The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which stars Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, tells the story of the celebrated Queen singer and songwriter, who died on November 24, 1991. Mercury himself liked films, a ardour that began at St Peter’s public faculty in India, the place he loathed the video games of cricket however liked the movie membership nights the place they confirmed John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier. Certainly, Freddie Mercury’s favourite movies provide a revealing perception into the lifetime of considered one of rock’s most theatrical frontmen.
Later, when he was a famous person, Mercury hardly ever slept greater than 4 hours an evening and used to remain up watching movies. If ever he thought he was being too boastful, he would say, “I’m starting to sound like Gloria Swanson,” the Hollywood star of Sundown Boulevard; considered one of his favourite male actors was Burt Reynolds.
Here’s a information to Freddie Mercury’s favourite movies.
Hearken to the perfect Freddie Mercury songs on Apple Music and Spotify, and scroll down for Freddie Mercury’s favourite movies.
Shanghai Specific (1932)
Like author Ernest Hemingway, Freddie Mercury was an enormous fan of Marlene Dietrich, and he significantly appreciated the movie Shanghai Specific, wherein she delivers the memorable line: “It took more than one man to make me Shanghai Lily.” When photographer Mick Rock confirmed Mercury the long-lasting George Hurrell {photograph} of Dietrich taken throughout filming, the band copied the pose for the shot that Rock took for the art work of Queen II in 1974.
A Night time At The Opera (1935)
Mercury and his fellow Queen bandmates Brian Could, Roger Taylor and John Deacon named two of their albums – A Night time At The Opera and A Day At The Races – after Marx Brothers’ madcap comedy movies, which they stated “cheered up the band.” When Queen had been in America within the late 70s, they met Groucho Marx, who had written to them praising their selection of album names. They had been stunned when he performed a music for them on the guitar. Groucho, who would spend hours working towards Rachmaninoff’s Prelude In C-Sharp Minor, impressed them along with his talent.
The Girls (1939)
Mercury admired director George Cukor, who was a celebrated filmmaker (Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, A Star Is Born) and a number one homosexual socialite within the Hollywood scene of the 30s and 40s. In 1979, the British DJ and TV presenter Kenny Everett shot footage of Mercury in a London backyard appearing out components of Cukor’s movie Camille. Mercury stated, “Kenny shot mad zany footage of us doing a silly take-off of Greta Garbo.” The Queen singer’s most treasured Cukor movie, nevertheless, was 1939’s The Girls, the story of a candy lady (Norma Shearer) dropping her husband to the vampish Joan Crawford.
Some Like It Scorching (1959)
Drummer Roger Taylor was additionally a passionate cinema-goer and remembers being awestruck at Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as a teenager. Taylor talked rather a lot about films with Mercury (“We’d all go and see the latest Stanley Kubrick film, every four years”) and stated the singer’s “absolute favorite film” was Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Scorching, which the American Movie Institute voted the perfect comedy ever made. Within the movie, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play musicians who disguise themselves as girls to trick mobsters who’re chasing them. They fall for the band’s singer, Sugar Cane, performed by Marilyn Monroe. Peter Freestone, who was Mercury’s private assistant for 12 years, stated, “Freddie admired Marilyn as the icon she was, and felt that she was used by the studios who didn’t fully understand everything she had to offer. Freddie was very happy when costume designer Diana Moseley turned up with the Marilyn T-shirt for a Queen tour.”
Imitation Of Life (1959)
In 1991, when he was gravely ailing in direction of the top of his life, Mercury used to lie curled up on a settee in Montreux watching Lana Turner in Imitation Of Life. The melodrama by German director Douglas Sirk is about aspiring actress Turner and her friendship with an impoverished black girl performed by Juanita Moore. In accordance with biographers Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne, within the 2016 guide Any person to Love: The Life, Demise, and Legacy of Freddie Mercury, the singer liked the melodrama of the movie and stated, “It’s just a camp joy.”
Cabaret (1972)
Mercury adored the movie Cabaret, which was set in Berlin within the 30s and starred Liza Minnelli because the younger American Sally Bowles, who sings on the well-known Equipment Kat Klub. Mercury stated, “I like the cabaret-ish sort of thing. In fact, one of my early inspirations came from Cabaret. I absolutely adore Liza Minnelli, she’s a total wow. The way she delivers her songs – the sheer energy. The way the lights enhance every movement of the show. I think you can see similarities in the excitement and energy of a Queen show.” The admiration was mutual. Minnelli later stated, “I performed at Wembley Stadium at the concert to honor Freddie. He was a huge fan of mine, which I am still tickled to know. He was one of the best of all time.”
The Rocky Horror Image Present (1975)
Mercury noticed the stage model of The Rocky Horror Present on the Royal Courtroom Theatre, in Chelsea, London, and went to see the movie model of the cult basic, which starred Tim Curry, in 1975. Mercury liked its choreography, fluid sexuality, and ambiance of whole extra. Curry and Mercury turned pals, and eager horticulturalist Curry later advised Home And Backyard journal about designing a backyard for the singer: “Freddie came back from a tour and said, ‘The garden, dear, it’s dead.’ I said, ‘What? Did you water it?’ And Freddie said, ‘Water it, dear?’”
Purple Rain (1984)
Mercury would typically touch upon how impressed he was by the musical expertise of Prince, and he liked the star’s semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain. Mercury’s former PA Peter Freestone stated, “If Freddie stayed in during the evenings he would usually ‘veg out’ and watch television… He had one video of Prince, which he forced many people to watch, sometimes over and over again. These video sessions generally occurred at two or three in the morning after Freddie and his entourage returned from an evening on the town. The Prince tape was immediately put on and Freddie had sole control of the remote and his guests were subjected to Freddie’s enthusiasm for said artist again and again and again.”
Flash Gordon (1980)
The Queen soundtrack for the movie Flash Gordon features a celebrated line shouted by Brian Blessed. Roger Taylor stated on the time, “We’ve been offered quite a few films, but Flash Gordon was something which I think Brian May and I were quite attracted to, because of its sort of sci-fi, 30s connotations.” Shortly after making the soundtrack, Mercury was photographed at a live performance throughout an encore for “We Will Rock You,” sitting on Darth Vader’s shoulders. Although he sang the road “And I don’t like Star Wars” within the music “Bicycle Race,” it was a joke. Could later stated, “Freddie liked Star Wars a lot.”
Highlander (1986)
Mercury and the band weren’t significantly taken with being a part of the movie Highlander when it was first mooted in 1984. John Deacon recalled, “We wanted a rest and then we saw a 20-minute cut and thought, That’s great.” The fantasy-action journey starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. Director Russell Mulcahy stated, “I was at a point in my career when I could call in a few favors. Queen had done a great score for Flash Gordon, so we gave them a 20-minute reel of different scenes and they went: ‘Wow!’ We’d only expected them to do one song, but they wanted to write one each. Freddie Mercury did ‘Princes Of The Universe’, Brian May did ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ and Roger Taylor did ‘It’s A Kind Of Magic.’”
Purchase or stream the career-spanning Freddie Mercury field set, By no means Boring.
