Out of the Past ~ A Classic Film Blog

Racing Cars ~ Winning (1969)

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

I had set out to watch three classic race car movies and write about each. First was Grand Prix (1966) which was a delight to watch and even though it was long and the plot was rather weak, the three hours seemed to fly by for me. Le Mans (1971) was a horrible, plotless mess. It was fun to watch because of Steve McQueen and because I could easily pick out all the things I disliked and the documentary on the DVD proved to be what saved the whole film for me. Watching Winning (1969) was both a bore and a chore to watch. But this makes absolutely no sense to me. I love the 1960s, I love Paul Newman, and it's an added bonus that his wife Joanne Woodward co-stars as his love interest and I can legitimately hate Robert Wagner because he's the bad guy in the film. Plus there was racing! Winning should have been #winning in my book. But alas, it was not.

So what went wrong? Well, out of the three racing movies, this one had the most plot. Or at least it tried very hard to have a dramatic plot. Paul Newman stars racer Frank Capua who is racing the Indy 500. He falls for divorcee and single mother Elora (Joanne Woodward). They marry and Frank adopts Elora's teen son Charley (Richard Thomas). Elora and Charley, both head over heels in love and admiration for Frank, follow him from race to race. Elora proves to be trouble when she has an affair with rival racer Lou Erding (Robert Wagner). The plot is very choppy, Charley is annoying, to our dismay Newman drinks champagne out of a used popcorn box (ew), and there are numerous slow dramatic shots of pensive Newman alongside cheesy 1960s music. And I seriously wanted to smack Elora upside the head. I mean serious, you chose to cheat on Paul Newman with Robert Wagner? C'mon! The only thing I enjoyed was looking at Paul Newman throughout the movie. Good grief was that man good looking. Those eyes. THOSE EYES! And those chiseled features. He looked like a Roman god.

I wish I had something thoughtful to say about this film. My advice is that if you are looking for a good racing movie from the 1960s/70s era, then skip Le Mans (1971), skip Winning (1969) and watch Grand Prix (1966) instead.

If you are interested in the early days of race car driving, I highly recommend two silent films. The First Auto (1927), which I've reviewed before, is an excellent film about the early history of cars. The story follows the clash between a father, set in his ways and who doesn't want to give up his horses, and his son who loves the excitement of the new technology. The son, played by Charles Emmett Mack, becomes a race car driving and is involved in a serious accident. Ironically, the actor died in a car accident before filming ended. Legendary race car driver Barney Oldfield makes an appearance in the film. The other film is Speedway (1929) starring William Haines and Anita Page (I also did a post on this on but not quite a review). I don't remember too many details about the film however it's a fun picture with William Haines as a flamboyant racer who is more interested in chasing Anita Page than he is in taking racing seriously. The racing in both films is real and Speedway was shot on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as was Winning (1969) (and I've been there! woot!).

Have you watched Winning (1969)? If so, what did you think of it? What's your favorite racing movie?

Racing Cars ~ Le Mans (1971)

2012-01-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

Le Mans (1971) is simply a terrible movie. It's more a quasi-documentary Steve McQueen/race car fest than it is an actual film. There is virtually no plot and if you are not a race car enthusiast or perhaps you do not know what Le Mans is you would be confused and bored by the seemingly endless race that lasts the entire film. For those of you who are not familiar with Le Mans, it's a 24 hour endurance race (relay with teams) which takes place every year in the Le Mans region of France. The whole movie centers around Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen) the champion racer who is participating in Le Mans in the shadow of the recent death of another racer Belgetti. Belgetti's widow Lisa (Elga Andersen) hangs around the race for some reason, looking forlorn and lusting after Delaney. It's hard to tell if this is really what is going on. Her husband just died and here she is, holding on to the lifestyle and social circle she's grown accustom to which she no longer has a connection. So is Delaney the replacement that will keep her in the race care lifestyle? Who knows. It's Steve McQueen driving a race car. Cool.

This film has very little dialogue. So little that the first 37 minutes of the film contain no dialogue spoken by any of the characters. All you hear is the occasional announcer. The remaining 69 minutes has some dialogue but not much. So why watch this film? For the setting, the fancy shots of real race care driving and for Steve McQueen. McQueen loved sports and he loved racing. After his famous chase scenes in Bullitt (1968) and The Great Escape (1963), it seems inevitable that McQueen would do a movie completely devoted to race car driving.

The 1970s was the most varied and the most sparse decade in Steve McQueen's film career. Le Mans was produced by Solar Productions, McQueen's production company run by himself and business partner/friend Robert Relyea. By 1970, McQueen had become one of the world's most recognizable talents and a hot commodity for film studios. He also become one of the most difficult actors to work with. Le Mans really should have been Day of Champion (1966), produced by Warner Bros., starring Steve McQueen but it wasn't meant to be. Instead Grand Prix (1966) starring James Garner was made and Day of the Champion was put on the back burner. Relyea eventually made a deal with CBS's Cinema Center Films to do 3 pictures with Solar Productions. It was a deal I'm sure CBS came to regret.

According to Steve McQueen biographer Marc Eliot, a $5 million dollar insurance policy was taken out on McQueen's behalf were something to happen to him during the filming of Le Mans. Although Solar Production and McQueen were virtually broke, McQueen, banking on his fame, managed to get a good deal out of making Le Mans. Initially that is. However, there were many problems. The director John Sturges, was sick of McQueen's antics on set and the constantly changing script (whatever there was of one) that he abandoned the picture. Le Mans was hemorrhaging money. Pretty much all of Sturges' scenes had to be tossed, CBS' Cinema Center pulled out, McQueen's salary was cut, people were fired and the filming just plain stopped. CBS's Cinema Center took it back on after a few weeks with a new director on board. Lee H. Katzin took over but was restricted heavily by McQueen's demands. Katzin stuck with the production to the bitter end, bless him. By the end of filming, the editors had a mess of a movie to piece together, McQueen ended his business and personal relationship with Relyea forever and McQueen's marriage with Neile was on life support. The film was a critical disaster, didn't make enough to cover it's costs and it quickly disappeared from theaters.

I do hope this movie is released on BluRay, because although it's a terrible film I really do think it should be restored. It's aesthetically and historically important given the footage of real racing and Steve McQueen's iconic status in the history of film. The quality of the DVD is as bad as the plot of the movie. If you are a courageous soul and do brave watching this film on DVD, you will be rewarding by a very nice Speed Channel documentary about Le Mans (1971) hosted by McQueen's son Chad McQueen. I'd say it's better than the actual film.

Racing Cars ~ Grand Prix (1966)

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

There is no film quite like Grand Prix (1966). It is the quintessential racing movie and while it's not the best film out there we are very lucky to have it. Grand Prix was made during a golden era of race car driving, when Formula 1 was glamorous, safety in driving wasn't all that important, race car drivers were rock stars and racing teams were owned by individuals or car companies not corporations looking for another advertising opportunity.

Grand Prix (1966) was directed by John Frankenheimer and stars James Garner as Pete Aron. The cast also includes Eva Marie Saint, Antonio Sabato, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, Toshiro Mifune and Jessica Walter. Originally, the studio wanted Steve McQueen for the principal role of Pete Aron and Frankenheimer wanted an unknown. McQueen had signed up for the role, however, he did not see eye-to-eye with producer Ed Lewis and during their meeting together McQueen decided to bail out on the movie. James Garner, who expressed a lot of interest in the role, got to play Pete Aron in the end, not knowing that his rival (McQueen saw him more as a rival than vice versa) had wanted to play the part. McQueen would have been amazing in this film, considering he was the quintessential sporting bad boy of the 1960s. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. James Garner proved he could drive the race cars well and I believe he did a decent job as Pete Aron.

Grand Prix was a way to showcase the different Grand Prix races of Europe and to celebrate Formula 1. But with any movie, there has to be a plot. The story, which anchors the movie and makes it more than just a lot of glamorous shots of races, follows 4 race car drivers. There is the American Pete Aron who is in trouble with his sponsor Ferrari when he crashes into his fellow team racer British Scott Stodard (Brian Bedford), whose life seems to be already in shambles even more so now with a serious injury. Aron finds a new sponsor in Japanese business man Izo Yamura (Toshiro Mifune) and also has sort of a fling with Stodard's estranged wife Pat (Jessica Walter). That affair made absolutely no sense to me, I think they could have just cut it right out. The third driver is the French Jean-Pierre Sarti (Yves Montand) who is at the end of his career and although married, falls in love with magazine journalist Louise Frederickson (Eva Marie Saint). The last driver is fun-loving Italian Nino Barlini (Antonio Sabato) who thinks he his immortal, fears nothing and has a lazy fling with a race car groupie. The love affair between Sarti/Montand and Frederickson/Saint was the only one that made sense and had some heart to it. The others seemed forced and a lazy way to add sex into a sports film. However, when you compare this film with Le Mans (1971) which has no plot and Winning (1969) which has a boring plot, Grand Prix's plot looks amazing!

All of the principle drivers, except for Brian Bedford, did their own racing. They were trained at a legendary racing school in England and James Garner proved to be the most talented in the bunch. To provide as much realism as possible, Frankenheimer shot everything on location, used real drivers and had actors do the driving. Stunt doubles and dummies were used for the dangerous crash scenes. The film follows each of the major Grand Prix races in Monte Carlo, France, Belgium, England, Netherlands and Italy. Frankenheimer basically takes us on a trip through Europe! Cameras were mounted on cars for POV and over-the-shoulder shots. There are some shots that are so realistic looking you almost feel like you are in the driver's seat. Race sequences were choreographed by the legendary designer Saul Bass who also did the title sequence and the different montages (splits of the screen with multiple images or the multiplication of a single image across the screen). The title sequence takes place in Monte Carlo and includes shots of the different race cars and drivers getting reading for the first Grand Prix race. Attention to detail is key in this film. Frankenheimer and his crew knew that in order to get cooperation from Formula 1 drivers and companies like Ferrari (their headquarters is featured in the film, it was no small feat to get access to it), they needed to respect the sport, to show it as truthfully as possible and to place close attention to details. In the first race in Monte Carlo at the beginning of the film, every single sound you hear is as accurate as possible. They even did a special recording of two drivers, who were familiar with the Monte Carlo track, in which they did all the gear changes for the race to match what it would sound like. All the races in the film are on the real Grand Prix tracks.

In James Garner's memoir, he devotes a chapter to racing and how preparing for and film Grand Prix developed his love for racing cars. Because he did all his own driving in the film, he was at risk for injury and he had an accident on set.

"Toward the end of the shoot, I did a fire stunt with butane bottles that I ignited with a switch in the cockpit on the final turn. When I crossed the finish line going about 120, I slammed on the brakes and threw another switch to put out the flames. But something went wrong and the car erupted in a giant fireball. I scrambled out of the cockpit as the crew blasted me in the face with fire extinguishers and smothered me in an asbestos blanket. I wasn't hurt, but it shook me up. The producer wasn't happy that I'd done the stunt and neither was Lloyd's of London. They canceled my policy, and for the rest of the picture I drove without insurance."

When I say there is no film quite like Grand Prix, it's because it was lucky we got Grand Prix in the first place considering all the obstacles Frankenheimer had to face in making this 3 hour racing epic! If you enjoy sports films as I do, watch Grand Prix! It's all about the ambience. The glamour, the racing, the sights and sounds. Saul Bass' design, Maurice Jarre's score and Frankenheimer's direction make the film a beauty to behold. Just don't pay attention to the plot and you'll enjoy it!

These Amazing Shadows Giveaway Winners

2012-01-16T15:47:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Bob F., Janie, Bob G and Sam for winning my These Amazing Shadows (2011) BluRay giveaway. I asked contestants to write about a film they think should be in the National Film Registry and why or to share some information about the registry. Here are the winners' entries:

Bob F. of Allure:

Mystery of the Leaping Fish, The (1916) gets my vote. It shows just how different the cultural attitude toward certain controlled substances was at the time. And it Doug Fairbanks and Bessie Love, what's not to make it a perfect candidate for inclusion.

Janie:

It's wonderful that the National Film Registry does this so all generations can look and learn about/from movies/culture, the history of film, different cultures, the older style of special effects is on of my favorites, the things they could do way back when.. we've come a long way

Bob G.:

"I feel the National Film Registry should include a Gene Autry film. I would consider Melody Ranch from 1940 or Back in the Saddle from 1941. I fully realize that none of the ninety-three Gene Autry pictures ever rose to the budgetary or artistic levels of a John Ford Western, yet he was more popular than John Wayne for nearly a decade. Voted the top Western star for six years straight, and was the fourth most popular of all box-office stars in America by exhibitors in 1940. I fell that the cultural impact of his films merit his consideration for inclusion
Part of his impact on American culture was demonstrated in 1994. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson spent four days together in a Los Angeles studio making what would be their third and final album as the Highwaymen. Among their recording selections was an old favorite: Gene Autry's Back in the Saddle Again. These legends of country music were born during the Great Depression and had grown up with Gene Autry as their hero. Gene was a great influence on these superstars trough his films.

Over the course of his career he was a star on Radio though Chicago's WLS National Barn Dance and later had his own radio show Melody Ranch. Autry's movies reinvigorated the Western with the addition of his country songcraft to action-packed morality plays. In his films, good versus evil was easily delineated. Gene Autry was in inspiration to next generation of artists, encouraging and supporting Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and others who followed. Some of his most celebrated acolytes range from Ringo Starr to Solomon Burke, Aaron Neville to James Taylor. Taylor told audiences during his 2006 tour that the inspiration behind his first hit, ""Sweet Baby James,"" was to write a cowboy lullaby like the ones he'd heard Gene Autry sing in movies when he was a boy."

Sam of Photographic Haiku:

"I wrote them a letter a couple of weeks ago to find someone to take an interestingly large personal collection of 16mm films that I own. I mentioned that I have an original copy of THE HEART OF TEXAS RYAN (1917) with both the Spanish and French subtitles included. The response I got from them was to contact one of 2 other organizations because my copy may be in better condition than theirs. It was a breath of fresh air to receive such nice treatment when they could have just let me slip through the cracks.
THE HEART OF TEXAS RYAN was shot on Tom Mix's ranch in Newhall CA by the Selig Polyscope Company and released Feb. 12, 1917."

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Interview with Robert S. Bader, Editor of Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales

2012-01-11T13:00:00.003-05:00

I have had the pleasure of interviewing Robert S. Bader, the editor of the book Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales (read my review of the book here). He shared a lot of wonderful insights on Groucho Marx's writing career. Enjoy!

1) How did you become interested in Groucho Marx?

The Marx Brothers were going through a bit of a revival when I was growing up, so in the late 1960s and early 1970s I discovered them on television. I was an inquisitive kid and after seeing a couple of the films I checked out everything I could find on them in the local library and was surprised to learn that Groucho had written several books. So I became interested in him as a writer and a performer almost simultaneously. And his writing was as enjoyable to me as everything else he did from the beginning.

2) What would you like people to know about Groucho's writing career?

Groucho was mostly self-educated and sought acceptance from writers more than film critics. Writing was very important to him. He wasn't just a movie star who wrote some books and articles. He was a formidable enough writer to have succeeded at it without his other more successful endeavors.

3) Do you think Groucho's fame as a theater and film star interfered with him being taken seriously as a writer?

The most frequent criticism Groucho received as a writer had little to do with his writing ability. It was often said that he was funnier on stage or screen than he was in print. It would be hard to argue against that, but it seems unfair in assessing his written work, which is frequently hilarious. So I would agree that his status as a successful entertainer kept him from his rightful place in the world of literature. And in part because of the constraints on his time. He had a pretty successful and prolific writing career for a guy who was busy being a star for 60 years. He found time for writing because it meant a lot to him.

4) This new edition has 19 additional writings. Tell us a little about how you found these pieces and why you added them to this new expanded Edition?

Several of the additional items in the new edition were considered for the original but left out for one reason or another. I tried to keep everything in context – placing the pieces in the five sections of the book, which each deal with a certain aspect of Groucho's life and career. Many very funny and beautifully written pieces just didn't fit into any of the sections. So for the new edition I created an extra section for these difficult to categorize essays as well as a few of the items I've discovered in the years since the original publication. In the new edition I've also included a few speeches Groucho delivered. Since he wrote these without any intention of publishing them, I didn't consider them for the original edition. But over the years I've enjoyed reading them so much, I decided they belonged in the collection. Groucho's writing style is so conversational that the speeches seem like they were written for publication. My methods of finding some of this material are purely unscientific. In some cases I simply went through every page of a publication until I found Groucho's contribution. I spent many hours in libraries reading magazines from the 1930s like Judge and College Humor, which have never been indexed. As you would expect, I found a few other interesting items too. I consider it time very well spent. And the process rescued a few small treasures by Groucho.

5) Which piece in the collection is your favorite and why?

While I'm partial to anything Groucho wrote about his days in vaudeville I can say that there is one piece that stands apart for me. It was one of the things I read at a very young age that made me think the world needed a collection of Groucho's essays. "Our Father and Us" was one of the very few things written by anyone about Sam Marx, the father of the Marx Brothers. There are many articles and stories about their mother, Minnie and she developed legendary status as a result. But Sam was a very special and unique man who was so beloved that his sons considered him a sixth brother. This piece was published shortly before Sam died in 1933 and it shows a sweet and loving side of Groucho that is rarely evident in anything else he ever did. I first discovered this piece when I was around twelve years old and recall it making me more aware of the great relationship I shared with my own father, who always seemed like a friend first and a parent second.

6) My favorite piece in the collection is What This Country Needs. Could you tell us about the history of it and how Groucho came to write it?

Groucho became a very prolific writer in the early 1940s. The Marx Brothers were winding down their film career and Groucho had yet to find success on the radio, so he planned on becoming a full time writer. He wrote topical humor, quite a lot of which was published in This Week, a Sunday newspaper supplement to The New York Herald Tribune and other papers around the country. It was during this time that Groucho was involved in some collaborating with his writer friend Arthur Sheekman, who is sometimes erroneously referred to as Groucho's ghost writer. The truth is that Groucho helped Sheekman make a little money by hiring him as an editor and letting Sheekman sell a few of his own humor pieces through Groucho's agent. When he had trouble selling his own stuff Groucho and his agent let him sell the material under Groucho's name. "What This Country Needs" came to be as Groucho and Sheekman kicked around ideas and decided it would be a good time for a political piece, since it was an election year. Sheekman made some uncredited contribution to this piece but it is unmistakably Groucho's. I almost didn't include it in the book because of Sheekman's involvement and the fact that a truncated version of it appears in Groucho's 1963 book Memoirs of a Mangy Lover. But the full length original version from 1940 has so much good additional material I felt it merited inclusion.

7) What is your favorite Marx Bros. movie and why?

Like many Marx Brothers fans I love the five Paramount films – their earliest. It would be ludicrous to say that they were funnier with Zeppo, but I like seeing the Four Marx Brothers because that's how they became stars on the vaudeville stage. We get to see them as relatively young men in these films. Many people don't realize that Groucho was almost forty when the first film was made and Harpo and Chico were a couple of years older. If pressed to pick one I'd select Money Business or Duck Soup. Do I really have to pick only one? It's almost impossible for me. All of their films mean so much to me. I can say Duck Soup now and it'll be Money Business next week.

8) Why do you think people today are still drawn to the Marx Bros. movies?

Obviously they're still funny. The films were very carefully written and considering that some of them are more than 80 years old, that care paid off. There's hardly anything dated in Marx Brothers movies. Duck Soup in particular will continue to resonate as long as countries have poor diplomatic relationships. Wouldn't the world be a better place with a man like Rufus T. Firefly as president of a country? He certainly couldn't do any worse than some real presidents. Groucho's attacks on authority will remain timeless. I recently attended a double feature screening of Horse Feathers and Animal Crackers and was pleased to see a packed house that included many children laughing their heads off. It seems that each generation finds the Marx Brothers and finds them funny.

9) Tell us about your own writing career.

Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales was my first book – and as it turned out, my second book as well. (I can count the new edition, can't I?) A few years ago I wrote and produced a documentary film called The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk and I've written a few other things for television as well as several magazine articles and things like DVD and CD liner notes – usually for projects I've produced. I've also nearly finished a collection of S.J. Perelman's lost writings, which will be very similar in format to the Groucho collection.

10) What are you working on now?

For many years I've been toiling away on an exhaustive history of the Marx Brothers vaudeville and stage career. I hope to finish it in the next year or so. It's taken on a life of its own and has turned into a history of the vaudeville business as seen through the eyes of the Marx Brothers. There will be a lot of information in it that will be new to the story of the Marx Brothers – a substantial amount of material that has never been in any previous study of them. I'm also writing scripts for a weekly radio show that should debut sometime in the spring.

Thank you Robert!

Get Your Read On ~ Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales

2012-01-10T13:12:00.002-05:00

Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales
Selected Writings of Groucho Marx
Updated and Expanded Edition
Edited by Robert S. Bader
9781557837912
Paperback 312 Pages
$19.99
November 2011

Groucho Marx had a way with words. To me, his famous puns and one-liners are what made him so funny, more so than his funny walk and his black grease mustache and eyebrows. Most of you may not be familiar with Groucho's writings and this collection of short pieces serves as a great introduction.

Editor Robert S. Bader has compiled a varied collection of stories, editorial letters, gag pieces, advertisement copy and articles from Groucho's long writing career (1920s up until Marx's death in the 1970s). Groucho was published in Variety, Reader's Digest, the Hollywood Reporter, Saturday Evening Post, Chicago Tribune, among many other publications.

The book is very well-organized and put together. It contains a foreword from Groucho Marx's friend and interviewer Dick Cavett. Cavett has always been a great admirer of Groucho and his foreword shows his enthusiasm and devotion to Groucho's talent for wit and humor. There are several more pieces in the front matter including a foreword from Groucho himself, an introduction from the Editor as well as a few other pieces. What I learned from reading the front matter was that Groucho Marx, especially after the breakup of the Marx Bros., was passionate about his writing but also had a respect for other authors to realize that gave him some humility. He would joke about his books not becoming bestsellers and would write funny letters to his publisher about the negative critical response that one of his published books received. In the introduction, the editor quotes Groucho who had some interesting observations of the publishing industry and the realistic life of a book after publication. It still holds true today and I wish other authors would realize how fragile the life of a book really is!

The writings are grouped into 6 sections by theme and usually appear within each part chronologically. Bader does a wonderful job providing the reader context and history for each piece. There is a paragraph before each one that describes where the piece was published, the importance of when it was published (in relation to Groucho's theater and film career) and any information you may need about people, events or cultural history that would be relevant to the piece. These small introductions were very useful! Also, some of the pieces are accompanied by an image of how the original work looked in print.

I've always loved Groucho's one-liners and how he would follow one serious sentence with an absolutely ridiculous one. I just love how he twisted language that way. You don't get this as much in his writing but Groucho's wit and humor are still there. My favorite piece were the ones written in reaction to something happening during the time. The one that stood out to me was "What This Country Needs" which was a political gag piece in which Groucho "campaigns" for Vice Presidency. He extols the importance of good 5 cent cigars and plain ham sandwiches. This is my favorite part:

"But the nation does need, for one thing, a good ham sandwich. I refer to the simple, old-fashioned (now obsolete) single-decker ham sandwich which was a national institution until the druggist, with his passion for mixing things, ruined it for us.

As an experiment, I went into a drugstore yesterday and ordered a ham sandwich.

'Ham with what?', the clerk asked.

'Coffee,' I told him.
'I mean,' he said, ' do you want the ham-and-tuna combination, the ham-sardine-and-tomato, or ham-bacon-and-broccoli? And will you have coleslaw or potato salad?'

'Just ham,' I pleaded. 'A plain ham sandwich, without even tomato or lettuce.'

The young man look bewildered, then went over to the drug counter to consult with the pharmacist who glowered at me suspiciously until I fled.

That's the sort of thing the country is up against."

I can just visualize Groucho ordering a ham sandwich, being stared down by the pharmacist and server and doing his stooped walk right out of the drug store! Ha. It's a funny joke and it demonstrates how overwhelmed Americans were with choices, as we are even more so today.

If you are a big Marx Bros. fan or just a Groucho Marx enthusiast, pick up this book! I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wasn't totally in love with the Marx brand of humor.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Applause Books for sending me a copy of the book to review!

Stay tuned because tomorrow I will have an interview with the editor Robert S. Bader!

2011 In Review

2011-12-31T14:38:00.000-05:00

Another year has come and gone and 2012 is just around the corner. This year was definitely a year of reading. I was fed up with having a superficial knowledge of classic cinema that I started diving into many biographies in search of more background information and context to add to my current mental classic film database. I didn't post as often as I'd like because I was too busy reading, watching movies and living life (I even got engaged and started planning a wedding). However, I'm proud that I didn't just abandon my blog and that I shared something with you all each month. Here is my look back at 2011:

January - I read and reviewed the book Warren William: Magnificent Scoundrel of Pre-Code Hollywood and interviewed the author John Stangeland.

February - Robert Mitchum's BFF, the sultry and headstrong actress Jane Russell passed away. I wrote about Bette Davis' uglification for The Private Lives of Essex and Elizabeth (1939). Thanks to Warner Archive, I finally got to watch the Mickey Rooney - Marilyn Monroe roller derby film Fireball (1950).

March - I tackled Elia Kazan's labor of love America, America (1963), a film I thoroughly enjoyed even though many others criticize it. Elizabeth Taylor passed away. I got to see one of my favorite films The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) at a local theater. That film takes place in my hometown Boston and stars my favorite actor Robert Mitchum.

April - Google honors Charlie Chaplin. I shared a video demonstrating Kinetic Typography using Abbott & Costello's famous Who's On First skit. And I got to see my favorite Hitchcock film, Rear Window (1954), at my favorite repertory theater, The Brattle.

May - The love of my life Carlos proposed to me and I said yes! He's always been so supportive of my enthusiasm for classic film and of this blog. I finished the Bogie Marathon I started in November of 2010 with We're No Angels (1955). I was invited to watch the documentary These Amazing Shadows (2011) at the Coolidge Corner Theater.

June - This was probably the most active month for me on the blog. The Somerville Theater had a classic film series and I saw Captain's Courageous (1937). I read and reviewed the book Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant by Jennifer Grant. I got to see Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) at the newly restored Art Deco theater The Paramount. I even took extra pictures of the Paramount too. I tackled the 800 page book Frank: The Voice even though it was missing my favorite decade of Frank Sinatra's career, the 1960s. I did a week long IOU series in which I watched and reviewed films that were sent to me or recommended to me by friends. I might do that again in 2012.

July - I went back to The Brattle to see The African Queen (1951). I fell for Nell Shipman when I read her autobiography The Silent Screen and My Talking Heart. I read and reviewed Elizabeth Taylor: A Passion for Life by Joseph Papa and my favorite Young Adult author Gigi Amateau interviewed him. The interview appears as a guest post on the blog. We got the opportunity to see the amazingly talented Jeff Rapsis before live music for 3 Buster Keaton films. I read and reviewed the book Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart.

August - I went back to The Somerville Theater to watch Ninotchka (1939) and to see Jeff Rapsis perform more live music alongside 3 more Buster Keaton films. I also had the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Rapsis about his fine work.

September - I fell head over heels in love with Jack Klugman and devoted a whole week to the man. I reviewed his book Tony and Me and did posts on 12 Angry Men (1957), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The Detective (1968), and his TV shows The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. .

October - I gave myself a lot of reading to do. First I tackled two biographies on directors including John Huston and Nicholas Ray.

November - I read and reviewed Piper Laurie's autobiography and Marc Eliot's biography of Steve McQueen. I started watching a lot of Steve McQueen films but unfortunately couldn't find the time to review them. I did make some time for The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and posted a lot of fun screencaps.

December - I created a holiday gift guide for classic film fans. I read and reviewed the behemoth biography of Spencer Tracy. I also finally posted my interview with These Amazing Shadows (2011) co-director/producer Kurt Norton.

While I didn't have very many posts this year, I feel like the ones I did take the time to write were of quality. I'd much rather have fewer posts that I could be proud of than a year full of fluff pieces.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year! Thanks for reading and come back in 2012.

Interview with Kurt Norton, co-director/producer of These Amazing Shadows (2011)

2011-12-27T09:48:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kurt Norton, director/producer alongside Paul Mariano of the amazing documentary These Amazing Shadows (2011). This interview was conducted earlier in the year but I have been saving it to post here to celebrate the documentary's broadcast on PBS tomorrow! A big thank you to Kurt Norton for granting me the interview and for introducing me to These Amazing Shadows.

1) How did you two come to decide that you wanted to film These Amazing Shadows?

Paul (Mariano) saw an article in the New York Times in 2008 about the National Film Registry. He was struck by two things: that he had never heard of the National Film Registry and a statistic quoted in the article that 90% of films made before 1920 no longer exist and 50% before 1950 are lost forever. He called and told me about the article. I, too, had never heard of the National Film Registry. We both consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable about film, so it was quite a surprise that this very cool list of America's most important films existed and we knew nothing about it. We had just come off two documentary projects that didn't work out for a variety of reasons. We both liked the idea of doing a documentary on the movies. Seemed like a lot of fun. Paul called Steve Leggett at the Library of Congress who coordinates the National Film Registry and found out that no one had ever made a film about the Registry. We dove in without really figuring out what our story would look like. How do you make a movie about a list?

2) How did you two meet?

We met in 1985 at the Contra Costa County (California) Public Defender Office. Paul was a Deputy Public Defender and I was an defense investigator. We became friends, then discovered our common interest in filmmaking. Our first collaboration was making goofy videos for the office softball team end of season party. By a weird coincidence in those softball videos we used a lot of clips from famous movies, which we audio dubbed with our own dialogue.

3) How long did the documentary take to film and produce?

We spent over two years producing These Amazing Shadows. One reason it took that long was because we had difficulty figuring out how to tell our story. We spent a lot of time at first focusing on film preservation. As time went on our story evolved into one about the movies - its power, how it connects us all, how it reflects who we are and the joy it brings people. Another reason it took so long was because we had to find just the right people to work with: our producer Christine O'Malley, editors Doug Blush and Alex Calleros, graphic designer Brian Oakes, composer Peter Golub. We found them one by one - it was a very challenging process. The only person we had in place to began our project with was our outstanding director of photography Frazer Bradshaw. It was important to us and the project to find just the right people - people with the right temperament, point of view and artistry.

4) Working together as directors, did each of you have different roles to play or did you work side-by-side during the process?

We worked side-by-side. Sort of a two-headed monster. Having two directors is both a blessing and curse. It is a blessing because often two heads are better than one to develop ideas. Also, when one of us was feeling low energy the other was there to carry the load. The negative part is that sometimes people we worked with would get confused as to whether it was necessary to get both our approvals for decisions. It was a little cumbersome at times. Mostly it was very positive. Making a film, narrative or documentary, is a real marathon. The director has to inspire and motivate the production team - keep the whole ship moving forward. Having a partner is a real advantage because we kept inspiring each other and in turn the whole team. In terms of the interviews Paul and I took turns. By just luck of the draw Paul interviewed Rob Reiner and I interviewed Christopher Nolan. There was no grand plan as to who interviewed whom.

5) Why do you think it's important for people to know about Film Restoration and The National Film Registry?

It is important for people to recognize that our cultural heritage won't just take care of itself. We have to, as individuals and a society, make focused efforts to preserve our culture. Movies are an important part of that goal because as Robin Blaetz, one of our interview subject says, film is the art form of the 20th century. It is amazing how ideas, habits, fashions can get lost or forgotten from one generation to another. For us to connect as human beings we need to understand each other. Understand where we have come from - our connections - our common history - the good and the bad. Our lives have become so busy and technology is pushing change to the point that rather than a generation being measured in perhaps a thirty year block, it is now measured in three to four years. If that is true, then we need to protect our cultural heritage more than ever. We are lucky in this country that we have institutions like the Library of Congress. We found in the Library a part of the government that really works. That is because of the people who work there - they are passionate and dedicated. I know it sounds corny but it is true. Whether you belong to the Tea Party or are a liberal Democrat you can take pride that the Library of Congress works.

6) How did you come to select the films that were discussed in the documentary?

We, meaning our production team, had certain ideas about what films we should include in our documentary. We went dutifully about our interviews asking people about those films. But, what we found was that people told us about films they thought important. When a person tells you about a film they love or find important there is passion. We realized that we needed to follow the path being laid before us by our interview subjects. It was in their passion that we found our story. The films that Paul and I love didn't matter because we were not in front of the camera. Our interview subject took us on a great trip that we formed into our documentary.

7) How did you come to select the people who were interviewed in the documentary?

We selected people to interview that we thought were interesting - had something to say. A lot of people are wonderful, but don't really have anything to say. A good interviewer can bring out the best in anyone. Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley and Terry Gross are good examples of that. But, just bringing out the best is not good enough for a documentary. The person has to have some inherent ability to express their inner world and passion. That is what makes them documentary worthy, so to speak. Convincing prominent people to be in a documentary being produced by two guys with no discernible track record is very difficult. We got a lot of rejections from some great people. Our success in getting interviews was based on two thing: persistence and luck. We got Christopher Nolan because his daughter and our editor Doug Blush's daughter share the same piano teacher. It was through that personal connection we were able to submit our request. Dumb luck can sometimes be pretty important.

8) What do you hope that These Amazing Shadows accomplishes?

We hope that These Amazing Shadows entertains and inspires people. We certainly want to create awareness about the need for film preservation and the preservation of our cultural heritage in general. But, we've found that something else has happened that we couldn't have anticipated. We've had high school and college students come up to us after a screening and tell us that because of our film they want a career in filmmaking. We never expected that kind of response. So many people have told us how they have rediscovered the movies. Fallen in love with movies from the 1930s and 40s. Watched an experimental film for the first time in their life. Preservation is important, but it is the films themselves and how they affect people that is most important.

9) Tell us a little about your social media campaign for the documentary.

Paul and I are not in our 20s or 30s. Before this project I knew nothing about facebook, twitter, blogging, foursquare, tumblr, etc. We found with a limited promotion and advertising budget that social media was very important. We realized that there were people out there that had established connections to online communities with a shared interest. And, that those connections are very powerful. It took us a while to tap into that world. We began by just surfing the net looking for bloggers and facebook pages who we simply enjoyed reading. We learned a lot from just reading and reading. We started our social media campaign in December of 2010. We now know we should have started it a year before. It takes time to make the right connections. I am afraid that we won't really know how to have a really effective social media until 2012! Thank goodness for my 26 year old niece, Tessa Rexroat, because she really educated us.

10) These Amazing Shadows has already been screened at big film festivals such as Sundance. Tell us a little about the cross-country tour of the documentary and the reactions you've been getting so far. (as of June 2011)

In many ways distribution is harder than making the documentary. Marketing the film is so challenging because the market place is so crowded. We suffer a bit because we have been slow to develop a clever marketing hook. Film preservation is not the most exciting hook. I was at the Denver FilmCenter recently and before the screening people were coming up to me and saying, "So, this is a clip show?" Well it kind of is, but it is so much more than that. After the screening the same people came up to say how much they loved, learned and were inspired by our film. Though our marketing can be poor, once we get people in the theater they love our film. We are very lucky to have IFC behind us. They have been so supportive. They own our North American distribution rights. Even though they have guided us it is still the responsibility of the filmmakers to promote the film. Because we are the ones who have the most passion about the project. We were also lucky to be part of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. That festival is such a boost for a documentary like ours. It's short hand in our country for "a good film." Sundance began a whirlwind experience that has not stopped for almost six months. We still have a long way to go because we are scheduled to be broadcast on the PBS series Independent Lens on December 28th and our DVD will be released by PBS Video in the fall. We just keep telling ourselves sleep and free time is highly overrated.

These Amazing Shadows on PBS and a Blu-Ray Giveaway

2011-12-26T15:23:00.001-05:00

"All these people who worked on these things, who are all gone now, but they've left behind these amazing shadows for us to enjoy." - George Willeman

Back in May, I had the amazing opportunity to watch the documentary These Amazing Shadows (2011) at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA (you can read my original review here). This documentary chronicles the history of the National Film Registry, which is part of the Library of Congress. The films that are made part of the registry vary greatly. They can be full-length cinematic films, documentaries, shorts, music videos, etc. but they all have something in common. They are considered to be culturally, historically and aesthetically significant. The National Film Registry choses 25 films to add to their list each year. Films are a living history of our culture. And anyone who doesn't believe that, needs to watch These Amazing Shadows! In the documentary, many industry professionals, actors, directors, even film writers like The Self-Styled Siren, are interviewed. It's a wonderful documentary that I think film fans and skeptics alike need to see this film.

And now you can! These Amazing Shadows is available on DVD and Blu-Ray as of last month. Also, PBS is showing the documentary as part of their Independent Lens series. It airs on Wednesday December 28th (check your local listings for time and channel).

PBS has a fun but very challenging Film IQ test you can take. If you want to vote for a film to be included in the 2012 list of 25, you can learn more about how to vote here. Also, if you are curious about which films are not included in the Registry yet, the Library of Congress has a master list you can browse here.

These Amazing Shadows is all over the internet. They have a main website, a trailer, a Facebook page, a Twitter account (this one is fun to follow!), and a wonderfully informative blog that is updated regularly.

Stay tuned because tomorrow I will be posting an interview with one of the directors Kurt Norton!

And now for the giveaway! Thanks to the PR folks for These Amazing Shadows, I have the opportunity to give away 4 Blu-Rays of the documentary.

Contest Rules: Fill out the form below to enter. US & Canada Only. One entry per person, contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Janury 5th. Winners will be chosen at random and announced on the blog. Good luck!

The contest is now over.

Get Your Read On ~ Spencer Tracy by James Curtis

2011-12-21T15:27:00.001-05:00

Spencer Tracy
by James Curtis
Knopf (Random House)
October 2011
9780307262899
1,024 pages
$39.95 Hardcover

Spencer Tracy by James Curtis is the most definitive biography on the legendary actor. There will never be another book as informative as this one and there will never be another biographer who has had as much access to information about Spencer Tracy as James Curtis had. It took Curtis 10 years to research and write this book and the wealth of information found within the covers of this biography demonstrates his hard work and attention to detail.

Physically this book is a brick. It's just over 1,000 pages and if you discount the front and back matter, the meat of it clocks in at 878 pages. It's a heavy book and because of that it's a tad bit difficult to read. I experimented with various positions including propping the book up on a firm pillow, which seemed to work the best. One time I had it propped on my chest, I accidentally let the book go, it slid and hit me right in the mouth. Ouch! If you are an eBook person, this book is available on various eReaders. I'd rather suffer and have the physical book myself.

Spencer Tracy is known for many things. He was one half of the famous Hepburn-Tracy coupling (both on screen and off), he was a familiar face in films from the 1930s to the 1960s, and by some accounts he was also known as an adulterous drunken Catholic. However, people are always infinitely more complex than the labels we chose to place on them. What I love about reading biographies is that you get an opportunity to discover some of that complexity and move beyond the stereotype, the rumors, and the labels.

The front matter consists of a table of contents and an Acknowledgements section and the back matter has a section on the various biographies of Katherine Hepburn (some of which make claims that the Curtis refutes), a stage and film chronology, notes with sources and an index. If you are going to read any of the extra matter, make sure you read the Acknowledgements because this is the most enlightening. Spencer Tracy's daughter Susie Tracy adamantly felt that a "thorough and balanced biography of her father needed to be written, and the time to talk to the people who knew him was running out." Curtis took on the task of writing this biography and Susie gave him access to photos (some I'm sure have never before been published), Tracy's datebook, letters, telegrams, etc. She also gave Curtis access to people who knew Tracy but wouldn't have been allowed to have been interviewed without Susie's connection. There are two important things to note about this. Although Susie gave Curtis access to a lot, she didn't have final say in how the book would be written or what was to be included or left out. However, I do think that Susie's assistance and blessing helped mold the book into what it is now.

It is clear in reading this book that Curtis was being very respectful of Spencer Tracy as well as Louise Tracy (his wife) and their children (Susie and John). While I do love salacious reads, I do also enjoy reading books that are matter-of-fact and don't rely on juicy gossip to interest readers. Curtis sticks to the facts and while we read about the good and the bad, he doesn't try to share more than is necessary. At times I felt that Curtis may have been a little too adoring of Louise and too critical of her major rival for Tracy's heart, Katherine Hepburn. And I wonder if this is because of Susie's influence. However, he does state that Susie and Katherine became friends and does defend Katherine on several points. Basically, Curtis sticks to facts but there is a bit of a bias in favor of Tracy's family.

This book is very thorough. Every year, every play, every movie, every major event in Spencer Tracy's life is covered with incredible detail. There is a lot of information too about the John Tracy Clinic for deaf children. Relevant photographs, with sources named, are sprinkled through the text. I like this better than the photo insert you find in the middle of most biographies. I always find myself flipping back to that section to look at photos and I didn't have to do that with this book. This is a challenging read. The writing is can be a bit dry but because of the sheer volume of information that Curtis shares, there wasn't much room for fancy language. He does employ use of cliff hangers at the end of certain chapters which makes you want to keep reading. However, I highly suggest reading this book chapter by chapter. It will take you a while to finish but at least it'll give you some time to soak in the information.

What I enjoyed the most about this book were the stories of Spencer Tracy in relation to other actors or with directors/producers/other industry people. Tracy was good friends with a lot of his fellow actors and as the years passed it saddened him to see so many of them die. He was a great actor, adored by many and a lot of actors and actresses felt it a privilege to work with him. He had some close friendships with actors including his BFF Pat O'Brien and Clark Gable. There is one really funny anecdote from the book. Gable and Tracy would pull pranks on each other on set. When Clark Gable was crowned the King of Hollywood, Tracy took the opportunity to embarrass Gable. The book says

"Gable sought his revenge... when he had the hot fudge sundae that always appeared at the finish of Tracy's lunch made with a perfectly formed scoop of mashed potatoes. Tracy dug into the thing and devoured it down to the last spoonful without ever changing expression."

I know a lot of you will be put off by the page count but you shouldn't be. Not everything can be condensed into one page of trivia facts on IMDB or a few paragraphs on Wikipedia. It's an accomplishment to tackle a book this long and to learn as much as I did while reading it. So while it's not the most fun read out there, I do hope Spencer Tracy fans and classic movie enthusiasts alike will give this book a shot.

Full Disclosure: My boss got this book, took one look at it's length and handed it over to me. I immediately hugged it in my arms and thanked her. Thanks Susan!

Here is the author talking about how he came to write the biography and clears up some misconceptions about Tracy. I love that he took the opportunity to spotlight Spencer Tracy in such a definitive biography like this one! Also below is a free preview of the book. Enjoy!

Holiday Gift Guide for Classic Film Fans

2011-12-06T13:16:00.003-05:00

Do you have a classic film fan in your life? Or perhaps you are one and want to spread the joy to others? Why not buy a classic film themed gift for them for the holidays? Now I could list a whole bunch of DVDs, Blu-Rays and Boxed Sets for you but that's no fun. You could easily just browse some great online shops like the TCM Store, Kino Lorber, Barnes and Noble or Warner Archive for ideas. However, if you are looking for some non-DVD/Blu-Ray gift ideas, why not consider one of the following:

Books

Buy books for the holidays! As most of you know, I work in the book industry. So buying books supports me. How, so? You buy a book, it supports the industry, I work in the industry, it keeps food on the table, clothes on my back and a roof over my head. Do you know how much Carlos eats? It's a lot! Keep us fed, buy some books. Besides, books are cool!

Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design - by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham - Wow! What a gorgeous book. Saul Bass is the legendary designer of title sequences from great films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and many others. This is makes for a great coffee table book, discussion piece or just a fun book to flip through.

A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film by Richard Barrios - This book comes highly recommended from early film expert Jonas, also known as the Talkie King, who blogs over at All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!. This title is perfect for that budding film historian in your life.

Turner Classic Movies Crossword Puzzles -If your loved one is a TCM fanatic and thinks crossword puzzles are a lot of fun, this is the perfect gift for him or her. Inspired by the crossword puzzles in TCM's Now Playing Viewer's Guide, this book has 80 puzzles sure to keep anyone entertained for hours!

Just Being Audrey by Margaret Cardillo and illustrated by Julia Denos - A fabulous picture all about Audrey Hepburn. It's a great way to pass down your love of Hepburn to a child or for collectors of all things Audrey.

For children's books I also recommend: Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat, a picture book about Ella Fitzgerald which was inspired by the Abbott and Costello film Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942) and Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire, a picture book about the two young siblings growing up in show business.

For other book ideas, check out my book review series called Get Your Read On. I've reviewed numerous books of interest to classic film lovers.

Holiday Cards

Classic Movie Cards from Silents and Talkies - These are amazing! Designed and colored by hand by the uber-talented Kate Gabrielle. There are 7 in all, including some Happy New Year's cards. You can get all 7 designs or mix and match or buy all of 1 kind.

Home Theater

Panasonic 3D Wi-Fi Blu-Ray player - Let's face it. Most classic film fans have been reluctant to get Blu-Ray players. Heck, a lot of us are still trying to update our VHS collections to DVD! However, so many wonderful classic films are being introduced to the Blu-Ray format that your old movie lover is missing out by not having a player! CNet gave this particular Blu-Ray player by Panasonic a rating of "excellent". It's on sale at Best Buy for $159.99 with free shipping.

DVD Storage Box - One of the biggest dilemmas for any classic film fan is where to store all of ones DVDs and Blu-Rays. If your loved one has more films than they know what to do with, get them a couple of DVD storage boxes. These are a great alternative to furniture and fit well on bookshelves. You can stack them, move them around and hide them in nooks and crannies. Carlos and I have several of these!

Ephemera

Immortal Ephemera eBay Store and Website - My good friend Cliff sells lots of great Classic Film ephemera at his eBay store and on his website. Most items are under $10 You can find over 500 vintage stills, trading cards, tobacco cards, press photos, etc. Cards are $0.99 US shipping (unlimited) and other items are shipped free (US only). International Shipping is available as well. If your loved one is a big fan of a particular star from the Golden Age of Hollywood, check out Cliff's Shop by the Stars page and you can see what he has available for each actor or actress. These items make great gifts for the collector in your life!

Collectibles

Metropolis Mug from Brattle Theater - For just $12, you can get this fantastic Metropolis mug and support my favorite repertory theater at the same time. Win-win!

1:18 Steve McQueen Bullitt 1968 Mustang Fastback in Highland Green - Calling all Steve McQueen Fans! Calling all Car Enthusiasts! This is a wonderful toy replica of the Mustang that Steve McQueen drove (sorta) in the classic car chase scene from Bullitt (1968). I'm sure Carlos is salivating over this one.

Etsy - Etsy.com is full of wonderful vintage and hand-made collectibles which are sold by independent sellers and artists. Check out this Paul Newman Charm Metal Bracelet. Each charm is a photograph of Newman enclosed in a glass and metal casing.

Miscellaneous

Ticket Stub Diary - What's more fun than collecting ticket stubs? It's wonderful going back to see all the films you've enjoyed at the theater. But where do you put them all? Chronicle Books offers a Ticket Stub Diary for $14.95. You can also keep museum passes, concert tickets and lots of other stuff in here!

The Original Whirley Stovetop Popcorn Set - This set comes with a stovetop pot and stirrer, 3 popcorn packs and 4 popcorn tubs. Perfect present for your classic movie fan who loves to munch on popcorn while enjoying films!

What will you be buying for your beloved classic film fan? What do you hope you'll be getting for the holidays?

Full Disclosure: I found all these items online myself! I have not been influenced by any companies and I am not being compensated to feature any titles. I did include some Amazon.com affiliate links but that's it!

Winner of the Steve McQueen Book Giveaway!

2011-11-29T09:33:00.000-05:00

The winner is Chad of noirWhale.com and noirWhale on Tumblr. Congrats Chad and thank you to everyone who entered my contest.

Comfort Movies on my Birthday

2011-11-25T17:55:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday! Yay! Having a birthday fall around Thanksgiving can be a mixed blessing. The big holiday competes with my birthday and my friends and family have other plans that revolve around Thanksgiving. While yesterday I spent quality time with my family, today I'm all by myself. But that's okay! Because I have my wonderful online friends and lots and lots of classic film to keep me company.

I don't tend to re-watch films all too often mostly because of personal guilt. I feel guilty watching my favorites when there are so many new-to-me films to explore. However, on the week of my birthday, I set aside my feelings of guilt and watched whatever I wanted! YEAH! There is something so comforting in watching a favorite old movie. It's like wrapping yourself in a soft blanket you've had for years. It feels delightful.

This week I watched these, my beloved classics:

Tony Rome (1967) - 1960s Miami seemed like a fabulous place to be (even with all the crime, extortion and junkies). Frank Sinatra is at the height of his coolness during this decade and his Tony Rome character is wonderful. I also love how sexy Jill St. John and Gena Rowlands are in this. I love watching this film for the ambience and atmosphere and for all the amazing details.

Ocean's 11 (1960) - In my mind, I've written several posts about this film but none of them have made it on to this blog. One time I watched this film 3 times in a row just wishing I could celebrate New Year's in 1960s Las Vegas with the Rat Pack. It's such a cool movie. I even watched this on my iPhone on the treadmill at the gym (and once on the stair master too!). Today I watched it for the great cast, the ambience, Ee-O 11 (one of my favorite songs) and that amazing final scene.

Bachelor Mother (1939) - In my opinion, Bachelor Mother is the best film to come out of 1939, the greatest year in movie history. It's such a cute fun movie. For years, I've dreamed of having a New Year's Eve like the one Ginger Rogers and David Niven have in the film. I ended up watching this film three times this week! 'Apply Nu Chea!

Holiday Affair (1949) - Of course, what birthday would it be without a healthy dose of my favorite big barrel-chested lug, Robert Mitchum. Holiday Affair is one of the few romances he did and this is a romance-family-holiday film to boot! He's just so incredibly charming as the Toy department clerk who gets fired because of Janet Leigh. The two fall in love in the midst of crazy circumstances. Such an adorable and heart-warming film. I had to watch it a couple of times.

A Patch of Blue (1965) - I fall in love with Sidney Poitier every single time I each this film. A Patch of Blue is a heart-wrenching/warming story of a blind Caucasian woman who falls in love with a seeing African-American man. So charming and your heart is made of stone if you don't empathize with poor Selina, the main character.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - I watch this film each year. I'm not a fan of Barbara Stanwyck but she's absolutely charming in this holiday classic alongside the dimpled Dennis Morgan, big-bellied Sydney Greenstreet and the hilarious S.K. Sakall who practically steals the picture away from the big stars. I especially love all the food talk. For fun, check out my Christmas in Connecticut Menus!

Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) - My health in the past year hasn't been the greatest. But films like Yours, Mine and Ours always put life in perspective. Even when life gives you more than you can handle, make do with what you got and give it your best shot! And count your blessings. In the case of this movie, Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda have 20 of them! Quite a handful indeed. This is such a fun movie to watch too!

If you could watch as many of your favorite films as you wanted on your birthday, what would you watch?

Winner of Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir by Piper Laurie

2011-11-15T13:00:00.002-05:00

The winner of Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir by Piper Laurie is...

Kathy from Florida!

This was Kathy's entry: "My favorite Piper Laurie movie is "Tim" (1979). I like how she gets into the heart of an older woman. At first you see her almost resigned to a lonely life, then she meets a young man. She befriends him, then begins to have feelings for him. This frightens her, but finally she realizes that life doesn't always go the way you assume it will, and when something good comes along, you shouldn't be afraid to embrace it."

Thank you to Kathy and everyone who entered my giveaway!

Get Your Read On ~ Steve McQueen: A Biography by Marc Eliot

2011-11-08T13:00:00.012-05:00

Steve McQueen: A Biography by Marc Eliot
9780307453211
Hardcover
368 pages
October 2011
Crown Archetype (Random House)

I don't remember the names of many biographers but Marc Eliot stands out for me. I've read Eliot's biographies on Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Both were excellent, well-written and highly entertaining reads. The Cary Grant biography is a controversial one among classic film enthusiasts, especially ones who hold Grant in high regard, mostly because Eliot really digs deep into dark recesses of Grant's past and reveals things about Grant's life that are quite shocking. (Read my review of the book from 2006 here ) He goes easier on Jimmy Stewart but both biographies are pretty juicy. I couldn't finish the Jimmy Stewart one because he dies at the end and I really didn't want him to die.

Both Carlos and I really enjoy biographies that dish it up. He likes the dirt even more than I do. But one thing we both do is we take all of the information with a grain of salt. A few years ago I read a book about books written about Marilyn Monroe (now wrap your head around that one). The whole point of the book, to me, was that no one will ever really know the true story of Marilyn Monroe. It doesn't matter how much research you do, how many people you interview, how many letters you read, you don't know 100% of the truth. No one does. And even if you had direct access to the person you are profiling, chances are they won't even tell you the whole truth. Biographers do their best, some hold back and some share it all even when some of the information is really unappealing. My advice is to take all biographies with a grain of salt. You'll be a better reader for it. Although do stay away from biographers whose only goal is to sensationalize and not to inform (i.e. Darwin Porter).

Marc Eliot's biography on Steve McQueen was a fascinating and entertaining read that I really enjoyed. Although I've only recently started watching McQueen's films, I knew McQueen's life story from a documentary I had seen. For me, the Eliot's biography built upon the framework of the documentary. It provides the reader with so much information and even McQueen experts will learn a thing or two. Eliot's writing can be very blunt. Take the first sentence of the introduction as an example:

Terence Steven McQueen was the product of a one-night stand that stretched into a year and six months of misery between Terrence William McQueen, a handsome, philandering stunt pilot for a traveling circus, and Jullian Crawford, a teenage alcoholic prostitute.

Wow! The whole book doesn't read like this but it does give you some insight of what you are getting into. Steve McQueen went from inauspicious beginnings to become a world famous movie star. He roamed around the country, worked in the Carribean, went off to war, got odd jobs and committed random acts of petty theft. He started taking acting classes in New York, which were free to him under the G.I. Bill, because he thought it might be a fun thing to do. While taking classes, he met a young actress by the name of Neile Adams who would later become Neile McQueen, wife of Steve and mother of their two children. Marc Eliot heavily references Neile McQueen's memoir. I don't blame him because she is really the greatest living expert on Steve McQueen, having been with him throughout most of his career and was still close to him up until his death. She saw it all!

Eliot really explores McQueen's Method acting styles and how McQueen used real life situations to influence his on screen roles. It's not often you read a biography of an actor in which their acting style is given significant consideration. Why was McQueen so charismatic as an actor? McQueen's unpredictability, something that was discovered in his early years as a budding actor and would continue to be a hallmark of his style throughout his career, was one of the things that made him so captivating as an actor. That along with his blue eyes. McQueen was in constant competition with Paul Newman who was roughly his age, started out in films around the same time and also had gorgeous blue eyes. Also, McQueen was a man's man in the way that our society stereotypes masculinity. He rode bikes, shot guns (was trained by Sammy Davis Jr. of all people), raced cars, flew planes and generally liked to be outside doing things.

McQueen saw success in the popular TV show western Wanted: Dead or Alive, which was produced by veteran actor Dick Powell. My friend Paulie of Art, Movies, Wood and Whatnot would appreciate the fact that his favorite actress Clara Bow was a huge fan of the show and even wired Steve McQueen to express her gratitude for such wonderful entertainment. McQueen made some bad business moves early in his career. Desperate for money, he agreed to act in the film The Blob. He thought it would do nothing so he asked for a chunk of money up front. Little did he know the film would be a cult classic and he would have become an overnight millionaire if he had taken a percentage of the profits instead. McQueen became a world-wide film sensation, with international markets chomping at the bit for his films. His earlier films include The Magnificent Seven (1960), Hell is for Heroes (1962), The Great Escape (1963), Love with the Proper Stranger (1963), Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Nevada Smith (1966) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) among others. The climax of his career was Bullitt (1968) which really exemplified McQueen at his best. He was cool, quiet and mysterious, an authority figure with an edge, had beautiful arm candy in the form of a young Jacqueline Bisset and got to film an amazing car chase on location (McQueen loved racing cars). It's considered the quintessential McQueen. He was always frustrated with every film he made before Bullitt and after Bullitt. He thought his parts weren't big enough or that someone else was stealing his thunder. And after Bullitt, he tried to recapture the magic of the film by doing other racing/car chase movies like Les Mans (1971) and The Getaway (1972) . He went on to do films like The Towering Inferno (1974), Papillon (1973), Tom Horn (1980) etc. As time went on, McQueen became increasingly frustrated and jaded. He divorced his first wife, married actress Ali McGraw and then they divorced and he married model Barbara Minty. Eliot devotes time to each of McQueen's films while also focusing on McQueen as man and husband. I would skim the sections of films I haven't seen so I wouldn't read any spoilers. Once I had seen the film I'd go back to the same section and read it more carefully.

I have a strange real-life connection to Steve McQueen. The last film McQueen made before he died in November of 1980 (also the month and year I was born) was The Hunter (1980). The script was an adaptation of a book written by none other than my screenwriting professor in Grad school. Also, a few weeks ago while I was at my cubicle at work, I turned around and saw a couple of people talking to someone. That someone happened to be LeVar Burton who also appears in The Hunter. WOW! Now all I need to do is to meet Eli Wallach in real life (::fingers crossed::) and I'll be super connected to that movie.

Marc Eliot's biography on Steve McQueen is a very entertaining and informative guide for McQueen enthusiasts and newbies alike. I hope you'll take the opportunity to read it.

Fun Facts:

Steve McQueen was almost executed by Rebels in Cuba when he ventured outside of safe territory
He started with theatre and TV apperances before appearing in films
McQueen collected antique cars and bikes, most of which were auctioned off after his death to pay taxes he owed.
Rumor is Sinatra tried to get McQueen to become part of the Rat Pack but gossip columnist Hedda Hopper discouraged him.
McQueen was mostly deaf in his right ear.
He contracted mesothelioma from cleaning pipes filled with asbestos during the war. The cancer would kill him in 1980.
McQueen started Solar Productions out of frustrations of not getting good roles.
Karl Malden convinced a frustrated McQueen to stick with Cincinnati Kid after he threatened to leave.
McQueen and James Garner couldn't stand each other. McQueen was always in competition with Garner and Garner didn't think McQueen was all that great as an actor.
McQueen got a black belt in martial arts.
I did find an error in the book. Eliot claims the below image is an early headshot of McQueen. It's really a cropping of a publicity shot for the film Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965).

Disclaimer: A big thank to you to Random House - Crown Archetype for sending me this book to review. I really love Marc Eliot's biographies so it was a pleasure to read a new one.

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

2011-11-04T13:00:00.003-04:00

"You're just not ready for me yet" - Cincinnati Kid

Most classic film enthusiasts consume films at a high rate. I am not one of those people. My slow rate of consumption leaves for a lot of new discovery. Having only seen two of Steve McQueen's movies prior to receiving a copy of the new McQueen biography, I thought it was a good as time as any to explore McQueen's body of work. I asked a few people which McQueen film they recommended I watch and pretty much received a list of every film the actor ever made. Carlos is a big Steve McQueen fan and was very excited about my new found interest in the actor. He showed me Bullitt (1968) and The Getaway (1972). But of all the McQueen films I hadn't seen, the first one on my list was The Cincinnati Kid (1965). Why? For various reasons. Stories set in the deep South are always so deliciously intense and I love anything sports related as long as it's connected with the 1920s/1930s. This film takes place in 1930s New Orleans and concerns itself with poker gambling (a "sport" of the elite and the lower class alike). It's got a magnificent cast including the beautiful 1960s starlets Tuesday Weld and Ann-Margret, the 1930s superstars Joan Blondell and Edward G. Robinson and the blue-eyed Karl Malden who always makes my heart melt a little whenever I watch him on screen. Steve McQueen just seems like the cherry on top of this delicious ice cream sundae of a film.

The Cincinnati Kid is not the best film I've ever seen but it's one of the coolest and most fun I've watched in a while. I was fascinated by Edward G. Robinson's tie pin and his glass of creme de menthe, Joan Blondell's fox stole complete with $100 bill in its mouth, the juxtaposition between sweet Tuesday Weld and the saucy Ann-Margret, how incredibly quiet Steve McQueen was and how well Karl Malden plays frightened characters. It's difficult for me to articulate why I wanted to watch this film and why I liked it. So I will allow these screen shots to express that for me.

Stay tuned, all of my screen caps (including several not posted here) will be available on the Out of the Past ~ A Classic Film Blog Facebook page!

There are lots of great overhead shots like this one.

Train and Railroad track scenes always make me nervous. Run, McQueen run!

Could use some more Tabasco.

Tuesday Weld and Steve McQueen share a sweet yet oddly sexy scene together.

Do you always have to cheat?

Turkish bath looks pretty good to me right now.

What's up with that beer glass? What did Tuesday Weld eat? Should I make a Steak and Salad dinner? These are the type of random questions I ask myself throughout a movie.

You've got problems if there is a shooting range built into your home.

Frolicking in a field.

McQueen had a great smile. He should have used it more!

Pocket Watch sighting!

Two Hollywood legends meet again. Don't tell Blondell that Robinson called her an old b****.

Edward G. Robinson complained that Steve McQueen never looked him in the eye. Technically, he's looking at him here.

Why are they sniffing the decks?

Karl Malden looking uber cool with his tie and matching pocket square. Dealin' out the cards.

Why?

Doubt that McQueen was tough? He's biting into a lemon. No joke. And he doesn't even wince from the sourness of the lemon juice. Amazing!

Bring out Lady Fingers!

See how that Fox Stole has a $100 bill in it's mouth. I'm guessing it's a $100 because Blondell is high class.

Another great overhead shot. If anything, this film is candy for the eyes.

Get Your Read On ~ Learning to Live Out Loud by Piper Laurie

2011-11-01T08:00:00.116-04:00

"I had achieved my childhood dream of becoming a movie star and then left it all behind for a second career as a serious actor." - Piper Laurie

Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir
by Piper Laurie
Hardcover
9780823026685
November 2011
Crown Archetype (Random House)

It's a given that reading an autobiography is a much different experience than reading a biography. Any good biographer can dig up the facts on an important figure but they cannot present those facts with personal context. The autobiographer presents his or her story with a layer of nostalgia and a sense of pain that is the result of drudging up the past in a way that no biographer can. Film actress Piper Laurie wrote this autobiography in a storytelling style. This is much different than the conversational style of Ernest Borgnine's autobiography. Piper Laurie is not having a conversation with her readers, she doesn't even acknowledge them, she's just telling the story of her life and all the people who happened to be a part of it.

The title "Learning to Live Out Loud" stems from the actress' problems with being able to vocalize. It was less shyness and more just an innate instinct to be quiet and listen. It took her years just to be able to laugh out loud and speak up for herself. I think it's a wonder she became a movie star!

The book reads chronologically from the very beginning of her life as Rosetta Jacobs and continues on to her movie and acting career as Piper Laurie. At a very young age, her parents sent her off to a sanitarium with her older sister Sherrye. This experience proved very traumatic for the young Rosetta who just wanted to be loved by her parents, especially her mom. By the age of 17, and with some theatre experience under her belt, Rosetta became Piper Laurie the film star. She had a 7 year contract with Universal which got her several B movies that left her frustrated as an actress. Laurie eventually got out of her contract and started making better pictures including The Hustler (1961). After The Hustler, she didn't make films for quite a long time but continued to act in theater and on TV. There were three phases of her career, her B movie/ Universal film career as a young starlet, her work in the late 1950s and early 1960s, then her work as an older woman starting from Carrie (1976) and on to various movies and TV shows.

Piper Laurie's autobiography was an absolute pleasure to read. Her writing style takes some getting used to but once you dive in you don't want to put the book down. Laurie's narrative is very charming and while she remembers a lot of specifics there are some failings of memory that are natural for someone who has had such a long and interesting life as she had. Laurie is not scared to talk about her many lovers. Some of her stories might shock you even though she never goes into any explicit details. I think highly conservative people may not enjoy reading about her experience with Ronald Reagan or a particular choice she made in her life. However, it's by no means a salacious tell-all. Laurie just happens to be a very independently minded woman who learned to live life on her own terms.

Laurie writes a lot about her experiences shooting different films. I enjoyed reading about The Hustler (1961), Until They Sail (1957) and even Carrie (1976) although I haven't seen that film. She also talks about notable Hollywood figures including Dennis Morgan, Donald O'Connor, Walter Matthau, Rock Hudson, Mel Gibson, George C. Scott, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Clark Gable, Joseph Mankiewicz, Howard Hughes, Ronald Reagan, etc. Notice how all of those people I listed are men? Piper Laurie rarely talks about other actresses or women in the business. She did develop a friendship with her Until They Sail co-star Jean Simmons, Joanne Woodward, Elia Kazan's wife and a few other women but the only really important women in her life were her mom, her sister Sherrye and her daughter Anna. Laurie really thrived on her relationships with men.

What's interesting about Laurie's reminiscences of her film roles and theater productions is that she not only talks about the behind the scenes goings on but she also relates how she prepared for the roles, how she researched them (sometimes even putting herself in danger to do so) and the acting methods and techniques she learned and used. While a biography would give you cold hard facts, an autobiography like Piper Laurie's can give you so much more.

Even if you don't necessarily have an interest in Piper Laurie's acting career, I think classic film enthusiasts should read this book. The span of time between 1949 and 1961 is very telling about how the Hollywood machine would treat young starlets and it's great fun to read about the other major stars of the day. Laurie grew up enamored with film stars so she was star struck when she met many of the big legends in person. It's fun to be a classic film fan reading about another one.

Disclaimer: I contacted Crown Archetype to get this book to review.

Read my review of The Hustler (1961) as well as my Match.com inspired profile for the main character Fast Eddie Felson.

It's giveaway time! Thanks to the good folks at Crown Archetype (Random House), I'm giving away one copy of Learning to Live Out Loud by Piper Laurie. Just fill out the form! Contest ends 11/10/2011. US Only.

UPDATE: The giveaway is now over. Winner will be announced in a separate post.

Get Your Read On ~ Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director by Patrick McGilligan

2011-10-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director

by Patrick McGilligan

9780060731373 Hardcover

It Books (Harper Collins)

July 2011

560 pages

He had always been, at least potentially, an avant-garde, "arty" filmmaker, but perhaps one who had followed the wrong muse and ended up mismatched in the Hollywood factory. - Patrick McGilligan

[Ray] looks... not bad, really, but QUELLEd, somehow. - Charlton Heston

Nicholas Ray was a Hollywood director who made such classic films as In a Lonely Place (1950), Born to Be Bad (1950), On Dangerous Ground (1952), The Lusty Men (1952), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), The True Story of Jesse James (1957) and The King of Kings (1967). Ray's career in filmmaking was varied and as the quote from McGilligan above suggests, he was meant to be an artsy independent filmmaker but got caught in the cog of the Hollywood machine. McGilligan is a prolific biographer and in this book looks at Nicholas Ray's career which was such a failure in so many ways yet 100 years after Ray's birth the man is still remembered as a legendary filmmaker.

Ray was born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle in 1911 Wisconsin. He was the youngest sibling with three older sisters. His childhood was full of rebellion. So much so that McGilligan often compares Ray's youth to Rebel Without a Cause. At first this sort of art imitates life comparison bugged me. McGilligan mentions several times in the book that Ray's life paralleled his movies (other sources such as Truffaut are referenced to back up his claims). These comparisons wane as the text progresses.

The book follows Ray's life and focuses much more on his film career than it does his personal life. We learn about his three wives Jean Evans, actress Gloria Grahame and dancer Betty Uyet and his last long-term relationship with Susana Schwartz/Ray. However, the book is really a profile of Ray as a filmmaker more so than it is a profile of Ray as a man. One of the ways we learn about Ray as a filmmaker is through his relationships with other men. Elia Kazan proves to be the most significant figure in his life. Both Kazan and Ray were part of the same theater group and both dabbled in leftist/communist politics. During the HUAC investigations, Ray was under similar pressure to Kazan to cough up names. I can tell McGilligan has somewhat of an agenda with Kazan. In a few of his footnotes and asides, the author points out that not all of the names that Kazan divulged were in accordance with a previously arranged agreement or were already publicly known as having communist ties. Kazan was a mentor to Ray, having started his directorial career a few years before Ray. Kazan's films were bigger, better and more successful and at many times during the text a Nicholas Ray film is put into chronological context with a Kazan film. Ray's career seems to have been constantly in the shadow of the great Kazan.

Ray worked well with men but not so much with women. The director figured out that both Humphrey Bogart (In a Lonely Place) and Robert Mitchum (The Lusty Men) were 6-take kind of guys. They had 6 takes in them and after that the quality of their acting decreased dramatically. When that happened, Ray would move on to other scenes. Ray always sought Marlon Brando for the roles of many of his films but never got to work with him. He considered Brando the best modern actor there was. Women actresses he had virtually no patience for. He had a difficult time working with such divas as Gloria Grahame (his second wife), Ava Gardner (not surprised), Joan Fontaine and Joan Crawford.

The apex of Ray's career was definitely Rebel Without a Cause (1955). While it was a critical failure (both Kazan and Welles hated it), it was a box-office hit. Today it's well-known because of the iconic status of the young stars of the film: James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo, who became even more infamous because of their violent deaths. McGilligan spends a lot of time on Rebel Without a Cause, devoting much of the middle section of the book to it. After the death of James Dean and the release of Rebel, Ray's film career went spiraling down. His films were less and less successful and he became more and more difficult to work with. The last part of the book is a bit of a slog. I enjoyed some parts but found myself disinterested in Ray's post-King of Kings career and life. I always find biographies difficult to finish especially if the person being profiled has passed away. Ray's death (that of his career and his life) was painful to read.

I was worried that this book might be a salacious read considering the reputation of It Books, the publisher. However, McGilligan really focused on Ray's career and while he explored Ray's sexual life (including his affairs with men and women and scandals including that of Gloria Grahame and his son and his relationship with 16 year old Natalie Wood), we as the reader don't often get too many moments of TMI. Although the whole part about the film Wet Dreams still disturbs me.

There are lots of fun anecdotes in the book. I liked reading about how the original plot of In a Lonely Place was completely different from the final product. Ray was adamant about not letting Robert Mitchum sleep walk through The Lusty Men and worked to get the best performance out of him. Ray was influenced by Bunuel's film Los Olvidados to make Rebel Without a Cause. He really wanted to explore rebellion in middle class versus that of the lower class which had already been explored many times before.

His relationship with James Dean was very interesting. They would sometimes have a father-son relationship and other times it would be more like brothers. Ray compared him to a Siamese Cat saying "the only thing to do with a Siamese cat is to let it take its own time. It will come up to you, walk around you, smell you. If it doesn't like you, it will go away again. If it does, it will stay." The original psychiatrist who did all the research that would influence Rebel was completely snuffed by Ray. Screenwriter Stewart Stern saw the three characters of the film much like those of Peter Pan (Dean - Peter, Wood - Wendy, Mineo - John).

I don't want to give everything away but I do want to point out a couple more interesting anecdotes. Ray's third wife Betty Utey choreographed the great Salome dance sequenced that I loved so much in King of Kings. I thought it was strange that Ray had the King of Kings star Jeffrey Hunter have a nose job so his nose would look more like Jesus' would. WTF?! If you watch Nicholas Ray's films, make a note of the absence of blue. Ray disliked using the color blue in his films because he thought it was a "scene-stealer". I guess Ray would have hated 500 Days of Summer (2009).

Overall, the book was very organized and well-written. I had a difficult time at a certain points with the star and footnote system. The font was so small for the star that I would often miss it and sometimes couldn't even find it when I read the footnote. A lot of Ray's films started off with one title and ended up with another. McGilligan uses the first name and then finishes off with the second which would confuse me greatly. Otherwise, if you are interested in Nicholas Ray as a director I highly recommend this very thorough and informative book.

Disclaimer: I purchased this book from Barnes & Noble.

Get Your Read On ~ John Huston: Courage and Art by Jeffrey Meyers

2011-10-20T12:58:00.002-04:00

John Huston: Courage and Art
by Jeffrey Meyers
9780307590671 Hardcover
Crown Archetype - Random House
September 2011
496 pages

John Huston was an admirer of high art but he didn't think film fit into that category. He thought film was just another way to showcase the art he admired. Huston had a great admiration for novels, plays, paintings and sculptures and for the people who had the talent to create them. When John Huston was 11 years old, he was misdiagnosed with an enlarged heart and chronic nephritis. He was forced to be bedridden for 2 years, not allowed any form of exercise and given a bland diet. Gone crazy from being shut up for so long, he escaped his home one evening and went for a swim. He almost drowned but miraculously survived. Huston came out of that experience traumatized but driven to be an adventurer and to be constantly on the move. He was determined never to be lonely or bored ever again.

John Huston: Courage and Art is by far one of the best books I've read this year. It's one of the best biographies I've ever read. When I started the book, I thought that I didn't have much interest in John Huston. Why was I reading this again? However, it only took about 20 pages to make me realize that not only is Huston a fascinating figure, his life story is being told by a very talented and thoughtful researcher and writer.

The book starts off with a strange prologue depicting the friendship between John Huston and Ernest Hemingway. Meyers goes on to chronicle the life of Huston from the very beginning to the bitter end. The book is structured chronologically and each chapter is devoted to a particular span of years in Huston's life. You can tell there is not much information about Huston's early years because we quickly move on to him as an adult. But Meyers was able to provide us with valuable information about those early formative years and helps understand why Huston was the way he was.

Meyers did years of research and interviewed as many people as he could including Jacqueline Bisset, Susannah York and Huston's wives/lovers Zoe Sallis, Eloise Hardt, Celeste Huston and Anna van der Heide. He also corresponded and/or interviewed Huston's children including Anjelica Huston, Danny Huston and Allegra Huston. He also pored over the extensive notes from the collection of Huston papers. The result is a very well-researched and thorough biography. There are a lot of facts but you are never overwhelmed as they are presented clearly. The writing style is approachable and easy to follow without any dumbing down. At the beginning of the book Meyers warns "rather than moralizing about Huston's conduct, I would urge readers to take pleasure in his impressive achievements."

I learned a lot about John Huston. His directorial debut was none other than The Maltese Falcon (1941), one of the greatest and most respected classic films of all times. Talk about starting off with a bang! He wasn't just a director. He was also a writer and director. He co-wrote the screenplay for good friend Humphrey Bogart's break out film High Sierra (1941). Huston credited himself for getting away with having a female character living with two unmarried men in the story even after the Production Code team came back with 27 pages of corrections for the film. Huston was one of the few people who didn't put up with Jack Warner's machinations and even told him off when Warner tried to chastise him for arriving late to set. Huston never lost his temper but was still tough on his actors. He expected a lot of out them and would use sarcasm to demonstrate his disapproval. Huston was also a big jokester and loved to pull pranks on his actors and fellow writers and producers. I very much enjoyed reading about the filming of Key Largo (1948), Beat the Devil (1953), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), The Misfits (1961), and Freud (1962).

Because Huston admired art so much many of his films are adaptations of great pieces of literature including novels and plays. He remained as faithful as he could to the original art. Sometimes this proved to be a good thing and sometimes it meant the demise of the film. Huston didn't believe in fancy camera shots. He once said, "in the best-directed scenes, the audiences should not be aware of what the camera is doing."While he tried to stay as true as possible to his vision, the Production Code more often than not got in the way. A perfect example of this is the noir The Asphalt Jungle. Meyers credits Huston for being able to create "a strikingly innovative film despite the moralistic Production Code, which drained a lot of originality and interest from the eccentric cast of characters." Huston had a love for nature and animals and gravitated towards stories that included natural settings and fauna. He wasn't the most savvy of business men and was often swindled out of money. Making The African Queen cost $4 million and it went on to make 10 times that at the box office. Huston made virtually no profit because he swindled by producer Sam Spiegel.

(Walter and John Huston)

The book focuses a lot on Huston's film career devoting several pages to most of the major films and at least a couple paragraphs to the lesser ones. If when reading this you stumble upon a film of Huston's you haven't seen, I would suggest reading the first few sentences and then skimming the rest. There are major spoilers for each. The rest of the book focuses on Huston's family life including his famous dad actor Walter Huston, his mother, his five wives and his children. Huston had many many lovers. So many it's virtually impossible to count them. He enjoyed the company of women but tired of them quickly. This most likely stems from his determination never to be lonely or bored. Whenever he got bored, instead of being alone he moved on to someone else. Meyers exploration of Huston's love life is never salacious. It's more factual and it fits into the overall picture of Huston's life as a whole.

John Huston was a complicated man who lived a very full life. He left behind some famous children, incredibly valuable pieces of artwork (some of which were stolen) and a legacy of films. If you have enjoyed any of Huston's films, I encourage you to read this book!

Fun Facts:

~ Living in Ireland was cheap so Huston had is own Xanadu, a mansion filled with artwork from all over the world
~ to buy Monet's Red Water Lilies, the cashless Huston gambled at a local casino to acquire the funds for the purchase.
~ in lieu of being paid to act in Otto Preminger's The Cardinal (1963), he accepted two Jack Yeats paintings instead.
~ Huston insisted on filming in sequence whenever he could.
~ he had a great love affair with Olivia de Havilland
~ he was traumatized both by WWII as well as the HUAC investigations
~ Louis B. Mayer didn't like the Asphalt Jungle even though it was a great financial success
~ Audie Murphy was saved by Huston's lover Inge Morath. He fell off a boat and was drowning. She swam to his rescue and had him hold onto her bra straps as she pulled him out.
~ on the set of Beat the Devil (1953), Truman Capote beat Humphrey Bogart at "several arm-wrestling contests at $50 a throw"
~ Huston hated chicken

Thank you to Crown Archetype/Random House for sending me this book to review!
-------------------

I have a lot of reading to do

2011-10-19T13:00:00.014-04:00

Reviews (and giveaways!) to come. Slowly...

On the list

Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History

John Huston: Courage and Art

Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford

Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director

Spencer Tracy: A Biography

Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir by Piper Laurie

Steve McQueen: A Biography

Cliff of Immortal Ephemera and Things and Other Stuff recently got the Spencer Tracy book. Below is the video he recently did showing the contents of the book. No batteries required!

I Heart Jack Klugman ~ Quincy M.E. (1976-1983)

2011-10-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

Quincy M.E. is a TV show starring Jack Klugman as the title character. It aired from 1976 to 1983 and is well-known as the antecedent to the popular CSI and forensic TV shows of today. It's a formulaic show in which Quincy, a Medical Examiner for the Coroner's Office in L.A., solves murders. Each show features a death which is a result of foul play but appears to be either accidental or as a result of natural causes. Quincy , to the dismay of his bosses and colleagues, goes above and beyond his job to investigate the death further. He puts himself in danger, involves himself directly in the case and the lives of the victim's family and friends and collects the evidence along the way. In his search for the truth, Quincy uncovers various forms of corruption in modern day society. He's driven by the sole need to help people and to bring justice to those who have been wronged.

Sam (Robert Ito) works in the lab with Quincy and is the only character who doesn't doubt Quincy's instincts, even though on occasion he is reluctant to him. Lt. Frank Monihan (Garry Walberg) is hot-headed and often reacts emotionally to cases and to Quincy's ideas. Dr. Robert Asten (John S. Ragin) is Quincy's boss and always proves to be the biggest obstacle in Quincy's path to find the truth. Quincy proves everyone wrong yet they never seem to learn their lesson. Danny (Val Bisoglio) is Quincy's best friend. Danny's bar is Quincy's regular hangout and Danny is often caught in Quincy's adventures much to his dismay. Quincy also has several girlfriends and love interests. He's a bit of a player and demonstrates an unwillingness to settle down because of the nature of his job. Quincy, a widower, finally gets married by the end of the series.

Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are available on DVD. Season 4 will be available in November 2011. It's taken a long time to get these DVDs out on the market. There was a four year hiatus between the first two and the third and two years between the third and fourth. There have been legal issues including Jack Klugman's lawsuit against NBC Universal which claimed that he was missing profits from the show. The case was settled in 2009 and I wouldn't be surprised if the suit was one of the reasons it's taken so long to release the DVDs. This isn't the only problem Klugman has had with Universal. He really hated the writer/producer team of the show and disliked one of the scripts so much he refused to appear in the episode (it was worked around his character and entitled "Has Anybody Here Seen Quincy?"). Klugman went on to rewrite scripts to get them to his liking.

This show is relatively new to me and I don't know much about it. They are really fun to watch due to their over-the-top nature. Unlike today's CSI, there is no gore porn in Quincy M.E.. The bodies are not shown in a gratuitous way. It's really all about the case and the characters. Even though the show is a drama there are a lot of funny moments as well. In the first 7 episodes of the show, Quincy had a girlfriend named Lee played by Lynette Mettey. Their romantic rendezvous were always interrupted by Quincy being called on for one job or another. I loved her character and thought she suited the show well. I was sad to see her go! Her presence helped audiences understand how Quincy's job consumed his life and their interaction added both romance and comedy to the storylines. I really wish they had kept her!

In talking with people online about Quincy M.E., several people mentioned the Punk Rock episode. It was particularly infamous because it blames Punk Rock music for the deaths of young people. I don't know much about the episode nor do I care to watch it but clips are available to watch on YouTube.

It's fun to watch the show and see all the celebrity guest stars. Some of these include:

Van Johnson

Carol Lynley

Creed Bratton (The Office) <-- my personal favorite

Melora Hardin (The Office)

Kim Cattral (Sex and the City)

Robert Webber (12 Angry Men)

Ann Blyth

Jamie Lee Curtis

Bob Crane

Gloria DeHaven

Casey Kasem

Elisha Cook Jr.

Buddy Hackett

Do you like Quincy M.E.? Which is your favorite episode? Don't you just LOVE the theme music? Bum ba da ba da da!

I hope you enjoyed my I Heart Jack Klugman week!

I Heart Jack Klugman ~ The Odd Couple (1970-1975)

2011-09-30T09:00:00.017-04:00

The Odd Couple was a television series that aired from 1970 to 1975 and starred Jack Klugman as Oscar and Tony Randall as Felix. The original story was a Neil Simon play that was performed on Broadway. The Broadway production had Walter Matthau as Oscar. Matthau would later reprise his role as Oscar in the 1968 film with the same name and opposite Jack Lemmon as Felix. Jack Klugman had seen Walter Matthau perform Oscar on Broadway and when Matthau suffered a heart attack while filming Fortune Cookie and couldn't continue also performing Oscar on Broadway, Klugman took on the role. Klugman performed the role for a year and for less money than Matthau had earned. Matthau and Klugman weren't the only actors who played Oscar. Mickey Rooney did too!

With the hit of The Odd Couple (1968), it was inevitable that the popular film would produce a spin-off TV series. Lots of '60s films did especially if they were comedies. Garry Marshall produced the show and brought Jack Klugman on board, even though Tony Randall encouraged him to pick Mickey Rooney instead.

The basic premise of the story is that Oscar Madison and Felix Unger are friends. Oscar is a messy sports journalist who loves to drink, gamble and chase women. Felix is an uptight neat freak (on the TV show he's a photographer) who loves to clean, organize and cook. Oscar has been divorced for a while and Felix is recently separated from his wife. Oscar takes Felix in and with their opposing personalities they clash and hilarity inevitably ensues.

For the first season, they kept somewhat close to the original film. They filmed on the same set that was used in the movie and they even reprise the roles of Pigeon Sisters as well as the circle of Poker playing buddies (same actresses but different actors). During the filming of the pilot, the wardrobe people had a very difficult time finding appropriate clothing for Oscar's character. So someone had asked Jack Klugman that if in exchange for $350 he could give them his entire personal wardrobe. Klugman was more than happy to oblige.

The first season was comprised of 15 episodes and shot with one camera. It did poorly in ratings and the show was canceled after the first season. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall both thought the first season was crap. Klugman went as far as saying only one episode out of the 15 was decent according to his opinion. They begged ABC for more cameras and for another shot at a new and better season. Klugman and Randall worked with the writers, improvised a lot and came up with a lot of their own dialogue and plot. They fed off each other's energies and became great working partners. The ratings improved with each season and the format changed greatly. The poker buddies all but disappeared except for Al Molinaro who played Officer Murray. They added actress Penny Marshall as Myrna Turner and got rid of the Pigeon Sisters. They changed the set and Klugman and Randall became more and more involved in the storyline of each episode. It was filmed in front of a live studio audience because Klugman and Randall both hated the laugh track and they enjoyed the energy they got from doing the show in front of an audience. However, the show was canceled after each and every season. It would be revived with begging and pleading until it was canceled for good in 1975. For a show, which is still well-known to so many today over 40 years later after it first aired, it's a wonder it was canceled so many times!

The TV show is well-known for it's fun theme song. Tony Randall hated it but Klugman was okay with it. Originally, the intro showed Neil Simon's The Odd Couple. Simon was horrified and asked for them to remove his name. He hadn't even seen an episode! When he did, he saw how true it was to the concept of The Odd Couple but his name was not associated with it nevertheless. Randall, Klugman, Garry Marshall and the writers had a difficult time with the whole two-men-living-together plot. They were under constant scrutiny and felt pressure to make it very clear to audiences that the were not a couple in the romantic or sexual sense of the term and they were both clearly interested in women. You'll see in many episodes Oscar is a big-time skirt chaser. In the early episodes, Felix is a bit of a womanizer himself however he is later given the goal of getting back his ex-wife.

I don't agree with Jack Klugman. I think the first season was wonderful. I didn't like the shift away from the Poker player group and the addition of Penny Marshall. However, the show continued to be as funny as ever. One of the big flubs of the first season is that they have a 12 Angry Men (1957) inspired episode in which Oscar and Felix meet for the first time while on Jury duty. Felix plays a Henry Fonda-like role and Oscar is like Lee J. Cobb. Later on in the season, they added some voiceover to the intro and the narrator mentions that Oscar and Felix were childhood friends. How could they be childhood friends if they met during Jury duty?! Oops! I find this kind of mistake happens a lot on TV shows especially when new writers are introduced and those new writers perhaps are not familiar with all the details of the show when they come on board.

The Odd Couple is definitely one of my favorite shows of all time. The dynamic between Oscar/Klugman and Felix/Randall is hilarious and continually entertaining. Both actors were so talented and so well-suited for their roles that it just made that show just the more fun to watch. My favorite episode is from Season Four. It's called "The New Car". Oscar wins a radio contest of Opera trivia, to which all the answers come from Felix, and his prize is a car. Oscar is determined to keep the car but he has to share with Felix who is half-responsible for the prize. The problem is, they live in New York City (the interior shots were all filmed in L.A.) and parking is tricky. Very tricky. Hilarity ensues.

Do you like The Odd Couple? Are you an Oscar or a Felix? Which is your favorite episode? If you have fun trivia facts about the show I'd love to read them!

I Heart Jack Klugman ~ The Detective (1968)

2011-09-29T09:42:00.000-04:00

Jack Klugman has a minor role a good Jewish cop in the non-Tony Rome/Frank Sinatra film The Detective (1968). He plays Officer Dave Schoenstein, whom besides Sinatra's Detective Joe Leland, is probably the most decent cop among the bunch. And he's the one cop that comes through for Sinatra in the end. Klugman's Dave also represents the viewer. We (Klugman and the audience) need to be convinced by Sinatra's Leland about his discoveries.

The Detective is not a film that holds up well today. I think the main attraction for folks is Frank Sinatra in a Tony Rome-esque role and possibly Lee Remick, Robert Duvall and a very young Jacqueline Bisset. If you love Jack Klugman as much as I do, this is a must see. While the film was very likely avant garde for its time, looking back at it with contemporary eyes it seems homophobic. Sinatra stars as Joe Leland, a cop in a complicated marriage with sociology student Lee Remick. He's put on the case of a gay man who has been brutally murdered. The crime is of a sexual nature so the police are looking for the man's gay roommate and perhaps any other gay man in New York City with any connection to him. They convict and execute the gay man's gay roommate but Sinatra, after the execution, feels like they got the wrong guy. Even though the guy confessed and Sinatra was the one to arrest him and so on and so forth. So the guy confessed to a murder he didn't commit so he could be killed to end his life being a drug-addicted gay man?! As Klugman's character in the film would say, "Oy Vey!". There is some serious over acting on the part of Ralph Meeker who plays the gay roommate. Sinatra goes looking for the real killer even though the corrupt police force he works for is opposed to it. Sinatra and Klugman are sympathetic characers and Robert Duvall is a sad pitiful homophobe. If you like watching Lee Remick play another character on a downward spiral, watch this!

Funny coincidence but the gay roommate's character is named Felix. Felix. Hmmm.. that sounds familiar. Oh yeah! Oscar (Jack Klugman) and Felix (Tony Randall) are roommates in The Odd Couple. Klugman, Randall and Garry Marshall (producer) were always trying to avoid the two main characters being seen as potentially gay roommates.

Here are some screencaps of scenes from the film with Jack Klugman in it. You'll notice he's almost always in the background. I love the shots of him at the gym with all the bodybuilders! In his suit, coat and fedora he looks so out of place.

I Heart Jack Klugman: Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Day of Wine and Roses (1962) was directed by Blake Edwards and stars Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. Lemmon plays Joe Clay, a public relations man whose job is to make rich clients happy. Even if that means providing them with lots of liquor and hot girls. He meets Kirsten Arnesen (Remick), the secretary of one of his boozing and womanizing clients. Kirsten is a girl from the country determined to make a life for herself in the big city, in this case San Francisco. Joe is absolutely smitten with Kirsten and they go on a date. Joe introduces Kirsten, whose only vice is a penchant for chocolate, to the wonders of alcohol. They marry, have a child and go on a wild alcoholic bender that last for years and gets worse and worse as time passes on. Can they make the marriage work? Can they raise their daughter? Can they pull themselves out of their alcoholic haze and stay sober for good?

Jack Klugman has a small role as Jim Hungerford, the leader of a local AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). Jim (Klugman) reaches out to Joe (Lemmon) at the rehab center that Joe has been placed in after a major binge drinking freak out. For any of you familiar with Jack Klugman as Oscar from The Odd Couple TV series, seeing Jack has a buttoned-up sober gentleman might throw you off. Klugman's character is the only person who shows real empathy for Joe. Jim is the beacon of hope of the story. He's the person whom Joe looks up to as a role model. He's the voice of reason and the speaker of hard truths. Jim is the epitome of stability as well as an example of how someone can lead a sober life for 14 years after being an alcoholic for 12. I always think opposites work very well in stories and in this case Joe and Jim are opposites because Joe represents before and Jim represents after. Through Jim (Klugman) we see what Joe (Lemmon) could become. If only he could stick to AA long enough for it to happen. While I didn't get to see much of Klugman in this film, what I did see I enjoyed very much. And boy, did he look good all cleaned up in a nice suit.

The irony of the AA scenes in the film is that the alcoholics are also big smokers, including Klugman and Lemmon's characters.

I Heart Jack Klugman ~ 12 Angry Men (1957)

2011-09-27T09:36:00.001-04:00

12 Angry Men (1957) is a very ambiguous film and it's open to many interpretations. On one hot summer day in the 1950s, 12 jurors meet in a room to come to a verdict in a murder trial. Everything seems to be going against the teenage boy whose father was stabbed to death with a knife. The evidence is damning and it doesn't help that he's a poor kid from the slums. All of the jurors think the kid's guilty, except for one: Henry Fonda's character Juror #8. They sit in the hot room arguing about the evidence, witness testimony and circumstances. It gets very heated in more ways than one. The final verdict is reached after what seems like a very long time. Was it justice? Was it the result of the frustrations of being in a very hot room for way too long? Was it manipulation? Who knows? And that's the thing. No one ever really knows the truth in circumstances such as these. You just try your very best.

Jack Klugman plays juror #5. He is the third person to change his mind about the verdict. A very shy young man who at first is too nervous to participate but gets worked up when he sees that the other jurors are condemning the teenager because he was raised in a slum. This is when Juror #5 stands up for himself. He was raised in a slum too. In his first act of bravado he proclaims, "I've lived in a slum all my life. Please! I've played in a backyard filled with garbage. Perhaps you can still smell it on me?" While he doesn't stand out in the pack of 12 like Lee J. Cobb and Henry Fonda do, it is very interesting to watch his transformation from quiet wallflower to active participant. All of these men are very different from each other. They have different temperaments, backgrounds, careers, educations, statues and are all different ages. What's great about this film is to watch how all these different men come together to argue and reason their way to a final verdict.

Next time you watch 12 Angry Men, take a close look at juror #5. Watch how he transforms throughout the film. By the way, Jack Klugman is the last surviving of all the actors in 12 Angry Men. Wouldn't it be grand to sit and listen to his stories about the filming of the movie? One can only dream!

You tell 'em Jack!