Titanic Town, the fictional story of a Northern Ireland woman who mounts crusade for peace in 1972, is not the first movie to attempt to trade on James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic. The European film The Chambermaid on the Titanic barely managed to beat Cameron to the screen but had its title changed to The Chambermaid in 1998 U.S. advertising. That probably discouraged … [Read more...] about Film Forum: That Sinking Feeling, Titanic Town Goes Under
joseph McBride
Film Forum: The Patriot
Round two of Mel Gibson's war with the British. ℘℘℘ Jack L. Warner once said he hated the kind of movie in which the hero "writes with a feather." Hollywood's aversion to the quaint details of a distant historical period helps account for the scarcity of films dealing with the American Revolutionary War. But reluctance to alienate Great Britain probably had more to do with … [Read more...] about Film Forum: The Patriot
JFK Superstar: The Kennedys of Hollywood
By Joseph McBride
August / September 1999
The day Kennedy was elected president, my father, Raymond McBride, borrowed my 1928 "Al Smith for President" button and wore it to work at the Milwaukee Journal as a witty reminder of how far Irish Catholics had come in American national life. I was fortunate to have the opportunity of meeting JFK on three occasions in 1960 and 1962 because my mother, Marian, was vice-chairman … [Read more...] about JFK Superstar: The Kennedys of Hollywood