Swithin

7. His name was given to him by studio scout Harold Winston, who discovered Holden. Winston's ex-wife was the actress Gloria Holden. Winston was still in love with Gloria Holden and gave her surname to his new find, William Holden, whose birth name had been William Beedle.

He has a history of violent behavior, of beating people up, in anger, etc. So the fact that he is involved in this awful accident, may raise an eyebrow that might not be raised, had another actor been involved.

John Carradine in House of Frankenstein

Sounds like that could be the case. Of course this whole tragic incident has to be colored in the context of Baldwin's history, which I think makes it a bit different from it just being a terrible accident that could happen on any set, without proper precautions.

But even so, a rehearsal of a scene is the scene. So why was the gun pointed at the cinematographer and shot?

There's an accidental shot in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Sibyl Vane's brother is stalking Gray but is instead himself shot, by a hunter mistaking him for a deer. I have a question about the Baldwin situation, though perhaps this has already been answered. I understand that a tragedy could occur if a loaded gun was accidentally used in a scene, and the character intended for the shot was accidentally really shot. But why would Baldwin have been aiming at the cinematographer and director? Surely that was not part of the scene?

Carousel is my favorite, partly because I was in a production when I was in 6th grade, in public school in the Bronx, New York. As you say, a dark and emotional story, which makes it a particularly unusual choice for 10 and 11 year olds. Being in the show fostered in me a lifelong love of theater and musicals. I didn't have a large role, in fact only spoke one line, but I was a sailor and a fisherman and so onstage a lot, and in all of the choruses. I can sing all the songs for you right now! Years later, when I saw my first professional production, I realized that one line was changed in our school show. In one scene, someone says: "Here's Arminy, she'll tell you." Arminy then sings: "The clock just ticks your life away, there's no relief in sight. It's cooking, and scrubbing and sewing all day, and the same thing's every night." The line is actually: "And God knows what all night!"

On Svengoolie tomorrow, October 23, 2021:

7) He played totally against type as a sleazy nightclub manager in Too Hot to Handle (1960; aka Playgirl After Dark). The film starred Jayne Mansfield.

"The Tinker of Rye" sung by Christopher Lee and Diane Cilento in The Wicker Man (1973) Next: Another between-the-lines song about sex

"Mona Lisa" -- one of the best songs ever (Oscar winner for Best Song) from the forgettable Captain Carey, U.S.A. (Later used to perfection by Hitchcock in the unforgettable Rear Window.) Next: Song from a movie directed by Lewis Milestone.

RIP. Stop the World and Roar of the Greasepaint are the Bricusse highlights for me.

I remember liking Burnt Offerings, though I don't remember too much about it. Also liked The Sentinel, from more or less the same period. But I think of that sort of first-run glossy horror, my favorite from that period is The Legacy. However, I was really drawn to the less glossy stuff, like Pieces. John Standing slips the ring on Katharine Ross' finger in The Legacy (1978) And of course Margaret Tyzack is always good, particularly when she turns into a white cat.

As Mary Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (1940)

The Film Forum in Soho (NYC) showed Who Killed Teddy Bear? a few years ago. What a treat! I saw it and then took two friends to see it the following night. I love those shots of the old Times Square, before it was Disneyfied. Phillycinephile's post of the flier for the double bill of Carry On Cleo and Who Killed Teddy Bear? shows some brilliant programming! My favorite line from WKTB?: Elaine Stritch: "I dig fur."

The Group (1966) Next: Medal

Interesting to know that, because Rebecca is one of my least favorite Hitchcock films. It doesn't feel like a Hitchcock film to me. Hitchcock was certainly a better filmmaker than du Maurier was a novelist! Movies are not (and generally should not be) factual replications of novels.

Nick Adams was in Die, Monster, Die with Terence de Marney.

I actually don't mind the lack of continuity between the films. As Peter Shaffer has said, Shakespeare gave release to the audience. The presumed death of the monster at the end of the earlier films gives that release. The later (1970/80s) horror films that became franchises tended to leave the audience hanging at the end. Shakespeare would not have approved. Btw, the monster's iconic walk that later became a sort of trademark began with the monster as played by Lugosi in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

I consider Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man to be "upper class." It's got a great cast, it's the first (I think) matchup of Universal monsters, and it has a mini- operetta written by Hans Salter and Curt Siodmak!

"Oh Shenandoah" -- Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) -- Eugene O'Neill uses the song in the play as well. Next: Song from a film directed by Delmar Daves

Laurence Fishburne (Event Horizon) Next: Somber

There's a interesting play called Lungs, which I saw at the Old Vic in London, with Matt Smith and Claire Foy, about a couple trying to have a child. There's a great line: "I could fly to New York and back every day for seven years and still not leave a carbon footprint as big as if I have a child." Real climate change begins, not with cutting flights, either to space or across the world, but by having few children.

On Svengoolie tomorrow, October 16, 2021: