Me 'n' Larry King -- An Affectionate Hug for a Nice Jewish Boy From Brooklyn

(Original post date 5/15/09 - Permalink: http://tinyurl.com/2dzjfga )

Larry, I know your new book "My Remarkable Journey" will be out in bookstores in a few days. I hope to read it, and I'm sure there are no footnotes about me in it! But I did cross paths with you briefly in the late 1950s, and then again in 1971. My life changed dramatically because I reached out to you.

For years, I've had a lot of fun telling people, "I dated Larry King, but never married him. Of course, he never asked me!"

This message is heartfelt. I just want to thank you for being in my life in the early times and offering me encouragement. We had one rather forgettable date in the 1950s, when you were on radio at WAHR-AM with your alter-ego Captain Wainwright, the crooked Miami cop whose voice you created on a filtered microphone. I loved that character!

I was on television at Miami's WTVJ Channel 4 with "Skipper" Chuck Zink on "Popeye Playhouse," the local live children's show that ran from 1957 to 1979. I was the original "First Mate" on the show while in my first year of college at the University of Miami. Larry, we were introduced by WTVJ salesman Frank Boscia, who thought we might have something in common. You are five years older than I am, and we're both from Jewish backgrounds. I think we ate at the Pickin' Chicken Drive-in Restaurant, but don't recall much else. But I was already in a relationship.

In 1962, I graduated with a B.A. in Communications with honors from the University of Miami. I went to work at McCann-Marschalk Advertising, and then briefly for Miami's Channel 10. In November 1962, I moved to New York City to find fame and fortune. I had a job as a production assistant at NBC's "Tonight" show unit. Later, I worked with NBC's news division, and was there on November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated. I was On-Air Promotion Supervisor at WPIX, Channel 11, and did copywriting for several advertising agencies. One temporary production job was with Barry Gray at radio station WMCA. Barry is who credited as the first talk host to put telephone calls on the radio in the early 1960s. I had no idea I would ever work as a radio or TV performer again!

In December 1963, I married former classmate Peter Rabow. (This gorgeous photo was taken of the two of us at a party in 1959.)

Peter and his parents had come to New York from Europe when Peter was a young boy. The family lived in Washington Heights, on the upper west side of New York City. Peter was an aspiring TV producer and film director with a degree from UCLA. Peter held production jobs at ABC, working with the program development group, then with the Wide World of Sports unit. Our daughter was born in October 1968. Sadly, Peter's dreams of success in his chosen field were not to be. He became disillusioned, but he had one final job offer with Reela Films in Miami, working on documentary fillms. We moved back to Florida in March 1969 with our tiny daughter. I got pregnant again almost immediately. Our second child, David, was born at Miami's Mercy Hospital in December 1969. The Reela job evaporated. After Peter's career crisis, two children, and eight years of marriage, we divorced. I had to support myself, two children born 14 months apart, as well as my first "child," a Cocker Spaniel named Buffy. Peter remarried another woman in April 1971, three weeks after our divorce.

Larry, I reconnected with you in the summer of 1971. I was divorced and working some menial jobs for very little pay. I had the two tiny children to care for, and a monthly home mortgage to cover. One early morning, I was driving from Miami Beach over the North Bay Causeway bridge to Miami Springs. You were on WIOD radio on the overnight shift. You called out for someone to PLEEZE bring you doughnuts and coffee. I stopped at a local shop and bought the refreshments you requested. Although you didn't remember me from our brief encounter in the 1950s, you invited me to stay and screen your calls before they went on the air. I kept dropping in a couple of nights a week. You said you'd talk to the program manager about compensation for my work. One day, I began to supply hour-long "woman in the mall" cassette tapes when you started to fall asleep at the microphone in the wee hours of the morning. Somewhere along the way, a listener re-named me "Ellen Rainbow," which is just a few letters added to my ex-husband's name.

You kept me busy, interested, and even laughing for those difficult months in the fall and early winter. But a few days before Christmas 1971, you were gone -- let go by your employers and caught in a legal and financial tangle that I barely understood.  I have not seen nor spoken you from that day to this. Of course, I know your career eventually resumed on Westwood Radio, and then on CNN for years. I was pleased that you were back and saw your program most nights!

After you left, WIOD Program Manager Elliot "Biggie" Nevins hired me do the night show shift several times each week, while they looked for a male host to replace you. He paid me $50 each night I hosted. I might have ended up who-knows-where if I had not had that income.

Early in 1972, I did a show with Larry Johnson in Chicago via WATS lines. Then, we patched in with Bruce Lee on Boston's WEEI-AM. (No, not THAT Bruce Lee!) He saved the tape of our show, and called me in Florida, saying that CBS was looking for a woman to host a morning show. I had to make the first contact with Program Manager Dan Griffin, because if they called me, it would be termed "talent raiding." WEEI was owned and operated by CBS and it was a union shop. WIOD was affiliated with NBC. WEEI managers flew me to Boston for a marathon interview on April 28, 1972. It was a glorious spring day that will live in my memory forever! Barbara Trombley, one of my former WIOD guests, drove me to see Boston sights. I was enchanted by this historical city and the beautiful temperate weather.

Dan Griffin offered me the job a few days later. I gave my children to my ex-husband and his wife temporarily, and told them I would let them know when I was settled in an appropriate living space. I packed up my Volvo and my Cocker Spaniel dog, drove to northern Florida, boarded the Autotrain, got off in Virginia, and headed up to Boston.

On May 15, 1972, I started a brand new gig as the first woman with a daily, four-hour radio talk show in Boston. At the beginning, I worked six days each week, four hours a day Mon. thru Sat. on "Boston Forum with Ellen Kimball." Imagine! I was talking for 24 solid hours each week. It was a crushing schedule, but I kept it going for months. Finally, management relented and newsman Ben Farnsworth took over the Saturday show. My show was eventually renamed "The Ellen Kimball Show."



A few years later, another Boston station, WMEX AM, hired me after WEEI changed their format:


I met a widower with three older children in June 1972. He is from a Jewish background, and five years older than I am. His first wife died at age 34 from stomach cancer. He holds a BSEE degree, worked for a long time in high-tech sales and marketing, and then became a software analyst. We married on February 4, 1973 and will celebrate forty years of marriage in 2013.

Photo of our wedding day -- This is Al's second marriage and my third. Daughter Linda was 3 years old. My son, David, was only two years old. He is 14 months younger than his sister. I became stepmother to Al's three older children, Michael, Karen and Cindy, who were coping with the tremendous loss of their mother. I tell everyone that I am so happy to have had their help taking care of their two younger step-siblings. It was a hectic time. We wish we had had more guidance about stepfamilies, but we tried to do the best we knew how to do.

My husband and I moved from Boston to Portland, Oregon, when Linda and her husband were transferred by Intel in 1995. Al and I followed in 1997- 8. I am now 73 years old, and my husband is 78. It has been a full life, but as hubby likes to say, "Not perfect." Even with the setbacks, we are now in relatively good health, and we enjoy various volunteer pursuits, timeshare travel, and digital photography. While I worked at marketing jobs in Portland for awhile, a volunteer connection with the Oregon Public Broadcasting and NBC affiliate website KGW.com from 2001 to 2010 allowed me to stay in broadcasting for some extra time. However, in 2010, I retired fully to move on to other pursuits. Most recently, my husband was motivated to become a self-published author. He completed eight books in 2011. He's now working on a ninth, "The Lost Pharoah | Sobek II." You can check out his work at http://storyteller-spot.com. I swim for health and have become a vegan. That has given me a final opportunity to learn to cook... before I croak!

Larry, once again, thanks for being who you are, and for helping me along my remarkable journey. I wish you all the best for the rest of your life.

Cordially,



Ellen Kimball
Tweet me! @BonusGrandma
Also on Facebook now! New screen name: BonusGrandma

PS. In 2006, I called Steve Z., the radio engineer with whom Larry and I both worked at WIOD. Steve is a wonderful guy, now retired from Cox Broadcasting and living in Venice, Florida. He entertains me with an array of fascinating emails. We speak by telephone quite frequently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larry King with his beautiful and talented wife, Shawn Southwick, and their two young boys, Chance and Cannon:

Edited: Monday, May 13, 2013












Larry discusses changing his name minutes before his radio career began on May 1, 1957:
Larry King interview in June 2013

The owner of this blog is taking a break in 2010.

Comments to this blog have been suspended.

Please be aware that my blogging at this site has officially ended. On June 1, 2010, I ended my long career as an entertainment reviewer. That began in 1971, when I took over for Larry King at Miami's WIOD AM radio. I've been involved with media since January 1957, when I was almost 18, and a freshman at the University of Miami. If you search Google images for Ellen Kimball, chances are you'll find some early photos of me on television. "It was a very good year..." as Frank Sinatra crooned years ago.

Now that I am in my 70s, I felt it was time to head off in new directions. The need to step back into my real life, with local volunteer organizations and other affiliations, has come to the fore.  Wish me well -- luckily, I didn't have to have heart surgery like Barbara Walters and Larry King. (UPDATE: Larry retired in December 2010, but I'm pleased he is still active and healthy.)

My husband and I have many interests. We are enjoying the ride of our lives for the rest of the time that the fates have planned for us. 

Peace, love and happiness,

Ellen Kimball | BonusGrandma

UPDATE: Join my public facebook page at http://facebook.com/BonusGrandma

Friday, February 24, 2012

Movie Review: "Alice in Wonderland" || Effects, YES || Story, NO

The movie “Alice in Wonderland” is a crude cinematic concoction. Prior to seeing this film, I refreshed my decades-old knowledge of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass,” those two ubiquitous tomes I recall reading around the dawn of time. I found a great deal of reconstituted information about the English author whose pen name is Lewis Carroll, some of which is quite hard to believe without supporting documentation. I am not sure even now what to think of the chap. I do know that director Tim Burton has had an uneven film career, but I have no particular feelings about him one way or the other. I liked at least four of his movies, and I always hope for the best -- both for the director’s sake and mine.

Some of the characters in the film I recall from my childhood. There is the lovely Alice Liddell (Mia Wasikowska), no longer a child, but a beautiful young woman of marriageable age; the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), who appears and disappears while sporting an evil, extra-toothsome grin and fluorescent body stripes; the Red Queen (Helen Bonham Carter), who has an exceedingly large head with red-yarn hair perched on it, as well as a tiny outline of a heart in lipstick on her mouth; and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), with deathly grayish skin, dark eyes, thick dark eyebrows, and a black mouth. One actor (Matt Lucas) voices the rotund twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee. The White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) and Dormouse (Barbara Windsor) are well conceived.

Then, there is the matter of the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). This dashingly handsome actor is transformed into a flame-haired, pale-skinned carnival oddity with bulging green eyes that reveal two different pupil sizes. I understand that might be a sign of brain damage should a doctor ever be called to diagnose it. Looking at and listening to Johnny Depp are particularly irritating in the movie. It isn’t the accent, because I’m fine with both British English and a Scottish brogue. What comes out of Depp’s mouth is somehow a contrived and coarse conversation with a generous lack of coherence and cohesiveness. At one point, I wanted a copy of the script so I could follow it with my pen/light – or maybe a DVD with “closed captioning” might do it.

Most of the main characters are computer-generated or at least computer-aided. Costume design and make-up are very original, but rather odd and grotesque at the same time. The film is crammed with cloying hues undiscovered by Crayola. I found myself queasy due to the 3-D glasses, and when the story heads down the rabbit hole into “Underland” – nausea erupted more than once. I watched most of the beginning, dashed out for a Diet Coke so I could resume watching until the end. I found myself struggling to find anything but a big fat race with about as much involvement as a child’s computer game. Whose fault is that?

Is there a central theme? Not really. The original works were parodies on the English class system and people in the British government. Nothing like that rings true here. There’s about 20 minutes of flagrant feminism at the beginning – as a young woman doesn’t want to marry the man who has been chosen for her. So she chooses another path… But wait! That seems to include going down that same rabbit hole for perhaps the third time to revisit things she remembers from her dreams. At the end, after a tantalizing tangle with a monster, the Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee), Alice decides she wants to go to China!

I give “Alice in Wonderland” a “C+” on Ellen’s Entertainment Report Card. It’s as murky as a mud pie, and that's a crying shame. Better luck to all next time.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Superb Romantic Movie “Dear John” connects due to life experiences

I’m 70 years old – a movie-loving girl, woman, former wife of an aspiring film director (now deceased), TV and radio broadcaster, mother, stepmother and grandmother. I’ve been going to the movies since I was a small child and reviewing motion pictures since 1971. I learned long ago that I bring my personal experience to each film. That fact is especially true in this case.

Color me a total romantic who has had to heal a broken heart many times during my life. For me, “Dear John” is a sensitive, beautiful film and an intense theatrical experience. I was swept away by the handsome actors, location photography, sun, sea and sand – as well as the story. The fictional circumstances are blended with real events in this drama. They were remarkably close to actual happenings in my extraordinary life. Others moments reflected many of the difficult choices made by lovers.

I didn’t read Nicholas Sparks’ novel. You shouldn’t have to read a book before you see a movie. I have heard that the movie ends differently from the book, but that doesn’t affect my feelings. Scriptwriter Jamie Linden and Director Lasse Hallström have done their work well. This film’s theme is romantic love – found, delayed, broken, and repaired. The beauty and intensity of the film is brought it to a climactic ending that is really a second beginning.

Channing Tatum (John Tyree) is a new talent. Born in 1980, he fulfills all my prerequisites: Adorable young man, great physique, and believable acting. I predict he will go far.

Amanda Seyfried (Savannah Curtis) is one of my favorite young actresses. Born in 1985, she is the same age as our oldest granddaughter! Amanda is wonderful on HBO’s “Big Love." She was saucy in the movie “Mamma Mia.” Her gorgeous ethereal eyes and cornsilk hair do it for me. I just adore blondes! (I’m a brunette.)

Richard Jenkins is very believable as the tightly-wound father of the lead character, Mr. Tyree. Perhaps there could have been more of an explanation of his obsessed personality – as he did the same things over and over again. I could just feel his panic when he was invited to a social event.

My 41-year-old daughter also liked “Dear John.” I didn’t discuss her reasons with her, but I did see her dabbing her eyes with a tissue. It wasn’t allergies. I spoke to some of the women in the audience after the movie. The script pleased most of them, but it might be too skimpy or syrupy for others. This is one film where I will probably be one of a few reviewers who liked “Dear John.” As we used to say in film school, “It’s always ‘Rashomon’ at the movies.” That classic 1950 Japanese movie shows how several different people react to the same situation.

I’m giving "Dear John" a “B+” on Ellen’s Entertainment Report Card. The film is rated PG-13 for some sensuality and violence.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Backstory: I telephoned my first boyfriend this week for his birthday. He was born on Feb. 4, 1936. We dated in the mid-1950s when we were teenagers. He and his older brother still live in the Miami area. His nickname is “Al” – the same as my “current” husband. (I’ve had three husbands.) I’ve been in touch with “Al G.” since 2005, when another movie stirred me to call him in order to apologize for my behavior. I sent him a “Dear John” letter when he was in Basic Training in South Carolina in 1957. It wasn’t wartime, but I still hurt someone whom I had loved for years. I had no choice. I was only 18 years old and had fallen in love with another man born on February 4th…

Eventually, I married a UCLA classmate who had returned from the U.S. Army. He comforted me with beautiful letters when a year-long first marriage ended in hospitalization and the birth of a stillborn girl. Our marriage in December 1963 produced two beautiful children, but Peter R. told me he didn't love me and left in 1970 to start a relationship with a divorced woman. I had to raise my toddlers alone and support them. The children were ages 2 and 1, born 14 months apart. A radio talk show job opened up in Boston in May 1972 due to affirmative action and I landed it. That summer, I met a widower whose wife had died of cancer in 1971. He had three delightful children, ages 13, 11 and 8. He placed an advertisement in the Boston Globe newspaper for a housekeeper. I answered his advertisement, spoke with him for two hours, and then invited him on a blind date. He tells me that I sounded a little desperate!

We married on Sunday, February 4, 1973, with five children from two previous relationships. I thought it would be good luck to marry on the birthday of two former lovers and my maternal grandfather, Martin Kovacs. I was right! Today marks our 37th Wedding Anniversary. Cordially, Ellen_K.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Classic Movies: Harold and Maude (1971) Movie Review

1971 Film
Reviewed in Boston May-June 1974
"Movie will run indefinitely based on solid SRO crowds."

     There's a simple tale, well-told these days at the Allston Cinema on Harvard Avenue. Judging from the standing-room-only crowds, it's a big hit with Boston moviegoers. Now, you might have missed "Harold and Maude" the first time around a couple of years ago, because it's the kind of film that didn't cause a sensation.
     But in Minneapolis, "Harold and Maude" just broke all attendance records with a 46 MONTH run. That's in an industry that usually values a movie when it draws crowds for a week or two.
     Harold and Maude are an oddball couple if there ever was one. Bud Cort plays Harold. He's just out of his 'teens -- an ashen-faced young man whose sole macabre interest is death. He stages fakey dramatic suicides for shock value. His idea of kicks is going to funerals.
     At one funeral, he happens to meet Maude. She's going on eighty years old, but never you mind... she's a snip of a girl at heart. She loves flowers and trees and the earth. She's old enough to be Harold's grandmother, but youth is a state of mind, and Maude is eternal.
     Actress Ruth Gordon plays Maude to the hilt. In real life, Ruth is married to Garson Kanin, a man many years her junior. Kanin vows that Ruth savors every minute of her real life... When she bites into an apple, she'll exclaim, "This is the MOST WONDERFUL apple I've ever eaten!" It's that joy of life that comes through in this movie, and Boston is eating it up.
     "Harold and Maude" is good, solid filmmaking, with skillful acting, just enough humor and bite, plus a swift but poignant ending. Michael Sirota, the manager of the Allston Cinema, plans to keep the film there as long as people come to fill up his two- hundred-seat theater. 
     Please go -- and get there early for a good seat.  "Harold and Maude" -- a couple of kooks who got a well-deserved second chance! I'm giving this an "A" on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.
     This is Ellen Kimball for WEEI Newradio 59.    

Monday, January 25, 2010

XANADU -- From Broadway to Portland's Keller Auditorium

Xanadu has closed in Portland, Oregon -- but please check these links for performances in other U. S. cities.

Visit http://www.xanaduonbroadway.com/ for more details.

http://www.ticketwood.com/theater/Xanadu-Tickets/index.php

Elizabeth Stanley and Max von Essen || Photo courtesy Carol Rosegg

XANADU -- A Roller Disco Fantasy -- comes to Portland's Keller Auditorium

Put a bunch of smash hit songs, Tony (c) Award winning Douglas Carter Beane and the cutest couple in town into a Broadway musical comedy blender, and what do you get? "Heaven on Wheels" says The New York Times. Taking audiences back to 1980 California, this hilarious new musical follows the beautiful Kira, who travels to earth to inspire a struggling young artist named Sonny, as she helps this aspiring painter find his voice, discover true love, and build the world's first roller disco (not necessarily in that order).

All performances are at Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St at 3rd Ave, downtown Portland. Performances with American Sign Language description are usually on Thursdays. Please call 503-241-1802, M-F, 9a-5p, for more information and tickets.

January 12-17, 2010

Tuesday-Friday at 7:30pm

Saturday at 2pm & 7:30pm

Sunday at 1pm & 6:30pm

In person: The Hampton Opera Center, 211 SE Caruthers St, Portland, OR 97214
By Phone: 503-241-1802, or toll-free at 1-866-739-6737 (M-F, 9a-5p)

Portland Opera, in association with Broadway Across America, is proud to provide our entire region with the very best nationally touring Broadway productions.

Visit http://www.xanaduonbroadway.com/ for more details.

January 8, 2010

Movie Review: The Towering Inferno (1974) -- Classic Movies

The Towering Inferno

This film is another in the endless series of disaster movies we've been offered in 1974. The Towering Inferno comes on like hot stuff. But the people who get burned are in the audience, because this film is a big bore. Some pyromaniacs might enjoy it, and the production substitutes technical achievement for plot.
The acting is tepid. The dialogue lacks spark. Screenwriter Sterling Silliphant devises some of the most ludicrous lines I've ever heard. They play to the giggles and hisses of the audience. Paul Newman is the architect who designs the 138-story building. His engineering is subverted by Richard Chamberlain. He replaces the specified wire with an inferior gauge, and the bhilding's whole electrical system goes haywire on the first day.  Enter the intrepid firefighters, with Chief Steve McQueen.  He sports lighter hair, sky blue eyes and a furrowed brow.  How can he save all those people trapped at a party on the top floor? And how can we tell him from Paul Newman, who also has sandy colored hair and baby blue eyes? Jennifer Jones and Fred Astaire leave their rocking chairs for this outing. Faye Dunaway wears a sheer brown dress to the fire, showing everything went thataway on her towering frame. Also in tow for their names' sake are Robert Vaughn, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner and O.J. Simpson, who plays football much better than he acts. Music by Joel Hirschhorn and Al Kasha includes a song called "We May Never Love Like This Again." The flames lick higher, the firefighters bomb the water tanks on the building's top floor, and most of the important members of the cast survive.  Hollywood took two books and two studios, four camera crews and fourteen million dollars to make "The Towering Inferno." They build 57 sets and burned down 49 of them making this movie.  They dropped a million gallons of water on a huge set covering more than 11,000 square feet of sound stage.
"The Towering Inferno" should become an entry in the Guinness World Book of Records. The movie that spent so much to bring you just a big blast of hot air...This is Ellen Kimball on Entertainment for WEEI.

Rated: 'C' on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.

(Review originally aired Dec. 25, 1974 to January 5, 1975)

For more information on this film, go to: http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0072308/

Monday, January 4, 2010

Can you IMAGINE? The Fab Four together again live! It's RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES Opens in Portland, OR 12/29/09

Left to Right: Joey Curatolo (Paul McCartney), Ralph Castelli (RingoStarr),
 Joe Bithorn (George Harrison), Steve Landes (John Lennon). Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus

This theater event has finished its run in Portland, Oregon. However, you can check the Internet for other locations where the touring company is headed. Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Time travel back to those fabulous musical days. The Liverpool group is discovered and grows so popular that England can't contain them. Off they go to New York, where girls were swooning. I remember the day in 1964. I was working at CBS when their limo pulled up. The secretaries dashed to the mezzanine and looked down to see them.

Follow the group from Ed Sullivan to Abbey Road! You won't believe your eyes! They look like them and they sound just like them! "The next best thing to seeing The Beatles," raves the Denver Post. All the music and vocals are performed totally live!

RAIN covers the Fab Four from the earliest beginnings through the psychedelic late '60s and their long-haired hippie, hard-rocking rooftop days.

RAIN Is a multi-media, multi-dimensional experience ... a fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials from the 1960s lights up video screens and live cameras zoom in for close-ups. Sing along with your family and friends to such Beatlemaniac favorites as "Let It Be," "Hey Jude," "Come Together" and "Can't Buy Me Love."

All performances at the Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St at 3rd Ave, downtown Portland.
Performances with American Sign Language description are usually on Thursdays. Please call 503-241-1802, M-F, 9a-5p, for more information and tickets.

December 29, 2009 - January 3, 2010

Tuesday-Friday at 7:30pm
Saturday at 2pm & 7:30pm
Sunday at 1pm & 6:30pm

In person: The Hampton Opera Center, 211 SE Caruthers St, Portland, OR 97214

By Phone: 503-241-1802, or toll-free at 1-866-739-6737 (M-F, 9a-5p)

Portland Opera, in association with Broadway Across America, is proud to provide our entire region with the very best nationally touring Broadway productions.

For more details on the production in other cities, please visit http://www.raintribute.com/

Monday, December 21, 2009

Movie Review: The Godfather Part 2 (1974) -- Classic Movies

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Original broadcast dates of this review: January 6-13, 1975
Classic movies are now available on DVD at NetFlix and other distributors.

PLEASE NOTE: This review may contain spoilers.

Movie director Francis Ford Coppola would have been a great painter. Since he decided to make his mark in film, his canvases turned out to be the screens in our movie theaters. (Now, we can view his work via DVD in our homes.) Coppola has literally painted this film epic in umbers, ochres, and deep pinkish tones. It’s “The Godfather, Part Two,” one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

In my opinion, this is a unique sequel, because it’s better than the original film. “The Godfather, Part Two” interweaves two stories. One involves the young Vito Corleone, played at an older age by Marlon Brando. First, we see him as a boy in Italy and subsequently as a young man in New York. The second story concerns Michael Corleone, Vito’s youngest son, the Godfather in 1958. The performance of Robert DeNiro crystallizes author Mario Puzo’s descriptions from the novel. Marlon Brando was bigger in star stature than the original role demanded, but he brought in the people for the first film. Now, DeNiro and Al Pacino render the story more human and understandable.

Director Coppola tells the two stores in alternation. In the first epoch, we see nine-year-old Vito’s early days in Sicily. A town feud ends with the violent death of his father, mother and older brother. Friends send Vito away in the night. He makes his way alone by boat to a new life in America.

Coppola captures the feeling of the early 1900s in New York City’s Italian district. It’s a thoroughly moving experience. In the modern story, Al Pacino as Michael Corleone faces his life as the new head of the family. He’s involved in gambling deals in the State of Nevada. Michael is a tragic character caught in a mix of revulsion and necessity. Michael’s life is a series of deals. The criminal part of his existence takes place in shadowy sequences. These are set amid the bright exterior glitter of the world of gambling. Michael’s role as husband and father are pressed into the background.

Finally, his wife leaves him. She admits that she aborted his second son rather than continue the bloodbath that began in Sicily. At the fade, Michael is alone with his dread and his double-deals. Al Pacino’s low-key performance is just a whisper. “The Godfather Part Two” is a giant of a movie. It runs three hours and twenty minutes. It is fascinating and unusual filmmaking. This is Ellen Kimball on Entertainment for WEEI Radio in Boston.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Finally! Coming out of the fog of illness that was my summer...

Never give up hope, even in the darkest of times... A new day is dawning. I'm pleased to report that I'm feeling much better after a difficult summer. Thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding. I hope to be contributing to this blog on a more regular basis in the next few weeks.

As for now, you can find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Radio_Lady. Due to my improving health, I am spending less time on the computer and more time keeping myself in better shape. I've lost more than 10 lbs. by eating better food and LESS food. Also, I am committed to walking, swimming and completing household tasks that I could not do this summer.

I'm happy to hear from you and glad you could stop by! My best to you for the coming holiday season.

Cordially,

Ellen (@Radio_Lady on Twitter)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Hello to all! I'm posting this UPDATE on Monday, October 12, 2009.

This summer, I have been afflicted with a painful medical condition. No one can determine what has caused this. My daily routine changed radically in early June 2009. Even after all these months, there are no real answers to why I am feeling this kind of pain. Some research suggests I may have had rare adverse reactions to two routine vaccine injections administered in January and May of this year. Here are the details:

This unidentified illness (a lingering neuropathy) manifests itself with excruciating, radiating left chest, arm and back pain. The condition has had a profoundly negative impact on my day-to-day life. Apparently, my heart is NOT the cause of the pain.

Ironically, the doctor ordered a routine echocardiogram (ultrasound) of my heart in August. There is a defined problem with one of the valves in my heart. The official diagnosis is mitral valve regurgitation (translation: valve is leaking blood in the wrong direction) which has been rated moderate to severe. I am now scheduled for another heart test (transesophageal echocardiogram) on October 13, 2009 to further evaluate the initial results.

I cannot spend as much time sitting at the computer because that makes the pain worse. I have to stay active and have increased walking and swimming. The doctors have placed me on medications so I can tolerate this illness. I require more rest every day and am struggling to achieve that goal. One doctor feels I may have to endure 6 - 12 months of general healing and pain control while my system regulates itself.

Please check my past blog posts. Also, look at the right column of this blog for a list of linked blogs. I believe there are some very interesting people in my personal blogosphere!

Thanks for your patience and understanding. Hope I'll be back soon when I'm more comfortable. Feel free to leave me a comment. Cordially, Ellen & Al (Photo with my husband on Utah trip in 2007)



Original post date: September 8, 2009

It’s a tradition! Chaim Topol in Fiddler on the Roof – Last Chance tour!

Topol and the Company
Photo credit: © 2009, JOAN MARCUS

I give this musical play an "A+" on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.

Fiddler on the Roof has closed in Portland, Oregon -- but you can still see it in the following cities. Next performances in 2010 are scheduled for: Atlanta, GA (Mar 16, 2010 - Mar 21, 2010), Appleton, WI (May 11, 2010 - May 15, 2010), Seattle, WA (Nov 27 - May 30, 2010), Philadelphia, PA (opening on June 5, 2010).

For more information, visit this link:
http://www.ticketwood.com/theater/Fiddler-on-the-Roof-Tickets/index.php

Tuesday’s opening night performance of Fiddler on the Roof started with just that: a fiddler performing on top of a small house, center-stage. Out walked Chaim Topol as Tevye (he won a Golden Globe in 1971 for the same role in the film adaptation), earning a rousing round of applause from the Keller Auditorium crowd.

He looked up at the musician overhead and mused, breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience (as he did throughout the play), “A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask, 'Why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous?' Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!”

Then, the large cast of townspeople launched into “Tradition,” one of many memorable musical numbers sprinkled throughout this classic story, based on the tales of Sholem Aleichem. When the song ended, Tevye said: “Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as, as ... as a fiddler on the roof!”

Yet, during the course of the story, Tevye discovers that some traditions should be reconsidered, and that change is inevitable. Indeed, the fiddler is ever-present throughout the story, playing a song of change and symbolizing the instability of life.

The story takes place in a Russian village during the revolution of 1905. Although life in Anatevka is simple, traditional and largely insulated, news of change abroad begins to filter into town and affect the youth—including Tevye the milkman’s five eligible daughters. As the three eldest girls embrace modern ideas about love and marriage, Tevye and wife Golde face difficult decisions.

While Fiddler is full of Tevye’s homespun philosophy and universal questions, it’s also rife with humor and boisterous song and dance. Topol leads the cast with his earnest, lovable portrayal of Topol, perhaps most endearing in his apostrophic conversations with God. Although the Israeli native isn’t quite as spry as he once was, his energetic dancing and animated performance belie his 73 years. And, considering this is his farewell tour, Topol really seemed to give it his all.

The rest of the cast was solid as well, with a standout performance by Susan Cella as the acerbic Golde. Throw in a live orchestra, dynamic set design and spot-on choreography, and Fiddler on the Roof is a first-class production that the whole family will appreciate.

Fiddler on the Roof is playing at the Keller Auditorium through August 30.

Due to the illness of Ellen Kimball, this review was adapted from Boca Raton magazine's Chelsea Greenwood online review posted in 4/2009. Thanks, Chelsea.

Fiddler on the Roof, the Tony® Award-winning musical that has captured the hearts of people all over the world with its universal appeal, plays here in Portland, Oregon, through Sunday, August 30. Local audiences have this singular opportunity to see 73-year-old Chaim Topol, star of the original motion picture, in his final U.S. performance of the award-winning role that made him a legend in Fiddler on the Roof.

Based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof has been lauded by critics again and again, and won the hearts of people all around the world. Filled with a rousing, heartwarming score, which includes “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “If I Were A Rich Man” and “Sunrise, Sunset,” Fiddler on the Roof is a timeless classic.

No other musical has so magically woven music and dance into such an electrifying and unforgettable experience. You’ll laugh and cry at the story of life in the small Russian village of Anatevka. Relive a glorious tradition of the musical theatre with TOPOL’s farewell performance in Fiddler on the Roof.

Ellen's remarks:

My paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Vilna, Russia. I was born Jewish and this could be well be the story of our family. Regrettably, Grandpa Harry Kimball died quite young. I never knew him nor was I able to talk with him about his Russian history. My former husband and I saw Zero Mostel, Theodore Bikel and Herschel Bernardi in the role of Tevye. We were somewhat disappointed years ago with the announcement that the movie would be starring the unknown (to us) Israeli actor Chaim Topol. However, over the years, the beloved Topol has proved himself to be a fine actor. He also has had the longevity necessary to still be standing on stage in 2009! That is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself!

Fiddler on the Roof
On stage through Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday-Friday at 7:30pm
Saturday at 2pm & 7:30pm

Sunday at 2pm & 7:30pm* *Please note special performance times on Sunday.

All performances are at the Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St at 3rd Ave, downtown Portland, Oregon. For tickets: In person: The Hampton Opera Center, 211 SE Caruthers Street, Portland, OR 97214 By Phone: 503-241-1802 or toll-free 1-866-739-6737 (M-F 9a-5p)

Chaim Topol as Tevye
Photo credit: © 2009, JOAN MARCUS

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Movie Review: “(500) Days of Summer” (2009): Sweet yet solemn PG-13 romantic comedy with a realistic view of how love can be and often is.

Fox Searchlight has enriched the summer season immensely with a quirky and ultimately uplifting romantic comedy. If I had enough time and a couple glasses of wine, I could cite 500 reasons for going to this film. Suffice it to say that on a predicted hot weekend in Portland, Oregon, I’m going with my gut feelings. Suggest you buy your tickets now for this touching roller-coaster ride love story.

Handsome actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (whom I have adored since his days in the TV hit “3rd Rock from the Sun”) plays Tom Hansen. Zooey Deschanel (beautiful and talented with those gorgeous eyes) plays his illusive love named Summer Finn. Tom is a hapless greeting card copywriter and hopeless romantic who once considered a career in architecture, but let it slip away. Summer becomes his office romance just briefly, but then dumps him. The timeline in the film shifts back and forth during their 500 day romance as Tom tries to unravel the Gordian knot and figure out what went awry. How he extracts himself from his situation is quite heart-rending. Ultimately, he reflects about his life until the final resolution. The path of love is meandering and unpredictable. Each relationship has its place in a lifetime of affections.

This is definitely not a formulaic romantic comedy and therein lies its charm. You’ll find the story prickly yet expansive, funny and sad. I ached for both main characters, laughed at their friends trying to help them. The film hits just the right note: a realistic, meandering chronicle of love’s highs and lows. The movie definitely doesn’t quite go where an audience might think it will. Even a yuppie senior curmudgeon can love this film.

I wish I could ask director Marc Webb why there are brackets around the number 500. I’ll use them without an explanation here. This movie deserves an ‘A’ on Ellen’s Entertainment Report Card.

MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sexual material and language)
Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Geoffrey Arend, Clark Gregg, Chloe Moretz, Minka Kelly and Rachel Boston
Director: Marc Webb
Writers: Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber
Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

####

Ellen Kimball is a TV and radio pioneer. She was selected as a co-host of a local, live children's television show at WTVJ-TV. Ch. 4 in Miami, Florida, during her freshman year in college. She has been working in communications for more than five decades. Ellen is one of the first women in the U.S. to host her own daily radio call-in talk shows at major market stations in Miami and Boston. Ellen and her husband moved to Beaverton, Oregon eleven years ago. She currently contributes her reviews on films, theater and other entertainment to www.KGW.com, the website of Ch. 8, the NBC-TV affiliate in Portland, Oregon.

Friday, July 24, 2009

CLASSIC MOVIES: 'The Little Prince' (1974)

'The Little Prince' is a fragile allegory in book form by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Millions of copies of the book have been sold in multiple languages. In college, our student group spent hours discussing it. It was my ex-husband's favorite book. The message it delivers is subtle, thoughtful and delicate. The illusive quality of the book is translated to film in this musical version by writer Alan Jay Lerner.

In the movie, the little prince is played by a handsome, pint-sized English child named Steven Warner with an ethereal voice. He's a beautiful blond boy and dressed up in his princely costume, he has a commanding presence. As far as I know, Steven Warner never pursued a career in theater or movies.

Actor Richard Kiley plays the wandering earthman. Kiley uses his robust voice on songs with precious lyrics that are sometimes caught up in unusual rhyme rather than reason. But Kiley's gorgeous baritone can be astounding and inspiring.

The story itself preaches the cause against wars and artificial borders between people. The peaceful allegory is not particularly easy to understand. Much of it deals with the problem of accepting responsibility. That's a tough thing to explain, especially to young children. Adults who have read the original book may form a cult following for this film, but if you take a child under twelve years of age, parents should be prepared to do some explaining of the film's message.

Best song in the movie is sung by Bob Fosse, who directed "Cabaret" and the movie "Lenny." Fosse sings and dances the part of "A Snake in the Grass." He's a slithering, sibilant, black-suited soul with snakeskin spats. Fosse's dancing is accurate and inspired. It comes like an oasis of fresh, realistic spirit in the parched, imaginary desert of Saint-Exupéry's mind.

Production values are excellent, with Christopher Callis' flawless photography, Norman Reyonolds' art direction, and Johny Barry's production design handled in fine fashion. Producer Stanley Donen might have taken a cue from the book's primary message. "It's only with the heart that one can see clearly. What's essential is invisible to the eye." That's a very difficult premise to work out in a visual film. The movie is now available on DVD for those who wish to experience it. It's probably an acquired taste, and I still treasure it for personal reasons.

I give this movie a B- on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.

For more information on 'The Little Prince' (1974), please link to:

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0071762/

(After the movie was gone from theaters, I purchased a vinyl recording of the music, which my husband transferred to audiotape cassette. The score to 'The Little Prince' became a favorite of mine for years, perhaps because I had a cute little son. I played that tape so many times, it because unusable. A few years ago, I purchased a VHS copy of the film from a seller at Amazon.com. My two grandchildren watched it once and they were both very bored! Perhaps this is a children's story for adults, if there is such a category!)

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Classic Movies: Living Free (1972)

'Living Free,' which I attended in a preview tonight at Wometco's Miracle Theater, is somehow muted in comparison to its predecessor, 'Born Free.'

The director must have realized the power of the original, since many minutes of the film's opening are taken up with footage from 'Born Free,' together with a blend of tonalities from the award-winning song. But that echo, that excitement just didn't seem to provide the required emotional involvement when it got down to the brass tacks of the 'Living Free' story.

Elsa, the mother lioness, has died from infection, leaving three orphaned cubs that must be taken from the area because they are stealing domestic animals from villagers. There was little personal involvement with the three cubs, perhaps because of the vow that Joy Adamson made not to interfere again with their wile and free lives. And so we are witness to a long round-up and corral of the three cubs to transport them to the Serengeti Ntional Forest, where they will presumably be living free again.

Nigel Davenport and Susan Hampshire, while both fine actors of good reputation, did not mesh together like the husband-and-wife acting team of Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna. Miss Hampshire was radiantly perfect in face and diction, and she seemed almost too courtly to be in Africa at all. The story line left wide questions about actual wildlife practice. Would two dedicated experts not even experiment with tranquilizers or other advanced methods to capture the lion cubs, rather than try to catch them with a rather crude triple cage method that involved three cubs going into three separate cages at precisely the same moment? It reminded me of the children's hand game where the little marbles have to fall simultaneously into the clown's eyes, nose and mouth in order to win. Nevertheless, to all people who loved 'Born Free,' you will find moments of tenderness and laughter, tears and playfulness. The scope and beauty of Africa is still there. It's just hard to have to compare a good film to a great one.

I give this film a 'B' on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.

(Film opened on Friday, March 10, 1972 in Miami, Florida.)

Link here for Internet Movie Database page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068866/

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Latest 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3D' a summer blast for all ages

By ELLEN KIMBALL, Special to kgw.com

I want to confess. Surely you know confession is good for the mind and the soul (if there really IS a soul). It’s refreshing, and it seems to be all the rage this summer.

I loved every cotton-pickin’, chicken-pluckin’ minute of “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3-D” now playing in theaters. Loved the idea, loved the two other films very much, and thoroughly enjoyed the 3-D effects. This movie is all I wanted it to be.

You won’t be able to dissuade me from my point of view because I like what I like. Now, don’t go all cerebral on me! I could pick the script apart if I wanted to, and there were pieces of the film that could have been improved. Offhand, I can’t think of one, so sue me.

It’s a summer film in a genre which I have always thoroughly enjoyed.

Another confession. Ray Romano can do no wrong in my book. Maybe he sounds like the two New Yorkers to whom I was married. Now I’m married to a Bostonian whose Brooklyn mother -- reminds me of Ray Romano. His self-deprecating family humor tickles my funny bone and it has for many years. So I was primed to see this film.

The “Ice Age” intro was great fun, as always, with the Scrat the squirrel, voiced by Chris Wedge, trying to save his acorn from destruction. In this film, there’s a new female squirrel called Scratte (I think there should be an accent mark on that final E so it sounds like “Scrat-TAY”). Their hysterical antics as they scrap over that single acorn defy verbal description.

I took my eight-year-old grandson to the preview screening. If he hadn’t loved “Ice Age 3-D” right away, I’d try to cajole him to see it again.

That wasn’t necessary; my grandson loves it, too, just like he loved the other two films. He says the best part is where the animals find themselves in the green toxic atmosphere. It doesn’t hurt them, but it alters their voices to a higher register, making them sound as if they are breathing helium, much to everyone’s great delight.

Memo to Grandma Ellen, a former children’s live TV co-host in the late 1950s: I have to get my grandson a helium balloon so he can actually try this!

Now, the big pats on their furry backs to the whole voice cast, including Ray Romano (Manny the Mammoth), Queen Latifah (Ellie the Mammoth, expecting a BABY), Denis Leary (Diego, the old saber-toothed tiger, feeling as if he is slowing down), John Leguizamo (Sid the Sloth as a reluctant but loving single father to three cutie-pie dinosaurs). How DOES Leguizamo do the voice of the lisping sloth for line after line? I tried it and it’s NOT easy!

There is a long list of other voice parts and a couple of special newcomers: Simon Pegg as Buck the Weasel (sounding like Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean") and Karen Disher as newcomer Scratte, the female squirrel.

The film is a treasure trove of exquisite computer renderings of characters and scenery, neat dialogue, saucy retorts, and some sweet romance.

There are double-meaning jokes and sly low-brow innuendoes. Scenes of ice and snow are beautifully rendered, and when the group goes “down under” to a jungle setting with dinosaurs and volcanos, it’s another kind of gorgeous. The new song, “Walk The Dinosaur" is delightful.

It’s a busy week just before the July 4th holiday. If you have time, take the family to see this film. It’s rated PG. I just want you to see the film. I’m giving it an “A” on Ellen’s Entertainment Report Card.

Directed by: Carlos Saldanha

Cast: Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Simon Pegg

Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins

Rating: PG

Release Date: July 1, 2009

Background: I’ve been mesmerized by animated movies since Mommy carried me out of the theater in 1940-something. I was watching “Bambi” when I became terrified and started to scream after Bambi’s mother was killed. Who knew that this early trauma would set the stage for a lifelong devotion to animated films? Watching cartoons on Saturday morning at the Rosetta Theater in Little River, near Miami, Florida, became an obsession. I loved every minute of these precious short films.

This was the time when animators actually drew on cells made of celluloid. I’ve observed the process in film school and tried my best to update my little stick figure drawings to something more.

But I didn’t have much talent, except for drawing a pretty good palm tree. I lived in Florida for 28 years. So, for most of my seventy years, I’ve followed animation and just enjoyed it. I'm not old enough to remember Steamboat Willie (precursor to Mickey Mouse), but did study that cartoon in film school.

####

Ellen Kimball is a TV and radio pioneer. She was selected as a co-host of a local, live children's television show at WTVJ-TV. Ch. 4 in Miami, Florida, during her freshman year in college. She has been working in broadcasting for more than five decades. Ellen is one of the first women in the U.S. to host her own daily radio call-in talk shows at major market stations in Miami and Boston. Ellen and her husband moved to Beaverton, Oregon eleven years ago. She currently contributes her reviews on films, theater and other entertainment to www.KGW.com, the website of Ch. 8, the NBC-TV affiliate in Portland, Oregon.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Year One – New Bible-Based Movie Won’t be Touted from Pulpits ‘cause It’s The Pits! (Opens Friday, June 19, 2009)

Hello from Digipix_Man (Ellen's husband):

We've been talking about this film for two days, so I'm chiming in first. If you believe the literal Old Testament account of the Creation of the Earth in seven days, you’ll be really surprised at what happens in “Year One,” the new Jack Black movie. Even if you aren't, you could be shocked that they would have the – the – the male parts necessary to produce such a piece of cinematic tripe. (I could have said worse.)

It's a summer movie and we're not expecting genius. My wife wanted to know if it's worse than “Jackass” the movie. I hadn’t thought of “Year One” as a sequel but Jack Black certainly qualifies as a jackass. I wonder if 'Ass' is his middle name. From now on, I won't think of Jack by any other name than Jackass Black. Hee haw.

Hebrews and Sodomites alike appear in this slapped together PG-13 film. Some Roman gladiators are thrown in for the hell of it. A couple of funny foreskin jokes tickled me (I was born Jewish and circumcised). But there's no connected story line and timelines are wrong and jarring.

See this movie at your own peril. It's crude and stupid. If you laugh too much, I wouldn’t admit it to anyone over the age of two.

Submitted by DigiPix_Man (Ellen's No-Blog husband with a mind of his own)

Ellen: Thanks, sweetie. Go do your digital photo album. I'm up now.

It's summertime and we decided to take a crack at watching a preview screening. My husband absolutely hated this movie and vents his spleen above. He also slept through parts of the film. He was awake for the endless chain of foreskin jokes -- I love Hank Azaria in anything he does. These jokes are a regular routine in Jewish humor from way back.

I channeled my inner five-year-old and chuckled loudly at much of the craziness. I love comedy, highbrow and lowbrow. This was kind of "dark circles under eye" comedy. It includes all the body parts we just don't usually talk about.

Now, I am definitely NOT a prude. I've been a bawdy, sexy, outspoken and dramatic performer since babyhood. Mom used to tell me I pulled my pants down at age 3 in Zecher's Market in Pittsburgh and threw a tantrum. An only child, I remember lyrics to musical theater songs, can recall and recite a number of radio commercials from the 1940s forward. I also love wordplay, accents, Biblical references and really twisted language. I co-hosted a children's TV show in Miami, Florida during college, and took care of children in a live audience every weekday from 5PM to 6PM.

My drama teacher in high school, a closeted gay man, became my total passion for two years. He was my homeroom teacher. He told me he was seeing a bit player who was in the movie "Quo Vadis." I was an all "A" student. I copied my teacher's handwriting. He cast me as the lead in the Senior Class play, "A Man Called Peter." I played Catherine Marshall, Peter's wife. (RIP Ernest B. Montgomery, Johnson City, Tenn. who commited suicide on May 15, 1956, just prior to my high school graduation.)

Later, I worked with homosexual males (and females) in the theater, in a variety of NYC offices, and again as a Clairol haircoloring representative for their Professional Products Division. I love makeup, fashion, and costume. I've been called a drama queen and I consider that a compliment.

I questioned, then abandoned the precepts that organized religion tried to pump into me in the Jewish temples I dutifully attended.

"Year One" did tickle the funnybone that Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, and Lenny Bruce had tickled way before Jack Black. I love Michael Cera and Jack Black, but this movie has AMATEUR NIGHT and SKITS WOVEN TOGETHER written all over it. Much of the acting seemed like improvization. Editing and continuity issues kept creeping up. The storyline was not at all in-line. In my mind, I kept thinking that one scene situation didn't really resolve itself. It just stopped, leaving me to figure the scene out for myself. Then, these cardboard cartoon characters came back fully whole in the next scene.

I give this movie a D on Ellen's Entertainment Report card. It's not that it's terrible, it's just that it could have been much better, given all the talent that was clearly available. This movie is rated PG-13.

Official website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/yearone/

Friday, June 19, 2009

UP and away with Pixar/Disney's new 3D winner (Opens Friday, May 29)

A few days ago, I saw a preview of 'Up' the new Pixar movie. It brought back some vivid memories from my younger days, and much of what has transpired since that time. During my senior year in high school, I saw a short French film called 'The Red Balloon.' If you've never seen it, this surreal movie is about a handsome young boy followed around Paris, France by a single red balloon. It trails him here and there until the boy is finally carried away by the red balloon -- tied in with all its "cousins" -- straight up into the stratosphere. That's where the story stops.

'The Red Balloon' won an Oscar for Best Screenplay and several other awards for Albert Lamorisse in 1957. Touching and sweet, you are able to believe what you wish about the main character in that film. What's clear is that UP is always better than DOWN and it's that way for a reason. After all, there are Heaven and Hell -- the fresh sweet breezy blue sky with white clouds versus the dark and gloomy ground. We dare not even mention the underground.

The long awaited Pixar/Disney film 'Up' seems to have evolved from a similar ultra-simple tale. I believe Monsieur Lamorisse would have loved it! 'Up' is a very pleasing potpourri of charming and devilish characters, lavish images, transcendent music, and magnificent backgrounds. The story plays out very well in two unique realms. For me, it was a sentimental comedy. One minute I was sniffling as the elderly main characters find each other, live and love as they play out their structured life, dreaming of adventure somewhere along the road. But life itself interferes as it will, and the couple never gets to fulfill their joint dream.

Especially touching -- during this week of my 70th birthday on 5/31 -- is the square-faced, elderly character of Carl Fredrickson, a balloon salesman, voiced by the gruff-and-funny character actor Ed Asner. Clearly, Asner enjoys the whole thing. The other voices are also recognizable are Christopher Plummer (no longer the handsome Captain with seven children, but still going after all these years) and John Ratzenberger (the postal employee from 'Cheers').

After a life-altering situation occurs, and the movie switches gears. Then it becomes a comical "buddy roadtrip" with some intensity in the later action. Kudos to the decision to use a decidedly rotund animated Asian character for the cuddly young Wilderness Scout who accidentally accompanies Carl in his late-life adventures. Jordan Nagai is extremely talented with a voice that clearly captures all of the emotion of this key character.

'Up' has quite a few jokes. Between my eight-year-old grandson laughing on my left side, and a well-known and admired writer/film reviewer chortling on the other side, I probably missed a few. This movie will be a must-see for the second time.

It's only mid-year, and 'Up' takes its rightful place at the top of the picture-perfect pantheon of Pixar movies. It will be hard to imagine another movie outpacing this one for best animation awards in 2009.

So, my advice is to take the ride. See it in Disney 3-D if you can, which adds to the experience. Know that you can help guide the balloons of your life where you wish to go. If you are lucky, you might be able to fulfill most of your dreams right to the very end. There really is no other choice. Life will sweep you up anyway, and you must go with it, even if you have to deal with downdrafts along the way.

I'm pleased to give 'Up' an 'A' on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.

Official website and trailer: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/

Genre: Animation/Adventure
Rating: PG for some peril and action. (Parents: Be aware that the movie contains allusions to a woman's infertility and a brief death sequence. This is handled in a very acceptable way for most people.)
Runtime: 98 minutes
Director: Pete Docter
Co-Director: Bob Peterson
Composer: Michael Giacchino

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Me 'n' Larry King -- "My Remarkable Journey" (Book release May 19, 2009)

 

Larry, I know your new book "My Remarkable Journey" will be out in bookstores in a few days. I hope to read it, and I'm sure there are no footnotes about me in it! But I did cross paths with you briefly in the late 50s, and then again in 1971. My life changed dramatically because I reached out to you.

For years, I've had a lot of fun with this quote: "I dated Larry King, but never married him. Of course, he never asked me!"

This message is heartfelt. I just want to thank you for being in my life in the early times and offering me encouragement. We had one rather forgettable date in the 1950s, when you were on radio at WAHR with your alter-ego Captain Wainwright, the crooked Miami cop on filter mike -- I loved that character!

I was on television at Miami's WTVJ Channel 4 with "Skipper" Chuck Zink on "Popeye Playhouse," the local live children's show that ran from 1957 to 1979. I was the first "First Mate" on the show while in my first year of college (1957-58). Larry, you and I were introduced by WTVJ salesman Frank Boscia, who thought we might have something in common. You are five years older than I am, and we are both from Jewish backgrounds. I think we ate at the drive-in restaurant Pickin' Chicken, but don't recall much else. I already had fallen in love, but not with you...





In 1962, I graduated with a B.A. in Communications with honors from the University of Miami and moved to New York City. I had a successful career as a production assistant at NBC's "Tonight" unit, working for Dick Carson, Johnny Carson's brother, who directed the show at that time. Later, I worked with NBC's documentary news division. I was On-Air Promotion Supervisor at WPIX Channel 11, and did copywriting for several advertising agencies. One production job was with Barry Gray at WMCA, who was credited as the first talk host to put telephone calls on the radio in the early 1960s. I had no idea at the time that I would ever perform on TV -- or radio -- again!



I married classmate Peter R. in 1963. He had emigrated to New York as a small boy with his parents. They lived in Washington Heights. Peter was an aspiring TV producer and film director with a degree from UCLA. Peter achieved a responsible job with ABC, working with the program development group and then with the Wide World of Sports unit. We had a beautiful daughter born in October 1968. Peter's dreams of success in his chosen field were not to be. He became disillusioned, but he had one final job offer with Reela Films in Miami, working on documentary fillms. We moved back to Florida in March 1969 with our tiny daughter. I got pregnant almost immediately. Our second child, David, was born at Miami's Mercy Hospital in December 1969. The Reela job evaporated. After Peter's career crisis, two children, and eight years of marriage, he chose to divorce me. My parents were unable to help, and I had to support myself, the two kids, and a dog. Peter remarried another woman in April 1971, three weeks after our divorce.



Larry, I reconnected with you in the summer of 1971. I was divorced and working some very menial jobs for little pay. I had the two tiny children to care for, and a monthly home mortgage to cover. One early morning, I was driving from Miami Beach to Opa Locka. You were on WIOD radio and you called out for someone to PLEEZE bring you doughnuts and coffee. I stopped at a local shop and bought the refreshments you requested. Although you didn't remember me from our brief encounter in the 1950s, you invited me to stay and screen your calls before they went on the air. I kept dropping in and you promised that you would talk to the program manager about some compensation for my work. One day, I began to supply you with hour-long "woman in the mall" cassette tapes when you started to fall asleep at the microphone. Somewhere along the way, a listener re-named me "Ellen Rainbow" which is just a few letters added to my ex-husband's name.

You kept me busy, interested, and even laughing for those difficult months in the fall and winter. But a few days before Christmas 1971, you were gone -- caught in a legal monetary tangle that I barely understood.

I have not seen nor spoken you from that day to this. Of course, I know your career reignited on Westwood Radio and then on CNN for years. I was so happy you were back!

These are some newspaper clippings which I recently recovered:


After you were gone, WIOD Program Manager Elliott "Biggie" Nevins hired me do the night show shift three times a week, while they looked for a male host to replace you. He paid me $50 each night I hosted. I might have ended up who-knows-where if I had not had that income.

In the first few months of 1972, I did a show with Larry Johnson in Chicago via WATS lines. Then, we patched in with Bruce Lee on Boston's WEEI-AM. (No, not THAT Bruce Lee!) Bruce saved the tape and called me. He said CBS was looking for a woman to do 10 AM to 2 PM. I had to make the first contact with Program Manager Dan Griffin, because if they called me, it would be "talent raiding." At the time, WEEI was owned and operated by CBS and a union shop. WIOD was affiliated with NBC. WEEI management flew me to Massachusetts for a marathon interview on April 28, 1972. It was a glorious spring day that will live in my memory forever. Barbara Trombley, one of my former WIOD guests, took me around to see Boston sights. I was immediately enchanted by this historical city and the beautiful temperate weather.

Dan Griffin offered me the job a few days later. I gave my children to my ex-husband and his wife temporarily, and told them I would let them know when I was settled in an appropriate living space. I packed up my Volvo and my Cocker Spaniel dog, drove to northern Florida, boarded the Autotrain, got off in Virginia, and headed up to Boston.

On May 15, 1972, I started a brand new gig as the first woman with a daily, four-hour radio talk show in Boston. At the beginning, I worked six days each week, four hours a day Mon. thru Sat. on "Boston Forum with Ellen Kimball." Imagine! I was talking for 24 solid hours each week. It was a crushing schedule, but I kept it going for months. Finally, management relented and newsman Ben Farnsworth took over the Saturday show. My show was eventually renamed "The Ellen Kimball Show."



A few years later, another Boston station, WMEX AM, hired me after WEEI changed their format:


I met a widower with three older children in June 1972. He is from a Jewish background, and five years older than I am. His first wife had died at age 34 from cancer. He was trained as an electrical engineer, and later became a software analyst. We married on February 4, 1973 and we will celebrate 37 years of marriage in 2010.

Our wedding day. Daughter Linda is one year younger than Larry's daughter Chaia. Son David is 14 months younger than his sister.

My husband and I moved from Boston to Portland, Oregon eleven years ago. I will be 70 years old on May 31st, and my husband will be 75 on June 23rd. It has been a full life. Yes, there have been stepfamily setbacks, but we are now enjoying worldwide travel, photography, swimming, Broadway musicals, and having fun with our young grandchildren. I review entertainment for www.KGW.com, the website of Channel 8, the NBC-TV affiliate in Portland. It's a volunteer job for which I receive no compensation.

Thanks for being who you are, and for helping me along my remarkable journey.

Sincerely,



Ellen Kimball (Radio_Lady)

http://ellenkimball.blogspot.com/

Tweet me! @Radio_Lady
Larry is on Twitter @kingsthings

PS. In 2006, I called Steve Z., the radio engineer with whom Larry and I worked at WIOD. Steve is a charming and wonderful guy, now retired from Cox Broadcasting and living in Venice, Florida. He entertains me daily with a hefty array of fascinating emails and we speak by telephone quite frequently.

Larry with his wife, Shawn Southwick. and their two young boys, Chance and Cannon:


Friday, May 15, 2009