In 2016 Norm of the North entertained audiences with a cute animated film about a bumbling Polar Bear. Now Norm is back for a sequel – Norm of the North: Keys to the Kingdom. This time Andrew Toth voices the big guy.

Norm has just been crowned polar bear king of the Arctic. Sure, he’s still a bit of a bumbling fellow, but he has a good heart. And his friends back in New York City want him to return for a celebration in his honor. When Norm heads back to the big apple, he takes along his son Quinn and the lemmings. In NYC Norm is hailed as a hero and given the key to the city. This key opens every lock in NYC.

Things are going pretty well for Norm. He is articulate and presents a great image of himself. But the next day he is no longer the hero of New York, but the villain of the city. Someone has stolen all the money from several banks using Norm’s key and wearing a look-alike costume. Norm is being framed for these crimes and it’s up to his best human friend Olympia, Quinn, and a banker named Fong to expose the real criminals.

Soon Norm is once again the hero of the city. Upon his return to the Arctic he comes across some other evils. A bottled water company wants control of the Arctic to use the ice for fresh water. The bottles and cups are already being trashed all over the land, and now Norm must deal with the ecological issue of the trash as well as the company that wants the land. Who will prevail for the Arctic? Will it be Norm and all the animals who call the land their home or will it be the bottled water company and their scheme to take the ice for their own profits?

Norm is a fun character with a lot of heart as well as a good mind. He might not be the noblest king the Arctic has ever had, but he is the most caring king.

This family film is not rated however it is suitable for all ages. It’s a fun family film filled with fun family characters. All hail Norm, King of the Arctic.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County.

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The Prize is a 1963 film starring Paul Newman and a collection of other well-known actors. This is a Hitchcockian-style story written for the screen by the same writer of North by Northwest, and has some of the same suspense throughout the film.

When the Nobel Prize winners come to Stockholm for the ceremonies, things get a little out of hand for writer Andrew Craig (Newman), who is an alcoholic, womanizing American author only interested in the money and not the prestige. He finds himself in the middle of a Cold War situation in which his life and the lives of others are at stake.

Remember, this film was made at the height of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis had occurred the year before and the Berlin Wall had gone up. The Communists and the West were waging covert operations, and at this Pulitzer Prize gathering, that is especially the case.

Dr. Max Stratman (Edward G. Robinson) is there to collect his prize for physics. He is being accompanied by his niece Emily (Diane Baker). Stratman is an American and proud of his escape from the Communists, but they want him back. He is kidnapped and replaced by a look-alike imposter while he is being smuggled behind the Iron Curtain.

Craig is assigned an official, Inger Andersson (Elke Sommer), to assist him on his trip to Stockholm and hopefully keep him out of trouble. Craig, being his usual self, makes a play for her.

When his imagination and curiosity take over, Craig detects a difference between the Stratman that is taking part in the festivities and the one he met on his arrival. He puts two and two together and decides this one is an imposter. But who will believe him?

In the meantime, there are personal stories being played out by the two doctors who are sharing the prize for medicine: Dr. Farelli (Sergio Fantoni) from Italy and Dr. Garrett (Kevin McCarthy) from America. And, a married couple (Micheline Presle and Gerard Oury) are also there to accept their prize however their marriage difficulties adds to their stories, as well as Craig’s.

It might sound confusing however it’s not. While the various winners are playing out their personal situations, it is Craig who is at the center of it all while he tries to find out what is actually going on with Dr. Stratman. And when his life is put at risk, he is certain his hunch is correct. Knowing and proving are two very different things, especially when the Communists have people strategically placed to help in the cover up.

Ernest Lehman wrote the screenplay from the best-selling book by Irving Wallace. There are several aspects of this film that will remind viewers of the 1959 Cary Grant movie, including Leo G. Carroll who appears in both The Prize and North by Northwest.

While it is long and at times a bit drawn out, this movie is interesting and filled with suspense as well as some humor. Paul Newman is a hero everyone loves.

The Prize on Blu-ray is from the Warner Archive collection and can be purchased from their website or online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County.

Follow her on Twitter

Walter Matthau stars in Kotch, a 1971 comedy drama about an aging man who just wants to do something useful with his life.  Matthau’s friend Jack Lemmon directed the film.

Joe Kotcher is currently living with his son (Charles Aidman), daughter-in-law (Felicia Farr), and toddler grandson Duncan. He delights in spending time with the little boy. They do all kinds of fun things together, however his way of handling the kid differs from his daughter-in-law’s views. She is frustrated with having him around all the time. So off he goes to a retirement community.

But Kotch doesn’t stay there. Instead, he leaves and hunts down Erica (Deborah Winters), the babysitter that worked for the family for a while. He discovers she is in a family way and sets out to be her friend and take care of her. This leads him up and down the coast, finally ending up in Palm Springs.

Erica and Kotch are a good pair. She needs him for support and he needs to be needed. Otherwise he would be a lonely man with nothing to do with his life.

The story is mostly a drama with some fun scenes sprinkled in. It’s impossible not to feel empathy for this man. He definitely has a lot to give, but his family won’t let him give it to them. So Erica becomes the recipient of all his knowledge and support.

Matthau was nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Actor in a Leading Role” and the film’s song, “Life is What You Make It” was also nominated. In those days songs were composed specifically for films, and in this case Marvin Hamlisch and Johnny Mercer penned a lovely song that still touches hearts today. This song did win the Golden Globe that year.

If you haven’t seen this film, it’s time to catch up with Kotch, now available on Blu-ray. It shows that no matter how old you are, you can still be a contributing and caring person.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County.

Follow her on Twitter

An outstanding cast recreates Mary McCarthy’s novel The Group, about eight best friends from college who go on with their lives but still remain very close. Candice Bergen (Lakey), Joan Hackett (Dottie), Elizabeth Hartman (Priss), Shirley Knight (Polly), Joanna Pettet (Kay). Mary-Robin Redd (Pokey), Jessica Walter (Libby), and Kathleen Widdoes (Helena) graduated together in 1933 from an all-girls college. Now they are living their lives, getting married, and having children.

James Broderick, Larry Hagman, Hal Holbrook, and Richard Mulligan are some of the men in their lives. But through it all, it is the women’s friendship that is the heart of the story.

At this time in history women were expected to get married, have kids, and basically make that their lives. However many of these women are not conventional. As they each maintain their individual lives, they remain connected as one group. As one of their husband’s remarks, he didn’t just marry one woman, he got seven others in the bargain.

Bergen was nominated for a Golden Globe for “Most Promising Newcomer – Female.” This was her first film. This was only the second film for Hartman. It’s fun to see all of these established actors when they were starting out.

On a personal note, I remember reading this novel when I was in college. Mary McCarthy wrote about relationships between women and men. This film is all about those relationships, and the special relationship between these eight women who bonded in college and whose ties bound them together for the rest of their lives.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County.

Follow her on Twitter