Michael's Musings

LOVE AMONG THE RUINS review

by Michael B. Druxman on 04/11/20

April 11, 2020

Another Blu-Ray review:

LOVE AMONG THE RUINS

Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier in a film directed by George Cukor.

You can’t do much better than that.

The film was a 1975 television movie, LOVE AMONG THE RUINS, and it was the only time that the three artists worked together on the same film.

All three won an Emmy for their contributions to the picture, as did James Costigan, the writer, plus two others.

Set in Victorian London, Hepburn plays a wealthy widow who is being sued for breach of promise by a much younger fiancé. Olivier is the highly respected barrister she hires to defend her in court.

Oliver is eager to defend Hepburn, a former actress, who, forty years earlier, had briefly been his lover. Unfortunately, she claims that she has never seen him before.

Colin Blakely, Richard Pearson, Joan Sims and Leigh Lawson co-star in this delightful romantic comedy, which has been released on Blu-ray in a new 2K Master by Kino Lorber. Film historian Stephen Vagg provides audio commentary on the disc.

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My Review of SUPERNATURAL (1933)

by Michael B. Druxman on 04/08/20

April 8, 2020

SUPERNATURAL

Being a fan of both Carole Lombard and Randolph Scott, I requested a review copy of SUPERNATURAL (1933), a film that I’d certainly heard of, but had never seen. The movie has just been released onto Blu-Ray by Kino Lorber.

The good news is that the movie has been beautifully restored with a new 2K master. The picture and sound are excellent.

Lombard plays a rich heiress whose twin brother has recently been murdered. Shortly after the funeral, she is approached by a crooked medium (Alan Dinehart), who claims he can communicate with the deceased “on the other side”. Interestingly, the medium’s former lady friend (Vivienne Osborne) has just been executed for murdering three men she’d also been involved with, and her spirit is not only “hanging around,” but at one point, she inhabits Lombard’s body.

Randolph Scott plays Lombard’s fiancé in the film, which was directed by Victor Halperin.

The bad news is that, although the movie is fast-paced, running a mere 64 minutes, the story is somewhat confusing, in that one is not quite sure which character did what to who.

Thankfully, in subsequent years, both Lombard and Scott, who is 4^th billed, would appear in the kind of films (i.e. screwball comedies and Westerns) for which they are now fondly remembered.

Incidentally, the 1933 Long Beach earthquake hit while SUPERNATURAL was filming, causing the cast and crew to run from the studio set, shrieking in fright.

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4 Books at BARGAIN PRICES!

by Michael B. Druxman on 03/27/20

March 27, 2020

One of my book publishers is closing their business, which means that I have recovered the rights to four (4) of my books.

It's my plan to make these titles available as both "print-on-demand" and on Kindle via Amazon, but in the meantime, I do have available a limited amount of copies of each, and I'm willing to let them go at a bargain price of $8.00 each + $5.00 shipping (within the USA). If you take 2 titles, you can have them for $15.00 + $15.00 shipping. Take 3 titles: $21.00 plus $5.00 shipping. Take all 4 titles, and the price is $25.00 + $5.00 shipping.

The titles are:

THE ART OF STORYTELLING

CHEYENNE WARRIOR: The Original Screenplay (with Author Commentary)

NOBODY DROWNS IN MINERAL LAKE (novel)

SHADOW WATCHER (novel)

To learn more about each title, please look them up on Amazon.

All books will be signed by myself.

If interested, please contact me directly.

Thanks.

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