Last night, after the SDC, some of us decided to watch movies over at Lawrence’s.
The main feature of the night was “Kiss Me Deadly” (the Criterion edition
, with both endings). I’m not sure if Lawrence is going to review that or not, so I’ll hold off on commenting for now. (I may have some things to say later.)
But before we started that, we felt like watching something short. I’d brought over the first season of “Night Gallery
“, and Lawrence was curious about their adaptation of “The Little Black Bag“, so we watched that.
Frankly, it wasn’t very good. The parts where they stuck closest to the original story are also the most talky parts, and the changes they made don’t enhance the story; actually, I think they make it weaker. Somebody who is doing an anthology series for television ought to go back and revisit this story. I think you could make a fine adaptation of it today, with a minimal budget, using CGI and a script that sticks closer to the story.
But I digress. The major point here is that “The Little Black Bag” features our old friend Burgess Meredith again. I knew he was a prolific actor, but it seems like he’s showing up everywhere these days in the stuff we watch.
So the idea came to me: how about a Burgess Meredith Video Night some night? After all, the late Mr. Meredith was not only prolific, but he was a fine Cleveland boy, so why not a night devoted to his work?
What would you put in it?
- I’m kind of embarrassed to admit this, but it turns out Lawrence and I have never actually seen “Time Enough At Last“. In my case, it just never seemed to come around when I could watch re-runs of the original “Twilight Zone”. I believe those episodes are available on Netflix Instant, though…
- Lawrence suggested “Rocky“. I’ve never seen it, and I have to say that I’m less wild about it than he is. I don’t know why.
- In that vein, I’m going to say: probably not “Grumpy Old Men” and “Grumpier Old Men”.
- I am somewhat interested in seeing “Magic“. though. Besides Burgess Meredith, it also has a William Goldman script, which pushes another button of mine.
- “The Manitou“, just because that’s supposedly completely ridiculous at a MST3K level.
- I’ve never seen “The Day of the Locust“, either, and I’d like to. Plus: it has Donald Sutherland! And William Atherton! And the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black!
- Speaking of batshit crazy, “Skiddo“?
- I’ve never read any of Allen Drury’s work, and I may want to read the book first, but I’d also be interested in seeing “Advise and Consent“. Look at that lineup of actors: they don’t make that kind of movie any more.
That’s probably more than enough for one night. We could always pad things out a bit, too, with episodes of some of the many, many television series he did guest bits on; at least, the ones that are actually on DVD or Netflix.
Any other Burgess Meredith roles I’m missing? Feel free to leave them in comments.