1957
MGM movie
Sayonara
|
* Some large trees are seen in front of the American-only officers' club
in Kobe. * Next, one tree is seen at the right of the doorway outside the
dining pavilion -- after Eileen (Patricia Owens) crosses to the right in
front of it, we see a medium-size tree with double-layer foliage on a
grayish trunk in a perhaps oval pot. * Then, in a bar-restaurant, a tall tree
is seen in front of a shoji panel to the right of the bar where Maj.
Gruver (Marlon Brando) meets up with Capt. Bailey (James Garner). * A small
tree is next seen behind Katsumi (Miyoshi Umeki) when she opens the screen to bring
the pre-meal towels and sake to Airman Joe Kelly (Red Buttons) and Gruver.
This informal upright with light green foliage in a narrow brown cacade pot is also
seen when she leaves. * Then when Gruver returns to Kelly's house, there is a
shot through the garden which shows at least 2 trees which the earlier visit did not show in
the garden. As he enters a room a two-tree composition is seen on a shelf, but not in a
tokonoma. The trees are in a trapezoid pot with feet (initially the lighting
fools one into thinking there were an inauspicious four trees in the pot). Gruver turns
and goes into the cabinet right below this. He then goes over to the garden to the right
and picks up a small brass watering pot that he applies to a green Japanese maple in the middle
of this same room as the two-tree on the shelf. The garden is again seen as the camera moves
into the room. The two-tree is seen a few more times, including at the upper left edge of the
scene for a few shots. * When Gruver is talking to Gen. Webster (Kent Smith), his
wife (Martha Scott), and Eileen about Kelly being shipped stateside, there is a small Japanese black
pine over a whitish-gray rock with moss in a small blue pot with pinched ends. The pine
could use a hair-cut. The tree is in a couple of lengthy shots with the foilage at least
showing at the bottom of the screen. * Back at Kelly's there is a low containerized plant
with an upright antler-like jin which Gruver uses to hold his marriage license.
A dwarf chamaecyparis, perhaps, but no branches or trunk is visible. Another but out-of-focus tree
is in the window behind and during shots of Gruver. * In the puppet theater during 3 shots,
behind the four principal actors, of the stage-left wall there are several large trees against raised gold screens,
including a slant-style tree. * When Gruver is being talked to by Gen. Webster, a
cascade in a short brown pot is seen on a credenza to the left back. Another tree is on
the extreme right edge of the screen -- identification can't be made, but its pot is pale blue.
* Finally, when Gruver comes down the hall outside his officer's room, we see the slanting/informal
upright tree that is to the right of the bar from the earlier scene. Possibly in a dark
reddish low hexagonal pot and elevated on a blue ceramic pot stand, the tree is at least 3' tall.
(A tree is also seen briefly near the beginning of the theatrical trailer behind Miyoshi Umeki --
possibly from the same scene as when she brings the towels and sake.) Released in USA December 5 New York premiere, December 25 Los Angeles premiere.
New 05/27/06
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1958
Paramount Pictures movie
The Geisha Boy
|
O.K. -- we're stretching here:
When Gilbert Wooley (Jerry Lewis) brings
home Mitsuo Watanabe (Robert Hirano) after a night out, there is a very
brief shot of perhaps a juniper bonsai inside Kimi Sikita (Nobu
McCarthy)'s room. The tree's foliage is seen against the panneled
doors at an angle. Perhaps 3' tall with wispy grayish foliage in
the dim light. Can't really identify the pot or other
details. (Tantalizing that in the traditional Japanese home
of Mr. Sikita (Sessue Hayakawa) that is all we see!)
Released in USA November 2.
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1961
Universal International movie
Flower Drum Song
|
Over a dozen Chinese penjing can be found in this musical,
the first with an all-Asian American cast. * After the film's
second song and at Sammy Fong's Celestial Garden club when Dr. Li (Kam
Tong) and Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki) are eating, Sammy (Jack Soo) briefly
sits by an octopus-style juniper. * Then in the garden of Master
Wang (Benson Fong)'s house, on a lacquered stand in a turquoise bowl is
a medium-sized trunk with curving branches and little foliage -- an
unknown type of plant. A low spreading juniper is to its left,
and a third tree is just inside the house, seen just before the third
song, "The Other Generation." During that song, a
"pterodactyl-style" medium-sized conifer is noticeable inside.
The outdoor trees are seen again. Three more can be found on the
ledge of a low wall behind the central fountain/rockery, then three
more to the left, two of which are on the ground. * Later, after
Master Wang's stick-up, a large splayed-limb sparse-foliaged
juniper (?) is in the hallway of his house in front of the
stairwell. * The "pterodactyl" is shown in detail during the fourth
song (a reprise of the first) -- we see it in a dark brownish bowl having
brownish-red top and bottom rims and medallions in the center of the
container at 90 degree angles. This all rests on a short
lacquered stand. * Back in the garden we see the earlier trees plus
a few more during the song "I'm Going to Like This Place" and less so
in "Chop Suey." * In the dream sequence with Fong and Linda Low
(Nancy Kwan), two trees in orange flower-pot-type containers are on a
wide/deep window ledge. The plant on the left is more tree-like,
and then the gardener starts working on the pair, spreading the
branches of the left one. * In the Family Association meeting room
two larger trees, each in a pale white bowl, are seen behind the two
elders. * On the table inside the entranceway to Madame Fong (Soo
Yong)'s house is another tree, flanked by a pair of tall-thin
brown/bronze statues. This tree is in a non-geometrically-
symetrical pot (piece of driftwood?) It makes a final appearance
in the lower righthand corner of the kiss scene. Released in USA
November 9. (Brought to RJB's attention by wife Shirley, this is
one of her most favored movies, though she wasn't aware of just how
many dwarf potted trees were in it.)
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1962
United Artists movie
The Road to Hong Kong
|
"Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and a young Joan Collins are in a hotel and there
is a sort of potted tree in the background." A little more
than an hour into the film, when Diane (Joan) in white comes into her
quarters where Chester (Bob) is resting, we see a perhaps 18"H x 24"W
"mini-octopus-style" tree in an ornate pot. The container might
be described as an upside-down fancy bell-shape, decorated with a few
small flowers. It sits on a low stand on the carpet at the bottom
of the small flight of stairs. (The room is in an underground
level of the home of a Hong Kong millionaire/mad scientist (Robert
Morley).) When Diane leans down to talk to Chester, the plant is
seen behind them. There are about 7 shots from this angle and we
can see the thin branches with possibly deciduous foliage on the slight
zig-zagging trunk -- large at the base moving to the left, then sharply
to the right with a knob, then more tapered up and slightly to the left
again. The tree is seen between them when she gets up to
leave. When Harry (Bing) comes in next the tree is seen very
briefly between the two gents, a cutaway shot, then back again shortly.
Released in USA May 22. (Contributed by Uriah Heep in personal
e-mail to RJB, September 1, 2000; additional details by RJB.)
Added to 09/14/05
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Paramount movie
My Geisha
|
This film "starring Shirley McClaine had bonsai in the background of quite
a few scenes in a hotel in Tokyo." These include the scene where
Sam (Edward G. Robinson) is teaching a Japanese woman gin rummy (an
evergreen specimen is against the back wall of the room); where Paul
(Yves Motand) goes into Yoko (Shirley McClaine)'s dressing bus (a small
juniper is briefly scene in front of the small screen which Paul sits
in front of); where Paul and Sam are in one of the main rooms of the
hotel (a large bonsai in a yellow bowl with a small one in a dark
rectangular container to its right and a medium-large one in a dark
blue pot against another wall), and on the far right corner of the
hotel's front desk counter. Released in USA June 13. (Originally
brought to RJB's attention in posting to rec.arts.bonsai by Michael Pollock
of Westchester County, NY, March 14, 2001; details added later by RJB.)
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mid-1960s?
TV
"What's My Line"
|
Frank Okamura, longtime bonsai caretaker and teacher of the art at the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, was a guest on one show. (Per pg.
34 of Outstanding American Bonsai by Randy Clark, Timber Press,
1989.)
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1966
Columbia Pictures Corp. movie
Walk Don't Run
|
"Quite a few bonsai trees... it is set in Tokyo [during the 1964
Olympics] and has Cary Grant in it. (I never knew Cary Grant was so naturally comedic!!!).
Anyway, the couples are touring a Japanese estate/garden and Cary Grant
is discussing bauxite prices with the milkdud fiancée, when he says
'Look! Miniature bonsai trees.' Pretty funny stuff. The
trees are set out on a bench. Very typical Japanese trees.
They seemed to mostly be pines." Released in USA June 29. (Per malhomme from Austin, TX in posting to
bonsaitalk.com on Oct. 20, 2005) (George Takei, soon to be from "Star Trek,"
is a police captain here, and Samantha Eggar, who is Grant's character's fiancée,
would voice "M" for the 2002 video game "James Bond 007: Nightfire" -- see
Celluloid Bonsai V.)
New 10/23/06
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1967
Arcola Pictures & Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. movie
Tony Rome
|
"Spotted a bonsai today while watching ... an old [Frank] Sinatra movie. If you have the
movie it's in the houseboat that's decorated in a Japanese style." Released in USA
November 10. (Per zoot from Gloucestershire, UK in posting to
bonsaitalk.com on Oct. 18, 2006)
New 10/23/06
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1969
United Artists movie
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
|
Right before James Bond, undercover as Sir Hillary Bray (George Lazenby),
meets Ernst Blofeld (Telly Savales) fairly early in the film, a medium-sized
juniper bonsai in a brass round deep basin is seen in the room. It
is also seen in three shots of Bond. This compact tree, with somewhat
squarish/cubic shaped foliage (as opposed to pyramidal/triangular), has
a thin curving trunk and branches. It is seen also in two shots much
later in the film as Blofeld talks with Tracy (Diana Rigg) when the three
helicopters approach. (As usual, the bonsai's location gets blown
up.) Released in USA December 18.
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1973
Warner Bros. movie
Enter the Dragon
|
There is a scene in this "first American produced martial arts spectacular"
starring Bruce Lee where a sort of Chinese elm is shown in the background
on a tall narrow flower stand inside the mansion/fortress of the villain,
Han (Kien Shih). Released in USA August 19. (Contributed by
Uriah Heep in personal e-mail to RJB, September 1, 2000.).
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1974
Sequoia movie
Golden Needles
|
In this kung fu movie set in Hong Kong and starring Joe Don Baker and Elizabeth
Ashley, there is a scene where a medicated [sic]
young lady is pretending to trim a sort of windswept Podocarpus
Buddha's pine. Released in USA in July. (Contributed by Uriah Heep in personal e-mail to RJB,
September 1, 2000.)
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1976
TV - BBC
"Dr. Who" episode
"The Seeds of Doom"
|
In this episode featuring the fourth Dr.
Who (Tom Baker), there is mention of the "atrocious act of Bonsai" by a plant defender.
Richard Dunbar (Kenneth Gilbert) introduces himself as from the World Ecology Bureau, to which Harrison Chase (Tony Beckley) replies:
"And what is your bureau doing about bonsai?" "Bonsai, Mr Chase?" "Mutilation and torture,
Mr. Dunbar. The hideous, grotesque Japanese practice of miniaturizing shrubs and trees.
What is your bureau doing about that?" Original air date Jan 31.
(Originally mentioned by Khaimraj Seepersad, Caribbean / W. I., in posting to rec.arts.bonsai
on July 20, 1999. Specific reference by spookybonsai from Melbourne, Australia in
posting to
bonsaitalk.com on Apr. 4, 2005]
New 10/20/06
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1977
MGM movie
The Spy Who Loved Me
|
In a hotel (?) room scene just before they go out to the American submarine,
James Bond (Roger Moore) tells Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) that he
killed the man she loved three weeks earlier. Behind them, the fireplace
mantle itself appears to be the marble base for a perhaps 4 foot long penjing.
A thin-trunked tree curls to the right among tannish rocks and some moss.
Released in USA August 3.
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1979
MGM movie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
|
AUDIO ONLY In the Japanese-dubbed version of this film, in the scene where we meet the Knights who
say "Ni," the three-headed leader says (per English subtitles) "You Must Bring Bonsai" instead of "We Demand a Shrubbery."
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) responds "We will certainly bring a bonsai," to which the three-head comments "Not too expensive."
Released in UK April 3, 1975, New York City April 27, 1975, general USA May 10, 1975... and Japan August 11, 1979. (Per
extra features in Special Edition 2001 DVD version of this film. Confused yet?)
New 02/08/08
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1981
20th Century Fox movie
The Final Conflict
|
In a very brief scene, a 75 cm high informal upright Chinese juniper is
to be seen. (per caption of photo on pg. 58 of Bonsai, The
Art of Growing and Keeping Miniature Trees by Peter Chan, Wellfleet
Press, 1985) Released in USA March 20.
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1983
Century Pacific distributed movie
Zu shu shan
(Warriors of the Magic Mountain)
|
There are dwarf potted trees throughout this Cantonese film. One
of the characters, the drunkard of the group, lives in a greenhouse.
He wakes up in one scene and knocks over some of the trees. (Boldly
Grow!) Re-released in USA January 4, 2002. (Contributed by Dustin Martinez in personal e-mail
to RJB, June 1, 2001.)
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1986
MGM/UA movie
Nine 1/2 Weeks
|
In one of the first scenes, inside the Spring Street Gallery where Elizabeth
(Kim Basinger) works, on top of a white panel divider to the right of her
office cubicle is a small bonsai. The black-rimmed office clock on
the wall is seen just to the left of the tree. In a rectangular brown
tray perhaps an inch deep is a broom-style tree with a thin upright trunk,
probably not a juniper. The soil at its base is mounded up, higher
than the tray is deep. The overall composition is less than a foot
tall. It is also seen later in the film. Released in USA February
21.
Editor's
Note: Adult Situations elsewhere in this film.
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1988
MGM movie
A Fish Called Wanda
|
In the opening credits, the segment showing Michael Palin has what
appears to be a bonsai in the window sill on the upper left side of the
screen. The dark blue or green pot has soil mounded up. In
it is a thick trunked tree -- not a conifer or maple. The top is
a tangle reminiscent of an African native specimen. The foliage
is sparce or like thick short strands. Released in USA July
15.
Editor's
Note: Adult Situations elsewhere in this film.
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20th Century Fox movie
Die Hard
|
* During the opening credits,
a medium-sized plume-branched juniper is briefly seen -- but not its
bottom trunk or pot -- at a hallway juncture in the Nakatomi
headquarters. * In the room with scale models of the company's holdings,
two large junipers (?) flank a large golden statue. A tall vase is on
the outer side of each tree; the left tree is in a deep celadon drum
pot. Both trees are in somewhat dim light at the time. (They are run
past a little later in the film.) * Another slightly smaller juniper (?)
is seen in a room off the far end of the table of the "Project in
Indonesia." * Another large juniper in a lip-flaring pot is in the room
outside the vault. Its foliage is very briefly seen past the shoulder
of Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). * After John McClane (Bruce Willis) gets Hans on the
radio, John goes into a room where at least four large junipers reside,
two tall, one being lower, both of these in pale blue glazed Chinese-style
garden pots. The camera sweeps past the trees briefly. Later, as the
hostages are going downstairs, one of the terrorists is seen running.
The camera looks through the foliage of one of the trees, from one
direction and then another. * A tall tree is seen again in the hallway
as the "Boldly Grow Curse" continues. The tree is backlit behind John
in a firefight. Just about all the trees shown were not as compact as
we are used to seeing in Japanese-school bonsai. Released in USA July 15 [sic]
New 03/13/05
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Walt Disney Company animated movie
Oliver & Company
|
About 45 minutes into the story, in the New York 5th Avenue brownstone
Foxworth residence as Winston the bulter responds to the poodle
Georgette's call, he passes in front of a penjing styled composition on
a hallway table against a wall just past the stairwell on the second
floor. In a shallow, rounded bottom coppery-brown bowl, the twin
trunk has some unbleached deadwood and foliage which is more natural
and ragged-edged rather than sculpted smooth. The trees are the
equivalent of about a foot tall. A non-Oriental (ancient
Grecian?) vase is on the table to the right of the plant. Other
plants seen in the house were a palm and orchids, but no other Asian
decor. Released in USA November 18 (with re-release March 29,
1996). (Brought to RJB's attention by daughter Raechel.)
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1989
New Line Pictures movie
The
Punisher
|
Two
bonsai are visible in scenes in New York (or Chicago?) where Frank Castle
(Dolph Lundgren) goes into a kendo dojo
in a highrise building. One tree may be visible in a final scene
when a villian is playing a piano.
(Contributed by Dustin Martinez in personal e-mail to RJB, August 9,
2001) Released in Germany October 5, in USA on video April 25,
1991.
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Paramount Pictures movie
Black Rain
|
At about the 130 minute mark, when Nick Conklin (Michael Douglas) goes to Masahiro Matsumoto(Ken Takakura)'s apartment in Osaka,
two small bonsai are seen near a window and a larger one is to the left of them on a shelf. The
room is a typically dimly-lit scene by director Ridley Scott -- see 1982's
Blade Runner. The first two trees are on a low table
to the right of a telescope. The larger tree (up to 15" tall) is on the top shelf of a bookcase.
That tree is possibly a conifer, a sinuous trunk informal upright in a medium-sized blue/blue-gray
glazed rectangular pot. To its left is an unlit lamp. Light coming through the window to the
right of the tree casts its shadow on the wall. Released in USA September 22.
New 02/08/08
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Lorimar Film Entertainment movie
Second Sight
|
Not quite 10 minutes into the film, just after Wills (John Larroquette)
introduces himself at the diner, the cast is back in the office of the
Second Sight Detective Agency. On the far right side of the
receptionist's desk is a small potted juniper with foliage in a bow.
A few seconds later in a front shot of the desk we see another but
medium-sized lower and wider juniper to the right and behind. The
first juniper is briefly seen again, and then the second tree peeks out
behind the secretary's shoulder in two long shots. Later, in the
scene with Maria (Marisol Massey) and Sister Elizabeth (Bess Armstrong)
at Wills' office, the first tree is viewed a ways through the
doorway. The second tree is just outside the doorway at the end
of the scene. Released in USA November 3.
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1990
TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Brothers"
|
About halfway through this Oct. 6 episode, the camera pans to the left
in Dr. Noonien Soong's study and very briefly a bonsai is seen. It
is elevated, against an evenly lit back wall, and the tree has two thin
trunks holding up two bright medium green foliage pads, one above the other.
The pot is dark brown and flares slightly at the top. When Soong
sits down to talk across from Lt. Cmd. Data a moment later, the right edge
of the tree's foliage is just visible at the left edge of the screen.
Then the camera is repositioned so that Soong's white hair is barely back
lit by the green foliage. Data's brother, Lore, now makes his entrance.
(In a nice little tour de force, Brent Spiner plays all three characters.)
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TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Reunion"
|
The first scene after the opening credits of this Nov. 3 episode shows
five backlit bonsai behind Alexander (Brian Bonesall). Other similarly
displayed trees are then also seen. (See "Rascals" episode, 1992)
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1991
movie
L'Amant
(The Lover)
|
A French art film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud which takes place in
Saigon in 1929. An 18-year old French girl (Jane March) from a family
whose fortunes have fallen has an affair with a rich Chinese merchant's
mid-30ish son (Tony Leung Ka-Fai). In his "bachelor room" (called
that in the film) he has two dead or dying penjing. These are a small
part of the story as the girl waters them twice -- once in the nude [sic] ...
Released in USA in October 1992. (Contributed by Craig J. Hunt in
personal e-mail to RJB, March 2, 2000.)
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1992
TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Hero Worship"
|
In the room where Data and Timothy (Joshua Harris) are painting, a thin-trunked
small bonsai is seen during a few shots of the boy. The tree is behind
him in a low wide rectangular tray. The foliage is nondescript, not
triangular-shaped. It, perhaps, is better described as "cotton candy
on a thin stick" style. A display of eight small bonsai is then seen
about five minutes later in one long shot when the two characters are in
the children's playroom. The trees are on three shelves, brightly
backlit in this January 25 episode.
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TV - Fox
"The Simpsons" episode
"Bart's Friend Falls
In Love"
|
Within the first five minutes of this May 7 episode, a small juniper-like
bonsai in a flat round bowl is seen on the credenza opposite Principal
Skinner's desk as he is interviewing transfer student Samantha Stankey
from Phoenix [sic].
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TV-
"Baywatch" episode
"River of No Return"
|
The first of this two-part episode has some bonsai in a nursery or garden
setting.
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TV - BBC
"Absolutely Fabulous" episode
"Fat"
|
A pine, perhaps 2' tall but barely an inch in diameter, is in a
dusty-brown pot (4" deep?) on the front right edge of the desk of Edwina
(Jennifer Saunders). The informal upright, a not particularly
shaped tree, is seen in the often smoke-filled fashion office as
secretary Bubble (Jane Horrocks) goes over to the overflowing fax
machine.
New 03/13/05
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Paradis Films et al
Production,
Sony Pictures Classics
distributed (USA) movie
Indochine
|
Set in 1930s French Colonial Indochina (Vietnam), this Catherine Deneuve
film includes a huge "penjing" in a courtyard of the mandarins. French
with English subtitles. Released in France April 15, in USA December
23. (Contributed by Uriah Heep in personal e-mail to RJB, November
11, 2003.)
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1993
Nu Image Production
movie
Point
of Impact
|
A couple of bonsai are quickly seen in this suspense/action film.
"The bonsai weren't very good either, though they weren't junipers :-)"
(Contributed by Nicolas Steenhout in posting to rec.arts.bonsai, January
26, 2001.)
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movie
Xin
liu xing hu die jian
(Butterfly
and Sword)
|
There is a scene in this Cantonese film in which Sister Ko (Michelle Yeoh)
and Butterfly (Joey Wong) are arguing about whom Sing is in love with more
and if Sister Ko can show her feelings. In the direct center of the
background you will find your dwarf potted tree. (Contributed by
Dustin Martinez in personal e-mail to RJB, June 4, 2001.)
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TV - NBC
"Blossom" episode
"Six and Sonny" and
"Blossom's Dilemma"
|
Mention of bonsai is made early in the first (Oct. 11) of this two-part
episode. Then about three-quarters through the first part, Sonny
(David Schwimmer) offers a small rounded juniper in a blue glazed pot to
Blossom's dad (Ted Wass). More bonsai are seen in the second part
(Oct. 18).
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TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Phantasms"
|
About forty minutes into this Oct. 23 episode, a bonsai is in three shots
in Data's quarters with the android, his cat, Spot, and Lt. Worf (Michael
Dorn). In a shallow medium-sized greenish-blue rectangular pot is what
appears to be a light green delicate-looking juniper.
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TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Dark Page"
|
Three small nondescript trees in backlit niches are very briefly seen in
the ship's arboretum almost twenty minutes into the Oct. 30 episode.
Luaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) sits in front of them. Those plants are visible
with two other dwarf trees in the same setting over a longer period of
time less than ten minutes from the end of the episode.
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Columbia Pictures movie
My Life
|
"In a few scenes, (Michael Keaton as Bob Jones) was with, I believe, a
Chinese medical practitioner (Haing S. Ngor as Mr. Ho) who had a 'bonsai'
in one window of the office. It looked like one of those dreaded
mail-order or mall-bought junipers destined to die within a week or so."
Actually, when Bob Jones gets into Mr. Ho's
office, there are two penjing on the window ledges. Jones looks
over to see the one composition in a two second shot, a twin tree thin
trunk informal upright in a dark rectangular pot with brownish rocky
soil mix. The plants are not the typical material -- they
actually look like miniaturized trees or pines (not junipers) with
half-dozen or so branch/thin cloud layers each. The second
composition is seen in two brief long shots past the top of Keaton's
head. Juniper-like crescent foliage, the thin trunk on the left
in a brownish rectangular tray. In a later return to the office
the twin tree is briefly seen across the room. In another visit
the second is seen in very dim light. Both compositions are
fairly small pieces -- they could just comfortably be carried in one
hand each. Released in USA November 12. (Contributed by Deb Kennedy, Traverse
City, MI in posting to rec.arts.bonsai, November 12, 2000; additional details brought
to RJB's attention by my wife Shirley.)
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TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Force of Nature"
|
Twenty minutes into this Nov. 13 episode in Lt. Commander Data's quarters,
we see a bonsai in a dark brown rectangular tray. The soil surface
is covered by shiny black stones. The tree has dark brown wood and
dark green-gray foliage. Due to a longer view than in other episodes,
it appears to be artificial (a Ming tree).
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1994
TV - Fox
"Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine" episode
"Whispers"
|
In the opening minutes, a small to medium size possibly evergreen bonsai
in a darker greenish glazed rectangular pot is seen briefly in the background
in Miles and Keiko O'Brien's quarters on board the station. Another
bonsai, a nondescript shape in a blue glazed oval pot, is seen in several
shots past the halfway point of the Feb. 5 episode.
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TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Eye of the Beholder"
|
A scene takes place in Lt. Calloway's quarters during the last five minutes
of this Feb. 26 episode. A bonsai is barely seen in three quick shots.
It sits on the table from which Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) picks
up a hand phaser. The tree appears to be a thin trunked foot tall
root over rock planting. The tree's apex is very close to the top
of the rock and their colors blend together.
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TV - NBC
"World Figure Skating
Championships"
|
This taped event from the Event Center in Makuhari near Tokyo Bay was broadcast
on March 25 and 26. A medium-sized pair of long-needle pines set
against an orange background flanked the area where the just-finished contestants
went to await the marks of the jury. The trunk of the tree on the
left had been cut off about half-way up and its left branch, just below
the cut, was now trained so that its apex was that of the tree also (somewhat
resembling a Western number "4" shape).
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TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Genesis"
|
About 40 minutes into this March 19 episode, a medium-sized root over rock
bonsai is seen very briefly in the shadows of Lt. Commander Data's quarters.
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TV - Fox
"Star Trek: The Next
Generation" episode
"Bloodlines"
|
Two very brief shots about twenty-five minutes into this April 30 episode
show a small/medium-sized root over rock planting in an oval tray in Jason Vigo's quarters.
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Warner Brothers movie
On
Deadly Ground
|
In this Steven Seagal film, a bonsai is very briefly seen in the office
of the oil company's president (Michael Caine). What looks like a
"mallsai" style serissa is on an end table in the middle of the room.
Released in USA February 18. (Contributed by Bill Neff in posting
to rec.arts.bonsai, August 9, 1999.)
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Universal Pictures movie
Junior
|
During the final half hour or so in this film, there is a brief scene where
Dr. Larry Arbogast (Danny DeVito) is hiding the very pregnant Dr. Alex
Hesse (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in a house during a rain storm. They enter a
room and there is the [requisite] brief shot of a bonsai, inside the room
and against a glass block wall. The tree, probably a juniper with a triangular apex,
is in a dark oval pot which rests on a credenza. Released in USA November 24.
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1995
20th Century Fox movie
French
Kiss
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AUDIO ONLY
About an hour and a half into this film, Kate (Meg Ryan), dividing up the
divorcing couples' assets, begins by telling Charlie (Timothy Hutton)
that "I get the bonn-zye,..." Released in USA May 5.
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MCA/Universal Pictures
movie
Waterworld
|
In
apparently the first shot of Mariner (Kevin Costner), we see him "peeing
into a bottle, pouring the fluid into a home-made chemistry set, cranking
a handle to process it, and then drinking it. Then he gargles, and
spits on his little [potted] lime tree." Deacon (Dennis Hopper) later
incinerates the tree. Released in USA July 28. (Contributed
by Derrick Price of Phoenix, AZ, Nina Shishkoff of Riverhead, NY, and Anne
Marie of Daytona Beach, FL -- with 07/28/1995 Roger Ebert quote -- in postings
to rec.arts.bonsai, March 5 through 7, 2000; and Craig J. Hunt in personal
e-mails to RJB, March 6 and 8, 2000.)
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TV - UPN
"Star Trek Voyager" episode
"Parturition"
|
Very briefly observed in the first scene after the opening credits of this
October 9 episode, a thin trunked juniper in a small rectangular pot sets
on the coffee table in the quarters of Harry Kim (Garrett Wang).
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January 1, 1996
TV
Tournament of Roses
Parade
|
"Elephant Antics," the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) float, possibly
included the depiction of a very large flowering cherry bonsai in
an oval two foot deep pot.
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TV - CBS
"Cybill" episode
"When You're Hot, You're Hot"
|
A small thin-trunked juniper in a rectangular glazed pot sits on the counter
of a Chinese herbal shop about ten minutes into this particular April 29
episode. Cybill Shepherd and Christine Baranski are in the scene.
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TV - Nissan commercial
"Enjoy the Ride" campaign
|
From late summer, the boy in this series goes into an old barn and lands
at the bottom of a secret passage in what is an underground garage of the
Nissan spokesman. A medium juniper bonsai in a rectangular pot is
seen on the corner of an ornate desk there.
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movie
Everything
must go
(Alles
moet weg)
|
A Dutch film directed by Jan Verheyen listed as a Comedy/Drama. In
one scene an enranged husband destroys his wife's bonsai collection.
Should this be reclassified as a horror movie? (Contributed by David
Nassar, Melbourne, Australia, in a posting to rec.arts.bonsai, May 10,
1999.)
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movie
The
Pillow Book
|
"[T]raditional Pensai [sic] are shown throughout"
this film whose storyline is derived from the diary of a 10th century Japanese
lady-in-waiting. Released in USA June 6, 1997. (Contributed
by EMO1016@aol.com in personal e-mail to RJB, March 27, 2000.)
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c.1996-1999
TV - ABC
"One Life to Live"
|
The character R.J. Gannon (Timothy Stickney) has had a number of bonsai
on his apartment balcony including a few junipers and Fukien tea.
He is often seen working with his shears on a pretty nicely styled juniper.
(The trees may have come from a place in Manhattan called Living Sculptures
near the ABC studios, and the actor is probably an enthusiast off hours.)
The very first time the trees were shown, Gannon was actually working on
several of them while waiting for his lover in the next room to wake up.
The segment ran for quite a bit and zoomed in on him and the trees.
Regularly shown talking about and pruning a few bonsai when in his apartment,
the character's knowledge sounds much more real and passionate than simply
coming from a script.
At one point in the storyline (Spring 1999), Gannon burned his club down,
was broke and faced with the prospect of not being able to pay for the
place. When his brother offered to move him to the brother's place,
Gannon turned him down because his bonsai needed the terrace or they would
not survive without an outdoor area. (Contributed by Patrizia G.
Kane, NYC, in personal e-mails to RJB, August 10 and 12, 1999.)
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1997
TV - CBS
"Touched by an Angel"
episode
"Clipped Wings"
|
Near the end of this Feb. 16 show, Monica (Roma Downey) is in the office
of the Angel of Angels (James Earl Jones). Looking at her from his
point of view we see a small nondescript bonsai on each side of his desk.
The one to the left seems to be a multi-trunked or multi-exposed root (neagari)
specimen, possibly deciduous. The one on the right does show some
green. Two other trees can be made out to the right against the wall,
elevated perhaps on top of an aquarium. That left one appeared
the most interesting: the tapered trunk from lower left to upper right
with distinct short branches, in silhouette. The trees are never
clearly focused upon in the several shots.
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New Line Cinema movie
Austin
Powers: International Man of Mystery
|
Three bonsai are to be briefly seen as Austin Powers (Mike Meyers) sneaks
into and is discovered at the Japanese-decorated penthouse of Alotta Fagina
[sic]
(Fabiana Udenio). One fairly tall medium-sized juniper is in a blue
glazed pot to the left rear; a pair of smaller trees is basically seen
in silhouette to the right of the first, under the window through which
the spy has entered. Released in USA May 2.
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MGM Production movie
Red
Corner
|
"Some
interesting Chinese - Penjing styled bonsai in the opening sequences.
Poor glimpses in the later interrogation sequence." With Richard
Gere. Released in USA Oct. 31. (Contributed by Kevin Bailey
of Vale of Clwyd Bonsai Society in posting to Internet Bonsai Club, January
11, 2003.)
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1998
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation movie
There's
Something About Mary
|
During the first fifteen minutes of the film, at the end of Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller)'s session, on a
credenza in the therapist's office can be seen an exotic species bonsai, thin trunk in a somewhat light-colored pot.
Released in USA July 15.
New 08/09/07
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Warner Bros. movie
Without
Limits
|
A "glimpse of a bench full of bonsai" can be had in this biography of 1970s
running great Steve Prefontaine. Released in USA September 11.
(Contributed by Nicolas Steenhout in posting to rec.arts.bonsai, November
12, 2000.)
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1999
Promark Entertainment Group
movie
Angel's
Dance
|
"A B type flick starring Jim
Belushi as a California hit man with an ocean side house. A juniper
is displayed outside on the porch railing. Premiered in USA February 25.
(Per jguyett from Knox County, USA in posting to
bonsaitalk.com on Apr. 1, 2005)
New 10/23/06
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TV - Lipton Brisk Ice
Tea commercial
|
Beginning in May, this delightful parody using animated clay figurines
shows Ralph "Karate Kid" Macchio fighting Bruce Lee. Against the
back walls of the subject dojo (martial arts practice room) are
set three bonsai, each on its own raised stand.
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Columbia Pictures Corporation
movie
Runaway
Bride
|
Several
minutes into this film there is a brief scene in the office of the USA
Today editor (Nancy Wilson). Right before Richard Gere's character
is let go, there is a few second-long shot across the desk looking at Wilson.
In the middle of her desk is a very small, low bonsai. Premiered
in USA July 25.
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TV - Eagle Hardware commercial
|
A great ad showing several respectable bonsai
along with an elderly
couple (presumably not for sale) with a pitch about "soil, a shovel, time,
etc." The trees, the setting and the respect it seemed to show for
bonsai growing were impressive. (Contributed by Daniel Avrin in posting
to rec.arts.bonsai, September 7, 1999.)
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TV - Chili's restaurant
commercial
|
Seen in September, two animated clay peppers are performing karate on a
white onion. Behind them, a pair of bonsai in bowls flank a set of
steps going up from the dirt sparring field to what may be the veranda
of a dojo.
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TV - DIY
"Bonsai" episode
|
“Planting Indoor Bonsai”: Brush cherry (Syzygium paniculatum) ; “Quick
Tip: Watering Bonsai” ; “A Bonsai Ficus” with Bonsai expert Ann Erb;
“Quick Tip: Protect Outdoor Bonsai” and “Tips for Buying Bonsai.”
Episode DIG-119 air date of October 28.
New 12/05/05
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Abandon Pictures Production,
New Line Home Video Distribution
movie
Pros & Cons
|
About halfway through the film, when Ben Babbitt (Larry Miller) and Ron
Carter (Tommy Davidson) are brought into the bowels of the prison to meet
with Kyle Pettibone (Delroy Lindo), the latter is seen trimming a small
non-conifer bonsai in a small dark pot. A second similar-sized tree
is next to it in a white glazed rectangular/trapezoidal pot. The
trees are seen in several shots of Kyle. And the bonsai are briefly
visible in a later scene.
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New Line Cinema movie
Magnolia
|
In this Tom Cruise release, a pine bonsai is seen in the house of the old
man by his bed. Halfway through the 2nd videotape, Linda (Julianne
Moore) comes into the house from the rain. As Phil (Philip Seymour
Hoffman) talks to her, the camera pans toward and quickly by the tree sitting
on a counter/half-wall divider. The trunk moves at a 45° angle
to the upper right into a rounded foliage pad, the lower third moving to
the upper left at a similar angle. Its dark rectangular pot is more
than one-quarter the height of the tree and two-thirds the width of the
foliage.
The tree is briefly seen later in a shot from the deathbed of Earl (Jason
Robards), several feet away from the counter. (BTW,
Robards absolutely "nails" the portrayal of a dying man.)
What appears to be a suiseki on a large stand is seen fairly upclose but
not clearly in the entranceway to the house in one of the final shots of
the film. Premiered in USA December 8. General release one
month later. (Contributed by Keegan, Middlebury, VT, in posting to
rec.arts.bonsai, January 21, 2000. Details added by RJB 10/29/01.)
Editor's
Note: While the film does have artistic merit for its montage storyline
and acting, the language in several scenes is VERY strong and there are
a few depictions of drug use. THIS IS NOT A FAMILY FILM.
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Fox 2000 Pictures movie
Anna and the King
|
Near the film's beginning, when the gates to the Imperial Palace open we
start to see the many potted trees lining the wide central walkway.
Some are pom-poms, some are in portable pots, a few in large concrete-equivalent
ground huggers. Many of the trees are tall and thin. As Anna
(Jodie Foster) later crosses the porchway into the Prime Minister's chambers,
a few medium-sized specimens in shallow pots are briefly visible.
Much later, Anna and her party are getting out of a carriage at the docks
in preparation to leaving Siam due to the approach of a rebel army.
The top of what might be a small/medium Ficus-like dwarf potted
tree is very briefly seen being carried.
Filmed in Malaysia instead of Thailand because of assumed historical inaccuracies
about portrayal of the King of Siam and the time period of the story, the trees herein
are not really of 19th century Thai style. Premiered in USA December
15.
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2000
and beyond
|
Celluloid Bonsai IV
|
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|
Also, details are needed for other reported sightings currently being followed
up on, including these TV episodes:
-- "Space 1999," a bonsai
is traded for some space article by one of the Commander Control Crew [per
Khaimraj Seepersad, Caribbean / W. I., in posting to rec.arts.bonsai on
July 20, 1999]
Air date and episode name, other plot details?
-- "Rockford Files," an
episode in which Jim, Angel, and some friends, including Steve
Landesburg, did a con
involving duel registry of ocean tankers or some such thing, towards the
end, a bonsai is seen in someone's office, on a shelf or a mantle on the
wall. [per Mat Carter in personal e-mail to RJB on July 19, 1999]
I've double-checked a TV database on the web and could not find mention
of either an episode of this series with Steve Landesburg or with that
plotline. Could it have been a special made-for-TV movie? Anyone?
-- "Dynasty," an episode
in which the character Krystal is shown trimming a bonsai. [per Uriah
Heep in personal e-mail to RJB on September 1, 2000]
Air date and episode name, other plot details?
-- "I'll Fly Away,"
"The show involved a Southern lawyer,
his three children, and his girlfriend. In one episode he took his
younger two children to a holiday party at the home of his girlfriend.
In the girlfriend's entry was a stand with a citrus bonsai. The man's
young son plucked a tiny fruit from the tree and the girlfriend told
him how many years it had taken the tree to bear that fruit. The party
was all downhill from there and the man and his children ended up
leaving." [per Sara Matheis in personal e-mail to RJB April 25, 1996]
Air
date and episode name, other plot details? The episode guide does not have any obvious clues.
(Originally
the series was on NBC Oct. 7, 1991 through Feb. 5, 1993)
Added
to 06/15/04
-- "Star Trek: The Next
Generation," an episode at whose very last scene the actor was sitting
in front of her bonsai. Though the tree only had 2 branches, she
cut the lower one off and said something like "that's better." [per
Parris Janusek in personal e-mail to RJB on November 26, 2001]
Air date and episode name, other plot details?
-- "La Femme Nikita,"
Madeline in Operations with vandaceous orchids and bonsai in diffuse glass-backed
wall niches. She is often seen pruning/relaxing prior to her practicing
cold calculating metal [sic] torture on her
victims (and she is one of good ones). [per Luis Fontanills, Miami,
Florida, in posting to rec.arts.bonsai on August 9, 1999] Madeline
has several bonsai on glass shelves on one of the walls |