tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31208738926698162622024-03-13T09:01:58.230-07:00@Holland_ImaginariumCelebrating Classic Hollywood (and then some) from A Guy in The Trenches.Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-22998910662333820472024-01-26T10:08:00.000-08:002024-03-01T09:00:42.192-08:00The William Goldman STORE Is Open!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxL7pVfE503iPqswzCaKZFAcZSTJ5-D7n7FRUMc1mEFdx7XBeVvrcZ4N0a7o60jQpBLsMb3lyazAJWRFwXgLqIaNX4uORFnpqrGstnsS9wdI0973nL8K3DfcNbaBtU7YSBKAQcqPn-Pg8W3XIwoqxZpblzQd1Yvr389ej15iOW4IAlu_3yYHFOAxbhUbR/s3132/FOOTP%20Logo%20Instagram%202023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2512" data-original-width="3132" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxL7pVfE503iPqswzCaKZFAcZSTJ5-D7n7FRUMc1mEFdx7XBeVvrcZ4N0a7o60jQpBLsMb3lyazAJWRFwXgLqIaNX4uORFnpqrGstnsS9wdI0973nL8K3DfcNbaBtU7YSBKAQcqPn-Pg8W3XIwoqxZpblzQd1Yvr389ej15iOW4IAlu_3yYHFOAxbhUbR/s320/FOOTP%20Logo%20Instagram%202023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <br />
Hello, all! Hope you’re well.<div><br /></div><div>In keeping with the Cross Promotion Genius (viz our Last Blog Post with the ‘From Out Of The Past’ William Goldman-Produced Lists & Season 1 Index), here’s another List that needed its Due Space. </div><div><br /></div><div>We’ll call it The William Goldman Store. (Exciting!) </div><div><br /></div><div>What is it? We’ve put together a List of all the William Goldman-specific Books, Movies, Plays, & Music referenced in Season 1 (well, two Lists to hopefully make it easier on you: the first By Chapter and the second Alphabetically).</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you looking to pickup something for your Home Library? Or for a Friend? Or, heck, for an Enemy? As we say in Chapter 10, High Adventure & True Love does wonders for Everybody! And, yes, as you may have surmised, <b>your Purchasing through these Links helps Support the Show</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>One Caveat: Given some of the William Goldman subject matter is 90 Years Old (‘Scarface: The Story Of A Grizzly’) or has Limited Printing (‘On Location In Lone Pine’) or -- good conscience made us say it -- might be found somewhere else for less money (the ‘Misery’ Stage Play), I’ve still included it all – over 70 Pieces! – so you at least have WHAT you’re looking for; and if you really want and can’t find elsewhere, you have this backup. But as for La Crème – the Bulk of the Books & Movies – this is indeed the best place to start. </div><div><br /></div><div>As always, if you have any questions or comments – or just want to chat William Goldman or ANY of the pieces you see here – please find us on Instagram @fromoutofthepastpodcast or Email us at fromoutofthepastpodcast@yahoo.com!</div><div><br /></div><div>Much appreciated …</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">By Chapter</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>1</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vN5wyN" target="_blank">On Location In Lone Pine</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/427XlJp" target="_blank">Maverick </a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UcwM3D" target="_blank">Gunga Din</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3uevMkV" target="_blank">Scarface: The Story Of A Grizzly</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u4o64N" target="_blank">Porgy And Bess</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u6B1Dk" target="_blank">Mixed Company</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Udqq4e" target="_blank">The Temple Of Gold</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/497mV3A" target="_blank">William Goldman (Richard Andersen Book)</a> * </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42hB3VG" target="_blank">The Craft Of The Screenwriter</a> * </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47NXDGk" target="_blank">William Goldman: The Reluctant Storyteller</a> * </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/492nsUe" target="_blank">Shangri-La</a> * </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* In All Eps</span> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>2</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48JOUqd" target="_blank">Your Turn To Curtsy, My Turn To Bow</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/496RjuJ" target="_blank">Soldier In The Rain (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href=" https://amzn.to/4b6jsnB" target="_blank">Soldier In The Rain (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Oh5wNB" target="_blank">Tenderloin</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42aOXIY" target="_blank">Blood, Sweat, And Stanley Poole</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UgM1Zp" target="_blank">A Family Affair</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SfaT0S" target="_blank">Boys And Girls Together</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47M4XCr" target="_blank">No Way To Treat A Lady (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href=" https://amzn.to/3vV3ool" target="_blank">No Way To Treat A Lady (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Hu5TRp" target="_blank">Masquerade</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>3</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48MzbXf" target="_blank">The Moving Target</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48Nimvg" target="_blank">Harper</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Hyiymm" target="_blank">The Thing Of It Is …</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3HsBSkV" target="_blank">The Season</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Sup1op" target="_blank">Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SjwDZU" target="_blank">Father’s Day</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UcCaDO" target="_blank">The Hot Rock </a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3HwXlJf" target="_blank">The Princess Bride (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>4</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48YbKu0" target="_blank">Marathon Man (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/429ssEr" target="_blank">Marathon Man (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4bbU0wK" target="_blank">The Stepford Wives (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UfNlf4" target="_blank">The Great Waldo Pepper</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Og89j0" target="_blank">All The President’s Men (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vOAAy9" target="_blank">Magic (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SdtxpX" target="_blank">Magic (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3S95k4h" target="_blank">A Bridge Too Far (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48Ks5Ct" target="_blank">Story of ‘A Bridge Too Far’</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>5</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SbqcYD" target="_blank">Tinsel</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u3LcZp" target="_blank">Control</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SxBgRm" target="_blank">Adventures In The Screen Trade</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Sbqfnh" target="_blank">The Silent Gondoliers</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48OPdzQ" target="_blank">The Color Of Light</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48Nh2IK" target="_blank">Heat (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vPFZVt" target="_blank">Heat (1986 Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42bu68y" target="_blank">Wild Card</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42aZ5l6" target="_blank">Brothers</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>6</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4bbSjPX" target="_blank">Memoirs Of An Invisible Man</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/499zVp6" target="_blank">The Princess Bride (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4b9JbLS" target="_blank">As You Wish: The Inconceivable Making Of ‘The Princess Bride’</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47Jx8C0" target="_blank">Twins</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vPaQl7" target="_blank">Wait Till Next Year</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42g8W92" target="_blank">Hype And Glory</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47S6K97" target="_blank">Misery (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>7</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48MV74G" target="_blank">Year Of The Comet</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3udimWk" target="_blank">Chaplin</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4bd9gtg" target="_blank">Last Action Hero</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vPfL5z" target="_blank">Maverick</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4b3dQua" target="_blank">The Chamber</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Sv0mAi" target="_blank">The Ghost And The Darkness</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>8</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47OduF8" target="_blank">Absolute Power</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42aJQIX" target="_blank">The General’s Daughter</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47OdrJs" target="_blank">Mission Impossible: II</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/497l7rb" target="_blank">Five Screenplays</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42bEJrY" target="_blank">Four Screenplays</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SfQfxK" target="_blank">The Big Picture</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vTvCQI" target="_blank">Which Lie Did I Tell?</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vNPwfV" target="_blank">Hearts In Atlantis</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u9egP3" target="_blank">Dreamcatcher</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47UwOQW" target="_blank">Dreamcatcher: The Shooting Script</a> <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>9</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SxBgRm" target="_blank">Adventures In The Screen Trade</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vTvCQI" target="_blank">Which Lie Did I Tell?</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>10</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/497qxlR" target="_blank">Shooter</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SgXEga" target="_blank">The Book Of Basketball</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48JQAQk" target="_blank">Misery (Play)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48MzbXf" target="_blank">The Moving Target</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Alphabetically</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47OduF8" target="_blank">Absolute Power</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SxBgRm" target="_blank">Adventures In The Screen Trade</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Og89j0" target="_blank">All The President’s Men (Movie)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4b9JbLS" target="_blank">As You Wish: The Inconceivable Making Of ‘The Princess Bride’</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SfQfxK" target="_blank">The Big Picture</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42aOXIY" target="_blank">Blood, Sweat, And Stanley Poole</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SgXEga" target="_blank">The Book Of Basketball</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SfaT0S" target="_blank">Boys And Girls Together</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3S95k4h" target="_blank">A Bridge Too Far (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42aZ5l6" target="_blank">Brothers</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Sup1op" target="_blank">Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4b3dQua" target="_blank">The Chamber</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3udimWk" target="_blank">Chaplin</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48OPdzQ" target="_blank">The Color Of Light</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u3LcZp" target="_blank">Control</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42hB3VG" target="_blank">The Craft Of The Screenwriter</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u9egP3" target="_blank">Dreamcatcher</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47UwOQW" target="_blank">Dreamcatcher: The Shooting Script</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UgM1Zp" target="_blank">A Family Affair</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SjwDZU" target="_blank">Father’s Day</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/497l7rb" target="_blank">Five Screenplays</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42bEJrY" target="_blank">Four Screenplays</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42aJQIX" target="_blank">The General’s Daughter</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Sv0mAi" target="_blank">The Ghost And The Darkness</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UfNlf4" target="_blank">The Great Waldo Pepper</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UcwM3D" target="_blank">Gunga Din</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48Nimvg" target="_blank">Harper</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vNPwfV" target="_blank">Hearts In Atlantis</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48Nh2IK" target="_blank">Heat (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vPFZVt " target="_blank">Heat (1986 Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3UcCaDO" target="_blank">The Hot Rock </a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42g8W92" target="_blank">Hype And Glory</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4bd9gtg" target="_blank">Last Action Hero</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vOAAy9" target="_blank">Magic (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SdtxpX" target="_blank">Magic (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48YbKu0" target="_blank">Marathon Man (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/429ssEr" target="_blank">Marathon Man (Movie)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Hu5TRp" target="_blank">Masquerade</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vPfL5z" target="_blank">Maverick</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4bbSjPX" target="_blank">Memoirs Of An Invisible Man</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47S6K97" target="_blank">Misery (Movie)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48JQAQk" target="_blank">Misery (Play)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47OdrJs" target="_blank">Mission Impossible: II</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u6B1Dk" target="_blank">Mixed Company</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48MzbXf" target="_blank">The Moving Target</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47M4XCr" target="_blank">No Way To Treat A Lady (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href=" https://amzn.to/3vV3ool" target="_blank">No Way To Treat A Lady (Movie)</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vN5wyN" target="_blank">On Location In Lone Pine</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3u4o64N" target="_blank">Porgy And Bess</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3HwXlJf" target="_blank">The Princess Bride (Book)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/499zVp6" target="_blank">The Princess Bride (Movie)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3uevMkV" target="_blank">Scarface: The Story Of A Grizzly</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3HsBSkV" target="_blank">The Season</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/492nsUe" target="_blank">Shangri-La</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/497qxlR" target="_blank">Shooter</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Sbqfnh" target="_blank">The Silent Gondoliers</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/496RjuJ" target="_blank">Soldier In The Rain (Book)</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href=" https://amzn.to/4b6jsnB" target="_blank">Soldier In The Rain (Movie)</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/4bbU0wK" target="_blank">The Stepford Wives (Movie)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48Ks5Ct" target="_blank">Story of ‘A Bridge Too Far’</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Udqq4e" target="_blank">The Temple Of Gold</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Oh5wNB" target="_blank">Tenderloin</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3Hyiymm" target="_blank">The Thing Of It Is …</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3SbqcYD" target="_blank">Tinsel</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47Jx8C0" target="_blank">Twins</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vPaQl7" target="_blank">Wait Till Next Year</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3vTvCQI" target="_blank">Which Lie Did I Tell?</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/42bu68y" target="_blank">Wild Card</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/497mV3A" target="_blank">William Goldman (Richard Andersen Book)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/47NXDGk" target="_blank">William Goldman: The Reluctant Storyteller</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48MV74G" target="_blank">Year Of The Comet</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/48JOUqd" target="_blank">Your Turn To Curtsy, My Turn To Bow</a><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-12169174418374552752024-01-12T14:14:00.000-08:002024-03-01T09:05:05.706-08:00Podcast Season 1 Supplement<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUHCflY_T2kJ4OGnezan6082LMEr7hKLPtizP8Z0sTq-uUuKguo10jZzwFHa1swWpfR1j2l01kV7yQVUJyAW4c-HUGcekZ24LdQRj0U2xRLjMQnN7GH9q8F-qmxRHwzIc-3gwT1fVgbdigqRJ6ftE8GFHokHzUHy_uMcyejmXhtM_gvwuuNT9xxCxMT1rM/s3132/FOOTP%20Logo%20Instagram%202023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2512" data-original-width="3132" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUHCflY_T2kJ4OGnezan6082LMEr7hKLPtizP8Z0sTq-uUuKguo10jZzwFHa1swWpfR1j2l01kV7yQVUJyAW4c-HUGcekZ24LdQRj0U2xRLjMQnN7GH9q8F-qmxRHwzIc-3gwT1fVgbdigqRJ6ftE8GFHokHzUHy_uMcyejmXhtM_gvwuuNT9xxCxMT1rM/s320/FOOTP%20Logo%20Instagram%202023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hello! And – it’s only January 12th so – Happy New Year. For anyone coming across this Blog Entry and it not feeling like one of my Typicals – though Thank You for sticking around – it’s because this is specifically in reference to the Holland Imaginarium Podcast ‘From Out Of The Past’ (launched in November with Season 1 having just concluded its 10-Ep Run). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’d like to say typing it up here in the Blog was Cross Promotion Marketing Genius – the Podcast! and Instagram! and the Blog! – but the simple truth is, with this much text, it best fit here. (Still, the Genius!) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I first had this idea – a Text Supplement to the Podcast – I thought, "People will find it useful, easy to reference, and it’ll be fun putting together." Well, I still hope people find it useful and easy to reference because the "fun" putting together? I’d originally given myself a couple hours one afternoon that quickly bled into several days. Why? Because, for even my pride in spotlighting so many the Stories BESIDE William Goldman’s Story, I didn’t fully realize just how many there were. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First, I thought it would be handy to have a list of his Works – Novels, Non-Fiction, Screenplays, Plays, Musical – and all in one place for, again, easy reference. But it was indeed the Index that grew – and grew – to what you see here. But I’m indeed glad I did it [a] so there’s the easy reference and [b] because you might enjoy running through it – with Season 1 now Complete – to see what surprises it holds ... and where.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For instance? In a Season about a Novelist-Screenwriter, it’ll come as no surprise to find Book & Movie and even TV & Theatre References (even if immediately recognized as something William Goldman didn’t work on). But what about some others? Here are 10 Randoms that caught my eye as I was typing-up: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rick Astley</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ben Burtt</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Calvin And Hobbes </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Chicago White Sox </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Walter Cronkite </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sigmund Freud </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dave Grohl </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sleater-Kinney</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bronko Nagurski</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yoda </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’ve often said about listening to Season 1's 10 Episodes, "You can skip around if you like, of course, but we suggest starting from the beginning because all the dominoes wonderfully hit the next!" And, having now typed them all up very specifically, I sure stand by that. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(And, perhaps you're asking, why is the First Ep numbered 101? It's not the HUNDRED & First! Well, that's a Television Standard: 101 means Season 1's First Episode, 102 means Season 1's Second Episode; and when we get to Season 2, it'll be 201 for ITS First Episode, 202 for its Second, et cetera. So, as we continue Season-to-Season, you'll also have an Easy Reference as to where you are in the Podcast overall.) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(AND, if you’d like to read, <a href="https://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2018/11/little-billy-goldman-alas.html?q=little+billy+goldman" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red;">here’s my William Goldman Obit</span></b></a><span style="color: red;"><b>.</b></span>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But enough of me introducing this Supplement. Here are the lists. As always, if you have any questions or concerns – or just want to chat William Goldman (or Anything Else you see listed here) – you can find us on-Instagram @fromoutofthepastpodcast or via-Email at fromoutofthepastpodcast@yahoo.com! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks for listening … </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Works of William Goldman </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Published Novels</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Temple Of Gold</i> (1957) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Your Turn To Curtsy, My Turn To Bow</i> (1958) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Soldier In The Rain</i> (1960)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Boys And Girls Together</i> (1964)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>No Way To Treat A Lady</i> (1964)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Thing Of It Is</i> … (1967)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Father’s Day </i>(1971)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Princess Bride</i> (1973)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Marathon Man </i>(1974)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Magic </i>(1976)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Tinsel </i>(1979)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Control </i>(1982)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Silent Gondoliers</i> (1983)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Color Of Light </i>(1984)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Heat</i> (1985)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Brothers </i>(1986)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Published Non-Fiction</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Season</i> (1969)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Story Of A Bridge Too Far</i> (1977)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Adventures In The Screen Trade </i>(1983)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wait Till Next Year </i>(1988)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hype And Glory </i>(1990)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Four Screenplays With Essays</i> (1995)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i> Marathon Man</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The Princess Bride</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Misery</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Five Screenplays With Essays</i> (1997)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> All The President’s Men</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Magic</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Harper</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Maverick</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The Great Waldo Pepper</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Which Lie Did I Tell? </i>(2000)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Big Picture</i> (2000)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Produced Screenplays *</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Masquerade</i> (1965)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Harper</i> (1966)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid</i> (1969)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Hot Rock</i> (1972)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Great Waldo Pepper</i> (1975)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Stepford Wives</i> (1975)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>All The President’s Men</i> (1976)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Marathon Man</i> (1976)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>A Bridge Too Far</i> (1977)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Magic</i> (1978)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mr. Horn</i> (1979)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Heat </i>(1986)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Princess Bride</i> (1987)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Misery</i> (1990)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Memoirs Of An Invisible Man</i> (1992)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Year Of The Comet </i>(1992)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Chaplin</i> (1992)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Maverick</i> (1994)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Chamber </i>(1996)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Ghost And The Darkness </i>(1996)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Absolute Power </i>(1997)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The General’s Daughter</i> (1999)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hearts In Atlantis</i> (2001)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dreamcatcher </i>(2003) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">* Not including Doctors (What's a Doctor? Check out Ep 107!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Produced Plays / Musical</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Tenderloin</i> (1960)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Blood, Sweat, And Stanley Poole</i> (1961)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>A Family Affair </i>(1962)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Misery </i>(2012)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">'From Out Of The Past' Season 1 Index</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b> </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">A</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Abbott, George 102, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Absolute Power </i>(Baldacci Book) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Absolute Power</i> (1997 Movie) 102, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Abyss, The</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Academy Awards, The 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Adaptations 108 (see also Goldman, William) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Accidental Tourist, The </i>108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Addams Family, The</i> (1991 Movie) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Addams Family Values </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Adventures In The Screen Trade </i>101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Adventures In The Skin Trade </i>105, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Adventures Of Ford Fairlane, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Affleck, Ben 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Agnes Of God </i>(Movie) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ah Wilderness!</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alabama Hills (see Lone Pine, California) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alcyon Theatre [Highland Park, IL (Closed)] 101, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alda, Alan 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>All In The Family</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>All Quiet On The Western Front</i> (1930) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>All The Marbles </i>(1981) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>All The President’s Men</i> (Woodward-Bernstein Book) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>All The President’s Men</i> (Movie) 101, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Allan, Tor 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Allen, Dede 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Altman, Robert 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Amadeus</i> 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>American Horror Story: 1984</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>And Justice For All </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Andre The Giant 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Angels With Dirty Faces</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Angry Silence, The</i> 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Animal House </i>104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Andersen, Richard 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Andor </i>103, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Andreessen Horowitz 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Annabelle: Creation</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Annie Hall</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ann-Margret 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Any Given Wednesday </i>109 (see also Simmons, Bill) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Applause (Company) see Goldman, William </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Apted, Michael 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Archer, Lew (Character / Book Series) 102, 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Archer, Miles (Character) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Architectural Digest</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Arlo Finch</i> (Book Series) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Armageddon</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Arnott, David 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Arnaz, Desi 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>As You Wish: The Inconceivable Making Of ‘The Princess Bride’</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ashby, Hal 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Astaire, Fred 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Astley, Rick 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Attenborough, Sir Richard 104, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">August, John 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Autry, Gene 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Awakenings</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">B</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bacall, Lauren 103, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Back To School</i> (1986) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Baldacci, David 102, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ball, Lucille 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Balsam, Martin 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Baltimore Wizards (né Bullets) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Barbie</i> (2023) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Barnstorming 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Barry, John 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Barstad, Tomine “Minnie” 101, 102, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Basic Literature, The</i> (Unpublished) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Basinger, Kim 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bates, Kathy 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Batman (Character) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Batman Begins</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Batman: Dead End </i>(Short) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Batson, Billy (Character) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Battle Of Arnhem 104 (see also <i>Bridge Too Far, A</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Battle Of Baghdad 108 (see also <i>Three Kings</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Battle Of Dunkirk 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Battlestar Galactica</i> (2004 TV Series) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Baum, L. Frank 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Baxter, Meredith 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Beatty, Ned 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Beatty, Warren 104, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Beethoven</i> (1992) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Belsen, Jerry 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ben Hur </i>103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Benny, Jack 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Benson, Sally 102 (see also <i>Junior Miss</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bergman, Ingmar 102, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bernstein, Carl 104, 107, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bertolini, Christopher 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Best Friends</i> (1982) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Beverly Hills Cop 2</i> 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bicycle Thieves</i> 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Big A, The” (Goldman Working Script for <i>Which Lie Did I Tell?</i>) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Big Chill, The </i>(1983) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Big Fish </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Big Lebowski, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Big Picture, The</i> (Goldman Book) 103, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Big Sleep, The</i> (1946) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Billions</i> (2016 TV Series) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Black Adam</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Black, Karen 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Black, Shane 105, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Black Swan, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Blazing Saddles </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Blood, Sweat, And Stanley Poole</i> 101, 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bock & Harnick 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bodner, Bruce 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Body Heat </i>(Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bogart, Humphrey 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bolm, Tony 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bond, James (Character / Series) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bonjour Tristesse</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bonnie And Clyde</i> 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Book Of Basketball, The </i>109, 110 (see also Simmons, Bill) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Book Of Basketball, The 2.0</i> (Podcast) 110 (see also Simmons, Bill) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Boston Strangler, The 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bourne, Jason (Character / Series) 103, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bowen, Peter (writing for the Bleecker Street Blog) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Boys And Girls Together</i> 101, 102, 103, 104, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Boys From Brazil, The</i> (Levin Book) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brady, John 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Braga, Brannon 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bram Stoker’s Dracula</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brando, Marlon 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Breaking Away</i> (1979) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bridge Too Far, A</i> (Ryan Book) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bridge Too Far, A</i> (Movie) 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bringing Out The Dead</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Broadhurst Theatre 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Broadway (New York Theatre) 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brooks, Mel 103, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brooks, Richard 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Brothers</i> (Goldman Book) 101, 105, 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brown, Dan 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brown, David 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Brown, Joe E. (re <i>Some Like It Hot</i>) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bucks County Playhouse 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Bullitt</i> 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Burden, Susan 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Burns, Ed 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Burtt, Ben 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid</i> 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Butler, Craig (writing for the <i>A Trip Down Memory Lane</i> Blog) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Buttercup (Character) 103, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Buttercup’s Baby</i> 103, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">C</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">CAA 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Caan, James 102, 103, 104, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Cabaret</i> (Musical) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Café Boulud, New York 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cagney, James 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Caine, Sir Michael 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Call Me Madam</i> (Musical) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Callan, Michael Feeney 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Calvin And Hobbes</i> 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cameron, James 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Canby, Vincent (writing for <i>The New York Times</i>) 104, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cannes Film Festival 105, 106, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Canning, Victor 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Cape Fear</i> (1991) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Captain America: The First Avenger </i>108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Captain Marvel (DC Comics Character) 101, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Captain Marvel </i>(Marvel Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Carlyle Hotel (and Resident Apartments) 101, 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Carney, Art 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Carpenter, John 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Carradine, David 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Carter, President Jimmy </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Casablanca</i> 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Case, Allen (né Jones) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Casino Royale</i> (1967) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cassidy, Hopalong 101, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Castle Minerva</i> 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Castle Rock (Fictional Town) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Castle Rock (Lord Of The Flies Location) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Castle Rock (Production Company) 106, 107, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Cat And The Canary, The</i> (1939) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Catch-22</i> (Heller Book) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Catcher In The Rye, The</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Chamber, The </i>(1996) 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chandler, Raymond 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Chaplin </i>(1992) 104, 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Charade</i> (1963) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Charlie’s Angels</i> (2000) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Charly </i>(1968) 102, 103, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chartoff, Robert 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chase, Chevy 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Chicago</i> (Musical) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chicago Field Museum of Natural History 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chicago White Sox 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Chinatown</i> 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chipmunks, The 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chodorov, Jerome 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Christie, Dame Agatha 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Citizen Kane</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Claiborne, Ross 105, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Clavell, James 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Clayton, Jack 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cleese, John 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Clooney, George 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Coburn, James 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Coca-Cola 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Coen Brothers, The 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cohen, Douglas J. 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Collier’s </i>106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Collora, Sandy 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Color Of Light, The </i>101, 105, 106, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Columbia Pictures 104, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Columbia University </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> As Goldman’s Masters Alma Mater 101, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> As Housing Goldman’s Archive 104, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Comic Books / Strips 101, 104, 105, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Con Air</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Connery, Sean 104, 105, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Control </i>(Goldman Novel) 105, 106, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cooper, Gary 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Coppola, Francis Ford 101, 105, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Coraline</i> 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Costner, Kevin 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Craft Of The Screenwriter, The</i> 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Craig, Stuart 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crawford, Jack (Character) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crenna, Richard 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Crimson Tide </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Critics 101, 102, 103, 104, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> For Goldman On, see Goldman, William </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cromwell, James 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cronkite, Walter 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Crow, The</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crowe, Russell 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crowley, Nathan 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Crown, The</i> 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cruise, Tom 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crystal, Billy 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Curtis, Jamie Lee 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Curtis, Tony 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Cutthroat Island </i>105</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">D</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Daly, Tim 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Damien: Omen II</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Damn Yankees</i> (Movie) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Damon, Matt 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dangerfield, Rodney 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Darby, Rhys 105 (re <i>Our Flag Means Death</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dark Tower (King Narrative) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Davey, Bruce 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Da Vinci” (Goldman Short Story) 103, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Davis, Bette 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Day, Joanna 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Days Of Wine And Roses </i>102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dean, James 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dead Again </i>(1991) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Deathtrap </i>(Levin Play / Lumet Movie) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">DeBusschere, Dave 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">de Havilland, Olivia 101, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Delacorte Press 104, 105, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">DeMille, Nelson 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Demme, Jonathan 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">De Niro, Robert 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">De Palma, Brian 104, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Depardieu, Gerard 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Depp, Johnny 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Deputy, The</i> (1959 TV Series) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Devane, William 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Devil’s Advocate, The</i> 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">DeVito, Danny 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dick Tracy</i> (1990) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dickens, Charles 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Die Hard</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">DiMaggio, Joe 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Disney (in General) 101, 106, 108, 109, 110
<br /><i>Django Unchained</i> 101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Doctoring 107 (see also Goldman, William) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dolores Claiborne</i> (King Book) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dolores Claiborne</i> (Movie) 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Donen, Stanley 103, 105, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Donner, Richard 101, 105, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Don Quixote</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dorothy Chandler Pavillion 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dougherty, Marion 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Douglas, Kirk 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Douglas, Michael 106, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Downey Jr., Robert 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dreamcatcher</i> (King Book) 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dreamcatcher </i>(Movie) 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dreamcatcher</i>: <i>The Shooting Script</i> (Book) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dresser, The</i> (1983) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dreyfuss, Richard 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Duel In The Sun</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dumb And Dumber</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dunaway, Faye 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Durango Kid, The (Character / Series) 109</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">E </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>8 ½ </i>104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Earhart, Amelia 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Earth To Echo </i>108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">East Hampton Grill 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Eastwood, Clint 102, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ebert, Roger 103, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Edwards, Blake 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Egan, Sean 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Eighty-Yard Run, The” (Shaw Short Story) 101, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Elliot, Denholm 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Elwes, Cary 102, 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Emmerich, Toby 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Enemy Of The State </i>(1998) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ephron, Nora 104, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Equalizer, The</i> (Movie Series) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>E.T.</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Evans, Robert 102, 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Everything But The House Auctions 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Excalibur </i>109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Executive Suite </i>(1954) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Extreme Measures</i> (Palmer Book) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Extreme Measures</i> (1996 Movie) 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">F</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Falk, Peter 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Fargo </i>(Movie) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Farrow, Mia 103, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Father’s Day</i> (Goldman Novel) 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Family Affair, A </i>(1962 Musical) 101, 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fairbanks Jr., Douglas 101, 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Farnsworth, Richard 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Farrelly, Peter & Bobby 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Fatal Attraction </i>(1987) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fennessey, Sean 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ferguson, Larry 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Few Good Men, A </i>(Play) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Few Good Men, A</i> (Movie) 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Fiddler On The Roof</i> (Movie) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Fiddler On The Roof </i>(Musical) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Field Of Dreams </i>(1989) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Fierce Creatures</i> 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Finding Nemo</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Finnley Wren</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Firefox</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Fish Called Wanda, A</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fisher, Carrie 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fitzgerald, F. Scott 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Flanagan, Mike 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Flash, The</i> (2023 Movie) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Flowers For Algernon</i> (Keyes Story) 102, 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Flynn, Errol 101, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Foley, James 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Follett, Ken 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Follies </i>(Musical) 101, 102, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fonda, Henry 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fonda, Peter 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Forbes, Bryan 104, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ford, Harrison 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Forrest Gump </i>104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fort Sheridan [Lake Forest, Illinois (Closed)] 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Fortune </i>(Publication) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Foster, Jodie 101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Franco, James 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Frank, Gary 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Frank, Scott 107, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Franklin, Carl 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Frears, Will 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Freud, Sigmund 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>From Here To Eternity </i>(1953) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>From Out Of The Past: A Pictorial History Of The Lone Ranger </i>101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Frost/Nixon </i>110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, A</i> (Movie) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fuqua, Antoine 110</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">G</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gaghan, Stephen 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gaiman, Neil 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Galchen, Rivka (writing for <i>The New Yorker</i>) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Garbo, Greta 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Garland, Judy 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Garner, James 101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Garner, Peggy Ann 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gavin, John 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gay, John 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gayden, Henry 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>General’s Daughter, The </i>(1999 Movie) 105, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gerroll, Daniel 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gershwin, George & Ira 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Geronimo 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Getaway, The </i>(1994) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ghost And The Darkness, The</i> 106, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ghost Breakers, The</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Giovanopoulos, Paul 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gibbs, Antony 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gibson, Mel 101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gilroy, Frank 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gilroy, Tony 103, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Gladiator</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gladwell, Malcolm 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gleason, Jackie 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Go</i> (1999) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Godfather, The</i> 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Golden Boot Awards, The 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Golding, William 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goldman, Ilene (née Jones) 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goldman, James 101, 102, 103, 104, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goldman, Jenny 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goldman, Marion (née Well, Goldman’s Mother) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goldman, Maurice (Goldman’s Father) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goldman, Susanna 102, 103, 104, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goldman, William </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Analysis Of (Self & By Others) 101, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> And “Follow The Money” 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> And “Nobody Knows Anything” 101, 105, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> And Red Wine 101, 105, 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> And “Stupid Courage” 101, 103, 104, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Doctoring 102, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Father’s Suicide 101, 104, 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Heroes Of 101, 102, 104, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Legacy 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Leper Period 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Magazine Articles 101, 104, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Meeting Irwin Shaw 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> On Critics 101, 102, 103, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> On Sequels 105, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Pneumonia Of 103, 104, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Screenplay Compilations (His Applause-Published) 101, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Screenwriting Origin 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Sports, Love Of 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Teaching 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Writing, Origin Of His 101, 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Writing Short Stories 101, 102, 103, 104, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Writing Technique 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Writing, Unproduced 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Writing Adaptations 103, 104, 106, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Gone With The Wind</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Good Morning Vietnam</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Good Will Hunting </i>107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Goonies, The </i>101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gould, Elliot 103, 104, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Graduate, The </i>(Webb Book) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Graduate, The </i>(Movie) 103, 104, 108, 109</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Grand Hotel</i> (1932) 105</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Grand Hotel </i>(Unproduced Movie) 105, 106, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Grant, Cary 101, 105, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Grant, Hugh 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Great Gatsby, The</i> (Novel) 103, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Great Gatsby, The</i> (1974 Movie) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Great Waldo Pepper, The</i> 103, 104, 105, 106, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Grisham, John 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Grohl, Dave 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Grosbard, Ulu 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Grusin, Dave 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Guest, Christopher 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Gunga Din</i> 101, 102, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">H</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hackford, Taylor 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hackman, Gene 104, 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hard Boiled</i> (1992) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hall, Conrad 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Halloween</i> (1978) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Halloween </i>(Franchise) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hancock, John Lee 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hanks, Tom 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hannibal</i> (2001 Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Harper </i>101, 102, 103, 104, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Harris, Ed 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Harris, Julie 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Harrison, Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hathcock II, Gunnery Sergeant (Ret) Carlos Norman 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Haunting Of Hill House, The</i> (2018) 105</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hawn, Goldie 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Haydn, Hiram 102, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">HBO 104, 105, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hearts In Atlantis </i>(King Book) 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hearts In Atlantis </i>(Movie) 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Heat </i>(Goldman Novel) 105, 106, 107, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Heat</i> (1986 Movie) 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Heaven’s Gate</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hecht, Ben 107</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Heffalumps 101, 109</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Heller, Joseph 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hello, Hollywood!</i> (Rivkin-Kerr Book) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hepburn, Audrey 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hepburn, Katharine 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hercules </i>(1958) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Heritage Auctions 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Herrmann, Bernard 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hicks, Scott 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>High Fidelity </i>(Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Highland Park, Illinois 101, 102, 106, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Highlander</i> (1986) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hill, Arthur 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hill, George Roy 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hill Street Blues </i>110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>His Girl Friday</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hitchcock, Sir Alfred 103, 104, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hoffman, Dustin 104, 106, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Holbrook, Hal 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hole In The Wall Gang, The 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Holland, Dave (Michael’s Father) 101, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Holland, Diana (née Kongkasem, Michael’s Wife) 101, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Holland, Holly (née Moldenhauer, Michael’s Mother) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Holland, Michael </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> His Writing 101, 103, 106, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Meeting Goldman 101, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Projects Worked-On as Noted this Season: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Afterparty, The</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>American Horror Story: 1984</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i> Backstage Pass</i> 101, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Back To The Future</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Bringing Out The Dead</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Gladiator</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Insider, The</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>James Dean</i> (2001) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Live From Baghdad</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Maverick</i> 101, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Penn & Teller: Fool Us</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Peripheral, The</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Shadow, The</i> (Movie) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Shirley</i> (2024) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Star Trek: Generations</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Star Wars: The Phantom Menace</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Swimming With Sharks</i> (2022 TV Series) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Working in Post Production 101, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Holmes, Sherlock 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Honeymooners, The</i> (1955 TV Series) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hook</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hope, Bob 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hopkins, Sir Anthony 104, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hopkins, Stephen 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Horn, Tom 105 (see also <i>Mr. Horn</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hot Rock, The</i> 103, 104, 106, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Howard, Ron 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hud</i> 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Humperdinck (Character) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hunt For Red October, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hunt, Linda 101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hunter, Stephen 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hurley, Elizabeth 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hurt, William 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hustler, The</i> (1961) 102, 103, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Huston, Angelica 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hype And Glory</i> 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Ice Cream Eat, The” (Goldman Short Story) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>In The Heat Of The Night</i> (1967 Movie) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>In The Spring The War Ended</i> 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Indecent Proposal </i>(1993) 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom </i>101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Inferno</i> (Dante Poem) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Inside Daisy Clover </i>(Movie) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Insider, The </i>(Movie) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Iran Hostage Crisis 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Iron Man </i>101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ishtar </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Island Of Dr. Moreau, The</i> (1996) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>It</i> (King Book) 104, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>It’s A Wonderful Life</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">J</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jaffe, Sam 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>James Dean</i> (2001) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jazz Singer, The</i> (1927) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">James, Jesse 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jaws </i>104, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jeffersons, The</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jenkins, David 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jenkins, George 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jeopardy!</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jesus Christ Superstar</i> (Movie) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jewison, Norman 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jimmy Kimmel Live!</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jinxed </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Joe Kidd</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Joe Versus The Volcano</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>John Carter </i>109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Johnson, Nora (writing for The New York Times) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Johnston, Joe 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Johns, Geoff 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jones, Amy Holden 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jones, Indiana (Character / Series) 106, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jones, James Earl 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jones, Jeffrey 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jones, Tommy Lee 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jones, Quincy 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jumanji</i> (<i>Welcome To The Jungle</i> & <i>The Next Level</i>) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Junior Miss</i> (Sally Benson’s <i>New Yorker</i> Stories & 1945 Movie) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Jurassic Park</i> 104, 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">K</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kael, Pauline 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kander, John 101, 102, 103, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kander & Ebb 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kasdan, Lawrence 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kastner, Elliot 102, 103, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Katt, William 101, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kaufman, Philip 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kazan, Elia 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kazan, Nick 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kelly, Gene 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kempley, Rita (writing for <i>The Washington Post</i>) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kennedy, President John F. 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kerkorian, Kirk 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kerr, Laura 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kerr, Walter 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Khouri, Callie 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Kid, The</i> (1921) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Killer, The</i> (1989) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kilmer, Val 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Kindergarten Cop </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">King, Larry 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>King Of The Khyber Rifles </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">King, Regina 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">King, Stephen 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kipling, Rudyard 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Kiss Of Death</i> (1947) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kline, Kevin 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Klosterman, Chuck 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Knicks (Basketball Team, see New York Knicks) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Knopf Publishing 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Koepp, David 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Koppelman, Brian 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Korean War, The 101, 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kosner, Ed 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Kung Fu </i>(1972 TV Series) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kwadrat Theatre, The (Teatr Kwadrat, Warsaw) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">L</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>L.A. Confidential</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ladd Company, The 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ladyhawke</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lancaster, Burt 102, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Landau, Martin 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lansbury, Dame Angela 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Last Action Hero</i> 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Last Of Sheila, The </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lawrence Of Arabia</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lean, David 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lear, Norman 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Le Cain, Errol 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lecter, Hannibal (Character) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Leff, Adam 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lefors, Joe 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lehman, Ernest 103, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (writing for <i>The New York Times</i>) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Leigh, Janet 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Leigh, Jennifer Jason 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lemmon, Jack 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Leonard, Elmore 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lester, Richard 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lethal Weapon</i> 101, 105, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lethal Weapon 3 </i>101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lethal Weapon 4</i> 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lemkin, Jonathan 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Levi, Zachary 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Levien, David 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Levin, Ira 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Levine, Joseph E. 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Levinson, Barry 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lewis, Jerry 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Liberty Records 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Life</i> (Publication) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lights Out </i>(2016) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lincoln, President Abraham 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lindbergh, Charles 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lion In Winter, The </i>(Play & Movie) 101, 102, 104, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lives Of A Bengal Lancer, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Logan </i>(2017) 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lone Pine, California 101, 103, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lone Pine Film Festival 101, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lone Pine Film History Museum 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lone Ranger, The (Character) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Longabaugh, Harry 102, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Longest Day, The </i>(Ryan Book) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Longworth, Karina 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lookin’ To Get Out </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lord Of The Flies</i> (Golding Book) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Lord Of The Rings, The: The Return Of The King</i> (Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lorimar Television 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Love Story</i> (1970) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Low Fives</i> (Unproduced Movie) 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Luce, Clare Booth 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Luce, Henry 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lumet, Sidney 104, 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lupica, Mike 106, 107, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">M </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Macdonald, Ross 102, 103, 104, 105, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">MacGraw, Ali 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mackenzie, Suzie (writing for The Guardian) 101, 106, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">MacNicol, Peter 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Madison Square Garden 103, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Madonna And Child</i> (Unproduced Play) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Magic </i>(Novel) 101, 104, 105, 106, 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Magic</i> (Movie) 104, 105, 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Magic Town</i> (Unproduced Musical) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Making Movies</i> (Lumet Book) 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Malcolm, Derek (writing for <i>The Guardian</i>) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Malice </i>(1993) 107, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mamet, David 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Man-Eating Lions Of Tsavo (Subject) 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Man-Eaters Of Tsavo, The</i> (Patterson Book) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Man Of Steel </i>108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Man Who Owned Chicago, The</i> (Unproduced Musical) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mankiewicz, Ben 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mankiewicz, Tom 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mann, Michael 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Marathon Man</i> (Novel) 101, 104, 105, 106, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Marathon Man</i> (Movie) 101, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Marsh, Terrence 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mary Poppins</i> (Movie) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mason, James 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Masquerade </i>(1965) 102, 103, 106, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Matrix, The: Resurrections </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Maude</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Maverick</i> (1994 Movie) 101, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Maverick</i> (1957 TV Series) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mays, Willie 104, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McCann-Erickson 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McCord, Jonas 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McCrindle, Joe 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McGavin, Darren 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McKay, Craig 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McKee, Robert 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McLaglen, Victor 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McQuarrie, Christopher 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McQueen, Steve 102, 103, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McTiernan, John 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Memoirs Of An Invisible Man </i>(Saint Book) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Memoirs Of An Invisible Man</i> (Movie) 105, 106, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Menninger Clinic / Foundation, The 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mercury Space Program, The 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Meredith, Burgess 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mesce, Bill (writing for <i>Tilt</i>) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Metcalf, Laurie 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">MGM (Studio) 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">MGM (Casino) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Michael Clayton</i> 103, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Midler, Bette 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Miles, Vera 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Miller, Penelope Ann 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Minnelli, Vincent 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Minority Report </i>(2002) 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Misery</i> (King Novel) 102, 105, 106, 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Misery</i> (Movie) 101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Misery</i> (Play) 102, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Miss America Pageant, The 105, 106, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mission Impossible</i> (1996 Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mission Impossible 2</i> 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mission Impossible: Dead Reckonings </i>108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mixed Company</i> (Irwin Shaw Short Story Compilation) 101, 104, 105, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Moldenhauer, John (Michael’s Cousin) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Molina, Alfred 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Monroe, Marilyn 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Moonraker</i> (Movie) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Moonstruck</i> 105, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Moore, Dudley 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Moore, Sir Roger 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Moore, Ron 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Moore, Simon 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Morgan, Peter 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Morgenstern, S. 103, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Morris, Wesley 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Motion Picture & Television Fund 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Moving Target, The </i>102, 103, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mr. Horn</i> 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Murder On The Orient Express</i> (1974 Movie) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Mystic Pizza </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">N </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Nagurski</i> (Unproduced Play) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Nagurski</i> (Unproduced Musical) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nagurski, Bronko 102, 104, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nelson, Ralph 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>National Lampoon’s Animal House</i> (see <i>Animal House</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Network </i>104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Nevada Smith</i> (1966) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Music Video) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">New York Knicks, The 101, 103, 106, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"New York, New York" (Song) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">New York Theatre (see Broadway) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Newhart, Bob 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">New Line Cinema 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Newman, Nanette 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Newman, Paul 102, 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nichols, Mike 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nick & Nora Charles (Franchise) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Nightmare On Elm Street, A </i>(1984) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nixon, President Richard Millhouse 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Nobody Knows Anything" (see Goldman, William) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nolan, Christopher 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>No Way To Treat A Lady</i> (Novel) 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>No Way To Treat A Lady </i>(Movie) 102, 103, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>No Way To Treat A Lady </i>(Musical) 102, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>North By Northwest </i>103, 105, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Notorious</i> (1946) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Now I Am Six</i> (Unproduced Play) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">O</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oberlin College 101, 103, 105, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ocean’s 11</i> (2001) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ocean’s 13 </i>110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">O’Donnell, Chris 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Oedipus</i> (Play) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ogburn, Melody (née Holland, Michael’s Sister) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Old Man & The Gun, The</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Old Radio Shows 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Olivier, Sir Lawrence 102, 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Omen, The</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>On Location In Lone Pine</i> (Book & DVD Series) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>On The Town</i> (Musical) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>On Wings Of Eagles </i>(Book & Mini Series) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>On Writing</i> (King Book) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>One From The Heart</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">O’Neal, Ryan 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">O’Neill, Eugene 101</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Only Game In Town, The</i> (1968 Play) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Operation Petticoat</i> 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">O’Reagan, Gwynne 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oscars (see Academy Awards, The) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Othello </i>(Play) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Our Flag Means Death</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Out Of Sight</i> (1998) 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Outlaw, The</i> (1943) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ovitz, Michael 106, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">P </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pacino, Al 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Pajama Game, The</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pakula, Alan 104, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Palin, Michael 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Pal Joey </i>(Musical) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Palmer, Michael 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Panama, Norman 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Paper Chase, The</i> (Movie) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Paper Moon</i> 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Parallax View, The</i> 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Paramount 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Parent Trap, The</i> (1961) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Patinkin, Mandy 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Patterson, John Henry 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Patton </i>103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pearce, Guy 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Penn, Zack 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Penn & Teller: Fool Us</i> 101, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Perkins, Anthony 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Peripheral, The</i> (TV Series) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Philadelphia Story, The </i>(1940 Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Pillow Talk</i> 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pinewood Studios 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Pink Panther, The</i> (1963) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl</i> 105, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pitt, Brad 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Player, The</i> (1992) 105, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Point Of Impact </i>(Hunter Book) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Polk, Peter 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pollack, Sydney 102, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Porgy And Bess </i>(Opera) 101, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Predator 2</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Presley, Elvis 101, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Price, The</i> (Play) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Price, Vincent 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, The </i>(Play) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Prince, Harold 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Prince Of The City </i>(1981) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Princess Bride, The</i> (Novel) 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Princess Bride, The</i> (Movie) 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Princess Bride, The</i> (Play) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Princess Bride, The</i> (Quibi Limited Series) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Princess Bride, The </i>(Unproduced Musical) 102, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Princeton University 101, 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Producers, The </i>(1967) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Professionals, The</i> (1966) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Psycho</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Puzo, Mario 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Q</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Queen, The</i> 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Queen’s Gambit, The</i> (2020) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Quibi 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Quick And The Dead, The</i> 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Quiet Thing, A” (Song from <i>Flora The Red Menace</i>) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Quixote, Don (Character, see Don Quixote) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">R</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Race With The Devil </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Raging Bull </i>105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Raiders Of The Lost Ark</i> 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Raimi, Sam 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” (Song) 103, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ransom</i> (1996) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rayfiel, David 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rear Window</i> (1954) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rebel Without A Cause</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Redford, Lola (née Van Wagenen) 102, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Redford, Robert 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Reds </i>(1981) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reeve, Christopher 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reiner, Carl 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reiner, Rob 106, 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reitman, Ivan 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Relph, Michael 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Remick, Lee 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Requiem For A Heavyweight </i>102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> For Goldman’s Andre The Giant Obit, see Andre The Giant </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Resident, The</i> (2018 TV Series) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reynolds, Burt 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rich, Frank 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Richie, Lionel 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Richlin, Maurice 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rich Man, Poor Man</i> (Shaw Book) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rickles, Don 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ridley, John 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Right Stuff, The</i> (Wolfe Book) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Right Stuff, The </i>(Movie) 105, 106, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Riley, Jenelle (in conversation for Variety) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ringer, The</i> (Podcast Network) 107, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ritt, Martin 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rivkin, Allen 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Robards, Jason 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Robbins, Harold 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Robbins, Tim 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Robert Redford: The Biography</i> 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Roberts, Gene 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Robertson, Cliff 102, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Robin (Character, of Batman And …) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Robin And Marian</i> 101, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Robinson, Phil Alden (as Chris Reese) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rockwell, Norman 101, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rock, The </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rocketeer, The </i>(Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rocky</i> 104, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rodney King Riots 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rogers, Ginger 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rogers, Roy 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rogue One</i> 103, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rohrer, Jason 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Roku 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rollerball </i>(1975) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rope</i> (1948) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rosemary’s Baby</i> 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rosenberg, Scott 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rosner, Leo 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ross, Katharine 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rough Riders, The (taking San Juan Hill) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Rounders</i> 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Royal Shakespeare Company, The 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Russell, Rosalind 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Russo, Rene 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ryan, Cornelius 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rydell, Mark 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">S</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sagan, Françoise 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Saint, Eva Marie 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Salinger, J.D. 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sandberg, David F. 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sandman, The</i> (Gaiman Series) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sarandon, Chris 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sarris, Andrew 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Saturday Evening Post, The</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Saving Private Ryan</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Say You, Say Me” (Song) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Scarne, John 104, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Scarface</i> (1939) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Scarface: The Story Of A Grizzly</i> 101, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Scheider, Roy 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Scheinman, Andy 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Schell, Maximilian 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Schindler’s List</i> 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Schlesinger, John 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Scorsese, Martin 101, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Scoundrel, The</i> (1936) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Scriptnotes </i>(Podcast) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Scrooged</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sea Kings, The</i> (Unproduced Movie), 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Season, The </i>(Goldman Book) 101, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, The</i> (Thurber Story) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seff, Richard 102, 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Segal, George 102, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Serpico</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Seventh Seal, The</i> (1957) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shadow, The </i>(Movie) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shafer, Marty 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shane</i> (1953) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Shangri-La” (Song, Jackie Gleason version) 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shanley, John Patrick 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shatner, William 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shaw, Irwin 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shawn, Wallace 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shazam </i>(Unproduced Movie) 101, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> For the DC Captain Marvel Character, see Captain Marvel </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shazam! </i>(2019 Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sheldon, Paul (Character) 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shine </i>(Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shining, The </i>(King Book) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shirley</i> (2024) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Shooter </i>(2007) 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Sidewalks Of New York, The” (Song) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Silence Of The Lambs, The </i>104, 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Silent Gondoliers, The</i> 104, 105, 106, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Silliphant, Sterling 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Silverado </i>108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Simmons, Bill 107, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Simons, Colonel (Ret) Arthur D. “Bull” 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Simple Pleasures Of The Rich, The” (Goldman Short Story) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Singin’ In The Rain</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sister Act </i>107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Skeeter, Tom 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Ski Bum, The</i> (Unproduced Movie) 105, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Slap Shot </i>103, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sleater-Kinney 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Smight, Jack 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Smith, Maggie 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sneakers </i>(1992) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Snipes, Wesley 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Soderbergh, Steven 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Soldier In The Rain</i> (Novel) 102, 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Soldier In The Rain</i> (Movie) 102, 103, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Soldier’s Story, A</i> (1984) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Solo</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Something Blue</i> (Unproduced Play) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Something Blue </i>(Unproduced Musical) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Something Different</i> (1967 Play) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sondheim, Stephen 101, 102, 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sonnenfeld, Barry 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sorkin, Aaron 101, 103, 104, 107, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sound City Studios 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sound Of Music, The</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Spacey, Kevin 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Speed</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Spielberg, Steven 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Spider-Man</i> (Raimi Series) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Spy Kids </i>109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Spy Who Loved Me, The</i> (Movie) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Stagecoach</i> (1939) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stallone, Sylvester 105, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Stand By Me </i>106, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star!</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Is Born, A </i>(1937) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Starling, Clarice (Character) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Trek</i> (Movie Series in general) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Trek: Generations </i>101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Wars: Andor</i> (see <i>Andor</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Wars: A New Hope</i> 105, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Wars: Rogue One</i> (see <i>Rogue One</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Wars: Solo</i> (see <i>Solo</i>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i> 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Starrett, Charles 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Starrett, Jack 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Statham, Jason 105, 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stayton, Richard (writing for <i>Written By</i>) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Steiger, Rod 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Steinbrenner, George 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Stepford Wives, The </i>(Levin Book) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Stepford Wives, The</i> (1975 Movie) 104, 105, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sternhagen, Frances 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stewart, Jimmy 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stevens, George 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sting, The</i> 103, 104, 107, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Story Of ‘A Bridge Too Far’</i> (Goldman Book) 104, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stowe, Madeleine 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Streep, Meryl 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Streisand, Barbra 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Strick, Wesley 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">“Stupid Courage” (see Goldman, William) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sub-Mariner (Character) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Subject Was Roses, The </i>(1964 Play) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Subject Was Roses, The </i>(1968 Movie) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Succession</i> (2018 TV Series) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sum Of All Fears, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sunset Blvd.</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Super Bowl, The 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Super Mario Bros. Movie, The </i>109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Superman (Character) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Superman (: The Movie)</i> 101, 107, 108, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Sure Thing, The </i>(1985) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Surtees, Robert 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Swagger, Bobby Lee (Character) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">T </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>2001</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">20th Century Fox 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>21 Jump Street </i>(1987 TV Series) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Talent For Murder, A</i> (1981 Play & 1984 Movie) 102</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Talk Of The Town, The</i> (1942) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tamahori, Lee 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Taradash, Daniel 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tarantino, Quentin 101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Tarzan</i> (Disney Movie) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Taxi Driver </i>104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Taylor, Elizabeth 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Telling The Truth About Lies: The Making Of ‘All The President’s Men’ </i>104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Temple Of Gold, The</i> (Novel) 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Temple Of Gold, The (as in <i>Gunga Din</i>) 101, 102, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Tenderloin </i>102, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thalia Theatre [New York (now the Leonard Nimoy Thalia)] 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Thelma & Louise</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>There’s Something About Mary</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>They Might Be Giants </i>(Play & Movie) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They Might Be Giants (Band) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Thing Of It Is ..., The</i> (Novel) 101, 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Thing Of It Is ..., The</i> (Unproduced Movie) 103, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Thing Of It Is ..., The</i> (Unproduced Musical) 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>This Is Spinal Tap</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thomas, B.J. 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Thomas Crown Affair, The</i> (1968) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thomas, Dylan 105, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thomson, David 103, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Three Days Of The Condor </i>(1975 Movie) 102, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Three Kings</i> 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Three Men And A Baby</i> 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Three Musketeers, The </i>(1973) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thuggee 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Time</i> (Publication) 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Tinsel </i>(Goldman Novel) 104, 105, 106, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Titanic </i>(1997) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tolkin, Michael 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Too Many Girls</i> (Musical) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Too Many Girls </i>(Movie) 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tony Awards, The 101, 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Total Filmmaker, The</i> (Lewis Book) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Towne, Robert 104, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Toy, The</i> 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Traffic</i> (2000) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Traffik</i> (1989) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Training Day</i> (Movie) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Travolta, John 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Trial Of The Chicago 7, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tsavo Man-Eating Lions (Subject, see Man-Eating Lions Of Tsavo) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Turturro, John 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Twilight Zone, The</i> (Original Show) 101, 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Nightmare At 20,000 Feet</i> (Episode 503) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Twins</i> 105, 106, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Twister</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">U</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ullman, Liv 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Underworld </i>(1929) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">United Artists 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Universal 105, 106, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">UNLV 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unsworth, Geoffrey 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Uslan, Michael 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">V</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Vallely, Jean (writing for <i>Esquire</i>) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Van Sant, Gus 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Veep</i> 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Verdict, The</i> 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Vertigo</i> 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">W </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wagner, Kristan 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wagner, Robert 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wahlberg, Mark 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wait Till Next Year</i> (Goldman-Lupica Book) 101, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wallace, Lew 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Walsh, J.T. 107</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Walt Disney's Comics And Stories</i> 101</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Walton, Tony 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Warden, Jack 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Warner, Jack 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Warner Bros. 101, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Watergate 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Waterworld</i> 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Weidman, Jerome 102 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Weinraub, Bernard (writing for <i>The New York Times</i>) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Welles, Orson 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wencel, Ewa 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">West, Simon 105, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Westley (Character) 103, 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Whedon, Joss 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>When Harry Met Sally </i>109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Which Lie Did I Tell?</i> 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Whitehead, Robert 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>White Nights </i>108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Whitney, Luther (Character) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Widmark, Richard 104, 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wigger </i>104, 105, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wild Card</i> (2015 Movie) 105, 106, 108, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wild One, The </i>(1953) 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wilder, Billy 102, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wiley, Philip 101 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wilkes, Annie (Character) 106, 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>William Goldman</i> (1979 Richard Andersen Book) 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>William Goldman: The Reluctant Storyteller</i> 101-110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">William Morris 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Williams, Robin 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Willimon, Beau 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Willis, Bruce 102, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Willis, Gordon 104, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wimbledon 106, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wings </i>(1927) 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wings</i> (1990 TV Series) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Winkler, Irwin 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Winnie-The-Pooh </i>101, 102, 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Winters, Shelley 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Witney, William 101, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wizard Of Oz, The</i> (Book & Movie) 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wolfe, Robert 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Women’s Liberation Movement 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Woo, John 108</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wood, Ed 110</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wood, Natalie 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Woodward, Bob 104, 107, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>World According To Garp, The </i>109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">World Central Kitchen 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wright, Robin 106 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Wuthering Heights</i> (1939) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">X</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>X-Files, The</i> (1993 TV Series) 108 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>X-Men</i> (2000 Movie) 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Y</span></b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yates, Peter 103, 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yeager, Chuck 105 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Year Of The Comet</i> 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yoda (Character) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>You Must Remember This</i> (Podcast) 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Young Lions, The</i> (Shaw Book) 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Your Turn To Curtsy, My Turn To Bow</i> 102, 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Z</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Zanuck, Darryl 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Zanuck, Richard 109 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Zelig</i> 104 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ziegfeld Theater, The 110 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Zsigmond, Vilmos 107 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Zinackis, Richard 103 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Zulu</i> (1964) 104</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-17327564317491154912021-07-05T16:03:00.003-07:002021-07-06T10:54:33.348-07:00Dick Donner, Popcorn Muncher (Alas)<p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVmUEapcmZ0/YOOOO6vAd0I/AAAAAAAABEs/Ql4eA1oK59oHh21aA4-e8m6jEQ7SX_ChwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1650/MV5BY2I1OTY2NmUtMGVlZi00NjNmLThkNTgtMjExMzRhOTM2MDJiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDk3NzU2MTQ%2540._V1_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1118" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVmUEapcmZ0/YOOOO6vAd0I/AAAAAAAABEs/Ql4eA1oK59oHh21aA4-e8m6jEQ7SX_ChwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/MV5BY2I1OTY2NmUtMGVlZi00NjNmLThkNTgtMjExMzRhOTM2MDJiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDk3NzU2MTQ%2540._V1_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;">I met Richard Donner when he stepped off the plane at The Lone Pine Airport.<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This was April of 1993 when I was living in Lone Pine -- a small town about three hours north of Los Angeles -- and he was coming there to location scout The Alabama Hills for</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Maverick</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Dad was the one to take people out on tours, professionally or for fun, but he had a Doctor’s Appointment out of town;</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">routine, but when you live in a town of 2,000 and therefore go somewhere else for things like that, you tend not to reschedule.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“No problem,” he told Warner Bros.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“My son will take you out.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He knows the area as well as I do.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Not completely true but I indeed knew it well enough to be comfortable.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Only I wasn’t comfortable.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Not about giving the tour but to whom I’d be giving it.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There was Kristan Wagner, The Location Manager;</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">and Tony Bolm, The Unit Production Manager;</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">and Tom Sanders, The Production Designer (who’d just been Nominated for Coppola’s</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Dracula</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">).</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Plus half a dozen other people from Warner Bros, the studio of Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis I’d revered since … ever.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">But all that paled in comparison to the six-foot-two salty-haired icon with the deep gravelly voice that stepped off that plane.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This is the guy who put that</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><u style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Thing</u><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">outside William Shatner’s plane window.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This is the guy who made us terrified of A Little Boy and a Rottweiller.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The guy who made us Believe a Man could Fly.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The guy who reminded us we’re never too old for this shit.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Yes, Richard Donner stepped off that plane and walked right up to me.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“You must be Junior!”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I wouldn’t learn it for a week or so but this was his way of saying how much he liked Dad and that I was just like him.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Yes sir,” I said.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Michael Holland.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(I hope my voice didn’t crack.)</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We shook hands and he smiled a smile I’d learn was one hundred percent genuine:</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“I’m Dick Donner.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">And with that I</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><u style="text-indent: 0.5in;">was</u><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">comfortable so I smiled back and said, “Welcome to Lone Pine.”</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We all got in cars I had ready and went out into The Alabama Hills.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">This was April of 1993. I’d just turned eighteen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Richard Donald Schwartzberg was born April 24th, 1930 in The Bronx, and he passed away today at the age of 91 (location and cause still, at press, TBD). He was a man of the people, for the people. He always bought American, and championed that, from insisting it on his Sets to himself driving a Mustang. “Salt of the Earth” is the phrase, and fits him well. He started in The Business as an off-Broadway Actor but admitted he had no talent so he switched gears and found an abundance of it behind the camera, first in Industrials and then Commercials. By the 1950s, he was doing well in Television with <i>Zane Grey Theater </i>and Steve McQueen’s <i>Wanted: Dead Or Alive </i>and <i>The Loretta Young Show</i>. His first Feature was 1961’s <i>X-15 </i>with Charles Bronson and Mary Tyler Moore. Not the bang-out-of-the-gate he’d have preferred so his next wasn’t until 1968’s <i>Salt And Pepper </i>with Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. Well, if Features weren’t his thing he was now doing really well in Television with <i>Have Gun, Will Travel </i>and <i>The Fugitive </i>and <i>Get Smart </i>and <i>Gilligan’s Island. </i>And, yes, perhaps most famous is his <i>The Twilight Zone “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet.”</i> After one hundred-plus episodes over fifty-plus series (over fifteen years) Alan Ladd Jr. called him to say he had a little horror script he thought Donner should read. It was 1975 and the film would become <i>The Omen</i> with Gregory Peck … and Richard Donner the A-List Feature Director was born. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Over the next thirty years he’d make seventeen features grossing -- not yet counting inflation -- well over a billion dollars. In 2000, he (with wife Lauren Shuler Donner through their Donners’ Company) Executive Produced Bryan Singer’s <i>X-Men</i>, launching that successful series (and in many ways the current Super Hero cinematic reign). His love of Comic Books knows no bounds, having created the modern super hero movie with Christopher Reeve and even <u>Writing</u> Superman in some <i>Action Comics</i> (yes, the series itself). His last Directed feature was 2006’s <i>16 Blocks</i>; sort of. Me, I like to think of his last as Warner Bros inviting him to recut <i>Superman II</i> (which, if you haven’t seen that version -- <i>The Richard Donner Cut </i>it’s called -- do yourself a favor and pick it up). Want to know more? Pick up a copy of James Christie’s </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">2010 Bio <i>You're The Director ... You Figure It Out</i>. Me? I’m going back to Lone Pine’s Alabama Hills in 1993.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">In some ways, I think of <i>Maverick </i>as my first feature. It wasn’t the first I worked on -- that goes back to my being an Extra when I was young (including <i>Back To The Future </i>where some of you know not to blink to spot me) -- but <i>Maverick </i>was the first feature I’d <u>really</u> work on; as a P.A., sure, but officially where I wanted to be: behind the camera. This was because Dick knew I was leaving for College -- Film School -- in a couple months and wanted me to have the best possible Summer I could. Working on a Warner Bros Feature Starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner & James Coburn, Written by William Goldman, Directed by Richard Donner? It <u>was</u> the best possible Summer. And throughout the location shooting -- I only did the location shooting on <i>Maverick, </i>not the studio stuff back at Warner Bros, because I <u>did</u> have to go to College -- Dick took me under his wing as best he could, with as much time as he was able to give. He asked me to ask him things and he asked <u>me</u> things to make sure I was making the most of it all. We talked -- ready for this? -- <i>The Omen </i>and <i>Superman</i> and <i>Ladyhawke </i>and <i>The Goonies </i>and <i>Lethal Weapon </i>and <i>Scrooged </i>and -- some of you know I’m a big Jackie Gleason fan -- <i>The Toy</i>. I actually got to talk to Richard Donner about his movies. And -- right there on the <i>Maverick </i>set -- we talked <u>why</u> he was doing certain things: script interpretation, camera placement, actor motivation; all of it, of course, on the condition the 35MM Film Stock was kept clean and The Sun didn’t move behind that cloud. (This is still when Production doing things Practically was the norm, before they <u>relied</u> on Visual Effects. And I wish you’d seen Linda Hunt and her Magician’s Cabin they built out there in The Alabama Hills; that whole sequence cut from the film. But I digress …) “Yes sir, Mr. Donner” and “Thank you, Mr. Donner” were like inhaling and exhaling until he laughed -- yes, that great, deep, gravelly laugh of his (as genuine as the smile) -- and said, “Junior. Call me Dick.” I hadn’t left for College yet and it was the greatest Film School I’d ever experience. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">How’d I get so lucky? Because that’s who Dick was: at the end of the day, a movie fan just like you and me. And in some ways <u>more</u>. For instance, why did he want to shoot in Lone Pine’s Alabama Hills? Because that’s where <u>his</u> favorite film, <i>Gunga Din</i>, was shot. And Dad knew that. He said to me that morning I picked Donner & Crew up at the airport, “Once you’ve done the work for the day, they’ve seen everything they need to, take them around to a few of the sites” -- he handed me a half-dozen of his glorious 8x10s; Photos from The Classic Movie Days out there in The Rocks -- “Show ‘em where these were done.” “The sites” being the over-four-hundred movies shot in those rocks, including the <i>Gunga Din </i>Bridge and Temple Pocket locations. So I did take them around and Dick got to those spots and was beside himself, standing where his heroes stood fifty-five years before. “George <u>Stevens</u> was here! The big end battle was right <u>there</u>!” You think I’m overstating his giddiness? There’s the scene in <i>Lethal Weapon 3</i> where Mel Gibson stands back to watch Rene Russo fight. Why? Because that’s what Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Victor McLaglen did to Cary Grant in <i>Gunga Din</i>. (And let’s be honest: Dick wasn’t up there that first trip to decide <u>if</u> they’d shoot in The Alabama Hills, he was already picking out where <u>in</u> them he was going to shoot.) Richard Donner was an A-list Director -- one of the few at Warner Bros to be given “Final Cut” -- but when Dick Donner was making a movie he was ten years old again. I asked him, “Why’d you want to make movies?” And he said the same thing a lot of people say, though hearing <u>him</u> say it, I sure did believe it: “I wanted to give people the same feeling I got as a kid, sitting in the theatre, munching on popcorn. Not just as a kid, but the feeling I <u>still</u> get when I watch a great movie.” A great <u>movie</u> he always said, because he never called them films. And I think that shows in his work. While he was never so much as Nominated for an Oscar, you name four or five of his movies and they still make you smile. You quote them. ‘Cause, like the man himself, they’re crowd pleasers. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> Think about that: four or five really great ones (and we should all be so lucky for that record in this business). And look at how <u>different</u> they are: a great Religious Thriller; perhaps <u>the</u> Super Hero Movie; Medieval Fantasy-Adventure (twice); Kids’ Adventure; Buddy-Cop Action. About five years ago, my friend Jason Rohrer and I did <b><a href="https://www.stageandcinema.com/2016/11/13/billy-wilders-oeuvre-vii/" target="_blank">a series on Billy Wilder</a></b> where we talked about that great Storyteller’s wide range of material. I’m not comparing Dick to Billy except to say Dick also liked to play in a lot of genres … and he did ‘em all as <u>Blockbusters</u>. (Now, I don’t mean they all did tremendous box office, I mean they were all treated in that ‘80s & ‘90s mentality. That some did tremendous box office is a great bonus, but that’s two different worlds. But I digress again ...) Everything on Dick’s screen was <u>big</u>. And <u>good</u>. Great? I’ll leave that up to you, but his work is unarguably solid. Plus its caliber: Horror with Gregory Peck. Dickens with Bill Murray and Robert Mitchum. Medieval with (first) Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick and (the second time) Michael Crichton. Billy Wilder played with 1940s (& ‘50s &) Paramount in Straight Drama, Melodrama, Straight Comedy, Farce, and he did it all a hell of a lot better than most. Well, I say so did Dick Donner with the likes of 1980s (& ‘90s) Warner Bros; and he came out with … if not the same longevity, the same reverence, at least the same <u>deserving</u> of respect.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> I say this too often when someone passes: why didn’t we “remember” them before now; when they were alive and we could have said it <u>to</u> them? There are exceptions, yes, like The Kennedy Center Honors and The Governors Awards; and, sure, there have been some great Retrospectives with the artist in attendance (Ingrid Bergman and James Cagney come to mind). But for David O. Selznick, Max Steiner, Ben Hecht … Stanley Kubrick? (God, remember the dark, dark 2016 with how many talents lost?) Admittedly, I’m in the same group that’s been too late. So I can at least give Dick Donner this. Because I think he’ll go down as one of the greats, even if in that unfortunate way Michael Curtiz lives on: I say <u>that</u> name and most people say, “Who?” And then I say <i>The Adventures Of Robin Hood </i>and <i>Casablanca </i>and <i>Yankee Doodle Dandy </i>and <i>Mildred Pierce</i> and they gush at how much they love his work. I wonder if that’s Dick’s legacy. Richard Donner. Who? <i>The Omen </i>and <i>Superman </i>and <i>The Goonies </i>and <i>Lethal Weapon</i>. Sure, people gush. ‘Cause his movies are crowd pleasers. And that’s a great testament to him. And, no, I’m not taking anything away from those movies' Writer, Producer, Editor, Production Designer, Scorer; most of you know how strongly I champion the creative <u>collective</u>. But when Laddy pitched his little religious horror movie, it was another B-Picture quickie. Well, Dick elevated that. No one wanted to touch the famous Siegel & Shuster character, much less put on the suit. Until Dick made him human. Shane Black pitched a suicidal cop at Christmas. Well, Dick made him likable. He knew how to entertain without pulling punches. He knew how to entertain a wide audience without talking down to them. He knew how to entertain in a business without losing sight of the kid sitting in the theatre munching on popcorn. I hope he knew that, and I hope he knew how much a lot of us appreciate it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> About a week before I left for Film School that Summer of 1993, I still hadn’t asked anyone for their autograph. Because, for me, the timing had to be right. How do I sound sincere? How do I not interrupt their work, their day? (PS, remember, I’m eighteen. Not that that matters as all these years later I still worry about timing and sincerity.) Well, Mom & Dad bought me <i>Maverick</i>; that is, one of the Novels based on the James Garner Television Show; a beautiful Whitman Published (“Warner Bros approved!” it says) hard-bound from 1959. That was my “in,” you see; the conversation piece that’d cover up any bad timing (and, yes, thanks to Mom & Dad once again for the win). I went to Dick first, of course, <u>who then took me around to</u> Mel and Jodie and James Garner -- James Garner, the original Bret Maverick! -- and Linda Hunt. They all signed it. Here’s one of the pages: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7XJSFYtNOM/YOOOuuzzIzI/AAAAAAAABE0/UiOzJ5EagIU7YIbWOCSLNlhkA4_cFwUqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/unnamed.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7XJSFYtNOM/YOOOuuzzIzI/AAAAAAAABE0/UiOzJ5EagIU7YIbWOCSLNlhkA4_cFwUqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/unnamed.jpg" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Yep, that’s Dick, Mel and Jodie.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Believe me, I know how impressive it is and I never take it for granted;</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">the book and its signatures, sure, but that Summer.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Because it</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><u style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">was</u><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">the greatest Film School I’d receive, humbling me in the “real world,” going into Film School knowing how The Pros did it.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">The hard work -- the immense undertaking of the seemingly simplest pieces of business -- and -- as important -- the sheer joy of it all.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Because there</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><u style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">is</u><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">joy in The Movie Business.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Dick didn’t just teach me that, he</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><u style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">showed</u><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">me, right at the very beginning.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Richard Donald Schwartzberg passed away today. If you love movies, especially his, please, take a moment to appreciate the life of Richard Donner.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">‘Cause all us fans are still kids, sitting in the theatre, munching on popcorn. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-14648271114331106422020-12-31T10:28:00.005-08:002021-05-18T10:56:25.918-07:00Words<p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ANT8l593L9c/X-4XIyO0hqI/AAAAAAAABC0/YQkmDShuFysFJhQ-BUXdk3Fk7nVL-wHyACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_3014.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1950" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ANT8l593L9c/X-4XIyO0hqI/AAAAAAAABC0/YQkmDShuFysFJhQ-BUXdk3Fk7nVL-wHyACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_3014.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>Happy New Year. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Words. Not as easy as they appear.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Wait, sorry, let me take a step back because this piece has taken on a few iterations. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">It started as one of my Classic Hollywood Instagram Posts – @holland_imaginarium – where I wanted to talk about Christmas Gifts my wife Diana got me and their (perhaps not surprisingly) wonderfully embracing Old Hollywood; but that post lingered a bit after Christmas to become a New Year’s Eve Post (if still talking about Christmas Gifts and Old Hollywood) then <u>that</u> seemed inappropriate given our wrapping up – and still trying to wrap our heads around – 2020. So I tried to say a few words to suffice but Instagram’s 2200 Character Limit (only about 370 words; limiting for Old Verbose Me) hardly sufficed so I decided to switch to here. But then my open – which, while perhaps sufficient, now felt dark and call-to-action and then segueing <u>that</u> into and closing-with Christmas Gifts and Old Hollywood felt frivolous. But ultimately those are what I wanted to talk about – still do because I still wanted to share what Diana got me and why – so here I am trying to make it work. (Is this Opening Purge helping? Well, I hope you continue indulging me.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Since every iteration of this piece opened with “Happy New Year,” indeed the three clearest words I wanted to convey, I kept that. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">The rest?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">It’s too easy – sadly, genuinely – to put into words how difficult 2020 was. The prose doesn’t even have to be all that prolific as very singular words will do. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Trump. Fires. Kobe. Pandemic? Quarantine. Unemployment. <u>Pandemic</u>. Masks. Loneliness. Depression. Anger. Uncertainty? (That was only March and April because <u>then</u> there was) Floyd. And. Black. Lives. Matter. Boseman. Ginsburg. (And, still, through it all, Poster Boy for it All) Trump. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">While I hate giving him podium, I began and ended that run with him because [a] I do think he’s to blame for more than even he’ll be given historical credit <u>but</u> [b] with him – rather against him – we rallied to end the 2020 that gave us those dark, singular words. Because in November we gave three as-important words – “I voted for” – to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (and this piece won’t go into their efforts and eventual effectiveness – much less the likes of Stacey Abrams and Anthony Fauci and Bernie Sanders and AOC and all the Men & Women of the Political & Healthcare Frontlines – that they deserve).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">And we know November wasn’t the end; we know that, as The Holidays – Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and now New Year’s – were met with further family and friends isolation, further unemployment, further loneliness, further sickness and, all too readily, further Death (at this point I’m sure we all know someone, even if tangentially, that’s died from COVID), that simple word “further” became scarier because – at press we’re hardly out of the woods – who knows how far it will go?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">While I’m saying Trump too boldly (worse, I think proudly) got us into this and, with his departure, we’ll boldly (indeed proudly) get ourselves out of it, it’ll take time. But with Biden & CO – they <u>understand</u> the issues, they <u>do</u>, and, whether you like them or not, believe me, <u>they’re fighting the good fight</u> – I believe we have a chance. <br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">But it’ll take time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Because Trump isn’t solely to blame. (He’s not. He’s – it’s infuriating, I know – but the Poster Boy.) Where greater worry ultimately points – what saddens me most about his time in government (out of respect to that word I solemnly leave it lowercased; won’t dare call his time a Presidency) – is what it unearthed in Our Nation: he wasn’t alone; sadly (genuinely) too close to half The Nation agreed with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">So I don’t think we can say “Happy New Year” nor look forward to what’s to come without acknowledging where we’ve been; rather, we’d be foolish to. If there’s a light at the end of the tunnel – while we have a Pandemic and Systemic Racism in this Country, at the <u>very</u> least we once again have <s>a voice</s> Voices <s>speaking</s> Yelling against them both – it <u>can’t</u> be a Happy New Year without acknowledging how difficult 2020 was, what we learned from it, what we still need to, how it … well, pick your words.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Still.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Still.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">As we round out the year, I see so many Instagram Posts and Articles and Podcasts and and and embracing what got people through it. Even if just for a moment, an hour, a day. And it doesn’t have to be New Year’s Eve – though I think we all get a bit nostalgic today – it’s simply, consciously appreciating the little things that got us through; Moments as important as Days.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">So, if you’ll continue indulging me, and I do thank you, how could I not revel in my wife Diana’s Christmas Presents? After all, she’s – not the gifts, <u>she’s</u> – always more than a little thing that gets me through moments, hours, days. I owe her more than an Instagram Thank You.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">So here it is.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">While I’m clearly a fan of Old Hollywood (the Movies), I’m also a fan of Old Hollywood (the Town, its History) and am lucky they often go hand-in-hand. Diana knows this and (God knows I’m grateful) supports my nostalgia.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Gift One.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">We love Tam O’Shanter, the pseudo Scottish restaurant in Los Feliz; pseudo because, while the Tam O’ Shanter is a traditional piece of Scottish Headwear that takes its name from the Robert Burns Poem, the restaurant was always “themed.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Their story goes back to the 1880s when Louis Frank was a Meat Packer in Wisconsin. In 1915, his grandson, Lawrence Frank, with Brother-In-Law Theodore Van de Kamp, opened a Potato Chip Shop in Downtown L.A. Adapting to a Potato Shortage, they added Cookies to their menu, leading to the creation of Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakers (no relation, I write jealously). In 1922, Frank and another Brother-In-Law, Walter Van de Kamp, open a Scottish themed roadhouse that would become Tam O’Shanter. It’s L.A.’s oldest restaurant owned and operated by the same family in the same location. And, while you likely recognize the name Van de Kamp, the Empire they’d become, Lawrence Frank wasn’t stopping with his “Pub” as – in 1938 – he’d setup his own Empire with Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. He’d also personally create the Recipe for their famed Seasoned Salt. One more bit of fun trivia? Their famous “L” Logo was designed by Saul Bass of, he’s likely best known for, Movie Title Sequence Fame (‘North By Northwest’ and ‘Psycho’ come to mind). And for fellow Disney fans, yes, Tam O’Shanter is the restaurant that Walt would visit regularly (they have his favorite booth marked with a plaque at which, yes, you can still sit). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Diana and I have enjoyed many a meal there, our almost-four-year-old son Dominic’s already been a few times, and every time we remember how much we enjoy it. Especially at Christmas because they have Live Carolers, dressed in Victorian Costumes, harmonizing Traditional Favorites.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Which we’ve never seen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Every year we say we’re going to go, to see them specifically, but then – I’m not kidding, they’re this popular – we call to make a reservation and we’re too late; all lunches and dinners when they sing are booked. Well, <u>this</u> year we said we’d plan ahead and … you know what COVID had to say about that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">But it wasn't the Final Say. Because Diana had one of the Carolers – get this – record and send me a personal version of ‘White Christmas’ (indeed a favorite as you may have read about on this Blog or the Instagram Page). And, yes, The Caroler was dressed in Victorian Costume. Beyond the unique, thoughtful gift? It gave back to someone during this dark year as well as allowing them to continue doing what they love: entertaining, engaging with their audience, making us feel at home. To say I was moved isn’t saying enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">But that wasn’t all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Gift Two.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">A two-parter. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">If Tam O’Shanter is <u>a</u> favorite restaurant in L.A., our <u>favorite</u> restaurant – which just happens to, wonderfully, be in Hollywood – is The Musso And Frank Grill. This place likely needs no introduction – to Angelenos, certainly, but perhaps also to any Old Hollywood Cinephiles – but (Old Verbose Me) I’m happy to Intro it anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Firmin “Frank” Toulet was born in 1879 in Lys, France, and came to the U.S. at 17. He met and married Helene Precha whose family already operated many successful restaurants. In 1919, the "Hollywood Citizen" Newspaper announced the town’s latest: Frank’s Francois Café. In a few years it was thriving but Frank recognized he’d need help keeping it there. Enter Italy’s by way of Oregon and Sacramento Joseph Musso and, in 1923, The Musso & Frank Grill was born. (And, going back to The Tam opening in 1922, yes, Musso’s, as it’s often called, was open sooner but it’s no longer operated by the same family. Still, the two restaurants are indeed L.A.'s Patriarchs.) Musso’s has changed hands, has been passed down to daughters and their husbands, but one thing far more importantly that passed down was – say it with me, with the respect it deserves – Tradition. If The Tam was “themed,” and I do enjoy it, Musso’s was Established, Stoic, Pedestaled. From everything I’ve read about the place (and we’re getting to a bit of that in a moment), the one thing that kept its head above water – financially as well as through the fashions of the 70s, 80s, 90s, keep counting if you like – <u>is</u> <u>that</u> <u>it</u> <u>didn’t</u> <u>change</u>. The Menu (for the most part), The Ambience, The Quality. Sure, they added Air Conditioning (in 1939) and, sure, they updated The Grille Proper (once, in 1985) and, no, the Payphone no longer works (but its Booth is still there; after all, it was the first Payphone in Hollywood) and, yes, they’ve updated Plumbing and Electrical and the like (but these latter you’d never know because you’re not supposed to; they’re all Behind The Scenes). What’s front and center is that Tradition, including the Staff’s Red Coats that have become as Honored as Buckingham Guards.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">For 100 Years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">So, the two-parter Gift Two. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">(First, sorry, I should tell you, Diana and I got engaged at Musso’s so, obviously, it’s a Special Place for us. Well, sorry again, we were engaged there <u>and</u> The Los Angeles Theatre Downtown – where, that same night, we saw Chaplin’s ‘City Lights’ – but that’s indeed Another Story.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Okay, Gift Two, Part One (and proceeds of this, too, went to Musso’s Staff as the doors currently remain closed) was the 2019 Michael Callahan Pictorial History, a beautiful Coffee Table Book including House Recipes (including their Fettucine Alfredo of which I’m particularly a fan) and Celebrity Anecdotes. (Anyone who’s ever worked there and left / retired could easily write a tell-all but never do; that, too, tells you the Quality of the place.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">I finished reading it Christmas Day.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Now, one of the things Musso’s is known for – one of their Signatures – is their Martinis; and I realize a lot of people claim theirs is the best but with Musso’s it’s Fact. There’s the classic recipe (not a secret; the trick is its simplicity): good vodka or gin, stirred, served ice cold, over good olives, two ounces at a time. Then there’s the classic setting (not a secret either but few appreciate it): a 100-year-old Hollywood Restaurant as legendary as its clientele. And … that’s it. But you’d be surprised how tricky such a recipe is.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Now, one of the things that <u>is</u> a bit key there is the “two ounces at a time.” This is because that’s all a Classic – read Vintage – martini glass holds (this is why you hear about a “three martini lunch” in the 40s and they’d be standing after). Well – especially in today’s all but gluttonous proportions (in everything) – a two-ounce martini glass isn’t easy to find. Not good ones. Not unless you want to go vintage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Unless you’re Diana.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Who of course went vintage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Yes, along with the Coffee Table Book, I got a set of eight Matsuda Glass (that’s the Company Name) Martini Glasses (date not specified but they appear to be early 1950s <u>and</u> straight from Japan in their Original Box). And if <u>that</u> wasn’t unique and thoughtful enough? This particular design is juuuuust a bit Tiki Themed as Diana knows how much I love Disneyland’s Adventureland (particularly its Jungle Cruise).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Yes, we’ll be enjoying Martinis this evening; and to say I was moved again isn’t saying <u>nearly</u> enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Still.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Still.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">I wish I had more words, better words, to show appreciation. But, again, it’s not just the unique and thoughtful gifts, it’s the uniquely thoughtful person behind them. And I know it’s coming off The Year That Was but, well, even <u>it</u> had its Moments, Hours, Days.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">So <u>I’ll</u> end with the same three words I opened with because – 2000 later – I still think they best convey what I tried from the beginning: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Happy New Year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">And I’ll <u>end</u> end with some words from Author Michael Connelly, who wrote the Introduction to The Musso & Frank Grill Book, and I had the pleasure of meeting because he wrote the Novels that begat the TV Show ‘Bosch’ on which I had the genuine pleasure of working. Why did Connelly write that Musso Intro? Because p</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">arts of his </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Books and scenes in 'Bosch' were set – and shot – at Musso’s. (As well as Buster Keaton’s ‘Cops’ through Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px;">and </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">and and. But I digress …)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">Mr. Connelly now, with his Recipe for The Best Martini In The World ...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">“Okay, here are the ingredients. You start with 12 bar stools anchored in place for longer than you’ve been alive. You take the open one, slide in and sit straight forward. There is no swivel action on those old seats and for good reason. You have to be ready to receive the magic head-on. No turning, no swiveling right or left. The mirror behind the bar allows for eye contact with your neighbors, but who needs small talk at this point?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">“Next, an experienced mixologist – septuagenarian preferred, clothed in red half-coat required – puts the glass on the bar top and prepares the alcohol of choice in ice and steel. Three ounces chilled, then strained into the glass where the two olives already wait. You don’t drop olives into an already poured glass. You pour over the olives to get the proper mix and taste.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">“The glass is small by comparison to the wide-mouths you get in every postmodern bar in America. But that is the science of it. And the genius. The second half of those three ounces goes into the glass carafe that sits in a tun cup of crushed ice. It means every sip, every gulp is ice cold. Guaranteed. Did I mention genius?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">“No wait. Hold on. Don’t drink it yet. You have to savor it. You have to add to it. You add jazz coming out of the speakers. Coltrane, Mingus, some blues, some bop. The music goes with the martini. You then hold the glass up by the stem, you glance over it into the mirror and you see the high ceiling and the old murals in the reflection. You hear the murmur of the restaurant crowd behind you. And you know you are at Musso & Frank and you have just been served the best martini in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;">“Now drink.”<br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-85325510289362404802020-07-26T16:28:00.003-07:002020-07-27T15:10:32.338-07:00Where We Leave Her<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l3ZW5O8hWUg/Xx4KBdu7maI/AAAAAAAABBQ/YZXX1SILxi8bA4i4LGydaKzi30e8lmLbwCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/9bae153d606d8959157e858168dd52cd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="800" height="326" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l3ZW5O8hWUg/Xx4KBdu7maI/AAAAAAAABBQ/YZXX1SILxi8bA4i4LGydaKzi30e8lmLbwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h326/9bae153d606d8959157e858168dd52cd.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">My love affair with Olivia de Havilland began in the early 80s.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Let me explain. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I was -- still am -- a big Errol Flynn fan. And ever since I was five or six years old, I perused <b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3120873892669816262/346344404975684654" target="_blank">my Dad’s VHS Collection</a></b> (remember VHS?), revering <i>The Adventures Of Robin Hood </i>and <i>Desperate Journey </i>and <i>San Antonio </i>… and you can read all about it in Mr. Flynn’s Top 5 right here on this Blog. Well, who should pop up with him so often -- in eight films -- but this captivating lady. I didn’t know what it meant to care so much about Maid Marian but there it was, right there for little old me to embrace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">And, look, when I say “love affair,” understand -- nevermind I wasn’t yet ten then -- I never had the honor of meeting Madame de Havilland. Mine was the same passionate affair as (most) everyone else that fell in love with her across her 104 </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">years: watching her up on that Silver Screen in the likes of <i>Captain Blood </i>and <i>Gone With The Wind </i>and <i>The Heiress </i>(and the one that really did it for me -- yep, another Flynn -- <i>They Died With Their Boots On</i>). Well, it was easy to see that everyone fell for the same reason; because up on that Silver Screen was a woman of kindness and strength and beauty, often in that order (and she <u>was</u> a beauty). To put it another way, Madame de Havilland was a woman we proudly put on a pedestal <u>while</u> -- perhaps even more so -- feeling she was someone we'd be as comfortable having lunch with.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">But let’s reset the stage …<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Walter de Havilland, Olivia’s father, was an English professor at The Imperial University in Tokyo where, in 1913, he met Lilian Ruse, Olivia’s mother, and the two were married the following year. The marriage wasn’t particularly successful, mostly due to Walter’s infidelities, but Olivia was born on July 1, 1916. They moved into a large house where Lilian gave informal singing recitals. (She was far more artistic than is given proper credit, having been a Stage Actress, educated at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In any event, she was clearly an inspiration to young Olivia and little sister Joan -- yes, Actress Joan Fontaine -- who was born in 1917.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">In February 1919, to help Olivia and Joan, both ill at young ages, Lilian persuaded Walter to return to England. They sailed to San Francisco where the family stopped to treat Olivia's Tonsillitis; where Joan developed Pneumonia and Lilian decided to remain, the three settling in Saratoga. (It was here that Walter abandoned the family to return to his Japanese housekeeper who would become his second wife.) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> Olivia began ballet and piano, Joan nicknamed her Livvie, and Lilian remarried George Milan Fontaine, a respectable businessman (even if he and his new stepdaughters batted heads). With plans of becoming a Schoolteacher, Olivia attended Notre Dame Convent in Belmont, participating in School Plays.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> Where she fell down The Rabbit Hole.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> That is, in 1933, she made her debut in Amateur Theatre in <i>Alice In Wonderland </i>and her passion for drama exploded, causing an ultimate rift with her Stepfather. He said, “No acting ever again” so she moved out, lived with family friends, and earned a Scholarship to Oakland’s Mills College where she was offered the role of Puck in <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Now, get this: That Summer, Max Reinhardt came to California for a major new production of the same play, saw her perform, and offered her the <u>second understudy</u> role of Hermia. Well, one week before the premiere, both the lead <u>and</u> understudy left the project, leaving 18-year-old Olivia in the role. Impressed with her performance, Reinhardt offered her the part in the four-week autumn tour that followed. Well, during <u>that</u> tour, he received word that he’d direct the Warner Bros film version and offered her the <u>film</u> role of Hermia. And any plans of becoming a Schoolteacher gave way to a five-year contract with Warner Bros at a starting salary of $200 a week.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">(Sorry, I have to pause here because -- as many who know me will tell you -- I’m somewhat obsessed with cost inflation. Not to do with anything “real,” mind you, but if I see on <i>I Love Lucy </i>the steak dinner was $3.50, I have to know what that would cost now. Well, $200 in 1935? That’s <u>$3500</u> now. And Olivia de Havilland started at that <u>a week</u>. Okay, moving on …) <sup> <o:p></o:p></sup></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">While perhaps best remembered for playing Melanie in <i>Gone With The Wind</i>, it would indeed be at Warner Bros that she’d become <u>Olivia de Havilland</u> (yes, she was loaned-out by W.B. to David O. for <i>GWTW</i>). And over the next six years -- in eight films in that time -- she couldn’t help but be paired in everyone’s eye with Errol Flynn. How close were they? Let’s let her tell it: “He never guessed I had a crush on him. In fact, I read that he was in love with me when we made <i>Charge Of The Light Brigade</i>. I was amazed to read that for it never occurred to me that he was smitten with me too, even though we did all those pictures together.” Between 1935’s <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream </i>and 1988’s <i>The Woman He Loved </i>(her last on screen performance), she won two Academy Awards, dated Jimmy Stewart and John Huston and Howard Hughes and, yes, had something of a feud with Little Sister, though that was nothing next to the feud she had with Warner Bros -- and won -- reducing the power The Studios had over individual performers. (How significant was it? It’s still called The de Havilland Law.) Again, let’s let her tell it: “<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The business is soul-crushing, talent-destroying and human being-destroying. These men in their black towers don't know what they're doing. It's slave labor. There is no elegance left in anybody. They have no taste. Movies are being financed by conglomerates, which take a write-off if they don't work. The only people who fight for what the public deserves are artists.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">She appeared in fifty features and a handful of TV Series -- even sailing <i>The Love Boat </i>-- and received The National Medal of Arts, </span><span lang="FR" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";">Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. (And if the de Havilland name sounds familiar outside Hollywood, yes, her cousin was Sir Geoffrey of Aircraft fame.) A longtime resident of Paris, she was appointed Chevalier of Legion D’Honneur, the highest decoration in France, by President Sarkozy, who told the then-95-year-old actress, “You honor France for having chosen us.” Indeed, but I’m happy again to let her tell it: “When <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">I lived in Hollywood we were so impassioned with the movie business, that's all we would talk about, and we would talk about finding a different world. I decided it wasn't enough to complain and feel restless. Now I have several sets of friends, and when I am in Paris, we never discuss movies; I don't have to think about work. I can think about other things. It's very rewarding to divide your life that way; it's gorgeous.” (My wife Diana and I -- we were married in Paris -- daydreamt of casually running into her, having that comfortable lunch. Alas.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";">Over </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">the course of Olivia de Havilland’s life, we’d all realize -- embrace -- that the woman up on that Silver Screen wasn’t far at all from the woman in real life: kind and strong and indeed beautiful. Who sadly -- at the age of 104 -- passed away today in her beloved City of Light.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">But enough about who she was, let’s talk about <u>who she was</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> She was the last of Hollywood’s Golden Age. We just lost Kirk Douglas in February and Carl Reiner a month ago and there’s a well respected -- deservedly so -- handful of Classic Stars still with us: Norman Lloyd and Eva Marie Saint and Kim Novak and Dick Van Dyke and Sidney Poitier and Angela Lansbury and if you want to throw in Mel Brooks and Julie Andrews and Betty White, fine by me. But truly Golden Age? With Mr. Douglas and now Madame de Havilland having passed, it’s different. Because <u>they</u> were different. At least for me. (And I think those other Classic Stars I just mentioned would agree.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> If you’re reading this, made it this far (and I do thank you), you must be a Livvie Fan. So I wonder where you’ll leave her? “Leave her,” that’s a William Goldman phrase from his 1997 article <i>And Where Will You Leave Jimmy Stewart? </i>where he wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;">In despair, about to jump off the bridge in <i>It’s A Wonderful Life</i>, just before Clarence comes? Or in triumph, at the very end, holding his family, saying, “That’s right, that’s right” as his daughter tells him an angel just got wings. Or drunkenly holding Katherine Hepburn in <i>The Philadelphia Story</i>, his only Oscar-winning part. Or wheelchair ridden, snooping with binoculars, in <i>Rear Window</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;"> We will all leave him somewhere. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;">I believe this: that the great stars provide us a legacy, a blizzard of images to remember. But one of those images -- and it’s a different one for every fan -- is most important to us. And it’s in that place that we park the stars, until we need to summon them back into memory.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">And then Goldman goes on to list where he’s “left” several: Cagney, Monroe, Ladd, Hepburn, Gable, a bunch more. [Find that wonderful article -- it’s now part of the Book Compilation <i>The Big Picture </i>-- for his Jimmy Stewart (it’s, of all places, in Africa, but I’ll let him tell it; and marvelously).] <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">So. Where do you leave Madame de Havilland? As Melanie in <i>Gone With The Wind</i>; or Marian in <i>Robin Hood</i>; or perhaps with Cagney in <i>The Strawberry Blonde</i>, or in genuinely great dramatic roles such as <i>The Heiress </i>or <i>The Snake Pit</i>? Or perhaps it’s a little bit later when she -- and co <u>stars</u> -- fought for their lives in <i>Airport ’77 </i>(coincidentally with Jimmy Stewart)? No matter in-what or when, it would be difficult <u>not</u> to leave her somewhere special.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Because <u>she</u> was something special. And I don’t mean to sell that lightly, only in memoriam. But -- just as we felt when losing Mr. Douglas -- as we’ve now lost Madame de Havilland after so many years -- so many great Pictures -- we can’t help but reminisce. I can’t, anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Where do I leave her? Always in the final scene in <i>They Died With Their Boots On</i>, that great Warner Bros-retelling of George Armstrong Custer and his fate at The Little Big Horn. It’s 1940s Action and Adventure and Drama and Romance and, yes, Comedy; all wrapped up Warner Bros-<u>style</u> (because, remember, they weren’t making a Documentary, they were making a Movie). And at the heart -- the soul -- of it? Of course de Havilland as Elizabeth “Libby” Bacon, inevitably Mrs. Custer. I could wax lyrical about how great I think The Picture is -- <b><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2013/08/they-died-with-their-boots-on.html" target="_blank">did here</a></b><font color="#ff0000"> </font>-- so suffice to say not only is it well worth the watch, it holds-up well (Diana and I saw it with a crowd a few years ago when Quentin Tarantino showed it at his New Beverly Cinema, and the first-timers there loved it). But, as I’m wont to do, I digress.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I’ll try not to go too deeply into how -- a moment if you please, Mary Poppins -- practically perfect in every way <u>I</u> think Madame de Havilland is in it but Libby Custer just … what’s the word I’m looking for … <u>wows</u> (it’s a word). And she does it <u>throughout</u>, from the Innocent Young Lady touring West Point through their falling in love and getting married (has she ever looked more radiant than when she and Flynn are on the balcony, the always wonderful Hattie McDaniel owl-hooting below?) through her and Custer older now, wiser now, living on the Fort as he’s returned to active maneuvers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">And then it’s that fateful early morning as he’s about to take The Troop out again, into the heart of Sioux and Cheyenne Country (at this point all but having sided with The Indians’ plight, at least in Warner Bros’ eyes) and he and Libby have to say goodbye.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> And I know I said it’s The Final Scene but that’s not really true. There is a scene after the Little Big Horn stuff with Madame de Havilland and John Litel, but I’m talking about the scene right <u>before</u>: her and Flynn’s final scene together; in fact, the <u>actors</u>’ final scene together on film.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Remember, this was their eighth picture together and we know they both secretly (ish) loved each other -- even if neither of them did anything about it -- and you can see that love here. Did they know this would be their last scene together? Doubtful but the romantic in me likes to think so. (Though it’s impossible to miss her real nickname was Livvie while her character’s nickname is Libby and I think every time Flynn calls her Libby he’s really talking right to her.) No matter the facts, it’s a remarkable truth that their chemistry reigns here: her strength in knowing this is goodbye -- not “I don’t know when I’ll see you again” but “Goodbye” -- and supporting him anyway, his continued playful repartee, their exchange about her diary, the breaking of the watch chain, culminating in the callback to one of my favorite triptychs in movies: “Walking through life with you, ma’am, has been a very gracious thing.” It’s “incandescently gentle” as Lawrence Basoff wrote in <i>Errol Flynn: The Movie Posters</i>, the scene supported so seemingly effortlessly by some of my favorite Max Steiner Score; particularly the moment when he walks out and she … well, I won’t spoil too much. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I’ve already said she’s the heart of The Picture (and I love John Litel and Hattie McDaniel and Charley Grapewin as California Joe and G.P. Huntley as ‘Queen’s Own’ Butler; hearts all) but it’s undeniable she’s the soul. She radiates every scene she’s in (and commands even the ones with Flynn), making you believe this Young Lady who once strolled through a Parade Ground looking for Directions was now saying Goodbye to The Love of her Life. After everything they’ve been through, were especially going through in that moment, and everything she knew she’d have to go through after he was gone, it’s genuinely remarkable how … what’s the word I’m looking for now … <u>vivid</u> she is here. And, look, it’s not wrong to say she has the same -- kindness, strength, beauty, wisdom -- in every one of her Pictures (indeed going back to her impressive “premiere” in <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>). It’s just, for me, this is where she outshines even herself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">They Died With Their Boots On </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">came out in 1941. It was her 24<sup>th</sup>film. She was 25.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I’ve said this before: I wish we didn’t wait until someone has passed to reminisce them, that we rallied around them and told them how much they mean to us while it still means something to them. (And it does happen, occasionally, just not often enough.) And, look, I’m just as guilty as anyone else that wishes for more time, and it’s not as if Diana and I could have just flown over to Paris and had lunch with Madame de Havilland (believe me, if even the slightest chance arose, we’d have jumped at it). Still, it would be nice to have said all this “to her,” in any forum. To reminisce <u>anyone</u> we wish we’d said more to before it was too late.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Olivia de Havilland, the last Star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, passed away today at 104.<span style="color: red;"> </span>By all accounts she had a genuinely good life. She is remembered; revered, even. She was, by family and friends, loved. Who could ask for more? Once again, we'll let her tell it: “<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise lounge, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me, having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";">Not a bad place for us all to leave her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></p>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-83678990978094498012020-06-17T10:14:00.008-07:002020-07-09T15:22:01.281-07:00The Essentials?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cHvMIDV9EzM/XupKdTrFIRI/AAAAAAAAA-8/fB7J1W_NxOwGxJi14qEE9Xoq79YFSO17QCK4BGAsYHg/s791/Movie-Stars-Reading-Lana-Turner.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cHvMIDV9EzM/XupKdTrFIRI/AAAAAAAAA-8/fB7J1W_NxOwGxJi14qEE9Xoq79YFSO17QCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Movie-Stars-Reading-Lana-Turner.jpg" /><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: left;">First, it’s a question? Yes, and I think it has to be. </p><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Because, what does it even mean? Webster says, “</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">1: of, relating to, or constituting essence: inherent. 2: of the utmost importance: basic, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">indispensable</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">, necessary.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Okay, so here we are chatting about The Basic, Indispensable, Necessary Movies. But if we’re to make a list -- and, as I’ve said before, lists are great in that, if far from absolute, they spark conversation (just look at a young Lana Turner there coming up with hers) -- for whom are we making it; what are the Criteria? (For instance, if we were asking Stuntmen, </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;">The Basic, Indispensable, Necessary Movies</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> would be Buster Keaton, Buster Keaton and Buster Keaton; and fairly.) </span><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">So</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">, are we asking, “What Movies are essential to </span><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Audiences</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">?” Or, “What Movies are essential to Story</span><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">tellers</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">? Or, “What Movies need to be seen by </span><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Classic </u><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Novices</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">?”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Do the answers differ?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">And so I wanted to put together … I don’t know, <u>something</u> so when you see me chatting <i>Holiday Affair </i>without having yet chatted <i>Psycho</i>, there was an understood foundation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Because as you may know from the big chunk of my Blog -- the 25 “Top 5 Retrospectives” with Bob Hope, Errol Flynn, Danny Kaye, Tyrone Power and Janet Leigh -- I mostly talk about “The Little Guys;” and I don’t mean those Names but, rather, the Movies of theirs I chose (for instance -- and this is absolutely no comment on the Movie but -- <i>Psycho </i>isn’t in my “Janet Leigh Top 5”). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Why talk about “The Little Guys?” Because I presume you’ve seen “The Biggies” or, if you’re a Classic Novice (and welcome! The more the merrier indeed!), there are plenty of educated lists that take care of them. So when I mention <i>You’ll Find Out </i>is playing on TCM but “overlook” <i>My Man Godfrey </i>-- I do love them both -- it’s because I want to highlight some of what the greater majority might overlook; and, again, we have that understanding. (Not to mention there's TCM's great Series literally titled <i>The Essentials</i>. Anyway ...) <u>T</u><u>his</u> write-up, then, is me at least touching on those “Biggies” -- with my sincere respect -- if without my usual Blog-length write-up (individually).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Now, my Criteria. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">I limited myself to 10.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">As I generally focus on Classic Hollywood, I limited myself through 1959. (Is there “Classic Hollywood” after ’59? Sure, but I had to pick <u>a</u> date so there it is.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">How did I pick what I picked? Tough to say; gut feeling mostly (and we’ll get to that shortly). But I like what I wrote earlier: Do I think these are essential to Audiences? Are they essential to Storytellers? Do they need to be seen by Classic Novices? In a word, yes. One more: Do they hold up? For me, yes again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">They’re all off the top of my head. I didn’t go to <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movies-10th-anniversary-edition/" target="_blank">The AFI Top 100</a> </span>or <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/martin-scorsese-favorite-films-movies/" target="_blank">Martin Scorsese’s Best</a> </span>or <a href="https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2019/8/spike-lees-list-of-essential-films-every-aspiring-director-should-see" target="_blank">Spike Lee's Best</a> or any of those (wonderful) Educated Lists because -- if <u>I</u> were to think of these as “essential” -- they had to be <u>to me</u>. That “gut feeling.” And I thought the only way to do that would be without reference.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Now, before we get into my list (because the truth is -- and I tell you only truths -- it’s only mine, certainly not definitive), I’ll mention the top ones that <u>didn’t</u> make it, because any number of your favorites might not have made my list and perhaps these help salve as Honorable Mentions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">15 here, and simply Alphabetically …<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> All About Eve </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1950)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Bad And The Beautiful, The <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Big Sleep, The </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1946)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Kid, The </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1921)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> King Kong </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1933)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Gone With The Wind<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"><i> Gunga Din</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> On The Waterfront<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Out Of The Past </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1947)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Quiet Man, The <o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Rashomon<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Singin’ In The Rain</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Stagecoach </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1939)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Wizard Of Oz, The<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Yankee Doodle Dandy<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Uh oh, are you already upset your favorite’s in <u>that</u> list and not below? I promise to continue salving as best I can.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">So, my Essentials? (Also, simply, Alphabetically …)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">American In Paris, An<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">When I started thinking about my “Top 10,” there were three that immediately embedded: this, <i>The Best Years Of Our Lives </i>and <i>Citizen Kane</i>. Why this one? I’m a sucker for Musicals, and Gershwin, but this isn’t just a great Musical -- with its great “end number” -- it’s -- something else I’m a sucker for -- a great Love Story. And as a Filmed Musical -- as opposed to Live Broadway -- it transcends the typical. Perhaps because it’s an Original? There’s certainly something to be said for Love & Music being Timeless; and I know that third word gets overused but here I think it’s accurate. The love story, with the Gershwin carrying us through, feels bottled in time but also <u>natural</u> (as Mr. Kelly et al so often made their Musicals feel). Sixty years before <i>Midnight In Paris </i>made us nostalgic for it all, here it is, dramatic and romantic as we hum along; wistful to step into one of Jerry’s paintings today as if it were yesterday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Best Years Of Our Lives, The<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">It’s been said that with this Film Hollywood grew up; and it only took a World War to make it happen. Writer Robert Sherwood served in WWI and was Director of Overseas Operations for the Office of War Information in WW2; Director William Wyler filmed Combat in Europe (please see Netflix’ <i>Five Came Back </i>for more there); and Cinematographer Gregg Toland said they “got rid of all the toys” (booms, dollies and the like; an approach Steven Spielberg also made when shooting <i>Schindler’s List</i>). And then there’s Harold Russell. Producer Sam Goldwyn, best known for “Feel Good Pics” (and his Girls), wanted us to <u>feel</u> this one, right down to no Costumes being used; the Uniforms are real and the Actors -- all of them -- picked out their own clothes from Department Stores. And yet, for all the reality, in the nearly-three-hour runtime there’s incomparable love and strength and hope. Why does it work? Wyler thinks, “Because it was the truth.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Casablanca<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">I’ve said it before: “I grew up in the 40s;” that is, <a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-passing-of-torch.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">via </span><span style="color: red;">my Parents’ VHS Library</span></a>, I grew up watching that era of Movies, listening to that era of Music, predominantly the 30s through the early 60s. So I first saw <i>Casablanca </i>when I was five or so, first loving the Intrigue, then getting into High School and loving the Drama and Romance, then getting into College and appreciating the Social Commentary (even for 1942 Propaganda). And I always think of it as the first Movie I associated with getting <u>better</u> the more I saw it. To know what it means when Ilsa and Victor walk into the Bar; when she asks Sam to play the Song; the look on Rick’s face when he hears it, walks out and sees her; none of it detracting from what’s to come but rather adding to it, time and time again. It’s the Script, sure, and Curtiz’ handling, the Ensemble Cast, Steiner’s Score. But perhaps Ben Mankiewicz said it best: “When is it <u>not</u> a good time to watch <i>Casablanca</i>?” <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Citizen Kane<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">People are always looking for explanations. Yes, Orson Welles was only 25. Yes, the Hearst stuff is (mostly) true. Yes, the bird missing the eye was an Optical Error (not Visual Subtext). Yes, that’s Alan Ladd at the end. And yes, it’s a dramatic and technical achievement that deserves to be studied as much as (I think) it’s entertaining. But what needs to be said more often than everything that’s said about it is how much it <u>birthed</u>. Is it, truly, all as remarkable as most people say? What was so amazingly, densely captured -- particularly by Welles’ & Mankiewicz’ Script -- is best captured by Roger Ebert in his 1991 (50<sup>th </sup>Anniversary) write-up: “</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Reading the many accounts of <i>Citizen Kane </i>is a little like watching the movie: The witnesses all have opinions, but often they disagree, and sometimes they simply throw up their hands in exasperation. And the movie stands there before them, a towering achievement that cannot be explained yet cannot be ignored.”</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">City Lights </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">(1931)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Save for the moment this is the movie my wife and I saw the night we got engaged -- at The Los Angeles Theatre in Downtown L.A. where it premiered -- is this the best Silent Film ever made? It’s certainly up there, across the board. Is it because it was Chaplin’s last Silent (released three years into the Sound Era), the first he Scored (himself) with (Full Feature) Sound Effects, making it <u>feel</u> heard? Possibly. I think all of that gives it a capsuled quality, in a good way, as if Chaplin knew he was saying goodbye to an e</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">ra and treated the parting with reverent sentimentality (it took him three years to make;</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><u style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">him</u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">, mind you, at a personal $1.5M).</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">The Tramp has never been more poignant, even in the slapstick stuff, and Chaplin gives him one of</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><u style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">the</u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">great end scenes.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">He spends the movie not ever truly being seen -- comically by the Drunk Millionaire, literally by the Blind Flower Girl -- until the moment at the end when she, cured, takes his hand:</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">“You can see now?” he asks.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">“Yes,” she says, “I can see now.”</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">And I hope we can all still see just how amazing Chaplin continues to be.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">It’s A Wonderful Life<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">I’m a sucker for Time Travel Stories and -- while it’s indeed more of a What If? -- I often place this one at the top of that Genre List. Perhaps more interesting because -- clock it, it’ll surprise you -- how late that bit comes into play and how quickly it’s resolved. So while I do love that sequence, what’s truly wonderful about this story, how it’s constructed, is everything leading up to George standing on the bridge: our having spent time with him, in that town, with those people, to the point of understanding -- appreciating -- their machinations and (as genuine) their weight. Plus -- tough to believe today but it’s true: this was a <u>flop</u> when it came out -- if there’s one Movie on Today’s List that stands-out as standing the test of time, this is it. Like George in it -- as good a man as Mr. Capra telling it -- for years The Story just stood there, shaking in the cold, questioning its worth, until, slowly, everyone came around to ring the bell.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Rear Window<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">For a gentleman that never received a Best Director Oscar, I think a “Best Of List” has to include “a Hitchcock” simply because of the Critical, Commercial, and indeed Cultural impact he had on Stories (let alone Movies). But, then, you might say the same about Russ Meyer and, alas, he did not make the cut. Love or hate the mid-1950s </span><i><span style="color: #230000; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Cahiers du Cinéma</span></i><span style="color: #230000; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">-Auteur (re)emphasis given Hitchcock, I agree he </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">deserves it. [If you haven’t seen his <i>The 39 Steps </i>(1935), “Hitch” is there well before the ’40-’46 “Heyday” or his ’54-’63 “Renaissance.”] But -- as I’ll question for John Ford -- which Hitchcock to pedestal? Because it can’t just be “the Best of His,” it has to deserve making <u>this</u> “Best Of.” So how Hitch is <i>Rear Window</i>? Human Interest peppered by Drama, Thrills, Comedy and, of course, a Love Story? Check. Beautiful Blond? Check. Voyeurism? <u>Check</u>. This is Hitchcock <u>for</u> Hitchcock we simply, deliciously get to savor. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Searchers, The<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">So the story goes, S</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">inatra picked the tracks for his 1996 Album</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Everything Happens To Me </i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">for which he’d re-record favorites from his Reprise Catalogue;</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">in essence re-looking-at his work and therefore himself.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">The Searchers </i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">feels the same for the three “leads:”</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Director John Ford, Writer Frank Nugent and Star John Wayne who’d each touched on similar material before and yet, while in some ways nostalgic, there’s something wholly original here;</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">as well as being refined and, yes, even mature.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Like Mr. Hitchcock, it might seem obvious that</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><u style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">a</u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">John Ford would make this list -- after all, Orson Welles, when asked, “Who are your three favorite American Directors?” said, “John Ford, John Ford and John Ford.” -- but which one?</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">(It was darn near</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">The Quiet Man </i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">but)</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">For me it’s this:</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">the Western that continues to define both its Genre and Leading Director;</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">the Epic that feels Personal;</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">and, yes, even all the Pastiche that sidesteps Cliché.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">It would be easy to include this simply for the impact it had: being the first Animated Feature; the technical achievements invented for it; being the highest grossing Movie until <i>Gone With The Wind </i>two years later (which remains the highest grosser of all time); being the first Narrative in which Songs were used to propel the Story (six years before <i>Oklahoma!</i>); being the Movie that launched Walt Disney Studios; and think about <u>all</u> of that. But the simple truth of the matter is this Movie is <u>good</u>. Audiences today have the same reaction as audiences in 1937; sure, one today might not be as surprised “a Cartoon” is this good, but the rest of it -- the drama, laughs, fright, heart, music -- continues to not just amaze but to <u>move</u>. This is Storytelling at its purest -- Pictures and Sound -- brought together in an ingeniously simple and yet extravagant manner: surprising yet satisfying. And doesn’t that define The Best Storytelling?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Some Like It Hot<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">This shouldn’t, in a sense, be any good. Two guys in a Band who get into Drag to escape The Mob. But it was handled by the gentleman that made Insurance both Sexy and Deadly, stuck a guy in a Desert Hole to sell Tickets, made us care about the Downward Spiral of a Drunk, and made a Concentration Camp human (and <i>The Apartment </i>is still <u>ahead</u> of him). So -- in today’s case -- what, in lesser hands, could have easily been written off as Clumsy Satire becomes Symphonic Farce balancing (Melo)Drama, Wit, Charm, Sex, and, yes, a little more Humanity. I have to give credit to my friend Jason Rohrer who, <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.stageandcinema.com/2016/10/24/billy-wilders-oeuvre-iv/" target="_blank">in our back-and-forth on Mr. Wilder a few years ago</a></span>, reminded me about the <u>end</u> of the movie (you’ll see what I mean). Why bring it up? Because it’s the best example of what makes the whole Movie work: “</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #111111; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">sexually sophisticated high comedy tainted by cold chaos; The Lubitsch Touch with the fingerprints burnt off.”</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Whew.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Thanks for letting me ramble; I hope you enjoyed. Again, it’s just my list, all (mostly) gut-felt. As I typed along, did I think about switching one out for an Honorable Mention? (For that matter did I want to add to the Honorable Mentions?) Of course and I made myself “defend my 10.” And I left my list as-is which made me feel pretty okay about my Criteria.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Do you agree, do you not? One might say, “How <u>dare</u> you not include such-and-such!” but I don’t think someone will say, “How dare you <u>include</u> such-and-such, that one’s <u>terrible</u>!” After all, greats -- like clichés -- are part of our Culture for good reason. And like any list -- this was the initial purpose of the Blog’s “Top 5” as well -- I at least hope you’re introduced or re-introduced to a handful of genuinely wonderful Stories.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">On to the next Screening …</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p></div>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-61003558165798768352020-02-16T20:35:00.007-08:002020-06-12T18:13:04.216-07:00Show People<span id="goog_1876435574"></span><span id="goog_1876435575"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Hollywood's Hollywood</b></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Quite often, it’s my wife Diana who points me in the right direction (and I’m only slightly embarrassed how often it happens).</span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">In today’s case, it wasn’t introducing me to Marion Davies -- likely best known for being</span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><u style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">portrayed</u><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">as Susan Alexander in</span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">Citizen Kane </i><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">-- as it was being</span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><u style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">re</u><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">introduced to</span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><u style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">Marion Davies</u><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">who deserves, well, being better portrayed.</span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">And it was Diana and her fandom for the wonderful Podcast</span><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">You Must Remember This </i><span style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">--</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none;">http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com</span></a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">-- who got me better thinking about Ms. Davies and one of her Pictures in particular: <i>Show People</i>; her -- and King Vidor’s -- Movie about Movies that I feel (why else would we be here?) also deserves a little better portrayal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Have you seen it? If so, do you rank it up there with <i>The Bad And The Beautiful </i>as one of the great Movies-about-Movies? You should. After all, there’s (ready for this?) Doug Fairbanks’ and Charlie Chaplin’s <u>cameos</u>. And King Vidor <u>playing himself</u>. And Marion Davies <u>acknowledging herself</u> (all meta-enough now but imagine it in 1928). And thems just some of the icing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Indeed, however embarrassing it might be, especially given how often I write about Hollywood, it’s always nice when Diana points me in the right direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"> That particular <i>You Must Remember This </i>episode is <i>MGM Stories Part Two: Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst And ‘Citizen Kane’ </i>from September 21, 2015; and -- while it justly references <i>Show People </i>(if not diving into it) -- is well worth listening to if just for shedding a more respectable light on Davies as an Actress -- especially a Comedienne -- and, frankly, Davies & Hearst indeed being in love with each other (both things that might come as a surprise if <u>all</u> you know of her is the Susan Alexander portrayal). But before we get into Ms. Davies and <i>Show People </i>specifically, let’s take a moment to talk Movies-About-Movies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Quickly, here are fifteen off the top of my head (simply in Alphabetical Order):</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Adaptation </i>(2002)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Artist, The </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(2011)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Bad And The Beautiful, The </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1952)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Big Picture, The </i>(1989) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Bowfinger </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1999)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Day For Night </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">(1973)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Ed Wood </i>(1994)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Hail, Caesar! </i>(2016)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Hellzapoppin’ </i>(1941)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Player, The </i>(1992)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Singin’ In The Rain </i>(1952)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Star Is Born, A </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">[(1937), (1976) & (2018); and lest we forget the ’37 is based on <i>What Price Hollywood? </i>(1932)]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Sunset Blvd. </i>(1950)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Sweet Liberty </i>(1986)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> Tropic Thunder </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">[(2008), it something of a remake of </span><i><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">¡</span></i><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Three Amigos! </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1986)<i>, </i><u>it</u> something of a remake mix of <i>The Three</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"><i> Caballeros </i>(1944) and <i>The Cowboy Star </i>(1936)]</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Then do we count thems such as (just five more, I promise, and we’re moving on):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Get Shorty </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">(1995)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>In A Lonely Place </i>(1950)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>La La Land </i>(2016)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"><i> Scream 3 </i>[(</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">2000) and Wes Craven must have loved the idea ‘cause he already did it in 1994’s <i>New Nightmare</i>]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Sullivan’s Travels </i>(1941)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> These last five (and maaaaany more), if not really Movies-about-Movies, at least have Moviemaking as a Backdrop. The mind reels (pun intended) because all of them are just the tip of the iceberg; and, yes, I’m well aware of the fifteen others that should have made this initial list (<i>8 ½</i>, <i>Day Of The Locust</i>, <i>Living In Oblivion, State And Main, </i>all right I’ll stop). [Look, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;">by as far back as 1975, there were already -- ready for this? -- two </span><u style="font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;">hundred</u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;">features</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;"> where we looked at Hollywood's Hollywood (also the title of the great Rudy Behlmer - Tony Thomas book on the subject).]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> And look at how </span><u style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">different</u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> all these Movies are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">I wrote in my <b><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2015/06/rawhide.html" target="_blank"><i>Rawhide </i>write-up</a></b>, “</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">The Western is an interesting genre. There’s absolutely zero consistency to its popularity. Whenever a really good [one] hits, we’re warmed by it being a Hollywood staple and simultaneously shocked by its wide appeal.” (I list ten Westerns then continue with) “All of them? Now considered classics. Well, they <u>surprised</u> even more.” Admittedly, there are only a handful of Movies-About-Movies that can be considered Classics – <i>8 ½</i>, <i>Singin’ In The Rain </i>and <i>Sunset Blvd. </i>come to mind -- but I’ll stand by the comparison that, like Westerns, the good ones still surprise.</span><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> The fact they get made at all impresses me. After all, “Movies about Hollywood” are generally considered too “in” for The Theatre Going Public; how dare those Snooty Southern Cals jest themselves, even <u>chide</u> themselves. Who cares how the Sausage is made? Or, perhaps a better point, who gets a joke about a Grip & Gaffer? Or, perhaps an even better point, don’t we want to see Stories instead of Stories about Storytelling?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Well, like all the good ones, I believe it’s <u>how</u> those Stories are told.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> A few quick beats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">From <i>The Bad And The Beautiful</i>: When Kirk Douglas (for these purposes we’ll just use Actor Names) realizes -- pitches to Barry Sullivan -- how to save ‘Doom Of The Cat Men:’ “In the dark, all sorts of <u>things</u> come <u>alive</u>!” with his hand clutching under the lamp-light and that great David Raksin Score clutching too; and then Douglas turns the lamp, putting Sullivan in Silhouette, while he moves in and out of Shadow against The Movie Screen; yes, all of this taking place in A Screening Room. [And -- sorry, a quick aside -- this isn’t just a great moment, it’s kinda true: at least an homage to Val Lewton’s wonderful <i>Cat People</i>, that Picture Directed by </span><span class="itemprop"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Jacques Tourneur who you may recognize from <u>the</u> Film Noir, <i>Out Of The Past </i>(also with Kirk Douglas).]</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Also from <i>Bad And The Beautiful</i>: When Lana Turner is given her Little Break and has the One-Line Scene with Gilbert Roland in The Dime Shop -- “Read any good books lately?” -- and she does okay, Roland kind of acknowledging her, but then Douglas moves to her, whispers to her, and the next time she gives the line Sex is dripping off every part of the room and Roland moves to her, they Meet, and the Director says “Cut” and she moves to Douglas, thinking they’ve had a moment, but he and Roland are already buddy-buddying, both of them not just missing her, they simply don’t even remember she’s there; and subtext a<u>bounds</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">I could go on and on about that Picture so let’s move to -- these too off-the-top-of-my-head -- <i>Sweet Liberty</i> (1986) when Alan Alda has fallen in love with Michelle Pfeiffer <u>On</u>-Screen (and, my God, has she aged a <u>day</u> in the 34 years since <i>Liberty </i>came out?) only to meet Michelle Pfeiffer <u>Off</u>-Screen and he realizes everything isn’t the same in the Lobby as it is in the Theatre? (Though not too terribly.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Or from <i>The Player</i> (1992) when -- and, look, yes, there’s The Opening Shot that homages <i><b><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2016/10/test_14.html" target="_blank">Touch Of Evil</a> </b></i>and it’s genuinely great (I love Buck Henry pitching ‘The Graduate: Part 2’) and there are all those Cameos throughout but for this beat I’m talking about -- Tim Robbins is having lunch with Other Hollywoodites and they’re jabbing away about Box Office and the like and he interjects, “Can’t we talk about something else? We’re educated people.” Beat, then laughter because of course they can’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Examples abound so (point being) these aren’t just great Hollywood Moments, they’re indeed great moments for The Theatre Going Public because -- jesting and chiding though they might (wonderfully) be -- they resonate with all of us because they’re <u>Human</u> Moments. They’re each about what excites us, scares us, entices us, allures us, even mirrors us (still true despite our being “in Hollywood”). On top of that, well, who doesn’t love a glimpse Behind The Scenes? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">I wish I could give credit where it's due [I’m going to say it was Michael Mann talking about -- someone talking about -- his Directorial Debut <i>Thief </i>(1981); anyway ...] <u>someone</u> said, “People love How-To Movies.” Meaning, show us <u>how</u> something is done -- let us witness the intricacies of anyone doing what he or she does best -- and we’re enthralled (Cooking Shows, Home Remodeling Shows, the ever wonderful Bob Ross, same gist). So, for me at least, Movies-About-Movies work -- the good ones do -- because they simultaneously tell a good Story while summoning us Behind The Scenes, sprinkling us Mere Mortals with some of that Pixie Dust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">And for not just one of the earliest examples but genuinely one of the best, let’s go back now -- back <u>92 Years</u> -- to King Vidor’s <i>Show People </i>starring Marion Davies.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><b> The Woman</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">She was born </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Marion Cecilia Elizabeth Brooklyn Douras in, you guessed it, Br</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">ooklyn and, so the story goes, changed her name to Davies having seen it on a Real Estate Ad. She made her Broadway Debut at 17 and, at 19, made her way into the <i>Ziegfeld Follies</i>. We’ll thumbnail <s>some</s> most of this: she had her Screen Debut in 1916 and it was in 1917 -- in <i>Runaway Romany</i>, directed by </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">her brother-in-law, prominent Broadway producer George W. Lederer -- that she had something of a hit; at least enough to attract William Randolph Hearst who had her Screen Test for his Cosmopolitan Pictures (to which she was immediately signed).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Yes, Hearst was married and, yes, Davies became his Mistress. But Hearst and Davies <u>were</u> in love (Bogdanovich’s <i>Cat’s Meow </i>take aside; and, if we won’t be diving into Davies / Hearst / <i>Kane </i>/ Welles too much in today’s write-up, we especially won’t be diving into Davies / Hearst / <i>Kane / </i>Welles / Bogdanovich / <i>Meow </i>/ Welles & Bogdanovich living together; and wow do I digress). But it <u>is</u> worth saying -- saying again -- Hearst and Davies were in love, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he poured money into her Career. And here we see Hearst’s smartest move (not just with Davies but with how he ran his Newspapers, and perhaps the leading mirror of Hearst to the Character Kane): Hearst would -- this is real life now -- report something is happening (“Davies is a Star!”), then make movies Starring her, and she’d be a Star. Yellow Journalism? Indeed; Fox News birthed by <i>Network </i>(1976) birthed by William Randolph Hearst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">We’re now thumbnailing into the early 20s and Davies is living at San Simeon (yes, “Hearst Castle”), plus there’s <b><a href="https://www.kcet.org/history-society/marions-playground-the-story-of-the-annenberg-community-beach-house" target="_blank">The Beach House</a></b>. And while it’s true, to an extent, Hearst was the reason Davies had a Career, it’s, to perhaps an even greater one, truer he was the reason her Career wasn’t bigger (at least more significant that people would remember her -- just for her -- today). And yet, again, if in a little bit of a weird way, it’s because they <u>were</u> in love. While Hearst and Davies lived together, he wasn’t divorced and never would be. So, partly because he and Davies could never marry -- in his eyes, if not too largely in anyone else’s, they were “living in sin” -- he steered her career terribly Victorian. That is, he demanded she play these plain to the point of pious roles, giving her (again in his eyes) a serious and somewhat saintly quality on-Screen that he felt he could never give her off it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">The trick here is, she was a natural Comedienne. So those plain, pious roles weren’t showcasing everything for which she probably could have been a real Star. On-screen and off, she had a natural, witty humor, was considered beautiful, vivacious and was well liked by those she worked-with and partied-with (and parties galore she loved to host); even tough-audience Joan Crawford called her, a compliment from this one indeed, “Just one of the gals.” On top of having a movie career, being well liked, a gracious host, with one of the richest (and most powerful) men in the country as her boyfriend, she was also by all accounts Humble. And yet Hearst, all the while thinking he’s helping her, won’t let her be cast in Comedies (calling them “vulgar”), nor in anything thematically Adult (any Mature Romance or -- gasp -- Sexuality). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">[Any write-up on Davies would be remiss not mentioning <i>When Knighthood Was In Flower </i>(1922) not just because it was her first real hit -- grossing over a million dollars -- but, more significantly, it allowed Hearst <u>and</u> Davies their cake to eat too. It’s a Costume Henry VIII Spectacle that allows Hearst his lofty drama while giving Davies some great character stuff. Plus there’s a sinister William Powell in an early role. Okay, thumbnailing on …]</span><o:p style="background-color: #fff2cc;"></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">In 1923, Goldwyn Pictures becomes Cosmopolitan’s (remember, Hearst’s Film Company) Distributor and, in 1924, Goldwyn is bought by Loews, effectively creating MGM. So Marion Davies is now MGM Property. This is significant for two reasons: one, as part of the deal, Hearst named Davies President of Cosmopolitan to insure she’d have money of her own [this included a $10,000 / week salary, 60% of which was picked up by MGM (Hearst paying the remainder)]. Now, why would MGM -- and let’s say what we’re saying: why would Louis B. Mayer -- take on such an exorbitant cost? Significant reason number two: it was nothing compared to the Free Publicity not just Davies but MGM in general would get from Hearst Publications.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Thumbnail thumbnail thumbnail and sixteen Davies Pictures go by; <i>Quality Street </i>(1927) worth mentioning, seeing. It’s now 1928 and Director King Vidor goes after Davies for his next Picture. And that’s worth repeating if need be: Vidor -- off his enormous hit <i>The Crowd </i>-- goes to ol’ Louis B. specifically requesting her. For what? A movie (essentially) telling Gloria Swanson’s transition from Comedienne to Serious Actor in a Movie About Movies. Davies’ </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">œuvre </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">never really "hit" for MGM -- The Studio kept putting them out to remain in good standing with Hearst for all that Free Publicity -- but there were a good number of people in Davies’ corner that kept rooting for her … if she could just get the right role …</span><br />
<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><b> The Movie</b></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Show People </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">is the story of just that -- People in Show Business -- through the eyes of Peggy Pepper (Davies), a Georgia Girl who wants to be a Movie Star and goes to Hollywood with her Father (the underrated Dell Henderson). We see Peggy & Papa drive down (the real) Hollywood Boulevard, site-seeing (Geography wonderfully ignored) the Paramount, Fox, Warner Bros (then First National) and MGM (now Sony) Lots. She finds work at (the fictional) Comet Studios as a Foil for Slapstick Comic Billy Boone (William Haines), eventually moving her way up to -- at now (also fictional) High Arts Studio -- a Serious Dramatic Actress. Fame and wealth take over -- she changes her name to Patricia Peppoire -- and she becomes unbearable, pushing Billy away for the (wonderfully John Gilbert-esque) Andre (Paul Ralli) who, if “Andre” wasn’t enough, goes by the name Le Comte D’Avignon. Peggy almost marries Le Comte but eventually comes back down to Earth and into Billy’s arms (<u>and</u>, in something of a <i>Singin’ In The Rain </i>foreshadow) an A-List Movie starring the two of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> The plot sounds cliché now (and is; the idea of an ingénue looking for the spotlight, making good, learning a lesson, then returning to her roots better than ever wasn’t exactly fresh in 1928). But what makes this Picture work even almost a century later is <u>it’s good</u>. It still <u>feels</u> fresh, is paced well (at 82 minutes), has good comedy, good chemistry among the leads, even good pathos in the third act. In a word, it’s <u>entertaining</u>. And that’s a breath of fresh cinema no matter the time period or genre. [Not to mention, unlike many of the Movies of The 20s, <i>Show People</i> is still with us with Prints in exceptionally good condition (TCM just recently showed it).]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> One other thing to point out is how it doesn’t take itself too seriously. This is a choice, of course, and works well both ways (once again I refer you to <i>The Bad And The Beautiful </i>for the other side of the coin). But here we see the lunacy -- embrace the lunacy -- that can’t help but surround Hollywood without jesting too far; simply, rather, showcasing it here and there such as Peggy walking through a typical two-reeler setup (also, again, foreshadowing <i>Singin’</i>) and seeing Marion Davies (and still more on that in a bit).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Because, beyond it being good, is the icing of the thing: the “Movies” of this Movie. And remember when I said it was meta-enough now but imagine it in 1928? Welllll …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> I mentioned Director King Vidor essentially wanting to tell Gloria Swanson’s transition from Comedienne to Serious Actor. Ms. Swanson had been with Mack Sennett and indeed went on to become a Serious Artist (viz at least <i>Sunset Blvd</i>) and she married The Marquis de la Falaise de la Coudraye (which can’t help but have been mirrored by Peggy and Le Comte in our movie today). But the mirroring goes a step further. Le Comte hails Peggy with “the temperament of Nazimova, the appeal of Garbo, the sweetness of Mary Pickford and the lure of Pola Negri.” In these scenes, Davies drew from Silent Star Mae Murray, including the puckered lips and pronounced teeth. One step even further? Mae Murray appears as herself in a scene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> And we step even further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> I mentioned none other than Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin appearring, as does King Vidor directing a Movie within The Movie. Well, who else do we see? Just John Gilbert, Norma Talmadge, Estelle Taylor, Lew Cody, Renee Adoree, William S. Hart, Rod La Rocque, Louella Parsons, and author Elinor Glyn (who is credite<span style="background-color: white;">d<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">with re-styling Gloria Swanson “from giggly starlet to elegant star” and popularized the idea of “The It Girl”). And, yes, at one point Marion Davies as Peggy Pepper is walking across The Lot and sees Marion Davies as Marion Davies. Her reaction? “Eh,” she says to Billy Boone, “she’s not so much.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #202122; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Other inside material includes a six-piece string ensemble accompanying Patricia Peppoire (quite common indeed while shooting a Silent -- this is real now -- to have Live Music On-Set as Accompaniment). Well, that ensemble was actually Ms. Davies’ own. The Comet Studios are the old Mack Sennett Studios in Edendale (today’s Echo Park, east of Hollywood); the policemen are ex-Keystone Cops; and the man who squirts Marion Davies with Seltzer was Kalla Pasha, Mack Sennett’s Masseur (and one-time member of the Sennett Stock Company).</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> And this is a great BTS moment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Remember, when <i>Show People </i>was made at MGM, Louis B. Mayer and William Randolph Hearst were at the top of their respective powers (and needed each other, therefore not wanting to upset the other); Davies and Hearst were in love; and Hearst had very certain ideas as to how Davies should portray herself on-screen (that “Pious Victorian”). So while he was excited for Davies to do <i>Show People </i>-- but knowing the kind of movie it was to be -- he sat in Mayer’s Office and decreed, “She won’t be getting a pie in the face!” So how did the Seltzer Spritz come about? Davies believed so much in the project that she arranged for Hearst to be out of town on business when they were going to shoot that, and spritz they did. (Now, she knew he’d see Rushes -- Dailies -- and had no idea if Vidor -- or even Mayer – would, could protect it, but I love that she tried; and ultimately, however it happened, “won.”) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Alongside Davies playing herself even if tongue-in-cheek (even <u>to</u> herself in that great meta moment), she knows she’s potentially pissing-off the two most powerful people in her personal and professional lives over little more than a Sight Gag. Well, I think it goes to show how determined she was as an Actress, especially as a Comedienne in a role like this. She had a Stutter, not the end of the world but thank God for Silent Movies, and she said about herself <u>to the Press</u>, <u>with a smile</u>, “I can’t act and I can’t talk,” knowing full well where her talents l<span style="background-color: white;">ay. If only, alas, she’d been supported to let them shine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"> I teased going into <i>Show People </i>proper with, "... there </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">were a good number of people in Davies’ corner that kept rooting for her … if she could just get the right role …” because it’s true. She had people in her corner, at MGM (including Mayer), and none other than Hearst himself. Which makes the fact that this movie in particular -- showcasing what she’s best at (and in my book will forever be her best) -- all the more frustrating that they couldn’t harness it (likely Hearst wouldn’t let them, no matter how much he loved her, and Mayer certainly wouldn’t have upset Hearst, no matter how bright a Star -- for him, mind you -- she might have been).</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Show People </span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">was a decent enough success and -- we’re back to the Thumbnailing, folks -- Hearst & Davies go to Europe for a three-month vacation. Well, when they return, Sound has taken over -- while <i>The </i><i>Jazz Singer </i>(1927) had indeed already hit, it was Jolson’s next, <i>The Singing Fool</i>, that cemented the phenomenon -- and Davies is crushed. Why? The Stutter. How can she now Talk, let alone Act? Well, Irving Thalberg (MGM Head of Production) liked her enough that he did a Sound Test and was so impressed by it that he extended her Contract that very day. (And it should be noted this might actually be “true;” that is, not having anything to do with Mayer’s love of Hearst’s Publicity.) Thalberg rushed her into <i>Marianne </i>(1929) and hedged his bet by shooting it as both a Silent and a Talkie. Well, the Talkie worked. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> She actually transitioned to Sound fairly well and -- now in her mid-thirties in the mid-thirties -- continued making films for MGM, including <i>Going Hollywood </i>(1933) with Co-Star Bing Crosby for Director Raoul Walsh. Now, it might be a little ridiculous for her to still be playing ingénues but the great women roles were going to MGM’s Reigning Queen (and Thalberg’s Wife) Norma Shearer. And it was one of these -- <i>Marie Antoinette </i>(1938) -- that crushed Davies too far. Thumbnailing some more, Hearst and Davies left MGM for Warner Bros where she made four movies and then, in 1937 -- interestingly it’s her last movie, <i>Ever Since Eve </i>(1937), that once again (best) showcases her true talents; a genuinely entertaining Talkie, her Stutter be damned -- she retired from Movies to San Simeon to, essentially, watch The Hearst Publication Empire crumble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> (Quick bit of Date Clarification here: <i>Marie Antoinette </i>was in Development / Shooting -- Davies had lost it to Shearer -- well before its ‘38 Release, accounting for Davies’ leaving for Warner Bros and making four films before retiring in ’37. But I digress some more …)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Crumble the Hearst Empire did (short answer as to why has to do with too much criticism of rising political star Franklin Roosevelt), Davies sells Cosmopolitan, and gives -- get this now -- five </span><u style="background-color: white;">million</u><span style="background-color: white;"> dollars to Hearst to help him stay afloat. (Love, I tell ya.) Orson Welles makes </span><i style="background-color: white;">Citizen Kane </i><span style="background-color: white;">(which isn’t as much about Hearst & Davies as you’ve heard; some, yes, but let’s not forget Robert McCormi</span><span style="background-color: white;">ck, owner and publisher of the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>). Thumbnail thumbnail thumbnail and Hearst couldn't sue, no matter what he thought, so he used what little power his publications still had (still considerable) to not only ban Press of the <i>Kane</i> but of <u>any</u> RKO Picture </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">as well. Then Louella Parsons -- remember her Cameo in </span><i style="background-color: white;">Show People -- </i><span style="background-color: white;">got in the mix by phoning Studio Heads and Blackmailing them with Immigration Rhetoric. I’m sure you’ve heard it didn’t help </span><i style="background-color: white;">Kane </i><span style="background-color: white;">in its day and yet I’m also sure you’ve heard, to this day, it didn’t hurt it much either.</span><o:p style="background-color: white;"></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Davies stayed with Hearst until his death in 1951; she lived another ten years, marrying a guy she didn’t love but the consensus is -- having basically lived her whole life with Hearst, and not needing to worry about money -- well, “she had to live with someone.” I won’t get into the Thomas Ince or Patricia Lake stuff; look ‘em up if you’d like; though, as many have said over the years, “You can’t believe everything you read in a Hearst Newspaper.” For our turn here today, I hope you have something more in your backpocket about Ms. Davies than, “I know the name but not much about her” or, “You mean Susan Alexander?” And if you’re in the mood to see the Actress work, try <i>Show People</i>. Was she a Star? You be the judge but I’ll say this: In her </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">45 feature films, over a 20-year period -- this is true, I tell you only truths -- she always received Top Billing.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-77295717888097323062020-02-06T15:51:00.004-08:002020-06-11T16:52:17.152-07:00The Working Actor<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;"> It doesn’t mean much except that it’s true: When my wife Diana sent me the note that it happened, this was the first image that came to mind. It’s from <i>The Bad And The Beautiful</i>, my favorite of his. But it also personifies who he was: for being such an enormous Presence -- Star, natch, but I’m talking in front of and behind The Camera -- he remained Grounded, Moving, In It. I never had the honor of meeting him (Dad spoke to him a few times) but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel like I knew him. ‘Cause that’s how he made us <u>all</u> feel. And for that (along with so many great Pictures), we’ll all be grateful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;"> Kirk Douglas passed away yesterday at 103.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;"> He premiered in <i>The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers </i>and would go on to <i>Champion </i>and <i>Young Man With A Horn </i>and <i>Along The Great Divide </i>and <i>Ace In The Hole </i>and <i>Detective Story </i>and <i>20,000 Leagues Under The Sea </i>and <i>Lust For Life </i>and <i>Paths Of Glory </i>and <i>Seven Days In May </i>and <i>The List Of Adrian Messenger </i>and, of course, <i>Spartacus</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;">Not to mention <i>Out Of The Past</i>, in my opinion <u>the</u> best Noir; and <i>The Bad And The Beautiful</i>, in my opinion <u>the</u> best Movie about Movies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;">And that’s only 14 out of 74 Pictures he appeared in, not counting Television Appearances or projects which he solely Produced (for which, of course, his Chin acted as Associate Producer).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;">If not The King Of Hollywood -- that was Gable -- he’s at least a Duke. No, that was Wayne. A Crown Prince? At least that. And of The Golden Age Of Hollywood, no less; of which, without a doubt, he was the last real heir. Well, no, we still wonderfully have Madame Olivia de Havilland with us. Okay, then, Kirk Douglas was the Last Real Male Heir Crown Prince of The Golden Age Of Hollywood. Fair?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;"> Of course, he thought of himself as T</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;">he Ragman’s Son.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">So do we reset the stage?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">I can rattle off Names and Dates and the like -- he was born Issur Dan<span style="color: #222222;">ielovitch in New York in 1916 to Russian Jewish Immigrants; he studied Acting as far back as his youth (a youth, mind you, on parallel with Charlie Chaplin level Poor); he joined The Navy during World War II; he got his first real break in <i>The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers </i>(noted above) -- but I don’t think I’d be doing a History Lesson justice and, frankly, you likely know the story from there: The gentleman manages Stardom few attain while balancing Mass Entertainment with Critical Acclaim <u>while</u> holding onto a Paul Newman level of Decency (capital D there very much intentional). So what part of the stage would I -- could I -- reset?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">That you might not know he wrote eleven books? Okay, fair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Wait a minute, <u>that’s</u> the stage; at least a story you might not know, a piece of the gentleman you might not have. <u>His writing</u>. And this isn’t from one of those books but, rather, an Article he wrote for <i>Hollywood Reporter </i>in July, 1959 titled <i>Macy’s Loves Gimbels </i>(and I first discovered in the Allen Rivkin - Laura Kerr gem of an Industry BTS <i>Hello, Hollywood! </i>which has the audacity to be as much a reinvention of what it takes to get on-Screen as Orson Welles’ <i>F For Fake </i>was for reinventing what was on-Screen; but I digress …).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Just for a bit of backstory if necessary (it was <u>wide</u> news in 1959 Hollywood), H-H-L was </span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, a Production Company formed by Burt Lancaster; his Agent, Harold Hecht (no relation to Ben); and Producer James Hill (final husband of Rita Hayworth). Aside from the title mentioned in the piece, H-H-L also made <i>The Crimson Pirate, The Sweet Smell Of Success </i>(1957) and <i>Run Silent, Run Deep</i>; <u>plus</u> -- worth doubly mentioning -- the Best Picture Winner <i>Marty</i>. Here's Mr. Douglas now; let's listen in ...</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">I keep reading in the papers that things are going to H-E-L-L over at H-H-L and that pretty soon each of the partners will get custody of his own initial. It’s really none of my business what these three talented guys decide to do, but I want to go on record that the dissolution of their company grieves me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">This is a funny kind of town. If you’re a producer, you’re not really successful until someone sues you. Generally, in this town, there is community-wide rejoicing only when the competitor fails. We seem to thrive, personally, on the catastrophe of others even though the great big collective “we” thrives, professionally and financially, only on the success of others. A smash hit, which brings the customers out of their homes and into the theaters -- and sends them into the happy night and satisfied -- is the best guarantee that they will try another movie, maybe yours, very soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Concede then that this is the pattern: in others, success wins envy; failure brings happiness. It’s time -- in fact, it’s way overdue -- for the old switcheroo. Let us -- you and me -- make this an exception. I owe a lot to H-H-L and I’d like to list my debts, compiled without the help of accountants, lawyers or the like. My thanks, gratitude and acknowledgment to them for:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Pioneering in the wilderness of independent production and making it easier for the rest of us;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">2.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Inspiring us to stop talking about what “we would do if we ever made a movie” -- and to get out and do it;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">5.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Making me realize how many talented people contribute to the success of a film. As an actor, it is sometimes dangerously easy to accept the labor of others as mechanical, noncreative functions. In independent production, where everyone doubles or triples in brass, you soon learn that creativity is not reserved, like a seat at a premiere, for actors only. It is a little difficult to accept that no man is a genius and that no one individual can turn out an entire motion picture -- but then how comforting to learn that you have so many first-rate collaborators.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">H-H-L also performed another function which, in my opinion, may have been the most important. Their success, and the success of those who followed them, was the goad that brought the majors back to life. Yes, I know that’s a sweeping generalization, but bear with me for a minute, while I review ancient history <i>à la </i>Douglas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">When TV first hit, we all know what happened. The majors pared their contract lists, pared the production schedules and, all too soon, unloaded backlogs to the new medium. Only the independents, combining great courage with great ignorance, went ahead and made movies and then went out and sold them like they cared. (Obviously United Artists shares in all the nice things that I’m saying about H-H-L, but this piece isn’t about them. They’re not going out of business, or didn’t you see their last annual report?) <i>Apache</i>, <i>Vera Cruz</i>, <i>Marty </i>and <i>Trapeze </i>pulled people out of their homes, made movie-going a habit, and made movies a topic of conversation. Pretty soon, the majors said to themselves (and this may lose a little in the translation), “Hey, there’s an audience out there.” The majors soon retuned to their rightful position and don’t get me wrong -- I love the majors. I think they can never be replaced by independents. H-H-L set a mark that aroused the competitive instinct all over town. If you don’t agree with this theory, please go away and let me dream. That’s how I see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">You never like to see a slugger quit the game while he’s got a few home runs left in him, and that’s another reason I’m sad to see H-H-L turn in the uniform. If you think it’s easy to stay batting champ so long, look at any UA product announcement ad of ten years ago and see how many companies never even got to first base. A lot of people discovered, if I can change my metaphor, that the “creative itch” was only a fleabite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Burt Lancaster, the initial and man I know best in the triumvirate, must have been bitten by a whale. It’s the only way to account for his energy, drive and accomplishments. I’ve worked with him, hoofed with him and I feel his personal contribution -- above and beyond that of an actor -- has never been fully recognized. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">If this has sounded like a eulogy to the dear departed, forget it. These three -- singly and/or collectively -- are not dead. God and the bookkeepers know how much we can use three new, successful independent companies. I wish them well. Even if the new system proves infinitely superior, it won’t be the same and I felt that it was important to acknowledge a bid debt before it became ancient history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Regardless of anything said above, Mr. Hecht, Mr. Hill and Mr. Lancaster -- my picture price remains the same!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Me, I love it, for a number of reasons. That title. That he wrote it (didn’t have someone ghost-write it). That it takes a certain stand amid the politics of Hollywood. That it has reverence and wit. That it shows gratitude for the position he’s in while showing gratitude for the people that helped get him there. And mostly that he wrote it in his prime; not in the twilight of his life or career, safe from any retribution (and if you don’t think Hollywood loves retribution as much as gloating someone else’s failures, well …). Here was a guy who wore all his emotions on his sleeve. And wasn’t afraid to share them. Proudly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">But even that wonderful article is from the Kirk Douglas story you likely already know, are at least more comfortable with, from when he’d already done seven of the hits I rattled off at the top (and he’d already shot <i>Spartacus -- </i>which, remember, he also Produced -- to be released the following year). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">So is there a better stage?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Well, I’m reminded again of Charlie Chaplin (he who beat Mr. Douglas to the hard, hard youth even Dickens wouldn’t dare dream up). This time from a story William Goldman told about working on the Richard Attenborough Biopic <i>Chaplin </i>(which you can read more about <b><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2013/04/charlie.html" target="_blank">here</a> </b>if you like). Let me crib from Goldman’s wonderful Hollywood BTS <i>Which Lie Did I Tell?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">When I was asked to come in and help with it, I read several books on the man. And I thought it would make a terrific flick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Because of his childhood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Poverty, sure, lots of that. Love, nope, none of that. But a lot of people are poor and unloved, no big deal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">It was the madness that rocked me. Chaplin had madness in his family. His mother was insane. And when he was a teenager, <u>he had to put her in a lunatic asylum</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">I ended <i>All The President’s Men </i>on a fuck-up by Woodward and Bernstein. My logic was that time had proven them right. So the audience, I hoped, would carry that out with them so we did not have to tell them how wonderful were Bob and Carl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">Chaplin’s horrible early life stayed with him as he performed and came to America and got to Hollywood and -- this is true now -- for reasons no one will every know, he was doing a movie and wandered into a prop-and-costume shack, tried this on, that on -- and exited as the tramp. Arguably the most famous image in the first century of film was born full-blown that day. He went in as Charlie, came out a little later with the shoes and the hat and the cane, and stood there blinking in the sunlight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;"><u>That’s</u> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 9pt;">how I wanted to end the movie. This unknown little guy, blinking and maybe experimentally waving his cane around and walking that most famous of walks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;"> Why share? Because the more I think about who Kirk Douglas was -- because, yes, it’s easy to look up any number of Names and Dates and the like (and I hope you do) -- I think about who he’s always been, the impact he had, even long before he was <u>Kirk</u> <u>Douglas</u>. So in going back to the beginning, I’m drawn to another Star’s -- sorry, let me give her the proper delivery she deserves: another <u>Star’s</u> -- Memoir: the forever lovely Lauren Bacall (who not only knew Mr. Douglas way back when but is somewhat responsible for getting him <i>The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers</i> and they would Co-Star in the genuinely underrated <i>Young Man With A Horn </i>for Michael Curtiz).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Ms. Bacall’s <i>By Myself And Then Some </i>is a great read and here I’ll crib again, from her early years when she attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York (this is circa 1940). And, for this piece today, I’ll close with her words because -- sure, they’re, again, hopefully something you may not have heard but -- I think they say what Mr. Douglas deserves as we remember him. The impact he had? Sure again. He worked for everything he got, with all those emotions on his sleeve; when he had the world on a string, and when he had nothing at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;">One of the best things about the American Academy was attending the weekly plays put on by the senior class. Downstairs in the building was a theatre called the Carnegie Lyceum where the plays were performed on Friday nights. One of the actors in these plays I thought was marvelous -- so attractive and so good. I saw him first in a straight part, then as a fop in a Restoration comedy. One Friday night, at intermission, I was on the landing chatting with friends when I glanced down the stairs and there he was, looking at me -- my hero, the marvelous actor. Blond hair, blue eyes, clef chin. Name -- Kirk Douglas. Of course I started to tremble. All my life, at any emotional time, I have trembled. As the atmosphere at these plays was always very informal, it wasn’t too difficult to meet, and when I saw him a couple of Fridays after that, we talked. Briefly and casually -- and then talked more and more easily. I had a wild crush on Kirk. He finally invited me out -- took me to a Chinese restaurant in Greenwich Village. He lived there on Third Street (in the Village, not in the Chinese Restaurant). He told me all about himself. He was on scholarship at the Academy. He had no money at all. Once he spent a night in jail because he had no place to sleep. The drama of that -- and the effect it had on one as impressionable as I! Oh, how he has suffered! I thought. He really had struggled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;">I was such a child. I had no idea really how to behave with a man. I had never had a romance -- certainly never had a love affair. Nice Jewish girls stayed virgins until they were married, they saved themselves for the man they were going to spend their lives with, so necking in dark corners was about my speed and I was terrified to venture into the unknown beyond that. I went out with Kirk as often as he asked me. He came to my house, where my grandmother would cook for him. He adored her -- and he made a great impression on her, of course, my old-fashioned grandma. A nice Jewish boy at last -- what could be better? He and Mother got on famously. I remember he had only one coat -- reversible, very thin, tweed on one side, raincoat on the other. I thought he must be frozen in the winter. I knew that [Uncle] Charlie had an old winter coat that he never wore and I prevailed on him, adorable man that he was, to let me give it to Kirk. Kirk and I made a date one Saturday -- I told him I had a surprise for him -- Uncle Charlie brought be downtown with the coat to Kirk’s flat. He was thrilled and grateful. There was a button loose and I remember sitting in Kirk’s flat and sewing on the button. Of course I had domestic visions at the time -- Kirk and I together on the stage, doing everything for each other. I always fantasized, always magnified things out of proportion -- and it was all in my mind, I was always disappointed -- it took me over twenty years to figure that out. Anyway, Kirk did not really pursue me. He was friendly and sweet -- enjoyed my company -- but I was clearly too young for him. I, being the hopelessly romantic creature I was, used to go home at night, turn classical music on the radio, and write poetry. I loved to write poetry. Always dramatic -- often about unrequited love (I didn’t know any other kind). One sample:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;">How beautiful it was --<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;">A perfect moment.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 9pt;">But alas! It was a dream.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-78119976156094470222018-11-23T07:50:00.007-08:002020-06-12T18:37:16.157-07:00Strings Attached <br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"> I grew up in Los Angeles and one might find it hard to believe that, for nearly forty years, I'd never been here. Until, as is often the case, my wife Diana introduces me to something, and we go, and I find it hard to believe I'd never been there (or seen that, or heard that, or read that).</font></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"> Such is the case with The Bob Baker Marionette Theater. </font></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"> Now, if you too are saying "What's this?" and want to learn more -- <u>they're indeed still alive and well</u> (despite the story of that plaque, and more on that in a bit) -- please visit here:</font></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"> <a href="http://www.bobbakermarionettetheater.com/bob-baker" target="_blank">http://www.bobbakermarionettetheater.com/bob-baker</a></font></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"> Indeed well worth the visit (their Website and their Theatre).</font></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"><br /></font></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"> For any of <strike>you</strike> us forty-ish, you indeed likely know them from those wonderful <a href="https://www.disneyhistory101.com/disneyland/2018/9/8/bob-baker-marionette-theatre" target="_blank"><b>Disneyland Main Street Emporium Window Displays</b></a>. (Remember how they <u>moved</u>? I sure do. I knew I'd never get my parents to walk into that Store and buy something but we always got to stop and marvel at those Windows: Snow White and Pinocchio and Sleeping Beauty and ... I was always amazed.)</font></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; word-wrap: break-word;"><font face="times" size="1">When you go to the theatre, you pay admission and watch a show, with nothing but a piece of paper in your hand. But you take home the illusion, the fantasy, the love, the drama, the music ... <span style="word-wrap: break-word;"><u>and you’ll always have it</u></span><em style="word-wrap: break-word;">.</em></font></span></div></blockquote><div><font face="times" size="1" style="background-color: white;"> </font></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; word-wrap: break-word;"><font face="times" size="1"> - Bob Baker</font></span></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font face="times" size="2"><br /></font></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font face="times" size="2"> [MORE]</font></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-45285154567153159702018-11-16T10:33:00.003-08:002018-11-28T17:07:09.893-08:00Little Billy Goldman<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> Stupid
Courage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Those aren’t two words you often see together, nor are they the two
you’re likely to think of when someone mentions this gentleman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Some of you know how big a fan of his I am;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how often I’ve said the two people that
taught me the most about Writing are him and my dad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, if someone mentions William Goldman and
you think, “Who?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a quick
cheat-sheet:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He won two Oscars:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best Original Screenplay for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid </i>and
Best Adapted Screenplay for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All The
President’s Men</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wrote the Novels
and Screenplays-for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marathon Man </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magic </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Princess Bride</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few
other Screenplays?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Bridge Too Far</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Misery </i>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chaplin </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Absolute Power</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are <u>thirteen</u>
more Novels and <u>twenty-three</u> more Screenplays and he wrote the three
most succinct critiques of Broadway (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Season</i>) and Hollywood (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Adventures In
The Screen Trade </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Which Lie Did I
Tell?</i>) in print.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And think about
that:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he <u>printed</u> what he thought
of both those worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet his real
legacy may be the keenest observation about The Movie Business which has
surpassed haunting him to being feared as absolute truth:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Nobody knows anything.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Still -- me -- the first thing I think of when someone mentions
William Goldman is Stupid Courage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we’ll
get to that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The first time I met him wouldn’t be until High School but
I, like you, knew him well before that;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>because we all likely knew his Work before his Name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then, if you’re like me, you look for the
Name behind the Talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I love this,
who wrote it?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Or, “Who painted this?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, “Who sings this?”)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, look at the wide <u>range</u> of Goldman’s
talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something as tightly realistic
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">President’s Men </i>or as hauntingly
romantic as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magic </i>or as humorously
whimsical as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Princess Bride </i>and I’d
think -- before I even realized I was coining Butch & Sundance -- “Who <u>is</u>
this guy?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">And then I looked into his Novels;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and not just the ones other Screenplays were based on:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Soldier
In The Rain </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No Way To Treat A
Lady </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heat</i> (not <u>that</u>
one but still).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His work continued to
enamor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the great Fairytales
you may not know? </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The Silent Gondoliers</span></i><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the great Hollywood Dramas you may not know? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tinsel</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he always
considered himself a Novelist who got into Writing Movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that remained his sanity for his entire <s>career</s>
life.<span style="color: red;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">William Goldman was born 12
August, 1931 in Chicago and passed away today in his Manhattan home at the age
of 87.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">In between he was a Soldier in The Army, a
Clerk at The Pentagon, graduated Oberlin, got his Masters at Columbia, taught
at Princeton, wrote a little, and was -- without question -- one of the leading
fans of The New York Knicks and Red Wine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And for any writer out there who walks the tightrope of desperately
wanting to write but just can’t get a break?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course he’s been there too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
favorite story there goes thusly (in his own words):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">I was a total writing failure growing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By which I mean I could never get anything
published, not even when at Oberlin I was fiction editor of the literary
magazine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were three of us who
decided what got printed, two brilliant young women -- one of them the poetry
editor, one the overall boss -- and <u>moi</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All work was submitted anonymously, and each issue I would take my
latest glory and stick it in with the other stories, and each time when the
three of us met -- I can still feel my heart pounding -- oh God, I wanted
someone here on earth to admit that I might, just might, please let me have
just a fucking smidgen of talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well,
we can’t publish <u>this</u> shit.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s what my two lady friends would say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Well, we can’t publish <u>this</u> shit.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About moi, the fiction editor of that
literary magazine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">There are a hundred great stories like that, of his Life and
Writing, and I urge you to go find them, especially if you’re a Writer … or
just like to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For today, let’s
take a look at that Stupid Courage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Which isn’t a smooth segue in the least to that first time I met William
Goldman. Sort of. When I was on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maverick</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I was lucky enough to be a Production Assistant on the Richard
Donner Picture (Goldman Wrote and Donner Directed).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there was his name on the Script I got to
read while we were shooting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was (partly)
up in <a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2014/10/quiet-on-set.html" target="_blank">Lone Pine’s Alabama Hills</a> where that location’s Hallmark Film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gunga Din</i> was also shot (that film being
both Goldman's and </span><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Donner’s favorite;</span><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">it’s
why Donner wanted to shoot part of his Western there).</span><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I wish I could say we </span><u style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">all</u><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> did </span><i style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Maverick </i><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">together but I wouldn’t </span><u style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">meet</u><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
Goldman for another twenty years;</span><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> and</span><span style="font-family: times, serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> we’ll get to that too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I got to read a William Goldman screenplay at an impressionable
time in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More significantly, I
got to read it <u>before</u> it was a movie so, when I was lucky enough to be
on-set for portions, I got to see how those words were being interpreted by
Production Designers and Actors and Mr. Donner (and eventually the Editor and
Scorer and -- toughest of all -- Audiences).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was a singular experience, being immersed in that level of
movie-making <u>before going to Film School</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Which is no segue at all to the time I actually got to <u>meet</u>
William Goldman;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>well, over the
phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was twenty years after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maverick </i>and I get the crazy notion to
get Donner and Goldman together -- in the same room, record the interview -- to
talk about that movie and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gunga Din</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The project didn’t gel but it did yield an
overwhelming phonecall one afternoon:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“Michael?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bill
Goldman.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m not often speechless and tried desperately not to be then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was brief but he could not have been
nicer, including his appreciating my sending him a copy of my father’s book on
the movies made in Lone Pine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him
of the impact he’d had on me as a Writer, which I believe he genuinely
appreciated, and he wished me luck, which I believe he genuinely meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Five minutes and the call was over, though it
still resonates with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That he took
the time to call, that he took (even) five </span><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">minutes to talk, that he was still (eighty-something
years old, sixty years into a Writing Career) so charming <u>about</u> Writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had</span><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> the pleasure -- honor -- of meeting and talking to a lot of
“names” over the years but that one still means a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stupid Courage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">(And I know you’re glancing down and the next appears long but,
trust me, it’s worth it.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">This goes back to Christmas, 1965 when Professor William Goldman
was teaching Creative Writing at Princeton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His novels <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boys And Girls Together
</i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No Way To Treat A Lady</i> both
came out in ‘64, and Movies were starting to take up some of his time, but he
had no new Novel burning inside him (remember he considered himself a Novelist first).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it was during that ’65 Christmas Break
that he decided to try something he’d never done before:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an Original Screenplay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Butch
Cassidy And The Sundance Kid</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I’ll let <u>him</u> tell you …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">When I begin a piece of writing, I know a lot but not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know the pulse that makes me want to attempt
whatever the piece is, article, novel, story, screenplay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I had when I sat down in my Princeton
University office to tell Butch and Sundance’s story was this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they moved me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two guys, surviving for years together,
and becoming legends <u>a second time</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Famous outlaws who never killed, who traveled with a beautiful young
woman, who were remarkably popular with the ordinary people of their time --
well, if I could get that down, maybe I’d have something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">You have to know this about me now:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am moved more by stupid courage than anything else on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have no idea why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it has been with me for a very long
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three examples from my childhood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">When I was probably seven or eight, I happened to read a book
titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scarface, The Story Of A Grizzly</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember next to nothing of it, except that
Scarface was the biggest Grizzly around, and tough enough to take all the crap
life throws at you when everybody wants you dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my memory is, he was decent, didn’t take
advantage of being the toughest one around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And in the last chapter he’s old, but you still don’t want to mess with
him, and he is walking along this narrow mountain path when, above him, an
avalanche starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I figured he’s
escaped worse, he’ll make it to a safe part of the mountain path.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">But he didn’t do that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">He turned and faced the oncoming avalanche.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he stood up and as the giant rocks came
down at him, he raised his giant paws and fought them, giving as good as he got
until the boulders outnumbered him, carried him over the cliff to his death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">I remember Minnie’s coming up the stairs and asking was I all right
-- Minnie is the woman who worked for my family and is the main reason I am
still around -- and I couldn’t answer, couldn’t do anything but sob my heart out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">The second example is when I am about the same age and the great
Gershwin musical, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Porgy And Bess</i>,
came to Chicago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My family went and we
sat there and if you don’t know the story, it’s about this cripple, Porgy, who
can’t walk, he gets around with this pathetic goat cart, towed by a scrawny
goat, and we’re someplace in the Deep South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Porgy is hopelessly in love with Bess, a beauty but weak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toward the end, Porgy is sent to jail (he
murdered the village monster) and while he is there, Bess is wooed by a pusher,
Sportin’ Life, who, using drugs as a lure, steals her away, takes her to New
York City, the other end of the universe as far as anyone in this town is
concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Porgy gets out of jail, and I am dreading the moment when he finds
out Bess is gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, cripples don’t
win beauties in this world, not unless they are very rich indeed, and Porgy is
a beggar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he is out of jail and I am
so scared for him, his life is over, how is he going to survive his loss, and
he chitchats with the villagers and then he says it -- where’s Bess?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">No one wants to answer but finally he finds out -- Bess is gone,
she is gone forever, gone to New York City.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Silence in the theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
Porgy says these three amazing words:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">“Bring my goat.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">And the music gets magical and here comes the goat and Porgy gets
on his cart and the whole cast is singing “Oh Lord, I’m on My Way,” one of the
greatest songs ever --<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">-- I was gone again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">The show ends and wild applause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">I am sobbing out of all control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Curtain calls, more cheers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">You know what I’m doing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Now, we had very good seats, near the front, and people started to
put on their coats --<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">-- and they cannot not notice me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">“Is he all right?” a gentleman asks my parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, they didn’t know what to answer, because
they had no idea if I was all right or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soon other grown-ups began patting my head (I remember this humiliation,
oh, do I ever) and the aisles are filled and movement is slow and the only
sound is me trying to muffle my crying while I was figuring out -- what was
going to happen to Porgy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t even
know where he was going, that it was so far, that it would take him to places
he had no experience of, that it was going to be so awful because what if the
goat died, where was he going to get the money for another, or what was he
going to do when one of the wheels came off his cart?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">I cried all the way home, and we lived in the suburbs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Now, neither of these outbreaks are close to what happened to me
when I was eight and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gunga Din </i>came
to the Alcyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cary Grant, Victor
MacLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. are all captured with knives to their
throats while these evil Indian murderers are about to slaughter the entire
British garrison who do not know they are walking into a trap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">I figure Cary is going to save them, but he is wounded and Victor
MacLaglen is the strongest of the bunch but he is in shitty shape too, and here
comes the British, deeper and deeper into the trap, and the Indian killers are
waiting there, and suddenly, Cary Grant looks at Gunga Din, this joke of a
water carrier, and whispers these words:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">“The colonel’s got to know.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">By comparison, I was poised at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Porgy</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gunga Din’s all shot to shit, but he takes
that bugle from a dead guy and starts this climb up this golden temple and when
he gets there he blows the bugle and saves the British and is killed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">I have seen that movie sixteen times, and the last time -- true, I
tell you nothing but truths -- I started crying in the <u>credits</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Why am I telling you all this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Remember me saying that when I begin a piece of writing, I know a
lot but not enough?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, one of the
things I knew about Butch and Sundance was this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>I had, in my head, a moment of stupid
courage</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I knew if I could get
my story there, I’d be okay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">It’s the best ending I’ve ever been involved with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, what gives me the confidence
to say this is I have such faith in the stupid courage part of the sequence -- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">-- <u>they don’t talk about their situation</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">That made them courageous for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here they were, bleeding, and in increasing pain, surrounded,
outnumbered, all that good stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
knew they were going to die, it was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And they could have had memories, not necessarily soppy stuff, but other
tough spots would have been okay, they had decades of life to go over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But once I knew they would never talk about
the present, I had confidence that I, who had been wrecked by stupid courage
over the decades, could finally have a moment of my own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Me, I love that;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all of
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As <u>I</u> wrote at the beginning
of this, it’s the first thing I think of when someone mentions William
Goldman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love it for the stories about
The Grizzly and Porgy and Gunga Din, sure, but also that those moments from his
real life stuck with him enough that he’d use their notion in his first
Original Screenplay (that would win him his first Oscar).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One more tidbit on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gunga Din</i>’s impact?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He named
his first novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Temple Of Gold</i>
after that very moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I also think Stupid Courage defines the life of any Artist dreaming
of making it -- ‘cause, admit it, we’re all a little Stupid to try -- <u>and
then the Courage it takes to make it happen</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Little Billy Goldman of Highland Park,
Illinois may not have been the first to champion it all, but he once again
showed us a meek fiction editor who couldn’t get any of his own stories
published still very much had a shot at the gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">And won a lot more than that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ll close with two more quotes of his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not quotes, sorry, but lines he wrote in his
novels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Trust me for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
understand that’s <u>really</u> the line the spider hit the fly with, not ‘come
into my parlor’ as popular legend has it, and I also realize I am not always
your most Walter Cronkite type fella;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sturdy,
staunch, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in this particular
instance, there is just no doubt in my you-should-pardon-the-expression mind
that I know whereof I speak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That’s the opening of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magic</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And that very first line?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Trust
me for a while.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love that too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, it’s what <u>all</u> writers
implore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just did it so succinctly,
in that story and a lot more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then
this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Because when someone special happens, he rubs off on everybody …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That’s
how he -- not really a spoiler -- closes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Silent Gondoliers</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s telling of
the effect <u>any</u> story’s hero has on the characters he or she encounters,
and it’s just as telling of the effect William Goldman had -- will continue to have
-- on the readers lucky enough to "meet" him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-65020441707381090172018-08-27T14:40:00.034-07:002020-06-11T16:49:43.515-07:00Sunny Boy<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xGCB7ENwUnQ/W4RWE3fQcgI/AAAAAAAAAwk/1b4lnWupKEIb8gwXVT74feO6zOKF6iH5ACLcBGAs/s1600/NeilSimon.001-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xGCB7ENwUnQ/W4RWE3fQcgI/AAAAAAAAAwk/1b4lnWupKEIb8gwXVT74feO6zOKF6iH5ACLcBGAs/s320/NeilSimon.001-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><div><font face="arial" size="2">You know his name but I'm going to throw a few reminders at you anyway. He started in Television with Sid Caesar and Phil Silvers. In 1966, he had four shows playing simultaneously on Broadway: <i>Sweet Charity</i>, <i>The Star-Spangled Girl</i>, <i>Barefoot In The Park </i>and -- yep -- <i>The Odd Couple</i>. Over in Film? You might remember him for <i>The Out-Of-Towners </i>(which has one of my favorite jokes as Sandy Dennis just needs a moment to breathe so she sits and prays in the church only to be told it's closed), <i>Murder By Death</i>, <i>The Sunshine Boys </i>and <i>The Goodbye Girl</i>. And, sadly, just yesterday, he passed away at the age of 91. </font></div></span></span></span></span><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><font face="arial" size="2"><br /></font></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font face="arial" size="2"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">n 1969, William Goldman put out one of <u>the</u> Bibles about Broadway -- <i>The Season </i>(chronicling '67-'68) <i>-- </i>in which he notes, "Everyone knows that Neil Simon is a popular playwright, but not everyone knows just how popular a playwright Neil Simon is. This is just counting shows that have opened on Broadway in the sixties. Simon has had more performances than Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, John Osborne and Richard Rodgers <u>all put together</u>." (Underlining mine.)</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">Take that in a moment. Good? Okay.</span></span></span></font></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font color="#222222" face="sans-serif" size="2"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><br /></span></font></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><font face="arial" size="2" style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font color="#222222" face="sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span style="background-color: white;">It's Februar</span><span style="background-color: white;">y of 1968 and here comes <i>Plaza Suite </i>which, for the purposes of this little write-up, is three short plays taking place in the same suite at The Plaza Hotel; the third of which is "Visitor From Mamaroneck" which has George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton as a married couple in trouble. And, in Goldman's words again, "is not only the best of the three and the best thing Simon has yet written, it is the watershed moment of his career."</span></span></font></span></span></font></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font face="arial" size="2">
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span></span></span></font></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><font face="arial" size="2">Why? More from Goldman: "Simon writes sunny. That, I think, is the main reason why he is so beyond-words successful; there is a sunny quality to his work, and you feel good when it's over. Not smarter; not cleansed; just good. And even though his thoughts are filled with shadows, his writing landscape is always bright.</font></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font face="arial" size="2">
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">"'Mamaroneck,' then, is so crucial to his development; the man can go on doing 'entertainment pieces' till the world looks level. The question is, will he? Or will he continue in the same direction as the first tentative step taken here? God knows it is tentative; it was all he could do to end the play enigmatically, without some kind of contrived happy ending.</span></span></font></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><font face="arial" size="2"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#222222" face="sans-serif" size="2"><span style="background-color: white;">"The morning after <i style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Plaza Suite </i>opened, I was down at the theatre trying to look casual while moronically counting the number of people in line [to buy tickets] when a camel-coated figure in sunglasses walked quietly by the crowd and headed for the stage door at the Plymouth [the theatre housing the play]. It was Simon. No one noticed him as we stood there talking, more and more people queuing up as we talked. I wondered if the line was the biggest he'd ever had for one of his plays. He took off his sunglasses and watched the people a moment. 'I think <i>Odd Couple</i>. It's like <i>Odd Couple.</i>'</span></font></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><font face="arial" size="2"><br /></font></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font face="arial" size="2"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">"I asked him how the [</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">Plaza Suite</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">] opening had gone and he said, "We stood backstage ("we" being Simon and [Director] Mike Nichols) and we said we just couldn't hope for a better reaction. The best it ever got.</span><span style="background-color: white;">
</span></font></span></span></span></span></div><div><font face="arial" size="2"><br /></font></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font face="arial" size="2"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">"We shook hands and said good-bye and he started into the Plymouth. Then he stopped; turned back to me: 'You know, [the <i>New York Times </i>Critic Clive] Barnes didn't like it.' (Get this now: here is a man who, with the opening of the night before, has earned anywhere between $1,000,000 and $4,000,000 [you do the math on what that means in today's dollars], who had brought in the third blockbuster of a seven-year career in a decade when no other active writer has had more than one. If ever a Broadway figure had the world by the short hairs, this is the man, and what's on his mind and genuinely troubling him is that the most important critic in the city found his first attempt at a serious work a failure.) We said good-bye again, and he slipped unnoticed into the theatre."</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Me again, just so you're aware: Critics were all over the map with "is <i>Plaza Suite </i>good, is it too serious, is it too new, is it <u>Simon</u>?"</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Goldman again: "Reports kept coming in while <i>Plaza Suite</i> was out of town that audiences simply could not stop laughing, whether they were supposed to or not. It was Neil Simon, goddamit, and they were gonna laugh. After <i>Plaza Suite </i>opened, he was asked about this. 'It's true. Night after night we took out laugh after laugh. It got so insane: there was a moment in 'Mamaroneck' where George said something to Maureen, gestured, turned and walked to the door, and they laughed. We cut the line; he just gestured, walked to the door. They wouldn't stop laughing. Finally we had him go straight to the door, and they laughed at that. I don't know; [Elia] Kazan and [Jerome] Robbins, they don't work Broadway any more. It's so crazy: I hate it when they knock me, and I hate it when they say 'Fantastic.'"</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Me again: I've had the pleasure -- honor -- of meeting and having conversations with and even working with some real talent, true talent, a lot of them celebrities. Never met Mr. Simon and I genuinely feel it's one of the great misses. And when I heard of his passing yesterday, this piece in Goldman's Book was the first thing I thought of. Because I love the moment he talks about it being one of the biggest openings ever yet Mr. Simon can't get the leading critic out of his head. And how Simon took a risk. And how he was down at the theatre the day after opening night to see how everything was going (and, likely, to tweak to <u>keep</u> making it better; one of the true beauties of Theatre over Film). And even though I love -- still laugh out loud at -- Sandy Dennis' <i>Out-Of-Towners </i>church moment, it was this Goldman Write-Up I really wanted to share. So, yeah, I'll close with more Goldman. You remember him standing there outside The Plymouth looking at the line for tickets? Let him paint it thusly, because I don't think Mr. Simon -- even with yesterday's passing -- will ever <u>really</u> be out of town again ...</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"At 9:50 A.M. there were 43 people standing in line. At 9:55 there were 50. A digger -- someone who buys large numbers of seats in advance for himself or, more usually, an illegal broker -- was at the head of the line, buying a ton of seats, slowing things up. Finally, he left, and the next man in line asked for two seats for a Saturday night. 'April 13 is the next Saturday night I have open,' the box-office man said. This was February.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"At 11:25 there were 150 people in line. Now, understand, this isn't Radio City Music Hall. You don't get in for the next show; there's no instant gratification here. These people were standing there knowing they would have to be content with the future.</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"At 11:30 a man bought two tickets and left. He had waited in line 90 minutes to make the purchase. But the line was only 50 people long when he started; now it was triple that. At 1:15 there were still 150 people in line. (There was only one box-office window open. There are two box-office windows at the Plymouth, but if you open them both, you can obviously handle the crowd twice as fast, and the line will disappear in half the time. And since that's exactly what you don't want -- the line to disappear -- you keep only one window open.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"It was a sunny February afternoon and the people in line didn't care how long it might take them to get up to the box-office window; three hours, maybe five. They were well dressed, most of them -- men with briefcases, women with children in strollers -- and they were perfectly content to stand there, waiting for their turn to buy tickets for the first real blockbuster play to hit Broadway in 798 days.</span></span></span></span></span></font></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font color="#222222" face="sans-serif" size="2"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><br /></span></font></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font color="#222222" face="sans-serif" size="2"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">"Neil Simon was back in town."</span></font></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-78831522693283857772017-09-15T11:02:00.001-07:002020-06-13T16:05:30.781-07:00Immediate Seating! No Waiting!<br />
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of the bits in Fred Allen’s <i>It’s In The Bag</i> has him and his wife in a movie theatre trying to
find their seats --<span> </span>the whole movie’s
about them trying to find seats, really --<span>
</span>and there they are in the movie theatre and The Usher keeps moving them
further along, promising, “Immediate seating! No waiting!" Further and further they go, further and
further being assured, “Next aisle to the right! Immediate seating!" Well, if you know Fred Allen’s luck, you can
see where this is going.<span> </span>As I say, the
whole movie’s about their trying to find some seats, and this funnily
frustrating bit kept ringing in my ear as my wife Diana and I were on our own similar
adventure …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Diana and I love adventures, big and small.<span> </span>We’re off to Paris for our Wedding?<span> </span>Great adventure!<span> </span>We’re off to lunch somewhere we’ve never
been?<span> </span>Another great adventure!<span> </span>Well, one of our earliest --<span> </span>back when we'd just started dating
--<span> </span>was touring The Tower Theatre in
Downtown Los Angeles.<span> </span>Yes, the old, closed
theatre that was opened one morning by The Los Angeles Historic Theatre
Foundation for its Members (of which Diana was one).<span> </span>Look that group up;<span> </span>support them if you can;<span> </span>very generous work.<span> </span>Through them Diana and I have been lucky to
tour most of The Downtown Theatres --<span>
</span>including The Los Angeles where we’d eventually be engaged --<span> </span>and even The Wiltern and Grauman’s Chinese
(both, obviously, still very much open and in-use).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">In August of last year, Escott O. Norton --<span> </span>a premiere member of The Historic Theatre
Foundation --<span> </span>let some friends in on a
very special opportunity:<span> </span>we could go
out to <a href="https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/2017/03/rialto-theatre-south-pasadena.html" target="_blank">The Rialto Theatre in Pasadena</a> and go through its Backstage where
hundreds of old theatre seats were being stored.<span> </span>They’d be --<span>
</span>it still pains me --<span> </span>tossed the
following week but, that weekend, we could go down and take whatever we wanted
for $20 a piece (proceeds going to the curation of The Rialto, a passion
project of Mr. Norton’s).<span> </span>Well, Diana
and I jumped on it;<span> </span>at least the
opportunity.<span> </span>If we saw something we
liked, $20 was a steal.<span> </span>And if we didn’t
--<span> </span>if they were too old, too dirty, too
anything --<span> </span>at least we’d tried.<span> </span>And why not?<span>
</span>What an adventure!<span> </span>So that
Saturday morning, we were at The Rialto waiting for the doors to open.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If it looks familiar, it’s been used in a bunch of
Movies and TV Shows, most recently --<span>
</span>inside and out --<span> </span>where Ryan
Gosling and Emma Stone see <i>Rebel Without
A Cause</i> in <i>La La Land</i>.<span> </span>First off, I should mention that The Rialto --<span> </span>while not nearly as restored as The Chinese
or Egyptian or U.A. (now The Ace) --<span> </span>is
a charming place (it has since been reopened as a Church).<span> </span>After a quick tour by Mr. Norton himself, he
took us Backstage where there were stacks … and stacks … and stacks … of tan
theatre seats.<span> </span>And some blue ones?<span> </span>No, they were all blue, those tan ones were
just dusty.<span> </span>And I should note they
weren’t even seats yet, but stacked in <u>pieces</u>:<span> </span>a “bottom,” a “back” and four times as many
“arms.”<span> </span>What were we dealing with,
looking at, looking <u>for</u>?<span> </span>Mr.
Norton had been nice enough to put one together so we could see.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As I was standing there looking at the stacks of
theatre seat pieces, it was the first time Fred Allen began ringing in my
ear.<span> </span>How long had these pieces been
sitting here?<span> </span>Collecting <u>what</u> all
over them;<span> </span>what was living <u>in</u>
them?<span> </span>Mr. Norton said, “Been sitting in
here nearly seventy years, ever since they were pulled out of Downtown.”<span> </span>That rang in Diana’s and my ear too.<span> </span>“Excuse me … Downtown?”<span> </span>“Oh sure,” Mr. Norton continued:<span> </span>“These weren’t used here in The Rialto, but
pulled out of a Theatre Downtown and then <u>stored </u>here, right where
you’re looking at ‘em.<span> </span>Haven’t been
touched since.”<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Downtown L.A. Theatre Seats.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p>I tried sounding casual but it likely came out as Henry Aldrich: "Which theatre?" Mr. Norton didn't know, didn't think anyone did anymore, just that the seats were likely switched out in the economic boom after World War II. Still trying for the casual but I'm sure it was Henry Aldrich again: "You don't say!" as Diana and I started digging a little deeper into the dust.</o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">What’s that piece there, is that a good bottom?<span> </span>And that, is that a good back?<span> </span>Here are couple good arms.<span> </span>Hey look, the arms are numbered!<span> </span>We should try to find arms in order!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By this time there were more people there, talking to Mr. Norton and starting to look for their own seats. How many were Diana and I looking for? Hadn't really thought about that yet. We decided on four, so that meant four bottoms, four backs and (quick thinking) six arms, in case we wanted to pair the seats in twos instead of four-in-a-row.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Finally we found some good full sets --<span> </span>not too dusty, the metal not too bent, the
cushions not too stained --<span> </span>with decent
arms, their numbers in a row.<span> </span>And,
again, at $20 a piece --<span> </span>sorry, that’s
$20 <u>a complete chair</u> --<span> </span>indeed a
steal!<span> </span>So we happily paid Mr. Norton and
pulled the car around to the back of the theatre (where they filmed the
“murder” in Robert Altman’s <i>The Player</i>)
and loaded everything into our little Jeep;<span>
</span>a lot bulkier than you’d think.<span> </span>But
we’d made it --<span> </span>that weekend’s adventure
a success! --<span> </span>and started home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">At this point I’d like you to picture two things:<span> </span>one, The Rialto being in Pasadena while we
lived just off Miracle Mile.<span> </span>So not
around-the-corner.<span> </span>And, two, we lived in
a Studio Apartment;<span> </span>so not much extra
space for the bulky pieces of four 1940s Theatre Seats.<span> </span>But home we got and I lugged the pieces
upstairs (our vintage building, of course, having no elevator).<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It’s Saturday afternoon now, and I start cleaning them
as best I can while Diana looks up proper Upholstery Cleaners.<span> </span>She finds one and books him for the following
weekend.<span> </span>I get the chairs clean enough
that we decide to put one together and see how it looks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hmmmmm, why does the back look different than the
bottom?<span> </span>Doesn’t it seem … wider?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here, friends, is the second time Fred Allen rang in
my ear:<span> </span>“Immediate seating!”<span> </span>Because the back <u>was</u> wider.<span> </span>By a lot.<span>
</span>Not as in it didn’t look like it fit but <u>it was a different seat</u>.<span> </span>How could that be?<span> </span>I mean, they clearly look like they
match;<span> </span>but I suppose theatres could have
different seats:<span> </span>Main Floor versus
Balcony?<span> </span>Diana does a little research
and it turns out --<span> </span>duh, we think,
because we should have known this from all those Downtown Tours --<span> </span>seats <u>curved</u> in old theatres.<span> </span>Because most of them started --<span> </span>and continued, even when Movies began showing
at them --<span> </span>as <u>Live</u> Theatres.<span> </span>Imagine them thusly -- <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">See the way they curve? Well, w<span style="font-family: times;">hat does that mean for <u>our</u> seats?<span> </span>The arms seemed universal but the physical
bodies --<span> </span>bottoms and backs --<span> </span>would indeed be wider in the middle and become
gradually thinner as they got to the sides.<span>
</span>Uh oh.<span> </span>What sizes did we come
home with?<span> </span><u>Turns out three different
ones</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(“Immediate seating!" The Usher’s smiling at Fred Allen, “No
waiting!”)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Diana calls Mr. Norton but by this time it’s Saturday
evening and he’s closed The Rialto for the day.<span>
</span>“For the day?”<span> </span>“Sure,” he says,
“I’ll be back tomorrow morning if you’d like to come down again!”<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sunday morning now and I lug the pieces back
downstairs from our Studio Apartment, back into our litte Jeep, and Diana and I
are back in Pasadena waiting for the Rialto doors to open.<span> </span>It turns out there are <u>only</u> three
different sizes, two inches apart from each other, and we already had two
matching sets.<span> </span><u>And</u> we had two
bottoms we liked for the third and fourth chairs, so we were now just looking
for two new backs.<span> </span>Again through the
dust we dug but --<span> </span>it’s Sunday, the
second day;<span> </span>people have heard about this
now --<span> </span>there a lot more nostalgic scavengers
Backstage.<span> </span>But we found the backs we
needed and --<span> </span>we’d brought back the two
we couldn’t use --<span> </span>Mr. Norton was kind
enough to waive our paying an additional $20 each, excited <u>we</u> were
excited to make it all happen.<span> </span>(And
Diana, being the Saint that she is, even warned newcomers about the different
sizes so they wouldn’t face our same fate.)<span>
</span>Two new backs in our little Jeep and we’re off again to our little
Studio Apartment where I lug them up the little 1920s stairs to clean as best I
can.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And they all fit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All in all fine, of course, and a week later The
Upholstery Clearner came and did wonders on the blue --<span> </span>at least the cushions were indeed blue now
--<span> </span>and Diana and I were fairly pleased with
ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now --<span>
</span>digressing only slightly --<span> </span>one of
the other bits about digging through that Rialto Backstage is Diana was, at the
time, three months pregnant with (our now eight-month-old son) Nicky.<span> </span>So there’s all the usual first-time-pregnant
excitements and concerns compounded by, “Let’s try not to think about what
we’re breathing Backstage.”<span> </span>Thankfully
all turned out well.<span> </span><u>But</u> --<span> </span>in prep for the blessed event (this is
August, remember, and Nicky’s due in February) --<span> </span><u>this</u> is the time we decide to move,
because our little Studio isn’t big enough for a Newborn.<span> </span>So there we were now dealing with theatre
seats:<span> </span>in pieces, cleaning them, moving
them too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(“Next aisle to the right! Immediate seating!”)<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well, there we are in the new apartment --<span> </span>the seat pieces (at least clean now) sitting
in a corner --<span> </span>and the holidays come and
go and Nicky is born and life couldn’t be better and suddenly it’s Spring and
we think to ourselves, “Sure, let’s finish those theatre seats!<span> </span>‘Cause how cute would it be to see Nicky sitting
in them?!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">To give you an idea of how the seats “sit,” the bottom
cushion is hinged so it raises and lowers on brackets that slip into the arms, the
back bolting to the arms.<span> </span>To be fair, it’s
simple and works well.<span> </span><u>Except</u>
--<span> </span>and this wasn’t a surprise --<span> </span>the bottom of each arm --<span> </span>the thing that sits on the ground --<span> </span>is metal.<span>
</span>Not great on hardwood floors.<span> </span>So
we knew we’d have to pad them.<span> </span>Not the
most difficult thing in the world, <u>although</u>, even padded, while the
seats would then “sit” (stand on their own), you couldn’t sit <u>in</u>
them.<span> </span>Why?<span> </span>Because if you so much as stretched, you’d
tip back.<span> </span>Why?<span> </span>Because originally the seats --<span> </span>those metal arms --<span> </span>bolted directly into the concrete theatre
floor.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hmmmmm.<span> </span>Diana
and I wanted our seats to be functional, if we could, so we were willing to do
a little something to them if necessary (they didn’t need to remain truly
vintage;<span> </span>we could make them ours).<span> </span>So here’s where our friend Steve Bissonette
enters our story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I’ve known Steve for fifteen years.<span> </span>Artistic in his technical handywork, I knew
this would be a great job for him.<span> </span>And
he was excited to dive in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">First up was his own “cleaning.”<span> </span>Not only did he sand and repaint the metal
arms --<span> </span>matching the blue “highlighted”
by a matte gold --<span> </span>but he took the
wooden arm<u>rests</u> off, sanded and stained those (while retaining the original
number plates).<span> </span>It may not sound like
much except to say it’s a great mix of his being both creative and technical;<span> </span>and make it look easy.<span> </span>I hope the before-and-after pictures do his work
justice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Because --<span> </span>as important
and impressive as cleaning-up the arms was --<span>
</span>they weren’t the real work.<span> </span>No, that
came when he dove into how to make the seats functional.<span> </span>How could we sit in them and watch a
movie?<span> </span>Well, that came with his devising
the new “feet.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">He knew he’d have to add a little length at the bottom
so that, when you leaned back, something was bracing that.<span> </span>But how to make them functional and still look
right (‘cause we still wanted them to at least look vintage)?<span> </span><u>Ah</u>, again, the creative and the
technical.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">More metal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Which Steve mastered beautifully.</span><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wrYfLde1Yyk/WbwUbMtRFiI/AAAAAAAAApM/FrGfa3ms_MwFdsgbDlSs1St3Dibwb-FswCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Legs%2B1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wrYfLde1Yyk/WbwUbMtRFiI/AAAAAAAAApM/FrGfa3ms_MwFdsgbDlSs1St3Dibwb-FswCK4BGAYYCw/s320/Legs%2B1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Art Deco-looking --<span>
</span><u>each</u> <u>foot</u> is <u>nine</u> <u>different</u> <u>pieces</u>
welded together --<span> </span>which the arms bolt
into (and are, of course, padded on the bottom for the hardwood floors);<span> </span>then painted to match the matted-gold
“highlights” of the arms themselves.<span> </span>Functional
without being bulky; <span> </span>looking the part
while doing the job.<span> </span>In fact, look at
the <u>overall</u> work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MwvU_8kDiyE/WbwU3irskXI/AAAAAAAAApc/Lb9AGSBZjNcAjQwAHMVFovV0JX5YIomtACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Steve%2BOverall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MwvU_8kDiyE/WbwU3irskXI/AAAAAAAAApc/Lb9AGSBZjNcAjQwAHMVFovV0JX5YIomtACK4BGAYYCw/s320/Steve%2BOverall.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yesssss.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Much like Fred Allen in <i>It’s In The Bag</i> --<span> </span>not
really a spoiler if you haven’t seen that film --<span> </span>Diana and I had our adventure and found the
chairs we were looking for.<span> </span>(Though if
you haven’t seen it and are any fan of Jack Benny --<span> </span>not really a spoiler either, the movie’s full
of ‘em --<span> </span>it has my favorite of his
cameos.<span> </span>Anyway …)<span> </span>A year after that Saturday Diana and I drove to
The Rialto in Pasadena, she pregnant with Nicky, before we moved apartments
(and before we got an SUV into which we could have easily fit everything),
there they are:<span> </span>our Vintage 1940s
Downtown L.A. Theatre Seats.<span> </span>That now
sit in our Living Room and Nursery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aGB6O8DBW3Y/WbwOPwYJ9kI/AAAAAAAAAoo/uP0fMGR4uEA6r_WsCny63cURJkoTbdSfwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Finished%2BNursery.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aGB6O8DBW3Y/WbwOPwYJ9kI/AAAAAAAAAoo/uP0fMGR4uEA6r_WsCny63cURJkoTbdSfwCK4BGAYYCw/s200/Finished%2BNursery.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is one of Diana’s and my adventures --<span> </span>now Diana’s and Nicky’s and mine --<span> </span>I especially love because of how <u>tangible</u>
it is.<span> </span>Diana and I have both always
wanted real theatre seats.<span> </span>(What kid
growing up loving Movies hasn’t?)<span> </span>But
where would we get some?<span> </span>What theatre is
left from which we could?<span> </span>Would we have
to <u>buy</u> them;<span> </span>if so, for how much;<span> </span>$500, $1000 each?<span> </span>And, ugh, they’d <u>already</u> be
refurbished, and who knows where they were from, what their <u>story</u> was.<span> </span>Nah, that’s not for us.<span> </span>So to be able to have <u>these</u>;<span> </span>to have been able to walk into an actual
theatre and find them, build them --<span>
</span>thanks again, Steve! --<span> </span><u>know</u>
they came from a theatre in Downtown L.A.<span>
</span>To now see them sitting in our home, and see Nicky play on them;<span> </span>to enjoy them <u>together</u>.<span> </span>Yeah, that’s more “us.”<span> </span><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">And well worth the wait.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-23316513276531083812017-05-17T15:04:00.000-07:002017-06-09T13:26:45.426-07:00Unlocked<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Joss
Whedon made a Short Film.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Those words should be cause for
grand cheering (and they are) but they’re also cause for me to write a little
something more on The Quiet Place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
remember<a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2015/05/i-have-to-go-to-quiet-place.html" target="_blank"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the last time we were here</b></a>,
two years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That wasn’t because of a
Short Film but because he’d made the $250 Million -- grossed $1.5 Billion -- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avengers:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Age Of Ultron</i> and some people had issue with the way he treated its
ladies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only digress to that because
it caused him to leave Twitter for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, in September [2016], he returned to Social Media <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp4AelhV8Ws" target="_blank">to release a round of Short Films about Voting</a></b> (yes, against Trump,
but mostly just, “Get out there and do it.”)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These were cheered grandly and life seemed to move
on (as well as it has given November).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then,
just recently, some people felt he stepped into it again with a Tweet about Paul Ryan (<strong><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/27/joss-whedon-tweet-demeans-cancer-survivors-hit-rep/" target="_blank">this is the <u>least</u> Alt Right one I could find</a></strong>) and another on Mother's Day (<strong><a href="http://blabber.buzz/politics/conservative/150101-joss-whedons-sick-and-twisted-mothers-day-tweet" target="_blank">ditto</a></strong>). Much like the issue with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Age Of Ultron</i>, the fervor was bonfired by people that don’t know Whedon too well -- if at all -- and, well, mountains from molehills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of Paul
Ryan and his Mother, Whedon himself said, “</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I tweeted
something that inadvertently offended everyone except the people I was trying
to offend. I'm sorry. I'll be quiet for a bit.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(And I only link to all this so you have full disclosure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t rightfully support or condemn without
acknowledging.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any event, grand
cheering or not, life moved on again.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #1c2022; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">To
just this morning when </span><b style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vTG4lUl1PU" target="_blank">Joss Whedon</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vTG4lUl1PU" style="font-size: x-small;" target="_blank"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">released his new Short Film</b></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">, this time in support of Planned
Parenthood.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">It’s beautiful and poignant and
</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">heartbreaking and hopeful -- and, PS, has no Dialogue -- and is the kind of
thing we expect from him while still being <s>surprised</s> impressed by his
masterful simplicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I support Planned
Parenthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say that to -- again --
disclose fully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because “for or against”
isn’t what this piece is about; that is, it's not why I wanted to write today. No, this piece is about a ridiculous -- read "deserves
ridicule” -- part of what I expect to get bonfired from his Short's release: the inevitable, “Who gives a shit
what a Celebrity Millionaire thinks?!"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Because the answer is <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">a lot of people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More significantly, there are a lot of shits
to give.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I saw this Short early this morning
and as I was driving into work I thought -- this is true now, <u>this</u> is what I
was thinking about;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not how important
Planned Parenthood is (undeniably so) or how much I liked the Short (admittedly, and a trivial point) but -- “Thank God there are people out there doing this.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doing what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Saying something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank God there
are <u>people that matter</u> saying something.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Hold on. Joss Whedon <u>matters</u>? Maybe not to you, but he sure does to a lot of people. And there are a lot of Celebrities out there using their stardom for a little greater good. (And, sure, we </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">can say Stephen Colbert and other Late Nighters comedically spar but that's their job. Some of it's honest and some of it's ratings and -- I mean this -- good for them, I thank them too.) But I'm looking at you, Ms. Meryl Streep at The Oscars. And you, Ms. Leah Remini taking on Scientology. And you, Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio defending our, you know, planet. (Christ, we can even throw one at Scott Baio. Now you <u>really</u> might not care, but the man stood up and shouted.) Look, [fill in any name] may not matter to you, but they are voices and they have a stage -- to thousands, millions, <u>countries</u> -- and they are heard. So while <u>you</u> may not give a shit, there are many people out there whose opinion may very well be swayed by a thank-you speech, a TV Show, a Short Film. More importantly (I hope) their awareness is raised and they can research more and decide for themselves. But -- sorry, folks this is the very nature of Pop Culture -- sometimes that very awareness -- much less opinion -- starts with a Celebrity saying something is or isn't cool. And, me, I appreciate when Star-Studded So-And-So shows up just for the cause.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
is Jos</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">s Whedon showing up </span><u style="font-size: x-small;">now</u><span style="font-size: xx-small;">?</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> This, f</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">rom a Huffington Post article:</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“</span><span style="color: black; font-size: xx-small;">The House of
Representative recently voted to pass a Healthcare Bill that would defund
Planned Parenthood, which is a critical provider of women’s healthcare. As
Whedon shows in his video, Planned Parenthood provides in the form of general
care, cancer screenings, contraception and education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the clinic’s controversy stems from
abortion procedures which only account for 3 percent of its services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to CNN, the majority of services
are in regards to birth control (about 34 percent) and treatment for STDs
(about 42 percent).”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whedon said, “If
politicians succeed in shutting down Planned Parenthood, millions of people
lose access to basic health services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
can these be at risk?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This in a
statement to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Entertainment Weekly</i>.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whedon’s Short Film -- titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unlocked</i> -- is what a world without
Planned Parenthood would look like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
piece rewinds to the exact moment that sparked these situations: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when Planned Parenthood closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a reverse reality, where the clinic is
open, the women are able to change their future with a cancer screening, birth
control and a peer educator program on safe sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A girl goes to college, a mother lives to
celebrate a birthday with her family, and a teenage girl is able to prevent her
friend’s STD with a class on safe sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unlocked </i>asks, “What world do you want?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whedon again:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“I’ve supported Planned Parenthood in the past, but until I worked with
them closely on this, I didn’t understand how many services they -- and </span><span style="color: black; font-size: xx-small;">for some,
they alone -- provide.”</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: black;"> So why
do <u>I</u> care what Joss Whedon has to say?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span>Because, once again, he came out of The Quiet Place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> After <i>Ultron </i>and his <i>Save The Day</i> Campaign and the recent Twitter hits -- and, yes, still with a career and wife and children to consider -- he showed up. Full </span>disclosure again, I <u>am</u> a fan and have worked with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But none of that matters as much as <u>the
dude doesn’t need to say anything but still does</u>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t need to make Short Films about
Voting (on his own time, on his own dime) but he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t need to make a Short Film about
Planned Parenthood (ditto) but he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More
significantly than “he can,” he <u>knows</u> he’s going to get flack for it <u>and does it anyway</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You and I post
something on Facebook?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We start a
chit chat among our friends. </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Joss Whedon
posts something and -- they<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> like it</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> -- </span><b style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/04/04/joss-whedon-batgirl-movie-reports/100017442/" target="_blank">his
(“nearing a deal”) upcoming </a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/04/04/joss-whedon-batgirl-movie-reports/100017442/" target="_blank">Batgirl</a> </i></b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">gets
a boost at the box office.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">They don’t
like it?</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Warner Bros gets death threats
(and, worse than that, </span><i style="font-size: x-small;">Batgirl </i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">doesn’t
do well at the box office).</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">He knows this,
is fully steeped in the consequences (not to mention berated by his PR People </span><u style="font-size: x-small;">for</u><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
doing it) yet, still, there he is. And not </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">quietly at all.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> For me, I'm grateful </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">there are still Celebrities using their stages -- and time and money -- to say such things; to <u>do</u> something about their causes. </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Doesn’t matter if you agree.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Joss Whedon says it because he </span><u style="font-size: x-small;">needs</u><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
to.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">And -- as I was driving into work
this morning I thought -- </span><u style="font-size: x-small;">that’s</u><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> something to cheer.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Grandly.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-60975421005303363672017-04-28T17:20:00.004-07:002020-06-11T16:55:14.718-07:00The Manchurian Candidate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JBLQk39trT0/WQPa9JIGprI/AAAAAAAAAmU/yAEewjmXNUk5u-OUGNR83xk_OljIV8FDgCLcB/s1600/mc.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JBLQk39trT0/WQPa9JIGprI/AAAAAAAAAmU/yAEewjmXNUk5u-OUGNR83xk_OljIV8FDgCLcB/s400/mc.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">It’s interesting that, as I write this entry, <a href="http://la.curbed.com/2017/4/20/15377330/frank-sinatra-hollywood-bungalow-the-lot-ladwp" target="_blank"><b>The Frank Sinatra Bungalow is back in the news</b></a>. </font></span></span><font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the little building
that was his unofficial dressing room -- more a hideaway -- when he worked at
Samuel Goldwyn in the fifties and sixties.
That studio is The Lot now; if
you live in Los Angeles, the studio across the street from The Formosa (yes,
the bar in <i>L.A. Confidential</i>). It’s been The Lot since the nineties. Before that it was The Warner Annex, before
that Samuel Goldwyn, before that United Artists, before that Pickford-Fairbanks
(who bought it from Jesse Hampton in 1919).
Some of the movies shot there over the years? <i>Robin
Hood </i>(1922), <i>Stagecoach </i>(1939), <i>Up In Arms </i>(1944) <b><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2014/02/up-in-arms.html" target="_blank">which you can read about in my Danny Kaye Top 5</a></b>, <i>The Best Years Of Our Lives</i>, <i>Witness For The Prosecution </i>(1957) <b><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2015/09/witness-for-prosecution.html" target="_blank">which you can read about in my Tyrone PowerTop 5</a></b>, <i>Some Like It Hot</i>, <i>West Side Story</i>, <i>Apocalypse Now</i>, <i>Se7en</i>
(sparking a run of Fincher films) and, yes, <i>L.A.
Confidential</i>. In TV it hosted
Sinatra and Bob Hope and Lucille Ball (in her final series <i>Life With Lucy</i>) and <i>True
Blood </i>and, in 2014, became home to Oprah’s OWN. It's still a major studio space that few people know even exists.</span><br />
</font><div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Without digressing too much from why we’re here
today, The Frank Sinatra Bungalow was once part of the lot (whatever its
iteration) until -- as happens to all lots -- its land was cut-up yet again and
The Bungalow became part of The DWP next door.
And so its future is in question. The space where Sinatra hid-away while
shooting <i>The Frank Sinatra Show </i>(1957-1960), while recording <i>The Concert Sinatra</i> (1962)
and while starring in two of his four-picture-deal with United Artists; one of which is ours today. Indeed, that little bungalow is very likely where he learned his now famous
memory, “Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human
being I’ve ever known in my life.” </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></div>
<font size="2"><!--EndFragment--></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"><br /></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"><span> </span><i>The
Manchurian Candidate </i>(1962)<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span> </span>w George Axelrod </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from the novel by
Richard Condon</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> d John Frankenheimer</span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"><br /></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The 1959 Novel was a
best-seller. It
was praised in <i>The Times</i> as “a wild, vigorous,
curiously readable melange” and in <i>The New Yorker</i> as “a wild
and exhilarating satire” and <i>Time</i> named it “one of the Ten Best Bad
Novels” which, <i>The New Yorker </i>wrote
in 2003, “from a publisher’s point of view, is far from the worst thing that
might be said about a book.” The novel
allowed Condon to spend most of the rest of his life abroad, writing in similar
themes: <i>Winter Kills </i>about a Presidential Assassination (in which -- the
movie version -- John Huston acted) and <i>Prizzi’s
Honor </i>about a contract killer for The Mob (which -- the movie version --
John Huston directed). Condon’s
adapation of <i>Prizzi’s Honor </i>garnered
him an Academy Award Nomination (lost to Kurt Luedtke for <i>Out Of Africa</i> while another Huston -- Angelica -- won for Best
Supporting Actress). That same 2003 <i>New Yorker </i>article (by Louis Menand) goes on to say --</span><br />
<br />
</font><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Condon was a cynic of the upbeat type, not unlike
Tom Wolfe: his belief that everything is
basically shit did not get in the way of his pleasure in making fun of it. He learned that attitude in the finest school
for it on earth, Hollywood. Before he
was a novelist, Condon was a movie publicist. He began, in 1936, at Walt Disney Productions,
where he promoted <i>Fantasia</i> and <i>Dumbo</i>, among other animated
masterpieces, and moved on to a succession of studios, finishing up at United
Artists, which he left in 1957. He
didn’t know what he wanted to do next; he
just wanted out. “The only thing I knew
how to do was spell,” he later explained, so he did the logical thing and
became a writer. Condon claimed that his
work in Hollywood had given him three ulcers. He also claimed that he had seen, during his
years there, ten thousand movies, an experience that he believed gave him (his
words) “an unconscious grounding in storytelling.”</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><br /></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Books to movies change, of course, but
one of the more interesting -- subtitle that salacious -- changes is with
Raymond’s mother, Mrs. Iselin (Angela Lansbury in our version today). <span style="color: #222222;">The head of the
Manchurian Brainwashing Project grants Raymond a happy side effect of using
him: Raymond becomes a lethario, very
much in contrast to his meek persona beforehand where he hadn't even kissed the
love of his life, Jocelyn Jordan (the darling Leslie Parrish today). Is that the salacious bit? Hardly.
Remember the </span>little moment near the end of the film where Mrs.
Iselin kisses her son right on the mouth;
lingering there? It’s a little
bit “If only we” and a little bit “Goodbye” and, yeah, a little bit
uncomfortable. Well, this is nothing
compared to the novel where -- while the two are <span style="color: #222222;">traveling
abroad, she uses Raymond to kill various political figures and (it’s not
specified but likely) Jocelyn Jordan's first husband -- things really begin to heat
up between the two. Mrs. Iselin </span><span style="color: #222222;">was sexually abused by her father
but fell in love with him and idolized him after his early death. </span><span style="color: #222222;"> So in the novel (at about the same time
plot-wise as the movie’s kiss), Ra</span><span style="color: #222222;">ymond is hypnotized by The Queen of Diamonds, he
reminds her of her father, and she sleeps with her son.<o:p></o:p></span></span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><br /></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"><span style="color: #222222;"> This is shocking under any
circumstances, and certainly was in 1959, but let’s also remember the weirdly
hypnotic (no pun intended) pull The Naughty had on readers at that time (and
any time, of course, but consider Popular American Literature in a given five
years): </span>Condon
couldn’t have helped but relish in another book that became the first
blockbuster in American publishing, Grace Metalious’ <i>Peyton Place </i>(1956); and only a year before that there’s Vladimir Nabakov's <i>Lolita </i>(1955) which, fairly or not, will go down in history (no pun
intended) as ... well, what it is and isn’t.
But that’s for another blog.</font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><br /></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> While </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">we’re talking about the differences in
the book (and, no, I’m not going to get into the infamous Plagiarism clouding
it), this is a good time to start talking about <u>our</u> leading
lady. Janet Leigh plays Rosie, Major
Marco’s (Mr. Sinatra’s) love interest.
In the book, Rosie’s fiancé is one of the Associates handling the Shaw
case for Army Intelligence. Marco is of
course aware of this and it causes some tension between their budding
romance. Fine and fair. But it’s not half as interesting as when, in
today’s movie version, she seems so willing to blow off said fiancé for this
distraught Army Major she’s just met on the train: who’s <u>clearly</u> troubled but if that
didn’t bother her neither did hearing he’s in jail ‘cause she rushes right over
to bail him out and, in the cab ride home, tells him she’s in love with
him. This is precisely the kind of thing
that ought to bother an audience and yet, in this picture, fits so well that --
I think -- helps it. In fact, it’s
one of the things I particularly <u>love</u> about Leigh’s Rosie and how she
plays her.</span><br />
</font><div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Let’s
look at that very train scene. First, a
few thoughts. It’s her first scene in
the film, <u>at forty minutes in</u>;
the first of only five scenes she has in the whole thing -- the last two she
doesn’t even speak in -- their <u>totaling</u> twelve minutes (of a two-hour
six-minute picture). And the other four scenes are somewhat reassurances: in the
police station / cab says their meeting on the train meant more than two ships
passing in the night; in the apartment solidifies
they now have a relationship (instead of a fling); she's the one with whom Marco shares poor Jocelyn's and Senator Jordan's fate; setting up -- her being there as an anchor -- the end telling us at least Marco still has a shot 'cause he has her. All fine and
fair again. Point being the train is <u>the</u>
scene. And I believe this is the reason
-- these six minutes (half the time she’s in the whole thing) -- someone as
high-caliber as Miss Leigh was brought on for the role: to give <u>this</u> <u>moment</u> the weight
it needs to carry the character -- and thereafter Marco’s & Rosie’s
relationship -- the rest of the picture.</span></span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"><br /></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"> A train traveling from Washington D.C. to New York. Marco,
clearly distraught, is in the uncrowded Club Car, sitting next to Rosie as the
landscape whizzes by the grand window behind her. They almost get a meet-cute as he drops his
cigarette into his drink then asks her if it’s okay to smoke. She says yes, he tries again, but the
distraught is too much for him and he barrels out into the vestibule between
cars. She follows, lighting a cigarette
for him, and it’s in that tight space, the landscape now whizzing by the small window
there, in which our scene plays. There’s
some light conversation, still a little uncomfortable for him but he’s relaxing, and I
love the moment he decides to introduce himself -- maybe finally warming
-- as A Porter walks through which moves her closer to him (just a nice piece
of Staging). And it’s here in what might
finally be a warmer moment <u>she</u> turns a bit, and we get the odd dialogue of her address and phone number. It could be an independent woman flirting
but, given our subject matter of the last forty minutes, we can’t help but
presume it’s something more. He’s still
distraught enough we can’t quite read his reaction and he tells her he’s going
to New York to meet a friend (after he’s just told his Commanding Officer how
much he can’t stand Shaw) and then -- abruptly -- we dissolve out and that’s
it. Those are the six minutes, Miss
Leigh’s only real scene in the picture, and yet it may be one of her best.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<font size="2"><br /></font></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"> Is
it all Relevant? Is it all Subtext? Are there scenes left on The Cutting Room
Floor that flesh this out, or is it all just a Red Herring (as her
subsequent scenes seem to ignore this one completely)? As deliciously melodramatic as the story is
-- certainly the book was -- likely yes to all. And let's take a look at this from Roger Ebert:<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">Midway
in his investigation, Sinatra meets and falls in love with a woman played by
Janet Leigh, and their relationship provides the movie with what looks to me
like a subtle, tantalizing suggestion of an additional level of intrigue. What’s going on here? My notion is that Sinatra’s character is a
Manchurian killer, too; one allowed to
remember details of Harvey’s brainwashing because that would make him seem more
credible. And Leigh? She is Sinatra’s controller.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2"> I’ll let you be the judge as we move on to Judge, Jury & Executioner in
Dame Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin. <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her but all signs point to Dame Lansbury being as kind and wonderful and “Jessica Fletcher” as we think and hope and believe. But if you <u>first</u>saw her in <u>this</u>? Yeah. Wow. (I mentioned in <i>Rawhide </i>Mrs. Iselin is one of <u>the</u> Evil Characters. So wonderfully evil, it’s hard to imagine Lansbury was offered the role of Nurse Ratched in <i>One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest </i>but turned it down because she didn't think she could handle it.) Well, this role almost wasn’t hers either as Mr. Sinatra wanted -- ready for this? -- Lucille Ball for the role; who, as much as I love Lansbury, would have really wow’d playing against part. And Lansbury, only 37 here, is only three years older than Lawrence Harvey; make-up and hair and posture doing wonders for both their “age.” We already touched on <u>their</u> relationship but I did want to touch on one more, albeit in an odd way; that of Eleanor and her husband John (the perfectly cast James Gregory). Because -- referencing Joss Whedon again who said, “Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke.” -- I do get a kick at the great deal of wit throughout this picture -- admittedly enjoyed more your second, even third viewing -- particularly Eleanor’s trying to get John to “remember” an exact number of Communists in The Defense Department … and he starts putting Heinz Ketchup on his food. Peter Rainer of <i>The Los Angeles Herald Examiner </i>wrote in 1988, in part:</font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><font size="2"><span style="background-color: white;">The film was way ahead of its time, a black comedy that mixed melodrama and slapstick … it was about McCarthyism and Momism … I can't imagine what audiences would have made of it in 1962.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">Or, as well as it holds up, even today. [And, speaking of today, the Picture still resonates, as referenced in Marvel's <i>Captain America: Civil War </i>(2016).]</font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">It's a tightrope of a Picture to be sure, walking the line of playing Melodrama “Straight” while some potentially <u>very</u> loose threads -- Politics, Hypnotism, Incest, all part of a Romantic Thriller -- are intricately webbed. How closely grounded can we keep the Realism while (quite obviously) pushing that Melodrama? This is a walk that's easier to make in a Novel but I feel is accomplished quite well On Screen. And -- I believe – The Picture holds up as well as it does – fifty-five years later -- because of the talent both in front of and behind the camera.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">We touched briefly on Mr. Sinatra (and then only tangentially) and Dame Lansbury and our own Miss Leigh -- and I won’t do Laurence Harvey (whose understated power here is indeed something to appreciate) <u>any</u> justice in this write-up – but we must at least mention our Adapter, George Axelrod, and Director, John Frankenheimer.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">Mr. Axelrod was a Novelist, Playwright and Screenwriter perhaps best known for (both the Play & Movie) <i>The Seven Year Itch</i>. I say perhaps because, as a Screenwriter, he had something of a grand-slam when his <i>Seven Year Itch </i>(co-adapted by none other than Billy Wilder), <i>Bus Stop </i>(also with Ms. Monroe), <i>Breakfast At Tiffany’s </i>(based on the Truman Capote Novel) and our film today played right in a row (’55-’62). And it’s perhaps not surprising that our film today is such a successful tightrope-walk of a Novel Adaptation since he’d just come off <i>Tiffany’s; </i>that classic having another specific Tone by another specific Author. (PS do yourself a favor and <u>read</u> both Capote’s <i>Tiffany’s </i>and <i>In Cold Blood</i>; really different but both real treats.)<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">At the helm is, of course, John Frankenheimer who, if he needs an introduction, let me do so by saying it was during the making of our film today that he became<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">a </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;">close friend of Robert Kennedy; and, six years later, it was Frankenheimer who drove Kennedy from LAX to The Ambassador Hotel on the night The Senator was assassinated. (And, if I may, let me also add that my Father-In-Law was working at The Ambassador that fateful night. Indeed, far too small a world.) Need more on Mr. Frankenheimer? Take a look at <i>Birdman Of Alcatraz </i>and <i>Seven Days In May</i> (1964) and <i>Grand Prix </i>and <i>Black Sunday </i>(1977); the latter, interestingly, being Thomas Harris’ only non-Hannibal Lecter Novel. Frankenheimer's best work -- including as late as <i>Ronin </i>(1998) and HBO’s <i>Path To War </i>(which I had the honor to meet him on, just months before his passing) -- continued to include the weaving of Action & Suspense into Social Commentary.</span></span></span></span></font></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: times; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"><br /></font></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;"><font size="2">To wrap it all up, here's Roger Ebert on the Movie once more:<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 9pt;"><font size="2">Seen today, <i>The Manchurian Candidate </i>feels astonishingly contemporary; its astringent political satire still bites, and its story has uncanny contemporary echoes … [It] is inventive and frisky, takes enormous chances with the audience, and plays not like a "classic" but as a work as alive and smart as when it was first released. "It may be," Pauline Kael wrote at the time, "the most sophisticated satire ever made in Hollywood." Yes, because it satirizes no particular target -- left, right, foreign, domestic -- but the very notion that politics can be taken at face value.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><font size="2"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And Louis Menand on the Novel once more (and oh how I love this):</span><o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><font size="2"><span style="background-color: white;">Some people like their bananas ripe to the point of blackness. [This] is a very ripe banana and, for those who have the taste for it, delectable.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-7545960069837307052017-02-14T14:56:00.001-08:002019-06-15T13:28:56.834-07:00Musical Notes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XcDLpJu6Q7c/WKOK2c9onqI/AAAAAAAAAlY/lBjMESsTGLE2K4eptfcHKfNxDtMCqdVMgCLcB/s1600/lll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XcDLpJu6Q7c/WKOK2c9onqI/AAAAAAAAAlY/lBjMESsTGLE2K4eptfcHKfNxDtMCqdVMgCLcB/s320/lll.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There’s a moment in 1942’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yankee Doodle Dandy</i> that defines its genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s at the end, after George M. Cohan’s
meeting with President Roosevelt but before he’s outside in the street parading
with the troops … to his own song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
remember what’s brought him here:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s
Opening Night of his New Show, back on the stage after years away, and he was
summoned to The White House to meet The President.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cohan’s nervous because in his New Show he
plays The President but when he gets to The White House and sits with the man
he ends up telling his life story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns
out it couldn’t be better because Roosevelt’s brought him there to award him
The Congressional Medal Of Honor (Cohan was the first Entertainer to receive
the award).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thanks The President with
what’s already become the picture’s heart-tug -- “My father thanks you …” --
and then he’s on his way out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that
would be a great ending, a beautiful ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even if we cut outside and he stepped in line with those troops on parade
(with the great exchange with the soldier:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Seems to me I do!”) we’d have an appropriately rousing cap to the
heart-tug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But that’s not the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It’s him coming down the stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">He’s <u>just</u> come out of meeting Roosevelt on opening
night of his new show and he’s told his life story and he’s been given the
award.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s when it happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he’s coming down the stairs, he does a
little dance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s simple and elegant
(not to mention <u>while he’s coming down the stairs</u>) and it ends as it
began, without missing a step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>George M.
Cohan just came out of being summoned to The President of The United States,
and he tap dances his way out the door.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><u><span style="font-family: "times";">That’s</span></u><span style="font-family: "times";"> a <u>moment</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I hadn’t
thought I’d be writing about this until my wife Diana got me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land </i>on vinyl for Valentine’s
Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d been humming along to the
Soundtrack -- on Spotify -- pretty regularly since we saw the film in December
so she knew I’d love it:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the vinyl (it’s
blue!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was also icing on a
cake I hadn’t quite realized was baking;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>that I’d have to write about it, you see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Damian Chazelle’s love letter to Jazz and
Hollywood and Dreamers and Love -- wrapped up as an original modern Musical --
is impossible to ignore, fan or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
I was reminded of another article on the picture (as it’s on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stage And Cinema </i>which hosted <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.stageandcinema.com/2016/12/31/billy-wilders-oeuvre-ix/" target="_blank">Jason Rohrer’s and my series on Billy Wilder</a></b>) that … well, I also had to write about (and more on that in a bit).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here we are, dear readers:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Musical.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">And, mostly, The
Movie Musical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is, not Broadway per
se:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <i>Hamilton</i> is the current craze (and deservedly so). But to put it in perspective, it's (at press) run about 1,100 performances; an impressive number indeed. But that puts it at -- ready for this? -- 49th on the all-time list. Numero Uno? <i>The Phantom Of The Opera </i>at about 13,000. </span>Nor are we talking Television per se:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the indisputable powerhouse of 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Glee</i> (which sold 13 million albums and won
three Golden Globes and f</span><span style="font-family: "times";">our Emmys, including Best Series).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, no matter what we’re talking
about, I can’t do so without talking about how we got here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, the current belle of the ball?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times";">Yeah, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land </i>was birthed in 1927.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jazz Singer.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">No, that movie wasn’t the
first full-length Talkie (that was 1928’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lights
Of New York</i>), nor was it the first full-length Musical (that was 1929’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Broadway Musical</i>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which, by the by, won the second-ever Best
Picture Oscar).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jazz Singer</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, you can’t
help but start there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Because it was Al
Jolson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">To say we applaud The Musical for
the advent of Sound in Movies is a little bit of a stretch except to say Al
Jolson -- the singer named The World’s Greatest Entertainer -- was such a big
star that Warner Bros was willing to bank The Sound Gamble on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Jazz Singer </i>was such a success was three-fold:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Sound worked, it was Al Jolson, and he
was singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was such a success that
Warner Bros immediately followed it with another Jolson: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Singing Fool</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only partially
a talkie as well but that didn’t matter;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>most of that talking was singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It too was such a success that -- Jolson or not -- Audiences wanted -- and
therefore Studios made -- more Musicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve all heard how Actors
were terrified of being heard (yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Singin’
In The Rain </i>spoofs it wonderfully) so the easy answer is singers could, you
know, sing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Studios could fill a lot of
that new sound space with song;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>easier
to play, easier to sell … and, yes, easier to sync.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The thirties saw the studios outdoing
one another; and however The Great
Depression bound audiences, they found time and money for Musicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trick was, however fast the studios churned,
audiences were insatiable;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for more and
bigger and better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enter Busby Berkeley,
a Broadway Choreographer plucked by Warner Bros to reinvent the wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And reinvent he did ... with pure spectacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at his sequences in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">42<sup>nd</sup> Street </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Footlight
Parade </i>before fully Directing -- launching Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney
-- with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babes In Arms </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babes On Broadway</i> (both of which hold up
well) <u>and</u> he did an unused Scarecrow number in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wizard Of Oz</i> (which you can now see on that Blu Ray).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New to Mr. Berkeley?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t just do Musicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check out his great departure, the John
Garfield Noir <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They Made Me A Criminal</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Musicals hit their peak in the
forties when -- similar to our being wearied by The Great Depression --
audiences fought their way to theatres to escape World War II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The forties were a new golden age for Musicals
in that -- instead of “the cut-away spectacle” (viz Mr. Berkeley) -- The Movies
patterned after Broadway where Story and Character used Song & Dance as an
integral part of the narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, if
Berkeley must be mentioned, so must this gentleman:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Arthur Freed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">He’d been on the MGM lot for a number of years as a
songwriter and had done the scores for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Broadway Melody, Hollywood Revue </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Going
Hollywood </i>among others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within ten
years he’d head The Freed Unit, given practically free reign to produce
Movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Musicals</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, he too had a hand in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wizard Of Oz </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babes In Arms </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babes On Broadway </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Girl
Crazy.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But let’s jump to his big
ones (and when I’ve just listed those four titles I hope these mean something)
--<span style="color: #3c3c3c;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Meet
Me In St. Louis<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ziegfeld
Follies</span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Easter Parade</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">On The Town<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Annie Get Your Gun<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Royal Wedding<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">Well, now let’s jump to his <u>big</u> ones (and when I’ve just
listed <u>those</u> six titles I hope <u>these</u> mean something) --<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">An American In Paris<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Singin’ In The Rain<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Band Wagon<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brigadoon<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It’s Always Fair Weather<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It’s
impossible not to appreciate his contribution to the genre.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">By the sixties, Television cut into all Theatrical popularity
but significantly Musicals;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mostly because of the expense it took to produce a Musical at the level
audiences were accustomed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from
Elvis Presley -- who by his cinematic premiere in ‘56’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Me Tender </i>had reached a popularity </span><span style="font-family: "times";">close<span style="color: #3c3c3c;"> to Al Jolson -- the studios were reluctant to invest in Originals
and the trend of Broadway adapting Movies began to reverse as Hollywood once
again looked to The Street for source material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This resulted in more than a mere recycling and in a number of instances
good movies:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Christmas </i>and Garland’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Star Is Born </i>(both in ’54) through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My
Fair Lady</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">West Side Story </i>and,
of course, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sound Of Music </i>(in
’65).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oliver! </i>in ’68 was the last Musical for thirty-four years to win
Best Picture, but I don’t think it holds up too well. Still, ’68 was the year Barbara Streisand won
her first Academy Award for reprising Fanny Brice in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Girl</i>, and I dare someone to say “Don’t Rain On My Parade”
isn’t a great number.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We cite ‘72’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cabaret </i>as great -- and Bob Fosse rightly won for his work there --
but the seventies reversed the turn Warner Bros made in the thirties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spurned by Vietnam, audiences looked to
darker stories such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Godfather</i> (which
beat <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cabaret </i>for Best Picture) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bonnie And Clyde </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Graduate </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Easy Rider </i>and it wasn’t until ‘77’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars </i>-- not a Musical, of course -- that there was a light in
that tunnel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eighties didn’t fair
much better for Singin’ & Dancin’ until Jeffrey Katzenberg was given the
reins at Disney and wonderfully turned that tide with some true greats;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and Animated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Look at his run in seven years:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">The Little Mermaid</span></i><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">
(1989)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beauty And The Beast<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> A</span>laddin<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Nightmare Before Christmas<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Lion King<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Pocahontas<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Hunchback Of Notre Dame </span></i><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">(1996)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Interestingly, this
is about the time Broadway rebounds with her best run since the mid-sixties:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">A
Chorus Line </span></i><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">(1975)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">Cats
</span></i><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">Les
Mis</span></i><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";">é</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">rables </span></i><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Phantom Of The Opera<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">Chicago</span></i><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">
(the '96 Revival whose film version won Best Picture in 2002) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Lion King<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mamma
Mia!<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">Wicked
</span></i><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";">(2003)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">How big were those
hits?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Five are still running.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There
would be movie versions of some -- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chicago,
Phantom</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Les Miz </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mamma Mia! </i>come to mind -- but, to be
fair, they aren’t very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then
you have the bizarre hat trick of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Producers </i>which started as a Movie (and won Mel Brooks an Oscar his first
time out) then became a Hit (and Tony-winning) Show which then became a Movie
of that Show (which, fairly, you may have forgotten).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
one Movie Musical in recent years that truly stood out was 2001’s Baz Luhrmann
smash <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moulin Rouge!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A kind-of original in that it was an Original
Screenplay with two Original Songs, its genius -- and success -- lay in peppering
Hit Pop Songs as Musical Numbers;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>including one of the best medleys ever filmed as Christian and Satine
climb the elephant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of people called
it a crutch, a gimmick -- Elton John and Madonna in Bohemian Paris -- but it’s
exactly what a Musical should be;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jazz Singer </i>did almost 75 years
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gave the audience something brand
new … that they could hum along to.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> So. This year’s smash: </span><i style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;">La La Land.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";"> Love it or hate it -- love or hate the <u>genre</u>
-- it's an unarguable commercial and critical success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, one of the things </span><span style="font-family: "times";">I mentioned at the beginning of this was <b><a href="http://www.stageandcinema.com/2016/12/09/la-la-land/" target="_blank">that other article</a></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of how grossly inaccurate it was and
my feeling I needed to address.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Of course, </span>I
don’t believe in firing shots across any bow without justification so, as quickly
as I can:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Mr. Corti wrote,
“The zig-zagging camerawork is reminiscent of Robert Elswit’s in <i>Boogie
Nights</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Robert Elswit </span>was the (very talented) Cinematographer
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boogie Nights</i> but Director Paul
Thomas Anderson asked for the shot while Steadicam Operator Andy Shuttleworth
made it happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sticking with the technical
for a moment, Corti wrote, “‘Another Day In The Sun,’ a single-take wonder of
100 performers that impresses thanks to Linus Sandgren’s swift
cinematography and Mandy Moore’s choreography.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here again the Cinematography and Choreography are extraordinary but to
suggest the shot was a genuine oner isn't just spotlighting a naïve eye but takes away
from Sandgren and Moore designing how much to do where and when as well as Chazelle
conducting and Editor Tom Cross orchestrating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Praise the end result, even incorrectly, at least praise the whole team.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">Corti
wrote, “[S</span><span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times";">ebastian] fastidiously memorizes facts about Charlie
Parker and learns songs off an old vinyl LP by ear [but] can’t remember the
night when his girlfriend’s passion project production opens.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sebastian didn’t forget, he was busy at work
– he chose not to give up what he had to do at work – and rushed to her
afterward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This wasn’t bad memory but intentionally
part of his character’s -- their relationship's -- flaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times";">Corti wrote, “What’s amusing about
old movie musicals is how the lead performers are triple threats (equally great
at acting, singing, and dancing) but they struggle to make it either as an
entertainer or a love interest. Here is a film where the leads don’t sing great
[sic] or even dance basic choreography adequately, but their characters’
prospects look more and more attainable as the film plays on. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a tremendous obstacle because it
undercuts the story about how tough it is to make it in Hollywood.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I wouldn’t have nitpicked his mentioning
Mr. Elswit and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boogie Nights </i>had that
early faux pas not spawned an accumulation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But by this point I’d realized Corti knew little of Story and Technique
and even less of Movie Musicals;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>that he likely only screened a few to prep his article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s just use examples from the films it
seems he’s seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Singin’ In The Rain</i>, Debbie Reynolds couldn’t dance, could barely sing
(Gene Kelly got her around the floor and Betty Noyes dubbed her vocals).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "times";">Catherine Deneuve
in either of Jacques Demy’s famous, wonderful M</span><span style="font-family: "times";">usicals?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moves as necessary and is dubbed as
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Though I’m sure Mr. Corti knows
almost everyone was dubbed back then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I’m not attacking the ladies as we could as-easily discuss Oscar
Levant or Georges Gu</span><span style="font-family: "times";">étary or Van Johnson but let’s </span><span style="font-family: "times";">keep
moving.)<span style="color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land </i>is a movie w</span></span><span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times";">here the leads sing and dance themselves, better than
adequately, and whose plot prospects of course look more attainable as we
go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That -- very much a part of how
tough it is to make it in Hollywood (and very much Chazelle’s point) -- is the
demon in the dream.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times";">Corti ends with, “Chazelle’s
ambivalently nostalgic and arbitrarily cynical <i>La La Land</i> has an
exciting start, but it falls hard quickly and doesn’t recover.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ambivalently nostalgic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chazelle’s homaging multiple classics is
hardly indecisive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And arbitrary
cynicism?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chazelle’s outset was to make
a classic musical set in real life “where things don’t always work out.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Continuing to quote Chazelle, “</span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";">[both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whiplash </i>and
this film are] about the struggle of being an artist and reconciling your dreams
with the need to be human. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>La La Land</i>
is just much less angry about it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
you can find all this with easy Google searches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, you know, watch the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Chazelle gives us the wonderful end
fantasy of “how things should be,” underlining his inherent optimism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Indeed, we </span>should all fall as hard and quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times";">At
press, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land </i>has grossed $300 million
worldwide (on a $30 million cost).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was nominated for seven Golden Globes and won all seven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nominated for eleven BAFTAs and won</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> five
(including Best Film).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emma Stone
brought home The SAG, Chazelle The DGA and Producers </span><span style="font-family: "times";">Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz & Marc Platt The PGA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It </span><span style="font-family: "times";">has fourteen Oscar
Nominations -- tying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All About Eve </i>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titanic</i> -- and is, on the 26<sup>th</sup>
of this month, <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">expected to win
Best Picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it doesn’t, we’ll see the
biggest upset since The Super Bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whi</span>ch
is the biggest upset since The Presidential Race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Money and Awards have
never defined Art, so let’s move passed those to the simple fact that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land </i>is a good movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a good story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is told well, both in front of and behind
the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is intelligent, well crafted, thought-provoking and emotionally stirring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a respectful and passionate homage to
its genre’s past, and at the same time a strong step forward in keeping the
genre relevant, and therefore alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You’re going to
hear and/or read a lot of references, none of them wrong:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chazelle loves and champions Jazz -- viz <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whiplash </i>as well -- and God bless
him;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Young Girls Of Rochefort </i>for the Jazzy numbers (particularly comparing
opening with “Another Day Of Sun” with “Maxence’s Song”);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An
American In Paris </i>for having a lead be talented in his art yet yearning for
something more;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Singin’ In The Rain</i> for centering on Hollywood (and parody-homaging
with as much love);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> both of the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babes </i>and <i>A </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Is Born </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(any of them) </span>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Girl </i>and, really, any of the wonderful
tales of a young lady dreaming of stardom birthing Mia and her “Audition;”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Band Wagon </i>for the end fantasy;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg</i> for the pathos
in the end itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that barely
scratches the surface but it doesn’t matter because most of all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land </i>is
an original Musical that’s immediately hummable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yes, hummable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if that isn’t a good definition of a
successful Musical, it’s a perfectly fine start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">My wife Diana and I went to<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Am</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";">é</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";">lie</span></i><span style="font-family: "times";"> at The Ahmanson here in L.A. last month
because we’re both big fans of that picture. Suckers for Musicals as well, it was an easy win-win;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or should have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Am</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";">é</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";">lie</span></i><span style="font-family: "times";"> The Musical wasn’t
bad -- we enjoyed ourselves while sitting there -- but there wasn’t anything we
took away from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I equated the evening
to cotton candy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tasty and fun but right
after?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(</span><span style="font-family: "times";">Keyser
Söze gesture)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well, there’s
nothing gone from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We the audience are submerged in its world
and are thrilled to soak it in, clinging to it from dripping off us even as we
skip out of the theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, skip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Humming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m telling you, that’s the thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As I write this, I’m humming along to my new (blue!) vinyl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I can go on and on about how well the
picture’s crafted, at those homages to bits of genre past, at how we’re rooting
through the reality of it all, and how two newcomers to Singin’ & Dancin’ pull
off their tasks as naturally as they do (at how their <u>being</u> natural -- not
professional -- <u>helps</u> the picture) but, really, it’s all about how that picture makes you feel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
is a moment, just prior to the now famous “A Lovely Night” number (it’s the
movie’s one sheet), where Mia changes her shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because she anticipates dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a simple thing and doesn’t mean much --
isn’t supposed to -- except, for me, it sang two things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One,
Chazelle specifically wrote the moment, even shot it, and however many months
later when screening cuts decided to keep it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It meant that much to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
it’s (at least to my mind) the only time we’ve seen it. Boy and Girl meet-cute and have their first
number, light and flirty, and it leaves them wanting more?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seen that a bunch. But have we ever seen one of them change
shoes <u>in the movie</u> because they’re about to dance?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(My mind keeps tugging on a moment with Cyd
Charise in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Band Wagon </i>but I don’t
think it’s the same. And then I think of her in <i>It's Always Fair Weather </i>leaping six feet off the boxing ring in those six-inch heels so ...)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I <u>do</u> think Mia’s
moment -- right there on the screen -- is a very telling thing about the kind
of picture <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La La Land </i>is:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a tip-of-the-hat to the backstage, the
behind-the-scenes;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> showcasing </span>Hollywood
by her Dreamers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And,
two, it goes back to how <u>we</u> opened here today:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>George M. Cohan dancing down the White House stairs in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yankee Doodle Dandy</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La
La Land</i>, Mia, our ingénue who may be frustrated by her life yet still has hope enough to dream, meets a guy who’s cute and more than that loves art and
more than <u>that</u> is talented himself and makes her laugh and think and
feel and maybe this one’s worth her time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So she changes her shoes to dance with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not the same level of moment as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dandy</i>’s --<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> --
except they’re both the </span><u style="font-family: times; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">kind</span></u><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> of moment we want from them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I wish I could give proper credit but I came across a quote that went, “Musicals are how life <u>should</u>
be.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s even better than
“hummable.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just came out of meeting
The President who gave me The Congressional Medal Of Honor?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You bet I’m going to tap dance down the
stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m young and a little bit lonely
but even more hopeful and here’s someone I’m gonna dance with, that I really
wanna dance with?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hold on, I just gotta
get my right shoes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">I
think everyone expects </span><i style="font-family: times; font-size: small; text-indent: 0.5in;">La La Land </i><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">to
win Best Picture at The Oscars this year and that will make me happy.</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">(Nostalgia always makes me happy, as when both </span><i style="font-family: times; font-size: small; text-indent: 0.5in;">Midnight In Paris</i><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">
and </span><i style="font-family: times; font-size: small; text-indent: 0.5in;">The Artist </i><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">received due recognition.) B</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">ut I’m already thrilled -- especially in
times like these -- that a really good movie -- a Musical that’s as much
original as nostalgic -- is doing so well. That it's adored. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And,
yes, hummed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Because
I think we all like to be reminded how life should be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-31651623908111246722016-10-14T07:12:00.002-07:002020-06-13T15:58:41.550-07:00Touch Of Evil<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D3FxjmonvLE/WADpqGz-YoI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/eZRWtcpyq_oEdmqyHc9B8YbMHagxUkLiACLcB/s1600/touch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D3FxjmonvLE/WADpqGz-YoI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/eZRWtcpyq_oEdmqyHc9B8YbMHagxUkLiACLcB/s320/touch.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> I’ve been looking forward to this one -- and dreading it -- for some time. Both for the same reasons. It’s the same reaction I had when beginning Tyrone Power’s <i>Witness For The Prosecution </i>(1957); another big one. ‘Cause this is Janet Leigh in arguably her best performance. This is <u>Charlton</u> <u>Heston</u> (whose name, yes, always sounds like he’s speaking as Moses). This is Charlton Heston playing a Mexican and everything that’s been said about that. This is Marlene Dietrich (again)! And Russell Metty and Henry Mancini! This is the film with the famous three-and-a-half-minute opening shot. This is the film that was rebuilt in ‘98 from a 58-page memo. And, yes, this is the first film in these Top 5s from -- Starring & Written by & Directed by -- Orson Welles.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> No, this one isn’t going to be easy. But, like all the rest, it sure is going to be fun.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> I say this often, but there’s a lot out there written about x and y that you don’t need me regurgitating. Well, that’s not been more true -- certainly in these Top 5s -- than this film and its Writer-Director. If you want to read more about Mr. Welles and his Movies, go straight to the top: Peter Bogdanovich’s Interview Book (Edited by Jonathan Rosenbaum) <i>This Is Orson Welles</i> (1992) and Simon Callow’s three -- rumored four -- volume <i>Orson Welles</i> (1995, 2006 & 2015). These two gentlemen are the best archivists we have; and not just archivists, for Welles & Bogdanovich were indeed friends (at one point living together). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> For today, we’ll talk <i>Touch Of Evil</i> as best <u>I</u> can; with, hopefully, a few new insights. To start? How about at the beginning, from Mr. Welles himself:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "I had just acted in the Jeff Chandler Western for Universal [<i>Man In The Shadow</i> (1957)] and they sent me another script -- a very bad one that took place in San Diego, with a crooked detective in it. And they said, 'Do you want to play it?' I said, 'Maybe,' and I was still wondering whether I could afford not to make it when they called up Chuck Heston and said, 'Here’s a script -- we’d like you to read it. We have Welles.' And he misunderstood them and said, 'Well, any picture that Welles directs, I’ll make.' So they got back on the phone quick and said to me, 'Do you want to direct it?' And I said, 'Yes, if I can rewrite it.' Well, they said they’d let me do that if I wouldn’t get paid as a director or a writer -- just my original salary as an actor. So I had about three and a half weeks to go before it began, and I locked myself up with four secretaries and wrote an entirely new story and script."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Touch Of Evil</i> (1958)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> w Orson Welles</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> based on the Novel <i>Badge Of Evil</i> by Whit Masterson</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> d Orson Welles</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> To begin, let’s talk briefly about the ’98 Recut. Because, if nothing else, I hope these Top 5s entice you to visit or revisit these films. Ready for this one? Please be sure it’s that Recut, as close to Welles’ vision as we can infer. Like Criterion’s impressive <i>Mr. Arkadin</i> from 2006, the <i>Touch Of Evil</i> Blu Ray includes three versions of the film: the Pre-Release, Theatrical Release and ’98 Recut (supervised by legend-in-his-own-time Walter Murch). Is it exactly as Welles intended? I don’t know I’d say that if Welles himself supervised [and there’s an argument to be made for and against the Blu Ray’s Aspect Ratio of 1.78 -- intended 1.85 in 1958? -- versus Welles’ preferred 1.33 ... but I’ll leave that for another day]. I believe Murch & Co’s work indeed represents Welles’ intent and is the best version we should be watching.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> For no other reason than the famous opening shot which strips the titles and rebuilds the music as we travel with the car / meet The Vargases. Stripping the titles was an easy choice. We know Welles never intended for opening titles, but why? This is 1958, remember. Titles open movies. Well, they weren’t, per se, paid attention to; at least not what was happening behind them. “Titles are on? Okay, it’s time to get settled. Titles have finished? Okay, I should start paying attention.” Not so with our film today where the whole world is setup in those three-and-a-half minutes. Not to mention -- like Mr. Hitchcock’s famous “bomb under the tea table” analogy -- not having titles here focuses us on that world. And the music? Instead of the (admittedly appropriate) Jazz, we’re now given some cinéma vérité: the car radio, music coming out of clubs as we pass, even silence; all specifically punctuating the picture: the bomb, the car, the couple in the car, The Vargases as they walk with it, around it, stopping at the border gate, the crowd there. Without titles and without typical Score, we’re immersed in those three-and-a-half minutes. Waiting for the bomb to blow.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Ideally not even thinking it’s one single shot (and more on that later).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> We open on the bomb. It’s the first shot, close up, can’t miss it. That’s significant not just because it starts “a fun opening scene” but because everything to follow is a bomb waiting to blow. The town, the motel, their characters, every person, every thing, it’s all a lit fuse; yes, even The Vargases, but particularly Quinlan who, at the center, is both Protagonist and Antagonist. He doesn’t place the bomb (or want it to have gone off), nor is he the one we’re rooting for, but he’s key to almost everything that happens; pushing the plot as well as being pushed by it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Which is interesting because we’re dealing with two stories. The first is The Vargases being on their honeymoon where he’s -- and therefore she’s -- the target of The Grandi Crime Family. When they happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, the second story -- the murder of the couple in the car (and I’m not getting into plot much more than this) -- explodes in front of them. Enter Quinlan who, only focused on the second, can’t help but be pulled into the first -- because of Mike Vargas and then, sensing an aid in his plight, Grandi -- and we find ourselves in the midst of some truly glorious Melodrama; too often overlooked in this “Noir” (and more on that later too).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> There’s the old adage in writing that you must build to a suprising and satisfying conclusion. Not or, and. (And do you know how <u>hard</u> that is?) Well, <i>Touch Of Evil </i>does it better than most. At this point in what’s left of his life, Quinlan is a man obsessed with winning and losing. That’s it. He isn’t obsessed with booze or candy bars or even Tana’s chili; all triggers -- even crutches -- sure, but no longer obsessions. (Even his surface racism is only that, an attack on Vargas the opponent, not Vargas the Mexican ... but that’s for a much longer article.) All Quinlan has left now is the game which he must win or he loses a little more of himself. Once a good cop, probably a great one, he’s now what’s left of the job when all its humanity is gone. So with our world waiting to blow, who ultimately lights the fuse? Menzies. Why? Because it must affect Quinlan as <u>personally</u> as possible. [I love the shot of Quinlan rising in Tana’s and there’s the bull on the wall with its banderillas; a bit on the nose -- that’s Quinlan now, only he doesn’t know it yet (or won’t accept it yet) -- but what a great image.] Menzies’ turn of conscience -- turning on his partner, his only friend -- is both surprising and satisfying. The fuse lit from our very first image has run its course straight into … well, some kind of man.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Let’s stay with the opening of the movie for a bit as we introduce our leading lady. I don’t think I’m overselling it at all when I say Janet Leigh as Suzie Vargas is some of her best work. It should come as no surprise that a lead character is our avatar in the movie; that is, we the audience, by proxy, live the adventure with them. And we’re very much Suzie Vargas here. When we meet her she’s a literal tourist, so as we look in on this world, we see it through its only outsider. Of all the characters in this Melodrama, she’s the only one that doesn’t belong. She isn’t naïve or better-than -- she has a great spark to her -- but she’s nonetheless different from this town, its characters. The personification of “outside looking in.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> What makes Suzie Vargas standout? For me, it’s Janet Leigh’s transcending what could easily be just a “damsel in distress” role: how she handles the explosion right in front of her; significantly how she handles her husband leaving her to deal with it, including having to cross back across the border on her own to wait for him. For how long? She doesn’t know and goes anyway; is fine going anyway. And, sure, a lot’s been said about how he treats her thoughout: “Why the hell would he keep <u>abandoning</u> her?” Well -- for me -- the answer is in how Leigh plays her. I don’t think she feels abandoned. She’s perfectly okay by herself. And when Grandi first confronts her -- I think this is a character defining moment -- she’s not pushed-over at all but quips that great, defiant “<u>Yeah</u>” right back at him. As much as Suzie Vargas may be regulated to a “damsel” role, Janet Leigh regularly fights her way well passed it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Before we move on from the opening, a few asides. Re the explosion and its aftermath, why is the fountain on fire? I mean aside from looking great. Okay, moving on from that. Did you notice the Mercury Theatre Regulars popping up? Ray Collins as The District Attorney and Joseph Cotten as The Coroner. And then Akim Tamiroff (Grandi here) would later do <i>The Trial</i> (1962). And -- not a Mercury Regular but -- there’s Zsa Zsa Gabor as The Strip Club Owner (with her sister Eva as One Of The Strippers). And there’s been a long-standing rumor that none other than Errol Flynn lurks in the background of a shot. True? I’ve never spotted him, though we know he and Welles were friends; the yacht in <i>The Lady From Shanghai </i>was Flynn’s own Zaca. And the fictional Mexican town of Los Robles? All the exteriors were shot in Los Angeles’ own Venice (with a lot of great 1957 footage of the famous beach town).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Staying on our leading lady for a bit, let’s move to The Mirador where it’s tough not to notice Miss Leigh’s bad luck with motels (see, I <u>almost</u> mentioned The Shower Movie again). And here’s where we the audience take a detour as well. This is an odd section of the picture mostly because of how much time Welles spends on it. When you take into account how little time Welles had to write the Script -- less than a month, remember -- it’s a great way to kill fifteen minutes (and, plot-wise, justifiably). But I think it goes to the Texture of the thing. ‘Cause if there’s one thing this movie exudes it’s that: texture of Plot, texture of Character, of Camera Movement, of Lighting (and those last two indeed different). And everything at the motel <u>drips</u> it (including the almost over-the-top Dennis Weaver but he does it so well).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> And look at everything Miss Leigh does here. Again, I don’t think Suzie Vargas feels abandoned, or in very much danger. She really does just want to get some sleep. She’s tired and annoyed and getting angry at it all but still never a damsel. In fact it takes a Rape to overpower her. And not just from Pancho (Valentin deVargas) -- she’d already bettered him back in town -- but a Gang. It’s horrific, no question -- especially with Mercedes McCambridge’s cold “I wanna watch” -- but it also cements Leigh’s incredibly strong portrayal: what it takes to bring her down. And then she wakes up in the hotel back in town to <u>Grandi’s</u> <u>eyes</u> and rushes onto the fire escape; not an escape at all given she’s still in that town, eventually crumbling in the jail cell on the trumped-up charge. Still she comes out fighting. There’s the shot of her in the car at the end and we know she’ll be okay. And I don’t think it’s “a Hollywood ending.” For my money, when she finally gets a good night’s sleep, her husband and that upcoming trial are the <u>least</u> of Grandi’s problems …</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Welles and Bogdonavich talk about shooting in The Motel in <i>This Is Orson Welles</i> --</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Bogdonavich: How was Janet Leigh?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Welles: Wonderful. And I gave her a very rough time, because she had to change her hairdo back and forth all the time, not knowing why. We were shooting forty and fifty setups a day, and she never knew where she was in the plot. I just said, 'The hair down. The hair up. Go to the window.' -- you know -- and she was right there with me. Really wonderful. Because we made it very quickly.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Bogdonavich: You were shooting it out of sequence.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Welles: Not just that -- of course, you have to -- but --</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Bogdonavich: You shoot for the way the lighting is.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Welles: Have to."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Touch Of Evil</i> is widely considered one of the greatest Noirs ever made, except that it isn’t. Isn’t great? No, it’s decidedly that; in fact, this is a movie I actually think improves the more you see it. But Noir? Sorry, I can’t call it that. Without getting too far down a rabbit hole, I’ll say <u>the</u> Noir is <i>Out Of The Past</i> (1947). And for a Neo Noir? <i>Blade Runner</i> (and I’ll let you deduce what you want from both of those). But our film today? Plot, Character, Lighting, it’s all close, but I don’t believe it fits the term. The easiest, quickest “out” is there isn’t a Femme Fatale, but there’s other stuff too (and if we continue we’ll only get deeper down the rabbit hole). So what would I call it? What I have been; what Welles himself called it: Melodrama. (And I use that term with the respect it deserves: like a Rom Com, only bad versions of Genre deserve the negativity of its colloquial.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Walter Murch wrote of his ’98 Recut, “Forty years ago, in the spring of 1958, Orson Welles’ <i>Touch Of Evil </i>was released by Universal as a B Picture, the second half of a double bill. (The A Picture was <i>Female Animal</i>, a now-forgotten vehicle for Hedy Lamarr.) Neither picture attracted much attention, although some reviewers were intrigued by Welles’ first studio work in ten years. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a commercial and critical disappointment, and Welles -- only 43 at the time -- returned to Europe and never made another feature for Hollywood. Thus a chapter in Welles’ life that had opened in 1941 with perhaps the biggest bang in cinema history, <i>Citizen Kane</i>, ended nearly twenty years later with Marlene Dietrich’s whispered ‘Adios,’ the final word in <i>Touch of Evil</i>.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> And, no, not the worst end in the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> For our end today, I’ll try something of a bookend. We opened with what everyone talks about when talking about this picture: the opening shot. But there’s another in the film that’s even more impressive: also a single take, <u>and two minutes longer</u>. Yes, the scene in the apartment that introduces Sanchez and the planting of the evidence. It’s five-and-a-half minutes. And note the number of people in it. The amount of dialogue. And that they move throughout the apartment, the camera moving with them; the lighting involved, both technically and creatively, with kudos indeed to Russell Metty [who’d also shot Welles’ <i>The Stranger </i>(1946)]. I hope you appreciate this scene. For me -- for story, performance, the technical achievement, all of it -- it’s really <u>the</u> scene of the picture.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> As gregarious a talker as he was, it was tough, believe it or not, to get Welles to talk about his own work. Questions abound; perhaps the biggest is, still, “What was lost from <i>The Magnificent Ambersons</i> (1942)?” Even Bogdonavich had to prod him, and they were indeed friends. Most of the time Welles stood by his mantra of Art explaining the life of a Man, never the contrary. Still we ask, as we must. So today we’ll end as we began, from the man himself; this again from <i>This Is Orson Welles</i> --</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Bogdonavich [talking about <i>The Lady From Shanghai</i>]: Probably the slowest dolly shot I’ve ever seen takes place when Rita Hayworth and Everett Sloane are sitting in a corridor before the trial. I had to look at the edges of the screen to see if it was really moving.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Welles: That doesn’t speak well for the film, when you start studying the edges of the screen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Bogdonavich: People sometimes look at your films and say, 'God what an insane great shot.' But when I’ve expressed something like that to you, your blank look shows me that clearly to you the shot was normal -- or, rather, not unusual -- simply the way you saw it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Welles: I like it when you answer your own questions."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-14814248434663460232016-09-16T17:02:00.000-07:002016-10-07T17:09:43.668-07:00The Brotherhood Of The Popcorn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wGEoIRi8l48/V9yG1f5zqnI/AAAAAAAAAiE/-diwALvnUQMxqYOatQiNck6C1HXqnO-wwCLcB/s1600/brotherhood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wGEoIRi8l48/V9yG1f5zqnI/AAAAAAAAAiE/-diwALvnUQMxqYOatQiNck6C1HXqnO-wwCLcB/s320/brotherhood.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Do you love old movies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course you do, that’s probably why you’re
reading this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, do I have a Saturday
morning for you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But first …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Movies are best as a
shared experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve all watched
something by ourselves -- and what with being able to watch on the likes of our
phones, the ease of that is getting better or worse (depending on your point of
view) -- but nothing matches sitting <u>with</u> someone as the lights
dim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friend, family, lover, doesn’t
matter;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>movies are made for an
audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jokes want a laugh, scares
want a gasp, tears want to be handed a handkerchief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not solo, we as a <u>crowd</u> thrive on
the camaraderie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[I’m proof myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When my wife Diana and I went to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Double Indemnity</i> (1944) at The New Beverly
last month -- a movie we’ve both seen many times before -- I was consciously
reminded how funny it is simply because of everyone laughing around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew the jokes were coming and I knew they
were funny but hearing people laugh … didn’t <u>improve</u> the movie but … freshened
it all over again.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nope, a phone can’t
give you that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(In fact, I can
personally example this yet again:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
Diana and I fly somewhere, we often split the audio jack on the same iPad so we can watch this or that together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Cause it <u>is</u> more fun that
way;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>laughing, gasping … she hands me
the handkerchief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we bring the iPad
so we can bring <u>our</u> titles;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>titles from the 30s, 40s and 50s. But I digress.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">Movies are best when
they’re shared.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">Well,
few people have elevated this to the level it deserves like Woody Wise and his
Cliffhangers.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">For the past thirty-five
years, Wise and seven friends have met twice a month on Saturday mornings to
watch movies.</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">And let me say that again
if I need to:</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><u style="font-family: times;">twice a month</u><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">, for </span><u style="font-family: times;">thirty-five
years</u><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">.</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">They meet at Wise’s home,
where he has a small theatre (look at that beauty below, complete with
three-sheets!).</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">They have coffee and
bagels and sandwiches and talk about life and movies and their lives with
movies and then they sneak off to those theatre seats -- each of the eight
Cliffhangers have their regular own -- to watch that Saturday’s lineup:</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">usually a Double Feature, often with a
Cartoon, always with a Cliffhanger (hence their club name;</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">one of their club names but more on that in a
bit).</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">What’s a Cliffhanger?</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">A Saturday afternoon Serial from the 30s and
40s;</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">12 or 15 Chaptered Adventures where
at the end of each the hero is inescapably trapped … until the next
episode.</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;">Glorious staples for the
theatre going kids in those golden years (and as-glorious to kids of all ages
today).</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rGzrBg8iXno/V9yHEOO19JI/AAAAAAAAAiI/rwNRZQlztCUeocBcOQGx4pqO-3Nf6PMCACLcB/s1600/theatre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rGzrBg8iXno/V9yHEOO19JI/AAAAAAAAAiI/rwNRZQlztCUeocBcOQGx4pqO-3Nf6PMCACLcB/s320/theatre.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well, Cinematographer-Editor-Director
Inda Reid [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Making Of The Nutcracker </i>(2009)]
found Woody Wise and his Cliffhangers so charming that she made the 2014
Documentary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Brotherhood Of The
Popcorn</i>, an almost-hour-and-a-half look at the eight gentlemen and their
Saturdays (and there’s their other club name I was talking about):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Brotherhood Of The Popcorn (named – like
Lauren Bacall’s Rat Pack – by Wise’s wife Sandy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To call Ms. Reid’s Documentary charming doesn’t
do it justice though Wise and friends are just that, from meeting them
individually to getting to spend some time at those special Saturdays, both
around the kitchen table and in the theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And they’re quite the individuals including a Truck Driver, House Painter,
Teacher, two Animators, a Rockabilly Crooner and an Irishman (that’s how he’s
tagged) in the mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The youngster in the
group?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>68 this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that age seems to matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All past is indeed prologue to friends
getting together to watch movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reid herself wrote,
“For over thirty-five years, Woody and The Cliffhangers have met to watch a
double-feature (with a break between for a cliffhanger serial and lunch).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They talk about everything under the
sun:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>movies, stars, family, their kids,
their pets, their surgeries, lives and loves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And although the rules state that one cannot talk about religion or
politics, they end up talking about that too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their unique personalities and individual life stories are just as
interesting as the movies they watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
hope you will join us in the support of this special film that celebrates tradition,
friendship, nostalgia and films the good ol’ fashioned way, with some good ol’
fashioned gentlemen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They definitely
don’t make ‘em like they used to!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And
how easy it is to see how warmly she means the men <u>and</u> their movies.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">And what movies!</span><span style="font-family: "times"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">Look at the lineups for their last three
get-togethers --</span><span style="font-family: "times"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Saturday, 9/10/16</span></span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> <i>Chicago</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> (2002)</span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Falcon In
Hollywood<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Chapter 8 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King
Of The Texas Rangers</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Saturday, 8/27/16<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Front
Page </i>(1974)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saps At Sea<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "times";">Chapter 7 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King Of The Texas Rangers</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Saturday, 8/13/16<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Darling
Clementine<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Charlie
Chan At The Olympics<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "times";">Chapter 6 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King Of The Texas Rangers</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sorry,
I’m having so much fun typing these, here are two more --<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Saturday, 7/30/16<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Murder, My
Sweet<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Horse
Feathers </span></i><span style="font-family: "times";">(1932)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sylvester & Tweety in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Canary Row</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Chapter 5 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King
Of The Texas Rangers</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Saturday, 7/16/2016<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Thin Man </i>(1934)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spite
Marriage </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tom & Jerry in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Texas Tom</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Chapter 4 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King
Of The Texas Rangers</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
don’t know about you, but I’m jealous;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>I</u>
want to sit in that theatre on a Saturday morning and watch those Cartoons and
Cliffhangers and Double Features!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a big
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Falcon </i>fan (particularly the Tom
Conways), plus you have a quintessential Noir, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Murder, My Sweet</i>, and a quintessential Ford, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Darling Clementine </i>(not to mention my wife Diana is a big Buster
Keaton fan and you have his final Silent, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spite
Marriage</i>). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Plus Billy Wilder?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Sylvester & Tweety and Tom & Jerry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thank you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[I might pass on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chicago</i> but “Nobody’s perfect.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That said I <u>do</u> like that it’s <u>not</u> just
the 30s, 40s & 50s in there, and a quick glance at other Saturdays (Wise
posts each lineup on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brotherhood Of
The Popcorn </i>Facebook Page) shows a healthy dose of James Bond (always a
treat).]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Speaking of their Facebook</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> Page, that’s how I first came across this Documentary
and, believe it or not, Wise himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[I
say believe it or not here because Wise has been involved with The Lone Pine
Film Festival <u>for twenty years</u> and I didn’t know it until <u>this</u>
year (I write embarrassingly).]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brotherhood </i>Facebook Page was suggested
to me in my feed;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>probably because most
of the pages I like circle Movies, Theatres, Los Angeles and Conservancy:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nostalgia (including, yes, the great-if-you’re-a-fan
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Character Actors In Classic Films</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I “liked” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brotherhood
</i>on Facebook and started to see the Saturday lineups:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all these great titles scrolling by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I learned about The Documentary and
wanted to get to a screening -- it’s been awarded at many Festivals -- but kept
missing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, then there was a post
on the Lone Pine Film Festival’s Facebook Page that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rawhide</i> (1951) would be screening this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2015/06/rawhide.html" target="_blank">I’d done a write-up on that for my TyronePower Top 5</a>, so I commented with a link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And who should write back that he enjoyed it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Woody Wise … who has been running films
at The Festival for twenty years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Woody
and I started chatting and he was very kind to send me The Documentary on Blu
Ray.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lonepinefilmfestival/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Here's The Lone Pine Film Festival on Facebook!</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/popcornbrotherhood/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Here's <i>The Brotherhood Of The Popcorn </i>on Facebook!</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you read my Blog
regularly at all -- and I thank you -- you know I’m not one to particularly critique anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m continuing my Top
5s with Janet Leigh because I like them and want to share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>[Dad did the same with his Lone Ranger book (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From Out Of The Past:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Pictorial
History Of The Lone Ranger</i>), Lone Pine book (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On Location In Lone Pine</i>) and – particularly – two Lone Pine videos
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On Location In Lone Pine, Vols 1 & 2</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think he disparages anything in any
of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what’s wrong with simply
sharing?]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, if there’s a critique to
be made at all with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brotherhood Of The Popcorn</i>,
it’s that I wish a little more time was spent at a given Saturday;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> especially </span>in the theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hearing more of their chatting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More of their favorite Stars, Genres,
Serials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those wonderful “arguments”
that come out of days like these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
sitting in the theatre right after a screening and hearing them talk about
those Films, that Serial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As charming as
the gentlemen are -- those Saturdays are -- I just wanted more <u>there</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And maybe I’m being picky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I <u>am</u> just jealous I don’t get to
sit there too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To listen … and talk with
… and learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What Inda Reid set out
to document -- and she accomplishes it beautifully -- is herself share the charm of it
all;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and, yes, there’s that word again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know what else to call
it but charming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Leonard Maltin
himself wrote, it’s “An affectionate portrait of friends from a wide range of
backgrounds whose common interest is a love of old movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brotherhood
Of The Popcorn </i>is disarming and enjoyable, especially if you happen to
share that love.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disarming?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps in how enjoyable you find a seemingly
simple subject as this to be for the almost-hour-and-a-half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not groundbreaking cinema, nor should
it be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where Reid & Co excel is in
appreciating the material, knowing their audience, and writing a love letter to
both at the same time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">That we get to be
Reid’s audience and therefore – even if just by proxy – get to sit with Woody
Wise and his Cliffhangers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">That’s a happy
Saturday morning indeed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><br /></span></div>
Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-24724950769582691002016-08-12T18:48:00.000-07:002016-09-16T18:23:34.362-07:00Citlalli's Prayer<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire has been better documented by
more learned scholars than me; suffice
to say it was <u>the</u> significant event in the colonization of The Americas. In 1521, H</span><span style="font-family: "times";">ernán
Cortés</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> took control of Tenochtitlan and t</span><span style="font-family: "times";">he
</span><span style="font-family: "times";">Aztec kingdom became the colony of New Spain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On its rubble, Mexico City was born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Social historians like to focus on the fact
that </span><span style="font-family: "times";">Cortés</span><span style="font-family: "times";"> destroyed Tenochtitlan,”
says Historian Felix D. Almaraz, “but what they conveniently overlook is that
out of the rubble Cort</span><span style="font-family: "times";">é</span><span style="font-family: "times";">s
created Mexico City [which] became the political, religious and cultural center
of New Spain.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">Floods of Missionaries poured
in, evangelizing the native Indians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More
than just a religion, The Church permeated Mexican society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long accustomed to the powerful priests of
the Aztecs, the Indians readily adapted to the icons and rituals of The Roman
Catholic Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the fundamental
belief -- Christ’s sacrifice on The Cross -- was easily meshed with the Indians’
ancient belief in the power of blood sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Several Indian Gods were Christianized, taking on the identity of The
Catholic Saint. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most significantly, the Aztec
Goddess </span><span style="font-family: "times";">Tonantzin was </span><span style="font-family: "times";">resanctified as The
Virgin of Guadalupe, an Indian incarnation of The Virgin Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“There’s no question,” says Historian Raquel
Aubio-Goldsmith, “that The Virgin of Guadalupe is connected to the indigenous
past because of where she appeared, on a hill where there had been a temple to </span><span style="font-family: "times";">Tonantzin</span><span style="font-family: "times";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The person who sees her was an Indian, Juan
Diego [this is now 1531], and her appearance opened the possibility of bringing
people into Christianity.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By the end of The 16th Century there was a wide
network of shrines to The Virgin of Guadalupe throughout Mexico, and Her appearance
to Juan Diego was documented by Miquel Sánchez in 1648.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The devotion continued to grow, especially
when She was credited with ending a deadly epidemic that ravaged Mexico City in
1736.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1737 She was proclaimed Patroness
of Mexico City, and in 1746 her patronage was accepted by all the territories
of New Spain (which by then included part of present-day California as well as
regions in Guatemala and El Salvador).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But The Virgin of Guadalupe’s
role in Mexican history is not limited to religion, as She played an important
role in Mexican Nationalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1810,
Miguel Hidalgo named Her the Patroness of his Spanish revolt;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>their battle cry, “Long Live Our Lady of
Guadalupe.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During a religious revival in
the late 19th century, preachers declared that She not only freed Her people
from idolatry but reconciled the Spanish and indigenous peoples in a common
devotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1914, Emiliano Zapata
carried Her banner when he entered Mexico City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And in The Mexican Civil War (1926-1929), the rebels again championed her
image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">She is more than just Mexico’s
Patroness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is the country’s mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What does this mean to the
enchanting tale of a young lady dreaming of something more in present day Los
Angeles?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Citlalli, the lead
character in today’s story -- as well as Diana Kongkasem, its Writer-Director --
I imagine a great deal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But we’ll get to that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citlalli’s
Prayer</i>, an eleven-minute Short from Kongkasem’s 2002 New York University
Film Program, is the story of a young girl who is bullied at her new school and
looks to a certain magical mother as her safeguard and safe-haven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a simple story but that’s part of its
strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve already called it
enchanting, and it’s easily that, but -- as a fairy tale, a parable -- I’ll
also call it magical indeed because -- while the audience is left impressed by
the artistry (crucial to all entertainment, even magic) -- Kongkasem wisely leaves
us wondering what has happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More significantly,
she lets us decide what it means.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It may seem trite to say the story
is told from Citlalli’s point of view, but that’s not quite accurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, it feels as if Kongkasem -- clearly
comfortable in a child’s world -- has made us Citlalli’s invisible friend and
we’re going through Citlalli’s life directly beside her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To wit, when we see her Mother, we never
quite see her face, as if we never raise our child’s head that far;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>alas, I wish this was the same for The School
Teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It’s also worth pointing out
that even when we see the embodiment of our magical mother, we never quite see
Her face either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more on Her in a
moment.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever we interact with the
world, being right next to our child heroine, it’s always from that level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we do experience another, the change is pointedly
personified by … well, faith.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Shot on 16MM in 1.33 (that wonderful square of old) by Cinematographer
Rachel Morrison (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fruitvale Station</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cake</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dope</i>) in a beautifully tinged palette, we find ourselves immersed
in Citlalli’s world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could easily
turn off the Color and find ourselves immersed in Jean-Pierre Jeunet shot by
Gabriel Figueroa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that feels
deliberate;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not decreed by monetary
restrictions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kongkasem doesn’t take our
hand and lead us into her film but instead drops us -- full deep end -- into
her painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Set-in and shot-in Los
Angeles’ Koreatown, there are no -- and consider the subject matter -- postcard
pics of The City Of Angels;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no Hollywood
sign or Beach or even Downtown … and that’s a good thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a story that belongs in Citlalli’s bubble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not at all claustrophobic (the opening shot
is clouds against a bright blue sky) but -- whether inside or out -- there’s little
room to breathe … again a good thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
feel Citlalli’s yearning to break free right along with her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And that painting?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the palette is truly vibrant, it’s with
the splashes of how Citlalli sees the world;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>all its beauty in what <u>she</u> finds beautiful:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Papel Picado hanging like stars in her
bedroom, the painting of The Virgin of Guadalupe on the street wall as she
walks to school, the flowers in her school’s courtyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when the bullies are bullying -- a heartbreaking
beat in any context (and Kongkasem applaudingly sidesteps cliché) -- we’re not stricken
for our hero because we know she’s better than they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Admittedly, “better” is a tough word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just at her Arts & Crafts but smarter,
wiser;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wholly purer.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All wonderful brushstrokes against the canvas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, so sure are the brushstrokes that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citlalli’s Prayer </i>could be a Silent --
again a good thing -- the nuance of story well balanced by Kongkasem’s hand and
in the face of our child hero, portrayed by newcomer Emily Suzuki.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s tough not to root for a young lady being
bullied, but that doesn’t take away from Miss Suzuki carrying the film;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and us along with her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Kongkasem’s mother is Mexican, by
whom she’s wonderfully influenced, so it’s no surprise this thesis should
showcase that heritage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what’s
interesting about today’s story is instead of using Mexicans as characters --
and I don’t even mean caricatures -- or religion as pepper to make the plot something
“more” -- darker, brighter, sexier, more poignant;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>any of the clichés for which it’s too often
used -- Kongkasem simply tells her story in that world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it isn’t “showcased” at all but portrayed
as everyday reality;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>likely because that’s
simply who Kongkasem is (was at that age).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s not difficult to infer Citlalli is a young Kongkasem in the same way
Richard Dreyfuss was Steven Spielberg in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close
Encounters Of The Third Kind </i>(that film of theirs specifically because of
the intangible wonders they -- Dreyfuss the character and Spielberg the
storyteller -- face).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kongkasem uses a
very real scenario, untampered by a single drop of “type,” to showcase what’s
really important here:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the fantasy;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in my mind, the parable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Which brings us round to our history
lesson;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that brief reminder of who The
Virgin of Guadalupe is, how she came to be, what that means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brenda Canela (whose resume ranges from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CSI </i>to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Miss Sunshine </i>to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Call
Of Duty:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ghosts</i>) portrays Her embodiment
but, really, The Virgin of Guadalupe is in every scene;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>just as much as Citlalli.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Her presence is felt just as much in
today’s “institutions:”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>instead of New
Spain, it’s an urban school;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>instead of
the conquering of an indigenous tribe, we face school bullies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just as much as The Virgin of Guadalupe
lifted Her people above the rubble of a newborn country, so does She lift Citlalli
above the mediocrity imprisoning her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
again -- I must stress this -- <u>none</u> of this is in caricature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or by type.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or told melodramatically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather,
culture and religion are, here, as part of everyday life as oxygen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And that makes it even more breathtaking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I wonder if another great Mexican filmmaker saw today’s film
and was as impressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pan’s Labyrinth</i> -- made six years after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citlalli’s Prayer</i> -- is also an enchanting
fairy tale about a young lady yearning to break free from her world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Kongkasem certainly foreshadows Guillermo
Del Toro’s masterpiece in its magical quality -- its take on magic -- including
our introduction by a haunting lullaby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both raise the question, “Is the fantasy real?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Kongkasem’s Citlalli escapes into the
arms of The Virgin of Guadalupe, we then see her walk back into the school;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and while Del Toro’s Ofelia lays bleeding, we
then see her find her parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do both child
heroes find enough peace in the fantasy to accept reality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that the magic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And is that enough?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It’s too often quipped, “Great art should make us
think.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t believe that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it should make us <u>feel</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t always happen (or to each their
own), so when it does with something as simple as an eleven-minute Short Film
from fourteen years ago, yes, I’m enchanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, in that, Citlalli’s prayer has whole-heartedly been answered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-48495721032589185372016-07-09T13:08:00.003-07:002017-11-17T14:32:41.123-08:00Prince Valiant<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F1QjwhS6mpc/V4FZWejGeSI/AAAAAAAAAfA/jr2P675wIa8Ycd2yxBEiCA4o4QFThwmMgCLcB/s1600/pv54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F1QjwhS6mpc/V4FZWejGeSI/AAAAAAAAAfA/jr2P675wIa8Ycd2yxBEiCA4o4QFThwmMgCLcB/s320/pv54.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Hal Foster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you know the name, you know why
I’m opening with him;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and how great an
Artist -- Writer <u>and</u> Drawer -- he was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And if you don’t know the name?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span>In
1928, Harold<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"> Rudolf Foster</span><span style="color: #1c1c1c;"> began
one of the earliest adventure comic strips, an adaptation of Edgar Rice
Burrough’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tarzan</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, like all Artists, Foster wanted to do an
original and, in 1936, while still on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tarzan</i>,
pitched his concept to William Randolph Hearst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The newspaper tycoon was so impressed with Foster’s work that he offered
Foster a -- get this -- fifty-fifty split of the <u>gross</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naturally, The Artist said yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foster began work on <i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Derek, Son of Thane</span></i>, later
changing the name to <i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Prince Arn</span></i>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was King Features Manager Joseph Connelly
who had the best name yet … and so <i>Prince Valiant</i> was born.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c;">Prince Valiant in the
Days of King Arthur </span></i><span style="color: #1c1c1c;">(its first official title) premiered o</span><span style="color: #1c1c1c;">n 13 February,
1937, its first full-page -- Strip #66 -- appearing in the Sunday “New Orleans
Times Picayune.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Remember Full Page
Strips?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A comic taking up the full page
of a newspaper -- usually Sunday -- as opposed to the three or four panel
horizontal line we’re accustomed to today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you don’t, search out the best:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Foster, Alex Raymond <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Flash Gordon</i>),
Milton Caniff (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terry And The Pirates</i>),
Chester Gould (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dick Tracy</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really breathtaking work.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Mr. Foster himself ran <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prince Valiant </i>for <u>thirty years</u>,
officially ending in 1971 with Strip #1788 (though he’d write and sketch some
until 1975).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, you think thirty years
is impressive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prince
Valiant </i>is <u>still running</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don’t believe me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take a look
here --<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://comicskingdom.com/prince-valiant" target="_blank">http://comicskingdom.com/prince-valiant</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And what a run;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>an epic adventure that has told a <u>continuous story</u> during its <u>entire</u>
history, its stretch now totaling more than 4000 Strips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s regarded by comic historians as one of
the most impressive visual creations ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(And, to note, its format does not employ word balloons -- those white
ovals next to characters' mouths when they speak – instead the story is
narrated in captions … yes, <u>still to this day</u>.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comics archivist R.C. Harvey argues that
Foster and Alex Raymond “created the visual standard by which all comic
strips would henceforth be measured.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foster
was a major influence on The Golden Age of Comics (‘30s – 1950) including Jerry
Siegel and Joe Shuster (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superman)</i>,
Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America</i>)
and Bob Kane (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In 1970, Hal Foster was suffering from arthritis and
began planning his retirement. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had
several artists draw the Sunday pages before choosing John Cullen Murphy as his
permanent replacement in 1971. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In the late 70s, d</span>uring an
operation, prolonged anesthesia took Foster’s memory … and he no longer
remembered ever doing <i>Prince Valiant</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He passed away in 1982.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9M2LL7eWAg/V4FZkAO8mJI/AAAAAAAAAfE/Gls0JC-YNZMzNFuc65hqvPShPxiQ6ut8QCLcB/s1600/pv37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9M2LL7eWAg/V4FZkAO8mJI/AAAAAAAAAfE/Gls0JC-YNZMzNFuc65hqvPShPxiQ6ut8QCLcB/s320/pv37.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Look at that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s from 1937. And it <u>is</u> breathtaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it’s rare I include a picture other
than the movie’s one sheet, I will here for two reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, I don’t need to tell you how great Mr.
Foster was, you can now appreciate that for yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you can see how faithfully Hathaway &
Company told this story in our movie today (including taking story points
directly from the strips, and more on that in a bit).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Jumping ahead now, remember when I opened the </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jesse James</span></i><span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> write-up talking about its
music?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">Here’s another -- even
better -- example for you.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One of the first movie soundtracks I
bought was for our movie today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not one
of the first I <u>had</u>, per se, as my parents had vinyls of many (one of
theirs Diana and I still own -- and play -- is <em>The Sea Hawk)</em>; nor was it one of the first
movie soundtracks <u>I</u> owned (the first I remember anyway was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i>, bought for me by my
parents).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean the first movie
soundtrack I searched out and bought on my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was in Junior High and I went to my local Tower Records;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this was ’88 or ’89 and I wasn’t purchasing
my own vinyl yet, though I did splurge passed the Cassette for the CD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Come to think of it, I doubt they made a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prince Valiant </i>Cassette and $19.98 <u>was</u>
expensive for a CD, especially when the U2 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rattle
& Hum </i>Cassette was $10.98.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
so it went for me to enjoy this particular Franz Waxman any time I wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And if that name -- Franz Waxman -- sounds
familiar, I boasted about his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Objective
Burma! </i>violins in that write-up.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, enjoy my new Soundtrack I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prince
Valiant </i>is, for me, one of the Top 10 <u>Themes</u> period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(For those of you that know it -- sorry,
spoiler? -- when Waxman brings it back as The Singing Sword during the end duel
in that slow, echoey, bell-and-string manner?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goosebumps still.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And look at the first time we hear
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>This</u> is how an Arthurian
Adventure is supposed to open:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that
music over the 20<sup>th</sup> Century Fox Logo, then CinemaScope (only a
year old), then The Sword -- gleaming silver and gold on red velvet -- over
which our Main Title appears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those backplates
to the opening Title Cards?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twenty-six years
before Queen rocked Alex Raymond drawings in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flash Gordon </i>(1980) open, yes, that’s <u>Hal Foster art</u> setting the
stage for this;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one of the last, great,
old-school pageantries -- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Prince Valiant </i>(1954)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">w Dudley Nichols<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Based on King
Features Syndicate’s “Prince Valiant” by Harold Foster<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #181b21;">d Henry Hathaway</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thank you again, dear readers, for
joining me in these Top 5s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far for
Miss Leigh we have --<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Holiday
Affair<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Scaramouche</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">-- and today we continue in Period
Swordplay, this time in Arthurian England. To begin, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bosley
Crowther wrote for <i>The New York Times</i>,
in part:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Have you read any good comic books lately? Do you know what's going on with Prince
Valiant, his close friend, Sir Gawain, and the other knights of King Features'
Table Round? If you do, then you have a
good idea of what to expect from the big CinemaScope film that Twentieth
Century-Fox has concocted from Harold R. Foster's "Prince Valiant"
cartoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">For Director Henry Hathaway and his associates have whipped up
this clanging costume film in precisely the spirit and the aspect of the
comic-book original. The hero is a
glowing idealization, a straight high-school four-letter man, dressed up in a
black wig and the garments of a free-wheeling Arthurian squire. The villain is a double-crossing rascal in the
plumage of a Round Table knight. And the
action is a wide-screen conglomeration of Douglas Fairbanks and horse-opera
derring-do … in a full blast of Technicolor and stereophonic sound!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (And I love -- right there on our one sheet -- “You see it without glasses in CinemaScope,” a jab at the
as-current trend of 3D. <u>That</u>
fad’s big hits in ’54? <i>The Creature From The Black Lagoon </i>and,
yep, Hitchcock’s <i>Dial M For Murder</i>.)
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Comic books have always been a great mine for
stories. Sure, there have been hits for
years, beginning with Buster Crabbe as <i>Buck
Rogers </i>in 1936. And do you remember
the Don “Red” Barry <i>Red Ryder </i>Serials
opening by pushing in on a Comic Book Page, one of the panels coming to
life? Or Wild Bill Elliot as Red Ryder
and Bobby Blake as Little Beaver literally stepping out of a Big Little Book at
the beginning of their Republic pictures?
There were the many Serials in the 40s, great Animation from the 60s
through today, and <u>big</u> theatrical hits such as <i>Superman</i> (1978) and <i>Batman </i>(1989). Hollywood has always been a gold rush
business, but its current stampede is also something of a <span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Renaissance. </span>As I
write this -- July, 2016 -- we’re in the fourteenth year of a Comic Book Movie heyday,
beginning with <i>Spider-Man </i>in 2002 through
the Bryan Singer <i>X-Mens </i>and
Christopher Nolan <i>Batmans </i>(<i>Dark Knights</i>) to Marvel’s all-but lock
on popcorn munchers since unleashing their palette of <i>Iron Man</i> (2008), <i>The Avengers
</i>(2012) through this year’s <u>third</u> Captain America outting, <i>Civil War</i>. (Marvel appears so unstoppable that other
companies are mirroring their model:
Warner Bros. with its Superheroes and Universal with its Monsters.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Prince Valiant</i>, then, is a --<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sorry, I was about to
move on but a quick digression. If you
don’t know -- more importantly if you don’t <u>love</u> -- <i>The Rocketeer </i>(1991) you must find or rewatch or both. It isn’t just a great example of how to make
a Comic Book Movie, but how to make a great <u>Movie</u>. Okay, moving on …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Prince Valiant </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">remains as great from almost forty years before
that. Stepping out of the pages of
the Hal Foster comic, Writer Dudley Nichols and Director Henry Hathaway -- and
to a great extent in this movie particularly, Production Designers Mark-Lee
Kirk & Lyle Wheeler and Cinematographer Lucien Ballard -- capture the look
and feel of King Features’ Camelot perfectly;
including -- natch but key -- Robert Wagner’s </span>hair. Well,
since <span style="color: #262626;">Prince Valiant's -- the comic's -- years-in-the-telling storyline was so sprawling -- remember it’s <u>still</u> one continuous legend -- the
property languished at MGM, where no writer could get a handle
on it. MGM allowed its option
to lapse, and the property was picked up by 20<sup>th</sup> Century Fox where
Mr. Nichols built his Script by selecting panels from the comic itself. Think I’m
overstating? Watch the movie and take a
look at these actual comic panels (this image a page from Diana's and my ’51 Hastings House Book
Reprint).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U33VABdOin4/V4Gp5cjs7zI/AAAAAAAAAg4/WEL6UcmqCh09YnFvDa3p9p8ZRlBicesKQCLcB/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U33VABdOin4/V4Gp5cjs7zI/AAAAAAAAAg4/WEL6UcmqCh09YnFvDa3p9p8ZRlBicesKQCLcB/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="226" /></a><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">See
what I mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And that's just one example. </span>I really love stuff like
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when Val comes into Arthur’s
Throne Room at the end -- the showdown with The Black Knight -- that outfit
he’s wearing there -- the red cape, the round silver shield with the horse in
its center -- well, there he <u>was</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
the comic strip fans -- remember, our movie today came out in ’54, Hal Foster’s
tales very much a contemporary popularity -- <u>there</u> was <u>Prince</u> <u>Valiant</u>.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span> I don’t care how old you are, the kid in you </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><u style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">cheers</u><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Touching on the
Behind The Scenes as I do, we already touched on our Writer and Director in the
</span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Rawhide</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> write-up; they having worked on that together. So
let’s quickly run through the Cast. As the love-to-hate Sir Brack?
None other than James Mason who hit his stride in the 50s with </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Desert
Fox; </i><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Prisoner Of Zenda </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(1952) with </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Scaramouche </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">star
Stewart Granger; </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">A Star Is Born </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(1954); </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">20,000 Leagues Under The Sea</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(1954); and, perhaps his most famous, </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">North By Northwest. </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Unmistakable
with his cool, crisp voice, my favorite is </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Last Of Sheila </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">which, if
you don’t know it, </span><u style="text-indent: 0.5in;">wow</u><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> are you in for a treat. Who else?
There’s Sterling Hayden as Sir Gawain. You probably know him as Captain
McCluskey in </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Godfather</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> or, for you Stanley Kubrick fans, he’s in </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The
Killing</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> (1956) and </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Dr. Strangelove</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">. [Sorry, speaking of Mr.
Kubrick, James Mason is of course in </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Lolita</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> (1962).] As our
lovable old Viking Boltar? Yep, Victor McLaglen who John Ford fans
will spot immediately, but he’s also in the masterpiece </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Gunga Din</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(mentioned often throughout these write-ups) and he sailed the seas with Old
Ski Nose in </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Princess And The Pirate </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(indeed to appear in a future Top 5 with Virginia Mayo). Interestingly, as I made a point to
separate </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Rawhide </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">the Movie from the Clint Eastwood TV Show, it would be
in that TV Show -- the circle now complete? -- that Mr. McLaglen would give his
last on-screen performance. One more? Okay. Any </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Falcon </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">fans out
there? George Sanders or Tom Conway? They played brothers in the
famous detective series and were brothers in real life. Well, that's
Tom Conway as Sir Kay sitting at The Round Table. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> And Miss Leigh? I’m sorry we haven’t chatted about her at all yet in today's write-up; a bit like Ty in </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Witness For The Prosecution </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(and that was his last; in that Top 5 but also, for him, at all).
Of the five films in Miss Leigh’s Top 5, this is, admittedly, </span>her<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> least
chattable. But I love the movie so much I had to chat
about </span>it<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">. She’s great in it, even if she’s not given anything to
make her stand out (unlike in, say, </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Scaramouche</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">; what might have
been just another damsel role but isn’t). Interestingly, she’s not unlike
Victor McLaglen as Boltar. He brings such a joyous brutishness to that
relatively small role that Boltar ends up shining, and Miss Leigh does the
same. What might </span><u style="text-indent: 0.5in;">really</u><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> be an “eh” role is heightened by her
playing it, especially the moment when Gawain wakes up and she’s standing there
looking down at him, the crowned “halo” around her. Not far at all from
what Kirk Douglas’ Jonathan Shields says in </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Bad And The Beautiful</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">:
“When she’s on the screen, you’re looking at her. That’s </span><u style="text-indent: 0.5in;">star</u><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
quality.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Up next?
A very different turn indeed for our Miss Leigh as she maneuvers her darkest role in Orson Welles’ <i>Touch Of Evil</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-10855947111486151362016-02-16T10:42:00.000-08:002017-11-17T14:04:53.777-08:00Scaramouche<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xh5YZ1ScxW8/VsNr3_HHh2I/AAAAAAAAAXg/yIW2vLxiIlQ/s1600/Scaramouche.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xh5YZ1ScxW8/VsNr3_HHh2I/AAAAAAAAAXg/yIW2vLxiIlQ/s320/Scaramouche.jpg" width="235" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #151515; text-indent: 0.5in;">Commedia dell'arte. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;">“The comedy of craft;” the birth of
improvisation. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Its <span style="color: #151515;">first record is from Rome in
1551. A traveling troupe played outside on temporary stages, relying on
props and costumes, usually masked. The characters were devious servants,
harlequins and foolish old men playing themes of sex and jealousy, often
dangerously parodying current events. When troupes began to unite as a
guild, they adopted as their symbol the two-faced Roman god Janus;
championing their comings and goings as travelers, and the dual nature of Actor
as Character.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;"> Someone else underneath.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;">One of the crowd-favorites was a scheming rogue
buffoon. Literally “The Little Skirmisher,” Scaramuccia -- or, in France,
Scaramouche -- could be clever or stupid, pious or egotistical, however the
actor chose to portray him; and he often went back-and-forth within a
performance to escape those dangerous parodies (again championing the beloved
Janus).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;">A number of famous works have versions of the
character including Shakespeare’s <i>The Tempest</i>, Moliere’s <i>Les
Fourberies de Scapin</i>, Mozart’s <i>The Magic Flute </i>(and <i>The
Marriage Of Figaro </i><u>and</u> his seminal <i>Don Giovanni), </i>Leoncavallo’s
<i>Pagliacci </i>and Stravinski’s <i>Pulcinella</i>. Scaramouche was an
iconic figure in the Punch And Judy puppet shows, and you’ve probably sung the
famous line in Queen’s <i>Bohemian Rhapsody</i>, “… will you do the fandango?”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;">We touched on the author of today’s story --
Rafael Sabatini -- in the Tyrone Power <i>Black Swan </i>write-up; that
movie also based on a Sabatini novel. <i>Scaramouche </i>was first
published in 1921 and, simply put, tells of Andre Moreau who seeks to
avenge the death of his friend, murdered by The Marquis, at the onset of The
French Revolution. To hide from The Marquis as he trains with the sword,
Moreau joins a troupe of travelling actors, taking on the role of our eponymous
scheming rogue. In wonderful Romantic Adventure fashion -- even foreshadowing
the likes of Rick Blaine -- Moreau transforms from cynic to idealist … and not
without falling in love.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;">It was Sabatini’s first really big
success. It didn’t hurt that <i>Captain Blood </i>was next (1922) therefore
his earlier works were rushed into print. [Interestingly this included <i>The
Sea Hawk </i>(1915) which, while not a success in its original run, would
become Sabatini’s biggest.] <i>Scaramouche </i>was such a success that, all
but immediately, the first film version was produced in 1923. But it’s
our version today that cements the legend; and wait until we get to its
-- to this day -- record-holding climactic swordfight.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;">Of all that’s been written about the character,
Sabatini himself handled him best. This line opens the novel and today’s
film, so there’s no better way to jump in: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #151515;">“He was born with a gift of laughter, and a
sense that the world was mad.” </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Scaramouche </i>(1952)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">w Ronald Millar and George Froeschel <span style="color: #181b21;">from
the novel by Rafael Sabatini</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #181b21;">d George Sidney</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> There are a
few movies that still surprise me when I realize they’re not as popular as they
should be. <i>Ghost Breakers</i> isn’t in your Top 10? I get it.
I’m talking about today’s movie;
a perfect example. I often mention
<i>Scaramouche </i>to someone and they’ve
never heard of it. And it <u>does</u>
surprise me. It’s not just a matter of
it being sixty-plus years old. It was a <u>huge</u>
hit, both critically and commercially. A
hit sixty-plus years ago? Sure, okay,
but I saw it again recently and man does it hold up. No, it doesn’t “hold up.” <i>Scaramouche
</i><u>is</u> a great movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our old friend Bosley Crowther at <i>The New York Times</i> wrote in 1952, in part:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The shades of another era, both of history and of movie
romance, are being revived with extraordinary richness … A cheekier attitude
toward romance and a great deal more play with the swords are in this
latter-day whip-up, and these are the things that make it fun … Now they have a
spirited hero enlisted in the cause of liberté, égalité et fraternité, not to
mention love, lined up against a highhanded Bourbon who is 120 proof with the
sword … With blades ringing in the crowded theatre and blood spurting red from
time to time, it makes a mighty pretty picture. Doggone exciting too … Mr. Granger appears to
sense completely that he is not playing history. Mr. Ferrer, too … And in the
low-gowns-and-powdered-wigs department, Janet Leigh looks mighty good as the
Bourbon doll and Nina Foch is exceedingly flattering to Marie Antoinette. But it is really Eleanor Parker who wins the
female prize as the red-headed fire-brand of the theatre who keeps our hero on
the go … And certainly no less would be worthy of MGM.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Scaramouche </i>is an Action Film, a
Political Drama and a Love Story (actually three Love Stories, wonderfully
interwoven); all of it told as a
Swashbuckler. Truth be told, it’s not
unlike an Opera, because there’s indeed a theatricality at play. Not just in how the story’s told, but Theatre
is the running theme. That’s where
Moreau hides from The Marquis, where he finds sanctuary and the foundation of
his idealist evolve. Throughout the
story he’s rarely <u>not</u> “on stage,” including the training of the sword,
and addressing The National Assembly.
And it had to be in a theatre that Moreau and The Marquis finally face
each other in their climactic swordfight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">It’s a Swashbuckler to be
sure. But where it stands apart from,
say, <i>The Black Swan </i>is, while it borders
High Adventure, it never trips on that tightrope. [Incidentally our Director today, George
Sidney, had done the same with the Gene Kelly-starrer <i>The Three Musketeers </i>(1948).
Gene Kelly and Stewart Granger were both trained as fencers by Jean Hermans,
and Hermans would go on to do <i>Prince
Valiant </i>(1954), that movie next in our Top 5. But I digress.] “The shades of another era,” as Mr. Crowther
wrote. Remember, we’re twelve years
after Errol Flynn’s heyday; ten after Ty
in <i>The Black Swan</i>. So of course The Swashbuckler would mature. Sure, Granger is our “hero,” Parker is “sexy,”
Leigh “vigilant,” Ferrer “evil,” Foch “melodramatic” (and Scaramouche himself “slapstick
funny”) but they aren't caricatures.
We accept, understand, even empathize-with their relationships; including Moreau’s and de Maynes’ which -- by
the climax -- could trip into trite yet doesn’t. This is big, broad, wonderful Opera. As much fun as today’s movie is -- and it is --
because the characters remain grounded, so do we.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And here
we’ll focus a moment on our leading lady, Miss Janet Leigh. I didn’t go into this in <i>Holiday Affair </i>because (while it’s in that film too) I think it’s better highlighted in today’s. I think it prevails
in all her work, and why she was a success:
simply, few actresses showed such a wholesome strength as Miss
Leigh. I use “wholesome” specifically,
without treading into the likes of Doris Day or Julie Andrews; and “strength” doesn’t have to mean Bette
Davis or Katherine Hepburn. If anyone is
similar it’s Olivia de Havilland but indeed Miss Leigh had a unique way of blending
the two. In <i>Holiday Affair</i>, we accept her as both a single mother and a woman who
wants to fall in love. And in <i>Scaramouche</i> we see her as quiet and
humble but still coolly strong; a mirror,
of course, to Eleanor Parker’s fiery-red street-smarts without diminishing either
character. No doubt The Shower Movie will
pop up as we talk about Miss Leigh, and this is a perfect example: we buy Marion Crane’s stealing the money and
making a run for it <u>but</u> -- just as important to that character -- it’s her
wholesomeness that guts us when Norman walks into the bathroom. (Another perfect example? While <em>Touch Of Evil </em>doesn't show it to us yet, we know she'll walk again, head held high, <u>after</u>
what the gang does to her in that motel room. But more on that
in <u>that</u> film's write-up.) In all her roles -- I just think
it shines in <i>Scaramouche </i>because it’s
Period where a woman could be clichéd “less” -- Miss Leigh exudes wholesome
strength, making her a very Modern Woman.
Beautiful, kind, smart, even sexy in Aline’s own way -- and, sure, vulnerable
(aren’t we all) -- but never anything less.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Now, let’s take a look at our Writers today. Sir Ronald Millar was an English writer
who led an atypically Hollywood life.
While he started as an Actor and wrote Plays, he served in The Royal
Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II and eventually became <u>the</u>
Speech Writer for three consecutive Prime Ministers: Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher and John
Major. For Miss Thatcher -- who Knighted
him -- he wrote her famous line, “The lady's not for turning.” His political mind helped him well with his
screenplays such as ours today and <i>Never
Let Me Go </i>(1953) and <i>Betrayed </i>(1954); those two with Clark Gable. He wrote often with his co-writer today,
George Froeschel, an A<span style="color: #262626;">ustrian. A novelist by trade, Froeschel was signed by
MGM in 1939 where he worked for the next seventeen years on such big dramas as <i>Mrs. Miniver </i>(1942) for which he won The
Academy Award, <i>The Story Of Three Loves </i>and
<i>Command Decision </i>(1953), the latter
also with Clark Gable. It’s interesting
to see these two Writers on <i>Scaramouche</i>. Certainly the “heaviness" of "The Political
Opera" is theirs. But what about "The Comedic Swashbuckler?"<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> That
could very well be from our Director today, George Sidney, who was best
known for his Musicals from <i>Anchors
Aweigh </i>(1945) through <i>Viva Las Vegas </i>(1964). His father was a Broadway Producer, his
mother a Stage Performer; he was a child in Vaudeville before starting at MGM as a messenger. He got his start behind the camera shooting <i>Our Gang </i>Shorts in the late 30s and
would go on to a truly stunning career (including Judy Garland in <i>The Harvey Girls</i>). In 1946 he was the first to photograph Red
Skelton’s famous “Guzzler’s Gin” sketch (for <i>Ziegfeld’s Follies</i>). And in
his off-time? He was President of The DGA
from ’51-’56 and -- ready for this? -- co-founded Hanna-Barbera in 1957 (and was that company’s
President for ten years). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;">(A quick digression, if I may. Hanna-Barbera had created Tom & Jerry for
MGM in 1940 which was the beginning of the Hanna-Barbera-Sidney
relationship. When Disney turned MGM
down for Gene Kelly to dance with Mickey Mouse in <i>Anchors Aweigh</i>, Jerry The Mouse got the job. Sidney would later feature </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c;">Hanna-Barbera's
Fred Flintstone, Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear in his <i>Bye Bye Birdie</i>, that film also starring Janet Leigh.)</span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c;"> (Sorry, one more digression; quickly, I promise. Only mentioning the great Supporting Cast hardly does them justice, but that's Nina Foch as Marie Antoinette. She pops up in so many fun things, from <i>Boston Blackie's Rendezvous </i>to <i>Spartacus, </i>but I always think of her as Milo in <i>An American In Paris</i>. And that's John Litel as Dubuque in The National Assembly; one of my favorite character actors. We talked about him in <i>They Died With Their Boots On </i>and <i>San Antonio</i>. And then there's Lewis Stone; de Valmorin Sr. in our film today. Not only did he have a truly amazing career in his own right -- not just as Judge Hardy in that famous series -- but he was also in the 1923 <i>Scaramouche </i>where he played The Marquis.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Now, <u>finally</u>, a word on Jimmy Stewart. Sort of.
Remember, our hero today was born James Lablanche Stewart but there was
already a Jimmy Stewart in Hollywood so our guy took his grandmother’s maiden
name, tacked it on, and Stewart Granger was born. <span style="color: #1c1c1c;">He made his film
debut in England as an extra in 1933, then followed it up with years of Theatre
work. In World War II, he enlisted in
The Gordon Highlanders, transferring to The Black Watch with the rank of 2<sup>nd</sup>
Lieutenant. Invalided out of service, he
returned to acting and, in 1943, became a star in <i>The Man In Grey</i>. Through the
rest of the 40s he topped England’s box office … finally attracting Hollywood’s
attention. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In 1949 he made <i>Adam And Evelyne </i>co-starring Jean Simmons. The story, about an older man and a teenager
whom he gradually realizes is no longer a child, had obvious parallels to their
real lives. They married the following
year in a ceremony “produced” by Howard Hughes.
And it was in 1949 that he got his break, in MGM’s <i>King Solomon’s Mines </i>(a role offered-to but turned-down-by Errol
Flynn; and you remember how highly Mr. Granger thought of Mr. Flynn from our <i>Robin Hood </i>write-up). It’s a famous -- and true --
story that Granger personally requested a remake of <i>Scaramouche </i>as part of his contract. MGM acquiesced, though -- Gene Kelly’s <i>The Three Musketeers </i>being such a hit
three years before -- <u>after</u> having conversations with Kelly, Ava Gardner and
Elizabeth Taylor for our film today (but that really would be a digression, so …). The one-two-punch success of <i>King Solomon’s Mines </i>and <i>Scaramouche </i>launched a decade wave of
stardom for Mr. Granger who took over the mantle as Hollywood’s
Swashbuckler. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By the early 60s -- losing <i>A Star Is Born </i>(1954) to James Mason and turning down Messala in <i>Ben-Hur </i>(1959) -- Granger became a
successful cattle rancher, and left Hollywood in the wake of divorcing Miss
Simmons (his second of three marriages).
He then had a very successful German film career before returning to
Hollywood in the early 70s on Television, including playing Sherlock Holmes in <i>The Hound Of The Baskervilles </i>(1972)
with William Shatner as Stapleton. Mr.
Granger’s last great role returned him to The Theatre in the ’89-’90 Broadway
production of Somerset Maugham’s <i>The
Circle </i>opposite Rex Harrison and Glynis Johns (who you remember from our <em>The Court Jester </em>write-up).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Of course,
it’s a small miracle he made it through today’s movie at all. I’ll explain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c;"> A lot of
stars say they do their own stunts -- their publicists certainly do -- but
Granger did more than most, and a famous story during <i>Scaramouche </i>is the falling
chandelier. You remember it, right? de Maynes discovers Doutreval has been training Moreau in the sword, and de Maynes and Moreau have their first duel. </span></span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: x-small;">de Maynes cuts the rope and the chandelier drops,
Moreau rolling out to continue fighting.
An elaborate rig was built to stop the chandelier a foot from the
floor. Granger, no fool, asked to see it
work before laying underneath. George
Sidney assured him it was fine; besides,
it would take an hour to reset. Granger
rema</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c;">ined adamant. Sidney complied,
launched it, </span><u style="color: #1c1c1c;">and the chandelier embedded itself two inches into the stage</u><span style="color: #1c1c1c;">. Sidney </span></span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: x-small;">(a good man) went and threw up. Granger (also a good man) went and had a drink. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And this is as good a time as any to dissolve to the incredible <u>end</u> swordfight.
Moreau could barely hold a sword when he and de Maynes first met but,
when he saw his best friend murdered, he promised to kill de Maynes the same
way: by the sword. de Maynes can’t help but smile at the preposterousness. But then it’s Scaramouche on stage who spots de Maynes in the audience, stops the show, removes his mask, and
challenges him then and there. And is it
a <u>duel</u>. Perhaps <u>the</u> movie duel as
they fight all over the theatre <u>for six and a half minutes</u>; to this day the longest swordfight ever
filmed (and, incidentally, without music).
There are great swordfights, from Fairbanks to Flynn, Kelly in <i>The Three Musketeers </i>(1948), all the way
to <i>Seven Samurai </i>and <i>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon </i>… and,
yes, even <i>The Princess Bride, </i><i>The Mask Of Zorro </i>(1998), <i>Kill Bill </i>and beyond. But <u>this</u> <u>is</u> <u>it</u>. There are a few times I tell you how much I
love one of these movies, or laugh at one of the jokes, but this goes back to
my genuinely being surprised <i>Scaramouche </i>isn’t
as big a hit today as it was then.
‘Cause this climax?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Nope,
not overselling it at all.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Remember how the <span style="color: #1c1c1c;">Sabatini novel and
our movie today opens? “He was born with
a gift of laughter, and a sense that the world was mad.” A great line for a Story, sure, but it would
also become the author’s epitaph, appearing on Rafael Sabatini's gravestone in Adelboden, Switzerland.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Up next? Miss
Leigh travels to King Arthur’s Court in the famed Comic come to life, <i>Prince Valiant</i>!</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-55590600659995790932015-12-20T07:32:00.001-08:002017-11-17T11:12:07.856-08:00Holiday Affair<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ceyyZRKZ__k/VnbJ89TzHYI/AAAAAAAAAXM/D0zfnLvEt3U/s1600/Holiday%2BAffair%2BOne%2BSheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ceyyZRKZ__k/VnbJ89TzHYI/AAAAAAAAAXM/D0zfnLvEt3U/s320/Holiday%2BAffair%2BOne%2BSheet.jpg" width="224" />
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</span></a><br />
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<span style="color: #10131a;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">She once said, “My family was poor, and we moved so
many times because my father had to find work, but movies took me everywhere in
the world, to all these incredible places. I was Ginger Rogers. I was Norma Shearer. I was Joan Crawford. I could dance, I could sing. I knew I wanted to be in this business more
than anything else in the world.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thank you again, dear readers, for joining me as I
present another of my “Top 5 Retrospectives;”
the five movies I’ve chosen to showcase a given Actor. So far we’ve talked about Bob Hope, Errol
Flynn, Danny Kaye and Tyrone Power. And
rounding out the first five of these Top 5s is the first lady of the group …
who may incite the biggest upset so far.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -4.5pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">First, why is this our <u>first</u>
lady? Well, after Flynn, I wanted to
write about Paulette Goddard -- ‘cause of her work with De Mille and (of course)
work and life with Chaplin -- but I realized I’d already touched on at least
two of my favorites of hers with Bob Hope.
Ah! I’ll write about Olivia de
Havilland -- love her, fascinating life, <u>and she’s still with us</u> -- and
realized I’d just touched on a couple of hers with Flynn. So I picked Virginia Mayo -- who I’ve had the honor of meeting and I’ve always loved <i>The
Secret Life Of Walter Mitty</i> -- which led me to write about Danny Kaye
(though I think she’s next;
‘cause, come on, there are <i>The
Best Years Of Our Lives</i> and <i>White Heat</i>
to talk about, not to mention that pirate movie with Old Ski Nose). Then it was what would have been Tyrone
Power’s 100<sup>th</sup> Birthday and who could pass that up?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well, not too long ago, my wife Diana and I were talking about <i>White Christmas</i> (which, like <i>Mitty</i>, you can read about in my Danny
Kaye Top 5) and Diana said, “You know, I really enjoy <i>Holiday Affair</i> more.” And I
thought, “A <u>ha</u>! I’ll write about
Robert Mitchum! I had the pleasure of
meeting him too, great movies to pick from, hell of a life. And I’ll definitely include <i>Holiday Affair </i>which <u>is</u> great and
most people have never heard of it;
perfect for these write-ups.
Diana, you’ve done it again!” So
I start fiddling with Mitch and guess who keeps poking her nose out at me (no,
not Diana this time): Mitch’s co-star in
<i>Holiday Affair</i>. And when I was writing up Flynn I quoted
Stewart Granger and have always loved <i>Scaramouche</i>. And for Christmas <u>last</u> year [2014] Diana got
me the new Blu Ray of <i>Touch Of Evil</i>. All the while genius me is still fiddling
with Mitch. Well, a couple months ago,
Diana and I sat down to watch <i>Prince
Valiant</i> and there she was again, poking her nose out at me; and I gave in. “Are you going to pick <i>Psycho</i>?” Diana asked (quite intuitively, knowing these are <u>my</u>
picks and not always the obvious ones).
And here’s what I meant about the biggest upset so far. Perhaps even more surprising than my not
including <i>Hans Christian Anderson</i> for
Kaye, I’m <u>not</u> including The Shower Movie here. Aghast?
Perhaps. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But hopefully that’s not the only surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here are the films we’ll be talking about this
round; as always, simply in the order of
<u>when</u> they were released:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Scaramouche </span></i><span style="color: #262626;">(1952)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Prince
Valiant </span></i><span style="color: #262626;">(1954)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Touch Of
Evil</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (1958)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">The
Manchurian Candidate </span></i><span style="color: #262626;">(1962)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And beginning today with a real Christmas treasure
(after all, ‘tis the season): <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Holiday
Affair</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (1949)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">w Isobel Lennart from a Story by John D. Weaver<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">d Don Hartman<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;">Janet Leigh was born Jeanette Helen Morrison on 6 July,
1927 in Merced, California. In 1945 --
not yet pursuing an acting career -- she was living in Sugar Bowl, CA -- the
ski resort where her father was working at the time -- and </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">Norma
Shearer saw a photograph of her. She
showed it to her husband (Irving Thalberg) and a friend (Lew Wasserman) who got
Miss Morrison a contract at MGM; and the
rest, as they say, is history. Shearer
herself: “Her smile made it the most
fascinating face I’d seen in years.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">Miss Morrison made her film debut in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Romance Of Rosy Ridge </i>opposite Van
Johnson (she got the role by reciting Phyllis Thaxter’s looooong speech in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo</i>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you know Miss Thaxter as Martha Kent in the
Christopher Reeve <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superman</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During shooting of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rosy Ridge</i>, Morrison's name was first changed to “Jeanette Reames” then
“Janet Leigh” then back to “Jeanette Morrison” because “Janet Leigh” sounded
too close to Vivien Leigh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Van
Johnson didn’t like that;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he loved Janet
Leigh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “You know there’s Van
Heflin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two Vans and it </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">hasn't
hurt either of us.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">so
our starlet was born.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Her third
of four marriages, Leigh married actor Tony Curtis in 1951 and they had two daughters,
Kelly and -- you probably know this one -- Jamie Lee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During their high-profile marriage, Leigh and
Curtis starred in five films together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adept
in Period, Comedy -- even Westerns -- Leigh’s probably best known for her Dramas,
most famously <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Touch Of Evil </i>… and, sure, The
Shower Movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d continue well into the
nineties (her seventies), mostly on Television where, on both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fantasy Island </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Boat</i>, she guest-starred twice as different characters;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and as a sadistic Thrush Agent in a two-part <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Man From U.N.C.L.E. </i>(released in
Europe as the feature <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Spy In The
Green Hat</i>);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and -- my favorite of
her TV work -- as a retired song-and-dance star in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Columbo </i>“Forgotten Lady” which utilizes footage from her own <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walking My Baby Back Home</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rounding out a genuinely varied and impressive
career, she appeared in two films with her daughter, “Scream Queen” Jamie Lee: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Fog </i>(1980) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Halloween H20</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or maybe you remember her as the writer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, Miss Leigh is the author of four
books (and not ghost-written, they’re hers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her first, the memoir <i>There Really Was A Hollywood</i> became a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York Times </i>bestseller, followed by <i>Psycho:
Behind The Scenes Of The Classic Thriller</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But </span>it wouldn’t just be
Non Fiction, she also wrote two Novels (set in Hollywood), <i>House of Destiny</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dream Factory</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">She served on the board of directors of the
Motion Picture and Television Foundation, and was a staunch Democrat, appearing
alongside Tony Curtis at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.</span><sup><span style="color: #092f9d; font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></sup><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She graced 86 projects, won The Golden Globe
for The Shower Movie (nominated for its Oscar, lost to Shirley Jones in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elmer Gantry</i>), and as late as 1995 was
chosen by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Empire </i>as one of the 100
Sexiest Stars in Film History.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said,
“</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">I
don't know what it is I exude. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
whatever it is, it's whatever I am!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Must be all right; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scarlett
Johansson played her in 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hitchcock</i>.</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> F</span>or today, let’s
get back to Christmas, 1949 and that bright twenty-two year old Comparison Shopper
with a son and a fiancee who’s about to meet Robert Mitchum in the toy
department of a store in New York City …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">Holiday
Affair </span></i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">is, more than anything else, charming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d been thinking about how to dive into this
write-up and I thought, simply, “Why do I like it?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the reason I can watch this over and over
again is, simply, because of how indisputably charming it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(While I’m thinking of it, I feel the same way
about the other Christmas movie we’ve chatted about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to compare this to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Christmas</i> -- they’re <u>quite</u> different -- but while both
are simple stories -- bordering on whimsy </span><span style="color: #262626;">-- they’re both
just endearingly <u>charming</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I
mentioned in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Christmas </i>write-up
how much I love <u>this</u> movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay,
moving on.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holiday Affair </i>is a simple story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I think that helps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
no pretense </span>about who anyone is, or their
relationships;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>including Connie’s and Carl’s,
and more on him in a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steve
is Steve, Timmy is Timmy, Mr. Crowley is Mr. Crowley, The Seal is The
Seal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Connie’s in-laws aren’t particularly
noteworthy other than it’s nice they still treat Connie as their family (and it’s never
a forced point).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That and the toast Mr.
Ennis gives Mrs. Ennis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, it taunts
Connie of what she might have had with her deceased husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She sees a genuine Mr. Ennis and Mrs. Ennis; what she could still have if she'd let herself be happy; not just how she pushes her son into those roles. And, sure, it’s one more push toward Steve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s all such obvious subtext that even
the toast about a wife hiding her husband’s glasses so he needs her <u>is</u> endearing
<u>because</u> of its schmaltz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor do
any of the characters have great arcs -- even good ones -- including Connie and
Carl. Theirs is the only one and it’s 40s
slight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is one of the rare
times when not only doesn't it matter, it works in its favor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You aren’t worried about how this affair is
going to end, nor are you in the slightest bit upset about it, because you’re
enjoying the getting-there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The charm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Including Mitch who -- while it might seem like miscasting here -- is half
the reason it works;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and more on him in
a bit too.<span style="color: #262626;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d1d1d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One thing to say about Christmas movies in
general is, if you think about it, they’re all kinda <u>dark</u>, aren’t
they? At least at their start. Let’s poke-at a few of the
classics. Any version of <i>A Christmas Carol </i>(natch). <i>It’s
A Wonderful Life</i>? George Bailey wants to kill himself. <i>Miracle
On 34<sup>th</sup> Street </i>takes Santa Claus to court. <i>The Apartment</i>? Practically everything about it. Of course, Miss Kubelik … well, you
know. Even a few of the moderns such as <i>Home
Alone </i>and <i>A Nightmare Before Christmas </i>(and I like them both), it’s
there in their titles. Even <u>kids’</u> fare -- <i>A Charlie Brown
Christmas</i> -- <u>man</u> is it there. Most of these stories could be
anytime, really, but that they’re given the Christmas “spin” makes them even
more poignant. Our charmer today?
Connie is a widow raising her son, dating a good guy but she’s not in love with
him, trudging through a job ‘cause it pays the bills, treating her son like the
man of the house ‘cause she can’t let go of the past, the son returning the
greatest gift he’s ever received ‘cause he knows they’re broke, and who’s the
knight in shining armor? A loafer who lunches with a seal. But what
all Christmas movies have in common is what we love about them: grabbing someone -- not tapping them on the
shoulder, <u>grabbing</u> them -- pulling them up, shaking them off;
shoving them into the part of their world still worth living for. Often
with a little magic? Okay but I’ll stand by this: more than a
little charm.</span></span><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="color: #1f242d; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(Incidentally
-- like </span><i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">It's A Wonderful Life</span></i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"> --
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holiday Affair </i>was a box-office flop
that found fandom yeeeeears after its release with viewings on Television.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted, our movie today isn’t nearly the classic
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life </i>has become but, again, that’s
why I’m here sharing these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
showcase the “unknowns” I think you’ll enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Okay, moving on again.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Let’s talk a
little bit about Connie and Carl and Timmy, ‘cause they’re the heart of the
thing (Steve notwithstanding but you know what I mean).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I want to touch on Carl -- the wonderful Wendell Corey -- because, for me,
he showcases a lot of why this movie works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, his and Connie’s is the only arc in the piece, and what
I’ve always loved about their relationship is that Carl is a good guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has no agenda, he simply loves her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he
never strikes out against Steve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
when they’re sizing each other up -- standing in front of the fireplace, Carl
with tree lights around his neck, their talking about the weather -- it’s
casual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Steve has his run-in with
the law (and a great “bit” with Harry Morgan), Carl’s the one to stand up for
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And --<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>while everyone else sees it -- it’s Carl who
finally makes Connie see who she really loves. Where Carl could have been a clichéd “other," he’s wonderfully anything but.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And Timmy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the best written youngsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And best portrayed, thanks to Gordon Gebert,
who you might recognize as a young Audie Murphy in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Hell And Back </i>(1955).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here he more than holds his own with Mitch and Miss Leigh;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and eventually in his career Burt Lancaster,
Virginia Mayo, Charles McGraw … and John Wayne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He’s adorable without being cute, spunky without being pompous, and far
wiser than even his own mother as he goes along as “Mr. Ennis.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Interestingly, Miss Leigh is only fourteen
years older than young Gebert in this.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A lot of appreciation for characters is in how others respond to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of the mouths of babes, when Timmy likes
Steve, well, that’s that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fiddling with Mitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He <u>does</u> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">seem an odd
choice for this kind of movie, and he certainly was in its day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he’d had popularity with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big Steal </i>(1949), reuniting him with
his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Out Of The Past </i>(1947) co-star
Jane Greer, the tabloids were still full of his arrest and prison sentence for
possession of marijuana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But RKO’s owner
at the time, Howard Hughes, had faith in him and refused to drop him from </span><span style="color: #262626;">his contract. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No small amount of faith, just before filming on
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holiday Affair </i>began, Hughes paid
$400,000 to acquire sole ownership of Mitchum from David O. Selznick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I do think Mitch is good casting here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The character of Steve isn't Cary Grant or
James Stewart or Gary Cooper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone else,
he’s Bogart [and Mr. Bogart felt like miscasting in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sabrina </i>(1954) yet he’s perfect in it].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steve’s is a hardened sweetness and therefore
Mitch is a great mirror to Wendell Corey’s Carl. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">I won’t go into Mr. Mitchum’s career suffice to
say if you haven’t seen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">His Kind Of Woman
</i>please do, it’s <u>his</u> unknown gem … and that I had the pleasure of
meeting him at his home near Santa Barbara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was 1994 and my dad arranged Charles Champlin -- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Los Angeles Times</i>’ Art Editor
Emeritus -- to interview Mitch for The Lone Pine Film Festival;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lone Pine’s Alabama Hills being where Mitch
made his first starring feature, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nevada</i>
(1944).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just lucky to tag along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Riding up in the car with dad and Mr.
Champlin -- listening to them talk Movies -- was lucky enough, but to knock on
a door and have Robert Mitchum open it with a “Hi fellas, come on in,” well,
there it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a true gentleman,
and I found him surprisingly passionate -- in his own soft-spoken way -- about
his work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He genuinely appreciated his
career and being able to "play for a living." As they wrapped the interview, Mr. Mitchum
signed a drawing Dad did for me and when I said, “Thanks, Mr. Mitchum,”
he smiled and said, “Call me Mitch.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like many
who worked with him, Miss Leigh discovered he was indeed a dedicated actor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is not to say he didn’t enjoy himself,
including practical jokes, but she found they always had purpose. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Miss Leigh </span>told TCM, “During the Christmas dinner
scene, he and Wendell Corey both slipped a hand onto my knee under the table. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started fidgeting in response, which turned
out to be the perfect reaction for the scene.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, “Later, when Mitch and I shared our first kiss, he really kissed me,
again getting just the right reaction.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">To wrap up, I’ll re-touch-on today’s Producer-Director,
Don Hartman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked about him in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing But The Truth </i>and, while he was
a great Writer, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holiday Affair </i>is one
of only five films </span><span style="color: #262626;">he
Directed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, in 1951 he headed P</span><span style="color: #262626;">roduction
at Paramount;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and in 1956 formed his own
Production Company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think he <u>is</u>
a good Director, not getting in the way of good Story -- that comes from being
a Writer first -- but also knowing when to have fun with the thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holiday
Affair </i>revolves around the train, our fantasy bookended by it, so he starts
and ends on the toy (in, dare I say, a foreshadow to Tim Burton who -- at his peak
-- beautifully used models in the same manner).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you aren’t warmed by the time Steve
gets the telegram and he and Connie are running to each other through the compartments
-- you must be by the time they pick up Timmy -- well, you deserve to take the
train back to Mr. Crowley.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;">Up next, we go back to The French
Revolution with Janet Leigh as </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c;">Aline de Gavrillac who falls in love with the
dashing and mysterious <em>Scaramouche</em>!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-85485624347375260622015-12-17T08:01:00.000-08:002016-03-18T16:09:36.945-07:00So You're Going To The Movies!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tV2PFTTpT6w/VnLc3wxWj6I/AAAAAAAAAW4/Z26FcvYvsBU/s1600/swh8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tV2PFTTpT6w/VnLc3wxWj6I/AAAAAAAAAW4/Z26FcvYvsBU/s400/swh8.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Two <u>very</u> big movies are about to be released (and perhaps you've heard of them). There's Quentin Tarantino's new one, <i>The Hateful Eight, </i>and there's the next installment from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Planning on going to see them? Probably. But <u>how</u>? Well ...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> How and why we go to the movies -- to theatres
-- has always been a tug-of-war. I don’t
often get into the hows and whys of The Movie Industry but a couple things I heard recently made me want to chime
in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">And more than a little they revolve around these two biggies. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Re </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hateful Eight</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">, I heard, “The Weinstein Company is making changes to the release.” </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">That they were changing the </span><u style="font-family: 'times new roman'; text-indent: 0.5in;">date</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> didn’t surprise me but that Mr. Tarantino was making </span><u style="font-family: 'times new roman'; text-indent: 0.5in;">cut</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> changes raised an eyebrow. Then I thought, "Is it still going to be in 70?" </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">And re </span><i style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The Force Awakens, </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I heard, “I can’t wait to see it in IMAX!” to which I
thought, “I don’t think you can.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But
more on those in a moment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Because
first we’ll talk about Marcus Loew, a famous 1948 U.S. Senate decision, and B
Movies;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because frankly I have to get at
least a <u>little</u> fandom history into the hows and whys.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Marcus
Loew, the creator of MGM and one of the most successful figures in The Biz,
was, first and foremost, an Exhibitor.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“I don't sell tickets to movies,” he said, “I sell tickets to theaters.”</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">He co-founded The People's Vaudeville
Company which included several penny arcades in New
York City and one in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he built a 110-seat theatre on the
second floor to screen motion pictures.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Loew
ran Nickelodeons -- houses that screened movies for five cents -- but he made
his mark with what was called "small-time vaudeville," a show that combined
a live vaudeville performance with a movie;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">take a look at James Cagney in </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Footlight
Parade </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">for a fun rendition.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">By
1920, Loew owned or leased more than fifty theatres from Canada to New Orleans
and became committed to developing a Vertically Integrated motion picture
company, which controlled Production (making the movie), Distribution (getting that movie to theatres) and
Exhibition (showing that movie to </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">audiences</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">).</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">In 1919 he formed Loew's Inc, purchased the Metro film studio and then
Goldwyn Pictures.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">In 1924, he acquired
Louis B. Mayer's Los Angeles studio and formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Until his death in 1927, Loew continued to
expand his theater holdings, including newly built picture palaces.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">His legacy lasted and thrived, all the majors
following his model.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">And in the 20s he
(did not pioneer but) championed “The Road Show,” where a </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">movie opened in a limited number of theatres for a specific period of time before its general
release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it was an <u>event</u>,
with only one or two showings a day, often live-music Accompaniment (including Overture), an Intermission,
Souvenir Program, the works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you can
imagine, the first talkie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jazz Singer
</i>(1927) was a big one, as was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gone
With The Wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>With the rise of
Television in 1952 and continuing through the early 70s, Studios tried to bring
movie audiences back to theatres by making widescreen epics, again using the
"Road Show" formula, but they soon faded away.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Studios (for this bit we can lump them together) attained a virtual monopoly
over the film industry by limiting The Exhibitor’s freedom in booking
films;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>most significantly in the Run
Zone Clearance system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The U.S. was
divided into geographical zones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In each
zone, movies moved consecutively from first-run (say Manhattan) through
final-run (say Mississippi) venues, ticket prices dropping with each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was also a “clearance” time between
runs, meaning moviegoers might wait a year after a film premiered at a
downtown picture palace before it reached a neighborhood theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By privileging theatres and organizing
distribution accordingly, The Studios all but guaranteed films ensured maximum profits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(And this doesn’t take into account the direct monopoly The Studios’ own
theatres ensured along Broadway;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that is
Downtown L.A.’s Theatre District.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A </span>remaining Studio-owned theatre is El Capitan, Disney’s own in the heart of Hollywood.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even after
Loew’s death in 1927, his model lasted and thrived … until 1948.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As
early as 1940, independent movie producers -- including Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles,
David O. Selznick and Walt Disney -- formed The Society of Independent Motion
Picture Producers (SIMPP). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But o</span>n May 3,
1948, The Supreme Court -- in the famous “U.S. Versus Paramount” case --
declared The Studios a monopoly and ordered them to divest their ownership of
movie theatres. This opened the movie industry to independent
producers and theatres, indelibly changing the way we see films (and the films
we see).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The case is important both in
U.S. Antitrust Law and Film History, remaining a landmark decision in Vertical
Integration cases and as the first nail in the coffin of The Studio
System.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“U.S. V Paramount” still
controls Movie Distribution and Exhibition in the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>oday, studios splitting gross profits with
theatres (and read that again if you
need to:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not net, <u>gross</u> profits).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Before we go on, please remember a couple of terms so far: “The Road Show” and “Vertical Integration.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Cause we’ll be chatting about both of those again.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First, how do Studios and Theatres
make money? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well,
simply, The Theatre rents the movie from The Studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it used to be that simple, beginning with
an actual rental of one of the prints The Studio made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted there would be higher fees for the “A
Pictures,” smaller fees for “B Movies.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incidentally,
those terms come from when Double Features were common at your local theatre,
and they were simply listed like that in the Studio Log.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“A:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Double Indemnity</i>, B:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cobra
Woman.</i>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The A Picture was your big
budget star vehicle while the B Movie was, simply, less expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less expensive for The Studio to make but, just
as importantly, less expensive for The Theatre to rent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But back to how Studios and Theatres make
money.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In
the late 40s, early 50s -- a lot changed when Studios and Theatres battled
Television -- a standard rental fee went bye-bye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, Studios realized they could make
even more money than “a little more for Bette Davis.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> So you </span>buy a ticket for a movie. Well, most of that
money goes back to The Studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
much?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first couple weeks a movie
shows, the theatre only keeps 10-20%, the percentage depending on the individual leasing deal. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(For <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star
Wars:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Attack Of The Clones, </i>Twentieth
Century Fox took 100% of the box office for the first week;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>remember Lucasfilm is The Production Company,
Twentieth Century Fox is The Distributor.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the movie moves into its second and third weeks of release, the
percentage swings in the theatre’s favor:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>anywhere from 45% – 55% and it gets even better after the fourth week
when theatres generally keep 80%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But </span>say you finally get around to seeing a movie that’s been showing four weeks, you might be the only person in the place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t do the theatre much good to keep 80%
of the ticket sales when they’re only selling one ticket a show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with more and more movies getting
released every week, the length of time a movie stays in theatres is already
shrinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When averaging the whole run,
the theatre might only take 25% of ticket sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So how do they stay in business?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You guessed it, the $20 popcorn you’re
eating.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Over the years, it’s not uncommon for Theatres to take a loss for a
given movie based on ticket sales alone, and there’s not too much they can
do about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t make the movies
themselves -- most of them, we’ll get to that -- and they certainly can’t turn
away major blockbusters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what do The
Studios do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throw more weight around
with things like, “Well, if you <u>don’t</u> put this movie on half your
screens for this amount of time and give us x% of the gross, you’ll not be
seeing <u>our</u> films for a while!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Frankly, </span>Theatres don't focus on volume of customers, rather on the right customers; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who buys what tickets … and who's willing to pay for $20 popcorn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But
Theatre Chains have a little weight too … with each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look Cinemas in Dallas recently opened a $20 Million Theatre just in time
to find out a new AMC Theatre a mile away would be showing the third <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hunger Games</i> … <u>solely</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look was even more stunned to learn they were
placed on a list of theatres <u>across the country</u> AMC deemed
"predatory competitors."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new generation of Run Zone
Clearance, AMC got Studios to ensure rivals in proximity could not play new releases at the same
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(AMC has been especially
aggressive in the three years since China's Dalian Wanda Group acquired the
company for $2.6 billion.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Legal?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now, although there are more Antitrust Suits on the
horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And I’m not here to smear AMC;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regal and Cinemark are doing the same
thing.) "This is the sort of thing Antitrust
is particularly worried about,” wrote Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law
School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Do we have a few dominant
players entering into deals that make it harder for independent companies to
establish themselves and gain ground?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Eyes
not glazing over yet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add Video On Demand to the mix
(exploding in 2011).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theatres nearly
fainted when Warner Bros., Sony, 20th Century Fox and Universal launched VOD Services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Theatres’ first
reaction?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally fight back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pull those studios’ Trailers and Posters for
the big summer movies! (Well, the only people happy at the time were Disney
and Paramount.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The threat would
eventually prove … not meaningless but not worthwhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because what if x movies weren’t shown in
Theatres?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’d still be shown on VOD
and probably for the same price (or people would just wait for the DVD), The Studios
making <u>all</u> the cash <u>and</u> VOD is legitimized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(We aren’t quite there yet because, as you
can imagine, The Theatres went quickly -- and fairly quietly -- back to
the way things were.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Now
-- ready for this? -- many feel the continued battles are a direct result of
the 1948 U.S. Senate decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Studios <u>should</u>
own Theatres again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they make it
look easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Say a movie <u>over</u>performs
in St. Louis, Nashville and Kansas City, but disappoints in Los Angeles and New
York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If The Studios owned The Theatres,
they would have shortened runs on the coasts, and perhaps shown it more in the
Midwest, thereby giving the people what they want (and of course suffering
fewer losses).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also say Studios
owning Theatres would shorten the time it takes a stale movie to move from
Theatres to Home Release. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As one industry insider noted, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“If 92% of a movie’s gross
comes in the first four weeks, wouldn’t it make sense to put out a movie and, after four weeks, say 'We’re moving this to DVD?'”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And from Candace Carlo, Head of Entertainment
Law at Greenberg Glusker, “In 1948, you didn’t have TV. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For entertainment you went to a movie theater,
and the motion picture studios controlled everything. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then the marketplace changed dramatically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now with The Internet, it’s an all-but-obsolete ruling.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Just
this year, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">two
high-profile Execs argued publicly for Studio ownership of Theatres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, at a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Variety</i> confab, Joe Roth;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and, at The PGA’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Produced By</i>
Conference, Mark Cuban.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> For
Roth, the solution is to regain control over sequential distribution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You need to manage the way you present your
product in the first window,” he told <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Variety</i>.
“You need to control that experience, and the only way that happens is if you
own theaters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technology is not the
enemy, it’s the coming onslaught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
need to use the first window to make as much of an event of your movie as
possible, to be able to determine how long a film will play and how it will be
promoted.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roth himself faced an
exhibitor revolt over <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alice In Wonderland</i>
(2010) on which he was a Producer, when European theatres threatened to boycott
the pic because Disney wanted to speed its
release into the Home Market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roth
again:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s symbolic of what’s in store
in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we’re just at the
beginning of such skirmishes.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now, Mr. Cuban is something of an
asterisk in the mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I wrote earlier,
“[Theatres] can’t make the movies themselves -- most of them, we’ll get to
that,” Cuban owns Landmark Theatres, Magnolia Productions, Magnolia Home
Entertainment, HDNet and HDNet Movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still, his is a voice worth listening to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wrote to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Variety </i>in direct response to Joe Roth’s talk:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Joe is absolutely right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being vertically integrated would allow a
large organization to optimize how and where it releases content.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Remember I said to remember “Vertical
Integration?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1948 was hardly the end of
that.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Cuban continued: </span>“Being vertical has made us
smarter and more profitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know
which movies play best in which Landmark Theater, which movies work best in
day-and-date release and in pre-theatrical release to VOD.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Say Warner Bros. does own Theatres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not like Disney owning El Capitan -- a one-screen
theatre -- but a multiplex, a chain of multiplexes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now Paramount wants to show a movie there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Paramount would have to negotiate with
Warner Bros. over a percentage of the box office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As would Warner with the Paramount
theatres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what if Warner doesn’t
have a theatre in your city;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you don't get to see one of their movies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And
you thought negotiating Run Zone Clearance after The Road Show was bad.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s former Disney and Fox Exec, now CEO of
Pandemonium Films, Bill Mechanic:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If
you own theaters, you have to worry about two businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, the real solution to declining revenues is
to make better films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you make a
crummy movie that you can’t expect people to buy more than one time, then shame
on you.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Huh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Make better films.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Which brings us to as recent as </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic;">The </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic;">Hateful</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><i> Eight </i>and <i>The Force Awakens</i></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> To
recap, re </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hateful Eight </i><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 "; text-indent: 0.5in;">I heard, “The Weinstein Company is making changes to the release.” </span><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 ";">And re </span><i style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The Force Awakens </i><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 ";">I heard, “I can’t wait to see it in IMAX!”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> "Huh?" And "Can we?" Well, Studios and Theatres are </span><u style="font-family: 'times new roman'; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">still</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> playing tug-of-war.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We’ll start with Mr. Tarantino and
his newest movie, scheduled to release Christmas Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tarantino
loves releasing at Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember
the tag for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jackie Brown</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Santa’s got a brand new bag.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he always has a little something extra
for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time it’s
shooting and releasing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hateful Eight</i>
in 70MM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s first talk about what
that means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">70MM film -- actually 65, the last 5 is for Audio -- is, to be fair,
exactly what it sounds like:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>big film;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>twice the size of 35 and, for the purpose of
this piece, that’s about as far as we need to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except to say it’s rare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>The vast majority of theatres can’t handle
it, so even original 70MM films -- say a re-release of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ben Hur </i>-- are shown using 35MM prints or, today, probably Digital
Projection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second “problem” is the
theatre itself, which most likely isn’t built for the size of the image: a true Cinerama screen (not just its size,
it’s curved too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it’s not just a
matter of “Can we capture this image that way?” but -- remember we’re talking
Studios and Theatres having to work together -- “Can we show it that way?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or let’s be honest and say what everyone
really means:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Is it monetarily
profitable?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While 70MM film has been
around since the 1890s, everyone thinks of it as hitting in the late 50s to
battle Television -- Studios luring audiences back into Theatres -- and that’s
of course true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But since the early 70s
the answer to "Is it monetarily profitable?" proved too big a “No.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Now, we </span>have seen a certain resurgence as
some filmmakers with the right clout are using it again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kenneth Branagh’s ’96 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hamlet</i>, Terrence Malick’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
New World</i>, and Christopher Nolan’s last four movies had <u>portions</u> in
IMAX.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Wait, that’s IMAX, we're talking 70MM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, we’ll get to
that.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even today with technology making
formats a little easier, it’s still not easy enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Not to mention it’s still tricky for The Home Market. While VHS and DVD could not
handle the image, Blu Ray can; but, even if the film was shot 70, most video
transfers come from a 35 print as most telecine (film transfer) machines can’t handle
the physical 70 celluloid.] Frankly it’s <u>all</u> a matter of cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>70 film (celluloid) is expensive, the cameras
are expensive, processing it and making prints is expensive, having a theatre
big enough to accommodate it, the necessary projectors in that theatre, at this point your
eyes must really be glazing over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But those two bits -- what you’re
seeing and where -- is, again, very much the purpose of this piece.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s no secret that Mr. Tarantino
loves movies -- and respects them -- so it wasn’t a surprise that his
next film, a Western, would be in 70MM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And not just shot on that film format, it’s the first movie since 1966’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Khartoum </i>to use Ultra Panavision 70MM
Anamorphic Lenses (and <u>that’s</u> something you <u>can’t</u> do Digitally).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Panavision’s Vice-President Dan Sasaki said,
“[Quentin] <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">really wants to get people
back into theaters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re not going to
get this [at home]. He did something really great to bring that [experience] back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wanted an epic Western, something that
hasn’t been seen in forever, that would really wow people.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Buzz from the early footage at Cine
Gear Expo was huge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
that <u>we</u> get to properly experience it all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Tarantino and Panavision worked to outfit 100 theatres across the country with 70MM projectors, allowing audiences to see
the film the way he intends. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Panavision
even retro-fitted 19 lenses to allow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Hateful Eight </i>to be “properly” filmed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(These lenses are expected to be used for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rogue One</i> but
whether that film is projected in 70MM remains to be seen.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now here’s where we get to “The Weinstein
Company Making Changes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The </span>studio is set to allow a small number of theatres in select cities
to show a Digital Version of “The Road Show Cut” as of Christmas Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Remember our talking about those with Marcus
Loew?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, Mr. Tarantino has prepared
a Road Show Cut of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hateful Eight</i>,
with an Overture, Intermission and Souvenir Program; just
one more incentive to get us into theatres.) Well, as it previously stood, that edit of the film was only going to be
shown in 70MM, with Digital Presentations coming for the wide release, but now
that plan has shifted with the movie moving up from 8 January
to New Year’s Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And how did we get
here?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> The goal was to have </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hateful Eight </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">in
100 (70MM retro-fitted) theatres for Christmas Day. However, Weinstein also insisted that
the theatres pick up the cost of the prints, which we know is expensive.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">(And read that again if you need to.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Prints.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Celluloid.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">So not just their cost
but which theatres can still project actual film?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Well …)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Many theatres balked at showing the film, believing they'd
end up in the red once the run was done, unable to sell enough tickets in their
moderately-sized houses to justify the cost. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Some theatres were still game, but Weinstein’s target was effectively cut in half, with true 70MM
showings down to about 50 theatres.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">(And
this probably </span><u style="font-family: 'times new roman'; text-indent: 0.5in;">is</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> a better film, Mr. Bill Mechanic!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">So what are we to do </span><u style="font-family: 'times new roman'; text-indent: 0.5in;">now</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
the hopes of boosting those numbers up -- and making the film a bit
more accessible to those who would like to see The Road Show Cut -- the Digital option surfaced. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number of locations
that will be showing the film Digitally is still being finalized, but it’s
not a bad bet to think it'll be around 50 in order to hit that 100 total
they originally wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on New
Year’s Day the “multiplex version” will kick in, offering audiences the option
to see a slightly different cut </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">of the film, with no Overture or Intermission, thus shortening the exclusive window the first wave
of audiences have to themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What
“slightly different cut of the film?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
will be two cuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those seeing The 70
will get six extra minutes in addition to the Overture and Intermission. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And </span>Tarantino has tweaked certain
scenes in order to maximize them for the way they'll be seen. He himself said, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The 70 is the 70. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve paid the money. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve bought your ticket. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you’re there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I actually changed the cutting slightly
for a couple of the ‘multiplex scenes’ because it’s not that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or now you’re watching it on TV and you just
kind of want to watch a movie on your couch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Big, long, cool, unblinking takes was awesome in the bigness of 70, but
sitting on your couch, maybe it’s not so awesome. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I cut it up a little bit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a little less precious about itself.”<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> So
what are your chances of catching a 70MM screening?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 "; text-indent: 0px;">I live and write in Los Angeles, so I’ll use her as examples.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Your best bet is The Cinema Dome in Hollywood; or, rather, its Arclight counterpart, and more on that in a moment. Elsewhere? "Check your local listings," as they say. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Frankly</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">, if </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">you're not near a big city, it probably won't be 70; </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">after all, we can’t imagine all that retrofitting happening for a local indie. How "local indie?" Tarantino's own New Beverly will be showing The Road Show Cut ... in 35.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> So even </span><u style="font-family: 'times new roman'; text-indent: 0.5in;">in</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> a major city, still look closely.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">it’s "70," is it celluloid?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">On the right screen?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Or is it Digital Projection;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">and, even then, what kind of screen is it
on?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Is it at least the right aspect
ratio?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Sorry, your eyes are probably
glazing over again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So cue John Williams! As I write this, <i>The </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Force Awakens </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">p</span>remiered this week and the movie opens tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early buzz is as big as you’d expect;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all signs pointing to this one finally being
the installment we’ve been waiting for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And perhaps you <u>also</u> can’t wait to see it in IMAX?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I burst your bubble with, "I don't think you can?"<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Let
me explain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New
details have emerged surrounding the IMAX roll-out of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Force Awakens</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While exciting indeed for people near a true
IMAX screen, most people are not (and while you <u>think</u> you are, you’re probably not).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">First,
what is IMAX? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">For
the purpose of this piece, we’ll say it’s 70MM turned on its side and
doubled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, it’s then kept
“on its side,” projected “laying down” instead of what we typically think of as
a reel “standing up.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But these days the word IMAX is thrown
around far too often;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>worse,
inaccurately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly because there was a
growing trend that began a few years ago involving average movie screens being
billed as “IMAX Experiences,” the biggest lies -- kid you not they call it
LIEMAX -- being [a] you’re probably seeing it Digitally and [b] the size of the
screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We know celluloid is better, but d</span>oes size really matter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say only if you’re paying for it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Large projection is the whole reason for the IMAX system existing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IMAX films are shot on 70MM film stock and
are meant to be projected on a screen that showcases all of the detail captured
on the massive frames of film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A frame
of standard 35MM is ten times smaller than a frame of 70MM IMAX film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having The 70 crushed down to a medium sized
screen is bad enough -- remember what we talked about with a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ben Hur </i>re-release? -- but to charge customers the same ticket price
as a full IMAX presentation should be a crime.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This
is roughly what I was talking about when I wrote, “Christopher Nolan’s last
four movies had <u>portions</u> in IMAX." And, "Wait, that’s IMAX, we were talking 70MM.” Because it's doubtful you were seeing any of it in true IMAX, <u>maybe</u> 70 but even that's doubtful; unless you were lucky to have a theatre that accommodated the difference. When Diana and I saw <i>Interstellar </i>at The Chinese they did; the actual projected image going from "letterbox" to "big square" and back again throughout. Still Digital, but at least the size was correct. Anyway ... <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Here in L.A., we </span>used to have two
choices when we wanted to see 70MM IMAX.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was Universal CityWalk and The Bridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately both have gone Digital,
leaving The Film Capital Of The World without a true (film projection) IMAX Theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But isn’t Digital better than Film?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a different -- and much longer -- article but Adam Davis, Executive Director of Corporate Communications at IMAX, said,
“W<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">e believe this new dual 4K laser
technology will be far superior … delivering an experience that will be more
visceral, brighter, razor-sharp and in fuller lifelike colors than anything
available today.” And there's nothing wrong with believing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
let’s keep it in the <i>Star Wars </i>universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first film -- <i>A New Hope </i>-- premiered at The Chinese on Hollywood Boulevard; originally Graumman’s Chinese, now officially The TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX (again those four letters tagged-on
a bit too loosely).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the theatre
certainly deserves its own write-up -- including Diana and my getting to tour
it with The L.A. Conservancy -- suffice to say it’s the oldest
first-run theatre <u>in the country</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">So
even though it’s not film (celluloid), IMAX positions it as something even
better (Laser Digital).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, until "Laser" can at least mirror light shining through celluloid, thems in the know will remain beholden.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So what if you really <u>are</u> excited
to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars </i>in IMAX?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, if you live near these eleven theatres:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">McWane Center IMAX Dome Theatre – Birmingham<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">IMAX, U.S. Space & Rocket Center –
Huntsville<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hackworth IMAX Dome, The Tech Museum – San Jose<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Museum of Discovery & Science AutoNation
IMAX – Ft. Lauderdale<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">IMAX Dome, Museum of Science & Industry –
Tampa<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">IMAX, Indiana State Museum - Indianapolis<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blank IMAX Dome, Science Center of Iowa – Des
Moines<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Branson’s IMAX, Entertainment Complex – Branson<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">St. Louis Science Center OMNIMAX Theatre – St.
Louis<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tuttleman IMAX, The Franklin Institute–
Philadelphia<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Boeing IMAX, Pacific Science Center – Seattle<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">So, yes, the tug-of-war continues.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“Big Studios” and “Big Theatres” still fighting for your popcorn money.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Because, no, not even </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic;">The </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic;">Hateful</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><i> Eight </i>or </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are immune. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">And I’ll close with
something that happened yesterday; not just because, kid you not, it happened </span><u style="font-family: 'times new roman';">yesterday</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">, but because it caps my point all too well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Quentin
Tarantino went on Howard Stern to say Disney is strong-arming Arclight
Cinemas to push the 70MM presentation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Hateful Eight </i>in favor of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force Awakens</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is in L.A.'s famed
Cinerama Dome (and here's where we revisit that great theatre in this piece). One of the city’s last theatres to screen true 70 -- not IMAX but true 70 -- Mr. Tarantino’s Western was originally due to
play there starting Christmas Day but now <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Force Awakens </span></i>is
getting an extended play through the holidays.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">For
years there was a clearance boundary -- again, not too different from Marcus
Loew’s original ideas -- where if a movie was playing at The Chinese then it
couldn’t play The Cinerama Dome. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But apparently
that’s not the case as Disney gets The Chinese, their own El Capitan and The
Cinerama Dome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Incidentally, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Force Awakens </i>Premiere was so big it
screened simultaneously at The Chinese, El Capitan and The Dolby, home
of The Oscars.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But
The Cinerama Dome is a prized venue for Tarantino. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its logo appears in the opening credits
of <i>The Hateful Eight. </i>The Premiere was held there on 7 December and the director told Deadline’s Pete Hammond, “I made <i>The
Hateful Eight </i>for The Dome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is the first time seeing it at The Dome for me too, and it was like I hadn’t
even seen it before, not like this.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
added that his beef isn’t with <i>Force Awakens </i>director<i> </i>J.J.
Abrams, but with The Suits at Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Incidentally, Abrams and Tarantino have been friends since Tarantino
guest-starred on Abrams’ TV hit <i>Alias.</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">) At press, Arclight Hollywood will still be playing <i>Hateful Eight</i> in True 70, albeit on one of its non-Dome screens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Anyone still awake? I do thank you. Sorry I rambled a bit but sometimes these pieces are their own rabbit holes. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 "; font-size: x-small;">I’m not sure if Marcus Loew would be proud, but the tug-of-war indeed continues </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 ";">… a hundred years tugging.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> H</span><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 ";">ow and why we go to the movies ha</span></span><span style="font-family: "\22 times new roman\22 "; font-size: x-small;">s always been something to talk about.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;">In the end, I hope you get to the theatre and enjoy the movie. This movie, that movie, doesn't matter. Who cares if the hows and whys don't change anytime soon? For us cinephiles there are fewer greater enjoyments than when the lights dim and the music swells and the popcorn's munched. We don't care what it cost. We're there for the experience of it all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"> 'Cause that's always worth it.</span></div>
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Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-3463444049756846542015-10-28T15:38:00.001-07:002021-05-18T10:03:10.207-07:00A Passing Of The Torch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tm2Vbm-Gfcg/VjPSmB8u8MI/AAAAAAAAAWA/3-O94-roN5c/s1600/IMG_7924.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tm2Vbm-Gfcg/VjPSmB8u8MI/AAAAAAAAAWA/3-O94-roN5c/s320/IMG_7924.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">At about 9:00 at night on May 27th,
2014, I popped </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">San Antonio </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">into the VCR I'd just hooked up to my laptop.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">To make a test. [My now wife] Diana had bought
me a device so I could digitize my parents' -- now our -- VHS Collection to
something less ... bulky. More ... easily manageable. This was
Diana's idea, you see, as I couldn't see any reason to attempt such a thing.
The 1400 VHS were neatly shelved, in order, in one of our closets.
And we had my Dad's handwritten Catalog listing them all, so if one might
call it a little ... bulky, well, it was certainly manageable. As you can
imagine my perfectly reasonable rationale didn't fly so well; so Diana
bought me this device and I made the test. </span></span><br />
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<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well, it worked. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In an hour and a half, I had a good quality
file of <i>San Antonio </i>on my laptop and a newly irrelevant VHS in my
hand. "See?" Diana smiled. "Now won't you be glad
when they're <u>all</u> like that and we can watch them as easily?"
I glanced at the Quicktime, then at the VHS, then back to the Quicktime, not
entirely sure. But I did what any perfectly reasonable rational man would
do: I smiled and agreed and the next day
began digitizing those 1400 VHS one title at a time. (I say one
"title" because anyone that remembers recording to VHS knows one <u>tape</u> doesn't
mean the same thing. No no no. There were often three or four
titles to a tape. So in terms of how many <u>titles</u> I'd have to
get through, well, perhaps there was something to Diana suggesting I start
sooner rather than later.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And this week -- a year and a half
later -- I finished the last tape. But
more on that in a moment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">First, I suppose we should go back to
the beginning. Where those 1400 VHS came from, why I inherited them.
Rather, why Diana and I still had them, decided to keep them; why we
still treasured them.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This won’t be an article on the history
of VCRs or VHS but, for the purpose of this piece, we’ll say the format hit
around 1980. And remember at that time
movies cost around $100 each (that’s about $290 in today’s [2015] dollars). Well, in just the next ten years, we’d see
VCRs in over half the homes in America, and we’d see the first significant
drops in the cost of movies. In 1985, <i>Beverly Hills Cop</i> was about $85; just a year later <i>Top Gun</i> a steal at $25; and, the Home Video Grand Poobah, we picked up 1989’s <i>Batman</i> for $9.99. So significant
was this new Consumer Exhibition that Congress held a Hearing at which Jack
Valenti, then head of The Motion Picture Association of America, said (I promise this is true, I tell you only truths), “<span style="color: #1c1c1c;">I say to you that the VCR is to
the American film producer and the American public as The Boston Strangler is
to the woman home alone.” A <u>bit</u> theatrical? Maybe, but you remember what people said
about iTunes and CDs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">Why am I telling you any
of this? Because before 1980 the only
way you could get a personal copy of most movies was on 16MM. Yes, there were 16MM Prints of films floating
around, and you’d buy one and hook up your projector and take two pictures off
a wall and sit and watch a movie … but at a much greater cost. A “little” movie -- say, <i>Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein</i> -- would have run $1200
while a “big” movie -- say, <i>Casablanca </i>--
could have been $3000 (and you do the math on what that means in today’s
dollars). Point being when you could buy
a VCR for $1500 and start recording off the TV for free? Well, that was sweet music indeed for
cinephiles everywhere. (Sure, the cost
of a blank VHS was about $20 but -- getting more than one title on a tape? -- that
still felt “free” to a lot of people.) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"> And Dad jumped on it. </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "helvetica";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Also remember this was before Cable. Sure, HBO was in its infancy and Showtime was
right around the corner; and who remembers
ONTV and <span style="color: #1c1c1c;">SelecTV?
But Dad was never interested in <i>Beverly
Hills Cop</i>. Now <i>Abbott & Costello</i> on the other hand; <i>Casablanca</i>. Playing those whenever he wanted would be
gold. And this is what I mean by “before
Cable.” 1980 is still long before the
likes of American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies, so where did Dad
look? TV Guide. (Remember that? This is all before Google too.) That little magazine arriving in the mail was
like Christmas morning. Dad grabbed his
black ink pen and poured through it;
going through each day and night, circling what he wanted. KTLA was king back then with Tom Hatten’s “The
Family Film Festival” by day and the network’s “Movies ‘Til Dawn” by
night. And Studios were one-offing some
on Television, so you got the biggies: <i>Gone With The Wind </i>and <i>The Wizard Of Oz </i>and (at Christmas of
course) <i>It’s A Wonderful Life </i>and <i>Miracle On 34<sup>th</sup> Street</i>. And on Thanksgiving there were the great <i>I Love Lucy </i>and <i>The Honeymooners </i>and <i>The Twilight Zone </i>marathons. (One
of the fun things about so many of the Titles being recorded off TV meant many
of them have that year’s commercials throughout.) But
Dad had to hunt for the Titles he wanted, know when they’d be on; and often set an alarm for when they played at
three or four in the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But soon the library grew. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of Mom’s favorites was <i>Some Like It Hot </i>so of course we got
that. And Dad appreciated how big a <i>Star Wars </i>fan I am -- imagine me in '85 --
so he got that. Soon we had forty, fifty tapes. And it wasn’t just Movies
and TV Shows; Dad started collecting Serials too so imagine the thrill when some
nights we’d watch a Chapter <u>and</u> a Movie!
<i>The Perils Of Nyoka </i>and <i>Spy Smasher </i>and <i>Captain Marvel</i>. Soon we had a hundred tapes. Errol
Flynn’s <i>Desperate Journey </i>and Danny
Kaye’s <i>The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty</i>
and Bob Hope. I don’t need to tell some
of you what a Bob Hope fan I am. Well, imagine a
ten year old that had his hands on <i>My
Favorite Brunette </i>and <i>The Princess
And The Pirate </i>and <i>The Road To Morocco
</i>whenever he wanted. I still remember
a friend came over to visit and I asked, “Wanna watch <i>The Ghost Breakers</i>?” He
screamed with delight, “You have <i>Ghostbusters</i>?” I looked at him like he had three heads. “Um, <i>The
Ghost</i> <i><u>Breakers</u></i>.” He looked at <u>me</u> oddly. To this day I think we’re both still
confused.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And this brings us to a
small gleaming of why I kept those VHS; why
Diana and I still treasured them. I talk a
little bit more about this in my Top 5 Retrospectives but I’ll touch on it
again here. Two things, actually. One, these are the Movies and TV Shows I grew
up with so naturally they had an incredibly visceral impact. And, two, I often say that anything artistic
-- a Movie, a Book, a Song -- affects you most based on <u>when</u> you first
encounter it. Well, this VHS Library -- its
Movies, TV Shows, Serials, Documentaries -- was very much my childhood; very much part of who I’d become. I remember sitting on the floor in front of
the TV in the Granada Hills, CA house where I grew up. I remember Mom & Dad bringing a VCR and eight
or ten tapes each time we went to Lone Pine so we could study the footage before
going out to find its location. I
remember when I was at College and I’d go home to visit and I’d bring some back
with me; “comfort viewing.” I remember the last movie Dad and I saw
together before he passed: the wonderfully charming Deanna Durbin Melodrama <i>Lady On A Train</i>. By that time I had it on DVD but of course we
watched his VHS. And I remember when
Diana and I got together and I could share all of it with her and how excited
she was to see me excited and we poured through The Library together. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Of course, this was
before the 1400 VHS were shelved in <u>our</u> closet. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This was before the
device.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So last May I started
Digitizing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It sounds easy but
no; and I don’t just mean the emotion
involved when I’d finish a tape and reluctantly throw it away. I mean the technicality of it. Because you’d think you could launch a tape,
walk away and come back when it’s done.
But no. First of all, if there’s
more than one Title on a tape -- I believe the record was seven -- you don’t
want to have a Quicktime with multiple things in it, you want a list at the end
of the day that’s <i>The Thin Man</i>; then, separately, <i>After The Thin</i> <i>Man</i> and so
on. So I’d record whatever was first on
the tape, set an alarm for its runtime, come back and continue with the
next. The other issue that all but
dictated handling each Title on its own was Tracking. Remember having to Track a VHS; you popped it in and parts of the image were fuzzy
until you dialed it clear? Well, that
had to be done per-Title. So speed in the process quickly went the way of Betamax.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Did anything help? Kiiiiind of.
When I came across, say, <i>Citizen Kane</i>
and it was just the movie (just its content), I skipped it (having a pristine
version on DVD or Blu Ray). And that
accounted for a good number of Titles -- a couple hundred -- throughout. Another help was if a better print of a given
movie came along, or <i>Seven Brides For
Seven Brothers </i>was shown Letterbox, Dad would “better” the version he had,
and I’d only digitize “the better one.” <u>But</u>
he’d not necessarily get rid of the former, causing duplicates. (And keeping two wasn’t necessarily an
oversight, rather the former might be on a tape that had other Titles on it so it
had to be kept.) For me, <u>content</u> dictated
the choosing. So even a “duplicate”
wasn’t always just that. For instance, even
if I <u>did</u> have a “better version,” if I came across <i>Murder He Says </i>taped live on “The Family Film Festival” with Tom
Hatten’s wonderful commentary throughout, you bet I kept it. So, really, I was addressing by Title.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">On average, I got through
about six tapes -- fifteen or twenty Titles -- <u>a week</u> so it’s not surprising it
took a year and half. Most of the time
it was fun, revisiting The Library, often being reminded of what was
there. Of course, not every VHS made
it. Quite a few were lost to
“damage;” weather-warping or it simply
wouldn’t Track at all. But those I could
“save” were well worth it; indeed keeping
them alive in a technology where analog tape would only get worse as time goes
by. And, sure, The Library isn’t as
“exclusive” as it once was. I remember
when certain Titles Dad had were extremely rare: a Chapter of <i>Daredevils Of The West</i>, Fatty Arbuckle’s <i>The Roundup</i>, the Jackie Gleason Pilot for <i>The Life Of Riley</i>, Disney’s <i>Mosby’s
Marauders</i>, the original two-hour Pilot for <i>The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles</i>.
Now a lot of the Titles are on DVD or Blu Ray, and Eddie Brandt’s in
North Hollywood still carries the torch, and Quentin Tarantino is showing a lot
of great classics -- On Film! -- at his New Beverly Theatre. Even Netflix and Hulu now have a
lot. But these VHS were Dad’s; a collection accumulated over twenty-five
years simply because he was a fan. So
many great Silents, so many great Episodes of the Jeremy Brett <i>Sherlock Holmes</i>, so many great A&E
Biographies. The Spanish and French
versions of the 1938 <i>Lone Ranger</i>
Serial. The <i>Boston Blackie </i>series. And <i>The Falcon</i> and <i>Nancy Drew</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And now they’re Diana’s
and mine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">At the end of the run, we successfully digitized 1130 Titles, all now individual Quicktimes, on a two-terabyte drive, with a
duplicate archive sitting in the closet.
1400 VHS culled down to two boxes </span><span style="font-family: "times new";">about</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> the size of an iPhone. Well, to be fair, it </span><u style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">was</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> a year and a
half well worth it. Because Diana was
right. At the end of the day, it doesn’t
matter that the VHS are gone, but that we have what was on them. Again, </span><u style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">content</u><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> being king. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We still have The Library
at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Back in the 80s, before
IMDB, there was a book on Dad's bookshelf called <i>The
New York Times Directory Of The Film</i>.
Published in 1971, it … well, I’ll let its own introduction say: “Through the miracle of the computer, every
name that has ever appeared in the credits of a Time review -- actors,
directors, producers, writers, cameramen, composers, even animals -- has been
lifted from the columns and placed alphabetically under the proper heading,
with their films arranged chronologically.
This leads to some pleasant discoveries, like Akka (chimpanzee), or
Dostoevski (original author), or the surprising number of films made by,
say, Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper before either was officially ‘discovered.’ The original reviews are rather like
butterfly specimens that have been pinned for all time in spectacular
array. But the films themselves are not
butterflies; they are not to be pinned
down to one time and one place. Whether
produced as entertainment, art or propaganda, they live a life of their own,
with a continuing power to affect us.” There
are even photos of about 2000 Actors and Actresses. It was without question the IMDB of its day
and remains an amazing, impressive book (and you bet is now on Diana’s and my bookshelf). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Perhaps better than
anything, i</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">t shares how I feel about wrapping the last year and a half of
this project. Mom and Dad’s Library
isn’t gone, it’s just a torch that’s been passed. That will live longer now than it would have
before. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">To still be enjoyed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thank you, Diana, for
reminding me of that. And making it
happen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><!--EndFragment-->Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-31928416864638361372015-09-15T10:57:00.000-07:002016-03-18T16:09:22.077-07:00Witness For The Prosecution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wj0pHJnsF_A/VfhYgHwbx7I/AAAAAAAAAVg/k431fUjOJ4Q/s1600/witness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wj0pHJnsF_A/VfhYgHwbx7I/AAAAAAAAAVg/k431fUjOJ4Q/s320/witness.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Let’s just say it:</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">this
is a big one.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There's the cast, sure, led
by Ty and Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">But look who Co-Adapted and Directed:
Mr. Billy Wilder. From whose famous play? Dame Agatha
Christie (who, yes, also happens to round out our Birthday Bash).</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> This </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">is indeed one of those wonderful
instances of that much talent in-front-of and behind the camera delivering a
true A-Picture. So let's get right to it. Ladies and gentlemen of
the jury ...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></i>
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Witness For The
Prosecution</i><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">
(1957)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> w Billy Wilder & Harry Kunitz and Lawrence B. Marcus</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> from the Play by
Agatha Christie</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;"> d Billy Wilder</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> You know the story, right? An
aging attorney (Laughton) takes the case of Leonard Vole (Power) who’s on
trial for the murder of a wealthy widow. Vole's wife (Dietrich) is his
only alibi ... and she testifies against him. In wonderful Agatha
Christie fashion, a series of events cascades into a deliciously
melodramatic mix of wit and thrills. At the end of the movie, a narrator
actually implores the audience not to divulge the twist. And who’d object to that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dame Agatha Christie -- who would have been 125 today -- <span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">was
born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller on September 15, 1890, in the southwest of
England. She was educated at home by her
mother who encouraged her to write. When
she was 16, she moved to Paris to study music. She was a Nurse during World War I. And in </span></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">1920, she published her fir</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">st book, </span><i style="color: #262626; font-family: 'times new roman'; text-indent: 0.5in;">The
Mysterious Affair At Styles</i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">, intro</span></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0.5in;">ducing us to one of her most famous
characters: Hercule Poirot. She herself said, “People often ask me what
made me take up writing. I found myself
making up stories and acting the different parts. There's nothing like boredom to make you
write. So by the time I was 16 or 17,
I'd written quite a number of short stories and one long, dreary novel. By the time I was 21, I finished the first
book of mine ever to be published.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">You know her from <i>Murder On The Orient Express </i>and <i>Death On The Nile</i>, but if you haven’t read <i>The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd</i>, treat yourself to what Raymond
Chandler called “the single greatest whodunit ever written.” But for a moment let’s single-out her play <i>The Mousetrap. </i>You saw it, right? It opened in London on 6 October, 1952. Haven’t seen it? Don’t worry, <u>it’s still playing</u>. As of September of this year, it topped
26,000 performances and holds the record for the </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">longest first-run
of any play in history (the only caveat to that is, in 1974, it changed
theatres, and they’re next door to each other).
The play is </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">based on Christie’s short story <i>Three Blind
Mice</i>, and that’s based on her 1947 Radio Show. Christie renamed it after “the play within a
play” in The Bard’s <i>Hamlet</i>; and, incidentally, he’s the only author to
outsell her. Just how popular is our
Dame? At the time of her passing in
1976, she’d sold two <u>billion</u> copies of her various works; and, in 1954, she had three shows running at
the same time: <i>The Mousetrap</i>, <i>Spider’s Web … </i>and <i>The Witness For the
Prosecution</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">Our movie today is
based on that play, <i>The Witness For The
Prosecution </i>-- yep, the play has <i>The </i>in
its title -- which opened in London on 28 October, 1953. And that too is based on a short story: <i>Traitor’s
Hands </i>which was first published on 31 January, 1925. I won’t go into the plot any more than I did
at the beginning of this piece -- and that’ll undoubtedly make this a tough
piece to write -- but I’d rather be vague than give anything away. Of the play, <i>The Guardian</i> wrote, “[At what we think is the end] Justice </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">has
been done and we nod approvingly, at which moment Mrs. Christie says in effect,
“Oh, so you thought that did you?” and with an unforeseen twist of the cards
lets us see how wrong we were.” And <i>The Times </i>wrote, “Mrs. Christie has by this time got the
audience in her pocket. The evidence
brings the trial triumphantly to a satisfying conclusion. And it is only then that the accomplished thriller
writer shows her real hand.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">How good is the story? Producers Arthur Hornblow Jr. and Edward
Small bought the rights for $450,000.
Doesn’t sound like much today but the entire budget of the film was only
$3 Million (and it would make $9 Million).
Hornblow was an oddly prolific Producer, starting in 1931 and probably
best known for <i>Gaslight </i>(1944), <i>The Asphalt Jungle </i>(1950) and <i>Oklahoma! </i>(1955) but we’ve already
visited three of his in Bob Hope’s <i>The Cat
And The Canary</i>, <i>The Ghost Breakers </i>and
<i>Nothing But The Truth</i>. Small world, I know, but Ty m</span>ade
our movie today as the first of a two picture contract with Edward Small. Interestingly, Ty wasn’t the first choice …
at least for Billy Wilder. Wilder had hoped to
get William Holden, but Mr. Holden was making <i>The Bridge On The River Kwai. </i>Wilder
then went to Kirk Douglas but he was making <i>Paths
Of Glory</i>, both of which opened the door for Ty, which was great for Edward
Small because Small wanted Ty to star in his Biblical Epic <i>Solomon And Sheba. </i>Well, after
Ty completed our movie today, he indeed started shooting <i>Solomon And Sheba</i> but, while filming a dueling scene with George
Sanders, he had a heart attack and died (Yul Brenner would go on to make that
film). So our movie today is indeed Ty’s
last. And he was only 44. (Ugh, as I type this, I’m <s>40</s> 38.) <i>Witness
For The Prosecution </i>was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best
Picture, Charles Laughton as Best Actor and Billy Wilder as Best Director.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Billy Wilder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">He
was born Samuel in Polish Austria in 1906, and his mother always called him
Billie. The family moved to Vienna, where he became a newspaper reporter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1926, he traveled to Berlin and became a
ghostwriter for the German film industry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon he was a credited writer, and his work
was well received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as World War II encroached, he escaped to Paris, and then to America (his father died in Berlin
and his mother in Auschwitz).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilder
turned up in Los Angeles and fell in with other Refugees who would change film
history, most notably Ernst Lubitsch with whom Wilder co-wrote <i>Bluebeard’s
Eighth Wife</i> and the seminal <i>Ninotchka </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(famed as “The one where Garbo laughs!”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Wilder began directing in 1942 with <i>The
Major And The Minor</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span>from a
script written with his first great collaborator, Charles Brackett (remember
our talking about Benchley getting out of those wet clothes into a dry martini
in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Road To Utopia </i>piece?). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1999, Cameron Crowe wrote for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vanity Fair</i>, “There are few filmmakers
who don’t crave being compared to [Wilder]. His is a tough-minded romanticism and elegance; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the lack of sentimentality has left him
forever relevant as an artist. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
magnificent life, perfectly written and performed, leaving one to wonder:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is the greatest character creation of young
Billie Wilder … Billy Wilder?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I heard a funny line the other day:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You either think of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Die Hard</i> as a Christmas movie or you’re wrong.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if that’s irrefutable, but this
is:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Either a Billy Wilder title is in
your Top 10 or you’re wrong.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do I
know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at these:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Double Indemnity<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Sunset Boulevard<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Stalag 17<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Some Like It Hot<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Apartment</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">That’s only his Top 5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I
didn’t even include a personal favorite, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Five
Graves To Cairo</i>.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And don’t forget he
usually Co-Wrote them too. Even more
impressive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at how <u>different</u>
they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s as funny as he is
dramatic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Noir as easily as
Farce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can make you laugh-out-loud and
damn-near-cry in the same movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Over forty
years -- his last film was 1981’s <i>Buddy Buddy,</i> written with another
landmark collaborator, I. A. L. Diamond -- he’d be nominated for <u>twenty</u>
Oscars (winning five), he’d be one of the few Writers nominated in the same
year for two different movies, and he was the first person to win Oscars for
Writing, Directing and Best Picture (1960's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Apartment</i>, though this was not possible prior to 1951, when the Best
Picture Award went to the studio rather than individual producers;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but I digress).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, </span>there isn’t a Top 10 List out there that
doesn’t include him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, indeed, it’s
wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This really is a tough piece to write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just because I’m intentionally staying as
far away from plot as possible, but it goes back to what I’ve said a few times
throughout these Top 5s:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m <u>not</u>
writing up Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck, I’m picking “the little guys” to
shed some light on a few films you might not know that I think you’ll
enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what do I do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pick this whopper with Christie, Wilder,
Laughton, Dietrich and Ty <u>together</u>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Christ, Ty -- Twentieth Century’s Fox biggest star -- is the “littlest.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what do I say about Charles Laughton?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a giant in Theatre and Film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">To say he won an Academy Award probably sounds feigned yet it’s the least Hollywood could do for his breadth of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You at least know him from his legendary turn
in the ’39 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hunchback Of Notre Dame</i>, and
remember he discovered Maureen O’Hara (we spoke a little bit about that in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Swan </i>write-up).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his only Directed Film -- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Night Of The Hunter </i>-- is not to be
missed (especially for -- as mentioned in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rawhide </i>write-up -- Mitchum’s genuinely frightening turn).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let’s keep it in today’s family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">In
the 1928 play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alibi</i>, he was the first
actor to play Agatha Christie’s detective Hercule Poirot, and -- they had such
a good time on today’s movie -- he was Billy Wilder’s first choice to play
Moustache in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Irma La Douce</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, Laughton would pass away
before that film began.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">And it’s tough not to talk about Elsa Lanchester
in the same breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nurse Plimsoll in
our movie today, Laughton & Lancaster made seven films together and for you horror fans, yep, she’s </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The Bride of Frankenstein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And for you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Love Lucy</i> fans,
remember when Lucy and Ethel hitch a ride to Florida with the hatchet murderer,
</span><span style="color: #343434; font-family: "times new roman";">Mrs.
Edna Grundy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it wasn’t all horror all the time:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she’s Katie Nanna in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mary Poppins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>But why are we
talking about Laughton & Lanchester together?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, <u>they were married </u></span><u><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">in real life</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">, from 1929 to his
passing in 1962.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here’s at least a
little I can talk about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Witness </i>specifically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The character of Nurse Plimsoll is not in the
play, though for me she’s the thing -- her and Sir Wilfrid’s banter -- that
carries the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Court dramas are
always tough to make interesting;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you’re
stuck with what amounts to a looooot of exposition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are greats, of course, but even they have
a looooot going for them beyond the courtroom stuff (top of my head, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill A Mockingbird, The Verdict</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Few Good Men</i>). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nurse Plimsoll endears us to Sir Wilfrid, having him surpass the gruffness of Monty Woolley’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Man Who Came To Dinner</i> (1942) and Clifton Webb’s Mr. Belvedere
(1948’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sitting Pretty</i>);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and I like them both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We like Sir Wilfrid because (right from
the start we know) he and Plimsoll like each other, and that can’t help but be
from their real relationship. I said to
Diana after we rewatched this once, “Wouldn’t you love to have dinner with
them?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">While
I’m thinking of it, I have to mention Una O’Connor as Janet MacKenize in our
movie today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A wonderful Character Actress
-- in these Top 5s we saw her in Flynn’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Robin
Hood </i>-- she’s the only one to reprise her role from the (Broadway)
stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, this, too, was her last
movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I won’t do justice to John
Williams -- the <u>actor</u> here who you probably know from Hitchcock’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M For Murder </i>-- or Henry Daniell
who, in my opinion, is <u>the</u> Professor Moriarty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we need to move on to a certain German Glammerpuss.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">That’s
No</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">ël</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> Coward’s loving phrase for her (and more
on that later).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was born -- ready
for this? -- </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">Marie Magdalene;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>her family nicknamed her "Lene" and around age 11 she combined the two first names. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Miss Marlene Dietrich
should need no introduction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at
that famous photo of her from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shanghai
Express</i>, with the cigarette, looking up into the light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Mr. Laughton, to say she won an Academy
Award feels trite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">Peter
Bognanovich said, “She transcends her material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even in a flighty old tune like ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’ she lends an air of the aristocrat, yet never patronises.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">For this write-up, how about remembering she had
</span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">strong
political convictions and spoke them freely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the 30s, The Nazi Party approached her to return to Germany but -- in
that tense climate -- she told them to go to hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the late 30s, she and Billy Wilder created
a fund to help Jews escape Germany;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she
put into escrow her entire salary for <i>Knight Without Armor</i> ($450,000;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that’s $</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">7.3 Million today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">And in 1939 she renounced her
German citizenship and became an American citizen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Throughout her career Dietrich had an unending
string of affairs, some short-lived, some lasting decades; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and they often overlapped-with and
were-almost-always-known-to her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They included Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Erich Maria
Remarque (who, remember, would marry Paulette Goddard), Yul Brenner, George
Bernard Shaw and President Kennedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
favorite is the Cuban-American writer Mercedes de Acosta, simply because it’s
said she stole him from Greta Garbo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">After the fall of The Berlin Wall, Dietrich
instructed in her will to be buried in her birthplace, Berlin, near her family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After her funeral in Paris -- a strange bookend to
her being born Marie Magdalene (she was an Atheist) -- she was indeed interred
in Berlin, next to the grave of her mother, near the house where she was
born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She herself once said, “</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">The
legs aren't so beautiful, I just know what to do with them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, “I was an actress. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finish.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">Did y</span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">ou miss <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The New York Times</i>’ Bosley Crowther?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let’s see what he had to say about our movie today (in part):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">For a courtroom melodrama pegged to a single
plot device, the film production of the Agatha Christie play comes off
extraordinarily well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This results
mainly from Billy Wilder's splendid staging of the courtroom scenes and a
first-rate theatrical performance by Charles Laughton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Wilder sees to it, as the murder trial
drags along and the wife, in defiance of tradition, appears as witness against
her own husband, that there's never a dull moment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's the balancing of well-marked characters,
the shifts of mood, the changes of pace and the interesting bursts of
histrionics that the various actors display.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It's often said </span><span style="color: #262626;">Wilder actually improved on the play, streamlining the court stuff and even making
Sir Wilfrid’s heart attack -- will he make it through the trial? -- a minor
suspence (again Wilder’s cynical sense of humor weaved into the relationship with Nurse Plimsoll that for me, again, carries it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Mr.
Crowther is not wrong to single out Laughton, even from such
prestigious co-stars as Ty and Lene, both of whom
were icons (if stratospheric fifteen years before):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span>Tyrone Power has his ups as the
accused man, Marlene Dietrich hits her high points as his wife, but it’s Mr.
Laughton who runs away with the show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
certain famous British Prime Minister has plainly inspired his artful airs and
gravelly voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Miss Lanchester is
delicious as that maidenly hen-pecking nurse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All parry and punch from the word ‘Go!’ this black-and-white drama is a
hit.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">And a hit it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve seen it, you know why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you haven’t, I’ve intentionally not said
anything about the story so you can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
go now;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know you’ll enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, until you’re sure your friends
have seen it, remember how it ends:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>“The management of
this theatre suggests that for the greater entertainment of your friends who
have not yet seen the picture, you will not devulge to anyone the secret of the
ending for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Witness For The Prosection.</i>”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20242c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> And that wraps up this round of Top 5s. What more should we say? </span>Tyrone Power appeared
in forty-five films, <u>remains</u> Twentieth Century Fox's greatest (male) star (second only to Shirley Temple), became a Lieutenant in World War II -- get this, this is
real, flying cargo-in and wounded-out during the battles of Iwo Jima and
Okinawa -- was sensationally involved with Judy Garland and Lana Turner, married
three times, and would literally die while filming a dueling scene, never
meeting his son who was born posthumously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20242c; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>At his funeral, Cesar Romero gave the eulogy, Laurence Olivier read a poem, and Henry King flew his plane overhead. And Ty now
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<!--EndFragment-->Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120873892669816262.post-28971677249085882962015-06-30T19:50:00.002-07:002016-03-13T16:57:25.046-07:00Rawhide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lJyLIoR3_3Y/VZNPqN5iW8I/AAAAAAAAAUs/GX0n_DdSxEA/s1600/rawhide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lJyLIoR3_3Y/VZNPqN5iW8I/AAAAAAAAAUs/GX0n_DdSxEA/s320/rawhide.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;">There seems to be something of a Birthday Bash in this round of
our Top 5 Retrospectives.</span><span style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;">We're
celebrating Mr. Tyrone Power whose first entry -- </span><i style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;">Jesse James -- </i><span style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;">posted
on what would have been his 100th Birthday, </span><i style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;">The Mark Of Zorro</i><span style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;"> posted
on what would have been that leading lady's -- Linda Darnell's -- birthday, and
</span><u style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;">this</u><span style="color: #1f242d; text-indent: 0.5in;"> entry posts on what would have been today's leading lady's birthday:
Miss Susan Hayward.</span></span><br />
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<br />
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<span style="color: #1f242d; font-size: x-small;">But that’s not the only benchmark in today’s write-up. As I mentioned in </span><i style="color: #1f242d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Black Swan</span></i><span style="color: #1f242d; font-size: x-small;">, how surprising it was that was Ben Hecht’s first
we’d talked about, it’s as surprising today’s film is the first in these Top 5s
to showcase that marvelous maze of boulders called The Alabama Hills. Yes indeed, today you not only get Tyrone
Power and Susan Hayward, Dean Jagger and Jack Elam, Henry Hathaway at the helm from
a script by Dudley Nichols; as if all </span><u style="color: #1f242d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">that</span></u><span style="color: #1f242d; font-size: x-small;">
wasn’t enough … dear readers, today’s the day we go on location in Lone
Pine. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #1f242d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You fans remember how today’s movie begins, don’t you? The stagecoach barreling through desert and
mountains, sun and snow, as we hear, “Yes sir, that’s it. The Overland Mail. San Francisco to St. Louis in twenty-five
days. Twenty-seven-hundred miles in twenty-five
days and twenty-five nights. When the
weather and injuns behave. A lot farther
and longer when they don’t. People said
it couldn’t be done. They laughed. Called it The Jackass Mail. But when mail and passengers and gold began
coming through from California day-in and day-out, the whole country sat up and
took notice. San Francisco to St.
Louis. The shortest, fastest, back-breakingest
ride you could buy for two-hundred dollars gold. Meals included. Yes sir, that’s it. The Jackass Mail.” And where does the stagecoach pull up for the
night … and our adventure?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #1f242d;">Rawhide</span></i><span style="color: #1f242d;"> (1951)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #1f242d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">w Dudley Nichols<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #1f242d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">d Henry Hathaway<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The Western is
an interesting genre. And let’s not
round up “Cowboy Pictures” in this; the <u>hundreds</u>
of glorious B-Pictures with Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Charles Starrett, the
list goes on and on. No, let’s just talk
The Western. The -- how do I put this --
straight dramatic narratives (and we touched on this a bit in <i>Jesse James</i>). More than any other genre, this was my dad’s
favorite (particularly the B-Pictures) so naturally I have a soft spot for them
(hey, even Bob Hope got on a couple of horses).
Well, more than any other genre, there’s absolutely zero consistency to
its popularity. (We’re in the midst of
Superheroes reigning Popular Supreme but you wanna talk Consistency? Horror.)
Whenever a really good Western hits, we’re warmed by it being a
Hollywood staple and simultaneously shocked by its wide appeal. I kid you not. Take a look at five off the top of my head --<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;"> </span><i><span style="color: #262626;">Stagecoach</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (1939) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Red River </i>(1948)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>The Gunfighter </i>(1950)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>The Good, The Bad And The Ugly </i>(1966)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Unforgiven</i> (1992) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> All of them
great? You bet. But keep in mind those five don’t include --<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Shane</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (1953)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">The Searchers</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (1956)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Butch Cassidy
And The Sundance Kid</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Dances With
Wolves</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (1990)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">The
Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> (2007)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And those <u>ten</u> don’t include … you get the
idea. All of them? Considered instant classics. Well, they <u>surprised</u> even more. [The only safe bet might have been John Ford
behind a camera pointed at John Wayne but, remember, as our dear friend William
Goldman said so well, “Nobody knows anything.”
Incidentally, Goldman himself wrote in 1982 -- thirteen years after <i>Butch </i>(which brought home the
Screenwriting Oscar and the equivalent of $600 million dollars) -- he doubts anyone would even <u>read</u> it
then. Crazy? Maybe, but so goes the state of The Western.]<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #262626;">Rawhide</span></i><span style="color: #262626;"> then -- and
keep in mind this an A-Picture with the likes of Ty in-front-of and Henry
Hathaway behind the camera -- was not expected to be “a home run” but “a good
base hit” -- suits really did talk like that -- meaning they’d make a good film
and maybe break even (and note the order they cared for back then). That we get a movie as good as this, and it
did as well as it did, was indeed another surprise. I’ve talked about a couple Westerns in these
Top 5s -- <i>San Antonio</i>, <i>Jesse James</i> -- and it still surprises me
they’re as random as they are. Maybe ‘cause
it takes a really good one to be talked about?
Nobody questions <i>Saw 17 </i>coming
to a theatre near you but we’re reluctant to give the same amount of money to
spurs and six-shooters that might be -- gasp -- good.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But I digress. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #1f242d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So. <i>Rawhide.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #1f242d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">First off, let’s not confuse this with the hit Clint Eastwood TV
Show. Maybe you hadn’t, nor were about
to, but we’ve said it and can move on.
(Well as long as we’ve paused;
when our film today was shown on TV in the sixties, to differentiate the
two, its title was changed to <i>Desperate Siege</i>. Okay, now we can move on.) This is <i><u>Rawhide</u></i>,
the 20<sup>th</sup> Century Fox feature and -- if you aren’t familiar with it --
you’re in for a damn fine film.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ty -- a city boy sent West by his
father to learn the trade -- works at a stagecoach way-station when Susan
Hayward and her baby niece arrive, waiting for their next coach. It’s hot and dusty and the food is barely
that and this is no place for a baby;
and that’s when an escaped murderer and his henchmen show up, planning
to rob a coach the following morning.
Will our heroes make it through the night; given a chance, can they thwart the
murderer’s plans?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of the things I find interesting about this film is
-- how do I put this -- how wonderfully <u>lean</u> it is. Not as plain as that might sound, but how
straight-forward, un-flourished it is. Take,
say, <i>Casablanca -- </i>an indisputable
masterpiece -- where the drama, action, romance, even comedy, certainly the
score, is heightened; there are very big
emotions playing there (and perfectly).
But here, the story is told very plainly, matter of factly, even the
score (or lack of, even in the climax).
Hugh Marlowe just wants the gold.
He doesn’t want to bed Susan Hayward or burn down the world. Even when we learn why he went to jail -- the travelers unknowingly ribbing him -- he doesn’t
slaughter them, because that would detract from the gold. Susan Hayward doesn’t particualrly care for
what’s right or even safe -- at first -- she just wants to take care of her
niece; get home. And Ty, well, he just wants to get through
the week because then he gets to go back East to good food and clean
baths. This doesn’t detract him from the
work to be done, not even his character arc is that great; he does his job well, eats and sleeps when
it’s time, learnin’ the business, but countin’ the days to get the hell
out. Even the love story, such as it is,
is played out of a plotted necessity and Ty’s and Miss Hayward’s kiss is part
of the ruse they can’t help but give into at that moment. All simple, one-tracked motivations that stir
the drama … and, wonderfully, never lead to melodrama.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Except for Jack
Elam who is so perfectly evil it’s a tornado barreling through the
realism. There are few truly evil
characters in stories. Top of my head, Reverend
Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) in <i>Night Of
The Hunter </i>(1955), Noah Cross (John Huston) in <i>Chinatown </i>and Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw) in <i>The Omen </i>(1976); I would include Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) in
<i>Schindler’s List</i> but he’s not as much
a created character as the personification of Nazi atrocities. You can’t even discuss The Joker or Darth
Vader or Hannibal Lecter in the same list (and I love them all). We’re talking people who couldn’t care less
about theatrics; who’ll tease,
embarrass, steal from, rape, murder simply for the pure pleasure of it. So, yeah, when Hugh Marlowe -- our villian --
has to look after and out-for one of his own men, I mean, the only one in the
movie you’re worried about is Jack Elam.
Evil incarnate riding into our Stage Station.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rawhide Station for The Jackass Mail. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Remember that’s what it’s called in the bracketed
narration: The Jackass Mail. Well, that was <u>real</u>. While the Overland Mail ran from San
Francisco to St. Louis, there was the company’s southern route from San Antonio
to San Diego, pulled by mules, hence its nickname. There were two trips a month, one leaving San
Antonio and the other San Diego, with 30 days allowed for each. That’s 1,476 miles – just short of half the
U.S. – at about 40 miles a day. It cost
$200, and <u>most</u> of the meals were included, but it was tough going. I mean <u>tough</u>; swear to God you were asked to bring your own
guns and ammunition to fend off Indians.
Our stage station at “Rawhide,” then, was The Ritz compared to the stops
along the way; unmanned water holes
setup at thirty-mile intervals, when they held water. And only three stops – San Antonio, El Paso
and San Diego (so only one <u>during</u> the trip) – had buildings. Over the course of its run – this is roughly
1857 to 1861 – about 40 trips of the entire route were made.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So, yes, the stage station <u>set</u> 20<sup>th</sup>
Century Fox built for our movie today was <u>gorgeous</u>. Aaaaand I guess this is as good a time as any
to talk a little bit more about that.</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">You can read more on The Alabama Hills just west of the California town of Lone Pine – and its annual Film
Festival (this year marking its 26<sup>th</sup>) – <b><a href="http://hollandimaginarium.blogspot.com/2014/10/quiet-on-set.html">HERE</a></b> but, briefly, it’s
been a favorite shooting location since 1920 (the first film we know to have
been shot there is Fatty Arbuckle’s <i>The Roundup</i>). What makes the area particularly special is
it’s <u>still</u> there. I’ll explain. While public land, The Alabama Hills are owned
by The Bureau Of Land Management and The Department of Water and Power, so not
only is it still there at all, it’s practically untouched since the classic
movie days. Which means you can still
get out there and visit them. Lone
Pine’s hallmark film is the classic <i>Gunga
Din</i> but get your hands on the list of over 450 movies shot there. So you can visit. And stand where Ty stood (a couple of times; he did <i>Rawhide</i>
and <i>King Of The Khyber Rifles </i>there). And Errol Flynn. And Gary Cooper and Kirk Douglas and Natalie
Wood. Did I mention Robert Downey Jr.
and Jamie Foxx? Sure, parts of <i>Iron Man </i>and <i>Django Unchained </i>were done there too. For over <u>ninety</u> <u>years</u>,
Hollywood has been going on location in Lone Pine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">And
so <i>Rawhide</i> Director Henry Hathaway &
Company went there, built our stage station, and shot all the exteriors
there. Hathaway loved those rocks. He’d already been there <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lives Of A Benghal Lancer </i>and would return for his segment of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How The West Was Won</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">He was born -- ready for this? -- </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: "times new roman";">Marquis
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Henri Léopold de Fiennes in Sacramento,
California;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t</span>he son of an
American actor and stage manager, Rhody Hathaway, and a Hungarian-born Belgian
aristocrat, Marquise Lillie de Fiennes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was by r</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">ight a Belgian marquis, a hereditary title held by his grandfather
who was on a mission for his king to acquire the Sandwich Islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Failing to do so, he settled in San Francisco
(and lucky for us he failed because we now call those islands Hawaii).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not surprisingly, Hathaway tended to keep his
aristocratic lineage quiet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all,
can you see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How The West Was Won </i>“Directed
by Marquis Henri Leopold de Fiennes?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">When Mr. Hathaway passed in 1985, Kevin Thomas wrote for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Los Angeles Times</i>, “[He] was so
unpretentious he’s often underestimated in Movie History.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although he worked in the same Western and Adventure
genres that made Ford and Hawks legends, he rarely inspired the analyses
accorded those two contemporaries.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True
and yet -- alongside Ford and Hawks -- few Directors hold up as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at Hathaway’s work in Noir:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kiss Of
Death</i>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gritty Drama:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
House On 92<sup>nd</sup> Street </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Call
Northside 777</i>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Broad Adventure:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prince
Valiant </i>(coming up in Miss Leigh’s Top 5);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and of course The Westerns for which he’s most famous:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not only did he direct John Wayne six times
but helmed Duke’s only Oscar win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh,
and then there are the “little movies” with -- wait for it -- Mae West, Marlene
Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Without
digressing, there’s an oft-told Hathaway and Dennis Hopper story which I’ll
leave for you to discover.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My personal
favorite Hathaway film?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you haven’t
seen the great -- and one of James Cagney’s best -- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">13 Rue Madeleine</i>, you’re in for a real treat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For our turn today, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rawhide </i>was the fourth of five films he and Ty made together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Screenwriter
Dudley Nichols won The Academy Award the first time he was nominated … and was
the first person to refuse it. This was
for John Ford’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Informer</i> (1935). Why did Nichols refuse his Oscar? Because The Screen Writers Guild was on
strike at the time. (The Screen Writers Guild
was so impressed by this they nomimated him President the following two
years. Oh, they weren’t The <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">WGA until 1954.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Nichols worked on thirteen films for Mr.
Ford, perhaps most notably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stagecoach</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s for what many consider to be <u>the</u>
screwball comedy that he’s perhaps most famous:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bringing Up Baby</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, I can’t help but think of him as
writing, in my opinion, the best adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ten Little Indians</i>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And
Then There Were None </i>(1945).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Remember in the </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">San Antonio </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">write-up when we talked about its musical theme being
used before?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Well, that happens </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">more often than you’d think (and I’m not counting -- nor disparaging -- Quentin
Tarantino’s scoring his films by homaging others).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Our </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Rawhide</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
theme (this is 1951) is the same as 1948’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Yellow
Sky </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">(also, incidentally, shot in Lone Pine). <i>Rawhide</i> is </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">listed as “Music Sol Kaplan” while </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Yellow
Sky </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">is “Music Alfred Newman.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Now,
both were Twentieth Century Fox pictures -- studio pictures, under the studio
system -- so, while not shocking, still worth mentioning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">I don’t know
that </span><i style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Rawhide</span></i><i style="font-size: small;"> </i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">will go down as one of
the greatest westerns ever made; mostly,
I think, because of how unflourished it is.
(But, then, I think of how wonderfully unflourished </span><i style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Gunfighter </span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">is and it <u>is</u> on </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">a lot of people’s lists.) Perhaps it goes back to what I </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">was saying
about The </span></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;">Western Genre feeling comfortable and surprising at the same time. I also read a comment on the TCM Website that
said, in part, “</span><span style="color: #2b3339; font-family: "times new roman"; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The location is the only reason this flic [sic] could
be considered a Western. It could be a
desert island, even a forgotten place in NYC.”
And I think there’s something to that. </span>
</span><i style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Rawhide </span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">is a great character-driven
drama that just happens to be set in The West.
And perhaps that’s why -- Hathaway, Nich</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">ols & Co telling a good
story, making a good movie -- we remember this one. At least I do.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">I’ll close this
with a pers</span></span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">onal anecdote, to share how you really </span><u style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">can</u><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"> go out into Lone
Pine’s Alabama Hills and visit some of these incredible film locations.</span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">When my wife Diana and I were there for The Festival’s
25</span><sup style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">th</sup><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Anniversary [October 2014], we stopped by The Rawhide Burial Site -- yep,
that’s what it's called -- and she snapped this picture of me.</span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">(And, yep, that round boulder really is there, a </span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">great landmark from the movie.)</span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">I hope you can get out there and find more of
your own.</span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">That’s </span><u style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;">well</u><span style="color: #262626; text-indent: 0.5in;"> worth it …</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Coming up, our last film in Ty’s Top 5 is also <u>his</u> last film, </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Witness For The Prosecution.</span></i></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Michael Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797521109592845165noreply@blogger.com0