Dan Bessie Movies
- 1993
In this labor of love, the filmmaker tells the unusual and fascinating story of some older relatives of his who toured the U.S. for nearly seven decades as the Yale Puppeteers, putting on satirical performances which lampooned the public figures of their day. Their claim to theatrical fame comes from their seventeen year tenure at the Turnabout Theater in Hollywood from 1941 to 1956. This is where the folksinger Odetta got her start, and where Elsa Lanchester did much of her live stage work. In addition, two of the ninety-year old men interviewed were gay. However, since they had only recently publicly acknowledged their homosexuality, they were not yet up to speaking freely about their experiences and hardships. The documentary offers a unique window into social and show-business history. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elsa Lanchester
- 1985
- PG
Based on a novel by Alvah Bessie, this accomplished film by his son Dan Bessie handles the love affair between a pilot's widow (Ellen Geer) and a maintenance man (J.E. Freeman) who at first seem mismatched. In the end, they share an affection that does not waiver in the face of tragedy. Although the names and events have been changed, the story is basically about the director's mother and his stepfather. In this fictional rendering of their love for each other, the two marry, but the husband is soon charged with murder and faces a heavy-handed court trial. Novelist Alvah Bessie was himself blacklisted during the McCarthy era. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- J.E. Freeman, Ellen Geer, (more)
- 1984
This film is comprised of several live-action versions of popular children's stories and poems. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
If you think that Oliver Stone invented the "political paranoia" movie, take a glance at Executive Action sometime. Based on Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment, the conspiracy theorist's bible, Executive Action perpetuates the popular urban legend that John F. Kennedy was assassinated at the behest of a right-wing cartel with military and industrial interests. The film further hypothesizes that Lee Harvey Oswald not only didn't pull the trigger, but was also set up as a disposable dupe (this notion wasn't even new in 1973). Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Will Geer play the sinister conspirators. In the film's coda, still photos of 18 witnesses to the assassination are shown, while the accompanying text informs us that all of these people had died between 1963 and 1973. We are further told that the odds against this coincidence are one in a trillion. When Oliver Stone's thematically similar JFK came out in 1991, viewers with long memories were quick to notice the eerie similarities between the Stone film and Executive Action -- right down to choice of camera angles. Hmmm....a conspiracy, perhaps? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, (more)
