Category Archives: Forgotten Films

Have you ever wished for a list of the BEST forgotten films over the years? Here it is. We list the best movies that have been forgotten over the years. This will give you a great movie to watch on Netflix or Amazon Instant if you have no idea what to watch. Give us a chance to suggest a great film for you.

2004, Comedy, Forgotten Films, Independent Film Production

Reveille, a Tribute Video to all Veterans

December 9, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

In 2004, twin brothers Adam Montierth and Donovan Montierth along with writing partner, Jason Walters, wrote, produced and directed a little 35mm film that changed their lives. That film, which started out as a tribute to their grandfather, was called Reveille and starred film and American Forces Veteran’s David Huddleston and James McEachin. Reveille soon was screened at over 50 film festivals, winning over 20 awards and was shown on The Pentagon Channel and the American Forces Network. In 2007, it was viewed by the Armed Forces in Balad, Iraq, became a viral sensation by being viewed to over 5 million people on Google Video (before there was YouTube) and won the twins an Emmy Award.

Adam and Donovan spent the next few years trying to get a feature film based on Reveille produced called Capture the Flag. At one point, in 2008-2009, the film looked like it was finally going to be made, they had a $5 million dollar budget through a hedge fund and signed actors and Veteran’s James Garner and Louis Gossett Jr. The recession hit and the hedge fund withdrew the funds before they could start production and the film went into turnaround.

Brothers’ Ink Productions went on to make Locker 13 with Ricky Schroder and a slew of great actors and Capture the Flag w CTF Poster as eventually optioned by Sleeperwave Films and Producer Eric J. Adams. Eric is a producer, screenwriter, journalist and author. He wrote the script and produced (consulting) the feature film“Supremacy” (2015), starring Danny Glover and Joe Anderson, and he co-wrote and produced “Archie’s Final Project” (aka My Suicide) (2011). Archie’s Final Project won 21 major international film festival awards, including the Crystal Bear in Berlin.

Sleeperwave Films is still in development on the project but has already brought Producer Michael Birnbaum (Bandits, The Big White and John Tucker Must Die) and Director Jeremiah Chechik (Benny and Joon, Christmas Vacation, and The Avengers).

Reveille, the short film that started it all is now available on Facebook. Please share and like the film, as the more people that see the short film, the faster we can get the feature film made:

Posted by Reveille on Wednesday, December 9, 2015

1973, 1976, Forgotten Films, Stunts

Burt Reynolds is Gator McKluskey

November 20, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

Burt Reynolds played Gator McKluskey in White Lightning (1973) and again in Gator (1976). These are two fantastic films about a moonshine-running King of the Bayou, with high octane, super-charged, double-barreled action, mystery, murder and adventure. I loved these films and really wished they made more of them.

The fun starts with White Lightning, that was supposed to be Steven Spielberg’s first theatrical film, as he spent months on the pre-production, but was eventually replaced with Joseph Sargent, who himself was fired from Buck and the Preacher and replaced by Sidney Poitier the year before. Joseph would go on to make the very successful The Taking of Pelham One Two Three the year after. Burt Reynolds met the writer, William W. Norton on Sam Whiskey (which he wrote) and Burt loved the idea of this ex-con character that gets drawn into working with the feds to catch a moonshine ring.

Burt’s good friend, Hal Needham, did the stunts in this movie and would eventually direct Burt in several films including Hooper (a film about a legendary stunt man) and the Smokey and the Bandit films. There was a scary moment in the chase sequence that ends with Gator’s car sailing from a river bank onto a barge that went seriously wrong. The plan was for the car (driven by Hal) to land squarely on the mound of soft earth in the barge, on the take he fell short and landed on the rear of the barge with the rear of the car hanging into the water. Hal was hurt and stunned, Burt watching the scene from behind the camera, dove into the water, swam to the barge and helped pull Hal out of the car. Needham recovered from his injuries and would go on to do the stunts in Gator three years later.

The film was so successful that Burt decided he wanted to do another film with the character and decided to direct the sequel himself. Up until this point he had only directed one episode of the TV Show, Hawk (which only lasted for 1 season) 10 years before, but managed to get the studio to agree to let him direct the film. Burt got William to write the sequel and also had Hal doing the stunts again.

Hal Needham’s luck didn’t change on this film as he was hurt again on a stunt at the end of the final chase scene. The truck that Gator (Hal doubling for Burt) gets thrown from flips over and it broke Hal’s back in the process. He was a very good stunt man, by all accounts, but this does make sense why he turned to directing in the subsequent years.

Great films, both of them are a lot of fun to watch. Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1982, Forgotten Films

Kenny Rogers and Six Pack

October 13, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

I’m going to start a new series of blogs for the 100 Years Blog, based on great little films that seem to have been forgotten over time. My first post is with the great little family gem called Six Pack (1982) that came out in the early eighties. It’s arguably the best movie that Kenny Rogers ever starred in and is most remembered for his hit theme song Love Will Turn You Around that was featured in the film.

My only complaint about the film would be the title that seems to be a play on words and seems to be in direct conflict with it’s family theme because it’s a reference to Beer. Which is also interesting that Kenny’s name in the film is Brewster and he goes by Brew for most of the film. I really think that the marketing was a big miss on this one as I think it really kept some families from going to see the film, which is a shame, because it’s really good. The title makes it feel like an adult contemporary comedy about drunk guys out for a wild night, not a cute family movie. So I guess you could also file this one under missed opportunities.

The film is notable for having a young Diane Lane and you can definitely see the potential for being a great actress even that early in her career. It also stars Anthony Michael Hall in his first movie role, before he made it big in National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984) and Breakfast Club (1985). I want to also state that he’s a very under-rated actor! He’s still fantastic, and I found him to be just hilarious in Psych last year and Rosewood this season. He needs to get more work.

The film was directed by Daniel Petrie for 20th Century Fox. Daniel Petrie is best remembered as the man who directed Sally Field in an Emmy Award winning role for Sybil, and for Fort Apache the Bronx and for the classic film A Raisin in the Sun starring Sydney Poitier.

People and companies to look up on IMDB:

Kenny Rogers
Diane Lane
Anthony Michael Hall
Daniel Petrie
20th Century Fox

1941, Forgotten Films, Stories From Hollywood, Stunts

The Adventures of Captain Marvel – Stunts

September 26, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

The action genre was owned primarily by the movie serials during this time and it was the peak of their popularity. The Adventures of Captain Marvel was hugely successful and widely considered to be one of the best serials ever produced. This was the first depiction of a comic book super hero on film. It is considered by most to be the best in a line of the Superhero serials that would follow.

The serial deserves its reputation and it made Tom Tyler (Captain Marvel) a bankable star for Republic. The funny thing is, this is one of the greatest cinematic trompe l’oeils ever, because Tom Tyler himself is hardly in the movie. About half the scenes of Captain Marvel are actually shot with stunt doubles or, in the case of the flying sequences, a papier-mache sculpture strung on wires.

The flying effects were performed mostly with a dummy. The dummy was slightly larger than life, at 7 feet tall, and made of paper mâché so that it weighed only 15 lbs. The uniform was made of thin silk and a cotton jersey. Four pulleys connected to each shoulder and calf, which were strung on two wires so the dummy moved along them by its own weight. The wires were attached to two objects across the view of the camera, and the dummy slid from one to the other, giving the appearance of flight. This system was originally intended for a Superman serial, a prototype of which was built but discarded. The flying pose used for the dummy, arms outstretched and back arched, was based on drawing by Mac Raboy. If Captain Marvel needed to be seen flying upwards, the cape was weighted down and the dummy slid backwards. The film of this was then reversed.

Dave Sharpe was the human part of the effect. Dressed as Captain Marvel, he would leap from a high point with his body straight, as if able to fly, then roll to land at the last second. The combination of effects and stunts produced the overall illusion of a flying person. Sharpe also performed other stunts as Captain Marvel, such as back flipping and knocking down attacking natives in the first chapter. Some shots of Captain Marvel flying were filmed with Tyler against rear projected clouds. However, some of these scenes show the wires used to hold him up.

According to Stedman, the flight scenes were “the most successful illusion of such aerobatics ever put upon the screen, in serial or feature.”

The picture is largely carried by a young and energetic Frank Coghlan as Billy Batson, who has almost all of the dialogue. The character of Captain Marvel is barely a walk-on, he has about as much actual screen time as Lou Ferrigno used to get on the old Incredible Hulk TV show– and Cap generally only shows up for the same reason, to get his alter ego out of trouble at the last possible minute.

Things to look Up:

Tom Tyler
The Adventures of Captain Marvel
John English
William Witney
Republic Pictures

Stunt Men:

Dick Crockett
James Fawcett
Bud Geary
George Magrill
Ted Mapes
Loren Riebe
David Sharpe
Duke Taylor
Ken Terrrell
Henry Wills

Adventures_of_Captain_Marvel_(1941_serial)_12

Glossary of film terms as defined by the Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com):

Trompe-l’œil: (French for “deceive the eye”, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l’oeil, is an art technique involving realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. Forced perspective is a comparable illusion in architecture.

History of film companies as defined by IMDB: Republic Pictures was an American independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1935 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action.

The studio was also responsible for financing and distributing one Shakespeare film, Orson Welles’ Macbeth (1948), and several of the films of John Ford during the 1940s and early 1950s. It was also notable for developing the careers of John Wayne, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1971, Forgotten Films, Stunts

The Big Boss (AKA: Fists Of Fury)

September 5, 2015 Donovan Montierth 1 Comment

Bruce Lee was the first worldwide asian superstar and this was the film that put him in the spotlight. The highest grossing film in China up to this time, it was also a sensation in the US and all over the world. Martial Arts became a phenomenon. Lee didn’t know it, but when he went to China to make this movie, he was already a star because The Green Hornet was released in China as The Kato Show.

This is somewhat of a surprise as it was another TV show that forced Lee to make Fists of Fury in China. In 1971 Lee went to Warner Bros. with an idea for a TV Show he called The Warrior about an asian martial arts expert in the wild wild west. Warner Bros. went forward with the show but without Lee and they hired a caucasian to play the asian in the show and named it Kung Fu.

He was so upset that they went with a caucasian for the role that he went to make a real martial arts film to show Warner Bros what he was capable of. The rest is cinema history and in the end, Bruce Lee became a worldwide sensation. Lee also paved the way for the asian stars to come later, like Jackie Chan and many others.

In this film, the martial arts was really revolutionary for the day, although, Lee doesn’t have a fight scene until 45 minutes into the film. You can definitely see a difference between him and all the other fighters…Bruce Lee sizzles. He really is electric. I especially liked the fight scene in front of the icehouse (which is hilarious by the way – unintentionally – when he punches a bad guy in the chest and he flies back through the icehouse wall leaving an exact shape of his body in the wall of wood slats) and the fight scene at the end. Although, the Big Boss at the end, just doesn’t seem to have even a fraction of the power and strength that Bruce Lee does, but manages to catch Lee off guard several times and slice him up a bit.

Fists of Fury (The Big Boss) was directed by Wei Lo for Golden Harvest.

Things to look up (click on item to go to IMDB page or Website):

Bruce Lee
Fists of Fury
Wei Lo
Golden Harvest

History of film companies as defined by Wikipedia: Orange Sky Golden Harvest is a film production, distribution, and exhibition company based in Hong Kong. It played a major role in becoming the first Chinese film company to successfully enter the western market for an extended period of time, especially with the films of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. At the same time, it dominated HK box office sales from the 1970s to 1980s.

Notable names in the company include its founders, the veteran film producers Raymond Chow (鄒文懐) and Leonard Ho (何冠昌). Chow and Ho were executives with Hong Kong’s top studio Shaw Brothers, but left in 1970 to form their own studio. They succeeded by taking a different approach from the highly centralized Shaws model. Golden Harvest contracted with independent producers and gave talent more generous pay and greater creative freedom. Some filmmakers and actors from Shaws defected. But what really put the company on the map was a 1971 deal with soon-to-be martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, after he had turned down the low-paying, standard contract offered him by the Shaws.

Brothers' Ink Productions