Tonight I watched a film from my personal collection : "The Swimmer" (1968), starring Burt Lancaster (pronun.) I purchased the dvd about a dozen years ago and I've seen it four times now. It's a very unique film, metaphorical in nature and even surrealistic. I don't think I've ever seen a movie quite like it. The opening scene pans across the wooded countryside of Long Island. We see treetops, birds, small animals, ponds. From out of the woods, a man emerges clad only in blue swim trunks. Though middle aged, he is physically fit with a powerful physique. This is Burt Lancaster of course. He walks directly into an unfenced backyard and dives into a swimming pool. There are people sitting on the deck, the house doesn't belong to Lancaster. It looks like he's snuck up on them and dived in unannounced. But when he pulls himself from the pool, the homeowner and his wife seem to know him. They haven't seen him in a while so they're surprised and eager to catch up.
Where has he been the last two years, they ask. He dodges the question to remark on what a beautiful day it is. "Have you ever seen a sky so blue"? His friends want to talk about old times, but Lancaster is in a state of reverie. As he stands on their pool deck, on a hill overlooking the expanse of the wealthy enclave, he gets an idea. "Look at all those pools"! He ticks off a list of all the neighbors who have pools in their yards. "They all connect with each other, like a river. I know what I'm gonna do", he declares, "I'm gonna use them to swim home". His friends are nursing hangovers and they suspect Burt might be drunk himself, but he isn't. He's just high on life, or so it seems. And now, as he leaves his friends, he is going to walk successively to the backyards of each neighbor, and swim across one pool at a time until he gets home. Along the way, he will encounter more people from his life, but as he swims across every pool in the "river Lucinda" (which he has named after his wife), we learn more about him, and soon it is apparent that something is very wrong. His friends at each stop ask him about the missing two years, which he cannot account for and won't discuss. Instead, he just makes small talk.
At one stop he meets a young woman who was once a babysitter to his girls. She is twenty now, but he only remembers her as an adolescent. "How are your daughters "?, she asks. "Oh, they're fine. They're at home playing tennis", he says. They go for a walk in the woods, and the babysitter confesses to Burt that she once had a crush on him. He is lost in a daydream and thinks she is in love with him. When he makes an advance, she runs away and he is alone again. At the next house he comes across a boy of about eight, sitting beside an empty pool. There is a lot of symbolism in "The Swimmer", but I'll leave you to decipher it for yourself. Lancaster feels protective toward the boy, but really he is drawn to youth, being stuck there himself. He's living a Peter Pan fantasy, in part, but he's also running away from something.
As he continues to swim, the day begins to cloud over. He arrives at a pool on a large estate where a party is taking place. For the first time he finds himself unwelcome. Instead of being greeted with hugs and backslaps, now he is coldly stared down by the residents and their friends. They know him, but unlike the neighbors at the earlier pools, their memories are not so fond. They mention owed money, a drinking problem, his snobby blue-blood wife. Burt is shocked and offended. His sunny expression fades as he stumbles away. When he arrives at the home of the next pool, he is relieved to see a familiar face. It is a former flame, played by the great character actress Janice Rule. Unfortunately, she is not as happy to see Burt as he'd expected. I don't want to tell you too much about this scene, because it reveals much - but not all - of what his troubles may be. He appears to have been a womaniser, but there is something drastically more amiss than that. This is the penultimate scene in the movie. It runs long, about 10-12 minutes, and it's a powerhouse of drama. Janice Rule should've gotten a Supporting Actress nod even though it's her only scene. As she tells Lancaster : "You finally met your match in me". He will leave her pool a broken man, with one last hope for redemption. As he keeps telling everyone, "I'm swimming home". It's an optimistic but haunted mantra.
Though "The Swimmer" has a highly unusual narrative, it close to being what we've come to describe as a Perfect Movie, in that it has a 95 minute running time (i.e. not overlong), and - like Lancaster himself - it has no fat. Every scene leads into the next, and every scene drives the story forward. The first couple of times I saw it, I was unsure about the mystery behind Lancaster's sudden reappearance on the scene. His friends are all surprised to see him, and all mention the missing years. This time as I watched, I paid close attention to every line of dialogue, to see if I could discover anything I'd missed previously. I think I have a clearer picture now, though I suppose there are several ways it could be interpreted. That's another great thing about "The Swimmer" is that it not only holds up to repeat viewings, but you get a little more out of it each time. And no matter how many times you watch it, the ending will never fail to blow you away.
Two Gigantic Thumbs Up for "The Swimmer", a one-of-a-kind film that is highly recommended. /////
I'm gonna go for a CSUN walk now, and stop by the annual Indian Powwow on the campus quad. Then back to Pearl's, and I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons and tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Friday, November 29, 2019
"I Was A Male War Bride" starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. I was over at Pearl's, as part of a long standing tradition. My family has celebrated with hers for many years now. My sister Vickie came over with her husband and sons, and we had a wonderful meal, lots of good conversation and our fair share of beer and wine. The guys watched football (imagine that - guys watching football). All in all, a day to be thankful for indeed. When I got home, I went for a walk in the rain on the deserted CSUN campus, and yes, I brought an umbrella. The rain is over now, but it's currently 44 degrees outside, positively arctic I tell you. :)
I've got a new system to beat the cold : wearing layers. Over the years, I've heard that phrase again and again, "wear layers", so last year I tried it for the first time, and for me it worked better than a coat! My system of layers starts with a second t-shirt when the temp drops down to 60 or so. The first t-shirt would be a regular-length Tee, not a thin white undershirt but the thicker kind, meant to be worn as an outer garment, like a rock band shirt or something similar. That would be my standard garb in warmer temps (anything above 65). But when it gets down to 60, I employ my second layer, which is a larger T that fits over the first one, what you might call a "dress t-shirt", that is also thick cotton and meant to be worn as an outer garment. When it gets below 60, I add a Pendleton-type long sleeved flannel shirt as my third layer. The "three layer approach" served me well for most of this month, and of course we had some days in November when the temps were 90+ and I only wore a single t-shirt, but basically I needed no more than three layers until this week. My fourth layer is a sweat shirt, which goes over the two Tees, but under the Pendleton (which is actually an L.L.Bean). Tonight I had to employ the Fourth Layer because 44 degrees is doggone chilly, and it was raining.
The fifth and final layer is another sweatshirt, which would give you - from the ground up - two t-shirts, two sweatshirts, and a Pendleton-style flannel. I think I only had to go to five layers once or twice last winter, when it was 36 degrees or so. Now, you are probably thinking, "Good grief, Ad, why don't ya just put on a coat"? And the answer, for me, is that I wore coats and jackets for years, every year of my life until 2018, and they work fine.......but they are bulky and heavy. Now that I have tried layering, I am really liking it because I find that it holds body heat much better, and best of all I can adjust the layers, as described, to fit the temperature, which for me works well because I am out on my walks every night, so I am outdoors for 45-50 minutes, and best of all, every layer is relatively light, non bulky and cotton, so no matter how many layers I am wearing, it feels flexible. I'd much rather it be 90 degrees every day so that I would never need more than a T-Shirt, but unfortunately I live in Los Angeles, home of the dreaded L.A Cold.
Over the years, I have tried to tell you about the dreaded L.A. Cold, but I've come to the conclusion that the only way for you to understand it is to experience it for yourself. :):)
Tonight I watched a very funny movie called "I Was A Male War Bride" (1949), directed by the great Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan. The setting is postwar Germany. Grant is a French officer in the Allied occupation force. He plays it sans accent, because it would be ridiculous for Cary Grant to attempt to sound French. Ann Sheridan is an American lieutenant from the WACs (Womens Army Corps). They are called upon to stop a black market operation that has cropped up in Stuttgart, but they've worked together before and can't stand one another. So right away the "bickering leads to romance" premise is set in motion. The police action they are enforcing is secondary to the establishment of their relationship, and in movies like this, everything hangs on the chemistry of the stars, and you couldn't have a better pair than these two.
Ann Sheridan is one of my favorite actresses, but until now I'd only seen her in dramatic roles. I didn't know she could do Screwball, but she's as good a comedienne as anyone. Cary Grant of course is the King of Screwball, but Sheridan bosses him around all through the first half of the film, and it's fun to watch them "put up" with one another, knowing what their mutual insults will eventually lead to. Things happen that will cause them to fall in love, naturally, and it's when they decide to get married that the hijinx really begin. Because of various Army regulations, and the rules of the Catholic church and French law, they have to have three ceremonies before their marriage is official. But that's only the beginning of their difficulties, because now Sheridan is being shipped back to the States, and for Grant to be allowed to accompany her, he must jump through a new hoop - one stipulating that only the spouse of a serviceman can accompany him back to the U.S. Now, the actual rule is a whole lot more complicated than I've made it sound, and it's so precisely worded that Grant and Sheridan need a lawyer to help them discover a loophole, so they can travel back to America as a couple.
That loophole is eventually gonna require some gender-bending, and an appearance by Cary Grant in drag. He pulls it off with a straight face, and the last half hour of the movie is a non-stop riot.
I found the movie at Chatsworth Libe, where I'd seen it on the rack before, but in the past I'd been a little wary of the title. "Hmm, 'I Was A Male War Bride'.......sounds like it could be dumb". But I needed movies to carry me through the Thanksgiving weekend, so I checked it out, and boy am I glad I did. I loved this film so much that it's gonna become a holiday favorite. I should've trusted in Howard Hawks, one of the greatest directors of the Golden Era who made a wide variety of pictures, from comedies like "Bringing Up Baby" and "His Girl Friday" (the fastest talking Screwball ever) to crime classics like "Scarface" (the original with Paul Muni), to westerns like "Red River", to science fiction : "The Thing From Another World", which was the original "The Thing". Hawks could do it all, and he was from Goshen, Indiana to boot - just like my Dad. So yeah, I should've had more faith in him, no matter the title of this film, because as it turned out, it was one of the best and funniest Screwballs I've seen. I love Ann Sheridan; she is absolutely my kinda gal : smart, funny, nice........and yeah, beautiful too. She and Cary Grant have such great chemistry that I'm surprised they weren't paired together more often. The film is long for a comedy, 105 minutes, but it never drags for a moment, and in fact it runs at high energy throughout. Hawks must've been given a sizeable budget, because much of the early action was filmed on location in Germany, with bombed-out buildings in the background.
"I Was A Male War Bride" was shot in glorious black and white. Everything about it is great. I give it Two Gigantic Thumbs Up and my highest recommendation. Check out the fan reviews at IMDB and Amazon to see how much people love this movie, and then see it yourself. You'll be glad you did. /////
Well, that's all for the moment. I am back at work until Christmas, so I'm gonna head to the store for supplies and then over to Pearl's to set up shop. I hope you are enjoying your four day weekend, and I will see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I've got a new system to beat the cold : wearing layers. Over the years, I've heard that phrase again and again, "wear layers", so last year I tried it for the first time, and for me it worked better than a coat! My system of layers starts with a second t-shirt when the temp drops down to 60 or so. The first t-shirt would be a regular-length Tee, not a thin white undershirt but the thicker kind, meant to be worn as an outer garment, like a rock band shirt or something similar. That would be my standard garb in warmer temps (anything above 65). But when it gets down to 60, I employ my second layer, which is a larger T that fits over the first one, what you might call a "dress t-shirt", that is also thick cotton and meant to be worn as an outer garment. When it gets below 60, I add a Pendleton-type long sleeved flannel shirt as my third layer. The "three layer approach" served me well for most of this month, and of course we had some days in November when the temps were 90+ and I only wore a single t-shirt, but basically I needed no more than three layers until this week. My fourth layer is a sweat shirt, which goes over the two Tees, but under the Pendleton (which is actually an L.L.Bean). Tonight I had to employ the Fourth Layer because 44 degrees is doggone chilly, and it was raining.
The fifth and final layer is another sweatshirt, which would give you - from the ground up - two t-shirts, two sweatshirts, and a Pendleton-style flannel. I think I only had to go to five layers once or twice last winter, when it was 36 degrees or so. Now, you are probably thinking, "Good grief, Ad, why don't ya just put on a coat"? And the answer, for me, is that I wore coats and jackets for years, every year of my life until 2018, and they work fine.......but they are bulky and heavy. Now that I have tried layering, I am really liking it because I find that it holds body heat much better, and best of all I can adjust the layers, as described, to fit the temperature, which for me works well because I am out on my walks every night, so I am outdoors for 45-50 minutes, and best of all, every layer is relatively light, non bulky and cotton, so no matter how many layers I am wearing, it feels flexible. I'd much rather it be 90 degrees every day so that I would never need more than a T-Shirt, but unfortunately I live in Los Angeles, home of the dreaded L.A Cold.
Over the years, I have tried to tell you about the dreaded L.A. Cold, but I've come to the conclusion that the only way for you to understand it is to experience it for yourself. :):)
Tonight I watched a very funny movie called "I Was A Male War Bride" (1949), directed by the great Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan. The setting is postwar Germany. Grant is a French officer in the Allied occupation force. He plays it sans accent, because it would be ridiculous for Cary Grant to attempt to sound French. Ann Sheridan is an American lieutenant from the WACs (Womens Army Corps). They are called upon to stop a black market operation that has cropped up in Stuttgart, but they've worked together before and can't stand one another. So right away the "bickering leads to romance" premise is set in motion. The police action they are enforcing is secondary to the establishment of their relationship, and in movies like this, everything hangs on the chemistry of the stars, and you couldn't have a better pair than these two.
Ann Sheridan is one of my favorite actresses, but until now I'd only seen her in dramatic roles. I didn't know she could do Screwball, but she's as good a comedienne as anyone. Cary Grant of course is the King of Screwball, but Sheridan bosses him around all through the first half of the film, and it's fun to watch them "put up" with one another, knowing what their mutual insults will eventually lead to. Things happen that will cause them to fall in love, naturally, and it's when they decide to get married that the hijinx really begin. Because of various Army regulations, and the rules of the Catholic church and French law, they have to have three ceremonies before their marriage is official. But that's only the beginning of their difficulties, because now Sheridan is being shipped back to the States, and for Grant to be allowed to accompany her, he must jump through a new hoop - one stipulating that only the spouse of a serviceman can accompany him back to the U.S. Now, the actual rule is a whole lot more complicated than I've made it sound, and it's so precisely worded that Grant and Sheridan need a lawyer to help them discover a loophole, so they can travel back to America as a couple.
That loophole is eventually gonna require some gender-bending, and an appearance by Cary Grant in drag. He pulls it off with a straight face, and the last half hour of the movie is a non-stop riot.
I found the movie at Chatsworth Libe, where I'd seen it on the rack before, but in the past I'd been a little wary of the title. "Hmm, 'I Was A Male War Bride'.......sounds like it could be dumb". But I needed movies to carry me through the Thanksgiving weekend, so I checked it out, and boy am I glad I did. I loved this film so much that it's gonna become a holiday favorite. I should've trusted in Howard Hawks, one of the greatest directors of the Golden Era who made a wide variety of pictures, from comedies like "Bringing Up Baby" and "His Girl Friday" (the fastest talking Screwball ever) to crime classics like "Scarface" (the original with Paul Muni), to westerns like "Red River", to science fiction : "The Thing From Another World", which was the original "The Thing". Hawks could do it all, and he was from Goshen, Indiana to boot - just like my Dad. So yeah, I should've had more faith in him, no matter the title of this film, because as it turned out, it was one of the best and funniest Screwballs I've seen. I love Ann Sheridan; she is absolutely my kinda gal : smart, funny, nice........and yeah, beautiful too. She and Cary Grant have such great chemistry that I'm surprised they weren't paired together more often. The film is long for a comedy, 105 minutes, but it never drags for a moment, and in fact it runs at high energy throughout. Hawks must've been given a sizeable budget, because much of the early action was filmed on location in Germany, with bombed-out buildings in the background.
"I Was A Male War Bride" was shot in glorious black and white. Everything about it is great. I give it Two Gigantic Thumbs Up and my highest recommendation. Check out the fan reviews at IMDB and Amazon to see how much people love this movie, and then see it yourself. You'll be glad you did. /////
Well, that's all for the moment. I am back at work until Christmas, so I'm gonna head to the store for supplies and then over to Pearl's to set up shop. I hope you are enjoying your four day weekend, and I will see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Happy Birthday, Elizabeth! + "Dark Blue World" by Director Jan Severak
Happy Birthday, Elizabeth! I hope you had a very nice day and I'm glad you had such a blast in Japan. Also, I wanna mention that yesterday I saw your paintings on Instagram. I'm talking about the ones in the style of Franz Kline that you posted as part of your Highlights clip. I don't know how long ago you posted them; I never saw them until now, but they're really good! I didn't know you were doing abstract painting, but I think it's great that you are, and I hope you continue. As you may know (cause I'm sure I've mentioned it) I made a lot of paintings myself back in the mid-90s when I was living at the Burton Street house in Reseda with my Dad and the late great Mr. D. It was sort of a combination of artist's co-op & madhouse, haha, but that's where I got into Abstract, thanks to Dad and Dave. Dad kind of influenced the whole thing because he knew about painters like Jackson Pollack and Willem de Koonig. Back in those days we would go downtown to MOCA, and I remember the first abstract exhibition I ever saw, which was the works of Cy Twombly. His art was totally off the wall, huge canvases and papers that were filled with what looked like scribbling. Some were so big they were laid out on the floor. Twombly's work would generate a lot of controversy : "Yes, but is it art"? I didn't care about any of that. I just thought it was awesome that he did it. We later went to see an exhibition by an artist named Sam Francis, who had a colorful style that I found very appealing . We had so much fun going to museums and galleries back then,...
Well anyway, I mention all of this because I just now saw your paintings, and they make me happy because they are another extension of your creativity. You are living the Art Life, which is the only way to go! :):)
Last night, Grimsley came over, so I didn't have a movie, but tonight I watched an excellent film called "Dark Blue World" (2001), made by a Czech director named Jan Sverak. I came across it in a Google search for "classic World War Two movies", and I remembered the image on the dvd box. It's the story of two Czechoslovakian Air Force pilots who flee to England after Hitler annexes their country in March 1939. Once there, they sign up for the RAF, which is recruiting foreign pilots to supplement their home grown boys. The Brits are the only ones to challenge the Nazis at that point in the war, and the Czech pilots take pride in striking back at the regime that invaded their country.
The story is also an old-fashioned romance. While stationed in England, the two Czechs both fall for the same woman, whose husband - a British Navy Officer - is missing and presumed dead. The pilots have a kind of father/son relationship (the captain is almost a generation older than his friend), and at first the Englishwoman falls for the younger man, but finds him too naive. Really it is the captain she wants, and of course this creates a rivalry that tests the friendship of the pilots.
The story is told in a dual context. In the present, we are in 1950, and the elder pilot, the captain, is being held in a Soviet Prison Camp, back in his own country. Though he fought the Nazis during the war, and though the Soviets fought them too, that did not make them allies. As history shows, once the war was over, the Soviets slammed the Iron Curtain down on Eastern Europe just as hard as the Germans would have, had they been the victors. Now the Czech captain is imprisoned for "crimes against his country", which is nothing but Russian propaganda. This is the present tense of the story; the war is told in flashback.
I give "Dark Blue World" Two Big Thumbs Up. It is the kind of foreign film that has been influenced by Hollywood, in that it tells an epic story and imbues it with all the classic elements of passion and pathos. Think "Cinema Paradiso" or "Il Postino". This film is from a different genre, but it has the same sweeping generational feel, involving nostalgia and regret.
For WW2 fans, there is a ton of aerial combat : Spitfires vs. Messerschmitts. In the end, it's more a human story than one of war. It's about perseverance and loss, and how the world turns no matter what. /////
Just a brief review for tonight, because I won't have time to expand upon it tomorrow, due to Thanksgiving. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday and I will be back tomorrow night at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Well anyway, I mention all of this because I just now saw your paintings, and they make me happy because they are another extension of your creativity. You are living the Art Life, which is the only way to go! :):)
Last night, Grimsley came over, so I didn't have a movie, but tonight I watched an excellent film called "Dark Blue World" (2001), made by a Czech director named Jan Sverak. I came across it in a Google search for "classic World War Two movies", and I remembered the image on the dvd box. It's the story of two Czechoslovakian Air Force pilots who flee to England after Hitler annexes their country in March 1939. Once there, they sign up for the RAF, which is recruiting foreign pilots to supplement their home grown boys. The Brits are the only ones to challenge the Nazis at that point in the war, and the Czech pilots take pride in striking back at the regime that invaded their country.
The story is also an old-fashioned romance. While stationed in England, the two Czechs both fall for the same woman, whose husband - a British Navy Officer - is missing and presumed dead. The pilots have a kind of father/son relationship (the captain is almost a generation older than his friend), and at first the Englishwoman falls for the younger man, but finds him too naive. Really it is the captain she wants, and of course this creates a rivalry that tests the friendship of the pilots.
The story is told in a dual context. In the present, we are in 1950, and the elder pilot, the captain, is being held in a Soviet Prison Camp, back in his own country. Though he fought the Nazis during the war, and though the Soviets fought them too, that did not make them allies. As history shows, once the war was over, the Soviets slammed the Iron Curtain down on Eastern Europe just as hard as the Germans would have, had they been the victors. Now the Czech captain is imprisoned for "crimes against his country", which is nothing but Russian propaganda. This is the present tense of the story; the war is told in flashback.
I give "Dark Blue World" Two Big Thumbs Up. It is the kind of foreign film that has been influenced by Hollywood, in that it tells an epic story and imbues it with all the classic elements of passion and pathos. Think "Cinema Paradiso" or "Il Postino". This film is from a different genre, but it has the same sweeping generational feel, involving nostalgia and regret.
For WW2 fans, there is a ton of aerial combat : Spitfires vs. Messerschmitts. In the end, it's more a human story than one of war. It's about perseverance and loss, and how the world turns no matter what. /////
Just a brief review for tonight, because I won't have time to expand upon it tomorrow, due to Thanksgiving. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday and I will be back tomorrow night at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith" starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery
Tonight's movie was "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" - not the 2005 action flick by that name, which resulted in Brangelina - but the unrelated original film from 1941, starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery. This one is a comedy, directed by - of all people - Alfred Hitchcock! If you've ever seen his TV series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", you know Hitch had a droll sense of humor, but who would've ever thought him capable of Screwball? I had heard of this earlier "Smith" film, but didn't know who directed, and just assumed it was the basis for Brad and Angie's remake, which turned out not to be a remake at all, they just borrowed the title.
Our Smiths are a happily married couple, sort of. When we meet them at the beginning of the movie, they are awakening in their messy New York apartment. Dishes are strewn about with half eaten food, couch cushions are askew. Montgomery has a three day growth of beard. Lombard still lingers beneath the bedcovers. Once they make it to the breakfast table, we discover the reason for their disheveled appearance. They have an unorthodox marriage, based on a set of rules. One rule states that, after an argument, they are not allowed to leave the bedroom until they make up. This is very suggestive for 1941 as you can imagine. But the script is not gonna linger on that aspect because of the Hays Code, and anyway, as the story begins, it's all about the bickering, not the romance (and in a lot of Golden Era films, the bickering was the romance, or what led to it).
Montgomery is a lawyer, and while he's been away from the office, speculation has mounted among the secretaries about the latest marital spat : "How long has this one been going on"?, "The last one lasted six days"! Wife Lombard is a stickler for their marriage rules. She recites them by number, and no rule is more strictly enforced than the "mandatory make-up" after a fight. Meanwhile, work has piled up at the firm. Montgomery's law partner (Gene Raymond) pleads with him to control his wife. Then, on his first day back at work, an older gentleman pays Mr. Smith a visit. This man is a representative of the county clerk in Idaho, where the Smiths were wed. Through a technicality (humorously explained by Charles Halton, the actor playing the role), it turns out that, legally speaking, Mr. and Mrs.Smith are not married after all. Halton visits Mrs. Smith at home, too, with the same news, and now the stage is set for the ultimate bickering showdown. Since they were never technically married, will they go through the ceremony again in order to make it legal, or.........will the scheming begin? This is a Screwball Comedy, so you can guess the answer.
In the 1930s, unmarried men and women generally did not live together, and in the movie, Carole Lombard's mother is horrified by the situation. "What will people say"?, she asks her daughter. Lombard tells Mama not to worry, they are gonna apply for a new marriage licence in the morning. "We'll be married by the end of the week", she says reassuringly. But her mother is not assuaged. "I never liked that man in the first place. Now's your chance to get rid of him"!
The couple try to put a happy face on the situation by recreating the atmosphere of their first date. "Remember that dress you wore"? She finds it in her closet and puts it on, but now it's a little too tight. The buttons are bulging. "What was the name of that restaurant? Ahh, yes...Mama Lucy's. Let's have dinner there tonight"! They go to the restaurant, but it's not as they remembered. The neighborhood has declined and Mama Lucy's is dilapidated. The Smiths' attempt at a romantic recreation is failing. One thing leads to another, and before their dinner is over they are fighting again. This time it's really bad. Carole Lombard storms off to call a taxi. Montgomery follows her home, expecting to adhere to the "make-up" rule once again, but this time it won't apply. Lombard is packing her things and moving back in with her mother.
This will set the stage for a rival to enter the picture. Montgomery has taken to following Lombard around town in a taxi because he can't believe she is serious about breaking up with him. "She'll come running back any day now", he tells the cabbie. One morning, when he sees her entering his building, he orders the driver to stop : "You see, I was right! She's coming to visit me now". He jumps out of the cab and runs up the back stairway, hoping to beat Lombard to his office, and indeed, when she walks in, he is sitting behind his desk as if he'd been there all day. "I see you've come to your senses", he announces rather smugly. "I certainly have"!, she replies, and with that, she walks right past her "ex"-husband and knocks on the door of his law partner and best friend, Jeff (Gene Raymond). "Oh hello, Jeff", she coos. "Yes, I'm ready right now. Did you make the reservation"?
Then, to Montgomery she announces : "Jeff and I are going on a date! He is taking me to a nice restaurant". Nicer than Mama Lucy's, she means. Much hijinx and mirth will ensue after this point in the movie. We know that Lombard's primary intent is to make Montgomery jealous, but will it go farther than that? After all, Jeff is very handsome and quite the gentleman. Montgomery, true to his nature, won't give up. He follows Jeff and his "wife" to the restaurant, with a hastily arranged date of his own, thinking "two can play at this game". He hopes to make Lombard jealous, too, but the woman he has brought along is more of a Broad than a Lady, so his ploy doesn't work. The only thing left is for Montgomery to hope his wife will get tired of Jeff, who appears too good to be true, with his Southern manners and his perfect physique. In truth, Jeff is a bit of a stuffed shirt. He has no sex appeal and his conversations are boring. Lombard begins to sense this, and Montgomery may see things turn in his favor if only he can quit behaving like a knucklehead for five minutes.
The movie loses some of it's energy after Gene Raymond takes the romantic reins, but it's more the fault of Hitchcock than Raymond, who is very good as "Jeff". I think that Hitch, maybe being new to Screwball Comedy, let some of the "Boring Jeff" scenes run a bit too long, and it takes a little steam out of the engine. However, this is a minor complaint. Overall I loved "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery are as perfect a screen couple as Myrna Loy and William Powell in the "Thin Man" movies. I'm catching up with Lombard, having recently seen several of her films, and as far as I'm concerned she can do no wrong. She's got the right combination of sophistication and goofiness, and is a natural in front of the camera. No wonder she was called "The Queen of Screwball". As for Robert Montgomery, he could apparently do it all, from high comedy to horror. Watch him in "Smith" and then, the very next night, watch him in "Night Must Fall", an early and very scary movie about a serial killer. We can add him to our list of underrated actors, he was really great.
Two Very Big Thumbs Up for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", an unexpected treat from Hitchcock, on any other day the Master of Suspense. /////
That's all for today. I will see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Our Smiths are a happily married couple, sort of. When we meet them at the beginning of the movie, they are awakening in their messy New York apartment. Dishes are strewn about with half eaten food, couch cushions are askew. Montgomery has a three day growth of beard. Lombard still lingers beneath the bedcovers. Once they make it to the breakfast table, we discover the reason for their disheveled appearance. They have an unorthodox marriage, based on a set of rules. One rule states that, after an argument, they are not allowed to leave the bedroom until they make up. This is very suggestive for 1941 as you can imagine. But the script is not gonna linger on that aspect because of the Hays Code, and anyway, as the story begins, it's all about the bickering, not the romance (and in a lot of Golden Era films, the bickering was the romance, or what led to it).
Montgomery is a lawyer, and while he's been away from the office, speculation has mounted among the secretaries about the latest marital spat : "How long has this one been going on"?, "The last one lasted six days"! Wife Lombard is a stickler for their marriage rules. She recites them by number, and no rule is more strictly enforced than the "mandatory make-up" after a fight. Meanwhile, work has piled up at the firm. Montgomery's law partner (Gene Raymond) pleads with him to control his wife. Then, on his first day back at work, an older gentleman pays Mr. Smith a visit. This man is a representative of the county clerk in Idaho, where the Smiths were wed. Through a technicality (humorously explained by Charles Halton, the actor playing the role), it turns out that, legally speaking, Mr. and Mrs.Smith are not married after all. Halton visits Mrs. Smith at home, too, with the same news, and now the stage is set for the ultimate bickering showdown. Since they were never technically married, will they go through the ceremony again in order to make it legal, or.........will the scheming begin? This is a Screwball Comedy, so you can guess the answer.
In the 1930s, unmarried men and women generally did not live together, and in the movie, Carole Lombard's mother is horrified by the situation. "What will people say"?, she asks her daughter. Lombard tells Mama not to worry, they are gonna apply for a new marriage licence in the morning. "We'll be married by the end of the week", she says reassuringly. But her mother is not assuaged. "I never liked that man in the first place. Now's your chance to get rid of him"!
The couple try to put a happy face on the situation by recreating the atmosphere of their first date. "Remember that dress you wore"? She finds it in her closet and puts it on, but now it's a little too tight. The buttons are bulging. "What was the name of that restaurant? Ahh, yes...Mama Lucy's. Let's have dinner there tonight"! They go to the restaurant, but it's not as they remembered. The neighborhood has declined and Mama Lucy's is dilapidated. The Smiths' attempt at a romantic recreation is failing. One thing leads to another, and before their dinner is over they are fighting again. This time it's really bad. Carole Lombard storms off to call a taxi. Montgomery follows her home, expecting to adhere to the "make-up" rule once again, but this time it won't apply. Lombard is packing her things and moving back in with her mother.
This will set the stage for a rival to enter the picture. Montgomery has taken to following Lombard around town in a taxi because he can't believe she is serious about breaking up with him. "She'll come running back any day now", he tells the cabbie. One morning, when he sees her entering his building, he orders the driver to stop : "You see, I was right! She's coming to visit me now". He jumps out of the cab and runs up the back stairway, hoping to beat Lombard to his office, and indeed, when she walks in, he is sitting behind his desk as if he'd been there all day. "I see you've come to your senses", he announces rather smugly. "I certainly have"!, she replies, and with that, she walks right past her "ex"-husband and knocks on the door of his law partner and best friend, Jeff (Gene Raymond). "Oh hello, Jeff", she coos. "Yes, I'm ready right now. Did you make the reservation"?
Then, to Montgomery she announces : "Jeff and I are going on a date! He is taking me to a nice restaurant". Nicer than Mama Lucy's, she means. Much hijinx and mirth will ensue after this point in the movie. We know that Lombard's primary intent is to make Montgomery jealous, but will it go farther than that? After all, Jeff is very handsome and quite the gentleman. Montgomery, true to his nature, won't give up. He follows Jeff and his "wife" to the restaurant, with a hastily arranged date of his own, thinking "two can play at this game". He hopes to make Lombard jealous, too, but the woman he has brought along is more of a Broad than a Lady, so his ploy doesn't work. The only thing left is for Montgomery to hope his wife will get tired of Jeff, who appears too good to be true, with his Southern manners and his perfect physique. In truth, Jeff is a bit of a stuffed shirt. He has no sex appeal and his conversations are boring. Lombard begins to sense this, and Montgomery may see things turn in his favor if only he can quit behaving like a knucklehead for five minutes.
The movie loses some of it's energy after Gene Raymond takes the romantic reins, but it's more the fault of Hitchcock than Raymond, who is very good as "Jeff". I think that Hitch, maybe being new to Screwball Comedy, let some of the "Boring Jeff" scenes run a bit too long, and it takes a little steam out of the engine. However, this is a minor complaint. Overall I loved "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery are as perfect a screen couple as Myrna Loy and William Powell in the "Thin Man" movies. I'm catching up with Lombard, having recently seen several of her films, and as far as I'm concerned she can do no wrong. She's got the right combination of sophistication and goofiness, and is a natural in front of the camera. No wonder she was called "The Queen of Screwball". As for Robert Montgomery, he could apparently do it all, from high comedy to horror. Watch him in "Smith" and then, the very next night, watch him in "Night Must Fall", an early and very scary movie about a serial killer. We can add him to our list of underrated actors, he was really great.
Two Very Big Thumbs Up for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", an unexpected treat from Hitchcock, on any other day the Master of Suspense. /////
That's all for today. I will see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 25, 2019
Hey Elizabeth! + "The Nun's Story" starring Audrey Hepburn
Elizabeth, I am very much enjoying your pictures and video clips from Japan. It's awesome that you got to see Mt. Fuji, and when you say "Tokyo is insane" I can imagine! Nine million people and all those lights, like Times Square on steroids. Wow. I feel like I am there vicariously through your pics, and I'm glad you got to go. I hope you've got more time left on your trip, with more sights to see. Keep the pictures coming, they're great! :):) (update : I just saw on FB that you're on your way back home. I'm glad you had such a great time!)
I drove up to O'Melveny Park after church and was pleased to see that it has re-opened. The burn damage was about what I expected - the center of the park, the main lawn and trees, was untouched (thank goodness) but the entire back end was destroyed, a similar pattern to what happened at Aliso and Limekiln Canyons. At O'Melveny, all the vegetation on the mountainsides is gone. The mountains just look like bald mounds of dirt, with blackened sticks poking up here and there. The shock of the fire has passed, though, and I know everything will grow back in time, so I'm not as depressed about it as I was at first. One thing, however - at O'Melveny there has always been an on-site caretaker. Because it's such a huge park - the second biggest in Los Angeles - they built a house at the edge of the wide, green lawn for the caretaker to live in. Imagine having that job and getting to live in that house, all by yourself in the middle of an incredible nature park. Unfortunately, the house was a casualty of the fire. I was sorry to see that it was the one thing that burned down in the green area of the park. I hope the city will rebuild it, and that they have placed the caretaker nearby in the meantime. Before the fire, when I would hike at O'Melveny I would always imagine myself in his shoes, living in that house in the park. May he return home soon.
Tonight's movie was "The Nun's Story" (1959) starring Audrey Hepburn. It's the type of epic story that is often recognized at the Academy Awards, and indeed it was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Audrey's performance. She plays a young Belgian woman, the daughter of a famous surgeon (played by Dean Jagger, and yes we are on a Dean Jagger kick in case you were wondering). Audrey takes after her Dad in that she is brilliant and gifted in medicine. However, much to Dean Jagger's dismay, she tells him that she wants to become a nun. Specifically, she wants to join an Order that works in the Belgian Congo. They will train her as a nurse, and that way she will be able to follow God and follow in her father's footsteps. Dad tries to dissuade her, believing she is not cut out to be a nun, but Audrey is determined. She is an all-or-nothing personality who wants not only to be the best nun she can be, but also a great nurse. This is her chance to become both things, if the Order will accept her.
Hmmm, so you wanna become a nun, do you? After watching what Audrey Hepburn goes through to meet the requirements, I'd say it's easier to join the Marine Corps or the Navy Seals. The first 45 minutes of the film follows her through the rigorous disciplines of training for the Sisterhood : learning self-denial, abstinence, rejection of ego. strict humility, maintaining silence, etc. etc. There is penance to be performed for even talking about one's former life, or speaking with pride in any way. There are no mirrors in the convent. The sisters must not touch each other. If you thought Gregory Peck was tough in "Twelve O' Clock High", he's got nothing on Mother Mathilde from this movie. The difference is that her authority is not absolute. Joining the Order is voluntary; a prospect can leave at any time. Mother Mathilde even suspects that Hepburn may be too headstrong to be a nun, but while Audrey is within the convent walls, she's got to obey the rules. This may turn out to be a problem for her.
Once she becomes a Sister, she again makes it known that she wishes to be sent to the Congo. But speaking her desire works against her. She is instead sent to assist at a mental institution, where she is put in charge of criminally insane patients. This assignment will prove difficult, again because of her tendency to disobey the rules, which in this case are in place for her own safety. When Mother Mathilde realizes it was a mistake to assign her to the asylum, Audrey finally gets her wish. She is reassigned to the Congo, as the nurse to a top-flight surgeon working in a village hospital. He is played by the great Peter Finch,who was quite handsome in his younger days. The doctor is said to be a "genius" by the hospital nuns, but they also warn Sister Luke (as Hepburn is now known) that he's not religious and is quite a ladies' man. "Your habit will not protect you", she is warned, meaning that Finch will hit on her regardless that she's a nun. But the film doesn't really go there. Once Finch sees that Sister Luke is herself a genius with a microscope, and that she won't even acknowledge his advances, he treats her as an equal. All he asks is that she dedicate herself 100% to the patients, even is it means missing communion or other duties of the cloth.
As a team, Finch and Sister Luke become indispensable to the village. He wants to work with her permanently, but something will happen to cause her to be recalled to Belgium. While there, the news breaks that Germany has invaded France. This will have a considerable effect on the plot. Though Audrey had hoped to return to the Congo, she receives a message that may change her plans. That's all I will tell you, but it's an amazing story, based on a book by Katherine Hulme, the real life nun behind the movie. As a religious film, it's as devout as I've seen, right up there with "The Song of Bernadette" or "The Flowers of St. Francis" (both of which are highly recommended). Fred Zinneman directs with an almost reverential admiration for the material, and the Technicolor photography is beautiful and not oversaturated, which would be inappropriate for this film. We were talking about Jane Wyman the other night, and remarked that she is underrated as an actress, and the same goes for Audrey Hepburn. She was much more than just a style icon or a movie star best suited to romances and light comedies. She could really act and she proves it here; she is Sister Luke.
I give "The Nun's Story" Two Very Big Thumbs Up. It's long (152 minutes) and slow paced, and it's the kind of trans-cultural story (like "A Passage To India") that will take you to unfamiliar places. It's not an "entertainment" movie, per se, but it's very well made and you should have no trouble enjoying it if you're in the right mood. Highly recommended. //////
That's all for today. I had a nice hike at Santa Susana. The Rams are getting clobbered by Baltimore so it's not looking good for my prediction, haha, but there's still one more half to go. Let's hope it doesn't get any worse! See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I drove up to O'Melveny Park after church and was pleased to see that it has re-opened. The burn damage was about what I expected - the center of the park, the main lawn and trees, was untouched (thank goodness) but the entire back end was destroyed, a similar pattern to what happened at Aliso and Limekiln Canyons. At O'Melveny, all the vegetation on the mountainsides is gone. The mountains just look like bald mounds of dirt, with blackened sticks poking up here and there. The shock of the fire has passed, though, and I know everything will grow back in time, so I'm not as depressed about it as I was at first. One thing, however - at O'Melveny there has always been an on-site caretaker. Because it's such a huge park - the second biggest in Los Angeles - they built a house at the edge of the wide, green lawn for the caretaker to live in. Imagine having that job and getting to live in that house, all by yourself in the middle of an incredible nature park. Unfortunately, the house was a casualty of the fire. I was sorry to see that it was the one thing that burned down in the green area of the park. I hope the city will rebuild it, and that they have placed the caretaker nearby in the meantime. Before the fire, when I would hike at O'Melveny I would always imagine myself in his shoes, living in that house in the park. May he return home soon.
Tonight's movie was "The Nun's Story" (1959) starring Audrey Hepburn. It's the type of epic story that is often recognized at the Academy Awards, and indeed it was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Audrey's performance. She plays a young Belgian woman, the daughter of a famous surgeon (played by Dean Jagger, and yes we are on a Dean Jagger kick in case you were wondering). Audrey takes after her Dad in that she is brilliant and gifted in medicine. However, much to Dean Jagger's dismay, she tells him that she wants to become a nun. Specifically, she wants to join an Order that works in the Belgian Congo. They will train her as a nurse, and that way she will be able to follow God and follow in her father's footsteps. Dad tries to dissuade her, believing she is not cut out to be a nun, but Audrey is determined. She is an all-or-nothing personality who wants not only to be the best nun she can be, but also a great nurse. This is her chance to become both things, if the Order will accept her.
Hmmm, so you wanna become a nun, do you? After watching what Audrey Hepburn goes through to meet the requirements, I'd say it's easier to join the Marine Corps or the Navy Seals. The first 45 minutes of the film follows her through the rigorous disciplines of training for the Sisterhood : learning self-denial, abstinence, rejection of ego. strict humility, maintaining silence, etc. etc. There is penance to be performed for even talking about one's former life, or speaking with pride in any way. There are no mirrors in the convent. The sisters must not touch each other. If you thought Gregory Peck was tough in "Twelve O' Clock High", he's got nothing on Mother Mathilde from this movie. The difference is that her authority is not absolute. Joining the Order is voluntary; a prospect can leave at any time. Mother Mathilde even suspects that Hepburn may be too headstrong to be a nun, but while Audrey is within the convent walls, she's got to obey the rules. This may turn out to be a problem for her.
Once she becomes a Sister, she again makes it known that she wishes to be sent to the Congo. But speaking her desire works against her. She is instead sent to assist at a mental institution, where she is put in charge of criminally insane patients. This assignment will prove difficult, again because of her tendency to disobey the rules, which in this case are in place for her own safety. When Mother Mathilde realizes it was a mistake to assign her to the asylum, Audrey finally gets her wish. She is reassigned to the Congo, as the nurse to a top-flight surgeon working in a village hospital. He is played by the great Peter Finch,who was quite handsome in his younger days. The doctor is said to be a "genius" by the hospital nuns, but they also warn Sister Luke (as Hepburn is now known) that he's not religious and is quite a ladies' man. "Your habit will not protect you", she is warned, meaning that Finch will hit on her regardless that she's a nun. But the film doesn't really go there. Once Finch sees that Sister Luke is herself a genius with a microscope, and that she won't even acknowledge his advances, he treats her as an equal. All he asks is that she dedicate herself 100% to the patients, even is it means missing communion or other duties of the cloth.
As a team, Finch and Sister Luke become indispensable to the village. He wants to work with her permanently, but something will happen to cause her to be recalled to Belgium. While there, the news breaks that Germany has invaded France. This will have a considerable effect on the plot. Though Audrey had hoped to return to the Congo, she receives a message that may change her plans. That's all I will tell you, but it's an amazing story, based on a book by Katherine Hulme, the real life nun behind the movie. As a religious film, it's as devout as I've seen, right up there with "The Song of Bernadette" or "The Flowers of St. Francis" (both of which are highly recommended). Fred Zinneman directs with an almost reverential admiration for the material, and the Technicolor photography is beautiful and not oversaturated, which would be inappropriate for this film. We were talking about Jane Wyman the other night, and remarked that she is underrated as an actress, and the same goes for Audrey Hepburn. She was much more than just a style icon or a movie star best suited to romances and light comedies. She could really act and she proves it here; she is Sister Luke.
I give "The Nun's Story" Two Very Big Thumbs Up. It's long (152 minutes) and slow paced, and it's the kind of trans-cultural story (like "A Passage To India") that will take you to unfamiliar places. It's not an "entertainment" movie, per se, but it's very well made and you should have no trouble enjoying it if you're in the right mood. Highly recommended. //////
That's all for today. I had a nice hike at Santa Susana. The Rams are getting clobbered by Baltimore so it's not looking good for my prediction, haha, but there's still one more half to go. Let's hope it doesn't get any worse! See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 24, 2019
"Twelve O'Clock High" starring Gruggery Puck
Tonight I watched "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949) starring Gregory Peck (as always, correct pronunciation is requested, and btw, if you ever need a refresher for any name, don't hesitate to ask). Peck stars as General Frank Savage, a tough-as-nails Air Force man, second in command of the 918th Bomb Group based in England. The setting is World War Two, the year 1943. Narration provides some context, letting us know that the Eighth Air Force were the first US military unit to strike German strongholds, beginning in France in 1942. At that time, the Bomb Group was small in number. According to the movie, Peck's fictional 918th had only 50 B-17s at their disposal. I don't know how accurate this is historically, but no doubt it's close to the reality, and a far cry from the 150.000 planes Peck promises are being manufactured back home. He has to say something to bolster his troops. They are called a "hard luck" squadron, one that has flown too many missions and suffered great losses. Some of the men are experiencing psychoses gently referred to as "combat fatigue" by the company doctor, but now they are being asked to suck it up one more time, to make daylight bombing runs inside Germany, against Kraut manufacturing plants.
Up until now, the leader of the 918th had been Colonel Davenport (Gary Merrill). The pilots love him, and he will go to any lengths to protect them. He won't send a battle scarred man back up in the air, no matter what the Generals want. The opening scene shows what it was like for a bomber crew whose plane was hit by enemy fire in the course of a run. It's strong stuff for 1949, with dialogue about heads getting blown off, etc. Gary Merrill is shown entering a plane that has crash landed, to retrieve the dismembered arm of a crewman who was blasted by the gun of a Focke-Wulf fighter. I think I've mentioned that when I was little, one of my earliest memories was of having model airplanes suspended above my bed. I was about four or five, and my Dad would show me all these pamphlets, from the toy model packages, that contained information about the airplanes. This was how I learned about Messerschmitts, and Junkers, Henkels and Focke-Wulfs. Dad knew about them because he'd been in a radar battalion that tracked German aircraft.
But about the movie, to recap what we have so far : The 918th is a small group that is part of the also undersized Advance Bombing Unit that is in England to destroy German manufacturing plants. The War Department feels that it's the only chance the Allies have of winning the war. Currently the Germans have more planes, more tanks, more artillery - more of everything. Hitler has been amassing his Wermacht and it is overpowering all who stand in it's way. If the Air Force can knock out German industry, it might turn the tide of the war.
But the pilots of the 918th are beat up, psychologically worn down. The Generals now want them to make daylight bombing runs at low altitude, which will make them sitting ducks for German anti-aircraft fire. Colonel Davenport is fighting against this. He tells the Generals that he will not send his men on what amounts to a suicide mission. So, General Pritchard (Millard Mitchell), replaces him. He sends in Gregory Peck to whip the pilots into shape, and man, Peck has no mercy for them, no sympathy whatsoever. He is ruthless in this movie. He calls a meeting of the pilots and tells them to stop feeling sorry for themselves. These are men who've been through unbearable stress and horror, but Peck doesn't care. One pilot, a Squadron Leader, has gone temporarily AWOL. When found, he is drunk, trying to numb the pain of seeing his friends die. In one of the most macho scenes in any war movie I can remember, Peck castigates the man, calling him a coward and worse. His adjutant, Major Stoval (Dean Jagger), is mortified by Peck's tirade. He advises Peck to lighten up, to try leading the men instead of denouncing them, but Peck won't budge. And then it becomes too late, because the next day, every pilot in the group puts in for a transfer. They want Colonel Davenport back and are gonna abandon Gregory Peck.
Peck is now in a bind. He has General Pritchard above him, demanding results. The War Department wants those daylight runs to begin. Below him, he's got a mutiny on his hands. The pilots are gonna transfer. But they have to go through the proper channels to do so. Peck's got 'em for another ten days. In that time, Dean Jagger will try to convince Peck to work with the men instead of against them. He suggests calling back Gary Merrill to act an an intermediary. Can Peck change his iron ways enough to get these shell-shocked pilots to fly? Can he inspire them? Well, this is Hollywood, and Peck was a great actor. My money says he can do it.
I had seen "Twelve O'Clock High" once before, but it was long ago (at least a decade), and I'd forgotten how intense Gregory Peck was as General Savage (an apt name for the character). I think it's one of the greatest roles he ever played, and the movie itself is one of the greatest WW2 Air Force films I've ever seen, maybe the greatest, although there isn't as much air combat as in - say - "The Battle of Britain" or "The Dam Busters". The movie runs 132 minutes and most of it is a tense psychological study : Can Peck get these men to fight, and if so, will he have to change his methods? It's brutal, right up there with George C. Scott slapping the bedridden soldier in "Patton", or Jack Nicholson berating Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men", except here it feels even more heartless. Peck should've gotten a Best Actor for this film, he's that good. And though you only get twenty minutes of air combat at the end, it's from actual combat footage filmed by German and American airmen, so you're seeing real FW Fighters screaming at you as you ride in a B-17, and man is it scary. The fighter planes move so fast, and seem to come out of nowhere. The gunners have only seconds to get a fix on them and shoot them down, before their bomber gets blasted, and you do also see actual footage of American planes blown from the sky.
And there were real men on board. You are watching soldiers who lost their lives at that moment. It's sobering stuff, but then "Twelve O'Clock High" is that kind of movie. It pulls no punches in showing the sheer determination and sacrifice it took to beat the Nazis. There was later a TV series of the same name that ran in the mid-1960s. I used to watch it as a kid, before I ever heard of the movie. I wish they'd put the series on dvd, I'd love to see it again.
"Twelve O'Clock High" the movie is an all-time classic, and it gets Two Gigantic Thumbs Up, my highest recommendation. It's an absolute must-see for WW2 buffs, Air Force fans or anyone who appreciates great acting. Peck knocks it out of the park. ////
That's all for now. We had good singin' in church this morn. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Up until now, the leader of the 918th had been Colonel Davenport (Gary Merrill). The pilots love him, and he will go to any lengths to protect them. He won't send a battle scarred man back up in the air, no matter what the Generals want. The opening scene shows what it was like for a bomber crew whose plane was hit by enemy fire in the course of a run. It's strong stuff for 1949, with dialogue about heads getting blown off, etc. Gary Merrill is shown entering a plane that has crash landed, to retrieve the dismembered arm of a crewman who was blasted by the gun of a Focke-Wulf fighter. I think I've mentioned that when I was little, one of my earliest memories was of having model airplanes suspended above my bed. I was about four or five, and my Dad would show me all these pamphlets, from the toy model packages, that contained information about the airplanes. This was how I learned about Messerschmitts, and Junkers, Henkels and Focke-Wulfs. Dad knew about them because he'd been in a radar battalion that tracked German aircraft.
But about the movie, to recap what we have so far : The 918th is a small group that is part of the also undersized Advance Bombing Unit that is in England to destroy German manufacturing plants. The War Department feels that it's the only chance the Allies have of winning the war. Currently the Germans have more planes, more tanks, more artillery - more of everything. Hitler has been amassing his Wermacht and it is overpowering all who stand in it's way. If the Air Force can knock out German industry, it might turn the tide of the war.
But the pilots of the 918th are beat up, psychologically worn down. The Generals now want them to make daylight bombing runs at low altitude, which will make them sitting ducks for German anti-aircraft fire. Colonel Davenport is fighting against this. He tells the Generals that he will not send his men on what amounts to a suicide mission. So, General Pritchard (Millard Mitchell), replaces him. He sends in Gregory Peck to whip the pilots into shape, and man, Peck has no mercy for them, no sympathy whatsoever. He is ruthless in this movie. He calls a meeting of the pilots and tells them to stop feeling sorry for themselves. These are men who've been through unbearable stress and horror, but Peck doesn't care. One pilot, a Squadron Leader, has gone temporarily AWOL. When found, he is drunk, trying to numb the pain of seeing his friends die. In one of the most macho scenes in any war movie I can remember, Peck castigates the man, calling him a coward and worse. His adjutant, Major Stoval (Dean Jagger), is mortified by Peck's tirade. He advises Peck to lighten up, to try leading the men instead of denouncing them, but Peck won't budge. And then it becomes too late, because the next day, every pilot in the group puts in for a transfer. They want Colonel Davenport back and are gonna abandon Gregory Peck.
Peck is now in a bind. He has General Pritchard above him, demanding results. The War Department wants those daylight runs to begin. Below him, he's got a mutiny on his hands. The pilots are gonna transfer. But they have to go through the proper channels to do so. Peck's got 'em for another ten days. In that time, Dean Jagger will try to convince Peck to work with the men instead of against them. He suggests calling back Gary Merrill to act an an intermediary. Can Peck change his iron ways enough to get these shell-shocked pilots to fly? Can he inspire them? Well, this is Hollywood, and Peck was a great actor. My money says he can do it.
I had seen "Twelve O'Clock High" once before, but it was long ago (at least a decade), and I'd forgotten how intense Gregory Peck was as General Savage (an apt name for the character). I think it's one of the greatest roles he ever played, and the movie itself is one of the greatest WW2 Air Force films I've ever seen, maybe the greatest, although there isn't as much air combat as in - say - "The Battle of Britain" or "The Dam Busters". The movie runs 132 minutes and most of it is a tense psychological study : Can Peck get these men to fight, and if so, will he have to change his methods? It's brutal, right up there with George C. Scott slapping the bedridden soldier in "Patton", or Jack Nicholson berating Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men", except here it feels even more heartless. Peck should've gotten a Best Actor for this film, he's that good. And though you only get twenty minutes of air combat at the end, it's from actual combat footage filmed by German and American airmen, so you're seeing real FW Fighters screaming at you as you ride in a B-17, and man is it scary. The fighter planes move so fast, and seem to come out of nowhere. The gunners have only seconds to get a fix on them and shoot them down, before their bomber gets blasted, and you do also see actual footage of American planes blown from the sky.
And there were real men on board. You are watching soldiers who lost their lives at that moment. It's sobering stuff, but then "Twelve O'Clock High" is that kind of movie. It pulls no punches in showing the sheer determination and sacrifice it took to beat the Nazis. There was later a TV series of the same name that ran in the mid-1960s. I used to watch it as a kid, before I ever heard of the movie. I wish they'd put the series on dvd, I'd love to see it again.
"Twelve O'Clock High" the movie is an all-time classic, and it gets Two Gigantic Thumbs Up, my highest recommendation. It's an absolute must-see for WW2 buffs, Air Force fans or anyone who appreciates great acting. Peck knocks it out of the park. ////
That's all for now. We had good singin' in church this morn. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 23, 2019
More Young Dryas + My Chopin Pick + "Stage Fright" by Alfred Hitchcock
Some more astounding info from "America Before" by Graham Hancock, concerning an aftereffect of the Young Dryas Impact. A new theory suggests that the main comet fragment may have landed in Michigan, creating the Saginaw Bay, which gives that state it's "mitten" shape. The scientists who propose the theory have triangulated the trajectory of the fragment based on elliptical ground formations in two geographical areas. One is located along the Eastern Seaboard, where the formations are known as the Carolina Bays. The other is centered in Nebraska where they are known as the Rainwater Basins. You can Google the images of these two locations to see what they look like. In satellite photos, the basins look like very shallow, but flat, not like craters from meteors. The theory states that when the comet fragment hit upper Michigan, it struck the one kilometer thick Laurentide Ice Sheet. Wikipedia says the sheet was two miles thick in places, but anyway, imagine a sheet of ice that thick, and then imagine a 60 kilometer rock slamming into it at thousands of miles per hour.
The new theory suggests that the Carolina Bays and the Nebraska Rainwater Basins were formed when ice chunks - ranging in size from a basketball to a kilometer or more, were hurled upward with tremendous force after the comet struck, and were thrown into suborbital space in an arc of hundreds of miles. When these ice chunks fell back to Earth, they splayed out in a "butterfly" pattern equidistant from the Michigan impact site, and the elliptical basins were formed in the Carolinas and Nebraska.
I don't know about you, but this stuff blows my mind. Does anybody remember when the Shoemaker-Levy comet collided with Jupiter in 1994? We saw that in pictures from NASA. Was there video, too? I don't recall, but my point is that even in an image taken from millions of miles away, you could see the power of the impact. So now, transfer that power to the Earth and imagine what happened during Young Dryas, in which the ice bombarment continued for 21 years. Have you ever wondered why the Earth's rotation has a wobble, or why it's axis is tilted?
Whammo. That's why. (although the wobble and tilt would've been caused by a much bigger impact than Young Dryas, possibly a collision with another planet that wandered into out orbit and was smashed into pieces, creating both the Asteroid Belt that exists between Mars and Jupiter, and our Moon. Imagine a time before that impact, when there was no Moon in the sky.
Young Dryas, or another earlier event like it, caused the Flood related in the Bible and all other major religious tracts. We are fortunate to live in a break in all this cosmic activity, man oh man, but it really makes you take very seriously the stability of our climate, because once it gets thrown entirely out of whack........well, forget it. You get an extinction event. /////
I will now cease and desist from this line of discussion, haha, and we will get back to Sonata #3 by Frederic Chopin. Last night I asked you to choose your favorite interpretation of the Largo from that piece, between the versions recorded by my three favorite pianists : Dinu Lipatti, Wilhelm Kempff and Vladimir Sofronitsky. My personal choice for this Largo, as promised, is the one by Sofronitsky. As great as the other two are, he owns this piece. Sofronitsky slows it down, to pause the melody and accentuate the phrasing in the descending line, and this sets his interpretation above those of the other two geniuses. All three of the above mentioned pianists transcended the notes to take the music into spiritual realms, but Sofronitsky was quoted as saying that he was trying to play to God. If you listen to his recordings, especially of Scriabin, you will agree that he succeded.
Tonight's movie was "Stage Fright" (1950), directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jane Wyman. Jane plays a young actress in training at RADA who has been dragged into a murder mystery by her lifelong friend Richard Todd. He's an adventurous sort who's been having an affair with a married woman, Marlene Dietrich, a stage actress who currently has a hit production in London. As the movie opens, Jane is driving the getaway car. The cops are after Todd, so she is taking him to her father's house by the sea. Todd had come to her apartment suddenly that afternoon, all afluster, with no time to explain his situation. But now, as they drive, he tells Jane Wyman what has happened.
Earlier that day, there was a knock at Todd's door. It was Marlene. She was hysterical, wearing a dress that was covered in blood. She told him she'd just killed her husband. But, she said it was in self-defense. Her husband is an alleged brute who beats her regularly. That's one reason for her affair with Richard Todd. Now her husband is dead, but Marlene is worried the police won't believe her story. She convinces Todd, her loverboy, to go back to her house - where the body is still lying on the floor - to get her a clean dress, and while he's there, to make it look like a burglary. Todd is smitten with Dietrich; he'll do anything for her, but he doesn't realise he's being set up. While he's at the house, tossing the furnishings about to create the false "burlary scenario", in walks the maid. Marlene knew she was gonna be there, Richard Todd did not. The maid sees him, sees the body and runs out of the house yelling for the cops. She identifies him as the burglar and the killer. Now he is on the run.
Wyman takes him to her Dad's house. He's an old sea captain with a few rough edges. As played by the great Alistair Sim (the greatest Scrooge of them all in the 1951 "Christmas Carol"), he practically walks off the screen and into real life. Dad is full of advice for his plucky daughter ("Turn the blinder in before he takes you down with him"!), but she is headstrong and loyal to a fault. She believes Todd is innocent, just as he's said. She agrees that the cops will never believe his story. They've got the maid as an eyewitness, and besides, Marlene Dietrich is an actress, and a good one. When they interview her, she'll pull out all the stops to convince them that Todd is the killer : "Ohh, he vas sooo jealous of my husband".......
Jane's Dad reluctantly agrees to let Todd stay at his house for a spell, and then Jane Wyman gets an idea. She's an actress, too, you see, and though still in training, her teachers at RADA think she's very promising. What if she were to use her acting talents to get close to Marlene Dietrich? Might she be able to coax a confession from her? Jane shows up at the theatre where Dietrich is performing. She corners Dietrich's dresser and bribes the lady to let her take over the job for a few days. The dresser then calls in sick, but tells Marlene that she has a friend who can replace her. That friend is of course Jane Wyman. Now she will be alone for several nights with Miss Dietrich. But there is also another person in the mix, because a detective has also come to the theatre, to interview Dietrich, who of course frames Richard Todd for the murder. But while there, he meets and gradually falls for Jane Wyman, who is pretending to be "the dresser". The next thing you know, he is over for tea at her house. She's been calling herself by a different name, and now - at home - her Mother doesn't understand (and btw, Jane's Mom and Dad are separated, that's why he lives by the sea). The detective is confused as well, but Jane turns out to be a very good actress herself, because she has a convincing explanation for everything.
Alfred Hitchcock could wind up a mystery story like no other director. With "Stage Fright", though he hasn't quite reached the heights of his classic nail biters like "Vertigo" or "North By Northwest" he's still close to the top of his game. Jane Wyman - who won a Best Actress Oscar for "Johnny Belinda", was excellent in this film too. I'm surprised she isn't as well known as the other greats, because she carries this movie, even appearing alongside the likes of Alistair Sim and Marlene Dietrich. The dashing Michael Wilding (one of Elizabeth Taylor's many husbands) plays Smith the detective, and Richard Todd was quite good as well as the troubled boy toy. "Stage Fright" takes you through many twists and turns, but in the end it's all about the "acting". The Play's The Thing, as someone once said.
I'd never heard of "Stage Fright" before finding a copy at MidVal last week. I'm surprised again that it's not as well known as the other Hitchcock classics. Though it's not quite in their league, it's still a must-see for fans of Hitch, and I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. It's shot on location in London, photographed in black and white, and it's also a family affair : Hitchock's wife Alma wrote the script and his daughter Patricia gets a cameo. There are also some humorous moments. /////
That's all I know for today. As of now, I am off work through Thanksgiving, so I'll be writing from home for the next several days. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
The new theory suggests that the Carolina Bays and the Nebraska Rainwater Basins were formed when ice chunks - ranging in size from a basketball to a kilometer or more, were hurled upward with tremendous force after the comet struck, and were thrown into suborbital space in an arc of hundreds of miles. When these ice chunks fell back to Earth, they splayed out in a "butterfly" pattern equidistant from the Michigan impact site, and the elliptical basins were formed in the Carolinas and Nebraska.
I don't know about you, but this stuff blows my mind. Does anybody remember when the Shoemaker-Levy comet collided with Jupiter in 1994? We saw that in pictures from NASA. Was there video, too? I don't recall, but my point is that even in an image taken from millions of miles away, you could see the power of the impact. So now, transfer that power to the Earth and imagine what happened during Young Dryas, in which the ice bombarment continued for 21 years. Have you ever wondered why the Earth's rotation has a wobble, or why it's axis is tilted?
Whammo. That's why. (although the wobble and tilt would've been caused by a much bigger impact than Young Dryas, possibly a collision with another planet that wandered into out orbit and was smashed into pieces, creating both the Asteroid Belt that exists between Mars and Jupiter, and our Moon. Imagine a time before that impact, when there was no Moon in the sky.
Young Dryas, or another earlier event like it, caused the Flood related in the Bible and all other major religious tracts. We are fortunate to live in a break in all this cosmic activity, man oh man, but it really makes you take very seriously the stability of our climate, because once it gets thrown entirely out of whack........well, forget it. You get an extinction event. /////
I will now cease and desist from this line of discussion, haha, and we will get back to Sonata #3 by Frederic Chopin. Last night I asked you to choose your favorite interpretation of the Largo from that piece, between the versions recorded by my three favorite pianists : Dinu Lipatti, Wilhelm Kempff and Vladimir Sofronitsky. My personal choice for this Largo, as promised, is the one by Sofronitsky. As great as the other two are, he owns this piece. Sofronitsky slows it down, to pause the melody and accentuate the phrasing in the descending line, and this sets his interpretation above those of the other two geniuses. All three of the above mentioned pianists transcended the notes to take the music into spiritual realms, but Sofronitsky was quoted as saying that he was trying to play to God. If you listen to his recordings, especially of Scriabin, you will agree that he succeded.
Tonight's movie was "Stage Fright" (1950), directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jane Wyman. Jane plays a young actress in training at RADA who has been dragged into a murder mystery by her lifelong friend Richard Todd. He's an adventurous sort who's been having an affair with a married woman, Marlene Dietrich, a stage actress who currently has a hit production in London. As the movie opens, Jane is driving the getaway car. The cops are after Todd, so she is taking him to her father's house by the sea. Todd had come to her apartment suddenly that afternoon, all afluster, with no time to explain his situation. But now, as they drive, he tells Jane Wyman what has happened.
Earlier that day, there was a knock at Todd's door. It was Marlene. She was hysterical, wearing a dress that was covered in blood. She told him she'd just killed her husband. But, she said it was in self-defense. Her husband is an alleged brute who beats her regularly. That's one reason for her affair with Richard Todd. Now her husband is dead, but Marlene is worried the police won't believe her story. She convinces Todd, her loverboy, to go back to her house - where the body is still lying on the floor - to get her a clean dress, and while he's there, to make it look like a burglary. Todd is smitten with Dietrich; he'll do anything for her, but he doesn't realise he's being set up. While he's at the house, tossing the furnishings about to create the false "burlary scenario", in walks the maid. Marlene knew she was gonna be there, Richard Todd did not. The maid sees him, sees the body and runs out of the house yelling for the cops. She identifies him as the burglar and the killer. Now he is on the run.
Wyman takes him to her Dad's house. He's an old sea captain with a few rough edges. As played by the great Alistair Sim (the greatest Scrooge of them all in the 1951 "Christmas Carol"), he practically walks off the screen and into real life. Dad is full of advice for his plucky daughter ("Turn the blinder in before he takes you down with him"!), but she is headstrong and loyal to a fault. She believes Todd is innocent, just as he's said. She agrees that the cops will never believe his story. They've got the maid as an eyewitness, and besides, Marlene Dietrich is an actress, and a good one. When they interview her, she'll pull out all the stops to convince them that Todd is the killer : "Ohh, he vas sooo jealous of my husband".......
Jane's Dad reluctantly agrees to let Todd stay at his house for a spell, and then Jane Wyman gets an idea. She's an actress, too, you see, and though still in training, her teachers at RADA think she's very promising. What if she were to use her acting talents to get close to Marlene Dietrich? Might she be able to coax a confession from her? Jane shows up at the theatre where Dietrich is performing. She corners Dietrich's dresser and bribes the lady to let her take over the job for a few days. The dresser then calls in sick, but tells Marlene that she has a friend who can replace her. That friend is of course Jane Wyman. Now she will be alone for several nights with Miss Dietrich. But there is also another person in the mix, because a detective has also come to the theatre, to interview Dietrich, who of course frames Richard Todd for the murder. But while there, he meets and gradually falls for Jane Wyman, who is pretending to be "the dresser". The next thing you know, he is over for tea at her house. She's been calling herself by a different name, and now - at home - her Mother doesn't understand (and btw, Jane's Mom and Dad are separated, that's why he lives by the sea). The detective is confused as well, but Jane turns out to be a very good actress herself, because she has a convincing explanation for everything.
Alfred Hitchcock could wind up a mystery story like no other director. With "Stage Fright", though he hasn't quite reached the heights of his classic nail biters like "Vertigo" or "North By Northwest" he's still close to the top of his game. Jane Wyman - who won a Best Actress Oscar for "Johnny Belinda", was excellent in this film too. I'm surprised she isn't as well known as the other greats, because she carries this movie, even appearing alongside the likes of Alistair Sim and Marlene Dietrich. The dashing Michael Wilding (one of Elizabeth Taylor's many husbands) plays Smith the detective, and Richard Todd was quite good as well as the troubled boy toy. "Stage Fright" takes you through many twists and turns, but in the end it's all about the "acting". The Play's The Thing, as someone once said.
I'd never heard of "Stage Fright" before finding a copy at MidVal last week. I'm surprised again that it's not as well known as the other Hitchcock classics. Though it's not quite in their league, it's still a must-see for fans of Hitch, and I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. It's shot on location in London, photographed in black and white, and it's also a family affair : Hitchock's wife Alma wrote the script and his daughter Patricia gets a cameo. There are also some humorous moments. /////
That's all I know for today. As of now, I am off work through Thanksgiving, so I'll be writing from home for the next several days. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 22, 2019
Sonata #3 by Chopin & "Made For Each Other" starring James Stewart and Carole Lombard
I've been listening to three different versions of a piece by Frederic Chopin, his Sonata #3 in B minor, Op.58. You can just call it Sonata #3, because he only wrote three of 'em. The sonata is about twenty minutes long, but I've been concentrating on the Largo section, which comes in at around the 11 minute mark. It constitutes the final movement of the piece and lasts approximately 8 or 9 minutes, depending on the pianist. I mention it - and have been listening to it - because I think it is one of the most beautiful pieces ever written for the piano. So, I've been listening to versions by all three members of my Holy Trinity of Pianists : Vladimir Sofronitsky, Dinu Lipatti and Wilhelm Kempff. Your homework for tonight is to go to Youtube, type Chopin Sonata 3 Largo into the search box, then add the names of each pianist mentioned, one at a time. Listen to the Largo by each one and then tell me who you think played it best. I'll give you my own answer tomorrow night. P.S: Please take into account that these pianists recorded in the mid-20th century, so the sound quality is not up to date. But the playing is timeless. So go......listen and make your pick. :)
Tonight's movie was "Made For Each Other" (1939), starring Jimmay Schtooart (billed as James Stewart) and Carole Lombard. Stewart plays a young lawyer who hopes to become a partner in his firm. He works under Judge Doolittle (Charles Coburn), the head of the firm, who is businesslike and hard of hearing. Actor Coburn specialised in playing these offious types; you'd recognize him if you saw him - heavy set and thick lipped, but here, he is a fair boss and has assigned Jimmy Stewart the firm's biggest case. Stewart is expecting a partnership if he wins it.
As the movie opens, he is just returning from a preliminary trip to Boston, where he's filed a deposition. While he was there, he met a lady in passing (Lombard), and boom! - twenty four hours later they were married. When Charles Coburn hears of this he is not thrilled. He was expecting Stewart to marry his daughter, a stuck up ninnyhammer who Stewart had feigned interest in for a short time to gain favor with her Dad. The script doesn't dwell on Coburn's displeasure, however. He's all about the business of the law firm, so he shrugs off Stewart's whirlwind marriage.......but - he pays him back for ditching his daughter by denying Jimmy the partnership he'd been counting on. This sets off a chain of events for Stewart and his new bride Lombard.
Though Stewart is a hotshot lawyer, he's also a milquetoast. He's great in the courtroom but shy in the office, afraid to ask the Judge for the partnership, which would mean a substantial raise. Wife Lombard tries to raise his confidence. She tells him that he's earned it. He deserves to be made partner, but he can't muster the courage to state his case, and so the Judge - feeling slighted anyway by Stewart's rejection of his daughter - awards the partnership to Jimmy's co-worker, a butt-kisser named Conrad.
When they got married, Jimmy had promised Carole Lombard the moon. They were gonna move into a nice house, buy furniture and have a baby. Well, as the screenwriter would have it, only that last part is on the way. Lombard is pregnant and the couple are almost broke. How can a lawyer be broke, you ask? This was The Great Depression, and though it was waning in 1939, times were still tough. The Judge's firm is experiencing losses. Stewart is asked to take a pay cut, which he does without protest.
It all sounds like a good dramatic setup, does it not? Yet for some reason, for much of the first hour, the drama falls flat. A lot of time is spent listening to the couple bickering, but nothing is ever resolved. Their minor conflicts never reach a crescendo of any kind. It's like watching a struggling couple bicker in real life, just taking mild swipes at each other and then sitting down for supper. But this is a motion picture, and there is supposed to be Something That It All Leads To. Remember how we talk about a "perfect film", one with "no fat", where each scene not only moves the story forward but also leads into the next scene like pieces in a puzzle, or steps on a staircase? This film doesn't do that. It meanders for almost an hour, and the attempts at comedy are often annoying rather than funny, for instance, the fact that the couple cannot hold on to a housekeeper. They hire several, but each is "problematic" shall we say. The first one is a tyrant who calls her own shots and tells Stewart and Lombard what she'll do and what she won't. She's awful, and I know she was supposed to be comic relief, but I found her irritating.
What makes the first hour tolerable is that we've got Stewart and Lombard, two of the best actors of the Golden Era. Her screen presence in particular is so warm and natural that she lights up a scene even when it has ground to halt. And with Jimmy Stewart you can never go wrong. Here he's doing an early version of his character in "It's A Wonderful Life", and in fact, "Made For Each Other" will turn around in the final 30 minutes to bear a dramatic resemblance to that picture.
Director John Cromwell made two other movies that are not only excellent but are favorites of mine. One is "Since You Went Away", a look at WW2 from the home front, and the other is a mysterious love story called "The Enchanted Cottage", which has a spiritual element to it's plotline. Cromwell direct that movie like a fantasy. He uses contrasts of darkness and light to suggest deep emotion or even the presence of God. His actors emote from the soul. So here, in "Made For Each Other", it's like a stand-in directed the first hour of the film and Cromwell finally showed up for the final thirty minutes. But when he does arrive, we move to the edge of our seats. All of a sudden we have Major Drama unfolding, and while I don't want to spoil it, I can say that it takes place on New Year's Eve, when everyone in New York is celebrating but Stewart and Lombard, who are more miserable than ever. There's raging blizzard outside, extending halfway across the country. Cromwell kicked some life into his movie in a big way, and for me it saved the picture. I'm not saying the first hour is bad, just flat. But once we come to the last act, it's positively Sirkian, as in Douglas Sirk the master of melodrama.
Therefore, I give "Made For Each Other" Two Thumbs Up. Had the whole thing been as good as the ending, it would've rated Two Huge Thumbs. But it's still a Good 'Un, redeemed by Stewart and Lombard and the action at the end. See it, and make sure to see "Since You Went Away" and "The Enchanted Cottage", the two Cromwell classics. ////
So there you have it for the moment. I'm gonna go to the store, the Libe and then back to Pearl's. I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tonight's movie was "Made For Each Other" (1939), starring Jimmay Schtooart (billed as James Stewart) and Carole Lombard. Stewart plays a young lawyer who hopes to become a partner in his firm. He works under Judge Doolittle (Charles Coburn), the head of the firm, who is businesslike and hard of hearing. Actor Coburn specialised in playing these offious types; you'd recognize him if you saw him - heavy set and thick lipped, but here, he is a fair boss and has assigned Jimmy Stewart the firm's biggest case. Stewart is expecting a partnership if he wins it.
As the movie opens, he is just returning from a preliminary trip to Boston, where he's filed a deposition. While he was there, he met a lady in passing (Lombard), and boom! - twenty four hours later they were married. When Charles Coburn hears of this he is not thrilled. He was expecting Stewart to marry his daughter, a stuck up ninnyhammer who Stewart had feigned interest in for a short time to gain favor with her Dad. The script doesn't dwell on Coburn's displeasure, however. He's all about the business of the law firm, so he shrugs off Stewart's whirlwind marriage.......but - he pays him back for ditching his daughter by denying Jimmy the partnership he'd been counting on. This sets off a chain of events for Stewart and his new bride Lombard.
Though Stewart is a hotshot lawyer, he's also a milquetoast. He's great in the courtroom but shy in the office, afraid to ask the Judge for the partnership, which would mean a substantial raise. Wife Lombard tries to raise his confidence. She tells him that he's earned it. He deserves to be made partner, but he can't muster the courage to state his case, and so the Judge - feeling slighted anyway by Stewart's rejection of his daughter - awards the partnership to Jimmy's co-worker, a butt-kisser named Conrad.
When they got married, Jimmy had promised Carole Lombard the moon. They were gonna move into a nice house, buy furniture and have a baby. Well, as the screenwriter would have it, only that last part is on the way. Lombard is pregnant and the couple are almost broke. How can a lawyer be broke, you ask? This was The Great Depression, and though it was waning in 1939, times were still tough. The Judge's firm is experiencing losses. Stewart is asked to take a pay cut, which he does without protest.
It all sounds like a good dramatic setup, does it not? Yet for some reason, for much of the first hour, the drama falls flat. A lot of time is spent listening to the couple bickering, but nothing is ever resolved. Their minor conflicts never reach a crescendo of any kind. It's like watching a struggling couple bicker in real life, just taking mild swipes at each other and then sitting down for supper. But this is a motion picture, and there is supposed to be Something That It All Leads To. Remember how we talk about a "perfect film", one with "no fat", where each scene not only moves the story forward but also leads into the next scene like pieces in a puzzle, or steps on a staircase? This film doesn't do that. It meanders for almost an hour, and the attempts at comedy are often annoying rather than funny, for instance, the fact that the couple cannot hold on to a housekeeper. They hire several, but each is "problematic" shall we say. The first one is a tyrant who calls her own shots and tells Stewart and Lombard what she'll do and what she won't. She's awful, and I know she was supposed to be comic relief, but I found her irritating.
What makes the first hour tolerable is that we've got Stewart and Lombard, two of the best actors of the Golden Era. Her screen presence in particular is so warm and natural that she lights up a scene even when it has ground to halt. And with Jimmy Stewart you can never go wrong. Here he's doing an early version of his character in "It's A Wonderful Life", and in fact, "Made For Each Other" will turn around in the final 30 minutes to bear a dramatic resemblance to that picture.
Director John Cromwell made two other movies that are not only excellent but are favorites of mine. One is "Since You Went Away", a look at WW2 from the home front, and the other is a mysterious love story called "The Enchanted Cottage", which has a spiritual element to it's plotline. Cromwell direct that movie like a fantasy. He uses contrasts of darkness and light to suggest deep emotion or even the presence of God. His actors emote from the soul. So here, in "Made For Each Other", it's like a stand-in directed the first hour of the film and Cromwell finally showed up for the final thirty minutes. But when he does arrive, we move to the edge of our seats. All of a sudden we have Major Drama unfolding, and while I don't want to spoil it, I can say that it takes place on New Year's Eve, when everyone in New York is celebrating but Stewart and Lombard, who are more miserable than ever. There's raging blizzard outside, extending halfway across the country. Cromwell kicked some life into his movie in a big way, and for me it saved the picture. I'm not saying the first hour is bad, just flat. But once we come to the last act, it's positively Sirkian, as in Douglas Sirk the master of melodrama.
Therefore, I give "Made For Each Other" Two Thumbs Up. Had the whole thing been as good as the ending, it would've rated Two Huge Thumbs. But it's still a Good 'Un, redeemed by Stewart and Lombard and the action at the end. See it, and make sure to see "Since You Went Away" and "The Enchanted Cottage", the two Cromwell classics. ////
So there you have it for the moment. I'm gonna go to the store, the Libe and then back to Pearl's. I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 21, 2019
"Revolt of the Zombies" starring Dean Jagger
Tonight's movie was "Revolt of the Zombies" (1936). Who said Halloween was over? Actually, "Revolt" wasn't much of a horror story but more an adventure like it's predecessor "White Zombie", which was also directed by Victor Halperin. He may have made a minor cult classic with that film (which is supposedly the first Zombie Movie ever made), but as a sequel, "Revolt" is pretty revolting because the script is all mixed up, and the direction and budget suggest an Ed Wood production. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Wood was influenced by this flick. The way the dialogue is recited in some scenes recalls the smarmy but earnest deliveries of actor Bunny Breckinridge, as "The Ruler", in "Plan 9 From Outer Space".
I discovered the movie in the same Dean Jagger database search that produced "C-Man", reviewed a few days ago. He is thirteen years younger here, and more virile looking - remember that in "C-Man" we said he was too soft for the role. But in 1936 he looks thin and strong, playing an archaeologist who is part of a team sent to Angkor Wat in Cambodia to investigate a rumor of Black Magic.
The time is post-World War One. As the movie opens we see a French officer describe to his Generals a fearsome sight. On the battlefield, he witnessed a patrol of allied French Cambodian soldiers who appeared to be under a supernatural influence. These men advanced unabated on the German enemy, even while being riddled with bullets. They had a glazed look in their eyes as they walked right through the barbed wire, and.........well, you know. They kicked the Germans' butts because they were Zombies.
When you think of Zombies in 1936, think of them as several generations of gore removed from the current era of 'Walking Dead" grotesquerie. These chaps look physically like regular humans, but with glazed eyes. Also, they are not deceased and reanimated like modern Zombies but instead are live men whose souls have been stolen. They are under the control of a Master who can use them like slaves.
After the French officer concludes his tale, his General orders the Cambodian High Priest, who is responsible for the Zombification of the soldiers, to be jailed and put in solitary confinement. You'd think he'd give the guy a medal because they are fighting the same enemy, but no, he wants the priest locked up. "No man should have such power"!, he declares, and rightly so.
Somehow, the priest has a statue of Shiva in his cell. He also has a tapestry with images printed upon it that is used in the Zombie Creation Ritual. I think he has some incense, too. I don't know if he snuck all of this stuff into his prison cell or was allowed to have it, but anyway, he's back at it again : making yet more Zombies from the comfort of solitary confinement. But wait! He's not the only one in the cell! Somehow or another, an Evil Genius named General Mazovia has snuck in there, and he's hiding behind the Shiva statue. He's gonna knock off the High Priest and steal his tapestry. Then he will become the Chief Zombiemaker of the World.
The High Priest is found dead in his cell. The other Generals get word of Mazovia's escape, and send a team of officers and archaeologists to Angkor, to find him, and also to get to the bottom of this Zombie business, which is all new to them. But here the story takes a left turn, because the General's daughter wants to go along. She is played by Dorothy Stone, a blonde cupie doll of the era, and, like Ruth Terry the other night, she's the kind of gal Dad can't say no to. Stone instantly becomes smitten with Robert Noland, one of the archaeologists, and now we've got a romance on our hands. Because Dean Jagger likes her too, this makes it a triangle and also a rivalry. He is Noland's best friend, but their competition for Dorothy Stone may throw a monkey wrench into the works.
Whatever happened to the Zombies? Oh, they're still around, but the script is focusing on the romance now. It is here that the Plan 9 Acting Techniques will make their entrance (not that the acting was spectacular to begin with, mind you). If you can stick with the movie throughout this 15 to 20 minute interlude, you will again be treated to some Zombie Intrigue, but not until Dean Jagger gets the idea to steal the tapestry himself. Once he does that, he creates his first Zombie (Teru Shimada) and uses him to murder the Evil Genius Mazovia, thereby eliminating the competition. Sorry about all the spoilers, but in truth I'm not sure it's possible for me to spoil this movie for ya, lol. It may do that by itself!
Anyhow, Jagger does become the Chief Zombifier, and now he's got Dorothy Stone over a barrel. She can either leave Robert Noland and marry him (meaning Jagger), or he will turn Noland into a Zombie. Now, I imagine some women might take the latter deal, am I right? There are probably more than a few ladies out there who wouldn't mind at all if their hubbies were turned into Zombies, and even moreso, there are probably even some who would say their husbands already are Zombies, haha. :)
Well, at any rate, there you basically have it. "Revolt of the Zombies" was produced by Talisman Studios, obviously a Poverty Row enterprise. It looks like it was edited with a hacksaw and lit with 30 watt bulbs. I believe it has the lowest IMDB rating, 3.3, of any film I've seen since I began reviewing. I'm not gonna give it any thumbs, up or down. It's just one of those movies that you're either gonna watch or you ain't. I can recommend it for two things, one of course being the Ed Wood Masterclass that takes place in Act Two, and the other is the location shooting at the legendary Yamashiro restaurant in the Hollywood Hills, which is standing in for a Cambodian Temple. I have only been to Yamashiro once, when I was about five years old, but I still remembered it, and I didn't know it was around as early as 1936. Probably a lot of the movie budget was spent on sushi, because it sure didn't end up on the screen. ////
That's all for today. Did you watch Fiona Hill's testimony this morning? Wow. She was the most articulate witness yet, and the first to really open up and speak, to say more than "yes" and "that's correct". I think she was devastating to Trump. How anyone can still support him is beyond me.
See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I discovered the movie in the same Dean Jagger database search that produced "C-Man", reviewed a few days ago. He is thirteen years younger here, and more virile looking - remember that in "C-Man" we said he was too soft for the role. But in 1936 he looks thin and strong, playing an archaeologist who is part of a team sent to Angkor Wat in Cambodia to investigate a rumor of Black Magic.
The time is post-World War One. As the movie opens we see a French officer describe to his Generals a fearsome sight. On the battlefield, he witnessed a patrol of allied French Cambodian soldiers who appeared to be under a supernatural influence. These men advanced unabated on the German enemy, even while being riddled with bullets. They had a glazed look in their eyes as they walked right through the barbed wire, and.........well, you know. They kicked the Germans' butts because they were Zombies.
When you think of Zombies in 1936, think of them as several generations of gore removed from the current era of 'Walking Dead" grotesquerie. These chaps look physically like regular humans, but with glazed eyes. Also, they are not deceased and reanimated like modern Zombies but instead are live men whose souls have been stolen. They are under the control of a Master who can use them like slaves.
After the French officer concludes his tale, his General orders the Cambodian High Priest, who is responsible for the Zombification of the soldiers, to be jailed and put in solitary confinement. You'd think he'd give the guy a medal because they are fighting the same enemy, but no, he wants the priest locked up. "No man should have such power"!, he declares, and rightly so.
Somehow, the priest has a statue of Shiva in his cell. He also has a tapestry with images printed upon it that is used in the Zombie Creation Ritual. I think he has some incense, too. I don't know if he snuck all of this stuff into his prison cell or was allowed to have it, but anyway, he's back at it again : making yet more Zombies from the comfort of solitary confinement. But wait! He's not the only one in the cell! Somehow or another, an Evil Genius named General Mazovia has snuck in there, and he's hiding behind the Shiva statue. He's gonna knock off the High Priest and steal his tapestry. Then he will become the Chief Zombiemaker of the World.
The High Priest is found dead in his cell. The other Generals get word of Mazovia's escape, and send a team of officers and archaeologists to Angkor, to find him, and also to get to the bottom of this Zombie business, which is all new to them. But here the story takes a left turn, because the General's daughter wants to go along. She is played by Dorothy Stone, a blonde cupie doll of the era, and, like Ruth Terry the other night, she's the kind of gal Dad can't say no to. Stone instantly becomes smitten with Robert Noland, one of the archaeologists, and now we've got a romance on our hands. Because Dean Jagger likes her too, this makes it a triangle and also a rivalry. He is Noland's best friend, but their competition for Dorothy Stone may throw a monkey wrench into the works.
Whatever happened to the Zombies? Oh, they're still around, but the script is focusing on the romance now. It is here that the Plan 9 Acting Techniques will make their entrance (not that the acting was spectacular to begin with, mind you). If you can stick with the movie throughout this 15 to 20 minute interlude, you will again be treated to some Zombie Intrigue, but not until Dean Jagger gets the idea to steal the tapestry himself. Once he does that, he creates his first Zombie (Teru Shimada) and uses him to murder the Evil Genius Mazovia, thereby eliminating the competition. Sorry about all the spoilers, but in truth I'm not sure it's possible for me to spoil this movie for ya, lol. It may do that by itself!
Anyhow, Jagger does become the Chief Zombifier, and now he's got Dorothy Stone over a barrel. She can either leave Robert Noland and marry him (meaning Jagger), or he will turn Noland into a Zombie. Now, I imagine some women might take the latter deal, am I right? There are probably more than a few ladies out there who wouldn't mind at all if their hubbies were turned into Zombies, and even moreso, there are probably even some who would say their husbands already are Zombies, haha. :)
Well, at any rate, there you basically have it. "Revolt of the Zombies" was produced by Talisman Studios, obviously a Poverty Row enterprise. It looks like it was edited with a hacksaw and lit with 30 watt bulbs. I believe it has the lowest IMDB rating, 3.3, of any film I've seen since I began reviewing. I'm not gonna give it any thumbs, up or down. It's just one of those movies that you're either gonna watch or you ain't. I can recommend it for two things, one of course being the Ed Wood Masterclass that takes place in Act Two, and the other is the location shooting at the legendary Yamashiro restaurant in the Hollywood Hills, which is standing in for a Cambodian Temple. I have only been to Yamashiro once, when I was about five years old, but I still remembered it, and I didn't know it was around as early as 1936. Probably a lot of the movie budget was spent on sushi, because it sure didn't end up on the screen. ////
That's all for today. Did you watch Fiona Hill's testimony this morning? Wow. She was the most articulate witness yet, and the first to really open up and speak, to say more than "yes" and "that's correct". I think she was devastating to Trump. How anyone can still support him is beyond me.
See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
The Young Dryas Impact + "The Young Savages" starring Bhuht Lahncahstah
I've been reading a book by Graham Hancock called "America Before". I think I've mentioned it; it's about the possibility (or probability) that North and South America were inhabited long before originally thought. It's a very interesting book, full of information about mound building cultures and the various earthworks that still exist in places like Ohio and Louisiana. But the reason I am bringing it up tonight is because I just finished reading about something called the Young Dryas Impact Hypothesis. Man, it's the mindblower to end all mindblowers. In brief, it is a theory that a comet fragment, roughly 15 to 60 kilometers in diameter (think of a rock the size of the San Fernando Valley) hit the Earth in North America somewhere near the polar ice cap. If the theory is true, it caused an extinction of all the large animals, i.e. megafauna, that roamed the continent at that time, and it also caused the extinction of the civilisation known as the Clovis culture. This is believed to have happened 12,800 years ago. I think it caused a break in the Ice Age, a warming period, due to the continent-wide firestorms that resulted - please don't dock me if I'm wrong about that, I was so blown away by the description of the event that my reading comprehension may have suffered momentarily, but at any rate I am writing about it for the very reason that it is an astounding theory I had not known about.
Yes, everyone has heard that a comet may have destroyed the dinosaurs. But that was 65 million years ago. The Young Dryas Impact was recent in comparison, and man oh man, you should Google it, or better yet, read Hancock's book. It's some positively Spooky Stuff. Have you ever heard of the Tunguska Event, which happened in Siberia in 1908? That was due to a suspected comet fragment also, though much smaller - only the size of a football field. The explosion was enough to have destroyed the city of London, had it happened there. We apparently orbit through an asteroid belt twice a year known as the Taurids. It is believed to be made up of pieces of a disintegrated comet, and while most of the material is dust, or pieces that are small enough to burn up in our atmosphere, there are other pieces that are big enough to cause an event like Tunguska............or Young Dryas.
Boy oh boy, I'm glad they never taught me this stuff in school. I'd have been a nervous wreck my entire life, lol. In truth, though, the Young Dryas theory has only been advanced in recent years. But it's based on solid evidence, and we are lucky that the odds are very much against a large comet fragment hitting us. It's the kind of thing that only happens every 50, 000 years. But when it does hit.....well, read Hancock's book, and now I'll shut up about the Young Dryas Impact. (Sheesh...).
Tonight's movie was called "The Young Savages" (1961), directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster again. You know the pronunciation so I'll not trouble you with a repeat. This time Burt plays a New York District Attorney who is prosecuting a first degree murder case against three teenaged boys. They are gang members living in Harlem, and though they are caucasian they are also ethnic : two of the boys are of Italian heritage, the eldest, at 17, is Irish. He is the ringleader. Their ethnicity pits them against a rival gang of Puerto Rican kids. All are from poor backgrounds and dysfunctional families. Hell, that's a sanitised sociological term that hardly describes the conditions these youngsters had to deal with. Still, the gang members are murderers, we've seen them committing the act, against a young Puerto Rican boy who is blind.
Burt Lancaster has no sympathy for the white boys. He grew up in the same neighborhood. His Dad changed the family name from Bellini to Bell to escape the "Wop" tag. But Burt stayed straight and worked hard to get out of Harlem. Why can't these punks do the same? He isn't interested in their psychologies. He's gonna put 'em in The Chair.
Lancaster's wife is played by Dina Merrill. She is a Wasp he deliberately married to move into "White Society", but she is also a flaming liberal who graduated from Vassar and has no idea what it means to grow up around unrelenting violence. She is vociferously against the death penalty, and believes it is wrong for her husband to seek first-degree murder charges against the psychologically damaged teens. She tells him so, and he responds that she doesn't know what she's talking about. He grew up in the neighborhood, and as bad as it remains, the poverty and decrepit surroundings are no excuse to commit murder. Besides, he says, it's not about that - the murder happened because of a juvenile "turf war", and because one boy, Riordan the gang leader, is a vicious racist.
So there you basically have it. The plot hinges more on the question of fair justice in these circumstances, rather than on the boys' guilt, which is given. Lancaster's investigation leads him back into the old neighborhood, where he will interrogate gang members from both sides. He needs corroborating information from associates, because the other two boys won't testify against Riordan. As he learns more about the younger boys, Lancaster begins to partially modify his views. Before, he wanted all three to be convicted and given the death penalty, and I was not aware that a 16 year old was eligible for the Electric Chair in New York as late as 1961. That seems extreme to me, but then the murder in question was extremely viscious. However, Lancaster discovers that one of the younger boys is mentally challenged, and the other one - a 15 year old - may not in fact have participated. Complicating matters is that he is the son of Lancaster's former girlfriend (Shelly Winters), who never got out of Harlem.
This is kind of like "West Side Story" without the music or the romance. We meet the gang leaders of The Thunderbirds (Chris Robinson) and The Horsemen (Luis Arroyo). Both present themselves as stylish and jaded adults with a hardened facade, though they aren't out of their teens either. The acting by these young men is superb, as are the actors playing the killers : John Davis Chandler as Riordan, Stanley Kristien as Danny (the 15 year old), and Neil Burstyn as "Batman" the retarded boy. In a side note, he went on to become the husband of Ellen Burstyn.
The moral conundrums being debated here were hot button issues back in the 1950s and early 60s, when gangs and teenaged crime and angst in general were becoming epidemic in ghetto neighborhoods, and were gaining national attention for the first time. Nowdays, it's old hat. But the questions remain the same : what is to be done about it? How do we eradicate gangs? Through punishment, or alternative options? Now, we try everything, but in 1961, opinions were more polarised. Some folks indeed had no problem with a teenager going to the Electric Chair, and in fact the mother of the blind boy demands "eye-for-an-eye" justice from Lancaster, while failing to acknowledge that her son was less than an angel himself.
"The Young Savages" explores all sides of the issue, and for it's time must have been an insightful film. It's very well directed by Frankenheimer, who guides us through the mass of material with a steady hand, while also giving us a guided tour of Harlem street life in 1961.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Young Savages", photographed in glorious black and white with a jazz score to match the action. /////
That's all for today. Did you watch the Sondland testimony? He did so good I may have to remove him from the A-Hole List. Trump is Toast! See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Yes, everyone has heard that a comet may have destroyed the dinosaurs. But that was 65 million years ago. The Young Dryas Impact was recent in comparison, and man oh man, you should Google it, or better yet, read Hancock's book. It's some positively Spooky Stuff. Have you ever heard of the Tunguska Event, which happened in Siberia in 1908? That was due to a suspected comet fragment also, though much smaller - only the size of a football field. The explosion was enough to have destroyed the city of London, had it happened there. We apparently orbit through an asteroid belt twice a year known as the Taurids. It is believed to be made up of pieces of a disintegrated comet, and while most of the material is dust, or pieces that are small enough to burn up in our atmosphere, there are other pieces that are big enough to cause an event like Tunguska............or Young Dryas.
Boy oh boy, I'm glad they never taught me this stuff in school. I'd have been a nervous wreck my entire life, lol. In truth, though, the Young Dryas theory has only been advanced in recent years. But it's based on solid evidence, and we are lucky that the odds are very much against a large comet fragment hitting us. It's the kind of thing that only happens every 50, 000 years. But when it does hit.....well, read Hancock's book, and now I'll shut up about the Young Dryas Impact. (Sheesh...).
Tonight's movie was called "The Young Savages" (1961), directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster again. You know the pronunciation so I'll not trouble you with a repeat. This time Burt plays a New York District Attorney who is prosecuting a first degree murder case against three teenaged boys. They are gang members living in Harlem, and though they are caucasian they are also ethnic : two of the boys are of Italian heritage, the eldest, at 17, is Irish. He is the ringleader. Their ethnicity pits them against a rival gang of Puerto Rican kids. All are from poor backgrounds and dysfunctional families. Hell, that's a sanitised sociological term that hardly describes the conditions these youngsters had to deal with. Still, the gang members are murderers, we've seen them committing the act, against a young Puerto Rican boy who is blind.
Burt Lancaster has no sympathy for the white boys. He grew up in the same neighborhood. His Dad changed the family name from Bellini to Bell to escape the "Wop" tag. But Burt stayed straight and worked hard to get out of Harlem. Why can't these punks do the same? He isn't interested in their psychologies. He's gonna put 'em in The Chair.
Lancaster's wife is played by Dina Merrill. She is a Wasp he deliberately married to move into "White Society", but she is also a flaming liberal who graduated from Vassar and has no idea what it means to grow up around unrelenting violence. She is vociferously against the death penalty, and believes it is wrong for her husband to seek first-degree murder charges against the psychologically damaged teens. She tells him so, and he responds that she doesn't know what she's talking about. He grew up in the neighborhood, and as bad as it remains, the poverty and decrepit surroundings are no excuse to commit murder. Besides, he says, it's not about that - the murder happened because of a juvenile "turf war", and because one boy, Riordan the gang leader, is a vicious racist.
So there you basically have it. The plot hinges more on the question of fair justice in these circumstances, rather than on the boys' guilt, which is given. Lancaster's investigation leads him back into the old neighborhood, where he will interrogate gang members from both sides. He needs corroborating information from associates, because the other two boys won't testify against Riordan. As he learns more about the younger boys, Lancaster begins to partially modify his views. Before, he wanted all three to be convicted and given the death penalty, and I was not aware that a 16 year old was eligible for the Electric Chair in New York as late as 1961. That seems extreme to me, but then the murder in question was extremely viscious. However, Lancaster discovers that one of the younger boys is mentally challenged, and the other one - a 15 year old - may not in fact have participated. Complicating matters is that he is the son of Lancaster's former girlfriend (Shelly Winters), who never got out of Harlem.
This is kind of like "West Side Story" without the music or the romance. We meet the gang leaders of The Thunderbirds (Chris Robinson) and The Horsemen (Luis Arroyo). Both present themselves as stylish and jaded adults with a hardened facade, though they aren't out of their teens either. The acting by these young men is superb, as are the actors playing the killers : John Davis Chandler as Riordan, Stanley Kristien as Danny (the 15 year old), and Neil Burstyn as "Batman" the retarded boy. In a side note, he went on to become the husband of Ellen Burstyn.
The moral conundrums being debated here were hot button issues back in the 1950s and early 60s, when gangs and teenaged crime and angst in general were becoming epidemic in ghetto neighborhoods, and were gaining national attention for the first time. Nowdays, it's old hat. But the questions remain the same : what is to be done about it? How do we eradicate gangs? Through punishment, or alternative options? Now, we try everything, but in 1961, opinions were more polarised. Some folks indeed had no problem with a teenager going to the Electric Chair, and in fact the mother of the blind boy demands "eye-for-an-eye" justice from Lancaster, while failing to acknowledge that her son was less than an angel himself.
"The Young Savages" explores all sides of the issue, and for it's time must have been an insightful film. It's very well directed by Frankenheimer, who guides us through the mass of material with a steady hand, while also giving us a guided tour of Harlem street life in 1961.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Young Savages", photographed in glorious black and white with a jazz score to match the action. /////
That's all for today. Did you watch the Sondland testimony? He did so good I may have to remove him from the A-Hole List. Trump is Toast! See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
"Back To Bataan" starring John F. Wayne
Tonight we went "Back To Bataan" (1945) with John Freakin' Wayne. I found the movie at Mid-Val, and couldn't believe I'd never seen it, being that I'm a Duke fan and this is one of his best known WW2 efforts. It's really more the story of the Philippine people's resistance against the Japanese than a typical vehicle for Wayne, but he was quite good in what amounted to more of an ensemble role in his own film. As "Colonel Joseph Madden", he shows a softer more measured side, not as Gung Ho as we've known him to be. I've long thought that he was a good actor, in that he knew exactly what he was capable of giving in a scene, and he always gave it. Think of him as the Ringo of actors, haha. Or don't. I know a lot of folks don't like Wayne because of his politics, but let's leave that aside for the moment.
Wayne is leading a squad of insurrectionists on the island of Luzon, where they've been tasked with taking down a Japanese airfield. Before they can embark on the mission, the Colonel and his Filipino soldiers witness the Bataan Death March. They decide to remain in place, to protect the local village where they've been encamped. Almost all of the American forces have departed the Philippines. Wayne's troop of resistors includes a Captain (Anthony Quinn) who is the grandson of the great Filipino rebel leader Andres Bonifacio. There are some historical problems with this relationship, but I suggest you check them out on the IMDB "trivia" link for this movie, which will also give you deep insight into Wayne's politics. It's some heavy stuff, but don't let it affect your enjoyment of the film.
The Generals in charge of what remains of the American protective force want Wayne and his fellow officers to use the notion of patriotism as motivation to recruit civilians into the resistance army. They believe that invoking the name of Bonifacio the Elder, who led his people against the Spaniards in 1896, will inspire a similar revolutionary spirit now. However, Anthony Quinn - the grandson - wants no part of a revolution. He is cynical about the chances for success, feeling that the Japanese will crush the revolt. Adding to his doubt is the fact that his girlfriend, the exotic Fely Franquelli, has been co-opted by the Japs to act as a Philippine version of their "Tokyo Rose". She has been set up in a makeshift radio station and is broadcasting anti-resistance propaganda at her people day and night. Quinn can't tell whether she's gone over to the other side, or not.
The great character actress Beulah Bondi plays an American schoolteacher in charge of a class of local kids. They've been educated in the ways of the USA, and we see their preferences for hot dogs and baseball. One boy, Maximo, idolises John Wayne, and in traditional Hollywood style, wants to be part of the action. He's only ten years old, but Wayne makes him an "honorary" Colonel by giving him a pin. Maximo swears allegiance to the resistance, and Wayne tells him that's good enough. He's done his part, now he should remain in the schoolhouse with the other children and listen to Miss Biondi. But you know he's not gonna stay put.
There's a lot of propaganda in this film, and portrayals of "evil" Japanese officers, etc. Nothing egregious, I don't think (or particularly untrue) , but it's in the mold of American WW2 films made during the war, when the filmmakers were encouraged to "play up" the Good Guys and demonise the Bad Guys, so it's interesting that John Wayne later called it "garbage". He got into a big dispute with Director Edward Dmytryk over aspects of the script. I can't imagine what displeased Wayne, because it's all as American as apple pie, and apparently it's more historically correct than a lot of other war films, but the final straw for Wayne was when he found out Dmytryk had once been a Communist. After that, he led the charge to get Dmytryk blackballed in Hollywood, and indeed, the director became one of the Hollywood Ten, accused Communists whose careers were either completely ruined or were never again the same. Yes, John Wayne was a right-wing a-hole, but again, that doesn't mean you cannot enjoy his movies. By the way, Dmytryk renounced Communism himself. Remember that when the picture was made, he was a former Communist. That wasn't good enough for Wayne, who figured "once a Commie, always a Commie". But Dmytryk went on to testify in the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee. He "named names" of other suspected Communists, which caused him to be despised, as were others who spoke to the committee such as Elia Kazan and Edward G. Robinson. It was a terrible time, and the hearings turned people in Hollywood against each other, but we are here for the movies so I'll leave it at that.
"Back To Bataan" is serviceable, insofar as it tells a Cliff Notes version of the Philippine resistance in WW2, which led to the independence of it's people. It also shows that the resistance could not have been successful without American support, and of course the payback was that the country has been our ally in the Pacific ever since, and the culture has been partly Americanized. There's a bit of a documentary feel to the story, like a "study film" you saw in Junior High, so the drama between the characters is a little wooden, but the battle sequences are strong, especially when Japanese tanks storm the village toward the end.
I'll give "Back To Bataan" Two Regular Thumbs Up, just because all the things that are good about it add up to a watchable WW2 movie, certainly worth a view. It's not a great film by any means, but not a bad one either. It's medium-grade John Wayne fare, and if you like Big John and don't mind a history lesson you'll want to see it. /////
That's all for now. What'd ya think of today's Impeachment Hearings? I thought Lt. Col. Vindman knocked it out of the park. He also destroyed the attempts by Nunes and Jordan to undermine his character. Those guys are Two Of The Biggest A-Holes In The Known Universe. At any rate, it was a very bad day for Trump, which is a Good Day for America. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wayne is leading a squad of insurrectionists on the island of Luzon, where they've been tasked with taking down a Japanese airfield. Before they can embark on the mission, the Colonel and his Filipino soldiers witness the Bataan Death March. They decide to remain in place, to protect the local village where they've been encamped. Almost all of the American forces have departed the Philippines. Wayne's troop of resistors includes a Captain (Anthony Quinn) who is the grandson of the great Filipino rebel leader Andres Bonifacio. There are some historical problems with this relationship, but I suggest you check them out on the IMDB "trivia" link for this movie, which will also give you deep insight into Wayne's politics. It's some heavy stuff, but don't let it affect your enjoyment of the film.
The Generals in charge of what remains of the American protective force want Wayne and his fellow officers to use the notion of patriotism as motivation to recruit civilians into the resistance army. They believe that invoking the name of Bonifacio the Elder, who led his people against the Spaniards in 1896, will inspire a similar revolutionary spirit now. However, Anthony Quinn - the grandson - wants no part of a revolution. He is cynical about the chances for success, feeling that the Japanese will crush the revolt. Adding to his doubt is the fact that his girlfriend, the exotic Fely Franquelli, has been co-opted by the Japs to act as a Philippine version of their "Tokyo Rose". She has been set up in a makeshift radio station and is broadcasting anti-resistance propaganda at her people day and night. Quinn can't tell whether she's gone over to the other side, or not.
The great character actress Beulah Bondi plays an American schoolteacher in charge of a class of local kids. They've been educated in the ways of the USA, and we see their preferences for hot dogs and baseball. One boy, Maximo, idolises John Wayne, and in traditional Hollywood style, wants to be part of the action. He's only ten years old, but Wayne makes him an "honorary" Colonel by giving him a pin. Maximo swears allegiance to the resistance, and Wayne tells him that's good enough. He's done his part, now he should remain in the schoolhouse with the other children and listen to Miss Biondi. But you know he's not gonna stay put.
There's a lot of propaganda in this film, and portrayals of "evil" Japanese officers, etc. Nothing egregious, I don't think (or particularly untrue) , but it's in the mold of American WW2 films made during the war, when the filmmakers were encouraged to "play up" the Good Guys and demonise the Bad Guys, so it's interesting that John Wayne later called it "garbage". He got into a big dispute with Director Edward Dmytryk over aspects of the script. I can't imagine what displeased Wayne, because it's all as American as apple pie, and apparently it's more historically correct than a lot of other war films, but the final straw for Wayne was when he found out Dmytryk had once been a Communist. After that, he led the charge to get Dmytryk blackballed in Hollywood, and indeed, the director became one of the Hollywood Ten, accused Communists whose careers were either completely ruined or were never again the same. Yes, John Wayne was a right-wing a-hole, but again, that doesn't mean you cannot enjoy his movies. By the way, Dmytryk renounced Communism himself. Remember that when the picture was made, he was a former Communist. That wasn't good enough for Wayne, who figured "once a Commie, always a Commie". But Dmytryk went on to testify in the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee. He "named names" of other suspected Communists, which caused him to be despised, as were others who spoke to the committee such as Elia Kazan and Edward G. Robinson. It was a terrible time, and the hearings turned people in Hollywood against each other, but we are here for the movies so I'll leave it at that.
"Back To Bataan" is serviceable, insofar as it tells a Cliff Notes version of the Philippine resistance in WW2, which led to the independence of it's people. It also shows that the resistance could not have been successful without American support, and of course the payback was that the country has been our ally in the Pacific ever since, and the culture has been partly Americanized. There's a bit of a documentary feel to the story, like a "study film" you saw in Junior High, so the drama between the characters is a little wooden, but the battle sequences are strong, especially when Japanese tanks storm the village toward the end.
I'll give "Back To Bataan" Two Regular Thumbs Up, just because all the things that are good about it add up to a watchable WW2 movie, certainly worth a view. It's not a great film by any means, but not a bad one either. It's medium-grade John Wayne fare, and if you like Big John and don't mind a history lesson you'll want to see it. /////
That's all for now. What'd ya think of today's Impeachment Hearings? I thought Lt. Col. Vindman knocked it out of the park. He also destroyed the attempts by Nunes and Jordan to undermine his character. Those guys are Two Of The Biggest A-Holes In The Known Universe. At any rate, it was a very bad day for Trump, which is a Good Day for America. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 18, 2019
Hey Elizabeth! + "Diamonds of the Night" by Director Jan Nemec
Before I begin my movie review I wanna do a shout out to Elizabeth : "Hey Elizabeth"! This one is shouted at full blast through a megaphone so she can hear me all the way over in Japan. Elizabeth, I am very much enjoying the pictures and video clips you've been posting. The autumn leaves are beautiful there, wow. I liked the bamboo forest too, and of course the architecture. Japan, at least in the villages, looks like a fantasy world. Are you there for a film, or just as a vacation? I hope you are having a great time, and I got a kick out of the time difference too. I Googled it because when you posted your pics on FB, it was 2 am here, so I wondered, "hmm, what time must it be in Kyoto? Hawaii is three hours earlier than Los Angeles.....is it yesterday in Japan"? Then I found out the opposite. It is 17 hours later over there, so as I write this, for you it's dinner time tomorrow! Now that is really far out. No wonder you mentioned jet lag. :):)
Well anyhow, keep posting as I always say. :)
Tonight's movie was called "Diamonds of the Night" (1964, original title "Demanty noci"). I had never heard of it, nor it's director Jan Nemec, but it was from Criterion and the premise looked good : two inmates of a German concentration camp have escaped and are running for their lives through a dense forest. It turned out to be more of an Art Film rather than a conventional story, almost like the work of an exceptional graduate student who is still experimenting with format, and it was Nemec's debut.
The movie opens with a close tracking shot of the two young men running up the side of a muddy hill. We can hear their every breath, their grunts and footfalls, we can hear birds in trees, the sounds of nature.......and we also hear gunshots. Their captors are closing in. Right away, the camera pulls us tight, as if we are running with the boys. The pictures are all hacked up, focusing on parts of their bodies : Feet encased in filthy shoes, pushing in the mud to find purchase. Arms wheeling for balance. Heads hanging with exhaustion. Meanwhile, the rifle shots keep coming. The soundtrack in this film is relentless. The boys do outrun their pursuers, though. A hollow in the woods provides shelter for the night, and they are safe, temporarily.
But the bigger deal, as far as the movie is concerned, is that we become aware within the first ten minutes that this is going to be a minimalist work. There won't be much dialogue, and no exposition whatsoever. There won't even be a single dramatic scene in the standard sense, so we will be left to figure out for ourselves what is going on. It's not that the plot is indecipherable. Only a few actions take place : The boys escape; they search for food; they try to find permanent safety. That last act takes place mostly in the mind of one boy, the protagonist, who daydreams of life back in pre-war Czechoslovakia. He imagines being back with his girlfriend, but it's hard to tell if this is a hopeful premonition or only a memory. One of the problems I had with the movie is that in the "daydream" sequences, it looks like Nemec took his sections of film and spliced them at random, so you often don't know which is past, present or future. In certain pivotal scenes, he also offers alternative outcomes. In other words, imagine a movie scene in which a man is shot, followed immediately by a repeat of the same footage leading up to the shooting, only this time the man is not shot, then followed a third time where he once again is shot. I think in one scene here, this happened four or five times. I realize the effect Nemec was going for - that the alternative actions are being pondered in the boy's mind - but it doesn't play as well, in my opinion, as would a more straightforward take of the scene.
That's why I say the film feels a bit "studenty". Now, don't get me wrong because it's an excellent work. The grainy black and white photography is outstanding, as is the camerawork and especially the soundtrack. Every noise is attenuated, to illustrate the boys' level of fear. In one lengthy sequence toward the end, a group of elderly men - some of them senile - enjoy a celebratory meal in a local hall. I won't reveal the circumstances, but as we watch them raise their glasses and eat their chicken, we can hear every "smack" of their lips as we are shown their toothless, foodstuffed grins. It's all quite disgusting, as it's meant to be, knowing that the boys are starving.
I'm not generally a fan of ambiguity in movies, and I've found the trend in some recent films to "let the viewer decide" is more a result of a lack of creativity on the part of the filmmakers rather than an innovative concept. I spoke of alternative outcomes in certain scenes in this film. I won't comment on the ending, other than to say that - while it's basically fine and does not detract from the movie - I just think that, again, it has an experimental feel. Nemec, being a young filmmaker from the Czech New Wave making his debut, might've thought "let me try something different".
"Diamonds of the Night" feels like a debut film. It's brilliant for what it is; Nemec has created a harrowing and fulfilling story in only 67 minutes and I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. I just think it could've been even better, probably a masterpiece, had it been the director's third or fourth film, say, when he'd gained more experience. Still, make sure to see it! ////
That's all for the moment. Rams won big over the Chi-Town Hustlers.....er, I mean Da Bears. Cue Chris Farley : "Bearss, Bearss, Bearss, Bearss......". I'm gonna predict that next week, the Rams are gonna shock the world by beating LaMar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. You heard it here first! See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Well anyhow, keep posting as I always say. :)
Tonight's movie was called "Diamonds of the Night" (1964, original title "Demanty noci"). I had never heard of it, nor it's director Jan Nemec, but it was from Criterion and the premise looked good : two inmates of a German concentration camp have escaped and are running for their lives through a dense forest. It turned out to be more of an Art Film rather than a conventional story, almost like the work of an exceptional graduate student who is still experimenting with format, and it was Nemec's debut.
The movie opens with a close tracking shot of the two young men running up the side of a muddy hill. We can hear their every breath, their grunts and footfalls, we can hear birds in trees, the sounds of nature.......and we also hear gunshots. Their captors are closing in. Right away, the camera pulls us tight, as if we are running with the boys. The pictures are all hacked up, focusing on parts of their bodies : Feet encased in filthy shoes, pushing in the mud to find purchase. Arms wheeling for balance. Heads hanging with exhaustion. Meanwhile, the rifle shots keep coming. The soundtrack in this film is relentless. The boys do outrun their pursuers, though. A hollow in the woods provides shelter for the night, and they are safe, temporarily.
But the bigger deal, as far as the movie is concerned, is that we become aware within the first ten minutes that this is going to be a minimalist work. There won't be much dialogue, and no exposition whatsoever. There won't even be a single dramatic scene in the standard sense, so we will be left to figure out for ourselves what is going on. It's not that the plot is indecipherable. Only a few actions take place : The boys escape; they search for food; they try to find permanent safety. That last act takes place mostly in the mind of one boy, the protagonist, who daydreams of life back in pre-war Czechoslovakia. He imagines being back with his girlfriend, but it's hard to tell if this is a hopeful premonition or only a memory. One of the problems I had with the movie is that in the "daydream" sequences, it looks like Nemec took his sections of film and spliced them at random, so you often don't know which is past, present or future. In certain pivotal scenes, he also offers alternative outcomes. In other words, imagine a movie scene in which a man is shot, followed immediately by a repeat of the same footage leading up to the shooting, only this time the man is not shot, then followed a third time where he once again is shot. I think in one scene here, this happened four or five times. I realize the effect Nemec was going for - that the alternative actions are being pondered in the boy's mind - but it doesn't play as well, in my opinion, as would a more straightforward take of the scene.
That's why I say the film feels a bit "studenty". Now, don't get me wrong because it's an excellent work. The grainy black and white photography is outstanding, as is the camerawork and especially the soundtrack. Every noise is attenuated, to illustrate the boys' level of fear. In one lengthy sequence toward the end, a group of elderly men - some of them senile - enjoy a celebratory meal in a local hall. I won't reveal the circumstances, but as we watch them raise their glasses and eat their chicken, we can hear every "smack" of their lips as we are shown their toothless, foodstuffed grins. It's all quite disgusting, as it's meant to be, knowing that the boys are starving.
I'm not generally a fan of ambiguity in movies, and I've found the trend in some recent films to "let the viewer decide" is more a result of a lack of creativity on the part of the filmmakers rather than an innovative concept. I spoke of alternative outcomes in certain scenes in this film. I won't comment on the ending, other than to say that - while it's basically fine and does not detract from the movie - I just think that, again, it has an experimental feel. Nemec, being a young filmmaker from the Czech New Wave making his debut, might've thought "let me try something different".
"Diamonds of the Night" feels like a debut film. It's brilliant for what it is; Nemec has created a harrowing and fulfilling story in only 67 minutes and I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. I just think it could've been even better, probably a masterpiece, had it been the director's third or fourth film, say, when he'd gained more experience. Still, make sure to see it! ////
That's all for the moment. Rams won big over the Chi-Town Hustlers.....er, I mean Da Bears. Cue Chris Farley : "Bearss, Bearss, Bearss, Bearss......". I'm gonna predict that next week, the Rams are gonna shock the world by beating LaMar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. You heard it here first! See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 17, 2019
"C-Man" & "Unforgotten Crime", an Alpha double feature
Tonight I watched two more Noirs from Alpha Video. I'm telling ya, if you're willing to overlook the picture quality, Alpha's got a lot of hard-boiled flicks from the '40s that you may not have heard of, and many of them are damn good. I was able to watch a double feature because of the short running times. The first one was called "C-Man"(1949). Dean Jagger stars as a United States Customs Agent. His friend and fellow agent "Steve" has been murdered while on assignment in France, chasing some jewel thieves. Jagger is sent to Paris to investigate. Before leaving, he is briefed on the case. A wealthy woman in New York has filed an insurance claim against her stolen necklace, worth $325,000 bucks - a fortune in 1949. It's whereabouts are unknown, but the suspect is still in Paris. He may have killed Steve, the other Customs agent, and if he doesn't have the necklace, he probably knows who does. He is Matty Royal (played by an actor named Rene Paul), the head of a group of international smugglers. He looks to be untouchable, because - like Trump - he has his underlings do all his dirty work.
Before Agent Jagger departs for Paris, he meets a nice French lady at a New York pier close to the airport. She seems a bit too friendly, so Jagger plays along, suspecting she is part of the smuggling ring. He will come to find out that she's not one of the thieves, but a dupe for them. Unbeknownst to her, she is about to become their mule. I won't reveal any more of the plot, which gets a little confusing at times, but not so much that you're left in the dust. This is the kind of late-40s New York Noir that Tarantino would love, full of Hard Guys and Tough Dames. Dean Jagger plays his Customs Agent as the kind of Smooth Operator the chicks fall for the moment he walks in the room. This aspect is a difficult sell, because Jagger's image is too soft. He looks like a cross between Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey, and doesn't have the requisite swagger. But he's otherwise good, and he takes his beatings (of which there are several) like a champ. He'll do anything to avenge Steve (his agency pal) and get that necklace back. Maybe in the bargain, he'll get the girl too. Look for John Carradine in a supporting role as an alcoholic doctor, not a big stretch for him, lol. ///
The second movie was called "Unforgotten Crime" (1942), which had the distinction of having one of the shortest running times of any film I've seen, only 53 minutes. I found it and "C-Man" at West Valley Libe, which I've been frequenting because of their wide selection of movies I've never seen.
"Unforgotten Crime" was originally titled "The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine". In it's initial form, for release in theaters, it ran 72 minutes, but apparently the rights to the film were sold as part of an early "package deal" for TV stations, and because of this it was edited down to 53 minutes to fill a one hour time slot (the other seven minutes were for commercials, naturally). Nineteen minutes were cut, which amounts to over 1/4 the movie, so I asked myself "can I count this"? Meaning, does it count as an Actual Movie? I'm a big "lists" and "statistics" guy. Numbers are a big deal for me. In the last couple years I've discovered one hour Westerns, which I've come to love, in part because of their brevity. My life being what it is, I need Short Movies much of the time to fulfill my viewing requirements, and I consider a movie to be short if it is under 80 minutes in length. With the hour long Westerns, I had no problem counting them as "real" movies because they were created that way, to be released in theatres as part of a double feature. I guess I can count "Unforgotten Crime" because the 53 minute version is the only one that still exists. According to IMDB, all of the 72 minute theatre prints have been lost, only the TV version remains, so we're calling it a Real Movie because of that factor; it's the only version you can see.
Dennis O'Keefe stars as radio host Mike Jason. To boost ratings, his station is offering a $10,000 dollar reward to anyone who can locate the world-renowned safe cracker Jimmy Valentine, whose last known address was the state penitentiary. After making parole, Valentine disappeared. A tip comes in from a hoodlum named Mousey, the kind of guy you'd call a "chiseler" or a "squealer". Mousey is looking for Valentine, too, but for other reasons (he wants to kill him). Mousey's tip leads O'Keefe and his assistant to a small town that you can think of as Anywheresville, U.S.A. O'Keefe heads directly to the offices of the local newspaper, to see if anyone knows Valentine. There, he meets the cute daughter of the publisher (Ruth Terry, a gem). She's a spark plug who wants in on the search. She's 19 and won't take no for an answer. O'Keefe is trying to win the contest himself, to keep the money in the hands of the radio station, and doesn't want Miss Terry trampling his efforts. Now she thinks she's his girlfriend, much to the chagrin of his female assistant.
It seems like the townspeople are hiding something. Everyone denies knowing Valentine, but all the clues suggest he lives there. Could he be hiding under an assumed name? Has he resumed his life of crime? The answers might be surprising. The newspaper publisher is trying to help in any way he can, even though his advertisers are threatening to pull out if he continues. He is also the father of Ruth Terry, and he can't say no to her either.
"Unforgotten Crime" moves at one hundred miles per hour. I'm guessing that a good portion of the set-up was lost in the 19 minutes that were cut, but what we don't know won't hurt us here, because whoever cobbled together the short version did a good job of keeping the plot intact. It's a Noir with a light heart, in contrast to our first feature - the gritty and merciless "C-Man". Though that would ostensibly be considered the better film, and I'll bet Scorcese is a fan, I actually preferred "Unforgotten Crime". A big reason is the presence of Ruth Terry. We need more movies with her, so I'll be on the lookout.
So there you have it! Two good films from Alpha. Both get Two Thumbs, and I'm gonna head to West Valley right now to look for more. Remember, short movies rule! (you can watch two in one night, or you can watch one and an episode of "Rawhide", or you can watch one and read a book, or you can watch one and two episodes of "Tales From The Darkside". The possibilities are endless).... :):)
See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Before Agent Jagger departs for Paris, he meets a nice French lady at a New York pier close to the airport. She seems a bit too friendly, so Jagger plays along, suspecting she is part of the smuggling ring. He will come to find out that she's not one of the thieves, but a dupe for them. Unbeknownst to her, she is about to become their mule. I won't reveal any more of the plot, which gets a little confusing at times, but not so much that you're left in the dust. This is the kind of late-40s New York Noir that Tarantino would love, full of Hard Guys and Tough Dames. Dean Jagger plays his Customs Agent as the kind of Smooth Operator the chicks fall for the moment he walks in the room. This aspect is a difficult sell, because Jagger's image is too soft. He looks like a cross between Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey, and doesn't have the requisite swagger. But he's otherwise good, and he takes his beatings (of which there are several) like a champ. He'll do anything to avenge Steve (his agency pal) and get that necklace back. Maybe in the bargain, he'll get the girl too. Look for John Carradine in a supporting role as an alcoholic doctor, not a big stretch for him, lol. ///
The second movie was called "Unforgotten Crime" (1942), which had the distinction of having one of the shortest running times of any film I've seen, only 53 minutes. I found it and "C-Man" at West Valley Libe, which I've been frequenting because of their wide selection of movies I've never seen.
"Unforgotten Crime" was originally titled "The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine". In it's initial form, for release in theaters, it ran 72 minutes, but apparently the rights to the film were sold as part of an early "package deal" for TV stations, and because of this it was edited down to 53 minutes to fill a one hour time slot (the other seven minutes were for commercials, naturally). Nineteen minutes were cut, which amounts to over 1/4 the movie, so I asked myself "can I count this"? Meaning, does it count as an Actual Movie? I'm a big "lists" and "statistics" guy. Numbers are a big deal for me. In the last couple years I've discovered one hour Westerns, which I've come to love, in part because of their brevity. My life being what it is, I need Short Movies much of the time to fulfill my viewing requirements, and I consider a movie to be short if it is under 80 minutes in length. With the hour long Westerns, I had no problem counting them as "real" movies because they were created that way, to be released in theatres as part of a double feature. I guess I can count "Unforgotten Crime" because the 53 minute version is the only one that still exists. According to IMDB, all of the 72 minute theatre prints have been lost, only the TV version remains, so we're calling it a Real Movie because of that factor; it's the only version you can see.
Dennis O'Keefe stars as radio host Mike Jason. To boost ratings, his station is offering a $10,000 dollar reward to anyone who can locate the world-renowned safe cracker Jimmy Valentine, whose last known address was the state penitentiary. After making parole, Valentine disappeared. A tip comes in from a hoodlum named Mousey, the kind of guy you'd call a "chiseler" or a "squealer". Mousey is looking for Valentine, too, but for other reasons (he wants to kill him). Mousey's tip leads O'Keefe and his assistant to a small town that you can think of as Anywheresville, U.S.A. O'Keefe heads directly to the offices of the local newspaper, to see if anyone knows Valentine. There, he meets the cute daughter of the publisher (Ruth Terry, a gem). She's a spark plug who wants in on the search. She's 19 and won't take no for an answer. O'Keefe is trying to win the contest himself, to keep the money in the hands of the radio station, and doesn't want Miss Terry trampling his efforts. Now she thinks she's his girlfriend, much to the chagrin of his female assistant.
It seems like the townspeople are hiding something. Everyone denies knowing Valentine, but all the clues suggest he lives there. Could he be hiding under an assumed name? Has he resumed his life of crime? The answers might be surprising. The newspaper publisher is trying to help in any way he can, even though his advertisers are threatening to pull out if he continues. He is also the father of Ruth Terry, and he can't say no to her either.
"Unforgotten Crime" moves at one hundred miles per hour. I'm guessing that a good portion of the set-up was lost in the 19 minutes that were cut, but what we don't know won't hurt us here, because whoever cobbled together the short version did a good job of keeping the plot intact. It's a Noir with a light heart, in contrast to our first feature - the gritty and merciless "C-Man". Though that would ostensibly be considered the better film, and I'll bet Scorcese is a fan, I actually preferred "Unforgotten Crime". A big reason is the presence of Ruth Terry. We need more movies with her, so I'll be on the lookout.
So there you have it! Two good films from Alpha. Both get Two Thumbs, and I'm gonna head to West Valley right now to look for more. Remember, short movies rule! (you can watch two in one night, or you can watch one and an episode of "Rawhide", or you can watch one and read a book, or you can watch one and two episodes of "Tales From The Darkside". The possibilities are endless).... :):)
See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 16, 2019
"The Son Also Rises" starring Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn, Mel Ferrer and Eddie Albert
Tonight I watched 20th Century Fox's epic production of "The Son Also Rises" (1957), based on the famous book by Ernest Hemingway. I've never read any Hemingway, and I don't think he'd be my cup of tea, but I discovered the movie through a database search of Tyrone Power, one of my favorite actors. He's accompanied here by Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn, Mel Ferrer and Eddie Albert, an all-star cast if there ever was one, so I had to check it out.
We've been discussing existentialist themes lately. I don't know if Hemingway's writing falls into that category, but the movie has a flavor of ennui. Most of the characters are jaded, wandering through life without purpose. According to the narrator who opens and closes the film, the young people of the 1920s were known as The Lost Generation because they suffered through the first World War and were thus disillusioned on a hitherto unknown scale by what they felt was the meaninglessness of life. The generational tag may also refer to the number of young men who were lost in the war. I'm no expert on that era, but in Googling the term "existentialism" - the philosophy of pondering the meaning of life - I see that it began in the mid-1930s, about the time The Lost Generation would've been heading into middle age. Hitler had just come into power, and there would no doubt have been a feeling of "here we go again".
But in the early 1920s, the emptiness inside was only beginning. The Great Depression had not yet hit. Some folks still had a little money, and for those in the artistic community, France was a popular destination because you could live inexpensively on the Left Bank.
Tyrone Power plays Jake Barnes, an American reporter stationed in Paris. We see him with a prostitute as the movie opens, but as they venture through a series of bars and restaurants, it is clear that he has no interest in her. In one joint, Jake runs into his old flame, Lady Brett Ashley (Ava Gardner). Her title is exaggerated, she's actually a fellow American posing as an Noblewoman because of a brief marriage, but Jake has known her for years and is very glad to see her. Lady Brett was his nurse during the war. They fell in love then, but Jake's battlefield wounds rendered him unable to perform. Due to this they drifted apart, but now, as they meet again, we can see that Lady Brett still loves him. She asks Jake to take her away from the restaurant and back to his hotel.
The next day, we meet Robert Cohn (Mel Ferrer), a writer friend of Jake's. He's an energetic fellow who's always up for adventure. He asks Jake to accompany him to South America but Jake declines. Later, Jake introduces Robert to Lady Brett, and he forgets all about his intended trip. He falls instantly in love with her, and makes no secret of it, but while Lady Brett loves Jake, she is actually more interested in a third man, Mike Campbell (Errol Fynn), an older Scot. She tells Jake and Robert that she plans to marry Mike. Jake knows this is because Mike has money. Lady Brett is an alcoholic who is used to a high lifestyle. She can have any man she wants, and she keeps them all on different strings, but cash is her bottom line. At least it seems that way. But she keeps running back to Jake every time she has a problem.
Every Summer, Jake heads to Spain for a fishing vacation. We now meet his buddy Eddie Albert, an affable gent Jake met in the Army. While Eddie and Jake are fishing in Spain, who should arrive at their hotel but Lady Brett and Mike Campbell! The Lady can't stay away from Jake, and it appears that her man Mike is not all he's cracked up to be. For one thing, he has a strong appetite for booze. I must step in here to say that Errol Flynn looks pretty beat up in this movie. He's only 48, but is bloated and watery-eyed. His skin is rough and he is but a shadow of his former self. He seemed to actually be drunk in some of the scenes. I'll have to do some Googling to find out, but at any rate, even though it's sad to see him this way (because he is one of my very favorite actors), he is nonetheless quite good in his role. He and Eddie Albert liven things up and provide comic relief. Flynn would only live another two years, but I guess he was an Old Pro to the end.
Back to the story : Joining the foursome in Spain is Robert Cohn. He shows up on the heels of Lady Brett and Mike Campbell. Mike knows Cohn is after his woman, and drunkenly insults him over dinner. Mike needn't worry because the Lady doesn't like Cohn. He's too eager and too straight laced. As the five friends drink their way around Madrid, we discover that Mike Campbell is as broke as the rest of them. He's bankrupt. Much of the rest of the picture deals with Mike having to come to grips with the fact that Lady Brett only wanted him for his money.
The last act focuses on a bullfighting exhibition. Hemingway loved bullfighting (what an a-hole), and as another aside, so did Ava Gardner, possibly due to her experience in this movie. My Dad, who was vice-president of Deluxe Laboratories at the time, once told me a story of being at a restaurant (I can't recall if it was in Hollywood or Mexico), and Ava Gardner was there. Dad said she was at a table with a group of bullfighters, but more importantly that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Seeing the movie, I am wondering if Dad's Ava sighting took place during the shoot, because there are a couple of scenes that mirror Dad's experience. Deluxe was the film lab for 20th Century in those days. Dad worked at times in coordination with producer Darryl Zanuck. He was often at the 20th Century Fox lot, so maybe he saw Ava in the commissary? Or at a nearby restaurant? But then again, Ava went on to have a fascination with bullfighters in her offscreen life, so maybe it was in Mexico after all.
In the movie, we are introduced to Lady Brett's final lover : Pedro the young Toreador, infamously played by Robert Evans. Evans, who died recently, was more well known as a producer. He made "The Godfather", among other major pictures. But his acting career was brief, and watching him in "The Sun Also Rises", it's not hard to see why, lol. He was so bad, the story goes, that Ty Power, Errol Flynn and the others wanted him replaced. They complained to director Henry King, who relayed their message to Zanuck, who declined to get rid of Robert Evans. His famous reply led to the title of Evans' autobiography : "The Kid Stays In The Picture"! Evans, however, knew that acting was not his forte. He made his mark in producing, and also in romancing many women, among them Ava Gardner.
This film is one of those old-fashioned big-budget Oscar Vehicles, with lots of drama and many Stars. It runs 130 minutes and is slow to develop, so you have to have patience. But Power and Gardner are both first rate. I didn't know she was such a capable actress, but indeed this is her movie. Mel Ferrer is very good in the supporting role, though we never really discover what Cohn's purpose is, what he wants besides Lady Brett, whom he knows he can't have. As noted, Errol Flynn and Eddie Albert provide much needed energy (the two old guys, haha). There isn't a lot of plot, mostly the characters wander from place to place in search of a drink, while Ava sorts out her men. So it's fun to watch Flynn and Albert goof off, and I'll bet they had fun on the set, too.
The settings in France and Spain are beautifully photographed. Everything looks gorgeous - Color by Deluxe donchaknow - I worked there too for a brief spell in 1999-2000.
Because of comparisons to Hemingway's book, fan reviews at IMDB are mixed. I, however, didn't read the book, and I very much enjoyed the film. I give "The Son Also Rises" Two Big Thumbs Up, and recommend it for fans of great dramas. There's an aimlessness to the story, but the acting is so good that it all makes sense and keeps you interested. /////
I hope you are enjoying your Saturday. I'm gonna head out for a short walk and then back to Pearl's. I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
We've been discussing existentialist themes lately. I don't know if Hemingway's writing falls into that category, but the movie has a flavor of ennui. Most of the characters are jaded, wandering through life without purpose. According to the narrator who opens and closes the film, the young people of the 1920s were known as The Lost Generation because they suffered through the first World War and were thus disillusioned on a hitherto unknown scale by what they felt was the meaninglessness of life. The generational tag may also refer to the number of young men who were lost in the war. I'm no expert on that era, but in Googling the term "existentialism" - the philosophy of pondering the meaning of life - I see that it began in the mid-1930s, about the time The Lost Generation would've been heading into middle age. Hitler had just come into power, and there would no doubt have been a feeling of "here we go again".
But in the early 1920s, the emptiness inside was only beginning. The Great Depression had not yet hit. Some folks still had a little money, and for those in the artistic community, France was a popular destination because you could live inexpensively on the Left Bank.
Tyrone Power plays Jake Barnes, an American reporter stationed in Paris. We see him with a prostitute as the movie opens, but as they venture through a series of bars and restaurants, it is clear that he has no interest in her. In one joint, Jake runs into his old flame, Lady Brett Ashley (Ava Gardner). Her title is exaggerated, she's actually a fellow American posing as an Noblewoman because of a brief marriage, but Jake has known her for years and is very glad to see her. Lady Brett was his nurse during the war. They fell in love then, but Jake's battlefield wounds rendered him unable to perform. Due to this they drifted apart, but now, as they meet again, we can see that Lady Brett still loves him. She asks Jake to take her away from the restaurant and back to his hotel.
The next day, we meet Robert Cohn (Mel Ferrer), a writer friend of Jake's. He's an energetic fellow who's always up for adventure. He asks Jake to accompany him to South America but Jake declines. Later, Jake introduces Robert to Lady Brett, and he forgets all about his intended trip. He falls instantly in love with her, and makes no secret of it, but while Lady Brett loves Jake, she is actually more interested in a third man, Mike Campbell (Errol Fynn), an older Scot. She tells Jake and Robert that she plans to marry Mike. Jake knows this is because Mike has money. Lady Brett is an alcoholic who is used to a high lifestyle. She can have any man she wants, and she keeps them all on different strings, but cash is her bottom line. At least it seems that way. But she keeps running back to Jake every time she has a problem.
Every Summer, Jake heads to Spain for a fishing vacation. We now meet his buddy Eddie Albert, an affable gent Jake met in the Army. While Eddie and Jake are fishing in Spain, who should arrive at their hotel but Lady Brett and Mike Campbell! The Lady can't stay away from Jake, and it appears that her man Mike is not all he's cracked up to be. For one thing, he has a strong appetite for booze. I must step in here to say that Errol Flynn looks pretty beat up in this movie. He's only 48, but is bloated and watery-eyed. His skin is rough and he is but a shadow of his former self. He seemed to actually be drunk in some of the scenes. I'll have to do some Googling to find out, but at any rate, even though it's sad to see him this way (because he is one of my very favorite actors), he is nonetheless quite good in his role. He and Eddie Albert liven things up and provide comic relief. Flynn would only live another two years, but I guess he was an Old Pro to the end.
Back to the story : Joining the foursome in Spain is Robert Cohn. He shows up on the heels of Lady Brett and Mike Campbell. Mike knows Cohn is after his woman, and drunkenly insults him over dinner. Mike needn't worry because the Lady doesn't like Cohn. He's too eager and too straight laced. As the five friends drink their way around Madrid, we discover that Mike Campbell is as broke as the rest of them. He's bankrupt. Much of the rest of the picture deals with Mike having to come to grips with the fact that Lady Brett only wanted him for his money.
The last act focuses on a bullfighting exhibition. Hemingway loved bullfighting (what an a-hole), and as another aside, so did Ava Gardner, possibly due to her experience in this movie. My Dad, who was vice-president of Deluxe Laboratories at the time, once told me a story of being at a restaurant (I can't recall if it was in Hollywood or Mexico), and Ava Gardner was there. Dad said she was at a table with a group of bullfighters, but more importantly that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Seeing the movie, I am wondering if Dad's Ava sighting took place during the shoot, because there are a couple of scenes that mirror Dad's experience. Deluxe was the film lab for 20th Century in those days. Dad worked at times in coordination with producer Darryl Zanuck. He was often at the 20th Century Fox lot, so maybe he saw Ava in the commissary? Or at a nearby restaurant? But then again, Ava went on to have a fascination with bullfighters in her offscreen life, so maybe it was in Mexico after all.
In the movie, we are introduced to Lady Brett's final lover : Pedro the young Toreador, infamously played by Robert Evans. Evans, who died recently, was more well known as a producer. He made "The Godfather", among other major pictures. But his acting career was brief, and watching him in "The Sun Also Rises", it's not hard to see why, lol. He was so bad, the story goes, that Ty Power, Errol Flynn and the others wanted him replaced. They complained to director Henry King, who relayed their message to Zanuck, who declined to get rid of Robert Evans. His famous reply led to the title of Evans' autobiography : "The Kid Stays In The Picture"! Evans, however, knew that acting was not his forte. He made his mark in producing, and also in romancing many women, among them Ava Gardner.
This film is one of those old-fashioned big-budget Oscar Vehicles, with lots of drama and many Stars. It runs 130 minutes and is slow to develop, so you have to have patience. But Power and Gardner are both first rate. I didn't know she was such a capable actress, but indeed this is her movie. Mel Ferrer is very good in the supporting role, though we never really discover what Cohn's purpose is, what he wants besides Lady Brett, whom he knows he can't have. As noted, Errol Flynn and Eddie Albert provide much needed energy (the two old guys, haha). There isn't a lot of plot, mostly the characters wander from place to place in search of a drink, while Ava sorts out her men. So it's fun to watch Flynn and Albert goof off, and I'll bet they had fun on the set, too.
The settings in France and Spain are beautifully photographed. Everything looks gorgeous - Color by Deluxe donchaknow - I worked there too for a brief spell in 1999-2000.
Because of comparisons to Hemingway's book, fan reviews at IMDB are mixed. I, however, didn't read the book, and I very much enjoyed the film. I give "The Son Also Rises" Two Big Thumbs Up, and recommend it for fans of great dramas. There's an aimlessness to the story, but the acting is so good that it all makes sense and keeps you interested. /////
I hope you are enjoying your Saturday. I'm gonna head out for a short walk and then back to Pearl's. I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 15, 2019
"The Clovehitch Killer" starring Charlie Plummer
Ever since I found "My Amityville Horror" I've been having good luck with the IFC label, and tonight was no exception. The movie was called "The Clovehitch Killer"(2018). It was released on the subsidiary IFC Midnight and I found it in a database search of same. I'm not sure what the deal is with IFC movies, whether or not they actually play in theatres (and I know IFC is a cable channel), but IMDB lists a box office total for this film, albeit very small, so perhaps it had a limited or regional release. But man oh man was it ever well done! Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much I want to tell you, due to spoilers, but I'll start writing and see what comes out.
A young actor named Charlie Plummer stars as 18 year old Tyler Burnside, the son of a Christian couple in northern Kentucky. Tyler is a good kid. He attends church regularly, has respect for his parents, and is a Boy Scout of high merit. His Dad (played by Bob Dylan McDermott Mulroney) is the Scout Leader for Tyler's troop. Dad is a solid citizen in the community. Besides working as a general handyman, doing construction jobs, etc., he also helps care for his severely disabled brother Rudy, who lives in a convalescent home. Tyler's mother (Samantha Mathis) is a traditional housewife, not unusual in a conservative state. She takes good care of her husband and son, and all is well in their world. The Burnsides are a nice family, as All-American as they come. Director Duncan Skiles portrays them without modern "us vs. them" bias. Yes, they are Red State Baptists, but they could easily be your neighbors in San Francisco or Massachusetts. They're not uptight or self-righteous. Dad is a jokester and Mom is an easygoing, openminded lady. Most of all, they love their son, who dreams of becoming a pilot.
A dark cloud hangs over their town, though. Ten years ago, there was a series of murders that were never solved. The killer left few clues but was known for his facility with knots. One of these was the clove hitch knot, which he used to bind his victims. As an aside, while watching the film I wondered, because of the bondage factor, if it was based on the BTK case.
But back to the story: one night while they are out on a date, something bad happens to spoil the evening between Tyler and his prospective girlfriend. All of a sudden she wants to be taken home. Her image of Tyler is besmirched. She can't trust him anymore. In the days ahead, he acquires a bad name at his high school. Rumors are spread at his church. Suddenly, no one wants to be around him. There is an odd girl who hangs around, however. Tyler has heard bad rumors about her, too (that she's "easy", etc.) Knowing how it feels to be accused of something that isn't true, he feels a kinship to her and approaches her one Sunday after mass.
They go for a walk in the nearby woods, and Tyler opens up to the girl, whose name is Krissi. The thing he's been accused of (it's more correct to say he's been "labeled") may have a connection to the Clovehitch murders. Though they are a decade in the past, the killings remain very much on the minds of the townspeople because the killer was never caught. The subject of Clovehitch gets Krissi's attention. She takes out a pocket notebook and writes down an address, telling Tyler to meet her there the next day. He does this, and it turns out that the woman who lives at that house is a local author who has written a book on the case. This woman formerly worked for the police and is a friend of Krissi's. Between them, Krissi and the woman are a font of information about Clovehitch. They've cross catalogued every detail, but what Tyler has told Krissi is a shocker because it's previously unknown to both women. Krissi has a reason for her own interest in the case, and she gets right to work helping Tyler with his problem.
I think, because this is such a suspenseful movie, that I'm going to have to stop here and divulge no more of the plot. What I do want to say is that "The Clovehitch Killer" knocked my socks off. I'd glanced at a handful of fan reviews on IMDB, the ones that were brief and didn't contain spoilers, and I because of the general consensus I wasn't expecting a great film. Perhaps a competent one, but not a thriller that chilled me to the bone. I don't know if you remember a movie called "The Strangers" that was released in 2008. It was one of those rare horror movies that had the quality of absolute realism, and because of this, and because of the skill with which it was made, it is to this day perhaps the most terrifying film I've ever seen. It was so frightening that I will never watch it again. "Clovehitch", while not on the same level of terror (and it's not trying to be because that's not what the story is about) nevertheless has the same quality of realism and is made with equal skill by first time director Duncan Skiles. He gets natural performances out of his actors, so that they seem like your neighbors, as noted. Particularly good is Charlie Plummer, who was seen as John Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's "All The Money In The World". He's an actor to watch, and here in "Clovehitch" he has all the mannerisms of an angst ridden teen down pat, but without ever showing a lot of "actor-y" technique. He's great as Tyler. McDermott-Mulroney, besides being part of one of the largest Combo Celebrities ever discovered, has always been an underrated actor in my book. He shines as Don Burnside, Tyler's jocular father. He caught my attention way back in 1987 in "Hamburger Hill", playing a G.I. in Vietnam. I've always thought he had a personable way in front of the camera, and he demonstrates that here once again.
Director Skiles knows how to build suspense, and how to use slow burn camerawork to create unease. The thing about this movie, because it feels so real, is that it's also very sad. The horror and the sadness balance each other, and the result is to drain the viewer and leave him or her badly shaken. Like "The Strangers", there are a few scenes of sheer terror, but not so extreme that you'll have nightmares, as I did with that movie. Skiles also uses his minimal soundtrack to great effect, quietly cueing you in places so you won't be startled, because that's not what he is after. He never overdoes anything, but manages to get everything right. With "The Clovehitch Killer" I think he's created one of the most disturbing movies ever made about an American psycho.
Two Gigantic Thumbs Up and my highest recommendation for this scary but intelligent little film. There are a couple of things I should mention : 1) That it's obviously not for the squeamish, and 2) that there exists a fair-sized plot hole near the end that has to do with logic, but take my word for it, you can let that go. If you can handle this type of picture, the ending won't detract in any way from it's brilliance, and the plothole was not a problem for me. ////
Well, that'll do it for the moment. Nice to see Roger Stone get convicted, eh? And it looks like Rudolph Giuliani (aka The Second Biggest A-Hole In The World) is in a lot of hot water himself with the Second District of New York. Go, SDNY! Me, I'm going to the produce mart and then back to Pearl's. I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
A young actor named Charlie Plummer stars as 18 year old Tyler Burnside, the son of a Christian couple in northern Kentucky. Tyler is a good kid. He attends church regularly, has respect for his parents, and is a Boy Scout of high merit. His Dad (played by Bob Dylan McDermott Mulroney) is the Scout Leader for Tyler's troop. Dad is a solid citizen in the community. Besides working as a general handyman, doing construction jobs, etc., he also helps care for his severely disabled brother Rudy, who lives in a convalescent home. Tyler's mother (Samantha Mathis) is a traditional housewife, not unusual in a conservative state. She takes good care of her husband and son, and all is well in their world. The Burnsides are a nice family, as All-American as they come. Director Duncan Skiles portrays them without modern "us vs. them" bias. Yes, they are Red State Baptists, but they could easily be your neighbors in San Francisco or Massachusetts. They're not uptight or self-righteous. Dad is a jokester and Mom is an easygoing, openminded lady. Most of all, they love their son, who dreams of becoming a pilot.
A dark cloud hangs over their town, though. Ten years ago, there was a series of murders that were never solved. The killer left few clues but was known for his facility with knots. One of these was the clove hitch knot, which he used to bind his victims. As an aside, while watching the film I wondered, because of the bondage factor, if it was based on the BTK case.
But back to the story: one night while they are out on a date, something bad happens to spoil the evening between Tyler and his prospective girlfriend. All of a sudden she wants to be taken home. Her image of Tyler is besmirched. She can't trust him anymore. In the days ahead, he acquires a bad name at his high school. Rumors are spread at his church. Suddenly, no one wants to be around him. There is an odd girl who hangs around, however. Tyler has heard bad rumors about her, too (that she's "easy", etc.) Knowing how it feels to be accused of something that isn't true, he feels a kinship to her and approaches her one Sunday after mass.
They go for a walk in the nearby woods, and Tyler opens up to the girl, whose name is Krissi. The thing he's been accused of (it's more correct to say he's been "labeled") may have a connection to the Clovehitch murders. Though they are a decade in the past, the killings remain very much on the minds of the townspeople because the killer was never caught. The subject of Clovehitch gets Krissi's attention. She takes out a pocket notebook and writes down an address, telling Tyler to meet her there the next day. He does this, and it turns out that the woman who lives at that house is a local author who has written a book on the case. This woman formerly worked for the police and is a friend of Krissi's. Between them, Krissi and the woman are a font of information about Clovehitch. They've cross catalogued every detail, but what Tyler has told Krissi is a shocker because it's previously unknown to both women. Krissi has a reason for her own interest in the case, and she gets right to work helping Tyler with his problem.
I think, because this is such a suspenseful movie, that I'm going to have to stop here and divulge no more of the plot. What I do want to say is that "The Clovehitch Killer" knocked my socks off. I'd glanced at a handful of fan reviews on IMDB, the ones that were brief and didn't contain spoilers, and I because of the general consensus I wasn't expecting a great film. Perhaps a competent one, but not a thriller that chilled me to the bone. I don't know if you remember a movie called "The Strangers" that was released in 2008. It was one of those rare horror movies that had the quality of absolute realism, and because of this, and because of the skill with which it was made, it is to this day perhaps the most terrifying film I've ever seen. It was so frightening that I will never watch it again. "Clovehitch", while not on the same level of terror (and it's not trying to be because that's not what the story is about) nevertheless has the same quality of realism and is made with equal skill by first time director Duncan Skiles. He gets natural performances out of his actors, so that they seem like your neighbors, as noted. Particularly good is Charlie Plummer, who was seen as John Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's "All The Money In The World". He's an actor to watch, and here in "Clovehitch" he has all the mannerisms of an angst ridden teen down pat, but without ever showing a lot of "actor-y" technique. He's great as Tyler. McDermott-Mulroney, besides being part of one of the largest Combo Celebrities ever discovered, has always been an underrated actor in my book. He shines as Don Burnside, Tyler's jocular father. He caught my attention way back in 1987 in "Hamburger Hill", playing a G.I. in Vietnam. I've always thought he had a personable way in front of the camera, and he demonstrates that here once again.
Director Skiles knows how to build suspense, and how to use slow burn camerawork to create unease. The thing about this movie, because it feels so real, is that it's also very sad. The horror and the sadness balance each other, and the result is to drain the viewer and leave him or her badly shaken. Like "The Strangers", there are a few scenes of sheer terror, but not so extreme that you'll have nightmares, as I did with that movie. Skiles also uses his minimal soundtrack to great effect, quietly cueing you in places so you won't be startled, because that's not what he is after. He never overdoes anything, but manages to get everything right. With "The Clovehitch Killer" I think he's created one of the most disturbing movies ever made about an American psycho.
Two Gigantic Thumbs Up and my highest recommendation for this scary but intelligent little film. There are a couple of things I should mention : 1) That it's obviously not for the squeamish, and 2) that there exists a fair-sized plot hole near the end that has to do with logic, but take my word for it, you can let that go. If you can handle this type of picture, the ending won't detract in any way from it's brilliance, and the plothole was not a problem for me. ////
Well, that'll do it for the moment. Nice to see Roger Stone get convicted, eh? And it looks like Rudolph Giuliani (aka The Second Biggest A-Hole In The World) is in a lot of hot water himself with the Second District of New York. Go, SDNY! Me, I'm going to the produce mart and then back to Pearl's. I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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