This Week in Mal's World

This Week in Mal’s World, Mal Vincent previews the Virginia Stage Company’s production of the musical Guys & Dolls which runs through October 6th. He shares the history behind the classic 1955 film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Frank Sinatra. According to Mal, tensions were high on set between the two leading men, with Sinatra nicknaming Brando “mumbles.” For more information visit http://www.vastage.org/guysanddolls.

This Week in Mal’s World, Mal Vincent reviews the Downtown Abbey movie -- the continuing saga of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them in the English countryside in the early 20th century. The movie will be released in the U.S. on Friday, September 20th.

This Week in Mal’s World, Mal Vincent recalls meeting a young Maggie Smith, now famous for her roles in the Harry Potter and Downton Abbey series. Mal is heading to the advance screening of the new Downton Abbey movie this Sunday and will report back next week.

This Week in Mal’s World, Mal Vincent reports back on Broadway in Williamsburg – a cabaret performance this past weekend in the historic Regency Room at the Colonial Williamsburg Inn. Mal stayed in the royal suite, joining a long list of notable guests including the Queen and Lassie.

This Week in Mal’s World, Mal Vincent pays tribute to the late actor Peter Fonda, who emblemized the American counter-culture movement in the 60’s with his roles in movies like “Easy Rider.” Mal also draws a connection to the lesser known actress and Norfolk native Margaret Sullivan, who was Fonda’s stepmother for a time.

This Week in Mal’s World, Mal Vincent shares the results for the winners in his Naro Classic Film Festival. Top prizes went to Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell and “The Red Shoes”. Mal also talks about his latest adventure to hear Barbara Streisand perform at Madison Square Garden.

This Week in Mal’s World – The Seven Year itch. The finale of Mal’s Movies 2019 at the Naro Expanded Cinema on Monday night, August 19th at 7:00 The star, of course, is Marilyn, and that’s all that needs to be said. Based on the Broadway play, Billy Wilder’s classic comedy is devoted to the premise that husbands reportedly get an “itch” after seven years of marriage. Such frenzy is encouraged by the fact that the wife is away for the summer, and Marilyn Monroe, playing a model, lives upstairs. It’s the perfect comedy for the summer! Tom Ewell is hilarious as the befuddled middle-aged husband who doesn’t quite know what to do with Marilyn. She is most avid about Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, and her comic gift is proven throughout! Again, this is the finale of the 16th annual movie festival, which means it is the night when we vote for the four top performances. Visit https://narocinema.com/mals-movies/ for more information.

This Week in Mal’s World – Mal Vincent previews the 1952 drama “The Bad and the Beautiful” as featured on his ‘Mal’s Movies 2019’ at the Naro Expanded Cinema. Some call it the best movie ever made about Hollywood—and the movies themselves. In any case, it set a record by winning five Oscars without being nominated for Best Picture. It won for its art direction, cinematography, costumes, and writing, as well as Gloria Grahame’s Best Supporting Actress for her role as a modern Southern belle (who talks about Richmond and Roanoke in the film). The college town where she and her husband, writer Dick Powell, live in the film is probably Charlottesville, although it’s not identified. Douglas plays a ruthless director-producer who is rumored to be modeled after David O. Selznick. Walter Pidgeon plays the head of the studio, Lana Turner its glamorous star; together they play the Hollywood game—ruthlessly. A tough, behind-the-scenes drama. Mal and the Naro will present “The Bad and the Beautiful” on Monday, August 12, at 7:00pm. Visit https://narocinema.com/mals-movies/ for more information.

This Week in Mal’s World, Mal Vincent previews “The Red Shoes” from 1948. It’s next week’s featured film for Mal’s Movies 2019 at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk. This very rare screening proves that “The Red Shoes” is one of the most beautiful color movies of all time, with great photography by the legendary Jack Cardiff. Starring the fiery red-headed ballerina, Moria Shearer, it is about obsessive love, as the heroine’s dance career clashes with her personal life. She, fatefully, is appearing in a ballet in which the red shoes have been cursed and she must dance until she dies. Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg headed an effort to restore the film to its original glory and, as a result, it was again premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, in 2009. Nominated for five Academy Awards, it won for its score and for its art direction, receiving other nominations for Best Picture, Script, and Editing. See this classic British drama Monday evening, August 5th, at 7:00 at the Naro Expanded Cinema.

For more information, visit https://narocinema.com/mals-movies/

This Week in Mal’s World - Mal’s Movies 2019 continues at the Naro Expanded Cinema with the 1948 western classic, Red River. Directed by Howard Hawks, John Wayne stars in what is, perhaps, the last great western we hadn’t yet selected for the festival. It has been named by the American Film Institute as one of the five greatest westerns of all time. There is no more stirring moment in movie history than when a symphony orchestra swells to full force as Wayne calls for the cattle herd to be headed out on this fictional account of the first cattle drive from Texas to Kansas along the Chisholm trail. The music is by Dimitri Tiomkin. Montgomery Clift, the new acting find of the era, is his co-star. Red River is the western that fans have been encouraging us to do. (And, incidentally, it was “the last picture show” in the movie of the same name).

Hear Mal’s preview of the movie, and watch it with him at the Naro Expanded Cinema on Monday, July 29th, at 7:00pm. It will also be shown on Tuesday, July 30th, at 12:15pm. Visit https://narocinema.com/mals-movies/ for more information.