Gilbert Cates (1934-2011)
02 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Movies, Subject Guide Tags: Academy Awards, accident, adaptation, bears, bed, bill cosby, boy, chair, childless, college students, danielle steel, death, Death in the family, dennis hines, department, diagnosed, Director, family, fatal, father, film, films, futures, Gilbert Cates, girl, golden hair, goldilocks and the three bears, imagination, inner-city, investigation, james agee, library, list, love, money, mother, movies, obsession, October 31st, porridge, prince, Producer, professor, pulitzer prize, rapunzel, Saturday Cinema, shows, sickle-cell anemia, steals, television, the promise, theater, to all my friends on shore, tower, tv shows, ucla, What to Watch, winning novel, witch, woman
Gilbert Cates was a renowned Producer and Director of films and tv shows. He was most notable as the producer of some of the Academy awards shows. He, also, was a professor at UCLA where he founded their department of Theater, Film and Television. He passed away a couple of days ago on October 31st. His death is under an investigation. Here is a list of his films that the library owns:
Death in the Family (2002) Rated NR
A television adaptation of James Agee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the effect a freak accident has upon a little boy and his mother.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1983) Rated UR
It’s hard to find porridge, a chair and a bed that’s “just right” nowadays, as a little girl is about to find out. Goldilocks, a little girl with a big imagination, has her life changed forever when she wanders into the home of some furry, but friendly, bears.
The Promise (1979) Rated PG
Two college students find their love changed forever when a dangerous accident forces them to choose between their love and their futures.
Rapunzel (1982) Rated NR
A childless witch steals a baby girl and whisks her away to a tall tower to raise as her own and calls her Rapunzel. Rapunzel turns into a lovely but lonely young woman with the longest golden hair in the land. When a handsome Prince sees her, it’s love at first sight. He begs her to let down her hair so he can use it as a ladder and come face to face with the woman of his dreams. Will it be curtains for Rapunzel when the Witch finds out about the Prince?
To All My Friends on Shore (1972) Rated NR
Bill Cosby stars as Blue, an inner-city father struggling to save enough money to buy a house for his family. His obsession with money causes him to neglect his family. When his son (Dennis Hines) is diagnosed with fatal sickle-cell anemia, Blue realizes his priorities need to change.
Jeff Conaway
07 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Movies, Subject Guide Tags: 1943, 2011, 9-year old, Babylon 5, boy, California, celebrity, characters, chief security officer, churchill, coast, coma, commander, Critical Condition, diplomats, doctors, Eagle has landed, Encino, Encino Tarzana Medical Center, england, entrepreneurs, family, fifties, films, foster parents, friends, galaxy, german paratroopers, good girl, Grease, greaser, hitler, invisible, Jeff Conaway, life support, list, los angeles times, love, Lt. commander, May 11, may 19, May 26, may 27, movies, musical, new york, New york city, outer-space way station, overdose, pain medication, pet dragon, Pete's dragon, reuters, run away, Saturday Cinema, scalawags, sixteen, taxi, taxi company, taxi dispatcher, telepath, tv series, tv shows, What to Watch, young life
1950-2011
On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances, believed to be pain medication, and was taken to Encino Tarzana Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed as being in critical condition and in a coma. On May 26, 2011, Conaway’s family took him off life support after doctors decided there was nothing they could do to revive him. Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60.
Babylon 5 (1994-1998) Rated NR
Babylon 5 is an outer-space way station, a port-of-call for diplomats, entrepreneurs, and scalawags of all species. Commander Jeffrey Sinclair–aided by chief security officer Michael Garibaldi, Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova, and resident telepath Talia Winters–tries to keep apprised of all the intrigues swirling around his little corner of the galaxy, but things invariably spiral out of control.
Taxi (1978-1982) Rated NR
Louie De Palma is a cantankerous taxi dispatcher for a New York City taxi company. He tries to maintain order over the varied collection of strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his “cage,” they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.
Grease (1978) Rated PG
It’s love when a greaser falls for a good girl in this musical depicting young life in the fifties.
Pete’s Dragon (1977) Rated G
A 9-year old boy and his pet dragon (invisible to all but him) run away from his foster parents.
The Eagle Has Landed (1976) Rated PG
Sixteen German paratroopers are dropped on the coast of England in 1943 with orders to kidnap Churchill and bring him back to Hitler.
Information cited from Reuters, May 19, 2011 and Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2011.
Wedding Films
04 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Movies, Subject Guide Tags: bride, career, columnist, family restaurant, Fat Greek Wedding, films, Greek Family, groom, Jennifer Lopez, June is wedding month, Left at the altar, list, love, Love Story, marriage, Master of Ceremonies, Matthew McConaughey, movies, My Best Friend's Wedding, My Big, romance, romantic comedy, Romantic films, Runaway Bride, San Francisco, The Wedding Planner, waitress, Wedding Films, Wedding Movies, Wedding Singer
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) Rated PG-13
Friends Julianne and Michael made a pledge to wed each other at twenty-eight if neither had found another partner. But when the day approaches, Michael announces his plans to marry Kimmy.
My Big, Fat Greek Wedding (2002) Rated PG
Toula is a quiet, devoted daughter in a big, crazy Greek family. Working in her father’s restaurant, she hides behind her family and keeps the world at a distance. One day at the restaurant she finds herself pouring coffee for a man who inspires her to change her life, and the way she sees the world–forever.
The Wedding Singer (1998) Rated PG-13
Robbie Hart is a master of ceremonies, left at the altar at his own wedding. He becomes someone who can only destroy other people’s weddings until he meets a waitress named Julia. Julia, however, is about to have a wedding of her own and may be lost forever.
The Wedding Planner (2001) Rated PG-13
A romantic comedy about love, marriage and other events you just can’t plan for. Mary (Jennifer Lopez) is a successful, work obsessed wedding planner in San Francisco who finally finds a man of her own (Matthew McConaughey), or so she thinks. He turns out to be the groom in the biggest wedding of her career. Will she get the job or the guy?
Runaway Bride (1999) Rated PG
An unlikely love story developes when a cynical, big-city columnist comes to a small town to cover the story of Maggie Carpenter, a bride who’s left men at the altar several times.
Arthur Laurents
09 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Movies, News, Subject Guide Tags: 1918, 1950s, anastasia, Arthur Laurents, ballerina, ballet, ballet career, bolsheviks, burlesque, college, czar nicholas, dance teacher, differences, directing, dowager empress, fifties, forties, friends, gypsy, Hollywood, love, Love Story, mainly on directing, marriage, midwestern housewife, mother/daughter, movies, musical, new york, opposites, paris, pheumonia, plays, Playwright, popular, princess, rivalry, romance, romanoff family, romanoffs, romeo and juliet, russia, screenwriter, seine river, street gangs, thirties, tragedy, turning point, vaudeville, way we were, west side story, white russian
1917-2011
Arthur Laurents was a famed play and screen writer for 66 years. Arthur passed away on May 5th from complications of pheumonia. He was 93 years old. He wrote a number of popular plays and movies, some of which are listed below.
Anastasia (1956) Rated NR
An expatriate White Russian general sets in motion a grand hoax after he meets a destitute woman on the banks of the Seine River in Paris. He is amazed at her resemblance to Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas of Russia, rumored to have somehow survived the Bolsheviks’ execution of the Romanoff family in 1918. He trains her to impersonate the missing princess but soon begins to feel she may be the real Anastasia. Ultimately, the truth can only be decided by one person–Anastasia’s grandmother, the Dowager Empress.
Gypsy (1962) Rated NR
The story of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, her rise to stardom from vaudeville and her volatile relationship with her ambitious mother.
Turning Point (1977) Rated PG
Two friends who started in ballet are reunited after many years; one is now a star ballerina, the other a Midwestern housewife/dance teacher whose daughter is embarking on her own ballet career.
Way We Were (1973) Rated PG
The romance and marriage of opposites– the love that binds them together and the differences that tear them apart. A love story from college to Hollywood in the thirties, forties, and fifties.
West Side Story (1961) Rated NR
This musical sets the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of the rivalry of two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, in New York of the 1950s. A young woman who is sister to the Sharks leader has her first taste of love with the former head of the Jets.
Arthur Laurents also wrote a book on directing musicals.
