Big Wednesday is a 1978 film celebrating the surfing culture in Southern California. Beyond the gnarly surfing scenes, the underlying story is about friendship. It’s the story of Matt Johnson (Jan-Michael Vincent), Jack Barlow (William Katt), and Leroy Smith (Gary Busey) as they navigate the trials and tribulations of growing up and assuming responsibilities. After all, life is not one big wave.

Katt would go on to star in the TV series The Greatest American Hero, Busey maintained his TV and film acting, and Vincent went on to star in Airwolf. Sam Melville who also had his own series, The Rookies, plays the boys’ mentor and surfboard maker Bear.

The film is a bit slow and grueling at times, however the soundtrack is wonderful, reflecting the popular songs of the 1960s. The surfing scenes are great to watch however the personal stories of these three friends run the gamut from drunken parties to bar fights to the Army. Life leads them in different directions as they age, yet they know their friendship will last a lifetime.

This is not a Gidget or Beach Blanket Bingo style of surfing film. It definitely involves the surfing culture, but friendship is at it core. Yes, they have their differences over the years, however their love endures.

In the bonus feature, writer/director John Milius admits the three characters were composite of people he knew when he was surfing.

While it is supposed to take place in Southern California in and around Malibu, many of the surfing scenes were filmed in Hawaii. Southern California is known for its surfing culture, but the waves are nothing compared to those in the islands. And it might look like the actors are doing their own surfing, but that’s not the case. Professionals stood in for the actors, and rightly so. Some of these waves were gigantic.

Big Wednesday is for the surfing crowd of yore.

The movie is rated PG. There are scenes of sex and drugs.

Big Wednesday is on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be purchased at their website or online retailers.

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.

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Frank Sinatra leads an interesting cast in the World War II film Never So Few. Among the other actors are Peter Lawford, Gina Lollobrigida, Dean Jones, Paul Henreid, and Charles Bronson.

The story has a band of American O.S.S. guerilla fighters joining with the Kachin locals in the jungles of Burma to fight off the invading Japanese. Sinatra is Captain Tom Reynolds, a man with a mission and a strong sense of right and wrong. This leads him to do things that others might not think is best, but he does them nonetheless.

While on leave Reynolds meets Carla Vesari (Lollobrigida) and immediately falls in love with her, even though she is with another man (Henreid). During this time out of the jungle, he recruits a much-needed doctor (Lawford) and another guerilla fighter (McQueen) who shows a knack for getting things done.

Fighting off the Japanese is tough enough, but the fighters also run into some renegade Chinese gangs who are killing the Americans as well as the Chinese who were sent to assist them. But Reynolds doesn’t back down, even though it could mean a court martial. He leads his group on an unsanctioned mission into China where he discovers something horrific.

Never So Few is a typical 1959 film that made sure there was a love interest for the leading man. The movie was filmed on location in India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma (which is now Myanmar). This is, at its core, a war drama, however, and as such there are plenty of killings. The film is loosely based on the novel by Tom T. Chamales who penned the story based on his experiences in the O.S.S.’ Burma campaign.

There are some interesting facts about the making of the film. This was Lollobrigida’s first American movie. It was also McQueen’s first film, having already made his mark on TV. Sinatra and Lawford were off-camera buddies and co-starred in many films, including Ocean’s 11, Sergeants 3, and It Happened in Brooklyn. In 1960 McQueen teamed up again with Bronson in The Magnificent Seven and again in 1963 in The Great Escape.

Never So Few is part of the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered on their website or online retailers.

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.

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Warner Archive brings this 1972 film to Blu-ray. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean is a farcical story starring ol’ blue eyes. No, not the singing one (Sinatra), but the acting one… Paul Newman!

Newman is a former outlaw in the old west. Roy Bean is a wanted man, but due to circumstances, he ends up in a little “town” and decides to turn things around. He reads the Texas law book and proclaims himself the law of the town. He’s the judge – and jury. Everyone gets hanged.

When an outlaw gang rides into town, they become part of his plan and are deputized. The men split the wealth of the “bad guys” and soon the town is thriving. The prostitutes are now upstanding women whom, I might add, are married to the deputies. Bean’s brand of law has made this little town into a law-abiding place rich with people and profits.

The film has an impressive cast of supporting actors. Anthony Perkins, Ned Beatty, Steve Kanaly, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Jacqueline Bisset, and Ava Gardner. The movie introduced Victoria Principal as a young Mexican woman, Maria Elena, who is attracted to Bean and later, vice versa.

Principal was nominated for a Golden Globe for “Most Promising Newcomer – Female” and was soon starring in the hit TV drama Dallas (1978-1987). The movie itself was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, -“Marmalade, Molasses & Honey” – which was sung in the movie by Andy Williams.

The movie is a farcical story with strange characters and, let’s face it, a strange story in itself. It is a fun role for Newman, however it’s not a laugh-out-loud film. It received mixed reviews.

Bean’s brand of justice might be well received by many folks in today’s world. If you do something wrong you get severely punished. Public hangings, the punishment, might be a little too old school today, but it sure got people thinking back in those days!

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean on Blu-ray is from the Warner Archive Collection. It can be purchased at their website or online retailers.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 20 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.

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Ginger Rogers stars in Tender Comrade, a World War II drama about a group of housewives who bond together while their husbands are off fighting. These “war widows” pool their salaries, move out of their single apartments, and find a house where they can live comfortably while waiting for their husbands to return. By day they work at the war factory, and by night they maintain as normal a life as they can.

Rogers is Jo, the self-proclaimed leader of their little democracy. During the film there are flashbacks with Jo and her husband Chris (Robert Ryan) that fills in the history of their lives and her personality. She is always peppy and upbeat and often says things that she probably shouldn’t. But that’s Jo. She’s loyal and friendly, and has a good head on her shoulders.

Rogers is amazing in this film. She doesn’t dance or sing. She just acts, and her acting is top notch. She was not nominated for an award for her performance in this film, however she should have been. She gives an unforgettable performance.

The women keep up their morale as the days go by and the news from overseas gets grim. But they are hopeful their lives will soon return to normal and their husbands will once again be home.

This 1943 film (in black and white) caused a stir for the House Un-American Activities Committee. First, it was written by Dalton Trumbo (a blacklisted writer) and directed by Edward Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten who was arrested by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Tender Comrade is a sensitive drama portrayed in a sympathetic way by all the actors: Ruth Hussey, Patricia Collinge, Mady Christians, and Kim Hunter. Pop this DVD into your player and grab some tissues!

Tender Comrade is part of 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 20 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.

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Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall star in Designing Woman, a fun film from 1957 directed by Vincente Minnelli. The movie won the Academy Award for “Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Directly for the Screen.”

Peck is Mike Hagen, a New York sports writer and Bacall is Marilla Brown, a New York fashion designer. They meet when they are both in Los Angeles and fall in love over the period of a few days. So, what do two people do when they fall in love? They get married, of course.

After getting hitched, the couple returns to their NYC lives and they quickly discover that they have very different lifestyles. Mike’s apartment can fit in Marilla’s living room, so they decide to move into her spacious apartment. Not only are their dwellings complete opposites, but their friends are as well. Mike enjoys poker nights with the guys and Marilla’s friends are artsy and refined.

Then, Marilla uncovers something interesting about Mike’s past. His former girlfriend is the woman (Dolores Gray) for whom she is now designing clothes for a Broadway show. But Mike refuses to admit he knew her before she “just” introduced them.

Soon Marilla is deep in despair about her husband’s lie while at the same time Mike is trying to keep a low profile while uncovering a story about a mobster who has been fixing boxing events. How will these two mesh their different lifestyles? The bottom line is, love conquers all, even when it’s up against some hard-hitting mobsters.

There is a fun bonus feature with the costume designer for the show, Helen Rose. Viewers get to see how “interviews” are sometimes conducted. Rose pauses to “listen” to a question and then answers it. This is a common practice, even today. The local press reporters are given the same questions that they “ask” and then Rose proceeds to answer them, as though she were talking directly to that specific reporter. The questions are missing in this bonus, but with her answers viewers get an idea of what was asked.

Helen Rose designed the costumes for many MGM shows and was nominated for several Academy Awards, of which she won two. She also was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002 for the Costumes Designers Guild.

Designing Woman is not rated. This HD remastered Blu-ray is part of the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered at 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 20 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.

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Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is the quintessential movie musical. This 1954 movie was based on the story “The Sobbin’ Women” by Stephen Vincent Benet. Howard Keel and Jane Powell star in this classic story of love in the old west.

Keel is Adam, the oldest of seven brothers. Living in the mountains they rarely get into town. One day Adam decides they need a woman around so he sets off to town to gather his supplies and find a wife. He meets Milly (Powell) who agrees to marry him, not knowing there are six more men up in the cabin.

Well, as time goes by Milly manages to tame the backwoodsmen and they soon decide they want their own wives. There are six women in town they have their eyes on. Taking matters into their own hands they kidnap the six women and soon they’re all living in the mountains, only the girls are in the cabin and the boys are in the barn.

The story continues through the winter as they are snowed in and they all fall in love by the spring. With fun dance numbers and a wonderful score, the movie has been a favorite among viewers for decades, and the story has been performed countless times in High Schools around the country. It’s truly a classic movie.

The brothers: Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank, and Gideon were comprised of several professional dancers and a couple professional actors. The women: Milly, Alice, Dorcas, Sarah Liza, Ruth, and Martha were also both dancers and actors.

There is a 43-minute bonus feature on this special edition hosted by Howard Keel. Even if you have this movie, it is worth getting this edition for this feature. The filmmakers, actors, and choreographer all talk about making the movie. Keel describes the film as “magic.” Because it was going to be shown in Cinemascope, they had to film it two times – once in Cinemascope and once for regular screens. They all discuss creating the elaborate barn raising dance sequence, which took a physical toll on several of the actors. But the final outcome was, to use Keel’s word, “magic.”

While it was originally intended to film the movie on location, that idea was quickly dismissed with the studio learned they would need to take a year in order to capture the four seasons.

All the information in this amazing bonus feature adds plenty of insight into creating this classic film. It’s definitely worth watching for any fan of the movie.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Two-Disc Special Edition is part of the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered from their website or where Blu-rays and DVDs are sold. It includes the bonus as well as two versions of the film – the classic version and the rarely-seen 1.77:1 alternate Widescreen Version (1080p HD).

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 20 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.

Follow her on Twitter