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LOSING A FRIEND

Leonard Maltin
2544

There is no easy way to mark the loss of a longtime friend. Rick Scheckmanwas a quiet guy, the last one to call attention to himself in any situation. He was also a loyal friend and part of our extended family. My daughter Jessie has known and loved him her entire life (she’s heartbroken that he won’t get to meet my granddaughter Daisy.) I met him after he wrote me a series of fan letters about my early books The Great Movie Shorts and The Disney Films. He was five years younger than me but we spoke the same language and loved the same offbeat shorts and cartoons. He was an avid film collector, but decades ago he and two like-minded pals turned their hobby…

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BRANDO, HITCHCOCK, AND JERRY LEWIS—TOGETHER?

Leonard Maltin
1928

I’m not saying that these three legendary figures worked together, or even shared a lunch, but here is proof that they could have. On September 1, 1960 they were all working at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood: Brando on One- Eyed Jacks, Hitchcock on an unrealized project called No Bail for the Judge, and Jerry Lewis on his tour-de-force The Bellboy. My backup is a series of “Route Cards” I acquired a while ago on eBay. Each one presumably helped people in the Mail Room and others who had business to do with filmmakers on the busy studio lot. Some of the films were shooting, while others were likely in pre- or post-production, but they were all headquartered on Melrose Avenue. My earliest card is dated October 1, 1959 and it features…

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MY FIRST-EVER OSCAR VOTE

Leonard Maltin
2769

I’ve been watching the Oscars since I was a kid, and writing about them for decades, but this year I did something I never dreamt of during all that time: I cast a vote. Last year, I was admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in the At-Large category. (There is no branch representing authors, critics, or preservationists.) As awards season began it dawned on me that I was actually going to participate in this year’s Oscars. My invitation to vote came about two weeks ago, with a deadline of January 17. As I continued to catch up with foreign-language films, indies, and documentaries I put off voting until Monday, one full day before deadline. The deed didn’t take long, as I…

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NEW AND NOTABLE BOOKS January 2023

Books Leonard Maltin
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CARTOON VOICES OF THE GOLDEN AGE, 1930-1970 Volumes 1 and 2 by Keith Scott (BearManor Media) This is not so much a book as a life’s work for its author, a lifelong cartoon fanatic who wound up providing voices for cartoons himself. (His dead-on rendering of Bullwinkle J. Moose earned him a gig opposite June Foray for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, released in the year 2000.) Decades of intensive research have resulted in an information-packed chronicle of American cartoon shorts and the often-uncredited performers who provided their speaking and singing voices. Scott devotes separate chapters to the key animation studios of the theatrical cartoon era: Warner Bros., MGM, Columbia, UPA, Walter Lantz, Walt Disney, and Max Fleischer, with addenda covering the first generation…

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REMEMBERING ADRIENNE MANCIA AND BILL PENCE

Exclusive
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The term “influencers” has come to mean a cadre of people online whose endorsement of a product or service has widespread impact. In my lifetime I’ve met a handful of people who, without the benefit of social media, took on a similar role. Two of them have just passed away, but their impact will continue to be felt for many years to come. I met Adrienne Mancia, who just died at 95, during her long tenure as a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She loved film and lived to discover and nurture creative people. She also possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the medium and mounted tributes to American-International Pictures and Warner Bros. Cartoons, honorees that other, more rigid institutions…

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TURN EVERY PAGE: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBERT GOTTLIEB AND ROBERT CARO

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews
2407

Speaking as a writer who has worked in the publishing world for decades, I view Turn Every Page as a true-life Superhero movie. This portrait of two legends—veteran book editor Bob Gottlieb and venerable biographer Robert Caro—offers a closeup look at their individual personalities as well as their longtime collaboration. What began as a proposed three-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson has now extended to four books, with a fifth on the way. But as Gottlieb is now 91 and Caro is 87, theirs is what Gottlieb characterizes as an “actuarial” story as this point. The film could only have been made by someone both men trusted completely, Lizzy Gottlieb—Bob Gottlieb’s daughter. Even then, they won’t agree to be interviewed together and set strict guidelines for what she…

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CATCHING UP WITH RECENT MOVIES

Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews
4001

December is the busiest month of the year for me, as it’s when I have to catch up with as many movies as possible. I vote in several year-end awards and polls and I want to make good choices, though I always seem to be a few pictures behind. Here are my thoughts about some recent fare: The Whale I understand why Brendan Fraser has received so much attention and acclaim for his performance as a man who is morbidly obese. He’s completely convincing, but it’s difficult, if not downright painful, to watch him. What’s more, most of the characters who come to his apartment are unpleasant. The film is transparently based on a stage play, which is the last thing one would expect to…

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