Swithin

I bought a copy a long time ago, because I love the movie so much. Here is a link to the trailer; however, it's difficult to get a sense of this film from a trailer. It's available from Amazon and not very expensive -- $11.99 I think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TQGhm2wBsE

*Tortilla Flat* is on TCM at 7:30am tomorrow morning (Friday). It contains one of the great depictions of religious experience on film that I've ever witnessed. Near the end of the movie, Frank Morgan, a sort of hobo who walks around the Redwood Forest with his dogs, sits the dogs down and tells them the story of St. Francis. Suddenly, the dogs have a vision. Frank averts his eyes as the dogs express the awe that accompanies the vision. It is amazing, one of the most beautiful and moving expressions of spirituality depicted in any movie. (Btw, I think one of the dogs played Toto a year or so earlier in another Victor Fleming film). Another example, which I've seen again recently, is in one of my favorite films -- *Slaughterhouse Five*. Billy Pilgrim and his dog Spot are looking at the stars (as Bach's music is heard). A falling star approaches them and hovers for a while. Billy and Spot observe in awe. Are there any other examples of animals actually experiencing spiritual feelings (I use that term loosely) in the movies, that you can think of? I'm not referring to movies about religious subjects that might contain animals in scenes related to religion; I'm interested in the animal actually being seen to react to the experience. Perhaps Balthazar the Donkey in *Au Hasard Balthazar*. But he may be more of a religious figure/symbol.

Sorry, I phrased it badly. That hotel is not in Chelsea -- it's on the Upper West Side, a short subway ride (10 minutes or so) from Chelsea. Sorry, it is rather pricey, just cheaper than some of the wildly overpriced NYC hotels. Good luck!

A few years ago, the School of Visual Arts, on E. 23rd St. in NYC, acquired a movie theater (which was a commercial theater at the time) on W. 23rd St. It gives SVA a large and modern cinema, as opposed to the auditorium at the school. The neighborhood is Chelsea. New York hotels are expensive, but you might find some smaller hotels in Chelsea that are reasonable. I know of a hotel on the Upper West Side -- a short subway ride from the theater, that's respectable and reasonable by New York standards. It's called the Milburn. It's on West 76th St. Probably $250 a night, or a little less.

I think Ms. Sheridan was just a well-rounded actress and played many types. I love her in *Navy Blues*, a sort of musical comedy, and a few years later in *Kings Row*.

"Sunshine..." is a good song -- it's on the B'way cast album.

I love the score and cast of the original Broadway production, with Carol Channing. What a great recording! Many of those numbers were not used in the film. In fact, I think the film incorporated a few songs from other composers. (I'm not a fan of the film). Here's a link to the original Broadway cast, which has a futher link to the songs: http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=1845

I liked *O* very much. I heard the release was delayed, because of Columbine. (*O* was set in an American high school community). I thought the film was a very successful and moving updating of Shakespeare's *Othello*. Mekhi Phifer was heartbreaking as Othello. The rest of the cast was merely brilliant.

NOT NORTH BY NORTHWEST AGAIN!!!!!

I think the best example of casting against type was Hitchcock's use of Edmund Gwenn as a villain in *Foreign Correspondent*. Gwenn hadn't played Kris Kringle yet but always signified kindness, that's what we expect when we see him on the screen. But Hitchcock likes to surprise us and probably chose Gwenn for his "positive baggage".

I don't mind "twisted" -- I went to see -- and liked -- *Pieces* and films of that ilk. I guess "pretentious" really describes my feelings about *Brazil*. I didn't mind *Twelve Monkeys*, though I found it kind of derivative. Not a perfect comparison, but I much preferred *28 Days Later* and many other sci-fi films about deadly diseases.

I agree that *Plan 9...* has merit and that the low-budget, elemental films should never be considered for "worst" status. But I disagree about recent posts related to *The English Patient*. I think it's a great film. It reminded me more than any other film made since 1990 of the classic films we love to see on TCM -- a great, big, romance, set in turbulent times. It could have been made by Mervyn LeRoy or another classic Hollywood director 50 or 60 years earlier. I think the film earned its Oscar, and that Ralph Fiennes should have won as well.

I accidently came across *Liittle Nicky* on TV a while back, and I hesitate to say that I was drawn in and found it not unamusing. I'd never seen an Adam Sandler film before or since; and I was not a fan of his on SNL. But that movie had a least a little something intriguing. The worst film I ever saw -- it was so overtouted and I really HATED it -- was Terry Gilliam's *Brazil*. I saw an endlessly uncut version at the Kensington Odean in London when the film first came out. It was an unbearable pile of clumsy art direction combined with the stupidist satire, but people liked it. It won awards! When it came to New York, it had 20 minutes cut and a fuss was made. They should have cut the whole film! I had walked out of *The Time Bandits* some years earlier. I think maybe Gilliam was ok doing those little animated bits on "Monty Python," but as a director, i can't stand him.

*Orpheus Descending* is an interesting play. I must admit I prefer it to the film, though I haven't seen the film recently. I know Lois Smith slightly. She created the role of Carol Cutrere. Maureen Stapleton played Lady Torrance in the original production and went on to play Vee in *The Fugitive Kind*. Anna Magnani, who played Lady Torrance in the film, won an Oscar for her portrayal of Serafina in the film of Williams's *The Rose Tattoo*, a role that was created on Broadway by Maureen Stapleton, who won a Tony Award for her performance (Eli Wallach, a major Williams actor, won a Tony for his role in *Tattoo* as well). In any case, two of my favorite operas are based on the Orpheus myth: Monteverdi's "Orfeo" and Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice". The aria sung by Orpheus after he loses Eurydice ("Che Faro Senza Euridice") is perhaps the most beautiful aria ever written: Check out *Black Orpheus* again. It's beautiful, haunting, and stays with you. And great music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS-33QWEtOY

When I was very young, I was taken to see *The Phenix City Story*, which took place in Alabama. I'm afraid that, seeing that film about corruption and depravity in an Alabama town colored my view of the South for a long time. It was very conspicuously set in the South, where the true story it was based on took place -- totally "other" to this Manhattan NYC boy -- and though it had the effect on me of a good horror film, I felt, "It can't happen here (in NYC)." Of course it could have happened anywhere. So there is something to be said for universalizing a good story. Regarding *All the King's Men*, although the book actually hangs its plot loosely on Huey Long, it is a monumental and transcendant novel.

Women have played Prospera before, it's not a new idea. Blair Brown did it onstage, in Princeton, a few years ago. It's actually a play that lends itself to it, to some extent. I saw Fiona Shaw on stage playing Richard II -- as a man. That was different, but Shaw did a splendid job. And of course Sarah Bernhardt played Hamlet.

And as I've said, there's a difference between "on location," meaning in the exact spot the location is said to take place; and not in a studio, which can also mean "on location", such as the films I gave examples of. It is said the Von Sternberg apologized to the Pasha of Marrakech because people said the sets for *Morocco* looked just like that city. An artist like Von Sternberg wants the kind of control you can't get "on location." (There's a great piece online about that most wonderful of scenes, the Ambrose Chapel setting of the 1956 *Man Who Knew Too Much*.) In the end, perhaps a great filmmaker is like Gertrude Stein, "I write for myself and strangers," which can mean that the majority of people won't really know or care, for the most part, whether the venue is exactly where is says it is.

I've met KT. She's just the one to carry off a song that needs a bit of acting!

There is location, and there is location. I used to live in Queens, NY. One day in the late 1980s, I came home from work on a May spring day and saw snow on the windows in the train station and 1940s cars on the street. The shops had signs in Yiddish. Then I saw a director's chair which said Mr. Mazursky. I was told they were filming *Enemies, a Love Story*. The scene they were shooting represented the Bronx in the 1940s. The fact is, the Queens of the 1980s looked more like the Bronx of the 1940s than the Bronx did in the 1980s! So on location, can mean out of the studio, but not in the exact location where the action is said to take place. There are plenty of examples of this. My favorite Southern film, *Wise Blood*, is supposed to take place in Tennessee. It was shot in and around Macon, Georgia. I saw *King of the Khyber Rifles* recently, set in the North of India, around the Khyber Pass. It was shot in the American West.

I don't know why they took it out of the South. Perhaps Rossen -- if it was at least partly his decision -- wanted to make it more universal. The South was Another Country to many Americans, and maybe Rossen who was definitly a political and social activist wanted to show that the many ills that were depicted in the film could happen anywhere. Perhaps he thought that the message would have been diminished if The South were a strong presence. Regarding the Oscars, it was in fact a weak year. Yes, I know, if you look at the nominees you'll see the names of films that we all love. But nothing quite jumps out; and I guess, for the voters, for many reasons, *All the King's Men* did.

As much as I think she should have played Dolly on screen, I really think Carol Channing's version of Lorelei would have been great on screen. A few years ago, I saw the musical on stage in London. It bothered me, it's a very entertaining show with a terrific score. I realized what was wrong -- they modeled Lorelei on Marilyn Monroe's film performance rather than Carol Channing's stage performance, although the script was the original -- not the changed movie script. I only know the stage musical from the recording, but it's terrific. Also in the original B'way cast was the great Alice Pearce; and George S. Irving, who lives on my block in NYC.

On a similar note, I think Carol Channing should have reproduced her Broadway success in *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes* in the film of that musical. I'm not a fan of the Hawks film or the film of *Hello Dolly*, either. I think both those films would have been better if Carol Channing reprised the roles of Lorelei Lee and Dolly Levi, which she created in two great stage musicals. I like both Marilyn Monroe and Barbra Streisand. But listen to Carol on the recordings of both shows to get a sense of her talent.

Yes, it was Dorothy Fields, who wrote lyrics for so many wonderful songs, including "On the Sunny Side of the Street;" "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby;" "The Way You Like Tonight;" up to songs for later musicals like *Sweet Charity*.

Val, how do you feel about *Orpheus Descending*, the Williams play on which *The Fugitive Kind* was based, and how do you feel about adaptations of the Orpheus myth in general? There are so many plays, operas, films, dance works, inspired by that myth, which makes sense, because in many ways it's about the power of art. Do you also like *Black Orpheus* and the Cocteau trilogy? The Orpheus myth is one of my favorite themes in art.

I try to distance myself. I found out recently that Walter Brennan was an outrageous, unrepentant racist. But he's in too many films that I like, and he's good in them. It's a difficult issue that goes well beyond film.