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Casting bone to pick: David Jannsen was 38 playing the father of Robert Drivas, who was then, 31 (yeah, I realize he's supposed to be just out of college, but clues in the script have him being a loafer and so he's probably 24-25 in the script--- that still puts Jannsen in parenting classes in Junior High). I assume the AMA wrote medical miracle up in their 1938 Year in Medicine. This movie hasn't aged very well at all and now it's main appeal is just to see a snap shot of Sin City, circa 1969 and all the incessant smoking, the weird hair (Drivas has an atomic comb over that makes him resemble a well-groomed hip Cousin It) and trendy fashions that went along with it. If anyone remembers, LV wasn't exactly London... the city coddled the mob and codger gamblers in those days. Drivas comes off as sexually ambiguous; his dad thinks he might be gay (in a sad irony, Drivas himself died of AIDS at 47) and the soapy conflict is from the generation gap issue (ahem, as if one may call 7 years a gap). Sonny boy wants to be his own man and dad wants to pull him into the casino (Caesar's Palace!), and plies him with girls (including the horny-for-money Edy Williams). Interestingly enough, the son doesn't seem to mind being thought of as gay--- unusual for the time and a cute Brenda Vaccarro is nearby to swoon platonically over him. What nudity there is is awfully lame--- just what was needed to pull the audience in for an 'R' rating in the early days of the MPAA rating system (which then was G-M-R[16]- and X). The editing is HORRIBLE and there's stupid-silly overdubs by The Committee (a late 60's neo-avante-garde comedy troupe that mercifully faded off the map within a couple of years). Don Rickles is on board as a blackjack dealer... seemingly preparing him for a role as a floor manager in the much better CASINO two decades later. Not to give anything away, but they would've dealt with Mr. Rickles' character with power tools and a hole in the desert back then. A curiosity at best, far from Joshua Logan's usual caliber of work. Dos/Dias. Now go watch CASINO again...

Diminutive Georgie Price gives it his all before a static sound-enclosed camera (the shot of which is one of the interesting parts of this Warner's short) after nervous bantering with director Bryan "Brynie" Foy, who was, at the time, one of the handful of directors Warners--- specifically Darryl F. Zanuck, had confidence in grinding out talkies. Price is an interesting figure in Broadway history (read his IMDb bio) and his ability to imitate Al Jolson is clearly evident here, right down to the trademark whistle. Shot in New York, probably not long after his flop, "The Song Writer" closed at The 48th Street Theatre (his last Broadway effort). Tip of the hat to good ol' TCM for showing this as part of their Festival of Shorts! TCM is why AMC has become unwatchable by comparison... (had to get that anti-commercial shot in!).

Three things occurred to me while watching Apacalypto: 1) The only reason this got made was it didn't have to be "pitched" in the typical sense--- no producer in town would've touched it without a language change and signing a marketable lead ("I see Will Smith"). 2) It's a shame it did so poorly at the B.O. thanks to Gibson's DUI rant--- this is exceptional film-making on every level. 3) Whatever Rudy Youngblood was paid, it wasn't enough. I thought Daniel Craig went through hell in one sequence in Casino Royale... this kid had the snot beat out of him for the entire shoot. Extremely fine film--- somebody tell Mel to stop smoking 5 packs a day and lay off the booze; he's got 25+ more life left in him to try to outdo himself. Give it a 10/10!