This has been annoying the hell out of me for years. I'm thinking of an early 1960s (?) black and white American movie that features numerous cameos by A-List Hollywood actors who are so heavily made-up (with wigs and latex facial prosthetics) that they are all thoroughly unrecognizable. At the end of the film, as a complete surprise, there is a sequence of each of these otherwise unremarkable cameo characters removing their makeup for a big reveal. For example, a plain, middle-aged woman who only appeared for a few seconds onscreen grandly removes her latex face to reveal none other than Burt Lancaster. I believe Robert Mitchum and Tony Curtis were also among the reveals. What is this film?
Charles Austin Miller
6th Aug 2019
General questions
13th Jul 2017
General questions
When did purely percussive movie and television soundtracks become popular? What landmark movie or TV soundtrack set this percussive precedent?
Answer: Probably in the late 1990s or around the turn of the century and it was probably gradual as these things go. Sometimes its easier to use a specific song to set a specific mood (this started probably more so in the 1980s) as opposed to creating a new one but that being said, its generally up to a composer and the style of the film in question as to whether they use a percussion style soundtrack or a more traditional sounding one and there are relatively recent films that sound like they could be old school.
The earliest percussive soundtrack that I recall debuted in James Cameron's first "Terminator" film. While it did have a mournful and melodic synthesized musical theme, the soundtrack was punctuated in several places with industrial banging and thumping (typically when the Terminator was onscreen). This percussive presence was amplified and expanded in the second Terminator film; and, by "Salvation," almost the entire soundtrack was industrial noise. But I'm not sure that Terminator alone ushered in the percussive soundtrack.
18th Apr 2016
General questions
Here's a tough one. I'm searching for a color, live-action, grade "B" sci-fi movie from the 1970s about a modern home in the desert Southwest that seems to be at the center of a time/space vortex. The family (I recall a father and son, but there could be more) is terrified because they never know what is waiting for them outside: It might be a Tyrannosaurus Rex from the distant past or an alien invader from the distant future or anything in-between. This was not a comedy and it actually had pretty good special effects for a "B" movie back then. What is this film?
Chosen answer: It sounds like the movie "The Day Time Ended (1979) " A family moves into their state-of-the-art solar-powered home in an isolated part of the desert to start a new peaceful life. Meanwhile, far away in deep space, three stars simultaneously explode, sending disruptive, time-bending shock waves through the cosmic void. These waves hit the house and soon some mighty bizarre things begin to happen, including a sudden resurgence of dinosaurs in their backyard, visitations from diminutive aliens, and a robot from outer space. The film is also titled Time Warp. Http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080596/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_Time_Ended https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi1jVn9jE78.
15th Nov 2015
General questions
I'm thinking of a live-action kids' movie from the late 1990s in which a dog is the lead character. At one point in the film, the dog takes a White House tour and views portraits of presidents with their pet dogs. One of the portraits is of Bill Clinton with his dog on a leash. There is not and never has been an official White House portrait of Bill Clinton with his dog on a leash, so the portrait in the film was painted as a movie prop. What movie is this?
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Answer: "The List of Adrian Messenger" (1963). Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, and Tony Curtis, along with Kirk Douglas and Frank Sinatra, remove their heavy makeup during the epilogue to reveal who they are. Although Lancaster and Sinatra didn't actual portray the characters they claimed to have been.
Bishop73
Thank you. The name of this movie has been on the tip of my tongue for many years.
Charles Austin Miller
Love this movie as a kid. It's rarely shown on TV anymore, but it is (or was) available for free on YouTube.
raywest ★
Lancaster, Curtis, Sinatra, and Mitchum did indeed portray those characters in heavy make-up. However, their voices (except for Mitchum) were dubbed over by other actors, Otherwise, the audience would have recognized their actual voices, spoiling the surprise reveal at the end.
raywest ★
Incidentally, director John Huston (who also made a cameo appearance in the film) tried to convince Elizabeth Taylor to play a disguised part in this movie; but, when Taylor learned that her lovely face would be completely hidden under heavy latex, she turned down the role.
Charles Austin Miller