THE CURSE OF THE CONQUEROR

A few movies through the years have sad occurances or deaths among the cast. Often they are deemed to be cursed. A lot of the myths about cursed movies are simply urban legends that pop up. Sometimes the supposed curses give the movie more of a cult following and actually add to their appeal However, one tragic movie that was cursed from the beginning due to simply where it was filmed was The Conqueror.

The Conqueror is a 1956 CinemaScope epic film produced by Howard Hughes and starring John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan. Other performers included Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and Pedro Armendáriz. Directed by actor/director Dick Powell, the film was principally shot near St. George, Utah. The Conqueror was a critical and commercial failure (often ranked as one of the worst films of the 1950s and one of the worst ever)despite the stature of the cast. Wayne, who was at the height of his career, had lobbied for the role after seeing the script and was widely believed to have been grossly miscast.

Reportedly, Howard Hughes felt guilty about his decisions regarding the film's production, particularly over the decision to film at a hazardous site. He bought every print of the film for $12 million and kept it from view until 1974 when it was first broadcast on TV. The Conqueror, along with Ice Station Zebra, is said to be one of the films Hughes watched endlessly during his last years.

The exterior scenes were shot on location near St. George, Utah, 137 miles (220 km) downwind of the United States government's Nevada Test Site. In 1953, extensive above-ground nuclear weapons testing occurred at the test site, as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole. The cast and crew spent many difficult weeks on location, and in addition Hughes later shipped 60 tons of dirt back to Hollywood in order to match the Utah terrain and lend verisimilitude to studio re-shoots. The filmmakers knew about the nuclear tests but the federal government reassured residents that the tests caused no hazard to public health

Director Dick Powell died of cancer in January 1963, seven years after the film's release. Pedro Armendáriz was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1960, and committed suicide in 1963 after he learned his condition had become terminal. Agnes Moorehead died of cancer in 1974, and Susan Hayward and John Wayne followed in 1975 and 1979. Cast member actor John Hoyt died of lung cancer in 1991. Skeptics point to other factors such as the wide use of tobacco — Wayne and Moorehead in particular were heavy smokers. The cast and crew totaled 220 people. By 1981, 91 of them had developed some form of cancer and 46 had died of the disease. Several of Wayne and Hayward's relatives also had cancer scares as well after visiting the set. Michael Wayne developed skin cancer, his brother Patrick had a benign tumor removed from his breast and Hayward's son Tim Barker had a benign tumor removed from his mouth.

Dr. Robert Pendleton, professor of biology at the University of Utah, stated, "With these numbers, this case could qualify as an epidemic. The connection between fallout radiation and cancer in individual cases has been practically impossible to prove conclusively. But in a group this size you'd expect only 30-some cancers to develop. With 91, I think the tie-in to their exposure on the set of The Conqueror would hold up in a court of law." Indeed, several cast and crew members, as well as relatives of those who died, considered suing the government for negligence, claiming it knew more about the hazards in the area than it let on.

We may never know if the death of the cast members were due to the nuclear fallout, but what is known is that if nothing else The Conqueror is cursed as a horrible movie, that probably would have been better off not to have been made at all...

FORGOTTEN ONES: MARILYN MAXWELL

She was often called "the other Marilyn", and like Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Maxwell had an equally short and tragic life. Maxwell was born Marvel Marilyn Maxwell on August 3, 1921. Her parents tried to get her in show business at a young age, and she was trained as a dancer as early as age 3. Miss Maxwell's show business career began when she was a child under the tutelage of her piano-teacher mother, Mrs. Harry E. Maxwell of Clarinda. After leaving Clarinda when Marilyn was five, Mrs. Maxwell toured the country as an accompanist. Harry Maxwell died in 1950 at Tabor, where he farmed. Mrs. Maxwell died in 1951. Miss Maxwell missed the funerals of both her parents because she was on USO tours for American servicemen around the world.

Maxwell started her professional entertaining career as a radio singer while still a teenager before signing with MGM in 1942 as a contract player. The head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, insisted she change the "Marvel" part of her real name. She dropped her first name and kept the middle. During the 1940s, she also appeared with Bing Crosby on his "Kraft Music Hall" radio program. Maxwell never made it really big in Hollywood but some of her film roles included Lost in a Harem (1944), Champion (1949), The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), and Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958). The Christmas carol classic "Silver Bells" made its debut in The Lemon Drop Kid, sung by Maxwell and Hope.

On television, Maxwell appeared twice as a singer in the second season (1955–1956) of NBC's The Jimmy Durante Show. On May 16, 1957, she guest starred on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. In the 1961-1962 television season, Maxwell played Grace Sherwood, owner of the diner on ABC's 26-episode Bus Stop, a drama about travelers passing through the fictitious town of Sunrise, Colorado.

She married MGM actor John Conte in 1944 in The Little Church Around the Corner in New York City; they divorced two years later. Her second marriage to restaurateur Anders McIntyre lasted one year. Her third marriage to writer/producer Jerry Davis produced a son, Matthew who was born on April 26, 1956. They divorced after six years of marriage.

According to Arthur Marx's Bob Hope biography "The Secret Life of Bob Hope," Marilyn Maxwell had a long term affair with comedian Bob Hope. He gave her constand work in the 1940s and 1950s on radio as well as touring with him on his many USO shows. The affair with Maxwell was so open that the Hollywood community routinely referred to her as "Mrs. Bob Hope." Also during this time it was reported that Marilyn had an affair with singer Frank Sinatra. The affair was briefly touched upon in the television movie "Sinatra" in 1992.

Despite finding love in all the wrong places, Maxwell was widely loved among her friends. A close friend of Rock Hudson, she helped closet his homosexuality by making frequent public appearances with him and teasing reporters about how their relationship was "only a friendship."

By the 1960s, alcohol had taken its toll on Maxwell's career and looks. At her lowest point in 1967 she was discovered to be performing in a burlesque show as a stripper in Queens, New York. On March 20, 1972, Maxwell's 15-year-old son arrived home from school and found her dead at the age of fifty of an apparent heart attack, after she had been treated for hypertension and pulmonary disease. Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Jack Benny were honorary pallbearers at her funeral. Hope gave a memorable eulogy, and Rock Hudson looked after her son during the funeral and years afterward.

Marliyn Maxwell did not receive the fame that Marilyn Monroe did, but listening to her old radio broadcasts, she had a happiness in her voice I hope never left her. Thankfully the radio shows and sporadic movies she made are testaments to what a talent she was. Her television and movies are evidence of her beauty, but her radio shows really capture her personality in her voice. Despite her poor choices in life, Marilyn Maxwell really deserves to be remembered...

MUSIC REVIEW: BING IN DIXIELAND

For the past four years now, Bing Crosby Enterprises, run by Bing's widow Kathryn Crosby, has issued some pretty rare and amazing work that Bing has done. I always think I have most of the recordings by Bing, but I am amazed at this new CD issue. It is one of the best issues I have seen in a couple of years.

The album Bing In Dixieland, contains some tremendous Dixieland music that Bing did on his radio show in the 1950s. There is not a bad recording in the bunch and some of the recordings are completely new to me like Bing's renditions of "Strike Up The Band", "I'd Climb The Highest Mountains", and "The Object Of My Affection" to name a few. The standout for me is "I'd Climb The Highest Mountain", which is a favorite song of mine. I have a jazz instrumental version by Mugsy Spanier, a vocal version by Connee Boswell from the 1950s, and a swinging version by Jo Stafford in the 1960s, but Bing's recording is tops.

Bing was influenced by the Dixieland sound in the 1920s, and you can hear it in his recordings here. He never sounded more at home or happier. If you like great music or Bing Crosby or Dixieland then this is the music for you! You can only buy this CD from the Bing Crosby website: here.

Here is a track listing:
1. AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL
2. SOMETIMES I'M HAPPY
3. MUSKRAT RAMBLE
4. WAY DOWN YONDER IN NEW ORLEANS
5. STRIKE UP THE BAND
6. THAT'S A PLENTY
7. MY BABY JUST CARES FOR ME
8. I'D CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN
9. SMILES
10. JUST AROUND THE CORNER
11. THE BANJO'S BACK IN TOWN
12. WHEN MY BABY SMILES AT ME
13. THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION
14. I GOT RHYTHM
15. MARGIE
16. YES SIR! THAT'S MY BABY
17. OH HOW I LAUGHED WHEN I THINK HOW I CRIED ABOUT YOU
(written by George Jessel!!!)
18. EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY
19. BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
20. FIVE FOOT TWO, EYES OF BLUE
21. BLUES MY NAUGHTY SWEETIE GIVES TO ME
22. MEMPHIS BLUES (with Ella Fitzgerald)
23. NOW YOU HAS JAZZ (with Louis Armstrong)

my rating: 10 out of 10

RIP: MICHAEL CLARK DUNCAN

Michael Clark Duncan was not a classic Hollywood star, but his role in The Green Mile (1999) with Tom Hanks is one of the truly great roles of a generation. He will be missed...

Michael Clarke Duncan, an Oscar nominee for “The Green Mile” died Monday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 54. Publicist Joy Fehily released a statement from Clarke’s fiancée, the Rev. Omarosa Manigault, saying that Duncan died Monday morning after nearly two months of hospitalization following a July 13 heart attack.

Duncan, who was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of death-row inmate John Coffey in 1999's "The Green Mile," most recently starred as Leo Knox in the Fox series "The Finder." He also appeared in the film hits "Armageddon," "The Whole Nine Yards," "Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu Panda."

The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Duncan "suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered," the statement said.

Duncan worked as ditch digger and nightclub bouncer after college years and moved to Los Angeles to launch an acting career in 1995.He became a bodyguard for actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence and began to draw attention after appearing in 1998's "Armageddon."

Comedian Steve Harvey was among those offering condolences on Twitter. "I will miss my friend, Michael Clarke Duncan. What an incredible soldier in God's Plan," he tweeted.

"Rest in Peace to my brother who paved the way for me and many Black actors," tweeted actor Terry Crews. "Honored to have known him and called him a friend to me and my family."

Clarke served as a spokesman for a number of causes. Earlier this year, he appeared in a video for PETA, the animal rights organization, in which he spoke of how much better he felt since becoming a vegetarian three years earlier.

Duncan also starred in a public service announcement for the American Stroke Association to raise awareness of strokes...

SOURCE

CHRISTINE CHUBBUCK: TRAGEDY IN THE NEWS

In 1974, the world was not yet overrun with digital cameras, cell phones, and DVRsthat could record anything in an instance. Maybe that was a good thing in 1974, because when news reporter Christine Chubbuck took her life in a very public way not many people witnessed it. She deserves to be remembered for her achievements as reporter and not the horrible and sad way her life ended.

Born in Hudson, Ohio on August 24, 1944, Christine Chubbuck attended the Laurel School for Girls in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. During her years at Laurel, she started a small tongue-in-cheek group called the "Dateless Wonder Club." She attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for one year, majoring in theatre arts, then attended Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts before earning a degree in broadcasting at Boston University in 1965.

She worked for WVIZ in Cleveland for a year in 1966-67, and attended a summer workshop in radio and television at New York University in 1967. Also in 1967, Chubbuck worked for a few months for public television stations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Canton, Ohio before moving on to spend four years as a hospital computer operator and two years with a cable television firm in Sarasota, Florida. Immediately before joining WXLT-TV (now WWSB), she worked in the traffic department of WTOG in St. Petersburg, Florida.

WXLT-TV owner, Bob Nelson, had initially hired Chubbuck as a reporter, but later gave her a community affairs talk show, Suncoast Digest, which ran at 9:00 in the morning. Production Manager Gordon J. Acker described Chubbuck's new show to a local paper: "It will feature local people and local activities. It will give attention, for instance, to the storefront organizations that are concerned with alcoholics, drug users, and other 'lost' segments of the community." Page five of the article showed a smiling Chubbuck posed with an ABC camera.

Chubbuck took her position seriously, inviting local Sarasota–Bradenton officials to discuss matters of interest to the growing beach community. After her death, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that Chubbuck had been nominated for a Forestry and Conservation Recognition Award by the Bradenton district office of the Florida Division of Forestry. She was considered a "strong contender" by Mike Keel, district forester, who had been scheduled to appear as a guest on Ms. Chubbuck's show the morning of her suicide, but had cancelled because of the birth of his son.

Chubbuck spoke to her family at length about her struggles with depression and suicidal tendencies, though she did not inform them of her specific intent beforehand. She had attempted to overdose on medication in 1970 and frequently made reference to the event. She had also been seeing a psychiatrist up until several weeks before her death. Chubbuck's mother chose not to tell station management of her daughter's suicidal tendencies because she feared she would be fired as a result.

Apparently, she had an unrequited crush on co-worker George Peter Ryan. She baked him a cake for his birthday and sought his romantic attention, only to find out he was already involved with sports reporter Andrea Kirby. Kirby had been the co-worker closest to Chubbuck, but she was offered a new job in Baltimore, which had further depressed Chubbuck.

Chubbuck's lack of a romantic partner was considered a tangent of her desperate need to have close friends, though co-workers said she tended to be brusque and defensive whenever they made friendly gestures toward her. She was self-deprecating, criticizing herself constantly and rejecting any compliments she was given.

Three weeks before her death, she had asked the station's news director if she could do a news piece on suicide. After her suggestion was approved, she visited the local sheriff's department to discuss with an officer methods of suicide. In the interview, an officer told her one of the most efficient ways was to use a .38 caliber revolver with wadcutter target bullets, and to shoot oneself in the back of the head rather than in the temple.

On the morning of July 15, 1974, Chubbuck confused co-workers by claiming she had to read a newscast to open her program, Suncoast Digest, something she had never done before. That morning's talk show guest waited across the studio while she sat at the news anchor's desk. During the first eight minutes of her program, Chubbuck covered three national news stories and then a local restaurant shooting from the previous day. The restaurant was the Beef and Bottle Restaurant at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport on U.S. 41. The film reel of the restaurant shooting had jammed and would not run, so Chubbuck shrugged it off and said on-camera, "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first—attempted suicide." She drew the revolver and shot herself behind her right ear. Chubbuck fell forward violently and the technical director faded rapidly to black. Camera operator Jean Reed later recalled she thought it had been an elaborate prank and did not realize Chubbuck had actually shot herself until she saw Chubbuck's twitching body.

Chubbuck was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, as her script had predicted; there, she was pronounced dead fourteen hours later. Upon receiving the news, a WXLT staffer released the information to other stations using Chubbuck's script.

Chubbuck's body was cremated. The funeral ceremony was held on the beach where her ashes were scattered into the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 120 people attended, including local officials who had appeared on her show. Three songs by Chubbuck's favorite singer, Roberta Flack, were played. Presbyterian minister Thomas Beason delivered the eulogy, stating "We suffer at our sense of loss, we are frightened by her rage, we are guilty in the face of her rejection, we are hurt by her choice of isolation and we are confused by her message."

Chubbuck's family brought an injunction against WXLT to prevent the release of the 2" quad videotape of her suicide. The Sarasota Sheriff's Department file lists a copy of the tape seized as evidence and later released it to Christine's family along with her possessions. I contacted the Sarasota Sheriff's department, and an official there who did not want to be named, said the only existing footage of the sad events was destroyed in the late 1980s. Whether the tape still exists or not is kind of the holy grail of death hags, but the sad end of Christine's life is not the most important thing. What is important is that she was pioneer in the news field in the 1970s when the news was a male dominiated field. Christine Chubbuck's life was short and tragic, but it was so much more than the sad events of July 15, 1974...

On December 21, 2012 I received this strange letter in the mail...

I was never able to prove or disprove the letter. A video has made its rounds on the internet a few years ago reportedly to be the video of the suicide. It has been taken down but if you google enough you may find it. Here is a screen shot I found...

RIP: MAX BYGRAVES

Max Bygraves, one of England's most enduring entertainers has died at the age of 89. The entertainer, who had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease, died in his sleep at his home in Australia. His showbusiness career began in variety during the Second World War and - with his catchphrase "I wanna tell you a story" - soon found widespread success. He was, perhaps, best known for his Singalongamax series of LPs, a cavalcade of yesterday's hits which Bygraves chose with his mother's music tastes in mind. His website claims that at one stage he had three albums in the Top 20. His easy, drawling style was well-suited to the variety hall standards, but the song most closely associated with Bygraves was the self-penned You Need Hands. Bygraves made his first of many Royal Variety Show appearances in 1950 and also appeared at the London Palladium, then the world's premier variety theatre, 14 times in 10 years alongside stars such as Judy Garland. He became a fixture on British television in the 1970s and that decade's comic giants, Morecambe and Wise, regularly derided his musical achievements along with those of fellow crooner Des O'Connor.  Bygraves was awarded an OBE in 1982 and the following year he took over from Bob Monkhouse as presenter of the popular television quiz show Family Fortunes, to mixed reviews.

 

Bygraves married Blossom Murray in 1942 and the couple had three children, Christine, Maxine and Anthony. It later emerged that Bygraves had fathered two illegitimate sons, to the surprise of the entertainment world and many of his fans. Last year a 57 year-old woman living in the United States claimed she was Bygraves' third illegitimate child. Bygraves was widowed in May last year.

Johnny Mans, his agent, said: "We have lost one of the best entertainers that Britain has ever produced. "He was a friend to everyone... there were no airs and graces."
Jimmy Tarbuck, the comic, who was a close friend of Bygraves, said: "He had the audience in the palm of his hand quicker than any other comedian I have seen.
"He would stroll on and just wow them. He was one of the all-time greats of British entertainment - a king of the Palladium. "He would have them roaring with laughter, singing along and with a tear in their eye."  Bygraves last performed in public in 2006.

Anthony Bygraves, 65, who lives in Bournemouth, Dorset, said: "Sadly, Dad died last night as a result of the Alzheimer's. "He was six weeks off celebrating his 90th birthday which would have fallen on October 16." Anthony, who recently visited Max on the Gold Coast in Australia, had organised a campaign for the public to send him their stories on their affectionate memories of his career. The appeal came after more than 2,000 people sent well-wishing postcards and messages of support to Bygraves in March when it was revealed he was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's.

"I had wanted to compile it with the help of the public. Dad still had a loyal fan base all around the world," said Anthony. "I had wanted people to contribute a written memory of Max to appear in 'I Wanna tell you a Story'.

"Their own personal recollection of my father, a meeting, of a show, a time, a place - anything that was interesting or unusual."

Bygraves emigrated from his home in Bournemouth to Australia in 2005. He once joked: "I'll tell you why I like going to Australia: you don't have to have those horrible injections. Mind you, it's hell going through that sheep dip."

SOURCE

RECENTLY VIEWED: GNOMEO AND JULIET

It is really hard to find truly suitable movies for children these days. If I had my way, I would show my son every classic movie that I love, but his attention span just is not there yet. Next to a classic movie, I guess a family cartoon is the next best thing. One great cartoon that I recommend - and I have seen six times now is the movie Gnomeo And Juliet.

Gnomeo & Juliet is a 2011 British computer-animated family comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The film is directed by Kelly Asbury, and the two main characters are voiced by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt. Gnomeo & Juliet is directed by Kelly Asbury. The original screenplay, inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, was written by John R. Smith and Rob Sprackling. Asbury, Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Andy Riley, and Steve Hamilton Shaw worked on the final screenplay. Prior to the casting of James McAvoy and Emily Blunt, the roles of Gnomeo and Juliet were to be voiced by Ewan McGregor and Kate Winslet, respectively. In addition, this film reunites veteran British actors Maggie Smith and Michael Caine, from the 1978 Neil Simon comedy California Suite, in the roles of Lady Blueberry and Lord Redbrick, respectively.

The film was the original idea of Sprackling and Smith, who sold the spec script to Disney through Rocket Pictures. Initially, the film was going to be produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, but was shut down by its new chief, John Lasseter, after the Pixar acquisition. Miramax Films picked up the project and guided its production until the division closed down. Australian director Adam Elliot was approached and asked to direct the film, but he rejected the offer due the film's incompatibility with his style, as well as his lack of experience with CGI. The film later was picked up and produced by Starz Animation in Toronto. It was released under the Touchstone Pictures banner on February 11, 2011, becoming Touchstone's first animated film since 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas and also Touchstone's first film to receive a G rating from the MPAA.

Mrs. Montague and Mr. Capulet (Julie Walters and Richard Wilson) are two elderly neighbors who despise each other. When they leave the garden, objects come alive in both their gardens. The Montague garden is filled with blue garden gnomes, and the Capulet garden houses red garden gnomes. Later, both blue and red gnomes attend a lawnmower race. Representing the blues is Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and representing the reds is Tybalt (Jason Statham). During the race, it looks like Gnomeo is winning; however, Tybalt cheats and wins the race, destroying Gnomeo's lawnmower. Gnomeo and his best friend, Benny (Matt Lucas), insult Tybalt for cheating, but Tybalt ignores them. Benny watches Mrs. Montague ordering a new cheap lawnmower called The Kitten Clipper, disappointed.

Later that night, Gnomeo and Benny infiltrate the red garden in disguise, with blue spray cans. Benny sprays Tybalt's well and accidentally triggers a security light in the process, alerting the red gnomes to attack. During the escape Gnomeo ends up in a nearby neglected garden. He bumps into a disguised Juliet (Emily Blunt), the daughter of the red gnomes leader Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine). Juliet is attempting to retrieve a unique orchid, and the two romantically fight over it. They each discover the other's colour before fleeing the garden. When they both go back to their gardens, Juliet tells her frog friend Nanette (Ashley Jensen) about her newfound love. Nanette states that the relationship is romantically tragic.

Gnomeo and Juliet then have secret meetings in a secret garden, where they meet a pink plastic flamingo named Featherstone (Jim Cummings). He encourages their love, and the two begin to meet regularly. Though when the two of them are getting ready for a date, Lord Redbrick introduces Juliet to Paris (Stephen Merchant), a red gnome that Nanette has fallen for, though Juliet manages to get away. Later, when the two return back to their gardens, Gnomeo finds his mother Lady Bluebury (Maggie Smith), who is distraught after the reds infiltrated the garden and destroyed the plant Gnomeo's deceased father planted. The blues want Gnomeo to take revenge on the reds, and he realizes that he cannot refuse unless he tells his secret. He tunnels underneath to reach the red garden, but just as he is about to spray the prized flowers of the reds, Juliet sees him. He backs out suddenly, telling Benny that the nozzle on the spraying bottle was jammed.

When he and Juliet meet up again, they briefly argue until Featherstone stops them, telling them that other people's hate destroyed his love. He and his girlfriend were separated when the two people living in the house, where their garden was, got divorced. After he has explained this, Gnomeo and Juliet apologize, but when they are about to kiss, Benny sees them, distracts them, then runs into the alleyway, where Tybalt is waiting with his lawnmower. Tybalt drives at Benny, chops his hat clean off with a trowel, and attempts to run him down with his lawnmower. Tybalt is interrupted by Gnomeo, and he is destroyed when crashing into a wall. The reds attempt to attack Gnomeo, but Juliet, to the surprise of her father and clan, defends Gnomeo, saying that she loves him. A woman suddenly jogs along, so all gnomes become still and inconspicuous. Gnomeo ends up on a road, and everyone believes he was run over by a truck. Lord Redbrick has Juliet glued to her fountain because he does not want to lose her like her mother. Gnomeo's pet, a mushroom named Shroom, is left alone and goes on the road, where he realizes that what appeared to be Gnomeo is actually a broken blue teapot, and that Gnomeo is still alive. Gnomeo eventually ends up in a park, and climbs onto a Statue of William Shakespeare (Patrick Stewart) and tells him his story. Shakespeare tells Gnomeo that his story is very similar to Romeo and Juliet and that it is likely Gnomeo's will have a sad ending as well. However, Gnomeo refuses to accept that sort of ending. Shroom and Featherstone come to find him.

Benny, meanwhile, cancels the order of the Kitten Clipper and buys the Terrafirminator lawnmower using the computer, to get revenge on the Red Gnomes, despite Shroom trying to convince him that Gnomeo is still alive. The Terrafirminator goes out of control and destroys most of the two gardens while the gnomes wage a full scale war. Gnomeo makes it back to Juliet to try to un-glue her, but he is unable to. She tells him to go, but he refuses, and the two share a kiss just as the lawnmower crashes into the fountain, self-destructing in the process. Everyone believes that both Gnomeo and Juliet are dead. Lord Redbrick and Lady Bluebury, both realizing that their feud was responsible for this, decide to end the feud. As they do, they accidentally trigger a switch, which causes a massive tropical castle display to rise up from the remains of Juliet's pedestal. Much to the astonishment of all the gnomes, both Gnomeo and Juliet are revealed to have survived as they rise from the ruins. The residents of the gardens celebrate and Gnomeo and Juliet kiss just as Mrs. Montague and Mr. Capulet return to find their yards destroyed.

The film ends happily with the red and blue gnomes finally coming together to celebrate their newfound peace. Tybalt is also revealed to still be alive having been glued back together (and presumably has a more pleasant disposition). Featherstone is also reunited with his girlfriend after Benny finds and orders her online. Meanwhile, Gnomeo and Juliet get married on a purple lawnmower, which symbolizes the new union of both gnome clans.

I want to admit something here as well. I have even watched the movie when my son was not around, but it's a cute movie. Admitting I have a problem I guess is half of the battle!

MY RATING: 9 OUT OF 10