R.I.P. SPARTACUS ~ KIRK DOUGLAS DIES AT 103

And, of course, Douglas also starred in (and helped to get made) the magnificent Paths of Glory, the film that arguably put Stanley Kubrick on the path towards achieving a level of directorial superstardom reached by only a tiny handful of others, before or since.

ON STANLEY KUBRICK: A FORCE OF NATURE

Thanks to 'The Stanley Kubrick Appreciation Society', we all now get to see the video of a talk given in 2001 at the University of Oklahoma Department of Film and Video Studies by Joseph Turkel, one of the few actors to have scored a Stanley Kubrick Hat Trick, having appeared in a bit part in The Killing, a co-starring role in Paths of Glory, and a pivotal part in The Shining. 

On Youtube, it's been chopped into five pieces, but some kind soul has combined all the parts into a single video and made it available as a single video on the superior platform, Vimeo. Watch it there, or see it here, embedded, below...

 

On Stanley Kubrick A Force of Nature from Next Wednesday on Vimeo.

RICHARD ANDERSON R.I.P.

Richard Anderson, who portrayed the obsequious prosecutor Major Saint-Auban in Stanley Kubrick's 1958 anti-war masterpiece Paths of Glory, has passed away at the age of 91. Anderson enjoyed steady work throughout the years before achieving the heights of popularity as fan favorite character Oscar Goldman in two hugely successful mid-70's science-fiction TV series, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.

In an interview American Legends conducted with Anderson specifically to discuss Kubrick and Paths of Glory, we learn:

American Legends: Showing the execution of soldiers ran contrary to Hollywood's standard approach to filmmaking.
Richard Anderson: Max Youngstein insisted that the three soldiers not die at the end. He said, "If those guys die, who will go see the movie?" The studio wanted them reprieved at the last minute. In Munich, Stanley sent Youngstein the final script without making the changes Max wanted. He registered the script to show it had been sent--and held his breath. They prayed Max wouldn't call and say that the deal is off. No one at United Artists read the script. When Max was shown a cut of the picture, he turned to Stanley and said: "You were right."

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY TO KIRK DOUGLAS!

The Hollywood legend who helped make Paths of Glory such an incredible, unforgettable anti-war statement (and, to be fair, probably helped to make Spartacus not quite as awesome as it could have been) has achieved a milestone that few of us can ever hope to reach... 100 years on this stupid wet rock hurtling through the frozen blackness of space!

And yes, I know, going as far back as his autobiography, he's made a habit of occasionally spouting off some ignorant, bitter baloney about the object of this blog's obsessive affection. And yet still, it is with great pleasure--and a momentary setting aside of that whole Natalie Wood thing--that we here at Kubrick U wish a hearty Mazel Tov to the ragman's son! L'chaim, you handsome sunofabitch!

JOE TURKEL ON HIS ROLE IN THE SHINING

Okay, so this is a weird one. Some feller by the name of Media Mike--whose first language obviously isn't English--got a chance to chat with actor Joe Turkel at one of those "meet a celebrity" autograph conventions. Turkel is most famous for playing Lloyd the bartender in The Shining and Eldon Tyrell in Bladerunner, but he also had roles in two earlier films by Kubrick: The Killing and Paths of Glory. In The Killing, Turkel was little more than a glorified extra, but in Paths of Glory, he played Private Arnaud, a philosophically inclined chatterbox who is one of three French soldiers chosen to be executed for cowardice after a failed attempt to overtake a position held by the Germans. In any case, regardless of the site's broken English, it's nice to know that Turkel is still alive and mentally sharp at 88.