Swithin

Pier Angeli was in Merry Andrew (the first movie I ever saw in Radio City Music Hall) with Robert Coote.

I don't think Tender Is the Night and The Last Tycoon are out of copyright in the United States yet, but other Fitzgerald novels are, I think. However, other countries have different rules, which is probably why Tender Is the Night is online, on Project Gutenberg Australia. I've worked a lot with the estates of playwrights and know that plays sometimes become public domain in different countries at different times. Different rules apply to unpublished material e.g. correspondence.

I still have my old Scribner paperbacks of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, from school days. Which version of Tender Is the Night did you read (if you remember)? I prefer the original, which opens with Rosemary on the beach on the Riviera. A later version re-ordered the novel, to make it all chronological. I also have the Scribner edition of This Side of Paradise. My copy of Tender Is the Night was $1.45.

The National Theatre brilliant production of Frankenstein, first produced in London in 2011, is probably closer to the novel than any other adaptation. It was adapted by Nick Dear and directed by Danny Boyle. I didn't see it live -- it was the only production at the National, in more than 40 years of attending plays there, including the ability to get house seats, that I could not get a ticket for. I did see it when the NT streamed it for free, early in the pandemic. It's a thrilling production. (I think the NT may now stream it for a fee.) The characters of the Monster and Victor Frankenstein were alternated by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. I saw both of them during that week of streaming, and they were both great, in each role, though I have a slight preference for Cumberbatch as the Monster (I think that's a minority opinion, at least among my friends). The "birth" scene at the top of the show is absolutely thrilling; theater as brilliant as it gets: Wikipedia has an entry which details the differences between this production and Mary Shelley's novel: From Wikipedia: Differences from the novel The story is told from the Creature's perspective rather than from Victor's. Because of this, the audience witnesses events such as his relationship with De Lacey firsthand rather than in backstory. The frame story involving Captain Robert Walton is dispensed with entirely, as well as much of Victor Frankenstein's backstory. The play opens directly with the Creature's "birth". The Creature kills the De Lacey family in revenge for their rejection of him, which he does not in the novel. Elizabeth Lavenza is Victor's cousin rather than his adopted sister. (They are cousins in the original release of the novel but changed to adopted siblings in the 1831 rewrite. In the play, they remain cousins.) The Creature doesn't leave for Geneva until a full year after his birth, rather than four months in the novel. The character of Justine, William's nurse, is cut, and William's murder is never solved. The character of Henry Clerval is also cut. Monsieur Frankenstein personally brings Victor home from Scotland, and Victor is never imprisoned due to the absence of Clerval from the story. Monsieur Frankenstein doesn't die at the end of the play. The Creature rapes Elizabeth before killing her in the play, this does not happen in the novel. Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth stay in Geneva on their wedding night, rather than Villa Lavenza by Lake Como in the novel. Felix and Agatha are a married couple in the play, whereas they are siblings in the novel. Victor dies at the end of the novel; in the play he does not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(2011_play)

I was an outlier in one of my classes because, in terms of Fitzgerald's works, I preferred Tender Is the Night to The Great Gatsby (which I also liked). I've never seen the film of Tender Is the Night, though. There is a little-known Tennessee Williams play called Clothes for a Summer Hotel, which is about the relationship between Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. It was not a success, but it has some lovely moments, including a great, sad monologue by Zelda.

I'm not a big fan of the Hammer films which brought back the Universal monsters, but I may give Curse of Frankenstein another chance. It is after all from that great year, 1957, which gave us Night of the Demon, The Undead, Voodoo Woman, the Tabonga, the Aztec Mummy, among many other masterpieces.

Three in the Attic (1968) -- [I'd like to see this on TCM, haven't seen it in yonks!"] Next: Hooded villain

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) Next: Bathroom scene

Ava Gardner was in On The Beach with Fred Astaire.

Just finished Episode 5. Lovely scene with Andre De Shields at the end.

Ricardo Cortez was in The Last Hurrah with Edward Brophy.

So I'm up to Episode 5, and I'm liking it, with reservations. My reservations have to do with the way gays, straights, and New Yorkers are depicted in shows like this. Uncoupled has been called a gay Sex and the City; I think it's more like a gay, contemporary Mrs. Maisel. Even the parents are ridiculous, strident people in a huge apartment, meddling in the private life of their 50-year old son. Michael's mother, particularly, is a stupid, badly thought out character. But I'm enjoying it, in spite of myself. It's well written, nice to look at, with great NYC locations, and it goes quickly. The characters are annoying: Michael can be a jerk; Colin is a selfish b_itch. I hope they don't get back together. There is too much of the Funny Girl "People who need people" ethos in this program. Meaning a celebration of busybodies, which to some extent derives from the fact that characters can't keep their thoughts and problems to themselves. In general, I find American television depictions of gay life (maybe all life) to be stupid and plastic. I saw the British Queer as Folk show when it came out. I had never seen anything like it and brought it back to NY to show my friends, who loved it. I subscribed to Showtime when I heard that an American Queer as Folk was being shown. I cancelled my subscription within two weeks. One thing I will give Uncoupled that isn't too exaggerated. There are many gay men who seem to be in the New York real estate business. I know a few, aged from the late 20s to the 60s. I do love the Marcia Gay Harden character and her performance; and I hope we see more of Andre De Shields.

On Svengoolie tomorrow, August 6, 2022: The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Don't know where you live, but my local cinema -- the Film Society of Lincoln Center -- is in the midst of a King Vidor festival. The Crowd will be shown tomorrow (August 5). Featuring live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin on August 5. "One of the masterpieces of silent cinema, though for years difficult to see, The Crowd is Vidor’s unflinching study of the American Dream. The film centers upon John Sims, who from an early age imagines that he’s destined for great things. As a young man he journeys to New York to make his name, but over time he must come to terms with a relentlessly ordinary existence—the drudgeries of work, the quarrels of marriage. One sees in the film a supreme example of Vidor’s ability to punctuate a naturalistic style with sequences of searing visual expressiveness, and his approach in this movie would prove highly influential on later directors, in particular the Italian neorealists and, later, the French New Wave. Reflecting on an impasse in his career to Cahiers du Cinéma, Godard once quipped, “Make films about the people, they said; but The Crowd had already been made, so why remake it?” https://www.filmlinc.org/series/king-vidor-retrospective/#films

William Frawley was in Harmony Lane with Evelyn Venable.

I've watched two episodes. I hate it, but I'm enjoying it. Nice to see Andre De Shields in a supporting role!

Albert Dekker was in Kiss Me Deadly with Percy Helton.

Great, tough film, based on Sidney Kingsley's play. The original Broadway cast included Ralph Bellamy and Meg Mundy as the McLeods. Other recognizable names in the cast included Maureen Stapleton as Miss Hatch; Alexander Scourby; Lee Grant in the role she reprised in the movie; Robert Strauss; Joseph Wiseman; Joan Copland, who was Arthur Miller's sister, played Susan Carmichael. The author also directed. Scenic design was by Boris Aronson, who was assisted by his wife, Lisa Jalowetz. (I met Lisa in the early 1980s; we became great friends). Earlier plays by Sidney Kingsley that were adapted for film included Men in White and Dead End.

Correct, Miles. And of course his Best Actor Oscar was for Kiss of the Spider Woman. Your thread!

The Man in the White Suit (1951) Next: Best movie with an active volcano

I guess my favorite Yankee announcers were Mel Allen and Red Barber. (Mel Allen is actually mentioned in Damn Yankees.)

Today's hint: Wife's first movie, directed by Woody Allen, was not a comedy. I guess you could say it was Woody's most serious, non-comic, film.

This couple began their careers in theater, where they received numerous awards and nominations. Husband went on to be nominated for and to win many film awards. After a few appearances on television, Wife made her first movie, which was directed by Woody Allen. Couple were married for just over ten years. She is currently married to a well-known figure in the film business. Name Couple, the film for which he won most awards, and her first movie.

Thank you Princess, will get back soon with another. I do know North London. In the 1980s, I spent several summers in Kentish Town, which is a few tube stops below East Finchley. Hampstead Heath is around there, lovely part of the world! Since that time, I mostly stay in West and Southwest London: Kensington, Fulham, Acton Putney, Chiswick. Although I spent a few years in Southeast London as well.

Just watched the first few minutes and am really looking forward to this. Btw I worked with Marcia Gay Harden once. She's great: smart, kind, and a terrific, collegial actress.