Red Buttons (1919-2006) in SAYONARA - A Great BM Tribute

Honestly -- when recommitting to "Great BM Tributes" earlier this week -- StinkyLulu had no inkling 'twould turn out to be such an, um, busy week. To be absolutely clear, StinkyLu has no insider information 'bout such things. Either midsummer's a busy time or MamaStinky's maxim that such things "come in 3s" is a bitsybit true...

Word just flashed upon StinkyLulu's interweb machine that old reliable Red Buttons made the big move onwards and upwards. For a man lil Lulu first encountered being sorta freaky on the Dean Martin roasts, over the years StinkyLu developed a distinct fondness for Mr. Buttons (almost wrote "old Red" but that seemed just as wrong). Please. In the space of a single decade, the man with the goofy name starred both in Pete's Dragon and in one of Lulu's most favoritest movies ever (see disclaimer below). That sorta forever secures a permanent place in StinkyLulu's movie obsessive hall of fame... Then with reliably cool guest spots on everything from Little House to ER? Well. In spite of his ridiculous stage name, Red Buttons always upped the pedigree.

Anyway, the disclaimer: When encountering this sad Buttons news, the very first Red performance to pop in Lulu's noggin was actually his surprisingly nuanced work in a certain tipsy tub of a movie -- possibly Lulu's most treasured Red Buttons performance. But. StinkyLulu refuses to refer to said movie as a "bad movie" (on certain subjects Lulu just will not budge ) so attention necessarily turns to...

...Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957).

Talk about a kooky racial time-capsule. Jeepers. This epic piece of technicolor piffle is just brain-sprainingly wierd (like most movies based on the work of James Michener and/or directed by Josh Logan). Here, Marlon Brando and Red Buttons are US servicemen stationed in Japan during the Korean conflict. Brando -- sporting a peroxide blond "do" and an awful Southern accent -- plays an officer; Buttons plays Joe Kelly, a enlisted man under his command. The whole hoopdedoo motivating the story is that Buttons' character has fallen in love with a Japanese woman, and must come to Brando's Lt. Gruver for permission to marry her. Under the War Brides Act, all kinds of paperwork has to happen, all of which Gruver (who, remember, is Southern which is Hollywood code for...) must approve.

Buttons' Kelly invites Brando's Gruver over for dinner, and Gruver's shocked to see how far his friend has "gone native." But he's won over by his buddy's sweetheart Katsumi (Miyoshi Umeki) and their giddy love for one another. (Then of course, Brando goes all native himself for a Japanese actress which cause a whole 'nother kerfluffle.) (And this is totally leaving out a whole 'nother subplot containing Lulu's favoritefavorite performance in this flick: Ricardo Monalban as a Kabuki actor. A latin actor playing an asian actor playing female roles. Brainspraining good times. And that accent -- boy howdy!)

But Red Buttons' character Joe Kelly -- a simple guy simply in love -- is the heart and soul of this picture. It's scripted to be a cardboard cutout of a role but when things go wrong -- when the brass rejects Kelly's petition and orders him to ship out; when he deserts his post to stay with the woman he loves; when Katsumi nearly dies following "corrective" eyelid surgery; when Katsumi and Joe make an eternal choice -- its Buttons' honesty and emotional clarity that actually keeps this bus from totally going off the cliff. It's still always something of a surprise, when revisiting this film again and again (it's a teaching fave), that Buttons' acting blows Brando's off the screen. (Buttons and Umeki both took home Supporting Oscars for their work in this film.) It's real, solid work.

You'd think that, after all these years, StinkyLulu'd have come to expect the surprising from Red Buttons. But no. Like the best comics, he always "got" StinkyLulu -- 'specially when he got serious. Blessings, Mr. Buttons.

Barnard Hughes (1915-2006) in SISTERS - A Great BM Tribute

Character actors who can be total chameleons while also being somehow immediately recognizable are a particular breed. And a great one passed away yesterday: Tony- and Emmy-winning actor Barnard Hughes. Hughes was great on tv as that Priest whose car was damaged by Edith's stray can of cling peaches on All in the Family and on screen as the unexpectedly savvy grandfather in The Lost Boys and onstage in Prelude to a Kiss as the old guy who got some Baldwin. But as this is a "Bad Movie" tribute, StinkyLu'll try to say confined to:

Barnard Hughes in Brian DePalma's Sisters (1973).

In this strange little piece of distinctly 1970s horror, Hughes plays Arthur McLellen, the reporter from Life magazine who helps protagonist Jennifer Salt piece together the mystery of Margot Kidder's character. It's a remarkably effective performance in one of those late-exposition roles so familiar in bottom-shelf mystery/horror -- the kind that show up as new characters in the beginning of Act3 to reveal all kinds of previously secret detail. Well, in this whacked out little movie, Hughes does the near impossible: In long expository speeches (mostly voice-overs) he's able to ratchet the tension of the film back to the level of the campy thrills of the first twenty minutes. On the one hand, Hughes' work here is simply a pro at work; on the other, it's a reminder just how good stage actors can be in trashy movie/tv bit parts. It's also amazing to StinkyLulu that it took IMDB to make the connection from Barnard Hughes' work here (and in all the roles listed at the outset of this tribute) to his work in one of the most life-altering cameos in Lulu's film experience: his performance as "Towny" the old trick who Jon Voight gruesomely assaults in Midnight Cowboy. (When Lu first saw the film about 20 years ago, this scene was the last straw -- a radicalizing moment ala Vito Russo -- for StinkyLulu, after which lurid, cinematic brutalization of queered characters officially became an automatic dealbreaker for Lulu's movie love. But that's a whole 'nother topic...) Not even a whiff of Barnard Hughes' performance in Cowboy (so indelibly branded upon Lu's psyche) carries over to his work in Sisters, just a few years later. Which is a pretty big deal. Few actors escape the aggressive Filmography-Assembly-Mechanism hardwired into Lulu's film obsessive mind. But Barnard Hughes did. (And yet does -- just scan that body of work and see if it don't contain a surprise or two...)

So, Mr. Hughes -- 'twas powerful seeing you so often, lo these many years. (Even if -- or is it 'specially cuz -- StinkyLulu didn't always know to know 'twas you.) Blessings...

June Allyson (1917-2006) in THE OPPOSITE SEX - A Great BM Tribute

It's been quite a while since StinkyLulu's worked up a "A Great Bad Movie Tribute" to a recently departed movie star. So a brief word of introduction might be in order: "Great BM Tributes" afford the opportunity to reflect on what was great about a particular performer. By considering their performance in a real stinker of a movie (the kind likely to be omitted from their official remembrances), StinkyLu considers how that performer found a special place in Lulu's heart, whether StinkyLulu actually "liked" their work or not.

The recent passing of June Allyson just screams for "A Great BM Tribute" -- because, for years, StinkyLulu just found June Allyson completely insufferable. That nasal twang of a voice. Those twoinky bangs. The wifey roles. The Depends. But somehow, and for no particular reason, over the last couple years, StinkyLulu's become strangely fond of Miss June. Even -- no, especially -- that voice. More than her more notorious contemporaries, June Allyson really does embody the vibe of 1950s musicals (the period in which movie musicals began to show signs of the creative identity crisis from which they still suffer).

June Allyson's the exemplar of a classic 1950s movie type: the ingenue, all grown up and married. And nowhere are her -- ahem -- particular gifts on more fascinating display than StinkyLulu's selection for her "Great BM Tribute":

June Allyson in The Opposite Sex.

This 1956 MGM musical adaptation of Claire Booth Luce's The Women (beloved for its 1939 film version) stands as one of the more extraordinary Hollywood moments of "WHAT were they thinking?!?" Replacing Joan Crawford with Joan Collins? Paulette Goddard with Ann Miller? The shift from shopping to show business almost works, if only the songs weren't so bad. And -- of course -- one of the all time stupidest moves in "reimagining" a classic: Adding MEN to the all-female cast. (Tragically few moments of genuine fabulousness come from Dolores Gray as Sylvia Fowler and Agnes Moorehead as The Countess. A holler and a hoot, respectively.)

But not long ago, StinkyLulu -- in one of those moments only true film obsessives will recognize -- flashed on a realization that June Allyson's performance was Lulu's favorite among the three leading ladies of the most famous versions of this story (1939's Norma Shearer and 2001's Cynthia Nixon). Norma Shearer's more sympathetic (if a touch pathetic), and Nixon's more nuanced (if a touch shrill). But Allyson's real simple. And the story's really about how a good woman (to whom only good things have happend) is out of her emotional and social depth when the going gets nasty. So, even though Lulu's not screened this stinker of a movie in a while, this was the leading performance that StinkyLu thought most worth revisiting... Who'da thunk it? Not Lulu, for one -- as June Allyson's mere presence in the film was enough initially to convince Lu that The Opposite Sex was a crime against queer culture/humanity...

Check out that top headline. Wonder why, Farley, wonder why.

Dunno how 'twas that Lulu came round to loving you, Miss June. But so 'tis. Blessings...

As always with JumpCut, allow the entire video to load before viewing.

Maureen Stapleton (1925-2006) in THE FAN - A Great BM Tribute

News just hit that the indomitable Maureen Stapleton passed away. StinkyLulu's long been quite fond of Miss Stapleton, that rare kind of movie star who always looked a little like someone Lu knew, and probably loved. (In tribute, StinkyLulu's first installment of Supporting Actress Sundays this week will offer commentary on one or another of her many many nominations in the category.)

But StinkyLulu will probably always remember Maureen Stapleton best for her performance as "Belle Goldman" in the deservedly unsung -- and largely unremembered -- "thriller" The Fan. The 1981 flick was ostensibly a vehicle for Lauren Bacall, then flush with a revival of her stardom through her surprise success in the Kander & Ebb musical, Woman of the Year. In The Fan, Bacall plays a stage actress, Sally Ross -- still glamorous and tone-deaf after all these years -- who's the unwitting subject of an increasingly crazed fan. The movie's nearly noxious for its gay-baiting homopanic & is precisely the kind of movie that Vito Russo loathed most. ("The Fan" is a pretty blond music-store guy, whose fey masculinity is almost a prototype for all 80s homo characters to follow.) Indeed, this Sally Ross "fan" reads mostly as a big ole Sally Ross "queen" -- and the flick is basically a woman-in-peril slashy, with all sorts of folks getting offed as murdering queen/fan makes his way to Bacall.

A tweenage StinkyLu fell in love with this flick for three main reasons. First, it's ostensibly about BroadWAY!!! with Betty Bacall tunelessly klomping through several insipid musical numbers. Second, "the fan" has a buncha near nudie scenes & even an almost sex scene with another man (who -- this being the early 80s -- he kills right as the sex starts). And, third, StinkyLulu fell in love with Maureen Stapleton, who played Bacall's tough-cookie secretary who catches "the fan" -- in possibly the only murder scene with actual suspense and emotional tension in the whole flick -- & dies trying to protect Boss Bacall. (Then, in a wierdo Dirty Harry turn, Bacall ends up going all vigilante on "the fan" -- mostly cuz he made the mistake killing her beloved Belle.)

Maureen Stapleton is brilliant in this stupid little part in this idiotic little movie. StinkyLulu can hear her voice in the part now. And it's classic Stapleton. Like that tough old aunt, the kind who drinks like a sailor before she has her way with one. Tough as nails, sweet as pie. And -- oddly cuz Stapleton carries all those Actor's Studio behavioral quirks -- somehow was always able to seem real.
Totally real. Totally fabulous. Totally Maureen.

Franklin Cover (1928-2006) in THE STEPFORD WIVES - A Great BM Tribute

A week ago today, Franklin Cover -- veteran character actor -- passed away (or, as waaay too many headline-writers wagged, "moved on up").

Franklin Cover's one of those actors that really are part of StinkyLu's heart. So even though it is a little late, Franklin Cover's due a BM Tribute...

StinkyLulu fell in love with The Jeffersons in reruns, during the early 1980s, while doing math homework. And strangely, that abiding fondness may well have been all Franklin Cover's fault. See, StinkyLulu just cannot stand Sherman Helmsley but StinkyLulu fell in love with the show, mostly because StinkyLu just loved Isabel Sanford, Marla Gibbs and -- most especially -- Cover's televisual "other half" Roxie Roker. Though StinkyLu rarely noticed it at the time, Cover's chemistry with the women on that show is palpable -- kind, silly, sweet, goofy...everything that George was not. Truly, it seems to StinkyLulu that Franklin Cover's Tom Willis contributed something essential, maybe even the glue, that helped that ensemble to hustle for 10 seasons, the only one of the great Norman Lear sitcoms of the 1970s that never totally lost its initial spark.

Which is possibly why it was such a scary shock to see Franklin Cover as Ed Wimperis in the 1975 version of The Stepford Wives. See, StinkyLulu first screened the 1975 Stepford on home video in the verrrrry early 80s -- before noticing Mr. Cover on tv -- & of course the proto-feminist Lu loved it. While rereading the novel & rescreening the 1975 flick prior to the 2004 devastation of the story, StinkyLulu was all excited to see Tina Louise. The Lu totally remembered that Ginger played the glamorous & smart Charmaine, the tennis diva married to the doughy white guy whose transformation was so awful and chilling. (Indeed, for years, StinkyLulu would point to Stepford as the film that proved once-and-for-all that Tina Louise did indeed have chops as a dramatic actress. Lu stands by that claim, but demurs that it's a question for the ages.)

But imagine Lulu's shock, horror and thrill when Franklin Cover popped up as Charmaine's Stepford Husband, the somewhat devastated baddy who nonetheless bulldozes Tina's tennis court!?!? OMG. That quick sequence of supporting scenes Freaked Lulu the F*CK out. In 2004. Mostly cuz of Mr. Cover. (How cool is that?)

So, hey Mr. Cover, thanks. Held your own with two of StinkyLulu's most revered tv sitcom beauties (not to mention one of StinkyLulu's most loathed sitcom monstrosities) & somehow came out of the jaunt your own actor. That's good tv.

Blessings.

Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006): Great BM Tribute

Watching the SAGgies last evening, StinkyLu resolved to do a better job of the BM Tributes. (BM Tributes are where StinkyLulu offers a brief appreciation of a favorite "bad movie" featuring a recently departed creative type, usually an actor or the like.)

O'course, StinkyLu's resolution received a nearly immediate test with the deeply sad news of the untimely passing of playwright Wendy Wassertstein. (How to do a really quick Bad MOVIE Tribute for a playwright? And a playwright whose work StinkyLu often finds -- well, shouldn't speak ill of the departed, eh. But how?!?)

Well, LaWendy did pen the screenplay of a really horrible/delish movie: The Object of My Affection. A masterwork of cinematic fauxmosexuality, the flick makes a bittersweet romantic comedy out of the loving, devoted friendship between its two principal characters, an unlucky but lovely girl and her sweet silly and sexy gay best friend. Produced in the immediately pre-Will&Grace era (Wasserstein herself is often theorized as a prototype for Grace in same), Wasserstein's adapted screenplay for The Object of My Affection -- Criticlasm will tell you most emphatically that LaWendy got the book all wrong -- is full of not-quite-genuine characters who pepper the most mundane conversation with astonishing wit. Can be really funny, really. And somehow, as with all her work, Wasserstein's characters in The Object of My Affection become -- in the hands of the right actors -- exceptionally, indelibly, infuriatingly ingratiating. StinkyLulu never really likes -- and rarely if ever believes -- Wasserstein characters... But, somehow, dagnabbit, Wasserstein's characters somehow insinuate themselves indelibly into StinkyLulu's imagination and -- sometimes -- heart.

The Object of My Affection ain't a great movie. And that multiculty children of the rainbow conclusion is beyond silly. But, sheesh, StinkyLulu's got a soft spot for the flick.
And for LaWendy.

Blessings.

Edited to add: See The Feminist Spectator for a really interesting riff on how the passage of time informs an appreciation of LaWendy's work...

Anne Bancroft: A BM Tribute

StinkyLulu was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Anne Bancroft, legendarily funny dramatic actress of stage and screen. Which got StinkyLu immediately to thinking: How can this blog give a shout out to those folks worth honoring on the occasion of their big exeunt? Don't wanna get all impassioned and righteous like with Ossie Davis testimonial on February 4th. Don't wanna praise the really obvious things. So...

How 'bout honoring one of Anne Bancroft's BMs?

One of her bad movies? A worthy but underappreciated BM? Like Stinkylulu's Favorite Anne Bancroft BM? It can be a new tradition -- honoring the BMs of dead celebrities!

So, StinkyLulu honors the memory of Anne Bancroft with this appreciation of her brilliant, scenery-chewing performance as the fauxminist senator in the excruciatingly good G.I. Jane. It's a sweaty, silly & all-too-serious picture with really surprising performances by Demi Moore, Viggo Mortenson, and the incredible Anne Bancroft. The smackdown in the limo is a scene rivaled only by the piazza slapfight in The Turning Point (a close second in Lulu's favorite list of Anne Bancroft's BMs). If you haven't seen these brilliant Bancroft BMs, do yourself the favor.

Blessings, Miss Bancroft. Thanks.