This part of the blog was written on Monday night, February 10th :
I'm writing once again from Pearl's, back on the job as her sole caregiver, but with a twist; I no longer have my evenings free. Because Pearl needs someone present around the clock, I am here 21 out of every 24 hours. I do get a break in the afternoon. We have a lady coming over from 2-5pm every day to sit with Pearl, which gives me a chance to go for my walk, go shopping etc., but other than that it's just me, on the job almost 24/7. Now, this new setup is just a trial run for the moment. Pearl's daughter will be back on Saturday and then we will revert to our previous schedule for the next two weeks, where I help during the daytime and go home at night. But after that, sometime around March 1st, I will be on lockdown here, working alone for longer periods. Today went pretty well, and really it's not too different than it was before, except there's a lot more food prep and medical stuff. And, I can't go home in the evenings to watch movies, so I'll have to watch 'em here.
Because this week is just a trial, I figured I'd watch TCM for my movies the next four nights. Then, if the new setup continues, I could splurge for another dvd player to bring down here to Pearl's. I did not watch a movie tonight unfortunately, because TCM's schedule (i.e. shedge-yoole) did not coincide with my work duties. But tomorrow looks good, so we'll watch and review. I feel like Mike Myers in "Coffee Talk".
"We'll watch and review, tawk amongst yourselves". Oy!
Well anyhow, things are better then they were, except I am beat. I did get up to Aliso, though, when the nice lady came over to spell me this afternoon. When I got back at 5pm, I giae Pearl her dinner, which takes about an hour. Then, after doing dishes etc., we watch tv for a while, usually MSNBC to keep up with the evil Trump situation. Nowdays I am putting Pearl to bed by 8pm. As recently as four weeks ago we were still doing the old shedge-yoole where I came back at 10pm and Pearl stayed up to watch part of Brian Williams and went to bed at 11:15. But now her daughter wants me to have her in bed by 8pm, so that's how it goes. /////
And this part of the blog was written on Tuesday night, February 11th :
Tonight I did watch a movie, hooray! It was a classic called "The Bad and The Beautiful"(1952), starring Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner. I watched it on TCM here at Pearl's, and it was my first non-dvd "watch" since I began reviewing movies on the blog. "The B & The B" is the story of a two bit producer (Douglas) who uses the talent of others to rise to the top of Hollywood, but when he reaches the peak of success, none of the people he abused will work with him anymore.
The story is told in flashback. An elderly motion picture executive (Walter Pidgeon) has called together three people - a director (Barry Sullivan), an actress (Lana Turner), and a writer (Dick Powell) - to ask them if they'd be willing to make one last picture for Jonathan Shields (Douglas). Shields has taken advantage of all of them to get to the top, but he is also talented in his own way. He has drive, he's a people person. It's just that he always puts his own interests above others when it comes to crunch time. He isn't Trumpian by any stretch, but rather the cliche of a powerful movie producer. The thing is, though, that he got to the top on the backs of the three people in question, and especially Lana Turner.
She was destined to endure a B-Movie career until meeting Douglas, who lusts after her and demands that she star in his next picture. The studio bosses think she's a terrible actress, but Douglas uses his newfound clout to ensure her participation. She will come to hate his guts even as he makes her into a top box office draw. As I said, he's not without talent. He has a nose for what will sell. It's just that he will do anything to make a hit movie. He goes too far in the case of Dick Powell, a Pulitzer Prize winning author whose book Douglas covets for his next blockbuster. Powell is a literary snob who has no time for Hollywood, but his wife Gloria Graham, a sweet Southern Belle, has always wanted to visit there, so Powell agrees to a meeting with Douglas at the Beverly Hills Hotel. After some cajoling by Kirk Douglas (and please don't forget the clenched-jawed pronunciation), Powell will agree to adapt his book for the screen. Douglas, a control freak, will spirit Powell away to a mountain retreat so he can write in peace, absent from his chatty wife, and this will lead to tragic consequences.
I'll tell you no more except to say that the tragedy is breezed past. Given the thrust of the script, it doesn't feel unnatural. "B & B" is played light for the most part, as a tribute to the art of making films, Hollywood style. Kirk Douglas is great, but the real star of the film is Lana Turner, who I've been promoting on the rare occasions we've seen her as an excellent actress. Her range was limited, but what she did, she did very well, which was romantic melodrama. In this film, she has an attempted suicide scene in a car at high speed, that is downright psychotic and disturbing. Yes, Lana T. was much more than a sexpot, in fact, in the movies I've seen her in, she has always been a first rate dramatic actress.
I'm gonna give "The Bad and The Beautiful" Two Very Big Thumbs Up. Hollywood nominated it for five Oscars, and I think Gloria Graham won. You can Google the results if you so choose.
At any rate, that's all I know for tonight. I think I've got another TCM flick lines up for tomorrow. I had a nice hike at O'Melveny Park this afternoon on my break.
I'll see you tomorrow at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment