Clue: A Redgrave did it in London with a jazz giant.
September 28, 2011 1:56 PM Subscribe
Movie trivia: If someone were to ask you the name of a 1966 mystery/thriller that was shot in London, included a Redgrave sister in the cast, and had a soundtrack composed by a jazz giant, you would have two choices for an answer.
The obvious one might be Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow-up, which starred Vanessa Redgrave and featured a soundtrack by Herbie Hancock. Blow-up is one of the more popular films directed by Antonioni. The other possible answer would be American director Sidney Lumet’s The Deadly Affair, which included a minor role for Lynn Redgrave and had a soundtrack composed by Quincy Jones. The limited DVD release for The Deadly Affair, however, is not available in the director’s home country.
The obvious one might be Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow-up, which starred Vanessa Redgrave and featured a soundtrack by Herbie Hancock. Blow-up is one of the more popular films directed by Antonioni. The other possible answer would be American director Sidney Lumet’s The Deadly Affair, which included a minor role for Lynn Redgrave and had a soundtrack composed by Quincy Jones. The limited DVD release for The Deadly Affair, however, is not available in the director’s home country.
Well I would have gotten Blow-up. Great movie! Never heard of the other ...
posted by mrgrimm at 2:22 PM on September 28, 2011
posted by mrgrimm at 2:22 PM on September 28, 2011
Is it Ghostbusters 2?
posted by dr_dank at 2:27 PM on September 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 2:27 PM on September 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
Hard to believe that the top-grossing film in '66 earned $15MM at the box office. Just a year earlier the Sound of Music earned almost $80MM.
posted by haley_joel_osteen at 2:33 PM on September 28, 2011
posted by haley_joel_osteen at 2:33 PM on September 28, 2011
Blow-Up had music by Herbie Hancock? It's one of my favorite films and I only remember Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds.
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:35 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:35 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Vanessa Redgrave was in "Mission Impossible" with Tom Cruise, who was in "A Few Good Men" with Kevin Bacon, who was in "Balto" with Bob Hoskins, who was in "The National Health" with Lynn Redgrave. Also, the Redgraves are sisters, so you really don't need Kevin Bacon to make a connection there.
posted by twoleftfeet at 2:41 PM on September 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by twoleftfeet at 2:41 PM on September 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
I suppose I should try that with a link.
Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds. And some other guitar guy of no particular noteworthiness.
Wow that is a great scene.
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:43 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds. And some other guitar guy of no particular noteworthiness.
Wow that is a great scene.
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:43 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
TDA was actually released in 1967, unless TCM.com has gotten it wrong.
It's a reasonably obscure film for the period, but Blow Up, Get Carter and The Ipcress File are better examples of the genre.
The best recordings of Hancock's Blow Up soundtrack were actually covers recorded by/with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. The original soundtrack album is a bit of a hash, intended to appeal to a very broad, non-jazz audience.
posted by vhsiv at 3:05 PM on September 28, 2011
It's a reasonably obscure film for the period, but Blow Up, Get Carter and The Ipcress File are better examples of the genre.
The best recordings of Hancock's Blow Up soundtrack were actually covers recorded by/with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. The original soundtrack album is a bit of a hash, intended to appeal to a very broad, non-jazz audience.
posted by vhsiv at 3:05 PM on September 28, 2011
I watched "Blow Up" as a little tiny video embedded in a webpage so I still don't know who the killer was.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:23 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:23 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
If Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows with Jeanne Moreau and soundtrack by Miles Davis is wrong, I don't want to be right.
posted by xod at 3:44 PM on September 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by xod at 3:44 PM on September 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
"The Rolling Stones care deeply about money, but they don't give a shit how it's acquired. If Kiss could make more money farming than playing in a band, Gene Simmons would immediately sign an endorsement contract with John Deere. Jimmy Page is probably counting his money right now, as you read this very sentence."
- Chuck Klosterman, Eating the Dinosaur
I know it's not even marginally relevant, but it's still a great quote.
posted by Max Udargo at 5:52 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
- Chuck Klosterman, Eating the Dinosaur
I know it's not even marginally relevant, but it's still a great quote.
posted by Max Udargo at 5:52 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
It is difficult to think of Blow-up without thinking of Vera Gottliebe Anna Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort.
posted by adamvasco at 12:32 AM on September 29, 2011
posted by adamvasco at 12:32 AM on September 29, 2011
xod I think you will find that this link has the sound.
Jeanne Moreau *swoons*.
posted by adamvasco at 5:09 AM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jeanne Moreau *swoons*.
posted by adamvasco at 5:09 AM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds. And some other guitar guy of no particular noteworthiness.
My perspective exactly.
Worth pointing out they were both just 22 years old at the time. And to repeat the oft-told tale that the Yardbirds were standing in for the Who. It didn't make much sense to have Jeff Beck break up a guitar on stage and he looked damned awkward doing it.
Also, previously. (It's a long FPP. Scroll down to the Yardbirds bit.)
Blow-Up had music by Herbie Hancock?
IIRC, all the music in the film except the Rikky Tik Club scene with the Yardbirds and the odd house party background was by Herbie Hancock. Keep in mind, this is 1966, so it's the HH of "Maiden Voyage", "Canteloupe Island", and Miles Davis' 'second great quintet', not the HH of Headhunters or Rock-It, or even Bitches Brew.
posted by Herodios at 6:51 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
My perspective exactly.
Worth pointing out they were both just 22 years old at the time. And to repeat the oft-told tale that the Yardbirds were standing in for the Who. It didn't make much sense to have Jeff Beck break up a guitar on stage and he looked damned awkward doing it.
Also, previously. (It's a long FPP. Scroll down to the Yardbirds bit.)
Blow-Up had music by Herbie Hancock?
IIRC, all the music in the film except the Rikky Tik Club scene with the Yardbirds and the odd house party background was by Herbie Hancock. Keep in mind, this is 1966, so it's the HH of "Maiden Voyage", "Canteloupe Island", and Miles Davis' 'second great quintet', not the HH of Headhunters or Rock-It, or even Bitches Brew.
posted by Herodios at 6:51 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
It didn't make much sense to have Jeff Beck break up a guitar on stage and he looked damned awkward doing it.
That's part of why the scene works so well. Everything in it is wrong somehow. That scene would not have worked at all with Pete Townshend smashing it up.
Also, previously.
Oh damn, all the Jeff Beck links are dead.
Beck is God. I saw him with the Jan Hammer group live in 1976, in an outdoor amphitheater in Peoria, Illinois. He was opening for Fleetwood Mac, who were were like 90 minutes late to the stage. So Jeff Beck played on and on. And the more he played overtime, the more furious and intense he got. I have never seen anything like it.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:00 PM on September 29, 2011
That's part of why the scene works so well. Everything in it is wrong somehow. That scene would not have worked at all with Pete Townshend smashing it up.
Also, previously.
Oh damn, all the Jeff Beck links are dead.
Beck is God. I saw him with the Jan Hammer group live in 1976, in an outdoor amphitheater in Peoria, Illinois. He was opening for Fleetwood Mac, who were were like 90 minutes late to the stage. So Jeff Beck played on and on. And the more he played overtime, the more furious and intense he got. I have never seen anything like it.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:00 PM on September 29, 2011
Oh damn, all the Jeff Beck links are dead.
Oh no! Sorry. But there are almost certainly replacements up for most of those clips under new URLs. Definitely worth your while to run these down and hear what I was on about. Beck and Page each had a more or less canned solo for "Train Kept A Rollin" / "Stroll On". On the few occasions when they both played lead -- such as in Blow-up-- both solos are played.
posted by Herodios at 8:42 PM on September 29, 2011
Oh no! Sorry. But there are almost certainly replacements up for most of those clips under new URLs. Definitely worth your while to run these down and hear what I was on about. Beck and Page each had a more or less canned solo for "Train Kept A Rollin" / "Stroll On". On the few occasions when they both played lead -- such as in Blow-up-- both solos are played.
posted by Herodios at 8:42 PM on September 29, 2011
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posted by Eyebeams at 2:04 PM on September 28, 2011