a position of honor

the expression, 'the show must go on', was surely coined from a situation such as this. during ww11, a troupe of traveling shakespearian actors are putting on the play, 'king lear.' bombs are falling, the backstage backstabbing is relentless, 'cordelia' is too heavy and the ever intoxicated lead actor, known as 'sir', playing 'lear' has applied the makeup required to play a moor. 'wrong play! wrong play!' 

tom courtnay has the thankless job of 'dresser', making sure the main attraction is performance ready each night. it is not an easy task. aside from the drinking, 'sir's' mind is going. 

actor albert finney deserved an oscar for the role of 'sir.' he is just perfect as an impossibly helpless and hapless person. tom courtnay deserved an oscar for his beautiful portrayal of the opposite. finney was awarded the silver berlin bear. courtnay recieved a golden globe. 

habitual behavior

it's easy to point out a habit as obvious as smoking a cigarette. plus, the shame attached to smoking is relatively new. i think childhood habits have always led to embarrassment. nail biting was my cross to bear. 'THUMBSUCKER' deals with a habit most kids shed before they learn how to tie their shoes. 

the teen of the story is bright and stressed, dealing with a home life that is less than ideal. the film is a sensitive and artistic peek into habits and hormones, parents and pressures. keanu reeves is an added treat as the boy's transcendental dentist.

by way of illustration: pulp posters

clash by day and night

two factory workers leave the cannery, a man and his girlfriend who is chomping on a candy bar. he tells her to stop eating so much candy or she'll spread. without batting an eye she says, 'so i'll spread.' they tussle and laugh. the young woman, looking timeless in jeans and a sports shirt, her bottle blonde hair short and uncombed, is marilyn monroe. in 'clash by night' she plays a down to earth character written by socialist playwright clifford odets.

marilyn is not the star but she shines in all her scenes. the main attraction is barbara stanwyck, who as 'mae' is married to a good guy but enticed away from her dreary existence by a real jerk played by robert ryan, who was the perfect choice to spit out lines like, 'beat it, dust.'

the movie is drama personified. refreshingly, everyone looks like they could use a bath.

REBECCA

actor sisters olivia de havilland and joan fontaine really had their moments. they both got amazing roles to play in so many movies. they come off so different from one another which makes me happily think they were not vying for the same parts. 

alfred hitchcock's 'rebecca' is my most watched of his great films. i love dauphne du maurier, who wrote the book it is based on. i love laurence olivier as the inexperienced rebecca's dashing new husband 'max.'

rebecca wishes she were a woman of thirty five with a string of pearls, and max wishes she'd always stay as young and unspoiled as she is. the bane of their existence is played by george sanders, who i also love. as you can tell, this is one of my favorite films. it is a pleasure that is both spooky and elegant.

the build up to the sunday special

by way of illustration: the children's hour/the bad seed

double feature! THE CHILDREN'S HOUR/THE BAD SEED

kids are so cute. 

lillian hellman was a great playwright who was embraced by hollywood.  her play, 'we three' was beautifully filmed with audrey hepburn, shirley maclaine, james garner and the always great miriam hopkins, here as the interfering relative you want to strangle. the title was changed to, 'the children's hour' since the creep who masterminds all the destruction is about 10. moral of the story: the ripple affect of gossip can drown you.

kids are so cute: part two. RHODA. if you are familiar with the film, 'the bad seed' you tremble at the sound of the name. the actress, nancy kelly, who plays the mother of a monster has the most nervous voice in the history of cinema. you feel so bad for her, but not as bad as you feel for the mother of rhoda's young victim. this terrifying movie from the fifties is still terrifying. it's inspiration lives on as the name of one of the best bands in the world, 'nick cave and the bad seeds.' 

popcorn won't help. 

            

the disinherited

every once in awhile, while watching a character on the screen, i am reminded of a friend who used the expression, 'get over yourself.' other than the fact that the actor can't hear me is the larger issue of just how difficult it is to follow those three words. therapists have kept their plaques shiny as a result of that one difficulty.

the film, 'THE HEIRESS' is based on a novel by henry james, a man who was very good at describing new york. they changed the title but kept the house in which the drama takes place, on 'washington square.' william wyler directed, and actors olivia de havilland, montgomery clift, miriam hopkins and ralph richardson literally bring it all home. 

this story of a shy and unloved daughter and her romance with a young and handsome opportunist is a film classic. i have yet to watch another movie where i wished this hard for a character to transcend their past. olivia brought the oscar home as well.

america's pastime

baseball, apple pie, and the american dream of the middle aged man getting back in the game. he loves his wife and his life but there it is again, echoing with the beat of his heart, the smack of a bat on a ball and a mad dash round the bases. diamonds are not just a girl's best friend.

i am not real fond of musicals, but 'DAMN YANKEES! ' is too good a story to pass on simply because there are some song and dance numbers. in fact, the numbers are super. gwen verdon has legs for miles and she is amazing as the temptress 'lola.' ray walston gets to be the devil doing his best to further the corruption of his latest purchase. i know souls are not priced according to their beauty, as souls are not material. however, if they were, ray would have had to have been a zillionaire. 

tab hunter is gorgeous as joe hardy, all american dream incarnate.

by way of illustration: little children

the beat goes on

as a kid i loved the song 'little children' by billy j. kramer and the dakotas. it was gentle and sweet but provocative. 'i'll give you candy and a quarter, if you're quiet like you oughta be, and keep the secret with me.' those lyrics were a little spooky. the film, 'little children' is hardly based on the song, yet they share more than the title. you don't feel like dancing to either of them.

this is not exactly the kind of movie i would tell a friend to go and see. like a book by dennis cooper, it is an experience that is gratifying yet one i would rather a friend find on their own. then one day, out of the blue, you are saying to each other, 'you saw that?' or 'you read that?', followed by 'was that not incredible?'

the great kate winslet is one of many super actors who took the time to play unhappy grown ups walking through a town that is beautifully atmospheric. not for kids.