– Get the Ouija board.
– It's got the Bible on top of it, keeping it quiet. “Fame will go by, and so long, I've had you, fame.” “Bacchus gives us his blood so we may be born again.” – What's that?
– Tea. “Any resemblance between HELLZAPOPPIN’ and a motion picture is purely coincidental”The Bat Whispers [The Bat] (Roland West, 1930)
Nov
19
Play Monopoly Day
Board and planchette at the ready for a little game of Ouija. DPs: Ray June (23mm) & Robert H. Planck (70mm).
It's just a little game. But then you wonder if Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board is actually just that. Two neat little ladies playing that quirky 1891 novelty game in Roland West's The Bat Whispers summon the aforementioned bat, black-clad fiend and Batman predecessor.
Who is he? What does he want? And how can he be stopped? Do you know the answer?
YES
NO
GOOD BYE
Something's Got to Give (George Cukor, 1962)
Nov
10
Forget-Me-Not Day
Marilyn on set during the infamous pool scene, four days days after singing Happy Birthday at JFK's birthday gala. DPs: Franz Planer & Leo Tover.
Everyone assumed that Ellen Arden, swept away during a yacht race, was gone. But there she is, years later, and very much alive.
– Marilyn Monroe, 1962
The story ends on August 4, 1962, almost two months after she was fired from the shoot. Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home. She was 36 years old.
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Les Blank, 1980)
Nov
8
Cook Something Bold Day
Herzog prepares his left suede Clarks in Alice Waters' restaurant kitchen. DP: Les Blank.
Seconds (John Frankenheimer, 1966)
Nov
7
International Merlot Day
Nora (Salome Jens), seen from the back with her dress half unzipped, holds up a glass of red wine while kissing a reluctant Antiochus (Rock Hudson) during the ecstatic Bacchanal scene. DP: James Wong Howe.
At a bacchanalia, Rock Hudson's Antiochus Wilson finally strips down his hesitancy and realises he has a second chance at life, as a member of the new generation. To the Queen of wine! To Bacchus! To Pan!
Director of photography James Wong Howe's very controlled framing of the (initially censored) pre-Woodstock #Bacchanalian scene beautifully frames this pinnacle moment and proved almost too much for American censors.
Goshogaoka [御所ケ丘] (Sharon Lockhart, 1998)
Nov
6
Play Basketball Day
Girls from the Moriya City Goshogaoka junior high school girl basketball team practising their blocking technique. Cibachrome print © Sharon Lockhart, 1997 (via).
Within the boundaries of Sharon Lockhart's static camera, girls from Goshogaoka junior high school practice basketball. In six uninterrupted 10 minute scenes, we see them warm up and train several typical moves, shots, and blocks. With the camera set in one position, some of the action happens off-screen, resulting in unrehearsed synchronised choreography.
Mondo Hollywood: Hollywood Laid Bare! [Mondo Hollywood] (Robert Carl Cohen, 1967)
Nov
1
World Vegan Day
Lobby card. Proto-hippie Gypsy Boots (Robert Bootzin), here going ape over a banana, outshocks polite society with his vegan (or is this vegetarian?) mindset. In the background what appears to be a bed of nails. DP: Robert Carl Cohen.
Opens with Nature Boy and #garlic propagandist Gypsy Boots.
X the Unknown (Leslie Norman + Joseph Losey, 1956)
Oct
24
scoff
Two soldiers on nightshift ready to eat. One of them hands a mess tin with grub to the other when there's a sound. DP: Gerald Gibbs.
Hellzapoppin' (H.C. Potter, 1941)
Oct
24
National Crazy Day
Olsen and Johnson break all the walls. DP: Elwood Bredell.
– tagline
The Animal (Walter Ungerer, 1976)
Sep
30
National Ghost Hunting Day
Jo (Jo Moore) in the couple's cabin. She's seen reflected in a mirror, together with what appears to be an older woman in an old photograph. DP: Walter Ungerer.
The Medium (Gian Carlo Menotti, 1951)
Sep
18
Madame Flora (Marie Powers) by herself at a small table in a shady bar. DP: Enzo Serafin.