Mar 03

Classic films you’ve probably never heard of – By Martin Chittenden – DCN Movies Film Expert

Classic films you’ve probably never heard of
#1 The Gazebo (1959)
By Martin Chittenden

So to prove that I’ve watched thousands of films from the beginning of film to now; I’ll be doing a series of posts about classic films that you’ve probably never heard of.  It used to be that studios were cranking out films once a month, now we’re lucky to get 3 movies a year from studios.  Back in the day, studios competed with each other with having select stars, writers, and directors contracted to the studio.  So the big picture of the year was a competition and it was brutal behind the scenes.  With all of these movies being produced, many got thrown to the way-side and as time goes on people don’t really appreciate the classics.

The Gazebo Stars Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner, and Martin Landau in a dark comedy about a TV writer (Ford) who is being blackmailed by a man who claims to have nude pictures of his wife (Reynolds).  The blackmailer is killed and buried under the Gazebo the couple is having built.  The story is basically The Tell Tale Heart by Poe but funnier. The jokes have been probably recycled a billion times but what catches my eye is that Glenn Ford is a traditionally dramatic actor so seeing him being comedic is fun.  The old man who is building the “Gaze-Bow” made me laugh because that is how he pronounces it. Plus, they have a pet pigeon named Herman who upstages everyone in the film.


The film is the debut movie for Carl Reiner, who is one of the funniest comedians ever and before this he was on TV.  This was the last movie that Debbie Reynolds did in black and white.  It was originally a stage play, but during that time, stage plays were being transferred to film much like comic books and video games are being transferred today, except back then, the transfer was either on-par or better than the play.  It is refreshing to see a comedy that didn’t have the disgusting fart jokes or Seth Rogen.  The Gazebo is kind of slapstick, but in the intellectual way

I’m Martin Chittenden and Movies are my life!
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