I recently discovered that some of the more bizarre scenes of heaven came from The Green Pastures. Can anyone identify any other scenes' sources? There are so many that I seem to vaguely remember from long ago Saturday morning movie marathons, and I would love to collect them up. I'm sure some are from silent movies and I am sadly ignorant in that area. Thanks for any help you can offer.
shareJust learned on The Green Pastures board that another unforgettable scene (a fried chicken machine) came from the Burkeley movie Wonder Bar.
shareI'm bumping this thread because I really need some answers. Thanks.
Hello, Freesharon: I can't believe that no one else has visited this board in four years. I hope you're still here and not in Heaven by now. If you are, could you send down a sign? ;-)
I'm afraid I'm of no help whatsoever in identifying the clips in the film, but thank you for mentioning "Green Pastures" and "Wonder Bar." There are credits at the end, but it's hard to match up the credits with the scenes -- just as these "talking heads" are never identified.
Do you know the source of the film where the three biblical "experts" are speaking about Heaven, and they look oddly alike? Really creepy. Also, do you know where they got the footage of the little woman in the wheelchair singing?
This film really needs a DVD release with annotations to place all this random footage into its proper perspective. I rarely listen to commentary tracks, but I'd love to hear what Diane Keaton has to say about all this!
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Woah, Nicodemus_Atrophy: I'm very impressed that you recognize these!
My local library has the Educational Archives DVDs. I will check out the religious volumes. I did get one on "workplace values" or somesuch, and it was a hoot -- about running an efficient workplace, dealing with unruly co-workers and running machinery without losing your fingers.
Could the Estus Pirkle film you mention be "The Burning Hell," not "The Believer's Heaven"? There are only two films of his mentioned on this site, and "Believer's Heaven" isn't there (though "The Believer's Heaven" sounds more in keeping with the clip). There's also a video store near me that has "Christian scare films" in the "Cult" section.
Thanks so much for the titles. I'm very impressed that you recognize the clips -- and that you've even seen Diane Keaton's "Heaven"! That was one of the boxloads of films I sent back from my recent trip. I had rented it 20 years ago. Very interesting, very strange.
Thanks to you, too, for keeping this thread alive while I was distracted. I am still checking in every so often, and collecting the films as they are identified. Agree completely about a new DVD with special features. I would be glad to pay a premium for the source material info and Diane's thoughts on the making and receiving of this amazing fil looking at America's believers.
"There are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth." ~ Robert Evans
You're very welcome. I love keeping old threads alive, just like I love watching obscure films like this.
I would absolutely love to watch a DVD with Diane's commentary on this film. It would certainly provide needed context for a lot of these puzzling and abstract scenes and interviews.
There's a store near me that has a large selection of laserdiscs, most of them priced for 99 cents each. I don't have a laserdisc player, so I passed on buying this, but what "Heaven" it would be to have this on laserdisc in addition to VHS. Then all I'd need is the DVD ...
Belated but sincere thanks for your help. I'm going to try to get these films.
Any idea who is the blonde female being buried in sand by the tearful lover? That one haunts my dreams.
"There are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth." ~ Robert Evans
Some scenes are from the 1946 Michael Powell fantasy "A Matter of Life and Death", also called "Stairway to Heaven". It stars David Niven, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring and Raymond Massey. It's on DVD.
Batches? We don' need no stinkin' batches!!
Treasure of the Sierra Madre AND Blazing Saddles.
I don't know if this will help at all, but Diane Keaton talks about making this film in her memoir, "Then Again," on pages 158-161. She mentions lots of names and movie titles.
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