Always with a joke - Monty Python

After they had successfully entertained television viewers from all around the world in the late sixties and early seventies of past century, the group Monty Python started making full-length movies and publishing books.

Although their fans expect similar gags in their movies, hardly anyone expected from silly Britons to make pell-mell even in publishing venture.

For a book titled "The Brand New Monty Python Bok" (sequel to Monty Python's Big Red Book with striking blue cover), Terry Jones hired his sister-in-law Katharine Hepburn (accidentally with same name as the famous American actress) to assist them.

The cover was realistically made to look like it was greasy and filled with dirty fingerprints. It was made so realistic that many readers didn’t wanted to buy the book, asking for "newer" and more preserved copy.

However, there was also another thing - the cover could be peeled off and reveal hidden pictures of naked girls. 

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A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick and The Rolling Stones.

Before Stanley Kubrick (1928 –1999) got hold of "A Clockwork Orange", writer Anthony Burgess (1917 –1993) negotiated with Mick Jagger, who wanted to obtain film rights for the sum of a few hundred dollars.

Jagger wanted to make a film in which his "Rolling Stones" would play the heartless thugs in white.

Fortunately for Kubrick and film art history, Mick gave up on that idea and the role was given to Malcolm McDowell, who won great acclaim for his role as Alex DeLarge, a young sociopathic hoodlum brainwashed by a dystopian British government of the near future.

Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” was nominated for four Academy Awards and won numerous prestigious awards. 

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Gandalf smokes? I should do that too!

One recent study found that children who watch movies in which characters relentlessly consume cigarettes will more likely start smoking at young age. How to prevent this?

Teenagers who watch movies in which actors smoke have greater probability to start smoking by themselves. This has been proved with a recent study in the UK. The researchers came to this information by performing a research on 5000 fifteen-year-olds. They are now suggesting that this research should result with changes in the movie "classification", so that those who are below 18 are not exposed to scenes in which movie characters smoke.


Researchers from Bristol University say that there is a need for more precautions regarding this issue. But, members of anti-smoking campaigns claim that this is not proven to be true and that this whole conundrum is plain nonsense. They say that there is no evidence that what one sees in the cinema or on DVD affects on his decision whether to smoke or not.

The study addressed the potential impact of some of the 366 movies made in America between the 2001 and 2005, including movies like "Spiderman," "Bridget Jones" and "The Matrix", which all have scenes of smoking. Adolescents who have seen the majority of movies in which there are scenes of smoking have 73% more chances to try cigarettes by themselves than those who were less exposed to the influence of such movies. And 50% of them have probably already started smoking. 

Having in mind that the views on smoking are also greatly influenced by whether parents or counterparts are smoking, the researchers also collected data regarding even these types of information from adolescents. The results showed that those who do not have someone who smokes close by, are having 32% more chances of already consuming cigarettes than those who did not watch movies with the controversial scenes. 

“We saw a linear relationship between adolescent smoking and the number of films they had seen depicting smoking.” – says Dr Andrea Waylen, who led the research. “More than half of the films shown in the UK that contain smoking are rated UK15 or below, so children and young teenagers are clearly exposed.”

She adds that it is necessary to introduce a ban on smoking scenes in movies for children under 18 in Britain, and that such thing would reduce the rate of smoking among young people.

UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies sent a letter to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), seeking from them to ban such scenes in movies for kids below 18, in order to protect them from "particularly harmful imagery".

According to the rules that are used for the evaluation of the movies, both universal and those related to parental control, there is a list of potentially dangerous behaviors which young children are likely to copy. They include drug misuse but not cigarette smoking. 

David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said that smoking is a major public health issue and that they had consulted the public very extensively on it in 2005 and 2009.

“Clear expectation is that we should be vigilant, sensible and proportionate in how we deal with the issue. There is, however, no public support for automatically classifying, for instance, a PG film at 18 just because it happens to contain a scene of smoking.” - says Cooke.

Simon Clark, director of the smokers' group Forest, said that idea that films need to be reclassified in order to create a utopian, smoke-free world for older children is not only patronising, but it is completely unnecessary.

“Today you would be hard-pressed to find a leading character who smokes in any top 10 box office movie. What next? Should government reclassify films that feature fat people as well in case they are bad role models? We go to the cinema to escape from the nanny state. The tobacco control industry should butt out and take its authoritarian agenda elsewhere.”

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Kiss – From cave to big screen.

Motherly, friendly, French, movie, Judas... People are kissing each other from the beginning of time. Here are some of the most interesting theories about how and why was kissing invented.

Sexologists say that a kiss is even more intimate then the act of sex itself, regardless the fact is that kiss is the most frequent physical contact among people. 99.9 percent of people on the planet know what kiss is, but very few know the real truth about the origin and meaning of the kiss.

Kiss is a powerful phenomenon, that’s for sure. If you think about it, you will come to the conclusion that kiss had an influence on the course of life of every man, it was the beginning and test of survival of every relationship, and it has significantly influenced the history of mankind. Film industry has recognized the power of kiss, but also and people from show business. You can still hear stories about how Madonna kissed Britney Spears at one of the MTV awards, right?


Even today, the phenomenon of kissing is not fully explained. We even have a branch of science that studies kissing and it’s called filematology.

No one is definitely sure why people started touching each other with lips and exchange saliva, but it is known that this kind of physical contact was present even in the period around 1,500 BC.

According to one theory, the kiss was created because of practical reasons – so that people can lick salt from each other’s cheeks. The Vedic scriptures describe the phenomenon of kissing as an act of affection. It is believed that the kiss has culturally spread from India via Greece, and that Alexander the Great is the most creditable for that, because he brought it to Europe during the great invasion in 326 BC. Besides spices and tea, the great commander had, allegedly, brought and something that was even hotter and spicier then the tea and spices together – the kiss, which conquered Europe with the speed of fire.

There are different opinions about the origin of the kiss. According to one legend it was invented by medieval knights who were trying to determine in this way if their wives had drunk the juicy mead. According to another theory, the kiss derived from the relationship between mother and child. Allegedly, cave mothers, who didn’t have blender like today’s mothers, were chewing the food and then, with their mouth, they were feeding their children.

Some cultures knew of kissing long before others, but they considered that act too private and didn’t discussed nor write about it for many years and centuries. Even Bible says that God kissed a man and gave him life through that kiss. 

Some cultures like Finnish, Burmese, Polynesian, Philippinian, or cultures of African tribes consider kissing as weird, absurd and rude. They have ways of greeting like nose rubbing or gasping at the throat. In this way, they can recognize each member of the tribe based on his smell.

Some even believe that kissing evolved as a way of spreading bacteria between partners. In this way they would become immune to each other’s diseases, and were able to have kids. At the time of Ancient Rome, kissing was used as a way of showing status – that status was ranked according to permission to kiss a certain part of the body. Those who have enjoyed higher status were kissing each other on the cheek and arm, while ordinary mortals had permission to kiss feet.

In Chinese tradition, it is considered that the ideal balance between yin and yang can be achieved only by exchanging "liquid jade", better known as saliva, or, in romantic terms – with a French kiss.

In Naples, in 1562, kissing in public was forbidden, and those who were caught in that act were condemned to death.

In Hartford, Connecticut, the old law, which is still in force, considers it illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sundays. And in Indiana, until recently, there was a law that strictly forbidden men with mustaches to kiss women - probably for reasons of hygiene.

English word “kiss” originates from Germanic word “kussian”, which onomatopoetically imitates what happens during kiss. What is considered as a French kiss in western world, in India is called English kiss.

Name „movie kiss“ says by itself that a kiss had a significant role in the film industry. In 2005, a movie called “Brokeback Mountain” attracted much attention because of description of sexual relation between men, but the first kiss of two men was shown much earlier – some eighty years before, in a movie “Wings” from 1927. However, the first homosexual kiss was shown even before that – in a movie “Manslaughter” from 1922, where two lesbians were kissing each other.

For a long time, the longest kiss in film history was the one between Jane Wyman and Regis Toomey – it lasted three minutes and five seconds. However, in 2010, that record was broken by Neckar Zadegan and Traci Dinwiddie with a longest movie kiss, and also the longest lesbian kiss in a movie.

In the movie “Some Like It Hot” from 1959, actor Tony Curtis, who plays Joe or Josephine after he disguises himself as female band member, shocked the public when he said that his kiss with Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) was like "kissing with Hitler." He later gave an explanation for his statement and said that such a stupid question (How did he like kissing a sex symbol like Marilyn) deserved an equally stupid answer. “What was I supposed to say? What do you think it’s like to kiss Marilyn Monroe you dickheads?” – Curtis said.

In 1929, Greta Garbo appeared in MGM’s last silent film called “Kiss”. It was the end of silent film era, but not the era of kisses.

In 1984, Rock Hudson kissed Linda Evans in “Dynasty”. And when it was reveled that he had AIDS, Hollywood was swept with panic that she was infected too. The actress revealed later that the people around her didn’t want to come near her because they had kids and they didn’t want to expose themselves to risk.

In Indian cinema, kiss was forbidden for a long time. The first real kiss with open mouth and a tongue was shown in Indian cinemas through a little-known English film from 1926.

Around the world, there are some pretty interesting but also and vulgar names for a kiss. People on Maldives use a term, which, when translated, means “lip sucking”, and the kiss in South Africa is called “tongue in lungs”.

Interestingly, the kissing was unknown to many people. Indians and Aborigines didn’t kiss before meeting Europeans. After that, they introduced that custom.

Also, one of the biggest misapprehensions is that the French have invented the French kiss. They haven’t even gave it its name. The truth is that in 1923 this term was forged in England.  And the only reason this kiss has that “French” in its name is because the French, at the beginning of the 19th century were known as amorous persons.

Kissing is good for your health

Scientists have discovered that kissing has multiple positive effects on health because it increases the secretion of hormone of happiness.  Even bacteria, which are present in the saliva, with their mixing contribute to stronger immunity; they are breaking down plaque in the mouth and are destroying harmful microorganisms. Kissing is also good for dental health because it stimulates the secretion of saliva, which, on the other hand, has a function of washing the mouth and removing the remains of food.

Clinical tests have shown that touching, including kissing, reduces blood pressure, stress, and improves the immune status of the organism. Many believe that the activation of a large number of facial muscles during kissing is preventing the appearance of wrinkles and is slowing the aging process.

Kissing is pleasure

The lips are definitely made for kissing. They are the thinnest part of our body and 100 times more sensitive than our fingers. The tongue and the inside of the oral cavity contain enormous amount of nerves that are transmitting messages directly to the limbic system, the oldest part of the brain associated with sexual pleasure. A kiss is stimulating the secretion of the hormone oxytocin, which affects parts of the brain responsible for pleasure and adrenalin, and thus creating the feeling of butterflies in our stomach.

Facts about kissing

-    Two thirds of men are leaning their heads to the right when they are kissing someone;
-    Most kisses are shown in the movie "Don Juan" from 1926 - 191 kiss in 110 minutes;
-    In 1990, Alfred Wolfram kissed a 8001 person in a period of eight hours at a festival in Minnesota – he kissed, on average, 16 persons per minute.
-    Men who are kissing their wives before going to work, on average, are earning more money than those who do not do that;
-    The only animals that are kissing each other’s mouth are chimpanzees, orangutans and cats;
-    In just one exchange of saliva during a kiss, there is more than 278 species of bacteria, and many of them can cause various diseases;
-    A passionate kiss can increase the level of hormones in your body so high, that it can take away one minute of your life;
-    During his life, a man is spending approximately 336 hours or two full weeks kissing someone.
-    One French kiss is activating 23 muscles;
-    Ten minutes of kissing is burning 30 calories;
-    70 percent of people experience their first kiss before they turn 15.

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Scrat from Ice Age found on Mars!

While we're eagerly waiting for the fourth installment of the mega-successful Ice Age (Ice Age: Continental Drift), the star of the film, and possibly the most popular character in the series, Scrat,  a wacky "saber-toothed squirrel" who is obsessed with acorns, apparently moved – to Mars. 



While I was browsing the surface of the Mars in Google Earth, I accidentally stumbled on an image that amazingly resembles the character from  the movie Ice Age, a "saber-toothed squirrel" named Scrat. And not only that…the shape that I discovered is surrounded with blue color that looks almost like ice.

It appears that Scrat not even on Mars hasn’t manage to escape from Ice Age. 

See for yourself on the image below.

If you want to find Scrat by yourself, follow these coordinates:

47“30'33.80“ S
5“05'15.81“ E 

Who knows, maybe in the next installment of Ice Age, our funny hero will indeed have some adventure on Mars. We will discover that when the movie hits the theaters.

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Insurance – Leopold Godowsky, Jr.

Leopold Godowsky Jr. (1900-1983), American violinist,  inventor of first practical color transparency film (Kodachrome) and son of the famous pianist and composer of the same name, once asked his sister to drive his children, three-year-old twins, to his home.

“Please drive carefully”, Leopold warned his sister, “as I have two violins worth fifty thousand dollars in the luggage compartment”.

“You're so insensitive!” – his sister said. “Which am I supposed to watch first, the twins or the fiddles?”

“The twins, of course” – said Godowsky. “The violins are very well insured”.

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Hollywood friendship – Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks

While walking down the Hollywood Boulevard one day, Charlie Chaplin (1889 - 1977) saw a large poster in front of a movie theater that announced a new film comedy in which Douglas Fairbanks played.

There was a young man standing there, and Chaplin asked him:

     - Boy, have you seen this movie?
     - Of course! – the boy answered. 
     - Is it funny? – asked Chaplin.-   What a stupid question. I died laughing.  Fairbanks is the best.
     - Is he good like Chaplin? 
     - Much better than that wretched Chaplin, for whom I only feel pity. – continued the young man. 
     - If so, let me introduce myself. I am Charlie Chaplin! – Chaplin angrily exclaimed. 
     - I am pleased to meet you. I am Douglas Fairbanks!

After this unusual acquaintance, Chaplin and Fairbanks became very good friends.

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Academy Award – Frank Capra

A romantic comedy "Lady for a Day" (1933) not only brought popularity to American film director Frank Capra (1897 - 1991), but also a nomination for an Academy Award.

Capra was seriously convinced that he will win the American Academy Award for that film, and before the ceremony, he even wrote a short speech, which he intended to hold after he receives the Oscar.

The host of the event was Will Rogers. When the time came to announce the Best Director, Will, who thought that it would be interesting, said:

“Common Frank. Come and get it”

Convinced that he is the winner, Frank Capra ran towards the stage and pulled out a written speech from his pocket. At that point, he noticed a strange expression on the host’s face. Will Rogers stammered:

“The winner is Frank…Lloyd!”

Embarrassed, Frank Capra came down from the stage. He swore that he will never again attend the Academy Award ceremony. 

But never say never.

Next year, Capra's film "It Happened One Night" won five Academy Awards, including the award for Best Director.  Frank came and received the Oscar.

In his career, Capra won a total of six Academy Awards.

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Hollywood experience – Dirk Bogarde

In 1960, famous British film and theater actor, Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999) went to Hollywood to film a movie called “Song Without End”. The movie was about the life of famous virtuoso pianist Franz Lizst.

After making that movie, Dirk Bogarde said that Americans are very uncultured and that he has no intention to ever come to Hollywood again.

Why?

Here is one line from the script that Liszt says in the movie, and which completely made mad Dirk Bogarde, who was known as perfect connoisseur of music and literature:

“Hi, do you know my friend? This is George Sand. That’s your friend Chopin. This is Hubert. Common meet George Sand.”

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Santa Claus – Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple (1928), famous American actress and diplomat, who gained international fame in childhood, before she even started going to school, once told a story about how she stopped believing in Santa Claus:

- It was a big disappointment for me. I was six years old. I went with my mother to a department store. In the department where they sell toys, a Santa Claus handed out gifts to children. When he saw me, he jumped, left the kids, threw the gifts on the side and told me "May I have your autograph? I’m your biggest fan. I watched all the movies in which you played many many times!”

- In that moment, I knew that there is no Santa Claus. Santa Claus doesn’t watch movies.

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Banana peel – Charlie Chaplin

Famous actor David Niven (1910-1983) wrote in his autobiography an anecdote when screenwriter Charles MacArthur (1895-1956) asked Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) for advice on how to design a gag in which a fat lady is walking down the street, slipping on a banana peel and falling down. Since such a stunt was performed thousands of times before, how to do it and make the audience laugh?

Should he first show the banana peel, then the lady approaching, and then the fall? Or, to show the fat lady first, and then the banana peel on which she slips?

Charlie Chaplin immediately replied:

"You show the fat lady approaching; then you show the banana peel; then you show the fat lady and the banana peel together; then she steps OVER the banana peel and disappears down a manhole."

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No mercy for Billy the Kid

In 2010, governor of New Mexico refused to give a posthumous pardon for Billy the Kid, the famous Old West outlaw. That decision heated up once again the legends of notorious robber.

The request for posthumous pardon of Old West legend, Billy the Kid, remained lying in the dust of New Mexico  administration, just like his body, in 1881, when  Sheriff Pat Garrett shot him. Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, decided not to pardon Billy the Kid for the murder of Sheriff William Brady, in 1878. 

Billy the Kid (born in New York as William Henry McCarty) gained a reputation as the most famous American robber, during his brief but turbulent life. Legends say that he killed 21 people – one victim for each year of his life. However, other sources say that he killed 27 people. Yet, historical facts are telling us a different story. According to them, Billy the Kid killed "only" nine people.

He was short, lithe, with blue eyes, a smooth complexion, and prominent front teeth. Behind his smile a fierce, wild and cunning nature was hidden, which, in combination with his excellent shooting abilities, made him the most dangerous outlaw. He wore a sombrero decorated with a green band.

The request for pardon was initiated by an attorney from Albuquerque, Randi McGinn, who argued that the former governor of New Mexico, Lew Wallace, promised to pardon the Kid in exchange for his testimony in a murder case. Richardson was asked to pardon this outlaw from 19th century, in order to fulfill that promise.

This request caused a sort of a “silent war” between Billy’s supporters and descendants of Sheriff Pat Garrett. Garrett’s three grandchildren sent a letter to Governor Richardson in which they asked of him not to pardon Billy the Kid because such act would place an unforgivable shame on Garrett.

"I don't believe a thief, a liar, a terroriser of the ordinary people and a multiple cop killer should ever be granted a pardon, period. The Kid was a notorious outlaw and murderer. He was on a rampage for a while. I believe Lew Wallace did what he planned all long, get Billy to testify and then hang him. By granting the Kid a pardon are you excusing the murders he committed?" – said Garrett's grandson J.P. Garrett.

It is interesting that Governor Richardson's mandate expired on 31 December 2010, and he made his decision not to pardon Billy one day before that. Richardson said that he decided against a pardon "because of a lack of conclusiveness and the historical ambiguity as to why Governor Wallace reneged on his promise."

Randi McGinn said that she was disappointed with that decision, but she also expressed her satisfaction to the fact that Billy the Kid still causes great interest. She invited people to come to New Mexico, take a look at the letter that Billy wrote to Governor Wallace and conclude on their own whether he was "Robin Hood of the Wild West or cold-blooded killer".

Sheriff Pat Garrett killed Billy after the famous shootout in which two sheriff deputies were killed during Billy’s escape from Lincoln County jail. A year after he killed Billy, Garrett published a sensational biography called “The Authentic Life of BILLY THE KID”. Although Garrett’s intention with this book was only to justify himself to the public for killing Billy, this book became very popular and made Billy the most famous figure of the Wild West. The mentioned biography became a source of many legends and doubt, which, even after 130 years since Billy died, continued to exist.

Billy the Kid lived long and happily in Texas

Billy the Kid found his place in many songs and films. That only contributed to creation of an image of him as Wild West hero. One of the most famous films about Garrett and the Kid is the one from 1973 (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), directed by Sam Peckinpah. Bob Dylan composed music for that particular film.

Anyway, some historians claim that Billy the Kid wasn’t killed in the shootout with Garrett. They say that he settled in Texas. He allegedly lived there under the name Brushy Bill Roberts, and he died in 1950 from a heart attack.

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Interrupted kiss – Alfred Hitchcock

At the time when Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) was making  the movie "Notorious", and that was in 1946, the Motion Picture Production Code (in other words - censorship), popularly known as Hays Code (after Hollywood's chief censor of the time, Will H. Hays) prohibited scenes of a kiss longer than three seconds.

However, Hitchcock wanted for the kissing scene of the main characters in this film, actress Ingrid Bergman and actor Cary Grant, to go into the history as the most beautiful movie kiss, and also the longest movie kiss, so he decided to extend that kiss with any means possible.

Finally, cunning Hitchcock edited that kiss like this: Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are kissing for three seconds, then they are saying something to each other for a few seconds, then they are kissing again for three seconds, then they break away for just a second, then kissing again for three seconds, then they are whispering something to each other on the ear, and then again kissing for three seconds, and so on…

Their kiss lasted for two-and-a-half minutes, and it is perhaps the most intimate and erotic movie kiss ever.

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Jealous teacher – Sean Connery and Steven Seagal

While filming “Never Say Never Again” (one of the films about British Secret Service agent James Bond 007), Sean Connery (1930) was taking martial arts classes. However, during one class, an angry teacher broke his wrist.

Sean Connery claimed that the teacher did it out of pure malice because he himself wanted to become an actor.

And who was Sean Connery’s martial arts teacher?

 

Steven Seagal (1952), who later played leading roles in action movies “Machete”, “Marked for Death”, “Above the Law”, “Under Siege”, “Hard to Kill”…

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Courage, thy name is Jackie Chan!

Chinese actor Jackie Chan, whose real name is Chan Kong-sang, is known in film circles as unpredictable and fearless person.

He once jumped from one New York skyscraper in to a helicopter in flight. On another occasion, he plunged down a hill in a giant beach ball… However, it is considered that his greatest stunt is the one in a movie “Police Story” – Jackie used an umbrella and hang himself onto a double decker bus which dragged him like that across several streets.

Jackie had many injuries in his career. He broke his nose three times, his ankle once, most of his fingers, both cheekbones and his skull. He even lost his teeth.

When he was asked how long he can keep it up, he said:

"I don't know. I always think something will happen to me. An accident is an accident. If I break my ankle, click, I just snap it back. I have so many scars."

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Fear – Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes (1905-1976), famous American film producer and aviator, was known for his fear of infection and bacteria. That fear separated him from people, and because of it, he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1958.

From then and on, Hughes lived in a little house, in the desert near Las Vegas. His only friends were Mormons who lived next door and whose job was to protect him from infections.

Fearing that in his house were too many bacteria (curious tourists were constantly trying to have a look at that place), Howard Hughes began to move from one hotel to another. He had a habit to request a new room late at night, and in some hotels, several times in one night. The first thing he always did when he entered the hotel room was sealing doors and windows with plastic. He fed almost exclusively with chocolates.

When the owner of Desert Inn Hotel in Las Vegas, where Hughes lived in 1966, asked him to leave the hotel and to avoid further conflicts, Hughes bought it.

The hotel's eighth floor became the nerve center of his empire and the ninth-floor penthouse became Hughes' personal residence.

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Film Something Else!

Jack Warner (1892-1978), one of the founders of Hollywood film production company The Warner Brothers (Warner Bros.), was known as a skilled businessman who didn’t care about other people's judgment. When he would read in the newspapers some unfavorable review for the film that he produced, he would say, carelessly: "Today newspapers, tomorrow toilet paper!"

One day Jack decided to invest money in a film about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. The lead role was offered to famous film actor Paul Muni. However, having read the first version of the script, Jack Warner gave up from the idea:

"Do anything else, just stay away from this boring Beethoven!", said the producer to the writers of the script. "Well, who in the world would want to watch movies about some blind composer?"

To avoid any confusion, Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous German composer, was - deaf

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Thank God!

Celebrated Spanish film director Luis Buñuel (1900-1983) reporters once asked whether his artistic destiny was crucially influenced with his Jesuit education, which was a wish of his very pious parents.

"Not at all!" Replied Buñuel. "I am an atheist, thank God."

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