Tonight I had a very special moviegoing experience. They were having another Monday night edition of the CSUN Cinematheque, hosted by the same professor who hosted the screening of "Testament Of Dr. Mabuse" the night before Halloween. Well tonight, the movie was "East Of Eden" (1955), one of only three films James Dean appeared in before his death. I had only seen this film once before, several years ago on dvd and therefore on a TV screen, and as great as it was to see it that way - and to see it for the first time - to see it in a theater, in widescreen format, was a whole 'nuther thing.
I knew it was a great movie going in. But after tonight, I am gonna call it one of the greatest movies ever made. I was blown away - by the story, the script dialogue, the use of camera angles and general photography (including soft focus lenses), the 1917 period staging and locations in Northern California, but most of all......by the acting. Holy Smokes, movie fans! If you have ever wondered why James Dean is such an icon, even though he only made three movies and died at 24 years of age, just watch "East Of Eden". Even if he had only made this one movie, he would still be an icon for his performance here alone. There is so much written about him, and it is better to Google it than for me to recite it, but my goodness I think his legend is well deserved. Had he lived, he'd be 86 today and would no doubt have won a few Oscars. Then there is the performance of Julie Harris, which I think should be studied by all young actresses (and probably is). She plays the girlfriend of Dean's older brother - the "Good Brother" in the story; i.e Abel to Dean's "Bad Brother" Cain - but she is really in love with Dean and strives to change him, to bring out his good side. But she can only do it by bringing him together with his father,with whom he has a troubled relationship.
The father (played by Raymond Massey) - a lettuce farmer who is inventing the idea of frozen vegetables - is also a devout Christian with strong ideas about right and wrong, which get in the way of his ability to express love to his children. He is a good man, but is too busy with black and white morality to understand the complexities of human psychology, especially those inside his young son who has discovered a terrible family secret about his mother, who he had thought was deceased.
The book from which the movie was made was written by John Steinbeck, of "Grapes Of Wrath" fame, and the movie was directed by the great Elia Kazan, of "On The Waterfront", and "Streetcar Named Desire" fame, and so many others. He was one of the greatest directors of actors who ever lived, and to see what I mean, just watch "East Of Eden". The lead performances of James Dean, Julie Harris and Raymond Massey are as great a trio of acting as you will ever see in any movie, period.
"East Of Eden" is a melodrama, and it gets very heavy at times, but the story never drags even for a minute, which is why I also say that the script is one of the greats as well.
For me, this movie immediately goes into my mythical Top 25, "mythical" because at this point, having seen a trillion movies, I cant squeeze any more into my top films list. I've never really made such a list anyway, as I have with rock albums. It's harder with movies, as there are so many, with such a multitude of styles and stories. I could tell you my Top 25 albums, and I've done so in the past (and maybe I'll repeat it soon), but with movies it's harder because.....well, it's just different.
But see "East Of Eden", even just on dvd, to see how great it is, and how fine the performances, which will stand the test of time as long as there is cinema.
That's basically all the news for today. I did read a chapter in my book this afternoon, the book being "Drugs As Weapons Against Us", about the life and upbringing of Courtney Love, and about her parents, and family contacts. And I must say that I was astounded.
And this is coming from me, the Unshockable One.
If you want to talk about a Manchurian Candidate, Courtney Love is one. She was certainly a victim of a program known as "Project Artichoke" (aka "Project Bluebird"), you can Google it if you wish to, and she was likely given a dose of LSD when she was three years old by her psychotic mother. This is once again a case where I must refer you to the literature (and Google) rather than recite it myself, and you can always read the book by John Potash yourself as well, but for now I will say that the evidence is clear that Courtney Love has lived an abnormal life since she was a small child, and the result was that she became a drugged-out aggressive monster who wreaked havoc into the lives of many people she came into contact with, including most tragically Kurt Cobain, whose death she certainly had a hand in, without any shred of doubt.
I don't say these things lightly, but I say them from the point of view of someone with first hand experience of this type of weirdness, as you well know, only in my case it was far weirder by a mile.
One thing about Courtney is that you don't hear from her anymore, now that researchers are on her tail and the truth is coming out. What happened to her music career? What happened to her film career?
What happened to her celebrity?
Oh yeah, that's right.......it's all gone. It's all gone because The Truth Is Coming Out.
That's why.
The bottom line is that all of this stuff is going to be overthrown.
All of it, eventually. All the secret programs, all the subterfuge, all the murders disguised as suicides.
All of the Freakin' B.S. that we have had to live with for the past 70 years.
It is all gonna be overthrown. Peacefully, of course.
But start packin' your bags, Bad Guys, because your days are numbered.
See you in the morn. :)
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