All American Coed, House on Haunted Hill, Across the Universe

 PICKLE FACTORY. In a spoof involving a Bing dummy and brother Bob Crosby, the later fondly recalls growing up in SPOKANE and “working in the pickle factory.”  For all I know there could have been a dozen pickle factories in the vicinity.  See the RKO 50s musical comedy Two Tickets to Broadway with Tony Martin and Janet Leigh.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044158/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

“Nora, I think you’re a little upset.   Would you like a sedative?” 1958 HOUSE ON THE Haunted Hill is much better than the remake.  Besides creepy gags in the theater, the movie boasted great music and editing.  Elisha Cook Jr. is memorable. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051744/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3

Platinum bombshell Mamie Van Doren was nearing  the end of her movie career in May 1966 when she married the hapless professional baseball player Lee Meyer at the Ada County Courthouse.  Fred was the police and courts reporter so he picked up the marriage data from the court records and wrote a short story that was buried in the paper.  I had been a Mamie fan for years and I thought her wedding in Boise deserved bigger play even if it involved a third rate ball player.  No one on the copy desk seemed concern so maybe I was making a big deal over nothing.  According to her autobiography, Playing the Field, Meyer was 25 when he died in a car crash in California — a tragic end after separating from Mamie that included an arrest in Hawaii for trying to smuggle hashish from Southeast Asia.  The Palm Springs Desert Sun thought it deserved a bigger play. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19660623.2.60&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1

“You’re taking me apart,” Tommy, played by James Franco, screams in “Disaster Artist,” which focuses on a challenged dramatic “genius” who made a bad movie, “The Room,” for $5 million. Tommy and his Baby Face buddy played by Dave Franco sally forth to make Hollywood tremble.   Why is this funny?  I’ve watched it three times.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disaster_Artist_(film)

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE:  Perfect escapism back  to the Sixties with Beatles soundtrack.  Camera work is flawless with scenes of the seaside, Greenwich Village and Liverpool.  LSD trips are fun as well.  Although over 2 hours, there’s never a dull moment.  Saw it at at the Edina and bought the DVD at Target.  Also have the 2 disk soundtrack CD. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445922/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1

ZANY ZEKE frat boys infiltrate an all-girls school by enrolling one of the brothers in drag into a college that bars men entirely.  Broadway star Johnny Downs is at his best in this campy 1941 musical comedy from Hal Roach Studios with Alan Hale Jr. (Gilligan’s captain) in a supporting role.  Striking similarities between All American Coed and Some Like it Hot in 1959.  Available on the Movies TV Channel and on DVD from Alpha Video.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033323/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_8