Question: I have seen a timeless comedy on late-night TV about a mother who gives her daughter a dog-training book to use as a relationship guide for her hubby. I can't recall a title or the actors, but I would love to watch it with my daughter upon her engagement! Answer: It's the Bobby Darin/Sandra Dee comedy If a Man Answers (1962). Although not one of Dee's best-known films, its fans are very devoted. The strong supporting cast includes French actress Micheline Presle as Dee's mother, Cesar Romero as Darin's father and a very young
read more
Question: A while back, I saw a preview for a movie with Johnny Knoxville in which he's confessing to a priest and his confessions are so bad the priest kicks him out of the church. I haven't heard about it since, but would love to know the title.
Answer: I haven't seen the trailer to which you're referring, but Johnny Knoxville has two completed movies kicking around, one awaiting a belated release and the other playing theaters on a regional basis. The Ringer, a broad comedy directed by Barry Blaustein and executive produced by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, stars Knoxville as an all-around failure who comes up with
read more
Question: Hi. I really hope you can help me. My mother died very suddenly and my dad has gone through letters she wrote. In one letter, dated November 11, 1963, she tells my dad about a guy who appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and sang a song she called "More." I really hope you can tell me who this was and what the song is so that I might be able to get a copy of it for him. He never heard the song, and now really wants to know what it said. Something about "loving you more" or "love you more." Please help! Thanks.
Answer: After a lot of searching and digging, P., I'm pretty sure I've got enough to help you out.
When you hear it, I'm sure you'll recognize the easy-listening staple "More," which is popular in its vocal and instrumental versions. Written by Riz Ortolani, Nino Oliviero and Norman Newell, it was nominated for a Best Music (Song) Academy
read more
When you think Kevin Spacey, "song-and-dance man" is hardly the first label that springs to mind. But the two-time Oscar winner wants to remind us that he actually has an extensive background in musical theater. "By the time I was 20, I [had done] a lot of musicals," he says. "I did Gypsy, Damn Yankees and West Side Story. But then I just never found the time or the chance to do more."
That's one of the many reasons he chose to write, direct and star in Beyond the Sea, a musical biopic about '50s pop idol Bobby Darin (opening today). Apart from wanting to show off his vocal pipes and fancy footwork, Spacey's always had a strong interest in telling Darin's life story. "I feel that, in a lot of ways, his legacy has dissipated. He's not as well known as he would have been had he lived a long life and done one thing really well. He kept reinventing himself, sometimes to the detriment of his career. I just don't think he deserves to b
read more
When Kevin Spacey was pitching Beyond the Sea — his biopic about '50s pop idol Bobby Darin, which opens tomorrow — the big Hollywood studios all asked him the same question: "Who's heard of Bobby Darin?" As it turns out, Spacey's costar in the film, Kate Bosworth, had the same reaction when she first met with Spacey to discuss the project.
"He told me, 'I'm doing this movie about Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee,'" the 21-year-old actress remembers. "I was like, 'Sandra Dee from Grease? You're making a remake of Grease?' He said no and then drew me into their story."
Despite her lack of firsthand knowledge about yesteryear's teen heartthrobs — and the fact that Dee is mentioned in a Grease song but wasn't actually in the movie — Bosworth was Spacey's first choice for the part. That's largely because, he says, of her "mature face." According to Spacey, her grown-up look helped overcome
read more
