Happy birthday to Edie Adams, Charlie Chaplin and Henry Mancini
When I visited my friend last weekend she gave me the DVD The Criterion Collection Modern Times, staring and directed by Charles Chaplin. I was flabbergasted. It was an incredibly generous and thoughtful. This blog is dedicated to my friend Carol.
On the DVD there are several documentaries. One, For the First Time is a 1967 short film about rural Cubans seeing a film for the first time. The documentary shows the hills, dirt and rock roads that few vehicles have traversed. The film makers talk with the villagers and on one has seen a movie. One child doesn’t even know what a movie is. An older woman thinks it will be like a party. After dark the film Modern Times is shown. Everyone is excited, not knowing what to expect. The famous automated feeding scene comes up and everyone laughs young and old. Towards the end of the film the children yawn and struggle to stay awake. I can’t imagine what their life must be like and very grateful for my life.
Another documentary Chaplin Today, two French filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne talk about Chaplin’s film from 31-36. One of them states “Charlie knows what being hungry means”. They talk about the food in the film. I never noticed that before and that intrigued me. So that is what I am going to focus on in the film.
Lunch time at the factory and another man puts his large plate on the bench and puts soup from his thermos into the bowl. Charlie almost sits in the bowl. He goes to hand the bowl to the man and ends up spilling most of it and puts the bowl further down the bench. The man sits in the bowl.
During the same scene Charlie is volunteered for the Billow’s Feeding Machine. An automated feeder that will allow the worker to keep working while eating and thus get rid of the lunch hour. Charlie is strapped in and looks uncomfortable (it reminds me of a dentist chair). First is the soup, the bowl lift ups and tips up so he can drink from the rim. The next dish is cubes of meat that a little arm pushes it right into his mouth. Next is corn on the cob. It is like a typewriter roll and moves around and sideways so he can eat the corn. The machine malfunctions and goes faster and faster until the machine is turned off. The mechanic resets the machine and they start over. The bowl of soup goes up and tips all the way down spilling soup down his chest. More soup and the same thing. They move onto the meat. The plate is full of metal bolts. The bolts slip into his mouth and he spits them back into the plate, but the machine pushes them back into his mouth. Next is dessert. Pie is slapped into his face. The president does not buy the machine it is not efficient.
Paulette Goddard is cutting bananas from a barrel on a boat. She puts the knife in her mouth like a rose stem and tosses bananas to children on the docks. She cuts off a bunch and is spotted. A man chases her around boats until she gets on the dock where she eats one of the bananas. At home she gives her sisters a banana. When her father comes home from looking from work she gives him the rest of the bunch.
Charlie is mistaken as a communist leader and is jailed. At a meal he sits down and bends down under the table. When he bends back up he sees the oatmeal on his plate and looks up like it fell from the ceiling like rain. There is a large slab of bread. Charlie takes it but the large man next to him takes it from him. He sets it down and Charlie takes it again. Back and forth until Charlie gets a small piece. The warden is looking for “nose-powder”. A man puts it in the sugar shaker before he is taken away. Charlie sprinkles the sugar on his oatmeal and rolls. Charlie enjoys his food much more. He takes the bread back. When the man tries to take the bread back Charlie throws oatmeal at him. Charlie sprinkles sugar on the back of his head and down his shirt.
As he is being rewarded with a pardon for his help in foiling a prison riot he has tea.
Alone and on the run Paulette stands in front of a bakery eyeing all the goods. A bread delivery man takes a tray of bread into the bakery and Paulette steals a loaf from the truck. As she runs away she literally runs into Charlie and looses the bread. Charlie grabs the bread and puts it behind his back. He admits to the police that he stole the bread and they took him away. The witness tells the police it was the girl and the police release Charlie in front of a cafeteria. He goes in and fills up two huge trays with food. When he finally finishes eating the table is full of empty plates. He cannot pay and has an officer arrest him. As the police stands outside to call a wagon he takes a cigar from a stand. He gives children huge Hershey bars and packs of gum.
Out of jail again Charlie and Paulette meet up. They have a dream sequence of what it would be like if they were a married couple. Charlie comes home after work and Paulette is cooking dinner. Charlie pulls an orange off a tree out side the living room window. He gets milk from a passing cow and while the cow is automatically producing milk Charlie eats grapes that are hanging right outside the door. Paulette has a huge steak with juice, potatoes and bread.
Charlie gets a job as night watchman at a department store. As soon as he locks up he gets Paulette and sits her at the soda fountain. He puts a mountain of sandwiches and large slab of cake on her plate.
The next day Charlie is arrested for stealing food and spirits. When he gets out Paulette is there to great him and takes them to their new house. In the morning she is cooking ham and pour water into tin cans (I don’t know if there is coffee). While eating Charlie reads the newspaper and finds out the factory is rehiring. Paulette hands him a sandwich which he puts down his pants for storage as he goes to the factory. He gets a job as an assistant to a mechanic. The mechanic gets trapped in the machine. The lunch whistle blows and the machine stops so the mechanic cannot get out. He is on his back with is head sticking out of the machine. Charlie sits down to eat his lunch and the mechanic tells him to get his lunch. Charlie puts a large celery bunch in the mechanics mouth (after salting of course) with stem down. He of course can’t eat that. Charlie puts the hard boiled egg in the mechanics mouth, which he can’t chew/swallow and spits out. Charlie tries to give him coffee but it sloshed all over. At first he tries a oil funnel but decides that would be too messy and funnels the coffee through the roasted chicken. He then pulls of a leg of the chicken and puts it right over his mouth and the mechanic can eat. Then the pie, which is meringue and it falls all over his face. Charlie tries to spoon it into his mouth but the mechanic knocks it off his face onto the ground.
Factory workers go on strike again. Charlie accidentally causes bricks to hit a police man and he is arrested. When he gets out Paulette greets him and tells him that he has a job as a waiter/singer in a café. As he is waiting on tables he goes into the kitchen in the wrong door which causes a man coming into the dining room to drop the tray and foods goes everywhere including over the waiter. Charlie goes to a huge cheese wheel and with a hand drill puts holes in the cheese and cuts a slab.
When he is carrying a tray of food as he gets into the room the dance music starts and people go onto the dance floor and he cannot get to the table. You see a huge crowd of people with a tray floating above their heads. The roasted turkey gets caught up in the chandelier. When Charlie finally gets to the table he tries to find the turkey. He sees the turkey in the light and it falls onto the tray by pulling a few of the streamers also hanging. When Charlie is cutting the turkey it slips from his fingers into another man who treats it like a football. Charlie chases the turkey. He finally gets it but knocks over the patrons table. He hands the turkey to the man who tosses onto the plate disgustedly.
I am now going to have to buy the other Criterion Collection DVD of Charlie Chaplin.
On the Google tribute many have criticized the short. But it does not bother me, it is an homage to Chaplin. If a young person sees the ad and wants to see more and looks him up by DVD or internet they will discover the real Chaplin. He will then live on into another generation.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
April 13 Howard Keel
Happy birthday to Stanley Donen and Howard Keel.
For Howard Keel’s birthday I watched Kiss Me Kate. It is actually a left over from Ann Miller day on the 12th. I finally figured out why I don’t like this musical. Timing. The stage version isn’t in a sequence I can follow. I can follow the beginning and the end but the middle part confuses me. It seems like an intermission and Kathryn Grayson is out of makeup and back in street cloths but performs after intermission. Then a day or so later she leaves to get married. She leaves at the end of the performance but comes back for the big finale the next day. I also do not care for Shakespeare.
Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson play musical performers who used to be married. A new show comes up Kiss Me Kate and Howard wants Kathryn to play the lead opposite of him. He still loves her but can’t admit it to himself let alone to her. He has pictures of the two of them on his piano in characters they have portrayed in the past. His current girlfriend Ann Miller is using him to further her career. She is in love with someone else. Howard has a great baritone voice and looks good in his costume and makeup.
For Howard Keel’s birthday I watched Kiss Me Kate. It is actually a left over from Ann Miller day on the 12th. I finally figured out why I don’t like this musical. Timing. The stage version isn’t in a sequence I can follow. I can follow the beginning and the end but the middle part confuses me. It seems like an intermission and Kathryn Grayson is out of makeup and back in street cloths but performs after intermission. Then a day or so later she leaves to get married. She leaves at the end of the performance but comes back for the big finale the next day. I also do not care for Shakespeare.
Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson play musical performers who used to be married. A new show comes up Kiss Me Kate and Howard wants Kathryn to play the lead opposite of him. He still loves her but can’t admit it to himself let alone to her. He has pictures of the two of them on his piano in characters they have portrayed in the past. His current girlfriend Ann Miller is using him to further her career. She is in love with someone else. Howard has a great baritone voice and looks good in his costume and makeup.
April 15 Hans Conreid
Hans Conreid
Hans Conreid was a great character actor. He was in radio, television and movies. In looking at his film list he did a lot more voice over work than I remember. One of my favorite of his voice over work is Ben and Me.
For Hans Conreid’s birthday I watched A Date With The Falcon and The Falcon Takes A Chance. He had very small supporting roles, no screen credit. In A Date he played a noisy hotel clerk and A Chance he plays a man who tries to trick the Falcon but he ended up being tricked. Each role was very different and he played each one differently. A different look, a different voice and a different body movement. A few weeks I go I watched Nancy Goes To Rio where he played a Rio native butler.
Hans Conreid was a great character actor. He was in radio, television and movies. In looking at his film list he did a lot more voice over work than I remember. One of my favorite of his voice over work is Ben and Me.
For Hans Conreid’s birthday I watched A Date With The Falcon and The Falcon Takes A Chance. He had very small supporting roles, no screen credit. In A Date he played a noisy hotel clerk and A Chance he plays a man who tries to trick the Falcon but he ended up being tricked. Each role was very different and he played each one differently. A different look, a different voice and a different body movement. A few weeks I go I watched Nancy Goes To Rio where he played a Rio native butler.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
April 12 Ann Miller
Happy birthday Ann Miller and Jane Withers.
TCM celebrated Ann Miller’s birthday with a day of films. I watched Watch the Birdie with Red Skelton (in 3 roles) and Arlene Dahl. My favorite role of hers is in Kiss Me Kate. I will watch that for Howard Keel’s birthday (4-13). I avoided the films for many years since it is a remake of Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman. It is a loose interpretation of a remake. The film is very funny. There were several scenes where I just burst into laughter.
Ann has a small role in the film. She plays a beauty contest winner Miss Lucky Vista (that is title a home development). She’s wearing a one piece bathing suit, sash and high heels. She has several spokesperson/model like poses. Red Skelton plays a cameraman who takes pictures of the ground breaking, where they are raffling off live turkeys. It is decided that Red will take publicity pictures of the truck with Ann standing by the company name. Ann gets on the running board as they follow the truck. When she gets parallel to the turkey truck she waves and the driver gets distracted and runs the truck into a large pile of lumber. Turkeys fall out of the back of the truck. Ann gets off truck and goes to where the turkeys are so she can pose with them and runs along with them.
Later when Red shows the film, you see her running with her back to the camera “you can’t see my eyes” she states several times. The film has some incriminating evidence on 2 people. 1 man hires Ann (for a diamond bracelet) to get the film from Red. “I just act dumb because men don’t like smart girls” Ann states. She goes to Red’s shop and tries to seduce him with hugs, chasing, running her fingers through his hair and kissing him to get the film. Arlene Dahl who is interested in Red comes in and is jealous of Ann. She slaps Ann with her purse and leaves. “I can’t understand it. I am so beautiful and everybody’s always slugging me.” She leaves without the film.
I don’t think she is trying to parody a vamp or the dumb blonde, but she is very funny. She certainly outshined Arlene Dahl in the film.
TCM celebrated Ann Miller’s birthday with a day of films. I watched Watch the Birdie with Red Skelton (in 3 roles) and Arlene Dahl. My favorite role of hers is in Kiss Me Kate. I will watch that for Howard Keel’s birthday (4-13). I avoided the films for many years since it is a remake of Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman. It is a loose interpretation of a remake. The film is very funny. There were several scenes where I just burst into laughter.
Ann has a small role in the film. She plays a beauty contest winner Miss Lucky Vista (that is title a home development). She’s wearing a one piece bathing suit, sash and high heels. She has several spokesperson/model like poses. Red Skelton plays a cameraman who takes pictures of the ground breaking, where they are raffling off live turkeys. It is decided that Red will take publicity pictures of the truck with Ann standing by the company name. Ann gets on the running board as they follow the truck. When she gets parallel to the turkey truck she waves and the driver gets distracted and runs the truck into a large pile of lumber. Turkeys fall out of the back of the truck. Ann gets off truck and goes to where the turkeys are so she can pose with them and runs along with them.
Later when Red shows the film, you see her running with her back to the camera “you can’t see my eyes” she states several times. The film has some incriminating evidence on 2 people. 1 man hires Ann (for a diamond bracelet) to get the film from Red. “I just act dumb because men don’t like smart girls” Ann states. She goes to Red’s shop and tries to seduce him with hugs, chasing, running her fingers through his hair and kissing him to get the film. Arlene Dahl who is interested in Red comes in and is jealous of Ann. She slaps Ann with her purse and leaves. “I can’t understand it. I am so beautiful and everybody’s always slugging me.” She leaves without the film.
I don’t think she is trying to parody a vamp or the dumb blonde, but she is very funny. She certainly outshined Arlene Dahl in the film.
April 10 Omar Sharif
Happy Birthday to Henry Morgan, Omar Sharif and Max von Sydow.
To celebrate Omar Sharif’s birthday I watched Funny Girl. This is very much Barbra Streisand’s film. When the two of them are on screen together, I kept watching Barbra. I had to force my attention to Omar and Omar is a very handsome man. In one scene Omar is sitting on the left side of the couch, Barbra on the right, both facing the camera, with a man in the middle of them sitting opposite with his back to the camera. Omar is talking with the man and Barbra is reading a magazine. That is it. My eyes would keep straying to Barbra. I am going to focus on Omar for his birthday.
Omar makes his appearance as Barbra states “There will be a knock on the door and there will be Mr. Ziegfeld”. She opens the door and there Omar stands. “Sorry to disappoint you” he states and introduces himself as Nick Arnestein. He plays a very charming smooth talking man. As they talk a man comes up and offers Barbra $25 a week. Omar negotiated with him stating he is acting on behalf of someone else. He was bluffing, but Barbra got $50 a week from the man. Omar asks her out to dinner stating that her mother is expecting her to work at her saloon. After her opening night with Ziegfeld (the famous pregnant bride number) Omar comes backstage. He invites her for dinner she declines and off handedly asks him to her mother’s saloon for a party. To her surprise he accepts. At the party they dance, Omar states that he is a gambler, like she is. He plays cards with some of the older ladies and he lets them win. Barbra sings People during this meeting. He leaves to earn his living. They meet at a train station (6 months to a year later) while she is on tour and he is collecting his new horse. He invites her to dinner, she declines. She dresses for dinner and goes to his hotel room. He is waiting for her with a table set for two and dressed in a tuxedo. When he starts to sing I could not believe it, I thought his character would not be musical. He sings very will. He uses his song to seduce Barbra. He chases her around the room. When they finally come together on a lounge he holds her in his arms and spends a long time looking at her breasts. It is a very sexy scene. He tells Barbra that he has lost almost everything and has to go to Europe to gamble to get some money. He doesn’t want her to meet him at the station because it will make him cry.
The next day Barbra is getting ready to leave with on her tour and she gets flowers from Omar. She decides that she would rather be with him than the tour. Barbra sings Don’t Rain On My Parade. The ship has left the dock and she takes a tug out to the ship. He is standing at the window looking sad. When he sees her he does a double take, stunned, but happy to see her. Marriage is proposed. Who asks is hard to tell. Omar did not want to offer marriage until he had a bank roll. There is a game on board and he plays. He wins a lot of money and the two marry. The come back to the states and Omar has bought a huge house that Barbra furnishes during her pregnancy and while Omar works on a Florida deal. After the child is born Barbra gets in shape for a new show and Omar goes to Oklahoma for an oil deal. When Omar comes back he is happy to see his family but is very low key. Barbra realizes he has lost gambling. He lost the house. They move to New York City. On Barbra’s opening night he spends the evening gambling waiting for his luck to change. Barbra’s dance and song number is Swan Lake (this version is my kind of ballet). During the ballet the camera swings sideways in an almost vertigo affect. He is offered a managerial position for a casino, he realizes he does not have to put up an owners share because Barbra put up the money. When he goes to work he calls up a character and states to tell him about the bond deal. He finds out that the police have an warrant for him due to a phony bond deal. He turns himself in. During the trial he pleads guilty to the charges, he knew what he was doing. They have a few minutes alone. He wants her to divorce him. They hug and kiss and he leaves the room.
18 months later Barbra is in her dressing room getting ready for a show. Omar comes to see her. He has done a lot of thinking in the 18 month he is in jail. He is distant, both literally and figuratively. Barbra realizes that he does not want to continue their marriage. They talk and then he leaves. The film closes with Barbra singing My Man.
This is a really great film. It is based upon real life of Fanny Brice. Even if you do not like musicals there is a great historical aspect of the film.
To celebrate Omar Sharif’s birthday I watched Funny Girl. This is very much Barbra Streisand’s film. When the two of them are on screen together, I kept watching Barbra. I had to force my attention to Omar and Omar is a very handsome man. In one scene Omar is sitting on the left side of the couch, Barbra on the right, both facing the camera, with a man in the middle of them sitting opposite with his back to the camera. Omar is talking with the man and Barbra is reading a magazine. That is it. My eyes would keep straying to Barbra. I am going to focus on Omar for his birthday.
Omar makes his appearance as Barbra states “There will be a knock on the door and there will be Mr. Ziegfeld”. She opens the door and there Omar stands. “Sorry to disappoint you” he states and introduces himself as Nick Arnestein. He plays a very charming smooth talking man. As they talk a man comes up and offers Barbra $25 a week. Omar negotiated with him stating he is acting on behalf of someone else. He was bluffing, but Barbra got $50 a week from the man. Omar asks her out to dinner stating that her mother is expecting her to work at her saloon. After her opening night with Ziegfeld (the famous pregnant bride number) Omar comes backstage. He invites her for dinner she declines and off handedly asks him to her mother’s saloon for a party. To her surprise he accepts. At the party they dance, Omar states that he is a gambler, like she is. He plays cards with some of the older ladies and he lets them win. Barbra sings People during this meeting. He leaves to earn his living. They meet at a train station (6 months to a year later) while she is on tour and he is collecting his new horse. He invites her to dinner, she declines. She dresses for dinner and goes to his hotel room. He is waiting for her with a table set for two and dressed in a tuxedo. When he starts to sing I could not believe it, I thought his character would not be musical. He sings very will. He uses his song to seduce Barbra. He chases her around the room. When they finally come together on a lounge he holds her in his arms and spends a long time looking at her breasts. It is a very sexy scene. He tells Barbra that he has lost almost everything and has to go to Europe to gamble to get some money. He doesn’t want her to meet him at the station because it will make him cry.
The next day Barbra is getting ready to leave with on her tour and she gets flowers from Omar. She decides that she would rather be with him than the tour. Barbra sings Don’t Rain On My Parade. The ship has left the dock and she takes a tug out to the ship. He is standing at the window looking sad. When he sees her he does a double take, stunned, but happy to see her. Marriage is proposed. Who asks is hard to tell. Omar did not want to offer marriage until he had a bank roll. There is a game on board and he plays. He wins a lot of money and the two marry. The come back to the states and Omar has bought a huge house that Barbra furnishes during her pregnancy and while Omar works on a Florida deal. After the child is born Barbra gets in shape for a new show and Omar goes to Oklahoma for an oil deal. When Omar comes back he is happy to see his family but is very low key. Barbra realizes he has lost gambling. He lost the house. They move to New York City. On Barbra’s opening night he spends the evening gambling waiting for his luck to change. Barbra’s dance and song number is Swan Lake (this version is my kind of ballet). During the ballet the camera swings sideways in an almost vertigo affect. He is offered a managerial position for a casino, he realizes he does not have to put up an owners share because Barbra put up the money. When he goes to work he calls up a character and states to tell him about the bond deal. He finds out that the police have an warrant for him due to a phony bond deal. He turns himself in. During the trial he pleads guilty to the charges, he knew what he was doing. They have a few minutes alone. He wants her to divorce him. They hug and kiss and he leaves the room.
18 months later Barbra is in her dressing room getting ready for a show. Omar comes to see her. He has done a lot of thinking in the 18 month he is in jail. He is distant, both literally and figuratively. Barbra realizes that he does not want to continue their marriage. They talk and then he leaves. The film closes with Barbra singing My Man.
This is a really great film. It is based upon real life of Fanny Brice. Even if you do not like musicals there is a great historical aspect of the film.
Monday, April 11, 2011
April 9 Paul Robeson
In Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Years of Hollywood, there was only one small section that stood out to me. It was a little box with two pictures. The caption was “Too cool for Hollywood”. The pictures were of Paul Robeson and Louise Brooks. I had heard of Paul Robeson and had heard his singing voice, but I did not know much about him. I read The Undiscovered Paul Robeson by Paul Robeson Jr. It is very good. At Rutgers College he was on the football, track, baseball, basketball and debating team. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1923 and got a job with a prestigious New York law firm. He felt such prejudice by the people in the office and that he would only be given race cases that he quit the law firm, not take the bar exam and decided to make a go in the theater. In June 1956 Paul appeared before the house committee on un-American actives (the committee was un-American if you ask me). Part of the transcript of the event is in the book. He basically told off the committee and stood up for himself. He was denied a passport due to his not signing a noncommunist affidavit. Finally in 1958 the supreme court threw out the required form and he was given his passport so he could perform around the world. He and his wife toured Europe and USSR and even with health issues did not return to US until 1963. The renewal of their passports once again due to noncommunist affidavit. To celebrate his 60th birthday in 1958 27 countries honored him. In China the radio played his songs for 3 days, there were numerous articles in the newspaper and a 3 hour tribute at the Beijing Capital Theater.
Epitaph: Paul Robeson (1898-1976) The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.
I read the biography because I could not find any films available. I visited some friends about 200 miles away and they had a Ruku box (Ruku is the main reason I don’t have internet. If I had internet in my house I would have a Ruku box and I would probably never leave my house.) I found 3 Paul Robeson films. I watched The Emperor Jones. The film starts off with a tribal dance and morphs into a modern church service. At the end of the service Paul comes in and sings his farewell to his friends in the church he is going to be a porter on the railroad. He gets a lesson from an experience porter on how much of tip he should expect from a person based on the shoe that he polishes. On a day off he goes to a friends home for a party. My favorite song plays St. Louis Blues. Paul stands above the crowd, he is at least a foot taller than the rest of the men at the party. His friend girlfriend is smooching with another man. Paul keeps his friend from killing the other man and the woman is basically turned over to Paul. Paul an ambitious man becomes porter in the President car. His girlfriend chastises him saying that he won’t get tips. He was looking for more. On one trip he hears about a merger. He approaches the man and they make a deal. When he gets back home Paul and his girl argue, she doesn’t believe him and they breaks up. She goes back to Paul’s friend. At a nightclub, a 7 year old boy is the orchestra leader and tap dances with the chorus girls, Paul his new girlfriend and his friend and old girlfriend meet up. When she gets jealous that Paul is with another woman, the two woman fight (orchestra switches to fast music) and the old girlfriend is dragged out. Paul leaves alone “I’ll be traveling light”. During a craps came Paul and his friend meet up. The man used crocked dice and he ends up pulling a knife on Paul. They struggle and man gets killed. Paul runs and the games and singing continue. A police officer comes along and finds the body. The next scene is Paul in jail, breaking rocks, singing. A guard asks him to open a locked box, a man comes out and falls to the ground. The guard looks at the man on the ground “sleeping ay?” and asks Paul to waken him with a stick. Paul refuses and the guard starts hitting the man with a stick. Paul grabs a shovel and uses it on the guard. Paul gets into a dump truck and makes his get away. He ends up shoveling coal in a steam ship. I never thought a sweaty man was very appealing, but the light bouncing off Paul’s sweaty chest is quite a site.
Paul jumps ship off the cost of Jamaica. While he is resting on the beach, a group of local soldiers take him to the leader. The leader states that he is to be on the next boat out. A trader, Smith, buys Paul and notices the chain marks on his leg. He agrees to feed Paul but no money until after a fight the trader arranges. In Paul’s spare time he plays craps in the locals. He amasses so much trade that he decides to open a business right next door to the trader. They strike a partnership and go into business together with Smith’s name first on the store front. Smith and Paul goes to collect payment from the palace. The Treasure disagrees with the amount and Smith is going to give a discount, but Paul states that it is more. The soldiers circle the men and shoots at Paul. They miss. Paul states that he is charmed and he can only be killed by a silver bullet. He has the leader arrested and states it is his turn now. He had the guns filled with blanks. Emperor Jones is the title he takes. He doubles the tax on homemade rum and coffee to help pay off debt. He re does the castle and puts the house servants in uniform. The people don’t like the tax and the tax collectors are beaten up. There is a great shot of Paul talking about his plans where above his head is the top of his chair which has a large crown decoration. Smith tries to get him to leave now but Paul states he has 6 months to go to complete is goal. As he goes to meet his court in his dress uniform, he looks at his reflection in every mirror he passes and he smiles. He has is court also dressed in uniforms and their wives and the women in fancy dress gowns, very napoleon court. The men who beat the tax collectors are brought before them and he sentences them all to 50 lashes. He then states to the soldiers to burn down a city. This is all as an example to the people. When the soldiers are told to go, they hesitate. Paul states to go again and they march out. Smith comes to see him and states that all the soldiers are gone from the grounds and the palace. Paul rings for the guards. No one comes. Paul decides to cash in and resign as emperor right now. He has six bullets, 5 are real and 1 is blank. He decides to wait until dark, head for the forest and the next morning get on a boat. The drums start and Paul looks worried. The men are starting the war dance. He won’t sneak out the back door, he goes out the front door. That night the drum beats get faster and faster. He is in the forest worn out. He goes to where he has supplies stored and they are gone. Paul wonders further in the forest. He starts hallucinating. He sees his friend always shooting dice who he shoots and it disappears, the prison gang with the guard, he starts breaking rock, and realizes he doesn’t have a hammer and then shoots the guard and it disappears. He turns to God and a scene from the church in his hometown comes up and he confesses his sins and repents (there are no drums in this hallucination). A native ghost takes him to an alligator and right before it can get him he shoots it and the ghosts disappears. The drums seems to make him an animal, he crawls instead of walking. Smith tries to convince the rebels that Paul is miles away at the coast but they don’t believe him. The rebels spot Paul and they shoot at him (with silver bullets). He wonders into camp, pushes the man away that is pounding the drums and falls on the drums, which now fall silent. Smith states “(you) died in the height of style” as he takes off his hat in respect.
Both the movie and the books are well worth delving into. I always liked his singing voice and had listened to some gospel type music he had recorded. If I didn’t find the movie I had planned to write more about his life. I just covered the points that I found interesting about his personal life.
Epitaph: Paul Robeson (1898-1976) The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.
I read the biography because I could not find any films available. I visited some friends about 200 miles away and they had a Ruku box (Ruku is the main reason I don’t have internet. If I had internet in my house I would have a Ruku box and I would probably never leave my house.) I found 3 Paul Robeson films. I watched The Emperor Jones. The film starts off with a tribal dance and morphs into a modern church service. At the end of the service Paul comes in and sings his farewell to his friends in the church he is going to be a porter on the railroad. He gets a lesson from an experience porter on how much of tip he should expect from a person based on the shoe that he polishes. On a day off he goes to a friends home for a party. My favorite song plays St. Louis Blues. Paul stands above the crowd, he is at least a foot taller than the rest of the men at the party. His friend girlfriend is smooching with another man. Paul keeps his friend from killing the other man and the woman is basically turned over to Paul. Paul an ambitious man becomes porter in the President car. His girlfriend chastises him saying that he won’t get tips. He was looking for more. On one trip he hears about a merger. He approaches the man and they make a deal. When he gets back home Paul and his girl argue, she doesn’t believe him and they breaks up. She goes back to Paul’s friend. At a nightclub, a 7 year old boy is the orchestra leader and tap dances with the chorus girls, Paul his new girlfriend and his friend and old girlfriend meet up. When she gets jealous that Paul is with another woman, the two woman fight (orchestra switches to fast music) and the old girlfriend is dragged out. Paul leaves alone “I’ll be traveling light”. During a craps came Paul and his friend meet up. The man used crocked dice and he ends up pulling a knife on Paul. They struggle and man gets killed. Paul runs and the games and singing continue. A police officer comes along and finds the body. The next scene is Paul in jail, breaking rocks, singing. A guard asks him to open a locked box, a man comes out and falls to the ground. The guard looks at the man on the ground “sleeping ay?” and asks Paul to waken him with a stick. Paul refuses and the guard starts hitting the man with a stick. Paul grabs a shovel and uses it on the guard. Paul gets into a dump truck and makes his get away. He ends up shoveling coal in a steam ship. I never thought a sweaty man was very appealing, but the light bouncing off Paul’s sweaty chest is quite a site.
Paul jumps ship off the cost of Jamaica. While he is resting on the beach, a group of local soldiers take him to the leader. The leader states that he is to be on the next boat out. A trader, Smith, buys Paul and notices the chain marks on his leg. He agrees to feed Paul but no money until after a fight the trader arranges. In Paul’s spare time he plays craps in the locals. He amasses so much trade that he decides to open a business right next door to the trader. They strike a partnership and go into business together with Smith’s name first on the store front. Smith and Paul goes to collect payment from the palace. The Treasure disagrees with the amount and Smith is going to give a discount, but Paul states that it is more. The soldiers circle the men and shoots at Paul. They miss. Paul states that he is charmed and he can only be killed by a silver bullet. He has the leader arrested and states it is his turn now. He had the guns filled with blanks. Emperor Jones is the title he takes. He doubles the tax on homemade rum and coffee to help pay off debt. He re does the castle and puts the house servants in uniform. The people don’t like the tax and the tax collectors are beaten up. There is a great shot of Paul talking about his plans where above his head is the top of his chair which has a large crown decoration. Smith tries to get him to leave now but Paul states he has 6 months to go to complete is goal. As he goes to meet his court in his dress uniform, he looks at his reflection in every mirror he passes and he smiles. He has is court also dressed in uniforms and their wives and the women in fancy dress gowns, very napoleon court. The men who beat the tax collectors are brought before them and he sentences them all to 50 lashes. He then states to the soldiers to burn down a city. This is all as an example to the people. When the soldiers are told to go, they hesitate. Paul states to go again and they march out. Smith comes to see him and states that all the soldiers are gone from the grounds and the palace. Paul rings for the guards. No one comes. Paul decides to cash in and resign as emperor right now. He has six bullets, 5 are real and 1 is blank. He decides to wait until dark, head for the forest and the next morning get on a boat. The drums start and Paul looks worried. The men are starting the war dance. He won’t sneak out the back door, he goes out the front door. That night the drum beats get faster and faster. He is in the forest worn out. He goes to where he has supplies stored and they are gone. Paul wonders further in the forest. He starts hallucinating. He sees his friend always shooting dice who he shoots and it disappears, the prison gang with the guard, he starts breaking rock, and realizes he doesn’t have a hammer and then shoots the guard and it disappears. He turns to God and a scene from the church in his hometown comes up and he confesses his sins and repents (there are no drums in this hallucination). A native ghost takes him to an alligator and right before it can get him he shoots it and the ghosts disappears. The drums seems to make him an animal, he crawls instead of walking. Smith tries to convince the rebels that Paul is miles away at the coast but they don’t believe him. The rebels spot Paul and they shoot at him (with silver bullets). He wonders into camp, pushes the man away that is pounding the drums and falls on the drums, which now fall silent. Smith states “(you) died in the height of style” as he takes off his hat in respect.
Both the movie and the books are well worth delving into. I always liked his singing voice and had listened to some gospel type music he had recorded. If I didn’t find the movie I had planned to write more about his life. I just covered the points that I found interesting about his personal life.
April 8 Mary Pickford
Happy Birthday to Sonja Henie & Mary Pickford.
TCM celebrated Mary Pickford’s birthday by showing three of her films. I have to admit I tried to watch Coquette, but I could not get through 5 minutes of Mary’s performance. It just struck a wrong cord with me.
I did watch Poor Little Rich Girl. Mary plays a lonely, rich girl in a large house who looks outside and sees all the children playing. The film has great title cards that really explain the characters.
Mary: In the home of everything but love.
Father: Money making schemes left little time for tenderness
Mother: social duties seem more important than the happiness of her child
Servants: Tyrants of modern civilization. Servants by position. Masters by disposition.
Mary goes to see her father but he is busy with this financial people. Mary is happy that her mother will spend a moment with her that day. Mother has to leave for a social engagement and promises once again to spend a moment with her tomorrow. “why do my tomorrows never come” Mary sighs. She goes to class on the estate where she is the only student and there are 5 instructors. The servants think she is not grateful for what she has. She has to take an afternoon drive every day. She wants to walk not be chauffeured around. The servants convince her that she will be kidnapped or bitten by a dog. The next day a plumber comes to the house. Outside and organ grinder plays. She invites him and his son to come into the house. As he plays he disturbs the housekeeper and butler (who always seem to be at tea when the parents aren’t around). Mary seems happy and dances with the plumber. The housekeeper and goes the butler force the organ grinder to leave. Her mother comes home and she brings a friend. Mary takes the blame, stating she was lonely. Mother’s friend has a daughter about the same age and agrees to bring her for the luncheon party planned for the next day. Mary tires to make friends with the girl, but she is a snot who is too good for the daughter of a woman who has a social bee in her bonnet. When lunch is ready Mary puts her plate right under the girl’s behind as she sits on a bench. Her mother states that she is to give her best silk dress to the girl. Mary disagrees and locks herself in her room so the girl can’t get the dress. Mary then throws all of her cloths, including what she is wearing out the window. The neighborhood children grab the clothing. Her parents decide that her punishment will be to dress in boys clothing. Mary decides she looks good in the clothing, after she unrolls the pants to below her knee. Boys in the neighborhood hit a baseball into the greenhouse. As they are getting the ball Mary comes into the room. They fight and she is covered in mud. The gardener stops the fight and hoses off Mary.
There is a birthday party for Mary, but she is not invited. It is a formal sit down social dinner. The nurse drugs her. She gets out of bed disoriented and falls down the stairs. Ghost girls dance in a circle around her a Grecian dance. A man comes to her and says she will be taken to the Garden of lonely children in the tell tale forest of dreams. The plumber who is once again fixing a sink that Mary broke finds her, carries her to her room. The story splits between the parents with the doctor with Mary and Mary’s dream. In the dream her father is at this huge piece of machinery, counting money. She calls out for her mother as she dreams she goes to the land where they burn the candles at both ends. The mother is there lighting thousands of candles. She comes to a forest and is happily dancing with an angel. Her parents come to her and she decides to go home with them. She is happy to be there. She then wakes up and the parents know she will live.
The next morning her fathers financial people come in and Mary’s father decides he doesn’t need more money. He has realized what is important. Mary’s mother has not left her side. The doctor prescribes country living for recuperation. The family huddle together as the film ends.
I can see why Mary Pickford was popular playing younger characters. She was playful, temperamental, spoiled, lonely, unhappy, happy, pathetic and adorable (sometimes 2 or 3 at once). TCM finished the rest of the day with a birthday salute to Virginia O’Brien. Her birthday is actually April 18th so I will watch those films later.
TCM celebrated Mary Pickford’s birthday by showing three of her films. I have to admit I tried to watch Coquette, but I could not get through 5 minutes of Mary’s performance. It just struck a wrong cord with me.
I did watch Poor Little Rich Girl. Mary plays a lonely, rich girl in a large house who looks outside and sees all the children playing. The film has great title cards that really explain the characters.
Mary: In the home of everything but love.
Father: Money making schemes left little time for tenderness
Mother: social duties seem more important than the happiness of her child
Servants: Tyrants of modern civilization. Servants by position. Masters by disposition.
Mary goes to see her father but he is busy with this financial people. Mary is happy that her mother will spend a moment with her that day. Mother has to leave for a social engagement and promises once again to spend a moment with her tomorrow. “why do my tomorrows never come” Mary sighs. She goes to class on the estate where she is the only student and there are 5 instructors. The servants think she is not grateful for what she has. She has to take an afternoon drive every day. She wants to walk not be chauffeured around. The servants convince her that she will be kidnapped or bitten by a dog. The next day a plumber comes to the house. Outside and organ grinder plays. She invites him and his son to come into the house. As he plays he disturbs the housekeeper and butler (who always seem to be at tea when the parents aren’t around). Mary seems happy and dances with the plumber. The housekeeper and goes the butler force the organ grinder to leave. Her mother comes home and she brings a friend. Mary takes the blame, stating she was lonely. Mother’s friend has a daughter about the same age and agrees to bring her for the luncheon party planned for the next day. Mary tires to make friends with the girl, but she is a snot who is too good for the daughter of a woman who has a social bee in her bonnet. When lunch is ready Mary puts her plate right under the girl’s behind as she sits on a bench. Her mother states that she is to give her best silk dress to the girl. Mary disagrees and locks herself in her room so the girl can’t get the dress. Mary then throws all of her cloths, including what she is wearing out the window. The neighborhood children grab the clothing. Her parents decide that her punishment will be to dress in boys clothing. Mary decides she looks good in the clothing, after she unrolls the pants to below her knee. Boys in the neighborhood hit a baseball into the greenhouse. As they are getting the ball Mary comes into the room. They fight and she is covered in mud. The gardener stops the fight and hoses off Mary.
There is a birthday party for Mary, but she is not invited. It is a formal sit down social dinner. The nurse drugs her. She gets out of bed disoriented and falls down the stairs. Ghost girls dance in a circle around her a Grecian dance. A man comes to her and says she will be taken to the Garden of lonely children in the tell tale forest of dreams. The plumber who is once again fixing a sink that Mary broke finds her, carries her to her room. The story splits between the parents with the doctor with Mary and Mary’s dream. In the dream her father is at this huge piece of machinery, counting money. She calls out for her mother as she dreams she goes to the land where they burn the candles at both ends. The mother is there lighting thousands of candles. She comes to a forest and is happily dancing with an angel. Her parents come to her and she decides to go home with them. She is happy to be there. She then wakes up and the parents know she will live.
The next morning her fathers financial people come in and Mary’s father decides he doesn’t need more money. He has realized what is important. Mary’s mother has not left her side. The doctor prescribes country living for recuperation. The family huddle together as the film ends.
I can see why Mary Pickford was popular playing younger characters. She was playful, temperamental, spoiled, lonely, unhappy, happy, pathetic and adorable (sometimes 2 or 3 at once). TCM finished the rest of the day with a birthday salute to Virginia O’Brien. Her birthday is actually April 18th so I will watch those films later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)