Elizabeth, it was nice to see that "Butterfly" got a screening! That is fantastic. Even better is that it was shown to a full house. Really great, so congratulations. I knew something good was gonna happen, and I am predicting more good news to come. Just keep doing what you do and don't let up. 2019 is gonna be a very good year, mark my words. Thanks for posting the news and the accompanying pics. I'm glad you've made a few posts recently, happy to see you back. :)
It is super chilly tonight. I'm sitting here in Pearl's kitchen with two sweatshirts on over a t-shirt and a Pendleton on top of all that. Pearl has central heat but it's expensive. One good thing about The Tiny Apartment is that I can roast the joint with just a little space heater. Pearl has all tile floors, no carpet to keep the heat in, plus the front of the house is all big, open rooms, living room/dining room/kitchen all connected. It's drafty. So I'm L.A. cold, dreaming of triple-digit temps to come, six months down the road.
I watched an excellent crime thriller this evening called "Conflict" (1945), starring Humphrey Bogart. Bogie is unhappily married to wife Rose Hobart. They have been invited to the home of their friend Sydney Greenstreet, for a party to "celebrate" their 5th wedding anniversary. Greenstreet is a renowned psychiatrist. The couple agree to go to the party, and to make nice while there, but in reality behind the scenes, Bogie has just confessed to his wife that he is in love with her sister Alexis Smith. This is a twisted situation, and so it's a good thing we have Sydney Greenstreet on hand as a guiding force. As your reviewer, I would be remiss if I did not advise you to watch as many movies that have Sydney Greenstreet in them as you can get your hands on.
But back to the picture : Bogie and wife go to the party, and the sister is there too. He can barely control his feelings for her. Later that night, the three of them are driving home (the sister is to stay overnight), and they get into an accident. Sorry about the spoiler. Bogie is left with a broken leg, and as he is convalescing - with his sister-in-law still in the house - he comes up with a plan to get rid of his wife, while using his injury as an alibi. He is banking on his belief that his feelings for the sister are reciprocal.
Man, is he ever winding himself up in a tangled web. Bogie and his wife have a cabin way up in the woods at the top of Angeles Crest Highway.
Finally, there is a movie that shows just how scary this road is. Even way back in 1945, the screenwriter knew it! I myself, much as I like to hike and find new trails, am squeamish about ever driving Angeles Crest, as I remember it from my childhood on trips with Dad and Roy (Pearl's husband, long since passed). As a kid I don't remember being scared, but something lingered in my memory, and when I read online a few years ago about Angeles Crest being one of the scariest roads in America, I thought "oh yeah, that's right".
So Bogie fakes a reconciliation with his wife. He suggests they go to their cabin, to get away from it all and rekindle their marriage. From this point the plot takes over and I cannot reveal any more, except to warn you to stay away from Angeles Crest Highway.
I've gotta give you a quick aside about mountainous highways. Once, around 1998. the late great Mr. D suggested to my Dad and I a trip to the beach. He would drive, we were gonna go up near the Ventura County line, just past Malibu. I'm sure D meant no harm, but he decided to take Decker Canyon Road to get to Pacific Coast Highway. The time of year was perhaps Spring, and when we got to the middle of the canyon, it was completely fogged in, people.
I am talking "can't see twenty feet in front of you" fogged in.
And we were driving a narrow, winding two lane canyon road, high up in the mountains, with an 800 foot drop off just a few feet off to our right.
That was the most recent White Knuckle Ride in my lifetime, and I have no plans to make another.
But in reminiscing about childhood rides through Angeles Crest Highway, even though they didn't scare me as a kid (because a kid would have no context to be scared), I thought about our trip through Decker Canyon that day in 1998, and tonight as I watched the movie, I felt vindication of my adult fear of that road and of Angeles Crest, which is even worse.
If you are a macho four wheel type of guy, it might not faze you, but you will never catch me up there. And not only does the director of "Conflict" agree (back in 1945), but so does Humphrey Bogart!
He warns his wife about the road, even as he suggests she drive up to their cabin herself, while he supposedly attends to a last minute "business meeting" with his architectural firm.
I can tell you no more, but from what I have IMDB'd, it looks like the pivotal scenes were actually shot on Angeles Crest Highway. Beyond that, the movie is an exceptional thriller, with many plot twists and a psychological point of view from inside Bogart's mind as he tries to cover up what he may have done.
Two Huge Thumbs Up for "Conflict". It's got the look of a Noir in places but it's more of a straight crime movie. I had heard of it but hadn't seen it until tonight and am very surprised it is not more well known. It's one of the best Humphrey Bogart movies I have seen.
I just did a Library search for more Bogart movies and was highly successful, so look out for a Bogie marathon in early 2019.
See you in the morning. Stay off those mountain roads! :)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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