Showing posts with label Mari Blanchard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mari Blanchard. Show all posts

Saturday, March 21, 2020

A Danish "Basket" :)


Hello Everyone,

In the midst of this turbulent time of social distancing, working from home and panic buying, here's a little diversion from Denmark:



This is the cool cover of the Danish program for the episodic 1956 Mexican film Canasta de Cuentos Mexicanos, or, A Basket of Mexican Tales. As you can see, Jack Kelly (with co-star Mari Blanchard) is featured prominently on the cover. Strangely though, Ms. Blanchard gets top billing above the photo, but JK's name is a no-show.

He is mentioned in the cast list, albeit with sixth billing:



There are two more pix of JK in the section of  the program about his episode in the film ("Kurven" or "The Basket"):



The synopsis (roughly translated via Google) reads:

"Gladys and Eddie Winthrop are vacationing in Mexico. They buy some inexpensive but beautiful hand-woven baskets and take them home to New York. A chocolate maker sees one of the baskets and decides it would make excellent packaging for his goods. He places a large order for baskets with the Winthrops. They immediately return to Mexico to start production. However, they encounter an unexpected obstacle: the Indian from whom they purchased the original baskets explains that while he's not interested in becoming wealthy, the more baskets he and his family weave, the more it will cost the Winthrops because of the detailed work involved. The Winthrops realize their dream of making a quick profit from cheap labor isn't viable and reluctantly return to New York. Eddie gets a clerk job and Gladys returns the mink coat she bought thinking the basket money would pay for it."

Well, I hope this brightened your day a bit. Please stay tuned for more basketsful of fun with TDS. :)


Saturday, June 30, 2018

Sci-Fi Saturday Night :)

Hola!

Here's another magnifico Mexican lobby card for Jack Kelly's 1957 feature film She Devil:


Please stay tuned to TDS--there's more sci-fi in store and JK's WB candids are coming, plus lots of other goodies, too! :) 

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Life's A Beach With JK! :)

¡Hola!

Well, October's nearly over and it's finally feeling like Fall. You may have turned the furnace on to keep the house cozy. However, you may need to switch back to the air conditioner when you see this muy caliente German lobby card for Canasta de Cuentos Mexicanos (a.k.a. A Basket of Mexican Tales), with Jack Kelly and co-star Mari Blanchard enjoying some fun in the sun:


Have a wonderful weekend and, as always, please stay tuned for more fun with JK and TDS! :)

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Your Morning "Danish"! :)


¡Buenas Dias!

Here's another rare treat from the wonderful world of Jack Kelly movie Kellectibles: a colorful Danish poster for the 1956 Mexican film Canasta de Cuentos Mexicanos, or, A Basket of Mexican Tales:


¡OlĂ©! A close-up of JK and co-star Mari Blanchard that's even hotter than this July's weather:


Coming soon in TDS:
  • More JK movie moments!
  • A bundle from Brazil!
  • And more--please stay tuned! :)

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Can You See JK? You Sure "Canasta"! :)

Hola!

Here's something you don't see every day:


A German lobby card for a Mexican film! (Canasta de Cuentos Mexicanos, or, A Basket of Mexican Tales).

This gorgeous card, which recently joined the Kellection, shows smilin' Jack Kelly (as "Eddie Winthrop"), Mari Blanchard (JK's future She Devil co-star as "Gladys Winthrop"), and a Mexican actress in a segment of the film titled "Canasta". The Winthrops are American tourists who discover some beautifully hand-woven baskets while vacationing in Mexico. But, when they try to cut a deal with the basket-maker to have the canastas mass-produced for sale north of the border, their plans for quick riches quickly unravel.

Like each segment in this episodic 1956 film, "Canasta" was based a short story by the enigmatic author B. Traven, probably best known for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Traven's story "Assembly Line" is the basis for "Canasta". 

Here's something else you don't see every day--JK in a bathing suit:

 
You can enjoy the rest of this scene (and the entire "Canasta" segment) here:
 

Now, be sure to travel back to TDS, because a basketful--well, a mailbox-full--of other Kellectibles also arrived with the lobby card, including a DVD and some photos (hmm... ;>). Plus, bloodhound Bartista is on the scent of something really cool and hopefully I'll be able to share it with you here soon, too. So, stay tuned amigos! :)

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

JK: Way-Out Wednesday! :)

Hola!

A pair of amazing Mexican lobby cards just joined the Kellection. They're for Jack Kelly's 1957 film La Diabla, better known as She Devil.

In this way-out sci-fi flick, JK plays a brilliant research scientist named "Dan Scott" who's developed a serum (derived from fruit-flies) which can help more advanced species adapt to changes in their environment. Dan and his mentor (Albert Dekker) daringly administer the serum to a terminally ill woman (Mari Blanchard, whose first name is misspelled on these lobby cards) in hopes of curing her.


The serum works all too well: the woman is not only cured, but undergoes a drastic personality change which includes the incredible ability to change her hair color with no help from Miss Clairol. She runs amuck in a dress store and pretty much everywhere else, even committing murder to get what she wants.

As reviewers have pointed out, this film is sort of a sci-fi take on My Fair Lady. Dan and his mentor realize they must destroy the Eliza Do-Evil they unwittingly created with the serum.


She Devil was released on Blu-ray in 2013 and was given an insightful review by Glenn Erickson on the DVDTalk website. For the time being, it can also be viewed on YouTube:


The only thing more frightful is the wintry weather in my neck of the woods. (Is there a serum that can change December into May?) ;->

TRIVIA: Mari Blanchard had previously appeared with JK in the episodic Mexican film Canasta de cuentos mexicanos.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

BREAKING NEWS: Look What I Just Found! :)

Hello All!

We'll return to 1960 and Hidden Valley shortly, but in the meantime, here's a fantabulous Jack Kelly performance from 1963. It's "Shadow of a Man", an episode originally broadcast on Kraft Mystery Theater which co-stars Broderick Crawford, Ed Begley and many other recognizable faces. By the way, if the names of JK's and Crawford's characters sound familiar, they were also used by Fred McMurray and Edward G. Robinson in the 1944 Billy Wilder film Double Imdemnity. Apart from the insurance investigator angle, though, "Shadow of a Man" has little in common with that famous film noir. It's still a blast to watch--enjoy! :)




 BUT WAIT--THERE'S MORE!!!

Bloodhound Bartista is on a hot streak tonight. I also found JK's segment ("La Canasta") from the episodic 1956 Mexican film Canasta De Cuentos Mexicanos (A Basket of Mexican Tales). In "La Canasta" ("The Basket"), based on a story by B. Traven of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre fame, a clever Mexican basketweaver outsmarts a gringo couple. JK's wife is played by Mari Blanchard, with whom he later co-starred in She Devil. The clip is in Spanish without subtitles, but JK is muy bueno in any language. :)