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Missing actress has good excuse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
Either no one knows or cares, but I was wondering whatever happened to Sandy Dennis. Her dry sense of humor just cracked me up. She was superb in “The Out-of-Towners” with Jack Lemmon, and her character in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” was a hoot!
She always came off as so sweet and innocent, but she could deliver a line that would have you in the floor rolling.
What’s she doing now?
Karen Key, Covington
Dear Are You Sitting Down?
I don’t know how this got by me, but somehow I missed seeing the new Colin Farrell-Salma Hayek movie “Ask the Dust.”
Now I’m going to have to wait for the whole trilogy to come out on DVD. You know, “Ask the Dust,” “Tell the Crabgrass” and “Smell the Moon.”
Sometimes we just up and miss things.
Which is the nicest way I can think of, dear Karen, to say that, unfortunately, so sorry for this and, please, do not blame the messenger, but Sandy Dennis is apparently resting comfortably at Lincoln Memorial Park in Lincoln, Neb., where her cremated remains were placed.
Like, 14 years ago.
Ms. Dennis was a fine actress (I, too, especially liked her in her Oscar-winning supporting role in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” opposite Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and George Segal), but in full-blown adulthood, she was known to pose for pictures in her Connecticut kitchen with at least 13 of her cats.
She died in March 1992, the month before what would have been her 55th birthday, after a bout with ovarian cancer.
If you are anything like my son, D.W. Smithee, a lover in such magnitude of movies that when hearing bad news like this you can be certain he will honor a notable passing by watching a fusillade of suitable films, I would suggest this lineup of good movies with worthy Dennis performances: “Splendor in the Grass” (1961), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966), “Up the Down Staircase” (1967), “The Out-Of-Towners” (1970) and “The Four Seasons” (1981).
And to cut to the chase of a potential follow-up question - just so you know, several of her co-stars in those films, most notably the aforementioned Burton, Natalie Wood, Patrick Bedford, Eileen Heckart, Jack Lemmon and Jack Weston, are dead, too.
Alan
P.S. You get a “Phat Girlz” cap and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
When I was a kid, there was a movie that terrified me, but wasn’t really that scary in retrospect. I could have sworn it was called “The Lady in White,” but when I ask people, they’re clueless.
The basic plot was this little boy was locked in the school coat closet on Halloween night and a ghost of a young girl appeared to him (I think). Later, they show a woman walking on the beach singing a song (which I no longer remember). Also, if it helps, the chick who played Ramona on “Who’s the Boss?” is in it also, and her scenes had a lot of red. Like her house caught on fire. Do you know what this movie is?
Aiesha Ward, Dayton, Ohio
Dear You Must Believe You Can Fly,
Your problem is really no different than most everyone who dwells on Earth. Specifically, you depend on so many other individuals to fill in the gaps in your life. Those individuals always mean well but know absolutely nothing about anything important.
You ask, you listen to their verbal idiocy and, subsequently, you doubt your own ability to touch the sky.
Come to the light, Aiesha. Spread your wings.
Your movie is “Lady in White” (1988). Feel more powerful now?
Also, do not doubt your terror. “Lady in White” is very much a scary movie - especially not only because little Lukas Haas, while locked in that school closet, is visited by the little girl’s ghost, but also by the very big, very real, very bad, bad man. Remember? Haas has to sit quietly with his Halloween mask on his face as if he is some limp doll in order for the bad, bad man not to discover him.
So, my child, you have done well. Trust your feelings.
I have one bit of advice. Never, ever dare to mention something as limp and insignificant as “Who’s the Boss?” to Mr. Smithee. If you mean to refer to Katherine Helmond, then say, “the chick who gets her face stretched in ‘Brazil’” or “that cheeky desk clerk in ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’” or some such bit of reference to entertaining art that I will actually enjoy remembering.
Alan
P.S. You get an “Inside Man” shirt and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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By meme
April 14, 2006 11:52 AM | Link to this
I was mesmerized by a movie whose title I think was “Wild in the Streets”. It was either a late 60’s or early 70’s movie. I know that it was about how teens took over the world and everyone over 30 was put in a home. Do you know anything about it or where I could get a copy?
By Justin
April 19, 2006 4:03 PM | Link to this
Wild in the Streets came out in 1968 from American International Pictures. They’re no longer around, but MGM owns the catalog, so they probably own the rights now as well. However, according to IMDB.com, it’s not on DVD yet.