{"id":8497,"date":"2009-07-22T11:37:09","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T18:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=8497"},"modified":"2021-01-29T21:07:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T04:07:29","slug":"paradise-alley-stars-in-the-back-yard-1962","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=8497","title":{"rendered":"Paradise Alley \/ Stars in the Back Yard (1962)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Everything in life is an illusion.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Paradise-Alley-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Paradise-Alley-Poster-189x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"189\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Paradise-Alley-Poster-189x300.png 189w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Paradise-Alley-Poster-646x1024.png 646w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Paradise-Alley-Poster-81x128.png 81w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Paradise-Alley-Poster-170x270.png 170w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Paradise-Alley-Poster.png 703w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 189px) 100vw, 189px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA once-famous director (Hugo Haas) moves to a condemned housing project and decides to cast his quibbling neighbors in a documentary-style movie &#8212; without using film.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do-Gooders<\/li>\n<li>Has-Beens<\/li>\n<li>Hugo Haas Films<\/li>\n<li>Marie Windsor Films<\/li>\n<li>Movie Directors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary begins his review of <em>Paradise Alley<\/em> by commenting on director Hugo Haas&#8217;s unique claim-to-fame as a &#8220;genuine auteur who starred in, directed, produced, and wrote a string of independently made melodramas&#8221; with &#8220;unorthodox themes&#8221; (such as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1957\">multiple personalities<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0053113\/\">miscegenation<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3805\">death row<\/a>), long before &#8220;indie films&#8221; became a burgeoning cottage industry. Indeed, <em>Paradise Alley<\/em> &#8212; Haas&#8217;s &#8220;crowning achievement and most personal film&#8221; &#8212; is a fitting swan song to his endearing oeuvre of unconventional films. It may be &#8220;hokey&#8221; and poorly acted (by former Miss Universe Carol Morris and others), but it&#8217;s also &#8220;heartfelt and harmless and offbeat&#8221;. Haas&#8217;s self-referential character &#8212; a humble, mysterious man who goes by the name &#8220;Mr. Agnus&#8221;, but is actually &#8220;Al von Stollberg&#8221;, a once world-famous director &#8212; wants nothing more than to help end both &#8220;the despair in [his poverty-stricken] neighborhood and the hostility that everyone feels for each other&#8221;. Indeed, Agnus could be seen as a &#8220;fairy godfather&#8221; of sorts in this modern-day fairytale, which has a most satisfying happy ending. In addition to the cast of mostly amateurs, watch for several famous faces &#8212; including Margaret Hamilton (typecast as a snippy bitch), Billy Gilbert (as her nemesis), Marie Windsor, and silent film comedian Chester Comedian (who shows off his impressive collection of movie memorabilia to Agnus).  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hugo Haas as &#8220;Mr. Agnus&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/paradise-alley-haas.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/paradise-alley-haas.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8499\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A truly heartwarming story<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/paradise-alley-story.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/paradise-alley-story.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8504\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/paradise-alley-story2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/paradise-alley-story2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8500\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as Haas&#8217;s moving swan song.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0055274\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allmovie.com\/work\/paradise-alley-105494\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Everything in life is an illusion.&#8221; Synopsis: A once-famous director (Hugo Haas) moves to a condemned housing project and decides to cast his quibbling neighbors in a documentary-style movie &#8212; without using film. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Do-Gooders Has-Beens Hugo Haas Films Marie Windsor Films Movie Directors Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Peary begins his review of Paradise Alley by commenting on director Hugo Haas&#8217;s unique claim-to-fame as a &#8220;genuine auteur who starred in, directed, produced, and wrote a string&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=8497\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66961,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497\/revisions\/66961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}