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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 3h

Woman talking angrily on her phone, as she walks through Hendon: 'I said knee-length. Knee. Length. Do you even know what that means?'

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 1d

I don't know anyone who'd consider Ayn Rand a 'classic'

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 1d

... although, to be fair, they are portrayed sympathetically. Like a lot of Disney films of this era, it stars actors who were big in the States, but never meant anything over here - Dean Jones, Joe E. Ross, and sadly Buddy Hackett, who I would probably have found annoying even back in 1969. (4/4)

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 1d

The car racing plot, introduced about halfway through, is by far the least interesting part of the story - up till that point it's a love triangle, with Herbie as a sort of Puck-like disruptor. Some rather - ahem - of-its-time ethnic humour about a Chinese family... (3/4)

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 1d

Watching it now, a couple of things surprise me: the number of references to hippie culture (including, I suppose, the title), and the prevalence of sexual and scatological jokes (Herbie is constantly squirting oil over David Tomlinson, like a badly house-trained puppy taking a leak). (2/4)

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 1d

It was a real status symbol in my infants' school to have seen this film when it was released in 1969 (this was in the days when we got US blockbusters a year later, in worn-out prints), so I'm glad finally to have joined the cool kids, over half a century later. (1/4) www.imdb.com/title/tt0064...

The Love Bug (1968) ⭐ 6.5 | Comedy, Family, Sport

1h 48m | G

www.imdb.com

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 3d

Maybe the best tribute would be to consider what made it that way, and try to preserve, and improve on, that. (2/2)

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 3d

The number of great ones that we've lost recently (R.I.P. Diane Keaton) makes me think that maybe the real wonder is not that so many are dying, but that so many lived, and in particular lived in that extraordinarily fertile period that was the half-century or so after WW2. (1/2)

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Reposted by David Cottis

Dr. Benjamin Broadribb @benbroadribb.bsky.social · 4d

A fantastic Performance Reviews section in 43.1, with pieces from @terribourus.bsky.social, @davidcottis.bsky.social, @joestephenson.bsky.social, Justin B. Hopkins, Suzy Lawrence, Scott Shepherd, Katie O'Hare, @hanhbuiwrites.bsky.social, @emmakatwood.bsky.social, Olivia Soileau, and Laurie Maguire.

Shakespeare Bulletin @shaxbull.bsky.social · 4d

NEW ISSUE KLAXON: Shakespeare Bulletin 43.1 is now published! Now fully open access, this issue features a cluster of essays edited by Louise Geddes and Nora J. Williams reflecting on casting, race, community, and tragedy in productions performed on and off Broadway.

📰: muse.jhu.edu/issue/55715

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 5d

I've got a review in the current issue of Shakespeare Bulletin: muse.jhu.edu/issue/55715

Project MUSE - Shakespeare Bulletin-Volume 43, Number 1, Spring 2025

muse.jhu.edu

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 5d

George C. Scott and Kirk Douglas acquit themselves well among a mostly British cast. Great location shooting in London and the countryside. Surprisingly affectionate towards the English aristocracy - it must be one of the last Hollywood films in which foxhunting in portrayed positively. (3/3)

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 5d

... except it was revealed later that most of them probably don't, and Mitchum, the only one who actually shows up, has a terrible cockney accent. It's a shame, as underneath the gimmick, there's a dark little idea about the long-term effects of the war on those who fought it. (2/3)

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 5d

One of those films that probably more people have read about than actually seen: John Huston's UK-set noir with the weird gimmick that a set of US stars (Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster) play cameos in heavy disguise... (1/3) www.imdb.com/title/tt0057...

The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) ⭐ 6.8 | Mystery, Thriller

1h 38m | Approved

www.imdb.com

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 6d

Two students, overheard walking past me in a corridor:

First: I'm not good at any sport.
Second: (in the tone of someone trumping an ace) Yeah, I'm no good at anything.

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 6d

I always do the intro to I'm a Moody Guy by Shane Fenton

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 7d

@secondmentions.bsky.social 'this garish gourd'

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 7d

Pumpkin power! How this garish gourd took over the world

Whether you want a mug, tealight holder or fidget spinners, all are available with a pumpkin theme. Festivals are dedicated to the orange fruit, and there are countless recipes to try. Why are they suddenly October’s overlords?

www.theguardian.com

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 7d

Also one of the founders of the ESC - Shylock, Volpone, Prospero, and a glorious George Melly-suited Falstaff

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 9d

R.I.P. John Woodvine - an RSC stalwart when I was a teenager, during that company's imperial period; Banquo to McKellen's Macbeth, Falstaff in Merry Wives, Ralph Nickleby. Less of a film career, but he was perfect in An American Werewolf in London. The definition of an actor with authority.

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 10d

The best section has pianist Johnny B. Great, whoever he may be, doing a storming version of 'I Had a Hammer'. The US release had a completely different title and framing plot. One of the songs is credited to 'Mercy Hump', a mildly risque in-joke, later used by Anthony Newley. (2/2)

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 10d

Not really a film, more a video show, with Sam Costa lying in bed watching mimed performances by various second division '60s singers and bands. Freddie and the Dreamers top the bill, with Freddie Garrity dressed as a court jester, which seems about right. (1/2) www.imdb.com/title/tt0060...

Just for You (1964) ⭐ 5.5 | Musical

1h 3m

www.imdb.com

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 11d

London vignette: a teenager on a Lime bike, in the classic uniform of black jeans, hoodie, and scarf, cycles round and stops in front of me. He holds up his hand for a high-five, which I give him. I hear a couple of young people behind me cheering. I think I might have just won somebody a bet.

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 11d

In the stage adaptation, this was then applied back to Lind, which may have influenced the authors of 'Barnum' to create a story about P.T. Barnum's (fictional) affair with Jenny Lind, which was then carried over into 'The Greatest Showman'. What a wonderful world. (2/2)

David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 11d

So, let's see if I've got this right... 'Hans Christian Andersen' took Andersen's (real-life) infatuation with Jenny Lind, hybridised it with 'The Red Shoes' (which is itself a hetting-up of the Diaghilev/Nijinsky relationship) to produce a story about a (fictional) ballerina. (1/2)

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 11d

That website's quite the rabbit hole, btw.

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David Cottis @davidcottis.bsky.social · 11d

Hmm.. interesting that they made Jenny Lind into his lost love. Presumably this is a few years before 'Barnum' did the same thing (with the difference being that in Andersen's case, it may actually have been true).

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