driver (1976), Marathon Man (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), and Altered States (1980). In the Eighties Dick Smith worked on such films as The Fan (1981), Ghost Story (1981), The Hunger (1983), Amadeus (1984), Starman (1984), Sweet Home (1989), Dad (1989), and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990). He worked some in television, including the miniseries North and South and its sequel North and South Book II, as well as the TV shows Monsters and Golden Years.

In the Nineties Mr. Smith worked on the films Death Becomes Her (1992), Forever Young (1992), and House on Haunted Hill (1999).

Dick Smith was quite simply the one of the greatest make up artists of all time. He was a true pioneer in the field. He was one of the first make-up artists to make prosthetics in multiple pieces rather than a single piece, as had been usually done before. Dick Smith's method of creating multiple foam latex pieces is now the industry standard. What is more, Dick Smith certainly achieved results with his work. He transformed Dustin Hoffman into a 110 year old man in Little Big Man and created the spectacular makeup effects for The Exorcist. It should be little wonder that Dick Smith won an Oscar for his work on Amadeus, although arguably he should have won many times more.

Of course, many make-up artists could achieve spectacular results with the budget of a major motion picture, but Dick Smith could be impressive working on very small budgets as well. He did make-up for three episodes of Dark Shadows in which the vampire Barnabas Collins, undergoes a treatment to cure his vampirism and finds himself ageing at an accelerated rate as a side effect of the treatment. The effects were as incredible as any Mr. Smith did for major motion pictures. He also did a good deal of make-up work on the short lived series Way Out, creating impressive work on a budget that was low for television even in 1961. Dick Smith was incredibly talented and revolutionised make-up in film and television. Indeed, his make-up effects stand up against any CGI effects done today.

Thank You for a Successful Blogathon!

I just wanted to thank everyone who participated for making the British Invaders Blogathon a success. I enjoyed reading all of the entries and even learned quite a few things. While many of the posts covered some of my very favourite films, there were others that covered movies that I have never seen. I was also pleased with how much British film history the posts actually covered. The earliest film dealt with in one of the blogathon's posts was made in 1929. The latest film dealt with in a post was made in 1983. The posts also covered a number of different genres, everything from war films to horror films to musicals to kitchen sink dramas.

Given the success of the British Invaders Blogathon I am seriously thinking of making it an annual event. You might want to mark  your calendars for the first weekend of next August then! Again, thanks to everyone who took part!

Billy Liar: Kitchen Sink Surrealism

It was in 1959 that Keith Waterhouse's novel Billy Liar was published. The novel was a seriocomic look at the life of Billy Fisher, a young clerk for an undertaker who was living in his parents in the fictional Stradhoughton, Yorkshire. Billy spices up his rather dull life with often preposterous fantasies, fantasies that he sometimes tries to pass off as reality. The novel Billy Liar proved to be extremely successful. A play based on the novel and written by Keith Waterhouse made its debut on the West End in 1960. The play also proved to be a success. It was quite natural, then, that the novel Billy Liar would be adapted as a feature film. The film Billy Liar premiered in the United Kingdom in June 1963 and proved to be a hit like the novel and the play before it.

Billy Liar has generally been considered part of two interrelated movements that overtook British cinema in the late Fifties and early Sixties. The older of the two movements was kitchen sink realism, a particularly British form of social realism. The term "kitchen sink" originated in an article by David Sylvester in the December 1954 of Encounter, who coined it after seeing a piece of art by painterJohn Bratby that included a kitchen sink. Mr. Sylvester applied the term "kitchen sink" to a trend among young British painters towards portraying domestic banality. It would not be long before the term was applied to literature, the stage, and film as well. With regards to the stage and film the term refers to works that deal realistically with the lives of the working class in Britain. A good number of the kitchen sink dramas were set in the North of England, although examples can be found in London and elsewhere in the United Kingdom. While the late Fifties and early Sixties would prove to be the height of kitchen sink realism, the genre can be traced back even before David Sylvester coined the term "kitchen sink". It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) is an early example of kitchen sink drama.

The younger of the two movements was the British New Wave. The British New Wave was a trend among filmmakers that took its name from La Nouvelle Vague (literally "the New Wave") that took place in France in the Fifties and consisted of such directors as François Truffaut,  Éric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, and so on. Not surprisingly, the British New Wave has a good deal in common with La Nouvelle Vague. The films of the British New Wave were often shot in black and white and often in the style of documentaries. The films of the British New Wave generally dealt with everyday people in realistic situations and were generally shot on location. The British New Wave also had a good deal in common with the Angry Young Men of the era, a group of young playwrights and novelists who had become disillusioned with British society. In fact, the beginning of the British New Wave is considered to be the release of Look Back in Anger in 1959. Look Back in Anger was an adaptation of the 1956 play of the same name by John Osborne. Of course, John Osborne was one of the Angry Young Men.

Kitchen sink realism and the British New Wave are often treated as synonymous, although there is good reason to consider them separate, but very closely related phenomena. Quite simply, not all British New Wave films are kitchen sink dramas and vice versa. Shot in black and white in a style similar to documentaries, The Entertainer (1960) identifiably belongs to the British New Wave. That having been said, given that it centres around a British music hall performer whose career is in decline, it is debatable whether it can be considered a kitchen sink drama. Shot in vivid colour (although still possessing the look of a documentary), Kes (1969) probably should not be considered part of the British New Wave, although it is most certainly a kitchen sink drama. While many British New Wave films are also kitchen sink dramas, then, this is not always the case.

In the case of Billy Liar, it is perhaps questionable whether it can be considered either a British New Wave film or a kitchen sink drama. Certainly Billy Liar has much in common with the kitchen sink dramas that preceded it. Like many kitchen sink dramas it is set in Yorkshire and like many kitchen sink dramas it centres on a working class family. Billy Liar was even largely shot on location in Yorkshire. Like the British New Wave films that came before it, Billy Liar is shot in black and white and in a cinema vérité style. Adding yet more realism to the film is the fact that at times the Yorkshire dialect is used in the film. All of this would seem to place Billy Liar firmly in the genre of kitchen sink realism and as part of the British New Wave. That having been said, Billy Liar differs in many ways from many of its contemporaries that were part of the kitchen sink movement and the British New Wave.

Indeed, perhaps the most notable difference between Billy Liar and the films of both the British New Wave and the kitchen sink movement is that it is not nearly as sombre or serious as those films. Billy is not so much an "angry young man" as he is a very frustrated one, trying to cope with his dreary life through daydreaming and many times glossing over the truth. The end result of Billy lying to everyone (most of all himself) is generally not drama, but instead humour of a very tragic sort. Quite simply, in defiance of the oft said phrase, "It's grim up north," Billy Liar is at its heart a comedy and at times a very funny one at that.

Given the fact that Billy Liar centres on a young man with a very active imagination, it should come as no surprise that the film is punctuated by fantasy sequences illustrating Billy's daydreams. Many of these are set in a fantasy kingdom of which he is its ruler. In reality Billy might only be a lowly clerk at a funeral home. In his fantasies he is an all conquering hero. As might be expected the contrast between Billy's glorious fantasies and his rather drab reality is a source of much of the film's humour. The fantasy sequences of Billy Liar add a dose of surrealism to the film that further sets it apart from its compatriots in the British New Wave and the kitchen sink movement. Despite being set in Yorkshire, at times the film it seems to have more in common with the surreal British comedies of the Sixties that would follow it, including A Hard Day's Night (1964), The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), and Smashing Time (1967).

Of course, while Billy Liar is most definitely a comedy with surrealistic tendencies, it is still very much grounded in reality. Much of this is due to John Schlesinger's direction. Mr. Schlesinger deftly blends realism of the sort seen in the kitchen sink dramas with the fantasy often found in later "Swinging London" films so that the end result is a very consistent and cogent whole. Aiding  John Schlesinger's direction are the performances of the cast, all of whom are very convincing in their roles.  A Northerner himself, Sir Tom Courtenay brings Billy so much to life that it hardly feels as if he was playing a role--he is Billy Fisher (here it must be pointed out that he earlier played the role on stage). In her film debut Julie Christie gives an impressive performance as Billy's dream girl, Liz. Like Billy, she too wishes to escape the dullness of Northern England for the bright lights of London.

Ultimately the question of whether Billy Liar can be considered a part of the British New Wave and a kitchen sink drama can perhaps only be answered by asking whether a comedy can be considered a part of either movement. Regardless, Billy Liar would certainly seem to be representative of the transition from the British New Wave and kitchen sink dramas of the early Sixties to the more light hearted British films of the mid to late Sixties, with characteristics of all of them. Ultimately Billy Liar would also have a lasting impact, inspiring a song of the same title by The Decemberists, a West End musical (simply titled Billy), and much more. For a young clerk at a funeral home with trouble telling the truth, Billy Fisher would seem to have found lasting success.

The British Invaders Blogathon

The British Invaders Blogathon has arrived! For those who did not see the initial announcement regarding the blogathon, the British Invaders Blogathon is meant to celebrate the best in British classic films. While many think of Hollywood when they think of movies, the fact is that many classic films originated in the United Kingdom. From the Gainsborough melodramas to the Ealing comedies to Alfred Hitchcock to Tony Richardson, the United Kingdom has made many contributions to classic film. The British Invaders Blogathon will last from today (1 August 2014) to Sunday (3 August 2014).

I am glad to say we have a wide range of posts lined up that span the history of British film from the Silent Era to the Eighties. For those participating in the blogathon, simply let me know in a comment here, a message on Twitter, or an email and I will add it to the list. And please remember to link to this page using one of the images from the introductory post! I want to thank everyone who is participating!

Anyhow, without further ado, here are the posts:

Barry Bradford Blog: Local Hero (1983)

Hitchcock's World: The Lion in Winter (1968)

Classic Movie Hub: To Sir, With Love (1967)
  
filmscreed:  Catch Us If You Can (1965)

Silver Scenes: The Admirable Crichton ( 1957 )

portraitsbyjenni: Kes (1969)

LMdC: if.... (1968)

Hitchcock's World: Zulu (1964)

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog: The Four Feathers (1939)

Paula's Cinema Club: The Secret History of MI6 is a movie waiting to happen…

The Vintage Cameo: Summer Holiday (1963)

A Shroud of Thoughts: Billy Liar (1963)

Crítica Retrô: The Magic Box (1951)

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear: Went the Day Well? (1942)

Speakeasy: Hell Drivers (1957)

Movies Silently: A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929)

Girls Do Film: Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Cary Grant Won't Eat You: The Red Shoes (1948)

Sister Celluloid: The Astonished Heart (1950)

Prowler Needs A Jump: Victim (1961)

Citizen Screen: Frenzy (1972)

The Movie Rat: Time Bandits (1981)

Not Always Movie Reviews from James Anymore: A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

 Moon in Gemini: The 1960s Royal Costume Dramas

Random Pictures: Peeping Tom (1960)

Silver Scenes: The Chalk Garden (1964)

Margaret Perry: The Era of the Ealing Comedy

The Girl with the White Parasol: The Queen of Spades (1949)

The Rosebud Cinema: The Gold Diggers (1983)

The 20 Novels by Women That Influenced Me

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction recently asked the public to vote for the most influential fiction books by women. The result was a list of 20 books considered the most influential, at least by those who voted (you can see it here). I noticed that while the list included many of my favourites, it still differed a good deal from the novels by women that I would say have had an influence on me. I then thought I would go ahead and create my own list of the 20 novels by women that have influenced me the most. I have to admit I did fudge a bit in including entire series as "one book".  I must also point out that I did not include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (even though it is included on the list compiled by the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction). Quite simply, it is an autobiography and not fiction and so does not meet the requirements to be on the list in my mind. It would make my list of my top twenty non-fiction books by women that have influenced me the most if I ever made one!

Here, then, without any further comment, is my list of 20 novels by women that have influenced me the most. 

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
2. Emma by Jane Austen
3. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
4. Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie
5. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
7. Jane Eyre by Charlote Bronte
8. Gone with the Wind by Margret Mitchell
9. The Pursuit of Love/Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
10. O Pioneers by Willa Cather
11. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
12. Middlemarch by George Eliot
13. The "Harry Potter" series by J. K. Rowling
14. "Mabinogion" tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
15, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
17. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
18. The "Merlin" series by Mary, Lady Stewart
19. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
20. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice