Checking in & out with Harry Ritz & Family

August 2, 2014
By Steve Crum

Several years before I sold the bulk of my large autograph collection at huge loss to a rip off dealer in Los Angeles (but that’s another story), I was parceling out pieces of it on eBay. One of those pieces was a cancelled check signed by the late Harry Ritz of Ritz Brothers fame. 

I had originally purchased it via an eBay auction a couple of years before that, and hoped to make a profit in its resale. But before the week-long auction ended, a roadblock appeared. I received a private eBay inquiry asking for information about the item. It was from the Harry Ritz’s daughter, and she had a question from her mother, Naomi, Harry’s widow. Somehow the word got to them about the Ritz check. 

Anyway, the tone of the daughter’s question put me ill at ease. “Where did you get that check? It’s my father’s, and my mother wants to know.” I must say that I was visibly shaking, while thoughts about a lawsuit for selling someone’s bank check, albeit cancelled, loomed. And this someone was high profile. 

I really thought her inquiry was step 1 of being sued. I double checked eBay’s rules and found nothing prohibitive about selling a cancelled check. If so, eBay would be just as guilty as I for allowing me to post it.

I responded, via eBay, that I had purchased the check by eBay auction a couple of years before. The next day, I received a response to my response…from Harry’s widow.

“That is Harry’s signature and his check,” she said. “I was just curious as to how you got it. Thank you,  Naomi Ritz.” Whew, not even the hint of any legal action. 

End of inquiry. Soon end of auction…selling Harry’s cancelled check for $30. 

But the value of having interacted with the Ritz Family is priceless.

Share:

Blast off with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ for sci-fi summer fun

August 1, 2014
By Steve Crum
While Star Wars creator-director George Lucas borrowed heavily from the 1936 movie serial Flash Gordon, director-screenwriter James Gunn grabs more than just a general concept from Star Wars for Guardians of the Galaxy. Then again, Gunn and co-writer  Nicole Perlman’s primary source is the Marvel comic book written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. So credit them for the heavy lifting. 
Guardians is not a clone of Star Wars, but the similarities are abundant, making it almost as compelling and entertaining as its non-credited screen daddy. In fact, Guardians of the Galaxy is about the most fun 121 minutes one will spend at the movie theatre this summer. It is the kind of sci-fi movie a parent can take a 6 year-and-older child to see. All will have a great time. 
After all, the honed digital effects are complemented by wildly diverse alien characters, including a talking, blasting raccoon, in a typically cliched, good versus evil plot. Add abundant laughs, heroics to the max, and some very smart dialogue. Much of that clever talk is delivered by central character Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt of TV’s Parks and Recreation), who is kidnapped as a 1988 Earth youngster early in the movie and transported to outer space. Twenty-six years later, he is scrounging around an abandoned planet, still playing the cassette tape of 1980’s music on the Walkman he had with him during his abduction. Music, particularly ‘80s sounds, are paramount to the Guardians’ soundtrack. (Composer Tyler Bates aptly provides the main score.)
A running joke is Quill’s frequent use of euphemisms and metaphors, which virtually every alien, friend or foe, misconstrues for the literal meaning. Quill, it seems, is the only one with any sense of humor. Quill even makes a Kevin Bacon joke, which totally falls on deaf, alien ears. Chris Pratt has admitted that he plays Quill as a combination of Han Solo and Marty McFly. I would add that there is a heap of Luke Skywalker thrown in as well, particularly since Quill has spent most of his child and adult years parentless. It turns out Quill was “adopted” by Yondu (Michael Rooker), leader of a vicious group of space thieves known as the Ravagers. 
Things change for Quill when his looting turns up a glowing, baseball-size, power sphere known as “the orb,” sought after by many but none so intensely as Ronan (Lee Pace) who is acting on orders from supreme Kree leader Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin). They are the very bad guys who want to destroy the peacekeeping efforts of the Nova Corps leader (Glenn Close) to keep peace on Xandar. 
Along the way, Quill organizes one of the oddest super hero squads in movie history: green skinned Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), the tree-like humanoid Groot (Vin Diesel’s voice), and Rocket, the talking squirrel…er, raccoon. Brad Cooper provides the voice. Together, they are formidable heroes, much like Skywalker, Solo, Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3P0  are in Star Wars. There is just no way to avoid the comparison. 
Should I also compare the prison sequence with the cantina bar bit in Star Wars? Or the Dark Emperor Thanos with Star Wars’ evil emperor? Let me count the ways. 
Formula or not, Guardians of the Galaxy maintains its fresh appeal from opening to end credits. The film greatly benefits from Chris Pratt’s loopy, devil-may-care persona. Add yet another franchise to Marvel’s universe.
——————————

 

GRADE on A-F Scale: B+
Share:

Remembering two long forgotten TV shows…

July 15, 2014
Just finished watching episodes of two of my all time favorite TV shows, both very short-lived: It’s a Man’s World (1962-63) and The Richard Boone Show (1963-64). I was particularly affected when It’s a Man’s World was canceled in mid-season. The show centered on four boys living on a houseboat docked near a small, Waltons-like town. As a 15 year-old, I greatly identified with the coming of age plots.

Henry Mancini scored Boone’s anthology series.


[I was perusing my overly large VHS collection, and almost forgot I had these video gems.]
——————————
Enjoy the opening to It’s a Man’s World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGBST4I69Ds
Share:

Never confuse Kansas City, Kansas with Kansas City, Missouri!

July 15, 2014
By Steve Crum

Being a born and bred “Dotte” from Wyandotte County aka Kansas City, Kansas, I am always amused when I watch both Stagecoach (1939) and International House (1933) because of their references to KCK. Donald Meek, who portrays the whiskey drummer in Stagecoach, repeatedly corrects anyone referring to his hometown of Kansas City, Kansas as Kansas City, Missouri. Meek (left) is pictured with co-star Thomas Mitchell. 

W. C. Fields, in International House, arrives on the scene via air, shouting, “Is this Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri?!” Indeed, we Dottes are pretty sensitive about this issue.

I saw Bernadette Peters in concert at The Music Hall in Kansas City, Missouri 20 years ago when she got loudly booed upon sincerely telling the audience, “I’m so happy to be here in Kansas City, Kansas.” Boo to you Missourians! 





Yours truly with Bernadette, in her dressing room, after the concert.




——————–
Check out Donald Meek as he proclaims his Kansas City, Kansas heritage to Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbBmEUfe8Tg

Share:

Count me among Mitch Miller’s Gang…and send me royalties

July 15, 2014
I actually sang along with Mitch when he appeared at Emporia State (Kansas) in 1967. [In those days, it was known as Kansas State Teachers College.] Miller led us from the stage in the familiar, robotic arm waving, cupped hand style we got to know on his Sing Along With Mitch TV show, which ran on NBC, 1961-64. I was part of the packed audience in Albert Taylor Hall that read mimeographed copies of his song sheet and sang along. 

Such was his entire show. This we did for over an hour. If I recall, pre-recorded instrumental music accompanied us. 

I am still kind to my web-footed friends.
——————–
Let’s ALL Sing Along With Mitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dY9gtYeHhk
Share: