In our terrific tenth episode, we delve into the hallucinogenic possibilities of the most surreal movie genre of them all -- the musical! And as strange as the musical is, it was the most normie form of entertainment for a good chunk of the 20th Century, and is still capable of giving us the utter batshit weirdness of CATS from time to time.
For our first film, we go back to the height of MGM and the technicolor musical for ON THE TOWN from 1949 where Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin are a trio of horny sailors looking for love and destroying brontosaurus fossils while on 24-hour leave in New York City. Along the way, they meet Ann Miller as a beautiful woman scientist who's smitten with Munshin because he looks like a neanderthal; Betty Garrett as an aggressively amorous cabbie with a hankering for Frank; and Very-Ellen as "Miss Turnstiles," the object of Kelly's affections and the subject of the movie's dreamlike dance sequences. With satire that still lands and groundbreaking location cinematography, this one was a big hit with young stoners Cory & Philena.
In our second feature, British director Ken Russell and Roger Daltry of The Who, fresh off their success in TOMMY, get even weirder with the rock opera for LISZTOMANIA (1975), an anachronism-heavy take on the life of Hungarian composer (1811-1886), a long-haired heartthrob who sent young women into fits of hysteria. Russell's obsessions with sex, paganism and Third Reich iconography are all on display here as this movie is chock full o' towering dicks, bare breasts and Nazi vampires. Plus we have the lead singer of The Who being enveloped by a mammoth vagina, Ringo Starr as the Pope, AND Nell Campbell from Rocky Horror Picture Show completing her mission to be in the weirdest musicals of 1975. And Rick Wakeman converted the music of Liszt into its prog rock synth score and plays Thor in a way you'll never see the thunder god portrayed in the MCU. Weed recs are definitely essential for this one.
Both movies are currently streaming on HBOMax. I just checked and they're still there but watch 'em while you can before HBO is nothing but Ghost Adventures spinoffs.
Sorry for some of the audio hiccups here. Weed recommendations are in the episode along with Bob Calhoun's special tribute to his friend "Judo" Gene LeBell, the legendary martial artist, pro wrestler and Hollywood stuntman.
Hosts: Bob Calhoun, Cory Sklar, and Philena Franklin
Producers: Bob Calhoun & Cory Sklar
Contact
Email: oldmoviesforyoungstoners AT gmail dot com
Twitter: OM4YStoners
Instagram/Facebook (Meta): oldmoviesforyoungstoners
Mastadon: oldmoviesforyoungstoners@mstdn.social
