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German postcard. by Graphima, Berlin, no. 10. Photo: Klaus Kinski in Der letzte Ritt nach Santa Cruz/The Last Ride to Santa Cruz (Rolf Olsen, 1964).
Intense and eccentric Klaus Kinski (1926–1991) was one of the most colourful stars of European cinema. In a film career of over 40 years, the German actor appeared in more than 130 films, including numerous parts as a villain in Edgar Wallace thrillers and Spaghetti Westerns. The talented but tempestuous Kinski is probably best known for his riveting star turns in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and other films directed by Werner Herzog.
Klaus Kinski was born Nikolaus Günther Nakszyński in Zoppot, Danzig, Germany (now Sopot, Poland), in 1926. He was the son of a German father of Polish descent, Bruno Nakszyński, a pharmacist and a failed opera singer, and a German mother, Susanne Nakszyński-Lutze, a nurse and a daughter of a local pastor. He had three older siblings: Inge, Arne and Hans-Joachim. Because of the depression, the poor family was unable to make a living in Danzig and was forced to move to Berlin in 1931. They settled in a flat in the suburb of Schöneberg. From 1936 on, Kinski attended the Prinz-Heinrich-Gymnasium there. During World War II, the 16-year-old enlisted in the Wehrmacht. Kinski saw no action until the winter of 1944 when his unit was transferred to the Netherlands. His obituary in Variety magazine states that there he was wounded and captured by the British on the second day of combat, but Kinski's autobiography 'Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund' (I Am So Wild About Your Strawberry Mouth, 1975) claims he made a conscious decision to desert. However, Kinski was transferred to the Prisoner of War Camp 186 in Colchester, Great Britain. The ship transporting him to England was torpedoed by a German U-Boat but managed to arrive safely at its destination. At the POW camp, Kinski played his first theatre roles in shows staged by fellow prisoners intending to maintain morale. Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, Kinski was finally allowed in 1946 to return to Germany, after spending a year and four months in captivity. Arriving in Berlin, Kinski learned his father had died during the war and his mother had been killed in an Allied air attack. Without having ever attended any professional training, he started out as an actor, first at a small touring company in Offenburg and already using his new name Klaus Kinski. He was hired by the renowned Schlosspark-Theater in Berlin but was fired by the manager in 1947 due to his unpredictable behaviour. Other companies followed, but his already wild and unconventional behaviour regularly got him into trouble. His first film role was a small part in Morituri (Eugen York, 1948) a drama about refugees from a concentration camp. In 1950, he stayed in a psychiatric hospital for three days; medical records from the period listed a preliminary diagnosis of schizophrenia. He only could find bit roles in films, and in 1955 Kinski twice tried to commit suicide.
Then Klaus Kinski got a supporting part in Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs/Ludwig II (Helmut Käutner, 1955) about the frustrated and tragic King Ludwig II of Bavaria played by O.W. Fischer. More supporting parts in German films followed. In March 1956 Kinski made one single guest appearance at Vienna's Burgtheater in Goethe's Torquato Tasso. Although respected by his colleagues, and cheered by the audience, Kinski's hope to get a permanent contract was not fulfilled, as the Burgtheater's management ultimately became aware of the actor's earlier difficulties in Germany. He unsuccessfully tried to sue the company. Living jobless in Vienna, and without any prospects for his future, Kinski reinvented himself as a monologist and spoken word artist. He presented the prose and verse of François Villon, William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde among others. Thus he managed to establish himself as a well-known actor touring Austria, Germany, and Switzerland with his shows. In 1960 he returned to the cinema as a sinister character on the verge between genius and madness in the thriller Der Rächer/The Avenger (Karl Anton, 1960) based on a crime novel by British writer Edgar Wallace. In another Wallace adaptation, Die toten Augen von London/The Dead Eyes of London (Alfred Vohrer, 1961), Kinski’s psychopathic bad guy refused any personal guilt for his evil deeds and claimed to have only followed the orders given to him. During the 1960s, Kinski appeared in several Wallace Krimis, which enjoyed enormous success in Germany and are now considered cult classics. He also appeared in many other European genre films such as the Karl May Western Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964) featuring Pierre Brice. In these films, he built a reputation as an effective screen villain. In 1964, he relocated to Italy and was cast in the international production Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 1965) as an Anarchist prisoner on his way to the Gulag. That year he also had a small part as a hunchback in the classic Italian western Per qualche dollaro in più/For Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965) starring Clint Eastwood. Roles in numerous other Spaghetti westerns followed, including El chuncho, quien sabe?/A Bullet for the General (Damiano Damiani, 1966) with Gian Maria Volonté, Il grande silenzio/The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Un genio, due compari, un pollo/A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (Damiano Damiani, 1975) with Terence Hill. When the Spaghetti Western genre was over its top, Kinski started to appear in other exploitation genres. Often these films proved to be brainless trash.
In 1972, in between his countless appearances in genre and exploitation films, Klaus Kinski suddenly found international recognition with the German production Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes/Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972). At AllMovie, Karl Williams writes: “The most famed and well-regarded collaboration between New German Cinema director Werner Herzog and his frequent leading man, Klaus Kinski, this epic historical drama was legendary for the arduousness of its on-location filming and the convincing zealous obsession employed by Kinski in playing the title role. Exhausted and near to admitting failure in its quest for riches, the 1650-51 expedition of Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) bogs down in the impenetrable jungles of Peru. As a last-ditch effort to locate treasure, Pizarro orders a party to scout ahead for signs of El Dorado, the fabled seven cities of gold. In command are a trio of nobles, Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), Fernando de Guzman (Peter Berling), and Lope de Aguirre (Kinski). Travelling by river raft, the explorers are besieged by hostile natives, disease, starvation and treacherous waters. Crazed with greed and mad with power, Aguirre takes over the enterprise, slaughtering any that oppose him.” Kinski delivered a bravura performance that typified his screen image: that of an obsessive, terrifying, and emotionally unpredictable antihero. Kinski and Herzog would make five films together, including Woyzeck (1978), Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht/Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) with Isabelle Adjani, and Fitzcarraldo (1982) with Claudia Cardinale. The volatile love-hate relationship between Kinski and his equally driven and obsessive director Herzog resulted in some of the best work from both men, and both are best known for the films on which they collaborated. Kinski and Herzog pushed each other to extremes over a 15-year working relationship, which finally ended after filming Cobra Verde (Werner Herzog, 1987), a production plagued by volcanic clashes between the star and director, involving violent physical altercations and mutual death threats.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica writes that Klaus Kinski “disdained his chosen profession, once saying, ‘I wish I’d never been an actor. I’d rather have been a streetwalker, selling my body, than selling my tears and my laughter, my grief and my joy’. Numerous offers from prestigious directors—whom Kinski categorised as ‘cretins’ or ‘scum’—were refused; he worked only when the money suited him.” Kinski was also notorious – and in high demand – for his scandalous TV appearances and interviews. The scandals paid off. Although he continued to appear for the money in countless trash films, Kinski also starred in such respectable films as the French melodrama L'important c'est d'aimer/The Main Thing Is to Love (Andrzej Zulawski, 1975) starring a memorable Romy Schneider, and the Oscar-nominated Israeli production Mivtsa Yonatan/Operation Thunderbolt (Menahem Golan, 1977), based on the 1976 hijacking of a Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris Air France flight and the daring rescue of its 104 passengers in Entebbe, Uganda. In the 1980s Kinski appeared prominently in such Hollywood productions as the comedy Buddy Buddy (Billy Wilder, 1981) as a neurotic sex scientist opposite Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and the thriller The Little Drummer Girl (George Roy Hill, 1984) featuring Diane Keaton. Kinski’s last film was Kinski Paganini (Klaus Kinski, 1989), in which he played the 19th-century ‘devil’ violinist Niccolò Paganini. He also wrote and directed the film and his wife Debora and his son Nikolai also starred in the film. The production was marked by chaos and clashes between Kinski and his producers, who accused him of turning their production into a pornographic film and sued him in court. The result was a commercial and critical flop. Kinski reinforced his image as a wild-eyed, sex-crazed maniac in his autobiography 'Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund' (1975). In 1988 he updated and rereleased it as 'Ich brauche Liebe' (All I Need Is Love) and in 1997 it was again rereleased as 'Kinski Uncut)'. The book infuriated many, and prompted his daughter Nastassja Kinski to file a libel suit against him. Werner Herzog would later say in his retrospective film Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski/Kinski, My Best Fiend (1999, Werner Herzog) that much of the autobiography was fabricated to generate sales; the two even collaborated on the insults about the director. In 2006 Christian David published the first comprehensive biography based on newly discovered archived material, personal letters and interviews with Kinski's friends and colleagues. Klaus Kinski died of a heart attack in Lagunitas, California, U.S. at age 65. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. He was married four times: to Gislinde Kühbeck (1952-1955), Brigitte Ruth Tocki (1960-1971), Minhoi Geneviève Loanic (1971-1979), and to Debora Caprioglio (1987-1989). His three children Pola Kinski (1952), Nastassja Kinski (1961) and Nikolai Kinski (1976) are all actors.
Sources: Dan Schneider (Alt Film Guide), Michael Brooke (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Karl Williams (AllMovie), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Filmportal.de, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
This epic science fiction film, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, follows a voyage to Jupiter with the sentient computer HAL after the discovery of an alien monolith affecting human evolution. The film deals with themes of existentialism, human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The screenplay was written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, and was inspired by Clarke’s 1951 short story “The Sentinel” and other short stories by Clarke.
The film is noted for its scientifically accurate depiction of space flight, pioneering special effects, and ambiguous imagery. Kubrick avoided conventional cinematic and narrative techniques, dialogue is used sparingly, and there are long sequences accompanied only by music. The soundtrack incorporates numerous works of classical music, among them “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss, “The Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II, and works by Aram Khachaturian and György Ligeti.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, with Kubrick winning for his direction of the visual effects. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. In 1991, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the U.S. Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. [Source: Wikipedia]
Movie Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_e9y-bka0
The first edition Bratz dolls seemed so unobtainable and exotic when I was growing up. By the time I had hopped on the Bratz bandwagon so to speak, it was late 2002...and the first edition Bratz were no longer in stores. I'll admit, that part of me always regretted not getting into Bratz a bit sooner when I was younger, because I had missed out on such awesome dolls. Never in a million years would I have dreamed that in 2005, Target would re-release the four original Bratz. I can still remember that night vividly--I was out with Dad, who needed to buy a few things at Target. He left me in the toy aisle while he looked for a few things. It was there that I laid eyes on the ginormous box that was the 2005 Bratz Collector's Edition pack. I don't think I had ever been as magnetized to a set of Bratz dolls as I was in that moment. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest as I went in closer for a better look. I wanted those four beautiful Bratz dolls with every fiber of my greedy being. But honestly, I did not anticipate that Dad would buy it for me...after all, it had to have been pretty pricey. But when Dad returned to the toy aisle to retrieve me, and saw me drooling over the pack, he offered to buy it for me. Ordinarily, when Dad offered to buy me dolls, I always hesitated and pretended that I didn't want them. I'm not really sure why...maybe I didn't want to come across as too eager or greedy. But I did not even blink before saying yes when he asked me about this set. I didn't want to take the chance that Dad wouldn't offer again, being that he might not considering the price of the pack. And so it came to be that I did after all end up with the four original Bratz.
While I spent the most time playing with Cloe, since she had longer, fuller hair than my Beach Party girl, I loved all of them. Of course, I will say that all those hours I spent with Cloe have probably endeared me to her the most. I have a problem saying no to a first edition Cloe...which is probably how I ended up with four! I always appreciated the fact that she had an identical facial screening to my beloved Beach Party doll, but as I mentioned before, she was equipped with much longer, more luscious locks of hair. It was truly hard to pick a favorite back then, because each one was unique in her own way. Of course being that Yasmin was my favorite Bratz character, owning her original release had great novelty. She was perhaps even more beautiful than my Xpress It! gal, and had crazy long hair. I adored her purple lips, and sultry eye shadow...not to mention, I probably enjoyed playing with her spare outfit the most. Jade looked very similar to my Xpress It! doll, but came with crazy outfits. I especially loved the one she came wearing (what can I say, kitty cats are so cute on doll clothes). If I had to label one as my least favorite back then, I probably would have said Jade, only because she looked so much like my Xpress It! doll. It really is a wonder that I didn't play with her more though, considering my Xpress It! doll's bangs were always super gappy and inconvenient to play with. And let's not forget Sasha, who was the ultimate babe! I probably thought that she was the prettiest doll from the set. Growing up, I considered Sasha to be the most beautiful from the Bratz pack, although Yasmin was a fair rival. I enjoyed her outfits almost as much as Jade's--I especially loved how her skirt could be worn long or short. While I may have been phasing out of dolls by the time this pack was being sold in stores, I still feel that I played with my four girls and their clothes a lot nonetheless, which bonded me to them even more so.
It's no secret that owning the first releases of a doll type that one collects has great novelty. I mean, who wouldn't want to have the very first appearance of an iconic character? But for me, my love for this pack runs so much deeper than that. What makes them some of my most cherished dolls in my entire collection isn't who they are, but the memory behind them. Like all of my Bratz dolls, even the ones that I've gotten in recent years, they remind me of my father. Of all the many dolls I was interested in, it seemed as though Bratz were the ones we connected over the most. Dad was always more willing to buy me a Bratz doll than any other. He never minded how many I had, or how expensive they were. Even when we didn't have money, he still bought me Bratz and showed an interest in my collection. This supportive attitude towards Bratz started when I was an eleven year old girl. It was dolls like these ones shown here that started the bond that would forever become unbreakable between Dad, me, and Bratz. I can still remember with perfect clarity the way that Dad beamed at me as I played with my Bratz dolls in the car as a little girl, and the way he laughed at my silly looking gals on display when I was older. The night that I got these beauties is one that I'll never forget. Even during the years I was on a doll hiatus, I still clung onto that memory. Dad didn't have to buy me any dolls, let alone these four, who were clearly expensive. It wasn't my birthday, a holiday, or any sort of special occasion. Dad bought me these dolls simply because he loved me. And that is what makes the memory behind them one of the most special of all.
Actually, these gorgeous Mountain Bluebirds have been back for a while already. Each spring, it is such a joy to see the very first splash of blue after a long, cold winter. This photo was taken on 20 April 2018, SW of the city.
In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id
www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...
"A female Mountain Bluebird pays more attention to good nest sites than to attractive males. She chooses her mate solely on the basis of the location and quality of the nesting cavity he offers her—disregarding his attributes as a singer, a flier, or a looker.
A male Mountain Bluebird frequently feeds his mate while she is incubating and brooding. As the male approaches with food, the female may beg fledgling-style—with open beak, quivering wings, and begging calls. More often, she waits until her mate perches nearby, then silently flicks the wing farthest from him—a signal that usually sends him off to find her a snack.
The oldest recorded Mountain Bluebird was a female, and at least 9 years old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Alberta in 2005. She had been banded in the same province in 1997." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/
On 20 April 2018, I had no choice but to go out somewhere to test a Nikon Coolpix B700. So, I took my usual short drive SW of the city to find some things that I could photograph. Not a whole lot to be found, but a group of three competing American Robins made my first stop. Later, three distant Mountain Bluebirds were in fighting mode and two of them were down on the ground in quite a vicious attack. Too far away for more than snapshots. I also stopped to watch three distant Hawks that were competing. You know what they say : "Two's company, three's a crowd".
A very cooperative American Kestrel gave me a good chance to try out the camera at different zoom distances. Cars were a different thing - and I was not on the best road for stopping, so I ended up driving the same stretch of road several times. These birds are so beautiful. I knew that this one caught something to eat, but it was timed just when another car came down the road and I needed to move on. Of course, an old barn is always a bonus, too.
The sun was shining for most of my drive, with cloud moving in towards the time I needed to leave. A stop to pick up some delicious chili was the final stop of the afternoon.
Unforgettable
Nat King Cole
Capitol Records/USA (1968)
Unforgettable was recorded in 1952 and has been rereleased over a hundred times since. This version is from 1968. That's a lot of records and why the iconic Capitol Records building in Los Angeles is known as "The House That Nat Built."
Went into Toys R Us today and found the rereleased girls! I couldn't believe it! I had wanted this lovely lady for a while so I just had to get her.
It must be frustrating for those who have spent up to $200 on one of these through ebay. Unless you're wanting one in the original packaging, I suppose.
Assassin's Creed: The Movie: The Game: The Porn Parody: The Ride: The Virtual Reality Experience: The Novelization: The Comic Book: The Sequel: The Series: The Return of Jafar: Electric Boogaloo: Rebooted: The Trilogy: The Saga Continues: Reloaded: Dawn of the Planet of the Assassins: The Spin Off: The Slash Fanfiction: The Sonic Fanfiction: The 50th Anniversary Rerelease: IN 3D and 4D: Remastered: The Complete Collection: The Box Set: The Remake: The George Lucas Special Edition: The Direct Continuation that will be directed by JJ Abrams: The George Miller Remake: Starring Danny Devito as Ron Jeremy: Age of Michael Bolton: Direct-to-DVD: The Musical: Ezio Meets The Globetrotters: The Epic 4-part Crossover Event: Saves Christmas: Uncut: Your Mom Edition: Unrated: You Didn't See That Cumming Edition: XXX VII PART I, International Trailer #3: Dawn Of Justice
And this batch doesn't include the special dolls for the rereleased movie! Can you say Excited!?
I love that the Bath Beauty has the same tail as last year. It's wonderfully molded.
Picked this up today. I'm very glad that neca chose to bring this figure back with a rerelease. I skipped him back when he came out and somewhat regretted it. This release does seem to be significantly improved over the original, however. His hip joints are not loose and all the joints are tight but move smoothly. The paintjob also looks better overall.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 891. Photo: Lothar Winkler. Klaus Kinski in Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964).
Intense and eccentric Klaus Kinski (1926–1991) was one of the most colourful stars of European cinema. In a film career of over 40 years, the German actor appeared in more than 130 films, including numerous parts as a villain in Edgar Wallace thrillers and Spaghetti Westerns. The talented but tempestuous Kinski is probably best known for his riveting star turns in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and other films directed by Werner Herzog.
Klaus Kinski was born Nikolaus Günther Nakszyński in Zoppot, Danzig, Germany (now Sopot, Poland), in 1926. He was the son of a German father of Polish descent, Bruno Nakszyński, a pharmacist and a failed opera singer, and a German mother, Susanne Nakszyński-Lutze, a nurse and a daughter of a local pastor. He had three older siblings: Inge, Arne and Hans-Joachim. Because of the depression, the poor family was unable to make a living in Danzig and was forced to move to Berlin in 1931. They settled in a flat in the suburb of Schöneberg. From 1936 on, Kinski attended the Prinz-Heinrich-Gymnasium there. During World War II, the 16-year-old enlisted in the Wehrmacht. Kinski saw no action until the winter of 1944 when his unit was transferred to the Netherlands. His obituary in Variety magazine states that there he was wounded and captured by the British on the second day of combat, but Kinski's autobiography 'Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund' (I Am So Wild About Your Strawberry Mouth, 1975) claims he made a conscious decision to desert. However, Kinski was transferred to the Prisoner of War Camp 186 in Colchester, Great Britain. The ship transporting him to England was torpedoed by a German U-Boat but managed to arrive safely at its destination. At the POW camp, Kinski played his first theatre roles in shows staged by fellow prisoners intending to maintain morale. Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, Kinski was finally allowed in 1946 to return to Germany, after spending a year and four months in captivity. Arriving in Berlin, Kinski learned his father had died during the war and his mother had been killed in an Allied air attack. Without having ever attended any professional training, he started out as an actor, first at a small touring company in Offenburg and already using his new name Klaus Kinski. He was hired by the renowned Schlosspark-Theater in Berlin but was fired by the manager in 1947 due to his unpredictable behaviour. Other companies followed, but his already wild and unconventional behaviour regularly got him into trouble. His first film role was a small part in Morituri (Eugen York, 1948) a drama about refugees from a concentration camp. In 1950, he stayed in a psychiatric hospital for three days; medical records from the period listed a preliminary diagnosis of schizophrenia. He only could find bit roles in films, and in 1955 Kinski twice tried to commit suicide.
Then Klaus Kinski got a supporting part in Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs/Ludwig II (Helmut Käutner, 1955) about the frustrated and tragic King Ludwig II of Bavaria played by O.W. Fischer. More supporting parts in German films followed. In March 1956 Kinski made one single guest appearance at Vienna's Burgtheater in Goethe's Torquato Tasso. Although respected by his colleagues, and cheered by the audience, Kinski's hope to get a permanent contract was not fulfilled, as the Burgtheater's management ultimately became aware of the actor's earlier difficulties in Germany. He unsuccessfully tried to sue the company. Living jobless in Vienna, and without any prospects for his future, Kinski reinvented himself as a monologist and spoken word artist. He presented the prose and verse of François Villon, William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde among others. Thus he managed to establish himself as a well-known actor touring Austria, Germany, and Switzerland with his shows. In 1960 he returned to the cinema as a sinister character on the verge between genius and madness in the thriller Der Rächer/The Avenger (Karl Anton, 1960) based on a crime novel by British writer Edgar Wallace. In another Wallace adaptation, Die toten Augen von London/The Dead Eyes of London (Alfred Vohrer, 1961), Kinski’s psychopathic bad guy refused any personal guilt for his evil deeds and claimed to have only followed the orders given to him. During the 1960s, Kinski appeared in several Wallace Krimis, which enjoyed enormous success in Germany and are now considered cult classics. He also appeared in many other European genre films such as the Karl May Western Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964) featuring Pierre Brice. In these films, he built a reputation as an effective screen villain. In 1964, he relocated to Italy and was cast in the international production Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 1965) as an Anarchist prisoner on his way to the Gulag. That year he also had a small part as a hunchback in the classic Italian western Per qualche dollaro in più/For Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965) starring Clint Eastwood. Roles in numerous other Spaghetti westerns followed, including El chuncho, quien sabe?/A Bullet for the General (Damiano Damiani, 1966) with Gian Maria Volonté, Il grande silenzio/The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Un genio, due compari, un pollo/A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (Damiano Damiani, 1975) with Terence Hill. When the Spaghetti Western genre was over its top, Kinski started to appear in other exploitation genres. Often these films proved to be brainless trash.
In 1972, in between his countless appearances in genre and exploitation films, Klaus Kinski suddenly found international recognition with the German production Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes/Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972). At AllMovie, Karl Williams writes: “The most famed and well-regarded collaboration between New German Cinema director Werner Herzog and his frequent leading man, Klaus Kinski, this epic historical drama was legendary for the arduousness of its on-location filming and the convincing zealous obsession employed by Kinski in playing the title role. Exhausted and near to admitting failure in its quest for riches, the 1650-51 expedition of Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) bogs down in the impenetrable jungles of Peru. As a last-ditch effort to locate treasure, Pizarro orders a party to scout ahead for signs of El Dorado, the fabled seven cities of gold. In command are a trio of nobles, Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), Fernando de Guzman (Peter Berling), and Lope de Aguirre (Kinski). Travelling by river raft, the explorers are besieged by hostile natives, disease, starvation and treacherous waters. Crazed with greed and mad with power, Aguirre takes over the enterprise, slaughtering any that oppose him.” Kinski delivered a bravura performance that typified his screen image: that of an obsessive, terrifying, and emotionally unpredictable antihero. Kinski and Herzog would make five films together, including Woyzeck (1978), Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht/Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) with Isabelle Adjani, and Fitzcarraldo (1982) with Claudia Cardinale. The volatile love-hate relationship between Kinski and his equally driven and obsessive director Herzog resulted in some of the best work from both men, and both are best known for the films on which they collaborated. Kinski and Herzog pushed each other to extremes over a 15-year working relationship, which finally ended after filming Cobra Verde (Werner Herzog, 1987), a production plagued by volcanic clashes between the star and director, involving violent physical altercations and mutual death threats.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica writes that Klaus Kinski “disdained his chosen profession, once saying, ‘I wish I’d never been an actor. I’d rather have been a streetwalker, selling my body, than selling my tears and my laughter, my grief and my joy’. Numerous offers from prestigious directors—whom Kinski categorised as ‘cretins’ or ‘scum’—were refused; he worked only when the money suited him.” Kinski was also notorious – and in high demand – for his scandalous TV appearances and interviews. The scandals paid off. Although he continued to appear for the money in countless trash films, Kinski also starred in such respectable films as the French melodrama L'important c'est d'aimer/The Main Thing Is to Love (Andrzej Zulawski, 1975) starring a memorable Romy Schneider, and the Oscar-nominated Israeli production Mivtsa Yonatan/Operation Thunderbolt (Menahem Golan, 1977), based on the 1976 hijacking of a Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris Air France flight and the daring rescue of its 104 passengers in Entebbe, Uganda. In the 1980s Kinski appeared prominently in such Hollywood productions as the comedy Buddy Buddy (Billy Wilder, 1981) as a neurotic sex scientist opposite Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and the thriller The Little Drummer Girl (George Roy Hill, 1984) featuring Diane Keaton. Kinski’s last film was Kinski Paganini (Klaus Kinski, 1989), in which he played the 19th-century ‘devil’ violinist Niccolò Paganini. He also wrote and directed the film and his wife Debora and his son Nikolai also starred in the film. The production was marked by chaos and clashes between Kinski and his producers, who accused him of turning their production into a pornographic film and sued him in court. The result was a commercial and critical flop. Kinski reinforced his image as a wild-eyed, sex-crazed maniac in his autobiography 'Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund' (1975). In 1988 he updated and rereleased it as 'Ich brauche Liebe' (All I Need Is Love) and in 1997 it was again rereleased as 'Kinski Uncut)'. The book infuriated many, and prompted his daughter Nastassja Kinski to file a libel suit against him. Werner Herzog would later say in his retrospective film Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski/Kinski, My Best Fiend (1999, Werner Herzog) that much of the autobiography was fabricated to generate sales; the two even collaborated on the insults about the director. In 2006 Christian David published the first comprehensive biography based on newly discovered archived material, personal letters and interviews with Kinski's friends and colleagues. Klaus Kinski died of a heart attack in Lagunitas, California, U.S. at age 65. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. He was married four times: to Gislinde Kühbeck (1952-1955), Brigitte Ruth Tocki (1960-1971), Minhoi Geneviève Loanic (1971-1979), and to Debora Caprioglio (1987-1989). His three children Pola Kinski (1952), Nastassja Kinski (1961) and Nikolai Kinski (1976) are all actors.
Sources: Dan Schneider (Alt Film Guide), Michael Brooke (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Karl Williams (AllMovie), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Filmportal.de, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Had a marvelous time yesterday. Smayocat came back into town and it was fantastic getting to visit with him again. It was awesome getting to see him again and hang out.
Smayocat was also extra awesome because I asked him when he was in Hong Kong/Japan earlier this year if he could help me find the Asterisk Marine uniforms for the Lehanes. They had just been rereleased by Volks and it felt like they were impossible to get our hands on. Evie got her uniform through Ebay (because hers was apparently more in demand) but he did manage to find the other uniform. HOMG, so worth the wait. It is so freaking adorable and perfect for Ronan when he is not wearing his boy uniform. I can't get over it.
Buying him clothes gives me a ridiculous high. XD;; It's so silly!
❤EVER AFTER HIGH ❤
I decided to risk it .. and make a change to re release lizzie hearts ... that looked all sad and painting details on accessories ..
I think it looks a little better still in my search for the first version U_U
Target has the rereleased version of the Birthday doll! Now with less articulation and flatter boxes. Same $14.99 prices tho. :(
A rerelease, cleaned up for noise and modified for contrast. Can't seem to get out to shooot anything these days. Plus I am really tired of my gear. My old Pentax is just not performaing very well any more. The sensor is deteriorating, it seems. Could have something to do with being run over by a car and dropped in the DC subway.
🌙 "This... is this the last sound I'll hear?" 🌙
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This is our latest custom! Sakuya Haibara, the antagonist of Fatal Frame IV the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, which was announced just today to have a rerelease after 14 years! As always, the outfit is made by @pierot_lk , this may be the most incredible one she did so far! The custom work was made by me as always too, so please let me know if you like it!
We really hope you like it a lot @kitanaly , we're always so happy to make you this kind of special dolls 💓
Thank god for the new panorama camera update for the iPhone or I would have not been able to fit all 44 dolls in one picture...lmao
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy team during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.
Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appeared in The Lucky Dog (1921), but were not teamed at the time. They first appeared together in a short film in 1926, when they signed separate contracts with the Hal Roach film studio. They officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared in the silent short Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with Roach until 1940, and then appeared in eight B movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their film commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on performing stage shows, and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. They made their last film in 1950, a French–Italian co-production called Atoll K.
They appeared as a team in 107 films, starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films, and 23 full-length feature films. They also made 12 guest or cameo appearances, including in the Galaxy of Stars promotional film of 1936. On December 1, 1954, they made their sole American television appearance, when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Since the 1930s, their works have been released in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals, 8-mm and 16-mm home movies, feature-film compilations, and home videos. In 2005, they were voted the seventh-greatest comedy act of all time by a UK poll of professional comedians. The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is The Sons of the Desert, after a fictional fraternal society in the film of the same name.
History as Laurel and Hardy
Hal Roach
Hal Roach recounted how Laurel and Hardy became a team: Hardy was already working for Roach (and others) when Roach hired Laurel, whom he had seen in vaudeville. Laurel had very light blue eyes, and Roach discovered that, due to the technology of film at that time, Laurel's eyes wouldn't photograph properly—blue photographed as white. This problem is apparent in their first silent film together, The Lucky Dog, where an attempt was made to compensate for the problem by applying heavy makeup to Laurel's eyes. For about a year, Roach had Laurel work at the studio as a writer. Then panchromatic film was developed; they tested Laurel, and found the problem was solved. Laurel and Hardy were then put together in a film, and they seemed to complement each other. Comedy teams were usually composed of a straight man and a funny man, but these two were both comedians; however, each knew how to play the straight man when the script required it. Roach said, "You could always cut to a close-up of either one, and their reaction was good for another laugh."
Style of comedy and characterizations
The humor of Laurel and Hardy was highly visual, with slapstick used for emphasis. They often had physical arguments (in character) which were quite complex and involved a cartoonish style of violence. Their ineptitude and misfortune precluded them from making any real progress, even in the simplest endeavors. Much of their comedy involves "milking" a joke, where a simple idea provides a basis for multiple, ongoing gags without following a defined narrative.
Stan Laurel was of average height and weight, but appeared comparatively small and slight next to Oliver Hardy, who was 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) and weighed about 280 lb (127 kg; 20 st 0 lb) in his prime. Details of their hair and clothing were used to enhance this natural contrast. Laurel kept his hair short on the sides and back, growing it long on top to create a natural "fright wig". Typically, at times of shock, he simultaneously screwed up his face to appear as if crying while pulling up his hair. In contrast, Hardy's thinning hair was pasted on his forehead in spit curls and he sported a toothbrush moustache. To achieve a flat-footed walk, Laurel removed the heels from his shoes. Both wore bowler hats, with Laurel's being narrower than Hardy's, and with a flattened brim. The characters' normal attire called for wing collar shirts, with Hardy wearing a necktie which he would twiddle when he was particularly self-conscious; and Laurel, a bow tie. Hardy's sports jacket was a little small and done up with one straining button, whereas Laurel's double-breasted jacket was loose-fitting.
A popular routine was a "tit for tat" fight with an adversary. It could be with their wives—often played by Mae Busch, Anita Garvin, or Daphne Pollard—or with a neighbor, often played by Charlie Hall or James Finlayson. Laurel and Hardy would accidentally damage someone's property, and the injured party would retaliate by ruining something belonging to Laurel or Hardy. After calmly surveying the damage, one or the other of the "offended" parties found something else to vandalize, and the conflict escalated until both sides were simultaneously destroying items in front of each other. An early example of the routine occurs in their classic short Big Business (1929), which was added to the National Film Registry in 1992. Another short film which revolves around such an altercation was titled Tit for Tat (1935).
One of their best-remembered dialogue devices was the "Tell me that again" routine. Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he came up with, and Hardy would reply, "Tell me that again." Laurel would then try to repeat the idea, but, having instantly forgotten it, babble utter nonsense. Hardy, who had difficulty understanding Laurel's idea when expressed clearly, would then understand the jumbled version perfectly. While much of their comedy remained visual, humorous dialogue often occurred in Laurel and Hardy's talking films as well. Examples include:
"You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be led." (Laurel, Brats)
"I was dreaming I was awake, but I woke up and found meself asleep." (Laurel, Oliver the Eighth)
"A lot of weather we've been having lately." (Hardy, Way Out West)
In some cases, their comedy bordered on the surreal, in a style Laurel called "white magic". For example, in the 1937 film Way Out West, Laurel flicks his thumb upward as if working a lighter. His thumb ignites and he matter-of-factly lights Hardy's pipe. Amazed at seeing this, Hardy unsuccessfully attempts to duplicate it throughout the film. Much later he finally succeeds, only to be terrified when his thumb catches fire. Laurel expands the joke in the 1938 film Block-Heads by pouring tobacco into his clenched fist and smoking it as though it were a pipe, again to Hardy's bemusement. This time, the joke ends when a match Laurel was using relights itself, Hardy throws it into the fireplace, and it explodes with a loud bang.
Rather than showing Hardy suffering the pain of misfortunes, such as falling down stairs or being beaten by a thug, banging and crashing sound effects were often used so the audience could visualize the mayhem. The 1927 film Sailors, Beware! was a significant one for Hardy because two of his enduring trademarks were developed. The first was his "tie twiddle" to demonstrate embarrassment. Hardy, while acting, had received a pail of water in the face. He said, "I had been expecting it, but I didn't expect it at that particular moment. It threw me mentally and I couldn't think what to do next, so I waved the tie in a kind of tiddly-widdly fashion to show embarrassment while trying to look friendly." His second trademark was the "camera look", where he breaks the fourth wall and, in frustration, stares directly at the audience. Hardy said: "I had to become exasperated, so I just stared right into the camera and registered my disgust." Offscreen, Laurel and Hardy were quite the opposite of their movie characters: Laurel was the industrious "idea man", while Hardy was more easygoing.
Catchphrases
Laurel and Hardy's best-known catchphrase is, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" It was earlier used by W. S. Gilbert in both The Mikado (1885) and The Grand Duke (1896). It was first used by Hardy in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case in 1930. In popular culture, the catchphrase is often misquoted as "Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into", which was never spoken by Hardy—a misunderstanding that stems from the title of their film Another Fine Mess. When Hardy said the phrase, Laurel's frequent, iconic response was to start to cry, pull his hair up, exclaim "Well, I couldn't help it...", then whimper and speak gibberish.
Some variations on the phrase occurred. For example, in Chickens Come Home, Ollie impatiently says to Stan, "Well...", and Stan continues for him: "Here's another nice mess I've gotten you into." The films Thicker than Water and The Fixer Uppers use the phrase "Well, here's another nice kettle of fish you've pickled me in!" In Saps at Sea, the phrase becomes "Well, here's another nice bucket of suds you've gotten me into!" The catchphrase, in its original form, was used as the last line of dialogue in the duo's last film, Atoll K (1951).
In moments of particular distress or frustration, Hardy often exclaims, "Why don't you do something to help me?", as Laurel stands helplessly by.
"OH!" (or drawn out as "Ohhhhh-OH!") was another catchphrase used by Hardy. He uses the expression in the duo's first sound film, Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) when his character's wife smashes a record over his head.
Mustachioed Scottish actor James Finlayson, who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films, used a variation: "D'oh!" The phrase, expressing surprise, impatience, or incredulity, inspired the trademark "D'oh!" of character Homer Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) in the long-running animated comedy The Simpsons.
Films
Laurel's and Hardy's first film pairing, although as separate performers, was in the silent The Lucky Dog. Its production details have not survived, but film historian Bo Berglund has placed it between September 1920 and January 1921. According to interviews they gave in the 1930s, the pair's acquaintance at the time was casual, and both had forgotten their initial film entirely. The plot sees Laurel's character befriended by a stray dog which, after some lucky escapes, saves him from being blown up by dynamite. Hardy's character is a mugger attempting to rob Laurel. They later signed separate contracts with the Hal Roach Studios, and next appeared in the 1926 film 45 Minutes From Hollywood.
Hal Roach is considered the most important person in the development of Laurel's and Hardy's film careers. He brought them together, and they worked for Roach for almost 20 years. Director Charley Rogers, who worked closely with the three men for many years, said, "It could not have happened if Laurel, Hardy, and Roach had not met at the right place and the right time." Their first "official" film together was Putting Pants on Philip, released December 3, 1927. The plot involves Laurel as Philip, a young Scotsman who arrives in the United States in full kilted splendor, and suffers mishaps involving the kilts. His uncle, played by Hardy, tries to put trousers on him. Also in 1927, the pair starred in The Battle of the Century, a classic pie-throwing short involving over 3,000 real pies; only a fragment of the film was known to exist until the first half resurfaced in the 1970s; a more complete print was discovered in 2015 by historian Jon Mirsalis.
Laurel said to the duo's biographer John McCabe: "Of all the questions we're asked, the most frequent is, how did we come together? I always explain that we came together naturally." Laurel and Hardy were joined by accident and grew by indirection. In 1926, both were part of the Roach Comedy All Stars, a stock company of actors who took part in a series of films. Laurel's and Hardy's parts gradually grew larger, while those of their fellow stars diminished, because Laurel and Hardy had superior pantomime skills. Their teaming was suggested by Leo McCarey, their supervising director from 1927 and 1930. During that period, McCarey and Laurel jointly devised the team's format. McCarey also influenced the slowing of their comedy action from the silent era's typically frantic pace to a more natural one. The formula worked so well that Laurel and Hardy played the same characters for the next 30 years.
Although Roach employed writers and directors such as H. M. Walker, Leo McCarey, James Parrott, and James W. Horne on the Laurel and Hardy films, Laurel, who had a considerable background in comedy writing, often rewrote entire sequences and scripts. He also encouraged the cast and crew to improvise, then meticulously reviewed the footage during editing. By 1929, he was the pair's head writer, and it was reported that the writing sessions were gleefully chaotic. Stan had three or four writers who competed with him in a perpetual game of 'Can You Top This?' Hardy was quite happy to leave the writing to his partner. He said, "After all, just doing the gags was hard enough work, especially if you have taken as many falls and been dumped in as many mudholes as I have. I think I earned my money." Laurel eventually became so involved in their films' productions, many film historians and aficionados consider him an uncredited director. He ran the Laurel and Hardy set, no matter who was in the director's chair, but never asserted his authority. Roach remarked: "Laurel bossed the production. With any director, if Laurel said 'I don't like this idea,' the director didn't say 'Well, you're going to do it anyway.' That was understood." As Laurel made so many suggestions, there was not much left for the credited director to do.
Their 1929 silent Big Business is by far the most critically acclaimed. Laurel and Hardy are Christmas tree salesmen who are drawn into a classic tit-for-tat battle, with a character played by James Finlayson, that eventually destroys his house and their car. Big Business was added to the United States National Film Registry as a national treasure in 1992.
Sound films
In 1929 the silent era of film was coming to an end. Many silent-film actors failed to make the transition to "talkies"—some, because they felt sound was irrelevant to their craft of conveying stories with body language; and others, because their spoken voices were considered inadequate for the new medium. However, the addition of spoken dialogue only enhanced Laurel's and Hardy's performances; both had extensive theatrical experience, and could use their voices to great comic effect. Their films also continued to feature much visual comedy. In these ways, they made a seamless transition to their first sound film, Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) (whose title was a play on the familiar phrase, "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking"). In the opening dialogue, Laurel and Hardy began by spoofing the slow and self-conscious speech of the early talking actors which became a routine they would use regularly.
The Music Box (1932), with the pair delivering a piano up a long flight of steps, won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject. The Music Box remains one of the duo's most widely known films.
Laurel and Hardy were favorites around the world, and Hal Roach catered to international audiences by filming many of their early talkies in other languages. They spoke their dialogue phonetically, in Spanish, Italian, French, or German. The plots remained similar to the English versions, although the supporting actors were often changed to those who were fluent in the native language. Pardon Us (1931) was reshot in all four foreign languages. Blotto, Hog Wild and Be Big! were remade in French and Spanish versions. Night Owls was remade in both Spanish and Italian, and Below Zero and Chickens Come Home in Spanish.
Feature films
Just as Laurel and Hardy's teaming was accidental, so was their entry into the field of feature films. In the words of biographer John McCabe, "Roach planned to use the MGM set [built for The Big House] for a simple prison-break two-reeler but MGM suddenly added a proviso: Laurel and Hardy would have to do a picture for them in exchange. Roach would not agree so he built his own prison set, a very expensive item for a two-reeler. So expensive was it indeed that he added four more reels to bring it into the feature category and, it was hoped, the bigger market." The experiment was successful, and the team continued to make features along with their established short subjects until 1935, when they converted to features exclusively.
Sons of the Desert (1933) is often cited as Laurel and Hardy's best feature-length film. The situation-comedy script by actor-playwright Frank Craven and screenwriter Byron Morgan is stronger than usual for a Laurel & Hardy comedy. Stan and Ollie are henpecked husbands who want to attend a convention held by the Sons of the Desert fraternal lodge. They tell their wives that Ollie requires an ocean voyage to Honolulu for his health, and they sneak off to the convention. They are unaware that the Honolulu-bound ship they were supposedly aboard is sinking, and the wives confront their errant husbands when they get home.
Babes in Toyland (1934) remains a perennial on American television during the Christmas season. When interviewed, Hal Roach spoke scathingly about the film and Laurel's behavior. Roach himself had written a treatment detailing the characters and storyline, only to find that Laurel considered Roach's effort totally unsuitable. Roach, affronted, tried to argue in favor of his treatment, but Laurel was adamant. Roach angrily gave up and allowed Laurel to make the film his way. The rift damaged Roach-Laurel relations to the point that Roach said that after Toyland, he didn't want to produce for Laurel and Hardy. Although their association continued for another six years, Roach no longer took an active hand in Laurel and Hardy films.
Way Out West (1937) was a personal favorite of both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. A satire of the Gene Autry musical westerns sweeping America at the time, the film combines Laurel and Hardy's slapstick routines with songs and dances performed by the stars.
It appeared that the team would split permanently in 1938. Hal Roach had become dissatisfied with his distribution arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and had begun releasing his films through United Artists. He still owed MGM one last feature, and made the Laurel and Hardy comedy Block-Heads, with the announcement that this would be Laurel and Hardy's farewell film. Stan Laurel's contract with Roach then expired, and Roach did not renew it. Oliver Hardy's contract was still in force, however, and Roach starred Hardy solo in the antebellum comedy Zenobia (1939), with Harry Langdon as Hardy's comic foil. This fueled rumors that Laurel and Hardy had split on bad terms.
After Zenobia, Laurel rejoined Hardy and the team signed with independent producer Boris Morros for the comedy feature The Flying Deuces (1939). Meanwhile, Hal Roach wanted to demonstrate his new idea of making four-reel, 40-minute featurettes—twice the length of standard two-reel, 20-minute comedies—which Roach felt could fit more conveniently into double-feature programs. He referred to these extended films as "streamliners". To test his theory, Roach rehired Laurel and Hardy. The resulting films, A Chump at Oxford and Saps at Sea (both 1940), were prepared as featurettes. United Artists overruled Roach and insisted that they be released as full-length features.
Hoping for greater artistic freedom, Laurel and Hardy split with Roach, and signed with 20th Century-Fox in 1941 and MGM in 1942. However, their working conditions were now completely different: they were simply hired actors, relegated to both studios’ B-film units, and not initially allowed to contribute to the scripts or improvise, as they had always done. When their films proved popular, the studios allowed them more input, and they starred in eight features until the end of 1944. These films, while far from their best work, were still very successful. Budgeted between $300,000 and $450,000 each, they earned millions at the box office for Fox and MGM. The Fox films were so profitable that the studio kept making Laurel and Hardy comedies after it discontinued its other "B" series films.
The busy team decided to take a rest during 1946, but 1947 saw their first European tour in 15 years. A film based in the charters of "Robin Hood" was planned during the tour, but not realized. In 1947, Laurel and Hardy famously attended the reopening of the Dungeness loop of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, where they performed improvised routines with a steam locomotive for the benefit of local crowds and dignitaries.
In 1948, on the team's return to America, Laurel was sidelined by illness and temporarily unable to work. He encouraged Hardy to take movie roles on his own. Hardy's friend John Wayne hired him to co-star in The Fighting Kentuckian for Republic Pictures, and Bing Crosby got him a small part in Frank Capra's Riding High.
In 1950–51, Laurel and Hardy made their final feature-length film together, Atoll K. A French-Italian co-production directed by Léo Joannon, it was plagued by problems with language barriers, production issues, and both actors' serious health issues. When Laurel received the script's final draft, he felt its heavy political content overshadowed the comedy. He quickly rewrote it, with screen comic Monte Collins contributing visual gags, and hired old friend Alfred Goulding to direct the Laurel and Hardy scenes. During filming, Hardy developed an irregular heartbeat, while Laurel experienced painful prostate complications that caused his weight to drop to 114 pounds. Critics were disappointed with the storyline, English dubbing, and Laurel's sickly physical appearance. The film was not commercially successful on its first release, and brought an end to Laurel and Hardy's film careers. Atoll K did finally turn a profit when it was rereleased in other countries. In 1954, an American distributor removed 18 minutes of footage and released it as Utopia; widely released on film and video, it is the film's best-known version.
After Atoll K wrapped in April 1951, Laurel and Hardy returned to America and used the remainder of the year to rest. Stan appeared, in character, in a silent TV newsreel, Swim Meet, judging a local California swimming contest.
Most Laurel and Hardy films have survived and are still in circulation. Only three of their 107 films are considered lost and have not been seen in complete form since the 1930s. The silent film Hats Off from 1927 has vanished completely. The first half of Now I'll Tell One (1927) is lost, and the second half has yet to be released on video. The Battle of the Century (1927), after years of obscurity, is now almost complete but a few minutes are missing. In the 1930 operatic Technicolor musical The Rogue Song, Laurel and Hardy appeared as comedy relief in 10 sequences; only one exists. The complete soundtrack has survived.
Radio
Laurel and Hardy made at least two audition recordings for radio, a half-hour NBC series, based on the skit, Driver’s License, and a 1944 NBC pilot for "The Laurel and Hardy Show," casting Stan and Ollie in different occupations each episode. The surviving audition record, "Mr. Slater's Poultry Market," has Stan and Ollie as meat-market butchers mistaken for vicious gangsters. A third attempt was commissioned by BBC Radio in 1953: "Laurel and Hardy Go to the Moon," a series of science-fiction comedies. A sample script was written by Tony Hawes and Denis Gifford, and the comedians staged a read-through, which was not recorded. The team was forced to withdraw due to Hardy's declining health, and the project was abandoned.
Final years
Following the making of Atoll K, Laurel and Hardy took some months off to deal with health issues. On their return to the European stage in 1952, they undertook a well-received series of public appearances, performing a short Laurel-written sketch, "A Spot of Trouble". The following year, Laurel wrote a routine entitled "Birds of a Feather". On September 9, 1953, their boat arrived in Cobh in Ireland. Laurel recounted their reception:
The love and affection we found that day at Cobh was simply unbelievable. There were hundreds of boats blowing whistles and mobs and mobs of people screaming on the docks. We just couldn't understand what it was all about. And then something happened that I can never forget. All the church bells in Cobh started to ring out our theme song "Dance of the Cuckoos" and Babe (Oliver Hardy) looked at me and we cried. I'll never forget that day. Never.
On May 17, 1954, Laurel and Hardy made their last live stage performance in Plymouth, UK at the Palace Theatre. On December 1, 1954, they made their only American television appearance when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Lured to the Knickerbocker Hotel under the pretense of a business meeting with producer Bernard Delfont, the doors opened to their suite, #205, flooding the room with light and Edwards' voice. The telecast was preserved on a kinescope and later released on home video. Partly due to the broadcast's positive response, the team began renegotiating with Hal Roach Jr. for a series of color NBC Television specials, to be called Laurel and Hardy's Fabulous Fables. However, the plans had to be shelved as the aging comedians continued to suffer from declining health. In 1955, America's magazine TV Guide ran a color spread on the team with current photos. That year, they made their final public appearance together while taking part in This Is Music Hall, a BBC Television program about the Grand Order of Water Rats, a British variety organization. Laurel and Hardy provided a filmed insert where they reminisced about their friends in British variety. They made their final appearance on camera in 1956 in a private home movie, shot by a family friend at the Reseda, California home of Stan Laurel's daughter, Lois. The three-minute film has no audio.
In 1956, while following his doctor's orders to improve his health due to a heart condition, Hardy lost over 100 pounds (45 kg; 7.1 st), but nonetheless suffered several strokes causing reduced mobility and speech. Despite his long and successful career, Hardy's home was sold to help cover his medical expenses. He died of a stroke on August 7, 1957, and longtime friend Bob Chatterton said Hardy weighed just 138 pounds (63 kg; 9.9 st) at the time of his death. Hardy was laid to rest at Pierce Brothers' Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood. Following Hardy's death, scenes from Laurel and Hardy's early films were seen once again in theaters, featured in Robert Youngson's silent-film compilation The Golden Age of Comedy.
For the remaining eight years of his life, Stan Laurel refused to perform, and declined Stanley Kramer's offer of a cameo in his landmark 1963 film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In 1960, Laurel was given a special Academy Award for his contributions to film comedy, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to poor health. Actor Danny Kaye accepted the award on his behalf. Despite not appearing on screen after Hardy's death, Laurel did contribute gags to several comedy filmmakers. His favorite TV comedy was Leonard B. Stern's I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, co-starring John Astin and Marty Ingels as carpenters. Laurel enjoyed the Astin-Ingels chemistry and sent two-man gags to Stern.
During this period, most of his communication was in the form of written correspondence, and he insisted on personally answering every fan letter. Late in life, he welcomed visitors from the new generation of comedians and celebrities, including Dick Cavett, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Marcel Marceau, Johnny Carson, and Dick Van Dyke. Jerry Lewis offered Laurel a job as consultant, but he chose to help only on Lewis's 1960 feature The Bellboy.[citation needed]
Dick Van Dyke was a longtime fan, and based his comedy and dancing styles on Laurel's. When he discovered Laurel's home number in the phone book and called him, Laurel invited him over for the afternoon. Van Dyke hosted a television tribute to Stan Laurel the year he died.
Laurel lived to see the duo's work rediscovered through television and classic film revivals. He died on February 23, 1965, in Santa Monica and is buried at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California.
Supporting cast members
Laurel and Hardy's films included a supporting cast of comic actors, some of whom appeared regularly:
Harry Bernard (former vaudeville partner of Charley Chase) played supporting roles as a waiter, bartender, or policeman.
Mae Busch often played the formidable Mrs. Hardy and other characters, particularly sultry femmes fatales.
Charley Chase, the Hal Roach film star and brother of James Parrott, a writer/director of several Laurel and Hardy films, made four appearances.
Dorothy Coburn appeared in nearly a dozen early silent shorts.
Baldwin Cooke (former vaudeville partner of Stan Laurel) played supporting roles as a waiter, colleague, or neighbor.
Richard Cramer appeared as a scowling, menacing villain or opponent.
Peter Cushing, well before becoming a star in Hammer Horror films, played one of the students in A Chump at Oxford.
Bobby Dunn appeared as a cross-eyed bartender and telegram messenger, as well as the genial shoplifter in Tit for Tat.
Eddie Dunn made several appearances, notably as the belligerent taxi driver in Me and My Pal.
James Finlayson, a balding, mustachioed Scotsman known for displays of indignation and squinting, pop-eyed "double takes," made 33 appearances and is perhaps their most celebrated foil.
Anita Garvin appeared in a number of Laurel and Hardy films, often cast as Mrs. Laurel.
Billy Gilbert made many appearances, most notably as bombastic, blustery characters such as those in The Music Box (1932) and Block-Heads.
Charlie Hall, who usually played angry, diminutive adversaries, appeared nearly 50 times.
Jean Harlow had a small role in the silent short Double Whoopee (1929) and two other films in the early part of her career.
Arthur Housman made several appearances as a comic drunk.
Isabelle Keith was the only actress to appear as wife to both Laurel and Hardy (in Perfect Day and Be Big!, respectively).
Edgar Kennedy, master of the "slow burn," often appeared as a cop, a hostile neighbor, or a relative.
Walter Long played grizzled, unshaven, physically threatening villains.
Sam Lufkin appeared several times, usually as a husky authority figure.
Charles Middleton made a handful of appearances, usually as a sourpuss adversary.
James C. Morton appeared as a bartender or exasperated policeman.
Vivien Oakland appeared in several early silent films, and later talkies including Scram! and Way Out West.
Blanche Payson, a former policewoman, was featured in several sound shorts, including Oliver's formidable wife in Helpmates.
Daphne Pollard was featured as Oliver's diminutive but daunting wife.
Viola Richard appeared in several early silent films, most notably as the beautiful cave girl in Flying Elephants (1928).
Charley Rogers, an English actor and gag writer, appeared several times.
Tiny Sandford was a tall, burly, physically imposing character actor who played authority figures, usually policemen.
Thelma Todd appeared several times before her own career as a comic leading lady.
Ben Turpin, the cross-eyed Mack Sennett comedy star, made two memorable appearances.
Ellinor Vanderveer made many appearances as a dowager, high society matron, or posh party guest.
Music
The duo's famous signature tune, known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku" or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", was composed by Roach musical director Marvin Hatley as the on-the-hour chime for KFVD, the Roach studio's radio station. Laurel heard the tune on the station and asked Hatley if they could use it as the Laurel and Hardy theme song. The original theme, recorded by two clarinets in 1930, was recorded again with a full orchestra in 1935. Leroy Shield composed the majority of the music used in the Laurel and Hardy short sound films. A compilation of songs from their films, titled Trail of the Lonesome Pine, was released in 1975. The title track was released as a single in the UK and reached #2 in the charts.
Influence and legacy
Laurel and Hardy's influence over a very broad range of comedy and other genres has been considerable. Lou Costello of the famed duo of Abbott and Costello, stated "They were the funniest comedy team in the world." Most critics and film scholars throughout the years have agreed with this assessment; writers, artists, and performers as diverse as Samuel Beckett, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Marcel Marceau Steve Martin, John Cleese, Harold Pinter, Alec Guinness, J. D. Salinger, René Magritte and Kurt Vonnegut among many others, have acknowledged an artistic debt. Starting in the 1960s, the exposure on television of (especially) their short films has ensured a continued influence on generations of comedians and fans.
Posthumous revivals and popular culture
Since the 1930s, the works of Laurel and Hardy have been released again in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals (broadcast, especially public television and cable), 16 mm and 8 mm home movies, feature-film compilations and home video. After Stan Laurel's death in 1965, there were two major motion-picture tributes: Laurel and Hardy's Laughing '20s was Robert Youngson's compilation of the team's silent-film highlights, and The Great Race was a large-scale salute to slapstick that director Blake Edwards dedicated to "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy". For many years the duo were impersonated by Jim MacGeorge (as Laurel) and Chuck McCann (as Hardy) in children's TV shows and television commercials for various products.
Numerous colorized versions of Laurel and Hardy features and shorts have been reproduced by several studios. The process was introduced in 1983 by Colorization, Inc. in partnership with Hal Roach Studios, then a Canadian concern licensing its name and films from Hal Roach. Early efforts were the famous Laurel & Hardy films Helpmates, Way Out West, and The Music Box, which were released to television and issued on VHS videocassettes. Most of the Laurel & Hardy sound shorts were ultimately colorized for distribution in Europe; The pixel-based color process and the conversion from the American NTSC system to the European PAL system often affected the sharpness of the image, so since 2011 video distributors have issued the original, more accurately rendered black-and-white editions.
There are three Laurel and Hardy museums. One is in Laurel's birthplace of Ulverston, England and another is in Hardy's birthplace of Harlem, Georgia, United States. The third is located in Solingen, Germany. Maurice Sendak showed three identical Oliver Hardy figures as bakers preparing cakes for the morning in his award-winning 1970 children's book In the Night Kitchen. This is treated as a clear example of "interpretative illustration" wherein the comedians' inclusion harked back to the author's childhood. The Beatles used cut-outs of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the cutout celebrity crowd for the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A 2005 poll by fellow comedians and comedy insiders of the top 50 comedians for The Comedian's Comedian, a TV documentary broadcast on UK's Channel 4, voted the duo the seventh-greatest comedy act ever, making them the top double act on the list.
Merchandiser Larry Harmon claimed ownership of Laurel's and Hardy's likenesses and has issued Laurel and Hardy toys and coloring books. He also co-produced a series of Laurel and Hardy cartoons in 1966 with Hanna-Barbera Productions. His animated versions of Laurel and Hardy guest-starred in a 1972 episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1999, Harmon produced a direct-to-video feature live-action comedy entitled The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in For Love or Mummy. Actors Bronson Pinchot and Gailard Sartain were cast playing the lookalike nephews of Laurel and Hardy named Stanley Thinneus Laurel and Oliver Fatteus Hardy.
Currently, the North American rights to a majority of the Laurel & Hardy library are owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, successor-in-interest to the companies that previously held such rights (Cabin Fever, RHI, Hallmark, and Sonar), while the CCA owns international rights, and Larry Harmon's estate owns the likenesses and trademarks to Laurel & Hardy.
The Indian comedy duo Ghory and Dixit was known as the Indian Laurel and Hardy. In 2011 the German/French TV station Arte released in co-production with the German TV station ZDF the 90-minute documentary Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic. The film, titled in the original German Laurel and Hardy: Die komische Liebesgeschichte von "Dick & Doof", was written and directed by German film-maker Andreas Baum. It includes many movie clips, rare and unpublished photographs, interviews with family, fans, friends, showbiz pals and newly recovered footage. Laurel's daughter Lois Laurel Hawes said of the film: "The best documentary about Laurel and Hardy I have ever seen!". It has also been released as a Director's Cut with a length of 105 minutes, plus 70 minutes of bonus materials on DVD.
Appreciation society
Main article: The Sons of the Desert
The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is known as The Sons of the Desert, after a fraternal society in their film of the same name (1933). It was established in New York City in 1965 by Laurel and Hardy biographer John McCabe, with Orson Bean, Al Kilgore, Chuck McCann, and John Municino as founding members, with the sanction of Stan Laurel. Since the group's inception, well over 150 chapters of the organization have formed across North America, Europe, and Australia. An Emmy-winning film documentary about the group, Revenge of the Sons of the Desert, has been released on DVD as part of The Laurel and Hardy Collection, Vol. 1.
Around the world
Laurel and Hardy are popular around the world but are known under different names in various countries and languages.
CountryNickname
Poland"Flip i Flap" (Flip and Flap)
Germany"Dick und Doof" (Fat and Dumb)
Brazil"O Gordo e o Magro" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)
Sweden"Helan och Halvan" (The Whole and the Half)
Norway"Helan og Halvan" (The Whole and the Half)
Spanish-speaking countries"El Gordo y el Flaco" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)
Italy"Stanlio e Ollio" also as "Cric e Croc" up to the 1970s
Hungary"Stan és Pan" (Stan and Pan)
Romania"Stan și Bran" (Stan and Bran)
The Netherlands, Flemish Belgium"Laurel en Hardy", "Stan en Ollie", "De Dikke en de Dunne" (The Fat [One] and the Skinny [One])
Denmark"Gøg og Gokke" (Roughly translates to Wacky and Pompous)
Portugal"O Bucha e o Estica" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)
Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Montenegro"Stanlio i Olio" (Cyrillic: Станлио и Олио)
Slovenia"Stan in Olio"
Greece"Hondros kai Lignos" (Χοντρός και Λιγνός) (Fat and Skinny)
India (Marathi)"जाड्या आणि रड्या" (Fatso and the Crybaby)
India (Punjabi)"Moota Paatla" (Laurel and Hardy) (Fat and Skinny)
India (Telugu)"Lamboo Jamboo" (లంబూ జంబూ) (Laurel and Hardy) (Fat and Skinny)
FinlandOhukainen ja Paksukainen (Thin one and Thick one)
Iceland"Steini og Olli"
Israel"השמן והרזה" (ha-Shamen ve ha-Raze, The Fat and the Skinny)
Vietnam (South)"Mập – Ốm" (The Fat and the Skinny)
Korea (South)"뚱뚱이와 홀쭉이" (The Fat and the Skinny)
Malta"L-Oħxon u l-Irqiq" ("The Fat and the Thin One")
Thailand"อ้วนผอมจอมยุ่ง" ("The Clumsy Fat and Thin")
Biopic
A biographical film titled Stan & Ollie directed by Jon S. Baird and starring Steve Coogan as Stan and John C. Reilly as Oliver was released in 2018 and chronicled the duo's 1953 tour of Great Britain and Ireland. The film received positive reviews from critics, garnering a 94% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For their performances, Reilly and Coogan were nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award respectively.
With Smiley Burnette and George “Gabby” Hayes,
Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers,
Ruth Terry, Walter Catlett, Paul Harvey, Edmund McDonald,
Leigh Whipper, William Haade and The Hall Johnson Choir
Choral Arrangements by Hall Johnson, Director Joseph Kane
Original Screenplay by Earl Felton.
Ross Lambert (Edmund McDonald) owns the trucking line that ships cattle to market. When he doubles the rates Roy decides to ship the cattle on the River Boat. When Lambert and his men are unable to stop the boat, they rustle the cattle.
Full movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pG6ilC_b10
German postcard by Graphima, no. 1. Photo: publicity still for Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964).
Intense and eccentric Klaus Kinski (1926–1991) was one of the most colourful stars of European cinema. In a film career of over 40 years, the German actor appeared in more than 130 films, including numerous parts as a villain in Edgar Wallace thrillers and Spaghetti Westerns. The talented but tempestuous Kinski is probably best known for his riveting star turns in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and other films directed by Werner Herzog.
Klaus Kinski was born Nikolaus Günther Nakszyński in Zoppot, Danzig, Germany (now Sopot, Poland), in 1926. He was the son of a German father of Polish descent, Bruno Nakszyński, a pharmacist and a failed opera singer, and a German mother, Susanne Nakszyński-Lutze, a nurse and a daughter of a local pastor. He had three older siblings: Inge, Arne and Hans-Joachim. Because of the depression, the poor family was unable to make a living in Danzig and was forced to move to Berlin in 1931. They settled in a flat in the suburb of Schöneberg. From 1936 on, Kinski attended the Prinz-Heinrich-Gymnasium there. During World War II, the 16-year-old enlisted in the Wehrmacht. Kinski saw no action until the winter of 1944 when his unit was transferred to the Netherlands. His obituary in Variety magazine states that there he was wounded and captured by the British on the second day of combat, but Kinski's autobiography 'Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund' (I Am So Wild About Your Strawberry Mouth, 1975) claims he made a conscious decision to desert. However, Kinski was transferred to the Prisoner of War Camp 186 in Colchester, Great Britain. The ship transporting him to England was torpedoed by a German U-Boat but managed to arrive safely at its destination. At the POW camp, Kinski played his first theatre roles in shows staged by fellow prisoners intending to maintain morale. Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, Kinski was finally allowed in 1946 to return to Germany, after spending a year and four months in captivity. Arriving in Berlin, Kinski learned his father had died during the war and his mother had been killed in an Allied air attack. Without having ever attended any professional training, he started out as an actor, first at a small touring company in Offenburg and already using his new name Klaus Kinski. He was hired by the renowned Schlosspark-Theater in Berlin but was fired by the manager in 1947 due to his unpredictable behaviour. Other companies followed, but his already wild and unconventional behaviour regularly got him into trouble. His first film role was a small part in Morituri (Eugen York, 1948) a drama about refugees from a concentration camp. In 1950, he stayed in a psychiatric hospital for three days; medical records from the period listed a preliminary diagnosis of schizophrenia. He only could find bit roles in films, and in 1955 Kinski twice tried to commit suicide.
Then Klaus Kinski got a supporting part in Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs/Ludwig II (Helmut Käutner, 1955) about the frustrated and tragic King Ludwig II of Bavaria played by O.W. Fischer. More supporting parts in German films followed. In March 1956 Kinski made one single guest appearance at Vienna's Burgtheater in Goethe's Torquato Tasso. Although respected by his colleagues, and cheered by the audience, Kinski's hope to get a permanent contract was not fulfilled, as the Burgtheater's management ultimately became aware of the actor's earlier difficulties in Germany. He unsuccessfully tried to sue the company. Living jobless in Vienna, and without any prospects for his future, Kinski reinvented himself as a monologist and spoken word artist. He presented the prose and verse of François Villon, William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde among others. Thus he managed to establish himself as a well-known actor touring Austria, Germany, and Switzerland with his shows. In 1960 he returned to the cinema as a sinister character on the verge between genius and madness in the thriller Der Rächer/The Avenger (Karl Anton, 1960) based on a crime novel by British writer Edgar Wallace. In another Wallace adaptation, Die toten Augen von London/The Dead Eyes of London (Alfred Vohrer, 1961), Kinski’s psychopathic bad guy refused any personal guilt for his evil deeds and claimed to have only followed the orders given to him. During the 1960s, Kinski appeared in several Wallace Krimis, which enjoyed enormous success in Germany and are now considered cult classics. He also appeared in many other European genre films such as the Karl May Western Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964) featuring Pierre Brice. In these films, he built a reputation as an effective screen villain. In 1964, he relocated to Italy and was cast in the international production Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 1965) as an Anarchist prisoner on his way to the Gulag. That year he also had a small part as a hunchback in the classic Italian western Per qualche dollaro in più/For Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965) starring Clint Eastwood. Roles in numerous other Spaghetti westerns followed, including El chuncho, quien sabe?/A Bullet for the General (Damiano Damiani, 1966) with Gian Maria Volonté, Il grande silenzio/The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Un genio, due compari, un pollo/A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (Damiano Damiani, 1975) with Terence Hill. When the Spaghetti Western genre was over its top, Kinski started to appear in other exploitation genres. Often these films proved to be brainless trash.
In 1972, in between his countless appearances in genre and exploitation films, Klaus Kinski suddenly found international recognition with the German production Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes/Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972). At AllMovie, Karl Williams writes: “The most famed and well-regarded collaboration between New German Cinema director Werner Herzog and his frequent leading man, Klaus Kinski, this epic historical drama was legendary for the arduousness of its on-location filming and the convincing zealous obsession employed by Kinski in playing the title role. Exhausted and near to admitting failure in its quest for riches, the 1650-51 expedition of Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) bogs down in the impenetrable jungles of Peru. As a last-ditch effort to locate treasure, Pizarro orders a party to scout ahead for signs of El Dorado, the fabled seven cities of gold. In command are a trio of nobles, Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), Fernando de Guzman (Peter Berling), and Lope de Aguirre (Kinski). Travelling by river raft, the explorers are besieged by hostile natives, disease, starvation and treacherous waters. Crazed with greed and mad with power, Aguirre takes over the enterprise, slaughtering any that oppose him.” Kinski delivered a bravura performance that typified his screen image: that of an obsessive, terrifying, and emotionally unpredictable antihero. Kinski and Herzog would make five films together, including Woyzeck (1978), Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht/Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) with Isabelle Adjani, and Fitzcarraldo (1982) with Claudia Cardinale. The volatile love-hate relationship between Kinski and his equally driven and obsessive director Herzog resulted in some of the best work from both men, and both are best known for the films on which they collaborated. Kinski and Herzog pushed each other to extremes over a 15-year working relationship, which finally ended after filming Cobra Verde (Werner Herzog, 1987), a production plagued by volcanic clashes between the star and director, involving violent physical altercations and mutual death threats.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica writes that Klaus Kinski “disdained his chosen profession, once saying, ‘I wish I’d never been an actor. I’d rather have been a streetwalker, selling my body, than selling my tears and my laughter, my grief and my joy’. Numerous offers from prestigious directors—whom Kinski categorised as ‘cretins’ or ‘scum’—were refused; he worked only when the money suited him.” Kinski was also notorious – and in high demand – for his scandalous TV appearances and interviews. The scandals paid off. Although he continued to appear for the money in countless trash films, Kinski also starred in such respectable films as the French melodrama L'important c'est d'aimer/The Main Thing Is to Love (Andrzej Zulawski, 1975) starring a memorable Romy Schneider, and the Oscar-nominated Israeli production Mivtsa Yonatan/Operation Thunderbolt (Menahem Golan, 1977), based on the 1976 hijacking of a Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris Air France flight and the daring rescue of its 104 passengers in Entebbe, Uganda. In the 1980s Kinski appeared prominently in such Hollywood productions as the comedy Buddy Buddy (Billy Wilder, 1981) as a neurotic sex scientist opposite Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and the thriller The Little Drummer Girl (George Roy Hill, 1984) featuring Diane Keaton. Kinski’s last film was Kinski Paganini (Klaus Kinski, 1989), in which he played the 19th-century ‘devil’ violinist Niccolò Paganini. He also wrote and directed the film and his wife Debora and his son Nikolai also starred in the film. The production was marked by chaos and clashes between Kinski and his producers, who accused him of turning their production into a pornographic film and sued him in court. The result was a commercial and critical flop. Kinski reinforced his image as a wild-eyed, sex-crazed maniac in his autobiography 'Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund' (1975). In 1988 he updated and rereleased it as 'Ich brauche Liebe' (All I Need Is Love) and in 1997 it was again rereleased as 'Kinski Uncut)'. The book infuriated many, and prompted his daughter Nastassja Kinski to file a libel suit against him. Werner Herzog would later say in his retrospective film Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski/Kinski, My Best Fiend (1999, Werner Herzog) that much of the autobiography was fabricated to generate sales; the two even collaborated on the insults about the director. In 2006 Christian David published the first comprehensive biography based on newly discovered archived material, personal letters and interviews with Kinski's friends and colleagues. Klaus Kinski died of a heart attack in Lagunitas, California, U.S. at age 65. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. He was married four times: to Gislinde Kühbeck (1952-1955), Brigitte Ruth Tocki (1960-1971), Minhoi Geneviève Loanic (1971-1979), and to Debora Caprioglio (1987-1989). His three children Pola Kinski (1952), Nastassja Kinski (1961) and Nikolai Kinski (1976) are all actors.
Sources: Dan Schneider (Alt Film Guide), Michael Brooke (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Karl Williams (AllMovie), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Filmportal.de, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
As I was cleaning last week I realised I never posted these gals and guys on here. They arent true customs as they either still have their original hair or are wearing wigs. I made them as a sort of monster high characters doing cosplay in honor of the rerelease of the manga here in the states. So theyre all based, as best I could, on the manga costumes . Enjoy :)
I really loved the way this one turned out. Ive always had a fascination with Sailor V even though shes not my favorite character.
Target has the rereleased version of the Birthday doll! Now with less articulation and flatter boxes. Same $14.99 prices tho. :(
I admit that these extra outfits aren't quite as cool as those released with later sets. That's not to imply, however, that these aren't totally rad! My favorite is Yasmin's as the boho vibe is perfect for her. I also love her oversized boots that have the blue speckles on them. Her kerchief goes wonderfully with this second look, as does her bag. I can't say the same for the other dolls' extras. Sasha's beanie and Jade's hat do technically match their extra ensembles. However, I think that both getups are a bit too glitzy to be bedazzled with hats. Sasha's bag also seems a bit out of place when paired with her shimmery top and gold strappy shoes. I do think that the yellow and pink color combination do wonders for her skin tone. Compared to some of Jade's later outfits, this one seems less her style. It is a bit more glamorous than her typical edgy aesthetic. But the red and denim combo look fabulous with her black hair. I just prefer her first look much more! As for Cloe, her two outfits go wonderfully together. But I always thought it was cheap that she didn't come with a spare shirt. She cannot wear just this denim jacket or else her little bosoms would show! So in that sense, I don't feel that she really came with two complete ensembles. It is a plus that these dolls were equipped with two complete pairs of shoes. Especially when you consider that they were the first Bratz produced, kids wouldn't have had anything else for the dolls to wear on their pegs! It was also clever of MGA to package each doll with a pair of shoes that did not have skin tone on them. This meant that any of the four girls could wear said pair of shoes. Whereas only Cloe and Jade were skin tone compatible when it came to the footwear with flesh showing. I should note that the Sasha and Jade dolls shown here are from the 20 Yearz reissue (they made very minty models, and their clothes are just about identical to the 2001 gals').
The Clark's Nutcracker has a special pouch under its tongue that it uses to carry seeds long distances. The nutcracker harvests seeds from pine trees and takes them away to hide them for later use.
The Clark's Nutcracker hides thousands and thousands of seeds each year. Laboratory studies have shown that the bird has a tremendous memory and can remember where to find most of the seeds it hides.
The Clark's Nutcracker feeds its nestlings pine seeds from its many winter stores (caches). Because it feeds the young on stored seeds, the nutcracker can breed as early as January or February, despite the harsh winter weather in its mountain home.
The Clark's Nutcracker is one of very few members of the crow family where the male incubates the eggs. In jays and crows, taking care of the eggs is for the female only. But the male nutcracker actually develops a brood patch on its chest just like the female, and takes his turn keeping the eggs warm while the female goes off to get seeds out of her caches.
Not only do the lives of Clark’s Nutcrackers revolve around their pine seed diet, but the pines themselves have been shaped by their relationship with the nutcrackers. Whitebark pines, limber pines, Colorado pinyon pines, single-leaf pinyon pines, and southwestern white pines depend on nutcrackers to disperse their seeds. Over time this interaction has changed their seeds, their cones, and even the trees’ overall shape in comparison with other pine species whose seeds are dispersed by the wind.
The Clark’s Nutcracker tests a seed for soundness by moving it up and down in its bill while quickly opening and closing its bill, in a motion known as “bill clicking.” It also chooses good seeds by color: when foraging on Colorado pinyon pines, it refuses all but dark brown seeds.
Ounce for ounce, the whitebark pine seeds that many Clark’s Nutcrackers depend on have more calories than chocolate.
Clark’s Nutcracker is in the crow and jay family—but the first time Captain William Clark saw one, in August of 1805, he thought it was a woodpecker. He and Meriwether Lewis collected a specimen in Idaho on their return journey a year later. Clark’s Nutcracker was one of three new bird species brought back from their expedition, all of which were described by the naturalist Alexander Wilson.
The oldest recorded Clark’s Nutcracker was at least 17 years, 5 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Oregon in 1969. It had been banded in the same state in 1952.
Ballinclamper Beach
County Waterford 02-08-2021
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Scolopacidae
Genus:Calidris
Species:C. mauri
Binomial name
Calidris mauri
Measurements:
Length: 5.5-6.7 in (14-17 cm)
Weight: 0.8-1.2 oz (22-35 g)
Wingspan: 13.8-14.6 in (35-37 cm)
Adults have dark legs and a short, thin, dark bill, thinner at the tip. The body is brown on top and white underneath. They are reddish-brown on the crown. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds, especially the semipalmated sandpiper. This is particularly the case in winter plumage, when both species are plain gray. The western sandpiper acquires winter plumage much earlier in the autumn than the semipalmated sandpiper. With rufous and gold markings on the head and wings, breeding adult Western Sandpipers are the most colorful of the tiny North American sandpipers known as “peeps.” This abundant shorebird gathers in flocks numbering in the hundreds of thousands in California and Alaska during spring migration. It’s among the continent’s great wildlife spectacles, particularly when they fly up and wheel about, exercising their wings (or fleeing from falcons on the hunt) before flying to remote nesting grounds in the Arctic.
Their breeding habitat is tundra in eastern Siberia and Alaska. They nest on the ground usually under some vegetation. The male makes several scrapes; the female selects one and lays 4 eggs. Both parents incubate and care for dependent young, who feed themselves. Sometimes the female deserts her mate and brood prior to offspring fledging.
Like many sandpiper species, Western Sandpiper females have longer bills than males and are generally larger. In the populations of Western Sandpipers that winter farthest south, females outnumber males, while the reverse is true in the northern parts of the winter range.
In migration, the Western Sandpiper stages in huge, spectacular flocks, particularly along the Pacific coast at San Francisco Bay and in the Copper River Delta in Alaska. Estimates suggest that nearly the whole breeding population passes through the Copper River Delta during just a few weeks each spring.
Many of the Western Sandpipers that winter in Central America remain there for the first summer of their lives, rather than migrating north to breed. By contrast, birds of the same age that winter in the United States or Mexico usually attempt to return to the breeding grounds in their first spring.
Western Sandpipers compete with many other sandpiper species when foraging. When larger Dunlin are absent, Western Sandpipers forage at the edge of the receding or advancing tide, where prey is easiest to catch. When Dunlin are present, Westerns often forage on drier areas of mud.
The oldest recorded Western Sandpiper was at least 9 years, 2 months, when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Kansas.
In 2012 Dodge rereleased a one-year Yellow Jacket model, a special trim package added to the power-packed Challenger SRT8 392 HEMI. Only 1,310 Yellow Jackets were made.
This epic science fiction film, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, follows a voyage to Jupiter with the sentient computer HAL after the discovery of an alien monolith affecting human evolution. The film deals with themes of existentialism, human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The screenplay was written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, and was inspired by Clarke’s 1951 short story “The Sentinel” and other short stories by Clarke.
The film is noted for its scientifically accurate depiction of space flight, pioneering special effects, and ambiguous imagery. Kubrick avoided conventional cinematic and narrative techniques, dialogue is used sparingly, and there are long sequences accompanied only by music. The soundtrack incorporates numerous works of classical music, among them “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss, “The Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II, and works by Aram Khachaturian and György Ligeti.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, with Kubrick winning for his direction of the visual effects. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. In 1991, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the U.S. Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. [Source: Wikipedia]
Movie Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_e9y-bka0
photo from SNZ instagram
On April 8, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute welcomed a litter of four chirping cheetah cubs — three boys and one girl. People all across the world have tuned in to the live Cheetah Cub Cam to see the cubs as they grow more mobile and playful by the day. On May 22, 2020, the Zoo asked for the public's help to name the cubs. After five days of voting and more than 30,000 votes, the winning names are:
Amabala (female)| Zulu for "spots"
Jabari (male) | Swahili for "fearless" or "brave one"
Hasani (male) | Swahili for "handsome"
Erindi (male) | Protected reserve in Namibia where many cheetahs are rereleased
Screaming, crying, perfect storms
I can make all the tables turn
Rose garden filled with thorns
Keep you second guessing, like
“Oh my God, who is she?!”
I get drunk on jealousy
But you’ll come back each time you leave
‘Cause darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream
+++++
…..YES, I’ve technically done Blank-Space-inspired before with a “dead” doll. But 1989 got rereleased, and Blank Space is basically one of my favorite songs ever, and I feel like monster-ish or vaguely ominous dolls just own it. So I did it again anyway!
*melodramatic mic drop*
:D
P.S. I still adore my “Dead in Her Tracks” Dani. Don’t let this be misinterpreted as another creepy doll filling her misanthropic Dani-shaped void in my heart.
P.P.S. Estella did get new, long, black curly wig.😍
finally I found them ..
I went to the supermarket, and only went by Ginger ❤
and found these girls .. has Ashlynn is so beautiful ....
and only cost $ 179 MXN.
but no had money ... u_u and that made me sad .. XD
I also saw many new MH .. the Rereleases with a price of $ 229 MXN
and Monster Exhange ... $ 279 MXN
EAH other Rereleases as Cerise, Cedar, Blondie & Cupid at $ 250 MXN and $ 279 MXN Dutchess, Ginger and Kitty ❤❤❤
Even I can not find Rochelle Haunted u_u
but anyway thanks for visiting, reading me and put me in favorites ..
seriously thank you very much ..: D have a nice day: D
❤ Lizzie Hearts ❤
❤EVER AFTER HIGH ❤
I decided to risk it .. and make a change to re release lizzie hearts ... that looked all sad and painting details on accessories ..
I think it looks a little better still in my search for the first version U_U
Tower Grove Park
St. Louis MO
9/10/16
What Makes This Photo Important to Me: Finding food is the name of the game in fall for neotropical migrants. They gobble up all manner of arachnids, insects and their larvae. This first year male Blackburnian Warbler is no exception. I found him eyeing and soon devouring a spider in this Magnolia Tree after which he quickly flew to the next tree to keep up with his mixed foraging flock. He was part of a large flock of hungry songbirds that had arrived from as far north as the Boreal Forests of Canada. He was on his way to winter in South America, a long trip indeed! Tower Grove Park continues to be an important resting and refueling spot in our St. Louis area for these beautiful birds declining in numbers to the tune of up to 80% or more since the 1960's. I celebrate the first year of this bird's life with this photo. May he continue. Though their lives are often short, perhaps only two years on average, a Blackburnian Warbler has been recorded as living a little over 8 years after being rereleased during banding operations in Minnesota.