Right at the top of the list of questions most frequently asked of your friendly neighborhood movie critic is what the rating will be on certain upcoming movies.
Usually it has to do with whether the film in question will carry an R rating or something softer. "The Fugitive," for example, had such a hot trailer (preview), that people who do not normally go to R-rated movies were afraid they'd be missing something if the film came out with an R. As it happens, the film got a PG-13.And when it did, there was an audible collective sigh of relief from action fans along the Wasatch Front.
Similarly, people have been asking over the past few weeks about the new Kevin Costner-Clint East-wood picture, "A Perfect World." I was betting on an R rating, especially after hearing about its content from people who saw advance screenings.
But Warner Bros. went back to the cutting room, trimmed a few seconds here and there and managed to get a PG-13 rating. (Though it is still very much an adult film.)
Another audible collective sigh of relief, albeit with a higher pitch, from Costner fans.
Oddly enough, there's a film out there that just received a rating that may surprise some folks - Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."
Though I've had questions asked about the film, especially since it has become public knowledge that this is a three-hour epic and that it was shot in black and white, none have been about the rating.
That's probably because people who follow Spielberg's work just assume it will be rated PG or PG-13. Spielberg has never directed an R-rated movie. (Although he did produce one, "Used Cars," and act in one, "The Blues Brothers.")
In fact, he once said in an interview, "Steven Spielberg doesn't make R-rated movies."
That, however, was 11 years ago . . . and times change.
The latest rating bulletin from the Motion Picture Association of America indicates that "Schindler's List" has received an R, "for language, some sexuality and actuality violence."
What that means in terms of specific content, I don't know - but unless Spielberg appeals to the board or trims something out of the film, "Schindler's List" will certainly make the movie history books as his first R-rated picture.
E.T., phone home!
- IN A STORY the other day, it was mentioned that movies based on Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" have been around for more than 70 years.
Just so you'll know, the first came in 1903 from Italy. Edison did his take on the story in 1911, with Sydney Booth as D'Artagnan. And since then there have been too many to count.
But we will count a few of them anyway - here's a rundown of the most notable - and accessible - "Musketeers," all of which are available on video:
- The Three Musketeers (1916). Orrin Johnson plays D'Artagnan in this silent version.
- The Three Musketeers (1921). D'Artagnan was played by Douglas Fairbanks in this better-known silent film, with Adolphe Menjou as Louis XIII.
- The Three Musketeers (1935). Walter Abel took over the role for this popular remake, with Paul Lukas, Moroni Olsen and Onslow Stevens in the title roles. Lavish sets and a Max Steiner score help.
- The Three Musketeers (1948). The first color adaptation stars Gene Kelly as D'Artagnan, with Lana Turner, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Angela Lansbury and Vincent Price in support.
- The Three Musketeers (1973). This campy, slapstick remake is perhaps the most popular and critically acclaimed, with an all-star cast - Michael York (D'Artagnan), Oliver Reed (Athos), Richard Chamberlain (Aramis), Frank Finlay (Porthos), Raquel Welch (Constance), Geraldine Chaplin (Queen Anne), Faye Dunaway (Milady De Winter), Charlton Heston (Cardinal Richelieu) and Christopher Lee (De Rochefort).
- The Four Musketeers (1974). Sequel to the '73 version, with the same cast. (Actually filmed simultaneously.)
- Return of the Musketeers (1989). Sequel to the '73 and '74 versions. Enjoyable but not up to its predecessors, due to production difficulties (and the accidental death of cast member Roy Kinnear during shooting). Returning players include York, Reed, Finlay, Chamberlain, Chaplin and Lee.
(The 1939 spoof, with Don Ameche as D'Artagnan, and the Ritz Brothers as Musketeer impostors, is not on video, though it does show up on television from time to time.)
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Michael Keaton, star of "My Life":
"You may say this movie is real Hallmarky, real gauzy around the edges - and those things may be true. Nonetheless, you feel something. And there are not many movies that make you purely, simply feel the emotions that you feel in this movie. That's always a good thing, if you ask me."