It looks like The SB may have already made the move to Chicago. I saw an "event" post on FB that listed one of her bands (Growing) at a show in that city, and she also made a post, via her friend Morgin, that had to do with "getting used to your surroundings", which also speaks of a new city.
SB? Are you there?
I don't see the Macintosh showing up anymore on my stats page. Not for a couple weeks now. I wish I knew what happened........
Tonight's movie was called "The Dark Corner" (1946), a Noir starring the handsome and boyish Mark Stevens (of "Snake Pit" fame), and.......Lucille Ball! Stevens is a Private Eye working in San Francisco. Lucy is his secretary. He has a thing for her, she is interested, but only if marriage will result. Still, they form a great team. In the course of their work, they notice they are being followed by a white suited thug. Stevens traps him and - this being a Noir from the 40s - beats him to a pulp to confess : who is he working for? Why is he following Stevens and Lucy? It should be mentioned that William Bendix plays the thug. He was an actor who was famous for playing Babe Ruth, but very often he played a Palooka, and he is perfect in this role.
Once he is caught by Mark Stevens, all hell breaks loose, and intrigue follows. It turns out that the "confession" Bendix gave to Stevens is false, and meant to throw Stevens, a Private Detective, off the trail of the real culprit, who is trying to frame him for murder.
The trail of clues leads in to the Art World, to a Gallery where wealthy people bid on collectible paintings. The proprietor of the Gallery is Clifton Webb (of "Laura" fame), so you know he is very likely to be The Manipulator Behind The Scenes. Webb was great at portraying sophisticated but evil characters, totally immoral, and he is such here. But in the end, he is no match for Lucy, whose pluckishness and tenacity save the day for the irresolute Stevens.
As usual, there is a ton of other stuff going on, including a full sub-plot with Clifton Webb's young wife, who is playing around behind his back with a lawyer and art patron who just happens to have been an old business partner of Mark Stevens. This is Noir Script Supreme, all the stuff that is woven together. The lawyer is played by German actor Kurt Krueger, who looks like a macho version of David Bowie.
There is some great action footage, shot on The Streets Of San Francisco circa 1946. The movie was directed by the great Henry Hathaway, noted mostly for Westerns but also a share of Noirs and other stuff. He was one of those early Hollywood Craftsmen who could work in any style.
But the real treat here is Lucy. If you already Love Her as a classic, one-of-a-kind comedienne (which you do), you are in for a real surprise here. She uses a light comic touch for her character in "The Dark Corner", and you can kind of see her "Lucy" beginnings, just a bit, but other than that she is all business as Stevens' Gal Friday, who can get the job done and then some, no nonsense but romantic too. Go Lucy!
I am always looking for movies I haven't seen before, and I am always thinking I have seen all the Noirs there are to see, so it was nice to find this one, and maybe there are some more left to discover.
The only other news was an evening walk up at Aliso and a lot of reading of my Michael Salla book. I don't know whether to believe William Tompkins' story or not. It isn't patently ridiculous like Corey Goode's. In fact, most of it seems to have documentation, and - for me - it has that San Diego connection as well, and China Lake.
But he is talking about a Space Fleet of incredibly large ships which he claims have been already launched - in the 80s! Ships that are kilometers long.
So do I believe that?
I don't know.
I can't say "I probably do not" and I cannot say "I may believe it".
I can only say that the rest of his story seems to be very credible and very well documented. And, he is 94 years old. So if his story is false, in any aspect, I am wondering what the motive is.
Also, this is the Bottom Line for me : I probably wouldn't believe much of his story at all, if it weren't for the fact that I have my own experience - my own weird story.
And I know my story is true.
So what am I to make of the story of Mr. Tompkins, who is now 94? //////
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